“Shen Stone, second son of the illustrious count Marcus Stone of Stone Ridge. Sixteen years old, a second-year student, though you transferred here last semester. Despite only being here for only four months you have had eleven infractions, including skipping classes, failure to listen and comply to professors, fighting fellow students, fornicating with a fellow student on academy grounds, drinking alcoholic substances on academy grounds and,” the old man looked up, “stealing ten jars of hazelnut chocolate from storage.”

The old man, principle Jackson of Emerald Grand Ridge Academy, dropped the folder onto the table and stared at the student in question. “And now I’m told you have stolen the upcoming history exam of professor Guila here, along with brutally beating and permanently disfiguring Alan Cordon. Do you have anything to say for yourself Shen?”

Shen quickly glanced around the room with his good eye, behind his left stood his uncle, a large heavy built man. He stood quiet and made no expression. Behind principle Jackson stood professor Guila, her white hair strewn about in a bun, but it seemed as if she didn’t care for her appearance, seeing as she hadn’t stopped glaring at Shen since he had come here about an hour ago.

This wasn’t good. He was in pain, tired, and his head thrummed with a dull ache. It was difficult to think and yet he had to try to find a way out of this. But think he did. About how much he hated Jack, well that idiot was probably dead. He supposed he was more of an idiot to follow through with Jack’s plan in the first place. And when he really thought about it, if he didn’t play this right, forget what the school or his uncle would do to him. His father would kill him. So, Shen did what any man in his situation would, bullshited.

“First off I’d like to say I am innocent.”

“In what regard? Breaking and entering, thievery, blatant physical assault, or of the truth?” Guila remarked.

“Professor, please.” The principal raised his hand. “Let the boy speak, he is allowed that much at least.”

Shen nervously cleared his throat, “As I was saying, I am innocent of all of what professor Guila just accused me of, save the last.”

The principal shook his head and smirked, “So you’re telling me that you did not assault the student Alan Cordon?”

“No, he attacked me first. It was self-defense.”

“And why would Alan attack you?”

“Well, besides being a drunk idiot he was harassing another student, a girl. I got in the way and then he punched me,” he pointed to his swollen left eye and cheek. “At which point we fought and I managed to successfully defend myself.”

“By beating the boy half to death?”

“That’s…”

“Principal, I did not see any girl when I found Shen.” Guila pointed out.

“That’s because she ran.”

“Why would she run? Did she go to get help? Did any of the campus guards come to the scene?” Principal Jackson asked.

“None.” Guila responded smugly.

“What is the girl’s name Shen. I will call her in for questioning.” The principal offered.

“Um, well I don’t know her name. But she’s short, around five feet I guess. Light brown skin, black hair, brown eyes.”

“You just described half the women of the Asteri empire,” said Guila.

“So, an unknown girl was the only witness of those events. Not much to go off of boy.” The principal picked up the folder once more and pointed the corner to Shen, “And what of breaking into one of the office rooms of the professors, and stealing professor Guila’s exam?”

“I did not break into the room. In fact, I had a question for professor Guila and was looking for her. As I went to her office I found someone else in the office, a thief no doubt. At which point I hid under a desk, planning what to do. It was at this moment where professor Guila came in, turned on the lights and shouted bravely ‘Who the hell is here?!’”

“I did not!”

“Or something like that. Anyway, the thief jumped out the window. So, I decided to follow him, hence I ran as fast as I could down the stairs. When I reached to the first floor I saw Alan and you know the rest.”

“What of my stolen history exam?”

“Did I have a history exam on me when you found me?” Shen shook his head, but quickly regretted it. Oh man, that was a bad idea. His head was killing him. He might have a concussion.

“Interesting, but what of the mask we found in your pocket? Why would you need to be wearing a mask if all you had to do was ask a question.” The principal raised his eyebrow.

Shen, tried to shrug, but ended up more of a wince, “It’s cold out on spring nights. I have sensitive ears so I like to bundle up.”

“You little lying-”

“Professor Guila, please.” The principal sighed and rubbed his temples, “It is late, seeing as Shen has put a defense, incredibly unlikely yet still plausible, we’ll have to review this case with the school board in the morning. As for you, Shen, you will return here tomorrow afternoon once classes are over, failure to comply will result in a worse punishment. Do you understand?”

“Yes, principal Jackson.” Shen sighed in relief.

The principle leaned in towards the desk, “Shen I want you to know the only reason I haven’t already expelled you is because of your uncle’s station as the captain of the guard here in Emerald town, along with of course your father’s position. But make no mistake, you are a shame to this academy and all who attend. Do you understand?”

Shen stared at the principal silently, “I understand.”

“Good, you may go.”

Shen slowly got up, trying to ignore his aches and pains.

