Aphelion

*"Have a seat in the foyer. Take a number. I was lightning before the thunder." *

The sweet sound of Thunder by Imagine Dragons plays from my phone, signaling my alarm clock is going off. Pulling myself from the vast empty lands that are my dreams and squinting my eyes open, I peer at my phone and see it is only six am. I have half a mind to go back to sleep since it is the weekend, but then I remember why I set the alarm in the first place. I need to return to the sky kingdom and gather information on Michael. Groaning, I jab my thumb against the stop button, throw my sheets off and drag myself out of bed. I go to my ensuite bathroom and turn the hot water nozzle on in the shower before heading back to the room, where I slip off my boxers and throw them into the laundry bin. As the water is heating up, I quickly tidy my room. I pride myself on cleanliness, and I wouldn't say I like it when there's even a scrap of paper out of place. There's nothing better after a long stressful day than coming home, kicking off your shoes, and walking into a nice made-up room. I know to some I may sound neurotic, but the guys have accepted me for who I am, and they keep their best at being tidy around the house too, and Katrina seems to fit in well amongst us. The few times I've been in her room, it's always been clean.

Even if she were messy, I'd still be okay with it. It would be her one imperfection in her multitude of perfections. The one quality that would make this all feel real. Katrina worries that she's bringing chaos and destruction into our lives; she's worried she's disrupting whatever peace we've had, but Katrina doesn't know what our lives were like without her in it. They were terribly bland, boring, and uneventful. Before Katrina, my days consisted of courting Hilda because that's what was expected of me, following my dad so I could learn to lead by his example, and attending Divine Academy and excelling at all of my classes. Even if I felt something was wrong, I held my tongue, not wanting to step out of line. Having Katrina here has given me a voice, an ability to speak out if I don't like what I see and an ability to no longer be a deer stuck in headlights.

After making the bed, I head to my closet to grab an outfit for the day. I pull out a pair of black jeans from the bottom dresser drawer and reach up to grab my AC/DC band shirt before deciding against it. Today, I need to be more than the young crown prince. I need to be seen as the future king of the Sky Kingdom. I reach the far right corner of my closet, skipping through all my graphic t-shirts and the rigid school uniform. I grab the lilac dress shirt that's been sitting in the closet collecting dust since I moved into the dormitory. It's the perfect shirt for today. It'll appear professional, and the hue of the shirt will enhance my natural lilac-colored eyes. The overall look will give me an intimidating yet warm approach. The women will tell me whatever I want to know because I’m an heir. The men will tell me their secrets because they fear what I’ll do to them if they don’t.

As I step into the shower, I take in a sharp breath. The stinging heat burns so good. I let the heat of the water sink into my stiff muscles to relieve some of their aches. I’m still not one hundred percent myself yet. The attack from the succubi had really done some damage to me, but I couldn't show any signs of weakness in front of the other students. I had to act like I wasn't as affected as the others, or else havoc would run loose. If the students thought the attack had managed to drain not only a full-blooded God but an heir at that, they'd fear for their lives. And maybe they should. Danger was approaching. First, the Etir and now the clan of succubi feasting on an academy holding the most elite students in the world; whatever was headed our way couldn't be good. I just hope my cousins and I will be able to stop whatever's coming before too much destruction is brought forth. This worry is why I needed to gather as much information on Michael as possible. The sooner we find out everything we can about Lilith’s and Michael’s past, hopefully, we will discover pertinent information on who else would be strong enough to control the eitr or at least more on Katrina’s abilities she could have inherited from her parents.

I scrub myself down, giving my hair a quick wash before jumping out of the shower and patting myself dry with one of the fluffy white towels hanging from the rack. Donning my chosen outfit for the day, I look at my reflection in the mirror. My bright red hair is as unruly as ever, but I know there won't be much I can do to fix it; something about the static from the electricity that runs through my blood causes it to stick up all over the place...Or something like that anyways. Either way, it's untamable, and I don't waste any time trying to tame it. I quickly towel dry any wet spots I notice outside de the show before tossing the now-drenched towel in the hamper.

