Elementum Academy: Dancing Along the Waves

ONE of the things Talia liked the most were books, stories about princesses who lived happily ever after— right after every obstacles she faced with the male lead—the prince. That was when she was young, growing up she realized those fantasies about princesses will never come true. In their world, nobilities and royalties are the only one who can meet this "Happy Love Ending" and never for commoner. That is what Talia always thought, that she as a commoner will only be able to meet her happy ending if she marries rich people or nobles who would drag her into higher society and give her everything she needs and wants. Their kingdom is ruled with people whose power where passed down from their ancestors. Talia walked to the streets to deliver news papers where her grandfather worked. She was known in their town as one of the person who delivers newspapers, the reason well because of her age. Every morning this would be her work, walking to each houses placing the newspapers sometimes in their mails or sometimes in front of their doors. "Hi Talia! Could you please give this to your grandmother?" Mang Taniel, one of the elders in the Troviloon said, he gave her a paper bag full of different herbs and flowers. "She was looking for these last week and thankfully my son found some." He said then smiled. Mang Taniel and her grandparents are really closed. Even his son a botanist in the city—Daniel, felt like her father figure. During her birthdays Daniel would never forget to gave her flowers and chocolates that can only be sold in the city. Talia nodded then gave him a subtle smile. "I will, thank you Mang Taniel." She said respectfully then bowed before she looked at the streets then started to walk to the next houses. After her duty, she immediately went home to give the flowers to her grandmother who was still outside running her own errands. She placed the flowers where her grandma usually works with herbs experimenting, and sometimes creating remedies because medicines are too pricy. After changing into her usual clothes she happily ate her meal which was prepared of course by her grandmother. Everyday would be like this, she and her grandfather going out to deliver newspaper while her grandma will be the one taking care the house. She went outside right after making sure that she finished washing the dishes, taking out the trash bag outside, feeding their horses and watering their plants. She also broomed their yard before going out to the town. Talia really liked her job, one of the reasons is now in front of her. She stopped in the Library where she delivered newspapers earlier. The librarian said that she will now store all of the old books to the attic, might as well let her borrow some. She opened the entrance door, the quiet and peaceful atmosphere is what Talia liked the most whenever she's visiting the library. She always feels at ease like she could stay inside it for how many years and can still survive. She looked around and saw that there are only some people who are inside because it was almost noon. Once Talia walked through the bookshelves, she found the librarian stuck in cleaning the shelf and arranging the new books that have just arrived, oh and she was using a staircase to reach the books and shelves above by the way. The librarian who was wearing a blue jacket, a trousers and a thick glasses seems to not noticed Talia at all. What Talia did was to grab a book then politely gave the book to her which surprised the Librarian— clutched her chest. "Oh Talia? Seriously?" She sounded annoyed even though she whispered it. Well the librarian didn't liked what she did but couldn't shout because she had to maintain silence in the whole facility. Talia smiled then helped her get down the stairs. "You were too immersed with what you were doing." Talia whispered then looked at the ground where all the new books were. They were all placed inside brown boxes, classified in different fields. Mathematics, History, Alchemy, Science, Astronomy, Fictional and other biography of the first heroes who fought for the kingdom's salvation. Just by looking at them you can already tell that most of them are over 500 pages or more. The librarian, Ms. Rose, sighed. "Yeah right." She pushed all the boxes in one side and carefully closed each boxes. "You're here for the books right?" She fixed her glasses before grabbing the chart where all the numbers of the books are recorded. Talia nodded. "Yes, I'd like to borrow some books please." She said politely as she looked around the shelves. "New editions and different volumes." She muttered as she looked at the books one by one. It's always been her dream to enter one of the best and prestigious library in the whole kingdom, "The Elementum Library". Which is located inside the Elementum Academy's school grounds. They said every secrets and discoveries the people of Elementum have made are there, locked and kept in secret because of the effects of these knowledge to people. Talia looked at Ms. Rose who is checking the boxes, she sighed and thought of her future. For her education she wants to try enrolling in their local school, Troviloon State University. Well in their world you can only enter the academy or university once you turned sixteen. You can use money to easily enter or you brain to become their scholar. She wants to be a researcher to find cure for different incurable diseases. Talia didn't noticed that she was now far away from Ms. Rose, she was too immersed in looking at the titles of the new books that just arrived. Until she stopped in front of the fictional books. Reincarnation, monsters, abyss, demons, ancient