Chapter Text
Eden Academy. Berlint, Ostania. November 13, 1950.
Two weeks ago, psychiatrist Leonius Forger, who worked at Berlint General Hospital, was arrested on suspicion of espionage, treason, and fraternizing with the foreign and hostile government of Westalis.
One week ago, the national election took place, where the National Unity Party had garnered the most popular votes and now comfortably sat as the majority political party in the Ostanian government.
Today, Imperial Scholar Loid Forger, in line to be the valedictorian of his graduating class, arrived at school for the first time since the SSS had taken his family into custody. Rumor spread like wildfire–that Dr. Forger had been dragged outside of his home, and shot in the head in front of his family without much ceremony. Others whispered that the secret police had beaten his wife and son mercilessly in order to extract information from Westalis’ apparent “top” spy. Some even scoffed at the very notion, and postulated that the doctor was probably arrested for infidelity, or perhaps had accidentally killed one of his patients and tried to sweep it under the rug.
In spite of all the whispering, Loid forged ahead, eyes straight, and fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. There wasn’t a single indication on his face that anything was wrong, save for a muscle twitching in his temple. He walked over to his group of friends, who all stopped talking at once. None were able to meet his gaze.
“I didn’t think you’d be coming back.” Delilah Desmond was the first to speak. Her and Loid had been publicly dating since the beginning of the semester, and people looked to her as the natural leader of the group. That kind of role apparently ran in the Desmond family, as her uncle, Donovan Desmond, had just been elected president of the National Unity Party.
“The only thing I’ve been found guilty of is being the son of a traitor.” Loid tried to sound light-hearted, although his voice grated harshly. “I’m still the same as I always was.” He held out his arm for Delilah to take, as he always did.
Delilah refused the offer, instead running her hands through her raven-black hair thoughtfully. No one except Loid caught the brief glance she shared with Brutus Blackbell, who looked away just as quickly.
“I see how it is.” Loid’s voice, carefully controlled until now, colored with anger. “I get no choice in the matter but to be surrounded by back-stabbing traitors in my family and my friend group, it seems.”
“That’s enough,” Wilhelmina Watkins retorted, stepping forward. She was easily both taller and wider than Loid, and perhaps was the only one brave enough to openly stand up to him. “I’m really sorry about your family, Loid, we all are.” She clapped a hand on the smaller boy’s shoulder, nearly causing him to buckle. “But we’re about to go into the real world, inherit our family’s businesses, and so on. It wouldn’t be good for us to be associated with someone like you,” Wilhelmina explained as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
Whatever Loid was going to say in response was interrupted by one of the school’s service members. “Your Housemaster summons you, Mr. Forger.” Even the butler refused to meet Loid’s gaze, instead bowing deeply and speaking to his shoes.
“We better get going,” Brutus said quietly. He was a very soft-spoken boy, and out of the group, looked the most saddened at Loid’s expulsion from the friend group.
Without prompting, Delilah took his hand pointedly, making sure Loid could see. Evidently, the school’s power couple was no more.
Observing all of this was a student of common background. She was no Imperial Scholar, nor had any outstanding or honorable mentions in any other aspect of Eden’s academia. She was someone who very easily disappeared in a crowd, although the notion didn’t seem to bother her. The girl’s name was Yor Briar, a Year 11 at Eden. She watched with an idle curiosity as Loid disappeared into the school’s faculty room with the butler, the tips of his ears bright red against the sandy blond of his hair.
Attached to her hand was her much younger brother, Yuri Briar. He was in his third year, and was already at the top of his class with two stella stars. At this rate, he was on track to become one of the youngest Imperial Scholars, which Yor never failed to praise him for.
“That’s the Forger guy! His dad was just arrested for being a spy. I bet he and his whole family are a bunch of Westalian sneak thieves,” Yuri sneered loudly, pointing at where Loid had gone.
Yor gasped. “What? Him? No way! But he’s so popular…” She trailed off in wonder. So that’s why his friend group had suddenly ditched him. How had he kept it a secret for so long? Did he even know? As Yuri pulled Yor into the school courtyard, she couldn’t help but feel a stab of sympathy. She knew a thing or two about keeping secrets.
“I’m gonna go find my friends, ‘kay?” Yuri squeezed her hand. “You better stay out of trouble, or else.”
“Only if you do the same,” Yor retorted. As her brother ran off, she let out a sigh and headed for the shade of a cherry tree, waiting for the first class’ warning bell. Other than her brother, she didn’t really have friends.
“Oh Yor! Over here!” A short-haired brunette waved at her cheerily.
