"Tell us everything," Professor lvin said, acting as the Headmistress’s mouthpiece, "From the beginning."
The trio of students shared a look and then without anyone saying a word, it was as though the other two shrank into the sofa, appointing Caius as their representative.
To his credit, he didn’t argue. He stepped right into the role.
"I doubt there’s much I can tell you, Professor," he said.
"What?"
"It’s just, you have it all on tape. Or crystals, anyway. You can replay it all at leisure," Caius explained.
"The Recording discs were damaged at so ti during the battle..." Professor lvin started to say before Caius cut in.
"But not at the beginning. You asked us to start talking about it from the start and there’s really no need for that if you already have that part recorded. Wouldn’t it be better if we simply filled you in on the parts you missed out on?" Caius asked in a gracious voice.
Professor lvin went red.
"I- WE determine where you start your narration. WE, not you. Now get to it Mr. Von Helsing and stop wasting our precious ti like the impudent wretch...!"
"lvin." Professor Elvira, the Headmistress called. Her voice was gentle but it cracked with the wind like a whip and lvin looked abashed.
He took a step back and bowed quite low.
"My apologies, Headmistress," he said.
Elvira didn’t spare him a glance. She just kept her smile on Caius.
"You have a way with words," she said.
"Thank you, Professor," Caius said and that caused Lea to look at him strangely.
You see, while she hadn’t spent as much ti with Caius as she would have liked, Lea liked to think she was well aware of his inflections by now;
Elvira, beautiful and glorious as she was, praising him for his way with words was an opening Caius would not ordinarily pass up. Even if he didn’t instantly move to flirting, there should be sothing—jovial/amused—about his tone.
When he thanked Elvira though, he sounded stiff. Uncomfortable. And not the good kind of uncomfortable where you’re attracted to soone but feel awkward around them. This was the bad kind like he really didn’t want to be around her.
’Maybe I’m imagining it,’ Lea thought to herself then. Her mind had taken such a tangent, she couldn’t quite take herself seriously.
Still...
Elvira’s baby blue eyes twinkled more intensely at Caius’s response as she continued. In a tone that gave the feel of a mother reaching out for a hug.
"You’re right, Caius. We do have footage of the start of the battle. The angles dwindle as more Recording discs were destroyed but we have enough.
However, I think it’s a very impersonal way of learning about it. We could watch the recordings for days and not quite understand how you all felt when you faced this terrible ordeal.
That’s why we want you to tell us. So we can hear it from you and listen to the emotions that accompany your speaking of the experience.
Do you understand?"
’I understand you’re bullshitting,’ Caius thought in his head.
There was so grain of truth in what Elvira said but Caius knew it was more than that.
Still, he let out a breath and began.
He started from the clacking centipede and then to Belron’s arrival and the mont when Kaya, Eloise, and Aylin had arrived before they got shut out by the Sealing Cube.
When he launched into the battle against Belron proper, Caius made sure not to ntion his Vampirism. He was confident the shadow had shrouded him well and he attributed all that he accomplished during that ti to it. Including successfully ripping Belron’s throat.
"This shadow magic you wielded— It was acquired from what?" Professor lvin asked, recording all that was being said onto a book he had open in one hand.
"A potion," Caius answered, "I refined it myself."
"From what?"
"Excuse ?"
"The ingredients, boy. What ingredients were used to refine the potion?" Professor lvin demanded as he looked up from the book.
"I don’t see how that’s pertinent," Caius answered.
"Excuse ?" Professor lvin glowered.
Caius refused to be intimidated.
"Lochxen has no rules demanding I reveal knowledge not acquired at Lochxen from my Professors. In fact, the Statutes of Magic encourage the protection of intellectual property."
"Don’t get glib with , boy," Professor lvin said putting the book aside to lean forward.
"lvin. Control yourself," Elvira said and again, lvin hurried to apologize.
"So you acquired knowledge of this potion outside of the Academy?" lvin asked after clearing his throat.
"Yes."
"Go on."
And so Caius continued. Arriving at the part where he had been struck to the ground and unconscious. At this point, his testimony was deed unreliable so Aurelius took over.
"And you faced the Demon... how exactly?" lvin asked.
"By... fighting it?" Aurelius answered, looking confused by the question.
"Yes, I know that," Professor lvin said, "But sothing caught my eye when you stayed midair while those two *points at Caius and Delia* bought you ti. And when you descended, you were adorned with ’special’ might.
We’d like you to elaborate on this," Professor lvin said with his own ready above the book to take down Aurelius’s words.
’And there it is,’ Caius thought.
Those questions were not lvin’s. They were Elvira’s. This was the start of her special interest in Aurelius. She had always sensed sothing different about him. After all, you can’t be as attuned to Magic as she is and not be able to tell that Aurelius is not quite... normal.
And when Elvira watched the footage, she felt she had confird what she had seen. Now she wanted Aurelius to say it. As though that would give her ntal summation the legitimacy it needs.
Aurelius frowned. This was a sensitive topic. Talking about it could lead to details he was supposed to keep quiet. He had to be careful in toeing the line of what he could reveal and what he couldn’t.
"Light Magic," he answered eventually.
"Light Magic," Professor lvin repeated skeptically, "That’s it?"
"Yes."
"You faced a Fiend from Hell with just Light Magic," Professor lvin said still skeptical.
Aurelius frowned.
"I’m sorry Professor, but it isn’t just Light Magic. That’s looking down on the Unique Elent often governed by Divinity, don’t you think?"
lvin snorted and then cleared his throat and carried on.
"From what we observed before the footage was cut off, you didn’t have the upper hand against the Fiend despite this special surge of power. You defeating it... did that require yet another surge of power?
Might you be able to offer pointers to help deal with this situation so we can better deal with it should it—gods forbid—happen again."
"What could I possibly know that you, wise Professors, do not?" Aurelius asked humbly.
lvin wasn’t phased.
"Quite a bit, it appears. You defeated a Fiend. Destroyed it to the point where no part of it remained..."
"It could have simply returned to Hell from where it ca—" Aurelius cut in to say.
"Did it?" lvin asked and Aurelius’s hesitation was his answer as he smirked,
"It is your duty as a citizen of the Acheron Empire to defend it from all threats. That includes telling us what you know."
"The orders of my goddess, supersede my duty to any land," Aurelius said in a low voice. His eyes had gained a strange golden glow.
’Fucking Aether!’ Caius cursed loudly in his head, ’Seriously why is she interfering here at all?!"
His face though remained very composed.
"The orders of your goddess?" lvin asked and there was an interested gleam in Elvira’s eyes.
Again, this inquisition wasn’t lvin’s. It was hers. He was rely her mouthpiece. He was the one to be the ’bad guy’ so she could keep that insidiously sweet and kind smile of hers.
Sohow, Delia decided this was her cue.
"He ans he didn’t do it alone," she blurted out and all eyes turned to her.
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