Chapter 2

I don’t know how long I slept, but the melody of a flute seemed to float around me. It was soothing as if I was getting a massage; just add the sound of waterfalls or the sounds of waves, and bingo, you’re in your own little vacation spot. I cracked my eyes open and noticed that the sun was shining through my windows, which were actually doors that lead to a balcony. The first thing I noticed in the room was a clock painted on the ceiling. The pointers were both on the seven; just like the one that was on the front of the academy. That was weird. In front of my bed was an elegant white vanity resting on top of dresser drawers, its cherry wood furnished and cleaner than clean. The flute melody didn’t seem to stop; it was as if it was a wakeup call for students. Getting out of the bed, I went over to the vanity and opened up the drawers and noticed that all of my clothing was packed away nice and neat, each drawer holding a different article of clothing. But where was my uniform? Looking over towards my door, I noticed a door embedded in the wall and, just as it hit me, I opened up the door and saw that the five uniforms that was in the limo was hanging up in the tiny closet. Taking a uniform out of the closet, I looked around to see where I can get a quick shower, and on the left of my dresser was a door.

“Please let this be the bathroom.” I said as I put the hanger on the handle and as I opened up the door, there it was. The bathroom was white with random blue tiles appearing here and there on the floor and the walls. The curved bathtub was white with thick royal blue shower curtains; the sink was green marble on top with the drawers and cabinets below it a pale yellow. Everything about this was very elegant and it felt like I was living in a palace rather than a dorm. After I took a shower and did my hair, I wrapped myself in one of the provided housecoats and looked at the uniform in front of me. I took it and put it against my body and examined myself in the mirror. A frown appeared on my face as I saw that the skirt was a bit shorter than I wanted it, going just above my kneecap, and the short sleeves seemed to be kind of useless as it was autumn and it was getting colder outside. Either way, I shrugged and put my uniform on, tugging my clock necklace behind the fabric of the shirt and went over to my vanity again, now noticing my schedule lying on top, along with the rules of the dorm. The rose that Hansol gave me was still intact and it seemed to have never lost an inch of ice, even with the sun blaring inside my room. I smiled remembering how he made it. If I’m able to produce Water, will I be able to have enough skill to do that? But enough of boys, my schedule seemed to be more important.

“History class first, Elements, of my choosing of course, second…” I said reading the list, knowing that I will have to choose an element. “What? No science? No math?” Well it seemed like this wasn’t that bad after all. “Lunch for an hour, Astronomy, Element practice, which sent my stomach to drop, and then a study hall. Is that it?” My smile was beginning to slowly fade as I saw how long the classes were; no wonder there weren’t that many classes. It seemed like this school was more focused on Elements than anything else. Of course there would probably be curricular activities after the classes to fill in the space. Without wasting any more time, I folded my schedule properly to make it fit in my little pocket on my shirt, grabbed my key and locked my room. I almost forgot, I have no other pockets, so where could I put my key? Almost as if I forgot it was there, I looked down at my clock necklace and got an idea. Unclipping my necklace, I put the key through the metal rope and placed the clock in front of it. As I put my necklace back on, the hallway was surprisingly empty, maybe some students didn’t want to get out early, but how did that flute music not wake them up? And then I noticed that the music wasn’t playing anymore, not out in the hallway at least, but muffled behind my door.

“Strange…” I said as I went over to another door that was across from me and as I put my ear against the door, I noticed that there was no sound. Confused by this, I decided to just go about my business and head towards the elevator that Hansol and I took from last night. Before the doors closed, a hand stopped them and I noticed that the lady from behind the counter entered the elevator with me.

“Oh, good morning.” She smiled at me as she pressed the “lobby” button.

“Good morning,” I smiled back.

“Have a good sleep?” She asked as she took a sip of coffee from her mug.

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” The elevator stopped and the doors opened up to the lobby where the lady got out and entered behind the desk again.

“I can take your key for you and keep it until you get back.” She smiled.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” I showed her my necklace.

“Good idea.” The lady, who I remembered was named Sue, nodded towards me. “You have no idea how much I have to go through with those keys. But I never had a problem with yours, though. From the way that it’s made, your key was always easy to find.” She took a closer look at my necklace and had a smug look on her face. “That clock on your necklace…where’d you get it?”

“This? Oh, I just got it. My parents gave it to me as a birthday gift before I left to come here.” I answered. “I don’t know where they got it, but it goes really well with the school, considering that this school is kind of obsessed with clocks.”

“Oh, you can say that it has its obsessions here and there.” Sue nodded. “As long as I have been here, the clocks have never changed.”