Well, there were those girls. Millie Haven, Sharon Smith, and Camilla Winchester. They weren’t exactly friends with Yor; they more enjoyed her company out of entertainment and used her lack of social skills as a crux for their rude and sometimes outright cruel jokes. Millie, the one who waved at her, was the nicest of them, although she did nothing to stop Sharon or Camilla from poking fun at Yor. Thankfully, Yor hardly took notice of their jokes.
Yor’s “good morning” garnered no attention when she walked over, as Camilla was already spilling all the rumors she’d heard over the past two weeks. “It’s a shame he’s so hot, you can’t properly hate him,” she sighed in exasperation.
“Er.. Camilla, you’re still dating Dominic, right?” Sharon blew smoke out of the side of her mouth as she spotted a professor walking down the front lawn. She quickly stomped out her cigarette and doused her immediate circumference with some heavy-smelling perfume, causing the other girls to cough.
“Of course I am!” Camilla objected shrilly. “But he’s so busy now since he’s graduated, and ever since he got that job at the precinct… I have every right to look at the menu as long as I don’t order anything.”
“Ugh, I wish you wouldn’t do that at school, Sharon.” Millie held her nose and waved at the air, trying to dispel the clogging perfume.
Sharon’s eyes sparkled mischievously. “Hmm, I think you’re right, Millie. Let’s play hooky later today and go downtown! I think there’s a concert we can watch from outside the venue, and I know for a fact that our last period professor has a substitute today.”
They all nodded in assent, except for Yor. “I have six tonitrus bolts, so I have to pass as long as I want to stay in this school,” she shrugged, although the other girls’ excitement did not seem to diminish whatsoever from the news.
“That’s a shame, we’ll catch you later then,” Millie said in a sympathetic tone.
—
The stuffed omelet was definitely not the tastiest item on the lunch menu, but it was by far the cheapest. Yor ate the same thing every day by herself because the other three girls had a different lunch period and couldn’t be bothered to skip class and join her. She didn’t mind. The solitude gave her some space to cool out after being mentally bombarded by things that she honestly couldn’t bring herself to understand, try as she might. The only thing Yor excelled at was physical education, but that couldn’t exactly make up for her lackluster performance in other areas. It was getting to the point where Yuri was helping her with her homework, and when he couldn’t, he’d simply try his own hand at it and copy her handwriting. He was seven years her junior, and yet was able to raise her grades to the point where she was no longer earning tonitrus bolts for failing classes. She was so thankful for Yuri. Who knew where she’d be without him–if she would even have gone into the job she had if it weren’t for him?
“May I sit with you?”
Yor looked up, surprised that someone was talking to her. Her surprise only increased and her jaw dropped when she saw that it was no other than Loid Forger, completely stone-faced, with seven shining tonitrus bolts pinned to his lapel. “Um… sure.”
Loid seated himself, the bolts tinkering merrily as they were clustered so close together. Since when had he suddenly turned into a juvenile delinquent? It was rare for an Imperial Scholar to have one, much less seven. In fact, why was one even sitting in the common mess hall, with her of all people?
“Catching flies or something? You can close your mouth now,” he said calmly as he cut into his omelet, as stoic and enigmatic as ever.
Yor shut her jaw quickly with an audible clack. “I’m sorry!” She squeaked, flustered. Not knowing what else to say, she fidgeted with her hands. “Um… I’m Yor. Briar.”
“I know who you are, Yor Briar. We’ve had class together for more than ten years.” Loid took a bite of his food, chewed, and swallowed.
Despite having such a small class size, most people didn’t know who Yor Briar was. Or if they did, they tried their best to pretend they didn’t. Yor was far from popular, and her only friends were essentially only friends with her because they pitied her, or they needed someone to make fun of. “Why are you sitting here? And why do you have seven tonitrus bolts?” Yor blurted, unable to help herself.
Loid arched an eyebrow at Yor. “I’ve just sat down and you’re already interrogating me. Thinking of a career in the SSS?” He laughed bitterly. He stopped as soon as he saw Yor’s downtrodden expression.
“Sorry,” Yor mumbled for the second time since they started talking. “I didn’t mean to… be invasive. You probably have a lot on your plate.”
Loid did in fact have a lot on his plate, because he was hardly eating. He sighed, and his shoulder slumped in defeat. “I was almost expelled today, because of my father. I’m guessing you know what happened. They said I could stay, but if I were to step out of line for any reason, then I’m out.” Loid’s hand squeezed his fork a little harder than necessary. “They took all my stella stars and gave me seven tonitrus bolts as a warning. So, no more Imperial Scholar, or graduating with honors. Just one wrong move and goodbye, Eden!” He said in a mock cheerful tone. He cut into his food with a gusto, shredding the egg and smearing it all over his tray.
