His hands were shaking, and the palms of his hands were sweaty. He was a young man who had fought in brutal wars before he even turned 14, but the thought of being around people his own age made him more scared than being in those wars.
He struggled to put on the uniform the school had given him. He felt foreign and lost, struggling to grasp the meaning of this second life he had been given by the Angel of Death, Azrael.
"Are you done, Alexander?" a kid spoke from behind him. When he turned around, he saw Dante in the same white uniform he was wearing, and the boy had a bright smile on his face.
"I’m coming, Dante," Alexander said, sounding more like an annoyed older brother.
"Merlin said you should hurry," Dante said and ran out of Alexander’s room. Sigh.
He strapped his sword to his waist and walked out the door. Merlin stood at the staircase with Dante, and he looked angry. "You are late, young prince," he said to Alexander.
"I know. I’m sorry about that. So are we going to take those auto-vehicle things?" Alexander asked.
"You are already late. I will just teleport you to the school," Merlin said.
He took out a piece of white chalk and started drawing a circle on the ground. The weird symbols inside the circle made Alexander curious.
"What is this, Merlin?" he asked.
Merlin finished drawing the circle and stood up. He looked down on his drawing and said, "Well, young prince, this is called a summoning circle and it was used at a time when the teleportation spell had not been perfected yet," Merlin said.
"Can you stop calling me young prince, please?" Alexander said as he placed his hand on his face. It always felt unnatural when he was called a prince.
"You are a prince, Alexander. You will just have to get used to it, and soon enough you will be called a king once we free the kingdom of Lunira from the demons," Merlin said, trying to give Alexander hope.
"Alright, Merlin. So how does this summoning circle work? And why can’t you teleport us to school the normal way?" Alexander asked.
"I don’t want Perseus to see me at your school. He will try to keep me there all day, and I have plans with Laila and Damon," Merlin said. "So just step inside the circle. You too, Dante," he said as he looked down at Dante who was clinging to him.
The circle glowed red when Alexander and Dante stepped in, and the symbols inside started moving.
"So all you have to say is REPPASID," Merlin told the boys.
"REPPASID," the two boys said in unison. They fell into the glowing circle, and their bodies were dragged through space.
When they reappeared, they found themselves standing outside the school, and the other students were staring at them, wondering who they were. All Alexander could feel was embarrassment.
"Come on, Dante, let’s go inside," Alexander said.
BEAUTY OF CHAOS
The school’s architecture made the halls shine bright from the sun’s light, and the white walls brought a sense of peace.
"This is the class you will be attending, Dante. Go in," Alexander said.
The boy ran inside, excited about his first day of school.
Alexander continued walking through the hall, searching for his classroom. Perseus did not show him where his class was, only what it was called.
"Ouch," a girl cried out as she bumped into him.
"Sorry about that. Are you alright?" Alexander said as he helped her get up.
She froze the moment she saw him. Alexander’s shining eyes mesmerized her, and his charming smile made her laugh awkwardly.
"I-I’m alright, thanks," she said as she got up.
"Alright. Hey, may I ask for your assistance? I’m looking for the semi-pro class," he said.
"Oh, that’s where I’m going. Just follow me," she said. She was holding thick books in her hands that seemed too heavy for her.
"I’m Alexander, by the way, and may I help you with those?" he said as he offered his hands.
"I’m alright. They aren’t as heavy as they look, she said. "And oh, I’m Maltilda of the Hart family," she said added.
The atmosphere around Alexander became calmer as he talked to Maltilda. This was the most fun he had ever had just by talking to someone.
"So, you are new to this school?" she asked.
"Yes, I am. My brothers and I just recently moved to this kingdom," he said.
"That’s so cool. So what is beyond this kingdom?" she asked with glittering eyes. "I’ve always wanted to travel around the world like the old adventurers used to, but my parents think I’m too young to leave," she said with a disappointed look.
"You still have time to do it. It’s a beautiful but dangerous world out there, so don’t be too quick to leave such a peaceful kingdom," Alexander said.
He stopped at one of the doors in the school, feeling a strange aura coming out of that room.
"What is this place?" he asked Maltilda.
"This is the school library," she said.
The strange aura coming from the library felt like it was calling him. He tried to ignore it, but it just kept calling.
He walked into the library, following the strange aura calling for him. The strange aura wasn’t threatening, but it was powerful, and also felt familiar.
’Come, child. One who will lay the path for the Child of the End, come to me,’ the voice echoed in his head.
The library had thousands of books on the shelves. With a simple spell, people were summoning books to come to them inside the library.
"Are you alright, Alexander?" Maltilda asked as she saw the look on Alexander’s face. He looked lost and confused.
"Y-yeah, I’m alright," he said as he walked to one of the bookshelves.
There were hundreds of books on the shelf, but for some reason, he knew exactly which one to pick. He pulled out one of the books, and on it, the words "Book of Anu" were written.
"What is this book?" he asked Maltilda.
She read the cover and said, "That is the Book of Anu, and it’s a spell book mostly used by master sorcerers. They say it was given to us by an ancient being called Anu."
Alexander opened the book, and one of the pages seemed to glitch, and when he tried to read the contents on it, the words seemed to move. Only five words could be read: "blood of the fallen ones."
As soon as he said those words, a huge wave of magic came out of the book and pushed everything in the library back, and the books on the shelves went flying.
"What the hell was that?" Maltilda asked.
When they looked at the book Alexander was holding, a sword was slowly coming out. It was glowing purple, and it looked like it had cracks all over it.
Alexander’s eyes shined from excitement. He had just found something that the gods themselves fear.
"A chaos weapon," he uttered to himself.