One week. That was how long Amneris and Jay, and later Carmin and Zoe, had searched. All they had to show for their efforts was a half-torn piece of old parchment covered in faded ink. Amneris glared at the symbols of the Old Language, willing it to spontaneously give her the answers she wanted. None came. Were it not the only clue they had for anything, she would have set it on fire by now.
“It’s better than nothing.”
Amneris turned her glare on Jay and his positive attitude. While it was helpful to have an optimist on her team at times, this was not one of those times. “It’s basically nothing.”
“It has the name ‘Aurelia’ on it,” he countered, pointing at the word.
“Yes, and nothing else.”
Jay held the parchment piece up to the lights with a frown. “There doesn’t appear to be hidden writing on the other side.”
“Oh, come on. No one does that in real life.”
“Well it’s better than giving it the ‘tell me your secrets or I’ll destroy you’ face.”
“I make a face?”
Jay huffed, placing the parchment back on the table. “Maybe there’s a complete copy somewhere else. Can you do that scanning thing with your gloves?” Amneris held up her gloveless hands. “Ah. Right.”
“Good idea, though.” Amneris snapped her fingers. Her black arm-length gloves she often wore off world appeared on the table. She pulled on the left with a sigh. “I should just wear these all the time.”
“That’s Carmin’s thing.”
“Very true.”
Amneris clenched her left hand. A faint electric feeling went through it. Amneris held her palm out to the parchment. A blue-green light shot from her glove, scanned the parchment, and vanished. Amneris held her hand face up in front of her. A small holographic screen appeared. Letters, numbers and symbols flickered across the screen as the Database was searched. Amneris closed her hand. The screen vanished.
Jay, meanwhile, continued to stare at the parchment. “Where’s the rest of it?”
“Vanished due to plot convenience,” Amneris joked, leaning over the back of a chair. A buzz went up her arm. Amneris opened the screen again. “There’s a complete copy in the Restricted Section of the Academy Library.”
Jay clapped his hands and pointed at her. “I fucking told you.”
Amneris rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, you and your divine wisdom are always right.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
Jay arrived at the fog-covered island early the next morning. He followed the protective path from the docks through the gap between the Grasslands and Caves. For a school, this place had a shit-ton of things Jay wished his schools had back when he was mortal. Like a proper education. He had no urge to go to another school ever again, but this place wasn’t half bad. He didn’t mind the occasional stay for business.
Someone was waiting for him at the base of the steps to the central ring. An aging Lyriumian man with pale skin, neatly trimmed black hair, and bright silver eyes named Orion. The Headmaster of the academy. He shook Jay’s hand in greeting and made a small joke about having to get up so early. Both knew it was a lie. Orion got up well before this. The first of the Academy’s classes started just before sunrise, though most students made it a point to avoid those.
“I was surprised to get your call,” Orion was saying as they wandered toward the central ring and the Towers inside.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Jay said. “Meant to call a lot further ahead but things happened.”
“Anything to be concerned about?”
“Doubtful.” A lie, obviously. It was something to be concerned about. The Rebels now had a powerful Terpolite Warrior in their ranks who the Court and their allies were no closer to tracking down. “You know Queenie,” he told Orion. “She’s always paranoid about something.”
The Headmaster laughed lightly. “Now, now, let’s not speak ill of our Queen. She has done many wonderful things for the Academy.”
“True.” Jay lowered his voice. “But, seriously, you should try living with her.”
“I have enough on my plate with my thousands of students.” Orion clasped his hands behind his back. “How long will you be with us this time?”
Jay sighed. “As long as it takes.”
Jay and Orion weren’t the only ones awake so early. Hathor and Dex sat in the narrow passage they’d visited last week. Dex had a holographic screen hovering above the keyboard he’d been typing furiously on for the past ten minutes. Hathor, however, was lost in thought, idly fingering the pendant around her neck – a golden version of the Eye of Horus with diamonds embedded into it, a gift from her mother a few years ago.
“What happened?” Dex asked.
Hathor turned to him. “Hm?”
“You’ve been staring at the wall since we got here.” He looked up at her. “Now, personally, I don’t see what’s so interesting about a stone wall—” Hathor laughed at that “—but either you do or something is bothering you.”
She looked down at the pendant. “There might be something.”
“Is it that friend of yours? Troy?”
Of course Troy was bothering her. He’d only avoided her all week for no apparent reason, even in the classes they had together. He refused to be her training buddy in Combat – Dex had stepped in for that – and had refused to sit anywhere near her in Magic Studies. Why wouldn’t it be bothering her?
Dex moved his keyboard aside. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“My best friend has been avoiding me for a week,” Hathor said, leaning her head against the cold stone. “I have idea why but think it might have something to do with you because he’s been avoiding me since we first came here.”
“Maybe he’s jealous,” Dex offered.
She blinked cluelessly. “Jealous of what?”
“You being with another guy.”
She blinked again. “Why would he be jealous of that?”
Dex pulled the keyboard back onto his laptop. “Never mind. Just a theory.”
Hathor frowned but decided to not push the matter. Instead, she moved to sit beside him and look over the screen. Her eyes couldn’t keep up with what was going on. Everything was a blur of motion. “What is all this?”
“Hacking.” He smirked. “It’s not like the movies.”
Hathor sighed dramatically. “I haven’t been to the movies in ages.”
“Think they’re doing a Kaiju marathon this weekend if you want to go.”
“Another one?”
“It could be fun.” Dex slammed his hands on the keyboard. “Damn, they changed it! How the fuck did they do that in a week?”
