To the Unplanner: And I'm super grateful that you are! Without you two (! ! !) years ago, I never would have realized that I posted the wrong chapter in Metempsychotic early. You also reminded me of something earlier in this story that helped inspire a future chapter! (Which, coincidentally enough, is the chapter after this one.) One of these days I'll get that perfect formula of encouraging other readers to comment/review, just like how one of these days Strelitzia will actually talk to Anora face to face. I'm pretty sure I know which one will come first though...
(btw to everyone reading this chapter, either on the day this is posted or some time in the future years from now, thank you for getting this far. is the first chapter really that rough? i should go back and rewrite it, yeah? maybe have a full description or something that sums up events so far? my pm is always open; just say something more than hi or something so i know you want to talk and aren't trying to spam me. and if you must say that i suck, at least tell me why- tomatoes make for good compost if i had enough ground to replant.)
To tk ishda: Unfortunately, no. :/ I'm not taking requests for other people's OCs or self inserts at this time. Even if I did, you wouldn't be able to see them for a long time (as the general author's note below will reveal).
I have some good and bad news in regarding this story. The bad news was that, since my dog died April 8th, and I was feeling really cruddy after, I thought I was going to slow up on the updates. However (which I guess is part of the good news?), I turned to writing to cope and ended up writing a lot of future chapters out of order. Not only that, but I can safely guarantee that this story will have 26 chapters by May 15th-ish.
The absolute good news is that Ventus has been introduced! This means we're one step closer to formulating Daybreak Academy's equivalent to the Dandelions! Well, the term 'Dandelions' might be a misnomer is this case, but 'Union Leader' makes very little sense in a school setting.
As always, thank you for reading.
Ventus had decided a long, long time ago that he should not be trusted with fragile things. Delicate china, priceless ceramic bowls, even stained glass windows- Ventus avoided them in fear of breaking anything. So why he ended up on the list to help organize the student art gallery was beyond him. Maybe Vanitas had done it as some form of a joke. Maybe it was just mandatory for First Years to help this week.
Either way, Ven was not happy.
So far, he was doing a pretty decent job of not being seen. He occupied himself with the art hooks, sorting through them based on height, so when someone needed a hook he'd just hand one off without any thought to it. It was easy, simple, and most people didn't even register that he was there to begin with. Was it rather lonely sitting in the supply closet? Yeah, but at least he knew he wouldn't mess anything up this way.
His peace was easily interrupted by an older boy shouting, "Hey! You wanna lend us a hand?"
Begrudgingly, knowing that the older boy couldn't have been talking to anyone else, Ven looked up. The boy calling to him was definitely older, but gave a youthful appearance with his still boyish face and short curly hair. With him was a small cart filled with student created paintings, and standing next to him was a girl with long black hair, light brown eyes that stared sharply at Ven, and star shaped earrings who looked incredibly impatient.
In some part of self defense, Ven held up his arms and tried to say, "O-oh no. I was just..."
"Doing nothing." the girl immediately retorted. Just the tone of her voice made Ven flinch. Her friend noted this too and gave her a cold glare.
"Skuld, don't be rude." he then said- a faint hint of mocking coming from his tone.
"I'm not being rude- I want to be finished so I can work on my math test."
"But you've memorized all those formulas..."
"But am I practicing them? No, no I'm not. Knowing the formulas, and actually putting them to use, are two separate beasts."
The boy gave his friend an uncertain look before turning his attention back to Ventus.
"Come help me out," he once more offered. "So my lovely friend here can go back to studying."
"I..." Ven tried to rebut, but in finding he didn't have a good rebuttal, he gave a small sigh instead. "Alright."
Slowly picking himself up, Ven walked over to the kid and his friend to dutifully follow them.
"We're going to hang these paintings up in the West Wing of the main building." the older boy told the younger. "The snow last week inspired a whole lotta people, so we have permission to hang stuff up wherever!"
Ventus just gave a small nod to show he understood. His silence was the cause of interest in the older boy. A wide smile appeared on his face in some kind of hidden amusement.
"You're a first year kid, aren't cha?"
Without realizing it, Ven jumped.
"Y-yeah," he agreed, "I am. How… how did you know?"
"I've got an eye for those kinda things." he insisted, tapping his nose a few times for emphasis. "Besides, you still have some sense of hope in you, unlike my friend here..."
A half-hearted 'humph' from his friend illustrated that she was only partially listening to him. The boy playfully stuck his tongue out at her, perhaps because he knew she wasn't paying attention to him.
