The airship dining room was cozy and slightly cramped, with tables and chairs magically bolted in place to prevent turbulence incidents. The warm magical light eluminating the room was quite calming, though the atmosphere at one table did not fit the lighting.
"So to recount," Quin said flatly while swallowing a last bite of food, tone as measured as ever while pushing her glasses up, "exactly 20 seconds ago, you revealed to me you have no magic. And now, you're planning to tell the entire class about this right here and now." Her voice didn't have any indication of emotion, but the words themselves had a undertone of disbelief.
Tesric, still as confident as ever, grinned, "I have no idea why you needed to say all that, but yes. That's the plan."
Arden, who for the first time in his life had a full stomach, groaned and rubbed his eyes in frustration. "It's a terrible idea." He pointed toward Darian, who was seated while Eryth stood behind him massaging his temples, still recovering from the shock of Serena's surprise appearance. "For starters, Prince high and mighty over there is going to treat you even worse than before."
He then gestured toward Kaedra, who was alone at a table using a combat dagger to eat slices of her food. "And her? She'll probably call you weak and crush your hand for real this time."
Quinn nodded in agreement with Arden, "A fair assessment."
Tesric acted out a dramatic sigh and then leaned forward, pulling the two closer by slinging his arms around their shoulders. "C'mon guys!" he said with enthusiasm. "For the next three years, we're going to be sharing a class and dorm together. At that point, we're basically family."
Tesric pressed on with an unwavering warm smile. "And family don't need to hide things from each other, right? Especially something that could affect us all."
"Well, I wouldn't know," Arden muttered, half-joking but with an air of longing.
Quinn, who was analytical as always, spoke up with an oddly reflective tone. "I wouldn't quite say that's the case. My mom and dad constantly hid important things from me and told me to figure it out on my own. They said it would build intelligence." She touched her head with a sense of pride. "And it worked out quite well, evidently."
Tesric stared at her while resisting the urge to make a quip. "Noted," he mumbled before blinking rapidly as if to reset his brain.
"Ok, screw it," he declared, leaping off the chair and up to his feet with such speed that Arden nearly spilled his drink in surprise.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Arden blurted out.
In a flash, he sprinted to the center of the dining room, causing such a ruckus that he drew the attention of every student. Tesric, with a dramatic flourish, then called out, "Class gather around! I have important information to share!"
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Darian paid no heed and refused to even glance in Tesric's general direction. Eryth however, looked conflicted. He was curious about what Tesric was going to say, but he was loyal to his perceived superior.
Kaedra, an enjoyer of drama and mess, paused mid-bite on her food, to watch the entertainment. Serena's acknowledgment was more subtle, a shadow in the corner of the room where she lingered seemed to creep closer, as if trying to listen.
With most of the people in the room's attention held, Tesric took a breath and said boldy, "I am attending Pinkrose academy… the same as all of you…"he paused to build anticipation, "with one key difference."
"I don't have any magical abilities."
For a single moment in time, the room was silent.
"What?!" Darian whipped his head around so quickly to look at Tesric, that it was a miracle that he didn't snap his neck and die.
Kaedra simply smirked, setting her food down and grinning as wide as the ocean itself.
The shadows in the room shifted again, contorting and changing darkness, as if Serena was confused and trying to think of an explanation.
Eryth laughed heartedly while clapping his hands. "Ha! Nice one, Sir Lestair." His laugh broke the tension for a moment, before he noticed that everyone was looking at him. His smile quickly disappeared off his face. "It was a joke, right?"
Arden caught his eye from across the room and shook his head.
"Oh."
Darian stood up from his chair abruptly, the expression on his face colder than anything he's shown before. He marched towards Tesric, his posture rigid and filled with disdain. "Why are you here?" he asked with a serious tone, very much unlike the haughty arrogance he displays most of the time.
Arden quickly walked to the center of the room and positioned himself at his fellow Vesperan's side. As if he was bracing for the escalation of the confrontation.
