Memoriae {memory}

Arya tried rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she made her way through the dimly lit hallways. Her sword was strapped to her side and she was faintly aware of where she was going. There were guards posted at almost every exit and they all seemed awake and ready for action if it should occur.

Arya made her way to Madame Kenna's weaponry classroom. She was at least grateful that the knights had chosen to hold their practice session inside the academy as opposed to outside. When Arya opened the door for the classroom, she found four pairs of eyes staring at her.

"Just on time," A voice said from the shadows nearly causing Arya to jump in fright.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that it was Sir Gideon whom and spoken. A female voice spoke next, "are you sure about this one Gideon? I'm not wasting my time on someone that is useless."

Arya tried not to react to the words coming out of the knight's mouth. If the knight didn't believe in her Arya would simply show that she was worthy of becoming their student.

Another member in the group snorted. "I knew you were away from the country but Catherine you seemed to be extremely lost. She was the Narvian Academy Champion and granted honorary knight status by the King himself. Hell she's one of the two young legends of Kalvaria. Sir Samuel even allowed her to join us in one of our practices when she visited the palace. So no, she is worth your time but with your rude attitude, I don't think you're worth her time." One of the knights stated. She had jet-black hair with purple streaks running through it. It was cut short, to her shoulders with different edges making Arya wonder if the knight had cut it with a knife herself.

Catherine rolled her eyes at the knight that had spoken on Arya's belief. "Forgive me great one," she said sarcastically to Arya.

Arya didn't reply but looked at Sir Gideon in surprise. She had not expected the knights to behave this way. They were almost mirroring the academy students but only older and more deadly.

"Yes, the knights can be a bit immature sometimes." Sir Gideon explained in response to Arya's expression. "Although when the King and Sir Samuel are around it's strictly work."

"Are we going to begin or what?" A familiar voice spoke out.

When she stepped into the limelight, Arya saw that it was Bianca.

Unable to hold down her curiosity, Arya spoke. "Bianca, what are you doing here?"

The guard smiled widely. "While everyone was busy with the Heres Gladii, I travelled to Kathoria and gave my knight exam. I passed with flying colours no thanks to you."

Arya smiled slightly. "No, it was all your hard work. I just pushed you in the right direction."

"This is all very sweet but are we actually going to start practice now?" Catherine added.

Sir Gideon looked at Arya with determination. "Let's start." He said before snapping into knight mode. "Bianca shut all the remaining lights. I want to see how good Arya's senses are."

Arya barely had time to process what Sir Gideon had said before all the lights had been shut. Arya couldn't see anything so she shut her eyes and allowed her other senses to take over. Following Madame Kenna's advice, she inhaled deeply and allowed her ears to become accustomed to her breathing.

This might have been futile to anyone else but Arya now knew what are breathing pattern was like. If someone else approached her in the dark, she would be able to differentiate between the two. Although Arya had never battled in the dark, she had a good idea of how this was done. She was pretty sure that the knights would launch a multi direction attack to confuse her. Arya unsheathed Anaz and allowed her hand to trace the sword to see how far it extended out.

"We are going to attack and we want to see how good you are at blocking us in the dark. You are free to use any method you would like." Sir Gideon's voice echoed through the room.

Arya had a pretty good feeling as to where he was standing but she was sure that he must have moved. Arya felt faint footsteps echoing in the room and she quickly strained her ears to hear which direction the noise was coming from. Since Arya was unable to pinpoint the exact location, she swung her blade in that general direction.

She heard a groan. She was pretty sure that she had hit a knight. Even though she had blunted her blade, she knew it could still hurt if Anaz came into contact with anyone. The lights automatically turned on an Arya glanced at the floor to see Bianca hunched over while holding her knee.

There wasn't any bleeding but it looked to be bruised. Bianca got up slowly while making sure to test her knee in the process. Arya began apologizing profusely but Bianca brushed her off, "I'll be okay." She said.

Arya still wasn't satisfied but decided to drop the subject. She turned to Sir Gideon who was grinning. "I guess your senses are pretty sharp. It's time to move onto the next activity."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the training session with the knights, Arya was exhausted. Not only had they practiced with weapons, the knights had been adamant about making Arya practice hand to hand combat as well. It wasn't really Arya's forte but it was also good to learn new things. Turns out that hand-to-hand combat was actually much more energy consuming then using a weapon. Arya's entire body had been aching when they had finished.

