"Welcome to the Soul Weapon Meister Academy. The Keeper thanks you for accepting our invitation to attend our school. You have all had a tiring journey to be here, and I'm sure you'd all want a better sleep on a bed that doesn't rock itself. If you follow the map of the school that came with your acceptance letters and stay to the main roads, you should find your dorms quite easily, all paths lead back to the main road, only as long as you stay on the path. There will be time for exploring later once you have settled in, but it is easy to get lost in the woods if you don't know your way around. A special announcement for Meisters, classes are being delayed, take the time to settle in and know your way around the academy. That's all I got to say right now, so you are dismissed I guess."
The room looked meticulous, or perhaps it was just the vacancy of it that gave the impression. The bedside table, dresser and chest at the foot of the bed were all empty and spotlessly cleaned out. The bed itself was made up in plain white linens that still smelt of their last washing, which was more than satisfactory for him. Sitting on the edge of the mattress to remove his shoes, Ludwig couldn't help but look out the window. Being in a third story room was an ironically liberating experience. With the window open, he could appreciate the lack of cars and city air, being replaced by the distant grumble of crashing waves and a lazy ocean breeze. The apartment he had been assigned faced towards the looming tower at the centre of the island and the main school of the academy. Behind his particular building, excited voices drifted up to him, as well as the rhythmic thump of what he assumed was a ball, a small park occupying the space between his block and the next.
If he was to be completely honest, everything still felt surreal. Ludwig had thought that maybe once he had stepped off the boat, it would sink in more, but instead he just felt stranger. It was a island of nothing but kids, even the adults looked no older than their mid to late twenties, and there weren't a lot of them. Besides the crew of the boat, only the supposed teacher at the docks had any sense of age to him, looking perpetually tired, not even bothering to put on a smile for the new students. Not that he seemed strict, rather the exact opposite; he looked like he couldn't have cared less, but even then he still looked under thirty.
The front door to the apartment squeaked open, dragging him from his mind. He made a mental note to look into oiling the hinges as a person with shoulder-length champagne blonde hair entered. For a solid minute, he couldn't tell if the person was male or female; they had a slender, almost delicate build and their longer hair stylishly, if not effeminately, waved and curled flipping up where it rested on slightly too-broad shoulders for a woman. They were also quite tall, no less than five-nine as he compared their height to the doorway. They looked away from him to the other open room across the flat before their eyes met. The dusting of stubble along the angled jawline was more than enough to relax the tension Ludwig didn't know he was holding. The idea of a coed dorm was actually a little unnerving. Aside from his aunt, he had only ever been surrounded by men and wouldn't even know where to start with a female of his age group.
Standing, Ludwig left "his" room, holding a hand out to the blonde stranger who had taken up staring at him curiously. Not the subtle type. "I'm Ludwig Beilschmidt, I hope you don't mind that I already took a room before you arrived."
The blonde blinked before a smooth smile graced his features. Perhaps the stranger was attempting charm, but he really only came off as weird. He took Ludwig's hand in a firm shake, his other hand making sure the strap of his bag didn't take the opportunity to slide off his arm. "Francis Bonnefoy. And not at all, I think I prefer the ocean scenery myself."
Beilschmidt was a well known name among certain circles, specifically Weapons, but it was not uncommon for Meisters to take an interest in the unusually talented. This blonde, however, was just as new as himself to the academy. If anything, the other looked even more at a loss than he did himself. Curiosity was something Francis was not known for handling well. As their hands parted, he attempted his most winning smile, "Pardon me, but did you have a family member who also attended the academy?" The darkness that clouded over Ludwig's face was almost frightening as a withering scowl settled on his features. Francis took an actual step back to make space between them, unsure of what the German boy would do, or even why he was upset. Holding his hands up in innocent surrender, Francis stuttered, "I-I apologize if it was something you'd rather not talk about, I just thought I had heard the name before. B-Beilschmidt that is."
"It's not your fault," the taller teen muttered, turning his glare away, but the smouldering hatred in his eyes just seemed to burn brighter as he let out his silent fury on the wood panels of the floor. "I wouldn't know anything about that person."
