Fantasy Sehrli College for the Gifted (Astral_Ink + Xeppy)

[Astral_Ink]

Glass raised his eyebrows at her impatience. When she gave him the clues, he suddenly realised. He had been close, you had to give him that.
But before he could say, Mikayla had evidently grown tired of his inability to guess quick enough for her, and asked him another question.
His powers?
It wouldn’t be as fun as how Mikayla had revealed hers to him, but maybe he could put on some sort of impressive display. Obviously, they’d need to find somewhere secluded and outdoors, of course.
“Hold on,” he laughed “I still haven’t guessed yours. Sight manipulation? Not that I get much credit for that, you had to give me rather a lot of clues.”

 

[Xeppy]

She put out two thumbs up, beaming at him, grateful that he finally guessed correctly. “Ding ding ding!” She twirled around in her spot, posing dramatically. “Pretty cool power, huh? I bet your’s is cooler, though.” She gave a surprised look at Glass when he wasn’t giving himself credit for guessing. “Of course you get credit!” She stopped to think of a way to explain it. “It’s like 20 Questions. It doesn’t matter if you got the answer from 5 clues or from 15, at least you got it.” She looked at him confusingly. “Does that make sense?”

She shook her head before an alarm went off in her head. What time is it? Turning around, she went back down the hallway to where the bathrooms were, looking at the clock on the wall. 9:22. She sighed, turning around, before tensing up again. 9:22! 8 more minutes! And they didn’t even know where Alchemy was! She ran to Glass, if he followed her or waited for her, she didn’t pay attention in her state of panic. She went up to him, barely stopping in front of him, panting, “9:22!”

 

[Astral_Ink]

"Yes, a very cool power indeed. Imagine the things you could do with something like that... Scary, really." He smiled half gratefully when she explained about the twenty questions idea. It was nice of her to care about how he saw himself, if you put it like that.
When Mikayla abruptly walked off down the corridor, he stood there looking after her, wondering what it could be this time. As she ran up to him and gasped out "9:22" his eyes widened slightly.
"Already? As you said, tempus fugit." he paused and smiled to himself, wondering if that would confuse her slightly. "And I suppose we shall have to continue our ventures at break, perhaps. We'll definitely need to be making our way to Alchemy now."
He reached into his satchel to bring out his map, the corridor beginning to slowly fill itself with other students.

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla‘s face instantly filled with confusion when he said the words, “Tempus fugit.” When did she say that? She thought to herself for a moment, wondering if she did say that, knowing she could be quite forgettable sometimes. But why would she say that? She asked herself if maybe Glass had misheard her before… or maybe he said what she said before, but in a different language! Examining Glass’s face, his smile, she thought if maybe she was right. What language, though? She spoke her thoughts, saying, “Is that Russian?” It sounded like Russian. Or maybe it was French. She could see Glass being fluent in French.

She instantly went to Glass’s shoulder when he brought out the map, lining her finger along it. Where is Alchemy? She reached into her already-open pink backpack again, pulling out the timetable. A2. She looked back onto the map, scanning it quickly, pointing out the area that said A2. ”There!” She exclaimed, shoving the schedule back in her backpack. She could already see people crowding the hallways as they were examining the map… a lot of kids, actually. Worried that she would be separated from Glass, she stepped closer to him. The moment she got lost from him, she would probably be a lost cause. He was the one with the map, anyways. Eyebrows creased, she exclaimed, “Let’s hurry!”

 

[Astral_Ink]

He laughed amusedly when his phrase had the desired effect, but said, "No, not Russian. Latin." , rather impressively, he thought.
Glass wondered if she knew any other languages... but then shook his head, to clear it and prevent any further wanderings of his mind, getting himself back on the right track.
He watched as she got out the timetable, glanced at the map, and pointed to where their next class was. She wasn't too bad at map reading, really. He almost felt grateful for her presence as she stepped close to him -obviously worried she'd be swept away by the tide of people- as many of the first years were looking around like cornered rabbits, alone and jostled violently by everyone passing them. She had quite an... not really intimidating presence, no, but... well, he felt slightly less... vunerable... with someone next to him. He knew he shouldn't feel that way, as a noble, but, to be honest, he had been ever since the accident.
Her exclamation jolted him out of his thoughts, and he nodded, taking the lead down the noisy corridor and hoping she'd keep close behind him.

He weaved through the hallways for a few minutes or so, finally reaching a part of the school where the walls were bare grey stone, and the air took on an odd chill. Glass reached a set of double oak doors, marked A2 , stopping here and looking behind him to check that Mikayla hadn't got lost in the crowd.

