“Take it back.”

“Nu-huh.”

“Pleeeeaaaaaase!”

“Nope, no take backsies.”

It was lunch time and the squad had taken a table in the cafeteria. Amalia was begging Ragnar to rescind his command but he wouldn’t allow it.

“Anything but that, please!”

“Nope, you will be my girlfriend for the next semester. Don’t like it? Beat me next semester.”

“But that’s still 5 months away!”

“Deal with it, sweetie,” said Ragnar with a large smile. Amalia’s over the top reaction was exactly what he’d anticipated and it was incredibly fun to watch. He liked that side of her.

“Well, I think you should go along with it,” said Rena. “If this is his only command, I don’t think it should be that hard to follow.”

“Yeah, what she said,” added Theo. “he’s not asking for sex or anything. Just the occasional hand holding and probably a kiss or two…”

“Gross!” Amalia was not at all happy with the arrangement, but she had to accept it. She’d have to be Ragnar’s girlfriend for the next five months. He never said what it entailed though, so she planned on the relationship to be in name only.

“Nah, I can respect boundaries,” responded Ragnar. “We’ll only take it as far as you’ll allow it, but I’d really like it if you gave it a real chance.”

“I’ll consider it….”

“While on the topic of gross,” interjected Ymil, “don’t you guys think this food is kind of terrible?”

The cafeteria was a large hall with a single option on the menu. Every grade had a timeslot for when they were allowed to get food. The hall could fit at most 5,000 students, forcing half the students to eat their meals outside. The amount of students would go down drastically once the entrance fights start to take place.

The lunch they were served that day was not worth writing home about. Every student was given a piece of white bread and something that appeared to have been ham at some point. It was a thin translucent slice of pink meat of unknown origin with a peculiar taste.

“Y-yeah,” stuttered Lance, “I-I’ve never r-really been a f-fan of b-bear meat.”

“This ‘thing’ is considered meat?!” exclaimed Ragnar as he poked a hole in his slice.

“Yeah, Lance and I used to eat it on a regular basis,” said Theo. “It’s a cheap alternative to actual proteins, but even I must admit this is cutting it very thin….”

“Never heard of a noble eating bear meat,” responded Amalia. “Most Nobles would consider it too plebeian.”

Upon realizing his mistake, Theo quickly added: “Ah yes, that’s because our father wanted us to learn the ways of the people. That way we can protect them better, haha.” Theo laughed nervously.

“Anyways, the food here is ter…”

“Ola! Mind if I join you?!” said someone other than the group, cutting the comment off before it finished.

Everyone at the table turned simultaneously to look at the boy that had just spoken up. It was the pink-gem wielding boy from earlier. He’d put on a shirt this time and was currently holding a piece of bread in his hands. He walked up behind Ymil and placed his hands on his shoulders.

“Erm….” Hesitated Amalia. Southerners had the reputation of being uncivilized and, on some occasions, cannibals. Those that knew the rumors were usually very wary of any dark skinned person.

“I don’t think there’s enough place for someone else. Look, all the tables are taken,” added Theo.

The dark boy revealed a very big smile and moved closer to Ymil’s ears. Everyone at the table could see his lips moving but were unable to hear what he was saying to Ymil. When the boy pulled away, Ymil simply nodded and said:

“I think we can add another chair, can’t we?”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.” The southern boy took an empty chair from a nearby table and seated himself between Ragnar and Theo.

“Let me introduce myself. The name’s Ariel Panthira, nice to meet you.” The grin on his face never wavered. “I decided that you guys would be the best group to try and fit in with, people seem to have weird preconceptions on black people. But you guys are wise Nobles, so you certainly know those rumors are false, right?”

“O-off course we do,” said Amalia. “My name is Amalia Kafsi, my father is indeed a Noble. Nice to meet you, Ariel.”

“My name’s Ragnar Forgeron. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Theo, and this shy boy is Lance. Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Theo leaned in closer and asked in a soft voice. “I can’t really tell, are you a boy or a girl?”

This made Ariel laugh. “Haha, are you serious?! You’re the first guy to actually be so blunt about it. I like you already. I’m a dude, don’t worry.”

Theo sat back in his chair and sighed. “Darn it, and here I was hoping you’d even things out some more.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, our group currently consists of 4 guys and 2 girls. If you’d been a girl the ratio’d have been more even…”

“I could wear dresses, if that’s what you’re into….” Ariel leaned forward and winked provocatively. Theo’s face turned red but everyone else laughed. It released a bit of the tension that made Ariel’s arrival somewhat awkward.

“Haha, I could lend you some of my dresses,” said Amalia while laughing.

“Ah, that’d be perfect. I also haven’t quite developed in those area’s either. They’d fit perfectly.”

“HEY!” Amalia cheeks also turned bright red, crossing her arms to hide her chest. This caused the rest to laugh even harder. Theo also joined in this time.

“Anyways, I’m Rena. Welcome to the group.”

“And I’m Ymil, but apparently you already knew that.”

Lance didn’t speak up. Although he laughed along with the others, he was way too shy to interact as casually as Ariel just did. Couple that with the common perception of southerners, Lance really couldn’t find a way to talk openly.

“So have you guys seen the bread they serve here?!” asked Ariel.

“We were just discussing that! It’s just so terrible!”

The rest of the lunch was actually quite fun, considering the way Ariel had joined their table. The initial awkwardness aside, Ariel fit in really well with the rest. The children discussed the various fights they saw that morning and they all concluded that Ragnar and Amalia’s fight was by far the most impressive.

As they were about to leave for their next history class, Rena tugged on Ymil’s shirt and whispered:

“So what is it that Ariel whispered in your ear, earlier?”

