“I still don’t know how you both did that.” Chloe laughed at the breakfast table. The children had just started their fifth year of class. It had required the ranking testing, the one that if failed had you removed from the school.
“We just did our best.” Auna shrugged. As Jensen gave a nod. They had both scored perfect 100%s in all three categories. As such they were now co-representatives, something that was very rare to happen. Jensen had been overjoyed as he finally caught up to his moon, for now at least.
“You know the tests get harder right?” Chloe gave a half glare.
“Yes, we do.” Auna tilted her head, not understanding what her friend meant.
“Then why do your scores keep going up? Everyone else struggled to keep similar scores.” Now Chloe was pouting. Chloe and Meredith had scored third place again with near identical scores. The triplets took fourth as a team as well. Ciela had managed to slip into second place. “And Ceila, what the heck girl! How did yo-”
“Sorry to interrupt, may I sit with you?” A boy who they recognized as a class mate to Ciela asked. He had dark eyes and hair with pale skin. His smile was nervous, and small.
“Sure?” Auna motioned for him to pull up a seat. The triplets slid over, one grabbing a seat from a nearby empty table. “What brings you here?”
“I started classes here last year. My name is Edgar Poe. I have classes with Ciela.” The boy sat with a grateful smile and a small shrug. “I don’t have any friends here.”
“Oh. I see. Well, hanging around us wont change that. I don’t know if you know, but most think we are a bunch of crazy kids. They only come to us in study halls.” Auna gave a bright smile as she spoke. Most of her friends were nodding with mad grins. Meredith was groaning.
“I don’t mind. I spent all last year sitting alone at meals. I don’t even have roommates because no one wants to room with the blood drinker.” The boy bowed his head in embarrassment.
“You drink blood?” Jensen asked with only curiosity in his eyes.
“Don’t even think about it.” Auna gave a stern warning to Jensen. It startled Edgar until he noticed her glare was towards Jensen.
“Yes. But I only need roughly a tall glass once a month. It has to be from a being that eats meat regularly. I am not a vampire, I don’t drain people, nor can I change them.” Edgar gave a cute little huff. He was roughly nine, but too small for a nine-year-old. He was as pretty as a glass doll.
“I see, if you are not a vampire or blood born what are you?” Diego asked as he pulled on Jensens’ ear. Jensen was struggling to speak.
“I am shadow born, though most just assume we are blood born. No one really understands what shadow born means. We can gain a skill that lets us enter the shadows, for a short time. Though almost all of us are classified as human, and shadow born. Only the ones with only shadow born have an easy time learning that skill. By easy I mean it only takes them like ten years I think?” Edgar smiled. “Why are you holding him back?”
“Can you drink my blood?” Jensen blurted. It made many people look their way, including the doctor who was now coming toward them.
“No?” Edgar visibly leaned back looking to Auna. “What is wrong with that guy!”
“Calm down everyone. Lord Pearl no Lord Poe is not going to be drinking your blood. I am sure your father would not approve.” The doctor pulled out a cloth to dab his forehead.
“Come on, please?” Jensen smiled moving closer to the boy.
“Jensen don’t taint the small boy. Go back to your breakfast, no more asking him to bite you. Also no more asking him to drink your blood. I can not believe you still have that on your bucket list!” Auna whisper screamed at him.
“If you know it is on my list, why not allow it?” Jensen whisper screamed back.
“What list?” Chloe asked between laughs.
“A list of things I want to try before I die. It rolls over considering.” Jensen shrugged.
“Wait. You want to try getting bitten and drained of blood?” Diego looked horrified.
“Yeah, the first time it happened I was not fully aware. So, I want to re-experience it. Auna has! I want to as well!” Jensen pouted. “Though not to death.”
“What is this conversation?” The doctor was now sitting, completely having lost control.
“You were bitten to death?” Diego was now even more horrified.
“It was a weird guy with a blood and biting fetish. He drugged Jensen and I. It took so much time for Jensen the drugs wore off halfway through. Jensen was not aware enough to fully notice though. He did not have more drugs for me. I really don’t want to talk about it.” Auna sighed putting her fork down, her appetite gone.
