"Tests up!" the professor shouts, tapping his stopwatch.
After the professor entered the room, he introduced himself as Henry Jovenich, the professor of Archeval Studies here at the Academy. He was most likely a draconic demi-human, as seen from his tucked in wings and large horns atop his head. His voice was weathered, ancient. His face, though showing the minimal signs of age, told a story much longer than any I've ever seen, longer than any book or report I've ever had the honor of reading. He was old, likely around 3200-3600 seasons old (or 800-900 years HT). He spoke languidly with force in his words, likely out of a strictness for his students.
The test itself consisted of 4 parts: calculation, free response, politics, and history. There were 112 questions. Most students finished at 4 hours to 4 hours and 30 minutes, while the particularly smart students finished at 2 to 3. I finished in between the 1st and 2nd hour, Nixie finished in 30 minutes. Daffodil, who is sleeping in her seat next to me, finished in 2 hours, and not a single minute longer.
The questions weren't particularly hard. The trickiest questions were 'what would you do if __' questions, which didn't take me much time either. Everything else, I remembered learning in the palace, so not much challenged me to the point of struggling enough to slow my time. I do worry, however, of the unwanted attention I'll receive after the test ends, as I noticed many eyes at my back when I submitted my test to Jovenich. His eyes were also included in the many that followed my back as I returned to my seat.
Professor Jovenich collects the remaining tests. I watch as some students fight for more time but are swiftly rejected. He is unbelievably skilled at not taking bullshit, which made me wonder how many students he had to reject ruthlessly to hone that skill. There was no doubt in my mind that he was perfect for the job he was assigned, both strict and indifferent.
The professor collects the test of the minotaur behind me, giving me a glance before moving onto the next row. The minotaur looks at me with hostility in his eyes, but I ignore it.
I turn my head back to Nixie. He's listening to music again, and I wonder what's so interesting that he'd constantly have it playing in his ear. As I'm focused on his back, I feel a grip in my chair, pulling me back and out of my seat. "Hey, you." the voice sneers. I look above me to see the minotaur that was previously sitting behind me, his hand holding my chair in the air. "You cheated, didn't you?" he accuses, throwing the chair in my direction. It hits and injures my wrist. I wince, covering my arm and holding a defensive position. Shit, it's bruised.
"What do you mean?" I inquire, looking around to see if there are any exits near that I could escape from. 3 doors, one to the far left, one to the right, and one next to the blackboard. I may be well informed in self defense but I stand no chance against a minotaur. I look at the professor, who is sitting at his desk and reading a book. He doesn't even spare a look. Though the proctors are responsible for you within the allotted testing time, I can't say the same for before and after that. Alice's words play spitefully in my head.
Damn it. If only I listened.
"What do I mean? I'm saying you're a cheater! There's never been a human in all of Zariera's history who's ever even finished the test in time, much less in one hour!" he shouts, causing the desks to shake and other mystics to turn their heads. I ogle at why he assumed that I answered every question truthfully and hadn't just submitted the test prematurely if he thought of me the way he did, but I digress. He must be angry that a human had finished the test before him, truthful or no, and much earlier than most students at that. He thinks I'm inferior, and that's all I need to hear to feel annoyed at the sight of his legs intact. All four of them.
Minotaurs are prideful creatures, more robust and demanding than many mystics. It wasn't even that I was particularly smart, but that I had the advantage of education at the palace which gave me an advantage. I don't blame him for being angry, but he certainly needs to be taught a lesson in respect.
The students around us begin to talk.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I hear Daffodil groan behind me, yawning and standing up from her desk. She seemed to be woken from the chatter around us. I visibly see the minotaur stir in his spot after seeing her look at him, a stark difference from his attitude towards me. I watch as the cogs in his head turn, probably deciding whether he should interact with her or not.
"You and me. Outside, human. You will retake the test and I will get my dignity back" he orders, pointing his thumb to the door. It was such a thoughtless request. What did he expect I'd do? Prostate myself in front of him and then retake the test? Even if I did do that, did he think that the proctor would just let me?
The cogs stopped turning. He turns his head to fully face me, and only me. So he chose to ignore Daffodil. Dumb decision. From what I've seen about her so far, I know she hates being ignored.
"Hellooo?" she says in a sweet tone "Are you ignoring me?" She's tracing her words in honey. I feel the tension grow. Just like her interaction with me, she's speaking sweetly, quietly, kindly…and approaching him with a motive.
