Half Moon Rising

by ninjamouse1

There's a fine line between human and fiend and when Class VII is formed with ten members instead of nine that line will stretch to breaking point. When an experimental project is already blurring the lines between commoner and nobility, magical and mundane, one more chaotic element couldn't possibly hurt. What does it mean to be human? And is it worth trying to understand?

3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

At first, Evander was in a good mood. His classmates seemed to at least somewhat like him, which was pretty rare in his experience, and he hoped the rest of Trista would be the same. Surely everywhere couldn't be like Celdic, where the locals avoided him or cast hateful looks at him. So he stepped out into sunlight, determined to ignore the immediate weakness he felt, and make the most of the day. If he could make a good impression with any locals he met on the way to café, he'd be off to a good start, and know he'd made the right choice by coming to Thors. He sprang down the front steps onto the cobbled street, threw his arms wide as if embracing the whole town, and called out:

"Gooooooood morning Trista!" several dogs started barking in reply, and a rooster crowed, in, if it were possible, what sounded like a disgusted tone. But the only human response he received was an elderly man poking his head out of the window of a nearby house and shaking his fist at Evander.

"Shut up! You young punk!"

"Yes! Shut up to you too!" said Evander, determined to be cheerful, "shut up to all of you! Shut up Trista!" The old man slammed his window shut and no one else spoke for the moment. Evander would have thought he was off to a good start, had a black cat not emerging from between two houses and started staring at him. Immensely superstitious as he was, this disturbed Evander greatly and he tried to chase the cat off with no success. When he finally gave up and set off down the street, he noticed it was not just content with staring at him, but was now following him too. From quite a distance, but following him none the less, stopping when he stopped, and starting when he started. "There's something wrong with that cat," he complained to thin air, because all his classmates had set off ahead of him. He'd wanted to be alone for his first foray into town, giving the excuse that he'd only slow them down. In reality, he was worried they'd see how people reacted to him and be disturbed. He had a very unpleasant effect on a lot of people. Which would only be worse if he didn't get to the safety of the café before his sunlight allergies worsened to the point of disfiguring him. Sara had promised she was looking into some sort of rare quartz that would protect him better, but the engineering department were too busy 'dragging their feet and playing with orbal toys' to prioritise it. So until then, his outside forays would have to be strict point to point excursions, carried out as quickly as possible. He'd just have to deal with his feline stalker and get on with it.

But if the cat had unsettled him, it only got worse when he reached the main square. First, an old man walked right up to him and loudly announced that people like him were what was wrong with this country lately.

"I'm the future of this country," he'd protested.

"This country won't have a future, with people like you in it," said the old man grimly, and then walked off. Things didn't improve after that. The owner of the flower shop at the north end of the square shrieked and dropped a large ceramic pot at the sight of him before running back inside her shop. And when Evander had finished counting the broken shards, he turned around to find the sign on the door of the clothing boutique had changed from open to closed, apparently directly as a result of his appearance in the square. When he tried to cross back towards the café, two young boys playing in the park stopped immediately to point and stare at him while whispering loudly.

"What do you think is wrong with him? What a scary freak!" said one.

"He looks dangerous! Let's get out of here!" replied the other, and then both ran off. Evander was so defeated at this point, that he couldn't work up the strength to face the café just yet and slumped his way over to the park and sat down in the shade of a tree. Who knows how long he would have sat there, if a young girl hadn't come out of Brandon's General Goods and approached him and offered him a piece of toast of all things.

"You looked hungry," she said, when he looked at her in askance, "and I was full. Dad always makes too much."

"Thank you," said Evander, accepting the toast from her and taking a large bite. It tasted of nothing in his mouth, but he almost wept from her kindness all the same.

"I heard what those two jerks said about you. Rudy and Kay are such…such boys! No offense. I'm Tyzel, I hope they didn't ruin your day. I'll tell their parents they've been acting like little monsters again."

"No, my day was already off to a pretty rotten start," admitted Evander, "thank you Tyzel, but you should listen to your friends," he said, and stood up, "and don't tell lies. Your father didn't make the toast, I can hear him snoring from here."

"How did you_" she looked towards the house, but even straining her ears couldn't hear her father snoring. He had been asleep when she'd looked in on him only minutes ago. Only there was no way this boy could know that. "How did you know I was lying, really?" there was no answer, and when she turned around, he was gone. After a moment, she shivered from a sudden chill, and gave up looking, heading back inside to make more toast. She had given the first slice she'd finished to that strange student, but she didn't mind waiting a little longer, he'd looked so hungry and sad, she couldn't help it. But even with his weird disappearance, she didn't think he was dangerous at all. The way his face lit up at that simple piece of toast. It was as if one lightly buttered piece of toasted bread had driven all the evils in the world away, just for a moment. And she didn't think anyone who got that happy about a piece of toast could be an evil monster. Besides, she wasn't stupid, everyone knew monsters couldn't walk in the light of day.

Scene Break Here

Fred thought it was weird enough when Sister Ornella, who he'd never seen outside the chapel before, had turned up right after he'd opened up Kirsche's, requested a table for two and ordered a pot of tea, that it would be the strangest part of his day. He was just glad Dolly wasn't here, she usually arrived a little later than him in the mornings, because she'd always stop by the Chapel. No doubt if she'd spotted Sister Ornella, she'd have tried to get the sister to convince him to give up his 'sinful' gambling and attend mass more often. But then the door opened and a boy who could have passed for the Grim Reaper's nephew, what with the aura of dread radiating off him and all and his skeletal appearance, stepped in. Fred's hands went numb and dropped the mug he was cleaning straight onto the floor, he couldn't help it. The sharp shattering sound of the breaking ceramic made Sister Ornella look up from the notes she was reading and towards the door and, rather than being unsettled in any way, she flashed a gentle smile in the boy's direction. Now he looked nervous, and froze in the doorway, and somehow that made Fred feel better, and a little foolish all at once. Why had he reacted like that, it was just a skittish academy student coming in, not a feral nocturnal ghoul. He ducked down behind the counter and started to clean up the mess, so no one would see his embarrassment.

Sister Ornella carefully pushed her chair back, so as not to scrape the floor, and stood up, gesturing for Evander to come over and join her. He reluctantly did so, crossing the room and taking the seat opposite her without a word. She sat quietly, pouring him a steaming cup of tea that he looked at as though it were poison.

"Evander, I assume?" she asked, breaking the silence with her soft voice, "is tea not to your liking? I could ask for another drink if you like? Coffee, juice perhaps?"

"No, no, it's fine," Evander picked up the cup and raised it to his lips, almost took a sip and then thought better of it, lowering it back to the table. "Um, it's not brewed with holy water, or anything is it?" he asked, feeling rather stupid. But he couldn't shake the feeling this was some sort of trap. She was a sister of Aidios, and he had the blood of fiends coursing in his veins, why was she being so nice?

"No, I don't think so," she laughed musically, "I can always ask the barista if you want, but I don't think it's on the standard list of ingredients. Drink up, if you want, then we'll get started."

"Maybe I shouldn't," said Evander, thinking about pushing the cup away. "I have a lot of allergies."

"I'm aware, your instructor informed me. It should be perfectly safe, and if not, I am well versed in first aid." He could feel her eyes boring into him, and he couldn't think of any other way to reject the drink without offending her, so he picked the cup back up and took a careful measured sip. And then nearly fell out of his chair in shock. He could taste it! The drink was liberally laced with what must be a massive amount of cinnamon and some sort of other strong spices. "Oh, I'm sorry! I take my cinnamon chai tea a bit strong, I should have checked with you!"

"No, it's perfect, thank you," said Evander, his voice hoarse with gratitude, so he took another sip to clear his throat. It tasted delicious, but only made him more suspicious of her. Did she really just have strong acquired tastes, or was she aware of his curse? And if so, what kind of game was she playing? "I'm afraid I don't really know where to start. I know a few words here and there, that I can read easily and understand. And I can spell my name and some numbers and other small, everyday words. But other than that, I'm not much further ahead than some of your youngest students. Apparently I don't need to work on maths, if that helps, Instructor Sara says I'm good at that, and so does Machias."

