"You're an idiot, Mikoto." Those dull words came from a dull-eyed Fiona, who sat behind her desk. Currently, they were within the confines of her very own private office.
The office was grand and imposing, with high ceilings, ornate moldings, and tall windows that let in streams of natural light. Enormous bookshelves lined the walls, filled to the brim with dusty leather-bound tomes and odd curiosities. The massive mahogany desk she sat behind reigned supreme in the center of the room, flanked by plush armchairs and an antique globe.
The wallpaper was a rich, deep red with intricate gold filigree patterns, while the vast expanse of oak hardwood flooring glimmers under the warm glow of a crystal chandelier. An old hearth crackles merrily in one corner, and a collection of swords and suits of armor line the walls. It was quite an extraordinary office for an assistant teacher.
"Oh wow, we haven't seen each other for a whole week, and this is the hello I get? Booooo!" Mikoto, who sat on one of the plump arm chairs, whined. Seeing as Fiona was the only one in this whole entire academy who really knew his little secret, he did not have to worry about wearing the mask. Though what he did have to worry about was how overgrown his uniform now felt due to the mask increasing his overall size and body weight.
"I thought I told you not to draw attention to yourself, you dolt!" Fiona sighed as her ear twitched in annoyance. "And you get yourself detention on the first day, and that's not to mention you picking a fight with the princess." That is correct. Apparently, his short scuffle with the princess had made rounds around the academy, and even with her holding back so much, it was still considered impressive that he lasted as long as he did.
"Wasn't my fault though. That Professor Fergus put me against her." Mikoto defended. "And Professor Gregory was a pr-"
"Yes, yes, I get it." Fiona quickly cut him off. "I suppose I should have warned you about Professor Gregory; he is quite a strict man."
"Strict doesn't quite cut it. The guy's a perfectionist; if anything isn't as perfect as he wants it to be, then you get punished." Mikoto scoffed. "Even the teachers back home weren't nearly as strict." He murmured.
"Hmm, I'm quite curious as to what education is like in the East. In your day's within the mansion, you never really went into detail about your home." Fiona admitted that as Mikoto merely shrugged.
"Eh, school back home was mundane." He started as he reminisced a bit. "Teachers were strict on a lot of things; your hair had to be a certain length; girls couldn't wear any accessories or nail polish; if you wore your uniform incorrectly, then it was detention." He explained. There were, of course, a lot of other things, especially when he had to go to a private school at his dear old dad's behest. The guy was a surgeon, ironically meant to save lives, yet he was such scum.
"Quite strict indeed. But how do you find Luminare Academy?" Fiona asked.
"It's fine, barring that asshat Professor Gregory; everything is fine, I guess." As far as school life goes, this place was extraordinarily—better than ordinary school life, that is for sure. Sitting through a lecture was not actually boring, barring a lesson from the asshat Professor Gregory himself. He actually learned quite a bit about magic and the history of this world. But still, he was much more focused on creating a spell to destroy those wards in the library.
"But Professor Gregory, I heard both his children are attending their first year here." Fiona spoke as Mikoto nodded his head.
"Yeah, both are in my class. I'm actually friends with the brother; the girl doesn't really ever talk much." Mikoto informed as Fiona hummed in interest.
"The Gregory family is an interesting lot. It's not uncommon for a God or Goddess to bless a family as a whole, but the Gregory's are one of the main noble families that possess the blessing of a Goddess." Isadora is the Goddess of Prosperity and Creation. Kind of the opposite of Aragorn, the God of Avarice and Destruction.
"A pretty major Goddess, huh?" But apparently his own blessing still reigned supreme even when put against the likes of Gods of destruction and creation. "But speaking of which, I saw the other spawn just the other day. Kinda eerie how much she looked like me."
"It's simply how things work for the spawns of God's; essentially, you're siblings in some weird way. I'm sure you've noticed how similar the Headmaster and the Princess looked." Mikoto merely hummed at that.
("Siblings, huh? Damn, I really miss that little shit.") Mikoto repressed a sigh as he prevented his mind from wandering; it was better not to think of home. Constantly thinking about what he was torn away from was not good for his mental health. But still, it was not just something he could not think about; it was driving him insane, if he was being honest. If he did not have hope that there could be a way back, his sanity would have long been gone. But still, even though he felt it slipping slowly, the only semblance of peace he gained was seeing the faces of his family through his phone.
"But anyway, I'm supposed to use her as a role model to learn Familial Arts, right? How would I go about doing that? Doubt I can just walk up to her and be like, 'mind showing me that Familial Arts I wanna copy them'." Fiona rubbed her chin in thought as she mulled over it.
"That's for you to figure out, dear Mikoto." The girl stated after a minutes with a smile on her face.
"Great, so you're no help. Fantastic." Though it was not as if it were his main goal, But that was neither here nor there. Standing up from his seat, he placed the mask back on his face, his hair growing longer and darker as his skin slightly tanned and his body grew more to fit his uniform. "Well, it was nice seeing you, Fiona."
"You too, Mikoto." The girl said with a smile. "Remember, if you ever need anything, I'll always be here."
"Thanks, Fiona; see ya." With his farewell given, he exited the office and stepped onto the hallways of the school. Tonight he might as well make his way to the library to test some spells on the ward's of the forbidden section. There was a separate building for both the dorms of the girls and boys' as well as the teacher's; from what he knew, no one patrolled late at night to his knowledge. A few ward's should be activated to help alert someone if anyone was breaking curfew, but a nifty cloaking spell should help him avoid the ward's.
