Chapter One

A/N: pic above is Andrew, idk if it's clickable to fully view tho?

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Andrew stared down from an oval-shaped window at the front of the little tube-shaped cargo plane. Even through the thick fog, the meadow shimmered and sparkled with white lilies.

The flight had departed the islands once both suns went down, and traveled fast enough to have the glowing meadow blocked by the mountain side before daylight broke. Andrew was not superstitious, but the flowers were said to be bright enough to permanently blind anyone who gazed directly into a meadow of thousands.

Andrew thought nervously about the place he was headed to; most islanders never left the archipelago and weren't on such good terms with the mountain folk. There wasn't even a passenger plane he could travel on because visits between the two continents were so few and far between. And sure, there were plenty of schools he could attend back home, but he needed to escape— and there was no one left to miss.

Andrew peered down as the plane descended below the clouds. The mountains formed a circle around a large crater on the ground which he still couldn't quite make out from his height. The closer sun sparkled on the mountain tops, casting little rainbows over the icy tips. It was a small star although it was close, and it emitted a blue-tinted sparkle. The warmer sun was bright orange, it spread a dawn tinted glow on the lush greenery that spread across the range.

Andrew clutched his armrest as his seat suddenly swiveled ninety-degrees, the wingless plane zooming into a vertical position before gently placing its backend on the ground; like how rockets used to do before space exploration was a thing of the past. Gusty wind hit him like a thousand freezing needles as he disembarked onto the slippery tarmac, dangerously coated in ice.

A shadowy figure watched him from a distance. Scarlet lips slowly upturned into a satisfied smile. Andrew shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around his sun-tanned skin as a chilling dread ran down his spine.

Thick, dark clouds hid the two suns, casing a dome around the mountaintops. He took a series of trains up the side of the Northern mountain, which housed the larger of the two waterfalls in the range. Unlike the small waterfall on the Western mountain, this one started all the way from the foggy peak. Legend had it that it streamed down from the mythical fae lands on Ather's top-most point.

The water's rainbow tint only served to reinforce the legend, it's white froth glimmering and shifting between pastel shades. Andrew couldn't tell whether it was just the sun casting a long rainbow, or whether it was actually falling from the fae land's magical rainbow ocean. He decided that the clouds were too dense for a rainbow to shine through because he liked to believe in the myths.

He had always been one to believe in the myths; it was the only way to escape reality.

The university loomed up ahead, intimidatingly enormous against the grey, foggy skies. It was an old, grand castle that had been renovated into one of the most prestigious university colleges on the mountain range. Its tall spires pierced the clouds and the mist wrapped around its ornamental turrets.

The castle protruded from the mountainside; the right side of the building being just at the edge of a sharp cliff which ran almost all the way to the bottom of the jagged mountain. The front of the building was curved outwards and its stone curtain walls ran off to either side and to the back, housing the dormitories.

Andrew could barely hang on to his luggage as he made his way to the towering entrance, his fingers so frozen that they felt numb. He tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, but his airways seemed to have frozen up too.

There were a bunch of other students clustered in groups around the campus. Their ages ranged from sixteen to twenty-one, but they all wore the same school uniform, and it was hard to tell apart the high school kids from the college students.

They all turned to give curious looks to the new kid who suddenly joined in the middle of the semester. Andrew quickened his pace across the long stone path which curved languidly from the heavy brass gates to the front entrance of the college, eager to hurry to his dorm room and be away from their inquisitive gazes.

He stepped through the dark wooden double doors that were about twelve feet in height and eight across, as if it were made for giants, and realized that the inside of the building was even grander. The entrance hall was absolutely humongous with there being overlooking balconies from each floor instead of a ceiling, making the roof so high that Andrew could barely see the top of it. A lavishly carpeted double staircase stood proudly in the center of the hall with a huge fireplace right in the middle. Andrew could barely take it all in before his open-mouthed wonder was suddenly interrupted.

'Hey, you must be Andrew!'

Andrew swiveled around quickly to register the boy standing behind him in the hall. He immediately liked the ginger-haired boy's friendly grin and the generous dusting of freckles over his perky nose.

'I'm your student rep,' the boy explained pleasantly, 'Want me to show you to your dorm?'

His ginger hair was a mess atop his head, curling up below his ears. It was quite a bit shorter than Andrew's own black curls.

'Oh, thanks... I'm Andrew....'

'I know,' the boy grinned, 'I just called you that.'

'Oh.' Andrew wished he could think of something more comprehensive to say as he exhaled heavily and followed the boy to the right of the hall and down a wide corridor.

'So, all the boys' dorms are around here, in the right wing near the student lounge; the girls' dorms and non-binary dorms are both on the left side of the school, near the courtyard...' he rambled, 'I'm Evan by the way... oh, and here, I have your class schedule. Looks like you'll be having all your subjects with me.'

'Thanks.' Andrew accepted it gratefully, glad that when he walked into class the next day he'd see a familiar face. Before he could register his surroundings, Evan was already swinging open a dark, wooden door.

'Well, here's your dorm, it's just directly opposite from mine. Your roommate's not here right now,' he announced, peering into the room.

Andrew stepped into the small, neat room. He couldn't see any sign of a roommate, no empty food cartons or socks lying around. At least the guy was neat, but there weren't even any posters up on the walls to hint at a trace of living.

'Want me to show you to the common room? You can meet everyone; classes have already ended for the day.'

'Uhh sure,' Andrew agreed hesitantly, his voice soft and barely audible.