beings... There were also lots of different genres. After Ms. Rose finished fixing all the books and boxes she noticed Talia looking the shelves intently, she walked beside her then cleared her throat to get Talia's attention. "Come follow me." She said then signaled Talia to follow her using her head. She started to walk, without looking to Talia if she followed her. Talia who just opened a book nodded and followed her without paying a lot of attention to what Ms. Rose will be doing. All she cared was the book she opened, curiosity got her interest because of its content. It was under the fictional books and is entitled the 12 rays of the sun. Ms. Rose walked in the library desk then opened a cabinet to grab the special key inside it. She looked at Talia who stopped in front of the desk, still her attention to the book she grabbed earlier. Talia looked at her when she felt that Ms. Rose was staring at her book. Ms. Rose was staring at her, she couldn't stop herself from smirking which made Talia frown then she closed the book. When Ms. Rose noticed this she cleared her throat, "Let's go at the back shall we?" She said then showed to Talia the key to the vault. Her reaction was unusual but Talia shrugged it off, she nodded then looked at the door. They both walked to the door behind the reception's desk, Ms. Rose made sure that no one was looking before she opened it, entered the passcode then scanned her fingerprint. The door was automatically opened, one of the works of magic engineering in their times. "Let's go." Ms. Rose said then walked inside the room. Talia was fascinated with what she first saw, books lots of them. Fireflies and fairies were the ones taking care of them. Some even waved at Talia which made her smile. "Careful not to hit anything, they might get mad if you did something." Ms. Rose whispered to her, speaking and advising from her experience. In every section there were fairies overlooking to the books. They shines base on their body color; there are fairies and fireflies with red, blue, yellow, green, orange and violet. Some were reading the books while some were cleaning them, wiping them using a small cloth. "So what kind of book are you interested in?" Ms. Rose said as the stopped in the main desk of the room. She opened a desk and showed her some of the first version and the first history book about their land—the Troviloon. Talia stared at the books Ms. Rose placed on the desk, one book caught her attention. "Can I get these books and give them back next week?" She asked as she stared at this one specific book that seemed to glow. Unbeknownst to Talia, Ms. Rose was already smiling as she gave the books to her. "Actually the library wanted to throw these away, why not keep them with you? They might just burn them if you don't want them." Talia's eyes widened, she loved books so much no matter what genre or how poorly written they are. For her every book deserves the same treatment as people receives, proper care no proper treatment. "I want them..." "Then they're all yours" The Ms. Rose said before helping Talia stack the books in her arms, she gave her all the books including the first one she grabbed before entering the vault earlier. After they got out lots of students and people are now inside the library. All of them occupied almost all the seats so Talia didn't had other choice but to go home. "Thank you Ms. Rose." "You're welcome Talia, be sure to come back next week. And don't forget to take care of those." Talia nodded then went outside of the library, passing by the people who were seems to be agitated. She frowned as she looked at the students almost the same age as her. Even outside the library, people are frantically moving and looking for something. As she went home she noticed from the outside that her grandparents are in the living room which was unusual for them because of course Talia knew they have a lot of things to do. She immediately went inside then placed the books on the table, she stayed in the chairs on the dining table. Their dining table and living room are almost beside each other— she could hear only some words but couldn't understand it properly. "The king issued an order.. it's an order Fernando, we can't keep a blind eye on that." Even from the living room she could heard nervousness and fear coming from her grandmother's voice without actually understanding what her grandma said. Talia actually can see that her grandma was fidgeting her fingers as she talked. Her grandfather sighed. "I know... I think this is the inevitable moment where we should just surrender her." She heard her grandmother suddenly standing up which made the chair move. "What are you talking about? It's still not time, she haven't even showed the signs." She saw her grandfather's hands running through his hair. "So what? We can't keep her here forever, she don't belong here. She belong elsewhere, she belongs to those people! She's not a kid anymore Celina, we should just ask her on what she wants to do in the future.." Her grandmother sighed then suddenly looked at Talia's direction. "Talia? Since when did you come home?" She said then walked to her, Talia saw both of their surprised reaction. Talia who was listening now walked to them. "Uhm, hehe a minute ago?" Talia scratched her head. "What where you talking about grandma?" She saw how her grandparents exchanged a look between the both of them. It didn't escape from her sight how they signaled each other. Her grandmother sighed then held both of her shoulders. "The King issued order that every child in this town, ages 14 to 16 years old must be sent to the Elementum Academy."