• The Other Life - First Chapter

    Sabriel had been expecting Lord Sabin to be one of the demon world's more gruesome denizens . She was surprised that his form was so similar to that of a celestial. His eyes were a deep, dark green, and his hair, a deep red, was cut at a medium length and hung in slight disarray. He was half clothed, wearing a pair of dark pants and tall boots with his chest left bare. His skin contained a light grayish tint, but it wasn't nearly as repulsive as it should have seemed to Sabriel. Altogether she thought quite the opposite. She found him to be rather attractive. He also seemed to survey her curiously, from her long platinum hair and blue eyes, to her pale skin so different from his. She had come all the way to the demon world for the sole purpose of talking to him, and without official approval. It was amazing she'd made it this far. If not for assistance from a few of their spies, she never would have been able to come so far into Haeth, one of the largest cities in the demon world, without being on some official venture.

    A lesser demon, a childlike imp with small wings, present Sabriel with a bow to one of the strongest demons that existed in the demon world. "Lady Sabriel Alaranth to see you, Lord Sabin."

    She bowed her head politely to the demon who sat before her. "Lord Sabin, it's a pleasure to meet you."

    He sat up in his cushioned chair and remarked. "Yes, you as well. May I ask what could have possibly prompted such a visit?"

    Sabriel felt a little bit unnerved by his stare, she clenched her hands into fists and told him. "I wish that... you would attempt to make peace with my people. I want to know how such a thing can be achieved."

    He raised a brow and then chuckled. "You came all the way here to discuss this with me?" He sounded amused. "Isn't the asumption that I would be receptive to such a talk rather naive?"

    Sabriel felt her cheeks growing warm with not just embarassment but also anger. "What's so naive about it?" she demanded angrily. "We are very different, it's true, but surely there must be something we can agree on. People from our two worlds are killing each other constantly. Don't you wish that it would stop?"

    Lord Sabin sighed, looking amused but willing to humor her. "Well, for us it isn't quite the tragedy that it is for you. Haven't you noticed? The state of our world is not nearly so sweet as that of yours. We have grown accustomed to it's harshness and yet when we see such ripe worlds we can't help but feel envy. We have no resources to spare so the loss of a life is nothing more than the loss of yet one more burden."

    Sabriel scowled at him. "That's horrible. You should think more of your own people."

    He sat back in his chair, looking very much at ease. "I'm sorry but that isn't very likely to happen. The current state is what the people of this world themselves have wished for. If I were to suddenly stand in their way, to do things which, as you say, are for their own good, they would never accept it. They would only suspect me of betrayal. If it helps you then do not think of me as a leader in the sense of the word among your people. I am simply the one accepted as the strongest, the one who nobody wants to anger. At the moment plenty of people dislike me but it is not in their interest to work together to overthrow me. Should I give them a reason which they all share, however, I have no doubt that I would endure a bloody battle and possibly my life would end. Do you understand?"

    Sabriel did understand when he put it that way. "So you are not willing to do anything at all?" she asked sadly, unclenching her fists.

    He crossed his legs and folded his hands across his lap. "Well, I suppose if you had something worthwhile to offer me, I could at least call my own servants out of the human world. That would de-escalate the fighting a bit right? But they bring me valuable resources, I really don't want to."

    "You're asking me for a bribe?" she demanded.

    He smirked. "What else did you expect? Do you really think the short bouts of peace we've had so far have been the result of anything but bribery? If you want us to give up our valuable resources you'll have to offer us something good. Besides, didn't you know, when we drag the souls of humans into this world, we're actually protecting the balance that you so love. Fewer souls are born into this world, if we don't take them from elsewhere our world would collapse. There seem to be some in your world that believe the collapse of our world would be for the better. Isn't that interesting?"

    Sabriel could hardly believe such a story. "That's.. there's no way that is true. Our teachings clearly state that an inbalance of souls would result in disaster for all worlds, not just one. Not only that, but all worlds are born with just as many as they need. It's important that souls remain in their proper place."

    Sabin snickered. "And you believe that? How do you know they're any more right than I am? All you need to do is look at the lack of life in this world to know that the distribution is uneven. Therefore, if you want me to pull my people out of the human world, offer me something that has value to me at least for a time."

    Sabriel scowled at him. "If you really believe what you just said, then there is no way I can provide something that would weigh against such a belief."