"Did you not hear me? Outside." he continues to ignore her, ordering me around instead. I retain my silence, knowing that the situation would fix itself. "Hey—" he begins. I close my eyes, not wanting to watch it unfold.
I hear a 'SLAM' in the space in front of me. Opening my eyes, I see the minotaur from earlier, thrown against the wall and stuck in a humiliating position, his hooves hanging over his head. "Hey, I was talking to you. '' she laughs maliciously, happily throwing him around with her wind. Not enough to heavily injure him, but definitely enough to make him sick. The students near us look on in shock. Some decide to leave the testing area. The professor, just like before, continues to read his book, not paying us any mind. Rule number one of interacting with fae: never piss them off.
After a while, the minotaur looks beyond nauseous, and I decide to resolve the situation.
"Daffodil—hey, can you put him down?" I shout, my hand on my forehead as I block the wind from drying out my eyes. But my words are swallowed by the wind, and it fails to reach her ears.
She throws him up and down, then side to side, then forward and backwards. I watch as he holds his face in his hands, seemingly about to empty his stomach, but desperately holding back in light of his dignity. She giggles sadistically as she gives one final push, launching him into a nearby bookshelf, where a wayward book from a taller shelf falls directly onto his temple, and lands directly on his head, making him fall face flat in defeat. Both him and the bookshelf behind him is a raging mess, with books and miscellaneous items scattered across the hard wooden floor. Well, I can say that I tried?
"You will clean that up, Ms. Daffodil." Professor Jovenich comments, intervening only when his classroom is affected. Daffodil rolls her eyes, and with a snap of her fingers, all of the books are shoved into place by a gust of wind. I let out a breath of tension as I finally relax from the chaos. More than half of the students in the testing room have left in a hurry.
I look back at where Nixie was sitting. He's nowhere to be found.
"What the hell happened here?" I hear a familiar voice ask in disgust. It's Alice. She's floating in mid air above where Daffodil and I are standing. I watch as Daffodil turns from calm, to visibly uncomfortable. Alice lands next to me, giving me a look of shame as she spots the bruises on my wrist.
"Those golden feathers… Alice? Alice Eyernmen?" I hear the minotaur call out hopefully, struggling to rise from the floor. He flashes me a smug grin, as if telling me 'you're gonna get it now'. I scoff and look away, uninterested in his gibberish. "Leadership! Finally, someone with sense has arrived" he stands, walking to Alice's side.
"Excuse me for a moment" Alice says apathetically, completely ignoring his presence and turning to me. She grabs my arm, rolling up my sleeve to see the full extent of my injury. My wrist is swollen and purple (understandable, considering I got a fucking chair thrown at me).
"We need to get you fixed up. How the hell did you manage to cause this much trouble on your first day?" She sighs, muttering an incantation while holding out her hand over my wrist, which emits a warm light. I look in wonder as she works her magic. I'd never felt such a warm healing incant before, not even in the palace.
"Ms. Eyernmen, as a member of leadership, I'd like to report this human's disgusting behavior during the IACAT. '' he says smugly, looking at me from the side. I notice how he doesn't mention Daffodil's interference. He's either too embarrassed or scared out of his wits.
"And that is?" Alice questions, barely giving him the time of day and keeping her eyes on my injury.
"This human—" he begins.
"A moment, please" Alice says firmly, interrupting him. She finishes healing up my wrist and then brings her hand to my hair. Slowly, she moves my hair to the side, revealing the golden embroidery on my uniform. "You were saying?" She turns her head to the minotaur, looking indifferent as she studies his expression. He looks shocked, almost scared.
"An heir?" he says nervously. I raise a brow, wondering what Alice was planning by showing my golden embroidery. "Apologies, it was nothing." he tells Alice, clearing his throat. He just let it go? Just like that? Why is he on his knees? "I apologize for my offense towards you, your highness. It will not happen again." he says awkwardly.
Was he addressing Alice in that statement? I knew that the Associated Student Body here was highly respected, but 'your highness'? I look back at Alice, which to my surprise, was already looking my way. "What are you doing? Dismiss him." she whispers.
He was addressing me??
"Right… you're dismissed. I'll forgive your carelessness." I tell him, saying that last part out of habit. Work in the palace affected my mannerisms, my response in certain situations, and most notably the way I would carry myself with others compared to the human world, which had no hierarchy. I vaguely remember that that phrase was something I would constantly have to say during my work. Zarieran nobles are incessantly showing their arrogance, similar to this minotaur.