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When the sky was decorated with darkness and dotted with stars, that was when she could experience peace. When the halls of Luminare Academy were so quiet and peaceful, she liked roaming them for hours on end. No gawking masses, no idolizing fans, no would-be courters, no nothing. Just being alone with her thoughts, Lucinda could not help but exhale deeply.
For someone like her, this was a very rare moment. A moment where she did not have to put up a smiling face for the adoring masses, of course she would still very much get in trouble if she were caught roaming the halls at this late hour. But, oh well, a nifty cloaking spell made her practically invisible for any wards that were set up after an hour's. Though not literary, she was still very visible, just not to any wards.
But why was she roaming the academy at such late hours other than for some peace and quiet? Well, she had to return a book to the library. Of course, with the charms placed on the book's, it would eventually find its way back to the library. But were that the case, then the person who borrowed said book would be registered. She did not exactly want there to be evidence of her borrowing such a.....steamy book.
So as she neared the library, a creepy, grinning face suddenly entered her view. Of course, with this creepy face suddenly spawning out of nowhere, she acted accordingly.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!!!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!" Said creepy face also responded accordingly. "*Ahem*...I mean, whoa..."
"Wah..." That incomprehensible word left her mouth as she realized that this creepy face was in fact a mask worn by a person. With that tidbit of information learned, her face went beet red, as she had just let out a shrill scream mere moments ago.
"Jesus, I thought I was going to have a heart attack." The masked boy uttered out, she did not know who this Jesus was, but quickly she cleared her throat.
"Sorry, you frightened me a bit." She spoke while avoiding eye contact.
"From that scream I and most likely all the inhabitants of the academy heard, I'm assuming I frightened you more than 'a bit'." He muttered, but she heard him clearly enough.
"H-hey! You screamed just as loudly!" She accused.
"Psssh. I don't know what you're talking about." He said this as he looked away.
"Why you...." She shook her head of the annoyance. "What are you doing here after curfew?" She questioned him more so to change the subject to something less embarrassing, and despite his face being covered, she could tell he was giving her a questioning look of his own.
"What are you doing here after curfew?" He asked right back, mimicking her question.
"I asked first." She spoke with narrowed eyes.
"Well, I asked second." He shot back as she frowned.
"Well, if you must know, I'm here to return a book." She spoke while gesturing to the book clutched into her right arm.
"Returning a book this late? Quite the diligent one, aren't you?" The boy mused, and Lucinda just now found it odd. This boy was not gushing over her, nor was he showing any signs of admiration. This was a normal conversation, barring his earlier teasing; this was kind of nice.
"Well, I told you what I'm doing here. Now it's your turn." She stated, she also remembered now where she had seen him. A few days ago, she had greeted the boy; she also recalled a few rumors about a 'masked boy' challenging the princess. She wondered if that was him as well.
"Yeah, it's this important thing called 'none of your business'." He bluntly stated much to her dismay.
"Wah! But I told you my reason!" She whined like a child, and the masked boy merely shrugged.
"That's your problem." Mikoto watched as her features morphed into a glare and a pout. It would have looked cute had they not shared a face, but oh well, he has conversed for long enough. "MY GOD, WHAT'S THAT'S BEHIND YOU?" He suddenly announced this as the girl jumped in surprise before swinging her head to look behind her, only to see nothing but darkness.
"Huh? There's nothing the-" She cut herself off as she turned back, only to find him no longer there. "He tricked me!" That much was easy to deduce, and how did he get away so quickly? Instantaneous teleportation? Was he really that skilled?
"Who was that boy?" She could not help but question.
"Boo!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!" Another shrill scream left her as she suddenly heard a voice behind her.
"Hahahah!" As her heartbeat quickened, she heard a laugh and turned around to see the same masked boy.
"T-that wasn't funny!" She screamed with a beet red face.
("Lucinda, the blessed child, the one-woman army, the destroyer of countries, the sword saint.") A few titles that were gained by his fellow spawn of Octavia. To others', she was considered a borderline Goddess just for her magical and physical prowess. Yet Mikoto could not help but almost chuckle once again as he stared at her red, glaring face. He had just planned to escape there, but this was a rare opportunity to talk to his fellow spawn one-on-one. With fans constantly surrounding her, it is almost impossible to converse with the girl.
"It was totally funny." He shot back.
"No, it wasn't!" She whined.
"Damn, for a renowned legend like you, I didn't picture you as such a square. Lightened up." He said with a chuckle.
"I will not 'lighten up'!" She shouted. "You scared me half to death!"
"Calm down; it was just a prank." Her glare grew as she prepared to speak, but suddenly she was interrupted.
"What is going on here?" An annoyingly familiar, strict voice asked as the hallways of the school suddenly lit up. Mikoto and Lucinda turned to see the tired glare of Professor Gregory.
"Uhm....I...uhh..." Lucinda seemed to be too deeply affected by the glare to form any words. Mikoto, being a charitable soul, decided to step in and come to the rescue.
"What need glasses to see, old man?" Mikoto questioned as Lucinda looked at him extremely befuddled. "She's obviously here to return her book." He stated it as if it were the most obvious thing. In response, Professor Gregory's eye narrowed dangerously.
"Mister Yukio, detention for two weeks. I expected better from you, Lucinda." The man stated with clear disappointment in his tone. "I would think you above rendezvousing with such a ruffian." The man stated with a glare at Mikoto.
"Sir, this isn't what it looks like, I swear!" Lucinda quickly defended. "I really was just trying to re-."
"Enough, a week of detention for being out past curfew. That is final." Professor Gregory coldly stated
"That's rough, buddy." Mikoto's words merely elicited a glare from the spawn of Octavia.