    He gave her a faint smile. "Isn't that just too bad. Well, it's the outcome I expected. Now, why don't you run on home before you find yourself in trouble?" He waved her away as if he wished to dismiss her.

    She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. Did he really believe what he'd said or was he just making things up to anger her? She felt as though she was being toyed with.

    "I don't want to go. I haven't accomplished anything yet. I won't leave until you take me seriously."

    He studied her face with that soft smile on his lips, as if humoring a child. "Don't you have any sense of self-preservation? Can't you feel the presence of my servants on the other side of that door behind you? They are just waiting for a chance to pounce on you. A celestial would be a rare delicacy for them you know. You'd better leave now before you become unable to leave."

    Sabriel turned and stared at the door. She hadn't been paying attention at all, but it was true, she felt the presence of other demons behind that door. Did they really want to eat her? She could feel their presence but not their emotions. She turned back to Sabin.

    Sabin's smile was gone and instead he asked. "Aren't you the one who, from the start, isn't taking me seriously?" He reached onto the small table beside him and picked up a small bell. He rung the bell slowly and every ring felt like a death toll to Sabriel.

    Sabriel spun around as the door opened and several much more gruesome demons appeared. They were more what she had been expecting to see when she met Lord Sabin.

    "Do as you please." Called Lord Sabin from behind her.

    Sabriel panicked as they dove at her like wild beasts with their prey right before them. She knew that celestials weren't supposed to call out their wings as long as they walked in the demon world but.. she did it reflexively. Her white feathers glowed with light and she repelled the demons with her celestial magic, throwing her hands out before her and pushing them back all at once.

    "Don't touch me!" she yelled.

    The three flew back against the wall and hit it hard, collapsing.

    Sabriel's heart pounded and she clasped her hands to her chest, catching her breath.

    "And here I thought you a naive, weak little celestial. It turns out that you are only naive." Sabin didn't sound the least concerned with his subordinates, nor at her use of celestial power.

    Sabriel half turned, trying to keep an eye on the demons behind her who appeared unconcious. Her wings felt heavy. In fact, they felt much heavier in the demon world than in her own or either of the other worlds.

    "Do you not intend on letting me leave this place?" Sabriel demanded of him.

    He sat forward, the bell was on the table beside him once more. "Well, you can leave if you'd like but I think I may have found something that I want. Don't you want to know what it is?"

    Sabriel hesitated before asking. "What? What is it that you want so suddenly?"

    He smiled and got to his feet. "A feather. I want one of your feathers."

    Sabriel's face flushed. "How, how could you ask for something like that? Do you know that for a celestial to give away their feather is a vow for eternity? Are you saying that you want me to be with you for eternity? I, I will give it to you if that's what you really want but I don't understand it at all? Is it because you want to torment me?"

    Sabin crossed his arms over his chest. "Of course I know, but that's not what I want it for. You don't understand at all do you? You really buy all that stuff about worlds collapsing and balancing out the souls? To be honest, I think it's just a bunch of nonsense. How long have our worlds been standing? Despite everything that's happened there's never been a world that collapsed, never been any sign that there's actually a necessity to maintain any type of balance. It's a ridiculous fight. Some do believe what I told you before, that demons take human souls to correct a misalignment in the balance. I believe it's merely that they hunger for the souls of humans to make this world more fertile. Do you know that a single celestial's feather can bring fertility to a large area of this wasteland for well over a hundred of our years? Celestials are so selfish. Your very existence invokes life, and yet you refuse to share it with those of us whose existance brings nothing but destruction and decay. That's the real reason this world doesn't thrive. And it's the reason that the human world and it's shadow world exist as they do. The human world and it's shadow are the child of our two worlds combined. That's what I think."

    Sabriel didn't know what to think. "So after I give you my feather, you'll pull your servants from the human world? Will you sign a contract to that effect?" she asked. Whatever the reason that he wanted her feather, to torment her or for the reasons which he'd given, if it would reduce the death toll among those who fought in the human world she would do it.

    He nodded. "Certainly. But I will only keep my end of the bargain for as long as the power of your feather remains. Of course, if you agree to give to me an additional feather each time it's power wears off I'll continue renewing the contract each time. Does that sound agreeable?"

    Sabriel nodded. "I'll agree to that."

