You're all gathered in a large entrance hall, wooden folding chairs arranged around a stage and podium. The stage is currently empty - lights turned off. For those of you that are new, here, there's a air of spectacle. Ancient stone walls around you, dozens of people like you gathered in a single place, crisp uniforms rustling with every movement.
No idea of what's to come, and excited for whatever it might be.
For those of you who are returning, however, this is all old hat. You spend the minutes before the assembly begins trying to find your friends, whispering gossip from the summer, or simply waiting in dread for the beginning of another year of the most dreadful concept humans have ever come up with - school.
The few weeks Aaron had spent at his parents' had been more of the same. His mother insisted he didn't have to go to Wimbleton another year, his father still couldn't look him in the eye. It was a bit of a relief to be back.
The teenager looked around the hall, searching for a familiar face. He recognized some of his classmates he didn't really talk to, and noticed there were a lot of new students this year.
“Nelle, please try to not get into any trouble this year.”
That had been all that her mother could offer when her parents had seen her off on the train to school. The thought floated through Nel’s head as she made her way through the hall, her compact in hand. She looked into it occasionally, and instead of the reflection of a girl with stark, short dark hair, she saw an almost identical girl with long dark plaits. Her sister Ellie smiled at her before fluttering out to a window, looking around. She pointed down the hall, and Nel followed her gaze to see Aaron, who stood looking around at the students.
Nelle didn’t wave. Instead, she took long strides to make it over to the teen. She barely reached his shoulder, so she had to tilt her head far back when she looked at him to ask, “Anyone interesting yet?”
And to those Gods I will speak bluntly, We have an accord if you ever touch or harm him Please rest assured, you may not fear a man, But by the end to a woman, you'll kneel and plead Because I'm more than my mom taught me to be.
It was an obvious ploy, really. A boy like you must learn humility, if you are to take my throne. Spoken by a man who held not a single branch of humility within his rotted trunk and who knew only humiliation of his son. It was no mistake he had been sent to an academy-- what better place to remind the prince that he was still a student, ignorant and undeserving of the greater attention royalty brought. A child, meant to be shooed away and babysat. It made his skin crawl like insects beneath bark, feasting upon his insides until he was but a husk to the forest he called home. Father intended to crush his spirits by sending him here, and there was little the prince could do to protest. Der Erlprinz, despite his reservations, much preferred the humiliation of being sent away like an errand boy to the direct ire of the Alder-King. Even the lowest of fae knew not to evoke the wrath of their ruler.
And so he sat. And waited. When his carriage arrived in his kingdom, he boarded it; when the gates of his newfound prison crept upon the horizon, he entered their guarded territory without fear. Only resignation and a faint vexation survived the travel-- any direct anger the prince felt had died out by the roadside, left as fodder for the trees to fuel their whipping branches upon any unfortunate passerby. When he was given his uniform, he made no effort to put it on, finding that his cloak was made out of a far less obnoxious material; despite his stay here, the prince was determined to retain a sense of dignity for as long as physically possible. That included keeping his preferred clothes.
And so he took his seat, and waited once more, idly taking out his sketchbook as the lights dimmed. Despite the twilight, his vision was largely unimpeded-- a perk of his residency in the woods, he supposed. The Erlprince had traveled light; a few books were present in his bag, along with his most cherished sets of clothes and a few items for personal grooming and convenience. Among those items was a leatherbound booklet and a piece of charcoal-- one which, despite its constant usage, never seemed to run out. One of father's gifts, enchanted to amuse his son. Despite his relationship with his father, the Erlprince greatly appreciated the gesture.
For now, he would idly sketch-- scratching the charcoal along the surface, examining the utensil before his hood to confirm he was using his favored edge. A simple mock-up of the auditorium would do, for now. When the lights came up and the circus show began, the prince supposed he would have a more entertaining model to use.
With all the excitement of a leaf in the wind, Hanashi was pushed along with the ever-shuffle of the crowd of students never having as long as she would like to inspect the castle. The walls here were old, older than anything she ever knew back home where the old things got locked away behind a layer of glass and buildings rarely were older than her paper. Still, even if Hanashi couldn’t spend the time she wanted to look at any one individual thing, the spectacle of the whole was still more than enough to keep her enraptured. If not now then later she could flutter close to things and look them over — and much easier too than when she was simply poking her head out of her mother’s purse.