As she passed through the hallways, she heard more muttering than usually. Arya got the feeling something was wrong but choose to ignore it as she walked towards her room. Standing outside Arya's room were Yasmin and Silvia waiting impatiently for her.

"There you are." Silvia said as Arya approached the door. "Where were you?"

"I was practicing by myself." Arya replied. She glanced back to see weird expressions on both Yasmin and Silvia's faces. "Is something the matter?" She questioned as she entered her room.

Yasmin and Silvia followed her inside without an invitation.

"Lady Zelie is back." Yasmin blurted.

Arya didn't glance behind her as she went to gather her academy uniform. "So? She was set to arrive in a couple of days anyways, was she not?"

"Rumor has it she has information about the people that were caught."

Arya momentarily paused and turned around to look at Yasmin and Silvia. "How do you know this?"

"Besides, the fact that there has been a mandatory assembly called after dinner you mean?" Silvia said.

"Well then it's just speculation. It would do well if the rumor was not spread since it would confirm that the castle was attacked. Lady Zelie does not need frightened teenagers added to her plate." Arya said firmly.

It looked as through Yasmin wanted to say something more but she held her tongue. Arya nodded satisfied. Although she had a suspicion that they two of them were correct, she needed them to learn not to meddle with royal affairs. Arya had lived at the academy for a long time and although she had figured out many secrets she had to learn to keep them to herself. It was one of the most important parts about being a knight.

"Shall we go to dinner?" Arya suggested the two of them switching the subject as well.

They nodded and the three of them walked towards the great hall. Through the walk, Arya had noticed that the rumours had not subsided. It seemed as though they had only increased. Girls were muttering in the corners discussion things that should have been private information. Arya knew that at this point, even if Lady Zelie had not wanted to discuss the events of the Heres Gladii she would have to now.

They entered the great hall and immediately Arya's eyes went to the head table. Lady Zelie was seated in the middle. They had added more chairs and tables in order to fit the knights that had accompanied them back from the Heres Gladii. Arya ate her dinner in silence and instead listened to the buzzing conversation around her.

"I was only five minutes late but Madame Annie gave me detention." Silvia complained.

Arya merely smiled. It looked as though Madame Annie disliked more people than just her. "Welcome to the party. I had to clean and organize all the needles in her classroom for sleeping in after we came for the Heres Gladii."

"I think Madame Annie hates us." Silvia muttered.

Yasmin rolled her eyes. "I think that is a bit of an exaggeration." She muttered.

"No it's completely true." Silvia insisted.

Yasmin chose to ignore her comment. Instead she turned towards Arya, "have you been in contact with anyone from the Narvanian Academy?"

The question seems casually enough but Yasmin's eyes had a knowing glint in them. It was as if she knew that Aaron had written to her but that was not possible, unless it was Aaron who had asked Yasmin to place the letter in her bag. The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Aaron would not have been able to get close to her bag but it would have been possible for Yasmin to do so.

So Arya replied the best she could to Yasmin's answer. "Not necessarily. The real question is why I should want to stay in contact with people who nearly defeated us in the competitions as well as tore the clothes of one of our own."

"Well that was one boy from the academy. He was punished for it dearly. Besides, you can't say that the competition didn't spice up things between us." Yasmin replied. "If someone wrote me a letter, I would definitely reply."

The secret was out.

"Wait, did someone write Arya a letter?" Silvia interjected.

Arya gave Yasmin one of her best glares. Clearly being around Silvia had made Yasmin lose the ability to keep her mouth shut. Yasmin ignored her glare and instead ruffled her hands through her black curls. "Yes, Aaron wrote her and letter and asked me to deliver it to her."

Silvia squealed and Arya had to cover her ears. "That is so chivalrous and sweet. Did you reply?"

"No she didn't, and I don't think she is going to."

Silvia was flabbergasted. "You have to reply!"

Arya was saved from reply when Lady Zelie got up and signaled for the students to become silent. "As many of you might have seen, I did not come back with the academy students as they returned form the Heres Gladii." Lady Zelie began. "I had more pressing matters to attend to. You might have also seen the addition of the many knights as well." Her arm swept over the knights that were seated at the table.

