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Description
Jimmy sat in class, shivering with his clothes drenched in salt-water. It was embarrassing really, and unless he was mistaken – which he sure he wasn’t – he heard more than a few snickers from all angles of the classroom. Really, it was only Headmaster Dunan who still maintained his composure throughout the class. This really won’t reflect well on my end-of-year scoring, he thought abashedly.

He kept his eyes glued to his text throughout class-time, without even lifting them up unless the headmaster called his name. After what seemed to be decades to the young boy, the gavel slammed across the headmaster’s table announcing the mid-noon class break.

He sighed in relief and at first, thought about heading outdoors to let the wind blow-dry his clothes. However, no sooner had he thought of this than his eyes caught sight of the heavy rain pouring down through the window. He sighed again and got up to walk to the headmaster’s table to ask if there were some fireplace within the school halls.

To his surprise, Dunan was already standing by his side looking down on him. Jimmy shook a bit in surprise before landing back in his seat. He quickly let out a cough. “Master headmaster…” – no, I said that wrong – “is there a fireplace where I may quickly dry up a bit?” Jimmy asked in sheepish surprise.

“Yes, down the hall and two doors to your left. The commemoration room has a fire where you can get yourself warmed up. As for clothes, though…” the headmaster slapped a clean shirt and pair of jeans onto Jimmy’s desk, “put those on. It’s distasteful for any of our students to attend class in such a state.”

Before Jimmy could say so much as a thank-you, Dunan turned around back to his desk, walking with both hands behind his back.

While Dunan was turned around, Jimmy hastily grabbed the offered clothing – he did wonder if he’d have to return it the next day or not – and headed into the men’s lavatory to get changed. After slipping into the dry clothing provided, he began to feel much better, and at the very least, less likely to catch a cold.

Remembering what headmaster Dunan had said about the fireplace in the commemoration room, he headed down the school hall and opened the door to his left.

He stuck his head in.

The room was majestically quiet; long poles that held candles were lit on either end of the room, burning off a sweet-smelling incense that made Jimmy feel quite relaxed. A red carpet ran from the doorway entrance towards the fireplace at the other end of the room. Jimmy quietly stepped in and allowed the door to swing close behind him.

It was spectacular, to say the least.

Statues of fallen men and women who served in the last war, the “Eagles” and “Rosellas”, as they were called, adorned one side of the room, while on the other side, a huge wall was left completely unobstructed that held inscribed the entire history from the founding of Eagleon to the last great war. He had heard stories of the war from his father, so he didn’t mind too much about the wall. Besides, class would almost resume, and he would have to leave the story half-through – and if it’s one thing he didn’t like, it was leaving stories midway.

He walked over to the other side of the room where the statues were. They were made of simple metals, adorned with neither jewelry or diamonds, but the craftsmanship was exemplary. The eyes of each hero was near life-like, and while Jimmy found it slightly disturbing at first, he eventually loved how they seemed to follow him as he walked from one end of the statue line to the other. To Jimmy, there was some sense of heroism that was crafted into each statue by the blacksmith, and no two statues were alike.

The first hero was a towering figure, wide in girth and noble in stature. His head was partially shaven, with a scar running across his left ear down to his chin. There was no smile crafted into his lips, but his countenance was that of a father’s. His left hand clutched a scroll tightly while his right grasped onto a feather pen. This was the famous scribe Thomas whose weapon of choice was neither sword nor firearm, but words and it is said that the Alliance owed it to his wisdom for having been able to amass the nations together before the close of the last war.

Past Thomas the Scribe, Pedro stood humbly. In his right-hand was a battered walking staff that bore the etched inscription, “Adus Nego.” In the Peluvan tongue, of which he was one of, it simply meant, “Act Now.” It was his knowledge of the element stones that granted him the most respect from his peers and enemies. On the battlefield, he was known as the “Storm of Eagleon.” His staff held multiple element stones that he controlled – sometimes all at once – granting him near invincibility on the front lines. To the unassuming men and women of the city though, he was simply Pedro the Healer, and encrusted at the top of his “walking stick” was his most prized element stone which he used to heal many ailments and wounds.

Jimmy looked on these statues with intent curiosity, sometimes skimming through the wordier descriptions and many times just skipping the inscriptions altogether. Mid-noon break was almost over, and he had completely forgotten about warming himself by the fire. No matter though, there was one last statue which he eyed with the most curiosity.

It was that of a young woman standing proudly straight, clothed in a brown dress with a bronze breastplate as her armor. Her brunette hair was put up in a tight bun and her right hand grasped a sword whose blade was resting on the ground beneath her. This was the statue of Tessa Marlos. That was all. No nickname, no title, no rank. In fact, her last name “Marlos” was nearly scratched off and Jimmy found this to be quite weird since none of the other statues bore such an imperfection. Even more strange to the young boy was the fact that her plaque was completely bare of any description or tribute. The slab was entirely blank; again, save for a few scratches.