"That's a relief, because it's not my strongest subject," admitted Sister Ornella, "or science for that matter. We had a boy at Sunday School who's sought out tutoring instead, because he required more advanced material. I'm sure we'll find someone to help you in a similar fashion later, I'm just here to get you started on the basics," she slid a paper over to him. "This is a simple test, don't worry, it won't be graded. I just need to see where you're at so I can plan my lessons accordingly."

Scene Break Here

Several hours later, Evander staggered out of the café with his head spinning, and not just because of the several pots of cinnamon chai he'd ended up drinking either. He felt he'd made some real progress, even after just one lesson. Sister Ornella was an excellent, patient teacher, and he'd been starting to relax when she'd dropped a bombshell on him. He was still reeling from her unexpected request, head stuck in the clouds, that he nearly walked straight into Rean out in the square. He narrowly dodged around him and pretended this was a completely natural gesture by completing a full circle around Rean and clapping him on the back when he was done.

"Trippy vibes Rean, don't be a flatliner!" he said, trying to force a smile on his face.

"Uh, trippy vibes to you too, Evander. How'd your hot date go?"

"Terribly," announced Evander, choosing to ignore Rean's joke and throwing his hands up in despair, "you wouldn't believe how badly it went! Sister Ornella is such a flatliner!"

"I'm sorry, I have to ask, where'd you pick up all this weird slang you've started using?" asked Rean, "I've never heard anyone talk like that in my life."

"Oh? I'm not sure where it's from. My old teacher in swordsmanship spoke like that all the time. His name was Master Blade Jones, and he was a wandering homeless hermit. He said there was no point setting up a permanent school, because those ambidexters or whatever were so rare. So he travels the world, randomly testing potential students. If you pass, he'll train you for a while until the vibes get bad, then you might not see him again for months."

"You know, my own master was pretty weird too," admitted Rean, "there's got to be something about the way of the sword that drives people insane."

"Oh, so that's not a normal way of speaking? He's sort of the only person I spoke to, outside of my family, so I didn't know. Great, now I need to find some other way to be as normal as possible," complained Evander. "But enough about that. You know who's really crazy? Sister Ornella! She said my maths was so good she wanted me help teach the kids at Sunday School? How messed up is that!?"

"It actually sounds like a pretty good idea to me," said Rean, "I don't see what the issue is."

"Sunday school is in the chapel! I dare not set foot in that place! I just can't okay! And besides, I don't know why, but all children hate me," he suddenly noticed they were walking near a ladder outside Brandon's General Goods and jumped to the side to avoid passing under it. "Curses! Curses everywhere! I nearly got seven years bad luck!"

"Oh, hi mister!" said Tyzel, who was up the ladder, putting a fresh coat of paint on the sign. "I see you found a friend!"

"You need to get thinner," Evander told her seriously, examining the paintwork. Tyzel pouted at him.

"Even if that's true, it's not a very nice thing to say."

"Okay, suit yourself, but if you don't thin that paint out it's out going to look all clumpy and terrible when it dries," said Evander shrugging.

"Oh! You meant the paint!" said Tyzel, laughing. "I read the paint tin; it said I didn't need thinner. Thanks though."

"See, what did I tell you?" said Evander, once they'd walked out of earshot. "Children hate me. They won't take my advice, and now I'll have to look at a clumpy sign every day. Curses everywhere! I'm cursed!"

"I think you're overreacting, just a bit," said Rean, "what did you tell Sister Ornella?"

"Nothing. I couldn't speak. So she finally just said, 'think about at it at least,' and then left! What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you should think about it?"

"I did! And I think that I don't want to do it."

"Then don't."

"But then I think that not doing it is wrong somehow."

"Then do it."

"But then I think that even if not doing it is morally wrong, it feels right. For my sanity."

"Then don't do it."

"Ugh! You're useless! I mean, if she'd just outright asked me to do it, it'd be so much easier. Because one of my rules is to never turn down an honest request for help. But now, because it's my choice, I have to violate another rule. 'Never make a decision, that way nothing is your fault when it inevitably blows up in your face.' This is the worst day on earth. I swear, I never had these problems back on the farm."

"What can I say Evander," said Rean, struggling to hide a grin at how overdramatic his classmate was being, "you live a complicated life."

"You've got that right. To teach, or not to teach. That is the question. Is it nobler in_ that cat is still following me! Sorry, Rean, gotta dash, this cat has been cursing me all day!"

Scene Break Here

The black cat stuck to Evander like glue, following him everywhere he went and driving him completely insane with superstitious panic. Finally, he decided, while crouched beside a row of dustbins, to review his knowledge of cat lore. Cats, he remembered, hated water. Trista had a river running through the northern part of town. Evander hated water, deep or otherwise. He couldn't swim for a start, and he didn't like the way it felt on his skin. But so great was his desire to escape this persistent dark omen, that he decided to face his fear and get as close to the river as he dared. He really wasn't looking forward to it, because running water was the worst kind of all water. You could get swept up in the current if you fell in, and none of the whirling, eddying patterns in the water were ever quite symmetrical. Plus, he always felt an immense curiosity about the various sticks and other debris he'd see floating down the stream. Wondering who threw them in, where'd they'd end up. And the fact he'd never find out bothered him for some reason. Like he was missing out on something by not knowing.

However, he'd always heard that a fear shared was a fear halved, and to his relief, there was another student already down by the river. A boy in a white uniform was standing there with a serene expression, fishing away like he didn't have a care, or a class to think about, in the world. Evander sidled up to him, eyes nervously fixed onto the water, in case it would suddenly swell it's banks and seize him.

"Hey there, are the fish biting?" he asked.

"Nope, but they will, even if I have to wait all day," said the fishing boy. He casually stuck a hand out to the side for a shake, without even looking at Evander, "Kenneth Lakelord at your service. President of the Imperial Fishing Club. Signups don't open till tomorrow, but you're welcome to join me today. I've got a spare rod somewhere."

"That seems awfully inefficient," said Evander, ignoring both the proffered hand and the introduction and focussing on finding the rod in question, "you just sling this in the water and hope for a bite?" he asked when he located it, hanging haphazardly out of a bucket of worms.

"Pretty much. There's different lures and baits you can use, but fishing is nine parts luck, and don't believe anyone who tells you differently. That's the best part of it, whether you have a good day, or a bad day, it wasn't on you. So just relax and see what bites."

"Hmm, that does sound nice," admitted Evander, "but that's not how my family fish. I don't need this for a start," he carefully put the rod down and drew one of his swords instead. He walked to the water's edge, peered intently into the river water for a moment, and then struck like lightning with a downward thrust into the water. When he lifted the sword back out, a huge fish was skewered on the blade. Kenneth's jaw nearly dropped off, then he threw his head back and laughed.

"That was amazing! You've got to show me how to do that!" Evander loaned him his other sword and spent the next several minutes trying to teach Kenneth the noble art of 'sword fishing' without any success. Eventually the sun started to make him itch, and he had to leave to find some sort of shade. Kenneth happily let him go, vowing to practice on his own until he got it right. Evander didn't have to heart to tell him it was far easier to do when the eyes of a hawk and lightning-fast reflexes. It just made him feel like a fraud and a cheat.

Scene Break Here

Evander found shelter under the awning outside the currently closed Trista Radio Station building and sat down against the wall, fanning himself against the heat. Of course, it wasn't that hot, if you were normal, but Evander felt like he was dancing in an inferno. He was planning to take a bit of a nap until the discomfort passed, when he heard his name being loudly called out from nearby. He stood up and peered around the corner, spotting a green-haired girl wandering around the main square carrying a stack of papers and calling out his name with a voice like a foghorn.

"Evander! Where are you!? Oh bother! I'm lost again! I don't believe it! Someone said he was by the river, and I can't even find the river!"

"Here I am," said Evander, appearing beside her in a flash. The girl screamed and threw all her papers into the air where they were caught by a passing breeze and nearly whisked away. Evander however was on the case, chasing them down in record time with an impressive display of speed of and acrobatics and returning them to the girl.

