Why can't I sleep…? Darn, I'll write this at 4am then again at school~

If you couldn't already tell, I just totally made up names for the parents, kay thanks. Also, I haven't specified Ivan as being Russian or etcetera because in this story, almost everyone was born and raised in the magical realm, not the mortal one. There are no lines like that there, which makes things easier to understand. For me, at least.

Arthur had been laying on his bed, on top of the covers (because hell if he had enough energy to deal with those at the moment), attempting to calm himself down for what seemed like hours but in reality had only been about ten minutes, before he heard something that made him sit up. He heard footsteps outside his door; they were faint, as if someone were coming up the stairs, but he couldn't imagine why someone would bother coming to see him (and his room was the only place the stairs went at that point, anyway; the normal dorms were further down). Unless they were going to taunt him again, that was.

There was a short knock on the door, followed by, "Hey, Artie, can I talk to you?"

It sounded like Alfred, so Arthur went ahead and assumed that it was. "Cut the ridiculous nickname," he said bitterly. "Also, I don't want to talk to you."

There was a pause before Alfred replied from behind the door, "Why not?"

"Because you made a bloody fool out of me," Arthur answered, digging his fingers into a nearby pillow. Perhaps it wasn't entirely Alfred's fault, and it seemed that the other teenager's intentions had been good in inviting him to the get-together; this was despite the fact that the result was much less than desirable.

"…I'm sorry. I thought the party would help. I didn't know that-listen, it's a real pain talking through the door, so can I just come in?" Alfred sounded sincere at first, but by the end sounded somewhat impatient.

"Sure," said Arthur after a long pause. Somehow, he didn't feel like he was going to regret it. "Door's unlocked."

"Thanks," with that, Alfred entered the room and shut the door behind him. "Anyway, I came up here to say that the guys were probably just teasing you… and, uh, Ivan's kind of an evil bastard anyway."

Arthur looked up at the taller student, biting his lip again. "Is that so?" he replied, with a shaky sort of laugh that sounded more forced than it was.

"I grew up with the dude, so I'd know," Alfred explained simply, sitting down on the bed next to Arthur. "He tried to screw with my head before too, and we're not the only ones he's done it to. In fact, most of the guys probably agreed with him 'cause they're scared of him."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Scared?" Sure, that person had been intimidating, but to think there was actually something to be afraid of…

"His family's pretty powerful, too," Alfred replied. "I don't care, as I told you earlier. So I'll be on my own as la résistance 'til the day we all graduate. Maybe longer."

"So let me get this straight," Arthur said, sighing. "Everyone in the Academy, save the staff and yourself, are behind a large man from a powerful family who hates my guts?"

Alfred considered for a moment before saying, "Well, he doesn't hate your guts probably. I'd say he's jealous, since he's not the only one from some super-powerful family attending anymore. That, and the fact he's tried to break everyone, remember? He'll mess with your head and he'll use whatever means necessary to get you to follow him quietly, but you can't listen to him, okay?"

Arthur nodded. "This is becoming more of a complicated place than I could have imagined, it seems."

"Nah, not really. It's just Ivan, after all," laughed Alfred. "Oh, and when you said the staff were an exception? He's got a lot of them, too."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's kind of unfortunate, but his mom's sort of head of the administrative council right now, so…"

"If that's the case, then this room… everything…?"

"It's 'cause your family freaking founded Sorceryville, Artie. Nothing changed really, since no one's used this room in centuries. So I heard."

"Ah."

After their conversation, Alfred stood up and headed for the door. "Oh, right," he said, stopping before actually exiting the room. "If you ever want to hang out, just knock on my door or something-I'm down the stairs and pretty much the first door on the right. The number's five-oh-five, and if I'm not in, my roommate Matt can probably tell you where I went."

"I'll remember that," Arthur replied as the blue-eyed teenager nodded, left the room, and shut the door. After that, Arthur laid back down on the bed to sort out his thoughts once again. "First day here, classes haven't started, and I've made an enemy," he mumbled, rolling over and burying his face in the pillow he'd been clawing earlier. Then, he found himself smiling a bit as he said to himself, "…and a friend."

He didn't remember falling asleep, but apparently it had happened because he woke up the next morning, face still in the pillow (how he'd managed to breathe was beyond him). Rolling over and sitting up, Arthur looked at the alarm clock that he'd brought and set on the bedside table the previous day. "Nine in the morning, huh," he read, standing up and beginning to change out of the clothes he'd slept in.

After dressing himself in fresh clothes and setting the dirty ones in a conveniently placed laundry hamper (according to the handbook, the fairies came and did laundry around noon on Sundays, but wouldn't pick clothes up off the floor so they had to be in the hamper), Arthur left the room (locking it behind him; he noted that he should have remembered to lock it before he'd gone to sleep as well) and went downstairs. According to the handbook (again, he'd skimmed it, just not the rules), the lobby area he'd been in the previous night served as a cafeteria from seven to eleven in the morning, then from noon to three, and lastly from six in the evening to eight. Each of the time periods served a different meal (breakfast, lunch, then dinner of course), although he'd heard that there was another area on campus that served various foods all day.

