Squee! The goddamned document loader finally worked! Hooray!
Chapter Two: Fourth Period
Nils perked up as someone new came in and sat down next to him. This girl looked like a freshman, which was good. It would nice to have someone else 'his age' to talk to; his health class was mostly senior guys with a crude sense of humor.
"Hi!" she said brightly, although she looked exhausted. "I'm Nino Reed! I just moved in last weekend…"
"Thought you were new. I'm Nils, Nils Shiadan." He held out a hand and she shook it. He decided that he liked her, she was a bubbly, happy girl, but didn't seem like a babbler like Serra. "So, how are you liking things at Sir Roland High?" he managed to get the name out without snickering or glaring. It was kind of silly that the people of Ostia had named the city high school after the man who had founded their country, but he had to remember that the school had originally been a military academy, and still retained weapons and magical training classes, although such classes were no longer mandatory and most people didn't bother with them anymore.
She smiled again. "Oh, it's really nice here, I met a lot of helpful people who gave me directions when I got lost. This is my first time going to public school, I was actually kind of nervous."
"I know how you feel," Nils said sympathetically. "Before last year, my sister and I moved around a lot, and I never really lived in one place long enough to go to school. Last year was kind of a shocker for me, but you get used to it after a while. I'm still in remedial math, science, and writing classes for all the stuff I didn't learn on the road, it really bites," he groaned.
"Oh! You're in remedial math too?" she asked, looking relieved. "I've always been so terrible at math, my mother would always yell at me, but she never actually gave me help when I was stuck. I was afraid that I would be the only one in the class."
"Heh, we won't be the only ones there… just the only ones who can string together a coherent sentence. You might want to stick with me, some of the guys in that class are real lowlifes…" just then, the teacher walked in, and the class settled slightly. "Oh, and a word of warning, the unit we're on is sex ed. The language can get a bit… rougher than you're probably used to. So you might want to brace yourself."
"S-sex ed?" Nino asked, blushing already. Nils sighed inwardly, remembering how Ninian had come out of this very classroom at the end of first period, her skin almost the same shade of red as her eyes…
No, probably better not to tell her that, he decided. Maybe he could get her a pair of earplugs and take notes for both of them…
Lyn wanted to be somewhere else. It wasn't that she hated history, or even the subject that they were learning about, which was the tribes of her homeland, Sacae. She rather liked his stance on her people, that they were not barbarians because they were nomads, but fellow civilized human beings, with a unique culture and every bit as civilized as their fellow Elibeans.
It was that her teacher was handing out (shudder) group projects.
Lyn would have been more than happy to do a project on her own. Hell, she would probably do better by herself, she certainly knew more about the Sacae than anyone else in the classroom. Not for the first time since September, she bemoaned the evil luck that had kept Nadia out of her history class. She looked at the white slip of paper on her desk, and with a long-suffering sigh, turned it over and scanned the list until she found her own name
Topic tribe: The Lorca (Why, Mother Earth, why? Couldn't it have been the Kulotah? Or the Djute?)
Presentation Partners: Jessica Brightly, Lyndis Caelin, and Christopher White (Actually, I know why. It's because you hate me. Clearly you do. Fine then, I hate you too…)
Tentative Presentation Date: Tuesday, November 17th (Oh, and knowing those two slackers, they'll probably want to put it off until the weekend before, leaving me to do all the work… maybe this is better, I'll probably get a better grade this way…)
"And as a review, your job is to use what we've been learning about in class and the information that you gather on your own to put together a comprehensive, ten to fifteen minute presentation on your tribe, both historically and currently. If your tribe is no longer in existence, you must also provide a detailed explanation of what happened to them. And, before you ask Mr. White, since the Lorca were still a tribe until a year ago, you still have to do the current part of your presentation."
