Aether Academy

The Academy

Lillian touched the soft seats of the car, wondering how the Academy would look like. If the car's grandeur was any indication, it was going to be spectacular. She felt her eyeslids go heavy and closed them for a while. When she woke up and looked at her watch, it was already 5 a.m. Had she really been travelling for that long?

She still couldn't get her head wrapped around the fact that she held an affinity to an element, air in fact. That she was an elemental, or rather what was that word her mother had told her? Aether, right? An Aria to be specific. They certainly sounded good in her head. She couldn't even attend her high school completely. She would miss her mom terribly. She'd be lonely without her. If only she'd been like what she was now earlier, maybe dad wouldn't have left them. Mom said that it wasn't her fault but she didn't believe her. She said that he'd found love but didn't he love mom? Didn't love his daughter? Tears threatened to dampen her cheeks again and she wiped them away. She sighed. Mom had said to stay happy and she would. She will enjoy her life.

The car came to a stop and she took a deep breath. They had reached her destination. She stepped outside and she saw the most beautiful gate there could be. Four massive white pillars, upon which sat four different statues. Two of them were women, two were men. The leftmost statue was of a woman, her hair bound in an elegant braid, wearing a gown made of leaves and flowers, she held some sort of small animals in one hand. Erde, she'd have to guess. Or at least the woman who represented them. The next was a strong looking man, holding a flame in his hand. He looked determined, as if to protect something. Fȳr. The next was a woman again. Her hair were unbound, as if flying in the wind. She was smiling and looking at her face, Lillian felt herself smiling too. Aria. The next, a man again. He didn't look as muscular or strong as the first one, but he held strength of different kind, a small water wave surrounding him, spiralling upto his length. Hudōr. Lillian was certain that they had been renamed, for each of their names stated the elements to which they must have had their affinity. Between Aria and Fȳr, there was a gate. Tall grills, with spikes at the end, black in color. The contrast was beautiful. She had been staring so long that she almost didn't notice it opening. She looked back to the car, to take out her luggage. Only there was no car. She panicked slightly. Where had it gone? It had her bags!

Still full of questions, she stepped inside onto the plush, green grass that was all around. That was the first thing that she noticed. It was green everywhere, with all kind of trees and flowers around. They were all strategically placed, making the Academy grounds seem like a big and beautiful garden. The next thing that she noticed that it was empty. There were no students around. Another pang of panic hit her. Shouldn't there be some around?

She noticed a woman coming towards her. She looked to be in her mid-forties. But as she came closer, all Lillian could think was that she was very elegant. Black hair bound in a bun, hazel eyes covered in glasses. She was smart, Lillian could tell.

"Hello. You must be Lillian, right?"

"Yes, that's me."

She extended her hand and Lillian took it, shaking. Her grip was firm and Lillian came to the conclusion that whoever this woman was, she was an important figure in this Academy.

"Welcome to Aether Academy, Lillian. I'm Aemilia Emsworth, the headmistress."

She was right. She was the most important figure around here.

"Umm...headmistress, my luggage...it..." she began.

"Don't worry, dear. It's been sent to your room here. Now come, let's go to my office and talk. And just Professor Emsworth is fine. "

Lillian nodded and she followed her. And that was her first look of the Academy. She had been right, it looked really grandiose. It was tall, with four storeys, with a big dome in the middle of the huge building. It had spires too. The whole building looked like a cathedral. A big one. She looked back down, she had forgotten to follow professor Emsworth. She was looking at her with a small smile on her face. Lillian quickly made her way towards her, embarrassed for making her wait.