Chapter 11: Theft

"Sometimes, small things hide the big things you are seeking."

Pisces - 2:3

Wearing a black cloak, eyes under its hood, and shod feet taking steps slowly, Clio left her room secretly. The door at the end of the hallway was her target. The rooms she passed by were quite still as it was late at night. She arrived in front of her target without attracting attention.

Raheem told her that it was off limits. Having a closer position, she understood why. The door was secured with astral energy that if someone tried to budge it without proper permission, it would trigger a warning to someone who created it.

Clio stretched her hand just an inch away from the surface of the door. She concentrated and her body glowed purple. Inside her, energy rushed like a wild river all over her body. She deeply inhaled focusing on her energy and it slowly calmed down following her commands.

She pushed her energy out of her hand to nullify whatever barrier they did to the door and it creek opened, disabling the alarm.

Clio entered, and a vast room without any furniture greeted her eyes. It was empty, even the walls were plainly painted with dull blue color.

Ahead of her was another door. This time, the door has intricate ancient symbols and writings, esoteric to human perspective, but not her. She labeled it crude and feeble in sentiency than in the ancient times.

It was a door that only those who possess its key can enter, but its destitute mechanism was elementary to her. She touched its surface precisely surging her energy, and uttered a single word, "pérasma."

The door dimly glowed and Clio found herself just two floors before the top of the tower, facing stairs leading upstairs. She lampooned just seeing those long stairs that lead high above, "How many doors do I need to open? Human minds are getting peculiar."

She hadn't yet taken a step when heavy footsteps resonated, coming down from the stairs. It was the sound of wooden shoes clanking to the polished stone floor. They were gossiping and Clio found it as her opportunity for information. She hid at the dark corner of the room, enveloping herself with her energy preventing her human nature to leak and soul to be sensed.

"Your astronomers found something bizarre on it. Will things be complicated from now on?" asked a hoarse voice.

"That's for sure. Headmaster Xarles' preparation will not be enough. I could not think of another option to help you gather men." a feminine voice answered. "I need to talk to the scholars of Kaalam City. They might help us decipher those ancient texts."

Their appearances were visible to Clio as they took their last step of the stairs. They didn't go straight to the door where Clio came. Instead, they turned left.

The female has some features of Xarles whilst the male has the sturdy appearance that was accumulated over time of fighting.

"I believe that you need to ask for permission from your grandfather about that," the man commented pensively.

"Headmaster Xarles will not be bothered by such a pitiful act of mine. If he will not find it-" she halted suddenly falling to a fighting stance ready to unsheathe the sword at her waist, eyes scanning the surrounding attentively.

The man was alerted. He scanned the room as she did but they found nothing. "What is it?"

The female shook her head, "I felt a sudden impulse of energy. Energy I can't explain."

The man inhaled and a surge of his energy spread throughout the room lighting it, but found none. "This room is empty."

"I am just weary, I guess."

"You need to rest."

"I will," she glanced for the last time at the stairs as she cursed, 'Picky meteor rock!'

Clio followed them with her eyes, her arms crossed. The duo activated a door she hadn't noticed earlier. The duo vanished from her sight but another duo emerged. They were heavily loaded with weapons and both had more energy than the former duo.

Once again, she heard them talking about their night shift that caused her face to twist, petulant.

No other choice, she came back feeling defeated. She couldn't quietly sneak in with that kind of guard on duty. Her current state does not assure it.

She came back to the first door at the end of the hallway. She had walked just a little away from the door when she was greeted by an old man with his long gray head that was tucked at his back, a firm standing that has no hint of his oldness, and daunting air but suppressed expressively.

Clio rolled her eyes on the side avoiding his questioning gaze, "Why are you here? You know that this is off-limit."

Clio heaved a sigh of relief hearing his question. It does mean that he didn't see her emerging from inside. "I admit my mistake, reverence Headmaster. My curiosity brought me here. I will double my effort to contain it." She trotted away.