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla stayed at Glass’s shoulder the entire way- or at least, she tried to. For a gifted school, some students just didn’t have manners! Multiple times did a student bump into them without apologizing or just cut the small gap between Mikayla and Glass. She guessed that a lot of students decided to find their class last minute as well, her instantly regretting that they spent so much time doing other things. Mikayla did lose Glass a couple of times, but it was easy to relocate him again with his shining white hair. She felt like she was getting crushed in, even though people weren’t pressing against them, except for the occasional bump. She blamed it on nervousness- she had never been in a crowded, fancy area before. Or maybe her injury before really did damage her head: she did bang her skull on the floor. She didn’t think so- what was with this feeling? She shook her head and focused on keeping up with Glass.

She almost bumped into him when he stopped in front of wooden double doors, him looking at her. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, even though it was only a few minute walk, and leaned against the grey stone wall. Yeah- she was definitely nervous. Why? She knew she was nervous about getting here, but on this level? She closed her eyes, breathed for a second, then looked up at Glass, smiling. “Sorry,” she laughed nervously, “I guess the wholeness of the school is getting to me…” She muttered quietly, “About thirty minutes late.“ She looked up at the door, examining the big, “A2” on it. She grinned at Glass and mimicked his stepping aside, bowing and gesturing to the door in a sweeping arm gesture that he did before, trying to say in Glass’s voice, “Lead the way, sir.” She cracked up at how bad the attempt was.

 

[Astral_Ink]

He watched her concernedly as she leaned against the wall, trying to gather herself. Should he be this nervous too? It was probably quite a lot for someone who wasn’t used to this sort of thing, not to mention the school’s largeness and all the students.
He let her have a few moments and then laughed when she tried to imitate him, back to her normal self.
“Thank you, kind madam.” he responded, and pushed open the doors, with a little effort.

The first impression he got of the classroom was the inside of some medieval castle, and… fire.
The inside was decorated not too dissimilar to the outside, and though there were many torches in brackets and several small contained fires burning in the middle of the table, the room still had the same sort of chill as the outside corridor. Scarred wooden workbenches littered the room, with a small fire going in the middle of each one, the source apparently hidden.
At this point he noticed the teacher and several students looking at them expectantly, and, annoyed with himself for standing staring round the room, even if it was only for a few seconds, walked over to the nearest empty workbench, and sat himself down, trying to look aloof, ignoring the whispers and murmurings of the class and glancing at Mikayla for her to sit down at the same table. Was that a mistake? Hopefully not.
The last few students trickled in, two of them sitting at the same workbench as Glass, there being no more free.

 

[Xeppy]

The first thought Mikayla had when walking into the room was, “Is this place going to burn down?” Everywhere she looked, fire was there- tables, well, actually, workbenches, the walls. The place didn’t seem to have a smudge of darkness anywhere. Mikayla rubbed her skirt, afraid that it might be caught on fire in this place. She already hurt herself this morning: she didn’t need a second degree burn. Her eyes went away from all the flames to the professor, who was staring at Glass and Mikayla. Mikayla smiled at her as she examined the teacher’s outfit, brightening up. Colorful! Mikayla rubbed her skirt again, connecting with the teacher in this slight similarity. It took Mikayla a moment to realize that Glass’s presence near her was gone, her whipping her head around, only to realize that Glass just sat down at a workbench, looking at her expectantly to follow after him. Giving a little, “Oh!”, she followed suit, plopping down next to him, all the nervousness replaced by excitement. Two other kids sat down next to them, as Mikayla beaming at that. Right as she was about to introduce herself, she stopped in her tracks. One of them was a boy. Her cheeks flushing, she immediately thought of all the possibilities, thinking, “Oh jeez, oh jeez, what if he was in the bathroom before?” She got snapped out of her thoughts when the teacher started clapping for attention at exactly 9:30.

”Hello, hello!” The professor’s voice had an accent of someone who was not native to English, as it rang around the empty room. “Welcome to Alchemy! I’m Profesora Flavourant! Dejame hacer la asistencia…” Mikayla made a confused face, along with others in the room, as the teacher twirled around in her colorful clothing, grabbed a piece of paper, and cleared her voice, reading the paper in alphabetical order. “Um, let’s see. Glass… Ametrine?” She pronounced this last name incorrectly, but that didn’t stop others’ murmuring around the room to increase at the recognition.