Ymil turned around and whispered back:

“He said that, if we didn’t let him sit with us, he’d reveal what we were doing last night.”

If he did that, they’d be removed from the Night Courses, whatever they might be. The first rule they had to adhere to was that nobody was allowed to know about the night courses. If someone was known to be a member, they’d immediately be kicked out.

“But that’s not all, he also mentioned he had a way to pass the second entrance test.” Ymil then hurried along, not wanting to be raise attention to the two of them. He’d explain it in more detail later.

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

Teacher Jack stood in front of the classroom and looked at all the students in his class. He was holding a book in his hand and his long blond hair was neatly combed to the side. He was pacing back and forth as he was giving his lecture.

“… and because Halram Kingdom is always in a state of turmoil, every citizen is obligated to follow at least one semester of Military Academy. Ah yes, I see we got a question?” Teacher Jack pointed at the hand that was extended into the air. The owner of this hand was none other than Ymil.

Ymil stood up and asked, “Could you please explain why Halram Kingdom is always at war? Why does it favor military strength over knowledge and intelligence?”

“That is because we are surrounded by enemies. We have the Xenth Empire to the East that threatens to take over our land, the Sea Creatures from the north that yearn for human flesh and the Anthropofagos in South. We are lucky to have stricken a peace treaty with Sumire, or else we’d be assaulted from every side.”

“And what about the New Halram Army?”

“Heavens, lord. Where did you hear a name like that?”

“We ran into a few on the way to the academy. Do those guys pose a threat to us?”

” For those of you that do not know, the New Halram Army is a group of revolutionary mercenaries that believe Halram Kingdom is rotten. They don’t agree with the current King’s commands and actions and thus decided to rebel against him. They’re hardly any threat though. Can I continue with my lecture now?”

“Just one more question, why is it that we fight the Xenth empire?”

That was a question that really couldn’t be answered in a single lecture. The war with the Xenth empire had raged for centuries and most documents from those days had been lost in time. It was commonly believed that the Ancients had started the war and the monarchy kept it going.

But that was then, the reason to fight now was entirely economic. The whole kingdom was built around the incessant fighting and the whole economy would collapse if peace were to be made between the two countries. Without the constant need for metal and supplies, the country would be bankrupt in no time and famine would spread across its lands.

“That isn’t something I can answer in a single lecture. We’ll go over that next week.” said Teacher Jack. “Now please sit down, Ymil, I want to continue with my lecture.”

Ymil did as he was instructed and sat down. He picked up his quill and dipped it in the pot of ink besides him.

“Well, where was I. Oh yes, I was about to talk to you about the founding of Halram Kingdom. It happened around 300 years….”

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

“Argh!” shouted Ragnar as the class finally finished. “Could this class get any more boring?!”

The students had just endured a four hour lecture about the founding members of Halram Kingdom. Jack Niris had talked as if it were the most interesting subject in the world, but half the class had fallen asleep anyways. As Teacher Jack walked out of the room people started to rouse from their slumbers.

“I thought it was an interesting lecture,” said Ymil as he put down his quill and paper. “Did you know that Miss Roseblood actually witnessed the founding of this country?”

“Soo?”

“Well, that means she’s over 400 years old, is that even possible?”

“I noticed that too,” added Rena, she and Amalia had taken the seats behind the boys. “The headmaster of our school is over 400 years old, doesn’t that strike you as odd? Is that even possible?”

“Must be a coincidence.” Theo just woke up. “That woman can’t be that old, I mean, did you look at her? She’s too hot to be 400 years old”

“I-I think that s-she might just b-be her descendant, t-that’s all.” Lance had stayed awake throughout the lecture.

“Who cares?!” exclaimed Ragnar, obviously bored with this talk. “Let’s go grab some dinner, I’m starving.”

“Shall we wake up the other two,” asked Ymil as he pointed at the sleeping Amalia and Ariel.

Ragnar grinned. “I’ll wake up Amalia, just wait.”

Ragnar took dipped his finger in a pot of ink and smeared some of it on Amalia’s forehead. He drew a large blue stripe on her forehead, then proceeded to draw cat whiskers around her nose. Once he was done he wipes his hands on a piece of paper and leaned in closer to her ear.

“Oh honey,” he whispered quietly, “it’s time to wake up.” He gently shook her arm and Amalia’s eyes opened, staring drowsily into empty space.

As she realized where she was, she straightened herself and said:

“That was very gentlemanly of you, Ragnar. I thought you’d pull a prank on me for sure.”

“Me, pull a prank? Never!” Ragnar tried to feign innocence by looking in every direction. “Oh, and by the way. Could you meow for me a bit?”

“Meow?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

The moment she said that word the rest couldn’t help but laugh. The quizzical look on Amalia’s face made the ink-drawn whiskers look even more hilarious. Even Ragnar couldn’t hold a straight face and laughed as loud as he could.

“What the heck is so funny?!”

“Nothing, nothing. Just make sure to wash your face tonight.”

“What did you do, Ragnar?!” Amalia grabbed her face with both her hands but couldn’t feel anything wrong. When she withdrew her hands she noticed a smear of ink on her fingers. Upon realizing what had happened, her face turned bright red with anger.

“RAGNAR!”

But Ragnar was already for gone by then. He ran out of the classroom the moment she grabbed her face.

“GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF…”

“Watch your language,” said a drowsy voice from beside her. The loud laughter had awoken Ariel. “Cursing isn’t very lady-like.” He looked at Amalia and saw the blue smears on her face.

“Pfft, but neither is that.”

“That’s it, I’m going to fry him to smithereens. Rena, let’s go!”

Amalia stalked out of the classroom while stomping her feet onto the floor. Rena quietly followed after her, she was afraid of what Amalia might do next.