With Ayra in peril the happenings of the world around him did not register in his brain. Panicked expression permanently carved onto his features with hands frantically swiping at the water in some failed attempt to remove it to get to her. Although logically this was a fruitless attempt he did it nonetheless in a last ditch desperation.
He didn’t notice the light guy who jumped into the lake — not until it dawned on him someone was getting deeper than he was able. Rufio collapsed down to his knees, pawing at the magical liquid and splashing it behind him angrily. “AYRA!” Why can’t I get to you?! Teeth ground tightly together, the anger boiling inside revealing what a hothead the fire lad could truly be. The water touching his skin began to steam as his crimson locks flared up. Rage growing and tightening his chest seeing how even Harry was able to get further into the water.
The liquid in his direct vicinity evaporated around him resulting in a gap between his body and the rest of the lake. His skin very literally boiling due to the sheer amount of frustration he felt watching her sink far out of his reach. Was this it? Was there truly nothing within his abilities to save her? Why wasn’t he allowed to go to her?
Then there was a sudden burst as Ayra propelled herself and the guy who was able to dive to her over his head with a sharp thud on the grass behind him. Red strands fell next to his cheeks and the water wrapped around his submerged limbs as the temperature in his body dropped drastically back down to a normal one. He turned his gaze to her, bewildered. Lids locked open in pure disbelief whilst she hacked up a lung. It wasn’t until she yelled, “I DID IT!” that he snapped back into reality.
Pearly whites were apparent beneath his wide grin curling beneath his light eyes in pure jubilation. Rufio darted out of the lake, jumping off the small ledge that prevent the water from splashing onto the concrete. Ayra’s laughter was utterly contagious causing him to cachinnate in turn. Without any thought to how embarrassing it may be to her, he landed beside her and scooped her torso into his arms tightly. Lips pressed against her cheek before he rested his chin atop her shoulder, swaying unintentionally in the embrace. Hot tears threatened to escape, though he didn’t care. She was here. She was safe. She finally did it.
♫ ♪ ♬ arietta rhapsody ♬ ♪ ♫
⏮⏸
Heavy⏵⏭
There was too much happening to process, especially with the music from her headset blaring in her eardrums. Curious eyes peered around at the precise moment Harry jumped into the lake near Rufio. When did he get in there? A couple blinks later and she began to wonder where his friend he had brought had gone. Not long after the girl and a boy she hadn’t seen before flew out of the water onto the grass rather harshly.
Absentmindedly she rose with quivering knees and made her way over to the pair. There was another boy she hadn’t recalled observing on campus before. Were there a lot of new people here this year? It was then that she looked up long enough to notice the immense crowd that had originally been behind her before this moment. Arietta took a couple steps back, trembling and unaware how close she was getting to Shane. Well, not until Rufio zipped passed her so fast her balance was thrown off, causing her fumbling feet to knock her right into him.
Her thin frame beneath the several layers of clothes weren’t necessarily enough to knock him over but the contact with another being caused her to freeze. What was happening? Why were so many people touching her today? She was sorted, certainly they would allow her to go to her new dorm room to be in isolation? Grant her some sort of seclusion? This was too much.
“And you say I’m cruel,” the kitsune chuckled and nudged the school’s founder, Kai Mine. Fox ears perked atop his noggin of orange curls with matching tails flowing behind him. Donned in the customary attire of one of his kindred in their anthro form. Well, honestly, he only enjoyed it for the comfort of his robes. Yellow orbs with slit pupils peering over in the Forest Elf’s direction with a sly smirk. “You left your pupil to the wolves.”
The blond man, who didn’t look a day over thirty, shook his head radically, “No! No. I am keeping a watchful gaze, am I not?” Arms extended forward in her direction.
From seemingly nowhere a deep, baritone voice chimed in, “Didn’t you request that I do the alumni speech this year?”
Kai jerked back and then calmed himself, shooting a playful glare in the dark attired man’s direction. “I do wish you gave more of a notice before appearing, Kyoko,” then came a chuckle. “It seems some of my students decided to take the limelight from you, I’m afraid. You’re more than welcome to retrieve it.”
A tiny maiden had been sitting on the balcony fence silently for quite sometime. The vision of her was quite ghostly due to her pale features, pristine white hair cascading down far past her feet, and matching white dress. Lacking pupils in her lavender hues did not aid in deterring such an assumption. It was the heavenly tune that arose her to speak, “I advise you put her under the wing of someone who can understand her affinity, young one. She lacks an understanding of how glorious the gift of sound can be.”
“None of them look like they get it.” The bat demon Kyoko rolled his eyes. “Look at them! This ceremony was taken far more seriously in my day.”
“You speak as though you’re the oldest one here!” bellowed the kitsune, laughing his face off very similarly to the young Rufio. “Ya definitely look it, though,” he said with a snicker.
“Why don’t you shut your—!”
Kai rose a hand, resulting in the two males to fall silent as they looked to where the founder was. Light eyes locked onto the crowd of students with a concerned expression. Brows furrowed, checking the vicinity below them. “Check the grounds. Something isn’t—”
“He is coming. We must brace ourselves,” the spiritual woman spoke solemnly without removing her attention from Arietta.
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