The Atlantis Academy’s floor glowed beneath my feet as I looked up and observed the surroundings. We were in the main hall from the looks of it, as it was spacious enough for all the classes to stand next to one another. In the middle of it, there was a gigantic statue of a Fishman holding onto a trident, his chest puffed out.
It made me think of a Greek God we had back on Earth, Poseidon. The resemblance was incredible, I swear.
We waited for a few minutes in the main hall as most of the students were starting to get impatient. It seemed they wanted to go and explore the city right away. I was also the same; I wanted to look around and see if there might be anything related to Perdere. I still had no way of knowing if this was the place where they discovered the first demon hidden. But I should be able to if I ask the right people.
Quickly enough, we started hearing some loud footsteps coming from the right. And weirdly enough, there were a lot of them. It seemed that there wasn’t one person coming to welcome us to this school.
I managed to get a peek at them. There was one mermaid and two fish-man by her side as they approached. The mermaid was once again beautiful, probably one of their traits.
“Hello to you all! It’s a pleasure to have you here!” She exclaimed with a warm smile. “My name is Adeline, and I will be the one in charge of you all during your stay. We were informed of your arrival yesterday, so…uh, things aren’t completely ready. Still, your rooms should be somewhat ready.”
Most of us nodded, understanding the situation. However, there was one person who didn’t seem to grasp the situation. It was…Jackson.
“How come you’re not ready to receive the Royal Academy? You’re a disgrace for your kingdom.”
He even came out of the line I had formed to utter those words as he spat on the ground as if he owned the place.
“Jackson.” I stared at him dead in the eyes, and he froze into place. “Learn to respect others.”
His head moved up and down as he got back in line. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
The mermaid stared at me for a short moment, probably wondering what I had done to the child. His behavior did have a complete turnaround out of nowhere. Still, she didn’t comment on it as she turned toward the rest of the professors once again.
“Right…so, you can follow me, and I will guide you to your rooms. Also, because of the short notice, the professors will have no choice but to all sleep in the same room.”
I frowned.
“I must have heard that incorrectly? Can you repeat, please?” One of the female professors asked, clearly mad.
“You will have to sleep in the same room as your colleagues.”
She gritted her teeth. “At least separate us from the men.”
“We don’t have enough space. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
She waved her hand and muttered something under her breath as she turned around. The female professor didn’t want to talk to her any longer. I knew that she was totally fuming. However, it was for totally valid reasons.
Either way, after that interaction, they showed us where we would be sleeping, and I placed myself right beside Ava and Thorin since they were the only people I knew out of all the professors, and the rest of them had spread rumors about me. They were also taking their distance from me since I killed Derek, which does make sense from their point of view.
I was now heading out with Ava as the students had the day off since there had been a lot of travel time today.
“It’s your first time, right?” She asked me as we were now back on the same road as earlier.
“In Atlantis? Yeah, I didn’t even know this place existed.” I laughed. “It’s your daughter who told me that it was underwater.”
She smiled and nodded, not saying anything else. Because of her silence, it made me think of something. I had wanted to ask her about it, but I had never had the opportunity.
“Your husband, where is he?”
Her eyes drifted at me for a short moment before going back to normal.
“Why do you ask?”
“Oh. I was just wondering since you’re always around Ava, and I never saw your husband. So, I was just wondering about it,” I asked with clear intentions.
She shook her head. “No, no. It’s fine. It’s been long enough. It doesn’t affect me as much anymore.”
We took a seat on a nearby bench as it would make things a lot easier to discuss with one another. She looked straight in front of her and took a deep breath before saying the slightest thing.
“You see, my husband was just like you, a reckless and confident man.”
I thanked her with a smile.
“He wanted to become a soldier. He wanted to protect the world that we live in, but he never listened to me. I even begged him to stay at home, but he told me that it was his duty…and well, I think you can already tell what happened next.”
I slowly nodded my head. It seemed I had a lot of things in common with Ava. “How old were you at the time?”
“I’m not sure…he died five years ago. So, I was around 30 at the time.”
“It must have been hard.” I smiled as I gave her a small pat on the back. “The same thing happened with me. I lost my parents when I was around fifteen years old.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s not the same thing at all!” She couldn’t believe what I had just said. The worry in her eyes was nice. However, it hadn’t been a huge shock for me since I had barely known them. “Sometimes I forget that you’re younger than me, haha!”
“How old are you anyway? You look so young.”
“Me? Young, haha! I’m 35 years old.”
I smirked hearing that. I wasn’t lying, she really looked smoking hot for her age, and now that I knew she didn’t have anyone in her life. Then, I wouldn’t shy away from getting closer with her.
Just as I was about to say something else, guess who I saw right in front of me.
It was Finley. He was back to annoy me even more. However, this time, he wasn’t alone; he had brought some friends.
“You thought I’d let you go, huh? I told you already. If I ever saw you again, then I’d kill you.”
