Chapter 4

THE academy was full of chaotic students. There are some who had wings and they were chasing each other in the hallway, not caring if they crashed into the property of the academy.

Chloe noticed that land origins are what distinguished every student, not by their elemental powers. They wore white robes with color and design at the back.

There are three land origins that were classified in the Krystalline Academy: Deirdre with its inhabitants are called peasants, Markus with its denizens, and Vestia with its residents.

Deirdre peasants are wearing a white robe with green and yellow linings that looked like vines with a circling one at the back of their robes and a parakeet bird at the center. Chloe knew that the parakeet bird was a common bird in Deirdre and it symbolizes stealth. Deirdre has been the only land associated with pure nature. No wonder it was designed like vines.

Markus denizens had their robes designed with metallic gray. Two swords were cross at the back of their robes, signifying the mighty hands of Markus' weapon-making skills with an owl on its foreground.

The residents of Vestia, the mainland of Demetrius, had their robes designed with crystal specks that glittered whenever they were hit by the sun's light. At the back of their robes, the figure of a crystallized lion was designed. Their robes were the finest cloth Chloe had ever seen. Indeed, Vestia was the richest among the three largest lands of Demetrius.

Chloe sat at the back of the class with two vacant seats from her left. Since the school year had just begun, the first-year students were not wearing their robes.

Jucel only wore her Vestia robe after giving her a tour in the academy. The silver-haired woman insisted not to wear it so that Chloe will not feel out of place on her first day.

Her new friend separated from her when Chloe was in the right room.

Chloe was writing something in her notebook when the whole classroom erupted in whispers and loud giggles. She decided to look up to see what made them so excited all of a sudden.

Two guys, one with a cool smile and dirty blond hair and one with an emotionless face and black messy hair, walked inside. The latter was taller and has more built than the former. The taller man paused and stared at her while the other made his way to the vacant chairs beside her.

Chloe quickly noticed the stares of the girls around her so she kept her head down.

"Hi, you looked new here," the shorter one of the newcomers suddenly said beside her.

Chloe smiled, the side of her lips was quivering in awkwardness. "Yeah. You seem to know I have just enrolled here."

The emotionless guy shot the blonde a look before he made his way to the chair beside his friend. He glanced at her before looking away without a word. Chloe could see the slight twitch of the side of his lips. The blonde just chuckled.

Chloe could hear the sigh of the girls around her and realized that they were observing these guys. Hmmm... They seem popular.

"Well~," the blonde said in a singsong voice. He looked at the ceiling before looking back at her with a cute smile. "He kind of stopped last year and I just tagged along."

Chloe's eyebrows rose. She remembered that Barbie and Jus mentioned a friend.

"Oh. Okay," Chloe said with a smile then decided to now the names of these gentlemen. "I'm Chloe. Chloe Liu."

Both guys looked at Chloe, bewildered. "You mean, sister of Lucian Liu?" The blonde blurted.

The mere mention of Lucian's name made the girls gasped and frantic. Don't tell me that my brother's famous among girls, too, Chloe internally vomited. She nodded slightly.

The blonde broke into a big grin, which caused a murmur among the people in the room.

The emotionless guy looked at the crowd and spoke in a loud hateful voice. "What are you looking at? Teacher's not coming. Get out of my sight."

In an instant, as if scared of this guy's words, the students went out. He then stood and walked towards the door.

The blonde looked at his friend with a pout. "Stop doing that, dude." He turned to Chloe who had her gray eyes both surprised and silently asking what had just happened. "Don't mind him. He just had a, what we call, a grumpy syndrome that was always there even if he's wide awake. I'm Zabdiel Lewelyn. Call me Zab. And that one's Jared Dale." The blonde named Zabdiel didn't wait for her to digest what he had said. He stood up with his bag on his shoulder. "You're the little sis of Lucian?"

Chloe nodded again. "I--"

"Nice to meet you, Chloe. But J's right, Teacher's not coming," he grinned and jog his way out of the classroom. All Chloe could do was follow him with her eyes and her mouth open.

Zabdiel Lewelyn has a fair look with elegant cool movements, totally in contrast with the way he talks. Jared Dale, however, has the very characteristics of a bad guy. She could still recall how his piercing eyes look at each one of the people in the classroom, and how sharp his tone of voice towards all of them. Almost as if he was angry at the world.

Almost.

~O~O~O~

KRYSTALLINE Academy is a beautiful school than those in Deirdre, in Chloe's opinion. There are four towers and they were separated by the tree lines and gardens of flowers. Butterflies, bees, and other insects were flying around and it just added to the enchanting feeling of the walkways.

Chloe wondered if there are any of the students in this academy who has an allergy to flowers. If there is, she'd pity them.

Each building has its own antiquity. The Rubi Tower was located in the northern part of the academy and it served as their academic building where students are learning in a classroom. It's not likely a tower but a large and tall building. Just a normal looking building.