"Thanks!" she said brightly, "that was so unclumsy," she told him, as though that were a real word, "you're like the anti-me! I'm Mint and I was supposed to find you to give you something. What was it again? Ooh, if I forget Uncle Makarov will be so disappointed! I can't let him down!"

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" suggested Evander, "who's your uncle Makarov, and why does he have something for me?"

"Oh well, he teaches Orbal Science over at the academy and he'd be hopeless without me to help him out. Mum always says so! I was trying to find a place to get a drink of coffee and suddenly I was in this weird building filled with machines and tools and this guy comes over and asks if know Evander. And I said I know lots of things, so he said he and Uncle Makarov had been working on something for Evander Cantrell and since I knew him, could I give it to him? And before I knew it I had all these papers and some other thing and I was looking for you. I heard you were at the river, but there was just some other boy there, stabbing the water with a knife, and he wasn't you, because you're here, not there. But then I thought, maybe that was you, but I couldn't find the river again."

"Ah, it must be the quartz I was waiting for!" enthused Evander, "do you still have it?"

"Um, hold on," said Mint, handing him the papers, "these are some instructions or questions or something, and the quartz is…" she rifled through her pockets and produced a pitch black, crystalline object which she handed to him. "Is that right?"

"Yes, thanks! I've been waiting for this since yesterday!" said Evander, "you've saved me from an afternoon of immense suffering!"

"Cool! I can't wait to tell Uncle Makarov I did so well!" she skipped off, in the entirely wrong direction of course, but Evander was too busy staring at the papers to nice she was leaving until it was too late. "Wait!" he called, but she was gone when he looked up. "I can't make heads or tails of these forms!" He supposed he could just slot the quartz in without knowing what these papers said, but what if he broke it? Where could he go to find someone to read these for him? He looked around the square, trying to make out anything on the shop signs that would help. Finally he realised that one had something to do with books, which he understood were full of words, and made his way there. He haphazardly opened the door while still holding his quartz and papers, and sidled inside, missing the hostile look the store's owner immediately shot him.

"Don't try and read anything without paying for it," he snapped suddenly, immediately making Evander for a thief or a time waster.

"I probably couldn't read most of this stuff anyway," admitted Evander, "I'm an illiterate imbecile."

"Then what are you doing in a bookstore?"

"I thought I might use the pages to start a massive bonfire," joked Evander, "roast up some potatoes and all that."

"Get out! Get out right now you young smartass!" He marched out from behind the counter and practically threw Evander out of his store.

"Fine!" yelled Evander from the street, "no potatoes then! If you'd preferred carrots, you should have said!"

"Were you looking for a cookery book?" asked Emma, appearing from around the corner.

"I was looking for someone who knows long fancy words," said Evander, waving his stack of papers and shrugging helplessly, "I got this new quartz for my arcus unit to help with my sun allergy, but I can't read the instructions. What if I slot it in and my head explodes or something?"

"I can help if you want," offered Emma, 'I'll admit, orbments aren't a speciality of mine, but I'd be glad to have a look."

"Thank you!" Evander handed her the stack of papers and bowed ridiculously, "you're a weird chick, but a cool chick! Oh, I'm sorry about my apology this morning. A couple of people have explained that I'm not being normal."

"It's okay, I was just startled," said Emma distractedly, scanning over the papers. "I think you should be fine just slotting it in. It's a time quartz called 'Eternal Night' and it'll shroud you in an invisible field that tricks your body into thinking it's really night and protecting you from your allergies. The only thing you should avoid is wearing it at night, because that'll double the effect and have unforeseen side effects. The rest of these forms are for you to provide feedback, but you might have to give that in person, because some of these questions are a little technical. Do you know George? He's managing this for the engineering department."

"Yeah, I saw him yesterday when he took my swords before that hell dungeon," said Evander, busily slotting the Eternal Night Quartz into his Arcus unit. As Emma watched, the air around him took on a faint shimmer, and his health seemed to immediately improve. In fact, he seemed to become almost manic, eyes darting around. "Curses! I'm famous already!" Emma shot him a questioning look and Evander pointed over to the park, where Rudy and Kay had gathered a small group of their fellow kids for scary story time. As Emma listened, one of the boys started loudly talking about a vampire he'd seen this morning.

"I saw a vampire with a Kirsche's menu in his hand, walking through the streets of Trista in the shade!"

"Yeah!" said the other boy, "I saw him too, he was looking for a victim so he could chow down on a big old vein!"

"If you hear him prowling around your kitchen door, you better not let him in. Sister Ornella had breakfast with him this morning and she got mutilated!"

"He's evil demented and sick, he's run amok from here to Celdic!"

"I saw him buying a ladder at the general store, probably so he could climb up through windows to bite and infect. His hair was perfect!"

"Vampires are in Trista again!"

Emma looked back to see Evander reaction, only to find he'd disappeared. Probably for the best, if the kids spotted him again, he might cause a riot. Celine sprang lightly down from a nearby rooftop and looked around to make sure no one was too close.

"I followed him, like you asked," said her familiar, "he's definitely not human, he smells all wrong. Like the night-touched, by weaker, mixed with human. He might well be one of these dhampirs you read about. It's possible they're a recent breed, or so rare that even grandmother doesn't know much about them. Or didn't care to tell us what she did know. But I didn't see him doing anything evil. He mostly just got hassled by the locals."

"I've got to do something about this," said Emma, looking back over to the kids, who were chasing each other around, shrieking with laughter and pretending to bite each other. "It's not right."

Scene Break Here

Day three of term was technically another free day, part of the orientation. All club presidents were encouraged to actively advertise their clubs and given the day off classes to do so. First years could then tour the grounds, looking into the different clubs and seeing which ones they might be interested in. It wasn't necessary to sign up on the spot, but it was a good day to scope things out and see what was on offer. Evander found himself in the student union building, walking like a man on a mission. Only one of the clubs had interested him, the mysterious Occult Research Society and he'd been told he could find it here. He was sort of morbidly curious as to whether the club president actually knew anything about the occult and wanted to see how'd they react to his presence. Also, he figured if there was any place to avoid decent Aidios fearing people, it would be here. So he found himself barging into the small room on the second floor of the student union building, eyes immediately adjusting to the darkness enforced by a thick set of black out curtains drawn across the windows. There was only one dark haired girl inside, sitting at a desk in front of a crystal ball, but she instantly gave Evander bad vibes. There was something creepy about her, and coming from him, that was saying something.

"Good morning," she said darkly, "I've been expecting you. You've come seeking the true secrets of the shadows, haven't you? To learn of dark and forbidden powers? Or perhaps you've come to unravel the mystery of your own cursed existence?" she tittered creepily, "all these things I can reveal to you. If you prove yourself worthy."

"Uh huh," said Evander, feigning nonchalance, "and just what are your qualifications?"

"I know you ate breakfast at Kirsche's this morning. With your sister, no… a sister. And you were reading, no, learning how to read." Evander went pale.

"How could you possibly_?"

"I know many things. My spirit guide tells me all I need to know. Take a seat, I must test you to see if you are worthy of being my apprentice in the ways of the occult. I will not take any ordinary student, you understand, for the dark arts are not to be trifled with by mundane hands." Shaking like a leaf, Evander pulled up the chair opposite her and took a seat. She smiled at him like a demented shark and Evander immediately realised something about her. Her pale, sickly appearance, the bags under her eyes, and just then, the last piece of the puzzle, her too sharp teeth. She was like him.

"You're a child of the half-moon," he said slowly, "like me. But your psychic gift seems way clearer than mine. How is that possible?"

"Not the half-moon," she replied, still smiling creepily, "the crescent moon. I'm a quarter vampire. I have none of your physical abilities, but the mental gifts are more powerful for me. Because I'm not distracted by the hunger like you are. I can teach you, Evander Cantrell, but first, you must prove you have the talent to learn from me at all. Now, first question. What is my name? No," she held up a hand when he made to answer immediately, "you're guessing, hoping your intuition will just give you the correct answer. What were you about to say?"