    Sabin turned his back to her and walked to the desk that sat against the far wall. The window it was placed under looked out over the barren land that was his demense. He seemed to stop and stare at it for the briefest moment before taking out two blank sheets of paper and writing furiously for two or three long, long minutes of time on each of them. He finished the second paper with a flourish. He looked up and motioned to Sabriel.

    "It's your turn to sign." He informed her.

    Sabriel joined him at the desk and looked over the two papers. The content of each was identical, and followed their previous discussion exactly. Not only that, but Sabin had already signed. Sabriel couldn't find any reason not to sign them. It was exactly what she'd wanted as well. She took the pen from Sabin's hand and felt her own fingers shaking slightly as she signed her name. She moved on to signing the second. As she signed it Sabin picked up the first copy.

    He waved it in the air to dry the ink and then a dark circle enveloped the paper and it vanished.

    Sabriel asked him. "What was that?"

    He told her with a smile. "Just putting it away for safekeeping. Well, as soon as you've signed that copy, I'll be taking your feather."

    Sabriel finished signing the paper and then stood. She felt so embarassed as she pulled loose a long, beautiful feather. Her wings were feeling heavier and heavier so she withdrew them and they disappeared into her form, making her appear as if she could have been nothing more than human. She held the feather in her hands and, red-faced, offered it to Sabin.

    He laughed softly, obviously understanding the significance of the event of giving away one's feather for a celestial. But when he reached out, it was with a very gentle touch that he accepted her feather. As it reached his hands it almost seemed that the light surrounding her feather grew brighter. Sabriel could see her feather being surrounded by demonic magic but it was unaffected by the surrounding atmosphere. Sabin went to the back of the room and pulled out a glass jar, carefully dropping the feather inside before turning to Sabriel. "I'll keep my promise to you and pull out all my underlings. If you should feel that I haven't kept my promise at any point in time, then please come and tell me. Or, of course, if you should regret giving me your feather. I hope you hadn't been planning on giving a feather to someone else?"

    Sabriel glared at him. "Not particularly." She picked up the contract and told him. "I'll be going now. Be sure to keep your promise. I have heard that demons will at least honor the contracts they themselves have made, if nothing else."

    Sabin held the jar containing her feather in his hand. "Yes, if nothing else." he replied sarcastically.

    Sabriel didn't bother to appologise, she was so aggravated. "Goodbye." she told him.

    He waved. "Yes. Try not to get eaten on your way out."

    She scowled at him one last time before leaving.

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    She stared out the window, looking at the view of the celestial world which differed so greatly from that of the demon world. Tall white spires rose up at the heart of Crystalsis, gardens filled with glowing flowers and beautiful climbing vines were nestled here and there among the buildings. Life was overflowing everywhere. It did make her wonder about what Sabin had said. Well, whatever the truth was, she just wanted the fighting between the residents of the celestial world and the demon world to stop. The fighting between them was something that seemed as old as time. Sabriel had lost her eldest brother and several of her old classmates from school to the fighting between the two factions. She knew plenty of people who fought now only for revenge but... it was such a twisted cycle to become a part of. Even Sabriel's remaining brother had fallen a victim to it. She'd succeeded in convincing Lord Sabin to pull out his subordinates at least but only at the cost of her feather. It was true that she didn't really have to tell anyone about her deal with Lord Sabin and since they hadn't exchanged feathers the way celestials generally intended it probably nobody would take it that way. I was just that the fact that she'd given a feather to him was something that would always be in her mind. Now she would never feel right giving one to anyone else. A celestial was only supposed to ever give out one feather in their whole lifetime. What could she do to allow their two peoples' to understand each other better. She really didn't know.

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    She walked into the room somewhat hesitantly. It was a different room from the one which she'd been brought to last time. This seemed more like a sitting room. Sabin lounged on the long black couch in the center of the room drinking something that smelled very much like coffee. Whether it was the very same coffee that humans often drank she had no idea.

    "So, did you want your feather returned after all?" asked Sabin.

    Sabriel took a seat in a chair placed perpendicularly to the couch. "I didn't. You did keep your promise after all. It's just... what you did didn't have the reaction I hoped it would. It seems like I was naive after all."

    "Oh?" Sabin looked up at her. "And what was it you were expecting?" he asked.

