Waking Up to a New Day

"Ah… the first lecture starts today, right?"

I opened my eyes and looked through the window on the right side of my bed. The sky was still gloomy from the absence of the Sun, yet bright enough under the sleeves of moonlight.

"Are you fit enough for class, My Sleepy Prince?"

Anna got up and blocked my sight to the dawning night sky. Blue light created a luminous line around her head while that soothing face stayed dark, enhancing the atmosphere of her worries.

"Couldn't be better."

I'm off the bed, walked straight to my wardrobe, and took away my uniform from it. I quickly threw the set to my bed then grabbed my bathing towel.

"Heading to school already?" Anna asked.

"Yup, I kinda miss the classroom," I replied on my way to the bathroom. "Wanna join me?"

Anna nodded. "Of course, I don't trust you being alone."

"Ahahaha…" I awkwardly laughed. "Let's waste no time then."

Taking an early bath in the winter is just what I needed. It might be too cold for some Shaper, but for us Genka, it's exactly the right comforts.

By the time we were both ready, Mother Adeline hasn't woken up yet. Luckily there were some leftovers left in the fridge and we packed them to be brought to the Academy.

"We're leaving!" Said Anna and I as we left the house with the quietest whispers possible.

The chilling breeze of the dawn wind blows on our skin. The neighborhood is calm and dim, even cats and dogs still asleep under the warmth of each house. The roads are coated with snow, which immediately melted as soon as we stepped on it.

"You brought a handbag? What's on the menu?" I asked the beloved Anna after spotting the black handbag with crimson butterflies pattern hung on her shoulder.

"Let's see…"

A fiery butterfly landed on her palm and it changed place with her notebook as quick as a blink of an eye. She then opened it to look at her schedule, which was neatly written, although decorated with drawings of flowers around it.

Those flowers are the autumn sage, of course, fiery butterfly's favorite.

"In the morning we'll have Integrated Self-Development Course A (ISDC A) from 800 to 940, then Basic Geography I from 1000 to 1140, and on the noon Calculus I from 1300 to 1440." She listed.

"Calculus on the first day? Now that's just cruel." I commented jokingly.

"Hm? But aren't you really good at math, dear Prince?" She gazed at me with raised eyebrows.

"Not because I'm smart, sadly." Yeah… I studied hard for it. While Hada on the other hand, he slept through the class and always comes out with a perfect score. Fucking lazy genius.

After a nice walk and chatters, we finally arrived at the Academy gate. There stood guard a familiar face, the one that we saw on our first day being here for orientation.

"Good morning, Sir Dennis!" We both greeted him with a vigorous voice.

"Good morning, Your Highnesses. Quite early for school eh?" He sounded a bit cheeky, but it is to be expected since we're almost late on our first day.

"Ah… I just miss being in the lecture hall." I awkwardly replied.

"Quite a journey isn't it? Spending the night outside the safety of the city's wall." I could see the image of concern on his face.

"Nah… it's our fault for being weak."

We're indeed being sent to the wild prematurely, but I can't make it as an excuse since all other teams in my class finished the orientation.

They didn't encounter any void people though.

"How's the Ice Grace?" The Pandeka asked about Hada.

"He'll be back next week, his body grows too cold for his own good."

I must be thankful at least. My matchup isn't as worst as Hada.

"I take it the Ice Princess also won't be coming to the Academy." He went on.

"Ah. Twins have always been there for each other since their first breath. Separating them is the cruelest thing someone could ever do."

I'm pretty sure that's Anna also felt that way when she found me lying above the sea of ashes, gasping for air with my life. We're seldom separated since our childhood after all. Hada and Falisha on the other hand, that's a lifetime.

"Well the past is the past, all we could do is take it as a lesson." Said Sir Dennis, trying to cheer us up.

"Wise words, Sir." I couldn't agree more.

"The gate is yours to enter, Your Highnesses. Enjoy your first lecture." He snapped his fingers and opened the Academy's gate with his earth magic.

Our Academy is only bordered by steel fences, so the gate isn't built out majestically like the one on the Guild's HQ or the City's wall. But seeing how it raised smoothly as it was guided by the earth magic… there's just something so satisfying about it.

"Oh, I almost forgot, a friend of mine is ready to meet you on Friday after dusk." Sir Dennis said as we were about to enter the gate.

"A friend? Pandeka?" I curiously asked.

"On the mark. Isn't Your Highness said you wanted to create a martial arts club?" He reminded me.

"Oh! Yea… I completely forgot about it…" It's a bit embarrassing. I'm not the type to be losing track of my plans. In fact, I actually didn't remember anything I wanted to do before that day.

"Keep yourself intact, Your Highness. We can't afford to lose a crown prince." It felt weird having lots of people being worried about me. They should be worrying about Hada more.

"Well, Hada is still around if that were to happen. We almost got wiped though…" I'm sure Hada will despise me if the burden of being a king in a land full of chaos and invaders is handed to him. I don't even know how the resident here will feel being led by a Scientist. "But, thanks for your concern, Sir."

After our walk through the gate, both of us headed to the dormitory, since I left my backpack and notebooks there. Huft… it felt so weird to be this unorganized.

"I don't sense anyone being here…" Said Anna after receiving reports from her butterflies.

"They probably on their home or boarding house. There's no reason to stay on Sunday. At least not yet."

After I finished collecting my stuff from our room, we move on to the Lecture Hall, which was completely dark from having none of its light being turned on. To be fair, none of the lamps in our class building is currently active.

However, as soon as we entered the Hall, the darkness got completely wiped. All the light crystal-powered lamps have their crystals turned in motion, shining the entire room with their brightness.

"Ah, Sun be Praised… how I missed the artful creation of this room."