Avalus Academy

[Ixidor92]

As Ishtar ran her hand over the appendage in question, it would have felt hard and uninviting, despite the fur. It seemed liked it belonged on a creature much more callous and deadly than the man standing in front of her. He smiled as she spoke
"The letter was to another student, someone familiar with adapting to life here. He should be up in a few minutes."
Leceel gently took his hand away before walking around his desk and taking a seat
"You speak fondly of her sister, was she close to you?"
There was no hidden agenda behind the man's words. He seemed genuinely interested in Ishtar's life before she had come here
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"Well Samuel--"
Vralik started as he stood up
"I think you'll find that those two things are more interesting than you find them to be. How many people here have a love of music and the natural world? Probably fewer than you think. Or, at the very least, fewer that would be willing to openly say so."
The young man gave a smile before looking to the sky
"Most people are more concerned with the technology developing on the outside."

 

[Ryrax]

As it was, "most people" had fair reason to keep their attention on the rapidly-developing technology of the day. The world had made groundbreaking achievements in chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, robotics, transportation, and of course weaponry. The military convoy that departed the main gate was a testament to that. Mages were simply unnecessary; almost all magic could be replicated by technology, to a fair extent. Yet, it was exactly that requirement of technology that led to much of the stigma against mages. To a non-mage, someone who could use magic and bend reality to their will "cheated" the system. Even Samuel could outdraw a gunman because he had no firearm to draw in the first place.

Yet instead of finding uses for these "cheaters", society at large shunned them away to prisons masquerading as schools. There they learned all of what regular kids learned, plus accessory magics. But for what? Once they left this place, they were forbidden from using any of the magic they had nurtured and honed. Even in cases of self-defense, mages barely got off the hook in courtrooms. This all built up to the conclusion Samuel came to within his first year at Avalus Academy. He wasn't here to learn magic. He was here to learn how to fit in, and be like everyone else.

That thought disgusted him.

"Most people, then, I find regrettably narrow-minded," Samuel muttered. He looked to Vralik, hesitating with the question on the forefront of his mind. It felt like cheating, asking Vralik about a personal issue when Samuel was so closed-off about everything that had to do with himself. Still, given Vralik's personality, he might be open enough to answer without a moment's thought. Samuel weighed that risk against his desire to probe Vralik for his stance on the world. "What do you intend to do when you leave Avalus, Vralik? Assuming you don't get yourself hurt with your exploratory habits, of course."

 

[Dystopics]

Navigating the halls of the central administration building, Nyx missed nary a step as he greeted many and various office workers. The dull shadows, fairly uncommon here, were those without magics of their own, but had been somehow shanghaied into working at the largest concentration of magic in the country. Others, with multi-coloured auras, had magics of their own to delineate their presence to him, and illuminated the halls of the administration building. He made his way to the headmaster's office, and after greeting his secretary, who had a gorgeous yellow aura, with arcs of blue energy effusing it, he sat in a chair patiently, waiting for the conclusion of the headmaster's meeting.

 

[Cyrionessa]

"...we were." Ishtar involuntarily grabbed the obsidian cross around her neck. "She had no talent for learning divination so I protected her as much as I could. She was the best at hiding though. She could go to places we couldn't." A half smile crossed her face. "Our parents named us after deities, saying that their children would have the power to live by their own rules and be as powerful as gods." The smile disappeared into a slight snarl as she looked away. "They would mourn that one of their daughters is not free."

 

[Ixidor92]

The headmaster let out a slow breath as Ishtar continued her story, and reached for a sheet of paper on his desk before speaking
"I am sorry for your parting. If you look at your situation with fresh eyes, you may yet find this place is less of a prison than you have imagined. Nyx, would you come in please?"
He offered another smile to the young woman before the young man walked through the door. He gestured to Ishtar before speaking to the young man
"Nyx, this young lady is Ishtar, a newcomer to our academy here. Would you be so kind as to show her around?"
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Vralik blinked his eyes a couple of times before turning to look at Samuel wide-eyed. The question wasn't intrusive in his opinions, just out of nowhere.
"I wish to travel the world."
The answer was spoken both with a smile and without hesitation. Vralik leaned back and let one hand reach out toward the sky
"I want to see more of the world, meet more people, taste more skies."