Yor had no idea how to respond to Loid. She lifted a slightly trembling hand, pointing to the food that Loid was currently taking his anger out on. “Are… you… going to eat that?”
Loid stopped mid-slice, staring at Yor. Oh no, he definitely thinks I’m weird, Yor fretted. This is why you can’t make any friends, you idiot!
Instead of mocking or berating her, Loid simply pushed his tray towards her. “Have at it,” he offered, gazing at her with a curious expression. She dug in, taking every chance to not waste the offering. Yor always ate less than she needed to, so that Yuri was never concerned with money or food.
“So, Yor Briar,” Loid said after a few moments. He clasped his hands under his chin, inspecting Yor as if she were a particularly interesting artifact. “You have a brother here, right?”
“Oh, Yuri? He’s a third year, in Cecil House. Loads smarter than me though.” Yor wiped her mouth with her handkerchief. That was the first time in years that she’d felt full.
“That’s interesting. What do your parents do?”
Yor felt her blood freeze at the question. The Briars were not a particularly rich or well-known family, but Yor’s father had pulled in a favor from a friend who was able to get the Briar children enrolled in Eden Academy. Shortly after Yuri had been initiated, both of their parents had died. Yor’s father had been reported MIA and assumed dead in battle, and Yor’s mother had been so consumed with grief that she followed suit only a few months later from cancer. In fear of being expelled from the school, Yor kept this a secret from everyone, and always made up excuses as to why her parents couldn’t attend events. She also had taken up two jobs in order to afford tuition: one as a house cleaner, and one as a contract killer.
“What was that thing you said about interrogating?” Yor asked innocently, although it was thinly veiled over cautious hostility.
Both of Loid’s eyebrows shot up at the response. He held his hands in an open, friendly gesture. “Okay, fine. I don’t ask too many questions, you don’t ask too many questions. I’ll just figure it out anyway.” He waved a hand dismissively, as if discovering Yor’s life might be the easiest thing in the world.
Yor’s heart jumped into her mouth. There was no way Loid could find out! She would have to kill him to keep the information from spreading. It was a good thing he was so unpopular now, it would be easy enough to dispose of him…
“I was kidding!” Loid said in alarm as Yor violently shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts. That’s no way to approach a situation, and it was Garden protocol to not kill children. She could hardly call herself an honorable person if she were to silence Loid for something he hasn’t even done yet. He was already suffering the consequences for something similar, and a pang of guilt struck Yor.
Yor’s eyes wandered over to the clock and they widened considerably. “Crap! I’m about to be late to history!” She stood up quickly and gathered her things. The trays they could leave on the table–the staff would take care of them. Normally she would take them to the dish rack herself, but today she’d been distracted by her conversation with Loid.
The mess hall was nearly empty, save for the students who didn’t have a class after lunch. As Yor stuffed her things into her backpack, she felt a warm hand close on her wrist. “ We’re about to be late to history. You might be in trouble, but I’ll get expelled, so hurry!” He demanded, taking off at a run and dragging Yor behind him.
Yor regained her footing swiftly and easily overtook Loid, despite having a smaller stride. They raced up to the north tower, taking the stairs three, four at a time. They reached the classroom just as the bell rang. Yor let out a small breath of relief, surprised that Loid was able to keep up with her. Loid clutched a stitch in his side, red-faced and gasping for air.
The professor looked at them sternly, although her eyes immediately softened when they fell upon Loid. By now, the whole school probably knew about his predicament, or at least had some wild theories. “I believe that class has started, so please take your seats.”
Yor generally sat at the front by herself in all of her classes, where hopefully the information could seep into her brain by osmosis, or something. Was that how osmosis worked?
Loid and the other Imperial Scholars normally sat in the back, lording over the rest of the class and gossiping whenever the professor had her back turned. She was known for being quite lenient to the students who did well in her class.
Yor took her usual place. Loid stood for a moment, looking up at his old friends. Then, with a stifled gasp from the rest of the class, he pulled up a chair next to Yor and sat down.
Yor stiffened, feeling the eyes of nearly all her classmates trained on her instead of the professor. She could especially feel Delilah Desmond’s furious glare burning the back of her neck. “Um, what are you doing?” She whispered.
“Learning,” Loid responded shortly, and began taking notes.