The days of the first week passed by quickly enough as most of them were introductions to class and most didn’t start with lessons yet. Kassius, Fenris, and Gwin spent most of their free time together, forming a little group amongst themselves, occasionally joined by Hazel and Peony. They spent most of their time either in the cafeteria or the library. Most of the time, it’s Gwin scolding Kassius and Fenris for not paying as much attention as she is to classes, Kassius listening, and Fenris ignoring. Gwin took it upon herself to teach the two about anything they might have had for class.
“Gwin, would you stop worrying about classes? It’s just the first week and it’s ending.” Fenris said, groaning out each word.
Gwin slapped his head with twenty pages worth of notes rolled together. “It never hurts to be prepared, Fenris.” Gwin said smugly.
“Leave him alone, Gwin.” Kassius said, urging her to ease up on him. “You’re right, it’s not my fault if he fails.” Gwin said, trying to provoke Fenris.
“Who says I’ll fail? You really think way too far ahead.” Fenris said, yawning. Kassius was used to the two bickering, as they did so often, in the short span of just a week. He would often just listen to them bicker and bicker and conflict with one another, not caring enough to stop it himself.
“What we should be thinking about is the weekend. A day of fun.” Fenris said. “So what?” Gwin asked. “How preoccupied are you with work?” Fenris said sarcastically but composed himself.
“We should do something fun. It’s a weekend after all.” Fenris suggested. Kassius thought of what they could possibly do on school grounds, then he remembered that they could go to the forest on weekends.
“Why don’t we go out and explore the island?” Kassius suggested. Fenris put his arm around Kassius happily. “See? At least someone knows how to relax.” Fenris said enthusiastically.
“Just cause I want to focus on my studies, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to have fun.” Gwin said, seemingly pouting. Kassius let out a chuckle.
“Just join us already.” Fenris said, urging Gwin to agree. Kassius joined him. After so much pestering, Gwin couldn’t focus on her notes and books, so she ended up agreeing just to keep them quiet.
Kassius wondered what he could possibly find on the island since he only saw a small portion of it during his first day. He was excited for the day to explore the island as it let him learn more about the Land of the Youth and by extension Gaia as a whole, in a more active way.
That night he stayed up a little late petting Ashe making sure that Ashe didn’t make any screeching noise while everyone was asleep, he was thinking about all the things that had happened to him in such a short span of time, as he stared into the night sky. He was happy and grateful that it did, although he wished that Ms. Jean would have been able to come with him. It would have made his transition a little bit more familiar. He sat there thinking what Ms. Jean could be doing now, and whether she missed him or not, because one thing was certain, he missed her, his mother.
He also thought about the girl he met in the park, and how she was. He wondered whether he’ll ever meet her, and Fara and Meos. All these thoughts finally wore him out and he decided to let Ashe sleep and went to bed himself.
—
The night fell and the weekend came, and the school became livelier, especially in the open field. Many of the students went out and relaxed in the open field. Kassius and Fenris met Gwin by the tree and they set off to explore the island through the exit on the other end of the field.
They trekked through the ominous forest for a while without encountering any signs of life. While it wasn’t as dark or scary as the entrance, it was unsettling and empty. They expected to encounter a few animals and creatures.
“Well this was a boring idea.” Fenris said. “I forgot to never let you make any decisions for me.” Fenris continued. “Shut up.” Kassius said.
“You were the one who agreed first, remember?” Gwin said, eyeing Fenris. “I never expected the island to be so empty, I wouldn’t have said yes to this!” Fenris yelled. “If you keep yelling, it will stay empty!” Gwin yelled back at Fenris. Then there was a faint snap that only Kassius heard.
“Shut up both of you.” Kassius whispered. Fenris and Gwin stopped yelling and looked at Kassius wondering why he stopped them from yelling.
“What? There’s nothing here.” Fenris said in his normal volume. Then another crackle caused the group to quiet down and crouch down.
They looked around to see what was making that noise but saw nothing. Then they noticed a dark-hooded figure walking just across from them, barely visible due to the thick forest line. Kassius did his best to keep track of the figure. They looked like they were running. As the figure almost disappeared into the forest line, Kassius urged Fenris and Gwin to follow him. They went through the thick forest lines, walking through bushes, vines, and rocks, trying to see if the figure was still in front of them. As they reached a clear area within the forest they realized they lost the figure, after looking around and seeing no sign of it.
“Great, the one thing interesting about this forest, we somehow lost.” Fenris said frustrated. “What was that?” Gwin asked. Kassius shrugged and looked around for any sign of the figure again. Then as suddenly as before, they heard another crackle of twigs and silence fell among the group.
While it was more faint than the last, they could still hear it through the woods and decided to quietly follow it, as it sounded like someone was walking. As they kept following the noise, it eventually disappeared and they came across a beautiful spring lake. The lake was small and perfectly placed under the ray of sun piercing through the trees. To their delight they saw different creatures gathered around the lake.