“What is a fetish?” Ciela asked innocently.
“Don’t worry about it.” “Nothing.” “Forget it.” And more answers were given in rapid fire to the young girl by Auna, the adults, Jensen, and a few older students who had been listening.
“That is horrible.” Diego mused as Jensen turned back to the smaller boy, having gotten up to whisper in his ear.
“Whatever he is whispering ignore it.” Auna sighed deeply. “Well, my appetite is gone.”
“No, sorry. I’ll stop. Please eat my moon.” Worried Jensen picked up her fork to bring scrambled eggs to her lips, which she did not take. Instead, she turned her head like a stubborn child.
“Let her be. If she has lost her appetite, it would not be smart to force feed her.” The doctor stood. “Is there going to be a problem with Young Lord Poe being near you?”
“No doctor.” Jensen sat back in his seat, pushing his food around his plate.
“Back to more pressing matters. Ciela how did you steal second place?” Chloe asked changing the subject back to the one before Edgar had come.
“I studied.” Ciela gave a blunt answer with a straight face, which only cracked into a grin after a few seconds of looking into Chloes’ eyes.
“Cold.” Chloe shook her head with a grin of her own.
“Edgar, you are welcome to hang around us. Are you free in the mornings before breakfast?” Auna asked dumping her food to the small boys’ plate. He had been eating with gusto.
“Thank you, I have class though. I took prayer in the mornings.” Edgar smiled at the extra food. “Thank you for this as well, shadow born eat more than humans.”
“Be careful around the church.” Auna said.
“Oh, I know, don’t worry. Dad wants me to gain my prayer skills though.” Edgar gave a weak smile. “The Poe Duchy are all very skilled in holy magics, and other church like skills.”
“Really? I heard the church rarely visits Vulcana, isn’t your Duchy also the island further away from Gods’ land?” Meredith asked as she watched the small boy eat the rest of Jensens’ food as well. Well, he can pack it away well. Mr. voice gave a near chuckle in Aunas’ head.
“Yeah, that is true. We have our own temples, and priests. They are invited to the main temples though. We worship all their seven gods but we mostly worship Lichen, the eighth god.” Edgar took a break to drink some juice.
“Really, and the seven god faith is okay with that?” Merediths’ eyes went wide.
“Yes, because technically Lichen is a god they are supposed to worship. I learnt it was relatively recent that they stopped worshipping Lichen.” Auna answered as Edgar nodded eating more food.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Really? Isn’t Lichen an evil god?” Meredith asked.
“My, young one. That is not true. It is true the temple that worships him did not join together when the religions of all eight gods came to one. It was during a time of war, illness, and overall fear. Lichen is known as a god of caves, which people began to see as fear, pain, and anything dark. Auna knows this. We have for a long time been trying to heal the sore spot when it comes to Lichen. It is one of the reasons why the Poe Duchy was invited to send their children. We have tried for many years. This was the first year.” The religion teacher gave a soft smile to Edgar.
“My family doesn’t trust many outsiders. We prefer to run our duchy in peace. Even our King leaves us to it mostly. Last year he came personally to advocate sending me here. Apparently, the church thinks it can help heal the peoples’ faith in Lichen.” Edgar sighed as he leaned back, full.
“We are happy you are here. I have come to give you back your notebook, you left it by the alter this morning.” The teacher gave him a book covered in little drawings. He then gave a soft smile as he walked away. It was nearly time for the next class period.
“Well, you are welcome to study with us later. We all meet after the late class to do a study hall. We have a little over an hour before we are sent to our rooms. The librarian leaves us to our studying so it is very nice.” Meredith spoke as Auna and Jensen gathered everyones’ plates. Chloe was gathering the cups and silverware. They took turns cleaning up their dishes, though the boys always got their food still.
“Sure, sounds fun. I ranked in the top fifty, I could do with some extra study time.” Edgar thanked them and left for his next class.
“He seems like a nice boy.” Jensen said as they cleaned up their table set. Their late etiquette class was wrapping up. They had been learning about noble table etiquette of different countries. It was similar but different enough that they could really offend someone. Today they were mimicking a noble gathering they would have on the Islands of Isolation. It required using eating with different types of eating sticks, and strange utensils.
