The Peculiar One: Chapter II

Maren went outside of her room and planned to check if Reighll was still sleeping. But the smell of something delicious came from the kitchen. She went there and was overjoyed to find Reighll, cooking breakfast for them. Her friend was finally gained back her consciousness! “Reighll!” She ran to her friend and hugged her. “Thank the Gods! You’re fine!” She exclaimed.

Reighll rolled her eyes, but her eyes sparkled with happiness, “Oh, come on! I only got unconscious because of the damned noise the demon made,” She said.

“Hey, guess what,” Maren broke the hug. Reighll raised an eyebrow at her friend, waiting for the next word to come out of her mouth. "Streizer was very worried!” Reighll wasn’t surprised of what she heard. What was the big deal about it, anyway?

“Oh, that bad look on your beautiful face,” Maren pouted her lips, “You’re not touched? Gosh!”

“What am I supposed to be touched for?” Maren just smirked of about her friend’s question. “He changed for that little time just because he thought the demon hurt you.” She said. “If you just know what had happened, Reighll.”

“Tell me then,” Reighll’s forehead creased.

Maren shook her head, “Sorry, dear. As much as I want to tell you, I can’t. I’m sorry. You’re involved in this, but we decided to never tell you the entirety of what happened.”

Reighll frowned, “Let us not talk about it then.” She muttered. “Aww, don’t be upset, Reighll.” Maren tried to stop herself from laughing.

“Ugh, just stop it. Okay, Maren? Because, I swear, you don’t want to eat burnt food for breakfast,” Reighll spun around and smiled a little.

“Oh, I forgot that you’re cooking, sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. Nothing bad happened.”

▪️

The things at school were the usual. No one was told about what a teacher had done to a student. Reighll, even now, was still avoided by everyone. She sat on her seat and stared at nothing. Even now, she was still confused about what that demon wanted from her. No one also told her about what had really happened to it after she lost her consciousness. They didn’t dared to talk about the whole thing.

She came back to reality when she heard someone clearing his throat. She looked before her and saw a woman with a beauty like the goddesses’ standing right in the middle of their classroom. She looked strict, but the smile told everyone otherwise, “Good morning, everyone!” She said, still smiling. Everyone stood and so did Reighll.

“Good morning, Ma’am!’

“So let’s all start with the introductions,” she nodded. “Oh, wait. I forgot to tell you… I will be your new teacher. My name is Sarylie Salther. It’s nice meeting you all!’

She, once again, nodded her head. “Let’s start at the front row, shall we?” She said. Everyone said their names. And for the last one. The woman smiled widely. “And you are?” She asked when Reighll didn’t spoke.

Reighll sighed rolling her eyes, “Reighll Logene Vervendilla, nineteen. Level zero.” She sat back on her seat. The teacher pouted, surprising everyone. “Tell me more, Reighll.” She said.

“I have nothing to tell you, Ma’am.”

The pout vanished within a blink of an eye, “One more thing, everyone. No one dares to call me Ma’am, understood?” She looked strict now. And her stare didn’t help a bit.

“How are we supposed to call you then?” A student asked. She smiled again, “Call me Lady Salther. As so you know, I never wanted to be a teacher. Teaching is, so far I think, the worst thing I’ve done.” The woman said, and rolled her eyes at the end of her statement. “But, yeah, I have my reasons. A reason, rather.” She winked.

“Ma’am, I mean, Lady Salther, why is it that we have to have another teacher?” A boy asked. “Oh. That’s because your former teacher did something incredibly wrong and got herself fired.” The new teacher answered her student. Her voice was full of annoyance, though, when she mentioned the former teacher of the section, confusing some of her students.

Lady Salther cleared her throat, “Let’s start. By the way, we’ll have a lot of changes about our schedule. By second and third day of the week, I’ll discuss about magic. Fourth day in the morning, I’ll tell you about the history of the kingdom. By the afternoon, there’ll be a quiz. Quiz, you hear me? Not a test. It’s both about magic and the history of Hgerisa. Let me tell you this, students, the quizzes I’ll be giving you might have fifty or more items. You’ll be seeing yourselves in the field doing exercises, too. Fifth day , in the morning, I’ll teach you about combat fighting. In the afternoon, I’ll see if you’ve learned the things I’ve taught you. And by the sixth day, you’ll be dueling with a classmate. If the other sections’ teachers agree, you might be duel with students from another section, too. If we don’t have enough time, we’ll continue it by the seventh day. Understood, everyone?” Every students gulped, hearing their new schedule.

Lady Salther slammed her hand on her table, “Understood?” She repeated and everyone, except for Reighll, who barely cared about them, nodded. It was not like the students had any choice. “Reighll Vervendilla,” The new teacher called, “Understood?” Reighll sighed and nodded.

▪️

A week had passed and Reighll hated the new teacher’s guts. But at the same time, she was feeling something weird. She didn’t know what to call this weird feeling. And she hated the new teacher for this.