 

[Astral_Ink]

Glass watched as the teacher twirled around, slight disapproval on his face. However, it quickly cleared as the teacher said his name, though pronouncing it slightly wrong, which he ignored, else people might think he was trying to draw attention to himself. "Sí. Mucho gusto." he said, smiling charmingly at Professor Flavourant, pretending not to hear the students' murmurs.
The professor smiled back at him, in what Glass hoped was an impressed way, and continued with the list of names.

Glass took this time to look around the classroom more fully, as he'd never been taught alchemy before. Sure, he'd been researching it and knew a little already, but this was his first time actually practicing it in somewhere like this, and he was rather excited.
Large, mahogany cupboards were dotted around the edges of the room, and there were several shelves lined with hefty leather-bound books complete with strange runes running down their sides in gold lettering.
He studied the two others, taking in the boy's untidy brown hair and impish twinkle in his eyes, thinking to himself that he would probably have to keep an eye on that one. Moving on to the girl, he saw she had very well-kept straight black hair and deep blue eyes, her expression fairly neutral.
On finishing taking mental notes, he returned his gaze to the professor, who was still calling out names.

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla looked at Glass funnily when he ignored the mispronunciation of his last name, wondering what was going on in his head. Maybe she actually did pronounce it right, and Mikayla just thought it was pronounced different? No, no, she definitely heard it pronounced a different way when Glass introduced himself to her. And why was he pretending not to notice everyone talking about him? He probably did. Or was he doing that thing where he pretends not to notice so he gets more attention and looks cooler? Mikayla pouted at that, as that was exactly what her father would always do in the moments of spotlight. No, Glass wouldn’t be like that! Still, Mikayla couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed at him.

Zoning out, Mikayla wondered what Alchemy was. She was pretty sure it was about turning metals or stuff into other metals, but she was never really sure. She’d never studied Alchemy before, let alone really research and know about it. She watched as the teacher called out the black-haired girl, her raising her hand in that way where all your fingers were together. Mikayla thought about why there were different ways to raise your hand, fingers apart or together. Mikayla‘s fingers were always apart when she raised her hand. Well, everyone’s different, especially in raising hands.

”Is this right? Mikayla de Persison?”

Look at that, there’s another Mikayla in this classroom. That would be confusing when Mrs. Flavourant called out into the class. After a few moments, Mikayla realized that she called out her. She was still used to her last name being “Miller.” It was so much more simpler and easier. Raising her hand, noticing that her fingers were apart when she raised it, Mikayla wondered what “here” was in Spanish. A while ago, she got classes for Spanish, but Mikayla didn’t speak Spanish a lot, and with new languages, you needed to really talk a lot with it. She knew it stayed with “aq”... aqua? Aqua!

“Aqua!” She called out to the teacher, noticing the black haired girl giving her a strange look, the boy an amusing one. The teacher simply laughed and said, “Aquí, aquí! Not Aqua!” Mikayla laughed, embarrassed, trying not to look her in the eye. She really needed to start taking Spanish classes again. The teacher moved on, and after a moment, Mikayla realized that she technically lied to Glass about her last name when she introduced herself. Why’d the school use her new last name instead of her birth one, anyways? She looked at Glass and smiled, although still partially annoyed. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind?

 

[Astral_Ink]

As the professor called out Mikayla’s name, Glass looked at her without turning his head.
‘de Persision’?
That had definitely not been her name when she had told him. Unless the teacher had got it wrong too… but no, how could you confuse that with ‘Miller’ ?
His eyes narrowed, wondering why she would give the wrong information to either him or the Office.
And she had paused when the teacher said her name, perhaps that was the fake one? Maybe she just wanted to seem more higher up than she already was. He didn’t blame her, and it would probably have worked if she hadn’t tried to copy him by attempting Spanish.
Urgh, he felt for her. It was terrible when you messed up like this in front of the whole class. Anyway, the surname thing probably didn’t matter too much, did it? He could always talk to her over alchemy. If she could spare the concentration… he had a feeling that if he stopped watching her for more than a minute, she’d have burnt down the entire school somehow.
Realising she was looking at him, he returned her smile in what he hoped was a reassuring way, then continued listening to the teacher, who was just finishing the register.

As she did so, she twirled around to her desk once more and put the piece of paper down with a flourish. So swiftly that Glass almost didn’t understand what was going on, she stamped the paper with a rubber stamp, just as the sides began to vanish. Soon enough, the whole paper was gone, and only shimmering white dust was left settling on the desk.
Glass raised an eyebrow as surprised mutters broke out around the classroom. Was that how they did things here? Very nice. Efficient, too.

