Stella woke up some time before Amelia. Excited, she pulled on her uniform and brushed her hair. By the time she was ready, her roommate was only just waking up.

"You're up early." Amelia commented with a yawn.

"It's my first day! How could I sleep in?" Stella chirped back, "Besides, back home, I always had to wake up early."

"Ah, that makes sense." she said, getting up, "Let me just get ready, and we'll head to the Dining Hall."

Stella waited, though she was feeling a bit restless. She went over her materials for school, making sure she had everything. Like a coiled spring, she leaped up once her roommate was ready, earning a chuckle. Together, they walked out of the dorm, to a building closer to the school, and through a large set of doors.

Oh, wow! There's so many people, and the food smells so good!

Looking around, she saw a familiar face. Grinning, she caught Amelia's attention.

"That's the guy who helped me find the dorm yesterday. His name is Yukiya Reizen." she smiled.

"It was Yukiya who helped you?" Amelia asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Hm?" Stella looked at her with her eyebrows raised, "Do you know him?"

"Well... It's a bit complicated. People-" she started, before being interrupted.

"Hey, you're the new girl, right?" asked a boy.

Turning her head, Stella was met with a smirking green-haired boy. His green eyes were friendly, but seemed to hold a bit of mischief. His aura reminded her of one of her friends from the circus, and she couldn't help but compare them. Both handsome, both seemed confident, and both wore a mischievous smile.

"Yes, I sure am!" she grinned.

"Hey, how about you introduce yourself at our spot. Of course, Amelia is invited, too." he said, looking at her roommate.

"Hey, Stella. This is Luca Orlem. Don't date him. He gets bored of girls way to easily." she told her, only acknowledging him by rolling her eyes.

"Oh, if you don't want to go, we don't have to. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable." Stella said, concerned.

"No, no. I didn't date him, but a classmate of mine did." she explained.

"Yes, well, don't forget that she was just dating me to get Travis' attention." Luca said, though he didn't seem bothered by it.

After that, Luca led the girls to his table. She was happy to find Yukiya sitting there, along with two other boys. One had golden hair, and the other had black hair and heterochromic eyes. She sat across from them, while Amelia sat on her left and Luca sat at her right.

"Hello, guys. I'm Stella Carlevaro. Today's my first day, so I hope you don't mind me sitting here." Stella introduced herself, cheerfully.

"And I'm Amelia Nile. I'm a grade ahead of you guys, so I'm not sure we've had a chance to meet." Amelia added.

Yukiya looked like he was falling asleep, the golden haired boy stared, and the black haired boy was focusing on his food. Amelia and Stella exchanged awkward glances. Seeing this, Luca sighed.

"Come on, guys. Now, I know you never get to talk to girls, but you could at least try." he said, dramatically slapping his hand on his forehead.

"S-sorry." said the blond with reddening cheeks, "I'm Elias Goldstein."

"Joel Crawford." said the black haired one, barely glancing up from his food.

Luca turned expectantly to the blue haired boy. He sighed again, evidently unaware of the fact that Stella and he had already met. When Yukiya made no move to introduce, Luca did it for him.

"And this is Yukiya Reizen."

Yukiya didn't give the girls much more than a glance, though that didn't stop a bright a smile.

"Hey, Yukiya! I guess we didn't have to wait long for us to meet again, huh?" Stella asked.

He just shrugged, and said, "Yeah."

She looked disappointed for a moment, then brightened back up.

"Thanks again for walking me home yesterday."

He just nodded.

It's really better if she stops talking to me, especially with almost the whole school here.

He was about to take a bite of his bacon, when she was suddenly on her knees looking at the large grey wolf lying under the table. He, along with the rest of the group, stared at her in confusion. She speaking softly to him in some foreign language and the was responding. To make the scene even more bizarre, she would started stroking the top of his head occasionally, and he was letting her. In all the time he had known the wolf, Yukiya had never seen him acknowledge other people, much less let them touch him. After she was seemingly done, she moved back to her seat, straightening out her skirt. Looking up, she realized they were all staring at her.

