Method to the Madness

I sat in my room for a long time after Elias had left me at the door. I sat on the soft bed and wrapped my arms around my knees, not knowing what to do with myself. The only way that I could really describe the room was plain. It was like all of the life had seriously been sucked right out of the walls of the room and left it dead.

The walls were painted a creamy white; in my thoughts of a bedroom, though there wasn’t much that I thought of, I imagined it much brighter. There was a single hanging chandelier from the ceiling and a closet with a mirror door. I stayed away from that door as much as possible – it would be the first time that I saw my own appearance since I had woken up, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see that or not.

Elias had asked me if I wanted him to stay with me until I felt comfortable, but I had turned him down. I was slightly annoyed that he felt so familiar to me, yet I had no idea why or how – and he seemed to be no more eager to remind me of it. Even with my annoyance though, I regretted turning him away. Being close to him made me feel a little less scared; whether because he was my Guardian or because of that strange sense of familiarity, I wasn’t sure.

This room was obviously making me even more dreadful, so I couldn’t just sit there any longer. I jumped from the bed and darted past the mirror door to the door that slid open as soon as I reached the little mat in front of the door.

~~~

Maybe it hadn’t been the greatest idea for me to leave the room unsupervised. Of course, leave it up to me to get very, very lost. I was desperate enough that I would’ve been happy to find Crimson, nonetheless Elias.

I must’ve turned the wrong way from the way that Elias had led me, because I had yet to see any of the classrooms or the room that I had been staying in previously. I was becoming more turned around as I wandered. In fact, I became more afraid as well. The surroundings became darker too as I assumed that I was reaching the deeper parts of the institution where the maintenance must take place.

I heard several voices behind me and I took off running down the hall, farther away from the way that I came. I turned a sharp corner and…BAM!

I was thrown backwards against the opposite wall; sitting up, I scowled at my attackers and rubbed my head.

“A – 0074?!” Elias stepped out of the darkness of the following hallway. “Are you okay?” I nodded my head. “What are you doing here?”

“I felt lonely… I was going to go looking at the classrooms and stuff, but I got majorly turned around.” I explained, watching Elias’ tender grip on his hand but becoming confused by his look of relief that he had found me.

“You know you’re not supposed to be wandering around here all by yourself right?” A girl stepped out into the light behind him. I could already tell that she was a mature Selva. She had light brown hair, but those same coal-black eyes. I wondered if that was a Selvic identifier and if I would someday get them – maybe I had them already. “If you need something, you’re supposed to summon your Guardian or your Head Selva.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know!” I whispered. “Looks like he was a little busy anyways.”

“Sorry, 0074.” Elias answered. “Mouse took me to get my hand checked out. She’ll be one of your trainers once you start classes.”

“Well, I better leave Selva and Guardian alone,” the girl named ‘Mouse’ declared. “And don’t let it happen again. Wouldn’t want to get in trouble now, do we?” With that authoritative glance, she was gone.

“Do you want me to lead you back to your room?” Elias asked after she was gone.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “It’s so weird in there.”

We fell into step in silence with one another. It felt so weird; I was sure that this was something we had done many times before I had woken up like that.

“Elias?”

“Yes, 0074?” He asked, glancing at me with a slight anxiety as he said my name.

“What color are my eyes?” I asked.

He stopped walking and looked at me, confused. “Well, they’re blue. They’re the most beautiful blue – like the ocean!” I didn’t know what that was in reference to – because I didn’t exactly know what an ocean was – but I understood it. “May I ask why?”

“Will my eyes turn black like Mouse’s and Crimson’s?” I asked, avoiding his “why”.

“I don’t know. I hope – “ He stopped and frowned. I let him walk in his silence without questioning him anymore.

He led me back to my bedroom, and I said my goodbyes again. I would probably regret denying his offer again, but I wanted to be alone. My constant confusion was leaving me in a depression of slight recognition, but too many tall walls that couldn’t be climbed over…