"Bevel," admitted Evander, "but that's not even a name."

"No, but it's close," she said after a long pause, considering him cautiously, "very close. Perhaps your gift is strong enough after all. I don't understand how, unless… you don't drink?" There was no need to specify to which beverage she referred to, they both knew. Evander nodded.

"Not one drop, not in years. Not since the Septian vampire hunters nearly got me."

"Ah. Sobriety suits you, Evander. Sobriety brings you suffering, and suffering brings you strength of character. That strength of character brings you closer to your human half and that proximity to humanity has enhanced your psychic gifts, even as you physically weaken. Try again, what's my name? Focus." So Evander focussed, and for the first time in years tried to actually use his gifts on purpose rather than stumble across them. An image of a gemstone flashed across his mind, and then the name.

"Beryl," he said finally, though it was like the effort had physically drained him. He was shaking, even paler than usual.

"Correct. But once can be a fluke. I have a reputation to maintain, and my apprentice must meet the highest of psychic standards. So, we shall resume testing." She fanned out a deck of playing cards and selected one, holding it close to her chest. "What suit is the card I'm holding from? Narrate exactly how you determine the answer." Evander frowned, and though there was a dull ache in his head now, he focussed on the card in her hand and began to speak, slowly and haltingly.

"You usually use Tarot cards," he started, "but it's definitely an ordinary playing card in your hand. It's not a spade or a club, those are for soldiers and though we are in a military academy, that's not what you're holding. It's not a diamond because the diamond is elsewhere, a diamond mind, focussed on her art. And I can't see the shape of a heart in your hand. It's… this is weird, I want to laugh… a joker! You're holding the joker. It's not from any suit."

"Correct," she said, flipping the card around to show him the smiling jester on it. "You have a knack for this. Another test," she tossed a coin into the air, caught it on her arm and hid the result for him with her other hand. "Heads or tails? You seem to work through symbols, what do you see when you focus on the coin?"

"A serpent with many heads."

"A hydra. Yes."

"Too many heads. And a snake, a liar? It's a two headed coin, so it's always heads and you're trying to trick me."

"Correct again. But if you truly have the gift, you will know how many secret mysteries this academy has."

"Fourteen," Evander answered immediately. "I saw two sevens."

"Well done. There are indeed fourteen mysteries. The seven fake, illusory mysteries whispered about among the student body, and the seven true, dark secrets known only to me. You have passed the preliminary trials. But I am not yet ready to reveal the secrets of the occult to you, not until, I am sure. Show me your dominant hand."

"I'm ambidextrous," said Evander, trying out his new word. "So, take your pick."

"Ah, so you possess the devil's dexterity as well. Promising," she took a hand at random and scrutinised the lines. "Hmm, you will live a long life," she announced, "but an unhappy one. Fraught with illness and bad luck in love. Very good. I can't have you getting distracted. Very well, I accept you into the Occult Research Society, Evander. Your presence here is actually quite convenient because there is a new mystery I wanted to investigate. Obviously I can't leave my post on Club Open Day, but you can be my eyes and ears. Rumours have reached me of a mysterious girl armed with a mighty sword wandering the grounds on a mission. She is taken for a second year, yet none recognise her. Everyone she meets, she asks if they know the location of a pale stranger who dances like a devil. Perhaps she is a ghost, unable to pass on until she duels the grim reaper. Perhaps_"

"I think it's just Laura looking for me," said Evander, standing up from his chair, "I'll go and find her if you like."

"Very well. But don't interrupt me again, or I'll put a curse on you."

"I don't think you can actually do that," said Evander, a touch distractedly as he sniffed the air, hunting for the familiar scent of blade oil that accompanied Laura. "See you later," he walked out, head high as he sniffed the air, oblivious to Beryl's furious glare. She was finally starting to realise how people felt around her now, and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Scene Break Here

When you could leap out of tall buildings and land without suffering so much as a scratch, windows became little more than glass doorways to you. At least that's how Evander saw them anyway. So, when he was in the hallway of the Student Union Building and he caught Laura's scent on the ground outside, rather than heading for the stairs he just barged into another room across the hall and made for the window. He would have completely ignored the two students sitting in there, had not the one in the white uniform, a noble student thoroughly thrashing his commoner opponent in a game of chess, called out to him.

"I say! How dare you barge in here like a common cretin! Can you not see we are engaged in a game here?"

"Oh," Evander paused, turned around and walked over to stand behind the commoner student, peering over his shoulder. The boy in the green uniform was in a horrible state of check, mere moments from giving up. "Does one have to play in order to secure passage through this room? If so," without asking he picked up a knight and deftly took the piece threatening the commoner's king. "Your move," he said, nodding to the noble. The boy spluttered and nearly fell out of his chair.

"You can't do that!" he yelled.

"Actually," said the commoner, "that was a perfectly legal move, I'm shocked I didn't see it myself!" he jumped up and shook Evander's hand, "I'm Stefan, President of the Lower Class Chess Club, that was amazing!"

"I don't care if it was legal!" fumed the noble, "it's not allowed for another player to assist you!"

"Ah, I apologise. I'm not big on the rules of chess," admitted Evander, "I learned to play from my sword master, and he always played while he was drunk and cheated like crazy. For years he had me believing that flipping the table over was a valid winning move. I'll take my leave then." He walked over to the window and, it was the most natural thing in the world, opened it and stepped straight out of it into the void.

"Who in the blazes was that?" demanded the noble boy.

"I don't believe it," whispered Stefan, "I thought he was just a legend."

"What are you blathering about?"

"The Chequered King. He walks the line between black and white, saving the desperate with the single move of a knight! He's real! I thought it was just a story my father told!"

"Truly? Well, my father told me something too. He said I should avoid dangerous lunatics who leap out of windows," the noble stood up and made for the door to take his leave. "Good day."

"But the game_"

"I said good day!"

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

Scene Break Here

Completely unaware that he just added yet another mystery to those haunting Thors Academy, Evander landed cat-like on the cobble stones outside the Student Union Building and sniffed the air. The scent was almost on top of him now, and when he turned around, he found Laura standing right beside him with a faintly bemused expression.

"Tell me, Evander, do you have a deathwish?" she asked mildly. "Or does the concept of dying baffle you so much that you do not understand or accept that it might happen to you?"

"Oh, is this about the sniffing in your direction thing again?" asked Evander, "you're not really going to cut my nose off, are you?"

"I was referring to the jumping out of windows thing actually," said Laura, "but you bring me to my actual reason for searching for you." Evander braced himself to be thoroughly told off again, and was instead startled half to death when Laura instead sketched a short bow. "I'd like to apologise for my earlier conduct during the orienteering exercise. Though I suspected that you would be able to counter my offensive, it was wrong of me to attack you without warning and for that I am sorry."

"Oh that!" Evander waved his hand dismissively, "put it out of your mind. I'm not surprised you attacked me; I was behaving suspiciously. You'd have been mad to trust me."

"Indeed? Then in the spirit of that trust would you care to answer a question for me? I have played the events of that day over and over again. And while I still cannot understand what about you aroused such anger in me, I saw something else I didn't realise. Something else that doesn't make sense. You dodged my first strike and just barely parried the second stroke. At first, I thought it was because you were too slow, that you almost failed to protect yourself. And that weighed on me heavily, because I could have seriously harmed you. But as I played our brief duel back in my mind, I saw it truly. You weren't slow to parry, you hesitated. You saw the attack coming and hesitated, held yourself back. Why?"

"Ah. You're very good. You know that right? When you put your mind to it, you're very good. Yes, you caught me. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? What on earth do you mean? What are you sorry for?"

"For underestimating you that day. I hadn't seen you fight yet, but I should have known, just from the way you carried yourself, that you were a master of the way of the sword. I did hesitate, because my first instinct wasn't to parry. I had to forcibly stop myself from counterattacking because I wasn't sure if you could reverse your momentum and parry me in time. It was stupid of me. From what I saw of your fighting technique during the battle against the fiend you'd have parried with ease and taken my head off if I'd struck at you."

