When was the Ceremony of Initiation going to begin? Elwin thought desperately, his stomach in a knot.
"There might be uncertainty as to who admitted Elwin to Aeternitas, but there's no question that what he did saved both my father and I. He at least has my praise, no matter what his father did."
"I understand that. I'm not arguing against you. But I am incensed that Elwin has the audacity to insult us by showing up here and muddying everyone's hard-earned effort. I admit, I can't convince everyone here, and it's not my duty to do that. But his true character will soon come to light for everyone to see," said Lucian, cupping his forehead as if he was exhausted. "Isaac, I'd say you need to be careful, no, you need to be afraid of Elwin Eramir. You don't know what he's capable of. After all, Carl Eramir took innocent people to their graves for his ideal."
"What his father did has nothing to do with Elwin! Why should he take on all of his father's faults and buy all of your hate from the beginning? Isn't all of this wrong?" retorted Mirai, speaking with such sudden conviction that the kismets, and even Lucian, was taken aback. "You think his father is still fine and dandy? He lost his father too! If you think that his life was all rainbows and sunshine, then you're mistaken, because that's not what he told me, and I know he's speaking the truth because his experience matches mine! Elwin also helped Isaac too for certain, and everyone here is sure of that! Don't you think it would have been far easier for Elwin to have taken his Maht exam and appeared as if he passed naturally so that he wouldn't draw attention? Don't twist what could very well be a coincidence into a lie just because you dislike him!"
"Woah, sorry, I apologize if you took it that way," said Lucian. "But who is Elwin to you? Why are you so adamant to persuade us all of a sudden?"
"It's not about him. It's that I've been framed that exact way before, and I don't want anyone else to go through what I went through!"
"What did you go through?"
"My family – it – I –" she stammered, her words that flowed freely lodging in the throat by the trauma of a memory too great to articulate.
"Get away from us, will you?" remarked Katherine at last, throwing shade at Lucian's persistence. "Go bother someone else. I don't care if Elwin Eramir is the person you say he is. I will see for myself, and so far, he's been nothing but sincerity."
"I'm sorry, didn't catch your name. Let's introduce ourselves first the proper way. I'm Lucian."
"Katherine Heriz," she replied. "If it means anything to you, you should leave us alone."
Murmurs grew into wild whispers now in the concourse. Several heads nodded and craned to the four kismets in recognition. There were several people who looked surprised, and some incensed.
"The heiress of the Heriz family? Wow, I wanted to extend my respect if we ever met, but I am disappointed that we have to meet in such a circumstance, and your first words to me were to say that I am unwelcome."
"You think too highly of yourself, Lucian. Step down from your pedestal."
"Oh? And you are not on one yourself? Are we – the people around you – somehow inferior to you, when by virtue of being here, we are just as skilled and hardworking as you are?"
"Don't twist my words. That's the last thing you should do. Everyone here is worthy of my respect, and I'm not going to let that view of respect be influenced by anyone else. That anyone else includes you, Lucian."
"Spoken like a daughter of the Archon. I would've apologized, if not for what Mr. Alexander Heriz has done to people behind me. Does the Archon also put on airs like you do?"
"What 'airs'?" glowered Katherine, her annoyance quickly growing into a flame that the kismets could feel.
"Archon Alexander Heriz accomplished great feats. All the railroads that now link east, west, and center, to count just a few. But lots of others must have attempted to do what he did. And what did he do to those people?" questioned Lucian, turning his head ever so slightly to the crowd.
"Put them out of business, that's what," said a scrawny girl from the audience. "My mother and father's workshop."
"Our construction company, ever since Mr. Heriz barged into our city," added a disgruntled boy. "We would've been completely well-off without him!"
Expressions that approved of the Heriz family's legacy were difficult to find in the audience now.
"So, tell me, Frhi Heriz," said Lucian, approaching them so that his expression which contorted monstrously by the second was visible to no-one but the kismets, "How exactly does the archon address the peoples whose businesses he devoured last decade? If you don't think of me worthy enough to be your friend, then perhaps you should tell everyone else why." His singular presence alone was enough to take on all of the four kismets. Elwin sensed that something of Lucian had become even more twisted since his time at school.
"Friendship must be mutual. Something tells me you don't like me, even though I tried my best to give my reasons and stay neutral," replied Katherine, not budging an inch. "If you're not satisfied with my answer, then too bad, since you won't find anything to your liking."
"I think I know why," said Lucian, chucking Katherine's words out of his ear. "The reason you don't appreciate me or the people here is because you probably entered Aeternitas the same manner as Elwin did. Through connections."
