Cyrus Solaris
Since the second group test, I've gone out of my way to make sure I don't run into Sora, Jace, Voen, and Nerena.
I waited until everyone left the cafe before I went to eat, and stayed away from the rec building on the center isle.
My housemates hounded me about staying to myself; they didn't understand, and I didn't feel like explaining why.
They had no issues with people holding them back.
I sat in the planetarium, eating alone, until my housemates arrived for class. I overheard them talking about the current team rankings.
Kuru's team had jumped up in the rankings; his team was now in the top ten. Sanka's also made a big stride, jumping from thirty-fifth to the top twenty. My team sat in the bottom five, sitting at forty-fifth. It was depressing, and the worst part was that it wasn't my fault.
Soon after, Professor Rhandall waltzed into the classroom.
"Alright, class, today we are going over a star life cycle," the class moaned at his declaration. It's something that the professor has been rehashing frequently.
"Don't start. This is important; it will save your life one day," he snapped back, taking a bite of a bagel, allowing cream cheese to smear against his shirt.
The professor picked a random student. The student started well, but messed up at the third stage of the life cycle. "Close, let's see if anyone can correct him." I ducked underneath my seat, pretending to pick up something off the ground, hoping he wouldn't call on me.
He had been doing that a lot lately.
"Cyrus, could you correct your classmate?"
A shallow sigh escaped my lips as I stood up. I scanned the room and locked eyes with Professor Rhondall, who was motioning with his hand for me to hurry up.
"As we all know, the life cycle of a star is the process from when the star is formed all the way till its death. So it begins with the stellar nursery, which forms a proto-star. Then the proto star grows and becomes a main-sequence star. This is when nuclear fusion begins, burning hydrogen in the core.
Afterward, when the core runs out of hydrogen to burn, the star begins to burn its outer shells, consisting of hydrogen, helium, and carbon. This process causes the internal pressure in the star to increase, forcing the star to swell in size. This is what we call a massive red giant.
Then, depending on the star's initial mass, it will either keep burning until it becomes a white dwarf and dies. Or it can go supernova if the initial size of the star is eight to ten times the size of a normal solar mass. After that, either a neutron star or black hole is created, and the ejected material from the supernova becomes the new material to become a stellar nursery," when I finished the class giggled. I eased myself back into my seat,
"What's so funny?"
Then a classmate named Giovanni, a member of the Pyrralis family, turned towards me. "Bennu, everyone knows not to count black holes, since they are anomalies that rarely even occur," he said with a cocky grin.
"But you're a commoner; you guys tend to believe in the things that don't matter."
I looked at Professor Rhandall, wondering if he would give me any backup. All he did was raise an eyebrow at me as he sipped coffee. I was in a tough spot.
"Choosing not to acknowledge an anomaly is a sin in the world of astronomy; that's choosing to be oblivious to probability, isn't it, Gio?" I shot back.
The students all shift their bodies back towards him, awaiting his response.
Professor Rhandall even pulled a chair out of his dimensional storage, making me wonder how he even got picked to be a teacher.
"Bennu, Bennu, Bennu." I hated the way he said my mother's surname; his arrogance was beginning to rub me the wrong way.
As if he were in command of the class, he stood, "You are familiar with the constellation my clan is connected to, correct? I mean, you should be right, even the Bennu tribe knows a thing or two." Our classmates started to whisper.
"Those connected to the Ashvara constellation, we understand that death and rebirth are a natural function of our universe. We welcome it and understand its power. Is there anyone here who would like to contest that fact?" No one opposed.
"Good. So tell me, Bennu, how does the star life cycle path you spoke of fit into that function of the universe? The anomaly of a black hole: Does it provide the ability for a new star or celestial object to be born?" The murmurs grew as the class turned towards me.
Giovanni was good at this. He debated well, used his status to support his claim, and worked the class well. If I didn't know any better, I would have mistaken him for an Arbiter.
"No, they don't."
"That's what I thought. Things that enter them are lost forever. This is why everyone laughed at you, Bennu. It doesn't fit the mold of the universe. But if you weren't living in ashen huts all your life, maybe you would have learned that ages ago." The class roared in laughter.
Giovanni sat back in his seat.
"When I become the head of the Pyrralis clan, I'll make sure your tribe gets exiled. They don't deserve to live on our sacred land."
I stood. Cosmic energy flooded my fist.
He had a punchable face, A face that looked like he never had it hard a day in his life. I see why Mom never talked about the country she came from.
If they were anything like him, they were horrible people.
"Oh, is the commoner going to come after me. Try it, and I'll scorch you," Giovanni said, as a blazing feather manifested above his hand.
A sudden pressure washed over the room: "Stand down, all of you; this is a classroom, a place for learning and open discussion. Not a battlefield. Do I make myself clear?"
Professor Rhandall said, taking a step toward Giovanni, grabbing the flaming feather out of the air, and extinguishing it.
The class fell silent for the rest of the lecture.
When it was time to leave, Giovanni bumped into me and whispered in my ear.
"You aren't a real Bennu, are you?"