"Oh, sorry! Yukiya your familiar is so cool." Stella excitedly grinned at him, "I guess I was too busy yesterday to notice him."

"How did you know he was my familiar?" he asked.

"I can understand animals. I can talk to them, and they know what I'm saying. They talk to me, and I understand what they're saying." she informed them.

That makes sense, but what were they saying?

"What language was that?" Joel asked as he tilted his head.

"It was Norisian, right?" Elias jumped in.

"Yup! My dad was from Filorune, but moved here after he met my mother. He taught my brother and I how to speak both English and Norisian."

"That's so neat!" said Amelia.

Yukiya went back to eating.

Now that I think about it, can that wolf speak other languages? Just what is he?

The bell interrupted his thoughts, and students in the Dining Hall picked up their bags and began filing out to their classes. Stella was thrilled to find that she was in the same class as he, Luca, and Elias. After bidding farewell to Amelia and Joel, they went on their way. As they walked, she was practically skipping along. Yukiya had to admit, it was sweet seeing how excited she was. She began humming a familiar song, and Yukiya froze.

How does she know that tune? That is the tune of the song, right?

Before he could ask about it, they reached the classroom. Stella told them to go ahead inside while she collected herself. Keeping his face expressionless, he walked in.

Stella shook out her hands to help calm herself down. When she thought she was okay, she stepped inside. She was a bit surprised to find the three already at their seats, though Yukiya was the only one sitting down with the large grey wolf sitting next to him. She couldn't help but notice the oddly empty seats all around him. She walked over to the seat in front of him.

"Does anyone sit here?" she asked.

"No." he replied, though he never looked away from the window.

Feeling a bit hurt by his uninterested and blunt reply, she sat down. When she looked up from setting down her bag, she saw a couple boys and a few girls cautiously approaching.

"So, you're the new girl, right?" asked one of the boys.

"Yup, I'm Stella Carlevaro!" she answered.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Becky." said one of the girls.

"Hi, Becky!" she cheerfully greeted her.

"Hey, Stella, where are you from?" asked another boy.

"Everywhere." she giggled, "I live with the circus, La Magnifique Merveille."

"You're with the circus?" said a surprised Luca, who had walked over.

"Uh-huh!"

"Did you have an act?" asked Elias, curiously.

"Well, I helped out with a couple acts, but I, myself, am a contortionist!" she said, and listened to the surprised responses.

As they were talking, Stella looked back at Yukiya. He seemed to be in his own world, not really looking at the outside world, so much as something in his own mind. One of the boys followed her gaze, a strange look falling over his face. Leaning over, he whispered something to her.

"Stella, you seem really nice, so I think this is something you need to know," he said, "Yukiya Reizen is cursed. You should stay away from him so you won't be cursed, either."

"What?" she could barely suppress a sharp tone.

"Yeah. He's bad news." the boy replied.

She thought back to another time she heard similar words.

Many years ago, a much younger Stella stood in the rain. In one hand, she held an old umbrella. With the other, she held a toddler with a blanket covering him. She knocked on a door to a bakery.

'Please, we need to eat! I have money!" she called.

The baker inside opened to door to a crack.

"I'm sorry, Stella. You can come in, but not him." said the man, coldly glaring at the bundle in her arms.

"He's only two! He's just a baby! Please, we have to eat or we'll die!" she sobbed, but the man wouldn't give in.

Crying, she readjusted her grip her walked home. Her worn shoes were soaked, and her legs were covered in mud, but no matter what, her little brother was kept warm and dry. As she reached for the doorknob, their neighbor walked over.

"Why do you carry on like this?" the woman asked, "You don't need to take care of him. He's the cursed one, not you, sweetheart. If you drop him off outside of town, you don't be abandoning your family; you'd be ridding this town of a monster."

The woman's cruel words said in such a kind, comforting tone made the young girl sick.