"Actually," said Christopher Open-Mouth-Insert-Foot White "I thought it would be really cool if we could do a re-enactment of the downfall of the Lorca! We never get to do anything fun in here…"
Red filmed Lyn's vision and for a moment the broken remnants of everything she'd owned and her parents' funeral pyres danced in front of her eyes, blotting out the classroom and everything else…
"Lyn," A memory of Nadia's voice cut through her rage, "If you wish to live here in Lycia, you must remember that things are much different than your home. Peace is not a transient thing maintained only by the strength of your sword, it is their birthright, their inheritance, their very lives for many generations now. Things may be rocky with Eturia from time to time, relations may sour with Bern, but nothing ever comes to open warfare, and Lycians are untroubled by conflict to the point where violence is such an alien thing that it becomes… exotic. If you stay here, you may find the story of your people a point of gossip, a sensational story. Don't rise to the bait, remember that they do not… cannot understand devastation as you and I do. In fact, if you wish for peace, try not to flaunt your heritage… don't look at me like that, I'm not saying that you should lie! Just introduce yourself as Lyn Caelin, not Lyn of the Lorca, and let them draw their own conclusions. It will make your life much, much easier. Trust me in this…"
And Lyn had swallowed her pride, as Nadia had suggested. This had also had the unexpected side effect of making her grandfather very happy, for by using his surname he saw it as a declaration that she would be staying with him for as long as he still breathed. Oh, she would tell the truth of her heritage if anyone should ask her, but until they did… well, that stopped her from having to tell curious people to go away, from having to live again the horror of that night and the days that followed it, as bright and innocent eyes looked eagerly on her, not realizing how much pain they were causing…
But did she really have to put up with this? She half-rose in her seat, itching to give White the beating he deserved…
"Oh, and that's your definition of fun?" snarled Jessica caustically, the very first time Lyn had ever heard her talk in class unless called on. "A whole bunch of innocent people getting slaughtered?"
"Not slaughtered, a fierce fight between the vicious bandits and the barbarian tribesmen…" Nine-hundred plus page paperback book impacted with skull at this point. Although the distance from the left side of the classroom to the right wasn't that great, the book was an ungainly projectile, flapping open when thrown, making the throw an impressive one nonetheless. Several people clapped and cheered, and one of the other girls snatched up the book before Christopher could mutilate it.
"Oh my, terribly sorry. You see, sometimes when people make an ill-advised joke, my hands just slip…"
"Enough!" the teacher shouted. "Detention, both of you!" And, under his breath he added, "And for the love of Elimine, not on the same day, I can already see that you want to kill each other…" at normal volume he returned to speaking to them again. "Now, if you would apologize to each other…"
"What did I do?" Chris whined.
"You made some extremely offensive, racist comments and you tried to destroy a classmate's property," Lyn snapped at him.
"What the hell did I do to you, Caelin?" he snapped, rounding on her.
"What didn't you do?" Lyn asked cryptically, enjoying the look of confusion on his face.
"Mr. White, would you like an extended detention? Because you seem to be asking for one…"
Lyn listened to her project partners tersely apologize to each other, and thought all the while about exactly how much 'fun' this project was going to be, and how the person who had invented the idea of the group project should be slowly roasted alive. At least she and Jessica should be able to beat Christopher into submission should he become too boorish, for all his talk he was wiry and klutzish, even if he was a head taller than Lyn, he clearly didn't know how to fight...
Fourth period was probably Hector's favorite period after weapons practice, it was study hall. Also, it was one of the few classes he had with Eliwood, which made it all the better.
Well, usually it did. For the last couple of days, Eliwood had been broody. And Hector was sick of seeing him like that. He wanted to know what was going on.
"Eliwood? Something on your mind?"
"Hmm?" the redhead asked, distracted and clearly off in his own little world. "Ah, sorry Hector. I wasn't paying attention."
"You've been, 'not paying attention' since Thursday. Something is wrong, and if you're not going to tell me, I'm going to start guessing. You could have failed a test or somesuch…"
"I'm not you Hector," Eliwood replied with a slight smirk. "I actually stay awake in class."
"You could be getting ready to ask Ninian out… say to Farina's Halloween party," Hector continued, choosing to ignore the previous comment.
"If I go to a party, I'll probably end up at the school dance. You know Farina, she'll charge admission, and for all the food, and anything else she can think of…"
"Not this year, Fiora's also planning. Which, sadly, means no more poker."
