by Cora May
He looked unforgiving.
He looked stern and angry.
Needless to say, Chanta was just fine when she held the stone in her hand, and nothing had happened. The Pyrite stone didn’t react to her touch, it nearly rejected her. She had felt its attitude, as strange as that was. She hadn’t gotten quite that same reception from any of the other stones, but it acted nearly alive… And it nearly jumped right back out of her hand and into his. She let it, handing it back to Thurien as soon as she could. That test didn’t last long at all. He had snatched the stone from her, gave Reiter a curt goodbye, and left without a word to Chanta herself. She didn’t mind.
The last, final test was with Prisanni. The woman didn’t say much to begin with. She did the same thing the other professors had done, giving Chanta a smooth, light blueish white stone. The stone had livened up in her hands then, and it was speaking to her. She could nearly understand it—nearly. She knew that it was trying to say something, and she stared at it, trying to receive the message. But alas, the connection had stopped all too soon, the moment passing by all too quickly, and Prisanni took back the stone.
Chanta thought, though, that Prisanni had seen the connection. She gave her a careful, thoughtful look after she took the stone back. Chanta wasn’t sure she wanted her to know—that was another stone that scared her. Though it wasn’t so much the stone that scared her but the Head of the House that was intimidating. She didn’t want to end up being forced to see Prisanni more than she needed to.
Luckily, though, Prisanni didn’t say much. At least, she didn’t announce that Celestite was Chanta’s stone and that she would be a part of her house. Those words would have been hard to rest on Chanta’s ears. Instead, she told her something far vaguer.
“Professor Reiter,” she had begun. “We have a lot to think about, don’t we?”
Reiter had only nodded in response, carefully watching Chanta as he did.
“It appears that you are a special case,” she had said as she turned to face Chanta once more. “We have to consult with the other heads of the houses in order to solve the mystery you have presented us. Once we do that, and once we determine the correct stone for your Blessing, we will bring it to you. Then we will introduce you to your roommates upstairs and get you settled into your new schedule and your new life here at my school. For now, you will just have to wait for us in your room here, I do apologize.”
It hadn’t sounded like a very sincere apology at all. Nonetheless, Chanta had accepted it wordlessly and walked to her room, with Reiter close on her heels. She waited to hear their footsteps walk up the stairs before she had fallen onto her bed in frustration.
And that was where she lay still, curled up underneath the comforter and shivering slightly. She had grown hungry, but Maleka hadn’t returned with her food since the day she sent her away. Instead, someone new every time brought a meal, and never on a very set schedule. She could never predict when she would eat next.
She wasn’t sure what to think anymore.
She wasn’t sure what to feel anymore, either.
It made her next meal delivery an interesting experience—interesting because, again, she wasn’t sure what to feel.
There were only two small knocks on the door, and then it was opening. Without Chanta’s permission. She would have felt annoyed and offended at the lack of privacy—but, again, she didn’t feel much at all.
Besides that, the person that walked in was someone she didn’t mind looking at.
He was tall and slender. He wasn’t overly muscular like the other men, and he wasn’t super odd-looking like Olly. He was easy to look at. He wore blue jeans and a tweed jacket, which normally would have made Chanta laugh, especially since it didn’t go with his rugged looks. His face was covered in brown stubble, and his brown, wavy hair hung loose, close to his chin in length. He had soft hazel eyes when he looked at her, and he gave her a small, breathtakingly white smile as he let himself in her room. He closed the door behind himself, using his thick, brown boot since his hands were full with the tray.
Chanta sat up in her bed, the covers falling off her body.
She realized she was still wearing last night’s PJs and quickly picked up the blanket again, holding it to her shoulders. She hadn’t cared once what everyone else saw her wearing, but she suddenly felt indecent with this guy. She hadn’t expected anyone to come into her room like that.
“I hope I didn’t wake you…?” he stated, ending in a question.
Chanta blanked.
