“What do you think we’ll be learning today?” Olga absently asked. We both stared at the one lone door in the common room, waiting for it to open. We didn’t know when they were coming, but we knew they would. Lady Valaya told us as much; our lessons would begin soon. Today was the day. And so we waited for the Dark Mages to arrive. We waited for them to take us someplace else, far away from here, to begin our lessons on how to wield the dark powers… or something. I wasn’t entirely sure what amounts to basic magic.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged and shuddered at the flash of unwanted memories that made itself known in my mind’s eye – a screaming man, blood everywhere, vomit on the floor, Lady Victoria laughing without a care in the world, a warm organ in my hand, dread guilt in the depths of my heart, and the smell of copper in the air. I gulped, “I just hope it isn’t anything… extreme.”

My hands shook.

Olga sighed, “I hope so, as well.”

She then closed her eyes and gulped. As I looked closer, I noted how she seemed to be paler than she usually was. Dark bags marred the skin beneath her eyes. And her lips seemed dry and chapped. And then, she spoke, “When I sleep, I hear them; they scream for help as my flamed burn them alive. And, always, they would look at me and ask, why? Why were they suffering at my hands? Why must they die in such a manner? And, always, I could only linger in the quiet, for I know not what to say to them. The truth is… horrifying, that they were nothing more than instruments to practice my magic on, that they were chosen because their lives were small and insignificant to the world, that their deaths would be quickly forgotten, and that no one cared for them.”

“It is… haunting,” She finished, staring at the door and beyond it. A stray tear fell from her eyes. And I could only listen, only ever lend an ear. Because the simple truth was that we both suffered and there was nothing I could do to ease the burden in her heart. But, even then, that didn’t seem enough. A friend, I mused, she was my friend; all the other Neophytes were tools and pieces to be moved by my hand, but Olga was a friend. I had to treat her differently. I had to treat her better than I would the others.

“There… there… it’s going to be okay; we’re going to be okay. I promise,” And so, I leaned in and wrapped my arms around her lithe and cold form. She sniffled and sobbed; her face remained stoic and still despite the tears that flowed from her eyes as she leaned into me and wrapped her arms around me as well. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever. Olga sobbed into my robe, her tears like tiny glistening crystals as it fell and slid down her pale skin. Her hair smelled faintly of sweet flowers; it reminded me of summer meadows, near old churches.

Eventually, we separated. Olga sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes. And she grabbed my left hand with her right. Her nose and cheeks were red and her eyes were puffy. But something about her seemed to glow. She didn’t smile, but I knew her well enough by that point to know that she was no longer as saddened as she was a few moments ago. “Thank you, Uriel; I have not felt the warmth of an embrace for… a while.”

“We’re friends,” I told her. The word was foreign to my lips, but it felt good to say all the same. And it was true. Olga was my friend. I was willing to help and defend her, just as she was willing to do those things for me, in turn. She had my back and I had hers. Every other Neophyte didn’t matter. I smiled, “I’ll always have your back. And I’ll always be here to embrace you when you need me to. I promise.”

Just then, the door groaned open. A crimson-eyed figure in black walked in. It was a man, I figured, due to the broad shoulders and small hips. He did not exude the same aura of power and dread that the Dark Lords and Ladies did, though his presence still felt wrong and wholly unnatural – far from harmless and innocent, but tolerable. I could only arrive at a single conclusion; this person was not a Dark Lord, but was another student, a Dark Mage, but one that has not yet attained the highest rank.

He glanced at us, crimson eyes ablaze, and shrugged. “It seems the other Neophytes have decided to be tardy… hah, most of them are hiding in their closets, like scared little kittens; they will be punished until they learn the importance of obedience and punctuality. The Shadow Academy demands nothing less from its students. You two will follow me to your first lessons – walk briskly. I have better things to do.”

Olga and I stood up and followed the Dark Mage, who quickly turned from us and walked out the open door. Outside the dormitory was… not what I expected. Then again, I wasn’t exactly sure just what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what greeted us. An open hallway, sprawling with black-robed students, old and young, carrying books and tomes as they walked to and fro, discussing amongst themselves or simply loitering about as we passed them by; I noted the clamor of hundreds of people, civilized discussions and outright boisterous laughter echoed in the open hallway. Not a single one of them seemed to notice Olga and me.

I felt Olga’s hand wrapping around mine as we continued.

Some of them had normal eyes, while others seemed to be at the precipice of the crimson and coal that was all too common among Dark Lords and Ladies. We passed a few others that were probably of the same age as us. And then, my eyes widened as I watched a gaggle of short students pass us by, hovering above the ground; their ears pointed upwards, like knives, and their faces were not of children. Their skin was not of a humanly shade, too bright and too… orange to be anything but unnatural; their eyes seemed far too big for their faces. A few of them glanced our way, before turning and ignoring us as we passed them.

“Don’t stare,” The Dark Mage, who was escorting us, suddenly said. He didn’t turn to glance at us, but he seemed to know we were there. “You’d end up in a duel if you stare at them for too long; those were Valkurian Elves, just in case you were wondering. They don’t like being looked at; so, don’t. I won’t have either of you two die on my watch and be hounded by your mentors.”

