finding what's lost

"Well, I suppose I'm in luck! He's my brother, Alistarr; he's twenty-three, a senior." Mrs. Lana smiles and nods.

"Just a moment..." She looks under her desk and picks up a grand-looking book with thick leather letters in the middle of the cover reading Seniors Class IV. Venus stares as Mrs. Lana scrolls through names.

"and the last name, please?" The girl stumbles over her words, embarrassed at herself for forgetting such a simple thing.

"Oh, of course, there must be dozens of Alistarr's here. It's Clay, Alistarr Clay." Mrs. Lana looks up from the book and back down, only hesitating for a second before smiling and going back to the book to find her brother's schedule. She grabs a piece of parchment off the metal rack next to her and begins writing down his classes in her neat handwriting.

"Here you are dear, if you need anything else, please don't hesitate to come back." Mrs. Lana smiles and waves her off as Venus reads off the schedule, seeing where exactly her brother could be in the grand building.

Currently, he's in his second-period class on the third floor. Venus groans, walking exhaustedly back up the steps and cramming her brother's schedule into her bag. Once there, she recollects that his class is still ongoing and decides it would be stupidly rude to just barge in. So Venus stands at the door, waiting patiently for it to break open like a beaver's dam breaks at the movement of a slightly misplaced log. Venus sighs, exclaiming,

"Finally!" After about thirty minutes of her sitting there, people finally began pouring out the room one after another. However, she grows concerned. After a while of waiting, she doesn't see her brother. Even after the consistent stream of students has already flowed out of the room. She glances at the parchment, ensuring that the room is the correct one. And, that, it is. So, she makes the executive decision to barge into the classroom, and to much of her surprise-

"Alistarr!" he's there. Venus runs up to him and ignores anyone else who may be in the room to witness this easily misconstrued situation. She engulfs him in a hug, attacking his unsuspecting body. He bolts up at her call and is soon met with her figure colliding into his. He looks at her, and his eyes pop out of his face almost comically, not with that of enthusiasm.

"What… What are you doing here, Ven?" She removes herself from him, giving him a bit of room so that she can adequately examine him. However, she becomes engulfed in confusion at his apathetic demeanor.

"What do you mean? What are you doing here? Isn't that obvious? I came here to study, like you. When you told me about the school, I just couldn't believe it and you, leaving so soon after being accepted, made me miss you dearly. So, I packed up and came here as soon as possible. To be with you! To get an education! Though it took me some time to get here, as I'm sure you'd know." Alistarr hangs onto his sister's words, so shocked at her arrival he can barely process her speech. Looking around the classroom for a moment, he's brought back to his senses. He checks for anybody around him, seeing nobody, not even a professor, and approves his following action.

"Come with me." Alistarr grabs Venus, dragging her out of the school and into the female dormitories with her arguing the whole way there.

"Alistarr, what are you doing?! I told you, you cannot be here!" He shushes her sternly, and she complies, waiting for him to speak.

"Now, which one is yours?" She looks from the very seriously toned Alistarr to the empty corridor. She sighs and points to the left of the wall.

"Second from the last." He nods and pulls her along to her room. He stares his sister down as she reluctantly grabs the key mailed to her upon registration with room number 766 engraved on it. She shuffles in with Alistarr, who plops himself on the love seat by the door, not even looking to see if it was there— Like he knew it would already be there, to begin with.

"Lock the door." She complies and moves the deadbolt, locking it.

"Now, you have a lot of explaining to be doing."

She sits next to her brother on the love seat and looks up at him, confused.

"Like I said previously. I came here to be more. To be with you. You told me about this extraordinary school and then just left me in that horrid town. Didn't you think I would want to follow you? To come and stay with the only family I've known? I think it is obvious I would. Or do you take me for a moron?" Alistarr groans, frustrated at his little sister's ignorance. He regains himself, however, looking over at her sympathetically.

"I understand your reasoning, I do, but-" He stops recalibrating his words.

"I just want you to be safe. It terrified me when I saw you. You don't know what I would've done, what I would've gone through if you had gotten hurt. Here or coming. The people here... They don't have morals like you or I. They weren't raised in the same environment. Most of them have calm, isolated lives with giant families and riches they've known forever. None of them would understand what we've been through. If they see your ignorance, they'll react differently than I would, or the sisters back home would. They chose to group it with stupidity and treat others harshly through that philosophy. So I need you to be careful around them, you understand?"

Venus nods. Since she arrived, she has been shown nothing but kindness. Despite that, she doesn't think her brother is wrong. They had both seen the wealthy rolling through their poor town, mowing down the beggars and abusing the workers. Before Venus can even bring this up, Alistarr begins to speak.

"However, ignoring that for now," Alistarr enthralls her in a bear hug, strong, warm; she feels grounded in his arms. She hugs him back, accepting that his un-enthusiasm is and was for just cause. However, at that moment, it doesn't matter anymore because she's just happy to see him after the time she spent away from him.

"I have missed you. So don't take this lashing as isolation Venus." She smiles at her brother warmly. Her mood-improving more and more as their conversation continues.

"I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm not five anymore. I can take care of myself just fine." He smiles, deciding to ignore something not worth arguing over.

"What were the requirements for you to be here?" She sighs.

"Family lineage was the only option I had. I don't meet the marks, and I haven't even been to a school before. So, I provided your name. The letter came back rather quickly. I thought it would have taken at least three months for an answer, but it came back in a week!" She smiles, giddy, remembering how she felt when she received it. She read over the letter for days, still quite accepting that her effort paid off.

"I was sure I was going to get rejected. I didn't think they would accept me." She scoots closer to Alistarr, grabbing his hands.

"You also didn't tell me you were already a senior! How did you advance so quickly?! You've only been here for two years; it's amazing! Why did you not tell me?" Alistarr chuckles at her childlike amazement. Not sure whether to answer truthfully or not.

"I suppose it is quite a thing to marvel at." He chooses neither, deflecting the question and ignoring it completely, a series of dilemmas and options running in his head—It all more significant than how a peasant boy got moved up a grade. His smile soon fades as he realizes something. He rises from the love seat, abruptly turning to his sister.

"I have to go, but I will be back. You need to continue classes as normal. Don't talk to anyone unless completely necessary, and I mean absolutely necessary. Don't get close to anyone. Once I'm back, I'll be taking you somewhere. Somewhere where we can talk more openly." His eyes shift for a moment, only with his eyes. He seems hesitant, concerned. She pauses for a moment before nodding, seeing his brother's shiftiness.

"Before I go, I need a copy of your schedule." She nods once again, getting up and pulling her schedule out of her bag. She grabs a piece of parchment, copying the schedule down in her messy calligraphy—A polar opposite to Ms. Lana's. She hands the parchment to him, and he folds it up, shoving it in his pocket and looking around the room momentarily once again. Soon his eyes widened.

"God damn it! I forgot my satchel!" He, quickly as possible, removes the deadbolt and dashes out of the dormitory. Venus laughs, loving how forgetful and energetic her older brother can be at times. She looks at her schedule, then at the clock that's placed on the wall.

"I still have an hour just to myself." She sits on her bed thinking of things to do to occupy her time, but soon the fatigue of sleepless nights hits her, and she passes out on her bed before she can even comprehend what's happening.