Xarles followed her over his eyes, not giving a hint of stopping her and pursuing the matter. When she vanished from his sight, he held the doorknob and squeezed it open. He felt a little anomaly of the door but he couldn't explain what. Little things sometimes prove big ones. He entered the door with a thought of investigating her.

⨳ ⨳ ⨳

Sophia lazily stretched her body as she made her way to the garden - their living room. She started seeing Clio already there sitting comfortably, overlooking the outside view of the glass wall. She approached her with her beaming smile.

"Good morning!" She thought of offering her a coffee when she noticed a mug in her hand already. Instead, she sat on a chair and poured tea to herself.

One by one, Clio's other so-called attendants rose from their slumbers and sat next to Sophia. Bien felt alienated from the group as Hoven and Sophia selectively narrated to Giles the events that happened to them.

Clio joined the table and it gave Giles a chance to ask the questions he had been thinking all night, "Why am I here? Why save me from there? I will be known as an infamy, so why offer your good standing just to sully it for my state?"

"You will know it when the time comes," she maintained her magnanimity with her cold mien.

Giles gave up on his initial plan of squeezing answers directly from her. He took a sip of his tea and formulated his second plan.

After some time, a knock on the door caught their attention. Hoven opened it and let the unfamiliar old man in who delivered a pack of uniforms.

Clio changed her clothing into a gray robe with black linen that was tailored for her overnight and the old man escorted her to her class as instructed by Raheem.

Clio didn't need to ask for his name because he introduced himself saying, "I am teacher Medil. Your tour guide and teacher buddy for a week. If you need something, you can tell me."

Clio nodded in reply.

Medil was friendly to her and gave her pointers to each room they passed by. She had learned that the tower consisted of ten floors; the seven floors from below were accommodated by the seven faculties with their own libraries and other facilities needed by a certain faculty. The eighth floor and above were miscellaneous floors for storage, extension rooms of each faculty and many more rooms with restriction. No restrictions for the faculties but students were only allowed after getting permission from faculties or with a teacher.

He emphasized, "The forest at the right side of the faculty's tower is dangerous. I warned you not to go there on your own."

Clio asked out of curiosity, "Why?"

The information about that forest seemed not concealed as Medil explained, "Before, this Academy had Beast Tamer Faculty but the influx of time wiped them up slowly because of unknown reasons. The beasts are said to be tamed at that part of the Academy. They summed up that they might be a beast lurking around. So, it's dangerous."

Clio nodded and listened to his further information.

The physician faculty was on the third floor where rooms aligned side by side and back to back. Unexpectedly, the tower was not deprived of light due to the special glass wall and engineered lamps on the walls and ceilings that she had observed the first time she entered.

He led her to the tenth room, her own class for half-year remaining of the semester. Students were already inside. Medil let her in by herself.

Clio pushed the door, revealing her students sitting on their designated seats, six feet apart from each other. The air of the room feels like inviting trouble and Clio didn't like it.

They were all immense at their books ignoring the bandages over specific parts of their bodies and simultaneously raised their heads to the sound of the door opening, surprised and indignant looks on their faces where clear. They shoved it aside immediately.

Aldir secretly gasped as he recognized her but Clio seemed not to notice or remember him. 'She is a teacher?' he couldn't believe it. Thinking of it now, he had no clue what would happen if those law students had bothered her? What a pity, they did not.

A young man stood up and said, "Stand!"

Everyone stood up. They placed their fists at their chests and bowed in greetings, "Respectable teacher, great healing today for you and all of us!"

Clio took her seat at the front and waved them to sit as she coldly instructed, "Continue what you all are doing."

She opened a scroll and concentrated on it. It was the map of the kingdom. She engrossed herself to it not noticing the petulant glances of the students. When she was done, she stood up and walked towards the door when a student stopped her by respectfully asking, "Where are you going teacher…" She didn't know her name yet, so she hadn't produced a proper title for what to call her, "If you don't mind me asking. I am Terra Raanan, daughter of Verne Raanan, the highlord of Raanan City." She maintained her politeness.