He could feel his palms starting to sweat as he thought about meeting a bunch of people who already knew each other. Andrew's stomach tossed as he wondered how they would react to him. He heaved his luggage onto the bare desk and followed Evan back down the hall.

Doors lined both sides of the wide hallway, and an abundance of light emanated from intricate wall sconces. Andrew ran his hand along the paneled wall, taking in the dark wood that lined the space from floor to ceiling. It wasn't exactly a cozy place, but it was very spacious and the ceilings were high.

'Let's stop by the cafeteria first,' Evan suggested, realizing that Andrew might be quite hungry after his journey, 'They finished serving dinner about an hour ago, but there's a vending machine for snacks and drinks.'

Andrew got a bag of chips, and on their way out they were met by a tall boy with a smooth oval face and pink lips. His hair was naturally purple with slim purple eyebrows and lashes over lavender monolid eyes.

'I'm Jesse,' he muttered, quickly introducing himself. He seemed just as awkward as Andrew himself when he had to meet someone new, and neither of them made direct eye contact.

'We're going to the common room,' Evan told Jesse as he grabbed his hand.

He pulled Andrew with his free hand and The two boys both awkwardly trailed down the hallway behind Evan. Jesse seemed rather embarrassed with the situation as his eyes flickered away from Andrew.

They went back towards the right wing where Andrew's dorm was and arrived quickly at another big hall, but this one far cozier. There was a small bookshelf along one wall with a ton of beanbags strewed around it. On the other side was a foosball table with a gathering of other students around it, engrossed in a game. A thin smart-glass was mounted on the far wall and was currently set to television mode. It played an old music video from a few centuries ago, featuring the popular girl band, The Beatles.

Sitting separately at a table further away were a boy and girl in a seemingly intense discussion. The boy sat very rigidly and was speaking in a low, serious voice. His thick, dark brown hair was mostly straight but curled up slightly around his strong jaw.

The girl rocked on her chair and paid little to no attention to him, being more interested in what was going on around the foosball table. Her feet were on the table and her chair tipped over at such a precarious angle that Andrew thought she would fall over any minute.

Her hair was cropped short and jet-black like his own, but unlike his, hers looked unnatural, dyed to the darkest shade and contrasting strikingly with her sparkling blue eyes. They were framed by long, thick eyelashes and dark brows which carried a single silver piercing.

She caught him staring off-guard and her chair suddenly fell over, but she swiftly stood without falling with it. She was about the same height as himself, although in all fairness that didn't say much, but Andrew thought she looked very tall and stately. She was utterly graceful in her stillness, something that seemed to be bred into her, but there was a toughness in her demeanor and all poise was broken when she bounced up gaily and shouted 'HEY' right into his face.

Andrew looked taken aback as she waved her arm in a big circle in front of his face.

'Uh, hi.'

'I'm Marie!' she shouted, her bubbliness seemingly unfazed by his lackluster reply. He stared back at her face dumbly as she slung a denim clad arm casually over his shoulders. She wore a vintage denim jacket over her school uniform instead of the blazer that she was supposed to wear, and her short chewed-on fingernails were coated with sparkly rainbow-colored nail polish with a different color on each nail. Peeking out from under her jacket sleeves were a ton of colorful hippie bangles- that were definitely not in trend since about five world wars ago.

Andrew ducked his head, flushing slightly under her open gaze. He noticed mismatched socks peeking over the tops of her purple combat boots. One of them was a bit longer and had rainbow stripes, and the shorter one had sparkly polka dots.

She dragged him towards the table where the boy she was with was glaring at her openly. Andrew assumed this was her boyfriend because he didn't seem too pleased about their private conversation being disturbed by the other guys who all followed behind her to the table.

'This is James,' she proclaimed loudly as she gave him a sweeping introduction with her arm, which promptly hit James on the nose.

James shot her an annoyed glare but didn't offer up any type of greeting. His piercing blue-green eyes raked Andrew up and down. Andrew tried to tear his gaze away from the chilling stare and looked instead at his nose. It was a trick he had learned that concentrating on someone's nose was usually close enough to give the impression that he was making eye contact.

Evan smiled at him and nodded towards Andrew, 'Hey James, this is Andrew.'

Realizing he still hadn't greeted him, Andrew quickly choked out, 'Uh yea, hi I'm Andrew um....' He paused, his mind wiped of all thoughts and words, let alone conversation starters.

James narrowed his eyes at him, offering up no reply. His silence worsened Andrew's anxious state, making him feel like an irritating inconvenience who James wanted nothing to do with. Greeting strangers who actually spoke back already drained him to the core. Trying to speak to someone who made Andrew feel like anything he would say would be annoying, and completely worthless, was impossible.

Trying to stop his mind from spiraling as it often did, Andrew kept his gaze fixed on the other boy's nose. James's nose was seemingly aristocratic, straight and sharp like the rest of his face, but unlike his beautifully carved mouth which looked like it could curve into a beautiful smile. If he ever did smile that is. Right now, he was looking at Andrew with an expression that could only described as, well... murderous.

'This is your new roommate,' Evan jumped in, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

Oh crap, of course it was.

'I am aware,' James replied shortly. His voice was as cold and emotionless as his icy stare. It held a slight, rather old-fashioned accent which didn't fit into any place or time, sounding instead like a blend of many.

Andrew stared at him wordlessly, frozen in place for what felt like eons, before James finally got up and left.

A/n: ^I tried drawing Andrew xP