“Hello!” The first to speak was a flirtatious one. Her lips curled in a self-assured but cheerful smile, and her soft pink hair fell straight down her back. Behind a small fan that she had raised to cover half of her face, pale pink eyes danced. Compared to the dark gray wings that were resting on her back, her pale skin almost had a pink tint to it. “I am Lace, the eldest of the Agate sisters.”

“I'm Iris! Nice to meet you! I heard your blood ma-” Iris had her mouth covered by Lace's hand. Her long blue hair becomes tangled as a result. She shared the same pink eye color and skin tone as her sisters.

“Irish,” She said in a stern voice before turning back to Dusk. Removing her hand and striking her sister in the head with her fan, Lace apologized and said, “Sorry about that.” Blood mage, huh? Dusk still had a hard time remembering that it was a big deal here.

“Yes, I'm a blood mage.” Dusk confirmed, and that set off a wave of whispers from the girls listening in.

“Um, we're pink robins; my name is Moss.” From among her sisters, a green head emerged. She raised her hand to her chest and gave him a quick bow, which he returned in kind.

“Moss was right; that is a Redneval jester.” Iris said, freed from her sister's hand.

“Our senior guides said we pick groups to work with for the year. Can we team up with you?” Lace asked, waving her fan.

“You're the only one that didn't terrify Moss.” Slapping her hands together, Iris pleaded.

“Sorry.” Moss whispered, tucking herself behind her sisters backs. Dusk looked around and saw Mrs. Quarts coming in and shutting the door. The last hope of another guy joining the class vanished.

“If there are groups, then,” Dusk cut off his words when a joyous jump by the blue-haired sister, Iris.

“Yay! Your magic feels the nicest; this is going to be a great year!” Iris screamed, attempting to deafen him. Dark gray wings that extended to happy little flutters were all that could be seen by Dusk.

“Irish!” Lace's voice came in, and he saw a folded fan come down from above, slapping her in the head. “Get off of him.”

“Irish, no,” with Moss's quiet whisper. Irish sat down next to Lace, only for Lace to drag her away and take the seat in between them. Until Iris took a seat on the opposite side, Moss appeared uncomfortable.

“I see everyone is already starting to form this year's group. Good, good.” Mrs. Quarts spoke up, smiling and looking a little softer than her Deputy Headmaster self. Was she more lenient when she taught? Dusk questioned. “Please settle on your group name and come down to get your assigned household for the year.”

“Your last name is Wooddancer.” Lace pokes Iris with her, making her groan in complaint, but she gets up anyway.

“Ah yes, my apologies. My name is Dusk, Dusk Wooddancer.” Dusk placed his hand on his chest and bowed. Not the best manners from a seated position. It was for the best, since it looked like the Iris girl was looking for another chance to pounce on him again.

“No worries; we all know who's at fault here.” She poked her fan straight into her sister's side without turning. Getting a high-pitched yell out of her, “No, go get our assignment.”

“Okay,” Irish dragged out, skipping towards Mrs. Quarts.

“We'll be in your care.” Lace and Moss both bowed their heads at him.

“And I in yours,” Dusk nodded back. Both Lace and Moss came across as elegant and cute; Iris was cute, but more in a wild animal sort of way.

“I apologize in advance for any problems that may cause you.” Lace pointed her fan at Iris, who was using her whole body to talk to a tired-looking Mrs. Quarts.

“Ha, ha.” Dusk laughed, “I will leave her in your care.” If Lace could keep her sister under control, Dusk said she liked her direct style. This class might not be half bad.

“Please do.” With a smile, Lace extended her hand. They agreed. Dusk thought about taking that hand and giving it a firm shake.

“Why does it feel like you agreed to something I didn’t like?” Iris sprinted over and threw a small book on Dusk’s side of the table.

“Iris, that was not a very nice thing to say.” Moss reprimanded her for hiding behind a fan that he assumed she must have taken from her dress's large sash.

“Dusk, please.” Dusk had already established a rhythm with the three girls. Despite the fact that he was unaware of what a pink robin was, he had always had a soft spot for small birds, and those three reminded him just of that. The remainder of his class went just as well. Including introductions and their goals for enrolling in this course. He was expected to pick up housekeeping skills. Similar dreams were shared by the other girls in the class as well. Providing a much more laid-back atmosphere in the class than his Leadership one.

Pyrite was much more needy than usual during lunch, wrapping his arms around Dusk's shoulders. Rubbing his face along his, muttering something about winged folk. Dusk made an effort to put up with it, but he pleaded with Micah to remove Pyrite from him. Until the other two noticed, his lunch consisted of another apple. Then, all but one-half of their meals were given to him. After that, lunchtime flew by pretty quickly. The class he had been looking forward to was next: magical studies.

“You must line up and enter the classroom one at a time, unlike your other classes.” Micah explained as they climbed the stairs to the top of the school's five floors.

“Do gems need familiars?” Dusk asked, knowing gems had their own magical abilities.

“Gems, work through stones. They have no need for familiars.” Micah explained.

“Does being an omega make that different for you?” Dusk asked, generally curious about the omega nature of Micah.

“No, but we'll explain that to ya later.” Pyrite said this while walking up the stairs with long lunges. Pyrite must have found it tedious to wait for him in class. It was clear to Dusk that Pyrite was a real outdoorsman who liked to work out.

“Understood.” Dusk was curious, but he wasn't one to pry.

