21 Protection

Chapter 21: Protection

Fortem Academy,

Eliana huffed out a tired breath before knocking on the office door.

"You may enter."

Upon hearing the approval she twisted the knob and entered quietly inside. She stood still at the door behind her.

"Principal Rimbrad."

Rimbrad looked away from the document he was scanning after hearing Eliana's greeting. He cleared his throat and smiled, he looked visibly tired.

"Ah you have arrived, sit down- sit down student." He pointed at the couch. "Please wait for a while, I have called the other students as well." He said before returning to his work.

Eliana eyed Rimbrad's face and the dark raccoon bags under his eyes was not hard to notice. Eliana suspected it must have been from yesterday's Ranking Assessment she had missed.

Pulling her eyes away from the Principal, she sighed softly. She played with her fingers and palm. The atmosphere was perfectly serene and gentle, surprisingly. She could hear the sway of leaves from the wind outside the office window.

The peacefulness was cut short when the door loudly bursted open with no warning. The two people inside the office cringed at the sudden disturbance. Eliana even squeaked a little, much to her embarrassment.

"Principal Rimbrad!" Jett, who was responsible for the surprise, beamed enthusiastically at the busy man.

"Jettam!" Rimbrad exclaimed, stressfully rubbing the space between his eyebrows. "Please consider my mental being today, especially this headache from yesterday's test." He complained.

Eliana, now recovered from the shock, found her eyes fixated on the newly arrived knights in training. Her eyes gravitated especially on the guy with long black hair tied neatly and his sharp emerald eyes, he stood out behind the rest.

Ethereal Seven.

Jett shrugged his shoulders laughing playfully to himself. "Forgive me Principal Rimbrad."

Larsanel who stood beside him giggled before nudging her cousin on the shoulder. "Jett." She warned but failed to look serious from her miserable resisted smile.

"Are we just going to stand here all day?" A girl with straight hair with an odd colour combination of black and white strands said. Her gold brown eyes bore through Rimbrad's eyes with her left eyebrow raised.

Rimbrad neatly placed the documents on the table. He stood up and circled behind his chair. He motioned for the new arrivals to enter and take a seat on the remaining chairs.

The newcomers invited themselves in, noticing Eliana who was quietly sitting on the single couch. The atmosphere was slowly changing from the presence of the Seven.

"Eliana! Why are you here?" Lars asks.

"Principal Rimbra--"

"Nevermind that." Larsanel approached the girl loudly. "Come sit beside me." She tried grabbing Eliana's arm to make her stand up.

But before she could do so, Rimbrad loudly cleared his throat to grab all of their attention away from the two girls. Everyone except the Principal and Larsanel was already seated.

"Larsanel, I see you have already met this young lady." He said. "Sit down, we have a grave matter to discuss."

Larsanel huffed- almost a pout but nevertheless heeded the Principal's order. She sat beside the empty space Jett left for her on the couch.

Eliana couldn't help but stare at them. The air around them was radiating power and superiority. It was intimidating. She studied each one of them, the individuality they possessed was truly unique and noticeable.

"It's still early to receive special training. What are your intentions for calling all of us here Principal Rimbrad." The boy with the tied long dirty blonde hair and squinted hazel eyes spoke suspiciously.

Rimbrad waved his hands and laughed shortly. "I still have yet to get used to your trust issues Zathur." He chuckled. "You got me. I have a very important mission for the Ethereal Seven."

The atmosphere turned serious.

"Mission?" The boy with tied long brown hair and deep blue eyes asked shocked from Rimbrad's statement.

"Yes, mission, Kylon." Rimbrad confirmed.

Eliana's eyes caught the emerald eyed boy frowning.

Kylon's brows knitted in confusion. "Correct me if I'm wrong. The Ethereal Seven have not done any missions, only training within an actual mission along with the common knights. What are you talking about Principal Rimbrad." He asks.

"Missions are now allowed."

"What?" Bastion asks in disbelief. Everyone was surprised while Eliana was assessing the conversation.

"We now allow the Ethereal Seven to accept missions." Rimbrad eyes the Seven.

"A few days ago a dangerous mission was conducted, the Fortem Knights were sent to operate the given task." He braced himself for the revelation.