“How long have you worked here?” I asked leaning on the desk, and, right above the row of hangers, was a working clock; well what a coincidence. It was only eight in the morning, so I had some time before my first class started.

“Oh, you can say several years.” Sue smiled.

I looked out of the door and saw that the cool autumn fog was taking over the grounds, giving it a spooky atmosphere, especially with the sun shining in the distance. “Um, where did that flute music come from?”

“Oh, you mean your alarm?” She asked coming up from behind the counter with a stack of papers in her hand. “That’s normal, hun. Each student has it; it’s just that some come on later for others, depending on their schedules. You have it lucky, though! The flute is the best alarm to wake up to.” Sue looked at me and tilted her head. “You know,” She started. “The girl who had your room way before you…” But she stopped and shook her head. “Never mind, if I start, I’ll never stop my little story time. You better get going; wouldn’t want to be late for your first class.”

I was confused as to what she was going to say, but I smiled and nodded my head as I headed out the door, the cool air blowing into my face, sending chills down my arms. Seriously, why did the girls get short sleeves and skirts for the fall?! I walked the lonely path back towards the academy, nothing but the sound of my footsteps echoing throughout the atmosphere. Where was everyone? If Sue said that it was an alarm, then how come more students weren’t outside heading towards their first class right now? Maybe I was just really early or that my alarm was defective. I wished that someone was walking with me. That’s when I heard the sound of footsteps from the distance. I stopped in my tracks and looked around the fog trying to figure out where they were coming from.

“Hey!” I heard a familiar voice and then I saw a figure getting closer. From the uniform it had on, I could tell that it was from that group that I saw last night. Laughter of a young boy could be heard with even more footsteps being heard. “Yano, stop!” All of a sudden a blast of wind exploded and the fog cleared up to reveal Hojoon, Yano, and A-Tom from last night.

“Got rid of the fog!” Yano smiled in triumph. “Now we can see where everyone is!”

“Yano, what did P-Goon tell us?!” Hojoon asked.

Yano pouted and crossed his arms. “What? You’re here, so that should be considered acceptable.”

“Ah, Hojoon, he’s just having fun! Give him some slack,” A-Tom explained as he came up by Yano and put his arm around him.

“Geez, you don’t know how to have any fun,” Yano frowned and then when he noticed me, his frown didn’t change. “Hey, Hojoon, I think we found her.”

“Y-you were trying to find me?” I asked, blush coming on my cheeks.

“Uhm,” Hojoon began to scratch the back of his head in an embarrassing way.

“Oh, they gave you the summer outfit! for you,” Yano laughed.

“Guys!” Hojoon glared at them. “Sorry about that, they’re the youngest in the group. They’re little mischiefs sometimes.”

“I see that,” I smiled as I wiped off any dust that got on my uniform.

“Going to your first class?” Hojoon asked as we all continued waking towards the academy.

“Yep, History, classroom B.” I answered.

“Ah! You have History with Yano and me!” A-Tom smirked.

“Oh boy…” Yano whispered.

“Hey!” I gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Don’t mind Yano, he’s just like that.” Hojoon whispered. “So, how was your night? Were you ok with Hansol taking you back?”

“Yeah, although his attitude was a bit…well, kind of stuck up-ish, but he made up for it in the end.” I answered.

Hojoon tilted his head and then nodded when he understood. “What did you do?”

“I answered him back in annoyed, sarcastic ways,” I laughed. My answer made Hojoon laugh as if that was the first time that anyone has heard that. “Don’t tell me that I’m the only girl who has acted that way towards him?”

“Yes! You are!” Hojoon said controlling his laugh. “But that’s a good thing, he has everything too easy, especially with the girls! So, I say good job!”

“Thanks,” I smiled as he patted my shoulder.  I was really starting to become really comfortable around him.

As we made our way to the academy, I could see more students crowded around the front of the building. Some were talking with others on the stairs, others were entering the building, and when they saw me walking with three of the boys, eyes landed on us.

“H-hi, Hojoon,” a girl shyly waved to him as he waved back and smiled.

“Looks like you have a secret admirer.” I said, a small giggle coming out of my mouth.

“They’re like that with us almost all the time. Except for Yano and A-Tom…you could probably see why…” Hojoon nodded towards the boys.

Yano and A-Tom made some cute facial expressions at the girl and shouted towards her.

“Hey, aren’t we cute, too?” Yano pouted, making puppy dog eyes towards the girl who just rolled her eyes and turned her back from Yano. Both of the boys went off to their class as we entered the building. Talking could be heard from all corners of the school, and, just like Hansol said, there were guys on top of the staircase looking down upon the students. After my history class, I would have to face them and decide to choose what element I want to try.