Tesric answered Darian's question with enthusiasm, ready to talk about his mechanical innovations. "Well, you see, I invented—"
"I don't care," Darian interrupted him before he could complete this sentence. "Us mages are not taught magic. No, we are born with this glorious power. So I want to know what a lesser born like you is doing in my class."
"First off, it's not your class." Tesric retorted with a quip, provoking Darian to take another step forward to close the distance between them.
Arden extended his arm to bar Darian's path with a firm and solid hand. "Back off, man,"
Darian scowled and slapped Arden's arm off him. "Get your filthy hands off me, commoner!" he snarled, shifting all of his anger and attention to Arden, and his eyes beginning to glow blue. "Speaking of which, I can't fathom why Pinkrose would admit someone like you. I guess it makes sense now… you two really are from the same backwater city."
Tesric planned to make a witty reply but faltered as soon as he glanced at Arden, who had clenched fists paired with a face full of irritation. It seemed the frustration of all the years of being looked down upon by people better off than him, was finally blowing up.
"I'll show you what a commoner like me can do," Arden snarled, his eyes faintly shining purple, stepping forward to get up in Darian's face.
However, before either of them could make a single move, a creature that seemed to be created out of shadows emerged from the corner of the room and stepped between the two at lightning fast speeds.
The prince jumped back immediately, the earlier encounter with Serena still lingered in his mind, and he stumbled over a chair in his retreat, causing him to land directly on the floor with his back.
"Your Highness!" Eryth exclaimed while rushing to Darian's side, filled with concern. He offered his hand to the prince, and after a moment of hesitation, Darian took it and was helped to his feet.
Once he was on his feet, Darian brushed dirt off of himself and shoved Eryth's hand away. Seeing that the others were against him, he weighed his options and chose to retreat over escalating the situation. "Servant," he ordered, "take my food to the sleeping bay at once."
With that, Darian turned his back to the group and swaggered toward the sleeping bay without another word.
Eryth dutifully gathered food and beverages but paused before following the prince. He gave a look to Tesric and Arden, one that seemed to be an unspoken apology. Then, without further delay, he hurriedly followed the prince.
As the tension dissipated, the shadow creature dissolved into nothingness, as Serena emerged from the corner of the room. She stepped forward with confidence, while she moved her hands gracefully as she signed to Tesric and Arden, "Are you alright."
Arden smiled at her and signed back a gesture of thanks. While he was doing that, Tesric leaned closer to him and whispered playfully, "Hey, can you also tell her that that was awesome?" Which earned him a light punch to the shoulder.
Serena watched the exchange with amusement, before nodding at the two, bowing slightly, and retreating back into the shadows as quickly as she appeared to them.
The next moment after Serena was gone, Arden's smile left his face, now a scowl as he turned to Tesric. "I told you that was a bad idea," he said, his tone full of annoyance.
"Oh, come on," Tesric replied defensively, throwing his hands up. "None of you could've predicted it would go that bad."
"Actually, I did," Quinn's monotone voice came from behind them, startling the two boys. They turned around to see her standing there, with an expression as flat as ever. "In fact," she continued, "it went better than I predicted."
Tesric hearing those words, immediately wrapped his arm around Arden's shoulder, smiling to cheer him up. "See? It could've gone worse!"
Arden rolled his eyes in response
Quinn seeing Tesric's optimism, added, "That is, of course, not factoring in—"
Clap Clap
The sudden sound of clapping alerted the group as Kaedra stood up from her table, a wide grin present on her lips. She sauntered toward the group, her imposing presence making them take up cautious postures. "Now that was good entertainment," she said. "A shame shadow lady had to stop the fight."
Kaedra's piercing gaze then locked onto Tesric.
Arden and Quinn instinctively huddled close to Tesric, making themselves some sort of makeshift shield. As Kaedra kept walking slowly, Quinn whispered matter-of-factly, "I fear I'm not aware of any protection spells that could stop her."
"Yeah, not helping." Arden shot back, as he tried to think of all the possibilities the situation could go.