The chatter ceased as the teacher came to stand in front of her desk in a whirlwind of billowing colour.
“Hola, clase. Welcome again to alchemy! I’m sure you will find it very fun! Vale… now, today we will be attempting the transmutation of base metals. I will be explaining more about this as you go about your task. It may sound scary, but we have more resources now than we did in the medieval times so it should be easier!”
She gave them all a vibrant smile, then clapped her hands. "I want you all into partners, then we're going to get out our equipment!"

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla looked at the paper with adoration as the moment the stamp went on it, it disappearing into a million pieces. What was only left was what reminded Mikayla of fairy dust. Hey, that wasn’t too bad of a guess! Everyone had magic- there were probably fairies in the world. Maybe someone had the power to make fairies! She wondered why Mrs. Flavourant needed to stamp it first before it went away, though. It looked like an ordinary stamp. Maybe that’s how you call the fairies. She thought about explaining her newfound theory to Glass, but… but what? That he needs to experience the magic of fairies himself? That he wouldn’t believe her? Well, that’s just not having faith. She shook her head and whispered to Glass, “Fairies!” With all the talk in the classroom, however, she wasn’t sure if she was heard.

The teacher started talking again, introducing herself and the subject this time. The moment the teacher said, “Partners”, Mikayla placed her hand on Glass’s head so he wouldn’t move away and find a different partner. When Mrs. Flavourant finished her sentence, the classroom was quiet for a few moments, then buzzed with people trying to get a partner. Mikayla spoke to Glass, “Glass Ametrine, I claim you!” She then made a face to herself. “If this partnership is going to work out, I need your middle name. I can’t just say your first and last name, I need one or two more words in there to make it complete!”

 

[Astral_Ink]

Did she say fairies? Glass was about to ask Mikayla what she meant, but the class had started up a racket again. Suddenly, he felt something come down on his head, though not exactly hard. Confused, he tipped his head upwards and saw Mikayla's arm. He faced her, about to protest reproachfully that this was not dignified when she spoke again, apparently claiming him. He rolled his eyes; once again, he had no choice. He watched as Mikayla made a face, then asked for his middle name.
Oh heck. She was going to make fun of him for this. Groaning, he replied, " If you really have to know... my full name is Glass Ivory-Quartz Edel Sevrym Marquis Gael Agate Marville Ametrine. Unfortunately. You're going to have a hard time remembering all that."

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla made an offended face at Glass when he rolled her eyes, as a mom might do to her child. “Glass!” She stuck her finger out at him, clearly about to lecture at him. “You don’t roll your eyes at someone! It’s a very rude way to express yourself! What do you think the other person‘s going to do? Accept it? No, they’re going to be offended! How’d you think I was going to react, joyfully? Have you seen me roll my eyes at you? No, because it’s rude!” She crossed her arms, huffing at him. “Apologize!” She honestly had no idea what made her so worked up over a rolling of eyes. It always just made her annoyed when anyone did it, even though it was just a way to express yourself.

She looked blankly at Glass when he said a long string of words that was supposedly his middle name. What? Wasn’t it usually… shorter? That was middle names. How was she supposed to memorize that? The world was against her. More importantly, how did Glass memorize that? She smiled sheepishly, thinking her middle name of, “Alger” was nothing compared to that. She put her finger to her lips, making an “Ummm” noise, before smiling at Glass. “I‘ll just shorten it up for now, then slowly learn the rest later! Glass... Ivory-Quartz Ametrine!” Honestly, the only part she did sculpt out of that was the very beginning: Ivory-Quartz. She clapped her hands, saying, “Mine’s Alger. It’s what my dad wanted to call me if I was a boy, but I wasn’t, so it only got second place,” before looking at the teacher expectedly. It looks like everyone found a partner.

 

[Astral_Ink]

Glass looked a bit taken aback when she began to lecture him. He held his hands up in front of him, looking rather bewildered. "A-All right." he said when she finished. "If you feel that way, then I apologise. I suppose it was rather rude of me to do that. I'm usually a bit more... restrained. You must be rubbing off on me." he smiled awkwardly. "And ok then, you can call me that if you have to." he paused for a moment. "I quite like your middle name. It has a nice ring to it."

He finished speaking just before the teacher clapped again, everyone falling silent and turning to look.
"Muy bien!" the professor pressed her hands together. "Now, the equipment. You see the cupboards around the room?" she gestured to a few of them, and some students looked to where she was pointing. "There is where you will be getting it from. As we are doing a basic transmutation, you will get two cubic centimetres worth of lead, which is what we call a base metal. This can be found in the first cupboard here," she pointed to one in the far corner,"and a tripod will also be needed, as well as two sets of test tubes, in the fourth cupboard, and a set of the chemicals found in the third cupboard, on the top shelf. Wonderful. Now, get your equipment!"
The class was still for a few moments, most people looking quite confused, but gradually they wandered over to cupboards, opening them and trying to discern what was what.

