Chapter 64 - Angry Faces Frowny Laces

After practically fleeing from the Aegis Arch, Skyle rapidly traversed through the wide, sweeping grounds of the academy. The walls of the entire compound might very well rival the entirety of Sunny Meadow in its grand scope. Sunny Meadow had been built painstakingly brick by brick, but Aegis Academy had been erected using powerful spells matrices and magical constructs. While a small town like Sunny Peak could never afford that kind of luxury, such expenses were trifling to a tier 2 academy of the Empire.

Skyle could easily see the difference from regular craftsmen’s work in how smooth each block of stone was where it intersected with the next. There was practically no seam nor mortar visible holding them together, yet they had been built to withstand magical spells of class 3 or above. That meant a massive firestorm like the one Leon had cast in Sanctuary against the spider army would hardly even scorch these buildings. This ensured that the whole academy was safe and secure against attacks by a Master level mage even without any of its defensive spell formations.

Many youths could be seen sitting on benches along pathways lined with beautifully trimmed flowers and graceful statues slick with the rain. These youths chatted animatedly as they completely ignored the pouring rain. The storm did not concern them at all. Not one hair on their heads was even a little damp, and no hints of moisture could be found on their brightly colored robes.

Raindrops descended from the clouds above and stopped a few inches from their skin, where they would show different results depending on each individual’s talent. Some gracefully slid off a faintly visible barrier that glimmered blue. Other raindrops hissed lightly as they bounced away, repelled by an invisible force while a few errant drops evaporated into the air the moment they came into contact with a reddish field of energy. A dozen different spells and abilities were at work here, mostly mages showing off their abilities. Elemental warriors could easily ignore the rain, as their strengthened physiques had little to worry from a little rain. Still, no one wanted to slop around the campus grounds looking like a drowned puppy.

Already, Skyle was drawing countless eyes in his direction. Nearly all of them knew who he was, and thus didn’t challenge his presence. Still, there was a combination of disdain and jealousy in those gazes. Every negative emotion that these scions of rich and powerful houses did not dare express towards Kass and Reik naturally were channeled towards their useless big brother.

After all, who could blame an exalted elite student from Aegis Academy for looking down upon a farm boy with not an ounce of elemental power? This, more than anything, seemed to define the whole worth of a human being in Aerian society.

Skyle was used to such attitudes by now, so he let them slide off his skin just as easily as those pretentious student mages repelled the rainwater. He might occasionally struggle with his own feelings of frustration and depression from his disability, but he could care less about the biased scorn of these spoiled brats.

He knew the way by heart, but the academy was so massive in its scale that it still took a good long while before he finally entered the courtyard of Altar of Ao-Nix. As he did, he could only look helplessly at the crowd gathered here before plunging headfirst into the milling mass of people and simply forcing his way through.

Beyond the courtyard lay a massive expanse of water. The grand Altar of Ao-Nix was suspended over a huge artificial lake. Several shimmering bridges of a tough, yet slightly flexible metal spanned the length of the Lake and led up into the altar itself. Usually, many students would spend their idle time leaning against the side rails of these bridges and gazing into the crystal clear waters of this lake. Its waters constantly swirled in fascinating patterns which legends said contained the secrets of Ao-Nix, Water Spirit itself.

Today, no one leaned against the railings nor did they gaze upon the lake. They were too excited to do such a thing. Skyle should have expected this. During a storm like this, the water element saturated the air on these bridges until even a cripple like him imagined he could feel the cool, soothing elemental energy tickling the tip of his nose. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like inside the Altar itself. All these students were queuing up to enter the altar up ahead. Skyle could already see the frustration on the faces of many as they realized their chances of making it inside before the storm subsided were slim.

“Excuse me,” he mumbled as he gracefully stepped around the bigger bodies and delicately nudged the smaller to one side. He was making a beeline for the Altar’s entrance, all the while standing on his tiptoes and trying to peer over the heads of the gathered throng. Many of the people he walked past let out dissatisfied noises, but he was past caring.

He had spotted his objective.

Fanning a delicate hand to shake a few water droplets from her sleeve, Kassandra Farrow was the very image of a fairy descended from a magical realm. She was dressed in voluminous robes of an azure shade that complemented the color of her eyes perfectly. They billowed out in the wind along with stray strands of her sun streaked hair, reinforcing the ethereal feeling she effortlessly gave off.

