The students began to sing the academy's hymn, chanting the name Cielovien on repeat. All the students from different classes sang their hearts out, but only a few knew the lyrics from Aiden's batch. The toothy boy wearing glasses, and three other kids.
Right at the end of the commencement, a familiar face stood at the balcony, earning a few curtsies and bows from the students. Lord Greyson stood with nobility, overseeing the entire academy with his valor as the region's viscount. He stood in front of everyone, commending the students for their greatness before giving some inspirational whatnots. The crowd cheered as he called out to the academy's name, and for only a second, he glanced at Aiden's direction, before immediately looking away. Of course, he didn't want to be associated with a screw up.
The commencement finished after Lord Greyson's speech, and the students dispersed to their respective halls. Aiden, on the other hand, was led to the dean's office with three other robe less newcomers.
His eyes brushed the dean's office and its elegance, with a plush maroon carpet underfoot and rich, deep red wood furniture, it was a contrast to the pure-white structure from the outside. A grand desk sits at its center, polished to a warm, dark shine, while a few carefully selected paintings adorn the walls, adding an air of refined sophistication.
"Hello, young ones!" A beautiful woman greeted them. She spread out her hands to her table, urging the students to sit, and Aiden chose to sit on the farthest one he could find. The dean began to babble, her manner of talking as if she was talking to kindergarteners, in her sweet-sweet voice.
"Her name's Martha," Riven said, relaying the words of the mortal female to Aiden. "She says it's nice to meet you all, blah blah."
Caelum bobbed himself up and down. "She's welcoming you all on your first day." he laughed. "Would you look at that? All your classmates are babies!"
Aiden held a bland look on his face. "They're obviously eight-year-olds."
"Ba-bies." Lucius seconded.
Riven bobbed himself, keeping up with the dean's words. "Your inner essences will be assessed in a week, and then you'll be classified to a color depending on your results." He said. "For now, you'll be given out those black robes as freshies."
A bunch of silver-caped teenagers walked forward from behind the dean, a bunch of black robes folded neatly in their hands, handing the freshies each.
Dean Martha gave a final announcement that a certain Mr. Beauregard must stay behind before dispersing the students. The students began to stand, following the lead of a teenager who would usher them to their classroom. Aiden followed the flock, as the dean could be heard repeatedly calling out for a Mr. Beauregard from behind.
"Hey!" Caelum pulsated. "She's talking to you!"
Aiden stopped in his tracks. "Me? I'm Mr. Beauregard?"
Riven flickered in agreement. "Well, she's literally looking at you."
"Urgh, right." Lucius said. "You mortals have this surname stuff."
"So, my name's Bastardsson Beauregard?"
Riven almost fainted while the two wisps burst into laughter. "No! Your name's Aiden, not Bastard's son. You're Aiden Beauregard."
"Well, sorry!" Aiden said. "That's what you've been calling me all this time--wait, bastard's son? That's what it meant?!"
"Mr. Beauregard?!" the dean called out once again, prompting Aiden to immediately walk toward her. She examined him from head to toe before granting yet again another sweet smile to replace the anger on her face that rarely slipped out.
"Well," she clasped her hands together. "Thank you for staying behind, Mr. Beauregard. Even if I had to yell out your name several times. Please have a seat."
The wisps relayed her words before Aiden could even ask, and for a moment, Aiden was actually impressed of his new company. Gone were the rowdy wisps who called him trash names. These wisps were now in for some serious business.
"You're a special case, she said." Caelum said.
"And the viscount, that Greyson guy," Lucius continued. "Gave special instructions for you."
Riven nudged his shoulder. "She's making you promise never to tell anyone you're associated with the viscount in any way."
The dean's eyes latched at Aiden, waiting for him to reply, and without any more second to think of any response, the boy simply nodded his head while giving a thumbs up.
The dean continued.
"Oh," Caelum said. "Turns out the surname Beauregard is your mother's. That's what you'll be using because your jerk father hates you."
Aiden gave a flat smile. "Thanks for the reminder."
"And Dean Martha right here, was a good friend of your mother," Lucius said. "No wonder she's treating you not-so-gnat-sy."
Dean Martha looked like she had a lot to say but thankfully, the bell rang, interrupting her on her litany, finally giving the three thorough translators a break.
"Come now, child," the dean said. "It's time to meet your classmates."
Aiden followed the dean through the academy's hallways, where every few feet, framed gold sculptures and paintings adorned the white walls like treasures in a sacred gallery. When they arrived at the classroom, everyone had already settled down in what looked like the inside of a cathedral lined with bookcases at each side.
Within those glistening white walls with sky-blue stained glass windows, and deep red wood furnishings, only two seats were left available. One beside the toothy kid with glasses, and another one at the back of the room beside the big burly kid.
"So..." Aiden consulted his companions. "Where do I sit?"
"Obviously you can't sit in front," Lucius said. "You're taller than these babies, remember?"
Caelum nodded. "Just sit beside that dude then. He doesn't matter anyway."
Aiden obliged, making his way toward the burly kid. Before he could even sit, the boy summoned a fireball in his hand, his glares piercing through Aiden.
"If you cross this line--" the boy engraved a line on the middle of their redwood table with his blazing finger, "You're dead."
The three wisps almost burst from excitement. "Oh, he matters!"
Dean Martha almost had a heart attack from witnessing the commotion at the back. "Geofrey! Please put that fireball away!" she commanded, rushing in front to distract the attention of the younger students while the burly boy extinguished the fireball in his hand. "Sorry about that, students. Mr. Morales here is a... bit too special for this class."
While the dean rambled endlessly, Aiden slowly made his way to his seat, his gaze in awe toward his new desk mate. Not just him, the wisps also flickered uncontrollably out of excitement, except Riven whose vibrance dulled a little.
Not long after sitting down, still a little bit of distracted from Caelum and Lucius' usual banters, Aiden got called in front by Dean Martha. He even had to look at the three wisps to confirm if he was the one being called and they all nodded, telling him he needed to introduce himself in front.
He stood in front of everyone, surveyed the room filled with younger kids, before tapping his chest to introduce himself. "Aiden Beauregard."
The toothy boy with glasses who was seated right in front of him, furrowed his eyebrows. "Aiden Beauregard? Wasn't your name Bastardss--"
Aiden stepped closer, his body towering over the boy as he tapped himself slowly, enunciating every syllable of his name with a threatening smile on his face. "Ai-den Beau-re-gard."
"O-okay. S-sorry, Aiden."
Dean Martha thanked Aiden for his brief introduction, and he proudly walked back to his seat where the three wisps waited for his return. While Riven commended him for his feat, looking proud as he twinkled, the two other wisps begged to differ.
"Man, we should have taught him how to introduce himself first before teaching him how to get punched," Caleum whispered to Lucius.
"You're right," Lucius whispered back. "He looked real dumb, didn't he?"
"Yeah. It felt like watching a caveman speak for the first time."
The class ended after Dean Martha finished telling the story of how the academy was established, or how the founding fathers found ways to cultivate magic, and more stuff irrelevant to their cause. So when lunch time arrived, Aiden and the three wisps immediately made their way to the cafeteria to plan their next agenda.