 

[Dystopics]

"Of course headmaster, thats what I'm here for", I say, as I take in the newly arrived student. She looked rather upset, and not a little be nervous, but her magic... An ethereal blued-silver, with a bright speckling of light, like snow in the moonlight. "As you might have heard, my name is Nyx, and we've got quite a lot to see before the day is done. But before we depart," he turns to the headmaster, "May I ask what her particulars are? Classes, dorm, special requirements, etc..."

 

[Cyrionessa]

"Special requirements?" Ishtar raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?" She stared at the person in front of her. He was definitely an odd duck, someone that her sister probably would have tackled to find out what he could do. "And what's with the shades?"

 

[Ixidor92]

The headmaster gave a smile and handed Nyx the sheet he had picked up. The sheet was specifically written with ink the headmaster had infused with his magic. To the young man, it would appear as if the letters were glowing in midair. She had been assigned to the same dorm as him, along with many of the other older students, though she had a room to herself. Her classes were a series of private lessons to begin with, which would determine what she knew and what she needed to learn. Her special requirements for the time being were just basic monitoring. It was normal for older new students, who had a tendency to try and escape.
"You two are free to leave. And please, do not hesitate to come and talk to me if you have questions or just an open ear."
The man offered a smile to both students, leaving Nyx to explain his situation to Ishtar.

 

[Dystopics]

"Ah, well, sometimes new students have a rather tenuous grasp of their powers, often becoming a danger to themselves as much as anyone else" Nyx mentioned, "But that doesn't appear to be the case with you, so don't worry your pretty little head over it." After taking another look at the paper, he walked to the door and held it open. "Now, if you'd follow me for a bit, the halls of the Central Academics building can be rather labyrinth-like."

 

[Cyrionessa]

"Okay, Shades." Ishtar chuckled. He was avoiding her question. There were very few reasons why someone would wear shades indoors. High sensitivity to light was one. Or you could be like her father and be blind. "Know any interesting people around here? I'm itching to talk to people who aren't planning to shoot me in the head." She willingly followed him though the hallways.

 

[Dystopics]

"Okay, well then our first stop is the Dorms," Nyx said, as they walked the relatively short distance between the Administration building and the residential section of the campus. "One of these buildings will be your home for the next few years," striding forward, he lead her to a particular building that had a couple of odd symbols on the corner. No one else could see these symbols of course, since he had painted them on with a matching paint color mixed with a conjured liquid base. The base had evaporated quickly, but it left behind a distinct magical residue that made it easier to navigate the extensive campus. "This one in particular holds your room," he mentioned casually, and asked, "Would you like to go see it before we move on?"

 

[Cyrionessa]

"...sure." This was something that was important to Ishtar. Her privacy was something she rather valued. The building didn't look like anything special and there were people all around. They were staring at her; whispers of "new girl" and "they sent an army with this one" reached her ears. Most eyes had caution in them. Some seemed disgusted by her; perhaps her disheveled appearance caused this. Some seemed curious. There were many oddities about. She saw very few people who looked remotely like her, leather and all. None of them looked really interesting at the moment. "So Shades..." She tried to casually bring it up. "Why do you wear those glasses indoors?"

 

[Dystopics]

"You've heard of those auto-darkening prescription glasses, yeah? They're like those,
Only the light/dark transition is incredibly overrated," he mentioned as he walked forward, and said, "your room is on the seventh floor, room 706." Stopping in front of a shiny metal door, he also mentioned, "fortunately, the elevators are almost always working."

