The Crown and The Rose
Chapter 12: The Dorms

Chapter 12: The Dorms

The Crown

As I pull my belongings out of the sack, my mind can’t shake off the lingering worry about Edward. The dorm has more secrets than anticipated. I hope he keeps himself safe and can dig out the information I need from the boys’ dorm. I plan to go there tonight after the curfew starts. I need a way to deflect Seraphina.

I have a feeling that Seraphina is very suspicious of me. The way she stares at me from the desk, makes my stomach roll with nervousness. I wish I could hear what she is thinking.

"Is there anything you want to tell me, Seraphina?" I spin around, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, are we sure that you are a man?" Seraphina asks, raising her eyebrow slightly.

"Huh?" I stammer, "What are you talking about? Do I look like a girl to you?"

"No, it’s just..." The crease between her eyebrows deepens, "It’s very unusual to see such long hair around here let alone among the boys."

Well, she sure has a point. Even Seraphina’s black hair is long but they are not as long as mine. "This is the thing I cannot do anything about. Do I need to cut my hair to stay here?"

I think, she either suspects something or is just trying to make me uncomfortable. I don’t know. Every step I take here feels misstep. I am worried, anxious, and uncertain and I don’t even have a clear view of what I am doing but Vermilion wants a result and failure isn’t an option if I want to live.

"If you can handle your hair here then you don’t have to cut it." Seraphina shifts her position slightly, "The bath time is about to start, you need to hurry and get to the boys’ building. They won’t stop you from entering there. If you want to take a bath then you should hurry up."

I nod in acknowledgment, "What about this roommate of yours? What was her name again, Eliana? Is she also a member of the council?" I ask, my eyes gleaming with blazing curiosity for the information.

"Yes," Seraphina nods, "She is the advisor there. We work together."

"Where is she, now?" I press further.

"Do you have any business knowing where she is now?" Seraphina smiles venomously, "I believe not. So mind your own business if you don’t want to get on my nerves."

"Okay." I understand that this is my limit for the day to ask questions.

I am done unpacking my stuff and leave for the boys’ building. Or so I show. I wander around the hall some more and find out that the third floor is for elite students who have earned over five badges.

In Syx, there are badge systems. The more you perform flawlessly- no I mean kill flawlessly you will gain a badge. Academics, sports, arts, magic, potion, one-on-one(s), battle arts, martial arts, music even- every one of them has a badge. You clear one obstacle and you get one badge. You become an elite when you have five badges under your name.

And with the badges, Seraphina wears...it is clear that she is an elite among the elites. I climb down the steps of the staircase and enter the common room. It’s bustling as always. I try my best to blend into the background and slip through the intoxicating smell of alcohol and the chatters of demon girls.

The moon does its job as usual, casting a silver ray over the horizon and making the shadows come alive. The three castles ahead that shadow these small ones behind them are towering over the horizon in the dark, making it blood-curdling fearsome.

I enter the interior of the boys’ dormitory. It’s as spooky and shadowy as the girls’ one. The bitter cold air grazes past my skin and the flickering shadow cast by the dim torches by the wall dances madly.

I wonder if the demons have anything against the light. And what kind of question is that? Of course, they have. They can’t stand light or any object that gives them warmth. But they exceed in fire magic. Ironic. But the most amusing part is that the fire they make is cold. And its color is different from the usual fire.

I creak open the huge curved double doors and step into the dorm. A chill runs down my spine. Every eye in the common room bores a hole through me and I am standing stiff in the doorway, I have no idea what I am supposed to do now. Their gazes feel like daggers, sharp and murderous.

"Jonas." A familiar voice rings in my ears and relief washes over me, "What are you doing here? Come with me."

I look at Edward standing just a few feet away from me, long surprised. I manage to flash a smile as I approach him, "I can’t use the girls’ bathroom, so Seraphina sent me to take a bath here. What are you doing here?" I give him a short outline of my situation.

