Illusions and Lies by InL (epub ebook reader .TXT) 📕

thought. Well, she hasn't seen one but this was how she imagined it to be.

Large room, cleanly polished wooden floor, big windows that let the sunlight in and the odors out, racks and racks of spices, herbs, concoction equipment and other ingredients.

The only thing out of place were the tables... there were too many of them. For the students, she guessed.

There were many students inside already. She looked for an empty chair and saw one on the fourth row where the middle chair didn't seem to be taken. There were 2 female students already at the opposite ends. One was short haired.

Her anticipation grew as she approached. She stood beside the table of the short haired girl who looked up lazily as she sensed her presence.

"I was right! It is you!" Jasmine exclaimed.
The girl's eyes widened.
"We have the same potions class. Wonderful!" Jesca pointed the seat next to her "Sit here".

Jasmine obliged.

"Hi!" the girl on her right, after she took her seat, greeted her.
"My name's Jasmine Brown"
"Leenah Kiour"
"Uhm, this is" she was about to introduce Jesca but Leenah held up a hand
"I know Jesca" she looked at her "We've been sharing almost the same classes that has nothing to do with outsidd security"
"Oh, sorry since the two of you didn't sit together I assumed--"
"That we didn't know each other" Jesca's eyes rolled. "We left that seat available deliberately".
"Oh, why?"
"So we could make fun of the person in the middle" she grinned mischievously.

Jasmine tensed while Leenah giggled.

"She's kidding. Don't worry. It's because she's messy and so am I."
"We figured, we have to sit apart so our things wouldn't get crowded"
"We hope you're a little organized than us, though."
"I... I think I am" Jasmine answered.
"Believe me when I say she is. I saw it with my own eyes" Jesca commented.
"Are you outside security too?" Jasmine asked Leenah.

The girl shook her head.
"I'm inside security. It's much safer since you usually are in groups when you secure your CP"
"CP?"
"Center Person or CF for Center Family" Jesca informed her.

As she was going to ask more, she noticed the room got a little quiet but there were a lot of whispering.

Jesca and Leenah also noticed this and joined her to look for the center of attention.
As she did, her eyes widened. She has seen this person in her visions!

"Acryl Rein" Leenah whispered in awe.
"The water vessel" Jesca snorted.

She was small, had medium raven black hair that was styled by a strange looking clip. Her eyes were tawny and had also a rare streak of purple. Purple eyes?, Jasmine wondered.

Purple wasn't a common eye color, just like Jesca's blue.

She continued to observe her. She's cute, but she looked so serious. Just like the way she was in her visions. Is she always like this? Jasmine wondered further.

"I wonder why she's here?," Leenah blurted out." Vessels do not go to Rune"
When Jasmine only stared at her, she added
" they choose their own mentors. Private Classes."
Beside Jasmine, Jesca snorted.
"Special treatment"
"I think they deserve it. They are vessels."

Jesca rolled her eyes.
"I heard it was Phinstam's decree" Jasmine recalled.

Acryl passed by and took a seat in the front row.

"I thought that was a rumor" Leenah frowned while her eyes followed Acryl.
"Come on, there's a lot of rumors going around"

Jesca leaned closer to them.

"Like that rumor about a student getting possessed."
" What about it?" Leenah leaned closer too.

"They said that a student from the red's house kept hearing voices in his head. And that someone was telling him that the girl he was courting was playing him and all. He ignored it at first but it got only worst. Then one night, he sneaked into her room..."

"What happened after ?" Leenah's voice was a whisper.
"They said that the next morning the girl's body was found with her head missing," she looked at Jasmine "One of the in house informants said she had a vision of him cradling the head at night and cooing it."

Jasmine felt a chill in her spine while Leenah swallowed hard.

"But who knows? It's just a rumor anyway" Jesca leaned back to her seat and shrugged.
"But I heard that it was a real story and that the Academy is covering it up." Leenah muttered.

"Jesca," Jasmine said weakly. "Please remind me not to ask you to tell me scary stories"
"Aww... Are you scared?" she teased her.

When she didn't answer, Jesca took pity on her.

"Well I guess, you are so lucky you have me as a roommate. I won't let anything bad happen to you while I'm around" she elbowed her and winked.

Jasmine only answered with a meek smile. If that was just a rumor, then why did she feel uneasy?


Someone to Trust

Potions class was something to look forward to in the next couple of days, not because of the professor but because of the things they would learn.Professor Mackenzie was a plump lady in her late forties or so, with graying hair and yellowish teeth. The professor only gave brief introductions about potions and which kinds they will be studying for the next couple of weeks.