"Hmm. I'll admit, I had not considered that you were restraining yourself from counter attacking, I thought you'd need both swords to block my strike to the difference between the weight of our weapons and physical strength."

"Oh. Then what did you think was the reason I was hesitating?"

"I wondered… I wondered if you didn't quite care whether you lived or died in that moment and were deciding whether it was worth blocking. I'm sorry. What a perfectly horrible thing to think about someone I barely know."

"It's not horrible at all. It makes sense actually. I did just jump out of a window in front of you, which couldn't have helped your impression. Um, I don't know how to convince you otherwise but I swear, I'm not trying to die."

"You could always show me how your counterattack would have worked," suggested Laura, "I'll admit, I'm unsure how you'd have done it."

"Oh, of course," Evander unsheathed his swords and took a ready stance. "Attack me the same way you did in the labyrinth, the second strike. Don't hold back."

"Very well," Laura drew her own sword, sketched a quick bow to her opponent and then struck. Evander reacted like lightning, his right-hand blade catching the edge of her much heavier sword and ghosting along it before twisting outward in a wrenching motion, using the momentum of the strike to throw her blade wide of him. Working with her enormous strength rather than against it by just turning the strike rather than trying to stop it cold. Then his left-hand blade thrust out, stopping inches from her throat.

"That's what I wanted to do," he said quietly, withdrawing his blade after a second's pause. "You know what's it like, when you train for so long the moves become ingrained, automatic? I had to actively stop myself, and that took time. So, you saw my hesitation before the parry."

"Fascinating," said Laura, sheathing her sword as well, "I see the rumours about the Devil's Whirlwind were not exaggerated."

"It requires perfect dexterity in both hands," explained Evander, "because the second sword isn't just for decoration or to reinforce the other. Both are independent of each other, two weapons wielded by one swordsman. Anyone with enough strength can dual wield, and our swords are lighter than standard blades for a reason, but it takes more than that to use both weapons effectively at once. My master always used to say we had more than the two weapons in our hands, that they were just an obvious smokescreen to conceal our true strength. Our physical and mental dexterity. The intensive footwork we have to master and the practice of trying to think ten steps ahead of our opponent. It takes such immense concentration to fight in this style, it's exhausting in more ways than one. And that's why I like it. Because it's one of the only things that drowns out the hunge_ I mean, drowns out all other distractions."

"I think," said Laura, after a long pause, "that I should quite like to duel you one day. No holds barred. I think we could both learn a lot."

"Declined," said Evander immediately.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I won't duel you. Now if you don't mind, I have a club meeting to get back to. I just solved a mystery." He walked off without another word, leaving a baffled Laura behind him. In truth, he regretted it, but he couldn't tell her why he didn't want to spar with her. He couldn't tell her that while practicing the Devil's Whirlwind sword style for short periods was a distraction to him, any extended duel between them would exert him beyond his limits. And that would make the hunger in him so much worse, so much harder to ignore. He couldn't risk it. She was too good, she would force him to draw on all his strength and leave himself vulnerable to that infernal whisper in the back of his mind. The whisper that always told him how much stronger he could be if only he partook of mortal blood. No duel was worth that risk.

Scene Break Here

Evander's return to the Occult Research Society was considerably slower than his departure from it, because he actually had to use the stairs this time, but he was still back far quicker than Beryl had expected.

"Mystery solved. It was like I thought," said Evander, "it was just Laura Arseid, a first year in my class. She worried I had a deathwish and wanted to make sure I was alright. Anything else on the agenda?"

"Yes, something terrible and profane," whispered Beryl, "are you familiar with the legend of the drop bear?"

"No."

"Then let it suffice to say that it is a foul and evil creature that lurks among the treetops, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey walking underneath. Human prey. It has been sighted on the academy grounds, lurking near the sport's field. Your next assignment is to find this creature and bring it to me."

"I'll get on that right away," said Evander, making for the door. "It shouldn't be hard to track down." Beryl waited patiently until he was gone and then laughed evilly.

"Fool! Everyone knows there's no such thing as drop bears!"

Scene Break Here

Several hours had passed since receiving his latest assignment, and Evander was beginning to suspect that Beryl was giving him the run around as a tasteless prank. He could find neither hide nor hair of this mysterious drop bear. Not with psychic or mundane methods. He realised he'd probably offended her in some way, probably by solving that last mystery too quickly, and this was her way of getting revenge. But he wasn't certain. And if there really was a ravenous creature prowling the grounds, it was his duty to stop it. So he was still looking for this mysterious creature when Elliot and Machias stumbled across him in the courtyard of the main building, crawling around under a seating bench.

"Uh, Evander?" started Elliot, "are you alright down there?"

"Fine, just looking for something," he replied, not bothering to crawl out from under the bench and address them properly.

"What, pray tell, are you looking for?" inquired Machias, "your sanity perhaps?"

"No, I lost that years ago. I'm looking for a drop bear." Machias sighed and massaged his temples in annoyance while Elliot laughed nervously.

"You're joking right?" asked Elliot.

"Why would I be joking?"

"Well because there's no_" before Elliot could point out that there were no such thing as drop bears Machias leapt in, deciding to get in on this prank.

"No point looking for it under there," he cut in. "Everyone knows that drop bears are attracted to flowers and herbs, preferably those growing near water."

"The pond!" said Evander, crawling out from under the bench and jumping up and punching the air triumphantly. "Thank you Machias! I'll have the fiend cornered in no time now! Do you know anything else about drop bears?"

"Indeed. The drop bear is a notoriously magical creature, capable of shapeshifting to conceal its true form. It can turn into other animals, even people."

"People!? Then it could be anyone!? Wait a minute…" Evander fixed his gaze on Elliot, "you've been awfully quiet Elliot." Of course he had, he was waging an internal debate as to whether or not to tell Evander the truth or not. "Are you really Elliot? Or perhaps a vile demon in disguise!?" He lunged at Elliot and started chasing him around the courtyard.

"Stop!" yelled Elliot desperately and then tried the first thing that came into his head, "the drop bear can only turn into blondes!"

"Really?" Evander paused and looked over at Machias. "Is that true?"

"Oh definitely. The drop bear is notorious for only being able to turn into people with natural blonde hair."

"Hmm. Well, that should narrow things down. I'm looking for a blonde by a pond. Thanks guys! I'll see you later, okay?" Evander hared off, a man on a mission, and Machias burst out laughing the moment he was gone. Elliot frowned at him.

"That wasn't very nice Machias," he said.

"Hey, you joined in! That bit about blondes was perfect! Can you imagine him accusing Jusis of being a drop bear? I'd pay to see that!"

"We're going to hell," groaned Elliot, "I just know it."

Scene Break Here

Edel of the Gardening Club was famous for being nearly impossible to faze, so perhaps it was fate that if anyone would be the target of Evander's madness, it would be her. After all, she could take it. After getting briefed on the magical properties of drop bears, Evander had headed straight for the academy pond and lo and behold who should he see standing nearby surrounded by flowers and herbs but a blonde girl. He scouted around the area for a moment, cautious of any traps, but as far as he could tell, he'd caught the drop bear by surprise, so without further ado he lunged over the fence and pointed at Edel dramatically.

"Hold, vile she-demon!" he yelled, "I have come to end your bloodthirsty reign of terror!" Edel paused, adjusted her sunhat and peered at Evander curiously.

"I see. Will that take long? Only I have to get these flowers watered before it gets too hot."

"Do not mock me, demon! Do you deny being a drop bear? Is your hair dyed?"

"I don't think that's really your business, nor a very polite thing to ask a lady. Now, would you like to join the gardening club? The garlic is just about ready to harvest, and I could use a hand."

"Garlic? Are you trying to provoke me!? Do you mean to destroy me, demon!?"