“Edgar? Yes, he does.” Maybe it would be nice for little Ciela to have a friend her age, outside of the dungeon, and outside of the secrets you all have. Mr. Voice chimed up for the first time in a while. It nearly startled Auna to hear him in her head. Are you really not used to me yet? Mr. Voice nearly chuckled again.
“Say, maybe we should encourage her to spend time with him? She should have more friends in her class. We have each other, the girls and triplets. Ciela has no classes with us. She is in all classes with the younger kids. She might get lonely.” Jensen stretched as they walked from the classroom. The triplets and Meredith were close behind.
“I think you might be right, Ciela!” Auna called out Cielas’ name as they came near her classroom that was also letting out. They had all been let out early.
“Yeah?” Ciela answered as she stuck to Aunas’ side. Edgar was right beside her.
“You and Edgar seem to be fast friends.” Auna didn’t know if she should encourage them hanging out in front of the boy.
“We have many of the same classes. Last year too.” Ciela took Aunas’ hand and they began walking to the library. “Edgar and I are usually partners for projects, and sit beside each other as well. We were friends before this morning. Edgar just never sat with us.”
“Oh.” Auna looked to Jensen to help her out of the now awkward situation.
“That’s great, you should have invited him to sit with us last year.” Jensen laughed at the face Auna had been making.
“I did. He said no.” Ciela looked around Auna to Edgar who had wandered to the other side of Auna as they walked.
“I didn’t want to get in-between you all. The bond you guys share seems intimate. Dad told me over the Autumn break not to worry about it though. So, that is why I came over this morning.”
“I see. Your dad was right, you are welcome to hang around us.” Diego laughed a bit. “Yeah, we are a close group, that doesn’t mean we avoid meeting new people.”
“I can see that now. We have some extra time to study too.” Edgar answered as they entered the library.
“Good. We are happy to have you.” Auna took a seat with the rest of the gang. Seth and Josh had joined them. Her cousins came in just a few minutes later. They had just made the cut to enter the school.
“Hi, who is this cute doll?” Marell asked as she sat down near Edgar.
“Edgar Poe.” He gave a slight nod of his head. “Yourself?”
“Marell Jade. This is my twin, Darell. I have never heard of the Poe family. Are you sponsored?”
“Young Countess Jade. I am the next in line to the Poe Duchy of Vulcana, an island territory. Though we do have some land on the main land. I am a young Duke. I should have properly introduced myself.” Edgar was stern but polite in his speaking.
“Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t assume either. Many students are from other nations. I heard the number of foreign students is going to increase.” Marell changed the subject.
“How so?” Meredith asked handing her finished practice sheet to Auna.
“The nobles of our nation are still advocating for allowing their children to stay at their capital villas. It has been going on for years. The incidents have given them a great push the school is really considering it.” Marell ripped her paper as she erased an answer.
“Be careful, here take a new one.” Auna gently took the torn page giving her a fresh one. Their scribe, Nero, was happily making practice sheets for them. Auna nearly had too many. He often spoke with the dungeon teachers to create ones Auna and Jensen had to do. They only had answer keys for the ones Nero made for everyone else. The ones for Auna and Jensen had no keys, they would have to bring it back to the dungeon.
“I heard the real reason they didn’t do so in the past was money. They would lose a lot of money if foreign interest was high enough to fill the dorms. I don’t think that is an issue anymore. Our school is very famous.” Marell happily took the new sheet.
“That does sound reasonable. I could see how they need the dorms running at a certain capacity. Many nobles here are smaller ones, lords and ladies working under higher nobles in their territories. Some Barons are even smaller. These smaller ones would not have a villa here in the capital. Only the dorms with only four students, like ours, would need filling.” Meredith stopped to think.
“That means the school needs to attract the higher nobles of different nations, to fill the four student rooms. It would mostly be higher nobles anyway, very few would sponsor someone to come to a different nations’ school. With how famous we are now; you are probably right. Though many nobles see it as a rite of passage to have some independence from the pampered life of a noble.” Meredith finished.
