Story The Legends of Celtia: Jasmine Pétalle of Magnolia Pass

[cuzn]

Introduction

Hello! I'm the author, Ciel, and in this introduction I'll just be giving small bits of context before you start reading.
For one, all author's notes you'll see will be in pink text - I try not to use author's notes very often, so I'm sure you'll only be seeing them at the top or bottom of chapters, if at all.

And, as far as story-based context goes, I'll include a brief synopsis:
Jasmine Pétalle is a young elven girl living on the continent of Celtia, a fantasy world where humans live alongside countless other species and races. Her mother is known as the Elven Queen of Magnolia Pass, a title that Jasmine will surely inherit come Gloria's passing; until then, she has been sent to live with her human father and elder sister in the southern town of Bassion in order to receive a proper education in nature, alchemy, and the mystic arts.
The Golden Gate Academy is a prestigious school of no age requirement; as such, Jasmine is the youngest to have ever been accepted into the advanced course of education, and as of today, she begins her first day of classes. For the first time in her life, she has lived somewhere other than the secluded isolation of the northern mountain pass, and finds herself having to deal with social struggles on her own, completely ignorant to the dark secrets that lie in the Academy's administration.

I hope you enjoy reading!

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Prologue​

Jasmine looked upon the last glimpses of her homeland with an insurmountable longing. The mountain peaks were dyed an amber-pink on the western face, and on the east remained a cool purple-blue, where the setting sun due west cast half of the range in a vibrant hue and left the other half bathing in shadows. Night would fall soon, and only two lanterns on the front of the carriage would provide the horses with any light as they travelled further away from her beloved Magnolia Pass.

This northern mountain range was her kingdom, it was her home; while her mother did not rule over a single man, woman, or child, the animals instead served as subjects to the Elven crown, and the only few humans who chose to venture into the pass were required to leave an offering of silver on the branch of a tree upon entry. Such was the will of the Gods, and such was the tradition for longer than even her own mother could recall. Leaving this place with only the few belongings in her satchel and the dark, velvet forest green cloak hiding her figure, a type of emptiness began to root inside of her chest, leaving Jasmine to only watch with hollow despair as the carriage grew further and further away from the forest and alpine peaks of her calling.

It was the voice of her elder sister to bring her out of her trance.

"I hope you aren't going to mope around the entire time. We're going to be on the road for a week, the least you could do is talk to me while we're riding." Holly Patel, the mostly-human teenage girl who held their father's surname (while Jasmine held their mother's) sat on the opposite side of the carriage, next to their father, and watched Jasmine with an impatient curve to her lips. When Jasmine gave no signs of responding to her sister's complaints, Holly only rolled her eyes with a scoff and made another attempt at conversation. "Well, what are you looking forward to the most when we get to Bassion?"

Jasmine considered her answer for a moment, and made one last glance out the back window of the carriage only to find that the mountains had already disappeared almost completely from view, and the sky was beginning to darken considerably with the coming of twilight. Feeling a bit safer now that her Dark Elven complexion wouldn't be harmed by the sun, she slipped her hood back and laid down on her cushioned bench with a sigh. "I want to go home."

"You're so melodramatic." Holly didn't seem to be catching the hint that Jasmine wished for peace and quiet, since even when Jasmine turned for her back to face her sister, Holly continued jabbering on. "I mean, really, being miserable about leaving is only going to make you more miserable. Just try to be positive! Bassion is one of the biggest cities in Celtia, it's sure to be home to some interesting people! I've heard that the Karzakkians that live there are incredibly handsome --"

Jasmine found it easy to tune her sister's chattering out after a little while, and before long, she allowed her eyes to close and her mind to wander.

She was fully aware that leaving home to attend the academy was absolutely necessary for her to become a successful queen in the future, and of course, the idea of entering an academy to learn was a thrilling idea to her, but... The comfort that she found in that secluded cottage with only her mother and the animals as her company, without having to deal with her father or her sister, would be gone for a very long time. Her mother was patient and kind, with beautiful umber skin and eyes crystalline blue. From a young age, Jasmine had spent her time studying her mother's habits and mimicking them; over time, she learned to approach animals with a gentle caution, and she had also learned to care for the plants and survive on her own in the forest should the need ever arise. Since her father and sister had spent that time living in the town at the mouth of the mountain pass, they had both been exempt from this learning process, and so Jasmine couldn't help but feel slightly out of place in the presence of two so obsessed with the human concept of civilization.

Being raised in the mountains and being taught to scavenge, hunt, and garden did not make her uncivilized. She could hold up a polite and decent conversation just fine, and she liked a cup of tea just as much as any normal civilized person did. Being raised in Magnolia Pass only made her more keen to the ways of the natural world, and saved her the trouble of having to deal with the ways of socialization and stifling pleasantries. To her, it was a win-win situation for her to live the rest of her life away from society, where she could be happy and comfortable and not around her father, but...

Her mother's words to her before her departure echoed clear in Jasmine's mind.

"More information can never be a bad thing, Petal. Take this as a learning experience, and perhaps you'll learn to enjoy what isn't entirely comfortable at first."

A learning experience... For a moment, Jasmine's mind was brought back to the present time, but she zoned out again immediately as soon as she had realized that her sister was still talking about boys and parties and whatever other nonsense seemed to come to her mind. Jasmine gave a small grumble at the notion. But what could I possibly learn from living with these two, of all people? I'd much rather be playing music with you, right now. Mother...

Her hand slowly reached upwards to brush her fingertips against the ceramic surface of the magnolia blossom brooch that Queen Gloria had given to her. While she doubted either of her two lesser family members had noticed, Jasmine found herself curling up just a little bit tighter in her seat. I miss you.



Somewhere along the line, Jasmine supposed she must have dozed off, since she awoke to the shift in momentum of the carriage slowing to a halt and the sound of the driver's boots tapping down on a cobblestone street. She sat up just before Holly could try to shake her awake, and the Elven heir took a moment to fully rise from her rough sleep before following her sibling out of the landeau, where she found herself standing in front of an inn in a town she didn't recognize. Lanterns dimly-lit the streets outside, where few people left the warm comfort of their homes, but as soon as she followed her sister into the inn, Jasmine was blasted with the heavy scent of alcohol and overcome with the sound of drunken chatter and poorly-played fiddle music.

Apparently, the first floor of this inn served as a tavern to the public. Apparently, her father said, it boosted business when the drunken idiots were too inebriated to go home and had to stay the night. Whoever came up with such a ridiculous business plan clearly didn't think of the decent, innocent souls of children in mind. While Jasmine would have preferred to stick with Holly despite how insufferable the girl's company was, her sister was immediate to set her eyes on a certain fair, strapping young blonde and made her way over with a lovestruck enthusiasm.

So, much to her despair, Jasmine was left to fend by herself in a room of too much noise and too many smells to possibly enjoy herself. Actually, when comparing standing impatiently next to the door as she was to standing next to her father and being subjected to his rather shamelessly chatting up the innkeeper...

Jasmine gave a miserable groan and slumped to sit on the floor, her face hidden under the deep hood of her cloak and her knees pulled close to her chest.

Why was everyone in her family so hung up on the idea of romance, of all things? I just don't get it.

"I take it this isn't exactly your scene, miss?" A young girl's voice took Jasmine out of her moment of annoyance and loathing, and when the young princess looked up, she saw a girl standing in front of her wearing a white bonnet and a white apron over a long brown dress. She held a quill pen and a small notepad in one hand and a small bottle of ink in the other, and peered at Jasmine with wide, curious green eyes. Her freckled face and fiery orange hair almost immediately made it obvious that she was from a bit further south in Celtia.

"... No." While she wasn't one for conversation, Jasmine still avoided being seen as rude, and brushed herself off once she stood up to face the girl properly. She only looked to be a tad bit older, possibly the same age as Jasmine, but still had a few inches on the dark elf - then again, Jasmine was considered to be rather short-statured for her age. Thirteen years old and standing at a humble (or pitiful) four-foot-seven-inches. Unable to maintain eye contact for very long, she glanced off to the side, where her father was still wooing the innkeeper. Ugh. "I'm... Not from around here."

"I know that."

The girl's sudden response brought a questioning glance from Jasmine, to which the human girl stuttered for a moment before averting her gaze with rising timidity. "I-I mean! I work here at the tavern, I know everyone who lives in Lithune and everyone who passes through. And, ahem, I think I would have remembered someone of your beauty if you lived here, miss."

Beauty? Jasmine's long ears perked up at the word, but she was quick to shove the thought aside for more pressing matters. "You work in a place like this? I can't imagine it's very pleasant."

"The owner is my mother." The fire-haired girl stepped aside and looked back to the very same woman that was being charmed by a certain father of two. Ignorant to Jasmine's relation to the man, the girl gave an exasperated, yet endearing sigh. "Although she seems a bit busy right now... Honestly, she'll find any man foolish enough to try flirting with her showering her with gold and silver by the end of the night. Poor old gentleman..."

"My father." Jasmine's clarification brought another moment of startled, flustered stuttering from the redhead, but Jasmine interrupted her anxious apologies with a huff and a rather sharp-tongued statement of her own. "No, you're right. My father has just about the mental capacity of a wild boar, and the decency of one, too. Really! And to think he'd abandon his daughters for the sake of bringing an innocent woman into his--"

Jasmine stopped herself rather abruptly.

"... Excuse me." Clearly a bit agitated, Jasmine recomposed herself with a clear of her throat, before again looking up at the freckled girl with her ghostly lime green eyes now calm and expressionless. "You work here, right? Could you possibly take me to the room my father arranged for me to stay in?"