She also learned that most of the students from the class has security as specialization, as Jesca pointed out. There were no familiar faces from her previous class, as she observed. That meant, potions class was not a subject normal in-house informants would take.

The hours went on with a blur. Mackenzie did all the talking and did not appreciate being interrupted. She didn't ask about the students either. The class looked like they prefer it that way too, except the red haired guy with thick spectacles in front of them. He kept on raising his hand but only received a glare from the professor.

Jesca stretched and yawned right after Mackenzie concluded the class.

"Finally" Leenah was getting up from her seat.
"I was about to fall asleep" Jesca got up from her seat too.
"It's good that hand combat class comes after"
"You still have a class after this?" asked Jasmine. "It's starting to get late"
"That's fine. We wouldn't be in security if we.don't have enough endurance and stamina" Jesca stated.
"Oh. Well then, I guess I'll go back to the dormitory first."

Jesca nodded and recieved a smack on the shoulder by Leenah.
"Come on! Let's move. I need some action here" Leenah started walking away. "Bye Jas!" she called out.

Jesca followed Leenah after muttering her brief "See you later" statement.

Jasmine headed to the blue dormitory. The three dormitories were almost completely isolated from the Academy. All of which are situated at the farthest end of the Academy grounds.There were a number of students while she walked the main road but as they passed some stalls and the red house, the crowd started to thin out and after a while it seemed like she was walking alone.

Suddenly she felt weary. She wasn't sure if it was because of Jesca's story earlier or the darkness of the night starting to envelope the place, but she felt she was being watched.Her pace increased, ignoring the nagging feeling. She wanted to run but didn't want to appear paranoid just in case she ran into someone.
Right on cue, a silhouette appeared not too far from her. She decided to go close but maintain a safe distance. As she did though, she recognized the person.

"Acryl!" she called her attention.

The other stopped and slowly turned towards her.

"Acryl Rein right?" she asked as she approached her.

The girl smiled and nodded. Jasmine stifled a sigh of relief.

"Jasmine Brown" Acryl acknowledged her with a high pitched voice.

"You know me?" she asked.

"Of course. Special persons should be recognized. Your talent of clairvoyance with a hundred percent accuracy has made Phinstam interested"

Jasmine's heart skipped a beat. She knew there were council members aware of her ability but she didn't expect Phinstam's interest in her.

"Well, I-Im afraid that I can't control it." she replied shyly.

"Isn't that the reason why you're here? To learn."

"Right" she agreed.

When Acryl resumed walking, she came beside her.

"Do you mind if I walk with you?"
"No, I don't." she answered simply.

She is not much of a talker

, was Jasmine's impression of Acryl. She kept silent but her presence made Jasmine feel at ease. Her earlier tension seemed to disperse.

After a while, Acryl broke the silence.

"Are you scared?" she asked with amusement.

Jasmine only bit her lip. "Not really, just anxious. How did you know?"
"I can almost feel it" Acryl shrugged but her facial expression was light.
"Aren't you scared?"

Acryl paused a moment, blinked twice, looked at her with a brow raised. When Jasmine’s wondering look lingered, she giggled.

It was a nice sound, Jasmine thought. In her visions, she never saw the girl laugh.
"What?" she asked suddenly aware that she was the one being laughed at.

"Are you seriously asking me that question?"
"Um, yes? " Jasmine suddenly felt unsure.

"I'm sorry for my reaction" she said stifling her laughter. "No one has ever asked me that."
"Why not?"
"When you're a vessel, everybody else assume that you possess a lot of power, enough to protect yourself"

"Do you?" she was curious.

"Yes we do have powers obviously but we cannot protect ourselves with absolution" Acryl sobered.

"I see," she felt embarrassed for asking. As if it was something she should already know. But she didn't. I'll ask Jesca later, maybe she knows.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of that" she apologized but even as she did, she noticed Acryl's sincere smile.

"Please, don't be sorry. Talking to someone just like this makes me feel..." Acryl shook her head slowly "Never mind. I'm looking forward to having a chat with you again sometime".

Jasmine realized that she was ending their conversation but she wanted to talk with her more. But what surprised her even more was that they were already at the entrance of the blue house, Jesca’s and her dormitory. She didn't even notice the distance they travelled.

"Right" they both paused.

"I'll go ahead" Acryl smiled.
"Bye" Jasmine waved her hand slowly and watched as the other girl walked away.

The feeling of apprehension came back as soon as she stood alone again. She hurriedly treaded around the brightly lit hall and locked her room's door once she got in, and then sank to her bed. She