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla smiled at Glass gratefully when he apologized, although she kind of forced him to do that, and then faked being insulted again when he said that he was rubbing off of her. “What do you mean you’re rubbing off of me? Are you saying I have a rude personality? That you’re better than me?! Are you…” She smiled mischievously, laughing, before commenting, “Just kidding. Wow, I sound like my step-dad.” Mikayla made a face at her comment, then said softly, “Sorry.” She made another face when he complimented her name, only this expression was more animated. “You like it? I would much rather have your name than ‘Alger’. It sounds like a knight or something!” She raised her arms, then brought them down to her side again, thinking. “If only I got to choose my middle name. I would’ve put, like, Amarilla. It sounds nice, even though it’s just a color.” She smiled and looked at Glass for a second to see if he understood the Spanish she just spoke, then turned her attention to the teacher when she was speaking.

Mrs. Flavourant’s words just went one ear out the other with Mikayla, leaving her not knowing when to start. She only knew she needed materials, but which? Apparently, the other students in the room were just as hesitant as Mikayla was, as everyone was still for a few moments, until the brave ones came out. The rest followed suit afterwards. She looked at Glass blankly, saying confusingly, “Did you get any of that? I can go get the materials if you want me to.” She had no idea what to get, however.

 

[Astral_Ink]

When Mikayla started accusing him again, Glass resumed his bewildered expression. Was she all right? He hadn’t known her for long, but he was sure this wasn’t like her. But when she broke off laughing, he relaxed, relieved.
“All right, you don’t have to tease me.” When she continued, he wondered what her stepdad was like. He sounded like one of those mean ones from the fairytales, although that was probably a bit prejudiced. Glass nodded and smiled when she told him what she would have made her middle name. “A fitting name for someone with such a colourful personality.”

As Mikayla asked him about the materials, looking as confused as the rest of the class, Glass said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, I got all of that.” He winked. “I’ll retrieve them, if you don’t mind. I have a particular talent for discerning metals and types of stone from one another. Maybe you could get the chemicals? If I remember correctly, they should be on the…”
He paused, halfway off his stool. “It’s just become apparent to me that lead is usually poisonous.” He glanced over to the cupboards, where someone was reaching for a dull grey block of metal. At that moment, the teacher came rushing over to the cupboard, waving her hands.
“ No! No, get away please.” The students slowly backed away, confused and bewildered. The teacher plucked a pile of pristine lab coats and white gloves from the top of the cupboard. “Wear these, por favor. Lead is dangerous, and so are some of the chemicals we are using.” She dropped the pile on the floor and walked back to her desk, half sheepishly.
“All riiight..” Glass said, now down from his stool. “Anyway, you can get the chemicals, from the top shelf in the… third cupboard. I’ll get the rest.”

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla looked at Glass seriously when he complimented her, thinking about what he just said. Did he mean that? She’d never grown up with compliments, unless a person needed something. It was weird when she actually got them from a friend. Of course, her mother complimented her left and right, but Mikayla just never got compliments outside of her family. Maybe it was just her friend group. Her mother did always complain about the people she would be friends with. Smiling uncertainly, she said, “Hehe, nice pun. Or was that one? It is one now.” She paused, thinking. “Are you good with jokes? Cause you’re cracking me up.” Mikayla made a face at herself. The pun about Glass’s name- Glass, cracking- sounded better in her head.

She sighed gratefully when she realized Glass had actually apparently understood better than her. If he didn’t know what was going on, then nobody probably knew. Her face filled with curiosity when he said he was good with minerals and such, asking, “Oh? Really?” She nodded obediently when he told her what to do, desperate for instructions she could actually understand. “You got it, captain!” She had already hopped off her stool quickly when Glass noticed that lead was poisonous, her face immediately filling with concern. Shouldn’t the teacher do something about that? Right on cue, the teacher came running in, giving the safety supplies they needed. Mikayla sighed with relief again, nodding at Glass. “As I said, aye aye, captain!”

She hopped off her stool, running over to the third cupboard, looking up at the top shelf. Was there a step or something that could help her reach it? She looked at the boy who could reach it easily, getting the chemicals needed for Alchemy, before realizing that this was the boy that was sitting at the same table as them. Smiling widely, forgetting her past bathroom moment, she exclaimed, “Hi! I’m Mikayla! Could you give me the same materials you’re grabbing right now? I can’t reach them.” She laughed sheepishly, looking up at the boy for his response.