"Oh, of course! My name is Niamh, by the way- and you?"

"Jasmine. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."



The rest of the time spent with Niamh was pleasant. Jasmine had learned that Niamh's father had left with a rather hefty sum of cash when he divorced her mother to marry a younger woman, and since then, her mother had developed a complex of flirtation and gold-digging while Niamh kept the family inn and tavern business afloat in any way she could. In turn, Jasmine had mentioned that while her parents had never married in the first place, it still irritated her to no ends to see her father flaunting his wealth and business endeavors at any pretty face he saw. The two girls found great amusement over the prospect of their parents finding their 'one true love' in each other, and made a handful of jokes at the adults' expense before Niamh had left to return to her work.

In the morning, it was Niamh to bring Jasmine's breakfast up to her in her room, and the two made pleasant conversation over a hearty meal of porridge, bread, honey, and blueberries. When it was time for them to depart, Niamh wished Jasmine good luck on her studies, and had even given the elf a keepsake - a bracelet charm with the amulet of a shamrock, apparently for a bit of extra luck. Jasmine had thanked her rather unexpected new friend for the hospitality, and they were back on their way south before the clock struck ten.

Holly made a passing comment on how she seemed to show quite an interest in 'that freckled girl', but Jasmine ignored Holly's suggestive smile with apathy and tuned out the following long-winded chattering about the boy that she had been entertaining herself with the previous night. As Jasmine lost herself in writing in her personal journal, she made the dreadful realization that Holly truly was like their father. Their father, Alexandre, who was currently completely asleep in his seat and blissfully unaware to Holly's nonstop talking. Lucky him.

Over the next few days, they continued in a similar fashion - stop for dinner at an inn, stay for the night, and leave right after breakfast for the next town. In this routine, they passed through a few towns of interest, of which Jasmine listed in her regular journal entries in great detail: Oraș Vrăjit, Stonecrest, Rosier, Borrac, and finally, Bassion. There were other towns and locations of less intrigue, but what she had written of the interesting towns they had stayed in could be summarized as follows:

Oraș Vrăjit is a superstitious town, one located at the very edge of the legendary Forest of Null. The townspeople there are reclusive and inhospitable; a mother and a child cried "demon" and "witch" and began to pray with fervor when laying eyes upon my elven appearance. My sister didn't inherit my mother's elven traits, and was thus exempt from this discrimination, as was my father.

Stonecrest is similar, although what makes it stand out in particular is the town's odd inclination towards spiritual mediumship despite their apparent fear of the fae. Stonecrest is both wary of magic and open to using gemstones, crystals, and plants as means of divination, scrying, and protection against the very forces of magic their arts draw from. It truly is a fascinating irony.

Rosier was a much more pleasant town than the previous two. Being located right where the forests of Celtia ended and the vast, open hills and fields began, this town is a town of roses, with stone watchtowers covered in ivy and the chapel decorated with beautiful gardens on every side. One of the local delicacies is a dessert known as Turkish delight, made apparently out of roses themselves. I must return to find a recipe someday.

Borrac was a small farming town that we stayed in the day before arriving at Bassion. The people were more or less normal, mostly humans who went to church regularly and listened to the residing priest's teachings. Since I am more inclined to the traditional Celtian and Elven traditions and holidays like Samhain and Imbolc, I did not join my father and sister that morning, but instead made acquaintance with a young cambion boy named Atlas, who had visited from the neighboring village of Millmouth in hopes of buying goods for his family. What I find most peculiar about him was that while his skin was fair, his left arm was a stark scarlet in color, endowed with clawed nails and slightly rougher skin. Apparently, while most of his body looked human, his succubus mother had passed on her demonic attribute in the form of a single monstrous arm that grew with strength when he became agitated.

If only the journey to Bassion could give me such wild and unusual experiences, I am enthused to see what other experiences could await me in the famed Golden City's inner walls.



By the time a week had passed, Jasmine's previous grieving over the loss of her previous home was pushed to the back of her mind by the curious excitement of the new one. While being surrounded by so many strange and unfamiliar people was still an annoyance to the princess, she seemed to have finally taken her sister's previous advice, and found the slightest bit of optimism alive within her when she looked ahead of the carriage to see the bustling city and the tops of buildings in the near distance.

Perhaps moving to a new location wouldn't be so bad, after all. Perhaps enrolling into the Golden Gate Academy could be... Enjoyable.

Whether it was enjoyable or not, her first day was in two days, on the third of April, and she wouldn't dare miss it for the world.

Jasmine gave a silent prayer to the trees, the mountains, the sky, and to Elven hero Alffe and Faerie Goddess Beatha for her first day at the Academy to go... At the very least, not horribly wrong.

 

[cuzn]

Chapter One​

Bassion was well known as the Golden City, and until Jasmine had arrived at the sprawling metropolis, she had no idea why. When she first laid her eyes on the golden-crested roof of the building in the center of the city, though, she began to understand the nickname. From what she had read about the city beforehand, it was a city under the rule of the Karzakkian empire, and so while it was on the continent of Celtia, it didn't seem to answer to the rulings of the oligarchical Celtian High Council, of which her mother was coincidentally apart of.

Jasmine didn't know much about Karzak, but from what she could recall about her mother's very brief speeches of the political climate in the country, Karzak was an empire located on a far-off continent to the west, across the vast stretch of saltwater that was the Treicola Ocean. Apparently, there was a war between Karzakkian invaders and Celtian natives somewhere around two centuries ago; it was a war that only lasted for around a year and a half, as the Karzak Empire had brought up the topic of an armistice almost immediately after seeing the pure magical power that lie within the Celtian natives.

What Jasmine found most startling about the neighboring country, though, was that no ounce of magic was native to their land. When she first heard it, she dismissed it as pure fantasy, for how could a civilization possibly survive and flourish without the use of magic to help them? Now that she was here, though, and she saw the technological advancements that the Karzaks had brought into the city of Bassion, her curiosity and understanding only grew.

In the sky, ships flew like birds with the help of gigantic, oblong balloons to hold them suspended in the air; boxes of metal travelled on railings in the center of the road, with people riding inside and putrid white smoke pouring from a pipe on the top; people rode on tall wheeled things called ‘penny farthings’ and wore top hats and coats and said strange things like ‘good morrow’ and ‘tally-ho’ with a certain exuberance in their voice. For the young heiress, all of this was met with incredible curiosity that made her ghostly eyes shine brighter than they had since she left Magnolia Pass.

When exiting the carriage to enter their new townhouse only a few blocks away from the Academy, Jasmine was held up only slightly by her childlike wonder, as she observed everything around her with an owlish stare and lips slightly parted. Now finding herself in a city where men wore cotton button-up shirts underneath tweed vests underneath tweed jackets, and women wore puffy dresses of linen and startling ‘fascinator’ hats, the traditional garbs of the Elven higher class made Jasmine feel incredibly out of place. Perhaps exploring the different types of clothing worn in this city would be a fascinating investment for her; Jasmine put the thought away for another time.

Since her sister was too busy decorating her new bedroom, and their father had gone out as soon as he set his bags down to meet a certain ‘Mr. Harkby’ for a possible business venture, Jasmine had no problem leaving the townhouse as soon as she had gotten herself straightened out after the drive over. It wasn’t like anyone would notice that she was gone in the first place, after all.

With the hood of her silver-lined velvet cloak over her head in a protective notion against the sun, she weaved her way around rather quick-paced passerby and began in a random direction down the street in hopes of learning as much as she could about the area that she found herself living in. While the language that these people spoke in was the same as hers, certain phrases and greetings were thrown around with ease that Jasmine was completely clueless to, but while she was traversing through an alleyway and pondering the meaning of the term ‘by-the-by’, she noticed a rather peculiar young voice rise above all the rest.

Upon poking out of the alleyway to investigate, Jasmine very quickly caught sight of a certain chestnut-haired boy waving a roll of paper in the air and calling out a rather loud and repetitive speech: “Extra, extra! Read all about it! Duchess of Lancaster holding a gala for the Eostre festival! Open invitation to all students at the Golden Gate Academy!”

Jasmine watched for a good few minutes as the boy continued to repeat the same phrase, over and over, and after a little while of wondering what in Alffe’s name he was going on about, she finally decided to push her reclusive habits aside and make her way over.



When the boy turned and saw her standing silently next to him, Jasmine must have given him quite the fright, since he recoiled with a startled yelp and the papers he held under his arm fell onto the cobbled ground. Jasmine only watched with an unwavering, scrutinizing stare as he hastily bent down to gather his papers, before looking up at her with honey-caramel eyes sparkling in apprehension. Before he could get a chance to speak, Jasmine spoke in a dull, tactless tone. “What are you doing.”

“I’m, uh, tryn’a sell these papers, ma’am.” The boy gave her a rather odd look at her question, and it was only then that she took note of the box full of paper by his feet, and the sign posted behind it with the same headline that he had just been screaming at the top of his lungs. It wasn’t long before the yelling began again, and Jasmine ignored it only for a moment to crouch down and take a paper from the stack and read the words written in large, bold letters at the top. What’s this about a Duchess? I’ve never even heard of Lancaster before…

“... Hey. Paper boy.” Jasmine placed the bundle of papers back into its box and rose to her feet, again directing her dead stare to bore into the side of his head until he acknowledged her presence. When he gave her the briefest glance, she spoke, “Tell me who the Duchess of Lancaster is.”

At this, the boy’s warm eyes seemed to show a flash of irritation, and he paused his hollering only briefly to look at her with a sharp glare, one which Jasmine matched with a similar distaste. “Listen, ma’am, I’ve got to sell the rest of these papers before four, and I don’t have any more time to waste on masquerading circus clowns.”

