Commander Void was having a rather peaceful day. He was sitting in his office, working on paperwork. It was a curse all Commanders suffered, paperwork. Void remembered trying to help his mentor with hers, but she never wanted him to. Void sighed and leaned back in his chair running his fingers through his hair.
He hesitated, and was about to continue working when suddenly an explosion hit his wall and suddenly, there was a plane in his office. He shouted in alarm and grabbed his sword, holding it ready as he stared at the plane with wide eyes. It was then that he noticed the plane bore the Sky Army crest.
Suddenly the side door opened and a familiar boy stumbled out, coughing.
Of all the places I could crash. Of all the damn places.
I stared at Void in fear as he stared back in astonishment. Then his eyes narrowed. "Dahlburg!"
I yelped and bolted out of the room. "My friends call me Sky!" I called behind me.
He started to run after me, but a woman suddenly ran into the room, stopping him. She was Amanda, the General who greeted us at the door.
"Wait, wait!" She said. "Don't punish him!"
"He skipped off training and stole a damn plane at three in the morning!"
"No, no, I saw what happened! Listen!"
And I didn't hear anymore before I ran around the corner to temporary safety. I ran into my quarters and quickly closed the door with a sigh. "Damn it..." I said, catching my breath.
I hesitated for a moment, then sighed and changed out of my uniform and into a tee shirt and sweatpants. I pretty much decided that I hated the army. I didn't want to be here anymore, but whatever, I had to take care of Ty...
I flopped down on the bottom bunk, seeing as Ty had taken the top, and finally got to sleep.

So everyday except Sunday, all recruits were required to check into the training hall to train for two hours. Despite the fact my muscles were killing me from yesterday, I decided to get my training over with.
After that I took a shower, at which time Ty was just getting up, and then went to the library like Jason had advised.
When I walked in, recruits were looking around at books quietly, a few chatting amongst themselves in hushed voices. The place was lit up by wisp-like lanterns that floated around through the air. Must've been some kind of science or something. There was a science division here right?
There were towering bookshelves built higher and higher up, separated by a balcony going all the way around the room in the center. There were ladders that rolled along the rows of books that stretched all the way up to the ceiling. On the floor in the center of the room, where they could see the actual ceiling instead of the balcony, a bunch of round tables were set up. A few recruits were there reading books. There were also bean bags littered across the floor, where two more were sitting, one of them eating a chocolate bar. The others were searching for books or checking them out.
The checkout system was interesting, because they actually checked the books out themselves. Sky couldn't see the daytime librarian anywhere.
He walked in and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen of course he could have been one of the few reading, but I couldn't know that.
I walked up beside a kid who was about to leave. "Er... D you know where the librarian is?" I asked.
She blinked. "Oh, he should be in the culture section. He always is. You new here or something?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
"Oh, well, for future reference. He's either in the culture section or reading a book from the culture section at the table. You wanna ask a question, you gotta find him."
I nodded. "Thanks ma'am."
She waved casually before walking out with her book on multicellular microbiology or something. I looked through the rows searching for culture. Fantasy, nonfiction, science fiction, mysteries, even fan fiction. Why would they have a section on fan fiction?
Then I finally found it. "Cultural Nonfiction."
I peered into the row, where one lantern was lighting it. A red one, casting a warm glow all around. There was a boy looking through the books distractedly. He had brownish-auburn hair, and brown eyes. He wore a red and black hoodie over a long-sleeved white shirt, and had dog tags around his neck. "Er... Hello?" I asked.
He jumped and looked over in alarm, then realized I was just asking a question and he relaxed. "Oh, sorry. I didn't see you." She closed his book, and I saw the cover; the Theogony.
I smiled. "Hey, can I see that or were you going to...?"
"No, no, I've read it a hundred times." He hands it to me. "But I should warn you, it's written in Latin."
"Well I should hope so." I smiled a little as I opened it as looked at the Latin words. "I took three years of Latin in middle school. It's really difficult, but it managed."
"Yeah, I speak Latin too." The boy said.
I blinked and looked up. "You speak Latin?"
"Oh, well not really. I speak Baccan Latin, it's easier. There's only two declensions and three tenses, so it's actually possible to speak. But most of the words are the same except for a few. I spent a lot of time learning about both languages... They fascinate me." He held out a hand. "Mitch Hughes."
"Adam Dahlburg, friends call my Sky. Where are you from?" I asked curiously.
"I'm from the Feudlands, actually. That's why I wanted to learn."