DONG!!! DONG!!!! DONG!!!!!

In the courtyard, the school bell was rocking back and forth, signaling the end of the mid-noon class break. For some reason, Jimmy didn’t care if he was late a few minutes as curiosity began to overwhelm him. He did lift his head slightly at the sound of the bell, but immediately went back to studying the statue of Tessa Marlos. He lifted his hands and began feeling the surface of the plaque; the scratch marks felt recent and Jimmy felt a slight burning sensation as his fingers ran over the irreverent, etched marks. His eyes briefly stopped in their tracks to look up at Tessa’s eyes who seemed to be looking down on him with a sort of mystic, but attractive gaze. His hands subconsciously dropped to either sides of the plaque and felt some button on either side. Jimmy snapped out of his trance and leaned closer to investigate.

Yes, there were small, raised “bumps” on exactly either side of the plaque, merely half a centimeter above the bottom edges that it would have been easily missed had Jimmy’s hands not fallen on them by accident. Instinctively, he pushed both buttons at the same time and waited.
Nothing happened.

Well, that’s quite disappointing, he thought to himself. The boy had hoped for something to “pop out” and surprise him. Perhaps an old relic at the very least? But nothing happened.

In disappointment, he turned around to leave. No sooner had he done so than a gust of wind blew through the entire room snuffing out all the candles, barely leaving a flicker in the fireplace by the wall. Jimmy froze in his steps as he felt himself slowly being lifted off the ground. He wondered if it wasn’t some hallucination or perhaps a dream he was having and that he was still asleep somewhere in the Commemoration Room. He tried to pinch himself but found that he was now rendered completely immobile. Against his own will, his levitating body turned around to face the statue of Tessa Marlos. It was glowing with a fierce blue light; the eyes of the heroine were alive now and her sword which looked more like cheap iron some mere moments ago blazed with sunlight that somehow emanated from the blade itself.

Jimmy closed his eyes in fear and held his breath. A light wind began to whip around, blasting his skin with chilly air and freezing the blood in his veins. As much as he wanted to resist, his mind felt like it was being pulled into an empty vacuum and the startling vision in front of him began to grow hazy. Darkness came over him and the last thing he remembered was his stiff body slamming down on the floor of the Commemoration Room.

Description
Jimmy sat in class, shivering with his clothes drenched in salt-water. It was embarrassing really, and unless he was mistaken – which he sure he wasn’t – he heard more than a few snickers from all angles of the classroom. Really, it was only Headmaster Dunan who still maintained his composure throughout the class. This really won’t reflect well on my end-of-year scoring, he thought abashedly.

He kept his eyes glued to his text throughout class-time, without even lifting them up unless the headmaster called his name. After what seemed to be decades to the young boy, the gavel slammed across the headmaster’s table announcing the mid-noon class break.

He sighed in relief and at first, thought about heading outdoors to let the wind blow-dry his clothes. However, no sooner had he thought of this than his eyes caught sight of the heavy rain pouring down through the window. He sighed again and got up to walk to the headmaster’s table to ask if there were some fireplace within the school halls.

To his surprise, Dunan was already standing by his side looking down on him. Jimmy shook a bit in surprise before landing back in his seat. He quickly let out a cough. “Master headmaster…” – no, I said that wrong – “is there a fireplace where I may quickly dry up a bit?” Jimmy asked in sheepish surprise.

“Yes, down the hall and two doors to your left. The commemoration room has a fire where you can get yourself warmed up. As for clothes, though…” the headmaster slapped a clean shirt and pair of jeans onto Jimmy’s desk, “put those on. It’s distasteful for any of our students to attend class in such a state.”

Before Jimmy could say so much as a thank-you, Dunan turned around back to his desk, walking with both hands behind his back.

While Dunan was turned around, Jimmy hastily grabbed the offered clothing – he did wonder if he’d have to return it the next day or not – and headed into the men’s lavatory to get changed. After slipping into the dry clothing provided, he began to feel much better, and at the very least, less likely to catch a cold.

Remembering what headmaster Dunan had said about the fireplace in the commemoration room, he headed down the school hall and opened the door to his left.

He stuck his head in.

The room was majestically quiet; long poles that held candles were lit on either end of the room, burning off a sweet-smelling incense that made Jimmy feel quite relaxed. A red carpet ran from the doorway entrance towards the fireplace at the other end of the room. Jimmy quietly stepped in and allowed the door to swing close behind him.

It was spectacular, to say the least.