“What on Earth is a clown?”

“What’s a-- Wh-” For a moment, the boy seemed at a genuine loss for words, glancing between her and the passing crowd in flabbergasted confusion before his eyes seemed to take note of a certain feature hidden under her hood. Specifically, her ears. When he saw them, it seemed some type of recognition sparked within him, and his tone turned into one of knowing disdain. “Oh, you’re one of them.”

“One of them?” The elf’s eyes narrowed in a mood that was quickly going sour, and while she covered herself up just slightly more with her protective cloak, she kept her glare locked on those caramel eyes of his. “What do you mean I’m one of them?”

“You know, one of those, uh… Magicians. Those people that pull rabbits out of hats or whatever.”

“Why would I need to pull a rabbit out of a hat? I can just find one in a bush somewhere.”

“Whatever.” The boy was rather dismissive of her curiosity and only went back to ‘selling papers’, which apparently included shouting again and again as loud as he possibly could. It was beginning to make Jasmine’s ears ring, and after a moment she wondered why she didn’t just leave. Before she could get a chance to, though, the boy stopped his yelling with an annoyed sigh and looked at her again. “Don’t you have a name, or do magicians go about their lives without one?”

It was at around this point that she was beginning to hate the word ‘magician’, but she remembered her mother’s teachings of polite courtesy and gave a reluctant curtsy. “My name is Jasmine Pétalle.”

I’d say that it’s a pleasure to meet you, but my mother taught me not to lie.

“I see. Well, I’m Thomas Müller. Pleased to meet’cha.” He looked away from her and back at the street of people walking by, but didn’t continue his hawking, and instead just stared at them with a hateful look on his face. Jasmine got the idea that he wasn’t really pleased, but only said so for the sake of pleasantries.

Jasmine’s mother had taught her quite a bit about minding her manners, but pleasantries without merit or truth in them was something that she couldn’t subject herself to. If honesty was a virtue, why sacrifice it for the sake of appearances? It didn’t seem like a very respectable quality - at least not to her. Now, silence had fallen between the two, but it only lasted for a moment before Thomas spoke again, in that same rather dismissive tone of his. “Where are you from?”

“Magnolia Pass.” At Jasmine’s simple answer, and the all-too expected look of blank confusion from the boy, she gave a rather exasperated sigh and gave a very brief explanation for the mentally inept. “It’s up north, below the Nord.”

“Right below fairyland, eh?” Thomas kicked a pebble and watched it hop along the cobblestone in a jagged line before giving a sigh of his own and stepping back to lean against the stone wall of a building behind him. He was silent for another moment, before he glanced at Jasmine with the slightest hint of interest now visible in his irises. “Say, are there really things like fairies and angels up there?”

“I would assume so.” She gave a noncommittal shrug in response and went to stand beside him, joining him in simply watching people pass by without giving his paper box a second glance. “I’ve never been to the Nord myself. My mother told me that it’s where the Queen of the Faeries lives. Any mortal soul that goes in there has to either stay there forever or leave and forget what they saw there in the first place.”

“Stay forever or leave and never come back…” Thomas seemed to be contemplating something for a few minutes, and Jasmine watched as his expression shifted with each passing thought. Her ears perked up when he spoke again, “What do you think you’d choose?”

The question came as a very slight surprise to her, but Jasmine considered it regardless, finding herself strangely torn between the two simple options. At last, she admitted, “I don’t know. I have a lot for me here, but I wouldn’t want to forget what I saw if I ever left.”

Thomas gave a hum of understanding at that, but didn’t seem to have nearly as much trouble coming up with an answer as Jasmine did. “Well, if it’s a nice place, I guess I’d stay there. It beats selling papers, I know that much.”

“If you don’t like selling papers, why do you?”

“Money.” His answer was simple, but to satiate Jasmine’s curiosity, he quickly went into further detail. “My pa’s got a bad leg, and my mum died when I was born. My older brother’s a student at the Academy, so he doesn’t have time to work for any earnings.”

“Your brother’s a student, so why don’t you enroll? I’m sure you could find better ways of earning money if you studied at Golden Gate.”

“Eh… It’d never work out.” Thomas’ pessimism brought a mix of irritation, curiosity, and cynical agreement into Jasmine’s mind, but she kept quiet about it until she fully understood his attitude. “Pa only had the money to send one of us, so he chose my brother, since he’s the oldest. And then… I end up slaving away on the streets while Gideon gets to enjoy living in a dormitory and eating good meals.”

Jasmine assumed that ‘Gideon’ was Thomas’ brother and kept that bit of information should it ever become relevant later on. Aside from that, though, she had little to say in the face of such indisputable fact, and so she remained contemplatively silent as the noise of the Bassion streets continued to surround the two of them with each passing moment. It was after a few minutes, surely, that a thought came to her and she grabbed a small cloth pouch from her satchel, shaking out a few brass coins into the palm of her hand before she went over to snatch a roll of papers from the box.

“Fine. I’ll buy one, then.”

“Wait- really? Do you have money?” It seemed that Thomas’ previous hostility had faded away a little while ago, and was now being replaced with the slightest spark of light in his eyes that Jasmine very calmly ignored. When she told him to hold out his hand, he did so, and said nothing about her actions when she moved her cloak to keep her hand shielded from the sun and drop four coins into his palm. Seemingly surprised by the amount, he looked up at her as if to protest, but the look she gave him simply told him to remain silent. Thankfully, he did.

“It seems I have my share of reading to do now. Goodbye then, Thomas Müller.” Jasmine gave a polite bow of her head before tucking the paper away in her satchel and turning to leave. Somehow, while that Müller boy was undeniably unpleasant, it seemed their short time spent together wasn’t. Before he returned to his repetitive yelling, he called after her a final farewell.

“Thanks for buying a newspaper, Pointy!”

Pointy! Jasmine momentarily halted in her steps, an expression of anger dashing across her face as soon as she registered the rather uncalled-for comment made towards her elven ear shape. She kept walking ahead, but in her mind, she very quickly redacted her previous thoughts. Actually, nevermind. I hated every moment of it, and it’d be a blessing from Beatha if I never laid eyes upon his silly cap and stupid brown hair for as long as I live.

And, really! Who in their right mind would call a roll of big papers a ‘newspaper’? What a preposterous idea! I’ll have no part of it!



… Evidently, they were called newspapers because they provided a regular summary of the recent news going on in the city. Who would have thought? The Karzakkian world truly is fascinating.

When Holly had seen Jasmine come home, she let her younger sister know that a letter had come addressed to her while she was out. As was expected given her inquisitive nature, curiosity was quick to flourish within the girl as she entered her rather bare bedroom and caught sight of the sealed envelope laying on her writing desk. While placing the newspaper beside it, Jasmine took the envelope and studied its outside with a precise eye, taking note of the delicate floral designs embossed at the edges of the cream-white paper, along with the golden wax seal and rather fancy cursive handwriting.

It wasn’t her mother’s handwriting, so it surely must have been from the Academy. Jasmine’s suspicions were confirmed when, as soon as she opened the envelope, she saw enclosed within it a formal message from a certain Anghel Vladislav - the headmaster of the Academy - writing to her to detail her curriculum and a list of school rules to her before she arrived on her first day. The rules were all simple enough; using magic to harm others or vandalize public property was forbidden, along with the exclusion of another student based on arbitrary concepts of age, gender, or species.

Considering her interaction with Thomas earlier, Jasmine began to wonder if racial discrimination was commonplace in the Golden City. In Magnolia Pass, all she ever had was her mother and the occasional foolish human strolling through the mountains, but it was clear that in smaller, more superstitious villages such as Oraș Vrăjit, it was almost expected for the supernatural to be either revered with passion or feared with fervor. Would that even be an issue in Bassion, though? This place was so large, and even walking down the street Jasmine had seen people of all races and species, so surely the diversity in itself was enough to get rid of any threat based on ignorance?

Then again, Thomas thought all elves liked to pull rabbits out of their hats in their free time, so I suppose not. Jasmine recalled the event with a slightly irritated grumble, but pushed the unwanted memory aside for the sake of focusing on the letter held in her hands. While she could ponder over the use of cultural divides based on species as much as she wanted, she wouldn’t get anywhere with that train of thought until she observed the climate at the Academy for herself, and so with that, she tried to move on to other matters.

Still, even as she copied her class schedule in her personal journal for later reference, the questions in her mind only seemed to grow in quantity. Why was she beheld with such terror when passing through Oraș Vrăjit? Why was she treated so dismissively by the Karzakkian Thomas Müller when the two first met?

And… Why didn’t her mother tell her about any of this beforehand?

 

[cuzn]

Chapter Two​

The Golden Gate Academy had apparently gotten its name because the front gates to the campus truly were made of gold.

Arriving at somewhere around six forty-five in the morning, Jasmine entered through the sparkling gates as a shorter, cloaked figure among a crowd of students who all seemed to be adults, or at the very least older teenagers. From the glimpses that she could get of the building without exposing any portion of her face to the sun, Jasmine could tell that the architecture was wonderfully done, a Baroque style that clearly had quite a bit of funding behind each brick and railing. While the main building had three levels to it and wrapped around the front stone courtyard and fountain on three sides, Jasmine had read in Headmaster Vladislav’s letter that there were a few other buildings around the campus dedicated to specific facilities.

For one, the Academy had its own library, along with the dormitory buildings, the staff building, a planetarium, a greenhouse conservatory, and a building dedicated purely to a swimming pool for what Jasmine assumed was to be used for any classes teaching aquatic-based magic skills. Those weren’t any of the courses that she signed up for, though, so she had her doubts that she’d be seeing the pool unless the situation quite specifically allowed her to.

