The impact was loud. So loud it could've been heard from even outside the barrier. Students rushed to see what could cause such a thing. Upon arriving at the sight, what they found shocked them. Because lying in the grass fields outside the pentagon was a crater. It was a large crater with a boy inside of it, sleeping unconsciously. He appeared to be wearing nothing but dirty rags that had been singed. But his physical attributes were the concerning parts. He had hair whiter than snow, eyes like molten amber and the dirt below his hands had frozen. The students muttered their concerns.
"Is that?"
"No, it's impossible"
"We should eliminate the threat"
"He's dangerous"
"How did he get past the barrier?"
A man walked over. He was tall, had black hair and violet eyes. He wore a tailored suit of navy blue, the jacket long and sharply cut, with silver buttons that caught the light as he moved. The students made way for him as he walked towards the crater.
"Professor Ainswell, is it safe?"
"How can we trust the boy?"
"It's dangerous to approach."
The man simply lifted his hand to silence the students.
He walked into the crater and carried the boy out.
"I don't think there's anything to worry about.", then the man walked back inside with the boy in his arms.
He opened his eyes. Above him, he saw a pure white ceiling with a spinning fan. The boy sat up right and observed his surroundings. He was in an infirmary with several beds lined up against the walls, each adorned with clean white linens, except for his. His bed seemed to be wet. Maybe it was because of the ice that was appearing from his hands. No, that was definitely the reason. He noticed that everything he was touching seemed to be covered in a thin layer of ice, but it seemed strongest at his hands. To his left, he felt a calm breeze from outside the open window. Outside, he saw children no older than ten running around in a massive grass field with paths, trees, and a stone structure shaped into a fish steadily shooting water out of its mouth into the shallow pool below it in the center. There were long flat seats made of wood and metal placed along the paths with people who seemed to be a few years older than the children sitting down. The young children seemed to playing a strange game where they tried to run and touch the other person. Looking down at his clothing, he saw that he was wearing a loose light blue robe that tied at the back. The boy tried to remember how he'd gotten there, but when he tried, he realized he didn't remember anything. The only thing he could remember was his mother, the locket she gave him, and his name. Atlas.
Around his neck was the golden locket his mother gave him. He didn't remember when or how or why, but he knew his mother gave it to him. It was the only thing that didn't freeze when he touched it. He opened it and found a compass inside. Its needle pointed steadily in one direction. Following its gaze, he looked up. There, sitting on the open window ledge, was a girl. She was dangling her legs out the window without a single care in the world. The way the wind blew her silver hair was mesmerizing for Atlas. He recognized her. He couldn't remember where he'd seen her, but he knew that he'd known her before.
"Hey, do I know you?"
The girl turn to look at him so Atlas could get a clearer look. Her skin was as light as the clouds and her eyes were amber. However, she didn't respond.
"I'm talking to you. Hello? Can you respond?", Atlas said annoyed. He was getting agitated. He knew that he knew this girl, but she didn't seem to care. She opened her mouth to respond, when a door opened. Atlas turned to look and a man walked in. He was tall and imposing. His face lacked facial hair, making him look younger than he probably was. His ears seemed to be pointed, like Atlas's. His hair was brown and he had a fair skin complexion. He wore a gray blazer with a white buttoned shirt underneath. The man seemed to be important to the place Atlas was in.
"Hello young child, I'd like to ask you a few questions", the man said before sitting down on a stool next to Atlas's bed. Atlas looked back where the silver haired girl was, but she was gone.
"Hey" The man snapped his fingers a few times.
"I'm over here, it's rather rude to ignore someone when they're speaking to you."
Atlas turned back to him.
"Did you happen to see a silver haired girl sitting on the ledge a moment ago?", asked Atlas.
The man looked at Atlas as if he was crazy, but believed him.
"No one was in this room except for me and you. Oh my, where are my manners. My name is Xander, what's yours?"
"Atlas"
"Interesting name. Anyways, my first question is do you remember how you got here."
Atlas shook his head.
"You don't remember why you're here?"
Atlas shook his head once again.
"Do you even know where you are?"
"No, sir"
"Do you remember anything at all, who you are? Who you're family is?"
Atlas thought for a moment.