Also, the new teacher decided to get to know everyone, and about what they’re good at. They didn’t had classes with the new teacher that week. The woman was very kind to all of them. But Reighll didn’t talk to the woman. She, herself, didn’t know why. Well, maybe it’s because of that weird feeling. She really didn’t want to be attached to the woman. Physically and emotionally.

“Aren’t you gonna eat lunch, Reighll?” The teacher went to her.

“No,” Reighll simply said, giving the teacher nothing more, even a glance. “Why? Little girl, you have to eat!” Reighll raised an eyebrow, and finally looked at the woman, “You have no say on what I do. You’re nothing more than my teacher, alright? And I’m no little girl!”

The woman rolled her eyes, “You should eat!” She grabbed Reighll and dragged her outside the building to the school cafeteria.

Everyone stared at the two, weirdly.

Lady Salther ordered a bunch of food, “Eat up!” She demanded.

Reighll shook her head, “Are you seriously telling me to eat all of these?” She said. “Yes, I am. But not really all. I’ll eat some, of course.” Lady Salther winked. The woman pulled one of the plates closer, “I’ll eat this.”

Reighll’s jaw drop, “And I’ll eat all the remaining ones? Are you fucking serious?”

“Don’t curse, young lady. And yes, I am serious. Now, eat up.” Lady Salther smiled, “You have to gain more weight after all.” Was this woman trying to piss her off? Because she succeeding! “I’m not saying you have a terrible and too very thin body. You have a beautiful one, but you have to eat!” The woman said, probably reading her emotions through her face.

“Reighll!” Maren came running to the table where the two were. “Good morning, Lady Salther!” Maren bowed at the teacher, then jumped to embrace Reighll with a very tight hug.

“How are you, friend?” Maren grinned. Reighll shrugged her shoulders and took a bite on her food. “Oh, by the way, I have to go. The Magisters called us. Bye, Reighll!” She kissed Reighll’s cheek and ran off.

Reighll looked at the woman in front of her, only to find the woman staring at her with a smile plastered on her face. It didn’t fade when Reighll looked at her. The stare only got deeper. There was something in that stare. Something like… longing?

▪️

When the class ended, Reighll was about to go out of the classroom when she was called by Lady Salther. She turned to look at the woman.

“Are you going home already?” Lady Salther asked, with a gentle smile. Reighll only nodded and wait for the lady to say something more. Lady Salther sighed, “Can I walk with you?” She asked, hopefully. Reighll was confused of what she was seeing. What was with this teacher? She was pretty weird.

An image of a memory from last week flashed on her mind. An image of the demon with that malicious look on its face. The memory creeped Reighll out. She admit, she was scared something like that might happen again.

Reighll nodded, hesitantly.

The smile on the teacher’s face widened. She suddenly hugged Reighll, surprising her. “Thank you!”

“Get off,” Reighll said and gently pushed the woman away from her. Lady Salther pouted because of her student’s action. “Let’s just go,” She said. Reighll said nothing but started walking.

Lady Salther was having a hard time keeping up with Reighll. She was just walking too fast. “Can we slow down?” She said to her student. Reighll didn’t respond in any way so Lady Salther sighed, “I won’t do what your old teacher did to you, Reighll. You can just be calm and slow down."

Reighll stopped walking and the woman also did.

“I don’t want to get close to you.” Reighll said, not even turning to the woman behind her. “Please understand that.” And she left her teacher there, standing.

Sarylie looked down, her heart aching because of what the girl had told her. She did her best to stop the tears from falling, but a tear still fell down from her eye. She immediately wiped it off.

She nodded despite knowing that Reighll was already gone. She decided to just teleport to her room.

▪️

Reighll, her forehead creased in irritation of the teacher, walked down the path made of Griezle stone. Griezle stones are one of the things that exists only here in Eirxia. It was getting dark and because of the cool breeze, it is now starting to change its color into the same color as the moon. It also shines like the moon, serving as the light of the pathway.

She was getting nearer and nearer to Maren’s house and everytime she took a step, the more relieved she was feeling. Why? It was a mystery even to her. Maybe because she just wanted to rest in her room.

When she was finally in front of the door, they were complete again. Instead of feeling more relieved though, she was now being… nervous? She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. All she knew was her heart was racing. Why though?

She pushed a button and a scanner appeared right before Reighll. Slowly, her hand shaking, she put her palm right before the scanner. She heard a click and the doors opened. First thing she caught sight of was Dryne’s cold eyes. She looked at each of them after fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

“Oh, you’re home!” Maren exclaimed joyfully. Reighll nodded and walked closer to them, “You all look… serious. Is something the matter?” She asked, not showing any signs of being worried in her face.

“None of your business, Earthling.”

Reighll and Maren eyed Dryne, but he just shrugged his shoulders before crossing his leg.

“Well, you see… uhh,” Maren hesitantly spoke, not sure if she should say the truth or if she should make an excuse. I guess she has the right to know. Maren said to herself inside her mind.

“Maren! Why must you always tell her about these things? It’s not like she’ll be able to help us with these kinds of problem". Dryne, who had his forehead creased and his eyes glaring, growled.