The minotaur rises promptly from his knee, leaving as fast as he could.
"Wow, very distinguished for someone who took a full 10 minutes to dismiss him." Alice says sarcastically, grabbing my stuff from off the ground, which must've dropped from my chair when he pulled me out of my seat. Despite the way she talks to me, her actions tell me otherwise, with how gently she picks up each item off the floor and into my pouch, scared to accidentally scratch or break them with her sharp talons.
"How did you know that was gonna work?" I ask. She continues picking up my fallen items, reaching for a pen far under the desk, which her wings make hard to acquire. She replies with a confused hum, continuing her quest for the pen. "No, better question. What did you do?" I specify, reaching under the desk myself and grabbing the pen for her. She huffs in annoyance.
"I was showing him you were an heir, one. And two, it wasn't hard to figure out. In Ruchavya, where most minotaur come from, they have a very strict rule of hierarchy. They bully anyone weaker than them, but that also means they're weak to power." she explains, getting up from under the desk and putting the final item back in my bag, handing it to me. I check my pouch to see if everything was there. My library pass is missing. It must've fallen somewhere deep. Not like it matters, I won't be going to the palace library for a while anyways.
"Anyways, who's that behind you?" Alice inquires. Oh. Right, Daffodil.
"You just reminded me, I need to thank Daffodil for her help earlier–" I walk over to the idle faery. Alice pauses, turning to me and Daffodil.
"Daffodil?" she says in an ambivalent tone, saying the name like a curse on her tongue. She pulls me aside and studies the figure behind me, her eyes widening as soft pink hair is reflected in her jeweled eyes.
"Yes? What about her?" I ask, confused as to why she said Daffodil's name the way she did, and why she looks the way she does. Like she's lost something important. I feel a chill enter the air.
"Nothing you need to know about." Daffodil interjects, turning back to face the both of us. Now that I see her face clearly, it's painted with a flurry of emotions similar to Alice's, too many to identify all at once. Sadness, anger, indifference, and… something else I can't quite understand. Right now, her face is painting a picture I'm unable to see properly. Though I'm sure if it was anyone else, anyone with emotions, they would understand. "Hey Ms. Perfect, you've certainly stayed the same since I was gone." Daffodil laughs bitterly. Her sapphire eyes feel cold as she bores into Alice's mind with her gaze. Her hardened look contrasted her almost fluffy pink hair and soft features. Similarly, Alice's look of guilt contradicted the way she was reaching for Daffodil with every form of body language available to her.
"Daffodil. You're back. When—No, why didn't you tell me?" Alice asks, a complex look resting on her features.
"Why do I have to tell you anything?" Daffodil sneers.
"I'm your guide—I have a right to know—"Alice begins.
"Was my guide. Readmissions don't get guides unless requested." she clarifies, hardening her gaze. She walks closer to Alice, making her stiffen with nervousness. Her fingertips brush Alice's chin, and I watch as her eyes soften, only for a moment. She leans in and whispers something in Alice's ear, making me curious of what their relationship was. It certainly didn't feel like a student and her guide. After she finishes what she wanted to say, she pulls away, taking her stuff and walking away.
"Kiya—" Alice tries to call out before catching herself and covering her mouth. A slip of tongue.
I feel the air in the room rushing quicker than my eyes could handle. The floor under me vibrates, but a gust of wind is clouding my vision. When the wind clears, a golden feather lands on my palm, a winged shadow at the wood beneath me. Alice has risen into flight mid-air, and many desks and chairs have been suspended by a blue light, floating and barely missing many students nearby.
"Shut your mouth. You have no right to say that name." Daffodil says through gritted teeth. Why is she so angry? I watch as the furniture nearby slowly falls back down, returning to their original places.
"Enough. Both of you." Professor Jovenich finally intervenes, standing from his desk. "This is shameful behavior. Alice Eyernmen. You, as a member of leadership, should be setting an example for other students. I will tolerate foolish pranks but I will not tolerate students causing a mess in my classroom." He says in a commanding tone. Glad to know he considers a chair getting thrown at me a 'foolish prank'. "Out of my classroom. Your test scores will be sent to your dorm." he orders. I can almost see the sighs of relief coming from the remaining students. Alice mutters an apology, and the three of us are led outside.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Alice sighs, breaking the silence.
After Daffodil left us at the door, Alice silently led me to the next testing room. She was either too stressed to speak or too shocked. The whole time we walked, it was like she acted like a GPS and nothing more. There were no more explanations or sarcastic remarks from her. At least, not at the moment.
