Chapter Text
Walking through the school to reach the courtyard felt like a much calmer endeavor now that he was aware of what exactly headmage Crowley wanted. By his feet was Grim, and the only sound that was heard as they made their way down the hallway was the patting of their feet and the silent flicker of Grims flames. Even though they didn’t get off on the right foot, they’ve seem to meet in the middle and Grim seems to tolerate him now.
Arriving at the courtyard, Durin was amazed. The ground was made out of bricks that laid a path forward. The way it was laid reminded him of Mondstadt. Towering on each side of the pavement was a statue of different individuals; totaling seven.
“Woah, Henchman! These are amazing, we must create one for me!” Declared Grim with a fat grin spreading on his lips.
“Good luck doing that” laughed a boy who suddenly approached both Durin and Grim. He had orangey hair that faded into a blue, fiery eyes, and a heart by the crease of his right eye. “The names Ace Trappola, Heartsbyual first year” He announced before placing his hands on his hip. The name didn’t ring a bell, so it must be some terminology from this world.
“What’s a Heartsbyual?” Questioned Durin as he watched Aces face morph from cocky to shocked into mortification. “Do you seriously not know about the seven?” he yelled in surprise as he pointed to the statues that stood on both sides of them. Durin slowly shook his head to signal that he had no clue what the boy was talking about. Clearing his throat, he pointed at one of the statues that was a plumper woman with a crown on top her head.
“This is the Queen of Hearts. This is the dorm I’m in.” He flashed a smile and continued to explain, “The Queen of Hearts ruled over a maze of roses and brought rule of law to a chaotic kingdom”. Closely looking at the boy while he rambled about the statue, he could see the resemblance. “The seven are really powerful and influential people who once lived. Every dorm is based of one of the seven.” He pointed at another statue that looked like a lion.
“This is The King of Beast. He fought for equality between all creatures in the Savanah despite his setbacks”.
The next statue was a plump lady with prominent red lipstick and tentacles. “This is The Sea Witch. She’s a compassionate woman who devoted her life to helping troubled souls”.
The fourth statue was a man who wore a turban and held a staff. “ This is The Sorcerer of the Sands. He was a wise sorcerer who supported the king with his magical wisdom”.
A beautiful woman was next who wore a large crown and large cloth layer behind her. “This is The fairest Queen of them all who always strove to better herself and pursue her ideals”
The next guy had a sharp chin and fiery hair. “The Lord of the Underworld helped guide dead souls and carried out fearsome duties with the upmost care”
Most of the statues that Ace explained were very interesting. When he first mentioned ‘the seven’ Durin was reminded of the Great Seven from Teyvat. Though, the last one really caught his attention. The last statue was a tall lady with horns that looked similar to his.
“This is The Fairy of Thorns. She reigned over a mystical mountain with her powers and command countless soldiers”.
Durin wanted to turn back to look at Ace, but the Thorn fairy captured his entire mind. He hand never encountered another being that looked remotely similar to him besides big Durin; even in Teyvat.
Suddenly he heard laughing from his side and when he glanced over, Ace was on the verge of tears as he tried to hold back his laughter. “Im sorry” Ace cried out, “Aren’t you the dude that ruined the welcome ceremony because you couldn’t control your magic”. He then pointed at Grim, “Your magic is just as uncivil as that dire beast!”.
Ace began snickering and Durin could tell that other students noticed since some walked by with pity while others snickered along with the orange haired boy. His shoulders began to tense up and it was difficult to hide his shame. When Durin first convinced Albedo to transform him into a human, most people didn’t even know about his inability to control his powers; the people who did never treated him differently. Being the center of a joke felt cruel and reminded him that no matter how hard he tried to suppress the boiling rage inside him, it would always be there.
Suddenly, a loud growling noise could be heard and when Durin refocused his attention to the scene, Grim had stepped up to the boy and got into an offensive position. “Cease this talk immediately human!” Grim yelled as he crossed his paws. “The Great and powerful Grims Henchman is superior to you and I’m stronger than them, making me the most formidable opponent in Night Raven College”.
You could see the tremble in his lip before Ace almost fell to his knees from laugher. The fury radiating off Grim could be sensed through-out the courtyard. Randomly, another guy with blue hair, a spade near the left crease of his eye, and wearing a similar uniform to Ace stomped over. He planted his hand along Aces shoulder and wore a frustrated expression. “Hey man, picking on people for what they can’t control isn’t cool!” Spat the blue hair boy before crossing his arms. That obviously caused Ace to stop his laughter and look the boy dead in his face.
They must have known each other because Aces eyes lit up in recognition. “Oh, it’s you Juice” said Ace in a monotoned voice. “And I’m not picking on him, he knows it’s a joke right”. Ace turned to Durin and smirked, “Right?”.
Whatever Ace said must have triggered the spade boy because his diameter instantly transformed from unease to piss in a matter of seconds. “It’s not Juice! It’s Duece!” Screamed the boy whose name was apparently Duece.
Before Durin could say anything, a bickering match started between Ace, Deuce, and Grim, increasingly becoming more heated as the time went on. Durin was still new to interacting with people and fully understanding what they felt so he had no clue how to peacefully resolve the conflict. His mind was rushing with ideas but before he knew it, Grim blew a string of blue fire towards the boys, causing them to jump on either side of the blast.
“Hey! You just literally tried to kill me” Ace squawked, quickly pulling out his wand and squaring to match Grims stance. Duece’s face morphed into an expression of fear and he began ranting, “Guys, we can get into big trouble for this, let’s not fight!”. His suggestion went ignored as Grim and Ace continued to prepare for a fight.
The more the conflict went on, the more Durin could feel the worry in his chest rise. This was the exact feeling he got when he lost control earlier. He griped his shirt and closed his eyes to try and breathe like Lisa had taught him. If he looses control again, no one is around to stop his rampage and so many students could potentially get hurt. His breathing began getting more labored until he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
Looking back, the man standing behind him looked familiar. He wore a green hat and had a short bob with a pinkish streak. He attempted to recall where he could possibly have see the man when he remembered the ceremony from the previous day. When he had been on the verge of blacking out, he saw the same exact silhouette catching him.
“What exactly is the problem here young lads” said the boy, his voice being a hundred percent deeper than Durin originally imagined. That caused the fighting to immediately halt as all attention turned to the new guy. Durins panic quickly stopped as he focused on the tight but reassuring grasp on his shoulder. “He started it” yelled both Grim and Ace as they pointed at each other. The guy used his other hand to grab his chin as he blasted a smile on his face, almost like he was considering an answer.
“Hmm” he hummed before pointing at both Ace and deuce, “Alrightly then, shoo, move along and get to class” he flapped his hand towards the school building as his joyous expression remained. Ace looked like he was about to argue before the bell rang out and both Duece and Ace looked like deer in headlights and scurried to class.
Facing the man, his face looked like he was observing Durin closely before taking his hand off his shoulder and turning around. He started to walk away before turning around and signaling Durin to follow. With no reason to object, Durin began following the boy who introduced himself as Lilia. For some odd reason, Durin felt a pull in his core to the man. It was almost like a string connected him to the man and every step he took pulled him in closer.
They walked for a while and Lilia made small talk but asked nothing major until they reached a door. Opening it, it turned out to be a huge library with books scattered pretty much everywhere. Considering it was apparently the middle of class, there were barely any students leaving it pretty empty. Lilia led him to a table and signaled him to sit down.
“Lets move on to the actually questions” slurred Lilia before shifting his smile into a blank gaze..