“Oh, there you are, bitch.”
I whirled around. Honey stood behind me, tapping the toe of her shoe on the ground.
“Are you dumb? You went and got the teachers involved. Who the hell do you think you are?” She demanded, advancing. She raised her hand to hit me, and I heard running footsteps.
“Oh no, you don’t, girlie!”
A hand caught Honey’s wrist as her hand came down, stopping her in her tracks.
“The hell?” Honey demanded and turned. Then she froze, and I saw why. Silvio stood behind her, panting, holding her wrist.
“Who are you?” Honey snarled. “How dare you get in my way, you bastard!”
Silvio’s eyes glowed with white light.
“You dare address me in such a tone?” He asked, coldly. “You really are stupid. Do you really think that I would hesitate to break your arm or kill you where you stand? You mistake your place, human!”
Honey stared.
“A...a supernatural?” She screeched. “HOW? Where the hell is your master? Hey, you bastard, come get your freaking supernatural!”
Nothing happened, and a small smile pulled at the left corner of Silvio’s mouth.
“Are you quite finished?” He asked, his voice pleasant all of a sudden. Honey blinked.
“What are you?” She whispered, in terror. Silvio smiled, and dark light seemed to pulse from him. His aura was the color of blood.
“What am I? WHAT AM I? You foolish human! I am a supernatural, born of darkness and blood. And, unfortunately for you, I’m the head of the infirmary at this school. Just now, I saw you try to hurt one who is under my protection. That may cost you your head.”
Then, he turned to me.
“Miss West, please go find Mercury, and then both of you head to the principal’s office. I’ll meet you there. It’s time we resolved this issue.”
“A...are you sure?” I stammered. “S...sir…”
He smirked.
“Sir? Did you hit your head?”
“N...no...but I’m not...after…”
“After seeing me like this, you aren’t sure how to address me? The same as you’ve always done. I am the head of the infirmary and your supernatural’s cousin, nothing more and nothing less. Run along, now.”
“Right!”
I left, shivers crawling up and down my spine.
Silvio’s scary! I thought. Are all the supernatural like that? I thought they were all like Mercury! Where is Mercury anyway? Oh yeah, the library! He promised to pick up a book for me.
I ran. Sure enough, Mercury was in the library, browsing through the shelves. Around him, several books floated in the air and moved around, as invisible supernatural picked them up and opened them, or put them back.
I slowed my step as the librarian glared at me from behind the desk. He was a handsome fellow, with dark brown eyes and dirty blonde hair. He was tall, also.
“Asayis?”
I turned. Mercury had noticed me and was staring at me. I hurried over.
“You okay?” He asked. “You were staring at the front desk.”
“Yeah, sorry. The librarian was giving me the stink eye. We need to go to the principal’s office.”
“H-huh? Why?”
“Honey found out about that we told the teachers and tried to hit me. Silvio stopped her, and then Honey insulted him. Silvio grabbed her and told me to get you and meet him at the principal’s office.”
“That’s not good. We better hurry.”
“Right.”
Mercury hurriedly put the book back, and we hurried out of the library. The librarian glared at us as we started to run, so we were forced to speed walk until we left the giant oak doors. Then, we both started running.
The principal was waiting for us outside his office.
“Hello there, Miss West, Mercury. Silvio told me what happened - please, come inside.”
Silvio was already inside, standing behind the chair Honey sat in.
“Sit down.” He said, nodding to the two other empty chairs. Mercury waited for me to sit down and then stood behind me protectively. Honey was glaring at me, and I could tell Mercury wanted to be close to me in case she decided to attack me. The principal sat down and spun his chair to face us.
“So, Miss Kampos… Silvio filled me in on what you tried to do. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
Honey stared at him defiantly.
“Who the hell is this guy?” She demanded, jerking her thumb at Silvio. “He says he’s a supernatural, and the infirmary healer at that!”
“That’s because he is.” The principal replied, tiredly. “Anything else you’d like to add?”
“Where’s his master?!?”
“He has none.”
“WHAT? Every one of these bastards has a master, the teacher said so!”
Silvio scowled.
“There’s that ‘teacher said so’ comment in regards to the same subject I mentioned before, sir. And please do not let her get away with calling me such names.”
The principal slammed his hand down on the desk.