Aside from the winding grey brick paths to each of the buildings, the gardens and yards themselves were quite beautiful - a few lone trees were scattered about, with Jasmine’s immediate favorite being the dogwood tree that she had spotted in a full, glorious white bloom just to the right of the pathway leading up to the front courtyard. It was clear that the plant life here was well taken care of, and Jasmine wouldn’t be surprised if the Academy had hired a few dryads or nymphs for their natural attunement towards nature.

While her personality and lifestyle might hint otherwise, Jasmine knew very well that she was no match for a nymph when it came to flora. Being taught to understand nature didn’t mean that it came naturally, but instead, being a Dark Elf in particular gave Jasmine an inclination towards the shadows and the unknown. Her physiology made her naturally better-suited for her preferred nocturnal sleeping schedule, but after the week-long journey to Bassion, she’s more or less prepared herself for a daytime wakefulness at the Academy. If each species was placed on a wheel with the four elements - water, earth, fire, and air - based on a mix of their physical attributes and their psychologies, Jasmine supposed that Elves as a whole would be firmly-set towards earth, while Dark Elves lingered a bit towards fire and Light Elves leaned towards water in regards to temperament.

Jasmine had found herself lost in thought rather quickly, and before she knew it, she was already inside the lobby of the building when she snapped out of her thoughts of elements and species rankings. There were three hallways that branched out from here; one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead. Jasmine was acutely aware of the fact that she had no idea how to navigate this school (Headmaster Vladislav was generous enough to detail her schedule, but not so much so to give her a map), and so she found herself just slightly listless when looking around for any sign of the location of her first class: Alchemy.

From what glimpses she could catch above the heads of students all much taller than her, there weren’t any sort of directional signs pointing to certain classes, and so Jasmine supposed she was on her own. It wasn’t that big of a worry, though; she had fifteen minutes to scour the place, and so statistically, she had to reach the right room eventually. Perhaps Alffe would be on her side today, and she would find the lecture hall quickly instead of having to waste too much time wandering.

She held the shamrock pendant of her bracelet in a silent wish, before heading into the wide hallway straight ahead. The building looked straightforward enough from the outside, so surely it wouldn’t be too difficult to navigate.



Apparently, Jasmine thought with an internal groan, no amount of beauty on the outside guarantees that the inside of the building is even comprehensible. Her legs were beginning to ache from her rushing at as fast a walking pace as she could manage down the labyrinthine hallways of the inner building, taking staircases up and down and back up again in her own absolute confuddlement.

Jasmine currently found herself on the third floor of the building with only nine minutes before her first class started at seven o’clock. Classes started at seven in the morning, and dismissal was at seven in the evening; each of her eight classes lasted for just around one hour with a few minutes given for hall time, and then there was an hour of free time before both lunch and dinner, which also lasted for an hour. It left her day rather full, with her commuting to the school when the sun had barely risen and going home when it was beginning to set, but it was all the better for her. She preferred being at school, anyway.

Now… If only she could actually find her first period classroom, everything would be going perfect.

It was incredibly rare for the elf to be so unaware of her surroundings, but with her eyes glaring stubbornly down at the schedule written in her journal, she didn’t at all see the figure clad in white walking at a slower pace in front of her, and stumbled back when she bumped into it rather suddenly. Looking up, she immediately laid eyes upon a rather nicely-dressed older gentleman with long grey hair tied up into a ponytail and two crimson-black bat wings protruding from either side of his head.

His facial features were so prominent, with sharp cheekbones and blood red eyes that stood out in stark contrast to his ashen pale skin, that Jasmine found herself lost in studying him for a moment longer than she would have liked. She truly was unfocused today - perhaps she was out of her element? She needed to pull herself together.

“You look to be rather lost, young one.” The man spoke in a thick, yet silvery accent that hinted of northern Celtia and reminded her of the speaking tones of those originating near Oraș Vrăjit or the Forest of Null. It was enough to make her quite curious as to this man’s hometown, but he spoke again in her silence before she could bring it up. “Would you like some assistance in finding your way, perhaps?”

“... Oh. Yes, of course, thank you.” Pulled again out of her frequently-wandering thoughts, Jasmine lowered her head in a sign of instinctive humility and gratitude. It wasn’t a sentiment used often by her, but this man had the indescribable aura of being the largest in the room no matter where he went. It was quite admirable. “I’m trying to find my Alchemy class…”

“You’re Jasmine Pétalle, I assume?” The man arched a thick black eyebrow as he peered down at her, and when she was about to ask how on Earth he could have guessed correctly, he gave a courteous bow with a hand to his chest. “I am Anghel Vladislav, I welcome you to our Academy.”

Anghel Vladislav? What an unusual na-- Jasmine instinctively recoiled with a quiet gasp as soon as it registered in her mind just who exactly she was talking to. The Headmaster! With haste, she returned his bow with a curtsy of her own, and followed him with a quick pace as he began down the hallway with a simple motion for her to follow him. “Headmaster Vladislav! I apologize, I truly should have been looking where I was going--”

“Calm yourself, child.” The Headmaster continued down the quiet upper corridor with a quick pace, one which Jasmine continuously struggled to keep up with. She didn’t struggle so much, though, as to catch the lilt in his tone when he spoke again. “I may be a vampyre, but I don’t bite. Or, at least, I certainly don’t bite my own students.”

At the mention of the impossibly unusual species, Jasmine faltered in her steps, almost tripped from the speed she had to walk to keep up, before catching up to him again with a breathless voice. “Surely you jest, sire?”

“I’m afraid not, my dear.” When Headmaster Vladislav stopped in front of a pair of rather grand wooden doors and opened one for her to enter, the calm smile that he gave her also gave her sight of the telling trait of all creatures of the night; two pearly white, pointed fangs shone in the hall’s gas lamp lighting. “Right this way, now.”

Stepping into the room, Jasmine immediately took note of two other boys present, both looking to be only a few years older than her, with their unfamiliar forms bathed partially in the shadows. Dark crimson curtains of velvet blocked the sun from entering through the window behind the front desk completely, and instead, light came from four fiery orange lanterns, one in each corner of the room. When the Headmaster shut the door behind her, Jasmine felt a slight chill at his close proximity, and was quite relieved when he went to stand behind his own desk.

Feeling safer in the shadows of the room, much more secure now that she was bathed in darkness, Jasmine slipped the hood of her cloak down and looked between the two unfamiliar boys. For a school that allowed freedom of dress (within reason), it was immediately worth noting to her that they both seemed to wear different variants of the same uniform. Black, dark red, and a hint of white that indicated their belonging to some type of group or faction.

“These are two members of the Student Council,” As soon as Vladislav began, Jasmine felt a slight hint of pride at having guessed their linked affiliation, before looking to the Headmaster with respectful eyes. “Karthik Cragore and Gideon Müller. They’ll be acting as your guides around the school for the rest of today, since I’m sure it must be difficult to navigate on your first day at our lovely Academy.”

Jasmine had been expecting a map, sure, but she hadn’t expected two maps, and certainly not ones that walked, talked, and breathed, as well. She tried to hide the disappointment of companionship from her face and only gave a stoic, polite bow of her head. “Thank you for the generosity, Headmaster Vladislav.”

“All is well, my child; I only ask that you visit me here in my office during your first open period, at eleven-thirty. There are a few things I’d like to discuss with you.” Vladislav’s tone was level, and the usage of the term ‘my child’ reminded Jasmine enough of her own mother to both put her at ease and put her on edge at the same time. When Jasmine agreed to his terms, he gave a wave of his hand, “Head down to class now, you wouldn’t want to be late.”

“Of course. Thank you again, Headmaster Vladislav.” With a final bow, Jasmine followed Karthik and Gideon out of the office, only ever allowing her shoulders to relax when the door was shut behind them and she could get a better look at her two tour guides. Karthik Cragore and… Gideon Müller. Jasmine looked at the second boy, quite a bit taller than his companion, with a thoughtful gaze. That wretch Thomas’ older brother, then. I wonder if they share the same qualities of ignorance.

“I certainly didn’t wake up knowing that I’d be leading a runaway princess around the school, but you seem like fine company! You heard Headmaster Ashtray, but my name’s Gideon; it’s lovely to meet a damsel as fine as yourself!” Gideon gave a charming grin, but Jasmine hardly noticed it, for between her shock at the nickname Headmaster Ashtray and her annoyance with his personality, a single question rose immediately above the rest.

“How did you know that I was a princess?”

“You’re a princess?”

Gideon’s response of genuine surprise silenced Jasmine for a moment, and while she looked between the two of them - Gideon whose mouth was agape and Karthik whose eyes were as wide as full moons - words scarcely came to mind. “I-- Well, yes, my mother is a queen, but weren’t you already aware…?”

“The idiot trow is just being a charmer, don’t mind him.” Karthik finally spoke up, with the surprise now gone from his face to be replaced with impatience. When he began down the hallway at a mild pace, Jasmine followed him, still slightly startled by the situation. “My name is Karthik, but I just prefer Karth. Remember that.”

Karth it is, then. Jasmine watched the boy, studied him, as Gideon came up to walk beside her. Karth was taller than her, sure, and she’d estimate he’s somewhere around five-foot-five while Gideon had just around four inches on him. He was a goblin, judging by the slightly rounded, pinkish tips of his pointed ears. With brown skin and rosy red hair underneath a tall, wide-brimmed black hat, he certainly seemed to give off some feeling of authority. Although, in comparison with the chilling presence of Headmaster Vladislav, Karth’s was one more of a police officer than a leader; the type of person you can rely on, but also one you shouldn’t dare cross.