As I head out of my room, I hope to catch a quick glimpse of Katrina before I leave for the day, but much to my disappointment, she's already headed out with Luka for her tutoring class. My poor Princess is upset that she’s being forced into tutoring sessions until midterms are over, but it's honestly for the best. She's the future Queen, the ruler of the four kingdoms. She is expected to know the entire history of our realm and the human realm. She should have the ability to harness and manifest her powers, and while she has already proven herself strong enough to be our mate, Katrina hasn't proven that she can control the power she harnesses. I pull my phone from my back pocket to send her a quick text to let her know I’ll be gone for the day, but when I glimpse down at my phone, I decide against it. Somehow two hours have passed already, and I know Luka has already started his sessions with the class. Grabbing a granola bar from the cabinet, I head out of the dorm and down to Headmaster Simmons's office, having decided to take a portal back home instead of catching a ride from a pegasus.

Surprisingly the Secretary is in her office this morning, usually, on the weekend, the school offices will be closed, and the facility will have either returned to their home or at least retired in the teacher’s quarters until Monday and came along. Seeing as how she’s here now, Maddie, or what was it Maybel, or could it be Marcie...whatever her name is must be behind on her work. I give her a quick passing wave as I walk through the office and to the headmaster's door, not expecting her to reach out and grab me.

“Sorry, Prince Aphellion,” Maggie states, her hand still clutching my shoulder. “ the headmaster has instructed me not to let anyone in.

“I'm sure when he said that, he wasn't including my cousins or me,” I reply, pulling my shoulder from her grasp as I go to grab the door handle again.

“He didn't disinclude you either.” Margaret states once again, clutching me.

“Listen, Mary.” I begin.

“Matilida.” she interrupts.

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, confused.

“My name. It's Matilda, not Mary.”

“Yes, my apologies. I believe we've only met once so far, Mat.”

“Matilda,” she states firmly.

“Sorry, Matilda, then,” I reply sweetly, grinding on my teeth and forcing down my frustration, not wanting to take my irritation out on the innocent secretary just trying to do her job.

“Listen, I know you're new here, but when the headmaster gives you specific instructions, whatever he's telling you does not include my cousins or me. While he may be the headmaster of this institute, we are its rulers. Simmins and I, we've come to an understanding, and it's best if you remember that and don't try to come between it.”

“I’m sorry, your highness, but I can not....” Marty begins again, but I've already broken free from her grip and let myself into Simmin’s office before she can interrupt me again.

“Ah, Aphelion. So nice to see you, young prince.” Simmins greets me, jumping up from his desk to shake my hand.

Not only is his demeanor strange, but I also don't recognize the woman sitting in front of his desk. Her back is toward me, so all I can see why is her long ice blond hair that she has pulled into a high ponytail. She's turned her head slightly to take me in, and I can't help but appreciate her beauty. She's sin on two legs, between her big angelic blue eyes, her pouty cherry-painted red D.S.L’s, and her powerful aura. If it weren't for my Princess, I would be taking this woman and making her mine. Even fully mated, something about her lures me in.

“Sorry, headmaster, I tried to stop him.” the secretary states, peeping her head in, pulling me from my trance.

“No worries, Matilda, the princes, and their mate can come and go as they please. I should have informed you of such.”

“But of course, headmaster,” Matilda responds with gritted teeth before withdrawing from the room and closing the door behind her.

“Do I even want to know what you did to her?” Simmins asks, eyebrows raised and head pointed toward the door.

“Not a thing,” I reply, not breaking contact with the beauty sitting before Simmins. Who was this alluring woman?

“How can I assist you, Aphelion?”

“I....errr...” the woman has fully turned in her chair, now giving me a full frontal view of herself. She's wearing a black dress that stops just above her knees while sitting down. The dress hugs her curves in all the right places; her womanly attributes are displayed even from a seated position. “Have we met before?” I ask the woman, who now seems eerily familiar.

“Lilly, stop it” Simmins glares down at the woman, who turns away from me once more before he addresses me again. “Sorry, this is my wife’s cousin Lilian. She stopped by this morning to drag me away from the school l for breakfast with the family. Lilly is mute, which is why she didn't respond.”

I take my gaze away from Lilian and nod to the headmaster in understanding. “Well, I won't keep you from your family; I just need to use the portal to go home for the weekend.”

“Ah, but of course. Well, you know your way around, so I'll leave you to it. Come now, Lilly, we must be going.”

The headmaster walks around his desk and stands between Lilly and me helping her from her seat. This time when she stands and turns her gaze onto me, I'm not as drawn as I was before. Her aura seems to have diminished somehow, and she now doesn't appear so otherworldly. I tilt my head goodbye as I make my way toward the closet where the portal is kept.