Sci Fi & Fantasy / Messiah Complex Ch. 1
Sicarii Academy’s brief winter vacation now over, the spring term had begun. The new student rankings were to be posted the following day, but Evangeline wasn’t one to wait for that sort of information. One of the most important statistics used to determine future job acquisitions, rankings were taken seriously by all the students at the Academy; most were just more capable of controlling themselves. With a bit of cajoling, she convinced Tancho and Eric to join her on a high-stakes trip into the faculty office complex.
It was getting late, and the electric torches on the wall threw their shadows along the stone floor. The walls weren’t insulated, and the cold only helped the already impressive acoustics. Luckily, the trio was wearing their Softsteps, ‘borrowed’ from the training room, and so they felt little trepidation about being discovered. Step by step they crept along the wall, passing by the tapestries and wall hangings. They were getting close—Evangeline motioned them in.
“So far so good. Scholar Rothskar’s office is just around this corner; now we just need to get in and…”
“What? Rothskar?” Eric bemoaned, anticipating the additional punishments they’d incur if they were caught. “Damn it Eva, you didn’t mention anything about it being in Satan’s office.”
Evangeline shrugged.
“I guess I forgot. Maybe I figured you’d piss your pants if I told you, then you’d spend the next few hours picking out a new outfit and we’d never end up finding out who is the top ranked!”
“No, actually, we’d find out tomorrow. Why can’t you wait like everyone else, Eva? This is dumb,” Eric retorted, his irritation increasingly evident in his voice. “If I get caught for this, I promise you that I’ll…”
“Shut up.” Tancho intervened. “Keep quiet. Let’s just get this over with and head back.”
They continued on, stopping once they reached the end of the hall and peering around the corner. A faint light glowed from within the Scholar’s office, but a daring glance through the glass door settled their stomachs a bit and informed them of Rothskar’s absence.
“Right. Tancho, hurry up and jimmy the lock,” Evangeline whispered.
Tancho reached for his probe and flashlight but didn’t even reach the lock on the door before Eric impulsively grabbed the doorknob and turned it. It was unlocked, to their surprise. Evangeline, too excited to wait, roughly shoved Eric away from the door, yanked it open, and ran inside. There on the table lay a folder entitled, “Year 357 Spring Rankings.” Although impatient to the utmost as she rushed to her the prize, Evangeline now savored her anticipation of the results for a moment longer before opening the cover of the folder and scanning for her name, starting at the top.
“I’m First again!” She cooed. She wiggled with joy, and bowed deeply to her compatriots. Eric clapped, and though Tancho rolled his eyes, a slight smile touched the corners of his lips. The smile faded quickly, and his eyes sharpened. Eric stopped clapping as Tancho grasped his arm.
That’s when he heard it.
What had alarmed Tancho only a moment before was the sound of footsteps approaching the office.
There was no time to flee from the office; the footsteps had rounded the corner. Tancho began stepping into the only spot that seemed to offer cover, an old wardrobe. Evangeline threw the folder on the desk before being pulled into the hiding spot by Eric. Knocking elbows and stepping on each others feet, the three crammed themselves into the wardrobe standing at the wall facing the door they had come in through – a door opened only a second later by Scholar Rothskar.
He was not alone; a woman Scholar came in with him and Eric shared a look of surprise with his compatriots as they heard the lady speak. That Rothskar could even find a woman willing to talk to him was, well, unthinkable. Evangeline needed to know more, and quietly pushed the door of the wardrobe open. Through the tiny crack the three watched the scene unfold. It was clearly not a social visit.
“I think this whole matter is going to blow up in our faces. We need to correct it before it goes much further. I know you have some influence with the Headmaster, and certainly you can make a suggestion to one of the Seven…”
“You overestimate my influence,” Rothskar said, cutting her off. “I may have relations with the Kamatari, but beyond that the Seven are just as inaccessible to me as they are to a plebe off the street.”
The trio exchanged glances at the mention of Tancho’s family name.
“But someone has to say something!”
“We can try to speak to the Headmaster about it tomorrow, but I don’t think we’ll see much success. This whole thing was conceived a long ways up the food chain, and I’m afraid the best we can do is manage the damage control. After all, what makes you think this is such a bad thing? Times change, you know.”
“I’m not some doddering old fool, I can handle my fair share of change, thank you. This isn’t just your run of the mill sort of development, Derrick. This is going to unravel all the tradition we’ve built in this school for three hundred and fifty seven years!”
There was a rustling of papers and the sound of a briefcase being opened. Something was wrong. Scholar Rothskar was standing next to his desk, staring down at the folder that Evangeline had haphazardly flung there.
“What, what is it?” The woman questioned irritably. “Don’t go about ignoring me, you know I have a point…”
Scholar Rothskar’s eyes flicked about the room, and he grinned, turning his attention back to the female Scholar.
“I’m sorry Myun-Sun, I’m afraid I was lost in thought. I’ll certainly try to talk to the Headmaster tomorrow; after all, that is what little I can do.”
The woman began protesting, and Scholar Rothskar began escorting her out of the room, with his briefcase in hand. As he closed the door, he looked to the wardrobe and smiled again. The voices of the two Scholars began to fade as the door creaked shut. They waited a few moments before climbing out of the wardrobe.
Evangeline was glowing.
“What is going on? Wow, what could it be? Something big, huge! Do you think something here could tell us more?” She began looking around hungrily. Rothskar had turned off all the lights as he left, so the room was only illuminated by the lanterns from the hall.
“Gee, did you know his first name is Derrick? It’s such a plain name for such an ass.” Eric muttered. “Look, Eva, he took all his papers when he left; we got nothing. We should leave before the praetors start doing their rounds.”
Tancho was already opening the door to leave, and Evangeline was torn between being abandoned and satiating her curiosity. As Eric left the room, peer pressure won out. Pouting, she reluctantly followed them out.
“I really want to know what is going on now. And I mean, who was that woman? Is she a Scholar here? I don’t recognize her…” she rambled on as they walked off toward the dormitory facility.
The moon was high and full, and the bite of the winter wind chilled Evangeline’s enthusiasm. They slid their ID cards through the reader, and walked through the sliding door into the dorms. Tancho and Eric stopped by their door, and bid Evangeline good night.
“Don’t worry Eva, things’ll get clearer soon, I’m sure,” Eric said, seeing the sour look on her face.
Evangline continued along until finally coming to her quarters. She entered her room, stripping off her outdoors clothing and pulling on her pajamas. Laying down in bed, she fell asleep to the light buzzing of a million questions running about in her mind.
She would not have to wait for long for her answers, however. For the very next day, the Transfer Student arrived at the school of Assassins.
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Evangeline is spelled Evangline on the first page. This is really cool, but what time period is this in? Is it 21st century? That is a little confusing. When writing you want the readers to see what you are seeing as you write your story so some descriptive factors here and there would be okay just don’t overdo it. When the new student introduces himself he says that he is the first foreigner. If Tancho is Asian how can the new student be a foreigner? That is one detail that might need explaining. Is he foreign because he is from a different land? Where does this take place? What is the name of the city the academy is in? It doesn’t have to be anything descriptive; just the name. This is a good read because it leaves the reader wanting more.
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A very good story line,grabs the interest from the outset.A good job of describing the characters,making them seem vibrant and alive.The grammer and spelling are good.The two characters Evangeline and Tancho stand out really well.The Sicarii Assasins School?Hmnnnnn!!Most interesting.
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