"I don't think so. Look, it's perfectly harmless," Edel wandered over to the herb garden and dug up a bulb of garlic before walking back over to Evander and waving it in his face. Only two days ago Evander had sworn that his head would explode if he went anywhere near garlic. While that wasn't quite true, his reaction today was nearly as spectacular. The second the garlic went near him his eyes began watering furiously and his nose began to run. Red blotchy patches even began to appear on his skin, which started to burn like fire. He let an unearthly howl of pain and ran blindly away only to plunge straight into the pond with a mighty splash. Kenneth was fishing there at the time, and while the boy might have been known to ignore a bomb going off while he was in the fishing zone, nothing caught his attention like a big splash or rippling water.

"There's a huge one!" he cried, casting his rod into the water near where Evander had toppled in. By some quirk of fate, the hook became tangled in one of the holes of Evander's already ruined jacket and ended up stuck. Kenneth became convinced he'd caught the biggest fish in Trista, perhaps a relative of the famous Guardian, and tried to heave the thing back to shore. Instead, Evander emerged from the water, coughing spluttering, and hauled himself onto the bank. He ripped his soaked jacket off and let Kenneth reel it in. The fishing mad boy examined his catch with obvious disappointment. "I thought that old boot I caught last month would be the worst catch of the year," he muttered. "But at least the boot didn't have holes in it. I'm wearing it now in fact."

"Kenneth Lakelord," said Evander, pulling himself back together, "do you know if there is a drop bear in this lake? I was attacked by some sort of vile serpentine creature down there!"

"You found an eel! Awesome! I must catch one!" Kenneth immediately forgot about the holey jacket he'd hauled up and went straight back to fishing, ignoring Evander and the world in general.

"Excuse me? Hello? Do you know where I could find a drop bear?" Evander was about to walk over and wave a hand in front of Kenneth's face when Edel appeared beside him and thrust a watering can into his hand.

"I don't know about drop bears," she said, "but the only animal I can think of that's on the grounds are the horses by the academy field. You could look there. After you help me water the Begonias of course."

"But I don't want to water Begonias! I'm on a mission of_" Edel just looked him at steadily until he deflated and surrendered. "Fine! I'll water the Begonias! Slave driver!" Edel laughed musically and walked off. Later she would tell her friends about a boy who'd let out such an awful scream at the sight of garlic. Within moments the story would warp into something different with each retelling, until it wasn't garlic, but a mandrake root. And not Evander screaming, but the plant itself, letting out a deadly wail that struck the boy dead on the spot. Kenneth also had a story to tell later, mentioning fishing a jacket out of the pond and as an afterthought mentioning that Evander had been attached to it. Stories of a corpse being fished out of the pond and then coming to life and running off spread like wildfire. Two new mysteries were born.

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

The Wailing Mandrake

The Drowned Undead

Scene Break Here

After learning more about gardening than he'd ever cared to know, Evander had finally escaped from Edel and went off to scout out the sports field. What he found there chilled him to the bone. There were targets galore, any of which could have possibly been the drop bear, or maybe even multiple drop bears were prowling the academy grounds, wearing the forms of both men and beasts. Jusis was over by the stables, and as he was a blond, both he and the numerous horses were suspects for being eldritch abominations. And over the way there was some sort of sport being played where both Alisa and another blonde girl were involved. Evander decided to start with Jusis, because he figured he'd instantly know the real Jusis from an imposter by the level of cold haughtiness the real boy gave off. Something no demonic entity could possibly copy with any great skill. He proceeded to, in his mind at least, stealthily creep over towards the stables. Unfortunately he was about as subtle as a sledgehammer thanks to his new eternal night quartz. He felt so good he'd forgotten it wasn't actually the dead of night, but broad daylight in an open field. So all his sneaking just made him look all the more conspicuous and more than a little silly. Jusis pretty much instantly spotted him.

"Don't look now," he told Lambert, the riding club's president, "but an idiot approaches from the east."

"Come now Jusis! Anyone instantly drawn to the majesty of Whitcomb cannot be an idiot!" said Lambert, stroking the mane of his magnificent steed. "Truly, even a blind man could not help but be stunned by my good friend. Hail there! Come on right over, don't be shy!" Evander froze like he'd been poleaxed, unable to believe his stealth had failed him. Clearly the drop bear had sniffed him out. He might not have been entirely wrong, because Whitcomb was immediately distressed by Evander's presence, the horse's eyes rolled wildly in its head and it began to stamp and strain against the reins. "What's gotten into you!" cried Lambert, struggling to control the now wilding horse.

"I warn you sir, that's no horse," said Evander, "but a deadly demon!" As if reacting to accusation Whitcomb reared back, nearly throwing Lambert clear, and then took off like a bullet, charging straight through the ongoing Lacrosse game and scattering the players like ninepins. Evander watched in horror as the horse leapt the academy fence and disappeared from sight, taking Lambert with him. "Curses! The beast escaped. As for the rider, I fear we shall not see him again. At least not in this life."

"I see you've been drinking deeply from the cup of insanity again," said Jusis harshly, "I don't know what harebrained scheme you're up to now but you've gone and startled that horse terribly. If I thought people reacted badly to you, clearly I'd never seen you near an animal. What did you do to that poor horse?"

"To be fair, that was actually a somewhat restrained reaction in my experience," admitted Evander, "once a cat went after me so ferociously that I nearly died. Maybe it was just a horse. Animals don't like me for some reason."

"Some reason? Try any of the possible hundreds of reasons one might find you contemptible," huffed Jusis. But his mind was elsewhere, dwelling on a childhood memory. His brother Rufus had once gone riding with him when they were younger and the horses had suddenly panicked for no reason. Rufus had tried to wind him up with some baloney story that the horses must have smelt a vampire nearby. At the time the poor attempt at humour had been laughable, but now it made Jusis think. Whitcomb was no skittish colt, why on earth had the horse reacted so strangely to Evander. He was startled back into reality by the sensation of Evander violently tugging on a lock of his hair. "What are you doing, you mentally defective cretin!?" he demanded, slapping the other boy's hand away. Evander unashamedly sniffed the air and shook his head.

"I can't smell any chemicals. And your hair doesn't feel coarse or otherwise damaged. You're a natural blond. Or are you perhaps an unnatural blond? Say, a drop bear!?" Let it not be said that Jusis was not a clever man, because he near instantly put two and two together and got four. Someone had sent Evander on this fool's errand, looking for a non-existent creature, and the easiest way to get rid of his would be to be play along.

"You're hunting a drop bear? You should have said, you foolish churl, before you pointlessly harassed me. The drop bear can only take a female form."

"Ah! Thank you Jusis! That narrows it down even further! Why, there are two blondes right over there!" Evander pointed over at the Lacrosse field. "Do you know any other traits of the drop bear that might help me?"

"You are in luck, for it is said the drop bear is unusually aggressive an incredibly easy to provoke. They are particularly sensitive about their hair. Why don't you go over there and accuse them of dyeing their hair?"

"That'll work?" Evander looked kind of sceptical, but then seemed to accept it, shrugging. "Okay then, you're the expert. See you later, and thanks again Jusis!"

"Idiot," muttered Jusis once Evander had walked off. "That naivete is going to get him into serious trouble one day." He went over to calm down the remaining horses, which still seemed unnerved by Evander's visit. Little did either boy know, but Evander's effect on animals had spawned yet another legend. That of a demon horse that killed any man that rode upon it.

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

The Wailing Mandrake

The Drowned Undead

The Demon Stallion

Scene Break Here

Now seemingly aware that it was broad daylight, Evander's next attempt at stealth went considerably better. He was able to observe a practice game of Lacrosse unseen for several minutes before deciding that Alisa was definitely being impersonated by a drop bear. Or perhaps she'd always been a drop bear. He based this on the fact she seemed a natural at the game despite being untrained. He gathered this was unusual for a standard human, because another purple haired girl was growing increasingly enraged with Alisa's performance and the other players were heaping praise upon her. As someone who possessed enhanced supernatural abilities himself, Evander knew the signs all too well. But he could hardly attack the drop bear out of nowhere. He had to provoke the beast into showing it's true form and striking first or else he'd look like a madman. So, steeling himself for a mighty battle, he broke from his cover and strode onto the lacrosse field, pointing dramatically at Alisa.