Her bare shoulders suddenly felt even more naked. She scooted her back to the wall for further coverage.
The boy looked behind him at the closed door before he moved closer to her with the food.
“I’m here to bring you your dinner,” he explained in a soft tone. “I thought you might want some company, too. I know it can be a little overwhelming, down here by yourself. And… I know you’ve been here for a while.”
His voice was soft and welcoming. He was quiet, almost whispering. She wondered if he was trying not to be heard, or if he was always quiet.
“Is that…” Chanta’s voice got stuck in her throat. She cleared it away. “Is that allowed? For you to be here, I mean?”
The boy frowned.
“Not really,” he said. “But you can’t be alone this long. It’s bound to make you crazy.”
Chanta laughed a little sarcastic laugh.
“Is that normal? Is everyone down here for this long?”
The boy didn’t answer. Instead, he sat on the foot of her bed, as far away from her as he could be. He set the silver platter between them and lifted the lid to reveal two sets of plates, each with the same food. A steak and potato dinner. It smelled heavenly, Chanta had to admit. The spices must have been combined to perfection.
And there were two plates. She wouldn’t be eating alone. She would be eating in the presence of a pretty cute boy, actually. Her heart was thudding, even though she tried to keep her apathy in check.
“I’m Fenneck,” he told her. “I’ve been going to this school for… two years now? Maybe three. Sometimes it’s easy to lose track. We’re like family here. You’ll see, soon enough.”
Fenneck unfolded his napkin and placed it across his lap, keeping the fork in his left hand. He picked up one of the plates, but then hesitantly looked at Chanta.
“Do you not like steak?” he asked, then suddenly choked on a thought. “Are you vegetarian? I didn’t even think of that. Dear Anam, I am so sorry—I can get something else.”
He started to stand.
Chanta reached out to him, stopping short over the food. She took her hand back before touching him.
“No, no,” she told him. “I’m not. Definitely not.” She laughed. “I’m just… I just need a moment. I’m not used to having company. I’m actually very hungry.”
Chanta reached for her napkin. She mimicked Fenneck, placing the napkin on her lap over the comforter. It felt pretty strange, to have manners again—but she wasn’t going to pig out in front of him.
She picked up the plate he had left for her and placed it on top of the napkin.
She held her own fork in her right hand and stabbed her baked potato with it. Steam rose as the skin was broken. Her stomach growled in response to the aroma.
She wasn’t ready to eat yet, though.
“What’s your stone, then, uh, Fenneck?” she asked him, staring at her food. She suddenly realized she had dropped he comforter from her shoulders, and heat hit her cheek in a responding blush. But how else was she supposed to eat? Besides, Fenneck hadn’t seemed bothered about it.
“Emerald,” he said proudly with a mouth full of steak. He placed his fork on the plate and reached inside his shirt to pull out the stone he wore around his neck.
Indeed, it was a small, beautiful piece of green Emerald, worn on a chain around his neck, as most of the stones had been pictured in the book she had read. Its beauty didn’t stun her, though. On the contrary, she was sick of see
ing them. She looked away pretty quickly and, sensing that discomfort, he put his stone away under his shirt and out of sight.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but it really isn’t that scary. None of this is.”
Chanta raised her brow.
“Is it normal,” she asked again, “for someone to be down here as long as I have been?”
Fenneck didn’t want to look her in the eyes at first. He stared at his food, poking the steak with his fork.
Finally, he opened his mouth.
“No,” he admitted. “But usually they already know your stone before they take you to the school. That’s how it’s been with everyone. They test out their theory, just to be sure, and they’re right most of the time. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever known them to be wrong. Once they give you your stone and teach you the basics about control, which is usually no more than a single lecture, you’re free to go upstairs. That’s when you get a room and some roommates and you’re introduced into your house.”
“Then why is it taking so long for me?” she asked. “Why am I stuck down here? What’s wrong with me?”