    Sabriel frowned and sat back in the chair. "I was expecting that they would behave in a less brutal manner. From what I've heard, the number of demons they've been finding in the human world is significantly less. But those they do find are always overwhelmed and completely eliminated. They have no chance at all. Shouldn't you be annoyed that this is happening to your own kind?"

    Sabin sighed. "Well, what am I supposed to do about it? There's no use getting upset about it since I can't change anything."

    Sabriel huffed and brushed a strand of pale hair from her face. "I heard a rumor that since the demons seem to be withdrawing, some of our own forces wanted to make them retreat even further by taking the fighting into the demon world. It's really horrible."

    Sabin lowered his cup to the saucer in his hand and asked. "Invade the demon world? If they do such a thing then they are seriously underestimating my power. Did you come all the way here to tell me this?"

    Sabriel told him. "It's not like I wanted to warn you or anything. It's just that... our contract didn't do anything. Nobody seems to understand what I'm trying to do at all. It's very frustrating."

    Sabin lifted the cup to his lips once more and took a long sip of the dark liquid. He lowered his cup and placed both cup and saucer on the table. "I don't know why you're complaining to me, there's nothing I can do either." He sat back and crossed his legs, folding his arms across his lap.

    Sabriel leaned forward. "I think you should hold me hostage." she told him.

    Sabin raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

    It was the first time Sabriel had seen him look so surprised. She repeated her suggested. "Take me hostage and tell them to stay out of the demon world. Do you think that would work?"

    Sabin's look of surprise quickly melted away as he chuckled. "I guess it might. But are you really okay with that? You can't just go back after being taken hostage you know?"

    Sabriel replied hotly. "I know. Of course I know. But I can't be completely comfortable there now anyways. I feel very weird having given my feather to someone whose face I don't even see. I can never give it to anyone else now. It would seem blasphemous. So I think that you should take responsibility for taking my feather and let me stay here. If I become your hostage then it would serve several purposes right? Mine and yours?"

    Sabin studied her face for a long moment, a faint smile tugging his lips. "Is that so. Well then, how can I argue?"

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    One Step Closer - Second Chapter

    She opened her eyes slowly, hazy from her long nap, and stared at the clouds. They were making the most unusual stripes across the sky, like columns of white laid side by side, slowly being dissolved by the wind. Perhaps a sudden change of wind had forced them to take such a shape.

    The breeze blew her dark hair across her face, tickling her pale cheeks, but she ignored it. Several flower petals blew across her view from the nearby bushes and she watched them drift lazily in the wind. She had just woken from a rather nostalgic dream. Well, most people would have thought she was crazy if she told them her thoughts about those dreams.

    "Myara," a familiar voice called softly.

    She tilted her head back and looked over her head to get a good view of the speaker.

    A tall, elderly gentleman stood there smiling, arms clasped behind his back, wearing the familiar, pale blue robes of the Temple of Skye. "Have you been sleeping here again?" he asked.

    Myara lowered her chin and rested easily once more. "So what? This area all belongs to the Temple of Skye, and no one ever comes here. I'm not bothering anyone."

    He let out a soft snort of laughter. "Even so, please refrain from sleeping in such a place in future."

    Myara sighed. "Yes, yes. I understand Grampa. I'll behave myself. After all, I have no place to go if Grampa kicks me out." She smiled faintly.

    Behind her, her grandfather's face softened. "Don't be bother about that sort of thing. It's better not to contemplate it at all."

    The breeze picked up and the smell of flowers drifted to them. Myara sat up and said, glancing back over her shoulder. "Shall we go back to the Temple? You probably wanted to talk about something right?"

    He brought into sight that which had been hidden behind his back, a golden yellow envelope that to Myara held a particular significance.

    She jumped to her feet, nearly slipping on the unkempt grasses beneath her on the slight slope. "Is that - ?" She found her feet and went to his side. "Is that from Elysiac Academy?" She finally demanded.

    He chuckled and then finally turned it over, revealing a white feather printed on the back of the envelope, exactly as she'd hoped.

    "Shall we see if you were accepted? Maybe we should wait till we get back to the temple." he teased.

    Myara reached for the envelope eagerly. "Don't bully me Grampa. Just let me look okay?"

    He handed it over to her silently.

    Heart pounding, she eagerly tore the envelope open and leafed through the documents inside. Finally settling on the most important she read it over while biting her lip and then threw her arms up, papers still in hand, and yelled. "I'm in! I'm in!" She gave her grandfather a big smile. "Looks like I won't be burdening you much longer."