Hathor put an arm around his shoulders. “We can come back another time. I don’t mind waiting while you figure it out?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Disappointed, Dex begun packing up his things, stuffing them into the small bag he’d brought with him. He tossed it over a shoulder and helped Hathor to her feet. Together, they begun their way back through the narrow passage and across campus.
“Lutu is throwing a party tomorrow night,” Dex said as they reached the Dorms. Lutu was one of the many buildings and was named after the Shadow Goddess.
Hathor couldn’t hide her surprise. “Lutu does parties?”
“I know, they’re more Naka’s thing.” He smiled at the thought of the parties his own Dorm threw. “Lutu wanted to give it a go. Apparently it’ll be huge. We could . . . go together. If you want to,” he quickly added. “I don’t know if you’re into that or—”
“Like, a party party?” Hathor asked.
Dex laughed. “Yes, a party party.”
“Cool. I’m in.”
“Great!” He grinned. “Meet you outside Naiu at nine?”
“Sounds like a plan.” Hathor’s eyes landed on her watch. “Oh, shit! I gotta go. Was supposed to meet the girls a few minutes ago.”
Dex turned her away from the door. “Run!”
“That’s the plan!” She kissed his cheek and ran, calling over her shoulder, “See you tomorrow!”
Hathor ran as fast as her legs would take her. Maddie and Imogene hated when she was late for their café hangout sessions. It was something they’d been doing since First Year. Sky used to join them but had eventually decided the boy’s outing – something about the gym – was more entertaining.
Hathor almost lost her footing as she dashed down the staircase, grasping onto the railing to stop herself falling. Perhaps she should’ve flown after all. It wasn’t like their usual café, Sugar & Spice, was too far away. It was just down the road.
She was about to make the final sprint when something stopped her. A group of students chasing a girl. She had pale skin, long dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, and looked absolutely terrified. The group kept calling insults out after her. One word in particular stood out – Human. The girl was Human. Hathor looked down the road to the café, then back to the girl. She bit her lip. Shit. This was so gonna come back to haunt her.
The girl was shoved to the group by one of the men. Her books, pens, paper and tablet scattered to the pavement. The man went to kick her—
Hathor put herself between the girl and the man. She smiled sweetly. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“She’s Human,” the man answered, as though it were explanation enough.
“And?”
“A Human is on the God Worlds. A Lower Being is in a place for those with power.”
Hathor sniffed the air, taking in the man’s scent. “Speaking of Lower Beings, Snake Shifter, I’m pretty sure you also qualify. By your own logic, doesn’t that mean you should be beaten?” A pointed look.
The man hissed. Hathor, using the knowledge gained from her mother’s job, merely raised an eyebrow.
“Fine,” the man spat. “The Human can be your problem.”
He and his gang of friends turned away, all giving Hathor dirty looks. She flipped them off with both hands.
Hathor turned to the girl, helping her pick up her things. “Sorry about that. Those guys are arses. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said, daring not look up.
Hathor eyed her grazed knees. “Want me to fix that?”
She looked down, as though noticing the injury for the first time. Slowly, she nodded. A snap of Hathor’s fingers had the cuts vanishing like they were never there.
This time, the girl did look up. “How did you do that?”
“Magic,” Hathor answered with a wink. She held out her hand, the girl gratefully accepting, and pulled her to her feet. “What’s your name?”
“Ella.”
“Lovely to meet you, Ella. I only wish it were under better circumstances.”
She giggled.
“I’m Hathor.”
Ella looked over her, eyes widening. She curtsied. “It is an honour, Your Highness.”
Hathor laughed. “You don’t have to call me that. I may be daughter of the Photon Queen, but I’m also a student like you. Besides, the whole ‘rank’ thing has never really applied around here.” Her nose crinkled. “Well, most of us don’t believe in it.”
“I just wish I knew what I did wrong . . .”
“Oh, sweetie, you’ve done nothing wrong. Almost everyone here is from the Lower Planes, just like you. It’s just that certain species think highly of themselves and forget that, on Lyriumia, we consider ourselves to be equal, no matter your power or race or gender or belief or whatever other bullshit reasoning.” Hathor looked curiously at the girl. “Though I would be lying if I said I wasn’t even a little curious about meeting a Human at the Academy. They, um, don’t normally get invited. Powerless beings and all. You must have some power?”
Ella blushed, gripping her bag close to her chest. “I can sense things. Auras, I guess. I can also kinda read minds. Well, not read minds, more take really good guesses about why someone is feeling something.”
“Wow,” Hathor said, impressed. “Maybe you’re part Dreama.”
“Part what?”
“They’re a species known for being able to do things like read minds and understand emotions.” She smiled. “Either that or you’re a very advanced Human.”
Ella’s blush deepened. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
“You know, I’m supposed to be meeting some friends.” Hathor pointed toward the Café. “You can come, if you want.”
“Oh.” Ella pulled out her tablet, frowning at it. “I don’t know if I have a break.”
Hathor took the tablet from her hands and looked over the timetable. It was written in Lyriumian, unsurprisingly, but new students were usually given a translator to help them understand until they got a hang on the language.
“When, exactly, did you arrive on Lyriumia?”
“Two months ago,” Ella said. “I think.”
“Do you have a translator? Looks like a dark blue crystal, silver veins in it and a silver top.” Hathor pulled her own from around her neck. “Like this.” The girl shook her head. “Okay, weird, you should’ve been given one when you arrived. No wonder you can’t read this.” Hathor took off her pendant, handing it and the tablet to Ella. “I think you need it way more than I do.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup! Besides—” Hathor tapped her own bag— “I always carry a spare. Don’t really need it.”
Ella put the pendant around her neck. She gasped. “I can read it! Incredible!” She smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
Hathor shrugged, pushing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “So, about joining me and my friends . . .”