There was a long pause between her questions and his answers. The pause said more to her than his words did.
Though, he was also here still, willing to eat dinner with her. She was obviously a freak, and possibly a dangerous one at that, but he was willing to stay. Maybe that was why Maleka wouldn’t stay with her or talk with her.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he told her. “They just… Aren’t sure about you. But that’s a beautiful thing. Think about how many things you could be. Are you a Keeper? A Communicator? A Psychic?”
He saw the look in her eyes—and misread it as confusion. Still, he didn’t take the time to explain to her.
“Anyway,” he said, “everything will be clear once you find out your Blessing. And don’t worry, I’ll help you through it.”
He put another bite of steak in his mouth.
“The worst that could happen is that you don’t like your stone,” he told her. “But eventually you realize that you have the Blessing you were meant for, and you wouldn’t be able to handle the other stones. That’s how we all feel. At first, we’re a bit envious—I mean, I got told I’m an Emerald Keeper. I got told I don’t really have a Blessing of my own, and that I can only borrow other people’s talents. Seems dumb at first, right? But then… I can literally do anything, and if I don’t like it, I move on to the next thing. It’s great!”
Chanta gave him a weak smile as she put the first bite of potato in her mouth. She was hungry, but she started chewing more to occupy her mouth with something other than talking. She wasn’t sure what to say.
Fenneck seemed the complete opposite. He seemed to have so much to say, he hesitated because he was unsure of where to start.
“What stones have they tested so far?” he finally asked her.
She slowly chewed her potato as she thought through her next words. Was it better to keep quiet? She was afraid and unsure, and she didn’t want to trust anyone. She was used to shutting everyone out and surviving on her own. But at the same time… she felt weak and lonely. She tossed the two feelings back and forth. By the time she swallowed her potato, a combination of the feelings won out.
“All of them,” she answered him, slowly and quietly.
At first, Fenneck didn’t respond. That told her all she needed to know—that she was definitely a freak. People weren’t supposed to be tested that much. She should have already found her stone and been placed upstairs—something he had already said, but perhaps now that he was aware of more of the puzzle, she looked like even more of a freak to him.
Hopefully, this friendship would last.
“Who else has come down here?” he asked her. “Besides the heads of the houses, I mean. To talk to you?”
“Well,” she began, “a girl named Maleka was delivering me my meals pretty regularly.”
“Oh, Maleka! She’s a sweetheart,” he told her. “She has a twin brother, Mileno. They’re from Hawaii. They’re both Burners. I see them around the school pretty often.”
“Yeah,” Chanta said begrudgingly. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing any more of each other.”
Fenneck looked at her questioningly.
“She kind of ran away from me, I think,” she confessed. “I’m pretty sure that’s the only reason you’re here now, and why it’s never the same person twice now. I tried to talk to her, and she probably told on me. I think they’re trying to make sure I don’t have friends down here.”
Fenneck grimaced and nodded his head.
“The problem with Maleka,” he started, “is that she’s a rule follower. She does what she’s told, when she’s told to do it, and how she’s told to do it… I think that’s because of her story before she came to this school. It’s pretty instilled in her now. I don’t think she means it, and I think you’ll be great friends upstairs. It’s just…”
“Everybody starts as a prisoner, huh?” she told him. “Can’t be making friends with prisoners.”
Fenneck sighed.
“I guess I understand why you see it that way. I guess I probably felt like that, too, when I first came. It’s never our choice, huh? We’re kind of told we’re bad kids, treated like the outcast in our families and in our hometowns. So when we’re brought here, it feels like we’ve been sent away. Like it’s a punishment. For most of us, we’re only down here for a day or two. So, yeah, I get it… You’ve been here for so much longer, it’s much worse for you. You have to trust me on this—they’re going to help you. It just takes time.”