The Opall Tower, located in the eastern part of the academy. It serves as the magic training building. This one's kind of Chloe's favorite as she saw several students practicing their magic there. The tower was literally a tower with several magical bigger rooms that brings you to a different place for your training. The tower changes its color from blue to green to yellow to orange as a representation of the morning sky, and Jucel mentioned that at night it becomes white to gray to black. Truly magical.

Eshmirald Tower, the tower of all offices for professors and business transactions. It was located in the western part of the academy. Nothing really stands out for this one but it's just as old as the others.

"You're different," the Nursing Erie told her in their high-pitched, creaky voice as it gave her the Deirdre Krystalline robes.

Chloe scrunched her eyebrows as she accepted the item from the other side of the glass. "What do you mean different?"

The Nursing Erie's pointed ears tweaked. "You're not from Deirdre. But you're from Deirdre."

Chloe blinked her eyes. She didn't understand. But because there were students coming, she decided to let it slide and thanked the Nursing Erie.

The Clothing Section was just right beside the Textbook Section. There were several books given to her, some are heavy while some are thin. Nothing happened in the Textbook Section as the Nursing Erie that attended to her was busy with the inventory.

With new books in her arms, Chloe walked out of the Textbook Section. She passed a small window that faced the southern part of the academy and saw a tall building surrounded by a thick forest just about a few kilometers away from the Eshmirald Tower.

Chloe remembered Jucel telling her that it was the Agatē Tower. The only building in this school where students and teachers alike are prohibited from going to. The forest that surrounds it was called the Dark Forest. Jucel didn't tell her more about it, but the more Chloe stared at the tower, the more enchanting it became. She started to wonder why going there was prohibited.

Suddenly, something slammed into her, and her books scattered down on the ground.

"Will you be careful, you witch?" a high-pitched voice of a woman started to berate her.

She was picking up her books when she felt her face heat up. There are no other people in the hall which made it more advantageous for bullies. She stood straight and in a calm voice, she asked, "Pardon me. What did you call me again?"

There were three girls in front of Chloe. And the one at the center seemed to be their leader. She had curled brown hair that reached her shoulders and doe-like eyes. The other two looked twins as they had pigtails and the same makeup and the same faces together. They all wore the crystal designed robes of Vestia.

The leader looked back at her two friends who all had a smirk on their faces. "Go ahead, Kir. No one's around anyway," one of them urged.

The girl named Kir looked back at Chloe who was still standing and observing them. Kir took a step forward with a heel on one of the new books. "I said... Witch. Now, who do you think you are....?" She gazed at Chloe from head to toe then back to her face and smiled sinisterly. "Witch."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. In the Kingdom of Demetrius, calling someone a witch is like saying that they belong to the Kingdom of Illinor - Demetrius' archenemy. It is the worst name-calling you can ever give a Kryst, much more a Demetri. Plus the fact that this girl was stepping on her new book.

Without thinking so much, Chloe ducked and her leg flew under Kir. She swiped her leg across the book which the bully was stepping on. The latter lost her balance and landed her butt on the hard ground. Neither of the bully's friends was able to help her because they were stunned, too.

Chloe quickly moved her hands in a circular motion above her head. The water rose from the ground, without any source of it around. The water then washed over Kir and her friends who screamed in panic.

The young brunette picked up her books carefully, still surprised by her own reaction. "Sorry," she managed to mumble.

The girls were heating up in anger and were ready to pounce on her like an angry cat when the time seemed to slow down all of their movements. Then a calm, authoritative voice echoed in the hall, "Don't touch her, Lady Kirsten."

A man in a dark brown robe dropped to the ground out of nowhere and walked towards them. He's taller and lean-built and half of his face was covered with a hood.

The time moved again and even Chloe struggled to breathe. The girl, now named Kirsten, glanced warily at the man.

"Who are you?" she snapped.

"That's not for you to know," he answered. Chloe slightly tilted her head. She couldn't see his eyes and nose because of the hood, but she could feel that he was irritated by the way Kirsten addressed him. "Go."

Kirsten glared her light brown eyes before she sneered at Chloe. She faced the intruder and huffed before she and her friends hurried away.

Chloe continued to pick up her books and the man helped her with it. He helped her stand, a spark of electricity running through her skin when he touched her. The man seemed to feel it, too because he retracted his hand immediately.

The man chuckled nervously. "Forgive me. Are you okay?"

Chloe smiled and hugged her books against her chest. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for helping me."

The man gave her a sheepish smile before he consciously pulled down his hood further. "Sorry, I am not allowed to show my face around. I am kind of not allowed here in general."

His voice was light and laid-back. Chloe couldn't see anything under that coat as it covered him from head to his black combat shoes that only warriors of Demetrius have... Wait, leather?

"Wh-"

A wolf howled and both of them looked above. It signifies that it's time for going home. Wolves of the Krystalline Palace were trained for such duty, she remembered Jus saying.

When Chloe looked back at the man, he was already gone, as if she was alone all along.

What was your name? She wanted to ask.