“Have you thought of an element yet?” Hojoon asked as if he read my mind.

My cheeks got super hot at that moment when I realized that I haven’t actually thought about my element. “To be honest…no. Not yet, at least.” I had to be truthful with him. Hojoon’s kind nature was just something that you didn’t want to mess with. At least that’s how I feel when I’m around him. Hojoon smiled and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

“Well, whatever you choose, I wish you the best of luck…being a first year and all, well, technically you’re not a first year, but you know what I mean. Elements class isn’t the easiest, especially when you first start.” Hojoon gave me one last smile and nod before he went to the right hand hallway, disappearing into the crowd.

“Hey!” I heard a familiar voice and before I knew it, Yano and A-Tom put their arms around my neck, Yano still having an irritated look on his face. “You weren’t in the class!”

“Boys, I’ll get to it!” I laughed, crossing my arms as they both turned me around and walked me through the hallway that had the portraits of the founders of the school. I wish that I could get a better look at them, but the rate that Yano and A-Tom were dragging me through the hall, I didn’t have any time to look at them.

“Ah, you were with Hojoon, right?” A-Tom smiled as a small blush came on my cheeks.

“She’s red, you can tell,” Yano said as I shyly nudged him in the ribs.

“Yano, can you please stop with the attitude?” A-Tom asked looking his way. “We have to make our new student feel welcomed!”

“What attitude?” Yano asked back in his obvious attitude voice.

It wasn’t until now that I noticed that the people in the hallway were making room for all of us get through to our classes.

“Are they always like this?” I whispered to them.

“Yep, always,” A-Tom smiled as he winked over at a group of girls. “But if it was Hansol or even B-Joo, they would be almost swooning. We haven’t had someone faint for a while; surprised that you didn’t faint last night.”

I rolled my eyes as we rounded the hallway and we entered a room that was filled with students who were either sitting down in their seats reading a big text book or sitting on top of their desks talking to each other and laughing away. A-Tom and Yano dispatched from me as they made their way to the back of the room, A-Tom making motions for me to follow them. I smiled and made my way towards the back, and, right there, sitting in one of the desks, was a sleeping Hansol; his head sitting on top of his arms, eyes closed tightly as if he was trying to shut out any light that was coming into the room from the wide windows. I smiled and went over to him, lightly shaking him awake. Hansol’s eyes opened up immediately and when he saw me, his face seemed to lighten up.

“Good morning!” I smiled. “Have a nice nap?”

“You really shouldn’t have bothered waking him up, he usually sleeps during this class, anyway,” Yano laughed, but then Hansol turned around in his seat and hit him across the arm.

“Well, with something that’s actually going to be interesting this year, I might just be able to stay awake,” Hansol smirked while looking back at me.

“Was that supposed to be a hint?” I asked as I sat down in the seat in front of him.

“If you think it is,” Hansol kept his smirk leaning onto his desk towards mine. “I’ll let your mind decide on that.”

“You’re very sly, do you know that?” I gave him a questioning look.

“And you are very apparent,” he answered. “We should actually call you captain obvious!”

“Are these two going to be like this the whole class?” Yano whispered to A-Tom as he took a seat next to him. “You should’ve heard the story that he told everyone when he got back last night! He wouldn’t shut up about it! I heard that P-Goon had to tell him to be quiet and go to bed.”

“Yano, one more word and I will-” But he got interrupted when the teacher came inside the room. Her glasses were resting on top of her pulled up bun and her uniform was a gray suit with long sleeves and a long skirt, with the same clock stitch in the front pocket, only this time it was a shiny gold.

“Alright class, let’s all get settled and ready for the day,” She started as the students rushed to find their seats. Well, it looks like I was sitting in front of Hansol in this class. The teacher started to write her name on the board and just underneath her name, she wrote a big “Welcome”. “Now, let’s welcome our new student, Trinity.” I raised my head higher than it already was and saw that Mrs. Port was smiling towards me. Was it that obvious that I was the new student? I waved my hand and gave the class a warm smile as they all stared at me in unemotional looks. Wow, tough crowd here.

“Hi…” I said as I put my hand down.

“She just arrived last night, so let’s all welcome her with open arms,” She smiled and clapped her hands together. I slumped down in my seat when Yano and A-Tom all of a sudden made a ruckus from their seats shouting and cheering for me, well more from A-Tom, from the back.

“Guys, quiet!” I heard Hansol whisper to them. “Or do you want me to tell P-Goon?”

They instantly stopped and the teacher smiled and nodded towards Hansol. “Thank you, Hansol, now, onto today’s class.”

“Make sure you pay attention,” Hansol whispered in a flirty way, sending chills down my spine.

