Chapter 6 "Mess Hall"
"It all looks so similar," Dominique wondered as they walked down the hallway towards the large mess hall.
"Yeah," Akira chuckled, "Those were my exact same thoughts when we went through the academy in your time. I really did wonder that they didn't change much," she leaned her head against Seth, whose arm was still around her.
"Hey Akira, Seth!" a younger boy called as he rushed past, only sparing Dominique a quick, quizzical, look. Confused Dominique turned to watch him disappear around the corner.
"There may be peace in the lands, but the academy is still open to help young riders and dragons learn all they can," Akira explained as they reached a large pair of doors form behind which there was a tremendous amount of noise coming. She smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she had stood before these very doors. Turning to Dominique he eyes twinkled.
"You ready?" she asked, repeating the exact same words Seth had asked her the first time he had brought her here.
"Ready for what?" Dominique responded.
"To meet the riders of the academy," Akira replied as she slipped out of Seth's arm. Without waiting for Dominique's reply she pushed the doors before her open. At once the noise intensified and washed over her. Young rider sat everywhere, each wearing an academy uniform that matched color of their dragon. Turning Akira found Dominique behind her, staring with wide eyes.
"You don't have this many students in your time yet?" Akira asked innocently.
With his mouth hanging open Dominique just shook his head.
"Well this is the largest of the five academies in the land," Akira shrugged.
"Five?" Dominique mouthed in disbelief.
Seth just chuckled. "I'll go grab us a seat," he whispered in Akira's ear before he walked off.
Akira watched him for a moment before she turned to Dominique. "Come on," she grabbed his hand and began to pull him past the tables filled with young riders, most of them, shouting hellos at Akira as she walked past and a lot of them shooting Dominique curious looks.
"Ignore them," Akira told Dominique as they walked past a table where a bunch of tough looking guys narrowed their eyes at Dominique, seeming somewhat hostile. "They're always like this when it comes to strangers, but they'll get used to you, trust me, I know," she grinned as they reached a line that had formed. It was going up to a large table in front where a guy and a girl were heaping out servings of a green looking muck.
"Splodge," Dominique murmured in disbelief.
"Actually," Akira grinned, "It's really called Laiter. The student here renamed it 'Splodge'. I guess the name just kind of stuck throughout the years." She grabbed two wooden bowls and spoons as the line moved up. Dominique followed her lead.
When they approached the guy and the girl that were serving Akira held out both her bowls. "Hey Akira," the girl chirped as she sloped the Laiter into Akira's bowls.
"Hey," Akira replied.
"So," the girl shot Dominique, who the guy was serving, a look. "Who's the newbie?" she asked curiosity in her eyes.
"Oh him," Akira's eyes twinkled as she leaned forward. Her face full of expectation the girl did the same. "He's from the future," she whispered dramatically.
For a moment the girl stared at her before she burst into peals of laughter. "Good one," she told Akira when she managed to get in a breath.
Akira just smiled and, seeing that Dominique was ready, turned around and began to walk past tables, answering greetings with a smile. It seemed that wherever she walked the person she was about to pass would look up and greet her. After having defeated Haiden it was one of the things Akira had struggled getting used to, the fact that everyone knew who she was, and the fact that a lot of them, looked up at her in awe, as if she was this awesome person. For Akira, who had never liked attention much, it was something she still struggled with, and yet throughout the last few months, she had found that she was beginning to cope with being the center of attention better than she had thought she would.
After passing a multitude of tables, she came to a halt at one where Gina, Drake and Seth were already sitting. There was one other guy with blond hair and blue eyes, sitting across from Drake. It was Will, one of the first people Seth had introduced Akira to when she had come to the academy. Back then she had not had the chance to get to know him all that well, but in the last few months she was sure that was beginning to figure him out. Though ever since his close friend, Caiden's death, during the last battle against Haiden, Will had tended to stick to himself. It had taken Akira and the others months to bring him back around to somewhat of his old self.
"Hey," Akira told everyone at the table as she gave Seth the extra bowl she had gotten.
"Thanks," Seth smiled at her.
Taking the empty seat across from him Akira patted the seat beside her. Hesitating only for a moment Dominique came over and sat down. For a moment he did nothing but watch as Drake scooped Laiter in to his mouth at such a rate that his bowl was becoming rapidly empty, before he picked up his own spoon and began to eat.
"So, Dominique," Gina began, trying to pick up conversation. "I still can't get it out of my mind," she frowned as Dominique looked up at her, "You look so much like someone I know."
"Really?" Dominique asked, shooting Akira a look before quickly looking away.
"Yeah, I just can't figure out who," Gina replied, sounding deep in thought.
Trying not to smile Akira busied herself with shoving a spoonful of Laiter in to her mouth. As she swallowed the gooey substance that tasted of absolutely nothing, she wondered why the diet wasn't changed for once. Sure, Laiter had everything in it that one needed to keep healthy, but eating it every second day was really beginning to get to her.
