*Squeak* *Squeak*

A clammy hand, with long delicate fingers, trembled as it turned the, slightly rusty, restroom faucets. Hot water poured from the faucet’s opening, steaming up the mirror. With a little more squeaking, cold water was added to balance the hot water out.

Two palms began to capture handfuls of water, splashing it onto the face of a teenaged half-elf. With each handful of water, the yellow faded from half-elf yellow green hair, leaving his head as a verdant as a jungle. A strange ooze dripped from the boy’s mouth as he tried to rinse his mouth out with water.

This continued for several minutes till finally the half-elf was able to calm himself. Turning the water off and gazing at his own reflection in the cloudy mirror.

Then just as he thought he was ready to leave the restroom, his stomach lurched and he found himself running for the stall he’d already he’d been kneeling at for the last fifteen minutes.

*************************************************************************************************************

Oliver Ascelin was the fifth born son of the Ascelin family. His mother was human. His father was an elf. Despite being the fifth son of the Ascelin household, Oliver was the oldest. His four elder siblings had all died before his birth. Though their murderers came in many forms, the true killer was the Ascelin curse.

Once upon a time their family was prosperous and well respected. They were a major faction of the Titania Confederacy, before it became a part of the Empire. Their family had ruled over multiple fae and elf inhabited worlds and birthed multiple, galaxy famous, generals.

Then with a single moment of poor decision making they lost it all. Due to their years of service the Winter Court Queen Isolde couldn’t have their family executed but she did have them stripped of most if not all their power.

To add insult to injury she’d cursed the family, taking away their luck, taking away their comradery, taking away a bulk of their magical power and natural gifts.

This curse had remained in place for tens of thousands of years. Outliving the sinner whose actions had caused them to fall out of favor. Outliving the winter queen who had cursed the family.

The fact of the Asceline clan’s continued existence was a miracle. One bought in blood, in tears, in gold, and in discarded dignity. They were reduced to a group of parasites. Relying on the influence of others to make up for their weakness. They survived by doing whatever it took to save themselves.

Thus for generations the family had survived by hiding under umbrellas wide enough to protect them from the effects of their curse. They bowed, they begged, they scraped, they acted as toadies. They lived as virtual slaves, selling themselves to whoever would have them.

In the worst of times, they prostituted themselves both literally, and figuratively, for the sake of the clan’s survival. It was rare for an Asceline to get married and become anything beyond a plaything, or lesser concubine.

In fact, that had been Oliver’s goal just now. Andrew Oddvar was a youth that had been in the school for all of two days and already had half the school talking about him. Oliver was following the family teachings by trying to reach out and plant the seeds of future “friendship”. If the youth survive then this would be firm foundations for Oliver to get himself a favorable position as the other man’s follower.

Now… Now Oliver wasn’t sure what he was going to do. The curse was gone. He’d felt it as the darkness that had clung to his bloodline was torn away. The experience was painful beyond words, but it happened so quickly that Oliver had barely understood what he was feeling till minutes afterwards.

Then it was all he could to do run to the bathroom as his essence, the true essence that had suppressed by the curse, awoke. His body violently purged itself of the vile influence of the curse. As Oliver knelt before the toilet, he felt his stomach heave and wondered if he might die there. Vomiting out the remnants of the curse.

A strange smile crossed his face as he found he didn’t care. If the family’s luck and power was truly back then losing his life while the clan was freed from the weight that had followed them for countless generations was a fair exchange.

The smile vanished as Oliver thought of all the family members who would likely be affected by the sudden disappearance of the dark parasite that dwelt within their bloodline.

Just him possibly dying was one thing, but there weren’t too many Ascelines walking around. The curse had even had an effect on their overall fertility and lifespans. As Oliver spewed chunks into the toilet bowl. He couldn’t help wondering whether this was a blessing or a calamity.

He tapped the earclip pinned to his left ear and called home to try and warn them. Praying it wasn’t already too late.

**********************************************************************************************************

Andrew sat in the back of his eighth period class. He’d just woken up from a nap and was now trying to remember what the class actually was. He’d read the name, recognized that it wasn’t anything too interesting, and then downloaded the ebook from the class’ school site so that he could absorb its contents into his working memory.

The Professor was a slightly portly, balding, human man, who’d missed his calling by going into education rather than becoming an ASMR voice artist, recording sleep aids.

Though Andrew was no longer as tired as he’d been, he’d found himself blinking away sleep trying to listen to the man. Instead of paying attention to the lecture, Andrew decided to simply passively absorb the data for everything the man had said, and leave things as that. Just like he’d done for the books.

Instead of paying attention in class, Andrew had elected to watch a movie with a streaming app. The film played on a window that floated in front of his eyes and the sound was being streamed directly to his auditory cortex. Add the air conditioning inside the lecture hall and the overall experience was actually quite nice.

