"Are you alright?" asked a voice that Princess Marina immediately recognized.
"Aldric?" Princess Marina said as she raised her head.
"I am sorry Princess Marina." Aldric said with a bow.
"I got a little lost so I didn't watch where I was going so I-" Aldric said, speaking quickly before noticing her expression.
"Are you okay, Princess Marina?" Aldric asked softly and Princess Marina broke down.
"No." Princess Marina said as she shook her head in pain.
"No." Princess Marina said again, as she stood there crushed and hopeless.
"I thought I was." Princess Marina said as a single tear streamed down her right eye.
"I convinced myself I was." Princess Marina said as more tears began to fall.
"But I realized," Princess Marina said as choked on her words a little.
"I wasn't." Princess Marina said with a sad smile that caused Aldric's heart to throb painfully.
First year building.
The first class of the semester for those blessed by the spirit of fire.
"My name is instructor Zandra Aile and I am in charge of the creation class for first year students." Zandra Aile said as she wrote her name on the board.
"To me, creation is something to be practiced so most of our classes will be held here." Zandra Aile said as she gestured to the room which had lots of spare parts and tools on a desk and chairs and tables that were arranged in a circular formation.
"As it's the first class, today's topic will be simple." Zandra Aile said with a smile on her lips.
"The first topic of the year is joy." Zandra Aile said with a smile.
"Create a project that brings joy to you no matter what it is and explain the process by which you created it." Zandra Aile said and every student except Princess Marina got up from their seats with enthusiasm and headed to the desk filled with tools, spare parts, ore fragments and mini crystals in the centre of the room.
Picking up large pieces of black malleable metal, a single sheet of green malleable metal, several pieces of white and blue glowing stones in different sizes, a substance used in making transparent molds a hammer and a chisel with a rounded tip, Princess Marina got to work in building a scene that was a recurring part in both her good and bad dreams.
Laying the large black piece of metal on the table on its side, Princess Marina used the heat from her hands to melt a huge chunk of it. Turning the melted part to face her, Princess Marina melted the green sheet of metal she brought and placed it at the bottom of the huge chunk of metal to act as grass at the base. Using her hammer and a chisel with a rounded tip, Princess Marina poked small holes of different sizes in what would be the ceiling of the black piece of metal before placing the white and blue glowing stones in the holes to create an illusion of a starry sky. Overlaying the holes with a black sheet of metal, Princess Marina heated the sides of a new sheet of metal and pressed it to the top of the black metal to cover the holes she has made.
Satisfied that the top of her project looked presentable, Princess Marina grabbed the translucent molds and shaped two wolves from its legs to its belly to its small neck and little head, to its snout and holes for eyes and used a black and white substance to fill the mold. To create an illusion of fantasy, Princess Marina got to work on creating another ceiling by bringing another piece of the black metal, straightening it with a hammer and lining the edges of the metal with fragments of a blue ore. Creating a large circular transparent mold, Princess Marina placed the mold in the second ceiling and got to work creating mini plants and little blades of grass to make her work a little more realistic.
Princess Marina had just added the finishing touches to her work when a gong sounded in the room.
"Its time to present your projects." Zandra Aile said with a smile.