The Lost Element

Chapter 10

After meeting back up, all the first years from the Aisle were taken on a tour of the school. It wasn't nearly as in depth as the tour Ardiel had gotten from Illya, but it was still nice to see everything again. The only difference with this tour was that they were all taken out to see the grounds as well. They didn't do a thorough exploration, but they got to poke around a bit. Ardiel still had her mind set on going into that cave when she had the chance.

Before she knew it, lunch time rolled around. Ardiel went to the cafeteria by herself and got some linguine with butter and herbs. She was quite impressed with the café's selection and the food smelled delicious. She could not wait to sit down and eat.

Ardiel walked through the cafeteria, in between the tables, and looked for a place to sit. She spotted a couple of people she recognized; Danielle and Kiara were surrounded by first years, so Ardiel couldn't sit there. A brief moment later she spotted Ember, and she couldn't help but feel excited. She immediately calmed herself and started walking toward him.

He sat with his legs under his seat, with one sticking slightly out into the walkway. Ardiel was still halfway across the room when she saw Taylor Beauregard, the guy leading the tour for the Aisle, walking past him.

As Taylor walked, the tip of his shoe clipped against Ember's foot, and he faltered before regaining his balance.

"Keep your foot in the aisle, kid."

"Come on dude, my foot was barely in the aisle."

"Well then keep it out of the aisle!" Taylor was mad at this point.

"Woah, look, not searching for trouble man." Ember tried to deescalate the situation a bit.

At that point, Ardiel had tunnel vision for Taylor. Walking up to him, she stared him dead in the eyes.

"Why don't you watch where you're going next time?"

"Listen, girl, mind your own damn business."

"Don't talk to her like that!" Ember spoke up, defending her more than he defended himself.

"And what do you think you're going to do about it?" Taylor scoffed, "I'm done with you two. But hey, enjoy your time here."

Taylor started walking past Ardiel, and went to give her a pat on the arm, as if to say "get out of the way."

Catching him by the hand before he could touch her, she twisted his wrist, and he yelped in pain. He was pissed, causing him to embarrass himself like that. He stepped up, a mere couple of inches from her face.

"You little-"

*Ahem*, someone cleared their throat from behind Taylor. He turned around, and Ardiel saw Illya standing there, a powerful figure.

"Everything is fine here, I trust?"

"Yes, Ms. Moken, I was just asking how this young girl liked our lovely school so far."

"Ardiel loves it here, I'm sure."

You could tell the fact that Illya knew her name threw him off.

"Yes, well I best be off. It was nice meeting you two." He scowled at them as he walked away, face turned from Illya.

"That guy is a dick." Ember said. "Sorry, Ms. Moken, forgive me for my language. But it's true. Anyway I need a drink, I'll be right back."

Illya nodded in a polite manner, showing she wasn't offended.

"My apologies, Ardiel, Taylor is a good kid. He's just a bit troubled."

"Yeah, I'd say so."

"Anyway, I just wanted to come by and say hi. Oh, and just to keep it fair with the rest of the students, please refer to me as Ms. Moken in front of them. I don't want anyone to think there are favourites."