28 Rising Hope - 5

[Gabriel pov]

I was given some sort of object, a cube, one who seemed only to wilt away from my touch. Like it had some breath, some life. A throbbing heartbeat that paced against the palm of my hand. Beating once… twice… patterns of rhythmic beating. 

Where each led into the next, a sort of song. A symphony. A beauty of beats that created a melodic melody.

An illusion of life, where time passed. Creating a beautiful distraction for my mind, deciphering it bit by bit. Yet as the same time passed, as Atalante, the girl next to me, grew more and more flustered. A head filled with complex thoughts, giving way to patterns of frustration. Each relaxing me further. For that very irritation, that came from solving what others in the room called impossible.

Created a veil that separated me from the rest.

Not one girl dared approach me. It was like some sort of invisible barrier, only seen by those that tried and failed to reach past their sphere of influence and back into my own.

Refreshing. That was what it was as I placed the cube upon that same desk. Leaning against the grain of wood and letting the cold of the table dry the sweat that clung to my head.

Sweat that came from intense focus. Turning that cube within my hand. Sticking dainty finger after dainty finger into any hole I could find. Tapping it the same way that that heartbeat seemed to ring true.

Only for it to unfurl with some force. Was that how it was supposed to be? A puzzle to figure out rhythm, or was it more esoteric? To accustom us to some grander concept.

I was given no time to ponder the depth of that question though. As I was forcefully taken. A warm touch against my own. Heating my palm with its innate heat.

Grabbing and dragging me towards the teacher. Her soul glaring with some sort of hesitation, some sort of recognition. Was Lyra so known, to be remembered by this stern feeling professor.

But as her soul shadowed under the professors, veiling her own among the power of the professor's soul. 

It was a curiosity if nothing else. An unconscious force tilting my head for me, questioning the nature of that phenomenon. For it had never happened with Abigail, even with her powerful soul.

Yes it overshadowed others… and by a lot… but it never swallowed them how the professors had. It was… it was…

I was forced from my thoughts as the walls of the void once again faded. Turning into that same monotone gray. Guiding me against the floor as I walked towards the exit. Hand in hand with Lyra.

A smile on her face as she smirked over her shoulder. Secure in the fact that I would not see her. Yet I still snickered.

It may have given away that I was looking in that moment. But it was too amusing not to laugh to. For she had mistaken one too many times.

"Come." Lyra spoke and I followed. Curiously trailing her. 

"Where are we going?" I asked.

She merely turned, stopping in the corridor. Blocking the flow of traffic as she knelt down to my level. Patting my head.

"A request. How else will we pay for the dorm?"

"Ah- I didn't think that I was allowed."

She turned, not answering the hanging question.

But as I followed in her footsteps. Letting her hold my hand, I found myself once more curious. What was the request? Was it dangerous? Did she truly need me?

Question after question that just weren't answered. Not because Lyra didn't want to answer them but because I had not the courage to ask them.

For I could only trail along. Noting the stares and giggles of the surrounding body of students. Yet not one of them was male. It seemed to be some sort of trend. I was the only one.

Though that wasn't that surprising, for who was it that had so much money. To send a boy to such a school. Such a prestigious academy when they could save so much merely educating him on his duties and selling him to the highest bidder.

I was the outlier, one that was purposely sent in order to raise the reputation of my house. Of the Lauragne's even if it didn't happen immediately, I still knew that I would be required to do something drastic.

Maybe not today, but someday. Someday I would.

…

"Ah…" I trailed off, feeling the bumps of the road with every passing second. Sending me flying towards the back of the seat. Pushing me further from that breath I held.

Soon though I was caught, sent sprawling to the ground in a comfortable embrace. For I had been left alone too long. And that warm hand of hers. Of that familiar and intimate touch.

I wanted nothing more than to lean into it. To let her take me in her embrace and watch as she tore her way through my defenses. A lovesong of our own.

But it was not to be as she pulled away, her face turning into some apocryphal version of itself. Burning rage fighting through her soul as she raised her hand against me. A slap echoing through the cart.

Curses flying through her mouth.

"Tainted!"

"How could you let what was mine be tainted!"

For a moment I just gasped, tears falling from my face as I tried to reconcile with her. Giving half explained explanations, full hearted apologies. And a plea for her to stop. To stop being so angry.

Yet when I opened my eyes again, she was not there. The bumps of the cart no longer bothered me. I awoke.

Tears still streaming down my face. Comforting myself. Telling myself that it was only a dream. That it was not reality.

But even so… even knowing that it was a dream. I still couldn't hold these emotions. So… So…

I turned, touching the bird that continued to follow me. Letting her land over my finger, healing her injuries and filling my mind with the distraction that was her pain. Barely a touch but it was something.

A distraction that I used to the fullest. 

"Are you… ok?" A voice asked, startling me from my reverence. My distraction.

"I- Yeah I'm ok, just… just give me a minute." I responded. Feeling the severity of her gaze upon my own body. Trying to divine the ailment that wrecked my body so.

But it was not one that could be healed. Not so soon for that. But I still appreciated that Lyra would be so kind as to try.