    He smiled with a touch of melancholy. "You're not a burden. I'm sure that your presence around here will be greatly missed."

    Myara tucked the papers back into the envelope as her cheeks flushed slighly. "No way. There's no way those guys are going to miss me. I'm always interrupting their work or meditation. Don't say such embarrassing things. Besides, I'll be sure to come back every now and then just to keep them on their toes."

    Her grandfather reached up and patted her on the head gently. "Shall we go celebrate your admission?" he asked.

    Myara felt a little bit embarrassed to be treated like a child but decided to let it pass just this once. "Yeah, let's celebrate." She agreed.

    They walked leisurely back toward the main grounds.

    Her grandfather had been taking care of her for a good two years now. Myara had always had a hard time getting along with her parents. She was dead sure that they thought her strange themselves from the time she was very young. She couldn't really blame them since they didn't know anything, but right about the time when she'd been getting ready to start middle school she'd declared to her parents her desire to become a Priestess of Skye. After that getting along was out of the question at all.

    The Temple of Skye had a set of beliefs that most people, including Myara's parents, couldn't accept. The members of the temple believed that there were actually four worlds hovering in balance, the human world being one of them. Besides the human world they believed in a spirit world, which was closest to the human world, and a world for what would be considered demons and one for celestial beings. The purpose of the Temple of Skye was to protect the balance of souls within the four worlds and by doing so to prevent a collapse of the worlds.

    Of course, even though she might become a priestess in reality that wasn't Myara's true goal in the end. In reality, her desire was to find the demon who she had fallen for in her past life. She had often dreamed about a life in which she was a celestial living in the celestial and for a time even in the demon world. Her grandfather was the only one she had told about her dreams and he believed that she had a celestial soul trapped in her human body. His theory was that since she'd died in the celestial world, far from her demonic lover, she had tried to reach the demon world after death, to return to him. The celestial and demon worlds were the farthest apart, and were polar opposites of each other in much the same way the human and spirit world were vastly different. Returning to either the human or spirit worlds would have been easier than returning to the celestial world from which she originated. Not to mention... it was better than having her soul return to the void.
    (Since this feels incomplete I may add a little bit before the next chapter later on.)

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    Making Friends - Third Chapter

    The pale morning light was barely beginning to illuminate the sky through the window. Myara sat in bed, reading quietly, a small book-light clipped onto the pages of her book. After spending so much time living at the Temple of Skye, she'd become accustomed to being awake in the morning so much that she couldn't sleep in even if she tried. The sound of Jenny’s alarm was somewhat jarring. Myara glared at it and then went back to her reading, attempting to ignore the persistent beeping. She couldn’t believe that it hadn’t woken her roommate immediately. As time stretched and the beeping continued, Myara began to wonder if she should go and wake up her roommate if only so that she wouldn't have to listen to that aggravating sound anymore. She would have done just that, if only her roommate hadn't expressed just the day before, a desire that the two of them not get involved with each other. Myara had been hoping for someone friendlier but.. well.. she'd faced worse trials than an unfriendly roommate so she'd simply agreed.

    Jenny tossed in bed restlessly and groaned in an agitated manner before rolling over and groggily reaching for the snooze button. She then promptly went back to sleep as soundly as if she'd never woken.

    Myara went back to her book with a sigh as silence descended upon the room. She hoped the ordeal wouldn't repeat itself all over again in five or ten minutes. She put that matter aside and went back to her reading. It was still only about 6:49 and they wouldn't start serving breakfast in the dining hall until 7:15, an hour before classes started. Myara was patiently waiting so that she could go to breakfast early and then have plenty of time to look for her classes.

    When the alarm went off a second time Myara looked up and wondered if she was going to have to listen to that atrocious alarm going on and on again.

    Jenny reached for the alarm with a sleepy murmur and turned it off. She slowly sat up and yawned widely, covering her mouth as moisture crept into her half-opened eyes. Her long blonde hair hung around her head sloppily and several of the buttons to her pajama top had come unbuttoned in the night, allowing the maroon garment to hang from her body in a rather odd fashion. Compared to her immaculate, beautiful appearance on their first meeting it was a little bit funny.

    Myara looked away so that she wouldn't be seen smirking at the unkempt appearance of her new roommate. Composing herself she ventured a polite. “Good morning.”