The monsters too kept Hanashi’s eyes wide and her head bobbing. She had never really met another monster before, let alone be walking along with so many all (mostly) wearing the same uniform. With a bounce in her step the flow of the crowd pushed her along into the auditorium which was a new thing to steal her attention. The group of students she had been walking with dispersed into the room, some looking for familiar faces others off to find a good seat. Thoughtlessly Hanashi brushed the crisp crease along the side of her uniform’s skirt as she wandered forward aimlessly to see what she could see before it was time to sit down.
//... into the dark she stepped, but never did she feel free of the gaze...//
Aaron’s expression softened when Nelle approached him casually, as if they’d seen each other yesterday. It was like that every year, unlike other teens who missed each other and made a big deal out of the reunion. He didn’t mind her outward coldness, it was comfortable. He wasn’t the affectionate kind either.
He shrugged. “A lot of new faces this year.” His glance stopped at a boy with long horns and a cape. He stood out for not wearing the academy’s uniform, and seemed to be the loner type. He sat by himself with a sketchbook and piece of charcoal. Aaron found himself curious about what he was drawing, but not enough to invade his space and look. He sighed.
Cailet wasn't sure what she had expected from this school or what it would be like in the future, but right now it was amazing. There were so many students of all different sorts, and a lot of them looked like pictures out of books. Horns, antlers, wings, feathers, there was a little bit of everything. She tried not to stare, which was easier because there was just so much to look at.
Cailet probably wasn't much to look at, at least not from that perspective. She was, by at least one account, a normal human girl. She had almost black hair, which meant it was sort of a dark brownish, and almost green eyes, which meant that they were sort of a muddy pond-scum brownish, and a mouse perched on her shoulder which was almost gray, but also sort of brownish. Unremarkable, she supposed. She was also wearing a skirt, for one of the very first times in her life. It was part of the uniform. It looked like some of the girls here were wearing the boys' uniform, but Cailet had been too shy to ask about that - or maybe they identified as boys. Or maybe they identified as something else entirely - did pelagic horrors have genders?
Well, some of them did - anglerfish were sexually dimorphic, even, but she was fairly sure that jellyfish and most cnidians were asexual and reproduced with polyps. Cailet read a lot. There wasn't much else to do in a tiny farming town, besides work. She didn't mind work. Cailet was a practical sort of girl, which was why she was used to practical clothes and not skirts, which she kept smoothing down in back just in case it was indecent. Since it was down to her knees, this was unlikely, but it wasn't like she had any experience with it. It was very weird.
And also, although she was not sure she wanted to admit it, a little bit cute. Cailet wasn't used to 'cute' and she thought maybe a little part of her kind of liked it. Life on the farm was very practical. There wasn’t a lot of time for cute. Cute got culled, or eaten.
Anyway, Cailet looked cute.
She found an unoccupied seat and sat down in it, smoothing her skirt carefully just to make sure, then reaching up to scratch the mouse behind his ears. "Do you think any of these students will be in my classes?"
There was a squeak, indeterminate. She supposed there really was no way of knowing, without asking, and she was definitely too shy to ask. "Hm. Maybe, I guess. I wonder what the classes will be like?"
The mouse twitched an ear. Cailet supposed he didn't know any better than she did, they'd both just arrived, after all. The entrance exam had been strange, not at all what she'd expected. At least the mouse had been there too, across the table from her, sniffing at the cards. She'd wondered if he was going to try to nibble at them, but apparently he didn't eat tarot cards.
Just other mice. And pigeons. And she had her suspicions about where that half-blind barn cat that hissed at her every time she went to milk the goats had gone, but it was probably best they didn't talk about that. At least they hadn't needed to worry about the mouse problem.
She sighed, her head turning a little bit towards her one familiar friend as she lowered her voice a little bit more. "Do you think they'll like me?"
First off, awful fecking boring. Ainsley never got the whole obsession with castles. Big stoney eyesores that stuck out of the countryside like a calcified pimple, ruining the natural view. There was a perfectly fine heather moor here that some idjeet human had plopped his little burrow in thousands of years ago, claiming he owned the place.
