Solaris Ch. 02 - The Second Trial

Wow I did not realize how long it had been since posting, sorry! Here is the second installment. I am still working on this story and hopefully should have more posted soon. This is a slow burn type of story so I hope you'll hang on with me! Enjoy!

Mia opened her eyes and forgot for a moment where she was, in the little nook of the library's archive. She pulled out her phone and saw 15 missed calls from Lissa, several texts, and a message from Lucas. Shit, it was now 4 PM meaning she had been asleep for nearly the whole day. Mia tried to stand too quickly and bumped her head on the nearby bookcase "Ow fuck!" she swore loudly. Mia texted Lissa to let her know she had fallen asleep in the library and she was coming back to the dorm now. She also sent Lucas a message to let him know Lissa was overreacting and she was fine. After trying to douse the flames of her little oops she headed back up to her room.

Lissa was in the room on her bed and she stood up immediately to see Mia cross the threshold. "What the hell dude!? You rushed out the door last night, you left this morning without a word and then disappeared all day without so much as a word." She exasperated.

Mia held up her hands in a sign of peace "I know, I know. I was just really tired from the trial and I had to meet with someone this morning. I went to the library to do some reading and then I fell asleep. I'm sorry if you were worried"

Lissa frowned "Meeting with who?"

"Uh professor Morgan, he needed to ask me about some stuff for placement and asked for a quick meeting." Mia lied as she made her way over to her desk and opened her laptop. "In fact, I should have my placement now" opening her email she checked to see if it was there yet. Placements should have gone out by three so hopefully she wouldn't be caught in her lie.

"Class placements: Mia Collymore

Placement: Chemistry.

Courses: 10:30 AM Chemistry of Magic (STEM 1001) 60 minutes MWF

11:45 AM Ethics in Elemental Transmutation (STEM 1021) 60 minutes T THR

1:00 PM History of the Divine and Divinations (CST 2031) 60 minutes MWF

2:30 PM Alchemy and Transmutation (STEM 2045) Lecture 60 minutes, Lab 90 minutes T THR

2:00 PM Calculus II (CST 2052) 45 minutes MWF"

Mia frowned at her course list; they assigned her Chemistry? Why? She wanted environmentalism. She would need to send an email to professor Morgan about her placement, this wasn't fair she didn't need or want to be in chemistry. Her father and brother had an apt for it and while she understood it, it wasn't her cup of tea. Lissa saw the furrow of her brow and tight-lipped stare at the screen "I take it you didn't get Environmentalism?"

Mia huffed "They gave me Chemistry... What about you?"

"Marketing, surprisingly" Lissa said, trying not to sound overly excited. She actually got her first pick and didn't want Mia to feel worse. "I think it's because I am too dumb for architectural glamor, but you are smart enough for Chemistry." Lissa said, trying to find the good in the situation.

Mia sighed "I guess."

"I'm gonna grab dinner early, want to join me?" Lissa asked, grabbing her bag.

"No, I'm not overly hungry. I'll be down later and I'll see you tonight"

Lissa left and Mia waited a few minutes before grabbing the pixie out of her backpack and stashing it under her mattress when her laptop chimed, notifying her that a new email had been delivered. She sat back down at the desk and noticed it was her personal email, the email was titled "Mia in the dust." Her eyes widened as she clicked into the email. It was a video of her in the nook of the library clearly showing her face as she took a hit of the pixie, stashed it in her backpack and then fell asleep.

Mia's eyes were wide in horror at seeing herself in the video, she would be expelled if this got out, her family may disown her, she could even be arrested for being caught with the substance. She was hyperventilating as she scrolled down to read the message in the email:

"If you want your video back, follow these instructions: Do not tell anyone of this email, come to the forest tonight at 11 PM, walk into the north east and continue until you find the meadow. Come alone, do not tell anyone where you are going. Failure to comply will result in this video being released."

Mia's heart was pounding out of her chest, her fingers shaking as she wrote down the directions and deleted the email. She closed her laptop and began to pace the room. Who would have known she was there? How did they find out who she was? What did they want from her? All these questions swam in her brain as she became more and more anxious about the possibility of this video being released. She still had the trial for the C.O.H. Tonight at 9 PM, she hoped she would be able to finish in time. How was she going to concentrate on the trial when she was unsure of who was trying to blackmail her? Mia was overwhelmed, she went to the mattress and pulled the pixie out. If she was gonna be stressed about possibly getting caught with drugs she might as well be high.