“Shen before you go.” Guila called out.

He sighed inwardly, “Yes, professor?”

“You have never been an avid student, not caring for any of my lectures, in fact you failed my class last semester. So, truly I am curious as to what question you had for me?” Guila smiled shrewdly.

“Ah, yes.” Shane grinned, “I wanted to know how our Asterian army was implicated in the battle of Water Brooks.”

Guila’s smile faded, “As the principal said, it’s late. I will tell you about it some other time. That will be all Shen.”

“Of course,” Shen said in spite. He walked out the principal’s door, his uncle behind him.

“Captain Stone, always a pleasure.” The principal called out.

“I cannot say the same.” Captain Stone said coldly as he slammed the door shut.

Shen and the captain walked to their carriage.

“Sorry, uncle, for making you come all the way here. I know you’re busy.”

“It can’t be helped, after all I’m in charge of keeping the peace in this town. And when I heard that my own nephew had pummeled a student to the infirmary I had to come and see what the trouble was. I’d punish you,” The captain looked at Shen’s swollen face and wobbly gait, “but it seems you’ve already done that yourself.”

Shen couldn’t argue with that. It was best if he left it there and be grateful that his uncle wasn’t angrier with him. The rest of the walk was quiet. As Shen arrived he stumbled, his strength finally failing him. The captain grabbed him and helped him into the carriage. He then called out to the coachman who whipped the horses into a trot. Shen closed his eyes and tried to rest for a bit. Captain Stone looked out the window. After a few minutes, he finally spoke.

“Shen, he’s wrong you know. You are not the shame of this school. In fact, you are one of the few gems here.”

Shen laughed as gingerly as he could, “Really? I beg to differ. Maybe John Jade, but me, come on, uncle. I don’t need your pity.”

“Pity?” Captain Stone leaned forward and grabbed Shen’s collar, “Pity is the last thing I’ll give you. You have grown up with some of the best tutors in all the empire, you’ve walked among the noble courts, talked to some of the most powerful people in the world and been given greater opportunities then most men could dream of. And yet because of one minor setback you throw it all away, spending your time with the Fox’s stupid son doing foolish shenanigans. No, I don’t pity you. I’m disappointed in you.”

Shen grabbed his uncle’s hands but couldn’t remove them from his collar, “One minor setback? You call this, living here, a minor setback? Please uncle, there is nothing minor about this. I tried and I failed. I failed my father. That’s it. End of story.”

Captain Stone let go of his collar and sat back. “You have so much potential Shen. Sure, John is the heir of Duke Jade, but I believe you can do as much for this empire as he. If you put your mind to it. I know you Shen, I believe in you.”

“Uncle, I’m not a quin, I can’t just magically wave my hand and make things happen. I’m not like you.”

“Shen, being a good quintessential user is the same as being a good soldier or just a good person. It isn’t about what kind of power or how much of it you have. It’s about what you choose to do with it. I believe in you because you’re the kind of person who’d forgo your escape to save some girl you didn’t know.”

“So, you believe me?”

“Of course. Why else would you have been caught after stealing that crazy woman’s exam.” Captain Stone smiled knowingly.

“Haha. Yea, um. Well, guilty as charged I guess.”

“Mhm.” The captain resumed his rigid posture.

The next few minutes of the ride were silent. Both of them just looking out the window into the night sky. The midnight breeze cooled Shen’s swollen face. It was calm, it was nice. And it was precisely these kinds of moments that made him want to stay here away from the courts, and the rest of his family.

“Hey, uncle?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you going to tell my dad what happened tonight?”

“Well, my older brother has a short fuse. So, I’ll think about it. Depends on how you behave the rest of this semester.”

“…Thank you.”

“You are welcome. I do have one question. What was that about the ten jars of hazelnut chocolate?”

Shen smiled, “Well, uncle, it all started one late night. There was this girl and we were drinking-”

“You know what forget I asked.”

Shen laughed. “Hey, I have a question too.”

“What is it now?”

“Why is a quin like you-a decorated knight and soldier to boot-captain of the guard in a place like this?” Shen had been wondering this for a while. His uncle had arrived here a month after Shen. At first Shen was glad of seeing a familiar face, and had taken his uncle’s deployment here as just good luck. But time had passed and his uncle, a valuable soldier, was still here.

“Your father wanted me to look after you. Why else.”

Shen smiled tiredly, “As reasonable as that sounds, my father isn’t a reasonable person.”

“Mhm.”

Shen didn’t ask anymore, he knew he wouldn’t get anymore answers from his uncle. That’s just the kind of man he was. Shen closed his eyes, hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.

******

Dek opened his bedroom door to find Erica eating breakfast. Which consisted of some eggs, bread, and meat.