Arthur took full advantage of the fact that the cafeteria was free to students (everything was paid for in the enrollment fee) and, although he was disappointed that most of the foods he was used to were not served (in fact, almost everything in the cafeteria was almost exclusively found in Sorceryville) and filled his plate; there was no denying that he was hungry.

As for where to sit… he noticed that several of the people he'd met the previous night were down there, including the two brothers with the strange curls and the blonde with the slicked-back hair. He was thankful that the tallest-Ivan-was not there (at least, not that he could see), and even more so when he noticed that Alfred was there, at a nearby table and waving to him, shouting, "Yo, Artie! Over here!"

Arthur ended up sitting down next to him. "Good morning," he said, while Alfred offered only another, "Yo."

He wasn't about to ask where Alfred picked up speaking like that, either. "Sleep good?" Alfred mumbled through a mouthful of what was probably some kind of eggs-Arthur was only slightly familiar with Sorceryville's cuisine.

"It's well, slept well, and not particularly," Arthur replied.

"Nightmares?"

"No."

"Ghosts?"

"No-wait, what?"

"Never mind," Alfred looked around a bit, then said more quietly. "The ghosts that are supposed to haunt this place… Sometimes I start thinking about them and can't sleep, is that what happened to you?"

"No," replied Arthur. "Besides, that is ridiculous. There aren't any ghosts around the Academy."

"Says you."

"Mhm."

The rest of the time the two were eating breakfast was relatively quiet (if one were able to ignore all the shouting and noises of the cafeteria itself, that is), with Alfred only pausing to make comments or shout to someone every now and again. "That reminds me, no one's shown you around, right?" Alfred asked once they had finished. "I'll do that, okay? Okay."

"Don't make decisions on your own if they concern other people," Arthur said calmly. "That wasn't a 'no', either; I'd actually appreciate that. Although, how can you do so if you're new to this school?"

"Most of us have been staying around here, for like, a month or more," Alfred explained, standing up. "It's part of getting us used to how the castle and stuff works, since it's magic, it's a lot more complicated than our normal houses. You just sort of… got here late."

"I assumed that I could handle it," replied Arthur, although at the same time he wondered if the castle was really all that complicated. Granted, he hadn't been around a large part of it, but at the very least he hadn't gotten lost yet.

"Roddy thought he could handle it too, and he still gets lost," Alfred was laughing again by now. He then stood up and grabbed Arthur's wrist. "Anyway, let's go!"

"The plates-"

"The fairies take care of it!"

With that, the two left to explore the Academy's campus.

Meanwhile, a meeting of a different sort was taking place in the castle's southern tower (which contained the school's head administrator's office, while the northern tower was an astrology classroom, the western was another classroom where the subject was questionable but was often thought to be the arts of telling the future, and the eastern was, of course, Arthur's room); this was most likely the reason that Ivan had not been at breakfast. You see, the head administrator (who seemed to hold the most authority among the six at the top of the school, despite the fact they were originally meant to be equal) was Ivan's mother, Sophia Braginski.

She often called her son into her office in order to have him report his progress in gaining standing within the Academy, amongst both the students and the faculty. Yes, it was all leading up to their larger goal; it was not only necessary to manipulate the smaller pieces, but also to break the king… who, unfortunately, due to a certain meddlesome knight, had proven more difficult to scare.

"Why a knight?" Sophia asked, twirling the white chess piece in her hand and thinking out loud.

"Excuse me, mother?" Ivan responded, not quite sure of what it had meant.

"I'll tell you why, Ivan. Why that troublesome Alfred is a knight," she continued. "It is because he moves in a pattern that no logical piece should, why would anyone move in an 'L', Ivan? Why?"

Ivan could only look at his own mother in confusion; she was the one person who still scared him, after all those years-he'd acted cold and invincible around everyone else, but could not find it within himself to confront the one who was the source of his cruelty.

"Yes… I cannot interfere with the lives of the students as I would like to, but you can, Ivan. You can correct the 'L', make it better… no, better yet, shatter it into pieces, Ivan," Sophia carried on, rambling about the various chess pieces and their uses, before finally placing the white 'knight' piece she had been waving around back on the table. "When the knight breaks…" she flicked her wrist, causing the piece to explode. "…So will the present king…" she tipped over the white 'king' piece. "…And the rightful king will take his place. You, Ivan." With this, she placed the black 'king' piece on the white's side of the board.

Ivan merely nodded, although he did allow himself a smile. Yes, if it was for his sake, he could do it, surely… "Alfred is too stubborn, da? Normal methods will not work on him."

"…I agree," Sophia replied after a long pause. "That's why I've been digging… and I've found several pieces, but not the ones I need to complete the puzzle. Hold on a bit longer, Ivan. Now, you're dismissed-I expect you to spend your time wisely… I haven't just given you a master key to every single dorm room on campus for nothing, but be sure to return it by the day's end."

Ivan nodded and left the office, carefully closing the door behind him. Yes, he knew just what to do to break that 'king' and 'knight'…

I don't know how many people will actually read this and want to know what happens next, but Ivan might not be going to do what you think he is.

Also, interpret that last bit as you will. Is Ivan the villain here? Is Sophia?

I like having villains that talk about chess and games. They're fun to write.