"Shut up! He's not a monster! You people are!" she snarled.

The woman was taken aback, and she looked offended by the girl's words.

"We're trying to help you, Stella!" she said, before frustration fell over her face, "Your mother was such a good girl. She did nothing to deserve a family like this."

Stella spat out some more insults before storming into the house. Locking the door, she checked around to make sure the house was secure. When she was content, she sat on the couch. Unwrapping the blankets, she was met by her brother's wide, ice-blue eyes. He reached out his hands, giggling. Stella smiled back and took his hands in hers.

"Lucio, I promise you, I will always be on your side. You are no monster, and mother and father knew. They loved us, and mother was never ashamed of you."

Pulling herself back to the present, she looked at the boy.

"He's not bad news. I would prefer it if you'd be more careful about what you say." she said, making sure her tone was firm, but not hostile.

The other students looked at her in surprise, then threw quick glances at Yukiya, who hadn't turned away from the window. As the students stood awkwardly, someone coughed at the head of the room. Looking up, Stella saw a man in his thirties smiling. He had kind, golden eyes and long white hair.

"She's right, you know." he said to the students, then turned to her, "Well, Miss new student, I like you already. I am Professor Merkulova."

"My name is Stella Carlevaro, sir." she said, standing up and bowing her head.

The professor smiled and greeted her, before sending the students to their seats. Pulling out her pen and notebook, she prepared for the lesson. As she took notes and listened, she doodled on the corners. She drew little stick figures using magic or dancing, and she got so absorbed, she jumped when the professor cleared his throat.

"Y-yes, professor?" she stumbled.

"Will you perform a spell to make this wooden block change color from grey to red?" he asked, smiling encouragingly.

"Well, professor, I can cast the spell. You just may not get the results you're looking for." Stella replied, looking at a particularly interesting dust bunny in the corner.

"Well, you're here to learn. You're not expected to know how to use all magic." he told her.

That's true enough.

Nodding her head, she walked up to the block an drew her wand.

"Ex Ravus ad Mutare Ruberum"

As she had predicted, the block did not change color. Instead, it screamed and threw itself at the window. The students screeched in surprise and ran away from it as it continued to hurl its own body around the room.

"Fight me!" it screamed at the students, who had no desire to battle it.

Stella just hid her face behind her hands as the professor lifted the spell. Then, he used magic to put misplaced objects back into their original positions. The professor wasn't upset with her, though he was clearly caught off guard. He sent her back to her seat, and she never moved her hands from her face. The bell rang not long after, and unlike the beginning of class, none of the students walked over to her. Elias walked over with some quick words of comfort, and Luca made a joke to try to lighten her mood. She waited until most of the other students had left before getting up herself. She kept her head up, though she knew she might tear up at any second. As she walked through the door, she saw Yukiya.

"You got it partly right." he said.

"Huh?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

He held out a red block.

"The effects were delayed, and the professor had a meeting, so he couldn't tell you." he said, his face expressionless, "But it did change to the right color."

As soon as she took the cube, he walked off with his wolf following a step behind.

Though he was out of earshot, she whispered, "Thanks."

She didn't notice him tilt his head slightly. She walked back to her dorm, holding the the block like it was made of glass rather than wood. She kept a small smile on her face the whole way.

When Yukiya reached his dorm, his roommate wasn't there. With Elias gone, he loudly sighed as threw himself on his bed. The wolf rolled his eyes at his actions before lying down himself.

"She doesn't think I'm bad news." he said quietly, though in the empty room, it seemed much louder.

"She's been here for a day. Give her time and we'll see if her opinion remains the same." the wolf replied, sounding disinterested.

Ignoring the wolf's negative response, he thought back to her surprised face and her quiet words of gratitude. She might have had a lot of energy, but she seemed kind and thoughtful. He didn't like how most of the class had just ignored her after class, which slightly surprised the boy, since it never bothered him when they avoided him. Shaking off the unusual feeling, he tried to fall asleep before the mysterious song began again.