I don’t know what I was expecting, but the nightmares are even worse than I anticipated. I lived through many of the times they were burning me again. Including times in my old universe. Now and then blend together in a giant storm of pain. I can’t wake up. I can’t breathe. I can’t move. I can’t scream. Only feel the pain. Only watch it all go down. Only fear that it could happen again. I wake up screaming, and next to me, Dex does too.
“Shh… it’s over. It’s over.” I say, recovering my wits.
“Yeah… yeah… y-you had nightmares too?” He asks.
“Mhm. Th- they won’t go away, will they?”
“Probably not.”
“I can’t keep living like this. The only time I get a good sleep now is when an empath helps me, or if I take a sedative.”
“I know. You’ll make it. We’ll make it.” I scoot closer to him, and start crying. He does too, and we’re just here. Together. Supporting each other.
“Thanks.” I say. “I know you’ll always be there for me. And I’ll be here for you.”
“I know you will.”
“Ah, you’re already up!” Magnate Leto says, walking in. “Where’s Elwin?”
“Hasn’t arrived yet.” I shrug.
“Hm. Well, school starts soon, so go get ready, and I’ll give you your alternate schedules.”
“Ok.” I say, hurrying off to change into my uniform. When I get back, Elwin gives me a quick checkup while Magnate Leto tells me where I’ll go today.
“Sir Tiergan has study hall duty today, so you’ll visit him for the first half of P.E.. Then Barth the Reaper, and you’ll see Lady Vida during study hall.”
“Alright. Thanks.”
“No problem. Where’s Dex? He wanted to visit a few classes too.”
“Right here.” Dex says.
“You’re going to see Lady Iskra, is that ok?”
“Yeah. I just can’t believe that midterms are tomorrow, for us. How will that work?”
“The mentors will come and administer a test of your knowledge on their subject, and you’ll be in another room. Each test period will be 50 minutes, and points will be deducted if you go over that limit. There will be a lunch break in the middle of the day, though you won’t be stopping in the middle of a test for it, and if you don’t go over your time limit, you should be able to get to study hall on time. Since you’ll be the only telepath, and the thinking caps probably won’t affect you, you won’t need to wear them. Also, we found the spot where they ambushed you. And they left everything there. All the things you bought, and your jewelry. Elwin is sanitizing it, and checking for enzymes they might have used on them.”
“Do I get to do tests tomorrow?” Keefe asks.
“You’ve missed enough school that you’re excused. You will have to take finals at the end of the year, so don’t think you’re off the hook. You’ve got to keep your grades up if you want to go to the elite levels.”
“What if I don’t care about school that much?”
“Every pupil is encouraged to keep going until the elite levels. Since we have indefinite life spans, you’re not going to miss two years that much. You’re going to school like normal today, except P.E. or any other potentially dangerous subjects.”
“Fine. I’ll take finals.” Keefe rolls his eyes, and Elwin leaps in.
“Oh, you’re up already. I trust that you’ve told them about their stuff?” He looks at Magnate Leto.
“Yes, I just told them.”
“Alright. Well, here it is. I’m not sure which ones are whose, so it’s all in this bag.” I take the bag, and dump the contents on an empty cot. I grab my necklace, sucker punch, charm bracelet, and panic switch. I’ve never stopped wearing it, despite its pointlessness.
“Is that a panic switch?”
“Yeah. But it’s not connected to anyone anymore.”
“If you let me take it home, I can connect it to mine.”
“Yeah, that would be great. I only use it in emergencies.”
“You’ll probably use it more than Sophie.”
“You gave her one?”
“Yeah. After we were kidnapped the first time.”
“Hold on, the first time? You were kidnapped before?”
“Yeah. I was with Sophie, and I saw them, so they took me too.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve moved past it. Or, at least, I had. This sort of… brought back old memories.”
“It did for me too. We’ll get through it. We did before, and we will again.”
“Yeah. We will.”
“Should we hand out the charms at lunch?”