“This is still fairly pampered. The beds are huge.” Auna started. “The food is great, nearly no rules, even broken rules are ignored if you have enough power, and the entertainment areas are amazing.”
“I guess that is true.” Meredith laughed.
“Well, I have four big beds to myself. I rotate where I sleep for fun.” Edgar laughed.
“You could always come sleep in our room if you get lonely. The boys often share a bed.” Jensen pointed out to Edgar as Mr. Merlin came up to them.
“I don’t see an issue with that, Edgar does sleep on your floor. There was no space anywhere else. Just let me know the nights he will be, so I can properly do bed checks. It is difficult for such a young man to sleep so isolated. Also, it is time to start packing up, how are you all doing?” Mr. Merlin would walk them back to their dorms.
“Well thank you.” Auna answered for everyone as Marell gave a groan.
“I see that well.” Mr. Merlin laughed as they packed up, making sure they got to their dorms. Mrs. Hopper and him would often take turns doing so.
“Auna, do you think Edgar is going to be okay?” Ciela asked in the darkness of their room.
“Sure, Jensen won’t bother him. He should be able to get a restful sleep.” Auna answered with a smile Ciela could not see.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” It was obvious to everyone Ciela had not waited for an answer, she was already crawling out of bed.
“Of course, you can.” Auna moved back the covers, their tamed pets arranging themselves.
“I feel slightly jealous. I used to sleep with my big brother, it’s a bit awkward now though.” Chloe sighed deeply.
“You are welcome to join.” Auna barely finished speaking before Chloe and her winged salamander crawled up in bed. “Meredith, are you joining?” Auna teased.
“It is not dignified of a noble. I said earlier staying here is seen as a rite of passage.” Meredith crawled into Aunas’ bed anyway. No one teased her though.
The girls slept deeply, so deeply they did not notice the large teen enter their room. He had slipped in through the window, watching Auna. Their tamed pets all noticed though, frozen in fear they did nothing. Their instinct told them they would not win, especially when a boy with no color in his eyes entered soon after.
“Can’t you leave them be? They should rest.” Jaihhyia gave a heavy sigh as he watched the older teen. Jaihhyia had on all white, his wings hidden with a mantle. The teen wore dark greens in the shape of a robe like dress.
“I was told to pick up any awakened children from here. I see they have your blessing. You know forcefully sealing a child from awakening is against the rules.” The teen spoke.
“I know, my blessing doesn’t seal. It warns, gives off a warning to me when people like you show interest in them.” His tone was soft.
“I see. I suppose a child wouldn’t be able to seal someone in such a way. It is very complex soul magic.” The teen stood up to look at the boy. “Everyone knows about you. The little suicide running, assassin under the thumb of the gods council. Most say they feel uneasy around you, afraid and sick. I feel at peace.”
“I do get sent on many missions with a very high death prediction and low return probability. I suppose some call it suicide running. I do also assassinate, only when my judgment lines up with the councils’ though. Otherwise, I bring them back alive. I will not taint my hands more than I already have.” The boy looked down to his hands, as if he could see them.
“Anyway. The people that feel unwell near me are bad, guilty people hiding things. Your soul is bruised, but clean. You don’t feel guilty. So being near a god of judgment doesn’t rattle you, instead it calms you. I heard you, the landscaper, don’t say many words?” The boy ended with a question a beautiful and teasing smile on his face.
“Not usually. Say, why don’t we continue our talk as we head back to that rotten council? There are no awakened children here. I will not remove anyone. We should let them sleep.” The landscaper left the room.
“I will give your friends my blessing as well. I have watched you closely. You will be a strong leader one day. I just hope you can live long enough. Graceful Moon, may you glow brightly.” Jaihhyia gave the girl a kiss on her head. “Do not worry, I will help keep beings like me away.” He spoke to the still frozen pets. “Rest well.”
The next morning many noticed a new blessing. The entire dungeon, the cousins, and Edgar had gained Jiahhyias’ warning. They did not know how or why. The children were forced to tell Edgar about the dungeon, as he panicked about his religious standing with Lichen.