“Dryne,” Fhel warned. Maren hushed her twin brother and stared sharply at her friend, “I don’t tell her about these kinds of things because I need her to help me! Dryne, she may not be like us who came from this world the moment we’re born, but she’s now living as a citizen of Eirxia! Of Draxophile! She deserves to know what’s currently happening to her home!”

Dryne clicked his tongue, “Fine then. Do what you want.”

A slam on the table startled everyone. “Dryne Aurhyn, if you have a problem about me, fucking say it! Because I’m damn tired of your fucking actions!” Reighll said, her voice rose and everything she was feeling was written all over her face and everyone was surprised about it. It was the first time they caught sight of her like this. She was confused, irritated, annoyed, and mad. She felt like she wanted to punch Dryne and beat him up until he loses his consciousness.

Fhel’s eyes widened in shock at the sight. He never expected he’ll ever see Reighll like this. Not like the others had. All of them, they didn’t expected this!

Dryne just clicked his tongue, his usual action, and stood up to leave the five. He quietly left them all there.

“I’m very sorry about him, Reighll.” Maren looked at her apologetically. Reighll just shook her head and massaged her temples. Streizer touched Reighll’s shoulder, “Are you alright?” He asked, worried about how the girl he loved was feeling. Reighll, once again, just shook her head.

“Eirxia is also not a real safe place, Reighll,” Maren began. Reighll looked at her friend. She knew that. What happened with the demon alone proved it. “We all know that by now.” Maren said.

“There’s no safe place after all,” Reighll uttered. Rerelia nodded. “Yes, but what I mean is… It’s not all peaceful here like now. There are times when kingdoms fight each other.” Reighll nodded at the fact. A world with no such event doesn’t exist anyways.

“And we kind of suspect that there’s a, well, a traitor in the kingdom and is studying in our school”

“This is not surprising anymore,” Rerelia muttered. “And who the traitor is is not surprising, too.” Reighll wanted to voice out. She had someone in mind. And she was sure no one would expect it. Expect the unexpected. She had learned her lesson already. It’s not just because of that, but because it was what her instincts was telling her. Instincts are wrong sometimes, she didn’t doubt what her instincts was telling her.

▪️

Reighll sat up, panting, her eyes widening. Beads of sweat were sliding down her face and neck.

What was that? A nightmare? Yes. Yes, it had to be. It had to be just a nightmare. She shook her head. Why was she being like this over a mere dream?

She spaced out as she was reminded of her dream. It had to be just a nightmare…

Reighll watched in horror as the whole school building burned into nothing, a few students caught by the fire also turning into nothing, not even an ash. A large number of students was running pass through her, screaming, panicking. She stood as the flames spread closer and closer to her. She felt the heat of the flames and felt like she was going to burn. The burning flames reached Reighll and she screamed at the top of her lungs. She kept on screaming but she wasn’t getting burned. She was feeling the deadly heat of the flames around her, but she was not burning into nothingness unlike the other thing the flames had reached.

She was just there, standing, undying, full of burning pain.

A knock on the door brought Reighll back to reality. “Reighll?” It was Maren. She kept on calling out to Reighll.

Reighll took a deep breath and closed her eyes before standing up to open the door for her friend. She intended to ask Maren if there was something she needed but she didn’t get the chance to when Maren embraced her in her arms tightly. Maren acted like she was panicking. “Are you okay?” Her voice told Reighll the same thing. “Yes, I’m okay. Everything is. Why?” Reighll replied. Maren breathed out a sigh of relief and broke the tight hug, “I was worried! Reighll, I thought there’s something bad happening inside your room!” A tear escaped from her friend’s eye. “You were screaming so loud! I was very worried! Silence after it all didn’t help!” Maren couldn’t stop herself anymore, she cried and hugged Reighll again.

“Don’t,” She whispered, “Don’t scare me like that again.”

“I won’t,” Reighll managed to give Maren a little smile. She pulled away from Maren to wipe the tears off her friend’s face. “I promise. That’s why, promise me too, Maren, that you won’t cry ever again. Especially if it’s because of me.” Maren nodded her head.

▪️

“We have to send her away from here!” the king growled to his wife.

“I don’t want to! Why do we have to send her away?” The queen disagreed. “She’ll be safe when she’s away from here, Aithana!” The queen shook her head. “There is no safe place. And I would rather have my daughter here because I know I can protect her.”

The king’s face darkened and the queen’s fear built inside her. She tried to push away all her fear, but she couldn’t. She really didn’t know the limit of the power of the man standing in front of her. But still, she managed to shake her head in disagreement.

“Just… Just how can you decide like this?” The queen’s voice shook. “She’s also your daughter, Vureighl!” The king’s fist clenched, hearing the queen’s cry.

“Aithana! I know… I know that your child is also my child. But she’s not just any simple child! She is a princess! The heir of this throne I possess, our heir. And you, of all people, you know just how dangerous the other kingdom is!”

The queen looked down at the crying baby she was carrying, her tears falling. Indeed, the king was right. She, of all people, knew most how dangerous the other kingdom is. Did she… really have to send her beloved daughter away from this place?

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