Clio looked at her eyes not realizing that her eyes were cold as a stone. "I forgot to introduce myself. I am teacher Clio and I am going to do personal business. You can continue your work. I don't mind."

The lady burst out, hardly containing her indignation, "It is not the case here, teacher Clio." She was hesitant to argue with her, she was her teacher after all, so she didn't continue what she was thinking of saying.

As they all expected, Clio sure had not realized the gravity of their studies as she strode out the room, careless about the querulous glances of her students.

The lady was fuming as her eyes were fixated on the door where their teacher had gone.

A graceful touch patted her shoulder coupled with a soothing voice saying, "Terra, she might need time, maybe later?"

"Surely, it is not the case, Yamea," her tone rose in displeasure.

"If we tell her how we feel about our study, then she might be obliged to teach us. It is her duty. Some things need to be spoken after all."

"Don't blabber things about what we should do as if you care. We all know that you don't!"

Thuraya pulled her beside her and faced Yamea, "Sorry for that. She is just weary."

"I'm not!" Terra felt defending herself but Thuraya shut her up with her narrowed eyes.

Yamea let them be without saying more.

Terra inhaled deeply, walked back to her seat, and buried herself in the books. 'She is a teacher, but how could she just shove me as if I'm just an ordinary citizen.' She was holding her book but she wasn't reading. Her mind drifted to their teacher's irresponsible action. The worst thing was, she seemed to be at the same age as them, so how could she have knowledge that they don't possess? 'Does she really qualify to teach us?'

⨳ ⨳ ⨳

The bell rang marked the lunch break. Clio didn't budge on a table at one corner inside a library. She wanted to climb to her room but it was too far to walk, and she doesn't need food for the moment. She chose to stay instead, studying the history of humans she had missed.

Hush noises reverberated to the quiet place. She found it a little unpleasant and disturbing, but she did nothing, not even a glance to its origin. Steps slowly approached her coupled with the hush noises until it stopped in front of her table but she didn't bother to lift her head as she asked, "What is it?"

The students dismissed when the opposite party waved his hand.

A gruffly chuckled that obviously a façade was the reply of the other party followed by his disapproving tone, "Is it not you who need me? Look at you, young lady, buried in a single book! Are you having trouble?"

Clio shook her head. That was her twentieth book for the morning but she was too lazy to explain it. Her silence earned displeasure to the opposite party who sounded petulant, "Is this how you act in front of your senior? Did your parents not teach you proper decorum?"

Clio unintentionally yawned but the opposite party considered it an insolent action. He wanted to drag Clio out of the sight of the students, but he cared about his status, so he asked Clio for a private talk.

At one corner of the library, hidden from the sight of everyone, the opposite party pinned Clio on the wall as he nagged, "Don't you know me? I am Haron, the great master teacher of the Warrior Faculty. Everyone kneels in front of me, you little insect!"

Clio squinted but didn't raise her head nor looked at his eyes directly.

"Look at you, unable to look at me directly. Are you now afraid that I might kick you out of this Academy?"

Clio shook his hand. He unconsciously took his hand off her as if something was telling him to do so if he wanted to continue living his life. She took a step out of the sight of Haron. She was too lazy to argue, but Haron held her arm, stopping her, saying in a threatening tone, "I am not done yet. If you want peace at this academy, better serve me right."

Clio brushed off his hand. Without looking at him, she simply said, "When you own this world, then I might consider doing so." She walked away in temerity.

Haron was just left there incredulously.

She came back to her seat and found the book lying as it was when she left it but someone was sitting across, the familiar old man named Medil.

Medil's face was ashen as his eyes were scanning the surroundings as if looking for someone but Clio didn't think it was proper to ask why he was like that. She just sat, held the book and opened it ignoring the incredulous mien of his.

Medil was shaking because he was desperate to know why the teacher of the Warrior Faculty visited her personally. He intentionally coughed to catch her attention which Clio didn't fail to reply with her cold eyes fixated on him asking, "What is it?"

