“Take a deep breath and say what you want. I won’t judge you nor will I be mad at you. Let your thoughts and desires be known to the world and to myself.”

  She has a kind look on her face as she says this, but what makes Anya stare at her is not what she said but how beautiful her eyes are. They are shining of course, with that golden colour they have to it, it’s captivating Anya and her full attention towards them, but at the same time, since they have a soft look to them, it is giving Anya a sense of security. She struggles a bit as her tears keep on falling down her already red cheeks, but nothing that rubbing her eyes won’t help out. And so, after doing so and with a massive deep breath she tries again.

  Anya- I… I got invited here thanks to my grades. Magic and science research, that were the subjects that got their attention.

  There she is, her voice is now much calmer than before, a bit shaky from all the crying but she’s able to actually say what she wants to.

  Anya- My family and I, we… We don’t have money for this type of pristine Academy. We are from a village near the capital where we live quite modestly, getting the opportunity to be here was already something that none of us expected to happen. The moment they offered me to be here, I accepted without any second thought at all. After all, this is a golden opportunity that I couldn’t waste. To make it even more unbelievable, they offer me tools for my future experiments and even a lab so that I could experiment on without any worries. But, after hearing all of your knowledge it showed me that I still know very little about magic. It made me think that, if I have your help, maybe I could achieve my goal.

  Once again, she takes out another deep breath, she’s about to say something that needs all of her courage. I wonder what will come out of her mouth, though I can tell you that Kiana is not expecting it.

  “I need your help. I want you by my side! I need you!”

  She brings both of her hands to her chest as she says this. As she says this with a firm but not too loud tone of voice. Her green eyes, although a bit red from crying, are filled with determination as she says this, as she declares her love! Well, this is not a love declaration but I can tell you that Kiana is taking this in that way. Oh, what a dummy.

  Kiana- Huh? You want me? Eh?

  Her cheeks are getting red with the passing of time, so much so that she brings both of her hands to them in an attempt of calming down. “She’s just a stranger! We only met a few minutes ago! How can she feel like this!?”. Yep, quite the misunderstanding, however she does look extremely cute, she averts her gaze as the embarrassment keeps on getting into her head and clouding her judgment with it.

  “I want you to be my co-worker! I want your help for my research!”

  And this left Kiana with her pretty mouth wide open. Who would’ve guessed it? Not us of course. Confusion, shock then followed by disappointment are the three phases of negation that Kiana went through in a span of seconds. She was expecting something else and got something completely different instead.

  Kiana- Oh, you need help for that... Yeah... I knew that... Of course... What else could it be... Haha…

  This is rather awkward, for her that is. Taking what Anya said for a completely different side sure made her quite embarrassed. Oh well, she still looks cute.

  “Can you help me out?”

  “(Am I asking for too much? Maybe I am, we just met each other… Not only that, she has her life, her goals and dreams. I can’t be selfish; I can’t have all of her attention for my own selfish desires. No, if she rejects it, I have to accept it with a smile on my face. I just ask that; we can at least be friends…)”

  Kiana- Ahem! I will see what I can do. I do am interested in what you might do in the future, but I still don’t know what path to take yet. I still have to explore what the Academy has to offer, so let me think about it first. I will give you an answer when I’ve decided something.

  Predictable, Anya was somewhat expecting an answer like this and of course you can see the sadness and disappointment on her face. However, Kiana never said no so there is a possibility that her mind might change in the future. After all, no one knows what the future holds.

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  “Hmm, hmm. Don’t worry about it too much, it was out of nowhere and we only met today. If you ever change your mind, you will always be welcome, even if you don’t want to, you will still be welcomed in the lab.”

  Kiana- Thank you Anya, I will do my best to have some time to visit you. I do want to know you better, but I still want to prepare for my future here, with care. I don’t want to choose something just because… I do have a promise to fulfil at the end of the day.