"So your friends," Seth spoke up, "how many are there that we have to get out?"
Will shot the others a questioning look.
"Something about time travel and what not," Gina told him casually. "Drake can explain it to you later, right Drake?" she asked, giving Drake a nudge and making him spill some Laiter on his clothes. He gave Gina a glare to which she only replied with an innocent smile.
"Seven," Dominique replied to Seth's question.
"Seven?" Akira raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, seven," Dominique replied with a sigh. "There were only around twenty of us at the academy any way at the time. I didn't know the others too well. The seven that came with me were either friends or guys who had noticed that things just weren't right."
"So," Gina asked frowning. "We go to the future, get these seven guys, bring them back, and then what?" she looked at Seth expectantly. At this Dominique seemed somewhat surprised. Knowing what was going through his mind Akira smiled. Yes, of cause someone from the outside would think that when it came to planning everyone would look to the rider of legend first, yet in truth Seth was a born leader. He thought things through and carried them out to the tee. While Akira often did give her view it was usually Seth's plans they used in the end.
"We'll decide on the next step once we get those guys back here," Seth replied calmly, "by then we will hopefully have seen something of the future and will know more."
"Sounds good to me," Drake spoke.
"Don't speak with your mouth full," Gina reprimanded him, hitting him across the head and causing him to choke. "Whoops," Gina grinned sheepishly as she began to thumb Drake on the back.
Dominique watched with something along the lines of disbelief in his eyes. Akira just shook her head and turned away with a smile on her face. She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand as her thoughts drifted.
Why was it that as soon as things settled down something else would always come along and disturb the peace? Was she never going to be able to just sit back and relax?
"Come on kiddo, the more jobs we do, the more famous we get, and the more famous we get, the more attention," Redemption's voice butted into Akira's thoughts.
"Silly dragon," Akira thought in reply, a smile touching her lips, "Can't you just be pleased with what you have?"
"Not when there's more," Redemption replied smugly.
Akira just shook her head. Becoming aware of how tired she really was she fought off a yawn.
"You tired?" Seth asked, picking it up immediately.
Akira smiled. "Yeah," she nodded, not bothering to deny what she knew Seth already knew.
Nodding Seth grabbed her half empty bowl and stacked it on top of his. "Go get some sleep, we'll have an early start tomorrow."
Gratefully Akira nodded. She turned to Dominique, who looked somewhat panicked at the fact that she was going to leave him behind alone. "Behave," she told him firmly before getting up. She turned her eyes on Seth, "You to," she added with a smile.
"I'm coming to," Gina quickly said. She gave Drake a quick peck on his cheek before getting up and joining Akira. Saying goodbye to the guys the two girls began to walk from the large room.
"Akira," Gina began, seeming somewhat hesitant, as though not sure if to continue.
"Hmm," Akira replied, shooting a smile at someone that waved at her as she walked past.
"You and Dominique...just how close were you...in the future I mean?"
"He's a good friend. Why?" Akira asked, peaking at Gina out of the corner of her eye. She had a feeling that she knew what Gina was getting at but wasn't quite sure. She had told Dominique how she felt about him the last time she had seen him in the future. It wasn't like he was still hoping she would change her mind, was it?
"Nothing," Gina muttered, shaking her head as they exited the mess hall.
"Do you have any idea why Brandon was against us going to the future?" Akira asked.
Gina shrugged, "Probably has one of his bad feelings, you know," she grinned, "And when exactly did you plan on telling me you could time travel?"
Akira smiled, feeling somewhat drowsy as they headed towards the lift. "I wanted to but Redemption advised me against it. Besides, I don't even know how it works. Redemption does whatever it is, though apparently to do so he needs either me or Dominique."
"And he can take us all to the future?" Gina asked doubtingly.
Akira shot her a smile as they paused at the lift, "I guess we'll find out tomorrow."
They were up at the crack of dawn. After a quick discussion Seth let the others know that Brandon had asked that for now they keep the entire matter to do with the future and the new black dragon, to themselves. He had told them that, until they knew more, they should not reveal the matter to any of the other students. Will of cause, had to be an exception as he had been present at their conversation the evening before during supper. He too now, along with Gina, Drake, Seth and Dominique, was sitting on the back of his own dragon and following Akira who had taken the lead astride Redemption.
"So, you can take us all to the future?" Akira though skeptically as she sat comfortably in the saddle on Redemption's back. She was wearing comfortable lose clothes, just like the day before, not her usual white suit. The others were dressed in a similar fashion, having decided that this, would attract less attention, yet still, they had taken precautions to take along their weapons just in case.
"Trust me Akira, I don't think taking a few extra people will be that hard," Redemption snorted in reply. "Thinking about it, Dominique could probably take them to, as he has the gift, not to mention my scale," he added grudgingly, "Yet we must be careful once we reach the future, for if any of the others get separated from us, they'll be stuck in the future."
