«Yami»

I woke up normally on Cecil’s bed. Cecil and Ari were oddly hugging each other, I mean oddly because I remember that when they went to sleep they weren’t really hugging each other. I think it was because sometimes one does move in their sleep. Although it's quite useless to think about such things.

I looked towards Cecil’s window which was conveniently next to her desk; the reason being ⁠— the room was dimly lit by a blueish hue. I looked to the outside world and the sky was dark blue, the sun had not risen yet. It was the early morning. I was hearing footsteps outside the room; the hallway was somewhat active, even though it should’ve been around 7:00 AM, well I had no clock, but it was way too early.

Unexpectedly Gerard silently entered the room. We locked gazes for a brief moment, and he stood there not knowing what to do. It took him a few seconds and then he stood by the side of the bed and started trying to wake Cecil up.

“Milady, wake up, you have to attend the academy,” he said in a whisper. ‘Wait, were classes starting that early?’ As I was getting surprised Cecil finally opened her eyes and sulked. She got off the bed and then slowly turned to me, seeing I was awake.

“Yami, don’t miss me, okay…?” She said so while rubbing her eye, I just slowly nodded. Gerard took her to another room for some reason. I did not know what to think of it, well, rather. What was the reason for her to be moved inside another room instead of staying in her own? I looked at the door for a second or two before I started thinking.

‘Gerard did say attend the academy. Does that mean Aizen and Ari have to go now? I wonder…’ I thought for a second before getting up and leaving the room. Fenri slightly opened his eyes to look at me before going back to sleep. I was on the hallway which was now deserted. I looked for a pair of black doors, as soon as my gaze landed on them I quickly made my way towards them.

I wanted to ask Firil. I know it’s early in the morning, but if Cecil is awake and Gerard was awake before her. I see no reason to why Firil wouldn’t be awake. Besides, he did seem to be a hard-working man, so I see no real problem with going into his office. Gerard did show me around the mansion after the family argument that happened not too long ago.

I stood before the black-doors. I did not get close to them last time, but they were finely crafted. No imperfections and they did have slight engravings on the frames and knobs. They got my seal of approval after I looked at them for a few seconds. But I was not there to admire the perfection or the quality of the wood used on said doors. I took a deep breath before slowly opening one door.

The room was completely dark, well I thought it was completely dark until I saw a small source of light in front of the towering windows at the back of the room. There was a pile of books and documents on top of a desk. I closed the door behind me; as soon as I closed the door a silhouette rose up from the desk, I saw myself reflected on the glasses he was wearing.

“Oh, it’s you.” He did not seem surprised. “What brings you here Yami?” It was a familiar voice and talked to me like I knew him. I realized it was Firil, but I was just not on my five senses yet. He curiously watched me as I thought.

“Um… Cecil is going to the academy right?”

“... Yes, that is correct. Is there something wrong?” He calmly asked.

“Well, wasn’t Aizen supposed to go as well?”

Firil was silent and sat back down on his desk and began removing some documents to be able to see me without standing up. He silently looked at me for a second or two.

“... Yea, she is supposed to go…” he sounded confused and thought for a few seconds before nodding. “I am sorry, Gerard was also supposed to wake her up, but looks like he forgot.” I nodded in response to his apology.

I guess that made sense, although going to the academy right now? Didn’t Cecil just come back? I mean, I remember she did say she was going out of the academy when she got kidnapped. But Aizen just joined the academy; wouldn't classes be ongoing already? This makes no sense.

“Is there a reason to why classes are starting again? I mean, weren't classes already active? What about something like vacations? ” I asked while tilting my head. Firil sighed and looked to his window with a slight hint of sadness.

“Well you see, I am glad my daughter is back. But the academy failed her due to absence, so she is restarting again. On the bright side, she can join the class for young mages. I did argue against her being failed in spite of me reporting her disappearance, but I was told it was policy… Anyways, I am getting lost here. There are vacations but actually classes for young mages start today, so there is going to be an entrance ceremony and everything,” he explained.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Well, that’s a lot of information, but what kind of policy is that? Oh, well… At least I got an answer to my question. So, I guess Aizen and Ari need to be woken up now?

“Is there something else you need?” Firil asked in a friendly tone.

“No, thank you.” I left the room. He seemed slightly disappointed I suddenly left, but there was not much I could do about it.

On the hallway, I ran into Gerard, who slightly tilted his head after watching me leave Firil’s room and then continued walking down-stairs. Meanwhile, I walked towards Cecil’s room and entered her room. Or I thought I did, I entered a random room that had a coffee table and some sofas, it seemed to be a private room of sorts. I exited and looked for Cecil’s room, it took a few attempts but I finally found it.

