All around him he could feel softness, not the usual ache he felt when waking or the scratch of his itchy sackcloth, but real, smooth softness. Something cool and light was covering his body. His head resting on something plump. A pillow. This was what a pillow felt like.
The air itself was wrong. It smelled clean, stripped of its usual dusty flavor and replaced by the slight scent of flowers.
Creed's eyes shot open.
The ceiling wasn't the familiar stained stone with the skeletal water spot he'd traced a thousand times. This ceiling was high, white, and covered with a tapestry of Verdia.
He sat up, silk pooling at his waist as he stared at the alien room around him. Everything felt wrong. Morning light streamed through a wide, spotless window, illuminating a well kept courtyard he had never seen before. The room was larger than his entire dorm. A thick rug with intricate patterns covered the stone floor. A huge wardrobe covered one wall while a matching desk covered the other. Two cushioned armchairs sat in a corner, waiting to be used.
'This has to be a trap.'
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, his feet sinking into the warm rug. Stumbling, he exited the room into a kitchen, A giant kitchen. With a giant pantry. Everything here seemed giant, and expensive. Looking around for a second, his eyes drifted back to the giant pantry. His brain losing control to his stomach, he opened it.
What Creed saw inside was something straight out of a dream.
It was full. Full of food Creed had only dreamed of. Pans of salted meats, loaves steaming brown bread, not the cold, hard kind Creed was used to. Bottles filled with milk, jars of food Creed couldn't even name, and best of all, on a slab of stone sat something Creed had always longed for. Cheese. A wedge of yellow, hole-filled cheese.
Creed didn't have to think twice, his stomach made the decision for him.
He was on the food like an animal, tearing into the Cheese with his bare hands, stuffing it into his mouth. The creamy taste exploded on his tongue. He grabbed a bottle of milk and drank straight from it, the cold liquid soothing his dry throat.
He only stopped when his stomach began to ache, leaning against the counter. He closed his eyes, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. He had never been this full before.
Wiping his mouth, he forced himself back up and returned to his exploration of this alien dorm. He walked down the hall to another door, which opened to a bathroom. He stared at his own reflection in the mirror. His hair looked even more unkempt than before, the spikes almost turning into balls at the tips. In an attempt to fix it with water he twisted the metal knob of the sink and flinched as steaming hot water began to flow into the porcelain sink. Hot water. He touched it, amazed. He'd never touched hot water in the Spire before, and definitely not in his dorm room. It was a luxury reserved for the golden children. Or at least that's what he told himself, truthfully, cold water might have been something exclusive to his portion of the Spire, where the outcasts were held. After all he'd never heard anybody else from the normal wings complain about having to go to bed freezing at night.
The luxury of his surroundings almost made him sick.
He returned to the sitting area and walked to the main door. On a small table beside it lay two items.
The first was a seamless black steel bracelet. The second was a sheet of expensive paper with a note written on it.
'Creed,
Your probationary hearing has concluded. Your sentence is as follows:
For a probationary period of three months. You are forbidden from leaving the Spire grounds.
You will attend all scheduled classes and maintain a satisfactory academic standing.
You will wear the monitoring bracelet at all times.
You are subject to a six pm curfew
You will attend a mandatory weekly counseling session with a court appointed therapist.
You are permitted to return to class immediately.
-- Spire Courts'
His probation hearing was already done?
'I've been out for a while.'
This was a light sentence, all things considered. He picked up the bracelet. It was cool and heavy in his hand. He wrapped it around his wrist and looked up at the clock. The hands pointed to 8:50 am.
'goddess. Class starts at nine.'
His leisurely expression turned into one of panic, Creed rushed back into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe. There he found a pristine House Kiron uniform, perfectly pressed. He threw it on. The fabric felt off, it was missing its usual worn-in softness, but he didn't have time for complaints. He threw on his shoes and bolted for the door, exploration could wait for later. He burst into a grand hallway he didn't recognize filled with white marble and gold decorations, and immediately turned left, nearly colliding with someone.
He almost fell forward attempting to stop. Before him was a girl, maybe a year older than him. She wasn't dressed in a uniform but instead wore a white cloak. The hood partially covered her long, wavy, midnight blue hair. Her face was tan with a single bright blue eye staring at Creed. The other eye was completely covered by a white bandage that cut diagonally across her face. She looked intense to say the least. Her posture, her face, they all felt out of place for someone her age.
"Sorry." He mumbled, trying to sidestep her.
He went left. So did she. He went right. She followed again. For an awkward couple of seconds, they were locked in a stupid dance.
They both stopped, looked at each other, and took deliberate steps in opposite directions, finally passing each other.
Without looking back, Creed hurried down the hall. He had to get to class on time or else he'd violate his probation, on his first day at that.
He rounded a corner, then another. He was confident in his navigational skills. The mountain city was vast, but he'd been walking its halls for ten years. He'd find his way.
...
Five minutes had passed, and Creed had no idea where he was. He was well… lost.
These halls were different. Grander, quieter, and lined with tapestries of battles he didn't recognize.
'Where in the Spire am I?'
He continued to walk, trying to find a familiar landmark or a corridor he had once walked, but he saw nothing. As he rounded yet another identical looking corner, he saw her again. The girl in the white cloak, walking toward him down the long corridor. As he passed her again, he gave her a nod, they wouldn't be repeating their awkward exchange this time.
He kept walking, and a few minutes later, after taking a completely random series of turns, he saw her again, coming out of a side passage.
This pattern repeated itself twice until finally, he heard a soft laugh behind him.
"Are you lost?"
Creed stopped and turned. She was leaning against a pillar, a small smile on her lips. His face flushed with embarrassment.
"Yes."
He admitted it shamefully. She pushed herself off the pillar and walked toward him.
"What classroom are you trying to find?"
"E-2210. Professor Harold."
She thought for a moment, then her visible eye lit up with recognition.
"Ah. Follow me."
He followed her, feeling like an idiot. She led him down a hall he was sure he'd seen three times now until they came to a dead end. He was about to ask if she was lost too when she turned and placed a finger on her lips in a gesture for silence. She reached out and pressed her hand against a slightly discolored brick in the wall.
With a low grinding sound a section of the wall slid inward revealing a dark narrow pathway.
Creed was dumbfounded. He'd lived in the Spire for ten years and had never seen something like this.
He'd heard the rumors of secret passages but had always dismissed them as first year fantasies.
Nonetheless, Quietly he followed her inside.