Two boys one with white hair and the other with reddish brown hair stood at an entrance bent at 90 degrees. Before them stood two ladies obviously chefs who were wiggling their bodies with their hands clasped at their chests.
"Now you got to set us free," one of them said as the two stood straight and waved and the chefs waved back.
Lyren and Julian stood at the path that had brought them here as they wondered the way back. They had followed the crowd but now there was no crowd and there were very few students in the vicinity. It was already obvious to them that no one was giving directions to no one. They had to find the way on their own.
"I think that this is where we part. I have an errand I must run," Lyren said and Julian had no objections. He wore the same serious look on his face as Lyren.
"I have to find my older brother too. See you around," Julian said and waved as he walked away. Lyren watched the small back disappear as he took the opposite direction. It was about time he found the Azure Faction.
The search was agonizing as he was forced to look all over. He strayed through many buildings and at some point, he appeared before the library which turned out he could not access because he did not have enough points.
He went to other places and others seemed to be store rooms and he was chased away by the students in charge here. He had lost count of the number of insults that had been rained on him and when he encountered Julian at some point, the two ignored each other and went o with their search. It was the second meeting that they stopped and faced each other. They were like strangers but they could not hide the exhaustion in their faces.
"I could not find the factions this way," Julian said as though they had not ignored each other the first round.
"They are neither this way," Lyren said with a sigh and there was only one direction they had not gone.
"Maybe it is this way," they looked at the single direction and they decided to follow it.
The world was against them and it turned out that this was where the classes were. They had just survived hunger but they were now struggling with finding factions. They walked on hoping against hope and it was then their cries were heard and the factions were after classes. They were separated and some had buildings of their own.
"We did it!" Julian almost cried and Lyren finally smiled faintly.
They walked together and decided to go through one building to another until they found the faction they were looking for. They explored all factions and when they were done, they separated for good and Lyren walked to the Azure Faction headquarters.
The Azure Faction had a building of its own and it had some prestige in it. There were flowers planted around its perimeter and there were two female guards at the entrance each in the seventh stage. They wore pale blue almost translucent headbands which was trademark of the Azure Faction members.
The girls looked at the guy approaching the entrance and they had their guard up. They walked towards him and stood in front of him. They did not appear to recognize him though which was to be expected since not everyone had been in the market or in the entrance ceremony. They stretched their hands out when they saw that he was not stopping.
"State your business with the Azure Faction. Not everyone is allowed entrance. You must have a permit," one of the girls said and Lyren grunted. Did they know just how tired he was and they were trying to impose rules on him already?
"I am here to join the Azure Faction," Lyren said and the girls looked at him intently.
"It's him. Let him in," the other girl said.
There were rumors going on that he was joining the Azure Faction. An image had been drawn and those who were interested had bought it. on a normal day, they could have laughed it off but this time it was serious as it was Lady Sera who had personally recruited him. They could not afford to get on her bad books.
They stepped away and one girl even offered to show him the way. Lyren agreed and followed her into the hall. There were many seats all over. There were not many people and there was only one student in every five seats. Majority of them appeared to be girls and it was to be expected.
Boys did not have so much time to waste time attending all meetings. Lyren was being walked to the front and there was a veiled Sera with her back to him. Lyren looked around and something was fishy because he ought to have found at least that one guy who missed no meetings and it was a surprise there was none. Just how lazy were they.
Lyren was left behind Sera and the girl left. Lyren stood awaiting verdict because it appeared that there was a meeting that had taken place here and he had not attended it. But was he to blame? He was hungry and lost the whole day. He was lucky to find the factions even. He looked around and somewhere at the windows, he could recognize Maya who kept throwing glances at him.
Some out of curiosity but there was pity in those eyes. Lyren took a deep breath and decided to speak but he was forced to close his mouth as Sera raised her hand. He looked at he back curiously. What was she thinking even? Was he not here?
"You are late…" she started and Lyren cleared his throat.
"I take no blame. I can only blame the academy for their poor labelling skills. I have been lost since yesterday and I have missed two meals already. Luckily, I found the kitchen and I have survived," Lyren was quick to accuse the academy and he could feel the gazes on him. He was right but that was a ridiculous excuse. Maya had found the Azure Faction headquarters and she was a first year too. There was blaming the labelling.
"I thought the academy gave orders for you to find the dorms. Could it be that you cheated?" Sera asked and once again Lyren was confused. What was this test they kept talking about? Had he not found the dorms already.
"I happened to encounter a bully who was kind enough to give me the directions to the dorms. I did not cheat," Lyren replied and people around sighed.
"I hear that two degenerates were discovered stalking the female quarters. It has never happened before and it was first years even, Sera said and Lyren rubbed his nose. So, she knew that he had been cheated. She even went ahead and called them degenerates!
"It truly is tragic. I wonder what kind of perverts they will become in the future if that was their first day. What measure are being taken to combat them?" Lyren asked and those who could hear them wore confused expressions. What was going on? Was it supposed to b a casual conversation?