Chapter Three
1427 Words
The doors opened, and this time no one hesitated.
Movement picked up almost immediately, bags shifting, voices rising, students stepping down in uneven waves like everyone had been waiting for someone else to go first.
Kaia stood and adjusted her bag. “Okay,” she said quietly, like she was bracing herself. “We’re here.”
Isla followed her into the aisle. “We’ve been here for five minutes.”
“That doesn’t count. That was sitting. This is… real.”
Isla almost smiled. “You’re dramatic.”
“I’m aware.”
They stepped off the bus.
The air outside felt different.
Open. Wide. Like the world had quietly stretched itself out just for this place.
Velmorne Academy stood ahead of them large stone buildings spaced with intention, not crowding each other but existing like they all mattered. Pathways curved through the grounds in a way that looked planned without feeling rigid. Trees lined the walkways, placed too neatly to feel accidental.
Kaia let out a breath. “Wow.”
“Yeah,” Isla said quietly.
Up close, it felt even more deliberate. Tall windows, clean stonework, wide steps leading toward buildings that didn’t need to announce themselves to be noticed.
“This doesn’t even look like a school,” Kaia said. “It looks like somewhere important people argue about important things.”
“It is somewhere important,” Isla replied. “People don’t just end up here.”
“Great,” Kaia muttered. “Love that for us.”
Students moved around them, some walking with confidence, others slowing just to take everything in before pretending they weren’t impressed.
Isla noticed it quickly.
Everyone was pretending a little.
“We should follow them,” Kaia said.
“Good plan.”
They joined the flow of students, letting movement guide them instead of choosing direction themselves. The path curved gently ahead toward a much larger building than the rest.
“That’s definitely something important,” Kaia said.
“Probably orientation.”
“I hope so. I don’t want to get lost before I even start being lost properly.”
“You got on a bus with strangers,” Isla said. “You’ll survive.”
Kaia glanced at her. “You’re not reassuring at all, you know that?”
“I’m not trying to be.”
Ahead, a woman stood just off the path, watching them approach.
“First years?” she asked as they passed.
A few students nodded, Kaia included.
“Yes,” Kaia said.
“Orientation hall is straight ahead,” the woman said calmly. “Follow the main flow. You’ll see it.”
“Thank you,” Kaia said quickly.
“Welcome to Velmorne.”
She stepped aside.
Kaia let out a breath as they continued. “Okay. We’re doing things correctly.”
“Bare minimum success,” Isla said.
“I’ll take it.”
The building ahead grew larger as they approached. Wide steps, tall open doors, voices already spilling faintly from inside. Students were entering in groups now, the energy shifting from outside uncertainty to inside anticipation.
Inside, the hall opened into a vast space filled with natural light from tall windows. The ceiling stretched higher than Isla expected, and the room already carried the low hum of students settling in.
“This is insane,” Kaia whispered.
“Don’t say that too loud,” Isla replied.
“I’m whispering.”
“You’re not.”
Kaia ignored her.
As they moved further in, a voice suddenly cut through the noise.
“Window girl.”
Isla paused slightly before turning.
Leo was already grinning as he approached with Jax beside him.
“I was starting to think you’d disappeared before getting inside,” Leo said.
“You would’ve missed me,” Isla replied.
“Debatable,” he said, then added quickly, “No actually, tragic for me. I would’ve suffered emotionally.”
Kaia shook her head slightly. “You two already know each other?”
“We survived the bus together,” Leo said proudly. “That bonds people. Trauma-lite bonding.”
“That’s not a thing,” Jax muttered.
“It is now.”
Before Isla could respond, another voice joined in.
“Hey… uhm sorry,are you all first years too?”
They turned.
A girl stood there, holding her bag close, her expression careful but open, like she wasn’t sure if approaching was a good idea but had decided to try anyway.
“Yeah,” Kaia said immediately. “You can stay with us.”
Relief crossed her face. “Thanks. I didn’t want to stand alone.”
“Understandable,” Leo said. “Standing alone makes you look mysterious. Or suspicious. Sometimes both.”
“That’s not helpful,” she said, though she smiled.
“I’m Leo.”
“Of course you are.”
He grinned.
“I’m Kaia. This is Isla. That’s Jax.”
“Lena,” she said.
Isla gave a small nod. “You came alone?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not alone now,” Kaia said simply.
Lena smiled properly this time, easing into the group.
They stood together loosely now, just another cluster among many.
Around them, conversations layered softly.
“…I heard there’s some kind of evaluation—”
“…no, they assign classes immediately—”
“…what if it’s ranked—”
“I don’t like any of those options,” Kaia murmured.
“You don’t like anything serious,” Leo said.
“I like serious things. Just not surprise serious things.”
“That’s fair,” Isla said.
Leo nodded like this was a philosophical discussion. “Surprise serious things are the worst kind.”
Before anything else could be said, the atmosphere in the hall shifted.
Not silence—but attention.
The front of the hall became the focus.
A man stepped forward.
He didn’t rush. Didn’t need to.
Tall, composed, dressed in dark, clean lines. The room quieted without being told to.
Kaia straightened slightly. “Yeah… that’s definitely someone important.”
“Very observant,” Isla murmured.
The man let the silence settle before speaking.
“Welcome.”
His voice carried easily.
“To Velmorne Academy.”
The last murmurs faded completely.
“My name is Chancellor Ardyn Vale. I oversee this academy and everything that falls within it.”
Leo leaned slightly toward them. “Everything is a lot of responsibility for one sentence.”
“Shh,” Kaia whispered.
“You’ve all arrived here under different circumstances,” Vale continued. “Different backgrounds. Different expectations. Some of you prepared. Some of you less so.”
Leo shifted slightly. “I feel personally attacked.”
Jax didn’t respond.
“But you are here for the same reason,” Vale said. “Potential.”
The word lingered.
“At Velmorne, we do not begin by telling you what you are. We begin by observing what you can become.”
A ripple of murmurs followed.
“That sounds like a test,” Kaia whispered.
“It is,” Isla said.
“Before you are assigned to your respective classes,” Vale continued, “you will undergo an initial evaluation.”
“I knew it,” Kaia muttered.
“It is not a test of knowledge,” he added. “Nor is it something you can prepare for.”
“That’s worse,” Lena said softly.
“It is a measure of alignment. A way for us to understand how best to guide your training.”
Isla’s attention sharpened slightly.
Alignment.
“Your results will determine your class placements and schedules.”
“That definitely means more than he’s saying,” Leo whispered.
“It probably does,” Isla replied.
“You will proceed when instructed,” Vale finished. “There is no advantage in rushing.”
Which, of course, made people subtly shift forward anyway.
Kaia exhaled slowly. “Okay. We line up, do the mysterious thing, and hope for the best.”
“Hope is not a strategy,” Jax said.
“It is today.”
Leo nodded seriously. “I support hope. Hope sounds easy.”
“It’s not meant to be easy,” Isla said.
Kaia glanced at her. “You enjoy saying things like that.”
“Yes.”
At the front, staff began to move into position.
The room shifted again.
Less chatter.
More focus.
More waiting.
Isla adjusted her grip on her bag.
This was it.
Not leaving.
Not arriving.
This part.
Where things actually started.
And whatever “alignment” meant—
She had a feeling it wouldn’t be simple.
- Writer