“You wanted something interesting.” Kassius said with a smirk in his face directed at Fenris. Fenris responded with a nudge from behind Kassius signaling a silent “Shut up” from him.
“Shhh, I hear something.” Gwin said. Kassius began to listen and heard the crackling coming close and closer.
They crouched down into the bushes waiting for the source of the noise to come closer and closer. They looked around and saw a hooded figure. Kassius thought it was the same hooded figure, however, he noticed that the hood was a lighter color than what he remembered the last figure to have.
“Who is that?” Fenris whispered. The figure sat on a rock and pulled back their hood, to reveal a silver-blonde head of hair, it was Evaline. “Evaline?” Gwin and Fenris whispered in unified disbelief. Kassius could only watch as shocked as the other two were.
“What’s Evaline doing in a place like this?” Fenris asked quietly. “Probably being her graceful perfect self so that the animals could love her. As if she needs any effort to do that.” Gwin said disgustedly.
“Why do you hate her so much?” asked Kassius. “Ever since we got to our dorm, she’s been acting all high and mighty just because she was from a royal fairy family and she’s beautiful and she’s…..ARGH.” Gwin said falling into a rant but Fenris and Kassius put their hands over her mouth to stop her from grunting loudly out of frustration to avoid getting spotted by Evaline.
“Shut up would you? Are you trying to get us in trouble?” Fenris whispered with urgency.
Gwin took quiet but deep breaths and calmed down. Kassius turned his attention back to Evaline and saw her looking into the lake. He wasn’t entirely sure but she seemed sad and alone. While it wasn’t obvious, Kassius had never seen her alone or down. He was trying to pay attention to Evaline, but Gwin and Fenris began to bicker quietly. When Kassius tried to stop them they pushed him out of the bush and into the spring, startling Evaline. She noticed him and pulled her hood over her head, jumping from her rock and backing away slowly.
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“Uh…. sorry I didn’t mean to… I got lost and I uh….I wasn’t…” Kassius tried to explain himself but he couldn’t find the words to speak his mind.
“Who are you? and how did you find me?” Evaline asked cautiously, still backing away from Kassius. Before he could speak she began talking again.
“Wait, you’re that boy from combat class. The one who beat Auralius.” Evaline said, slightly relaxing her posture. “Um…..yeah, My name is Kassius.” Kassius said, summoning all his strength to keep composed.
“How did you find me?” she asked again. “I was exploring the forest and I…….heard something so I was curious.” Kassius answered.
Evaline stood for a moment contemplating and looking at Kassius, while also hiding her face. “So you weren’t looking for me?” evaline asked, her voice becoming softer and gentler.
Kassius shook his head and she relaxed her body and sat back down on another rock. Kassius didn’t know what to do in this situation, he didn’t know whether to talk to her, approach her, or leave her alone. Without thinking he opened his mouth and spoke.
“Why are you here?” Kassius asked. “Nothing I just like to be with nature, I am a fairy after all.” Evaline said with a weak chuckle.
Kassius could tell she wasn’t answering his question truthfully. Before he could ask his next question, Gwin and Fenris tumbled out the same way he did and startled Evaline again. Kassius hit his hand on his forehead, annoyed at the two. Evaline backed away and was ready to run, but Kassius stopped her.
“Wait.” Kassius said. “Don’t be afraid they’re my friends.” Kassius reassured Evaline. She looked at him then back at the other two, relaxing and going back to the spring.
“This is Fenris, and the girl is Gwin.” Kassius said, introducing the two of them. Gwin looked away and Fenris gave a short wave, while Evaline just remained silent looking at them.
“You’re Gwin from the girl dorm aren’t you?” Evaline asked gently. Gwin scoffed and said “I’m surprised you even know my name. Aren’t all you royal fairies too perfect to even associate yourselves with the normal elves?” Gwin said with anger.
“What’s your problem?” Fenris said, nudging Gwin. “What? I’m right, the royal fairies were the ones who separated the fairy community because they didn’t want to associate themselves with the “ugly” people.” Gwin continued, getting back to her ranting phase.
“All you’ve done since you got here was prove how beautiful, talented and pretty you are, while the rest of us had to actually work to get noticed.” Gwin continued her voice raising.
“Gwin, shut up!” Kassius yelled. As the air grew less tense, Kassius saw Evaline looking down, speechless. Gwin stopped ranting and began to cool down. Fenris looked at Kassius mouthing “What now?” Kassius shrugged his shoulders in response, he was at a loss.
“You’re right.” Evaline said, breaking the silence. She began to lower her hood and show the part of her face that she was hiding from them.
She revealed her face, one half, the beautiful girl that they saw from before, the other half, a wrinkled wooden face, reminiscent of that of a woodland monster. On one side, her eyes were bright blue, on the other side, her eyes glowed yellow giving a menacing stare. Kassius, Fenris and Gwin looked at her trying their best to hide their shocked faces but failing to do so.
“I was born in the fairy family that were descendants of the great Moon fairy, Lunamaria. We’re supposed to be the most beautiful of all the families.” Evaline said, not looking anyone in the eyes.