    “Morning.” Jenny mumbled sleepily. She staggered out of bed like some kind of zombie and wiped the moisture from her eyes. “I’m going to take a shower.” Even her voice sounded half-dead.

    Myara closed her book. “I'll probably be gone by the time you're done.” Myara had already taken the time to shower while her roommate was fast asleep. She had actually been a little surprised that Jenny hadn't woken at the sound of the running water or at the sound of Myara moving about the room. From now on she wouldn't worry about it. It was obvious that her roommate could sleep through a great deal of noise.

    Jenny rested her left hand lazily on the back of her neck and tucked her chin in, stretching her upper back as though perhaps she hadn't slept comfortably despite sleeping well. "Uh, okay then. Bye, I guess." She turned away from Myara, crossing the short distance across the room at a zombie's pace.

    Myara turned off her book light and sat her book on the small stand beside her bed. She had an alarm beside her bed as well, but she had turned it off without needing it.

    Myara had already put on the pleated blue skirt and white blouse after her shower. All that was left was the matching blue tie, and the lighter blue sweater. After she was dressed she braided her long dark hair and pulled it up on the back of her head. She actually liked wearing her hair down but she often kept it up because she didn't like when the wind blew it in her face or tangled it. Her shoes and socks didn't take much time and she was ready. She glanced out the window. Since it was late August the weather was still fairly warm. It was possible that she didn't need to wear her sweater. However, she hated being cold and who knew what the temperature was kept like in the school building. Better to just wear it. It was easier to take clothes off to cool down than it would have been to come back to her room for her sweater later.

    When she walked out of their room with her bag in hand it was exactly 7:10. She smiled to herself. Just right.

    Myara strolled along the tall, arched hallway in a good mood. Hearing her footsteps echoing among the various noises made by other early risers. Even though the girl’s dormitory was only two stories, both floors had high ceilings and tall, arched windows. It had to have been built ages ago, in a time when aesthetics were valued over economy. The entire campus had that sort of feel. She paused at the top of the stairs. Several students were gathered halfway between the first and second floor, so spread out they were nearly blocking the way. On such a wide stairway, there was no reason why people shouldn’t have an easy time getting by. At least normally. Myara sighed and silently cursed all inconsiderate people and walked down along the right side of the stairs, pressing her body against the railing in order to pass by.

    A tall girl among the group complained loudly, “I tried to go into Ivory Hall and they kicked me out like I was some kind of criminal. I was just curious.”

    An older student asked, “You didn't hear about that yet?” Her tone grew derisive as she added, “That place is for ‘special students,’ although nobody can really tell what makes them so special. I think they’re just a bunch of weirdos.”

    Myara's curiousity was peaked but she had no intention of becoming yet another inconsiderate person blocking the stairs just to gossip. She had certainly heard of the Ivory Hall. It was on all the campus maps after all. But the part about "special students" interested her. Her first goal, surely, would be to discover what exactly constituted a "special student." If it was what she suspected then she might just have to become one herself. She had only four years to find the connection between Elysiac Academy and the particular organization she wanted to become a part of.

    She felt a slight breeze as she crossed the lobby of the girl's dormitory. One of the large, double doors at the entrance to the dorms was propped open, allowing air to flow into the large hall. Myara took a deep breath. There was a faint lingering smell of fresh cut grass and she was thankful she didn't have any allergies. She crossed the threshold with unwavering steps and looked to her left. She greeted the sun that was finally rising behind the skyscrapers of the city in the distance with a smile. Despite the city so close, the grounds of Elysiac Academy were massive. Across the sea of green a variety of trees stood like lonely islands scattered here and there. Pale stone pathways that seemed like slender bridges about to be washed away crisscrossed the grounds. From the entrance of the girl's dorm Myara could clearly see the adjacent boy's dorm. She wondered if both buildings had been built at the same time, or if one had been made as a reflection of the other. She picked up her pace a bit, thinking of the distance to the dining hall. Thankfully Starling Hall, where most of her classes would be held, was not far from the dining hall, so she wouldn't have to cross another large expanse after having had her breakfast.

