The Lost Element

Chapter 17

Looking toward the front of her classroom, Belynta listened to hear professor drone on about the same thing she had heard since she first started classes in the Aether College. The dark sun shone through the windows, splattering a slightly less dark grey across the class. Her hand held a long pencil, shading a light grey into a dark black outline of a sun. She imagined a yellow sun, vaguely able to remember it.

If her peers knew what she was thinking, she'd likely end up banished and exiled. 

".. Which is the reason our King, the great Darios, spawned us this paradise away from the evil elements."

The end of the same spiel she had her countless times, about how her father had been the savior of their people. If only they knew what the man truly was. The only people who spoke out against him all vanished mysteriously. The only reason Belynta hadn't gone missing is due to the fact that she's his only heir so far, not that he hadn't tried to reproduce more. He had taken many wives since they were all banished to this place, all of whom apparently failed to produce children.

 Belynta had been so young when they were sent here that she barely had memories of her home, but she did have them. She remembered what colour looked like, how it felt to feel joy or anything other than bleek doom. The only happiness the Aether people found was in pondering revenge or some other evil ploy

This place had flourished purely on the back of spite, on the back of her father's hatred for all things elemental, or all things period. Thinking back to when she was a child, she remember her mother's gentle touch. The delicate kisses her mother would place on her forehead every night before bed. But even then, her father had been rotten to the core. The sounds of her mother's pained grunts at night still rang forth in her mind. She had grown to resent her father deeply, but he was all she ever had. At least he was present, she supposed. 

A bell chimed, signalling the end of her class. Every student got up out of their chairs, and started filing toward the door. As each student left the class, her teacher repeated the same word. Almost like a chant. 

"Remember. Remember. Remember." 

She said it to each student as they passed, reminding them that they should remember who is the enemy. Who are the ones responsible for keeping us locked in one place, when the whole other world should be shown the superior ways of Aether. But as Belynta left the classroom, all she could remember is the way the sunlight felt on her skin, and the things she would do to feel it once again. 

Her father swore that one day they would make it back, but as far as she was concerned, that was impossible. If he hadn't found a way out yet, she doubted it would ever happen, and no one would ever re-open the portal to this damned place. She knew all about her fathers goals, for he had usually taken his frustration from failing out on her. 

It was a short walk back to her fathers castle, which he had forged out of Aether for himself when they were first sent here. He built an entire village for his people, and she had to admit, he must have been particularly powerful to be able to summon that much Aether. However he was getting older now, gaining on 50 years of age, and the older he grew the weaker he grew. Chances of freedom were now slim to none, and the more he realized that, the more irritated he got, and Belynta got the brunt of it. 

Walking up several flights of Aether stone stairs, she eventually came to her quarters. As dark and bleek as the rest of her world, she sat down on her black bedding and unpacked her bag. Dark books scattered across the sheets as she spent the night alone, studying, staying out of anyone's way. Only after a few hours did she hear the creaking of a door slighting open. 

"Hello, father." She spoke without turning around. 

"Hello. Did you feed the livestock yet Belynta?" He asked.