After saying the word, mentors, he glanced at me with narrowed eyes, before quickly turning away again. “Hurry up!”

Did he have some history with Lady Victoria or was he terrified of her as everyone in the academy seemed to be. I wanted to ask, but I was not so curious as to risk his ire.

As we continued walking, I tried to memorize everything as best as I could – the stairs and the paths and which ways we were turning. There was a very real possibility, after all, that we’d have no guide back to the dormitory and that could very easily lead to one of us dying. I glanced behind me. The door to our dorm was distant but still viewable. I made a map in my head and memorized where it was, relative to everything else, just as how I’d mapped out the alleys, streets, and roads of Manila in the back of my mind when I had to live there. It was all a means to stay alive, of course, a means to escape those who sought to hurt me.

It’d be more or less the same in here, in this school.

It was bright, I noted - almost as an afterthought. But it was not the light of the sun or the stars that illuminated the hallways. There was no sun and no sky when I leaned to the side and briefly glanced outwards to find the source of the silvery glow that permeated everything with an almost ethereal quality. It came from what I could only describe as a globule of liquid light, floating at the center of a massive dome-shaped ceiling, where its luminescence spread outwards and touched everything.

"Where's the sun?" I absently asked. Though, I wasn't exactly hoping for an answer from our guide, who was not interested in us. I glanced around, once more, and noticed something else that was peculiar. "Where are the windows and why can't I see the sky?"

Our guide sighed and stopped for a moment, before turning to face us with an annoyed look. "You will find neither sun nor sky should you venture out of the Shadow Academy, neophyte; there are no windows, because we really don't want anything from the outside coming inside."

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My eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Instead of an answer, the guide only huffed and turned away. "You'll know soon enough."

And then, the bustling body of students paused as a pained scream echoed across the hallway. Even our guide seemed to freeze. “Get out of the way!”

My eyes widened as the sea of bustling students moved aside. Our guide hissed as he turned and pulled us away from the center of the hallway. Olga’s hand never left mine. I’d figured that we’d simply continue walking towards out first class, but the whole academy seemed to freeze. A bloodied figure came running through, eyes wide and frantic. It was a girl, I realized, much older than Olga and I, clutching at the bleeding stump that was her left arm. Tears streamed from her brown eyes. Her blood dripped onto the floor, leaving a trail of crimson as she ran.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!”

I watched as the gathered host of students seemed more amused than anything. Some laughed and others cheered, most seemed uninterested. Unfortunately, Olga and I were stuck at the front of the crowd and could only watch as things unfolded before our eyes.

And then, something appeared behind her, chasing her, a cloud of shadow and ash and gnashing teeth.

It was a giant, dog-like creature that was about the size of a small car, covered in matte grey fur. Its limbs were long and powerful, ending in gruesome claws that left scorched holes on the ground whenever it moved. Its face was twisted and misshapen; I could hardly see where its eyes were as there at least six glowing, crimson coals on its gnarled head that might've been its eyes. The only part of its head that made sense was its mouth, whereupon jagged teeth jutted out like daggers. Its every breath released puffs and clouds of ashes and dust.

It snarled and roared as it surged forward and bit down on the girl’s right ankle. She screamed as the monster hoisted her high up into the air. Fire burst out of her one arm, lashing out and taking on the shape of a whip. “Let me go, you stupid mutt!”

The whip surged out and wrapped around the giant dog’s neck, hissing as it scorched skin and flesh. The massive dog-thing screeched in pain.

Instead of dropping her, however, the monster begun turning its head left and right; the girl’s bones crunched and cracked and bent as she screamed and screamed, her blood spilling and splashing everywhere, before the massive beast hurled her towards the ceiling. She surged upwards and smashed right into solid stone, the breath driven out of her lungs right before she began falling back down and smashing her face right on the floor. Her teeth shattered and her nose broke upon impact. She cried and shuddered. Her right leg was a mangled mess of twisted bones and torn muscles.

Tears fell from her eyes as she sniffled, slowly crawling away from the beast. With only one working arm and leg, a snail might’ve genuinely been faster than her. She muttered something under her breath, but her voice was so low that I almost did not hear her.

I felt my heart stop as the giant monster slowly walked towards her, snarling and growling. Saliva dripped from its open maw, a grizzly thing that was lined with jagged teeth. It opened its mouth, its jagged teeth seemingly extending outwards, while its forked tongue snaked outwards and writhed in the open air. Not one of the Dark Mages took a single step back as the massive beast passed them, looming over the downed girl’s form. Just as it reached her, mouth open and poised to bite down, the girl spun on the floor and held out her open palm. Her hand blazed with dark purple energies. “Ego Rejicer Veritas!”

The dog-like creature froze as dark purple magical circles appeared in the air around it, converging around its massive form. It snarled and barked as the floating circles drew closer and began tightening. It couldn’t move. And then, the circles and the symbols etched upon them glowed brighter. A bright flash of purple followed, silencing the world itself. For a moment, everything was quiet. And, when the brightness receded, the giant beast was gone.