“Now, let’s start from the beginning. Star Academy was built in 1878, created by our 12 founders; Ovan, Stier, Ikrek, Rapu, Leon, Neitsi, Kaalud, an Krug, Nyilas, Jarac, Vandenis, and, last but not least, Vissen. They worked together as a team, putting their excellent minds together to create this school for individuals who possess special abilities. Of course, they had difficulties on deciding how to program the school. Ovan, the leader, had plans on making the school as a whole; Kaalud had other things in mind. He wanted to have the school divided up into the different buildings with the elements and signs, he thought that that would make it balanced and even. Ovan, obviously, didn’t like the idea; he thought that would just create tension between everyone. Depending on their sign and element, the group fought with some and got along with the others. Still in the end, this school was built and the Original 12 passed on their duties to the next generation to the next.”

Those names…I don’t know how, but I knew they were all in a different language, but why? I raised my hand, hoping that the teacher could answer my question.

“Ah, Trinity, what do you have to ask today?” The teacher smiled, seemingly surprised that the new student is paying attention.

“I was wondering…why are their names all in different languages?” I asked.

The teacher’s smile then went to a frown as the whole classroom looked at each other in odd looks.

“My dear…I didn’t even get to that part yet. How would you know about that? Have you learned anything before coming here?” She asked tilting her head in curiosity.

“Not really,” I shook my head.

Mrs. Port straightened up and raised her head taking in a deep breath. “Then…my dear…how did you know that without any knowledge of this school?”

I could tell that she was trying not to explode on me for getting further into her class than at her normal pace. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Port, I don’t know. I…just know for some reason.”

“Smarty pants,” I heard Hansol whisper behind me.

I gave him a slight glare and looked back at the teacher, who seemed to be calm and collected again. “Ah, well, it’s good to know some things. Yes, their names are in different languages, thank you, Trinity for pointing that out. Their names, despite being in different languages, all have a secret meaning. The reason behind as to why they chose the names they did were to protect themselves. Each of their names represented the 12 zodiac and is related to Astronomy. But, that’s not my subject to discuss. Anyway, back to what I was going to teach.”

“Oh, did I mention, she doesn’t like it when the students teach the class unless it’s a presentation?” Hansol whispered over to me.

“Thanks for reminding me,” I said sarcastically rolling me eyes, even though he couldn’t see it.

“Just like any founders, they had missions to carry out. They ran this school, making up all of the classes and checking up on the students’ activities and their level of power. From time to time, they would have to do missions, sending some of the members away from the Academy for a while. This lead to problems, considering some of the members that were left here would sometimes go by their own rules for themselves; some for the good, the others for worst. Kaalud, at the time of not being on missions, didn’t like the unbalance between everyone. But, sadly, he was one of the members who changed the rules, being a little hypocrite to the group. Each member wanted their own rules for the school, and for the group as well, thus fighting happened each and every day.”

I raised my hand again. “Trinity?”

“What were the missions?” I asked, not knowing this at all.

Mrs. Port smiled at my question, happy that it was something that I didn’t know. “Good question, Trinity. Unfortunately when this school started, there weren’t that many students here to begin with. So, they set out on a quest to find people who hold the power of what we have. It was only a matter of time for that student to attend to take control of their powers. If they don’t take control, the results could be dangerous.”

“But, how did they know where to find them?” Another student asked.

Hansol gave out a little laugh and I could just imagine the smirk on his face. What did he know?

“A magician never tells their secrets.” The teacher answered.

“But they weren’t magicians?” I tilted my head.

“No, but they were to the students. They had ways of knowing more than anyone else in the school. Ovan and the members that he brought with him would come back to the school with over 100 kids within a month.” Mrs. Port explained.

Something didn’t add up… If the other members were fighting all the time, then who was the peace keeper between all of them? It would seem as if whenever Ovan wasn’t there with the group, the others would fight; not to mention they changed the rules to almost everything at the school.

“If Ovan wasn’t there…and the other members fought and changed the rules…who was the peacemaker? Surely there had to be someone there to make sure that they didn’t do anything to each other while their leader was away.” I asked, hoping that it’ll be answered.

“Well, aren’t we full of questions today,” I heard Hansol whisper behind me.

“Just because they fought doesn’t mean that they didn’t make up in the end.” Mrs. Port smiled assuring me. “The reason why they changed the rules was to see how their own ideas for the school worked out. And by the time that Ovan and the rest came back, they would change everything.”

But…that didn’t seem right. Something must’ve happened in-between that time. How could they go on fighting everyday and not kill each other? Instead of asking, I decided to have the teacher just continue her lesson.