I blinked. "Feudlands?"
"You from a small town or something?"
"Yeah, a bit backwater."
Mitch rolled his eyes and pulled out a book that looked like something you'd find in a history classroom. He flipped to the very back, where I saw a map. I'd seen it before, only far less detailed. I only knew the two islands and some of the other regions. I had no idea how big the world actually was. Suddenly, the term: 'it's a small world after all' made no sense.
"Whoa..."
"I know, right?" Mitch smirked knowingly. "When I was a kid, I didn't think there was anything besides my town, Nullwood, and the Woodlands. Here." He pointed to the island marked with large letters, "Eyre", near the bottom. I saw the two regions he was referring to, which seemed to be separated by a river. "I thought those two regions were it. But then, one day, I got curious and eventually, I left the Woodlands."
"I thought you said you were raised in Nullwood."
"Shit happens."
I was confused, but I went along with it.
"So what's your question?" Mitch asked.
"A friend of mine told me you'd know why the Commander is so pissy all the time."
"Which one?"
"...Pardon?"
"Which Commander? Void is the eighth."
"Void, I guess."
"Oh... Well, there are a lot of theories. But they're wrong." Mitch said. "I know the reason for sure. The Dual Division leader told me. His fiancé died about fifty or sixty years ago."
My gaze softened. "Oh..."
"Yeah, apparently they were close. I mean obviously, they were gonna get married. I have no idea who his fiancé was though. Maybe you could find out."
I snorted. "Don't hold your breath. He hates me."
"He hates everyone." Mitch said. "So don't feel bad about it."
I glanced down at the still-open textbook, and the map of the world. "Can I check that book out please?"
"Yeah, go right ahead. Want the theogony as well?"
"Nah, you keep it."
"Any other Latin stuff? We got it all, I've been collecting them. Pyramus et Thisbe, Astrology Guide, The Iliad, the whole bit."
"Nah, I'm good... Later Mitch."
He waved in response, then put the Theogony away.
I flipped through the textbook curiously as I headed down the base corridor after checking it out. Looking at the cover, I found it was actually a catalogue of important missions throughout nearly three hundred years that the base had been active.
There was this one led by... The third Commander, apparently. A woman named Annie Baxter. On the first page I found a catalogue for each Commander, in order. This was all pretty interesting suddenly, and there was a sense of legacy in the base. Void was apparently the eighth Commander. His mentor was a woman named Li-
My thoughts were abruptly interrupted as I suddenly ran into something, dropping my book. "Oh sorry!" I said. Then I realized who I ran into. I stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, then I turned and trie to run off, but he grabbed my arm.
"Hey!" Void barked, and I winced.
I turned to face him and he stared at me emotionlessly. "Is it true that you stole a plane to defend a cadet?"
I blinked in surprise in confusion.
"Well, Warrant?"
I slowly nodded. "Yes sir."
"How long had you known this cadet?"
"...About thirty minutes, sir."
"And you risked your life just so you could keep him from getting punched in the face?"
"...Yes sir."
Void shook his head. "That's ridiculous. Noble, but moronic. You could have died!"
I shrugged. "Well I didn't."
Void stared at me as though he were considering something. Probably my punishment. I was prepared to lose my legs from the impending laps I would be running. "I'm gonna regret this..." He sighed. "Kid, what d'you think about an apprenticeship?"
I blinked.
I blinked again.
And again.
Void watched me expectantly.
"...Uh..." I looked behind me, but there was no one there. He was definitely taking to me. I looked back at the Commander in shock. "...What?"

Colonel Turner Rochelle sighed as he walked into the lab, and to the back table, where Amanda always worked. He handed her the shake he'd brought with him and leaned against the table as she tried it. "So I heard a plane crashed through Void's office last night." He said. "You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?"
"Well I kept him from murdering the recruits that did it." Amanda said without looking up. "And I'm pretty sure I convinced him to take the boy as his apprentice."
Turner choked on his own shake. Amanda looked at him as he coughed. "What?"
"The kid... Crashes a damn plane into the Commander's office at two in the morning, and you think he'd make a good Commander himself someday? Even more, Void actually agrees with you?!"
Amanda shook her head. "I just have a feeling." She said. "I bet he's gonna be good someday. He just needs proper training."
Turner sighed. "You're nuts. Both of you."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Yeah but you love it."
"Well, I love you. I don't love him."
"I'm sure he doesn't love you either."
