It was really early in the morning, the sun had just risen above the horizon when Axel jerked out of bed, his long inky hair dishevelled. But what was more messier, was his state of mind. Sweat dripped down his forehead like a stream. His breath heavy as he panted. His mind was in a frenzy, confused and flummoxed.
"What's wrong, Od? Why do u seem so agitated?"- Leon asked. The question hung in the air like a heavy cloud. For minutes, Axel couldn't speak. He could only breathe in silence.
After drinking a glass of water that his roommate had offered, finally Axel spoke, his voice hoarse- "I just… had a very bad dream."
"A bad dream, you say? What did you dream about?"- Leon asked, his concern apparent.
"I don't know… some people; they were cursing me and blaming me for destroying them."
"That's odd… You don't recall what exactly they said?"
"No, I don't think so."- Axel frowned. It was an unexplainable dream. It had no relation with him or his life at all. But instead of reminding himself of that dream, he silently rose from his bed and went to bathe and get dressed. It was Division Day after all. He still hadn't made his decision final regarding which battalion he should go for, but to him, according to his psionic abilities, the Validus Battalion was probably the best option.
Finally, as he tried his best to forget his strange dream, the royal trumpeter cried out in the most annoying voice he owned- "His Grace, The Grand Duke has arrived alongside Sir Sebastian de Ombres!!!"
Immediately, all the recruits lined up with discipline in perfect rows and columns, not one daring to make the line even a degree curved. The people were well aware that the duke was going to start his boring lectures again, as they had grown accustomed to it.
"Brace yourselves, guys. There are two of 'em. I'm pretty sure this lecture is going to be a bit more longer than usual,"- Darcia said, her face gloomy.
"Longer than forty-five minutes? I don't think so."- Axel shrugged in reply.
Elias looked genuinely worried. "What if it is? What if he intends to keep us standing for an hour?! I'm going to die of…"
"Noise induced hearing loss?"- Axel said indifferently.
"I was going to say extreme boredom, but this new word was not on my vocabulary!"- Elias laughed. He was actually really very confused.
"Shhhh… Guys! He's here! I mean, both of them are already standing at the podium. Keep it down, will you? I'm animated to enter the Aetheric Battalion and see what the main training rooms and halls look like at that quarter. So keep it low please."
"Okay, we get it little bard."- Darcia joked.
"Everyone! Today, I shall not waste my words as I'm sure that you all are well acquainted with what our agenda is for today,"- said the handsome emerald-eyed duke with a swish of his white heavy royal coat embroidered with gold.
"You're names are written in order with precision. Please form a queue and one by one write the name of your favoured battalion in the blank space provided alongside. The document has been pinned to the notice board on the left." said Sir Sebastian, a soft smile on his lips.
Within a few minutes, a long queue of almost thirty-five young cadets had formed in front of the big notice board. Each of them filled up the spaces with their desired battalions. As pre-announced, Darcia signed up for the Stygian Battalion, Leon went for the Aetheric Battalion and Elias headed for the Validus Battalion. Now, only Axel was left to write his Battalion.
Sweat formed on his forehead, his mind wandering off to that same dream he had that early morning. The pen quivering in his dampened hand as he tried to forget it.
"Hey! You done yet?"- a tall man spoke from behind him impetuously.
He softly nodded and decided to write up the battalion of his choice, that too with the worst handwriting he had ever owned. He slowly wrote 'Validus Battalion' in the blank space provided. He finally left the queue to meet up with his friends.
"What did you sign up for?"- Leon asked, his face screaming 'please say Aetheric'
"Validus…"- Axel spoke indifferently, yet he was still unsure if he made the right choice.
"Wait a go!!"- Elias screamed in excitement as he wrapped his hand around Axel's smooth neck. "Now I won't have to be ALONE!"
"Aw man… I really hoped for a friend in my battalion! Now I have to spend the training sessions all alone!"- Leon said with a slight frown.
"It's alright! We'll just meet up every evening at one of our dormitories."- said Darcia crossing her arms with a smirk.
As they chatted in the gardens near the freesia flower bushes, a tall and muscular figure appeared in front of them. His emerald eyes filled with unknown intentions. As soon as the group saw him, immediately three of them bowed down, except for Axel, who followed hastily. His heart raced as he caught a glimpse of those eyes that would soon lead to his doom.
"Haha… Please rise. I've noticed you four for quite a few days when you were still training. You all are truly excellent, it seems, especially you, Mr. Odion."- he said, a smirk playing on his lips.
The four of them rose and thanked him for the flattery. Axel felt heavily embarrassed by his comment. He just put on an awkward smile to deal with the situation. The entire group was quite ecstatic that the duke himself had come to appreciate their skills.
"When the commissions start, I would definitely remind myself to bring you all with me, specifically for those requiring intellect."- saying this, the duke walked away, his white royal coat fluttering in the air, as a few leaves accompanied him.
Just then, a burst of energy swamped in. They could almost scream in excitement.
"Did he just appreciate our skills?!"
"No way! That's so sick!"
"I can't wait to go on missions!"
"This is absolutely stupefying!"
As Axel parted his lips to speak, he suddenly noticed Sir Sebastian from afar on his left, looking towards his gaze. He signalled some hand gestures towards him which Axel didn't recognise. Very deliberately, he asked his AI system to provide a translation.
<𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯:>
<𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺>
"WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HECK?! HE'S GONNA KILL ME, ISN'T HE?!"- Axel screamed in his mind while Sebastian just smiled softly.