INSIGNIAS: THE LUX SIGNIFER ACADEMY

Lei like everyone else stared at the old and wrinkly brown map laid on the makeshift table. According to Skhy, Aubree dropped it while Skhy, Tessa, Aria, Hunter, Nate, and Hunter were tailing her. Lei couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the President of the Student Council is a member of the Consortium and that she is also a spy along with two more Consortium members. Nate was hesitant to reveal that they heard Aubree talking to Storm or Ciar but Hanne didn’t react. Lei didn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. But she was sure of the fact that the more they dig deeper, the more they ask questions, and face secrets and closed doors. Everything is connected.

“Where is this?” Nate asked, pointing to a cluster of mountains beside The Canopy and below the Southern Edgeburn. Someone encircled the area with a red pen. Lei knew that there shouldn’t be anything there but the ocean.

“I didn’t know that there’s land there,” Tessa said, squinting her eyes. Lei glanced at Skhy who seemed to be staring at the letters beside the map. However, the letters didn’t seem to equate into words. Or is it in a different language?

Looking at Skhy made her remember the embarrassing scenario earlier. After the confession, Skhy looked so surprised. Her cheeks heated. She was so thankful that the others chose that time to arrive. She quickly stood up to greet them, leaving Skhy speechless and confused.

“Is this the Southern Edgeburn where the Eschaton happened?” Tessa asked.

“Yes,” Nate answered. History class included the Eschaton war but the controversies were left out. Missing students, stolen tools…

“Does ‘The Morth’ belong to Mortemians?” Aria asked. It was the name of the land with groups of mountains. It was an old map so Lei thought that the land disappeared in the ocean. But why would the Consortium and Mortemians hold on to this map?

“They were holding on to the map,” Lei started. She felt eyes on her. “Is it a land that disappeared in the ocean and they’re trying to get it back? Or…”

“It’s still there but we didn’t know that it’s there,” Skhy completed for her. She didn’t look at him in case he had his eyes on her.

“Faz had been to the edge Southern Edgeburn months before,” Clyne offered. Lei looked up to Hunter who was hadn’t said a word. He started glaring at Clyne. Clyne chuckled nervously.

“Did you see anything suspicious?” Tessa asked him. Hunter eyed her for a few seconds before answering.

“Nothing,” he replied. “But just like what I told Skhy, some of the Mortemians I encounter kept mumbling about a land surrounded by mountains. I didn’t think that it’s important.”

“Right. Mortemians have fortresses on the ground but they also operate underground,” Skhy pointed out. “We don’t know where all these are, but…this place…”

“Doesn’t exist?” Clyne asked.

“Was hidden,” Aria corrected.

“Do you think this is a big deal?” Tessa asked Skhy. Skhy shook his head.

“I’m not sure. We need to find out.”

“Should we ask Karl or Steve?” Tessa inquired. Steve, or Eliot, Tessa’s guardian stayed with Karl. After their mission, Steve contacted Karl but Aubree, Aurora, Ellie, and Savvier didn’t know this. Despite their curiosity, he didn’t reveal why the Mortemians wanted him. Lei wondered if Steve and Karl knew about Aubree’s secret identity. After Steve left, Skhy revealed to the others that he, Lei, and Tessa knew Karl but pretended not to know him when they met with him and Mr. Gravin Castledgrey upon arriving in the academy. Hunter didn’t look surprise. Did he know already?

“It’s dangerous to contact them,” Skhy replied.

“I agree,” Lei added. Someone in the academy might know.

He placed his fingers on the unrecognized sets of letters. “Dad’s book...Abecedarians…there are pages that I couldn’t understand. It seemed to be in a different language. But also didn’t seem to be. Symbols and roman letter together…” Lei started tapping on the paper.

“Do you remember how you found out that my aunt is waiting in the Woodland?” Lei asked him without looking away from the map.

“Yeah…” He stopped. “It’s a cipher…”

“It could be.”

“But it’s hard to decode it without actual words,” Nate pointed out. Skhy bit his lower lip. Then his eyes widened a bit.

“Ah! The circles and tables,” he exclaimed.

“Uh what are those?” Clyne asked.

“On the last page of the book. Concentric circles and a table with letters.” Skhy grabbed a notebook in his backpack and started writing on it.

“Also, I forgot to tell you that I found out what the Premier was growing in his private garden,” Lei started. Tessa frowned at her, confused. The others also looked at her curiously.

“What’s it for?” Nate asked.