“Miss Kampos!” He snarled. “For one thing, that so-called ‘bastard’ is one of the best healers in all of Hitsan! And don’t you DARE call a supernatural a bastard ever again for as long as you live! Do you WANT to be imprisoned? The price of insulting one of a superior rank, especially a supernatural, is punishable by imprisonment for life and even death! If the supernatural king were to hear of it, you’d lose your head!”
Honey’s face went white. The principal turned back to Silvio.
“What did you say about the teachers?”
“Earlier, Miss West said something similar… about how her professor said all supernatural were angels. Miss Kampos just said her teacher told her all supernatural have masters. Both of these statements are incorrect, and the way they said them means the teachers taught them as fact. Some teacher is deliberately teaching the students lies about us.”
The principal frowned.
“That does seem to be the case. Miss West, Miss Kampos, do you remember the names of the teachers who taught that?”
“Um… Jiro Fiono, I think.” I muttered. “Basic history teacher.”
Honey remained silent. She seemed shaken from the principal’s scolding. The principal frowned.
“Jiro Fiono? I’ll make a note and investigate it. But this is all a discussion for another time. The reason you are here, Miss Kampos, was that you tried to attack a student for the second time, this time witnessed by a member of the staff. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Honey still remained silent, and the principal sighed, shaking his head.
“Alright then. How about you threatening said member of the staff and insulting him?”
Still silence. The principal nodded.
“That’s what I thought. You’re aware of the punishment, I’m sure?”
Honey nodded, numbly. The principal nodded again.
“Very well. You’ll spend all of your free time for the next two months serving detention in the infirmary, completing whatever tasks Silvio assigns you, starting now. Silvio, please escort her.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Miss West, please stay here a moment.”
“Yes sir.”
We waited until Silvio and Honey had left and the door shut.
“What is it, sir?” Mercury asked. “You asked us to stay?”
The principal leaned forward, looking at us carefully.
“Mercury, what exactly has happened to you both since you came to this school?”
Mercury’s eyes darkened a little.
“What do you mean, sir?” He asked, politely. But his voice had a dark undercurrent to it.
“Silvio told me Asayis was being bullied, but this goes beyond common bullying. Pushing someone down a five-floor high set of stairs is pretty much a death sentence – that’s not normal. Purposely messing with records, test grades, manipulating the minds of other students… that’s not common either. And I want to know why. You know something, don’t you? About why Asayis is being bullied?”
I turned to Mercury.
“You do?” I asked, and he sighed.
“Even if I did know something, what good would it do now? The damage is done.”
“What happened?” The principal asked eyes narrowed. Mercury sighed again.
“It was the first day of school. I was accompanying Asayis, since none of her family could be bothered to come with her. Students have to bring a family member on the first day, but none of hers would come, I disguised myself as a human, so I could fulfill the requirements and carry her things. Someone saw me, and… well, according to human standards, I’m ‘hot’. People started asking Asayis who I was and what her relationship was to me. She, to her credit, ignored them, and as soon as I could, I went back to my normal form. And just a week later, Mikal Halsbeck asked her to the Yule Ball. I’m told he’s one of the hottest boys in school and everyone was crazy about him. So when he asked Asayis, a new girl whom no one knew, to the Yule Ball, they went nuts. Then the people who saw me on opening day spilled the beans about my being there, and that’s what I think started it. They are angry that someone like Asayis could pull Mikal and someone like me.”
“Might I see your human form, Mercury?” The principal asked. “I’m sure Asayis is curious, as well.”
“Why would she be?” Mercury asked, frowning. "She was there.".
The principal sighed.
“Well, to the master, you’d look the same, human transformation or not. So she’s never seen you in your human form.”
“I was wondering why no one objected to me coming to school alone,” I whispered. “Now I know why.”
Mercury sighed.
“Must I, sir?”
“Yes.”
“Very well.”
His body glittered and transformed. I caught my breath. For one thing, his height was different – he was much taller with his human transformation. His fierce red eyes had softened to a gentle, sunset red, tinged with yellow and orange. His hair had grown out a little and was feathered away from his face. It was its normal fiery red color. In every other aspect, he now looked like a human – no scales, tail, long ears, nothing. The only other differences were how skinny he looked, and how pale his skin was. The principal whistled.
