The news spread quickly throughout the academy, and everyone headed towards the hall.
Kaen, Solvane, and Azriel looked at one another in unison, then rose from the table one after the other.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance to the hall, where a large door adorned with incomprehensible symbols stood.
Everyone had already arrived and was waiting for the door to open.
But Solvane, Kaen, and Azriel had stayed a little behind to get some fresh air, or so Kaen said, though secretly he wanted to observe everyone to see if there were any suspicious individuals in the crowd.
There was a loud noise, then the door swung open and we began to catch a glimpse of the reception hall.
The hall was divided into three sections: a corridor leading to the auditorium, then the stage where the presenters of the events would stand.
Everyone went in, whilst the three of them stayed behind.
Suddenly, a man surprised them from behind.
He had platinum hair and silver eyes.
"Hey, hello, it's been a while since the three of us last saw each other," said the mysterious man
"Hello, Prince Lucien, it has indeed been a while," replied Solvane with a smile
"Hmph, what are you doing here?" replied Azriel, turning his head.
"I came here to study, just like everyone of them and all of us," he said, gesturing towards the throng of students entering the hall. "And we should go too, don't you think?" he said, looking Kaen straight in the eye
"What's up?" Kaen asked Lucien. "Ohhh yes, hello, how are you?" he said, slowly shaking his hand to mimic a handshake.
"Well, I never, is that how you greet an old friend?" asked Lucien.
"Stop it, both of you. We'd better get going, we're going to be late," urged Solvane.
They resumed their walk; Kaen remained on his guard and continued to watch everything that moved.
The group of four was literally being watched by everyone, yet they carried on walking as if nothing were amiss, and all sat down, each taking a seat next to the others.
Everyone sat down quietly and waited; not a sound could be heard.
After a while, the sound of heels could be heard.
A stunning woman with long blonde hair appeared on stage and picked up a microphone.
"HELLO EVERYONE, I'M ALICE MORNINGSTAR. A WARM WELCOME TO YOU ALL! " She paused: "BUT I WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING CLEAR BEFORE I CARRY ON. JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE HERE DOESN'T MEAN YOU'LL BE ADMITTED TO OUR SCHOOL. LOOK AT THE PERSON TO YOUR LEFT OR RIGHT; YOU MIGHT NOT SEE THEM AGAIN ONCE THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS IS OVER. THE TESTS ARE DANGEROUS. IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE NOW, IT IS NOT TOO LATE."
She waited a few moments to see if anyone would leave at that, and indeed a few people did leave, but compared to previous years, it wasn't much.
"Right, let's start with the tests you're going to take. There will be three of them:
A COMBAT TEST: YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT ONE OF YOUR SENIORS AND DEFEAT THEM OR GAIN THEIR APPROVAL TO PASS THE TEST WRITTEN TEST AND THE LAST TEST WILL, UNFORTUNATELY, NOT BE HELD TODAY
Alice Morningstar scanned the room with her eyes and then spoke again.
"ROOMS HAVE BEEN MADE AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE FOR TONIGHT; YOUR NAMES AND ROOM NUMBERS ARE DISPLAYED IN THE MAIN CORRIDORS. I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU ALL TO GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP." There was a pause, and a smile spread across the face of the student president, Alice: "THE FIRST TRIAL BEGINS TOMORROW AT DAWN. GOOD NIGHT, EVERYONE."
A nervous commotion could be heard from all corners of the room; some were cries of excitement, others of anguish.
Kaen, for his part, said nothing and showed no reaction, keeping a constant watch to see if anyone unusual was lurking nearby.
'Some are confident; they're not nervous about the events , it's not something that comes out of the blue, just the calm confidence that comes from a lot of thorough preparation; perhaps they'll go on to make a name for themselves.'
He made a mental note of their faces and stood up, following the others.
Everyone was rushing about; the corridor was packed, everyone wanting to see which room he'd and she'd been given. After a while, they went to see where they'd been placed; the girls and boys seemed to have been separated.
"So we'll split up here; we've got to go that way, and you've got to go the other way," said Solvane.
"It certainly looks that way," said Lucien
"Solvane, let's go" she turned and added, "See you tomorrow." She looked at Kaen for a moment, but then she started looking straight ahead as if nothing had happened
"Sleep well" Kaen said simply.
Lucien looked at Kaen: "You're clearly not right in the head. What happened?"
"I've lost my memory. Now leave me be, I need to rest. And don't tell anyone" said Kaen, without turning around, as he continued walking towards his room
He finally found his room and went inside; it was plain, a small bed, a small window, and a wooden table, nothing grand, just simple, which, after the Celestians' mansion, was truly relaxing.
He lay down on the bed, his head facing the ceiling.
The first trial: against a senior. Azriel was an advanced-stage initiate and was stronger than her rank suggested; no second-year could kill her in a duel, so there was no danger on that side.
Or at least that was what he hoped.
The second test is a written exam; it's very difficult to die on a sheet of paper, and it's a strictly supervised test; I can't see anyone causing any trouble during that time.
The third test is still unknown; this test could be anything and everything, and during it, anything could happen.
It's probably during this exam that something unexpected will happen.
But 'probably' wasn't enough. It simply meant there was room for failure, that he could make a mistake.
I'll have to stay with her throughout all three trials, and she won't understand why.
Azriel isn't the sort to accept being watched. She'd already noticed he was different; one more question and she'll start looking for answers he couldn't give her.
It's starting to be too much, something I can't handle. Should I tell Elisabeth? No, she might start to suspect me. How could I explain to her that something is going to happen and that someone is going to die, when I'm supposed to have amnesia?
He turned his head towards the small window. Outside, the academy was silent. Everyone was asleep, or pretending to be.
He wasn't sleeping.
He closed his eyes anyway.
Tomorrow at dawn.
Find something before then.
He found nothing.