Gideon, on the other hand… While he seemed to lack the pessimism of his younger brother, it was his optimism and charisma that made him just as irritating to Jasmine from the moment he spoke. Apparently, he was a trow, although she couldn’t see any supernatural traits about his appearance. Head to toe, he looked Karzakkian, with normal ears, white skin, dark brown hair, and stark amber eyes. The only hint towards any type of paranormal within him was that Jasmine could sense some form of magic attached to his single black and red earring, but it was impossible to tell at her level what exactly it was.



During the walk down to the first floor and to her Alchemy classroom, Gideon talked quite a lot about absolutely everything, and Karth remained relatively quiet. Jasmine had learned that the two were not only a part of the Student Council, but specifically had the jobs of Hall Monitors, which were in the council’s disciplinary branch. Hall Monitors got two classes off, one in the morning and another in the afternoon, to make sure that no student was skipping classes to get into any trouble. As such, there were four Hall Monitors, and the other two were apparently senior students at the Academy.

Jasmine’s Alchemy class was taught by a certain Professor Cornello, of which Gideon spoke quite fondly of seeing as he was in the same class as her. Aside from that, not much relevant information could be gained, and the conversation very quickly shifted to Gideon asking Jasmine for further details on her apparent status as royalty. She explained with discretion that her mother was the queen of Magnolia Pass, but her father was not a king, and she was living in Bassion with him and her elder sister to learn the magic needed to rule over the northern mountains justly.

At this news, Gideon took off his own black newsboy cap and held it above his chest, making a comment about how he would have ‘dressed nicer if he knew he would be in the presence of royalty’. Jasmine rolled her eyes rather openly at his foolishness, but he kept his smile bright anyway, and before long, the group had reached their first class with two minutes to spare.

“And here we are, my lady!” Gideon gestured towards the open lecture hall doors with a wide grin, and Jasmine only gave him a look, before turning to give Karth a thankful nod at his help. He returned the gesture with a wordless tip of his hat, and Jasmine slipped inside of the classroom without another word.

Most of the students were well into adulthood, now that she studied them further - she even caught sight of one with the hair beginning to grey at the temples sitting near the back. Since she was so obviously the youngest in the room, likely the entire Academy, Jasmine could feel the stares and hear one or two whispers when she began up the rows to find an empty seat away from most others. Unfortunately for her, Gideon sat down right next to her with a cheeky grin, to which she just glared before placing her bag down on the table in front of her.

Apparently, though, she wasn’t the only shockingly young one at the Academy. When a boy who looked barely older than Gideon walked into the room and closed the double doors behind him, Jasmine thought nothing of it, but when the boy began writing an agenda on the blackboard and she realized that he was the professor, she felt a new surge of curiosity and respect wash over her.

“Professor Cornello. He’s nineteen, youngest professor at the Academy.” Gideon’s whisper was hushed, and Jasmine only gave him a momentary glance to show that she had heard, before looking back at the prodigious professor with eyes bright with intrigue.

This Academy certainly was unique, if nothing else. Jasmine had a feeling that she was going to enjoy her time spent here.



Alchemy was a subject that Jasmine had found immediate interest in. The school year had begun on the first of March, and so while Jasmine had missed just around a month’s worth of classes, Gideon was generous in sharing his notes of anything in particular that she had missed throughout the past lessons.

As a science, Alchemy was based on the four core elements, and branched out to other periodic elements from there. As a philosophy, though, it dealt with subjects of chrysopoeia, which was the transmutation of base metals such as lead into noble metals such as gold, along with questions of achieving immortality or curing all ailments with the help of the mysterious Philosophers’ Stone. Each of the four core elements had a symbol, along with other elements such as mercury or phosphorus being used in alchemic textbooks being referred to by a symbol. This was specifically used in tandem with ciphers or secret codes that alchemists wrote their studies in so that no ideas were stolen.

It made research of Alchemy slightly more difficult, but also much more interesting when there was an added intrigue of hidden recipe books and secret codes to unlock more information. Alchemy was a common practice, whether used to make potions, medicine, or in technology and natural philosophy, and as such it was naturally at the forefront of the scientific world in Celtia.

Karzak has long since abandoned Alchemy as a thing of the past, but with the added ability of magic that Celtians possessed, it turned the archaic field of study into a breeding ground for new discovery, the subject of which was infinitely fascinating to the elven student.


After her Alchemy class was Geology, in which Jasmine was introduced to an older, kind man by the name of Professor Blanley, who went on to discuss the three classifications of rocks and how some minerals and stones - such as quartz or Elven silver - were excellent conductors of magical energy. Meanwhile, gemstones like amber were insulators, and one could create a plate or a mirror out of ammolite and it would reflect any magical blast off of its iridescent surface. In a similar fashion, an amulet or a crystal ball made of labradorite would absorb magical energy and trap it beneath its surface like a sponge traps water, and thus could theoretically be used to create something close to a ‘battery’ of mana.

It made labradorite, in particular, an almost priceless gemstone to use as an amulet for mages. The very lining of Jasmine’s own cloak was of an Elven silver thread, and while she was aware of the basic magical properties of it, she had no idea that it could conduct magic in such a powerful way. It was something that she would have to research on her own later.

Jasmine couldn’t help but notice one of her classmates in her Geology class, a natural elf who looked to be just around Gideon’s age with long mauve hair and one eye colored violet with the other a sky blue. She looked to be an elf by her ears, but Jasmine had the creeping suspicion that she wasn’t pure elf, and when the girl had introduced herself after class as Feiya (or “Fay”, as she liked to be called), Jasmine had learned that the girl was only half elf, with her other half being a sylph. It suited her well enough, as she had a rather light and independent vibe to her while still maintaining the groundedness of an elven disposition.

Fay wasn’t nearly as talkative as Gideon, but also not as quiet and brooding as Karth. She was pleasant company, and while Jasmine didn’t like the idea of company in the first place, she got the idea that Fay was also quite reserved, and so the two left their shared class as friendly acquaintances and little more.


In her third period of Latin Studies, Jasmine had reunited with both Karth and Gideon (much to her disdain), and was introduced to a mutual friend of theirs - a siren named Calypso. She was meek in tone and timid in temperament, but still peered at Jasmine behind wide glasses with silver eyes friendly and polite.

Despite her humble mannerisms, she dressed in a way that showed off her wealth, with a white beret, a pearl necklace, and a dress of white, purple, pink, and blue. She clearly had a conscious care for her appearance, but unlike Jasmine’s elder sister, she was humble regardless and showed quite an interest in Jasmine’s hair care routine. Of course, Jasmine didn’t have much of a routine aside from washing and brushing, but only listened in half-attentive silence as Calypso began about her own. Apparently, the use of seafoam was common in the beauty practices of sirens, and was sold in bottles for a high price depending on the body of water that it came from.

The Latin Studies class was taught by a certain Professor Am Magh Fada, a charismatic man with brown skin and darker brown hair in waves. His deep violet eyes were both soft in disposition and brimming with knowledge on the subject, and he spoke the foreign language with an alluring fluency and defined each word and phrase with enough detail for Jasmine to catch on to linguistic patterns almost instantly. Considering that her assignment for her Alchemy class was to begin reading the Theatrum Chemicum, a Latin compendium of early alchemical theories, Jasmine saw this class as infinitely useful for the others she took.

Apparently, according to Gideon and Calypso’s accounts, Professor Am Magh Fada was quite popular for his appearance, voice, and his approachable personality. He was, however, adamant in keeping his relationship with students both friendly and professional (and nothing more), which left some of the students at around his same age in a place of yearning.

Oh, how relieved Jasmine was to not have to deal with such worthless emotions as infatuation.



It was in her last class of the morning, Philosophy taught by the androgynous fairy Professor Mac Conghaile, that Jasmine had met a classmate that stood out immediately as very different from the rest.

While there were plenty of other places to sit, since the lecture hall was quite large and nowhere near full, she had taken it upon herself to sit directly to Jasmine’s right, so close that the two were almost touching. Jasmine moved away rather discreetly, and caught an odd smile that was beginning to quirk at the girl’s lips, even though her ultramarine eyes and slitted pupils never once looked in Jasmine’s direction. For the entire class, which spoke of the differences between the three philosophies of Nihilism, Existentialism, and Absurdism, the girl didn’t write a single note down even though her notebook was laying in front of her, and instead continued to glance at Jasmine every now and then with a slight grin.

Jasmine noted that the chilling atmosphere that this stranger gave off was almost identical to the aura belonging to Headmaster Vladislav. Aside from that, while the Headmaster’s hair was grey with age, this girl’s was silver almost as if it were natural, cut short with low bangs and a black ribbon tied in the back. It was, all around, an unnerving hour of struggling to focus while this stranger was sitting far too close and smiling far too much for comfort. Jasmine found herself wondering if child protection services would handle a situation as small as this - although then again, this girl seemed to be even younger than Calypso.

When the class was over, with not nearly as much knowledge gained by Jasmine as she would have like, she took it upon herself to stand up rather hastily and leave for the free hour before lunch - of which she planned to spend the first half in the library before heading to the Headmaster’s office at eleven-thirty as previously agreed - but the strange girl was quick to stand up and follow her exact route out of the lecture hall.

As soon as they were outside, Jasmine stopped abruptly in her steps, and turned to give the girl an icy glare.

“Who are you.” Jasmine’s words were less a question and more a demand, as her patience had been well spent through an hour of being admittedly rather creeped out by the girl. As soon as Jasmine acknowledged that she was standing there, the ominous grin on the girl’s face was quickly replaced with one of bombastic glee.

