Lucy wandered aimlessly about the school, taking account of the same expert craftsmanship of the outside as was reflected in the inner long wide stone corridors. There were courtyards scattered every so often between the buildings, and wondered if it would take years to accurately navigate the school's entirety.
It was a good thing she liked exploring as the exploration was helping to clear her anxious thoughts caused by the stares and whispers.
Now that she was calmer Lucy could sense the weight lifted from her head from the impromptu cut. Before it was so long it grazed the middle of her back when it was straight, but now it reached only a little below her collarbone. She really had no attachment to her hair, it wasn't like it was good for much but helping her stay warm when she and her brother explored the colder regions of the world. And anyway, she knew it would grow back quickly like it always did, but the lightness felt good for a change.
"Good evening." A male voice suddenly broke from behind her.
"Hello," Lucy replied, hoping her voice didn't come off as surprised as she was.
"You must be Lucy." The man declared with the friendliest of smiles on his handsome face. Lucy recognized him as one of the teachers she had passed on her trek up to the fire. The one with black hair. He must have been about her brother's age with a slim build. He wore a well-tailored white shirt under a thick black jacket that had red trimming of a floral pattern on the shoulders. He was tall too, so tall Lucy had to crank her neck to see his wavy dark hair perfectly styled to match his natural good looks.
"I'm Solace Brickell." He introduced with a voice just as friendly as his smile. "But you'll have to call me Professor Brickwood in class."
"Solace." Lucy tried out his name and his green-black eyes lightened upon hearing it. "Were you the Solace my brother used to tell me about?"
His smile widened to fill half his clean shaven face. "Jared spoke of me?" He replied in high spirits. "That makes me happy to hear after so many years apart. I thought his affections might have wanned."
"Not at all!" Lucy said beaming. "He loved getting you letters, and would tell me all about your times together at Attwood!"
Solace laughed as her pure openness was exactly the same as her brother's. "We were quite a bit of trouble back then too." He said with a reminiscing grin. "You know I have never met someone quite as smart as your brother." His smile turned mischievous before he added, "Other than myself."
"Jared?" Lucy asked.
"Yes," Brickwood replied, chuckling at her reaction. "Maybe not so street smart, but he had a brain that seemed to encompass more knowledge than anyone I had ever met. He could connect almost everything he had ever read or heard in the most brilliant way. It just about made him prophetic."
Lucy thought back to the time when Jared actually had his pants stolen in Bozuini by a cunning monkey.
"I actually have him to thank for my position now," Brickwood added.
Lucy blinked in utter confusion. "Really? Why is that?"
"Well because the teacher that held my position when we attended Attwood wanted to pass it on to him after he graduated. Jared was such a natural when it came to teaching, he would have been amazing." He looked at Lucy supposing she had probably benefited from years of her brother's private tutoring. "But he chose to travel about with his little sister who he just about adored more than anything in this world." Lucy's face blushed when adored fell from his lips with such affection. "So the position fell to me instead."
Lucy wondered what her brother would have been like as a teacher, but from how he never got frustrated and always encouraged her no matter how much she struggled, she knew he would have been incredible.
"What do you teach?" Lucy asked.
The professor held out a paper scroll for her to take. "Why don't you have a look for yourself."
Lucy unfurled it to see what was to be her scheduled study at Attwood. It was all planned out for the next six months, starting with her first class of the year tomorrow. It was the fundamentals of dark magic followed by destruction magic. The next day it was light and creation magic and the pattern repeated twice until there was a three-day break before the schedule repeated. Only a few weekends had anything written on them, one being two months from now with the Tourney of Fall written across all three days and another two months after that with the Tourney of Winter written on one day of the three-day weekend, and some weeks after that, The Ball of Attwood.
"You'll see the pacing is very slow for the first half of the year," Brickwood explained. "We want to make sure that you're well taken care of and get enough time for your body to heal while expanding your workings with magic."
"Right," Lucy said. It was common knowledge anywhere that magic was an ability that had to be slowly built up over time like a muscle. If it was overused the body could get severely injured from the inside out, a mistake Lucy had learned the hard way as her pink finger never made a full recovery.
On the bottom of the agenda, the professors were listed and Lucy read,
Brickwood First-Year Fundamentals of Dark Energy.
"I'm afraid I'm not well suited in dark magic," Lucy fretted. It had always been something her brother shied away from teaching her because she grew so disheartened after long hours of failure.
"Well, there's no need to be afraid when the whole purpose of my being here is to help you with just that," The professor said so sweetly Lucy's inside warmed and she smiled up at him. It reminded her of Jared though they seemed unlike in every other way. Brickwood had an assured coolness to him that was the exact opposite of her brother's quirky charm.
"And I hope I'm not being too forward, Miss. Lahue," Brickwood leaned closer and his voice dropped low as if he was sharing a secret with her. "But as your brother's friend, I plan to watch over you thoroughly in all regards."
