Aida didn’t know what she expected from speaking to the teachers, but it certainly wasn’t “nothing.” Which was essentially what they gave her.

They let her speak, telling the story of how she and Ezra were planning on just going for a walk around the Lake so she could clear her mind, the feeling that something was wrong, how Ezra helped extricate her from the clutches of whatever that was - and then how the next thing she knew, Ezra was unconscious next to her, and she couldn’t do anything to help him.

Aida lapsed into silence, the teachers’ expressions grave. Havi had a pinched expression, not even trying to hide any of his displeasure. The rest of the teachers wore similarly grave expressions, exchanging glances. Finally, Professor Gemma exhaled.

“Miss Loreh, thank you for sharing your story. You may be excused to bed.”

“Wait, don’t you have any ideas on what happened?” Aida looked around at all of the professors. None of them met her eyes directly, dropping their gazes to the notes they took, or looking off to the side. Kozu had the decency to give her a small, sad smile.

“We have ideas, but we need to discuss among ourselves…and we don’t want to accidentally spread rumors when we aren’t even sure what happened ourselves.”

“I won’t spread any rumors,” Aida insisted. She wiped her eyes fiercely, not dropping her gaze. “Please, I want to know what you think happened.”

The other professors shifted uncomfortably. “We will put out an announcement if there is any danger,” Bruce said finally. “The announcement will include whatever information we determine is true.”

“Do you think hiding information will prevent rumors from spreading?” Aida demanded. “Six girls saw Ezra get knocked out. Do you think the fact that he doesn’t show up to classes tomorrow is going to go unnoticed?”

The professors exchanged begrudging looks, while Kozu’s lips quirked. “Point taken. However, it is very late; don’t you think you should go to bed so you can wake up early enough to eat a full breakfast? Luk will know if you skipped breakfast, even if you ate lunch.”

Aida sulked. Kozu made a good point, and she felt abnormally tired. “Don’t worry, you’ve made your point,” Kozu added. “We won’t hide any information we think is essential, but we also don’t want the students’ imaginations to run away as we try to work through what we think happened. In the meantime, can we trust you to not add fuel to the fire?”

She glowered at him. She knew exactly what he was doing, and the unfortunate part was she agreed with his rationale. “Fine. When will you let us know?”

“As soon as possible,” Kozu said smoothly. “We are aware that the longer we delay relaying information, the more time it gives untrue information to take root.”

Aida nodded tightly. At least he acknowledged that. She stood up, depositing Luk’s blanket on the chair she had been occupying.

“Good night, Miss Loreh,” Kozu said as she left the room.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Aida did not have a restful sleep. She was plagued by the feeling of being watched, even though in her fitful dreams there was no actual manifestation of any eldritch horror. That’s worse than a nightmare, Aida thought groggily, dragging herself out of bed. At least in her nightmares with an actual monster, her terror was focused at the monster. Her not-really-a-nightmare dream kept her tense, never knowing how she could find safety, making her feel like she had stayed awake all night instead of actually sleeping.

She choked down her breakfast - she had woken up too late for her regular independent morning training, though she admitted to herself with a shiver she didn’t want to be near the Lake at the moment. Classes were a grind. Fortunately, the professors cut them all some slack today, their barked comments and critiques less heated than normal - which was the opposite of what she would have expected after yesterday.

By lunchtime, rumors were already swirling around the school, a palpable fear permeating the student body. The news that the uncontested top third-year student was laying unconscious in the healing ward made everyone realize that Maglica Academy wasn’t the safe bastion of learning they all thought it was. Aida stood at the dish drop, trying to force down the soup she opted for instead of food that required chewing. Placing the remaining third of soup onto the rack, she bolted for the hospital.

Caleb and Levi intercepted her outside of the healing ward, looking haggard and worried. They looked like they had just stepped outside.

“Levi! Caleb!” Aida slowed down, breathing heavily. “Did you just see him?”

“We did,” Caleb said, smiling reassuringly. “Healer Luk says he’s stable and recovering.”

“We were going to go get something to eat. Did you want to join us?” Levi asked.

“I just ate. Luk said I couldn’t see him until I ate a real meal,” Aida confessed. Levi nodded.

“Okay. We were going to grab something to eat, and bring Sue something as well. She’s inside right now.”

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Aida nodded, relieved. If Luk insisted that Aida’s levels were insufficient, Sue would surely have the sway to convince Luk to let her in.

Carefully opening the door to not disturb Ezra, Aida snuck through, casting a wary eye around. Luk could be heard clattering about in the small kitchen attached to the healing ward. Quietly shutting the door, she slipped around the closed curtain, coming to a dead stop. Blood rushed to her face.

“I-I’m so sorry,” she stuttered, backing away. “I sh-should have knocked. I’ll give you two some privacy.”