Andrew now wished he’d thought to bring snacks to class with him. He made a mental note to just carry a store of food with him wherever he went from now on. It wasn’t like it’d be a burden to do so, or like the food would spoil, Andrew could just use his powers to create a subspace where time was frozen and sync it to his person.

While he was thinking these useless thoughts and walking further down the path of being a terrible student, Andrew heard a voice. Hushed, light, and soft, forming an urgent whisper.

“Hey…!” said the voice.

“Pst…!” said the voice.

It was kind of annoying. The film had just gotten to the good part where its shirtless, musclebound protagonist had clambered into an old utility mech that had been jerry rigged with machine guns and was using it to mow down the squadron of evil stygian invaders that had taken over the lunar city that served as the film’s setting.

“What?!” said Andrew. Also whispering. His tone a tad impatient.

Andrew paused his film and looked to the side. He found himself staring at a face that was both familiar and not. The student that had been trying to get his attention was tall, but he had a gauntness to him, and his face was covered in sweat. His hair was green. His eyes were bright aquamarine. His ears were pointed but short in the fashion that indicated he was an elf of mixed blood ancestry.

Andrew blinked finally recognizing the face.

“Ah, it’s you!” said Andrew. Still whispering.

“Yes. It’s me.” said the strange half-elf. Sighing.

“Uh...Sorry about before. I was kind of an ass to you for no reason. D-, Do you want me to try and fix that thing I broke?” said Andrew.

“No!” said the half-elf. His already pale face growing even paler. His voice rising to a level that drew the attention of others in their area.

“No… This is fine. Thank you. ” repeated half-elf. This time speaking in a softer more controlled tone.

“Ah...Okay. So what’s up?” said Andrew.

“I was…. I am…. I’d like to be your friend.” said the half-elf. His face rigid like he was prepared for the fight of his life.

“Uh… Do you really mean that?” said Andrew.

“Yeah… That’s… That’s what I was trying to say before. I wasn't trying to start anything...but I’m… As I’m pretty sure you’re aware I’m kind of shit at making introductions and the like and I ended up starting things off on the wrong foot. I swear I wasn’t trying to start anything back in the canteen. I was just trying to start up a conversation.” said the half-elf.

“Ah… Well, uh, I should have kept my head better. So uh, I’m also sorry?” said Andrew. Feeling awkward.

“So what do you say?” said the half-elf.

“About what?” said Andrew.

“About the two of us being friends. I don’t really know anybody in school. You don’t really know anybody in school...or maybe you do. I’ve sorta been scoping you out and I at least haven’t seen you hanging out without anyone.”

“Dude, creepy.” said Andrew. Pulling back a little.

“S-, Sorry. But I think you must have seen how it is for me… I’m not… Or at least I wasn’t... the kind of person who could just walk up to someone and try to start a conversation with no prep-work.” said the half-elf. Looking embarrassed and a little aggrieved.

“Ah… True. Sorry about calling you creepy.”

“Er… It’s okay. But back to the question at hand. Do you want to be friends?” said the half-elf. Proffering a hand.

Andrew looked the half-elf up and down, then he gazed at the data behind the young man. Scrutinizing the boy’s essence to see if he’d made any dark ripples in the world around him. As far as Andrew could see his family had been involved in a number of shady things but there wasn’t anything that stood out as a reason for Andrew to turn the other boy down.

“Sure.” said Andrew. Taking the proffered hand and shaking it.

“Cool. I guess we’re friends now. My name’s Oliver, by the way. Oliver Asceline of the Asceline clan.” said the half-elf.

“I guess so...I’m Andrew Oddvar.” said Andrew. Not sure how to feel about the whole proceedings.

Beyond Sophia, he wasn’t entirely certain when the last time he’d made a friend was. After things started going south with his family he’d mostly been avoided by his peers in school and at home, his cousins and half-siblings either all either ignored him or picked on him. The only exception to this was his sister Jack.

“Uh...You should probably head down to the canteen. Either that or the school infirmary.” said Andrew. Deciding to start things off with a little “friendly” advice.

“Huh?”

“Your body is starving right now and I can see a lot of turbulence in your essence. You need food. Energy. So I think you should probably eat a couple good meals and get a rest.” said Andrew.

“Ah… That makes sense. I’ve been feeling a bit… under the weather. I would’ve gone home but I wanted to settle things here before I did.”

“Eh?!” said Andrew. Giving Oliver a strange look.

“D-, Don’t mind it. But if it’s not too much trouble. Would you mind helping me get to the school infirmary?” said Oliver.

“Sure… What are friends for?” said Andrew. His brow covered in cold sweat. His face looking as if it didn’t know what sort of expression to make.