"Alisa! We all know your hair is dyed!" he cried out loudly.

"Excuse me!?" Alisa shot him a potently evil look and stalked towards him, "what did you just say!?"

"I said your hair is dyed! You reek of chemicals!"

"I'm going to kill him," muttered Alisa, more to herself than anyone watching. "I'm going to kill him!" She hefted her lacrosse stick over her shoulder like she was about to strike him, only for his next words to perplex and vex her even further.

"Take your true form, demon! And face me properly!"

"True form? What the hell are you talking about? Are you saying I wear too much makeup or something? Because I'll_"

"I know you are a drop bear! Jusis told me!"

"Jusis did what now!? Wait a minute," Alisa paused for a second to calm down and take stock of the situation. Someone was clearly playing some game with Evander here, and she'd deal with them later. But for now, this was a good chance to mess with the weird boy. "Well then Jusis is an idiot," she said, "because I couldn't possibly be a drop bear. If I'm a drop bear, where's the scent of almonds?" Evander sniffed the air and of course didn't smell any almonds.

"What do you mean? There isn't any almond scent in the air."

"Exactly! Everyone knows that drop bears reek of almonds."

"This is getting ridiculous," complained Evander, "never have I met such a magical creature in all my years. But very well then, I shall hunt for this drop bear by it's scent," Evander threw his head back and sniffed the air loudly, catching a faint scent of almonds coming from the second floor of the main building. "Got it!"

"You do!? I mean, you do?" said Alisa, quietly wondering which poor fool she'd just inflicted Evander's company on. "Better hurry off and catch it then."

"Not so fast," a second year student with short red hair walked over and grabbed Evander by the shoulder before he could leave, seemingly uncaring of the chill that spread up her arm as she did so. "I think you want to stay behind and help us pack up, don't you?" she asked in a dangerous tone of voice.

"Why in the blazes would I want to_" Evander suddenly seemed to realise he was in mortal danger and nodded. "Of course. As an apology for interrupting the match."

"Good boy!" she clapped him on the shoulder encouragingly, "you can start over there. Hop to it!"

Scene Break Here

Evander was finally able to escape from the drudgery of what was essentially slave labour and made it the second floor of the main building to find himself standing outside the headquarters of the cooking club. He sniffed the air once more and confirmed the odour of almonds was coming from the door and smiled, baring all his sharp teeth. This was it. The beast had been fiendishly clever to hide itself in here, thinking the smells of ordinary cooking would mask its cyanide scent, but Evander had it now. He kicked the door in and sprang inside, pointing dramatically at the first person he saw.

"You are under arrest for being a drop bear! Under the authority of the Occult Research Society!" The Cook Club President, Nicholas, turned around with a bemused expression on his face and Evander quickly saw that he was neither a blonde, nor a woman. So, almonds aside, if Machias and Jusis were to be believed, he couldn't be the drop bear in disguise. "Oh sorry. I don't suppose there's a blonde girl in here somewhere?"

"Nope. I'm afraid it's just me in the cooking club at the moment. No one else has joined up, blonde or otherwise." Evander saw a flash of the future and shuddered in sudden, inexplicable horror. No, no blondes in here at the moment. But he had a feeling one was coming. "Do you have an interest in cooking?" continued Nicholas, "I'd be happy to have your help with the almond honey cakes I'm making right now."

"Hold on," Evander held his hand up, he'd become aware of a faint hissing sound coming from a pot on a orbal stove where some water was boiling. "Do you hear that?"

"The hissing? That's just some eggs I'm boiling. Don't worry about_"

"Eggs you say? Or the hiss of a foul demon hiding behind that stove? Your goose is cooked if you think I'm going to fall for that!" Evander dodged around Nicholas and lunged for the stove, trying to rip it away from the wall and reveal the drop bear he was sure was hiding behind it. All he succeeded in doing was brushing several dials along the side of the orbal stove and sending it into a complete meltdown. A wave of heat erupted from the device, flash boiling the water in the pot and throwing up a huge billowing cloud of steam that quickly filled the room and spread out into the hallway within a matter of moments. Coughing and with his eyes stinging, Evander staggered away from the stove, covered in shocking burns. Realising he had to get out of here before Nicholas spotted the burns healing right before his eyes, Evander stumbled out of the room. Feeling his way along the walls until he found a random door and slipped inside to get out of the haze.

Unbeknownst to him he'd been seen by another student by the name of Colette who by the end of the day spread the story of a terrifying mist billowing along the second floor corridor that stripped the skin off the bones of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in it. Another mystery was born.

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

The Wailing Mandrake

The Drowned Undead

The Demon Stallion

The Burning Miasma

Scene Break Here

Evander had stumbled into the domain of Clara, art club president, and was about to make a break for it before she saw the burns all over him, when he realised she wasn't paying him a lick of a attention. Instead she was focussed intently on a shapeless block of stone, glaring at it as though it had insulted her mother or something. Against his better judgement he stood still and observed her for a moment longer, wondering what sort of strange ritual this was, and if it had anything to do with the drop bear. Finally, she seemed to become aware of his presence, because she addressed a bizarre question at him without looking away from the block of stone.

"Do you want to see a grown woman cry?"

"Uh, no?"

"Then get out!"

"Excuse me!? You would not believe the day I've had! I don't need to take this from you! Frankly, I don't need the aggravation."

"You're having a bad day? I'm having a slump! I have no idea what my next sculpture should be! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is!?"

"Oh I don't know, it can't be more frustrating than being attacked by a ravening beast!"

"Hmm," Clara suddenly seemed interested, "what did this beast look like?"

"It's a shapeshifter, if you must know. First it attacked me in the academy pond, slimy like a serpent. Then I was nearly trampled by a horse while looking for it. And just before this some she-devil nearly hit me with a stick and forced me into slave labour!"

"You mean it was a kelpie?" asked Clara, her eyes lighting up as the hint of inspiration became to tickle her brain. "The mythical water demon? It can take the form of a seal, or a horse, or a beautiful woman."

"There's one of those here too!? Oh Aidios I need to find out more about the foul creatures infesting this place or I'm going to get killed off sooner or later."

"Try Keynes' Bookstore," muttered Clara distractedly, chisel already in hand. "Or the library. I don't care really. Just get out of here so I can work." She finally turned around to glare at him and was startled to see the terrible burns across his skin. Between those and his filthy, holey jacket, he looked like a disfigured walking corpse. "It's you! The Dark Muse! I thought it was a myth. The ghost of an artist who was horribly murdered before finishing his greatest work and is now cursed to wander the earth helping other artists out of their slumps."

"Um, what now? I mean, yes! It is I, the Dark Muse! Now carve a kelpie sculpture or I will return in seven years to devour your soul!" completing the charade with an evil laugh, Evander hurried out of the room and bolted down the staircase. "What is it with this place!?" he demanded to thin air, "the people here are all crazy or something! At least I got out of that without her realising what I was. Now where did she say I could find out more about monsters? Keynes' Book Store? Wasn't that the place near the park I got thrown out of yesterday? It's worth a look."

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

The Wailing Mandrake

The Drowned Undead

The Demon Stallion

The Burning Miasma

The Dark Muse

Scene Break Here

Evander left the academy grounds and headed towards downtown Trista, sniffing the air all the while. He didn't catch the scent of almonds, or anything else unusual for that matter, until he got to the park in the centre of Trista. At first he thought it was Emma again, that strange scent that followed her around, obscure herbs and ancient words as he'd called it during orientation, but this was slightly different. This time it made him sneeze.

"Cat!" he yelled, "there's a cat nearby!" Then suddenly he put the pieces together. There had been a cat following him all day yesterday. Now, while hunting for a drop bear, he'd stumbled across a cat again, but one with a strange magical scent. It had to be fate leading him to this moment. Allowing him to capture the vile beast that had stalked him and so many other poor students. He followed his nose to the base of a tall tree and looked up to see Celine perched on a branch, giving him a curious look. "I see you, drop bear! I bet you want me to climb up there so you can drop me down on my head! Is that why you're called a drop bear? Well, I won't have it. You're coming to me!" Evander started to violently shake the tree, causing Celine to hiss and spit and dig her claws desperately into the bark. It was to no avail, she felt herself slipping and in a brief moment of panic, between the impending fall and the suddenly deranged bloodsucker menacing her, forgot she was supposed to be an ordinary cat and fired off a spell.