This time, the testing room wasn't really a 'room', but a colosseum. A sign in front of the entrance was labeled 'A1 Combat and Self Defense'. There was already a crowd of students on the inside, some arming themselves with daggers and other weapons on the inside of their clothing. We were one of the last to arrive, probably because of what happened earlier.
"It's not a problem. I'm just wondering what made her lash out like that." I comment, watching as a line forms to enter the inner ring of the colosseum. I'm too focused on the crowd in front of us to look at Alice's expression, which I guess from her tone in her next sentence, wasn't a happy one.
"It's.. complicated. I am—was her guide. Now I'm not. Back when I had first become a guide under the student council, she confided in me many things, some more important than others. Things I didn't know I was supposed to reject hearing. I had made a mistake and almost lost my head, that's all. She's always been sensitive about her name…" she muttered the last sentence. Daffodil's true name, that's probably what Alice almost uttered before she was snapped at. Alice gives me a look as if wanting to end the conversation there, and I comply.
A Faery's name is a sensitive and very powerful word to them.
Because fae are a race that excel in the power of words, they can be heavily influenced or even controlled by their name, as the words they utter can act as powerful spells just said by themselves. Promises, swears, curses, names. That's why a surrogate name is assigned to them at the Academy, to protect them from a life of servitude. If she trusted her enough to let her call her by her name, I can't help but wonder if Alice was really just a guide to Daffodil.
"Next! Your name?" A guard at the entrance greets me, a snakeman with dark green scales. I had been lost in thought for so long that I hadn't noticed how far into the line I had gotten.
"Diana," I replied. He raises a brow at me.
"Your family name? You're not the only Diana in the Academy." he says bluntly, looking at me as if I was stupid. I look to the side to think about what to do. My name should never be said at the Academy. Me being here is already a blunder, but people knowing my identity could make things complicated, at least, that's what my gut tells me. The fog in my head is like a storm, rushing to cover the things I should be putting together by now. Your name is too known, too arrogant, it tells me. That is all.
"No need for that." Alice interjects, moving me aside to talk to the guard. The guard looks in confusion as she pulls out her ID. "Alice Eyernmen. Leadership. I'm Diana's guide. You can just take her ID number." she states, gesturing to me to get my ID out.
"Not happening. PACAT regulations state that on top of the ID number, we also need your name for the trial. Though ID might have worked in the IACAT, that's not how it works here." he hisses, holding his ground. Alice groans in annoyance, taking my ID out of my hand and showing it to him. Giving it a look, he reads each detail with skepticism.
"A faery ID? 'Diana' is not a registered surrogate name. And this human is certainly not fae." he tells her, giving her a dirty look. Alice scoffs.
"That's because this isn't a traditional faery ID. I spoke with the principal and he stated that her highness Diana is a special case." she insists, emphasizing the words 'her highness'. The guard finally takes a good look at me, spotting the golden embroidery around my neck. He gasps, bowing and straightening his posture.
"My apologies to your highness! I-I will let you in immediately!" he says, opening the gates for me. I hear the people behind me whisper, which in turn causes more people to spread the word. I ignore their senseless chatter, focusing my attention on Alice, who looked more peeved than her usual indifferent attitude. She drags me by the arm and pulls me past the gates.
"What's wrong?" I inquire, tilting my head to better see her expression.
"Nothing. It's just that you have so much power and you don't seem to know how to use it. It's like you're a fledgling fresh out of the nest. One order from you and that could've been dealt with much quicker." she tells me, a spiteful tone lacing her words. "Do you have any idea of how rare you are? An heir, and a human one at that. Only 6 other heirs attend the Academy other than you, and they are all extremely powerful. You do realize that you might literally govern the country one day?" she urges. A part of me disagrees. I may be an heir now, but there's no guarantee that I'll still be an heir after my lesson here at The Academy is complete. Despite that, I understand her sentiment.
Though it's known that the higher ranked heirs might inherit a council seat one day, excluding the government and the heirs themselves, the rankings of the heirs are unknown to normal citizens. The fear that one day the heir you had disrespected becoming a high power is a common one, so all of them are treated equally with reverence and the utmost respect. This, of course, only applies to the people who don't know the rankings. Those who do don't bother to hide abusing it, mostly using it as a measure of an heir's worth.
However, the Academy should be an unbiased place. If it was created to what the 1st Razier designed it to be, ranks shouldn't matter. "It didn't seem that way with Daffodil though" I tell her as we enter the center of the colosseum.