But Tesric, who was never one to think the worst about anybody, pushed past his confidants and stepped forward. "I'm not going to shy away from revealing who I am," he declared bravely, in spite of the brick wall he stood before.
Kaedra's deadly smirk remained as she raised her hand. Arden quickly lunged to pull Tesric back, while Quinn started to prepare a spell in her hands, both fearing the worst. However they froze up when Kaedra's hand came down, not in a strike, but just a pat on Tesric's back.
She smiled widely at Tesric."Going to a mage school without any magic?" Kaedra said, with as much childlike amusement as her voice could produce "That's badass!"
Quinn froze up mid-spell cast, the rune she was casting glowing in the air as she was filled in disbelief. It wasn't exactly the reaction she had anticipated from Kaedra. Arden, meanwhile exhaled in deep relief, thanking every pantheon of god that he wouldn't have to stand against the warrior woman.
Tesric grinned and held his hand into a fist for a fist bump. "Hell yeah, it is!" he said with enthusiasm.
With no hesitation, Kaedra bumped his fist with hers before pulling him into rough embrace."You've got guts, I'll give you that," she said while ruffling his hair with a fist, like how an older sibling would do. "Looking forward to seeing how you hold up in the ranking tournament."
With that, she straightened up and gave Tesric one last pat on the back, and strolled away to Pilot Ingram, who was serving drinks at the bar.
Tesric turned back to his two classmates with a smug face. "See? You guys are way too cynical about people. Told you it'd all work out fine."
Arden crossed his arms, "I've got my reasons for that," he said as he glanced to the side, reminding the two about his rough upbringing.
However, Quinn was caught up on something else. "Tournament?" she repeated to herself, eyebrows furrowing and deep in thought. "What tournament?"
Arden predictably shrugged, he really didn't know anything about Pinkrose's curriculum.
"I've never heard of a ranking tournament at Pinkrose," Quinn mused, stroking her chin in thought. "Perhaps it's a recent addition to the curriculum? Something specifically mentioned in her letter of acceptance to entice her?" She theorized.
"No use thinking about it now," Arden interjected, "We're arriving tomorrow anyway. Might as well rest before the real thing starts, especially after all the chaos earlier." He said, while side-eyeing Tesric.
Tesric stretched his arms out dramatically and wrapped them around the two. "I'll second that." He pointed his thumb toward the sleeping bay with a smile. "What do you say we call it a night?"
.
.
.
Later in the dark of night, Arden laid in his mattress, gently tracing his old locket with his fingers. His mind raced and he couldn't sleep because of the anticipation for what awaited him at Pinkrose, and also the loud conversation happening in the room.
"And I call these solar panels," Tesric's voice echoed throughout the bay. He was pointing at a contraption in his now-open luggage, showing it of to Quinn.
"Fascinating," Quinn murmured, inspecting a small device in her hand. It had a button at the base and two metal prongs protruding from the top. "And you believe you believe this device will allow you to compete with mages in combat?"
Tesric sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well... hopefully," he said with a nervous chuckle.
Arden groaned, burying his head into two pillows. "Can you guys at least keep it down for five minutes?"
Before either could respond, Darian's tired voice blasted out. "Quiet down, you imbeciles!" He sat up on the bed, glaring at Arden, "Ugh... I should've known you of all people would lack any common decency."
Arden shot up to a sitting position as well, his face more confused than angry. "Why the hell are you blaming me?!"
From the corner of the room, Kaedra's booming voice overpowered the bickering between the Prince and Commoner "Oi! Both of you! shut it already!"
The commotion even woke up Eryth, who had been lying in the bed next to Darian's. He pushed himself up with an elbow, and smiled at the group. "Well, now that we're all awake," he offered brightly, "how about we play a game?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Who the hell said yes?!"
Tesric leaned back and smiled, watching the chaos unfold with amusement. He slung his arm around Quinn and gestured the other toward the class. "What did I tell you? One big, dysfunctional family."
"I suppose."