Ariella’s awakening

Journey to a new start

*Ariella*

As Maine’s landscape blues past the window, I listen to the monotone sound of the train as I press my forehead against the cool window and try to get my thoughts under control.

Everything has happened so fast and now, three days before my eighteenth birthday I am on my way to my new school and a new life.

I have not been able to find out much about the school, but my time online is limited to borrowing the old computer at the local library, and to do that I also have to manage to get there in the small window where they are open.

All I have been able to find is that the School is very old and has many traditions and that it only accepts exceptional students, which kinda has me wondering if I have been mistaken for someone else. Also because I am rather sure I would remember applying. But hey, they are my way out, my ticket to an education, so I am not about to tell them.

“Old Orchard beach.” The speaker croaks. “Next stop, Old Orchard beach.”

I get up and grab my bag, moving towards the door, ready to get off, feeling butterflies flutter in my stomach.

When the train rolls to a stop, I jump off the last rung of the train, and my sneakers meet the platform with a soft thud. I look around the quaint station. The air is crisp, tinged with the scent of pine and the unseen ocean. I scan the sparse crowd and lock eyes on a sign with my name, ‘Ariella Vale,’ held by a man who might be the twin of the butler from the Addams family.

"Um, hi, that's me, Ariella," I say, my voice a mixture of excitement and nerves.

The man offers no smile, only a grunt of recognition as he takes my bag with a nod. "Follow," is all he utters, his voice deep and coarse.

The Rolls Royce is a vintage beauty, and as I slide into the creamy leather seat, I can't help but feel like I'm in a dream. "This is quite the service for a college student," I attempt to joke, seeking his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Nice car.”

Another grunt, this one with a hint of amusement… or is it annoyance? It's hard to tell.

The journey is silent, save for the hum of the engine and my attempts at small talk, each one falling flat. But then, the trees clear without warning, revealing the grandeur of Yggdrasil Hall. It's as if someone had breathed life into a mixture of a fairytale castle and child's nightmare and molded it into stone and spire. It's beautiful, haunting, and utterly surreal.

"Is that... the school?" I ask, my voice betraying a cocktail of awe and fear.

"Yes," he replies, the first full word he's granted me, and it's laced with a reverence that makes me believe this place is more than just brick and mortar.

As the car rolls to a stop, my heart is a rampant drumline in my chest. I step out, my gaze climbing the towering walls and turrets reaching for the sky, and I know I'm not just at the precipice of my new life… I'm about to leap into a world that's as terrifying as it is thrilling.

"Welcome to Yggdrasil Hall, Miss Vale," the man says, and I turn to find a ghost of a smile on his stoic face. "I think you'll find it... enlightening."

His words echo with a promise, one that sends a shiver down my spine as I take my first real step into a story that's waiting to be written.

*Kieran*

I recline in one of the schools common room, the fire's warmth a sharp contrast to the cool touch of Coraline's hand in mine. There's a light in her eyes that I have always taken for affection, and it stirs something inside me. As she speaks of practicalities and the future, I find myself nodding along, lost in the vision she paints… a future where she is by my side as my chosen mate. The thought should fill me with excitement, but there's a weight to it that I can't shake off.

Silas, my ever-watchful friend, leans against the wall with an expression that's hard to read. "Coral, love, do you want the crown or the man? Because it seems like you're reaching for one and settling for the other," he says, his tone casual but his eyes sharp.

Coraline's laugh is light, musical, and I feel a swell of pride that she's mine. "Well, Kieran's father might be traditional, but we can be persuasive, can't we?" Her gaze meets mine, and there's a promise there, a shared future, a kingdom.

I want to believe her, to drown in that sea-blue gaze and let it carry me away from doubt. But it is not only the whole fated mate thing, it is also her being a mermaid, my dad doesn’t really trust them.

"We can try," I say, squeezing her hand. "We'll show him how good we are together."

She smiles, and for a moment, I see the reflection of a crown in her eyes… a fleeting image that's gone as quickly as it came. I push away the nagging thought that she might see me more as a stepping stone than a soulmate. Because she's here with me now, isn't she? That has to mean something.

Silas coughs, a barely-there sound that somehow says too much. "Just make sure it's for the right reasons, eh?" His gaze flicks to Coraline, and there's a challenge there, one that I don't understand.

I choose to ignore it, focusing on the girl in front of me—the girl who might one day be my queen. She wants me, she's chosen me, and that's all that matters. The rest, the doubts and the silent questions in Silas's eyes, I'll deal with another day.