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    Myara walked into the dining hall and was a little more disoriented than she'd expected to be. There seemed to be several lines here and there and she wasn't exactly sure which she should be in. To the left there was an arch leading into smaller area which one could pass through and easily come out the other side. There was a line on either side of the small tunnel-like area. The side against the outer wall seemed to be taking orders for omelets, and on the opposite side seemed to be already made food kept warm in trays. There were two large salad bars in the center of the room where silverware could also be found. Myara saw bread and toasters there as well. A tray return area and garbage cans could be seen through a doorway to Myara's right. Against the walls in the back of the room were some coolers containing drinks, yogurt, and other cold products. Myara wondered if she should take her bag with her to the table.

    A light touch on her arm surprised Myara a bit. She looked up at an unfamiliar face.

    "Are you a new student?" asked the rather tall, blond-haired male student.

    Myara was sure he would have been considered extremely handsome by some other girls but she had never been the type to care for the sauve, cool types. She told him, with a polite smile. "Yes, I am. There's no problem with that right?"

    He smiled. "Of course not. I just thought maybe you'd like someone to show you around. A cute girl like you should be careful or you might be taken advantage of."

    Myara fought to continue smiling in the face of such a ridiculous line. "Thank you for your concern but I'm sure I'll be just fine." She turned away.

    "What exactly are you doing?" Demanded a loud and angry voice.

    Myara looked before her to see a girl who was even shorter than she was. Long curly brown hair fell across her shoulders and she stared straight at Myara as if accusing her of a crime.

    "Are you talking to me?" asked Myara.

    The small girl huffed. "Who else would I be talking to?" she demanded.

    The student who'd approached Myara first cut in. "I was just going to show her around a bit Uriel, don't get upset about it."

    The small, angry girl before Myara scowled at him. "This is a matter between women so butt out, Blake." She redirected her attention to Myara, pointing a stern finger at her. "I'm just warning you now. Blake is going out with me. He'd never seriously consider going out with a first year student who doesn't know anything so just stay away all right?"

    Myara felt that this sort of accusing tone wasn't warranted but she had never really been one to pick fights so she just said. "You don't need to worry about me. I already have someone that I'm in love with."

    Uriel stared at her for a long moment as if assessing her and then said. "I see. I guess I don't need to worry about you but... don't talk to my boyfriend when I'm not around."

    Some people were starting to stare at them and Myara really wanted nothing more than to avoid attracting negative attention to herself. "That's fine. Now, I really want to go get something to eat so that I can go to my class early today."

    Uriel stepped forward forcefully.

    Myara leaned back, not sure what was going to happen.

    Uriel held out her hand. "Your bag." she demanded.

    Myara was a little dumbfounded. "My bag?" she asked.

    The short spitfire said. "Yeah, give it to me. You want me to show you where the lockers are right?"

    Myara slowly handed it to her. "The lockers?" she querried.

    Uriel took the bag and then turned her back on Myara. She called over her shoulder to Blake. "Go get us a table, and don't you dare talk to any more girls."

    Myara glanced at Blake's face, he looked resigned.

    "All right." He complied without complaint.

    Myara was forced to follow behind Uriel as they walked into the room on the right of the entrance, where she'd seen the trash and tray return. In the back of that room another large archway led to a large room filled with lockers. "You can leave your stuff in any empty locker in here while you eat. If you want to lock it you need your own lock. The boy's and girl's bathrooms are on the far side of this room as well." Uriel handed Myara back her bag in front of a small locker against the wall. "Here." she said curtly.

    Myara took her bag. "Uh.. thank you."

    Uriel sighed. "I'm sorry I accused you of flirting with Blake." she said, not sounding the least apologetic. "Actually I'm really good at telling when people are telling the truth, sort of like a talent you could say. So I know that it wasn't a lie, when you said you're in love with someone. I hope that you'll be happy."

    It was sort of an awkward apology but Myara though that, although it didn't sound sincere, perhaps this person was just really bad at that sort of thing. She smiled gently. "Thanks. I wish you happiness as well."

    Uriel's face turned slightly red. She looked away as if embarrassed. "No need to get all mushy. Well, I better go. I would invite you to join us for breakfast but Blake and I are members of the Ivory Wings so we eat in a different room from the main room where everyone eats."

    Myara's curiousity was piqued to hear this. "Ivory Wings?" she asked.

    Uriel turned away and told Myara. "You'll hear about it eventually I'm sure." She waved to Myara before disappearing through one of the arched passages that connected the locker rooms to the main hall.

    Myara couldn't help thinking what a strange person she'd met.