Within the Walls

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Rumia was tapping her foot on the ground, as she sat in the cell. Two guards stood in-front of it waiting for something to happen.

They weren’t interested in talking, and nothing has happened for a while. She was frustrated, pretty heavily so.

Finally, she heard something different. A set of moody, grumbling footsteps coming down the hallway to her cell. Something she recognized from when she first got here.

Grimace walked in-front of the cell, and opened the door, before taking a step inside. The boy used his hands to magically pull a table and set of chairs on the side to them, so they could sit down and talk.

“Have a seat.”

Rumia sighed and sat down on the chair. She looked at Grimace with concern in her face. Her arrival in this world left her with a lot of questions that she does not have the answer to.

“My apologies for keeping you here for a day. For the security of the city, we needed to make sure that the public knew everything was under control,” Grimace said. “We’ve only just managed to get to speaking with you now.”

“Couldn’t I at least have a better bed, or someone to talk to?” Rumia responded. “It gets really lonely here.”

“Well, we’ll get to that soon,” Grimace reassured the girl. “But first, I believe I have a message for you. It comes from someone named Adelyn.”

Hearing that name caught Rumia’s attention. She was here, after all.

“Really? Where is she? Can I talk to her?”

“Unfortunately, you cannot. She was outside of the capital, and because of the lockdown… nobody is allowed in or out.”

“What? That’s ridiculous! Can’t you let me out so we can both get out of each other’s hair?”

“I cannot break the rules of the lockdown for you, Rumia. I am not the sole arbiter of that decision either, even if I wanted to. You must stay here.”

“But… but… if we’re just together then…”

“Her message was that she will come to you. She will gain access to the capital once she gains approval of all of the governors. You just have to wait until she comes.”

The message delivered to her was both comforting and frustrating. Rumia hated the idea of sitting in this city and waiting, even if it made her happy that Adelyn cared so much about her. That led her to ask, what was she supposed to do until then?

“In other news,” Grimace changed the subject. “We have made accommodations for you, for your stay in the capital. So you do not have to sleep in this cell anymore.”

“...Yeah?” Rumia responded, still a bit annoyed.

“You will be attending the Lunar Academy for Gifted Students, and living on campus. A dorm has been selected specially for you and one other roommate, who you will live with until further notice.”

“Further notice?”

“Yes. The higher-ups are still working out what to do with your… situation and phenomena. It has been determined this would be more helpful than locking you in a jail cell.”

So there weren’t any plans to let her leave this city anytime soon. But at least it would be an upgrade compared to here, she presumed. She’s never actually been to a school before, having lived in the woods all her life.

“Your transfer will start now, actually. Please follow me,” Grimace said before standing up and turning around. Rumia figured she did not have a choice besides following him.

Stepping outside of the cell for the first time in a day felt like a nice breath of fresh air. Grimace led her down the hallway and eventually out of the building entirely, where a bronze-plated car seemed to be waiting for them.

Grimace opened the door and took a seat at the front, and Rumia sat in the back of the car. However, strangely enough there was no driver.

“PASCAL, we’re here,” Grimace said to nobody in particular. Yet suddenly a glowing blue model of a white-haired girl, around Rumia’s age popped up in the middle of the car. She was dressed in an eloquent blouse and skirt, with her hair styled as twin drills. A very fancy design, Rumia thought.

“Very well, Grimace. I will be taking you to your destination now. Let me introduce myself,” the girl said as the car began moving. “My name is the Programmed Assistant for Social Care and Learning. But, you can call me PASCAL.”

It bowed politely.

“I will be here to assist you through your school life and answer any questions you may have. I hope we can have a good relationship, Rumia.”

Rumia looked at the strange girl, a little bit confused by it. She’s never seen anything quite like this before.

“You can ask her questions, her purpose is to help,” Grimace said.

“Right…” Rumia said. “Can you tell me more about this Lunar Academy?”

“Most certainly!” PASCAL said, before bringing up a large diagram. It showed a grand building, at least four stories tall, and a collegiate gothic architecture. “The Lunar Academy, despite its appearances, is a relatively recent school for up and coming magical, engineering, and social students. These students have been considered the best of the best. It is a boarding school that is trusted to house the futures of many of the young and aspiring children of the prosperous capital city of Oscur.”