"Unless he expresses love by criticizing your teaching methods every time he sees you when he doesn't even know how to do the shit I do."
"You're the Dual Division leader, nobody knows how to do what you do."
"Well... Abby did."
Amanda sighed sympathetically. "That wasn't your fault."
"It doesn't really matter. Either way, I don't have a partner."
"You have me."
"Yeah but you're not my partner, you're my girlfriend."
Amanda giggled softly.
Turner looked at her in confusion. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing..." Amanda said, smiling as she continued to work on her experiment. "It's just that it's been four years and I still thinks it's adorable when you call me your girlfriend."
"Four years, really?" Turner asked. "Gah, I was seventeen back then, why did you even like me?!"
"Mostly because you were my lab rat and you did everything I said."
"Oh great, so you fell in love with a lab rat."
"No, I fell in love with you."
"But you just - oh whatever I've learned not to question these things."
Amanda hummed happily. "Good boy."
Turner opened his mouth to say something, potentially sarcastically, when suddenly a voice came from the door. "Mandy?" He asked.
Several of the cadets working on their own experiments at separate tables looked up at the sound of the voice. The collective movement was very similar to a biology teacher interrupting a physics teacher in the middle of class, the students all looking up to watch and see what he wanted.
Said biology teacher, or rather, Doctor Remi J. Rent, stood there looking rather sheepish. He had dark brown hair, greying with age, and kind eyes. "Could I maybe borrow some screws?"
Amanda blinked and opened a drawer on her lab table. "Sure, how many?" She asked.
"Oh, a couple hundred, a thousand at most."
"A thousand?!" Turner asked incredulously. "Remi, what are you gonna do with a thousand screws?"
"You know that Warlock kid we got a few weeks ago?"
"Okay, his name is Harvey." Amanda said. "And he's a Sorcerer, not a Warlock."
"Well he's a shit Sorcerer." Turner said. "He and this other kid were trying to get him to use external magic."
"Did he?" Turned asked.
"Yeah. It made every single screw in my office teleport to somewhere in Mojang City."
Turned laughed. "God, I hope they appear in the middle of a broadway show."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "I'll get you the screws, just gimme a minute."
"Thanks, Mandy, you're the best." Rent disappeared back around the doorway, heading back to the Infirmary next door.
"That kid's a terror."
"He's actually not. I think he has a lot of potential."
"You think everyone has potential."
"That's because everyone does have potential."
Turned looked at her as her gaze was away, staring down at her contraption as her fingers moved across the metal structure. He smiled at her and pushed himself away from the table. "Well, I should get back to the west wing. Dinner tonight?"
"Sure. Later!"
"Hey and don't fall asleep in the lab again." Turned said as he headed out into the corridor.
Amanda smiled bit to herself. "No promises, dear..."

"There you are! Where have you been all day?" Ty asked as I walked into our quarters.
I tossed my practice sword across the room. "Reading."
"Why couldn't you come home to read?"
"Because I read on the way here and went like zero-point-three miles per hour."
"Whatever. You should've been there, they announced that tomorrow we'll be told what Division we wanna be in."
I looked at Ty in confusion. "Division?"
"Yeah, like we have to pick if we want to be in the Sky Army, or the Dead Army, or the Dual Legion and all that. I mean, we can switch, but apparently it's a lot of work... I don't know what I'm gonna pick. What about you, what do you think you'll pick?"
I bit my lip. "Ty..."
"I really can't do any sort of fighting, and I suck with a sword... l maybe I should be a cadet."
"Um... Ty..."
"But I'm not really smart enough am I?"
"Ty, I'm not gonna be put in a Division. I won't have one."
Ty looked at my in surprise. "What?" His eyes widened. "Are you leaving...?"
"No, no." I sighed and sat down. "But... Commander Void asked me to be his apprentice."
Ty laughed out loud. "That's funny. No, seriously, what Division do you think you'll be placed in?"
"I'm not kidding, Ty." I hummed, leaving back in the chair. "I'm the Commander's apprentice."
Ty looked at me in shock. "But he hates you!"
"I know!" I said. "I have no idea why the hell he would want me to be his soldier let alone his heir!"
Ty sighed a little. We grew quite for a moment, then he looked at me. "What Division do you think I'll get?"
I shrugged, "I really don't know, Ty... I have no idea what happens next. We're already way out of our league."
"We'll be okay..." Ty smiled a little. "Wanna order a pizza?"
I laughed. "Hell yeah!"
And the matter was forgotten, for the time being.