“I was unlucky, being born with fairy and spriggan blood.” Evaline continued, her voice trembling. “In our society, appearance is everything because it is our strength, it’s what we’re proud of.”
“If anyone saw me like this, my family would lose everything. That’s why I have to act the way I do.” Evaline finished, trying to compose herself but a tear betrayed her facade of composure.
Kassius, Fenris, even Gwin stood silent, their expressions softening at the story. None of them knew what to say to her. None of them thought they could say anything to her. Then Gwin approached Evaline, and sat beside her.
“It wasn’t easy growing up with my people either.” Gwin said. “I had to work very very hard to even be noticed by my parents, because my brother was such a golden child. Perfect in every way.” Gwin explained her own voice trembling.
“Even with all my hard work, learning advanced magic and techniques, people still only see my brother.” Gwin finished looking in the same direction downwards as Evaline.
“My parents weren’t exactly the best either.” Fenris started. “They tried to improve me when I was young. They did experiments on me, some of which caused my hair to turn gray.”
“They wanted me to be the most powerful sorcerer ever because they held a grudge against an Archainian family.”
“They never saw me as a son or even as a boy, I was just “a means to an end” they said.” Fenris finishes sitting down next to Gwin. “From the moment I was born, I was called a freak.” Kassius began to tell his story. “No one knew how I got to the orphanage, no one knew where I came from, no one even knew why I was there.”
“They called me a freak because of what happened to me and what I do.”
“They wanted nothing to do with me. They even kicked me out. And here I am.” As Kassius finished he sat down on the other side of Evaline, and they all sat silent. Kassius hadn’t noticed, but he saw that Evaline stopped crying. He didn’t know when but she did.
“I guess we all have problems huh?” Fenris said casually. All of them let out a weak chuckle. “You guys are amazing though.” Kassius said, looking up at the sky.
“Fenris, you could perform magic as if it was as easy as eating. Gwin, you could take in so much information that sometimes I think your head should be bigger. And Evaline, you’re not only beautiful but you actually put up a fight against Aurelius.” Kassius explained not looking at any of them, and feeling a little envious.
“How is that amazing?” Fenris said, confused. “Yeah, all of that was simple.” Gwin said casually, trying to hide a faint blush in her face. Kassius smiled at them for being surprisingly humble.
“Before December, I didn’t know any of this even existed. I thought I’d be stuck in a place that hated me for all my life.” Kasisus said, his voice fading and his gaze staring at absolutely nothing.
Then he felt something grab his arm and he felt something warm land on his shoulder. He saw that Fenris was beside him with his arm over his shoulder, and Evaline hugging his arm leaning on his shoulder. He felt his heart drop and his throat filled up, his eyes watering. He hadn’t felt this way since he left the orphanage.
“You were amazing too, even if you’re completely new to our world.” Gwin said admiring Kassius.
“For a kid our age, you were able to settle in with everything easily. You were even able to make a big impression by beating Sir Auralius.” Gwin said, her eyes shining, Fenris agreed enthusiastically, and Evaline nodded in agreement.
“If I may ask..” Evaline started looking at Kassius. Kassius turned his head to her waiting for her question. “How were you able to beat him?” Evaline asked.
“I don’t know either.” Kassius said. He put the thought away in the back of his head, but now that it was brought up, he fell into deep thought again.
“Don’t think too much about it.” Fenris said, tapping his shoulders. Kassius nodded and the group fell to an awkward silence.
“Now that we’ve shared our baggage, why don’t we spend the rest of our day having fun.” Fenris said. The rest of the group nodded. “Wait, what about Evaline?” Kassius asked, and they all turned to Evaline.
They wondered how to bring Evaline out in the open with her half wooden face. Gwin stepped up to her and pulled something out from her pocket. “Here.” Gwin said as she pulled out what looked like a spray bottle. She sprayed it on Evaline and it let out a purple cloud.
When Gwin finished spraying, Evaline was mostly covered in a purple cloud that quickly changed gold. As the cloud faded, Evaline appeared with her normal appearance. The group stood shocked, as they were impressed that Gwin had something prepared for such an occasion.
“Why do you have something like that?” Kassius asked. “You never know what you need, so I just got it while I was at Eden.” Gwin said and shrugged. Evaline’s expression turned into a bright smile and she lunged at Gwin, hugging her tightly.
“Thank you!” Evaline said, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Gwin blushed and tried to play it cool. “You don’t have to thank me just…..don’t be such a little miss perfect all the time.” Gwin said her voice fading as the sentence finished.
The group burst out into laughter, and headed off to explore more of the forest. They spent the day talking about school and their personal lives, the things that they were okay with sharing, which were surprisingly a lot. Half the time they didn’t know where they were going, but it didn’t really bother them. They enjoyed a free day just to get to know each other and spent their day doing just that. Kassius had never felt this happy in his life, he felt as if he found friends for the first time in his life, friends that would stick with him. After their moment in the spring, he was confident that it wasn’t just a feeling, and that they all thought the same way.