《Hidden》Chapter 1
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It was a beautiful morning in the central academy, the sky was clear of clouds and filled with the song of birds. Dragons were stretching their wings and taking off for early morning flights, while students groaned at the sounds of their alarms going off, signaling for the beginning of another day.
It was the second week of a new school year, and most students were starting off with a nice coffee to awaken themselves. The fourth year students were preparing the cafeteria for an orientation long overdue, and their laughs seemed to spread all over the school, it was a calm morning.
Or so it would seem.
Three first year students were chasing Emma, a second year in the central dragon academy. Said girl was weaving between students in order to avoid the fireball that was coming towards her, the fire smashing into other unsuspecting students, dispersing as it missed its original target. Emma looked back to the three girls chasing her and taunted them, stretching her face to make fun of the fire mages accuracy.
"Get that girl before her loud mouth says anything!" The girl behind Emma shouted. The three girls began to pick up speed, charging their fire magic and finding a good time to use it against the smiling girl.
The chase was on, and Emma used a quick turn to throw off her pursuers, making them screech at each other for their incompetence. The brunette let out a laugh, her voice spreading through the halls in a contentious sound. Turning another corner, Emma ducked behind a door as she watched the triplets fly past her hiding spot, their black hair dancing in the wind as embers flew off their fire.
She giggled, sliding down a wall as she took deep breaths to calm her rapid heart beat. Don't get her wrong, she hated chases like this, but if it had to happen, she would have the most fun she could. Footsteps from beside her made her jump up to her feet, steeling her grey eyes for another possible chase. When the girl saw the neat black top hat on the man's head, she relaxed once more, a sense of safety flowing through her.
"Emma? What are you doing here?" Headmaster asked the girl. His lips drank from his delicate tea cup that was permanently stained with the scent of tea. His black eyes swirled with white looked at Emma with curiosity, looking out of the doors small window for any possible reason she could be here. Emma smiled, trying to keep the exhaustion at a minimum.
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"Just staying alive after a chase. The fire triplets really do like running for all they know. I should tell them to go into track and field." Emma joked, looking out the door for any signs of the three. The headmaster let out a large sigh, opening the door and walking with Emma through the hallways.
"I don't understand how you manage to get in so much trouble Emma, I'm telling you to make some friends so you're not constantly being a target for others." The headmaster pleaded. Emma shrugged, eyeing any student who got too close to her.
"You know exactly why most don't like me," She said pointing to her grey eyes. "Being the only one without magic in this magically academic school it's like cheating. I got in here not for my magic, but for connections, and you know that fully well." Students tried to listen in, but the headmasters eyes flashed, a small white barrier shone around the two, trapping their conversation inside.
"When your parents died I took you in Emma, I couldn't leave you alone, and you know that." The headmaster said with sympathy. Emma sighed, not wanting to argue with the headmaster.
"I know, and I can't thank you enough, but I don't understand why some people have to be so fearful of my eyes."
"I don't get why they're scared of them either, your eyes are beautiful." The man complemented. Emma playfully punched the headmaster, and laughed a bit with him, calming her nerves. The two stopped at a wooden door with the smell of books coming from inside. The magic barrier created by the headmaster was let down, and Emma thanked him, briefly flashing him a smile before walking into a class.
History.
"Good morning Emma." Mrs.Lennon's greeted. Emma sat down at one of the front seats and opened her hardcover book for class. The teacher waited for a few more students and then locked the door, not allowing the late ones to enter.
"Today we will be continuing the lesson of the Dragon war." The teacher began. "First off, tell me what you know about the old war."
A student with green hair spoke up. "The war was the cause of the death for over one-thousand Dragons and riders, dwindling the numbers down to five hundred."
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"Good, anything else." Mrs. Lennon's asked. Next a female student with red hair spoke.
"I heard from my parents that we fought an unknown force, and we completely obliterated them!" She yelled in a pumped up voice. Others agreed with her and began to shout out other alternate answers and what they had learned since they were children.
"Alright, that's enough, raise your hands unless you want to get demoted of points." Lennons said. The class went silent and all eyes were on the brown haired teacher. Emma finally raised her hand and the teacher pointed to her. "Emma, what do you know?"
Taking a deep breath, she started to speak.
"If I know my history, the Dragon war, was otherwise nicknamed as 'sacrifice'. The war was responsible for creating the geo crystals we use today."
Mrs.Lennon's smiled and did a little clap. "Yes that's right, because we were losing the war, our brightest minds came up with a super crystal used as a battery that could be charged with magical energy and used as a boost to other mages." The teacher walked over to a chalkboard and picked up a white chalk piece.
"Because of the magical energy boosts, we were able to beat the western kingdom with stamina. We now use geo crystals to power our phones and other electronics devices, and can be used to stabilize an injured persons magic levels, raising their healing abilities." Emma wasn't scrambling down notes like the others, for she had learned this many times before with her parents; after all, her mother had worked with those crystals.
While in the middle of a whole new topic of technology and it's first place of affiliation, the bell rang and everyone headed out of the classroom, Taking a homework sheet from the teacher's desk.
Emma picked up the double sided paper and once again walked through the wide hallways. People's shoulders would brush Emma's once and a while and that only made the grey-eyed girl more claustrophobic.
Hugging her books, she tried to shrink in the crowd, making herself smaller. But that only seemed to make the space around her close in, so she quickly began to weave herself through the mass of people. Her eyes were constantly looking around for the fire triplets, but by the sounds of it, they must have already arrived in their classes. Dragons outside had taken flight for their daily training, after all, they had to stay in shape too.
Making it to her second class, the smell of herbs filled the room and the dampness and temperature seemed to make her clothing stick to her body.
'Gross' She thought to herself.
Other students joined in one after another, taking seats with their friends and chatting loudly with them.
"Hey, did you see the headmaster this morning?" One of the students said to his friends.
"Yeah, him and a few others rushed out of school and into there Dragon stables just a few minutes ago." Another said. Suspicions grew and questions from all around the classroom, making the small area grow with tension. Classic gossip that could have sprouted from nowhere began spreading, but Emma was worried, what if it wasn't just gossip?
Just as the talking became loud enough, a teacher with green hair came in with a set of freshly picked herbs.
"Morning class." Mrs.Greens said. "Today we're going to be experimenting with these herbs to create a sleeping elixir."
She wore a bright smile on her face, but a flicker of nervousness shone in her eyes.
'could it be about the headmaster?' Emma asked herself. Her suspicions grew ever more, and she couldn't help but glance at the window every so often.
"I need all of you to grab a mask so you don't get affected by is fumes, this stuff can make you pass out in 10 seconds time if made correctly." The teacher said while putting on her own mask.
One at a time the students picked up a white mask and put them on. Once everyone had a mask, Mrs.Greens spoke. But distant wing-beats were heard very faintly through the thick stone walls, and only one dragon could have wing beats as loud as that.
Something did happen, and the Headmaster was taking off to take care of it.
The teacher quickly clapped her hands, focusing the students attention to the front of the room.
"Now let's get started!"
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