“Aida, wait—“ Sue’s plea went ignored, as Aida sidestepped Luk, barely missing her tray holding needles and vials and herbs.

“Miss Loreh—“

Ignoring the cries behind her, Aida flew back out the healing ward, her face flaming. In the midst of the month (technically longer than a month, since one moon cycle consisted of five star cycles) where she barely met with the main leads of this world, she had nearly forgotten that the story still revolved around Sue - or at least, she had convinced herself that she did have some value in this world. But seeing Sue embraced in Ezra’s arms was a stark reminder that…she still didn’t really matter.

It shouldn’t matter, she chided herself. Technically speaking, they were all underage - while she was a fully-grown adult in her twenties. Being in a teenager’s body didn’t really make her a peer.

She found herself at the Lake again. Unlike yesterday, there was no foreboding feeling; the Lake and its surroundings looked and felt peaceful, like it always did. A small breeze blew across the surface, brushing through her hair. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of sun on her skin, wind in her hair.

I’m not jealous romantically. She was just…lonely. Now that she had gotten into the groove of life at Maglica Academy, a life where she didn’t have to worry about rationing her food, paying bills, getting to work on time while dealing with the unpredictable excitement of public transport, and in general just working as much as she could, she found she had time to…feel things. True, she had a lot of work, just catching up on filling in missing information as Aida Loreh, and working on training herself up to an acceptable standard…but there really weren’t too many critical responsibilities burdening her anymore.

Now that she was able to keep up in Class 2, and was more confident in her ability to wield and adapt her powers, and had promising, achievable employment opportunities coming her way, the single-minded focus she had on bare survival had started to relax. She had the brainpower to think about…silly things. Daydreams. A future with a partner—

Aida shut that thought down. She had been imagining an individual taller than her, wearing a Maglica uniform - but she couldn’t. She was older than them. Even though they would all turn eighteen by the time they graduated, she was still half a decade older than them. She had a completely different mindset, one jaded and with blunted emotions, while their default state tended to be raw. Where many experiences were still new and exciting, accompanied by correspondingly extreme emotions. Innocent.

The rustle of cloth made Aida open her eyes. A tall young man with pale hair stood next to her, looking out over the lake. He didn’t bother acknowledging her. His hands were tucked in his pockets, casually slouched. Aida turned her eyes forward, avoiding looking at him.

“Devinne.”

“Aida.”

They stood in silence for several moments.

“I heard about what happened yesterday,” Dev finally said.

“Did the teachers finally announce something?”

“No. Rumors.”

Aida inhaled, but didn’t indulge his curiosity. “So why are you finally talking to me again?”

“What do you mean?”

Aida shrugged. “You and the rest of your friends have been avoiding me in our classes. It’s pretty obvious when there’s only ten of us, and we spend nearly all day, every day together.”

Dev paused, clearly thinking over his response. “I’m sure you have a guess.”

“Pritchard?”

Dev dipped his head, shuffling his feet next to her. “Think of it as solidarity.”

Aida sighed, too tired to be empathetic to her former bully. “If that’s what it takes for him to be civil, I can’t complain.”

“Just…give him some time. He’s working on it.”

Aida scoffed. “It sounds like you actually want us to be friends.”

“I do.”

At Dev’s blunt response, Aida turned to him incredulously. His expression was serious.

“What kind of stu—“ Aida bit back her words. She tried again, slowly. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No.” When Dev didn’t elaborate, Aida scoffed again. She turned back towards the school, striding up the path.

“Do you think Lara actually beat me based on skill?” Aida paused at Dev’s question. She looked over her shoulder. Dev was looking at her, blue eyes stoic, the tips of his white hair ruffling gently in the breeze. “She didn’t.”

Aida furrowed her brow. “You’re saying you gave up your spot in the top five just so we could be friends?”

“Something like that,” he said simply. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. Your meteoric rise - it’s inspiring.”

This is getting dangerous. “Thank you for saying so,” Aida said coolly. “Your attitude in class has been very misleading.”

“I apologize. I’m not the only one who respects you.” Dev followed her back towards the school, easily keeping pace with his long legs. “The rest of us - Shon, Abedi - we respect your work ethic.”

Aida grunted, wary of what she would give away if she said any more. Dev seemed satisfied with the fact that she didn’t actively push him away, and the remainder of their trek to their next class was made in silence. Right before they reached Professor Bruce’s Mana Control class, Dev spoke again. “I truly hope you will give Pritchard - and us - a chance again. He will make amends soon.”

“We’ll see,” Aida said noncommittally. Without another look at him, she slipped into the classroom and took her place among the other four girls who were already sitting in a cluster, chatting. They made way, smiling greetings at her as they accepted her into their fold.

Tera leaned secretively towards her, her gray-blue eyes wide. “Hey, we heard something happened yesterday - can you confirm or deny?”

Aida suppressed a sigh. Teenage gossips.