Dark Heart, Bright Eyes |ONC 2024|

*5*

Zara woke the next morning to something gently rapping against the side of her head. Her eyes flew open, her hand plunging into the bag at her waist before she realized what had woken her.

... A piece of thick, white paper tapped a corner gently on her forehead, coaxing her into full wakefulness. 

Her door banging open made her shoot to her feet, hand groping in the bag again.

"Just me! Just me!" Niki skidded to a halt barely two feet into the room and backed up quickly. "Sorry! Sorry! Should have knocked. But look! We got our schedules. What are your classes?" She stopped, an odd look crossing her face. "Wait...what even is your major?"

Zara took a moment to convince her pounding heart it didn't need to beat quite so hard before she reached up and snatched the paper out of the air. It immediately grew still in her hand, the magic rushing away to leave it dead and immobile now that it had reached its intended recipient. 

Flopping back onto her bed, Zara rubbed her blurry eyes before attempting to focus on the scrolling words on the page. Still processing Niki's question, she finally shrugged. "I kind of don't know. I wasn't actually planning on coming here. Obviously, there's a lot I can't major in at all."

Niki sat on the bed gingerly, shoulders relaxing when Zara didn't move to disembowel her. The monster's proximity made Zara a little nervous, but her roommate hadn't done anything threatening thus far. 

She bit her lip as Niki leaned in closer, blonde hair brushing her arm as the lamia peered at her schedule. "So did you just sign up for gen ed stuff this semester?"

Zara nodded, trying to discreetly slide up the bed. Just because her roommate hadn't done anything threatening yet didn't mean Zara really was all that comfortable. She had been taught to fear monsters all her life. They were cruel and vicious. They had only ever caused her pain, and lessons wrought in pain were difficult to dismiss. 

"Three," Niki said in satisfaction, sitting back to prop herself on her hands. Zara glanced at her schedule, eyebrow raised in question. Niki clarified, "We have three classes together. Which is great. I can scare off the monsters and you can scare off the rich. Kind of on our own for the other three, though."

Zara nearly choked on the laugh that rushed up her throat. The lamia certainly was the strangest monster she had ever met. Niki's eyes lit up over the deep shadows beneath them and she laughed as well.

"Get dressed!" Niki bounced up off the bed, yelling as she ran out of the room. "Our nine o'clock is on the other side of campus."

Peering at the schedule, she saw Niki was right. First class was Evolution and History of Familiars in Family Society. Zara grimaced, but that had sincerely been one of two history classes she had thought she'd be able to stomach. She'd saved the other, Blood of Thorns: History of the Family Wars, for her sophomore year.

The other classes were in a similar vein. General education for magic users and monsters. Spell Composition, Dimensional Physics, Enochian, Basic Potions and Dueling as her elective. Zara examined the times and days, delighted when she found she only had Familiars and Basic Potions for her first day.

Tuesdays and Thursdays were weighed down with three classes apiece, and she pouted over the fact that Dueling was only on Fridays.

Tossing the schedule on her small desk, Zara began riffling through the trunk she hadn't bothered to unpack after dinner. The first thing she fished out was a dark, pleated skirt that brushed the tops of her knees and a long-sleeve embroidered with black dragon scales. Lowkey and functional, seeing as how nearly nothing could puncture dragon scales. That would work.

And without knowing what sort of eldritch creatures she would be expected to interact with, Zara felt a little extra protection was warranted. The skirt was easy enough to move in, regardless of whether she decided to flee or fight any threat that might come her way today. She looped the belt attached to her bag around her waist, letting the little pouch rest low on her waist, just at the reach of her fingertips for quick, easy access. 

A new batch of monsters usually meant a new round of testing. 

As she was leaving her room, Niki burst out of the bathroom. Her blonde hair was tied in a high ponytail, glittering eyeshadow distracting from the circles under her red eyes. She gave Zara a critical once-over then sighed. "I guess that's fine. You've got enough hot-girl energy to pull off all that boring black."

The lamia was in a blush-pink sweater dress that fell elegantly off one pale shoulder, long legs clad in sheer leggings. Effortlessly gorgeous, just like most monsters.

Zara's cheeks burned hot and she lowered her head, hair swinging in front of her face. Muttering under her breath about not being ridiculous, she scurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Avoiding her own eyes in the mirror, she brushed her hair and then paused. Niki's words echoed in her head, but she dismissed them.

No makeup. It only drew even more attention to her fucked up eyes. 

So she brushed her teeth and applied a little balm on her chronically chapped lips before slipping back into the shared living space. Niki gave her a look of visible disappointment, but Zara darted toward the door before she could say anything. "We'll be late," she muttered. "Come on."

Word Count: 926

Total: 4,380