Noemi Raske's Story

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Chess sat with her eyes closed, the sound of the ocean lapping against the sides of the boat causing little birds to dance in her vision and the taste of freshly squeezed lemons to slither across her tongue. To most people the ocean would taste like salt and sea air, maybe even sunscreen, but to Chess her palette was a little well... More unique. It wasn't an insult, it's just that most people nerves were not crossed wired. Most people could not see sounds and taste them as well, they would never know the joys of a rich coffee voice or how relaxing the color purple was. The horn on the water taxi began to beep and Chess jumped, nearly bumping her head on the roof. "Alright little lass, we're here." He said as he pulled into the dock and opened the door. Chess jumped out, grabbing her bags and thanking the driver.

The journey from London had been long and arduous and Chess was a bit late because the lift in her house had broken so she had a bit of trouble getting her bags down the stairs. Just as the female shouldered her bag with her art supplies a man and woman came to greet her, both dressed to the nines in old fashioned maid and butler attire. How amusing! Chess could only assume they were employees of the gifted program. What else would they be doing on an islet of the shores of Greece?

"Good afternoon Ms. Belle," Chess was in awe. How they they know it was her? Was she the last to arrive? "Might I see your card please?"

"Oh! Yes of course!" She placed her bag on the ground, rifling through the mess for a few seconds before withdrawing her hand and revealing the Empress card. The two nodded to teach other and the butler placed something on Chess's bags before asking the maid to lead Miss Belle to the dining hall. Chess followed eagerly, her eyes wide in awe of the place. She had been in castles before, Chess was often invited to have audiences with the Queen after her lung transplant because the story had made it's way around London, all the way to her cousins in Devon shire.

Chess was ushered inside what she assumed to be the dining hall. There was a long, rectangular table with twelve seats and place cards in front. Most everyone was there, with but a few seats left to be filled. The maid showed Chess to her plate, pulling out the chair and allowing Chess to sit down before pushing it back in. "Thank you," Chess said and nodded her head in appreciation. The woman merely backed away, leaving the dining room. Chess hung her bag on the back of the chair, turning over the place card in her hands to see the word Empress printed underneath. What did it mean? Chess wondered when the lights suddenly dimmed and a presentation was given. When the lights came back on, illuminating the hall once more, Chess noticed platters of food spread across the table.

Her stomach growled, she had skipped breakfast in order to catch the train to the airport after the whole broken lift fiasco and reached for the platter closest to her, suddenly feeling self conscious and only taking a little bit rather than what she really wanted. "Don't be a piggy Chess, you've only just gotten here." The girl murmured as she picked up her fork and dug in. How rude! Chess hadn't even introduced herself to the students sitting nearest her! She chewed quickly, swallowing just as fast and wiping her mouth on her napkin. The boy beside her didn't seem interested in making conversation, rather he was busy stuffing his mouth with a meat stick as big as his head. "How do you do?" Chess asked anyways, figuring a good first impression was the way to go.

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Tarantula||Jayn✧Beautiful Mask||Misao✧The Little Doll's Dream||Una

“The Devil pulls the strings which make us dance;
We find delight in the most loathsome things;
Some furtherance of Hell each new day brings,
And yet we feel no horror in that rank advance.”

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ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ: Milos, Greek Islet
ᴡʜᴇɴ: August 1st, 2015
ᴡʜᴏ: Staff, Characters
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An airhead, that's how others always perceived her. Chess wasn't sure if it was due to her small size or bright smile, but she was always being underestimated. How she loved to surprise others with her knowledge! Chess could see that even now, despite the fact that she had proved herself and gotten into what was supposed to be one of the best schools in the world they were most probably doubting her presence. Chess never belonged anywhere, she never fit in and she wasn't sure why. The girl always did her best, but in the end she almost always stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Nathan, it's a pleasure to meet you." Chess smiled despite the bad pun, she could tell he was nervous and decided that she would simply put his worries at ease by giving him the pleasant expression she most always wore. His voice tasted gray, like a cloudy sky. "Despite what you might be thinking I'm not named for the game, rather I'm named for my great grandmother Charlesse . Chess was what her friends called her so my parents thought it would be cute to name me the same thing." It was a lie. Chess was actually named for the classic black and white checkered board game but others normally found this so odd that she had decided to revamp her naming story to something a bit more classical.

After all, Chess was such an uncommon name, especially for a girl and the fact that Chess could not actually play chess did not help her case any. The girl turned to her plate and took a bite, chewing slowly in order to savor the flavour of her food and maybe in order to avoid more conversation. She could tell that Nathan was not used to speaking to people, the exact opposite of her. While Chess had been at first rejected by her classmates, she had eventually been accepted by them and opened up to become the bubbly, loving girl she is today.

Chess realized there was another boy on her other side. Unlike Nathan though, he was tall and a bit... Scary looking. Chess did not enjoy the looks he was giving her, as though he were sizing up a meal and she swallowed hard, nearly choking on her bite of buttered bread. "How do you do?" There was no point in avoiding conversation as eventually she would have to speak to him. "My name is Chess, who might you be?" The girl inquired with a warm smile.

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Chess had left the dining room and was wandering in the hallway. The texture of the walls left a nice taste in her mouth and so she was running her fingers across the cool stone, wondering if she was ever going to be able to find the dorms in this enormous place all by herself. Chess stopped upon reaching an atrium of some sorts, turning in circles as she looked up in awe. This campus really was beautiful and she wondered how out of all the people in the world she had been chosen for this opportunity. Of course Chess was also beginning to realize it wasn't as great as it seemed. Stuck on an island with a lunatic, some sort of ex con, and a bunch of socially awkward kids is not how she imagined her first year of high school.

Still it was better than the all girl's boarding school Chess was supposed to attend. Her parents had figured that since her health wasn't failing it was about time they sent her to the school her mother had attended and her grandmother before her. It wasn't anything more than a small school in the countryside of France dedicated to teaching women to be proper young girls. Chess had absolutely no interest in such a place and so when the mysterious tarot card showed up on her doorstep along with an invitation the female hadn't even hesitated. Her parents had, of course, been very worried. However Chess convinced them that she would be fine, she wasn't like the other girls in her grade that enjoyed showing off their-erm-assets. Not that Chess really had any to show off in the first place, she was as flat as a board and skinny as a rail.

In the end Chess had made quite the convincing argument and so her parents could not refuse, seeing as how passionate their daughter was to attend this school none of them knew anything about. Lost in thought, Chess hadn't realized that she had stopped walking until a certain boy nearly bumped into her. This time he had a girl in tow, the one from the cafeteria that had run out after Samuel and Belphagor began to argue on her behalf.

"Ah, Nathan. What a lovely surprise, Miss Cassandra it is a pleasure running into you again as well." So Nathan's true character was revealed. It seems he was the type to jump from girl to girl, possibly trying to get to know them all before settling on one. Of course this could just be Chess's imagination as he had seemed so sweet and sincere during their first encounter.

"Unfortunately I haven't had much luck myself. If you'd like though, six eyes is better than four?" It was her way of asking to tag along, Chess was not the type to admit that she actually needed help unless the situation was dire.