"The mission was to exterminate the demon beasts who escaped from the gates of Ahara. Along the operation, Knight Jester was caught involved with a human. The human could see and touch a Praeditian. The Fortem knight brought the human here in Praediti, unbelievably the human successfully crossed the gates unharmed--"

"What!?" The girl with mixed hair exclaimed in disbelief.

"Emery," The emerald eyed boy warned, his voice was authoritative and deep. "Continue Principal Rimbrad."

Eliana felt a chill and she was sure it wasn't only her.

"Yes, the story may seem unbelievable and impossible but let me finish first. Because it was an almost impossible occurrence, the council and the palace arranged an investigation for this human in order for us to understand her case." He paused. "The case is confidential mainly for the reason to avoid further possible chaos this phenomenon may bring." He explained.

"Why are you telling this to us then, I'm sure the Ethereal Seven is nothing compared to the official knights." Zathur asked, his curiosity rising every second.

The rest of the Ethereal agreed to his statement. They gave the Principal a suspicious stare.

Rimbrad laughed to brush off the tension he felt coming from the Seven. "Of course you are all still in training and have a lot to improve to take on this private information." He paused. "The human was given a Praeditian identity in order to blend. Lord Wistal volunteered to be the guardian, naming the human under his family register as his niece--"

The Principal was cut off when the boy with emerald eyes stood up and pointed at Eliana who was startled.

"She's the human." He states.

Everyone's eyes darted to Eliana, her eyes widening at the sudden attention. The puzzled and lost expression was plastered on their faces, Lars, Jett and Bastion especially. Eliana felt her heart run a mile.

Rimbrad sighed, he was indeed a keen listener and quick witted. "You beat me to it Anzai, you are correct."

"What!?" Larsanel squeaked.

"Eliana?" Jett whispered.

Rimbrad made his way beside Eliana who was calmly staring back at Anzai's emerald eyes studying hers. Rimbrad stood beside her as an assurance against the Ethereal Seven who were on their guards.

"Sit down Anzai." After the boy heeded, he continued. "This is Eliana De La Felinar, that's her alias name. Lord Eldred Wistal De La Felinar's niece. I'm sure a few of you have met her. Larsanel?"

"Yes..." Larsanel looked confused.

Eliana bit her lip. She surely owe Larsanel an explanation.

"I thought so." Rimbrad confirmed. "As we all commonly know, humans do not possess the gifts us Praeditians have. The abilities given by the Gods. From our history Praeditians protected humans because we are stronger. Eliana is unskilled and powerless. Despite these obvious shortcomings she was still sent here in Fortem Academy. The council thinks this is the best way to uncover a possible hidden information we can't normally retrieve." He paused. "The Seven of you will be under a full year mission to protect Eliana during her stay here in the Academy."

"That's the mission?" Emery asked with a raised eyebrow.

Eliana got the feeling this girl had an attitude. She was always raising her eyebrows and her legs were crossed unlike the rest.

"You are also responsible for her private training. Do not worry, the good thing about being a Felinar is the unique abilities the people in the light district posses." He turned to Eliana. "Eliana, we still need to observe your skills and what you're naturally good at to make that your 'made up' ability." He explained.

Eliana nodded understandingly. "Alright." She felt the pressure rise.

Rimbrad returned in front of his desk to explain everything conveniently for the Seven and Eliana included.

"Yesterday at the Ranking Assessment, as always you never fail to impress me Ethereals. Congratulations you all topped against everyone in the Academy as expected."

"We excelled due to our hard works." Kylon proudly boasted.

He praised them. "Hahahaha! But of course." He grinned." Now, Eliana here missed the test on purpose. If she showed up yesterday, she would have been caught."

Everyone agreed.

Principal Rimbrad turned to Eliana. "You are ranked from the bottom. We have passed a result for you. The records are all with low scores. If anyone asks, you were tested individually by myself, the Principal, understand?"

Eliana licked her dry lips and nodded. "Yes."

"Ethereals, from now on and onwards you must keep an eye on her and protect her secret at all cost. This mission is especially entrusted to the Seven, it is an order from the council and the Palace. Operate like a true knight. This is your first mission as The Ethereal Seven" He eyed everyone. "I trust all of you to cooperate well."

Rimbrad returned to sit back behind his desk and proceeded quietly to his workloads.