Medil jabbed his head a little nearer and replied gently, "What is the purpose of master teacher Haron by visiting you?"

Clio thought for seconds before she shrugged her shoulders.

The bell rang again indicating that break time was over.

Medil pressed the matter for he was personally instructed by Dean Raheem to watch her over. "What did he tell you?"

Clio repeated Haron's words apathetically whilst Medil gasped. It took him a minute to calm himself as he wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead. Stutteringly, he asked, "What did you reply?"

"'When you own this world, then I might consider doing so', then I walked away."

Medil laughed at his heart. Fortunately, there were no students inside the library anymore. His earlier horror was shaken off by her incredulous character. His eyes were producing liquid as he couldn't desist laughing that hard. Even his voice was shaking due to his inability to contain his laughter, he commented, "I have not laughed this hard for a number of years teacher Clio. I can't imagine how teacher Haron walked out in this library with his pompous bearing." His words ended but his laughter did not.

Clio shook her head and threw her thumb on her shoulder saying, "He did not. He's there."

Medil desisted from laughing; eyes grew wide as he followed her thumb.

"I don't know why he wasn't moving," Clio went back to her reading, noticing that Medil would not talk for some time.

Time flew but the two seemed not bothered by it.

Clio's thought of finally finishing the book without hindrance was knocked off by an enraged smack on the table.

Clio's eyes rolled to whoever was disturbing her again and she found out the same old man who threatened her for a reason she couldn't fathom.

Haron's eyes flushed with rage as he uttered in a raised tone, "We will settle our score at the arena! Tomorro-"

Medil knows what will happen to a losing side if their quarrel ends up in the arena. He butted in, "Master teacher Haron, she is just a new teacher. Can you not slip it just this time?"

Haron pointed his pointing finger at his face as his voice was shaking from wrath. "You think I will forget how you laughed at me earlier?"

Medil shook his hands with a thought of clearing his name, "It's not about you. I swear… It's not about you."

Haron slowly closed his distance to Medil like a towering mountain ready to smash his prey.

A cold voice suddenly stopped them from quarreling, saying, "If you want to fight each other, do it outside or else, you will be kicked out."

The duo looked to the owner of the voice whose head was hidden behind a book she was reading.

Medil faced twisted as he rebutted, "I am defending you teacher Clio, can't you see?"

Haron crossed his arms, "A good suggestion. I will wait for you there tomorrow, Clio." His head was streaming with air as he walked out the library.

Medil's face sank as he hadn't prevented Haron from challenging Clio, 'How could he bully a young teacher!? Cuss star!" He has been murmuring curses to Haron when he noticed the silence from the other party. He gazed at her, who was engrossed at the book. He tilted his head in confusion at her attitude. 'Why am I swearing at Haron which she didn't even care about? Oh! Dean Raheem might help her.'

He shoved away his worries about her fight tomorrow, thinking that Dean Raheem will definitely help her out of the mess. As he has a class to attend, she left him alone. Just a step away out of the library, he remembered that she too was a teacher, so why was she there?

He hurriedly came back and found her stationary from where he left her. He didn't need to return to his seat as he went straight to his reason for coming back. "Why are you here? You have a class to attend, so you better get up right now and attend it?"

He waited for a sign from her, but seconds past until it turned to two minutes and Clio hadn't move an inch. He exhaled deeply unable to believe such pompous attitude. When he heard the news about an admitted young teacher, he felt glee, vaticinating that it was the first step to a new era of the Academy. Well, he had expected that in some parts it would create a ruckus and the worst was that she would not adhere to their policy because she was too young for old works. Who knows that she was worse than he expected. As he was unable to contain his dismay, he uttered his disappointment to her, unintentionally let her heard it. "I thought I will be able to see a new radiance of knowledge that we are seeking for a long time."

He turned around to not bother her anymore. His troubled eyes gazed at the floor as he made his way out to the library when he heard light footsteps following him from behind. He turned around and saw Clio apathetically following her. He brightened up and continued his way to his class.