“I’m glad you asked! My name is Sister Bianca.” She introduced herself casually, without a bow, curtsy, or nod, and instead kept her hands behind her back as she shifted her weight from one side to another. The dark robes that she wore swayed along with her, almost mesmerizingly, but Jasmine kept her gaze firm on the girl’s dark, vibrant eyes. Sister Bianca’s smile didn’t seem to fade. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new here?”

“Yes.”

At the silence that followed from Jasmine, who wished to make it clear that she wasn’t keen on the idea of conversation with the girl, Sister Bianca kept her eerily calm grin intact. Jasmine, quite frankly, had decided that she didn’t have the time for this, but when she turned to walk out of the building and towards the campus’ library, the silver-haired girl rather predictably followed her without restraint or discretion.

“What’s your name?”
Jasmine didn’t respond.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to make one up for you~!”
Jasmine remained silent, and walked just a slight bit faster. Sister Bianca matched her pace.

“Alright then… What about Elfie? Or Lily? Maybe Jade, or…”
Sister Bianca’s tone lowered just slightly.
“... Jasmine Pétalle, perhaps?”

At that, Jasmine halted in her steps rather abruptly, and with a similar haste and a fire of vexation burning bright in her unnaturally glowing eyes, she turned to face the silver-haired parasite in an instant. Bianca’s smile had gone from friendly back to its dark, cynical amusement that it had shown during class. Like Gideon, she was carefree, but such an attitude mixed with an eerie sort of abnormality in her dress, appearance, and overall aura was enough to make the hairs on the back of Jasmine’s neck rise and her patience thin considerably.

“Ah, so I guessed right, then? Don’t worry - I didn’t get that bit of information from reading your mind. Actually, the Headmaster told me that you’d be coming today.” Even though she answered one question that Jasmine had, it only seemed to raise countless more. Jasmine had decided as the girl kept smiling that she very much didn’t like Sister Bianca one bit, but she still lingered just long enough to see whatever else the girl had to say. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jasmine Pétalle.”

“Unfortunately, Sister Bianca, I can’t find it in me to say the same. Goodbye.”

“Oh, don’t leave so soon!” The girl gave a whine as Jasmine pulled her hood up and stepped outside into the courtyard, but still continued to follow her with a too-cheerful, too-scheming smile. “Aren’t you going to ask me if I can really read your mind or not?”

“No.”

“Alright… Well,” The girl bounded forward and turned, now walking backwards ahead of Jasmine to talk face-to-face with her. For being as unnerving of a presence as she was, she certainly did have the mannerisms of a child. “What about why the Headmaster told me about your arrival and not anyone else? Surely you must be curious?”

When looking over the girl once more, it only took Jasmine a fraction of a moment to figure out the answer to the question she posed, and she stopped walking only to stare at Sister Bianca with narrowed ectoplasmic eyes. “... You’re related.”

“Ah, you are close! I’ll give you a hint, then!” Bianca held up one finger with a grin that showed off slightly pointed fangs. “We are both related by blood and not related by blood at the same time. We--”

“He bit you.”

Jasmine assumed she had guessed right when Sister Bianca’s expression froze for a moment, before it slowly turned to one of shock, confusion, and amazement. Jasmine walked past her, but just slow enough for the girl to follow, as she began to explain herself with an exasperated edge to her voice. “It’s obvious. The resemblance you two have is uncanny, and while you two have similar accents and similar appearances, if he was your father by birth, you wouldn’t be able to go in the sun at all as you are now. Vampires who were turned into vampires instead of being born as one can venture into the sun in moderation, but it begins to grow harmful if their whole body is exposed, which explains the dark robes but the lack of a hood to cover your face.”

Now beyond tired of Sister Bianca’s annoyances, Jasmine didn’t give her a moment to speak, and only continued on her own tangent in hopes that it would finally drive the girl to leave her alone. “You have similar accents, so I assume you both came from somewhere around the Forest of Null, and the black lace collar you’re currently wearing is just enough to hide the bite mark that likely remains after you were turned. Additionally, it isn’t uncommon for turned vampyres to follow the one who turned them almost by instinct, and it’s equally as common for them to assign a familial value to a master-servant relationship.”

“It would make sense for you to call yourself Sister Bianca if you called him Father Vladislav. Now, if you don’t mind, I have enough to worry about without dealing with you.” Jasmine stopped to look at the girl, who was still dumbfounded and whose smile had finally slipped off of her face. Jasmine spared no venom in her voice when addressing her again. “Good day, Sister Bianca.”

When Jasmine walked off again, she was relieved to find that the vampire girl hadn’t followed her, and released a breath just as she continued on her way towards the library. It wasn’t a distraction that she appreciated, but hopefully she could make up for lost time before heading up to meet with the Headmaster later. Just as she thought everything was over, though, Sister Bianca called after her one last time.

“Please don’t die, Sister Jasmine Pétalle! It was nice speaking with you~!”

Alffe, help me. Jasmine’s shoulders rose in her own creeping tension as she again quickened her pace. I think one of my classmates is clinically insane.

 

[cuzn]

Chapter Three​

“Headmaster Vladislav?”
“Come in, child.”

When Jasmine entered the dimly-lit office, she bowed her head and made sure to close the door silently behind her. The vampyric headmaster sat behind his mahogany desk, which held quite a few odd trinkets along the edges, and gestured for her to take a seat in one of the two chairs across from him. Among them was what seemed to be a model of a human skull and a smooth amber stone on display, with the silhouette of a rather large spider perfectly preserved in the orange sap.

After taking a moment to study the oddities on his desk, she looked up at the vampyre in front of her, only to find that he was watching her with blood red eyes deep in thought. Before the elf could have a moment to ask why he called her up here, he gave a low hum and rose to his feet, turning to stand in front of the window behind his desk that was covered with a protective curtain. With one hand, he pushed the curtain aside just slightly to watch over the courtyard, ending up rather lucky that the angle of the sun still cast the window in a shadow and didn’t allow any light to harm his skin.

“There aren’t many creatures of the Night at this Academy, as I am sure you are well aware.” Vladislav didn’t spare Jasmine a glance, and instead continued to watch as students walked and talked in the courtyard during the last half hour of their first free period. “The amount of windows seems to drive most nocturnal citizens to schools that acclimate a bit better to their lifestyle. Tell me - have you had the chance to meet the professor of your Necrotic Studies class, Professor O Hailleachain?”

“I… Don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, sire.” When the Headmaster turned to look at her, she maintained eye contact for only a moment, watching as he closed the curtains to again sit down across from her. If she could remember her schedule correctly, her Necrotic Studies class was her second-to-last class of the day, starting at three in the afternoon.

“Like us, he, too, is sensitive to the sunlight. Actually, he is a cambion, one part of him is of the same species as you are.” Vladislav regarded Jasmine’s expression with interest, as if trying to gauge her reaction to the news that one of her professors had dark elven blood just as she did. Jasmine gave little more than a slight nod to acknowledge his words, and so Anghel continued, “I care very much for all of my students, and especially for those who have the same struggles in Bassion as I; as such, I’ve taken it upon myself to make an appointment with your Enchantment professor, Soliel Adair, to find a solution to this problem.”

“A… Solution? With all due respect, Headmaster, how could there be a solution to my own species?” Jasmine didn’t forget her meeting with Sister Bianca - even after the Headmaster had said that he certainly didn’t turn his own students, meeting her eccentric vampire classmate was a direct contradiction to the Headmaster’s statement.

While she was sure there was a reason for that contradiction, she didn’t want to take any chances, especially when in the presence of such an obviously powerful vampyre. Both wariness and respect swirled within her, although only the latter was presented on her facial features.

“Enchantment is quite a powerful art, as you will soon learn.” His eyes sparkled in an intrigue that hinted that perhaps his intentions didn’t lie within sinking his fangs into her skin, but instead within something much more altruistic, or much more genuine in nature. “With someone of Professor Adair’s expertise, it can even be possible to null the heavy defects of certain individuals.”

“So you’re saying that he could…” Jasmine could hardly believe this. Wariness very quickly turned into awe and gratitude at the Headmaster’s implications. “... He could use magic to allow me to go into the sun?”

Anghel Vladislav’s smile was enigmatic and dark, but somehow still brought a surge of unfamiliar warmth and relief to Jasmine’s chest. As if he had noticed the starstruck expression she wore, he rose to his feet and crossed the room to open the door for her, regarding the young student with something akin to an endearing affection. The shine in his eyes reminded Jasmine of her own mother, it made her wonder if Headmaster Vladislav had a family of his own outside of his apparent Sister Bianca.

“You should get going, little elf. I’ve arranged for you to meet your professors first thing at five o’clock, I’m sure Soliel will instruct you on where to go when you see him in class.”

“Yes, of course.” When she stood up to leave, she paused to give the Headmaster a bow and a quiet “Goodbye, Headmaster,” to which he responded with a kind nod and shut the door behind her when she left. Jasmine couldn’t help but stand rather listlessly in the hallway for a moment after that - her mind was still light with exhilaration at this new information, but no expression of glee crossed her dark visage.

Instead, she only watched the clouds roll across a bright blue afternoon sky in peaceful silence.



Jasmine had never felt the sunlight before.

When she was young, her mother would tell her stories of dark elves that had travelled in the daytime. Their skin wouldn’t burn, but would instead turn to ash, crumbling and disintegrating completely before they could even take a second step. Apparently, those warnings had terrified Jasmine enough to keep her curiosity of the apparent warmth of sunshine at bay.