Statues of fallen men and women who served in the last war, the “Eagles” and “Rosellas”, as they were called, adorned one side of the room, while on the other side, a huge wall was left completely unobstructed that held inscribed the entire history from the founding of Eagleon to the last great war. He had heard stories of the war from his father, so he didn’t mind too much about the wall. Besides, class would almost resume, and he would have to leave the story half-through – and if it’s one thing he didn’t like, it was leaving stories midway.

He walked over to the other side of the room where the statues were. They were made of simple metals, adorned with neither jewelry or diamonds, but the craftsmanship was exemplary. The eyes of each hero was near life-like, and while Jimmy found it slightly disturbing at first, he eventually loved how they seemed to follow him as he walked from one end of the statue line to the other. To Jimmy, there was some sense of heroism that was crafted into each statue by the blacksmith, and no two statues were alike.

The first hero was a towering figure, wide in girth and noble in stature. His head was partially shaven, with a scar running across his left ear down to his chin. There was no smile crafted into his lips, but his countenance was that of a father’s. His left hand clutched a scroll tightly while his right grasped onto a feather pen. This was the famous scribe Thomas whose weapon of choice was neither sword nor firearm, but words and it is said that the Alliance owed it to his wisdom for having been able to amass the nations together before the close of the last war.

Past Thomas the Scribe, Pedro stood humbly. In his right-hand was a battered walking staff that bore the etched inscription, “Adus Nego.” In the Peluvan tongue, of which he was one of, it simply meant, “Act Now.” It was his knowledge of the element stones that granted him the most respect from his peers and enemies. On the battlefield, he was known as the “Storm of Eagleon.” His staff held multiple element stones that he controlled – sometimes all at once – granting him near invincibility on the front lines. To the unassuming men and women of the city though, he was simply Pedro the Healer, and encrusted at the top of his “walking stick” was his most prized element stone which he used to heal many ailments and wounds.

Jimmy looked on these statues with intent curiosity, sometimes skimming through the wordier descriptions and many times just skipping the inscriptions altogether. Mid-noon break was almost over, and he had completely forgotten about warming himself by the fire. No matter though, there was one last statue which he eyed with the most curiosity.

It was that of a young woman standing proudly straight, clothed in a brown dress with a bronze breastplate as her armor. Her brunette hair was put up in a tight bun and her right hand grasped a sword whose blade was resting on the ground beneath her. This was the statue of Tessa Marlos. That was all. No nickname, no title, no rank. In fact, her last name “Marlos” was nearly scratched off and Jimmy found this to be quite weird since none of the other statues bore such an imperfection. Even more strange to the young boy was the fact that her plaque was completely bare of any description or tribute. The slab was entirely blank; again, save for a few scratches.

DONG!!! DONG!!!! DONG!!!!!

In the courtyard, the school bell was rocking back and forth, signaling the end of the mid-noon class break. For some reason, Jimmy didn’t care if he was late a few minutes as curiosity began to overwhelm him. He did lift his head slightly at the sound of the bell, but immediately went back to studying the statue of Tessa Marlos. He lifted his hands and began feeling the surface of the plaque; the scratch marks felt recent and Jimmy felt a slight burning sensation as his fingers ran over the irreverent, etched marks. His eyes briefly stopped in their tracks to look up at Tessa’s eyes who seemed to be looking down on him with a sort of mystic, but attractive gaze. His hands subconsciously dropped to either sides of the plaque and felt some button on either side. Jimmy snapped out of his trance and leaned closer to investigate.

Yes, there were small, raised “bumps” on exactly either side of the plaque, merely half a centimeter above the bottom edges that it would have been easily missed had Jimmy’s hands not fallen on them by accident. Instinctively, he pushed both buttons at the same time and waited.
Nothing happened.

Well, that’s quite disappointing, he thought to himself. The boy had hoped for something to “pop out” and surprise him. Perhaps an old relic at the very least? But nothing happened.

In disappointment, he turned around to leave. No sooner had he done so than a gust of wind blew through the entire room snuffing out all the candles, barely leaving a flicker in the fireplace by the wall. Jimmy froze in his steps as he felt himself slowly being lifted off the ground. He wondered if it wasn’t some hallucination or perhaps a dream he was having and that he was still asleep somewhere in the Commemoration Room. He tried to pinch himself but found that he was now rendered completely immobile. Against his own will, his levitating body turned around to face the statue of Tessa Marlos. It was glowing with a fierce blue light; the eyes of the heroine were alive now and her sword which looked more like cheap iron some mere moments ago blazed with sunlight that somehow emanated from the blade itself.

Jimmy closed his eyes in fear and held his breath. A light wind began to whip around, blasting his skin with chilly air and freezing the blood in his veins. As much as he wanted to resist, his mind felt like it was being pulled into an empty vacuum and the startling vision in front of him began to grow hazy. Darkness came over him and the last thing he remembered was his stiff body slamming down on the floor of the Commemoration Room.