Updated: October 17, 2016


Chapter 10

'knock-knock knock-knock knock knock-knock bang!' I knocked my special (obnoxious) knock rhythm. "Selene Celeste reporting for training, Your Rudeness." I sounded world-weary and reluctant, which is what I was going for.

"Come in." Klaus sighed from the other side of the door.

I turn the handle, open the door with a 'woosh!', and walk in pouting. He didn't even look up from what he was doing-which was paperwork, just to let you know. His job seemed to consist of paperwork at least half the time. I sat on the edge of the same chair that I did yesterday and stared at him blankly. It was a few minutes before he looked up, with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you need something? Or is staring at people a hobby of yours?" I could hear the unspoken "I wouldn't put it past you" clearly.

"Yes, I do need something, in fact. I'm hoping that if I scare you enough, you'll let me leave. I do have my own stuff to do, like, I don't know…homework."

He ignored my sass and rolled his eyes, "If you're so bored, why don't you clean? There's a duster in that cabinet over there. Also, there's several piles of paper over there. You will need to organize them in numerical order."

"Ex-cuse me?" I put my hands on my hips and crossed my legs, "I'm not some kind of slave, you know. Slavery is illegal everywhere in Terra, and I'm pretty dang sure it is just as outlawed in Gedonelune, or any Myulan country."

He smiled evilly, "It's not slavery-just think of it as an unpaid internship."

I glared, "If you like twisting things around to make them seem better than they are, just become a politician, why don't ya?"

"Get to work."

Klaus's POV

She stuck her tongue out at me, but got to work anyway-after getting that device of her's out, of course. I turned one eye back to my work, but kept another on her. She started to dance around the room cleaning. It was almost like she was enjoying it. Strange girl, protesting to something she turns around and has fun with. I focus back on my work.

When I look up thirty minutes later, she's working on straightening a bookshelf. She get's all but the top shelf. She put her hands on her hips and glares at it like she did at me earlier. I see the problem. She's too short to reach more than the bottom edge of it. She scans the room and spots the short stool by the door. She drags it over and stands on top of it to tidy up the last bit of the shelf. I glance around and notice that she's straightened up everything in the room but my desk, organizing and cleaning. She pulls the things out of her ears.

"I cleaned the room." Turning to face me, she continues, "I didn't know how you want the books organized, so I left them in the order they were. Can I leave now?"

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes, "No. Start your homework-I'll be done soon and we can start training."

She rolls her eyes and sighs exasperatedly. She puts away her device and the listening attachment and pulls some things out of her bag before sitting cross-legged on the ground by the tea table. She picks up what appears to be some sort of strange pencil and begins writing.

"What, no music?"

She glares at me, "It's distracting when I'm trying to do something that isn't repetitive or monotonous. Lay off." She returns to her work, and I do to mine.

Selene's POV

First order of homework: Professor Murkulova's essay. It needs to be on treating burns vs. treating frostbite. I've treated both in various degrees, on myself and others. Simple. The only problem is, I don't know all the translations for the names. Lavender, for instance.

"Hey Klaus."

"Yes?"

"I don't know the Geolunan word for this herb. In English, it's called Lavender." I described all of the properties I could remember, including how it looks.

"It's called 'Redneval'."

"Thank-a-you."

He didn't answer.

I managed to get the essay done, as well as start the question sheet assigned by Professor G. I also had to make a magic circle-something I've heard of, but have never actually used-for his class. I had to find a book to copy that from. I thought that maybe Klaus would have one, since he's all smartsy, but I decided to just ask Amelia. She has Professor G, too-plus, I'd rather ask her than His Rudeness. He'd probably just look down on me even more than I know he does. I was only half way through the worksheet when Klaus stood up from his desk.

"Put that away. It's time to start your training." I sighed and did as he said. I know I'm not going to get out of this, but if I can survive until I take my judgement, I can stop having to put up with this and live my life. It's only twoish weeks, right? I've dealt with worse. Hopefully I can make this more than the bravo it sounds like.

I followed him to the courtyard Isa had taken me to this morning-it was actually pretty close to the prefect's office. "So, Your Rudeness, did you see me this morning? I saw you leaving this courtyard as I was entering with Isa."

He turned to face me, "Do you mean Miss Ravenswood?"

I nodded, "Mhm."

"Oh yes, I did. I heard a great deal too."

Klaus's POV

Her eyes widened, and her face turned slightly red, "How much?" She asked carefully. I wanted to say "all of it" but then she'd know I was eavesdropping.