Now that she had been posed with the opportunity, though, she had been so lost in fantasy that even as she sat in the building’s shadow outside to eat her lunch, her mind was far gone into the realm of hopeful fantasy. To be able to join her father and her sister in the light of day, to finally be free from the icy clutches of the darkness… To say that it was a dream come true was a severe understatement.

What was it like to feel the sun on your skin without fearing for your life? To be undoubtedly safe while the sky is bright and the day is warm? Jasmine had heard that the sun rejuvenated people, it gave energy, it birthed life; on the eastern continent of Markhiyat, the sun was hot and scorched the rolling dunes of desert sands, but the people saw the sun disc itself as one of their deities, as their savior.

Jasmine, like most dark elves, had a stronger connection to the moon. When the moon was full and its healing silver light graced her skin, she had rarely felt anything more calming to her soul. In Magnolia Pass especially, even while the sun was out completely, the days were still cool; even in the summer, an icy breeze from the Nord kept the mountainous terrain crisp and the water fresh and clear. It was during the brightest nights that Jasmine would find herself wandering through the deep alpine forests, traversing through the mist with feet bare and the music of her ocarina echoing in the emptiness.

When reminded of the ceramic instrument she kept stowed safely away in her satchel, Jasmine felt the sudden urge to take it out and play it, but before she could get the chance, a familiar voice interrupted her line of thought.

“Good afternoon, my lady!”

Ugh. Him. Jasmine’s expression soured just slightly by instinct, but she disregarded any momentary annoyance and turned to look at Gideon, who approached her with a bright smile and a wave. She gave no verbal complaints to his presence, but instead only watched with mild disdain as he sat beside her on the grass, seemingly relaxed by the shade that the school building gave from the sun. “Mind if I join you?”

“... Don’t you have other friends to hang out with?” Jasmine didn’t look at him again, and instead took her own packed lunch from her bag - it was just something simple that she had put together earlier this morning. A few fruits, vegetables, flowers, a cutlet of grilled fish and homemade mint jelly. All of what she knew how to cook was her mother’s recipe, and as such they were all rather traditional elven foods that could be found simply hunting and scavenging in the mountain pass. She didn’t have a large appetite, but kept herself going with a light breakfast and a light lunch, followed usually by a much more grand dinner that left her relaxed for the rest of the night.

“You’d think so.” Gideon only gave a laugh at his own expense, following her lead in unpacking his own lunch, which was little more than a bottle of water and fried bratwurst. Jasmine had heard that Karzakkian foods included a lot of meats, but until now, she hadn’t ever seen any of the more local cuisine in person. And, judging from Gideon’s look of curiosity at her small container of a light green jelly dessert, he hadn’t seen much of elven foods, either. “It’s a bit tough to find a lot of friends when there aren’t many your age, I’m seventeen but I’m still one of the youngest enrolled here. … Say, how old are you, my lady?”

“Thirteen, as of last December.” Jasmine tried to ignore the look of surprise that crossed Gideon’s face, but was only slightly interested when he mentioned offhandedly that she was even younger than his little brother. Apparently, Thomas was fourteen years old, and would be turning fifteen in four months.

Conversation between her and Gideon was light, but pleasant. Compared to the chatterbox that he was earlier that morning, he now seemed content to sit mostly in silence until something came to mind a bit more naturally. The two had decided, mostly due to Gideon’s curiosity at the very existence of mint jelly and due to Jasmine’s milder intrigue at Karzakkian flavors, that they would share their lunch for the sake of it. It wasn’t something that Jasmine was used to, but not something that she particularly disliked.

Eventually, she thought to mention the contents of her meeting with Headmaster Vladislav.

“- Wait, you’ve really never been in the sunlight before?” Gideon’s sudden exclamation wasn’t entirely unexpected, but when Jasmine’s ears lowered slightly at the noise, he only gave her an apologetic look for his raise in volume.

“No, I can’t.” Jasmine took a bite of a few white cilantro flowers, and as if her mother’s teachings of table manners persevered, she covered her mouth with a hand as she chewed by instinct, before swallowing and speaking again. “The sunlight kills dark elves. I was told that if my skin touches it, it’ll turn to ash in seconds.”

“And so the Headmaster offered to cure you?”

“Not cure me, per say, but to enchant an object of mine to stop the sun from hurting me.” With a bit of introspection firmly rooted in her mind now, Jasmine paused to watch as a bright yellow canary was just beginning to teach her wary chicks to fly. To be able to soar through the heavens, to be able to bask in the sunlight… Jasmine watched as the first chick fell, as the mother swooped down to grab it only moments before it hit the unforgiving ground below. To crash and to burn after a single failed attempt, too…

Jasmine took a short breath and sat against the brick wall of the school building with slight exasperation. As she sat with her eyes closed and felt the slight breeze against her face and through her long, thick black hair, the elf was acutely aware of Gideon’s gaze that lingered on her contemplating figure from the corner of his eye. Even so, she continued to lose herself in thought. It’s almost unreal to imagine that such magic exists in the south. Still, is it really so simple as a single enchantment? Surely some type of exchange must take place for it to work properly?

Mother never told me of such a spell, but if it really existed, I would have thought that she would let me know about it right away, unless it was some type of forbidden art or another. Very quickly, doubt began to fester and whisper in the anxious mind of an inexperienced child, but Jasmine gave a quiet groan and rubbed her temples in hopes to quell her tempest of second and third guesses.

Again, Gideon’s voice snapped her out of her haze and brought her back to focus on the reality, where the breeze rattled leaves on the trees and the three baby birds had just gotten the hang of flying on their own. “You don’t seem very happy about this, my lady. What troubles you?”

When Jasmine gave the boy a slightly sharp glance, he only stared back with wide amber eyes. Very quickly, she caved into confession.

“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of an enchantment that can allow me to go into the sunlight. I’m sure my mother had some reason for not telling me about it, but I can’t seem to figure out what it was.” This type of uncertainty was abnormal for the elven heir; it was uncomfortable and vastly unwelcome.

Back in the Pass, and when in the company of her father or sister, she was rather used to being quite knowledgeable on various subjects. Arithmetic, literature, language, music, dance… All of her knowledge, it seemed, came from her mother’s near-infinite source of wisdom and intelligence, and while her mother’s final words to Jasmine before her departure was to take her time at the Academy as a learning experience…

She would rather keep the list of people who got to see her cluelessness to her mother alone. Anyone else was quite unwelcome in the raw, unprocessed inexperience of her mind - and that ‘anyone else’ absolutely included Gideon.

“Well, I’m sure your mother can’t know everything. Maybe that type of magic isn’t common where you’re from?” While Gideon seemed to try to lighten her mood, Jasmine was woefully unreceptive to it, and only took a small bite of bratwurst before turning to again watch the yellow birds fluttering about near the trees. Gideon seemed to follow her lead and returned to a comfortable silence, looking rather carefree and relaxed while the clouds drifted by in an afternoon sky.



When one o’clock had rolled around, the first class that Jasmine had after lunch was her Enchanting class taught by Professor Adair, a brown-skinned Leanan Sídhe who - despite the rarity of such a trait in his species - was male. One of the telling signs of his species was not only his objective beauty in soft skin, cinnamon eyes, light pink hair, and rather slender figure, but also in the runic birthmark tattoos of a slightly darker skin tone adorning his cheeks like blush. Old magic incantations and the language of the Aos Sí, a species category of which the Leanan Sídhe were a part of.

As soon as Jasmine entered the lecture hall and caught sight of the flamboyant professor, he locked eyes with her and gave her a knowing smile before gesturing her over to his desk. He introduced himself, she curtsied in response, and he then clarified for her that he would speak to her for a few moments after class, and then at five this evening she was to meet him and a certain Professor O Hailleachain in the staff building.

The lesson taught in that class was on the nature of Enchantment, and how no matter how perfect the incantation and how powerful the caster, it would have no effect unless the object being enchanted was of a powerful sentimental value to the owner. Jasmine wondered, with slight wariness, if this law also applied to whatever object of hers would be enchanted with sun resistance in the near future. Calypso, who had this class with her, would occasionally shoot Jasmine a glance of worry - Jasmine didn’t return the sentiment.

The assignment for that night was to create a small trinket to practice enchantment on the next day.


Her sixth period class was Sorcery, taught by an aged Púca woman Professor O Liathan, whose white egret wings adorning her back matched in an oddly pleasing way with the bushy white fox tail that gave her an almost chimeric appearance. She was of calm and kind temperament, whose voice was soothing enough to bring Jasmine out of her own head for long enough to put her full attention towards the woman’s lesson. Sorcery was already an art that Jasmine was slightly familiar with, seeing as her own mother had practically mastered the Elven magical traditions, but the knowledge that Professor O Liathan brought still caught the student’s attention regardless.

Apparently, types of sorcery varied depending on region, species, and culture. The historical context of how different mystical arts spread throughout Celtia was also explained in detail, as the migration of Markhiyati nomads from either the northern land bridge or from across the ocean resulted in early integration of culture and ideas from the eastern desert-walkers into the northern peoples of Celtia. Of these many traits that the Celts adopted from their eastern neighbors was the art of dance and the garments worn along with it.

Jasmine remembered the beaded, silky two-piece outfits and lack of shoes from her dance lessons with her mother well. She had also remembered hearing that after the migration many hundreds of years ago, Elves had latched on to the belly dancing style with added translucent shawls to give both extra decency and an extra illusion of warmth when dancing in the northern forests.

The elven girl gave a subconscious shiver as she remembered having to wear such an exposing thing while dancing in the winter. Jasmine had decided rather early on that what culture was born in Markhiyat should stay there, and that Magnolia Pass had no use for a dancing style that was so obviously geared towards the arid temperatures of the eastern desert.


