Ignite - A Mutant Academy Novel

Chapter 15

The rest of the class were near silent, touching up their notes and silently mouthing their prepared speeches. The room buzzed with concentration, and I felt a pinch of nervousness at how prepared they all seemed to be compared to me. I fingered the notes that stuck out from the book at all angles, and approached Fulmen's desk.

"Please, do talk amongst yourselves." He addressed the rest of the class cheerily. He sat down and motioned for me to sit in the chair opposite the desk. I did so. The noise level bubbled up slightly, and Fulmen smiled at me across the desk.

"How are you enjoying the project Rainbow?"

I was silent for a moment. "Actually, a lot more than I was expecting...um, Professor." So I didn't have a perfectly formed idea - but I did have my gut feeling, and that would have to do. Fulmen raised his eyebrows and smiled, surprised.

"You certainly didn't strike me as one interested in academia Miss Arcus, but perhaps I was wrong - on this subject anyway. Tell me, what is it about the project that interests you?"

I thought for a second. "It's real."

Fulmen's expression flickered. "Who have you chosen as your project centre Rainbow?" He asked, his voice faltering from it's usually cheery tone. What had I said wrong?

"It's someone we haven't actually covered in class Professor, so you might not have even heard of him. There's only one book in the entire library that even mentions him - but he's one of the most important figures in the history of Mutant Rights..."

What had I been worrying about? The words were coming so easily, like they had a life of their own.

"His name, is Adam Wycaster - or Lothar, as he called himself."

Fulmen's eyes widened, and for the first time I could read the expression on his face. The usual buzzing I felt when I looked in his eyes vanished for a second - but even that was a second too long, and I read his fleeting thought.

'No.'

"No." He said aloud, but barely above a whisper.

"Professor?" I ventured.

"No, you must have been mistaken Rainbow. Lothar Wycaster is not a name associated with the MRG, or the Mutant rights movement in general." He spoke quickly, with a harshness in his voice I'd never heard.

"But Professor, it's all here in this book. The real story of the MRG - Lothar is the hero of the modern fight for equality! Look..." I stood up, picking up the book to show him. Fulmen stood up too. He leaned forward on his desk, his voice lower but still full of the same harshness.

"Lothar Wycaster is a dangerous criminal Rainbow, and an insult to mutant-kind. You have no idea what you're dealing with here - Adam's is a dangerous path to follow. I reject this proposal: find someone else to look into Rainbow, I will not allow you to continue this study."

I felt the blood rising to my cheeks, and even the hint of tears threatening to rise to my eyes. I snatched up the book and strode from the room, slamming the door behind me and running up the stairs and down the corridor to my room.

The first time I'd ever cared about a stupid piece of homework - ever cared this much about anything in my life, and he'd shot it down without even hearing me out. I'd thought Professor Fulmen understood me, and I'd thought he'd understand this, but he'd turned out to be just as narrow-minded as the rest of them. Could he not even think, for one second, that just because Lothar was different in his approach, it didn't mean he was wrong? The Headmaster of the most diverse school in the country, and he couldn't accept that someone was different.