"Which you should be eternally grateful for, you're a terrible gambler."
"When Farina is playing, especially if she's dealing, everyone is a terrible gambler, Eliwood. The woman cheats like…" Hector's eyes narrowed. "You're changing the subject again. However, based on your answers, I now know what's wrong with you. Something's happened with your father."
Eliwood's calm façade crumpled into worry. "I… I didn't want to get you involved, you need to help out your brother, you need to be in school…"
"And you don't?" Hector snorted, incredulous. "He's missing, isn't he?"
"Mother hasn't heard anything from him in six months. And all this time I was naïve enough to think that he really was away on a business trip… I wouldn't even know if I hadn't accidentally overheard her talking on the phone with Lyn's grandfather, begging him for information, any information."
"So you were going to go looking for him? Alone?"
"I'm not stupid. I was going to ask Nadia to come with me, for starters..."
"Why that wimpy shaman and not me?" Hector shouted, springing out of his desk. Several people and the study hall monitor stared at them, and Hector sat down again, a faint blush of what he resolutely told himself was anger, never humiliation, spreading across his face.
"If there is a problem, Mister Ostia, I would be more than happy to move your seat," said the teacher in a tone better suited for dealing with preschoolers.
"Ah, no, just a slight disagreement…" They waited for a few minutes in stony silence until the class had turned its attention elsewhere.
"Because, not only is 'that wimpy shaman', perfectly capable of making up whatever school we miss, she's also a tactician. If this turns nasty, I could probably use the help. Besides, the only lead I have is Lord Helman, it's not like I'll be doing anything exciting right away," Eliwood continued quietly so none of the curious students trying to overhear their conversation would be able to catch his words.
"That old recluse?"
"According to what I overheard, Father's last communication came from Helman's provincial estate. Worst case, and sadly, most likely scenario, we take a week-long road trip, meet with Lord Helman, and find out nothing. If we do find something, things could get… interesting."
Hector smirked. "Either way, old man Marcus and Oswin are going to be fighting over who gets the right to skin our hides. Well, sounds like fun, count me in."
"But…"
"No one's going to notice if I go missing," Hector said bitterly. "I'm the screw-up, layabout younger brother. If I DID stick around while you went off on an adventure, people would wonder if I needed my head examined."
"You're not proud of that reputation, are you?"
"Not in the slightest..."
Ninian felt a chill somewhere within her soul. She tried to ignore it and pay attention to her language arts teacher, but it is hard to ignore what you know to be true.
Something had just happened, something had been set into motion. Even though she was stripped of most of her powers, she could still sense something as monumental as that. And, at the edges of her vision, she could see a soon dead man pleading with her for something…
So, when the teacher decided to quiz them at the end of the period, it was no wonder that she failed spectacularly.
Nergal smiled as he left the small, cramped room that his 'guest' was staying in, playing idly with the white queen as he did so. The white queen was like the key, a bitterly ironic key, since the queen was supposed to be the most powerful piece on the chessboard, the most powerful piece set against the black king. Now, all he needed was one of the two people who could use that key to its full effectiveness. And some more power for what must be done.
"Limstella."
"I am here my lord," she said emotionlessly. Limstella was always there when he needed her. That was what made her better than, say… a human wife
Wife? Now where had that come from? Some shred of his time before he had met Athos? Perhaps. His early years were lost in a fog of dark magic, a pittance to pay for the power he now wielded.
"I want you to contact Ephidel. Tell him it is time to move on the white king, and that I need at least one of the siblings in hand by the end of the week."
"As you command," she replied, bowing with an inhuman grace and gliding soundlessly out of sight around the edge ofthe corridor.
Oh come on, the health class scene was too good not to re-use. Maybe I'll have them do CPR too… Eliwood and Ninian as CPR partners… fun ideas…
By the way, anyone want Nino to go to Jaffar about her… health class experience? I think that would be a hilarious conversation, don't you?
Thanks to magebear7, Black Hole CO, elven-girl 10, Gijinka Renamon, peter, Vaun Harkinian, N Master,and Sakura Irving for reviewing!
