Aiden found himself back inside his room, after all the judgmental stares the bookkeeper had been giving him, they've decided it was best to stay out of anyone's sights.
Riven sighed. It was already past midnight and they haven't made any breakthrough for Aiden's case. If he were to attend academy as an eleven year-old boy who could not speak nor read, he'd be torn into shreds by everyone else.
"Wait..." Riven said, "Right, you're a loser..."
Aiden's face went slack. "I already know that. Thanks for reminding me."
"No, no." Riven marveled. "We don't need to look for someone who would punch you. Every school swarms with people like that."
Lucius nodded his head. "Oh, I've read that! It is indeed common for you mortal folks to have these brutes at school."
"What do you mean read?" Caelum barfed. "You know it because Fresca always punched you at Gold Moon Pavillion when we were kids."
Aiden furrowed his brows, unsure how to approach the agenda. "So... I should do everything to get punched at school? I guess?"
Riven beamed. "Yes. That should do the trick."
. . .
As the sun passed through the tattered curtains of Aiden's decrepit chamber, the wisps spared no time to wake him with their rants.
"Hey, kiddo," Caelum sprung up and down the bed, acting as if he was doing anything, "Wake up. It's time to get punched!"
Aiden sat up, his hands rubbing his eyes to shrug the sleepiness away. Even if he was bound to get punched, a part of him looked forward to being at school.
The wisps rushed him to get dressed, all three of them too excited to forsake him into getting beaten.
"You remember what we taught you last night?" Caelum said. "Give it a whirl."
Aiden scratched his head before opening his lips. "Hi...ugg-lay?"
"No, no, no. Repeat after me," Lucius interjected, "Hey, ugly!"
Aiden tried once again. "Hay ugh-lee?"
"Almost," Caelum racked himself up and down, "But you're not asking a question dum-dum. Say: Hey, ugly!"
"Hey, ugly."
"Right! That's it!" Caelum beamed with pride. "Don't forget to yell it later."
Just when Aiden finished getting himself ready, the ugly maid barged inside his door. With that same ugly expression, she looked at him with disgust, sizing him up and down like a gnat.
"What a waste of good clothes," she hissed. "Here's a penny for whatever scrap you might stumble upon on the road."
Aiden caught in his hands what she threw at him—a rusted penny covered in grime she must have picked up in the trash and exchanged his real allowance with. He doubted it would have any value but he still kept it inside his pocket.
"Good luck trying to find your way to the academy, you dumb kid."
When the ugly woman finally left, Lucius spit on the spot she vacated, a tiny spec of light separating from his misty form before disappearing into thin air. "I guess they're cruel enough not to let you ride a carriage," he said. "What a bunch of arses!"
From his window, Aiden watched as a young boy boarded an elegant carriage alongside the Lord of the Mansion. The two always went to town together. With the boy being a prized prodigy of the academy and the lord of the house being this region's well-respected viscount, a washout like him had no place beside them.
"Fret not, mortal!" Caelum chimed in. "You won't get lost. We'll lead you there. Now tell us what it looks like."
Aiden scratched his head. "That's the problem. I've never been there before."
"Man, you really are useless, aren't you," Caelum added. "Doesn't matter! We'll just follow their carriage then."
"Uhm... I can't walk that fast, and they're already out of sight."
"Oh, you poor mortal," Caelum said. "No one asked you to walk."
Once they've stepped out of the mansion gates, Caelum led them to a clearing, his light then again beaming with pride.
"Behold! The greatest steed this world can offer," he spun several times around a small gray hinny. "You can call him Mr. Busty, he gave his permission to call him that."
"A donkey?" Lucius marveled. "That's what we waited almost an hour for?"
"Hey! Show Mr. Busty some respect!" Caelum reiterated. "He's a hinny. His father was a horse, his mother a jenny. So he's not a donkey. Only partially."
Riven struck a pale color. As if he was about to faint from what was happening. "What a great way to enter the academy. This kid won't have to say anything to get punched now."
"What am I supposed to do? He's the only one who heeded my call. All the other steeds are too condescending for their own sake," Caelum hissed. "Bastardsson's an outcast, and so is Mr. Busty. They make the perfect pairing, don't they?"
Simultaneous grunts filled the air.
"Now saddle up, Bastardsson," Caelum said. "I'll follow the carriage from above and you follow me."
Mr. Busty was the perfect height for an 11-year old like Aiden. The boy got on his back pretty easily, and even without knowing how to ride a steed, he coped just fine.
They mostly passed by forests and woodlands. And even when they had to pass though a small river, Mr. Busty cut out just fine. Then, they reached the town center where dozens of people had to stare at them like a spectacle.
A young boy riding a donkey on his way to the academy. That was the talk of the town for that morning.
When they finally arrived at the academy's entrance—a massive stone gate nestled between two towering mountains—hundreds of carriages lined up, each waiting to drop off their young masters and mistresses. Aiden, however, gave Mr. Busty a pat in the head. He dusted off his uniform, entirely unfazed by the curious eyes fixed on him.
"What a fine hinny," remarked a younger boy with glasses, leaning forward from his carriage to inspect Mr. Busty. The bamboo frame of his carriage creaked as he parted the curtains, a faint medicinal scent wafting out. "Is he yours?"
Aiden leaned a little bit to the wisps. "What's he saying? Is he the one we're looking for?" he whispered.
"No," Lucius said. "I bet he's weaker than you. Just do your usual thing."
Without another word, Aiden turned to the boy and gave him a thumbs up. The boy beamed, his two humungous front teeth showing. He mumbled something Aiden obviously could not understand, and offered his hand.
"He just introduced himself," Riven said, impatiently looking at the long line before them. "Just shake his hand and say your name."
Aiden shook the boy's hand and tapped himself in the chest, "Bastardsson."