 

[Cyrionessa]

Seventh floor. Ishtar's face cringed slightly. Unlike her sister, who could shape change into a hawk, she hated heights above all else. The facial cringe lasted only a fraction of a second before she tried to distract herself. "Eh. Whatever you say, Shades. I was more figuring you wore glasses for the same reason my Dad did."

 

[Dystopics]

"Oh? Why did your father wear glasses?" He asked idly, as the elevator arrived and they entered.

 

[Cyrionessa]

"He was blind and he didn't like people to stare at his sight less eyes." Ishtar shifted nervous as she felt the gain of altitude. Of all the things in this world, it just had to be heights didn't it?

 

[Dystopics]

"Ah, well then...," after a slight pause, he continued, "I could understand that, I don't like people staring at my eyes either." *Ding* ~Whooosh~ "Alright, seventh floor," he said, striding out of the elevator, "Now your room is at the end of the hall, but there are a few things i should cover about this dorm. First, the dorm is Co-ed, so there is a set curfew and room inspection at night. Second, most of the students here are older, most are only months away from graduation, so a lot of them are studying hard for the exit exams. Don't bother them if their doors are closed, and try to keep the noise down at night." Stopping at a door, labelled with brassy numbers, "And this is your room," he said, sliding the key that was taped onto the paper into the lock, he held open the door for her.

 

[Cyrionessa]

Some may have thought this place was just a simple dorm room. Ishtar, however, saw it as luxurious. For someone who didn't always know where she was going to be sleeping every night, it looked divine. The first thing she did was pause hesitantly, considering whether it was wise to make a fool of herself or not. The second thing she did was launch herself on the bed, landing on its softness and chuckling a bit softly. There was a closet, dresser, desk, a floor length mirror, and another door. Pushing open that door, she found a small bathroom. This flabbergasted her; a bathroom of her own? She stepped back out and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her disheveled appearance shocked even her. The closet door was ajar slightly and there was clothing inside. A quick inspection told her that they were her size.
"Shades, that is creepy. They somehow have my sizes perfectly. I feel slightly violated." However, whoever had picked this out had good taste. The fitted leather pants and band t-shirts looked divine. She quickly shut the door to the room, after Nyx followed her inside. A mischievous thought had entered her head, a good way to test out a theory. Maybe he could see like her father did. The whole prescription glasses thing didn't hold up to her eyes and his comment about her father's wishes made her believe he might be the same. So she dug into the closet, grabbing black leather pants, black t-shirt, black combat boots, black everything, and started changing with her back turned to him.
"So is there a pool around here?" She nonchalantly started conversation to see if he got uncomfortable quickly.

 

[Dystopics]

'If only I could see, I've only heard of this happening in anime' Nyx thought to himself. 'Now, how to react?' Having seen her motions, he had decided that she was had no concept of modesty, which had happened before. Especially from runaways or strays, modesty was not too important to living on the streets. Or, she hadn't believed his little lie about his glasses. With a last glance at the rapidly revealing body, illuminated by the glow of her magical aura, he turned around and faced the door. "Let me know when your done changing, and yes, there is a pool. Two, in fact, one purely for recreation, slides and diving boards and the like, and one for athletics. We'll be walking by them later..." he said, with a pause at the end while his mind made the mental connection between her aura and water. A slight shrug was all that came from it, and a slight reshuffling of the tour. He might as well get it out of the way now, so she could focus on things after it.

 

[Cyrionessa]

"Ah. So what color is the recreational pool area?" Ishtar could tell he had turned away. It wasn't a quick turn away, like he had seen it coming through divination. "I'll familiarize myself with the buildings' colors so I'll be able to get around in no time." Her flowing silvery markings were now fully on display, shimmering brightly for once. Their level of sparkle tended to follow her mood. She was currently excited and mischievous, so they were lighting up like tiny stars all over the sides of her body. She was deliberately taking her time changing though, just to see the enigmatic Nyx's reactions.