'Well that's obviously not true,' Francis thought to himself nervously, his smile having faded to a wary half-grin. It was obviously not a good time to point out how contradictory the German's statements and actions were, but perhaps it was some sort of family rivalry, or perhaps there were some unrealistic expectations. Whatever the case, Francis decided against trying to pry further. "Well, I'll go ahead and unpack what I have. You haven't gotten started either from the looks of things. Afterwards want a tour of the school?"
Blue-grey met majorelle for a moment in mid-turn as the German made to return to his room, but he didn't bother to stop, rather talking with his back turned to the Frenchman. "Was there something in that welcome speech I missed? I figured if we were going to explore, it'd be more or less on our own." Ludwig hadn't come with much. Save for two extra shirts, a pair of sweats and several pairs of socks and undergarments, along with a tooth brush he had yet to remove from the packaging and a pair of reading glasses, he had nothing else to decorate his room with. The only shoes he had were the on his feet and he had never been the type to vandalize his room for the sake of individuality.
"We are," the other teen called back, having already reached his room and pulling out stacks of clothing and sorting through them on the bed, "But my parents used to attend the school and I came with them once to a reunion of sorts. I took a tour of my own, got lost in the process, but there is nothing really dangerous on the island. Unless you jump off or something. To be honest, the place hasn't changed one bit since then. There are some rumours that the Keeper is actually part of the island and that is why it seems like time stands still."
"Did you also hear that from your parents?" Ludwig asked, neatly placing his things into the bedside drawers. Gossip wasn't something he was particularly fond of, but listening to Francis, even the fact that the other boy knew of his last name, it was obvious Ludwig was outside of the regular circles. He had never fit in at his old school, or even in his aunt's home, mainly due to the circumstances of his family, but he had never had any contact with others like him, and especially not his parents.
"No, but there are places you can go to talk to people who have left the academy on the internet. After my parents died, that was what mostly kept me sane. You'd think after everything we've done for them, you'd think people would accept our kind more." The last sentence was laced with such bitterness, Ludwig looked across the dorm to see if Francis was alright. Despite the heavy topics he talked about, the Frenchman looked as calm as ever, the only sign of irritation being in his voice, and even then, it was much more subdued than Ludwig could have hoped to manage.
Changing into another tank top and switching out his hunter green cargo pants for his grey sweats, moving out of sight of the door to do so. There was a hamper inside each room, so he assumed maids or some equivalent would clear their messes away when they weren't around. "To be honest, I don't really know anything you're talking about. My parents died when I was two, I don't have any sort of memory of them. I was raised by my grandfather for a few years until he passed away and then lived with my father's sister since. She had nothing to do with my parents or the academy. She was just normal, I guess."
Stepping out of his room into the common between the two bedrooms, he took the time to get an idea of how everything looked. A short couch took up a wall with a chair facing towards a small, round coffee table. There were no electronics to be found save for the two lamps on either side of the common and one in each room. A little stove sat behind a high counter and a few cupboards hung on the back wall to house dining ware, a kettle hung from a hook over the sink and a small pantry lay open with some supplies.
"Is that so?" Francis spoke behind him, having also changed his clothes from the wrinkled white button up and slacks to a light blue Oxford style shirt, the top two and last buttons left undone in a casual manner and the sleeves neatly rolled to above his elbow. The slacks, which hadn't looked particularly dressy, actually reminding Ludwig of his own private school's uniform, were replaced with black jeans that hugged rather tightly to the teen's legs, gathering behind his knees and around his ankles before disappearing into black and blue hi-top trainers. Ludwig determined the Frenchman was neither practical or shy about his looks. "I'm sorry to hear about your parents, and grandfather. I wish I could say stuff like that is rare for people like us, but I was in foster care for the better part of a decade after the incident. Anyway," Francis opened the squeaky door again, the two of them wincing at the sound. Ludwig stifled a rueful smile as they stepped out into the hall, leaving the door to close on its own. Perhaps the two of them could get along.
"Let's start with what you do know," Francis encouraged, the streets weren't deserted, rather most of the faces they came across were other people from the boat, the younger kids had seemingly vanished, to which his room mate had explained that they were already having an orientation.