"I know there are rumors circulating that school and that is to be expected. However, today I am here to straighten out everything and make sure that everyone has the correct information they need to make some very important decision." Lady Zelie's seafoam eyes glanced over the room making sure that she came into contact with everyone. Arya had a feeling she knew who exactly had spread the rumors and what they had said.

"On the final day of the Heres Gladii, there was a closing ball. It was held in honour of our Heres Gladii Champions Arya Ernest and Aaron Henderson. However, in the middle of the ball the palace was attacked."

There were some gasps but many of the girls nodded. They had probably already been told by their friends that had attended the Heres Gladii.

"There were about fifteen attackers and they mostly targeted the ballroom. The knights rushed in to protect everyone and our champions gave them a hand as well." Arya could feel the gaze of many students on her as Lady Zelie spoke.

"All the attackers were caught however there were two casualties, a boy and a girl who had left the ball without informing anyone. The girl, many of you might know is Misaki Hisakawa. She was a foreign exchange student from Japan and is now deceased."

Lady Zelie's gaze softened as she turned to a group of girls who were in the corner crying. They were the same ones who had asked Madame Kenna about their friend Arya realized. Lady Zelie confirming her death must have opened up sore wounds. Arya couldn't image the loss they were feeling. This girl had walked, talked and laughed among them. She had probably said she would return and bring a gift for them but now, she was six feet under.

"I stayed behind to find out as much information I could from the attackers. The King gave us extra guards in order to protect the academy and to make sure nobody else is harmed." Lady Zelie held her hand to her heart just as her father had done on the night of the attack. "I promise you on my crown that I will not let anyone lay a hand on any of my students. They will have to kill me before they can go through you."

"We will be implementing much stricter rules. Nobody is allowed outside the academy after curfew. You are not to be roaming the halls at night unless you have special permission or somewhere to be. It is best that when you walk outside, you do it with a partner. Although I have gained information, it is limited. We still don't know where the threat is coming from so it is best to be on the safe side." Lady Zelie explained the new rules.

Arya could see from the corner of her eyes that many girls were not happy with these rules but in such a setting there wasn't much they could do. If they spoke up, it would be insensitive and Arya knew that Lady Zelie would not let the disobedience go lightly.

Lady Zelie raised her glace filled a clear liquid. "Let us raise our glasses to honour the comrade that we have lost and promise that there will be no other after this."

Everybody raised their glasses in response to honour the one who had fallen. For Arya, the glass was a promise. To become stronger so she could make sure nobody else life was lost ever again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arya sat at the table looking at the black scroll in front of her. She was still contemplating whether she should reply to Aaron's letter or simply ignore it. Thinking about if for a moment later, Arya decided to just write whatever came to her mind. It didn't have to be good and she would have to see Aaron's expression to the letter either. She wrote, and rewrote for an hour until she was satisfied with how the letter looked like. It read:

Dear Aaron,

Thank you for your letter. It was quite a surprise, but a good one. I was honestly contemplating whether to right back or but decided that you at lease deserved a response from me.

It seems as though the Heres Gladii was merely hours ago but to think that it has been almost a week seems insane. The final match between us is something that I keep replying in my mind. Especially things that I or you could have done differently to change the outcome of the match but the more I think about it, there was nothing. We were evenly matched and were able to predict the others movement without much difficulty.

That had to have been the best duel of my life. It was as though the air between us was cackling with electricity and my blood was pumped with adrenaline. I would love to have the honour of battling you once more just so I could feel those feelings.

My life at the academy has been fairly pleasant. It was kind of difficult to return to normal classes and I received detention from Madame Annie the first day for arriving late to class. Jennica arrive almost fifteen minutes later then I did yet she was not given any detention. I guess Madam Annie still does not like me.

Lady Zelie returned from her trip tonight. She addressed the loss of the two students that night but most of the students did not look surprise. It was as if they had already known. Gossip spreads so easily among the students and Lady Zelie had to set the record straight for everyone.

There are new rules and security at the academy has been heightened. Knights are posted at almost every entrance and exits. We are not permitted to leave the academy without having someone with us for security. We are also recommended not to walk around the academy late at night only if it is very necessary. Lady Zelie has not spoken to me about the attack but I believe we will know what happened soon enough.