Her usual crowd of followers were gathered in a tight semicircle behind her, full of supplicating gazes and ingratiating smiles. Reik stood by her side as usual, looking every bit like the knights he idolized as he stood in watchful vigilance by her side. Both their parents and Skyle himself had made her twin sister’s safety his responsibility within academy grounds, and Reik took to such a charge with the same earnestness he applied to every other aspect of his life.

As Skyle drew closer, voices began to drift over from the crowd surrounding Kass.

“Kassandra, please. You must simply let me have the honor of casting a mist shield upon you. I just learned it a couple months ago, and it is nothing as crude as the water shield most sophomores are still stuck with. I guarantee that you will feel nothing but a pleasant breeze, and not a single strand of your beautiful hair will be marred by even one drop of rain.” A handsome boy who was around the same age as Skyle placed a hand on his chest as he entreated Kass.

“That won’t be necessary, Sean. I’ve already told you I don’t need you to follow me outside. In fact,” Kassandra swept her gaze at the small crowd shadowing her footsteps. “I distinctly recall politely requesting that you absent yourselves from my presence for the time being.”

Uncomfortable looks filled the faces of the youths, boys and girls who were likely near the top of their respective classes. Almost invariably, they had that haughty look of self-importance every snobbish kid picked up after a lifetime of privileged excess.

“But Kassandra..”

“We meant no offense..”

“Surely, you wouldn’t mind..”

A half dozen different protests rang out, causing Kass to close her eyes and lean her head back. She produced a beautiful fan from within the folds of her robe and delicately fanned her face with it, looking as though she wanted to massage her temples. In truth, only Skyle and Reik knew what she really wanted to do was throw the fan at the faces of each and every one of these annoying brats and leave a clear imprint of her foot on their silk-laden behinds while at it.

Skyle snickered at the sight and waved his hand. Kass didn’t see him, but Reik did. His affable expression was ruined by the enthusiastic grin that lit up his face as he waved back. He tapped Kass lightly on the arm, tilting his head in Skyle’s direction with an “I told you so” smirk.

Kass followed her twin brother’s gaze. As soon as she spotted Skyle, her brow grew stormy and her eyes glittered with a dangerous light. Her lips parted as though she wished to say something, but then she seemed to reconsider. Instead, she squared her shoulders with a minuscule shake of her head and stepped out into the rain.

The crowd gasped as raindrops began to fall upon Kass’ unprotected head, but she did not seem to mind as she moved forward with a stately calm that would have looked strange on any other nine year old girl. Kass embraced this attitude so firmly that it looked natural and graceful on her.

As they reached Skyle, he brought out the two cloaks he had folded under his arm, shaking a few drops of moisture loose.

“Hey baby si-” Skyle began, then caught the murderous look in his baby sister’s eyes and coughed. “I mean, hello Kassandra.”

“Kass will do,” she replied coolly, stretching her hand forward to take the cloaks. “I told you repeatedly not to come fetch me, especially under such weather. You should be resting. I won’t have you getting sick and become an annoya-”

The rest of the sentence was cut short as another hand slapped the cloaks away from Skyle’s hand, sending them hurtling to the ground. They landed in a small puddle of murky water.

Skyle followed the hand to its owner and barely managed not to roll his eyes in exasperation.

Handsome boy, whom Kass had referred to as Sean, scowled towards Skyle with all the contempt a spoiled brat could muster after a lifetime of practice looking down his nose at thousands of children with much inferior talents than his.

“What are these rags, you filthy peasant. How dare you sneak onto academy grounds, you rat? Away with you before I call the guards,” Sean sneered, naked disgust on his face.

Skyle didn’t recognize this new face. Sean must be one of the new transfers. Seeing this perfect opportunity to show off his latest spell before his idol, pretty boy wouldn’t let Skyle’s cloaks ruin his moment and cause him to miss this golden chance.

Indeed, Sean stepped forward and waved a hand with a swift motion so smooth and theatrical that it obviously had been rehearsed in front of a mirror countless times, just for this one occasion. A bright lattice of blue energy sprang to life over Kass’ head, glowing faintly with a warm magical aura that repelled all the raindrops with ease.

Sean glanced sideways towards Skyle with a supremely self-satisfied smirk, then turned to face Kass. An eager, expectant glow radiated from his face.

“Great, this again. Silly stuck up brats, happens every time they get new transfers,” Skyle sighed in his head, bending to pick up the cloaks so he could shake them clean before they got too dirty.

A firm hand on his wrist stopped him, and Skyle looked down in surprise to see Kass’ tiny hand holding on to him with surprising strength.

Kass’ expression grew frosty. A chilly glow flashed in her icy blue eyes as she turned her gaze upon pretty boy. He recoiled as though he had been struck, shocked by the barely veiled hostility in his idol’s eyes.

