Chapter 9: Chapter NINE

"To be honest, I don't know, it's only my first year at the Arena. Vampires and Vilas have a kind of caste system based on the seniority of their families. Werewolves gather in packs and centaurs in hordes. Don't ask me the difference between the two, I don't get it at all! And, finally, the fairies have a King and a Queen. I confess that I tend to fall asleep when the professors approach these subjects in class... You should go to the library if you want to know more. Have you been there yet?"

"No, not yet."

Mia didn't dare tell her that she hadn't dared to push open the doors of the library yet, although she had walked past it several times during her explorations. For her, a library had something sacred. Feeling still foreign to this magical universe, she did not want to appropriate knowledge that she perhaps had no right to possess, even though her curiosity was itching her. Between asking questions, observing individuals, and burying her nose in their books, there was a big difference, at least for her. It was absurd, of course, but she still couldn't bring herself to overcome that feeling.

"Well, if you want to go now, I can accompany you right away. I have a date in an hour, I would like to get ready," she blushed.

"Oh," Mia blurted out. "No problem."

Considering the red that colored the cheeks of the redhead, it was certainly not a business meeting. Mia would have liked to ask her what this guy's specialty was - if he was a magician -, but the blonde judged the question a little too indiscreet. After all, they had only known each other for a few days.

She also didn't necessarily want to encourage her new friend to tell her about her dating stories by telling her she was all ears. She was curious, sure, but she wasn't interested in the smallest details of her love life. If Arry was the kind of person who would go on for hours and hours about the ups and downs of her relationships, she didn't want to risk giving her the green light. The blonde wanted to keep her head away from trivial concerns.

In any case, there was something pleasant in seeing that the young people of the two worlds ended up having a very similar life, shared between school, their family stories, their friends, and their romantic relationships. Magical beings or not, it would seem that the priorities of young adults in times of peace were the same for all individuals, regardless of their world.

"Ah, something else you should know by the way," she began as they headed inside the school.

"The library is a bit like the "den" of the Vilas. It's the only place where you'll be sure to come across them, since they don't eat in the school canteen and they don't have a lot of classes. They prefer to keep to themselves," she announced, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyway, they shouldn't mess with you, after all, the library isn't their property, but try to keep a low profile anyway, okay?"

Mia nodded under the worried gaze of her new friend. She waved goodbye when they reached the doors of the library before disappearing into the maze of corridors. The blonde hesitated for a few moments, putting her hand on the handle, and sighed heavily to give herself courage.

"Are you going to open that door, human?" called an acid voice behind his back.

"Fuck you," she snapped, lowering the doorknob to step into the room.

The young man glared at her but continued on his way. The blonde quickly closed the door behind her and remained planted for a few seconds at the entrance to assimilate what she had just done. What kind of creature had she just cheekily answered? She swallowed hard and took a deep breath before taking refuge between two shelves.

You better hold your tongue Mia, if you don't want your head cut off, she told herself.

After a couple of times of being bullied, it was stronger than her. She just couldn't stand being disrespected. She'd managed to pretty much stay calm for nearly four days simply out of fear of retaliation, which was a lot to ask of her. Now that she was gaining in ease and confidence, and above all losing patience, the fear of an aggressive comeback seemed to fade into annoyance. In these cases, her instinct seemed more tuned to "defend my honor" than "defend my skin".

Because of this aspect of her personality, she had always been labeled as having a problem with authority. It wasn't that she couldn't bow to someone's authority, it was that she didn't want to do it when that person didn't deserve it. She could still hear her mother say, "It's the same, Mia. The consequences are the same."

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Bla-Bla-Bla, she sneered in her mind.

The blonde was getting tired of hugging the walls. Her reckless temperament violently took over her survival instincts. Bloodthirsty creatures or not, she was fed up. It wasn't like her to lay low and hold her tongue.

During her exploration between the shelves, Mia did not meet many people. She relaxed as she felt the leather binding of the books under her fingers and the smell of old paper that still sent shivers of pleasure through her. She wanted to devour all the books. Her choice fell on a book called "Human Genocide" and she brought it with her to one of the reading tables. Many questions still needed to be answered regarding the workings of Istarea, but knowing what had happened to the rest of her peers was a crucial subject in her eyes to understand how disturbing her presence was in the Arena.

Mia stroked the cover of the book for a moment, enjoying the feel of her skin against the stiff, colorful paper. Some books benefited from a beautiful cover in leather or fabric, testifying to their prestige or their importance - or the wealth of their author -. The one she had in her hands was very simple, almost as if no one expected it to be read.

Curious, she opened the book, impatient to discover the writing of this world. Maybe it was completely different, maybe she wouldn't even be able to decipher it... The blonde quickly discovered that she could read its contents perfectly. Mixed feelings greeted this revelation. She was torn between the satisfaction of being able to quench her thirst for knowledge and the disappointment of having nothing to discover in this area. She was a Classic student, after all.

"This book bears witness to the succession of known facts that led to the disappearance of humans on Istarea. It was written during and shortly after the war. Some accounts of events contain errors due to the lack of hindsight and information during the writing of this work. Newer annotations are added to passages where correction is needed."

Mia had barely finished reading the preface when a series of shivers invaded her spine. An unpleasant feeling that someone was watching her every move blocked her in her reading, preventing her from turning the next page. When she turned to try to see who was causing the feeling, her body froze and she held her breath.

Danger, danger.

Her whole body was screaming at her to run for her life. There was, two tables from hers, a handsome young man staring intently at her. Not the kind of look that makes you melt, and not the kind of beauty that gives you butterflies in your stomach. No, a cold beauty and an icy gaze. Curiosity, mistrust, contempt, she had had from the inhabitants of the school, but pure and bubbling hatred was a first, and it was frightening.

Immediately, she lowered her head and returned to her reading. At least, in appearance. Her eyes moved frantically over the lines of text, pretending to be reading intently. Her sweaty hands were shaking as she flipped the pages, and her mind didn't even understand half of what she was reading, too busy telling her to run away.

It's a Vila. I'm sure of it. Lay low, her instincts told her.

The individual looked perfectly human, like all the students occupying the school. What had she expected? A monster with fangs and claws? However, the aura of power and rage he gave off did not deceive her about his dangerousness. He could kill her in the blink of an eye, she did not doubt that.

Ten minutes later, exhausted by that look that gave her the impression that the young man was trying to drill a hole in her skull, she quickly put the book away where she had recovered it and left. Relief swept over her the second her body left the Vila's sight.

In the end, she hadn't learned much more and hadn't even thought of borrowing the book to read it in the quiet of her room. This frustrated her immensely, but she'd been warned enough about these individuals, and her survival instincts had kicked in like never before.

I'll come back another time, she promised herself, annoyed to flee again.

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