"Faeries have their own pocket dimension [Walpurgis] completely separate from Zarieran politics, so of course they wouldn't care." she explains, leading me through the crowd of students. She hands me a blue card and lets out a tired sigh. "Whatever, just don't forget your power and don't cause more trouble. I need to go now but I'll come back at lunch to guide you to your nutritional area." she says promptly before taking off into the sky. The sun shines brightly against her golden feathers, making a beautiful golden glow that leaves many students gawking. I'm left alone and unaware. Now that I think about it, she didn't explain what the blue card she gave me was.
Suddenly, I feel a tingling sensation in my head. Someone was using telepathy on a large number of people, including me. I turn my head to the source of the magic, a platform above the colosseum, where a half fishman-half goat stood towering over the students. A… Goatfish? I thought his kind were exterminated in the Year of Change. "Good evening students, you can call me Lorren Murray, your future professor in Combat and Self Defense. All 238 of you will be assigned to me when and if you pass the entry exams. I assume you have your keys? They're the blue cards your guides gave you." he holds up a blue card of his own. Many students hold their cards up or give a sound of confirmation in response. "Great! I will now explain what this season's Physical Academic Test will consist of!" he announces, causing ripples of whispers and quiet conversations in his audience.
"First, the blue cards in your hands are called 'keys'. You will need 5 of them for a passing grade and the only way to gain new cards is to take them from other teams. Extra keys will be converted into extra points." he explains "You will be divided into teams of 4. No in-team sabotaging, no over-destroying the field, and absolutely no killing is permitted within the testing time. You'll have until 13:30 [about 3 hours] to collect the cards you need." he gestures to the gates behind him, making the gates open into the forest behind him. The gates open with a loud iron screech, the rusty hinges almost falling apart as they shift them open. It's as if the doors hadn't been used in centuries. What looked to be a previously pristine iron gate now looked to be rusted and covered with vines. It contrasted the meticulously clean colosseum it was placed in.
A sign near the gate was labeled: 'P2 Giuran's Forest'. I narrow my eyes, feeling as if I'd forgotten something important. Where have I seen that before?
"Students, enter the field. Your keys will point you in the direction of your teammates. There will be a 30 minute grace period for planning and your keys will turn red when the test begins." Professor Murray shouts, disrupting my train of thought. "Goodluck, and stay safe out there." he says, waving at us from his platform in the sky. I study him more thoroughly, a suspicious feeling creeping down my back. The sun was blocking his expression, but I could've sworn a smirk was on his face. I place my hand on my chest, watching him closely. I should stay on my guard this time.
Entering the forest, I take out the blue card in my hand. A faint blue glow guides me through the forest, showing two paths to go to. Two that lead into the clearing in the middle, and one that leads to a darker area. I opt for the darker area, as it's probably safer to go somewhere where other people won't be, especially if it's someone too strong for me to handle like the minotaur I encountered earlier at the IACAT. We can just group up at a later time.
The forest is menacing and damp and horribly overgrown. It felt like its own separate building, the foliage forming its own type of 'walls' and 'roof'. Unlike the tall and extravagant marble structures of the colosseum, there was a severe lack of space here. The trees lumped together, even fighting their own leaves for space. The suns were heavily covered by the greenery and vines. If not for the glow from my card, I wouldn't be able to see right now.
I hear whispers, like spirits climbing into my head. I constantly check for other people, but every single sign tells me that nobody is here but me.
As I make my way further into the forest, I begin to wonder how far my teammate actually went in. How they even made it this far in a few minutes. I let out a sigh, feeling my feet dip deeper and deeper into the soft mud underneath me as I take more steps forward. "Ow" I hiss, feeling my nose bump into something hard and sturdy. I was so occupied by my thoughts that I hadn't noticed how dark it had gotten. The trees have completely blocked out the suns' rays. A voice chuckles, making me wonder if I've started hearing things again, but the hand on my hip says otherwise. Stay calm.
I look up to see glowing blue eyes staring down at me, the light teal hue feeling harsh and judgmental as they peer into my very soul. "Hello?" I call out, trying my best to figure out who this person is… but instinctively, I know the answer. "Nixie?" I gasp, his lips barely visible in this darkness. They curl upwards, forming a smile.
"Hi, " he whispers in my ear. I feel my heart do laps inside my chest.
I looked down at my blue card, and the glow I had been following had disappeared. On its surface, the words 'Destination reached!' were all that were visible.