“Sean Mallory, I learned Carillon’s Art of the Curtains of Mist two weeks into my sophomore initiate class. I mastered it after one more week, and by the fourth I had already moved on to Leilitia’s Greater Conjured Mystic Glass.”

Sean Mallory’s face grew paler by the word, looking as though he had been physically struck. His lips trembled uncontrollably as they parted open, trying desperately to apologize or beg for mercy.

“I- I- But I-” He began, stumbling over the words as his peers began to give him pitying looks.

Kass did not give him the chance, speaking right over him and smothering any further protests. “Do not interrupt me, I’m not finished. You must have missed your courses on Basic Etiquette on top of Intermediate Waterweaving? Maybe your efforts would be better spent applying yourself to your spellcraft coursework instead of posing in front of a mirror all day.”

Half-hearted laughter rang out amongst the crowd, but most were silent witnesses to this boy’s lacerated ego.

“I- Ah, but Kassa-” Sean tried one last time, collapsing to his knees and looking on the verge of tears.

“That will be enough, Sean Mallory. I don’t believe we will have a reason to ever speak face to face again. Good day, and good bye.”

Gasps and tsking noises filled the air as people swiftly moved away from pretty boy. A ring of empty space was left around the kneeling, trembling figure of Sean Mallory. He looked lost and alone.

“Poor kid, he knows he blew it big time. He’ll likely become an outcast now. Knowing Kass, she will never forgive him. I’m gonna have to talk to her about it later,” Skyle sighed.

Kass immediately turned her attention back to Skyle. Her blazing blue eyes seemed to be asking, “What are you sighing about, you big lout?”

Skyle shrugged his shoulders in a helpless gesture, trying to look as small and harmless as possible.

“That’s right. Law of the Jungle: when a bigger, meaner predator locks stares with you, you either run or roll over and play dead.” Skyle chuckled inside his head, but took care not to alter his facial expression one bit.

It was still no use. Kass gave her older brother one last knowing look before rolling her eyes and shaking her head in frustration. She seemed to be asking, “Why me?” to the uncaring heavens above.

The skies gave no other response to the silent question other than to bring even more rain down upon her head.

Skyle quickly made to crouch in order to get the cloaks. It wasn't that he feared that Kass might catch a chill. Water elementalists had little to fear from a little rain. But he knew how much his baby sister valued her image, and at this pace she would soon join Skyle in looking like a drowned cat. However, Kass’ hand once again stopped him in his tracks.

Before he could do anything about it, Kass lifted both her hands to reach for the hood of his cloak. She gently pulled it over his head and adjusted it a few times before nodding with a vexed frown on her face.

“Angry faces, frowny laces,” Skyle mouthed silently. He couldn’t help himself.

Kass’ face grew red like a beet, deep circles of color blooming on her fair skin. She patted the hood into place one final time, as though reassuring herself. Then she smiled sweetly at her older brother.

A shiver ran down Skyle’s spine, but before he could react Kass reached out under his cloak with her other hand. It was the one place the crowd couldn’t see, and it was there that she twisted the skin over his ribs in a vicious pinch.

Skyle bit his lips to stop himself from screaming.

“God, this vicious little kittens claws grow sharper every day. What is ma feeding her, iron files?”

Kass quirked an inquisitive eyebrow at him. “Anything the matter, dear older brother?”

Skyle knew better than to complain. Besides, he had asked for it, and it did not go unnoticed that her hand still hovered dangerously close to his ribs. So, he quickly shook his head.

Kass seemed to have expected this preemptive surrender. She was already bending down on her knees to carefully gather the crumpled cloaks on the ground in her hands. Ignoring the shocked gasps from the crowd around her, she shook the soiled garments in the air a few times before gently smoothing their fabric over her leg.

A few people among the crowd looked like they wanted to step forward and help. A few even seemed to be considering casting a spell or two, but a furtive glance at the still kneeling figure of Sean Mallory quickly killed any such thoughts.

Wet strands of shimmering hair lay pressed flat against Kass’ tiny, heart-shaped face as she finally stood up and handed one of the cloaks to Reik. She spread the other one out and draped it over her own shoulders.

Skyle instinctively moved to shift the cloak over her back and smoothed out the hood over her head, shaking off a few remaining spots of mud while doing so. Kass pretended not to notice as she drew the edges of the muddy cloak over her spotless azure robes with an air of cold indifference.

