-Lysithea, the Magical Prodigy-
-Dining Hall-

A wunderkind of magic, Lysithea was an only child hailing from House Ordelia and a rather young one at that. From what Claude had told his friend, Lysithea was one of the youngest students around, not just in the Golden Deer house but in the monastery in general. Now, those not in the know might be wondering 'How young is too young for a military school?' Glad you asked! See, whereas most students at Garreg Mach were around seventeen to nineteen on average, this young lady was just barely fifteen years old. Fifteen! Most people would wonder whether she should be attending the Officers Academy at all, considering some of the more dangerous missions the students were expected to undertake as a part of their education. But Krillin wasn't most people and age was far from the first thing that came to mind when he first saw her. No, it was the strikingly snow-white hair that had caught his attention instead. He's seen graying hair as adults around him aged, but naturally white hair on somebody not fifty or older? He had never seen anything like it before…

At least until thirty minutes ago, that is. Yes, somebody had already beat the young mage to the punch in that area but granted, Krillin almost thought he was seeing the same person twice in a row. It's hard to tell who's who when you're unwittingly zipped about this way and that. Though both students did look similar after extensive blurring about, the young man quietly realized;

(No, I don't think I saw her outside. Whoever that was back there, they weren't this…this short.)

4'10", to be precise. Though, it appears that Krillin shouldn't even be thinking of the word short near Miss Ordelia, as she abruptly turned to face him faster than one could blink. The speed of it all nearly startled the young man out of his seat, especially with those pink orbs boring right through him.

"…What? What is it? Is there something on me?"

"N-No, no! It's fine! I thought I saw something weird outside, b-but it's nothing, really!" Krillin hurriedly tried to dismiss the question, hand gestures rapidly moving this way and that.

Lysithea simply huffed as her expression turned to a scrutinizing glare. "Judging by your reaction just now, I highly doubt you were looking at nothing."

(Uh oh.)

Goddess above, this was going to get awkward. Krillin didn't think he had a lot of strong suits and talking to most girls was definitely not one of them. As if to disadvantage him further, this classmate seemed to have a quick mind about her and she wasn't afraid to use it.

"I know you were staring at me just now and I understand why just fine!"

"Er, no, wait! You've got the wrong idea! I…I was just thinking that-"

"That what? That I look too young to be attending the academy? Is that it?" Lysithea's tone became more irritated by the second and was starting to garner attention from some students at other tables. Likewise, Krillin was becoming more uncertain about what to do next…

(Great, just great! I've already pissed someone off on day one AND people are starting to stare! Gah, why are you such a dunce, Krillin?!)

This was a situation where things could still get worse very quickly and thereby garner even more eyes upon him.

With no other option, all Krillin could do was…

"I was just thinking that your hair looked cool!" Though plenty of students were still chattering amongst one another, the room felt silent for what seemed like way too long. Even Lysithea fell dumb, as she just stared back at her peer with a surprised look before finally saying something again.

"You…You think it looks cool?" She asked in a quiet voice, fingers lightly grasping one of her snow white locks. Krillin quickly nodded.

"Y-Yeah! I've never seen anything like it before, I just…thought it was interesting." He explained in the most composed tone he could manage.

The young teen fell silent again before looking away, a light blush now covering her face.

"T-Thanks. No one's ever said that to me before." She murmured, sounding kind of happy about it.

"You're welcome. I'm, er…I'm sorry if I came off as weird but-" But before Krillin finished, Lysithea immediately shook her head.

"No, no, I should apologize as well. I shouldn't have assumed poorly of you, especially when we don't even know each other."

"I guess. Um, do you get a lot of comments about your age-" But once again, Krillin is interrupted by something else. Specifically, someone shouting while ringing some loud instrument.

"Attention! Attention everyone!" A man with dark-green hair shouted from across the hall, all the while he was sounding this large bell he carried with him. It wasn't long before he had everyone quiet and at attention.
"Ahem! Before we begin tonight's dinner, I would like speak to you all about this school year."

"Hmm, looks like he's going to give a speech," The young girl murmured before turning back to here classmate.
"I suppose we'll have to continue later, but could I get your name?"

"My name?" Oh yeah, he never introduced himself.
"Oh, it's Krillin."