"What a cheerful thought," Akira muttered. She sat back in her saddle and let her eyes wonder over the view below. As they past over familiar lush forests and fields she couldn't help but let out a regretful sigh. Things had been going so perfectly, but now the appearance of a new black dragon and her rider threatened to shatter everything, at least in the future.
Redemption flew, leading the other dragons over the landscape. He did not head towards the field where he and Akira had time traveled from but instead kept going toward the mountain range and beyond. He had warned Akira and the others that if they traveled from the same place Dominique had come from the future, they could find someone waiting for them. So it had been decided that they would travel from another spot. Of cause, it had to be one where Dominique and Akira, or Redemption, had been before. Gina had suggested the academy, yet it had been turned down almost immediately for the same reason as the field. If Steeson was planning something, then the academy in the future wouldn't be safe.
In the end Akira suggested the one place she didn't want to go, and yet the one which was not too far from the academy and which would most likely be abandoned, Haiden's palace. And so that was where they were now heading.
The sun was well on its climb to its post where it would be above all, when the palace came into view. Akira swallowed as she stared at it. It had been a year hence when she had fallen a prisoner of Haiden, only a year since she had been locked up in the palace's dungeons, a year since she had faced Haiden in the final battle. The memories came flooding back. Memories she had not wanted to remember. The pain, the anguish...
"He's gone Akira," Redemption comforted as they neared the palace. Although it still stood strong, the town around it was abandoned and houses were already beginning to show signs of neglect.
"Has he really?" Akira asked softly, her eyes glued to the flat roof of the palace as she remembered jumping off it and onto Haiden's dragon, Fury. "Because it seems to me that his essence is alive and well in the future, in his successor."
"Haiden is gone," Redemption replied stubbornly. "Every man and dragon only lives once. This Steeson in the future is no Haiden. Do not look at him as such Akira or you will fear him before you even meet him, and that in itself will suppress your true capability as you will cripple it with that fear."
"Thanks," Akira muttered, not feeling encouraged by her dragon's little speech.
"Besides," Redemption snorted. "This new dragon and rider haven't been around all that long. They have not reached full maturity yet Akira. If it comes to taking them down, it should be a piece of cake."
"Don't underestimate them Redemption," Akira warned, "Haiden did so with us, and look where that got him."
Redemption did not reply as he circled and landed at the foot of the castle. The others followed and once they were all on the ground Redemption proceeded towards the large door that lead into the building. Haiden, having liked to have his dragon with him at all times, had made most of the doors and rooms big enough to allow dragons a comfortable passage through.
"I don't get it," Gina spoke up as Redemption whacked the door open with a paw. "Why don't we just go from the roof?"
"Trust me," Dominique replied as his dragon followed Redemption into the palace, "You don't want to be on the roof in the future."
One by one the dragons entered the palace, following Redemption, who under the instructions of Akira, walked towards a large hall. As he entered it Akira swallowed. The last time she had been in this room in her time, Haiden had had her at his mercy. He had tortured her, trying to get Redemption to come to the palace to save her as he heard her every scream and then kill him.
"So, why here?" Will asked curiously.
"It's still standing in the future," Akira replied, she twisted in her saddle to stare at the others behind her. "Are you ready?" she asked.
"Are you kidding?" Gina's eyes were sparkling, her mood having to have turned for the better over night, "the chance to go and kick some future butt? Hell yeah!"
Akira smiled at her friend's sudden enthusiasm. As the others each nodded to show that they were ready Akira turned back and placed a hand on Redemption's neck. "You have the floor Redemption. Take us five hundred years to the future."
For a moment they all stood waiting expectantly. For a moment nothing happened and Gina shot Drake a doubting look to which he only replied with a shrug. Then suddenly, there was a rushing wind and Redemption and Akira began to glow. While the others stared in disbelief both dragon and rider seemed to begin to fade, and yet no sooner had they disappeared than the others and their dragons began to glow to. One after the other they disappeared and a few moments later the hall they were in was empty, with no sign of the dragons having ever been there. Then suddenly, one after the other, the dragons began to appear in the same room once again.
Once all there Gina shot a look around. "Come on, we're right back where we started!" she exclaimed.
"Really?" Seth asked quietly.
"Yeah," Gina replied.
In reply Drake leaned over, tapped Gina on the shoulder and pointed up. As the girl slowly raised her green eyes she caught sight of the hole in the roof through which sunshine was shinning through. She slowly turned her head and for the first time realized how the door behind them was non existent and how cracks covered the walls and vegetation grew up it, grass sprouting in various places throughout the room.
Without speaking Redemption walked from the room and the others followed. Everyone, except Dominique and Akira, stared around in wonder at the walls around them that had crumbled down, walls that moments before had been strong and sturdy. When they reached the outside the paused, staring at the town before them that lay in ruins.
Gina slowly turned in her saddle and stared at the palace behind her to see that it too, was pretty much in ruins. "Well I never," she murmured.
"Welcome," Dominique grinned as he turned to look at the others, "to the future."