Creak!
A few hours prior, a sleek door slid opened, revealing the interior of a recovery room.
Med-bots floated around, their parts whirring as they shimmered; blue fluorescent lights scanning the air in a controlled pattern of movement.
WHIRR WHIRR
A controlled, soft step strolled into the room, her features immediately shining under the lights above.
Vei Alros, the Vice Headmaster.
That short cropped hair that swayed just below the ear; jet black in appearance with streaks of purple matching her deep violet eyes and subtle bronze skin tone, her expression was sharp and composed matching her clean-cut attitude.
Nothing appeared flamboyant, she gave the sense of someone who measured everything, leaving nothing unchecked as she wore a simple dark academy faculty uniform, tailored sharp and clean as a long coat draped behind her shoulders.
She had visited Riven when he was still asleep, forcing her to leave.
Upon hearing he was awake from Headmaster Kael....she decided to pay him a visit again.
Her gaze swept the room once.
Not on the bed....
He was on the floor.
Riven sat there, back against the frame, head tipped slightly as though caught in thought.
What was he thinking about?
For a breath, she only watched.
The boy didn't look ashamed or startled at her entrance.
He was still....
As though the floor was a better alternative than the bed given....among other things.
"Not many prefer the floor for comfort", her smooth voice cutting through the air, as the hum of machinery whirred.
Riven didn't turn his head, but he glanced in her direction, his back postured on the bed-frame.
"I had time to get used to it ....in the South Tower."
Time seemed to slow....the whirring of machinery paused, as even the med-bots glanced in his direction briefly....before whirring to life.
WHIRR
Her brow slightly furrowed, before she masked the twitch, "And what does that entail?"
"....Hard to sleep in a haunted tower."
'....Haunted.'
She let the word hang, her gaze unreadable, as Riven glanced up to the ceiling; that brown hair scraping the end of the frame.
"...At least the tower had net." he stated, voice dragging under the hums.
".....I saw everything."
A pause followed as her eyes narrowed.
WHIRR
The med-bots hums filled the silence for them.
Vei's head tilted, her violet eyes sharpening now:
"Then you know what happened."
Riven didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Her eyes lingered, analysing his ruffled brown hair among other features.
A pause filled the air.
One that faintly filled with beeping of various monitors behind.
BEEP!
"...You fight differently."
Another short pause eclipsed as she watched his lack of reaction.
"No magic. No Ki. No Spirit usage....."
His head lowered, as this time he looked at the wall in front of him.
WHIRR
Tap
She tapped her boot on the floor as she crossed her arms.
Her next words felt like a sudden revelation....
The tension and quiet morphing the impact.
"I've seen it before. Once."
Riven's finger twitched at the claim, a motion she couldn't see from her view.
She leaned in a little, "That feeling of nothing....the movement," her eyes narrowed, "It was a boy, close to your age....not long ago."
His finger mirrored the motion once more....
'Seen it before?'
The thought pressed sharp, unwelcome.
He'd never once wondered if the blade Maelis taught him belonged to anyone else.
"....Is that meant to mean something?" His voice came flat, deflecting.
Her gaze didn't waver.
"It means I don't believe in coincidences."
WHIRR
The med-bots finally whirred as they hovered, their presence lost in the tension filled air.
'....Null Edge.'
He seemed lost in thought, something she'd noticed.
"...Nothing, then." she voiced, deciding to postpone the topic.
huff
She let out a faint exhale, as if filling the silence in her head.
The room stilled for a few.
WHIRR
Then, as if stating a simple comment:
"Kalen Voss. He took the worst of it." she voiced.
Her gaze looked out towards the window to his left.
Dark.
Riven raised his head towards her for the first time.
Something simmered....
"What happened."
-----------
The night of festivities had come to a close.
The whispers had folded into the dark.
The brilliance of the lights dimmed.
Music dwindled, as laughter scattered with time.
The ball had officially ended.
What came after....was to be judged.
-----------
By dawn, the palace had transformed.
The warmth of celebration gave way to a chamber of order.
Marble floors stretched wide, unbroken, polished to a mirror's shine; reflecting the lines of students arrayed in silence.
First-years stood shoulder to shoulder, uniforms sharp, displaying the fiery sigil of Eldris Academy as their eyes fixed ahead.
Second-years representatives loomed nearby, their presence heavier, more tempered than the majority of their contemporaries.
The music of yesterday, was no more.
Only echoes of footfall and scratching of records into history.
This was a moment.
One the students would remember.
Definitely.
The hall was now arranged in order, but then....
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A faint echo carried as steps crossed the polished floor, unhurried and unbothered.
Some heads turned nearby, some with curiosity and others with scepticism at the late arrival.
Riven entered without ceremony, his gaze flicking across lined ranks before he moved to the far end of the back row, claiming a place at the edge of the formation.
He said nothing, and none stepped forward to question him.
One reason for that being those at the front couldn't see the late comer.
Meaning he'd slipped in unnoticed by majority.
CLICK!
Light crystal cameras flashed clicking every so often.
CLICK!
Each flash wasn't a picture....but a record.
A record they'd get to store wherever they so wished.
The hall waited patiently for the commencement, none appearing bothered by the delay.
They didn't have to wait long.
CREAAKK!
With a sonorous groan...the doors at the far end parted.
A flood of radiance filled the room, heads turning at the arrivals.
No one dared to question their lateness, after all it was the Royal family.
The banners of the crown, the steel-etched armours of various knights.
At the centre of all the security was them.
The air thickened with reverence, envy and unspoken judgement.
The ceremony was about to begin.