"Krillin. Hm…Interesting name," Lysithea hummed inquisitively.
"I'm Lysithea von Ordelia. Um, let's try hanging out sometime…right?" I guess she doesn't use slang very often? She didn't sound very confident on that one.

But Krillin understood and beamed a small smile back.
"Yeah, that sounds good."

As they both turned their attention back to the man giving that speech, Krillin thought about what would come next.

(Okay, it wasn't the greatest first impression but it wasn't the worst either. Things might be better when I meet those other guys Claude told me about.)

It probably wouldn't be so bad.

-Pink and Purple Nobility-
-Just outside the Dining Hall-

He spoke too soon.

"So, Claude…Care to introduce us to this 'friend' of yours here?" This voice reeks of suspicion and haughty nobility.

"Hey, aren't you the guy who complimented Lysithea earlier? You think she's pretty too, don't you?" This one sounds a bit ditsy. It was far from unkind, but still rather nosy.

The two nobles standing before Krillin were rather odd characters. The haughty one with purple hair, a boy, had a really peculiar nose; not in the sense that it was pointy but that his was just weirdly pronounced. And if Krillin could be honest, he also seemed like kind of a dick and unaware of personal space, since he kept sizing up the shorter student by getting a little too close to his face.
The ditsy one with pink hair, a girl respectively, didn't look like someone who would attend a military school like Garreg Mach. Unlike the other female students, she looked like she'd fit in better at an artisan academy than a school meant to prepare teenagers for war.

(Then again, looks have deceived me before…)

"Lorenz, back up a moment, will ya? I thought nobles were 'supposed to maintain proper manners at all times, no matter who was before us,' " Claude chided sarcastically, giving the other student a playful pat to the shoulder. The one called Lorenz looked embarrassed.

"Ah, my apologies, Claude. I just can't help but be a little curious, seeing as how you convinced your grandfather to pay for this one's education as well…He must be pretty special," The snide attitude wasn't helping this guy's case, though that's probably to be expected with a lot of nobles when it came to the common folk.

"Lorenz, c'mon! You're making him uncomfortable!" The pink-haired girl also scolded before turning to face Krillin with a smile.
"I'm sorry about that. Lorenz can be a little much at times, but he's a good guy at heart! Trust me, we've known each other for years!" She assured with a cheerful glee. Krillin smiled back, though with more nervousness than enthusiasm.

"Um, sure…And you are?"

"Oh gosh, where are my manners?" She promptly held an outstretched hand to her new peer.
"I'm Hilda! Hilda Valentine Goneril! I hope we didn't set off on the wrong foot here, I'd love to talk more with you!"

"Um, yeah. Same here, Hilda," As he shook her hand, an unshakeable thought came to him.

(She said her last name was Goneril…)

If Krillin hadn't heard her full name, Hilda's lightheartedly tone and disposition wouldn't have seemed so weird to him.

Goneril. He knew that name well. No, not in a way that he was personally associated with that family, but Krillin had heard stories about them from his parents; a lot of stories. Not stories of the house head, Holt, and his reputation as the Alliance's greatest general. Instead, it was stories of Goneril soldiers capturing Almyrans from defeated sieges and forcing them to be servants the noble family. Stories of war orphans put into what was essentially- no, literally slavery…

I know he said that appearances can be deceiving, but you can't blame Krillin for feeling a little more uncomfortable about Hilda than he did with that Lorenz guy. Oh, and speaking of Lorenz.

"Ahem! I, erm, must apologize for my discourtesy. I am Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, pleased to meet you," Lorenz sounds like he rehearses that introduction a lot, especially that 'pleased to meet you' part.

(Could've fooled me…)

So far, Krillin was beginning to feel less confident than he had before entering the monestary.
Claude seemed to sense his friend's discomfort quickly, as he began to wrap up the conversation.

"Hey, we've still got a lot of ground to cover around here, so we'll see you guys later."

Hilda frowned.
"Aw, you're leaving already? We've only just met Krillin, Claude!"

Lorenz raised an eyebrow.
"You want to introduce us to your friend and now you're dragging him off after we've only exchanged names? You aren't scheming something, are you?"