Mia took a small amount out and inhaled it into her system, she felt her body physically relax a little. She took a deep breath and thought of her best possible course of action. It was likely that whoever this was likely knew who she was and wanted money, she thought of Henry at that moment. It could be him, wanting to squeeze her into more money by keeping her on the hook with the video. But why wouldn't he just have asked for money in the email? If it was him, she could threaten him by exposing him as a seller. Mia steeled herself, if he wanted to play then she could play too and teach him a lesson about messing with a Collymore.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mia had arrived at the cottage at 8:50 PM and there were already about 6 people there before her. Mason and Sophia were there and she joined up with them, Mason smiled at her "Any ideas on what we're doing tonight?" She asked.

Sophia shook her head but said "I hope it doesn't involve mud again, it took me forever to clean my shoes."

Mia laughed and Lissa arrived a few moments later, she looked out of breath, her normally immaculate hair mussed, her chest flushed. Mia held her tongue but it looked like she had just finished having sex.

"Hey! We were wondering when you were gonna show up" Sophia said to Lissa.

"If you aren't 5 minutes early, you're late. Looks like they are really running out of candidates lately. Such a shame." A pretentious voice said, all four of them looked to the source of the words. It was the blonde girl that Mia saw Noah talking to yesterday before she had left. She had beautiful platinum blonde hair, cut in a long bob. Her features were sharp and refined, with high cheekbones and full, pouty lips. She was slim and tall; she had no defining curves but long graceful limbs. Despite her physical beauty, there was a coldness in her eyes and a haughty lift to her chin that betrayed her pretentious nature as well as her overly pompous voice as she blatantly insulted Lissa for arriving at the time of the meeting rather than before.

Lissa, Mia, and Sophia stared daggers at the blonde girl, Lissa was just about to open her mouth and retort back when the door to the cottage opened and the pledges were instructed to head inside. The pretentious blonde walked right in front of Mia and Lissa giving them an evil smile as she cut them off.

"What a bitch" Mia whispered to Lissa.

Lissa's lips were stiff with anger as they walked into the gathering area. The cloaks were back again, but Mia could spot Noah now as he was one of the tallest in the room. They all stood in a line, the leader and two others stood at the front. The one to the right of the leader spoke this time "Tonight will be the Trial of Knowledge, it will take place down stairs."

A panicked look took over Lissa's face, Mia tried to give her a reassuring look. They walked silently to the stairs and began to walk down, in front of her Mason reached back and put a note into Mia's hand. She pocketed the note and kept walking forward, the modern of the house disappeared and they were walking in what looked like a catacomb. The air was musty and damp, the once modern walls turned into roughhewn stone. They entered a large room with torches on the walls bathing the room in a soft glow. There were arches that led to different paths on all sides. Mia counted 15 different paths; she wondered if these led all the way under the campus. The 14 pledges were lined up along the south wall of the room. There were 8 members of the Council of Helios present tonight, the three from before stood in front of the group and the others stood around the room in front of an archway.

The same cloaked figure from before spoke "Tonight is the trial of Knowledge, these catacombs are as old as the castle and go on for miles, in them we have hidden artifacts. Your job is to find one artifact and bring it here within 1 hour, you will have a tracking device on you so that if you get lost, we can retrieve you later. We will not tell you what the artifacts look like and there are false ones, if you bring back a false artifact you are disqualified, you get lost and do not return within the allotted time you are disqualified. Oh, and one more thing, you may only use a torch for light. No phones, no flashlights. On the list you will be handed will describe what artifacts to look for. It is up to you to figure out where they are and if you found a real one. Good luck"

Each pledge was fitted with a tracking device on their arm, a piece of paper describing the various artifacts, and a single torch.

Mia stared down at the paper and knitted her brows, there were only 10 items listed. There was a total of 14 pledges, and the list was very bare. This was going to be quite difficult, she looked at Mason and he gave her a wink, Sophia who was twisting her mouth looking at the list, and Lissa who looked ghost white.