Second, uniforms. Ainsley liked her clothes well-worn and loose. This shite? Rough on the skin, uncomfortabley cut, and more likely bought from some posh shop than dredged out of a puddle. Sure, it was a bit damp now that she was wearing it, but that just left her feeling gross and starchy. She'd ditched the cotton knee-highs for some fishnets, at least, but knowing places like this, that was probably breaking some fecking rule.
Third, the fecking people. Small comfort Aisling was here with her, because if she didn't have someone she could tolerate she'd probably end up off her rocker in a week. These were the sort of people who liked being in a big fancy castle and liked wearing stupid, starchy clothes. There was a daft kid next to her was babbling under her breath about wanting to be liked. Ainsley felt a flash of anger. Why would you want these people to like you?
Wait. Second glance, she wasn't talking to herself, but instead some kinda animal perched on her shoulder. Great - even more of a weirdo.
What was Cailet supposed to do? She wasn't exactly good with new people. It was part of being from a tiny town - everyone had known you since you were born, and probably had known all your parents and grandparents and cousins and there was a good chance you were somehow related. It was easier that way, really. She shrank back from the inquisition a little bit, which led the mouse on her shoulder to twitch its nose at her in exasperation. She had said she was going to try, after all, hadn't she?
And mom wanted her to make friends. Maybe this was a friend? The other girl looked... wet. Cailet glanced up to see if it was raining, except they were inside, so that would have been weird - except they were inside some sort of magic castle, so maybe it wasn't. Did it rain in here? It didn't seem to be right now, anyway.
The mouse was unimpressed with her dithering.
"Oh. Um. He's more of a mouse. Mostly a mouse, anyway. He's a mouse on the outside." Did this make sense? It made sense to Cailet, but she wasn't sure about whether it would make sense to anyone else. She hadn't really practiced talking to anyone about the mouse. She'd had a feeling that the mouse was one of those things that she wasn't supposed to talk about. "His name's Algernon?" she offered, maybe a little inquisitively, as if looking for approval. Algernon wasn't his real name, but it was the one she'd given him. He had another Name, but it was best not to go there.
Ainsley looked the girl up and down, lip curling. Wanted to be liked, but hid away the moment anyone talked to her, obviously too nervous to do anything about it. No wonder she was talking to a mouse.
Well - 'mostly a mouse.'
A 'mostly mouse' that this girl, in her infinite posh wisdom, decided to name Algernon. Stupid name. What even was this girl? Some kinda witch or something? Probably some caution to be had there, curse if crossed and all that, but -
Didn't matter. She doubted the little pansy could push back if she tried. And if she did, well, really, Ainsley would just be doing her a favor by teaching her to stand up for herself.
At the question, the kelpie laughed.
"Oh yea, I love animals," Ainsley replied, giving a sharp-toothed grin. "They're delicious."
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
For a mouse, the creature perched on the girl's shoulder seemed to pick up on the implied threat just fine. Very un-like a mouse, he did not seem interested in cowering or running away. He met the sharp-toothed grin with a suddenly-red-eyed gaze of his own, and the wound-spring tension of something about to uncoil in very destructive ways. Cailet thought it was a little like those fish with the jaws that popped out. Or maybe it wasn't. Algernon was kind of his own thing.
She booped him on the nose, red-eyes and all. "Stop that, Algernon. We don't eat our classmates. That was in the brochure, remember?"
Of course, if he didn't eat her classmates, that meant Cailet actually had to defuse the situation. Weirdly... well... this girl was actually just as weird and awkward as Cailet was, wasn't she?
Or maybe Cailet was just too weird and awkward to be phased by it. By the way she'd said animals were delicious, she'd obviously expected Cailet to react, but Cailet had grown up on a farm - a working farm, not just one of the ones that had been prettied up for tourists. She knew where her food came from, and she'd had a hand in raising it since she was old enough to be useful and not just get in the way.
"But yeah, they sure are," she responded, agreeably. "We raise goats. Well, my family does, anyway. I guess I raise Eldritch abominations. And goats. But not really in the same way."
Ainsley's grin faltered, eyes meeting the mouse - and quickly looking away. She took a step back involuntarily, suddenly feeling incredibly, indescribably uncomfortable. Survival instinct.
