Whispers of Worlds Beyond: A Series - Chapter 100

Chapter 100: Procrastination Chapter 100: Procrastination As they made their way to the dorms, Jarek and Rupert exchanged a glance before Jarek spoke up.

“Mind if we join you lot?” he asked, adjusting the strap of his bag.

“Figured we’d all end up working on that paper anyway.

Might as well do it together.” Adrian raised a brow but didn’t object, and Aiden nodded easily.

“Yeah, of course.

We’ll just grab our stuff first, then we can do it in the common room.” “Great, thanks,” Rupert said, rolling his shoulders.

“Honestly, I’d rather work with you three than sit through another afternoon of Jarek claiming he ‘works better under pressure’ and then scrambling at the last second.” “Hey!” Jarek shot him an exaggeratedly wounded look.

“That is a proven technique!

I thrive under pressure.” “Right, because you don’t give yourself a choice.” Adrian smirked.

“Can’t wait to see you ‘thriving’ when you realise we actually have to turn in proper research, not just whatever you cobble together in the last five minutes.” Jarek scoffed but didn’t argue, and the group continued towards the dormitory hall.

The afternoon light streamed in through the tall windows, casting long shadows on the stone floor.

Most students were either outside in the training hall or in the library, so the halls were quieter than usual, the faint murmur of conversations echoing from open doors.

When they reached their rooms, Aiden, Adrian, and Sevan stepped into theirs while Jarek and Rupert headed to theirs down the hall.

Sevan set his bag down on his neatly organised desk, adjusting a stack of books before glancing at the others.

“Just so we’re clear, if either of you expect me to write your parts for you, I will make sure your sections are very wrong.” Adrian snorted, shrugging off his jacket.

“Oh, come on, you wouldn’t do that to me.” “I absolutely would,” Sevan replied without hesitation.

Aiden chuckled, grabbing his notebook from his bed.

“Let’s just get this done before he actually follows through on that threat.” A few students sat around, either reading or chatting in low voices, but the space wasn’t too crowded for the boys.

They even saw Collei sitting on one of the walls, reading a book so nonchalantly.

Yes, it’s sitting on the walls.

Aiden did a double take but paid her no mind.

Aiden, Adrian, Sevan, Jarek, and Rupert had taken over a round wooden table near the fireplace, their books and papers spread across the surface in a clutter of notes, half-written drafts, and open textbooks.

“So,” Jarek said, flipping through his book lazily, “the Solari Revolution…

remind me why we have to care about a bunch of Soleians deciding they don’t like their ruler?” “Because it completely reshaped Soleil,” Sevan replied, already writing notes in his neat handwriting.

“Before the revolution, Soleil had a monarchy that ruled over everything.

The Solari rebellion overthrew the old king and put Egan the Lion on the throne, shifting the entire structure of power.” Rupert sighed, rubbing his temple.

“I get that, but why do we have to write a full paper on it?

Can’t we just say ‘Egan won, new king, the end’ and be done with it?” Adrian smirked, tapping his pen against the table.

“If you want to fail, sure.

But the revolution wasn’t just about one guy taking over.

It was about an entire kingdom rebelling against a ruler they didn’t trust.

The way Soleil is governed now comes directly from that war.” Aiden, who had been reading through their assigned text, looked up.

“It’s strange to think about.

A whole kingdom made entirely of Magi, with no humans involved at all.

Back on Earth, it’s the opposite- there’s no Magi at all.

Just humans ruling everything.” That made the others pause.

Jarek raised a brow.

“Wait.

No Magi?

At all?” Aiden shook his head.

“None.

People rely on science and technology instead.

There are machines for everything- transportation, communication, medicine.

Everything that magic does here, humans figured out how to do without it.” Rupert frowned.

“But… if you don’t have magic, how do people defend themselves?

What happens if there’s a war?” “Technology again,” Aiden said simply.

“Weapons, tactics, intelligence.

Wars still happen, but they’re fought with machines instead of magic.” Adrian let out a low whistle.

“That’s wild.

I can’t even picture a world without magic.

No spells, no creatures, no enchantments?