“Yeah. But you have to wait for yours until after school tomorrow.” The morning chimes sound, and we head to orientation. The group meets us there, and we all sit together. The only issue with that, is that nobody can focus on announcements. We’re just glad to be together again. I go off to Sir Tiergan’s room to find out what to do for midterms.
“I’ll just test a few skills related to telepathy. Like transmitting, tracking thoughts, and projecting. Now, I was wondering if I could take a look inside your mind. I want to see what they did to you and Dex.” He says.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Magnate Leto. I’m not sharing any times when they were torturing us. And I’m going to project everything else in m y journal tonight.”
“But-”
“You’re not going to convince me to share them with you. Nobody will see those. Ever.”
“You’re so much more stubborn than Sophie.”
“Normally I’m not, it’s just this.” He sighs.
“It’s about time for you to head to Barth the Reaper. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye.” I walk down to the gardens, and find Barth the Reaper waiting for me. They tell me what I’ll be doing for my midterm. I’m going to speed up the growing of a porcaroot sapling, by making a special fertilizer out of other plants. I practice listing which plants I’ll use, when I’m interrupted by the chimes.
“Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow.” I say as I start heading towards lunch. I sit between Dex and Biana, and we hand out the charms we got them as midterm gifts. Everyone loves them. After that, I mostly stay quiet during the conversation. Everyone wanted to talk about how the Neverseen might retaliate, or how much stricter the security everywhere is. Even though I never asked for any of it, I can’t help but feel like it’s partially because of me. Then it’s time to go see Master Cadence.
“Today, we’re talking about political terms you should avoid in trollish.” She announces when Sophie and I are both there. “Ogrish is next week, then gnomish, and goblinese. Dwarvish is last, since you’ll be the least likely to encounter them.”
“What about-” I start to ask, but Masted Cadence interrupts me.
“If you’re about to ask about midterms, then you should remember that I already told you what you’re doing for them. And no, you may not use this session to study. Now, let's begin.” The lecture is long, but now I know I won’t offend any trolls, not that I get to see them too much. The only reason we touched them first is because they have the most terms to learn. I hurry off to elementalism to see Lady Vida instead of going to study hall.
“Hello Lori. What did you want to go over with me?” Lady Vida says when I get into her room.
“Just wanted to check that I’ll actually be able to pass my midterms.”
“Yeah. Since you’re not allowed to actually do anything in this subject since it’s ‘too dangerous’ you’ll write a quick paper on how to bottle ripples. It’s not too hard, and I know that there’s a lot of pressure right now, so I made it easier on you.”
“Alright, thanks. Could you help me check my method?” She helps me out, and I’m confident that I’ll be able to pass tomorrow by the time we’re done. When Sophie and I leap home, I go up to our room, and grab my journal. I take a deep breath, and project every detail I can remember onto the page, which is a lot, thanks to my photographic memory. Under each picture, I write the question Gisela asked me, and the answer I gave her. Looking back, I gave away a lot more than I should have. “I shouldn’t have said that…” I mutter. I’m only halfway through when Edaline calls me down for dinner. I eat my food slowly, knowing that when I’m finished, I’ll have to go back to pouring over each individual memory, wondering how much time had passed between each one. After I finish, I decide to sleep outside.
“Do you want me to hail Stina?” Sophie asks.
“Yeah. Thanks for at least putting up with her for me. What happened last time after I fell asleep?”
“She said she was glad she could help you, and leaped away.”
“Hm.” A minute later, Stina is sitting on my pillow mountain with me and Sophie. “Thanks for doing this for me.” I say.
“No problem.” Sophie turns on her enhancing, and I have to consciously remind myself to stay here.
“Maybe the next step with your enhancing is to see if you could turn it down a little?” I suggest.
“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” She asks, concerned.
“No, it’s just hard not to. Why don’t you start?” Soon I’m fast asleep, but Stina sending the calm blue waves didn’t help.