Chapter 1: Isea Royal Academy
AN outbreak of not one, but two strange diseases have plagued the Kingdom of Isea. Some say the diseases came from tears shed by angels; that the victims of the outbreak were a worthy sacrifice for unifying the peninsula. Others say the diseases were aftereffects left behind by the wounds of a demon’s claws.
Righteous punishment for those who had invaded Radius—Kingdom of the Sun—and had killed the sun god.
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MIA stopped in front of the towering, reddish-brown brick gate and squinted at the sky. Gray cirrocumulus clouds trailed overhead; signs of the autumn months hung thick in the air. A brilliant, deep-blue sky was the mark of her hometown, Lemmilt, where the sea breeze whisked away the clouds. But the skies over Royal Capital Erfurt were sooty, as if someone had dissolved blue paint into muddy water. Factories dotted the Royal Capital’s landscape. Dark-gray smoke billowed endlessly from skyscraping smokestacks, blotting the color out of the sky. Great turbines clanked out a rhythmic beat and factories chugged endlessly with their eternally lit coal furnaces.
Standing out amid a landscape of smokestacks was a single spire, jutting out of the royal palace like a sword piercing through the smoky skies and beyond. Its massive size put the surrounding smokestacks to shame—threateningly looking down on the world below as if flaunting the might and power of Isea Kingdom. Zeppelins haphazardly navigated the smoggy skies, carefully avoiding the spire and smokestacks to keep from piercing the fabric covering their metal frames and puncturing the gasbags keeping them afloat. Mia had heard of the occasional explosion of smaller aircraft happening in Erfurt before. Quaint Lemmilt seemed worlds away, despite being a part of the very same kingdom.
Sighing, Mia angled her head back to peer up at the gate. Gears whirled inside its frame, keeping it pressurized in case someone tried to pry it open without permission. “This is the right place, I hope.”
Numerous carriages and automobiles zoomed across the wide King’s Street, which connected Erfurt Station to the Royal Palace. Lanes were designated for the horse-drawn carriages, automobiles, autobikes, and pedestrians. Not a single building lining the busy street was anything but stately. Mia had been walking in the direction of a grand building on the side of the road, while trying to contain her discomfort around the crowds of people, popping engines, and hapless drivers, but she’d ended up making more wrong turns than she wanted to admit before she finally arrived at her destination. Astonishment had hit her every time she knocked on a large imposing gate, certain it was the right place, only to discover that she’d disturbed a private home.
Five times she’d found herself being snickered at, mocked for being a country bumpkin, among other curses she would rather not remember.
She was staring at the sturdiest, most daunting gate she’d seen yet, but anxiety still darkened her expression. She slowly read aloud the magnificently shining letters engraved above the gate, “Isea Royal Academy.”
She nodded, “Yup! This is definitely the right place.” She pulled her student paperwork out of her pocket and waved it below the letters. Each letter of the Academy’s name slowly turned green and the gears keeping the gate shut whirled to life. The two halves of the gate popped and slid aside, allowing her entry.
Clenching her fist in front of her chest, she picked up her large wooden trunk and shabby old bag resting at her feet, and proceeded through the gate. The trunk clunked behind her as she dragged it. As Mia passed through the tunnel connecting the gate to the Academy, the smog cleared away, giving her the first good look inside.
A striking brick building dominated the center stage, appearing so sturdy that even a bulldozer probably couldn’t knock it down. Two other brick buildings flanked it like the grand wings of a brick hawk. Closer inspection revealed several more buildings of the same color deeper inside the campus. The full expanse of the campus was unfathomable from only the gate and sprawling walls built to keep out curious onlookers and threats to the kingdom’s top students. No wonder the Royal Academy was rumored to rival the Royal Palace in size and security.
“Whoa…” Mia sighed in awe.
“Hey! Don’t just stand there, you’re in the way. We have places to be.”
Hurried footsteps sounded behind her before students clad in the same uniform shoved passed her in a flurry. Mia watched them disappear into the void of the main building. From what she could tell, that building housed the auditorium, where the entrance ceremony was going to take place.
“What’s the rush? Is it already that late?” Mia quickly glanced at her pocket watch, then cocked her head. “Worried me for nothing! There’s still twenty minutes before it starts.”
Having confirmed that she had time to spare, Mia took her first step onto the multicolored patterned stone paving. She casually glanced at the flower beds and spotted beautiful pink and white cosmos blooming there, as if they were welcoming her with all their glory. A hiss of pressure signaled a soft spray of steam from the conical pipes watering the plants.
Mom, Doctor, I’ve finally made it…!
Mia couldn’t stop her heart from brimming with excitement.