On the floor, the bloodied and broken girl breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned her head back on the floor and closed her eyes. The only sign that she was still alive was the soft rising and falling of her chest.

And, just like that, the crowd of students ignored her and returned to whatever it was they were doing.

Olga and I stood there, eyes wide, Dark Mages moving around us, without a single care in the world. Was that normal, here? Did things of that nature happen all the time? Judging by the reactions of the other students around us, what’d occurred was apparently something that happened every day. Or, at least, it happened enough times that no one was particularly surprised by it. Our guide scoffed, “That’s what you get for dabbling in Goetia, without proper preparations – foolish woman. Hell Hounds are not to be trifled with.”

Our guide glanced at us. He seemed momentarily pensive, before shrugging and gesturing at the downed girl’s bloody form. “This is what happens when you’re not careful. Now, stop gawking and follow me.”

Olga and I could only nod dumbly as we turned and followed him. I cast a glance at the bloodied girl, before turning away for the last time. A part of me wanted to help her… somewhat – drag her to the Healing Room, at least. But I wasn’t about to shove my nose into other people’s business. She reaped what she sowed. Her life meant nothing to me.

My eyes widened when the woman snapped her fingers and screamed as her body seemed to break itself back into shape, her bones cracking and creaking and shattering as her twisted leg was... restored. She screamed again and forced herself up, before slowly limping away, hopefully, to the Healing Room.

After that, Olga and I were led into an empty class room with hundreds of stone chairs and tables, sitting empty at the center. At the front of the room was a jet-black board and a raised platform. There were no decorations of any kind, save for the few glowing crystals that illuminated the shadows with a faint blue light, hanging from the ceiling. There was no teacher. The walls on either side were matte black and seemed... eerie and unnatural. Our guide vaguely gestured at the tables and chairs as he turned to face us, "Pick a seat; it doesn't matter which. Your instructor will arrive shortly, alongside the other Neophytes who decided to be tardy. I'm sure they will greatly enjoy being dragged from their rooms. And, just a tiny bit of advice from a senior to his juniors, classrooms are located on far ends of the academy, hence the lack of windows; for your own sake, don't listen to any of the whispers you might hear in the walls."

He walked out immediately after saying things that most definitely needed to be clarified.

My eyes widened.

Don't listen to the what?

He left.

And Olga and I just stood there, eyeing the jet black walls that seemed to loom over us.

"Hey," I began, eyes flued to the darkness in front of us, just a few steps or so away from the tables and chairs where we were supposed to be sitting on for our classes. I gulped, "You don't happen to be hearing whispers from the wall, do you?"

Olga's eyes were wide as she shook her head. "I wish the exact opposite of that; if I start to hear voices in the wall, I might just run out of this place."

"Understandable," I muttered dumbly. "I might just do the same."

We continued staring at the wall, waiting for something to happen. A full five minutes must've passed by in the blink of an eye. When nothing did, I shrugged and breathed in, turning away. I placed a hand on Olga's shoulder, "Eh, maybe that guy was just trying to scare us."

She nodded. "Maybe...."

And then the room suddenly grew much colder. My mind almost drifted back to that snowy, bloody city Olga and I ended up in for our Second Trial. Even in the comfort of my dark cloak, the coldness that lingered in the air was distinctly uncomfortable. Olga and I froze as faint voices hissed and whispered at the back of our heads, just out of earshot; they reminded me, almost immediately, of the bustling sounds of an open market, where vendors sold their wares and parents and their children wandered about. The only real difference was that I didn't understand the whispering voices, which - all things considered - was probably a good thing.

"I can hear the whispers, Uriel," Olga's eyes were wide as she spoke, puffs of white hot air coming out her mouth.

I nodded. "Yeah, let's try to ignore them as much as we can."

I pointed at the far, leftward end of the classroom, the farthest we could possibly place ourselves from the whispering wall, without outright vacating the place. We sat on adjacent tables and chairs, with Olga to my left so that she was further away from the wall than I was. The tables themselves were made entirely of black stone, each one seemed to have been carved from a single block, instead of being assembled from multiple parts; the chairs were the same.

Suddenly, I felt my ears perk upwards at the sounds of screams. But they weren't coming from the wall. Instead, the screams came from outside the classroom - the screams of children, the sounds of struggle. It was getting closer. And then, in the next moment, Dark Mages marched inside, dragging the struggling, weeping, screaming forms of the other Neophytes. Behind them walked a blazing, crimson-eyed figure, whose presence was far greater than the other Dark Mages; it was a Dark Lord, I figured, having felt their presence enough times to recognize them, at least.

The Dark Lord strode in as the other Neophytes were forced onto their desks or otherwise beaten until they no longer struggled. He sneered, idly glancing at Olga and I, before speaking, "Now that the unpleasantries are dealt with; we can begin with your lessons. I am Lord Sorzin and I will be your instructor for the next two hours, where you lot will be learning the basics of Magical Theory."

His crimson eyes scanned the room. "Let's begin."