Algernon Black

(Chapter 28) The Weight of the World

Lucy woke up early for her first day of classes as her dreams filled with the events of the night before kept her from any kind of decent sleep. She entered the floor's communal restrooms for a shower with the hour she had to spare. The iridescent pearl tile of the showers continued to the sinks and gold-trimmed mirrors stationed above them. There was even a gold fireplace in the bathroom that made for the most pleasant transition from shower to the outside. Everything required in a washroom was supplied in the bulk to Lucy's utter amazement as soap was more often a luxury than a necessity in her traveler's life.

Lucy stepped into one of the private showers and as expected it was a luxury. Golden swan spouts showered warm water laced with rose extract down on her and the smell reminded her of the boy from yesterday. She knew she was supposed to feel offended by his actions, but recalling it didn't make her angry, only confused by the feeling it had left in her.

She truly wondered if he was the same boy she had met just hours before as Algernon seemed drastically different from when he took one look at her and dismissed her entirely. Or maybe she imagined that his small smiles and light voice were as friendly as they seemed. She wrapped her fingers around her wrist where she could still feel his grip. Even after a night's rest the memory still made her blush.

Lucy grabbed a towel from one of the open gold shells that each held over twenty perfectly folded lines. Even with such ease of access many of the girls preferred to air dry and walked around the bathroom completely naked. It was the first time Lucy saw another woman's naked body and she tried not to stare or look like she paid it any attention. But still, as she brushed her teeth she couldn't help notice all the bare skin in the mirror behind her, and promptly rushed her morning routine.

Lucy picked out a light blue dress that went right below her knees for her first outfit of the year. It was one thin layer so it wasn't heavy to wear, and smooth on her skin. It came with a matching silk belt that tied around the center of the dress to pull in her waist. Some of the girls sneered that it looked like pajamas but some were jealous of how comfortable and effortlessly beautiful it looked.

Her shortened hair dried quickly and left the slight wave consistency it always had but more voluminous now that it wasn't so weighed down. She tried to brush back her baby's hair but they were too short to tuck behind her ears and now fell into her eyes. She gave up on them quickly and went down to the first floor where Freya was gathering an array of sweets by the refreshment station.

"Good morning, Lucy!" Freya sang with a wide smile.

"Good morning," Lucy said, taking a look over the food and deciding her apprehension filled her stomach enough.

"Freya." Pecilia joined the girls in a beautiful ornate black and red two-piece suit with tailored shorts of her own specific style. She picked up an apple from the table. "How'd you sleep?"

Freya picked up another muffin. "Good."

"And how was the lay?" Pecilia asked.

Lucy's eyes opened wide, wondering if Freya was going to get offended by such an impolite accusation.

"Very good," Freya smiled as she looked into her muffin as if she was happily reminiscing.

Pecilia chuckled and took a bite of her apple, finding Lucy's great shock the funniest thing of all.

The casualness of the conversation made Lucy wonder how carefree that sort of thing was at Attwood as she remembered the booths and how normal a thing it seemed to be to partake in public sexual escapades. Many countries she'd travel too had lax attitudes towards sexuality and promiscuity and she supposed Emora, at least the high societies of it, must also be so. It made her think of Algernon again and supposed the little intimacy that had transpired between them last night was just a part of the culture he grew up in and what he did probably meant little to him. But she mostly wondered and worried over why it didn't feel so minor to her.

A bell tolled and all the girls started to empty the dorms. Freya and Lucy walked together and Pecilia walked in front of them like she wasn't really with them. The king had even designed the pathways to campus and Lucy walked over the most intricate of bridges covered in ivory shaded by tunnels made of trees.

Once on school grounds, Freya and Pecilia knew exactly where to go, but even without them, Lucy could have followed the flow of students to find her first class of the year.

Inside the classroom had vaulted ceilings that went a hundred feet high with pews lining the left and right sides of the classroom in front of long rows of cherry red desks. The back wall of the classroom was made of dark stained glass and depicted the god of darkness in all his glory, letting in dramatic lighting over the small stage and huge oak desk that rested in front of it. When Lucy sat down she could feel how old everything in the room was from the desk she sat down in to the rich stone floors but everything had been made so perfectly in the first place that all retained its luster and sturdiness.

Freya sat beside Lucy in one of the pews closest to the front, while Pecilia abandoned them for a seat next to Algernon in the back of the classroom.

Lucy turned around to see where Pecilia went, and her face blushed bright red when she saw the boy's black eyes. She turned away immediately.

Pecilia noticed Lucy's reaction and thought it odd. But not as odd as Algernon, who was staring at the back of Lucy's head with the faintest far-off look of wonderment. Resoundingly annoyed, Pecilia was about to dig her heel into his foot when the doors swung open again.

"Go evening," Brickwood said as he walked between the rows to take his spot at the center of the classroom in front of the depiction of the god of darkness, and even though the window was thirty feet high Brickwood held just as much presence as the glass god.

"Welcome to your first ever class as a student of Attwood." Brickwood addressed the room of almost fifty freshmen with a sincere smile. "I have the pleasure to be your teacher for this year, and if you don't already know my name, I suggest you leave and come back with more common sense." Most of the students laughed at the professor's easy charm, and he smiled. "But for custom's sake, I am Professor Brickwood."

Lucy caught eyes with the professor and her heartbeat quickened. He gave her an easy smile that most of the entire class missed, except for the one boy that was currently incapable of not watching her. Algernon's jaw tightened which not even he consciously noticed though Pecilia did.

"I am here to walk you through the logistics of dark magic and get you comfortable with the foundations so you may build upon it in your later years of studies." Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. She had no confidence or knack in dark magic, none at all.

"I know it's not always an easy magic to grasp but some of you may just find that you have a very special calling for it." He looked over at Algernon, looking as dull and demure as ever. "Of course, you can expect to falter and fail but it is in those struggles that growth is made. And you must grow. Grow into the leaders and warriors that keep the world's peace, like the countless alumni before you." Almost the entirety of his class were legacies to parents of the school, it was an unwritten rule to admission, but that was broken only for the extremely wealthy or the extremely rare case, like Lucy, but of everyone in his class he was most excited for the legacy she would bring. "I'll tell you what my professor once told me." Brickwood stared at Algernon as he spoke the words of his father, who had been his predecessor to this very position when he was still alive. "Don't let the weight of pressure hold you down, but build you stronger. And always remember at the end of the day there are only two paths to take, the one you choose for yourself and the one chosen for you by others."

Algernon held his cousin's gaze. There was a challenge in his words, one that Algernon didn't miss, but turned away from.

"Choose wisely," Brickwood added with a small smile.