Awaken within the Strangest Garden

'Third floor of the East block Residential Housing, room…uh 221b.' he eagerly read the address of what would be his new home for the next 4 yrs of the opening page of his Notebook.

As the aid finished packing the rest of his luggage into the transport vehicle, he offers Shynerai a ride to the residency but he kindly declined. So the aid entered the vehicle and saw him off, heading off to deliver his contents as soon as possible.

Shynerai took a few moments to remember the time he spent here, his sights began by the front door and soared to the end of the windowpane on the top floor, marking the last room in the house, a sigh of relief was let out…as he ventured off with a smile.

This time he didn't have the opportunity of being late so Shynerai opted to take a cab through Deep City.

The vibrant lights and atmosphere that seemed to be beaming from every corner of the city coupled with the inviting allure of the various locations/people and entertainment hotspots that garnered more exploration were a bit too overwhelming for someone who spent most of their life in a remote village.

Though when he first made his way to the Academy the temptation of the city still permeated, Shynerai could only assume that he was too distracted to notice…that and his hair might have been in the way.

The idea causes a slight chuckle because it didn't matter, this was the true face of Deep City…and it was exhilarating.

As they made their way through the bright streets, the cab driver offered Shynerai a bit of trivia on the most notable parts of the area including landmarks and the best routes for getting around.

The drive took only 20 minutes before they arrived at his destination.

"Cross Gardens Estate", is what he read off the plaque that welcomed them in. They stopped by the security toll that guarded the entrance and exit into the location. They were easily let through after the guard had verified his ID as a Trinity Cross student.

Shynerai found it strange that all the guard asked for was his Notebook but after the guard returned it, he offered them a map of the residence and set the driver off, he understood that the Notebook would be an essential part of his life here…gripping the small book even tighter at the thought.

The layout of the estate was true to its name.

There were four main housing residencies made up of three adjacent buildings, aside from the South Residency which acts as the place for student/faculty recreations not to mention holding a few academic facilities such as labs, libraries, study halls, etc.

The East Residency housed the male students of the Academy from year 1 to year 3 and the West Residency housed the female students of the Academy from year 1 to year 3 with both housing units separating the various years by their respective building.

As for the North Residency: Fourth years along with any school staff reside in there, with their wings for recreation built into the buildings…so that they don't have to venture to the South Residency.

At the epicentre of the estate was the Central Plaza connecting the various locations of the estate and acting as an efficient means of travel between the estate and the Academy. Between the Residencies lie vast gardens of differing flora.

Thanks to the map he managed to find his residence building quite easily. The room was 221b on the third floor of the First-year building.

When he entered the room he found it was already furnished among other things, it had the boxes filled with his personal effects, something he found a bit surprising since he needed to use his Notebook to enter the room.

'This place has some pretty weird security', Shynerai thought fancifully as he closed the door behind him before throwing himself onto his bed…now with an expression of relief brandished across his benumbed chestnut countenance.

Once again the warm touch of the rising dawn had managed to peer the blinds and drew him from out his somnolent grasp:

"Oh—(rubbing his eyes) it's already morning", Shynerai remarks with a fatigued tone before…

Shock quickly creeps upon him before resting as an expression of dread

"Crap...it's the first day of school(nearly jumps out of bed In a panic) I…I have to get ready or ill be late-wait a minute, the pains gone", Shynerai nearly panics as he rushes out of bed and searches for his Notebook, before noticing the pain from his scar was gone.

'Guess the doctor was right when he said I should take it easy…just hope I haven't lost too much movement in my arm(stares down at his left hand)…I can't afford to fall behind, I don't have the luxury.' Shynerai thinks to himself as he clenched his fist and rushed out the door to get freshen up.

An hour later and he managed to get ready with his white and gold uniform now on and making sure not to forget his Notebook, he finally set off.

To try and avoid arriving late, decided to grab some lunch from the dorm-room cafeteria and skip breakfast as he began his jog to the Academy.