The boy widened his eyes, seemingly surprised out of his boredom. He looked down at her, widened his eyes again that it was her that was talking to him, then grinned mischievously. “Yeah, I know who you are, Spanish girl. Sure. The chemicals we need are ‘aqua’.” Seeing Mikayla’s flush of embarrassment at her past mistake, he grabbed the chemicals and dropped them in her arms, waving, “Chao.”

She looked in his direction for a few moments, eyes gazed at him, before biting her lip. Why would he say those things to her? She got it, she messed up, but did he have to tease her about it? She smiled to herself, thinking, “Hypocrite.” That’s what she always does. She probably already did that to Glass, although she couldn’t quite remember clearly if she had. Holding the chemicals in her hands, she walked over to her workbench again, not sure where to place them, wondering where to place them. She looked around for Glass, realizing she had got there before him. The boy did do all the work for her. Speaking of him, with his snide expression, he sat down at the workbench, as Mikayla shifted, looking around for her partner.

 

[Astral_Ink]

A pun? What pun? He was about to answer that he wasn’t entirely sure if he was good with jokes, when he realised that was a joke, and looked extremely confused. “I… don’t get it.” he said, though quickly moving on.
He smiled when she called him captain, watching her make her way over to the chemicals cupboard. He got down from the stool and strode confidently over to the pile of white protective clothing, swiftly donning a lab coat and gloves, which, unfortunately, where slightly too big for him. Rolling up the sleeves, he stepped into the hesitant group still lingering outside the cupboard. Just as he had hoped, most of them stepped back respectfully as he chose the correct materials, out of respect for his heritage, or the fact that he seemed the only one entirely sure of what to do. He scanned the shelves for the bluish-grey metal, carefully selecting a cube and walking away with it balanced in the palm of his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people following suit and gathering the courage to take a piece.
Glass then walked over to the fourth cupboard, which was already open. He came round the side of the door and almost bumped into someone surveying the equipment.
“Oh- sorry.” he said, as they turned round to face him.
He took in her long black hair and deep blue eyes and stared for a moment. Even though he had seen her at the table earlier, he suddenly seemed to realise who she was. No one else had eyes like that. “Chia-?”
She looked at him for the first time, recognition showing in her eyes.
“Glass!” she exclaimed.
Glass laughed, “Oh wow, I haven’t seen you for ages! Are you well? How is your family?"
He gathered up the tripod and the test tubes, which were quite heavy. At least he only had to walk a few metres. And he'd almost forgotten he'd probably see friends from years ago, now that he was at this college. So he wan't too alone.
Glass and Chia walked back to the table, chatting animatedly the whole time. When they reached it, he saw Mikayla was already there, waiting for him, and so was the boy Chia had paired up with. He dumped his stuff on the workbench and sat down, glad to be relieved of the load.
He smiled at Mikayla and said, "This is Lady Chia of Moorwood, a childhood friend. Chia, meet Mikayla. Mikayla, Chia."
Chia smiled politely at Mikayla, nodding her head.

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla smiled when Glass finally reached the table, her face dropping when she realized, I need a lab coat. About to excuse herself for a second, she stopped when she saw the girl next to Glass, the one that was sitting at their table earlier, now next to him as they were best friends all their lives. Well, they kind of were, since they, now that Mikayla knew, were childhood friends. Mikayla examined the girl’s face, smiling back at her. She looked better with a smile, instead of a blank expression. Giving a little wave, she replied, “Hiya! Pleasure to meet you! That’s a very pretty name you have.” She adjusted herself in her stool so she could be cross-legged on it, saying confusingly, “What’s Moorwood? Is it a place, or a kingdom, or the name of a palace, or the name of a land?” Mikayla’s eyes grew wider every time she stated something, wondering what in the whole wide world was Moorwood, completely forgetting about getting a lab coat. She heard the boy laugh at her sentence, as her eyes glimmered more at Lady Chia. Would she have to call her Lady Chia? Or just Chia? Mikayla shook her head, thinking names were too confusing.