It sounds… empty.” Aiden let out a short laugh.

“It’s not empty.

It’s just different.

People still find ways to make life exciting like sports, movies, video games, music.

It’s just a different kind of world.” Sevan sighed, turning back to his paper.

“Alright, as interesting as this is, we actually need to finish this before the deadline.

Aiden, you can tell us more about Earth later.” “Yeah, yeah,” Aiden said with a slight laugh, flipping open his book.

Jarek groaned dramatically.

“Fine, but after this, I want to hear more about those ‘videro games’ you mentioned.” “Deal,” Aiden said, a small smile playing at his lips.

With that, they turned back to their papers.

As they worked, the conversation kept drifting back to Earth, much to Sevan’s frustration.

“You know,” Adrian said, absentmindedly tapping his pen against the table, “Earth music is probably the only thing I actually like about that place.” Aiden glanced up.

“Still thinking about that?” “Of course,” Adrian said.

“The music there is alive.

It’s raw, loud, rebellious.

It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just is.” He motioned for his band shirt that he wore instead of the uniform.

It was black with the logo of the Rolling Stones.

“Still collecting band shirts, too.

Found one with The Beatles on it.

Not sure what half the words mean, but it looks cool.” Rupert raised a brow.

“Wait, still?

Thought that was just a phase.” “Not a phase,” Adrian shot back.

“Still want to be punk rock.” Jarek snorted.

“I knew you were secretly trying to be one of those humans with the crazy hairstyles.” Adrian rolled his eyes.

“It’s not about the hair.

It’s about the attitude.

Humans may be weak, but their music?

It feels strong.” “You don’t actually think humans are just weak, do you?” Adrian shrugged.

“They don’t have magic.

They break easy.

But they still act like they can take on the world.

That’s what I don’t get.” He leaned back.

“Maybe that’s why their music sounds the way it does.” Sevan sighed, rubbing his temples.

“We are never finishing this paper at this rate.” “Fine, fine,” Adrian muttered, flipping open his book.

“But later, I’m making Aiden explain all those weird Earth bands to me.” With that, they (mostly) refocused on their assignment, though Aiden could tell Adrian’s mind was still half in another world- one filled with guitars, leather jackets, and loud, rebellious music.

As the night deepened, the common room of Genvah Academy had mostly emptied, leaving Aiden, Adrian, Sevan, Jarek, and Rupert surrounded by scattered papers and ink-stained fingers.

Their Solari Revolution papers were finally done, but as they sat back in relief, Rupert suddenly froze.

“Wait,” he muttered, eyes wide.

“Professor Mopsus’ dream thing.

That’s due tomorrow, isn’t it?” Aiden nodded.

“Yeah.

A week’s worth of recorded dreams and interpretations.” Silence.

Then, in perfect unison, Jarek, Rupert, and Adrian groaned.

“Great,” Jarek muttered, rubbing his temples.

“I barely remember one dream, let alone seven.” Rupert sighed dramatically.

“Guess we’re making things up.” Sevan raised a brow.

“You’re all seriously going to fabricate an entire week of dreams?

Mopsus is a Seer.

He’ll know.” “Then he should’ve seen this coming.” Aiden stifled a laugh as Rupert and Jarek quickly began scribbling down whatever nonsense came to mind.

Jarek’s dreams ranged from flying over Genvah Academy on a golden griffin to discovering a hidden kingdom beneath the library.

Rupert, still half-delirious from exhaustion, wrote about a sentient cloud that kept asking him riddles.

Adrian, naturally, leaned into the absurdity.

One dream involved standing in the middle of a silent void before an overwhelming boom of sound shattered everything.

“Clearly, my subconscious is telling me to start a band,” he concluded.

Another featured him running through endless hallways, chased by an ominous figure with glowing eyes.

“I dunno what that one means, but it sounds cool.” Sevan, watching this unfold, pinched the bridge of his nose.

“This is why we do assignments on time.” “Correction,” Adrian said, grinning, “this is why you do assignments on time.

We prefer the thrill of last-minute survival.” Aiden shook his head, amused.

“At least make them sound somewhat believable.”