  The last bit did create some curiosity on Anya's part but she decided to not pursue it. From this, Anya gives Kiana some instructions to where the lab is. The lab is in the Academy as anyone would’ve guessed, it’s located in the main building, the one where Kiana was earlier, where the principal introduced himself and gave out that speech. You enter the building, go right a couple of meters, maybe 30 or so, then to your left you have a couple of stairs. You go down those stairs into a corridor, a long one at that. From both sides there are several doors, but what for? Who knows, Anya does not know nor Kiana. For now, Anya does know that the last door is where the lab is located or so they told her. In fact, Anya still has to visit the lab, something that will change right after this.

  “Alright Anya, it was nice meeting you but I will be going. In case you need something just shout my name as loudly as you can, I will come to you as fast as the speed of sound itself!”

  She flashes Anya quite the smile as she bids her farewell. Anya does the same thing and she ends it with a slight bow, showing off just how grateful she is for what Kiana did. After this they both go their merry ways, although Kiana has no clue where to go. She keeps on walking around and around trying to find something that catches her attention, although it seems to be proving something rather difficult.

  People talking! Crowd noises!

  The sight does surprise her quite a bit, everything is new to her. Several, maybe even hundreds of students and teachers are working together to gather more students for their clubs or classes. A sight of cooperation and trust, a community like feeling even. It’s quite nice to see to be honest and Kiana feels the same way as she sees all of this with a soft smile on her face, quickly forgetting all that has happened a few minutes ago. However, just as she was walking past the gym, the place from yesterday, where the president of the student council gave that speech, you remember that place? Well, the doors are wide open and she was walking past it when she sees a couple of students sitting in chairs and in front of them, a few rather important looking students. This seems to catch her attention as she slowly enters the gym and stays at the back watching whatever might unfold. Yep, curiosity got the best of her as said president of the student council is right in the middle of a stage, exactly the same way as yesterday.

  “Good morning my fellow classmates! I hereby welcome you once again!”

  As you can expect, the one that is speaking is the president herself, Taniah Clarence if I remember correctly. She starts this with a loud and clear tone of voice, easily grabbing the attention of everyone that is there, our Kiana included.

  Taniah- It’s a new year in front of us, a new academic year to be more precise. With this, a few of my colleagues, friends it’s a better way to describe them and with the utmost respect they deserve, they have graduated. Unfortunately, they have left this place, gone on their lives and into a greater purpose. However, while doing so, they left the seat open, ready to be taken. As of today, I’m announcing that the student council is recruiting! These seats cannot be empty for much longer and I, the Academy, we need your help to fill them up! But before you make a decision about it and an extremely important one in this case, let me explain to you what is the student council and what do we do here.

  “Why does such a grand Academy need a system like this? Why do they feel the need to have the student council?”

  Taniah- Well, the answer is right under your nose. First and mostly, the Academy wants us to be independent and they will provide us with the needed tools for such. However, to achieve such independence even with the proper tools you still need a system of order and that’s why the student council exists. If there is something that the students need, it’s the student’s council duty to get it for them. It’s also our duty to protect the students, from themselves, the teachers, the Academy itself and of course, from intruders. Be aware of something, this does not give us the right to go out and punish anyone that we want to, it does not work like that. I will leave that topic for another day. We also have the duty to keep the Academy a good place for learning and of course a pleasant place to be around. Yes, it’s also our duty to have the Academy clean for example.

  “From what you have heard until now, are you still interested in the student council? Do you still want to join it? All of you are more than welcome to be part of the student council, however only the best ones will be chosen.”

  Taniah- You see, I have a riddle that I haven’t yet been able to solve. I want you to give me an answer for it, to help me out solve it. This is your first test, if your answer is within our parameters then, you will have the chance to take the second test. The second test will be a combat test, after all, you have to be strong enough to protect the students and the Academy. We are doing two tests so that we can eliminate the most candidates. The answer for the riddle will show us your intellect and how you think. We value those qualities, we want you to have good values, morals and ways of thinking. The second one as I said, you have to be strong enough to protect the students, otherwise they won’t be able to count on us if the case arises. But we will worry about that later, please just have a try if you want to. Even if you fail, don't worry about it, no one here will make fun of you and I will personally won’t let that happen. Those who want to have a go, stand up and walk up to the stage.