Bluefire Royal School. A large school for only the rich and privileged. Only one percent of the school’s seats are reserved for students with merit. Remaining seats can only be brought with large donations. It has the best educators of Waterford but as you can imagine its pool of students are…horrendous. Geniuses, hard workers, laid-backs, happy-go-luckies, bullies, you can find them all here.
As Castiel walked on the wide paved roads with other children going towards the school, he could see everyone looking at him. Everyone was wearing white robes with gold embroidery ,and red-colored collars and cuffs. He kind of expected it. Even if he never talked to most people, he was famous before he dropped out. He had a five year age gap with his classmates. Even among the students with merit, he stood out.
He tried to walk faster but to no avail. He was a mortal while everyone else had already started cultivating. He was not going to outpace them. After he entered the large iron gates of the school, he beelined for the principal’s office. But before he could go far, an iron grip around his neck held him in place.
“Hey Cass, miss me? Finally coming back to school, huh?” The one speaking was Mei Taylor. She is the dreamgirl for almost every teenager in Bluefire but she is also ruthless. She has milky white skin, fiery red eyes which sometimes flicker between red and yellow, facial structure of people living in the southwest region of the Serafin empire. She has brown hair and parts her hair in the middle which fall like waves to her shoulders.
She is also the most talented person he knows, at least until he saw Carla Seraphim. She is five years older than him and studying one grade higher than him. She was already mid bone forging before he dropped out of school. Her strength and ruthlessness are the reasons no one has ever pursued her yet. She is also his guardian angel in school. Since he is always the smallest person in his class, he was always prone to bullying before Mei stepped up.
“Why so gloomy, not happy to see me? If you are mad at me that I didn’t come to see you when you dropped out of school, then I am sorry. I also had to drop out of school for a while for some emergency. I also flunked a grade. So now I am the same grade as you. Please take care of me.” Even though Mei was so bubbly and happy, remorse was eating away at Castiel.
Mei is his only friend and he didn’t check up on her for two years. And now he knows that she was also suffering for two years. Even though she is always there for him, he went no contact with her even if it was not his fault.
“I am sorry, Mei. What was the emergency?” He whispered in a scared tone.
“Don’t worry about it kid. Want to talk about what happened to you?” She knew what happened two years ago, most people did. But she wanted to respect his wishes before bringing the topic up.
“No.” He replied curtly. By now, most students had stopped looking at him. Nobody wanted to poke the humanoid monster beside him.
“No problem. Just remember, I am always here. Are you going to the principal’s office? Let’s go together.” And like that she dragged him away.
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“Hello sir, I want to resume my studies.” Castiel was talking to a transmission orb. Transmission orbs are one of the highest inventions of formation technology. They can transmit a holographic image and voice of the sender to another orb. The distance of transmission depends on the cultivation of the sender and the quality of the orb. The principal of Bluefire royal school is a mysterious person. He is rarely ever in school. He is thought to be the most powerful cultivator in Bluefire. Nobody can ever remember what he looks like. Even if someone is looking at him, they don’t understand what they are looking at. It’s like a three dimensional creature viewing a four dimensional being. Sometimes Castiel wishes that the principal was ever-present in school so that he could place Amelia in school.
“That’s fine. You don’t need me for this. What exactly do you wish for that you needed my presence?”
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“I need to be given permission to study at home. I am the sole guardian for my three year old sister, I cannot be away from her for long. I promise this won’t hamper my studies.”
“Sure. But you need to come to school for at least an hour everyday. You can use this time to talk to your teachers and friends, clear your doubts in studies. If you don’t score in the top 1% of your class, I will revoke your merit privileges.”
“Absolutely, sir. Thank you so much. That’s all. I won’t waste any more of your time.” The orb shut down and Castiel exited the office. -That was easier than expected.- He thought. Mei was waiting outside.
“How was it? Got what you wished for?” Mei asked.
“Yes, it was successful. I am sorry I didn’t tell you this before but I will come to school for only an hour everyday.” He replied with his head down. Me had already headlocked him again in her elbows.
“I understand, family is the most important. I am coming to your house today after school. No protest.”
“Ok. I need to buy books for the year and head home for the day. I will be waiting for you.” He replied. They separated as she went for her classes and he went to visit his teachers. Once he was done with visiting all the teachers, he went to buy the books they recommended in the school’s bookstore.
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“Ame, a friend will come in the evening. We need to clean the house and make sure everything is tip-top.” He sat her in front of her toys and handed her a small cloth to clean her toys. He tries to include her in small activities to keep her engaged. He could see her eyes shine. She will be seeing a new face for the first time in 2 years. Circumstances have made it so that she can never exit the house and this will be a nice change of pace.
Just as they finished setting up the house, he heard a knock on the door.
“Master Castiel, you have a visitor.” He heard a guard of the house announce the visit.
“Please send her in.”
He saw Mei in a purple dress, her hair made up in a bun and held together by a beautiful purplish white flower pin, a large box gift wrapped in her hands, entering the house. Even he was stun-locked for a second.
“I think today is a milestone. First time I saw you enamored by me or anyone for that matter. Hehehe.” Mei laughed loudly, totally contrary to what one would expect if someone dressed up like her.
“You are so childish.” He was kind of embarrassed.
“Come meet Amelia.” But she was nowhere to be found. His heart skipped a beat but then he thought she might be a little scared of the new person in the house.
“Ame, where are you?” After a little bit of searching, he found her hiding under the bed.
“You can come out, baby. I am here, and she won’t bite.”
“Hey Amelia, look what I brought for you.” Mei also peeked under the bed and shaked the box she had in her hand. This did the trick. Amelia crawled out dexterously and lunged at the box. She tore the wrapper immediately. Inside the box was a big doll. She was not impressed. She crawled back under the bed skillfully as if she had done this a thousand times already.
“You are a tough kid to please huh. Look what this doll can do. See this switch here and here? You can use them to change the dress pattern and color of her eyes.” Mei showed her how to play with the doll. Finally, Amelia was focussed.
“Do you have any other toys? Let's play together?” Mei asked Amelia. Amelia just nodded with a smile. This was the first smile Castiel had ever seen on her face. The three of them played together for a while but the whole time Amelia only sat on Mei’s lap. She just wouldn’t leave. She would also occasionally giggle. I think this was the happiest Castiel had ever been after his mom’s death.
After a while, the two left Amelia to play by herself.
“Cass, come with me.” Mei brought Castiel in front of a mirror with the same headlock>drag method.
“What do you see?” Mei asked.
“What?”
“A gloomy twelve year old who never smiles. As if you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Kid, I know you want revenge. You had to mature early for your sister. But you have to smile sometimes. Amelia is imitating you. You are her only family. Since you never smile or show much emotion, she is also becoming apathetic. Even if you don’t want to smile, smile for her, even if it’s fake.”
This was the first time he came face to face with his deficiencies as a parent.
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It was getting late at night. Mei had to leave.
“Will you come back?” Amelia asked Mei as she was about to exit the house.
“For my princess? Absolutely.”
And like that their day was over. This was the daily routine for him for the next few months. Exercise, study for one hour, go to school for one hour, take care of Amelia. Occasionally Mei would come to help.