Mia strategized that she would need to pick one artifact and try to find it before anyone else could. She looked down at the bare bones list:

The Ring of the Nibelung: A golden ring- south

The Book of Shadows: An ancient tome- north

The Crystal Ball: A glass sphere- west

The Medallion of Asclepius: A golden medallion- south

The Vorpal Blade: A sword- east

The Horseshoe of Luck: A magical horseshoe- east

The Heart of the Ocean: A beautiful blue diamond- north

The Horn of Valhalla: A mythical horn- west

The Amulet of Isis: An ancient Egyptian necklace- north

The Wand of Orion: A powerful wand- west

She would go for the Horseshoe; it was one of only two that were east and that was likely her best bet. The pledges all lined up again with their torches and lists, the same C.O.H. Member barked "GO!" and everyone began to run towards an archway. Mia headed to an eastern tunnel and began to run down it. Mia raced through the winding catacombs, her heart pounding in her chest. She clutched her torch tightly, the flame flickering in the darkness as she ran. She could hear the footsteps of the other searchers echoing around her. It was confusing, it sounded like others were right next to her but she was sure she was the only one that went down this path. She turned a corner and went left, she went forward and came to a fork, she went right this time. Making sure she was taking a mental map in her mind so she wouldn't get lost. She made her way further into the catacombs no longer running but checking for any nooks or hidden spots for an artifact. When she saw none, she continued, her flame dancing in the darkness, she felt a weight settle over her chest. A chill ran down her spine and an eerie voice sounded.

"Mia..."

Mia stopped and looked around, she couldn't see anyone or anything near her. She held her breath, not moving a single limb.

It whispered again.

"I know why you have come... I know what you seek dear child" the whisper licked across her skin as if it was right next to her.

"Who's there?" She called, trying to sound confident but it came out shaky.

Mia was practically shaking, her torch blowing as if there was a gust of wind in the catacombs. She ran.

Mia ran down deeper into the tunnels; she didn't know if that thing was nearby but she wanted to get the hell away. She stumbled on an uneven stone and tumbled forward, bashing her knee into the stone as she fell, dropping her torch. She cried out at the impact and cradled her injured leg; her torch went out and she was immersed in darkness. Not good. She tried to stand and winced, she used the wall to help herself up. As Mia stood, she noticed a slight glow, it was in the direction she ran from. Against her better judgment she started to limp towards it, seeing as she had to get out of the tunnels anyway. It was only a faint glow; one you would have missed if you had a torch. She used the wall as a guide and there was a small aperture where the wall met the floor. How had she missed this? She grasped at the faint glowing object and yelped, she pulled her hand back and noticed she had cut her thumb on the item. Mia wiped the blood on her pants and tried again but lower, she touched the hilt of a sword. She lifted the heavy blade out of the aperture. She had found the Vorpal Blade! Now all she had to do was get the heavy and very sharp blade back to the main room. Easier said than done. Her knee was throbbing in pain and although she could put some weight on it, it hurt like a bitch!

Mia winced as she stood upright and lifted the sword with both hands. She walked slowly and would feel the wall for where the changes in the tunnel were. She found the fork and went left and then found the corner, she turned right and kept walking and feeling the wall. She started to see a glow in front of her and tried to pick up the pace. Mia walked back into the main room they had started with and a now uncloaked member immediately came over to her.

"Here is the Vorpal Blade" she said slightly out of breath. The tall dark-skinned man took the blade from her "Elijah, I need you over here!"

The leader- Elijah, strode over and looked down at the Blade and then at Mia. "Where did you find this?" He snapped at her.

She was taken aback "In the east corridor like I was told."

"This is the Real Vorpal Blade. All of the artifacts that were hidden were replicas." he said, staring at the blade.

Mia shook her head "I don't know, I just followed the glow and found it. I'm sorry."