“No wonder you caused a stir. That’s a very unusual transformation.”
“Sir?”
“You kept the reddish hue of your eyes – that’s very rare. Most supernaturals' eye color changes drastically when they put on a human form. Not to mention the model look you’ve got going on – that’s also quite rare. It’s no wonder people were amazed when they saw you.”
Mercury transformed back into himself.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” He said, softly. “Under supernatural standards, I’m plain.”
“Not by human standards you aren’t. Either way, you think that’s what caused the problem?”
“Yes sir. That, and Asayis transferred in, which I’ve noticed is quite unusual around here.”
“That’s true. This isn’t good. Asayis, couldn’t you say that Mercury is your brother or something?”
“No, sir. For one thing, he’s not, and if word got back to my family, I’d be in big trouble. For another, I think it’s too late. Even if I told people that now, no one would believe me.”
Mercury nodded in agreement. The principal sighed again.
“Really, you two? Asayis, give me your parents’ phone number. I’ll sort this out with them.”
I flinched.
“I… can’t.”
“What do you mean, can’t?”
“Asayis’s parents are impossible to reach,” Mercury said, softly. “And even if you could reach them, they wouldn’t speak with you.”
“And you know that how?”
“I just do.”
“Tell me why!”
“Her parents both work,” Mercury whispered and dropped a hand onto my shoulder. “I raised her with the help of the nurse they hired. They were never home, and I doubt they care very much for her. They wouldn’t answer even if SHE called them.”
The principal frowned.
“Really?”
“Yes sir.”
“No other relatives? Or siblings?”
“None that you could reach,” Mercury replied, sadly. “The ones that are there are just as hard to reach as Asayis’s parents.”
The principal took a deep breath.
“I see. So that’s why you accompanied her on the first day of school.”
“Yes sir.”
“This will be difficult. The punishment for Miss Kampos should discourage her from picking on Asayis again, but that won’t stop the other students.”
“We are well aware of the situation, sir.”
“I’ll let the other teachers know, and have them keep an eye out, increasing the punishment the longer the bullying goes on. Other than that, my hands are tied. Mercury, please keep me updated so I can punish the serious wrongdoers.”
“Yes sir.”
“You two are dismissed. Please be extra careful.”
“Sir!”
We both headed out. Mercury stepped close to me.
“Is it alright that I told him?” He whispered. “About your parents?”
“It’s fine,” I whispered. “He would’ve found out eventually.”
“Asayis…. You know your mother doesn’t…”
“Mercury!”
“Alright. I’m just worried about you.”
“I know you are, but please.”
“Okay.” He said, softly. “I just hate seeing you like this.”
“Let’s go back to the room,” I replied, ignoring him. Students stared at us as we walked, and I heard murmuring. Mercury’s hands clenched.
“They’re talking about you.” He whispered, bitterly. “Please, Asayis, let me stop them!”
“No, Mercury.”
“As you wish.” He replied, sadly, and stepped closer to me, forming a barrier between me and the other students. The voices grew louder the further we walked.
"I heard Honey got in trouble for messing with that weak pansy of a girl."
"Honey got in trouble?"
"Yeah. Seems she was bullying her and the girl told a teacher."
"Ooooo, scary! Not like that's gonna stop us in the future."
"Agreed."
"She's really ugly. Reminds me of a cow."
"I bet her supernatural is hideous too."
"Hey, isn't that going too far? What if they hear you? Supernatural are ranked higher than us sorcerers, you really COULD get in trouble for insulting one of them!"
"So what do I care? The only one who would stop me is my own supernatural, but she's doing nothing of the sort, so it's fine!"
"I'm not so sure..."
"Either way, that girl is ugly. Remind me how Mikal fell for her again?"
"I don't know, to be honest."
"Haha, she should learn her place!"
"Such a pig!"
Mercury stiffened up and glanced at me anxiously.
"Please?" He whispered, and I shook my head.
"Asayis West?"
I looked up. There was a young man standing at the base of the stairs, waiting. He was surrounded by a group of girls, who were fawning about him, and pouted when he spoke to me.
"That's me, yes. Can I help you?" I asked, and I couldn't hide the bitter undercurrent in my tone. I was angry, tired, and hungry, and things were going from bad to worse.
"May I have a moment of your time?"
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