“Right… and how will I fit in?”

“Your nature is unique amongst most students, Rumia. Who have generally had to apply and be accepted into the school. You have been accepted as a housing spot. This means that you have more freedom than the rest, who have to specify what they are enlisting for. Figure out your talents, and thrive!”

Rumia paused to think, and then asked one last question. “How long will I be staying here?”

“Until further notice. I cannot give an exact timeframe, but you should expect to be staying for a while,” PASCAL answered.

“...mhm.” Rumia nodded. She was probably going to have to find some way to get out of here, then.

The car eventually pulled to a stop, and PASCAL disappeared from inside of the car. Grimace and Rumia stepped outside and were met with a much larger PASCAL, standing in-front of the grand gothic school. The building towered over the three of them, to the point where Rumia herself felt really small. A large parterre stood at the center of the courtyard, glowing aqua blue flowers providing a wondrous light show in the dark.

“Welcome to the Academy, Rumia. Your dorm room is #436 on the fourth floor of the Custos Dormitory. You may follow me,” Pascal said, before beginning to walk off. Rumia and Grimace followed behind her.

“So like, what are you going to do?” Rumia asked Grimace.

“I’m a busy person, but one of my new assigned tasks is watching over you and making sure you are doing well,” Grimace said. “I will be checking in periodically on you every few days for that.”

“Right,” Rumia responded. She wasn’t comfortable with someone constantly checking on her like that, but she knew it wasn’t the place to argue.

The dormitory itself was a notable upgrade from the dark and lonely prison cell that she previously experienced. Glowing flowers lit up the halls, providing a quiet nightly feel within the corridors. It did, however, make Rumia herself stick out notably, due to the fact that she herself glowed yellow.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a room. Labeled four hundred and thirty six. With a knock on the door, PASCAL greeted as it opened.

“Hello, Anise Ourania,” PASCAL said. “Have you settled in well?”

“Didn’t I tell you to say the Ourania first? It’s more powerful that way, hmph,” a short girl peeked out of the door. She seemed to have a bit of oil on her cheeks, and her blonde hair was tainted by a similar mess too, contrasting the seemingly more refined style that consisted of long spiral curls.

“Your roommate is here, Ourania Anise,” PASCAL corrected herself.

“Wait, what?!” Anise was in surprise before immediately slamming the door shut. The three of them waited patiently outside as they heard the sounds of water running and splashing from the indoors.

Eventually, the door kicked open, and without the oil on her face or hair, the girl stood tall in-front of the group of three. She presented her cleaner attire, a brown puffy dress that had an apron over it, which unfortunately still contained oil stains that she did not seem to be able to get out in time.

“Welcome! My name is Anise Ourania, and you can say that you might be blessed to have a roommate like me- huh…?”

Anise seemed to be ready to go on a long winded speech in-front of her future roommate, but she took a glance and got caught off-guard.

“Wow, she… she actually glows,” Anise said. “That wasn’t a metaphor…?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Grimace shook his head. “She quite literally glows yellow. I hope you do not mind.”

Rumia looked back at her, as they stared at each other for a good long while.

“Yeah… that’s me, hi, I’m Rumia,” she tried to wave politely. “I guess we’re roommates now?”

“I hope you two can get settled in relatively quickly, classes are beginning tomorrow. Please check your schedules that I have set up in your room,” PASCAL said, before disappearing.

“Don’t cause too much trouble, now,” Grimace added, before walking away on his own. Leaving just the two girls staring at each other.

Anise immediately walked up to her, still looking amazed at the glowing girl’s very existence. Rumia was a bit less concerned about her roommate, she was just happy to get a new bed after all.

“Wow, how like… why do you glow like this?” Anise said, grasping onto Rumia’s arm to observe her closer.

“Hey! You can look, not touch,” Rumia pulled her arm away as she stepped into the room. “I don’t know why I do this, I just do.”

“Well…” Anise finally gave a small smile. “You’re lucky to share a room with such a genius like me. I’ve spent all my time honing my engineering craft, and I’m going to- HEY!”

Rumia had tuned out the other girl at this point, and immediately ran to the bed before collapsing.

It was a long day, she needed this.