“Any for me?” Dek yawned.

“Nope.”

“Of course not,” Dek sat down and looked at Erica’s right hand. No blue glow, not even a glimmer. It was seeming more and more likely it had just been a dream.

“Stop staring at me.”

“Huh, oh, sorry.” A few moments passed, “Hey, Erica?”

“What is it? I’m eating.”

“What do you know of quintessence user with the ability to turn invisible?”

Erica put her fork down and looked at him, “Are we gonna do this? Now? This early? While I’m hungover?”

“You can’t get hungover. And yes, I need to know. Please.” He added.

Erica sighed, “Alright, sure I’ll humor you. There is no such thing as an invisible ability.”

“Why not?”

“Because being invisible would also rend the user blind, that’s how light works, though granted there are many abilities that seem to defy logic and physics, nonetheless there are none with invisibility.”

“What about intangibility?”

Erica stared at him, “No. Now get going, you’ll be late too school.”

She was right, so Dek rose from the table and headed to school with an empty stomach. As he walked out from his apartment building he heard the town bell ring and realized he was already late for class. He ran as quick as he could to the mass of buildings in the distance that made up his new school. As he ran he realized he didn’t know exactly how to get there through the winding streets and he ended up taking longer than intended. Though he did manage to see a small airship flying in the distance, he guessed rich kids really did go to Emerald Grand Ridge. Finally, he arrived at the school. He walked into the main building where he showed his papers to the secretary and was chastised for arriving late. Though, the secretary grudgingly showed him to his first class, “Fundamentals of Ether”. She pushed him into the class and closed the door behind him. He found himself in front of a class of twenty some odd students, all staring at him.

“Ah, you must be the transfer student. I am professor Richard, please introduce yourself to the class.” The professor, a man with a grey beard, dressed in a suit ushered him to the front of the class. Dek reluctantly walked to the front.

He cleared his throat, his fingers fidgeting at his sides, “H-ey, Hello. My name is-” He tried to remember what his alias this time was, he couldn’t recall the name. His mind was hazy, his body sweating from the long run he had just made, and he was already exhausted as it was. The strange dream from last night wasn’t helping, nor was Erica’s attitude this morning, damn would it kill her to act nice for once.

“Mr.?”

“Huh, what?” Dek realized he was still standing in front of all his peers and teacher. “Oh, ahaha, um, well you can just call me Dek. Yeah, heh. Umm, I’m seventeen, and come from the south of the empire. My hobby is drawing I guess?”

“Good enough, Mr. Dek. You may sit down over there.” Professor Richard pointed to a seat at the back.

“Yes, sir.” Dek quickly walked to the back of the room, sat and placed his head down. He felt blood rush to his face. Dammit, he had never been good with people, but this time he had wanted it to be different. So much for that. They must think he was an idiot.

“I myself have visited the southern region of our great Asteri empire.” The professor continued,” It’s a beautiful place. Some nights you can see concentrated ether currents in the night sky, it’s marvelous. Now then class,” He raised a dark blue gem, “Who can tell me what does this rock and the ether lights in the south have in common?”

Dek didn’t even bother to answer, this was rudimentary knowledge. He thought going to a prestigious school would offer more vast studies into ether, but he was wrong. This day was turning worse by the second.

A beautiful girl quickly raised her hand.

“Yes, miss Emily.”

“Ether, known as the fifth element, is a very small substance only found in the form of gas particulates, invisible to the eye, despite its size it’s found everywhere in the world. The southern mountains of Asteri create a natural current that cause-on certain nights-ether particulates to clump into larger particulates similar to snow, and since ether is naturally bioluminescent the numerous “snowflakes” of ether are clumped up enough to shine in the night sky. Humanity has also learned with the aid of technology to create an artificial current to transmit ether particulates from the air into a concentrated stream, which we then contain into gems, such as the one in your hand professor.”

“Well, done Emily. An excellent explanation of ether, truly. Now-”

“Also,” Emily interrupted, “ether has been known to be manipulated by few select humans-quintessence users, or quins for short-who can naturally use ether to create unique phenomena without the aid of any instruments or gems. It really is a wonder how they manage to do it.”

“That will be all, miss Emily.”

“But professor, how do they manipulate ether?” The attractive and clearly knowledgeable and most likely intelligent, definitely bold, girl asked.

“We haven’t researched all of the details so far, however the knowledge we have gathered will not be shared today.”

“Oh, come on.” “Please, professor.” “Wait, what?” “Actually, I’d like to know.” Several students spoke wanting to know the answer. Others groaned in refusal.

“We will however go over some ether practical knowledge at a later date.”

Emily smiled. Dek found a small grin forming on his own face, maybe today wouldn’t be so bad after all.