"Oh, by the way," he then said to Ven, "The name's Ephemer. My cheerful friend over there is Skuld."
"Ventus." Ven replied, pointing to himself. "But most people call me Ven."
Ephemer gave Ven a bright smile.
"Nice to meet you Ven!" he greeted, sounding just as pleased. Ephemer then looked up to see where they were. "This looks like a good spot to hang some artwork up." he decided. "Hand me one of the hangers, Ven."
For a moment, Ven jumped as if he hadn't expected Ephemer to actually talk to him. With a small nod, Ventus got out one of the art hooks and handed it to Ephemer. Ephemer did not take the hook right away; instead he was holding up a painting to determine where to place it.
"Do you think they meant to have this thing going sideways or upright?" he mused to no one in particular. Skuld absently looked up, looked at the painting, and tilted her head in thought.
"Upright." she decided.
"I think it's meant to be a landscape painting." Ventus objected before he could stop himself. This earned him an equal look from the other two.
"How so?" Ephemer entertained. Instead of answering right away, Ven could feel his body tense.
"W-well..." he tried to stutter, "If you look at the top, you can see that the artist tried to do a gradient skyline. And… and there, it looks like spires from a castle or something. Then there's that thing that kinda looks like a chain coming down from one of the spires to something off the painting, like it's being anchored in. It all leads down to that grass area. I-I guess."
Ephemer raised an eyebrow at Ven before looking back at the painting. "You know," he mused, "I think I see it."
Despite himself, Ventus gave a small sigh. Good answer, Ven. Good answer.
The three of them continued to work until Skuld decided to leave. She had mumbled a word of good bye to Ephemer and nothing to the youngest boy, so Ven didn't even realize she had left at first. After Ephemer let Ven take a break for lunch, the boy decided to give a half-hearted attempt at making small talk.
"You two seem to know each other pretty well. It must be nice- I've never been that close to anyone before."
"Who..." Ephemer started to ask, caught off guard by Ven's sudden statement. When he realized what the younger boy was talking about, a wide smile appeared on his face. "Oh, you mean Skuld? I've known her since she started coming to school. We've been practically inseparable since then!"
"So," Ven then ventured to guess, "You're in the same year?"
Ephemer adamantly shook his head. "Nah; Skuld's actually a year older than I am, so she's in Seventh Year classes while I'm in Sixth Year classes."
"Oh..."
"It's not all bad," Ephemer then mused as he readjusted a painting, "I usually manage to snag her notes so I can use them later. Her notes are so well made, and she makes them look super nice too. I can only dream of taking notes as good as hers!"
The youngest boy gave a small nod of agreement. Not sure of what else to say, Ventus got back to helping Ephemer set up the artwork.
"There!" the older boy decided once the last painting was put up. He then turned to Ven as held out his hand, "Thanks for all the help, Ven. You've got a real eye for this stuff, you know?"
"Don't leave yourself out," Ventus sheepishly replied, "You did most of the leg work."
"Ah, you're too kind, Ven." Ephemer grinned. "Let's meet up again soon. I'd like to see your do actual curating at the next art show- maybe even spearhead the whole thing so more folks come!"
"O-oh, I don't think I could. Vanitas wouldn't like it if I..."
"Vanitas?"
Ven froze dead in his tracks. Did he just mention Vanitas? Oh no, oh no, oh no…!
"He… he's my brother!" the young boy quickly said to the other. "Y-yeah, my twin brother! He's kinda cranky and doesn't like it when we're separated for too long. You know? I-isn't it funny? I'm the oldest and he acts like he's in charge of everything!"
"Can't relate." Ephemer mused, folding his arms together in contemplation. "I'm an only child."
"O-oh..."
"Maybe sometime we can all meet up again."
"Huh?"
Ephemer smiled once again, a wide, genuine smile that almost made Ventus feel guilty for some reason.
"Let's meet up some day." Ephemer repeated. "You, me, your brother, Skuld- heck, maybe we can even throw in Anora for good luck!"
Ven was taken aback for a moment. Anora? Who was Anora? Before he could ask, Ephemer stepped up to him and offered his hand out. Ven looked at his hand before looking up at Ephemer himself.
"I… Okay." he agreed, taking the older boy's hand to shake it. Seeing Ephemer's grin grow only continued to make Ventus even more guilty. Vanitas was not going to like this.