On a lighter note, I have begun training with the knights that have joined the academy. It is actually quite fascinating because they are able to teach me things I never learned before. You might want to get yourself a good teach as well or else I might beat you the next time we have a duel. Write back soon, I will be awaiting your response as well.

Sincerely,

Arya Ernest

As Arya sealed the letter she heard a light knock on the door. She opened the door to see that it was a student who was holding a paper in her hand. Arya raised her eyebrows awaiting the response of the girl.

"Lady Zelie has summoned you to her study." The girl squeaked out.

"Thank you for telling me," Arya replied. Before she had anything else to say, the girl was out of sight. It seems as though people were still frightened by her.

Arya grabbed the letter she had written last minute before she left her room. She walked through the dimly lit hallways to Lady Zelie's study. Knocking on the wooden oak door, she awaited a response. Lady Zelie called come in a few seconds later and Arya entered her study.

Lady Zelie was seated behind her desk and was writing what seems to be a letter. She pointed towards the seat in front of her, "Take a seat Arya."

Arya did as she was told. It was weird to see Lady Zelie's study at night since Arya almost always came her during the day. The place seemed messier than usually with books and papers scattered all over the desk.

When Lady Zelie looked up, Arya finally got to get a good look at her. She looked exhausted. Arya knew she was stressed out about the students as well as the faith of the academy. The pressure of the kingdom was also on her shoulders as well since she had her duties as princess that she needed to fulfill.

"How has the academy been in my absence?" Lady Zelie asked Arya giving her full undivided attention.

"It is well, the security has been considerable tighter but Sir Gideon made a good teacher substituting for Madame Kenna."

Lady Zelie nodded and smiled slightly. "I've heard that the knights have taken you under their wing. It's about time you learned new techniques. Madame Kenna and I could only teach you so much. I'm sure you'll go far under the guidance of the knights."

"Thank you, my Lady. Why did you summon me to your office?" She asked cutting straight to the chase.

Lady Zelie let out a loud sigh. "It seems as though nothing gets pass you does it? Well I'm sure you are curious to know what happened with those who attacked the palace yet, your still polite as ever which is why I know you won't ask me."

Arya listened to what Lady Zelie said and she knew that it was true. Her loyalty always outshone her curiosity.

"We got some of the best interrogators to question the attackers but it seems as though we aren't getting anywhere. We have never seen attackers that were so hard to break. Usually they break before we have to use some of the bigger machines for torture but they still kept their mouth silent." Lady Zelie explained.

"Couldn't they be from neighbouring countries and they snuck in with the delegates?" Arya asked.

"That's what we believe but our relations with everyone were more than fine which is why this attack doesn't make sense. Just to be safe, we have extra patrols on our borders. Our guess is this is something bigger then we think."

"Were the parents informed about their children?"

Lady Zelie nodded. "They arrived at the palace a few hours later after you all left. They were heartbroken, but that's to be expected. Luckily, out ties with Japan still remain strong even after the incident. This could have caused a catastrophe for our relations with other countries."

"So that academy is going to resume as normal?" Arya questioned.

"Yes," Lady Zelie said. "But we are assuming that many parents will want to take their children back home thinking that this place is no longer safe for them. I have already received a number of requests for their children to be dismissed from the academy."

"The academy is going to be much emptier in the next few days." Arya finished.

Lady Zelie nodded. She glanced at the clock that was hanging behind Arya's chair before she turned towards Arya. "I wanted to fill you in but it's best if you go to sleep now. You're going to be having a bright and early morning pretty soon." There was a twinkle in her eye as if she knew more than she was letting on.

Arya chose to let it go as she got up from the seat, she gave Lady Zelie the letter she had grabbed from her room. "Would it be possible to send this to the Narvanian Academy?" she asked.

Lady Zelie had a full on grin now. "Well yes it would be. Who is this letter addressed to?"

Arya shook her head indicating that she was not going to play this game. She walked to the door before speaking "You already know who the letter is for; just make sure that it arrives their safely. Goodnight Princess," Arya said before letting the door shut.

She heard Lady Zelie repeat the greeting until the door slammed shut. Shaking her head, Arya walked through the dimly lit hallways back to her room.

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Yay! Arya wrote back to Aaron. How did you guys like the knights training Arya? She is going to be learning a lot more now. Lady Zelie is also back but will the academy be the same? Anyways, please remember to vote and comment per usual. Lots of love:)