Carefully bringing out the piece of paper from her blazer pocket, Princess Marina compared the circle with symbols with the circle on the board.
"What if?" Princess Marina thought as she stared at the piece of paper before her intently.
Placing another piece of paper next to the drawing of the circle with three symbols, Princess Marina drew a second diagram without the symbols this time and her drawing perfectly mirrored what was on the board.
"What are you doing?" Falorin asked and Princess Marina jumped in her seat.
"Nothing." Princess Marina said as she tried to hide the papers on her desk but Halorin grabbed one.
"This doesn't look like nothing." Halorin said and Halorin and Falorin joined forces to stare at her down.
Scoffing at the dejavu, Princess Marina said "We can't talk here" with a sigh.
"Are you willing to skip lunch tomorrow?" Princess Marina asked tiredly and Halorin and Falorin grinned as they nodded.
Sighing because her poker face must be terrible, Princess Marina went on to her next class with the new information at the forefront of her mind.
The overall Dean's office
"I know this is eating into the time you were supposed to have with your mentors but I called you four here for a progress report." The overall Dean said as he lifted the kettle on the table with the wind.
"It's been a week since you have been undergoing classes with your mentors." The overall Dean said as he tipped the kettle to pour tea in Princess Marina's cup.
"So how are they?" the overall Dean said as he tipped the kettle to pour tea into the cup before Aldric, who was seated next to Princess Marina.
"Are they good mentors," the overall Dean asked as he tipped the kettle to pour tea into the cup before Lorraine, who was seated to face Princess Marina.
"Or have you learned to just work with them?" the overall Dean said with a chuckle as he tipped the kettle to pour tea in the cup before Aleron, who was seated to face Aldric.
"Moran is extremely helpful." said Aldric who was the first to speak.
"She has improved my control, she is kind and oversees all my practices diligently." Aldric said and the Overall Dean nodded.
"You?" The Dean asked, as he nodded to Lorraine.
"Catherina is just as helpful." said Lorraine.
"She has better control than I imagined and her sessions are always on something new." Lorraine said going second.
"Alex doesn't talk much." Aleron said going third.
"But he calmly corrects me when I use my power too rigidly." said Aleron.
"It's the same with Sloan." Princess Marina said going last.
"Sloan is very innovative and offers very useful tips." Princess Marina said and the Overall Dean nodded.
"So all of you just have good things to say huh?" the overall Dean asked and the four students smiled.
"Well since you are all being taught very well." the overall Dean said with a nod.
"I look forward to your debut next week." the Overall Dean said and the four students nodded with smiles on their faces.
The practical creation class
"What was with you today?" Sloan asked casually after Princess Marina presented her drawings for the machine she would like to build for the dining hall.
"What do you mean?" Princess Marina asked with a polite smile.
"You didn't go to the dining table that contained your friends like you always did at breakfast and at lunch all four of you," Sloan said, referring to Princess Marina, Aldric, Aleron and Lorraine.
"Left together." Sloan said as he wrote down a better metal she could use for her dining hall idea.
"Did you all have something planned?" Sloan asked as he wrote down a better mechanism for Princess Marina's dining hall idea.
Sighing, Princess Marina said "I must be an open book because you are the third person asking me that today." and Sloan smiled.
Opening her mouth to tell him what she had heard the night before, Princess Marina's heart almost leaped into her throat when she saw something at the corner of her eye.
"I had a nightmare yesterday and I couldn't eat so I ran out at breakfast." Princess Marina said with a sigh as she acted as normal as possible.
"I tried to do the same at lunch but my friends noticed and stalked me to the library and they spent all of lunch break trying to make me feel better by making up stories and getting me to read the books I was interested in." Princess Marina said with a smile that she hoped didn't look forced.
"You're interested in ancient languages too?" Sloan said with a smile and Princess Marina had to steel herself from shivering.
"Definitely." Princess Marina said with a nod.
"I even learned more about it in class today." Princess Marina said with a smile.
"History with Auralith Kane huh?" asked Sloan.
"Don't get me started on Auralith Kane." Princess Marina said with a sigh as she muttered unhappily and Sloan laughed.
After some light conversation, ten more minutes of Sloan reviewing her work and Princess Marina explaining her plan in detail, Princess Marina was allowed to leave.
Waving at Sloan, Princess Marina put her plans in her school bag and left the practical room for creation. Walking normally till she was sure that no one was following her, Princess Marina suddenly began running.
"We were worried for nothing." Sloan said to the seemingly empty room.
"I agree." said Lysandria as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Maybe Esrella was just paranoid." Lysandria said as she came to stand next to Sloan.
"But her concerns can't be dismissed." Sloan said with a contemplative look.
"She might have seen someone, so next time," Sloan said, emphasizing the words "next time".
"Be vigilant." Sloan warned and Lysandria nodded.
"The rising must not be stopped." said Sloan and Lysandria nodded once more.
Bursting into her room with her chest heaving, Princess Marina sat on the floor in the middle of her room.
"What's wrong?" her roommates asked as they tried to comfort her.
"We can't meet in the library anymore." Princess Marina said shakily as she tried to regulate her heartbeat.
"Why?" Falorin asked in confusion.
"I am being watched." Princess Marina said in fear and Falorin's face turned grim.