A Sleepless Night

"Here you go." Kellie opened the door to her new room.

Adeleine dropped her luggage at the foot. The Mir dormitory was nothing short of spectacular, better than the dorm building. She stepped inside to take a good view.

A whole lot spacious than her previous room. She has her own study just around the corner, connected by a smaller open entrance. An unnecessarily large bed, but smaller than the queen-sized back in the mansion, pushed at the wall with a small side cabinet and a lamp. A wide window covered by thick gray curtains occupied the rest of the wall. By the left was another open entrance leading to a walk-in closet and by the end of it was a door to the bathroom.

No more sharing in that large public bathroom in the girl's dormitories, she thought in relief. She wouldn't have to feel the stares burning through her whole body as she minds her own business cleaning herself. She didn't have to sit uncomfortably with a towel hung by her chest while she scrubs--she could just freely be in her birthday suit yelling at the top of her lungs and no one would give her judgmental stares.

Compared to the room of having a singular bed pushed in the corner, a small cabinet, and enough room to twirl, this gigantic space of privacy all to herself would be the Celestial realm. Mir dormitory was like a royal sanctum. With this huge difference of treatment between ranks. Truly, a Mir is something to boast.

The academy had four ranks, with Mir being the highest and attained by a few. Currently, they only have six people occupying the rank. And all of them lived in this establishment hidden in the forest. It was in a secluded spot in contrast to the two dormitory buildings: the roofs did not reach past the canopy while the structure carved itself along the earth's terrain like a snake. Warm orange lamps divulged the pavement to the main entrance when they got there at night.

The living room had a few couches for the rankers to lounge. From there, they had a great view of an oversized root, probably the largest in the forest, displayed by wide glass walls. The living room branched two hallways in opposite directions. The corridor curved around the enormous tree that meets at the end, laying out numerous doors of Mir's sleeping quarters. The design offered a full view of it at every great angle, even by the door of her room.

The whole place was too luxurious for her, but she was not one to complain. Mir rankers are cream of the crop. Normally, she could not even get to set foot in here, but she's an exception.

Adeleine sank in the bed, feeling the comforts reeling her in and appeasing her tired bones. "Guess, I'll be stuck right here," she mumbled with a satisfied sigh and closed her eyes.

"Make yourself comfortable," Kellie said, but Adeleine was already way ahead of her. "Also, Adeleine..." Kellie knelt beside the bed to face her properly. "Welcome to Heloire Academy."

~~

She laid there, restless. Exhausted yet awake, she turned to her side and noticed the darkness swallowed her room like the shadows in the moon that slowly ate its own flesh. Her body still felt sore that she wanted to pass out and rest, but whatever was keeping her up awake at night was not letting her.

She turned to her other side, burying her head deep in the thick pillow, closing her eyes. After a few agonizing seconds, she opened them again. SHE. CANNOT. SLEEP.

Then she frustratedly turned over and laid supine. She flinched. "Ah! Dammit," she hissed. She forgot the large purplish bruise on her back still existed. It's a surprise that she didn't feel it as much during the duel, or it would have made it harder to bear the pain. "I mean it wouldn't really hurt they didn't apply pressure, right, Moon?"

She paused.

"Ah, right. You're still not talking to me?" she raised eyebrows. "I'm suffering here, you know. Cut me some slack. It's really…hard, alone." She uttered the last part, curling up.

Usually, she would find these rare moments to be bliss, but unsettling silence filled the room.

"Are you really not going to answer me? Or…" A lump stuck in her throat. Her heart thrummed from apprehension. "You're not there…"

The silent atmosphere--it was suffocating. Cold whispers shrouded the room. Uneasiness crept under her blankets, lightly caressing her feet that made her shiver. Normally, she would be in the dream circle talking to Moon about the new things she learned outside while Moon would babble away, asking questions upon questions to satisfy her curiosity.

But Adeleine knew, she wouldn't see Moon there, not anyone.

A sigh escaped her lips before she got up. She hated this. This unexplainable feeling of dread, it's there, and it won't go away--like an annoying crow pecking her forehead. She never asked to feel this way, so why now out of all times? Could she wish it gone?

Her soles touched the cold tiled floor as she nimbly walked to her study room, pulling the warm blanket draped around her shoulder tighter. She dropped herself on the chair and turned the knob on the lamp attached to the wall, burning night light.

She stared at the empty desk.

"Where's the paper?" She rummaged through the cabinet, finding a pile of them in the third drawer.

She went back to her chair and grabbed the feather pen dipped in a parchment of ink at the corner. She took a deep breath.

"Today is the first day of the month Saoir with the twelfth Morning Star of the year."

𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱.

She stared at it, long and hard—nothing else came to mind. Minutes went by while ink spilled on the paper from the impatient feather.

𝘚𝘪𝘹 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺, 𝘐 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘵. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘮𝘢. 𝘔𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴! 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰!

𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

She blinked. "What?" She took another scan of the sentence. "Why did I…" The tip of the feather hovered over the words but, she hesitated. Leaning back, she let out a sigh.

It caught her off-guard. She must be too focused or it could also be sleep deprivation.

Instead of erasing it, she let it be and moved on to the next paragraph.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘈𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘦,

𝘛𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

She put the feather down and re-read the whole letter. She did not tell her mother anything about Moon's existence, she realized. Well, she tried as a child, only for her mother to think she was playing pretend or stuck in fantasies like a typical child.

And that, she was able to sleep.