Her seventh class of the day was taught by a cambion, but because half of his species was so evident in his appearance, the first thought that came to Jasmine’s mind when she saw Professor O Hailleachain was that she had finally met another dark elf. When she saw the two black ram’s horns curling out of the top of his long, silky, straight sacramento green hair, though, she had second thoughts, and he explained to her upon meeting her that she was the only dark elf he had seen enroll in this Academy for a very long time.

Perhaps it was because they held a similar species experience - for he kept his classroom dark and lit only by lanterns, of which Jasmine was thankful to be able to take off her cloak - or because the subject of Necrotic Studies was of great interest to her, but she ended up much more alert and attentive in that class since that morning. Even though the Professor’s skin was a dark charcoal grey, with horns as black as pitch and hair dark enough to match, his eyes were bright and colored similarly to a sunrise. It was unnatural and intriguing to watch his slitted pupils as he looked over his students, and to study the eyes that held a sky blue at the top of the iris but faded into a pale yellow at the bottom.

Necrotic Studies was, as the name implied, the study of death; but it seemed to be much more than that, since that day’s lecture was on the topic of Galvanism, a Karzakkian science that explores the effects of electric shock on an unmoving corpse. For the demonstration, the Professor took the legs of a dead frog - Jasmine cracked a slight smile when she heard an older student in the back begin to gag at the sight - and connected an insulated copper wire to the sciatic nerve, located in the pelvis. When an electric shock was applied to the wire, the legs themselves began to twitch and spasm like mad, and the sight of it brought a light to Jasmine’s eyes born both from disgust and morbid fascination with the experiment.

If this was the industrial country Karzak’s form of necromancy, Jasmine had suddenly found a new intrigue in the country that had been completely absent from her mind previously. That night’s assignment was to attempt the experiment with a different type of animal, preferably one of manageable size, and use the research journal issued by the Academy to record the results.

When Jasmine asked if the test subject had to be an animal and not a humanoid, she was only slightly disappointed to find that Bassion had outlawed both grave-robbing and murder, and so there was no way she could get her hands on a corpse without breaking the law and facing expulsion. Pity.


Her last class of the day was Astral Studies, which was held in the Academy’s observatory and taught by a tropical siren of an almost ethereal beauty. As was the nature of the sirens, who historically lured in their victims with their stunning physique and delicate, magical singing voice, Professor Guivarc’h was quiet and graceful in countenance, and while her voice was rarely heard, it was silky and melodic. Calypso and Fay shared this class with Jasmine, and while the Professor was off to the side setting up the light show in the planetarium, Calypso had explained to Jasmine that while she and the Professor were both sirens, their region of origin made them quite different.

For one, the Professor’s long, wavy hair that faded from indigo into cobalt, along with the bright blues, aquas, and corals of her ear fins were a clear sign that she was from tropical waters. Calypso was from the north, almost as far as Magnolia Pass, living in the lakeside town of Furtună that rested just above the icy Lake Cȃntece. As such, her ear fins were the many colors of the night, and her hair was black with eyes silver like moonlight. Sirens were a much more diverse species than Jasmine originally thought - she would have to do more research on the subject later.

That class was spent going over the constellations and the names of stars in the north, all of which Jasmine was quite familiar with after a life spent under those very night skies. When asked, she could easily point out the star formations of Persephone, Cairo, and Alffe's Lyre, although the Professor had reminded her that only Elves called the northern star cluster Alffe's Lyre to honor their cultural hero. To everyone else, it was the Horseshoe of Hermitus.

Jasmine was also notified just as class was dismissed that a meteor shower was predicted for just around a month from now, on the fifth of May.



By the time students were done with all of their classes, it was five in the evening and the sun had shifted to a tilt with the later hour, casting long shadows and golden rays with only two mere hours before twilight. The school days here were long, and only two vacation days were given each week during Saturday and Sunday, but Jasmine found herself rather relaxed as she exited the planetarium building alongside Calypso and Fay.

“Oh, Jasmine, did you sign up for any clubs yet?” Calypso paused her steps as soon as the three of them were out of the way of other students, and while she looked down at the younger elf with a shine in her silver eyes, Jasmine let her own gaze wander towards the surroundings. In the late afternoon light, the building itself looked quite different than it did in the morning - the beige and pink bricks looked a bit more peach in color, while the blue roofing seemed paler from the shift in lighting. Outside of the campus walls, the noise from the afternoon had died down to leave the air of the outside world almost still. Abovehead, she could hear the humming of an airship’s propeller, and a gentle breeze rattled the leaves on the trees.

Jasmine must have lost herself in thought almost completely, since a gentle tap on her shoulder snapped her back to reality, and she looked over to see both Calypso and Fay watching her with slight concern. Calypso was the first to voice her worries, compassionate as she was. “Are you feeling alright?”

“... Yes. Yes, I’m fine, I just,” When Jasmine looked past her two acquaintances, she caught sight of a familiar head of dusty pink hair in the distance, and easily recognized Professor Adair as he entered into the campus’ staff building. She should be in there with her professors right now, talking about their offer for enchantment. A familiar sense of unsure wariness returned to prick at her mind, but she swallowed hard to force the feeling away. “... Have a lot on my mind. What was your question?”

“I asked if you signed up for any clubs. Club time is right now, and Fay and I are in the Folklore Dance club.”

Jasmine had never been much of a joiner, actually. She would much rather be alone, so when she responded that she hadn’t signed up for anything just yet, she also took it upon herself to give a rather indifferent answer when Calypso asked if she would like to. Just before Jasmine could leave, though, Feiya called out to her, and the dark elf turned to look at the taller, fairer elven-sylphid hybrid.

Fay’s heterochromatic eyes, one sky blue and the other lavender, sparkled - for the first time - in something close to worry. Her voice was quiet, but seemed to hint at some sense of urgency in her tone that made the muscles in Jasmine’s shoulders grow stiff. “I saw you talking to Bianca Lazarescu earlier.”

At mention of the enigmatic vampire, Jasmine fought off a grumble. “I met with her briefly. Why?”

The worry in the willowy girl’s eyes only seemed to deepen, but after a moment of silence spent studying Jasmine’s expression for any hint of emotion, Fay gave a soft sigh and shook her head. “Nevermind. I’ll talk to you during dinner. Goodbye, Jasmine.”

Jasmine only dipped her head in response, before turning to head with haste towards the staff building. That small interaction only brought more questions to her mind, but she pushed any curiosity of Fay’s relationship with ‘Sister’ Bianca aside to focus on the task at hand.

If all went well in this meeting, then perhaps, possibly… Jasmine would be able to feel the sun’s warmth on her skin for the first time.

-

Author's Note

Hello, lovely readers! Thank you for sticking with me through three whole chapters, I'm excited to continue this story with you!
You may have noticed by now that many of the names in this story are quite unusual. I'll use this note to shed some light on the thought that went behind that!
First of all, I have a selection of three languages I use in regards to naming towns - English, French, and Romanian. Some of these names can be translated easily, others can't.
As far as naming characters go, I take into account their area of origin and their species. For an example of the type of thought I put into naming characters, we'll use Jasmine's family!

First of all, Jasmine Pétalle - Traditionally, many elves name themselves after plants, and their surnames often reflect that. Jasmine flowers are night-blooming, and the pure white blossoms can sometimes symbolize beauty or modesty. Her surname is clearly just a fancier form of the word "Petal", but is phonetically almost identical to how her sister and father's names are pronounced.
Her elder sister, Holly Patel, had slightly deeper thought put into her name's meaning. It's likely quite obvious by now, but the universe this story takes place in is very heavily inspired by Celtic (Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, etc.) folklore and mythology. In Celtic myth, the holly tree symbolized fertility, eternal life, magic, and good luck.
Her father, Alexandre Patel, has a French name - he isn't an elf, but is instead human, and it shows clearly in his personality. In a modern-day story, Alexandre is represented as a Frenchman while Gloria is represented as South African. (In a modern-day story, Xhosa was Jasmine's second language and French was her third.)
Finally, her mother, Gloria Pétalle, was named after the morning glory flower. These flowers have many different meanings depending on color and region, but the popular Victorian symbolisms include "mortality of life", "unrequited love", or "love in vain". Considering this in terms of her and Alexandre's relationship may spring up a few interesting theories!

To go over a few names of our main cast of characters, Calypso Charvet has a traditional siren's (Greek) first name and a French surname. Feiya Alinac's first name was a different spelling of the Hebrew name Feya, meaning "Fairy", while the surname Alinac came from the word Almanac, which is another word for a compendium or yearbook. Gideon and Thomas Müller both have common Karzakkian (German) names, and Karthik Cragore's first name is a name used commonly in India, named after a month on the Hindu calendar, while his surname came from the name Gregor, of Norwegian origin meaning "vigilant, a watchman." Finally, (Sister) Bianca Lazarescu's first name is of Italian origin and means "white", while her surname is Romanian and translates loosely to "son of Lazar" or "of Lazar", of which "Lazar" is referring to the Hebrew name "Eleazar", which was mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible and has the meaning "God has helped".
Many of the Professors have either German, French, Romanian, or Celtic surnames, and most of them can be looked up online if you ever get curious. (Note: The name "O Hailleachain" is pronounced the same as the surname "O'Hallahan" but is an older Irish spelling of it. Celtic pronunciations can be tricky, I commend you if you've figured any of them out already!)

I just wanted to take some time to discuss the general naming system I use here, so that in case any of my readers get curious on the names they see, they'll at least have some idea of where to look!
Thank you again for reading my story! I hope you have a nice rest of the year~!​