 

[Astral_Ink]

As Chia took up her place, Glass smiled, glad that Mikayla wasn't messing this up too much, even though the girl sitting in front of her was the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Moorwood. Chia smiled at Mikayla's compliment, thanking her. Luckily, she seemed to not have changed too dramatically to how Glass remembered her to be, and was definitely not as condescending as some of the other nobles he knew, who would probably laugh scornfully at Mikayla's question about Moorwood. Like the boy at their table had just done, he supposed, although he didn't look familiar to Glass.
"Moorwood is... a province in the north-west of our country Feyan, getting its name from the rare forests that grow on the moors there. It is... run by my family, as my parents are the Earl and Countess of Moorwood. When they pass away, I will be the one who controls it. Under the eye of our King, of course." She looked at Mikayla, as though asking if that had answered her question, and then said, "I like your hair clips. They're very colourful. Like the heather on our moors."

The teacher then clapped again, saying, "We're going to be starting soon! Please begin to take your places and finish gathering your items."

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla looked confused at all the fancy vocabulary Chia was using, such as province, moor, Earl, Countess. She shook the words out of her head, trying to make her face look like she understood what Chia was saying. “Cool! That must be stressful, having your destination in the future to rule over a land. I wouldn’t know.” Mikayla made a curious face at her last remake, processing something in her head, finally saying, “How much nobles or other people like that are there here? Is this supposed to be, like, a school mainly for those people?” Besides her comment, her eyes glimmered, thinking that if this school was filled with those people, there may be a lot of people like Glass, and of course, Chia. How many people were like Mikayla, though? Who have never even been one of those kinds of people? She slumped down noticeably for a second before rising back up, filling up with happiness at the girl’s compliment. Mikayla had always been proud of her clip collection, making sure to wear a lot of them, although she had too many to wear them all. Of course, the bun in her hair didn’t exactly give room, either.

Mikayla was about to thank the girl before the teacher started talking again, Mikayla’s attention turning toward her, before an alarm went through her head, her thinking, My lab coat! Hastily getting up from her stool, she toppled it over, getting another snicker from the boy. Rising it back up to its place, she ran towards the pile of lab coats, grabbed one, running toward her workbench again, putting it on along the way. Sitting down again, she sighed, out of breath, before feeling something in her lab coat pocket. Reaching in, she pulled out a pair of googles and a hair tie, although she didn’t really need it, since her hair was already up with her buns. The girl, Chia, definitely needed one, though. Putting on the goggles, Mikayla opened her mouth slightly, surprised how immediately foggy they were, then looked around as everyone quieted down, having all the materials they needed.

“Exelente! Since it is Alchemy, we are going to be working with fuego, flames! Please put on your goggles and tie your hair if needed, gracias.” The teacher looked at the class expectantly as everyone put the goggles and hair ties on. Mikayla felt accomplished in herself, already doing it, as the teacher perked up, twirled around, got a stack of papers, and started passing them, squeaking, “Perdón, perdón! I forgot to pass instructions!” She went around the classroom, giving every table one paper, finally giving the paper to the workbench Mikayla was at. She was about to grab it before the boy took hold of it, placing it near him, reading aloud, “It shows step by step instructions, along with the materials needed. Like science.” He passed the paper to Chia, looking bored out of his mind again, although with the mischievous twinkle in his eye with the thought of fire.

 

[Astral_Ink]

Chia smiled again, saying, "It's not too stressful, actually. I've known I would do the whole of my life, and studied how my parents run everything so effectively. It might be hard for those not born into nobility, I imagine, and some orphans who have been taken in by nobles who couldn't have an heir." At this point she glanced very deliberately at the boy who was staring at the flames, entranced. Glass suddenly realised who the boy must be. He was pretty much infamous to the noble circle, though of course Glass had never seen him in person. Virtually plucked off the streets, (heaven knows what the Evrims were thinking, they had always been an odd sort) and chosen to be an heir. Although of course that had had complications. And now it looked like they could be dealing with a pyromaniac.

He tried to ignore the thoughts in his head, hoping the boy wouldn't be too much trouble, and turned his attention once again to Chia and Mikayla, who seemed to be getting on fairly well. Chia was replying to Mikayla's question: "Well, there aren't actually too many nobles here, although this is the main school many send their children to. The whole school's pupil count is far larger than the amount of noble children in the country, even though it is less than most schools. Some people here are here simply because someone has noticed how great a talent they have for magic." she swept her gaze over the class for a second, then continued, "I'd say there are probably about six people here from a high family, out of our class of 18."

As Mikayla was rushing over to get her lab coat, Glass felt slightly ashamed that he had forgotten to retrieve hers as well as his own. He put his goggles on, not enjoying the uncomfortableness and the way they fogged up so easily. He was still fiddling with them as the teacher came round, holding sheets of instructions. Mikayla reached for one but the Evrim boy got there first; Glass felt slight annoyance towards him as he explained what was on the sheet.