Since he couldn't wear his hoodie as he did in the Final Entrance Exam, Shynerai wanted to do all he can to try and avoid any undesired attention from the citizens of the Deep City.

As he made his way to the security toll, he tried to think of a different route that might take him to the Academy…but he was quickly snapped out of his train of thought by the security guard on duty as he was unknowingly running into the boom.

"Hey, there watch it."

"Oh…oh sorry sir, I was little lost In thought", he responded to the guard before making his way past the boom and through the entrance, but again the guard called to him once more.

This time as Shynerai turned to ask if he wanted to see his ID, he simply motioned to him that it was alright, and instead asked if he planned on travelling the distance to the Academy on foot when he can simply use the Off-Campus Tram system.

"A tram…what's that?", a nervous laugh slipped out as he asked the guard what he was talking about.

"Huh, oh you must be one of the first years, well it's a kind of transit system that connects all of the school's off-campus facilities directly to the Academy campus. If you head down to and past the South Residency, you find yourself at the Central Plaza, it's there you'll find the station. Beats walking any day."

"Seriously, thank you, sir. I'll get going right away", a surprised Shynerai made his way to the Plaza.

When he arrived, he found several students already waiting for the next tram, after signing in for his ticket he finally made his way aboard the arriving tram. Once all the students were on, the doors closed behind them and the car set off.

Shynerai only had a moment to take a seat before the sensation of the accelerating tram damn near pinned him into it, while the rest of the students in the car simply continued with their interactions without skipping a beat.

The trip lasted only 3 short minutes before coming to an easy stop at another station. Shynerai saw the other students disembark and merely assumed that they had arrived and so he followed suit.

The students quickly got off and made their way, leaving the station in various directions to their own devices.

The Off-campus tram system had stopped by one of four Academy stations, though the one he was at happened to be the nearest one to the front gate. After he finished looking at the tram-way map hung on the wall in the station, he raced for the front gate as fast as possible…approaching the Academy he caught a glimpse of a man who looked eerily familiar.

The figure standing guard by the front gate was Professor Colt and immediately after the doctor saw the young man running for the gate, he promptly began it, but Shynerai wasn't prepared to give up when he was already so close…taking off his blazer, the boy's face changed from a jog to a vicious spirit but the doctor wasn't going to make this easy for him either.

Shynerai sees an opening beneath the doctor's arm and met his challenge by sliding beneath, through the closing gates and into the schoolyard…as a smirk began to appear on his face, he found his relief to be cut short as the doctor halted his stride by the grasp of his collar only for Shynerai to look back and find an equally satisfied smirk on the doctor's face.

"Hello there young man, are you aware that tardiness is unacceptable in our institution. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again", Shynerai responded with a stern expression masking a nervous smile beneath.

"No excuse is it, do you think I'll simply let this slide since it's your first offence—(his smile lets slip a slight chuckle)well…you'll come to make proper penance.

For now, hurry up to the assembly, you're already late. Your Student Representative should be giving the Introductory Speech round about now, do not miss it"

"Understood sir, I swear to make amends for my behaviour", he apologized with a sincere bow after Dr Colt sets him down before racing off to the quad …all the while trying to mend his frayed collar and putting on his jacket.

'Dang it, where was it again…this way maybe'

Ping…' The assembly is being held at the main quad located in front of the First Assembly Hall. Head west of your current location for 125m'

"Wait what was that…my Notebook…that's n—no question for another time, I'm going to be late. It's said west right, well at this point I've got nothing to lose"'

He charged off into the direction of the path the Notebook provided.

Ping… 'You have arrived at the desired destination'

He managed to just make it as the crowd that stood in front of him was ending their ovation

welcoming the Student Representative of the First Years as he made his way up the stage.

"Wait...HIM, seriously", he remarks in a tone of frustration from behind the crowd as he recognized the individual that was making their way up