“Oh boy, she’s mad at me again,” Skyle moaned inside his head. “Can’t just be because of Frowney Laces, can it? Then what did I do this time?”

When Kass had been six, she had read a book about a princess who tied her head with a pair of magical ribbons. For weeks after, she would constantly pester Skyle to tie her hair with her favorite ribbon. At first he had happily indulged his baby sister, but then the request for ribbons had grown increasingly complex. God knows where a tiny pipsqueak of a girl found out the names and instructions for so many flaming ribbons.

One night, when Skyle realized he had spent the last three hours learning and practicing how to tie an abomination called the Triple Fiorentine Inverse Sharfandel Stiletto Butterfly - just the name of that twice be damned ribbon made him wake up screaming in bed at night sometimes - Skyle had decided enough was enough. Knowing fully well that the little Empress’ will was absolute within confines of the Farrow family, Skyle had gnawed his own fingernails raw all night to come up with a simple, yet elegant solution.

His deliverance came in the form of a silly rhyme.

“Angry faces, frowny laces.”

He would use the phrase to tease little Kass every time she was annoyed at something - which happened a lot. There were many things in Kasssandra Farrow’s early life that the little Empress found not to her satisfaction. Most of them just so happened to be related to her older brother. This whole covert operation involved many sacrifices. Suffice to say, a lot of pinching and howling in the midst of tears was involved.

At least, the rhyme had served its purpose and Kass had finally grown out of her obsession with ribbons. Operation code: “Slay the Triple Fiorentine Inverse Sharfandel Stiletto Butterfly” was a resounding success.

Thank god he never had to bring up that name again.

To celebrate, Skyle had immediately taken that darned ribbon out back and buried it under two feet of soil, swearing he would go mad and frothing at the mouth if anyone asked him to tie so much as a Turquoise Turtle Shoelace knot.

Yes, he knew how to tie it. Three different ways. One of them with only one hand and a blindfold across his eyes.

Shuddering at the memory, Skyle snapped back to the present just at the right moment.

Without even turning to look at him, Kass moved away at a stately walk. The mud-stained cloak, which had been rather shabby-looking in the first place, looked starkly out of place hanging from Kass’ shoulders.

“It’s like a fairy wearing a beggar’s rags,” Skyle mused, absurdly proud of how cute his little sister looked even when she was boiling mad and blatantly ignoring him.

Most of her fans fell away, as they seemed to detect Kass’ stormy mood.

“Sensible fellows”, Skyle thought, rubbing the throbbing skin over his ribs where Kass had pinched him. “Then again, if one day one of them ever marries that little minx - HA!”

Skyle felt oddly pleased with the prospect of someone else being the object of his baby sister’s fury for once.

This was true, Skyle suddenly realized. Kassandra might have very demanding tastes, but she seldom lost her temper unless she was with Skyle. In fact, she never screamed, cursed, or pinched anyone else other than her older brother. Not even in the family. Reik never did anything deserving of such treatment, little saint that he was. He almost seemed like he could do no wrong. But that big scoundrel of a father they had? Surely he ought to have earned some of Kass’ fury over the years?

Yet the most she would do was glare with frosty indifference. That was the worst it had ever gotten. Just like that poor Sean fellow. Kass would never scream at or worse yet, physically attack others. She wouldn’t lower herself to do so.

It was only Skyle, her one and only older brother, that was deemed her official punching bag. The one who had been her playmate, her confidant, her guardian and yes, once upon a long, long time, her trusty steed. Though that was a secret that everyone in the Farrow family had solemnly promised to Skyle that they would take to their graves.

It seemed like hardly a day would pass without Kass being mad at him for one reason or the other.

Not that he was complaining.

As Skyle threw an arm over Reik’s shoulders and tousled his little brother’s hair under the hood of the cloak, he sighed happily to himself. Skyle did not fully understand why, but his chest was bursting with a deep satisfaction that filled his heart to the brim at the moment.

“Angry faces frowny laces,” Skyle mumbled absently to himself.

“Huh? What was that, big bro?” Reik looked up, tilting his ear towards Skyle.

Skyle simply laughed.

He had seen Kass’ tiny foot pause for just a second too long for it to be mere coincidence. Lowering her head to hide her expression, Kass’ graceful steps suddenly became flustered. It only became worse after Skyle laughed even more.

Kass was veritably stomping her feet in frustration with every step now, and Skyle was loving every second of it.

“You’re being bad again, big bro,” Reik accused, but the smile on his face gave him away.

“Of course. Your big bro is a bad, bad man,” Skyle grinned back.

Then they both started laughing, and the stomping only grew louder.