“When the school was first created, the school had quite a bit of rules. For one, students couldn’t use their powers at all unless it was in class, unless you were part of the Original 12. Of course this is slightly different today; the members were scared of how their students would use their powers outside of the classroom. Another rule was that the girls and boys couldn’t go to each other’s dorm room, period. That specific rule didn’t last long as some students had siblings that they had to look after, but the visiting each other’s dorm is still limited today.” Mrs. Port said explaining the other rules back in the day.

“You know that last one, already,” Hansol chuckled towards me.

“Hansol, would you shut it?” I heard Yano whisper over to him. “A-Tom, they really shouldn’t be sitting next to each other.”

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?” A-Tom asked Yano.

“Boys!” The teacher yelled crossing her arms. I could hear some shuffling in the back as they were probably embarrassed from the little incident. “The third, probably most important rule that they had, was to not visit the outside world during the time the academy was in session. Not until they learned their powers, at least. They needed to test the first group of graduated students on how they did in the outside world, if they chose to go back there or to stay with us. The penalty to using any of their powers in the outside world was cruel as it took away some of their powers for a good amount of months, depending on what they did. For the students who went back to their families in the outside world, if they used an ounce of their powers, the penalty was everything from their powers being taken away for the rest of the year to being completely stripped of their powers and being banished. Like I said, it all depends on what the student did to deserve it.”

“Were the members really that harsh?” I asked out loud.

“Well…they had to. In order to make this school work, certain rules had to be put in.” She explained.

“Now I understand why some members didn’t agree with others.” I whispered.

“Join the club…” Hansol whispered back.

God, did he listen to everything that I was saying?! In a way, it was annoying, but at the same time it was a like a relief to me. In some ways, when Mrs. Port was explaining the members, Kaalud seemed to really capture my attention. I understood where he was coming from, and, although I understood what the others wanted to do, it felt like I had some sort of similar feeling of what Kaalud wanted to do. He didn’t like the uneasiness of all the members fighting, well, I’m sure that all of them didn’t like it, but the thing was…he wasn’t the peace maker. From what Mrs. Port told us, Kaalud was afraid to speak up to s, although he changed some of the rules around. And this reminded me…were there any students who broke the rules? I raised my hand when Mrs. Port was talking in the middle of lesson about one of the founders.

“Yes?” She asked.

“Were…were there anyone that has broken some rules?” I asked knowing that we passed that subject.

“No, there wasn’t…” The teacher answered and turned around on the board to continue writing.

“But there had to have been someone… Not all students are little angels…” I commented.

Mrs. Port sighed and put down the piece of chalk. I could tell that she was probably annoyed with me already, but I just had to know.

“We’re not supposed to talk about it, not all of it at least,” Mrs. Port said as she took out her chair behind the desk and sat down. “But there was a student who went against one of the top important rules; using powers against each other. Although one of the rules was to use powers inside the classroom, this student in particular couldn’t find out what his power was after being tested, but the group, Ovan especially, saw something in him when he was on the mission of finding students. He took this person back and decided to let him join the group, seeing great potential in the boy, making the group of 12 into a group of 13. One day, Ovan went on a mission along with Kaalud, Leon, Vissen, and Jarac to find out more about a myth that hasn’t been talked about in thousands of years. When they came back, the other members were frightened of the boy, saying that he started to use his newly developed powers against them. They thought he was crazy, saying absurd things. Vandenis, who was loyal towards Ovan the most, even said that he attacked their assistant. After hearing this news, Ovan got pissed and went straight to where they locked the boy up and started to ask questions. Several questions later and Ovan thought that he was a threat to the academy, despite his new powers. Ovan decided to strip away his powers and he banished him from the academy forever. It’s also said that the boy was the answer to the myth that they went on the mission for.”

The entire class was silent and Mrs. Port seemed to look like she was traumatized by what she just taught. Firstly, she wasn’t technically supposed to talk about such past events and secondly, whatever this myth that she was telling in her story must’ve been really important, if not, scary to hear in this world. This story just left me more curious than before. Who was this boy? And the members had an assistant? More importantly; what was this myth that she graced over? This was just all over more questions that had to be answered. A sudden thought came back into my mind and it hit me. The library! Hojoon took me to the library last night! There has to be some books explaining more about the history of this place.

“Hansol…” I whispered, knowing that he’s listening to me. “What time is the library open?”

“It’s open all day, but closes at 9,” He answered back, whispering. “Why?”

“I have some research to do.” I told him.

“Why don’t you just have Mrs. Port teach you instead? Books are overrated anyway,” Hansol told me back.

“Because I like to be old fashioned sometimes,” I answered.