All of the doors looked the same, except for Firil’s office. I did run into a few servants inside the rooms but I closed the door before they could say anything. I looked at the sleeping Aizen and Ari who were smiling, I almost wanted to let them sleep but unfortunately, I had to do it; I started shaking Aizen.

“Uhh…” Aizen groaned. “Do you have any idea of the hour? The sun is not even up yet, are you sane?” She questioned while looking at me.

“Well, I know that. But, apparently, you have to go to the academy.” I silently explained to her; she frowned but there was nothing that I could do about it. She ended up nodding after a few seconds of thinking. I was taken aback by this.

“Are you not going to ask why?”

“Well, the receptionist from yesterday did say ‘better luck next year’ or something along those lines. So I think classes are just starting…” she quietly explained herself.

“Oh…”

I was surprised, I expected her to call it an excuse to wake her up or something along those lines. Aizen began to wake Ari up and concisely explained it to her, and by that I mean. ‘Ari, we are going to the academy.’ Followed by an awkward nod in response. I guess that was her way of explaining the events.

She got up and dragged Ari with her. She also grabbed my hand and took me downstairs along with Ari. We ran into Gerard who was surprised by seeing all of us awake. Before he remembered something and silently mumbled something in hatred to himself. Aizen took us into the guest room and sat me down along with her.

“Why did you take me with you?” I asked.

“What? Are you seriously telling me you don’t wish to see me off?”

“...” I silently shook my head. “Sorry…”

She was right, I should at least see her off if I am not joining her for the academy life. Gerard entered the room and stood in front of us.

“I am sorry for forgetting to wake you girls up…” he bowed. “Milady will be here shortly so that miss Aizen and Ari can go, as for miss Yami.” I stiffened. “The smith will be here in a few hours.” He informed us and left.

“Miss Yami, are you getting married soon? Is it with that smith? Or is it the man that proposed to you?”

“Shut up!” Damned dragon, why does she have to mention it! I might like blacksmithing, but it does not mean that, does it?

“Yami… I think you are very pretty, so I don’t think that man was at fault…” Ari tried to console me, but I just made a bitter smile. I didn’t know how to feel about being proposed, let alone being called pretty…

“T-thanks” I awkwardly responded to Ari's compliment. It was the only thing that came to my mind after being complimented. The same maid that gave me a weird look with the sugar, came into the room and gave us tea. Then she dumped a lot of sugar in my tea. It looked like she was learning; she gave me a smile after mixing it and then left the room. The guest room was a free tea place.

Aizen and Ari took their tea and relaxed themselves. I did so as well, I wasn’t really a tea person but having it prepared every time, I saw no problem with it. I was starting to like tea, or rather; the fact that it was just as available as water inside this house was the part I liked. I don’t know if it’s bad for the body to drink this much tea, but I saw nothing wrong with it.

Cecil entered the room wearing the sailor uniform I had given her. She looked at us and then Gerard entered the room.

“Time to go.” As soon as he said that Aizen got up and dragged Ari and bid their farewells, they left the mansion with Cecil. Gerard stood there with me inside the room, he then took a seat and a maid gave him tea. I looked at him with a confused expression. He seemed to realize this.

“I also need breaks every now and then.” I nodded to his explanation. “Also, should I refer to you as just Yami? I notice you go stiff every-time you get called miss.”

“Just Yami is fine…” I quietly told him.

“Yami it is…” He paused and looked at his tea. “I am sorry about the day we met, I was not in the right state of mind. And I did offend you all of you.” He said with regret.

“Don’t worry about it, I was surprised, but I am glad nothing else happened.” I truthfully informed him my thoughts. He slightly nodded.

“I am sorry.” He apologized again.

“About?”

“I thought you girls were suspicious so I went to extreme lengths…”

“Ah… Well, nothing bad happened in the end. So, it doesn’t matter.”

I was enjoying the small-talk with Gerard, mostly because I had never talked with him before. He seemed relieved after hearing me, as if a weight on his shoulders was gone. I was happy for him even though I did not know much about him. At least he is an honest person, and he is willing to tell me and to apologize. I wonder if he already apologized to Aizen? Well, that is something he will do just judging by his behaviour.

Gerard thanked me and left the room. I finished my tea but it was still too early, I placed the empty tea-cup on the table and sleep took over me. I looked forward to meeting the mysterious smith, my mind drifted afterward.