After Chia had finished inspecting it carefully, she placed it in front of Glass and Mikayla. Glass put it in the middle of them so they could both see. It was a list of step-by-step instructions, a lot of them looking quite similar to science, but with what looked like a magical element to it. He read aloud, " 'Step1: Place the tripod over the flames. Then put the lead cube in a bowl on the tripod.' The first step seems easy enough."

The professor clapped again, and said, "You may start! And you will find any extra equipment in the compartments under the workbenches. Además, you can use your powers if applicable to help with the transmutation. Of course, be sensible!"

 

[Xeppy]

Mikayla placed her face near the paper when they finally received it, examining it carefully, although she knew she was gonna forget them immediately. She noticed there was many, many, many words on there. Hopefully the paper doesn’t turn into ash with all this fire around, although the teacher would probably just give them another. While she looked away from the paper, she looked at the boy, who was staring right at Glass before Glass even started talking, with a different look in his eye that she couldn’t describe. When he adjusted his eyeline to her, she finally understood what the look was: jealousy. The boy stared at Mikayla for a second before looking at Glass again, him speaking. Mikayla scrunched up her eyebrows in confusion before telling Glass, “Cool! Uh, where’s the tripod?”

She turned her head left and right before the thought went in her head: what is a tripod? She adjusted her head back to Glass and was about to ask before the instructor started talking again. After, she thought for a moment if her powers would work in this situation, but shook her head. What would changing how others see things be any use in this? She looked back at the boy who was grinning, looking at all of them.

“Powers, huh? That’s crazy, considering this is technically a gifted power school.” He placed his hand under his chin, resting it underneath it. “What’s your’s? I think I know your’s.” He nodded at Chia, looking expectantly at Mikayla and Glass.

“Mine!” Mikayla chirped up, excited to share the special part about her. “I can manipulate others sight! Like, scientifically, it’s about the brain or something, but it’s kind of hard to explain. What’s your’s? And your’s?” She looked back between Chia and the boy, face shimmering with curiosity, before filled with surprise. “Oh! Your name! I wasn’t listening during attendance, sorry.” Mikayla laughed as the looked at the boy.

He simply just raised his eyebrows, saying, “Nice change of topic. It’s Nestor. Nes-tor. Don’t forget it.” He then looked at Glass, expecting him to answer his question, clearly trying not to do the actual assignment they were supposed to be doing.

 

[Astral_Ink]

As the professor was speaking, Glass looked up from the paper to turn his head towards her, but was stopped as he felt an uncomfortable prickling feeling aimed directly at him. He scanned his vicinity quickly, trying to find the source whilst wondering if he was just imagining it, faint and odd as it was. As his gaze passed the Evrim boy, he thought he caught him staring… staring with a strange look in his eye. Glass recognised it immediately. The boy was jealous of him. However, as soon as Glass had saw it, it had disappeared, and the boy turned his head casually to listen to the teacher as well. Of course, someone like him would be jealous of the Duke's son, Glass had experienced it many times. However... there was something else in there, too... a spark of malevolence. Or so it seemed to him. Was he just being paranoid?

As soon as the teacher had started speaking, it seemed like she had already finished, Glass having been distracted by the boy's odd looks towards him, but understood what she had said when he made a remark about powers. This would certainly be interesting, though of course he would have to keep an even closer eye on the boy...

Glass stiffened when the boy asked for his powers, but Mikayla told him quite readily. He had a bit more time to think as Mikayla asked for the other two’s powers, and then the boy’s name. He answered, raising his eyebrows. Nestor? It sounded vaguely familiar.
Glass had decided what to tell him by the time Nestor’s gaze fell upon him once more. He didn’t like the way he was staring at him…
“See if you can try and guess from the experiment if I do use them, else…” this would be a good opportunity to advertise for the little show he was planning to put on in the courtyard at break, originally for Mikayla. It could also serve as a little warning, mainly to people like Nestor, not to mess with him. His father had told him before school he needed to make a good impression so nobody would dare to give him any 'trouble'. Glass raised his voice slightly, enough to be heard above the chatter of the class.
“…why don’t you come and join me in the East Wing Courtyard at break? There I shall be holding a small display where I am sure you will be able to figure out my powers.”
The students broke into excited chatter having heard this announcement. Who wouldn't want to see a display like that?, Glass thought.
Speaking once more to his table, he observed, "There seems to be only one set of flames to be used for our purpose, and we clearly need two if we are to get this transmutation completed on time." he glanced at Nestor. "Your powers wouldn't happen to entail duplication, would they?"