"I remember my mom and that's about it."
Xander seemed to know something.
"Do you remember her name?"
"I think it was Lily."
Xander reacted to the name.
"Well I guess I should explain things. You're in a place called the Haven. It's a place where children who awaken early can live safely from monsters. I'm sure you've noticed you're not normal" Xander said, then pointed at the ice on the blanket.
Atlas looked at the ice, then back at Xander.
"You see, this is caused by something called Potentia. It's a mystical power that can do wonders. Typically, humans have to meet a certain condition before awakening it, but sometimes children, like in your case, awaken to it early. It's because you have so much of it, that it can't be restrained like in normal people. Understand?"
Atlas nodded his head.
"Good, I think that's enough explaining. Basically, you're here to learn to control it."
Xander stood up and stretched.
"Come with me, I'll take you to your dorm"
Atlas got up from the bed and stepped onto the floor. He didn't have any footwear, so each step caused an ice footprint. Xander sighed, "The janitor's not going to like this. Here", Xander threw some slippers at Atlas. The slippers had a cute cat design on them.
"Do I have to wear these?"
"Unless you want the janitor to beat you, yes"
Atlas reluctantly put them on. However, the cute cat design was pretty much undecipherable due to all the ice.
"You'll have to wear those until you can learn to stop leaking Potentia. We'll figure out the hands later", Xander said.
They both left the infirmary and entered a huge hallway. It had a ceiling that seemed to go on forever to Atlas. The wood floors glistened with a polished shine and light shone through the tall arch window, spilling across the floor with golden streaks. Beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling and lanterns were planted between the windows. Obviously, none of them were shining at the moment as the windows were all that were needed to illuminate the beautiful hall. Atlas heard the chatter and footsteps of children older and younger than him. They seemed all to be wearing the same shirt. A navy blue shirt with sleeves so short that most of the arm was visible. There were gold accents on it with a sword pointing into the ground on the left chest area, where the heart was.
Students began to take notice of Atlas as Xander and him walked down to his dorm room. Atlas thought they'd make fun of him, but they seemed too scared to make jokes. This confused Atlas. Maybe they were scared of making fun of him in front of Xander. That must have been it. There was a set of doors at an intersection with a statue of some woman in the center. Atlas assumed she was important. Standing in front of it was a girl who seemed to be paying respects to the statues. She finished and then noticed Atlas. At first, she seemed scared like the others, then she seemed angry. Atlas was confused by this and stopped walking.
"Come on, you can admire Spatia later", Xander said, urging Atlas to move along. They stepped through the doors into a huge courtyard. It was on the inner part of the building, surrounded by the walls and overseen by five towers on the vertices. It was a pentagon, a pentagon shaped courtyard. There were paths in it that led to the dormitories. The dormitory was three story building. The first floor seemed to be connected, but the second and third floor were separated. It made the dormitory look like a circle cut in half. It seemed old and weathered by time. It was clear both were built from the rich, dark timber by people who were exceptionally skilled in the fields required. They walked inside. The first floor was a common space. There were people lounging on plush seats wide enough for three with soft cushions. Near the wall, there was a fire burning with no smoke. It didn't seem to burn the wood around it, but it was definitely warm. In the kitchen, people were eating some strange food with bread on the top and bottom and meat in the middle. One person was washing the glass cups and plates and putting them back into the see-through cabinets. Next to the plush seats and cushions was a bookshelf, but Atlas couldn't read any of the characters. On the left was a spiral staircase. On the right was a spiral staircase. Atlas wasn't sure which one he was supposed to go up, until Xander went up the left.
"This side is the boys' dorms and the other is the girls'", Xander spoke.
Atlas followed him up, making a creaking noise with each step. He felt a lot of eyes on him, which he didn't like. The dormitory hallway had hanging placards to Atlas's left and to his right were windows. However, the placards seemed to have nothing but gibberish on them.
"Here's your dorm, No. 306"
Atlas looked the sign on the door. It looked like gibberish, but it was distinct gibberish. He didn't think he'd get lost trying to get back.
"Well, I'll be leaving now. I hope you enjoy your time here", Xander then walked back to the staircase. Atlas took a deep breath and opened the door.