"I am out with my roommate," Edward gestures behind him with his eyes, "He brought me here."

"Hello! I am Erick!" A demon with dark blue hair and hazel eyes pipes in enthusiastically, "It’s nice to meet you, I am Edward’s roommate." Erick has big curved horns and he is tall. He is at least one or two inches taller than me. He is a noble blood.

"Nice to meet you too!" I greet him in the same manner, flashing a smile to hide my wariness, "I am named Jonas. I am Edward’s childhood friend."

"So, you are here to take a bath, Jonas?" Edward chimes in, clearly not holding much patience for the pleasantries. He has something to tell me. And it’s important. "Erick, will you show us the way to the bathroom?"

"Of course why not?" Erick grins, but something is amiss in his eyes. They are not smiling. He is up to something. "This way." He starts to lead the way.

Edward and I start to follow him. When Edward makes sure that Erick isn’t turning around he starts to move his finger in the air. A bright ray of green shooting out of the tip of his finger. "He is from the council."

My eyes slightly widen at the information. "What position does he hold?" I copy his manner and a bright thread of light shoots out of my fingertip and forms the bold words on the mid-air before fading away after a brief moment.

"The vice president."

My eyes round as I take in the bold characters. So, he became the new vice president after the previous vice president was taken a week ago. So, they didn’t even try to find that boy, did they? They just grabbed another student to take his seat.

"Anything else?"

Edward shakes his head in denial. I ’oh’ my mouth and focus on fixing the broken puzzles. There is a possibility that this Erick guy has taken the former vice president so that he can have his place. It makes sense but it’s so damn obvious. Vermilion surely wouldn’t send me here if it were the case.

"Here is the general bath." Erick stops before another double door and pushes it open. A big spacious bath reveals itself behind it. It’s particularly empty only two or three students are bathing here silently. There can only be three reasons. 1. The bath time here hasn’t started yet. 2. The bath time has ended. 3. The boys aren’t abiding by the rules.

I stop racking my brain for such a silly matter and spin around to Edward, "When does your bath time start?"

"It hasn’t started yet." Erick answers in his stead, "But you can use the bath whenever you want before the curfew starts. Nobody is to get out of their room at that hour."

I nod in acknowledgment. And start bathing. I start doing my job. I wash my hair perfectly but as there is no wind magic I fail to dry my damp hair. I get out of the shower in a new set of clothing.

"Jonas, you are done?" Edward takes a moment to spell my name since he is not used to it.

"Yes. I will be heading back now." I say as we make our way down to the common room.

"You could have dinner with us." Erick offers, "It would be nice to have an extra person joining us."

"No, thanks." I refuse politely as I tie my damp hair into a loose pigtail, "Seraphina will not take my delay very open-mindedly."

"President?" Erick’s eyes sparkle for a brief second before calming down again, "Yes she can be a little strict about time and rules."

"Okay then Edward, I will see you around." I hold his and slip a piece of paper in his fist.

I walk out of the building and head toward the girls’ building.

***

It’s the middle of the night and every lamp in the room is exhausted. I soundlessly slip out of my covers, as the Seraphina’s heavy breathing assures me that she is still deep in sleep. Her roommate, Eliana hasn’t returned to her room yet. Now it makes me wonder if Eliana is a person after all. I tie my already tight braid into a bun and stride down the stairs of the staircase, my footing as light as a feather.

I approach the arched double doors of the boys’ building and knock three times. The door creaks open slowly and Edward peeks outside warily. His eyes relax a bit when they find me standing outside. He steps aside to let me slip through.

"Do you know where the rooms are?" I ask him in a hushed voice.

"Yes." Edward replies in the same manner as he leads me upstairs, "The rooms are empty now. But the rooms are locked. We can’t do anything."

"You leave it to me. I will handle the breaking in, just lead the way." I assure him and he nods.

Never in my life did I imagine that I would be breaking into rooms for an investigation I have nothing to do with. And I have to accept it as my fate. Woah.