Everyone felt the awkward shift of the atmosphere. They waited for quite a while for Rimbrad's further instructions. Though from the looks of it, he was too indulged in his work for what they expected.

Jett stood up cautiously scratching the back of his head. "Um, Principal?"

"What?"

"Are we done here?"

Rimbrad looked up and gave all of them an amused look. "You're all dismissed. Hahahaha!"

The rest shook their heads with a sigh.

Eliana blankly stared at a random tree from a distance.

The Ethereal Seven watched her intently, studying every inch of her appearance searching for a difference between them and her, a human. They remained quiet still outside Rimbrad's office. Eliana's back was against the door and the Seven surrounding her in place.

"Everyone, I'm sure we're all tired from yesterday's test." Zathur started. "It may be best for us to rest this morning. It is still early."

Everyone thought his suggestion was not a bad idea. They nodded showing affirmation.

"Earthborn." Anzai called making Eliana meet his emerald eyes.

Eliana fought the intimidation she felt the moment she stared back to his piercing eyes.

"What?"

Anzai's face remains hard. "One of us will bring you to our dorm building later this noon. It is best we properly introduce ourselves away from prying eyes."

Eliana nodded. "Sure."

"It is planned then." Kylon smiled surprised by Eliana's careless attitude. He expected the human to be frightened and nervous, he found it unusual.

"Let's go." Zathur said, turning to leave.

Everyone followed Zathur and walked away. Lars and Jett stayed behind.

"Eliana!" Lars approached her. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Jett shook his head. "This was unexpected. It took a while for the information to process." he paused.

Eliana smiled. "I'm sure it's still unbelievable. When I first came here, everything felt like a joke."

Jett weakly smiled back scratching the back of his head.

"That must be why you were so bad at swordsmanship." Lars giggled. "Hey hey, Jett and I have been very curious about Earth. Right Jett?"

"Yes indeed."

Lars locked her arms around Eliana's elbow. "Tell me, how is nature different from your world Eliana?" Her childlike curiosity lit up Eliana's tired mood.

"I'm not sure to be completely honest, everything seems to be the same. I'll be sure to tell you if I find anything different, don't worry." Eliana assured.

"What abou-"

"Ugh!" A hand grab Larsanel away from clinging to Eliana. "Larsanel will you please." Her voice sounded pitchy and annoyed.

It was the girl with mixed black and white hair.

Larsanel pouted. "Emery let go! I want to talk to Eliana." She whined.

Jett laughed at the side, finding his cousin's attempt to fight Emery's strong grip funny.

"Stop that!" Emery rolled her eyes. "Anzai want us all to return in the building together."

"I'll follow, I promise." Lars said in between struggles.

"We can talk later Lars." Eliana decided to speak.

Emery's attention darted to Eliana. She arched an eyebrow to her. "I'm not sure what you are after your phenomenal break in, here in Praediti. But you should return to your dorm heed our instructions, if you are planning to roam around and get in trouble then stop that, it will affect the Ethereal Seven."

Larsanel stopped struggling and gave Emery a look. "Don't be cruel Emery." She said in a childlike voice defending Eliana.

Jett stepped in between the two Ethereal girls and Eliana to slice through the tension around them.

"Let's all return to our dorms shall we?" He suggested calmly.

Emery rolled her eyes at the three and turned to leave.

Jett gripped his cousin's arm with force. "We'll see you later Eliana." He smiled sheepishly and walked away with Larsanel who struggled from his strong hold.

"Hey! We can walk back to the dorms with her Jettam." Larsanel's high pitched voice echoed.

Eliana huffed out a breath of relief. The tension she felt in her body went away. She stared at the two retreating figures.

The Ethereal Seven was beyond her expectations. They were not the same at all. Each had their own auras. The only common thing they possess is their intimidating presence, especially when they are complete.

Eliana wondered how on Earth- Praediti rather, would she get along with the Seven? Jett and Lars are both okay as well as Bastion, but the rest would be a challenge especially that girl named Emery.

She has the feeling Emery doesn't like her.

Eliana shook her thoughts away and decided to return to her dorm to rest. She still needed to prepare herself for later to meet them for a proper introduction.

This afternoon, she will enter the Ethereal Seven's lair.