Something was wrong. Something was fecking wrong, and by the way the little diddy was acting like the mouse might actually eat her - feck off, Ainsley, she's trying to phase you. Embarrass you. The anxiety gave way to a new rush of anger, and the kelpie shoved the other girl. Hard.
"Think yer hot shite, do ya?" she snapped. "Goats, 'n... eldritch... keech 'n all that! Nobody's gonna like you, hear?"
Her nostrils flared - eyes flickering again to the mouse with a tiny flash of discomfort.
Yesterday, upon the stair, I met a man who wasn't there! He wasn't there again today, Oh how I wish he'd go away!
The Erlprinz paused in his idle sketching to give a momentary glance around the auditorium, inadvertently locking his gaze with a student some ways away. He was set beside another of their peers, a girl; both seemed to be acquaintances, at the very least, with the casual manner of their conversation that the prince could observe from his distant perch. The shadowed hood of his cloak held the boy’s gaze a moment longer, and then returned down to the paper, his subject matter switching from environment to figure. Little moddled bodies upon the paper, detailed enough to show their uniforms and the chairs they sat within. The pair would serve as a sort of background to his sketch, drawing the eye along the paper as he began to idly shape the rest of the auditorium crowd with a surprising amount of detail. Eventually, his hood returned to stare at the other side of the auditorium, hand capturing the details independent of his scrutinous eye.
Idly, he took note of the conversation taking place a few rows ahead of him— one of a decidedly barbaric subject, though he supposed he could expect little else from a school made for the backwater dredges of the paranatural world. Maybe the arguing pair would kill one another— that’d make for an entertaining display. Yet another reminder of why he did not belong here. Perhaps father was doing this to teach him a small lesson, letting his son stew here for a fortnight before he was brought back to the kingdom. The prince hoped as such, anyway. He doubted he would make it a full year without losing either his temper or his mind.
Post by xXxStitchesxXx on Dec 2, 2022 18:18:26 GMT
“New faces, old faces… We’ll see how many survive the year.” She took a small glance around the hall, noticing a few new characters that she was unfamiliar with right off the bat. A pair of girls stood a little ways away, one with an ugly rat on her shoulder. Nel approved of this. Rats were incredibly sociable creatures, frequently misunderstood thanks to their portrayal in modern media. One of the windows shined and reflected Ellie, who made a face at the rat before shimmering her way to a closer window, one near Nel and Aaron.
Nel raised a hand and gestured to the mirror, where Ellie waved hello to Aaron. To everyone else, Ellie appeared to be mouthing something inaudible. But for Nel, it was as clear as day. “Tell him I’m well, and I’m glad to see he survived the summer. Should we tell him we tried another seance and we couldn’t find him?”
Nel shook her head slightly and gave a small, uneven smile. “Ellie is well. She says she’s glad to see you survived the summer.” Nel herself was also glad for this- but that wasn’t something she’d ever vocalize. It was easier for people to assume she didn’t care, or that she only vaguely liked them, than for them to know the truth. Nel was extremely glad for Aaron’s presence, as it was the only thing that kept her from hating the school. Not that she would ever tell him that.
And to those Gods I will speak bluntly, We have an accord if you ever touch or harm him Please rest assured, you may not fear a man, But by the end to a woman, you'll kneel and plead Because I'm more than my mom taught me to be.
Somehow this had gone wrong, and Cailet was not sure that Algernon could get her out of it. Well, not in a way that wasn't going to get her expelled, anyway, and she was really trying to avoid that, especially since it was her first day.
She was not actually completely sure about what half of what the other girl had said actually meant, but it wasn't all that hard to pick up the gist of it, or the intent. Nobody's gonna like you. She'd understood that, at least. Cailet bit her lip, and sighed, looking away. Algernon was still alert, just in case things went really bad - or bad in a different way, she guessed.
"I know, okay? I'm weird and I don't fit in and I talk to a mouse who is also weird because I'm bad at talking to people and this all just seemed so much simpler when I was blowing up frogs out in the library - not on purpose! Agh! I'm not even good at that! Maybe I can just spend the whole year in the library and not talk to anyone." Cailet sighed, dejected. "There have to be some frogs somewhere."