"Oh, just the part about my 'sharp tongue' and how utterly awful I am." Her red coloring faded and she sniffed.

"I won't take it back. It's entirely too true." She retorted stubbornly. I now almost regret not saying I heard it all. Almost. But it's time to focus on training.

"First thing you'll be doing is learning basic control over your abilities. Meaning wind. Create a small tornado-type vortex on the end of your wand and hold it for as long as you can without it dying or losing control.

She holds out her wand, and says something in that strange language of hers, "I command thee to create a vortex of wind on the end of this wand! Ventus Parun!" The miniature tornado appeared on the end of her wand, wobbling for a moment. It straightened itself out and kept going. I looked at her face-her brows were furrowed, her nose was wrinkled, and her lips were pursed, giving her a look of absolute concentration. I checked her stance. It was off. Her legs were too far apart-they're supposed to be even with your shoulder's-and her arms were to close, when they were supposed to be about the same distance apart. And she's holding the wand incorrectly, like it's a pencil.

She manages to hold it for nearly a minute before it blows up in her face, quite literally, and knocks her back onto her behind. She gets up, brushes herself off, and is about to attempt it again when I say, "Wait." and go over to her.

Selene's POV

"Wait." Klaus stops me from trying again and comes over to me, "Your stance is off."

"My stance?"

"Yes, your stance. If your stance is off, it can affect the spell you are trying to cast." He stands behind me. "Have your legs be about even with your shoulders." He reaches from behind and places his hands over mine. "Your arms should be about the same distance apart. And your wand isn't a pencil, so you shouldn't hold it like one." He spreads my arms to the distance he said and changes my grip on my wand. I can feel his heartbeat, slow and steady, against my back. I feel heat rise to my cheeks, not tons, but enough to be felt. "Hold this stance and try again." He lets go slowly and backs up. My own heartbeat has sped up. What in heck is wrong with me?

I repeat the spell while keeping this new stance. It only feels a little unnatural to me, and I know I'll be able to adjust to it quickly. This time, I hold it for nearly two and a half minutes before it blows me onto my butt. My hair's falling out of its bun. I pull the tie out and put it on my wrist, shaking my hair out. I'll fix it in a second. I get up and brush off my skirt. Boy am I glad I have shorts on under this. I don't want to have to worry about flashing anyone. I don't think my shorts have even been seen, anyway, so I guess it won't really matter until it happens. But still, preparedness simplifies things. Better safe than sorry, am I right? "Give me a second." I run over to my bag, which I dropped at the edge of the courtyard. I dig through the smaller pocket on the front and pull out my smallest brush, the one I carry around. I yank it through my hair quickly and shove it back into my bag. I begin to braid my hair headband fashion as I walk back over. I was worried for a second that my hair wasn't long enough and would be falling out all over the place, but it seems like I'm good. I twist the tie around the end of the braid, which is under the remaining hair, and ready my wand for another go.

By the end of the session, it was nearly seven-thirty. And I was ravenous. I felt like I was going to collapse. I nearly did. I pretty much had to drag myself over to my bag and eat something before I fainted. Where was dinner? Did I miss it? I sure hope not. After I ate enough of my snacks to regain some energy, I stood up and shouldered my bag. "Man, I really need to eat dinner! I'm starving!" I moaned, clutching my belly and I left the courtyard. Klaus was right behind me.

"Do you always carry food with you? Are you seriously so impatient to wait for meals?" Klaus said.

"Yes, that's right." I said sarcastically, "But I also have to eat regularly or I collapse. That's what happens when your metabolism burns through food like a fire does dried leaves. Except, instead of smoke as a backlash, it's going through more food than all of my brothers."

"Have you ever thought that it might be connected to your abilities with fire?"

"Uh, duh. I'm not stupid, and I do happen to have seven smart older brothers. You'd've thought we'd've come up with that at some point during my sixteen and three-quarter years of life."

Klaus's POV

Wait, she's almost seventeen? That makes her only three, not four, years younger than me. Huh. Saying something about my misconception of her age, though, would do nothing but make me look stupid. She doesn't act like she's that old.

"Anyway," she continues, "do you know when dinner is, and when it ends? 'Cause if I've missed it because of you…" she lets the threat dangle.

"Dinner is from five to nine. You've plenty of time."

"Great. I'm going to go replenish my energy. Bye!" She runs off with a speed I wouldn't of guessed she could achieve. I guess she is hungry. Or fast. It could be both. With her, it's hard to tell about these things. She's so strange. How many times have I called her that in the past few days? I've long lost count.