Academia Florencia was built around a beautiful glen, the center was a spacious opening with stone walkways that led to each respected classrooms from any of the three story buildings. The entrance archway stretched high into the sky, and the school flag billowed in the wind. Cars zoomed in and out through the parking lot as parents dropped off their children, who rushed to greet their classmates.
Kymera and Gryffin arrived right before the first bell. Gryffin caught the eyes of the Ulama Ball team zeroing in on him. One carried his ball under his arm, and stared daggers at the twins as they walked by. Kymera caught them and growled, exposing her fangs in threat. The boys flinched and walked off.
“Kymera! Gryffin!” A sweet-looking avian with yellow canary feathers rushed on over with a clipboard in hand. “I heard the news. Congratulations! The book-club and I wanted you guys to have these.” She handed them a couple of bookmarks with their names on them. “As a thank you for helping us raise the funds to keep the book fair running last year And, well, for everything else.”
“Thanks, Carmen.” Gryffin said, accepting the bookmark. “You really didn’t have to. Besides, Kymera did most of the work.”
“Please, you guys are our heroes! Good luck in Camelot!” Before she left, Carmen pulled Kymera aside and whispered. “Be careful over there. I hear that some of the students carry knives in their pockets to class.”
“Only if they are licensed by the school.” Kymera explained. And she instantly regretted it when Carmen looked like she was about to pee herself in fright. “But, yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
Carmen exhaled in relief just as the bell ran. “Gotta go. Bye-bye!” She waved and flew off, creating a small gust of wind.
“At least we did some good during our time here.” Kymera said, walking alongside her brother up a ramp towards their first class.
“Yeah.” Gryffin bit his bottom lip, remembering the events leading up to the book fair.
All he did was help move things around and helped out with the listings, but all in all, he didn’t really feel like he contributed that much. Everything he needed to say he ran it over with Kymera, who took more initiative.
Unlike him, Kymera was a born leader. No matter the situation, she always knew just what to say to boost moral and even when she said whatever was on her mind out loud—no matter how crude—she still managed to garner attention.
All the more reason why she should be the one to become a Seelie. As a sage, Gryffin could spend more time with books and other sages, leaving most of the leadership stuff to the Head Sage, or really anyone else for that matter. He always believed he was far better on the sidelines than out in the field.
Plus, being a sage meant less chances of repeating another…episode.
* * *
Gryffin conjured up crystals constructs, and with his light magic he commanded them to change colors as he moved them around like marionettes while Kymera read off her paper.
“Most agree that Pinocchio: The Golem of Pine, is a tragic and cautionary tale about the dangers of using science and nature as a means to an end. And while that is indeed the case in regards to the antagonist, at the core of it all, it is a tale about the individual’s quest for meaning in a confusing world that values the superficial over the spiritual. This was the original intent of Corteccio Di Albero. The Golem is viewed as a monster by the adults of his village, but is welcomed into the arms of an innocent child and her ailing father, and even given a name. His creator wanted to use his creation to glorify himself, while Pinocchio used what little life he had left to live a life of truth, selflessness, and courage.”
Kymera’s facial features tightened when she heard a student yawn loudly—no doubt on purpose—which earned a few chuckles and snorted laughs from the rest of the classroom. Kymera sucked in her lips and tried to quench the heat bubbling inside her stomach by counting backwards from ten. Gryffin continued to reenact the story through his crystal sculptures, mentally congratulating Kymera for taking the high road.
“The tragic ending of Pinocchio giving up his recently earned soul to save Geppetto may seem like a bittersweet ending, and you’d be right. However, it’s also a beautiful illustration of true love and friendship. For there is no greater love than one who gives their life for their friends.”
The teacher stood up from her chair behind her desk, clapping vigorously. Her cheers awoke the few students who nodded off during the presentation.
“Well done, Kymera and Gryffin. Bien Hecho.”
Gryffin made the models disappear in patches of light and the twins bowed their heads in gratitude.
The student who yawned before, a dryad with raven hair and a rather expensive tan, raised her hand. Her exaggeratively long white nails glistening, and she tilted her head mockingly to the left, coupled with a haughty smile.
“Maestra, I have an opinion.”
“Si, Kiara?”
“I have to respectfully disagree with Kymera’s analysis.”
Kymera’s eyes popped wide open and her posture stiffened, her fists tightening around her paper, nearly crumbling it. Every time Kiara opened her cherry-red-lipstick-smothered-mouth nothing but stupidity came out. But, because she was pretty and strung a bunch of words together like the pattern on a dress, most student assumed that she was right.