Lucy's heartbeat soared with how close he neared her to the point she could smell the masculine musk of his cologne.
"Thank you," Lucy mumbled as the tops of her cheeks blushed red.
Brickwood smiled down at her, that reaction was just like her brother's as well.
"I'm not asking you to come with me, I'm just asking if you have any connections with someone who can make a transportation stone. It doesn't have to be a big one, just one with enough energy for me to sneak into the girls' dorms without being seen and out with a few borrowed pairs of garments." Brickwood and Lucy looked over to see two boys had just rounded the corner.
And when the boy who had been speaking noticed Brickwood all color drained from his freckled faced. And his scowling black hair acquaintance only lifted his mug when his eyes fixed on Lucy in surprise for half a second before he saw Brickwood besides her and it soured into a stone cold front.
"Wilham," Brickwood reprimanded with an authoritative voice that had years of practice behind it to perfect. "Are you really inquiring about the means to break into the woman's dormitory?"
"No." The boy obviously lied, his face still flushed white. Which made his many freckles look even darker.
"Good." Brickwood said his tone snapping back to friendliness, "That would be a horrible way to acquaint yourself with our newest student here, Miss Lucy Lahue." Wilham looked past the professor to the girl he just noticed beside him.
"Hello," Lucy said, with her hands wrapping around the scroll tightly.
"You're that girl who threw her hair into the fire."
"Mr. Debuer," Brickwood said, exasperated by the boy's lack of common sense. "Just run along back to your dormitory." The professor ordered, making sure the emphasis laid long and strong on your.
The boy's freckles bobbed up and down with his nodding as he quickly turned around and left.
"And if I get one word of any items disappearing from the ladies dorms you will have to deal with me personally." Brickwood's eyes narrowed in a threat as the intensity of his voice caused Wilham's back to straighten.
"Yes, Professor." He replied, with his tail between his legs.
"Sorry about him," Brickwood said to Lucy after he was gone. "More freckles than common sense."
"Oh, it's fine," Lucy said, even though the comment made her wholly insecure. But this was the grave she had dug herself and there was no point wallowing in self-pity.
She looked at the other boy when she thought she felt his eyes on her, but when she looked up he turned away. She could recall him as the one who had been staring at her before. He was tall but not as tall as Brickwood but he did have a slight slouch to his shoulders that made him seem shorter then he probably was.
"And if I may do the honors to introduce you," Brickwood said with a thin smile like he was holding back an even bigger one, "This is Algernon Black."
Algernon turned his gaze to meet Lucy's, and her breath caught seeing him up close for the first time. His eyes were completely black, and not just because his pupils were wide, but because his irises were the same ebony hue. The only color near them was the dark violet bags under his eyes contrasting harshly against his pale white skin. And his curled hair was a deep oiled black to match.
Lucy knew it was a rare enough thing to see anyone with black hair let alone black eyes, but she found herself uncommonly transfixed by more than just the uniqueness of his features. Even his skin was flawless and looked like moonlight. Just about everything about him reminded her of the night actually.
She couldn't even describe him as handsome yet because she'd been unable to form any thought or even breathe as she took in the haunting sum of him.
"It's nice to meet you," Lucy said after she had to take a few seconds to gather herself. She hoped she hadn't been staring for too long or too obviously.
Algernon nodded back at her but averted his eyes rather quickly. Which she was fine with because they were making her increasingly unsettled.
"Algernon is not really one for idleness," Brickwood said to Lucy after seeing that cold acknowledgment would be the extent of his reply. "He much prefers the art of brooding and avoiding conversation."
Lucy smiled at the joke.
Which seemed to annoy Algernon considerably as when he spoke again it was with more than a hint of anger. "If there's no point why should I have to waste my breath." He looked Lucy up and down as if to say especially on her.
Lucy took the backhanded insult as gracefully as she could, biting the insides of her cheek to keep from retaliating.
"Well, I think it is in your best interest to give everyone a chance, Algernon," Brickwood said with a smile to meet his scorn. "Especially someone as lovely as Miss. Lahue."
Lucy blushed at the sudden compliment, but Algernon's suddenly even stronger gaze of contempt made her pale. Without another word, he pushed past them.
Brickwood's smile never faded as he did even with his shoulder bumping him aside.
"Did I do something to anger him?" Lucy asked as she examined the back of Algernon's black coat from down the hallway.
"No," Brickwood said, sighing from the tension Algernon's silent rudeness created. "That's just how he's always been." He wondered if that would change now that he was living his first years away from home, but doubted someone resting so entirely in isolation would adapt well.
"You've known him for a while?"
"Algernon's my younger cousin," Brickwood said. "Although it seems a pleasurable disposition was not a genetic trait." Lucy supposed they did look a bit similar, not so much in facial structures but more in their color palette of pale skin and dark hair.
"I suppose not." She remarked, looking at the now empty hallway where the boy had just been.