"What?" was Katherine's single-lined response, hair almost igniting with the fury of such an accusation. Did Lucian have any idea how hard she worked to develop her Maht after she manifested it nearly two years late compared to everyone else?
"Like attracts like. Recommenders, cheaters, and the circle of archons and politicians all know each other, don't they? That's how you and Elwin here got in, wasn't it?" he continued.
Katherine brushed Elwin and Isaac aside and stepped threateningly close to Lucian.
"What'd you just say about my family?" Her eyes were as fire now.
Rayo, Claudia, and Cassius, the trio who lost their family members to Carl Eramir, emerged to flank Lucian. They were going to defend him from the heiress that mistakenly and disappointingly stood with Eramir.
"Say that again, Lucian. Let me hear it," Katherine simmered, her voice low.
"You are not worthy of respect. It is obvious now why you chose to befriend Elwin rather than all of us."
At Lucian's statement, Katherine prepared to grab his lapel and drive a fistful of fire into his chin. But at that very moment, the gates to the Grand Dining Hall opened with a mighty bang, and there in the middle of the air swirling in a tornado of wind was a woman with a golden staff.
Elwin widened his eye in disbelief.
She was a woman that Elwin recognized immediately – and could recognize anywhere, for he wanted to see her again. Handsome and elegant in her professorial suit of coffee and gold, there floated Dr. Hana Reiss! How could this be?
"Breaking the ice already, are we?" she remarked in a clarion command, looking directly at Katherine and Lucian, perusing the entirety of the hall. Her eyes lingered ever so briefly on Elwin; and Elwin saw her eyes, too.
Everyone's jaws opened in disbelief by the fact that she was flying, suspended in the air; to do so was to control more than hundreds of thousands of air currents around oneself, and everyone knew it was something no ordinary person could do. Flying required practicing and mastering spellsongs beyond which was taught in school and beyond the requirement of even the most challenging professions: and this first authority figure they met at Aeternitas appeared to do it very comfortably. Elwin too, was pleasantly shocked out of his senses.
Katherine, recognizing that it was a poor time for fisticuffs, let Lucian go and stepped to the side with Elwin and his group. She scowled briefly at Lucian's gang, but gathered herself almost immediately to give full focus to the new figure.
"I am Professor Aionia Hana Arcansale of Aeternitas. I would like to congratulate you for getting here, and bless your next four years at this great academy with fortune and safety."
Huh?
"Wait – what? Her name's not Dr. Hana Reiss?" Elwin pondered in a quiet voice.
"Hmm?" asked Isaac.
"Um, Dr. Hana Reiss – I mean Professor Aionia Arcansale – visited The Marlin nearly a year ago. Last winter."
"Your place? Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm certain. It is her," Elwin replied to his friend, examining once again the figure, her name now Professor Aionia. Her eyes carried with it the unmistakable weight of the world and memories of time; though her hair was styled slightly differently, the overall impression was unmistakable. Her voice was gentle but consular as ever, commanding respect without buying envy nor complaint to her authority. It had to be the very same person that visited The Marlin and left Elwin the train ticket to the capital. Elwin thought all of this very fast.
So she was using a pseudonym, after all! But why? What for? Perhaps –
Then Elwin briefly thought of the time back to when his little brother reasoned his name as Oliver for safety, now that the family knew of dangerous things they once did not. The thought lingered in Elwin's mind, though he had no time to entertain it.
Professor Aionia continued on, dignified and elegant in the golden ray of the chandeliers and the setting sun from the dining hall, which shone past her cape like a halo.
"On my command, you will form a single line and head into the Grand Dining Hall, and walk until you reach the Masters' Table. There, the headmaster and the rest of Aeternitas shall address you a great welcome."
The first-years hurriedly tidied the creased folds of their uniforms.
"Young gentleman with an eyewrap, clad in Admiral's Legacy! What is your name?"
Professor Aionia pointed respectfully at Elwin with her hand. To Elwin, the question seemed rhetorical, and he could see it in her eyes too; all this time, he had no idea the person that gave him courage back at The Marlin on that fateful night was a professor at Aeternitas – and the very first professor he'd meet here. He could now fulfill his dream of becoming someone great, as he'd confided passionately back at The Marlin – and for that, Professor Aionia too congratulated with her gaze.
"Elwin Eramir, Professor."
"Mr. Elwin Eramir, you shall lead the way into the Dining Hall. May your entrance be blessed."
With a mighty roar of air, she faced the interior of the Dining Hall, and shouted:
"Distinguished Professors and Artens of Aeternitas, please welcome the first-years to the next four years of their great adventure!"