Beside him, Ludwig sighed, looking up at the trees overhead, their branches reaching out to each other like hands, touching, but just out of reach. "I know there are two types of manipulators, those being Weapons and Meisters. They both attend the Academy, but Weapons seem to have a degree of favouritism. Neither class is generally accepted by non-manipulators."
Francis chuckled to himself, almost daunted by how little the German boy knew. "At least you have the bare bones to work with. Do you know about the Keeper or the Guardians?" The blank blue eyes staring back at him answered the question easily enough. When Ludwig had said he was sheltered, Francis had no clue that he was this sheltered. "It's kind of a legend now, but you know about the Magic Empire, right?"
The blonde's eyes lit up in recognition of the term. "It was an ancient civilization that started under the rule of an unknown magic user who had somehow united the different factions. It caused world wide panic as the empire was brutal towards those who remained in captured lands. The Empire got so large it took up virtually all of medieval Europe and Asia, reaching as far out to Japan, but then it suddenly collapsed into anarchy and the Magic Factions began fighting amongst themselves."
"You went to a private school," Francis smiled smugly as he stuffed his hands into his back pockets, being roomier than the ones in the front. "Yeah, most public schools don't go over it in that much detail, but you are basically right. The ruler of the Empire went by the Name of General Winter, and really nothing is known about him. If it wasn't for the Keeper and Guardian Yao, it is certain that the Magic Empire would still be around today."
"Who is the Keeper? The instructor at the dock talked about him too."
"The Keeper is the first known Meister in our history, and unlike other Soul Manipulators, it is said the power of life itself flows through him. I'm apt to believe it too, since he lives in that tower." Francis came to a sudden stop, looking to the centre of the island to the singular spire rising over the rest of the academy and dorms. "He's over a thousand years old. Lots of rumours surround him, of course. He used to come out often and even personally teach classes to new Meisters, but after a while he just sort of retreated into the tower. I don't know if half of them are true, I've never seen him personally, but I have seen Guardian Yao."
Ludwig watched Francis carefully, feeling as though the other was pulling his leg. These were stories Ludwig had never heard, and were frankly impossible to swallow, but Francis gave no indication that it was at all a joke. Rather, he turned away from the tower and began walking towards the smaller side streets. All of them seemed to merely loop around and eventually lead back to the main pathway, keeping the layout simple and efficient.
"On my way to the dorm I overheard that the previous Meister instructor had resigned and left the academy, hence why our orientation and lessons are being postponed. It seems that they're still looking for a replacement or something along those lines,"Francis informed him, apparently being the nosey type, seeming to enjoy knowing things. Ludwig was fairly certain that the Frenchman secretly enjoyed his ignorance, if only to hear himself talk, but Ludwig wasn't the talkative type himself, and found it rather liberating to not have to worry about keeping the conversation going.
"Hopefully the situation will correct itself soon." This island was not large enough to occupy him for more than a couple days. Earlier Francis had mentioned a library, so maybe that might pass some time.
Francis jumped ahead of him, taking up walking backwards, Ludwig would have chastised him if not for the fact that the walkway was pretty much empty save for the two of them and, secondly, he refused to become his aunt. "It is a bothersome delay. If I remember correctly, there are separate classes for Meisters and Weapons and, once they are deemed proficient in whatever skills they are supposed to know, they are then paired up. Its supposed to be like this spiritual experience, almost like a wedding, you find your 'other half' so to speak. Then the real purpose of the academy comes to light."
Ludwig barely had a moment to pull a puzzled frown before Francis cut him off. "You don't know? The SWMA isn't just a school, its an anti-magic defence force. The Magic Wars and past 'graduates' of the academy have reduced the number of the Magic Factions, but our goal is to exterminate them. So long as there are Magic Users in the world, the academy will keep training and teaching students like us how to track them down and destroy them."
The German teen watched his room mate warily, a cold shiver running down his spine. The wicked gleam in Francis' eyes sending a foreboding chill to his bones. Not many things frightened Ludwig but, at that moment, Francis shot to the top of the list.