Stars and Swords

Under The Night Skies

After a grueling prectical exam session in what arguably is the most demainding subject, the students immediately dispersed to lunch, heading for the mess hall. Along with other recruits older and further in to the program, the majority of the Academy went to lunch break.

Holos and the rest of his class ate with minimal talk save for what happened earlier. They were done quick, and soon, were off to take their final test of the day: Introduction to Tactics

The trip to the test rooms of the last test was uneventful, with recruits whipping out their books and notes to get some last-minute studying in. The test was to be done in two separate rooms to accomodate the spaced-out seats to minimize the chance of students peeking their neighbor's paper. It was standard to all written examinations. The recruits then settled to sitting on the floor, near the classrooms as they await the proctors to unlock the rooms.

They were still abuzz about the last exam, discussing mainly in awe Tennor's moves. Others were contemplating what they could have done better, while others were wondering how their scores were going to turn out.

"Ugh, that 10 points off is gonna hurt as much..." grumbled Alec.

"You can say that again." Franz agreed.

"Spilt milk, unfortunately." commented Art. "Much like how our blood was." he scoffed, referring to the incident of yesterday.

"Heh, they're all compensating." Holos mumbled so to not be overheard. "They couldn't stand being beat in the only thing they think they matter and they're hot stuff in." he added.

The others breathed a 'heh" in agreement. The proctors then soon came, prompting the students to stand up. The students took one last look at list tacked on to both room's doors to check if they were entering the right one. Some backtracked upon realizing their error.

Holos only had Franz with him, with both Alec and Art assigned to the other room. On the other hand, Baz and Beran were in the same room, but not Oren, which gave the former two some relief. The room's proctor allowed for last-minute study while he did the role call for the room. Soon, books and review material were stowed away and the examination began. As per usual, Holos sat in the middle of it all, at the second row.

The sound of quills scratching parchment soon permeated the room, with erratic pauses in between, likely the student taking time to think over the answer to the questions staring at them from the parchment.

Midway through, Holos had to lean back as he approached the essay part of the examination.

The question read: "What do you do when you have to defend two fronts but lack the men to do so?" The question struck a pang into Holos and certainly many others, imagining the scenario. Eventually, Holos formulated an answer that he can only hope would score high, as well as not violate his own principles. He began inking the first words into the space on the parchment.

"I will gather the troops and use existing terrain to my advantage." Holos wrote in to began. The flow kicked in and he then began writing like a man possessed, only stopping to not accidentally either misspell or put in gramatically-incorrect sentences. Meanwhike, Franz was doing just as well as Holos. Baz was scratching his head all throughout the test, clearly struggling with it. Beran did better, but not much better than Baz.

Time was winding down in the exam. Some were already down to reviewing their answers, while others were making corrections, as they remembered things last minute.The sound of quills being to parchment reached a fever pitch as the exam entered the dying minutes. A few were already done, checking if everything they wrote was right.

Holos meanwhile, while scratching in the last words of his essay, cannot wait for it to be night. He was set to meet his old friend that night. The time to submit the paper soon came, everybody putting down their quills and waiting for the proctor to collect their paper. It didn't took long for the collection, and soon, their belongings were retrieved and the class was filing out the rooms, concluding their examinations for the day.

The recruits went their separate ways, after it, going various ways. Some opted to take a bath, others chose to hang out in the courtyard, while others retreated back to their quarters. Holos checked out what's for dinner, which was posted outside the mess hall while Art, Alec and Franz went on ahead to sit inside.

"Hey how did it go?" Alec opened up, "Mine went alright, but essay part was quite a challenge." he said.

"Mmm, I can relate to that, quite a difficult question." replied Art.

"I think I missed some parts on the enumeration part." quipped Franz. Holos then pulled up another chair and put down his belongings right beisde the others'.

"Anything good for dinner Holos?" asked Art, "I am quite starving after this day..." he sighed.

"Let's see" Holos said, racking his brains. "Salisbury, mashed potato, mushroom soup." he recited. "The Celestium is smiling on me I see." he quipped.

"Excellent choices indeed." said Art, smiling. "Hope they don't skimp on the mushroom gravy." he added.

"And hey, good luck with that meeting later tonight." said Franz.

"Thanks Franz." replied Holos.

The quartet then discussed tomorrow's exams and which topics are covered. Alec was in charge this time reviewing them for Magic Theory, a subject that Alec has quite an affinity for. Holos and Franz cannot quite grasp the subject, Holos in particular finding it harder than arithmetic, a subject he already struggles quite heavily. Holos can't help but have his thoughts drift off to later in the evening, to that fated meeting with his old friend.

Dinner came, and Soura joined the staff table and ate with them. The silver-haired recruit can't help but look Soura's way, hoping she remembers what she promised earlier that day. The rest of the hall carried on with their dinner, unaware that one of them knows thier distinguished guest from way back.

Sometime later, one of the servers approached the table where Holos and his friends with a small not in hand.

"Hey Holos, I think this is it." Art commented, seeing the approacing wait staff.

"Calm it Art. We haven't seen what it is yet." Franz cautioned.

Holos did not agree nor disagree with his friend. He just received the note from the wait staff and thanked him. Immediately, he rolled out the small piece of parchment and read the contents. Greeting Holos was elegant writing, which only a few people Holos know can do. Upon further inspecting, it is quite feminine, but not like his mother's.

The letter read:

"Old friend, I will be waiting by the courtyard. It has been years, lets catch up. Be waiting for you, Holos."

"Yours truly, Soura"

Art then grinned, being proven right by Holos' body language. Franz and Alec smiled at him.

"Well then, good then I'm done with my dinner almost." Holos grinned, as he chomped down on the last piece and morsel of steak he had on his plate. He then proceeded to immediately tidy up his plate and cutlery and drank his water.

"Hey, have a great time, my friend." Alec said.

"Thanks Alec." Holos replied. Franz and Art nodded as the silver-haired boy made his way to the exit of th mess hall.

Soura meanwhile, bid her leave, telling the staff she had to meet an old friend. She told one of the wait staff to inform a certain silver-haired recruit, describing him and where he was seated.

As Holos walked quickly to the courtyard, his heart can't stop pounding, seeing how his old friend blossomed not only into a beautiful lady, but a distinguished person in Polaria, and possibly all of Aurorai. He finally reached the courtyard, and there stood Soura, her silky brown hair providing a nice complement to her eyes that were colored like the night sky. She smiled at him, which made the boy's heart flutter.

"Holos my old friend!" she exlacimed, reaching out to the boy's hands.

"It has been long indeed..." Holos sighed, receiving his friend's hand in his, which felt soft and oddly comforting.

"What happened to you, you've got bruises on your face Holos!" exclaimed Soura with concern, seeing the boy's bruises and cuts from yesterday.

"The short of it? Some..." Holos sighed, as rummaged mentally for better words to say, "ill-mannered people who so happen to be my classmates found out that I am the son of the headmaster and they thought I had an unfair advantage." he recounted the grim events of yesterday.

"Did anybody intervene?" Soura asked.

"After a while, yes." Holos sighed, sitting on a bench. Soura sat beside him. "Everyone who were involved got a 10-point deduction for all our exam results..." he exhaled, while Soura listened intently.

"How did your father receive this news?" she asked.

"Not so well, but he understood what happened." he replied. "But what about you though?" he asked back at his old friend, "How did you end up being selected for The Order?" he asked in wonder.

"It all changed for me one day..." Soura began her tale.