Claude just laughed it off.
"Relax, Lor. We're just getting acquainted with the place, that's all. After all, we don't want to get lost trying to get to class, do we Krillin?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry about that," The shorter teen replied sheepishly. Lorenz looked far from convinced, but at least Hilda seemed to understand.

"Alright, then. I guess I'll catch you guys in the classroom," Hilda moped…for about half a second before twirling herself around and heading back into the dining hall.

"Yes, I ought to head back inside as well," That was all Lorenz said before following Hilda's lead. Once they were out of sight, Claude grabbed onto Krillin's wrist and began his tour of the monestary. Well, mostly just to speak with his friend alone, that is.

"Hey, don't sweat those two. They can be a lot to deal with, but they're good people." The heir tried to assure his companion, but Krillin couldn't help but dwell on the conversation a bit.

"She said her name was Goneril. Claude, Hilda's not involved with her family's, uh, seedier affairs, right?"

Claude's eyes widened a bit in surprise before shaking his head.
"No. She's aware of what her family has done to their enemies but as far as I've seen, she's never supported that crap." His voice darkened a bit. Claude visited the Goneril region before, it was probably safe to assume he's seen some of those stories for himself down there.

(I can't imagine what that must've been like…)

And just as quickly as the atmosphere became dark, the Riegan heir found a way to quell it down again.
"So…I heard you said you thought Lysithea's hair was cool."

The shorter boy blushed a little.
"Y-Yeah, I've never seen hair like that before."

Claude grinned mischeviously as he patted his friend's shoulder.
"I didn't take her to be your type, bud."

"W-What!?" Krillin's face grew hot with embarrassment.
"Don't be weird, Claude! I just thought that hair color was interesting, that's all! Do you have any idea how awkward it was to say that to her?"

"You're talking about that earful she almost gave you? Don't worry about that, man. She's great once you get to know her." The heir casually consoled. It didn't do much to curb Krillin's anxiety, but at least Claude meant well; that much could be appreciated.

"W-Whatever…Anyways, aren't we supposed to 'get acquainted with the place' before our classes begin?"

"We're getting to that, my friend. First, let's find where our dorm rooms are at." Claude then pointed to the end of the long stretch of building perpendicular to the monestary's greenhouse. The other teen raised an eyebrow at this, since there were already dorm rooms built onto the outside of the building.

"Wait, are there more rooms?"

"Um, yeah? There are double the rooms on the second floor than there are on the first. I managed to get us both assigned to an indoor dorm. The stairs are right next to the greenhouse, so it's pretty easy to miss."

"Managed? You make it sound like it was difficult or something."

"Well…It's not an established rule or anything, but most of the noble or rich students call dibs on the second floor bedrooms and force a lot of attending commoners take the first floor. I guess there are too many rich kids can't stand to be one room away from ordinary ones. Let's just say I had to rig a stinkbomb to a couple of doors to keep snoopers out."

"That is…beyond childish, for them and you," Krillin deadpanned.

"Have you tried convincing a noble's kid to not be frivolous or materialistic? That's the kind of task only a saint could manage and I'm no saint," Claude clasped his hands together at the last part and looked to the sky, imitating one of the church-goers that come by.
"If I were, I would've been dead a thousand years, my Crest carried on by idiotic snobs who couldn't care less about the people around them if they didn't bring in wealth or heirs."

Krillin couldn't help but snicker at his friend's theatrics.
"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's just figure out our room situation already, that speech in the dining hall already burned a lot of daylight."

(It was thirty minutes before that guy stopped talking. All our food had turned lukewarm by the time he finished…)

Claude nodded back.
"You're right about that. Don't worry, it won't take long if you hold onto my wrist."

"What? Why would I have to-" Oh crap, Claude was going to run around like a madman again.

Wait, scratch that, he just started and Krillin was once again being dragged around like a kite.

"Gah! Claude! You've gotta stop doing this!"

"Sorry, but I promise this won't take long!"

It won't take long for the shorter teen to get dizzy again, that is. Jeez, if this was how this tour was going to go, he may as well just figure out Garreg Mach on his own.
Well, it was too late to go back on that now. Hopefully, Claude's absolutely insane running speed won't give Krillin vertigo or something.

Hopefully.

-To be continued-