‘After all, how can anyone who uses a bunch of big words ever be wrong?’ She thought. ‘Maybe if she knew what half of those words meant!’
“The idea that you have to always give something away to help someone seems a bit unhealthy, doesn’t it?” Kiara flipped her straight ebony hair from her shoulder. “I mean, you give so much until you’re left with nothing? Sure, Turquoise and Geppetto got their happy ending, but Pinocchio looses everything? Personally, I think it’s just as important, if not more so, to love yourself first. Amour-propre, as they call it.”
Several other students nodded in agreement, which sped up Kymera’s breathing and her nostrils began to flare. Gryffin reached for her wrist to try and calm her. Kymera’s body relaxed and she willed herself to smile, batting her eyelashes.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“You would know all about Amour-propre, wouldn’t you Kiara? I mean, you love yourself enough to have thrown that birthday block party in Valle Castillo. I know the cops sure had a fun time.”
Gryffin’s eyes popped open and tried hissing to his sister, pleading with her to shut up. A few students started snickering, only for Kiara to slam her fist on her desk as she stood up. “They only showed up because of that stupid video!”
“You mean the one of you spraying red pollen all over that poor old lady’s lawn? Still getting a lot of views on PolyDus, by the way.” Kymera mirrored Kiara’s previous smug smile with one of her own.
Kiara clawed at her desk and a couple of students snickered. “Stupid old dolt.” She whispered under her breath.
“Okay, that’s enough.” The teacher said, “Kymera, you and Gryffin can take your seats. Well done on the report.”
Gryffin gave Kymera’s arm a tiny slap before returning to his seat. Number one rule about high school: never try to provoke the rich students who already can’t stand you.
Gryffin sat in front of a minotaur that wore his uniform shirt with most of the buttons loose, showcasing the tiny hairs on his chest. His pants were so low everyone could see the white outline of his trousers. Around his neck was a heavy golden chain with a bull-head and every other one of his nails was painted black.
“Typical. Principe doesn’t even need to talk to get a perfect grade.” The minotaur said to the student next to him, an avian with his feathered styled into a mohawk.
“His royal mouth might get too tired.” The avian whispered back. The two snickered and smacked palms as though they just said something unbelievably clever.
Gryffin ignored them and proceeded to listen to the next presentation. The minotaur, most likely picking up on Gryffin’s annoyance, decided to humor the seraphin more by kicking the back of his chair.
Two kicks…
Three…
Four…
By the fifth one, Griffin spun around, nostrils flaring.
“Please!… stop that, Sebastian.” he hissed, his hands half clenched into fists.
Beneath Sebastian’s desk, Gryffin noticed a sharp crystal puncture out of the floor. Gryffin quickly curled his fingers inward and forced it back down before anyone could see.
“Que pasa? I was just making some music.” Sebastian said, only now putting the earbuds into his bovine ears. “Or are we common folk not allowed to enjoy it around su majestad?”
“Just… please.” Gryffin turned his attention back at the student next to the chalkboard. A could seconds later, Sebastian was back to kicking his chair. Gryffin looked around the room, seeing the students who didn’t see what Sebastian was doing, and those that did—mainly Sebastian’s own cronies—were laughing and pulling out their geodes, hiding them beneath their desks to record the scene.
Kymera raised her hand. “Maestra.”
“Yes, Kymera?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but Sebastian keeps kicking Gryffin’s chair.”
“I am not!” Sebastian exclaimed, then smiled mockingly at Gryffin. “Isn’t that right, Principe?”
Gryffin’s fingers curled inwards into a fist, his green eyes briefly turning a burning white.
“Sebastian, if there is a problem you are more than welcome to discuss it with the principal. Do we need to give your father another call?”
“No, Señora…” Sebastian muttered, hiding his hands beneath his desk, his tail curling inwards and pulling his legs beneath his seat.
Griffin’s eyes went back to normal and glanced at his sister. The look on his face was not one of gratitude.
* * *
“I think we did pretty good, if I do say so myself.” Kymera said proudly.
“Not everyone thought so.” Gryffin said.
“Please, those two wouldn’t know good literature if it bit them in their flanks.”
The twins sat by the old oak tree behind the school, the one place where they could get some peace and quiet during lunch hour. Some students ate in the cafeteria while others walked over to the nearby pizza place down the street, or bought burgers from the cart lady outside the school gates.
They ordered a couple of burgers and two cans of bubbly nectar. While they ate, Gryffin pulled out his geode, opened the music editing app and replayed a recording of himself harmonizing a brand new tune.