“Is there a familiar you want, Dusk?” Micah asked, keeping in stride with him. Most people were giving them a wide berth due to Pyrite's weird lounge-style walk up the stairs.

“I never thought about it,” Dusk said; his only thoughts were freedom. Not silly extras like getting his familiar. He had forgotten all about them until the dwarf at Household Token brought them up. “Something small would be nice,” Dusk added to an eager-looking Micah. Dusk wanted whatever his familiar was to fit in his cabin.

“What? Ya don't something bigger like... a wolf?” Pyrite added his opinion without breaking his constriction.

“I already have one of those.” Dusk said, not thinking too much about the statement. Pyrite stopped his lunges to turn around. His eyes were wide, and his fang-filled smile was bright. His tail was moving so fast that Dusk had a hard time seeing anything but a brown blur.

“Sunshine,” Pyrite's voice cracked, and Dusk picked up his step. “I knew ya cared! Those pretty little birds have nothing on me, right?”

“This is dangerous!” Micah scowled at Pyrite. Dusk sighed and petted Pyrite's head out of a natural instinct.

“Of course,” Dusk said, saying placating him was his only way down. When Pyrite turned his head toward his pets, Dusk couldn't help but think he was rather cute for a big wolf. “Down please.” Dusk said, wondering how he was getting surrounded by such open people. Pyrite and Irish had some overlapping traits. “Am I giving off some sort of scent?” Dusk wondered out loud.

“The only scent ya need is mine and Micah's!” Pyrite said this and placed him on the stairs.

“One can only hope.” Dusk couldn't handle too many Pyrite's in his life. Or even Micah's, whom Dusk glanced over too, it felt like he was holding himself back today. Micah noticed his look and smiled back at him. Much quieter than the man he met on the street a month ago.

“Let's get you that familiar, shall we?” Micah said, taking the lead up the rest of the steps. Micah knew he was on to him, Dusk thought. With Pyrite calmed down, they followed him up the rest of the stairs, wanting his magical studies to begin. He had the ability to be the best but no knowledge, and without that, he could be the best at nothing. Even being a blood mage didn't compensate for a lack of knowledge.

"I am Thai Ruby, and I will be your teacher in this class. Students and senior guides form a line along the wall. A voice echoed down the hall that the students had filled up, with them getting off the stairs. “One at a time, you'll enter and go into the familiar summon circle.” Dusk couldn't see the teacher, but his tone was thin and unimpressed. “Students will take a seat while senior guides are arranged in a line along the back wall. Once you are inside the classroom, keep speaking in the quietest whisper.” The ground shook as a dark cloud rolled over it like thunder. “You will not be able to attend any schools on this side of the hemisphere if you disrupt a mage's ceremony, so forget about becoming a mage if you do.”

“Let's go,” the cloud said. Retreating back to where Dusk assumed the teachers were standing,

“He is one of the country's top mages.” When they went to line up on the wall, Micah told him. Dusk, decide to ignore the trembling necks that are trying to get a glimpse of Micah and Pyrite. "It comes with the snarky behavior."

“All eyes are on ya; are ya going to be alright?” The people in front turned their heads and eyes sharply forward as Pyrite barked at them while baring his fangs. Standing in front of him, Pyrite kept him hidden from view.

“Word about you being a blood mage would have spread quickly.” Micah told him to rest a hand on his elbow. “You're about to become an object of admiration. Jealousy and other unimaginable emotions,” Micah said, giving him a knowing look, and Dusk was sure he had experienced every single one of them as a prince.

“I'll have to make it work,” Dusk said, reaching his hand out when he went to lay it on Micah's. He would be under the same amount of pressure. He retracted for some reason and set the hand back by his side. “I'll have too.” Dusk repeated himself and nodded his head.

“Well, we'll be here for you.” Micah said, and he pulled his hand back. He didn't look hurt; instead, he gave him a bright smile and wink. “We know all the tricks.”

“I thank you in advance.” Dusk said, nodding in agreement and quickly bowing to the two. He would undoubtedly need to rely on them for their knowledge in this area. It would be very different from what he was about to experience to be famous or infamous because of your family. Previously shunned, he would now be sought after. This was only the beginning.

“Anytime Sunshine.” Pyrite folded his arms and nodded.

“After school today, we'll help you get some groceries, and I'll teach you some simple meals.” With a smile and a nod of the head, Micah spoke. The line grew shorter and shorter as the three of them continued to plan their activities for after school. The only remaining first year was until Dusk.

“I had to be last.” Dusk said his mind was steeped in his own thoughts. Everyone would have their eyes on him. That didn't bother him. His previous experience with Infamous helped with that. The fact that he could not understand how it operated bothered him. It would have greatly aided him to see at least one person advance.

“Don't worry, Dusk. I am confident you have it. Micah said. "It is impossible that a familiar would not want you."

“I have never heard of a mage failing to get their familiar. I cannot say the same for magical blades,” Pyrite chuckled. “They will harshly reject ya if they do not like ya.”

“Pyrite's had the words reject him six times in the past two years.” Patting Pyrite's arm, Micah remarked. Pyrite appeared more determined than lost in his rejections. He was not able to convey the same overt confidence, but he could pretend to. After all, many people would be watching. It was crucial to make a good first impression, and Dusk aimed to do just that.

“Next!” the same voice bellowed through the door. Micah and Pyrite gave him some last words of encouragement. Then Dusk pushed the door open and stepped inside.