Chanta looked back at her food. Silence passed as the two shifted their focus from conversation to other things. For Fenneck, it was clearly his hunger that occupied his mind now as he scarfed down his plate. Chanta, on the other hand, wasn’t as focused on her own hunger. She did not believe these people would help her. But, when she was honest with herself, she realized that it wasn’t because they wouldn’t help her. She didn’t think she could be helped. And Fenneck’s responses so far had helped support that theory. He was just as confused as she was.
She was scared of something else, too, but she wasn’t quite sure how to ask him about it.
She waited until he placed his fork and knife across his plate and began to dab his mouth with the napkin on his lap. She knew he would leave shortly if she didn’t say something, and she wasn’t sure she would ever see him again.
“What happens…” she hedged. Fenneck put his napkin on his plate and turned to give his full attention to her. “What happens if they don’t find my stone? Will I be locked down here forever?”
“First of all,” he told her, “your door isn’t locked. Haven’t you noticed that?”
In response, she only scowled at him.
“Right, right,” he conceded. “The prisoner thing and all that. Nobody has ever not been given a stone. No one is ever locked down here permanently.”
She looked at him quizzically. Did he just not know?
“There are plenty of other rooms down here,” she told him. “Who else is in them now?”
He shrugged.
“I think most of them are supply closets or something,” he told her. “I imagine some of them are bedrooms, but we don’t get a whole lot of new students at one time. We wouldn’t need a whole basement full of beds, then, would we?”
She bit her lip. He didn’t know about Douglass, then.
“So, this is the room you stayed in?” she pressed.
“Well, no, I stayed next door. It was a blue room that I stayed in. Maybe they have one for boys and one for girls.”
Fenneck shrugged his shoulders.
He seemed so happy and so naïve. She couldn’t ruin his perfect view of this place. She quietly ate a few more bites of her dinner instead.
Fenneck continued to talk to her about the school. He told her about some of his friends, none of which she remembered five minutes after he told her, save for Maleka and Mileno. She wasn’t r
eally listening, though. Her mind was wandering to the books on the desk again. She let him happily blab on, though, and nodded her head appropriately. When she had eaten enough and placed her own plate back on the tray, he excitedly revealed the single piece of red velvet cake he had brought. He then picked up two forks and handed one to her. The gesture stopped Chanta short of her own thoughts for just a moment. It had been a long time since she shared a piece of cake with a boy.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get more,” he told her sheepishly. “I didn’t want the cooks to know I had planned to eat it with you.”
Ah, it wasn’t meant as a romantic gesture at all, then. It was simply the best he could do in secret. She smiled at him as her mind went back to other things.
Once they had finished eating the cake, Fenneck gathered all the dirty dishes onto the silver tray and replaced the lid. He gave her a small wave and bid her goodbye. She watched him as he left the room.
Once the door clicked behind him, she went back to the books.
She set aside the book of the stones. She didn’t plan on reading that one again. She set aside the diary as well—that one hadn’t felt right to read to begin with. It felt like she had been snooping inside someone’s life—given, at this point, that’s exactly what she needed to do. This time, she went for the brown leather-bound book that she hadn’t yet touched.
This one read like a history book, but it wasn’t a history she would ever expect to have been real. It told of battles fought in the afterlife, between the Realm of the Light and the Realm of Darkness. It described the Reaper of Death and his role in the human Realm—and it explained his role in the war.
In the year 1956, the world took a drastic turn for the worse. That was the year the Realm of Darkness gained the upper hand in the war. It began with one human, by the name Don Larr. His stone was not one of the traditional seven and has not been written down for the protection of future bearers. The stone allowed him to command the Anam of both Realms. The Anam that were under his control had no choice, and, as far as is known, were not even aware of what they had done. Though that last bit is wide speculation, it is important to include the possibility in this book for the protection of the Anam, Solas and Dorcha alike. Larr would use his ability to force the Anam to open a portal for him. Once the portal was opened, linking the human world to any of the Realms he commanded, he was free to lead his army into the Realms.