“Muse hasn’t showed up yet?” Kymera asked.
Gryffin shook his head. “No. It’s so weird. Normally, I can come up with the words for a melody just like that.” He snapped his fingers to prove his point. “But this tune, it’s so… random.”
“Hey, if anyone can come up with the words to a ghost song he heard in his dreams, it’s you, bro.” Kymera encouraged him by bumping her shoulder with his.
Gryffin rolled his eyes. “Right.”
Making up brand new sounds wasn’t anything new for Gryffin. Since he was five he showed prowess in the musical arts. He received his first guitar at age six and mastered the stringed instrument in less than a week. He would often get inspired by the sounds all around him, even the ones nobody could hear up close.
Yet, this sound came to him seemingly out of nowhere. He heard it in a dream, like a group of celestials coming together to bless his ears and brain with a sound for him alone. He tried to think of the words to match, but nothing felt right. He pulled out his songbook to see if he could get some more ideas from his old works.
“Mind if I have a look?” Sebastian snatched the book from Gryffin’s hands.
“Hey! Give it back, Sebastian!” Kymera stood up and tried grabbing the book, but Sebastian pulled away. His lackeys, a troll and the avian with the multicolored feathered mohawk, blocked her path.
The troll whistled, his eyes scanning Kymera from head to tail. “Wow, things just got hot! Literally.”
“How you doin’, Mami?” The avian blew her a couple of kisses.
Kymera hissed and waved her arm, levitating the troll and the avian out of her way. Sebastian held the book over his head, allowing a small wisp of light to take it from him. The ball of light expanded, revealing itself to be Kiara, back to her normal size. Her insect-wings fluttering as her feet barely touched the ground. She flipped through the pages of Gryffin’s book.
“Ooh, this is nice. Are you going to sing this at the Pascal Festival, Gryffey? I’m sure it’ll be as big a hit as your last one. Remember?” Kiara pressed her hand to her chest, pretending to vomit, then laughed.
The rest of Sebastian’s friends joined in, laughing and pointing at Gryffin. One pretended to wipe away tears. Gryffin’s fingers clenched the grass, his nostrils flaring.
Kymera snatched the book from Kiara’s hands, hissing in her face. “Shouldn’t you be getting arrested somewhere?” She pulled Gryffin up from the grass and tried to leave, only forSebastian to block their path.
“Step off, carbon!” Kymera warned.
“Or what? Your blast me to smithereens? I can see the headline now: “Perfect Camelot Princess abuses power on helpless student!’ Ha, ha, ha!” Sebastian held up his hand, picturing the words across the sky.
Kymera tilted her head, unamused. “Spell ‘smithereens’.” She requested. “Better yet, spell all of those words without looking it up.”
Sebastian blinked, a hint of humiliated blush crept up his face but he pushed it down. “Y-you…You don’t get to tell me what to do!” He stuttered. “You have got no power over here!”
Gryffin shook his sister’s arm. “Kym, let’s just leave.”
“And what are you gonna do, Principe? Use your rocks on me like last time?” Plums of smoke puffed from Sebastian’s nostrils, right in Gryffin’s face. The seraphin gagged at his onion breath. “You still owe me a new pair of pants!”
Kymera shoved herself right between Gryffin and Sebastian. “If you ask me, it was an improvement.” She batted her eyelashes in a faux flirtatious manner. “Ripped pants really suit you.”
Kiara aggressively shoved Sebastian aside, waving her fist at Kymera. “Back off, he’s mine!”
“My condolences to your self-esteem.”
Enraged, Kiara waved her hand, summoning a tall vine that sprouted out of the nearby grass. “You have no right to tell us what to do, echidna!”
Kymera opened her wings and extended her claws, baring her fangs. A crowd of students shouted, Fight! Fight! Fight!
“No! No, no, no! No fight! Stop chanting!” Gryffin shouted, wedging himself between Kymera and Kiara before the girls could touch each other. “Nobody is fighting anybody.”
“Why not?” Sebastian asked. He raised his arms as though waiting for his audience to cheer him on. “You want to be Seelies so bad, why not make Papa proud? Oh, that’s right, you can’t.”
Kymera and Gryffin both gasped, their eyes turning gold and silver respectively. The ground beneath Gryffin began to quake.
“Sebastian Novillo! Kymera and Gryffin Embrose-Delgado!”
A booming voice ceased all the chatter, and the ground beneath Gryffin became still again. All eyes turned toward the marching steps of their cyclops principal. His tall stature eclipsed the sun as he stood before the twins.
“My office. Now.”