Aric
As I walked down the dark corridors, I passed several abandoned rooms. The first one I passed was our old playroom. After Aurelia manifested in there, no one dared to go back inside.
We got a new playroom, and Aurelia stopped playing with us. That day was Elira's last in the palace. And I think about it sometimes.
I turned the doorknob to see if it was locked. It wasn't. The door made a tired creaking sound as I pushed it open. The table, half burnt, sat in the middle of the room. A couple of tiny chairs lay on the floor, kicked away, abandoned, disorganized. Were the maids too afraid to even put them in order?
Everything else had been taken out of the room but the chairs that Elira and Aurelia sat on remained untouched. The table too. It's been over a decade. But things remain the same.
At least for me. Things never changed. I'm still the same little boy that was awed by his cousin shooting out a flow of golden fire at five. And I am still the little boy that always wondered if I would manifest the next day. I haven't. And I might never.
••••••••••••••••••••••••
Just as I stepped out of the old playroom, I saw her in the shadows. Avantika. What was she doing here? I wondered. These days she seems to be everywhere I'm at.
I can understand when I go to the kitchen area to get snacks, ofcourse she has things to do there.
But I believe she works at the lady's kitchen, since she's Aurelia's personal maid. So she shouldn't even be in the west wing kitchen.
But these days I see her everywhere, it's almost like, now that Aurelia's gone she's become my tail instead. "Does she wanna do my laundry or something?"
I wondered.
"What do you want?" I snapped.
She slowly came out of the shadows.
"I'm just passing. Mr.Aric."
" Why are you everywhere?"
I looked at her suspiciously.
"Mr. Aric,it's because I live here. And recently you've been around the maids area a lot." She had the guts to be sarcastic.
"Whatever. Just, just leave"
I turned around and headed back to my quarters. I was annoyed but honestly, she had a point. I've been going to fetch all my needs by myself. I'd forbidden anyone from coming into my quarters, including the boys that come in for cleaning and helping out. I just needed some time alone without anyone disturbing my peace. But I still needed things, so I end up in places I normally wouldn't be.
So she had a point.
I keep thoughts of stalky Avantika from my head and proceed to wallow in my sadness.
••••••••••••••••••••••
Back in my room, I took a shower, finally. I picked up my phone to check what the internet was up to. Though I already knew the convergence trials is going viral and everyone is focused on who will be the winner. Aurelia, the one who's always on top, or Elira, the rising star? Elira's fans are supporting her and making edits of her. Elira is pretty and hot. Although not everyone knew what she could do,they had edits of her shooting arrows, doing crazy jumps and what not. I don't know why people always assume her clones are just herself, edited. And I don't understand why she never cares to tell her fans that they are in fact her clones.And they are real.
They have also made edits of Aurelia. People like her, even though she never brings herself out there. If they knew half the things she could do, they would probably go crazy. That's the normies for you.
The next video after Elira's made me pause. It was me. But why? I'm not even in the trials.
It was an edit of different clips of me, most of them were probably taken by students because I was in my uniform in most. They're clips of me just frowning and apparently...being hot. It's kinda weird. But it also made me feel a little happy. Happy that someone noticed me too. I guess having fans out there isn't half bad. And if I had powers? I'll show them off, unlike Aurelia and Elira who remain mysterious.