“Skhy asked me to,” Lei remembered that Skhy told them not to tell the others about what the tasks he gave them.

“What is it?” Skhy asked after putting his notebook and pen down.

“Cherubea. We haven’t heard of it before.” And based on Skhy’s expression, he hadn’t heard of it too.

“Cherubea? Well, he is getting old,” Hunter said then scoffed.

“Do you know what it is? How did you know?” Clyne asked giddily.

“First time I saw them in Southern Edgeburn. It’s a medicinal plant, they said.” Upon saying this, Hunter’s expression changed. It looked like he realized something but he quickly brushed it away.

“What is it?” Nate asked. Good. I’m not the only one who noticed. Hunter shook his head then crossed his arms.

“There’s something,” Tessa pointed out while staring intensely at him. Hmmm… He sighed, defeated.

“The aftereffects of high dosage of Cherubea are hallucination, drunkenness, and straightforwardness,” he explained. “Maybe it’s also used it to obtain information.” That’s a probability. It was quiet for a few minutes. Lei was busy racking her brain on the different medicinal plants she knows. She hadn’t heard of a plant with those aftereffects.

“We have to research about it,” Skhy said to cut the silence. “More importantly…” He stopped then glanced at Nate who nodded at him. What?

“I’ve been having visions,” Skhy started.

“Visions? Like seeing-the-future-visions?” Hanne asked. This was the first time she spoke. She looked more relaxed than earlier when they were talking about what happened last night. Nate looked relieved that Hanne spoke. Lei smiled a bit when Nate smiled at his sister.

“I think so,” Skhy replied.

“What? Did you have a new ability?” Hunter asked with a deep frown. Lei also didn’t know about this ability. But she knew that some of her family members were able to see the future. Like Carol… She quickly turned to Skhy who was already looking at her. She broke the eye contact. She glanced at Tessa who also looked like it’s the first time she heard of it. She felt relieved. Why would I be?

“I don’t know. But the first time was when I was in Woodland. The day after I met Lei,” he explained.

“What is it about?” Hanne asked.

“Is it…about another war?” Clyne carefully asked. Chills suddenly ran on the back of her neck. Skhy shook his head.

“In Woodland, I saw seven shadows with…Lei’s body.” He said the last words softly but it didn’t stop Lei from trembling. “The next one was when Lei and I met Tessa. Six shadows with unknown energies. Lei and Tessa were with them. Alive.” Lei frowned. What do his dreams mean?

“Seven shadows then six shadows… Was Tessa one of the shadow before?” Nate deduced.

“That’s scary…” Clyne whispered. Aria hit his leg lightly. Tessa looked like she was deep in thought.

“I wasn’t sure. Then a two days ago, I saw them again,” he continued. Is that the reason why he’s sleepless?

“Three shadows with Lei, Aria, Nate, and Tessa,” he added. Lei understood. “It was still dark but it wasn’t scary compared to the first two.”

“The Seven,” Hanne muttered. Skhy nodded.

“The first two visions were manipulated. I already knew that Lei is one of the Regalis. The vision tried to confuse me,” he said. It makes sense. Hunter scoffed and started muttering about deceptive and manipulative Mortemians. Lei glanced at Hanne but she remained calm and serious.

“Storm is gone. And Tessa is the one, not Ellie. Now, it’s clear,” Skhy said then looked between Hunter and Clyne. “We were meant to meet.”

“What are you talking about?” Hunter asked.

“Destiny!” Clyne exclaimed. Skhy and Hunter engaged in a stare.

“Aside from Hanne, the two of you are also Regalis.” There was a collective gasp and several ‘what?’ Hunter laughed.

“Really?” Clyne looked excited.

“Are you writing a drama?” he asked then laughed again. Skhy didn’t falter. He stared at Hunter until he stopped laughing. Then his grim expression returned.

“I’ll prove it,” Skhy insisted.

“I’m not here for that, Wright,” Hunter replied in a deep voice. Skhy turned then grabbed his backpack. He looked at Lei.

“Can you look into the Cherubea with Hunter, Nate, and Hanne?” His eyes turned into the deep blue. She saw it shifting. She could only nod.

“Thank you. Tessa, Aria, Clyne, and I will try to decode the map and the book,” he added. Hunter remained quiet as they got ready to leave the underground arena. Lei stood close to Hanne.

“Are you going to be ok...fighting and facing…”

“Yes.” She cut Lei off. Lei saw the determination in her eyes. How do you fight the person you love once? Or still love?