Elijah called for another member named Ava, a short girl with black hair and thick round glasses. She bowed and took the blade from Elijah and disappeared upstairs. Elijah shot Mia a glare and she had understood he was done talking to her so she hobbled over to the opposite side of the room and sat down, it looked like she was the first one there. That was a shocker seeing how she felt like she was stuck down there for many hours, not 25 minutes. She lifted her pant leg and there was dried blood crusting the material to her gash. It was still slightly bleeding and while the cut wasn't too severe the bruise was already starting to form. Fuck, then she remembered that Mason gave her a note before the trial and she had stuck it into her pocket. Mia pulled out the note and unfurled it "Wednesday at 8, dinner?" Mia smiled as she read the note, she slipped it back into her pocket and thought about this was going to be her first real date.

She had some parties with the travelers that came through the resort. We even went to the beach one night with Michael who gave her some pixie and he had convinced her to give him her virginity. It was a nice time and she certainly enjoyed herself but no man had actually taken her on a real date, she was almost giddy with excitement.

The next pledge to show up was a short guy with glasses, he held the book of shadows. The one after him was Sophia, she held the Crystal ball and went to sit by Mia.

"Oh my god what happened to you! How do you always get banged up during these things?" She gave her a concerned look and sat down. "So, when did you figure out that they were all fakes? I found it and started to freak out thinking I messed up but then I realized they were probably all fakes and that was part of the test."

Mia had decided that it was best not to tell anyone that the artifact she found was real, seeing as the members didn't know why it was there it would probably make things worse. "I found the Vorpal Blade but I tripped and hit my knee. I was shocked I was the first one back. Those tunnels make everything feel... off."

"It was honestly kinda spooky in there. I felt like there were others behind me but there was no one..." Sophia practically whispered.

"I thought I heard voices" The short guy with glasses piped up, overhearing their conversation. Mia and Sophia swiveled their heads at the shorter man, standing at about 5'6", with a slender build and a timid demeanor. His dark hair was messy and unkempt, as if he had been running his hands through it in frustration. His glasses were slightly askew, adding to his nerdy appearance. Despite his shyness, his brown eyes shone with intelligence and curiosity. His skin was pale and clear, with just a hint of stubble on his chin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to join in your conversation. I just... I felt off in the tunnels and didn't know if anyone else felt it too. I'm Asher by the way"

"Yeah, that's okay. I think these catacombs are a little spooky for sure. I'm Mia and this is Sophia."

Sophia smiled and nodded, then Mason came through one of the North holding The Amulet of Isis and whooping as he came in. He looked surprised that there were others already there, he handed his artifact to the same member that approached Mia and then strided over. He saw her knee and concern was immediately etched on his face. "Mia! Your knee! What happened?"

"I tripped on some uneven stone and well" she said, gesturing to her bruised and bloodied knee. Mason also caught sight of her hand and saw the cut on her thumb and palm, Mia recoiled her hand when she noticed he saw.

"Well placements were handed out today so I suppose the doctor is in." Mason placed his hands on Mia's knee and began to press his power into her. Knitting the skin and healing the forming bruise, once it was healed, he did the same to her hand and Sophia and Asher were in awe of Masons ability.

"You're a healer! Holy shit and a strong one!" Sophia blurted loudly. Asher had a look of amazement on his face. "You're incredible," he said in an even tone. "I'm Asher by the way."

Mason extended his hand to shake "Mason Curran" and he gave him a bright smile.

The rest of the pledges all began to filter in, Mia saw the pretentious blonde hand over the heart of the Ocean with a smirk. The clock was ticking down and only 15 minutes remained. Just then out of the south corridor Lissa appeared with The Ring of the Nibelung. She looked exhausted and handed over her artifact, as she did, she walked by the blonde bitch and flipped her off. Blondy was openly offended but said nothing. Lissa sat down with Mia, Sophia, Mason, and Asher. "Holy shit that was hard, I swear I got lost like 4 times." Lissa bemoaned.

They all laughed and the 10th pledge arrived. Meaning that the trial was over.

The tall dark-skinned member from earlier spoke "The trial has concluded, the 10 of you will move forward to the next stage. We will not meet again until the first week of classes end. You will receive correspondence on the next trial before it begins. As for tonight you may head up the stairs where refreshments are waiting."

Lissa raised her hand "Oh are you going to tell us your names or how should we address you?"

He shot her glare "A nonmember is not worthy of our identities. If you become a member then you shall learn our names and we will be brothers and sisters. You have earned no such right as of now you will refer to any member as Sir, or Ma'am." he said sternly.