There was a blinding flash of light and suddenly, a dizzying spin and sense of intense vertigo, Evander found himself hanging upside down from the very same branch Celine had been on. The magical cat, Emma's familiar, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

"Sorcery!" cursed Evander, "trumped up tricks! Come back and face me! I dare you!" After several seconds of silence, it became clear that no one, drop bear or otherwise, was coming back to fight him, so he slumped his shoulders in defeat, hanging limply from the tree in despair. "It's no good. I'm just going to have tell Beryl I couldn't do it."

While he was hanging there, Fie wandered over from Kirsche's Cafe, casually eating an ice-cream, and stood there staring at Evander for a good minute before finally speaking in her usual bored tone.

"Whatcha doing Evander?"

"Oh you know," he drawled, "just hanging out. What does it look like I'm doing!?" he snapped, "I was attacked by a violent she-devil!"

"Oh," said Fie, sounding completely uninterested. "Did Alisa slap you or something?"

"No! Though she nearly did. She's a very aggressive woman. And weirdly sensitive about her hair. Though don't tell her I said that."

"Or you'll be in trouble," Fie finished for him. "Okay. I'll think about it. If you tell me who really attacked you."

"It was a drop bear." Fie let out a startled laugh before realising he was completely serious.

"Drop bears aren't real."

"Oh, as if you would know!" scoffed Evander, "I have it on good authority from Machias, Jusis and Alisa that they are real. I'll take their word over yours any day." Fie actually looked kind of hurt by this, and looked around until she spotted Gaius enjoying a cup of tea outside Kirsche's.

"Hey Gaius!" she called, "come over here and help me with something!" Gaius looked over and saw Evander hanging upside from a tree and knew this was going to be weird even before he got over there. Sighing, he put his cup down and slowly made his way over to the park.

"Hi Fie. Hi Evander, hanging in there I see. What appears to be the problem?"

"Fie's trying to tell me that drop bears aren't real," said Evander, "and drop bears have to be real. Because if drop bears aren't real, I've just spent the whole day on a wild goose chase, being lied to by everyone I've met."

"I'm sorry then Evander. But drop bears aren't real."

"What!? No way! This is awful!"

"Hey!" said Fie, "how come you believed him and not me!?"

"Don't take this personally Fie," said Gaius, "but you do kind of give off a sketchy vibe. I haven't forgotten those missing chemicals either."

"I have no idea to what you are referring to," said Fie, even whistling innocently to sell the image.

"Forget that for a minute. Tell me what drop bears are if they aren't real. Everyone seemed to know what I was talking about," said Evander.

"They're a joke people love playing on tourists and other foreigners," explained Gaius, "they tried that one on me when I first got here."

"I travelled a lot before I came here," added Fie, "and someone was always trying that one on me too. Watch out for drop bears."

"I don't believe it!" Evander dropped to the ground and sprang up onto his feet like lightning. "I'm sorry. But I have to go. I need to rethink my life. And kill someone. BERYL!" he yelled, loudly and terrifyingly. All the birds took flight and dark clouds seemed to gather over the sun as he stormed off. People nearby would remember that terrible yell and equate it to the mythical omen of death, the banshee. And so, in the space of a day, Evander had created the seventh and final New Mystery of Thors Academy.

The Seven New Mysteries of Thors Academy

The Chequered King

The Wailing Mandrake

The Drowned Undead

The Demon Stallion

The Burning Miasma

The Dark Muse

The Howling Banshee

Scene Break Here

The door to the Occult Research Society crashed open and Evander blew in like a dark storm cloud. He'd half expected Beryl not to be there but no, the smug quarter vampire was sitting there, smirking at him.

"Beryl," said Evander, in the most menacing tone he could manage in his musical, pleasant sounding voice. "Have you decided how you'd like to die?"

"Hmm, now there is a fascinating question. I think about it all the time actually, how long do you have to listen?" Evander frowned, unable to tell if you she was serious of messing with him again. Finally he gave up and slumped into the chair across from her in defeat.

"You truly are a weird chick, and not a cool chick," he said finally, "don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

"Congratulations. You are now fully inducted into the Occult Research Society."

"Excuse me!? I thought I was already a member. That's why I was on this wild drop bear hunt!"

"No, to become a true member of the Occult Research Society, a member must strive to protect the seven true mysteries of Thors Academy. The only way to do this, is by creating seven fake mysteries. I did this before you, and you have done it today."

"What do you mean? I didn't create seven mysteries! I just ran around_"

"Inadvertently spawning mysteries and legends wherever you went? Yes, that's how it works. I can tell you don't believe me. Let me sum up the seven new mysteries. Number one, the Chequered King. A mysterious entity that appears before players who are the brink of giving up and gets them out of check with a simple move they should have seen themselves before disappearing. Do you deny that you started this rumour?"

"Yes! Well, no, I did help some poor guy out in the chess club but this Chequered King nonsense is blowing it all out of proportion!"

"Number two, the Wailing Mandrake. A plant shaped like a human that unleashes a deadly howl when uprooted from the ground, capable of knocking dead a fully grown man."

"That's ridiculous! It was garlic! And I screamed, not the garlic!"

"We'll have words about that later. No self-respecting vampire, half or otherwise, should be afraid of garlic. You're letting the side down. But moving on. Number three, the Drowned Undead. An avid fisherman thought he'd caught a whopping fish, what he actually pulled up though was a rotting corpse that sprang to life upon coming to the shore and ran off to do some unspoken evil elsewhere. Perhaps to avenge his untimely death?"

"Kenneth caught my coat, not me. And technically I'm not undead, I'm sort of half-alive. There's a difference. And I did not run off to commit unspeakable evil, I hung around to water begonias."

"Number four," persisted Beryl, not at all put off by his protestations. "The Demon Stallion. A wild horse that runs as if possessed by a demon wind, so crazed and untamed that it kills even the most trained rider that tries to ride it."

"Okay, I spooked the horse. Animals don't like me. Sue me! But I don't think the guy riding it is dead, he looked like he had it handled."

"Number five. The Burning Miasma. A deadly cloud of mist that billows down the second floor corridors, scalding the skin off all it touches."

"That was just a cloud of steam from an orbal stove accident and_ is the guy in the kitchen okay? I completely forgot about him!"

"Nicholas is fine. He saw what was about to happen and got out before you did. Unfortunately, he did waste Instructor Beatrix's time by insisting she look for a burn victim. Of course, you were long gone. Number six, the Dark Muse. The tormented spirit of a tragically dead artist, cut down in his prime, returns to offer a means to escape a slump to fellow artists. He'll give you inspiration, in exchange for your mortal soul."

"I gave her the idea to carve a kelpie sculpture, but I didn't ask anything in return, especially not her soul!"

"And the seventh, final mystery, that of the Howling Banshee. A terrible spirit which heralds death with its unearthly scream. Such a wail was heard in Trista today, calling my name. Several people have already been around to pass on their condolences on my impending doom. Well done, you are now fully initiated into the Occult Research Society. It is your solemn duty to protect the true mysteries of this academy from foolish dabblers."

"I'm going to regret asking this. But what are the true mysteries?"

"Not yet, my apprentice. First you must fetch me a powerful arcane stimulant. A cup of coffee, black, no sugars."

"I hate you so much," groaned Evander, getting out of his chair. "Kirsche's or cafeteria coffee?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

"I was joking! Why should I get you a coffee!?"

"Because I'm asking."

"And you know I can't refuse a request for help," said Evander sighing and walking towards the door. "Have I mentioned how much I hate you?" Beryl just laughed evilly.

"Evander, I think this is going to be the beginning a beautiful friendship."