Like the two years prior, winter came before Nerluce was prepared for it. And this winter came with the looming threat of midterms.

The classroom was silent save for the sound of brush strokes against paper. Nerluce furrowed his brows as he tried to keep the ink from his fingers. His messy script didn't grant him any allies in the form of the teachers and around this time most just seemed to be itching for a reason to expel anyone they could.

The teacher - their History of Magick teacher whose class Nerluce was admittedly the worst at - stopped in front of his desk. Nerluce's entire body went rigid as he sucked in a breath, terrified of what the old man's eyes saw. At any second he could choose to pluck up Nerluce's brush and paper and send him packing. Nerluce could be waist-deep in the snow by this evening. Gods, why was the old man still standing there, didn't he know that he freaked Nerluce out-

"You," the History of Magick teacher said, voice coming out as slowly as it always did as he bent over the girl sitting next to Nerluce. "Let me... see this..."

The girl squeaked, her face red with embarrassment as the teacher plucked up her paper. He wasn't fast but it wasn't like she could stop him. Nerluce wondered what she had done wrong but he didn't have time to dwell on it for long. The bell would chime any minute now and Nerluce had yet to iterate his point to his fullest potential. He wasn't done yet.

Not with Ethera, not with the Seraphs, and certainly not with this test.

What happened to the girl next, Nerluce was never sure. He just knew that the next time he glanced over, the teacher had moved on and she was no longer in her seat. Expelled? Perhaps. She might've been cheating, though Nerluce hadn't seen how she'd been doing it. Not that he would have done anything if he had known how.

While Nerluce hadn't cheated on any exam, homework, or anything else since coming to Ethera - mainly because it was too damn hard to get away with - to all of his tutors back home he was a renowned cheat. So... honor among thieves. Besides, it was a hassle to report someone and Nerluce hated to make a fuss. Besides, Nerluce never could get used to the idea that he was the one people were cheating off of.

Eko wouldn't let anyone get close to their paper. Corbett would throw a fit - not that anyone would want to cheat off of Corbett. Lyana would probably start writing down the wrong answers on purpose if she wasn't doing that already. Hamelin... well it was a bit hard to say what Hamelin would do. Probably ignore it. He'd probably know it was happening, though, unlike Nerluce.

Momentarily, Nerluce wandered what Aristide would do if he noticed someone was cheating off of his paper. What he had done. Surely someone had done it before, right? Then again, it was hard to imagine anyone stupid enough to try and cross Aristide's frigid glare.

Nerluce shook his head and turned his attention back to the paper. Focus. He needed to focus. He couldn't have Aristide or his friends or anyone else getting into his head and distracting him at the most crucial point in his life.

Well, maybe not his life but it still felt pretty crucial. Academic life? No, no, he still had finals this year and that would probably take the place as the most crucial point in his academic life. So maybe... second most crucial point in his academic life. But... that didn't have the same weight to it, did it?

Shit. Shit! Nerluce was losing focus again. He squinted and tried to focus on the characters. He'd completely forgotten what he'd been saying. He started to chew on the inside of his cheek, rereading what he'd already written. Right... the reason that Magickal Affinities sometimes appeared in large clusters in certain parts of the world - particularly isolated villages - was not only related to the fact that Magick was a genetic force, but also an adaptive one.

Nerluce kept chewing at his cheek. So what? So what if Magickal Affinities appeared in certain spots of the world? What did that mean for Magickal History as a whole? Then... ah. Right. Right! With these clusters... other Affinities would be seen as strange and foreign - a mark of an outsider - which would lead to ostracization and conflict and eventually the Elemental Wars. Therefore...

Nerluce kept writing until the bell sounded and there was nothing more that he could write. His wrist ached and his heart was beating miserably but he handed his work to the teacher with silent anxiety, hurrying to catch up with his friends after he did so.

"That test was a bitch," Corbett said with a yawn, his arms slung over his head in nonchalant ease.

"No kidding," Lyana said. "How are we supposed to answer all those questions?"

"You didn't finish?" Eko asked, incredulously.

Lyana shrugged.

"Even I finished, Lyana," Nerluce said, shoving her head playfully. "What happened? You're usually the first one done."

"I actually like Magickal History," Lyana said, shoving him back.

"It's not fair," Corbett huffed, tossing his yellow head back as though this whole thing was a scheme that the teachers had set up to specifically target him. "Lyana will get in no matter how shit she does but people who actually try get kicked out."

"You're more than welcome to have my place, Corbett," Lyana grumbled.

Nerluce knocked Corbett on the back of the head. "Yeah! If you stopped looking at yourself in a mirror every once in a while, Corbett, you might notice that that's not exactly fair." He narrowed his eyes. "It's not like she wants to be here."

"My newest escape plan is to hide in your luggage when you get kicked out," Lyana said.

Hamelin's lips set into a frown. "Don't," he said.

Lyana snickered and playfully pranced around the pair of them. "Not too fond of Aristide chasing you down? It's pretty terrifying the first time, I'll admit it. It'd probably be ten times worse with this one-" She jabbed a thumb at Nerluce, "helping him."

"What?" Nerluce asked.

However, to his surprise, Eko hummed in agreement. "It's a little terrifying that Nerluce can talk to spirits," they said.

"I can not talk to spirits," Nerluce said. "If I could, I'd tell them to clear this snow!"

As if to prove a point, Nerluce swept his arms around but the snow spirits didn't go anywhere. In fact, they cooed and if anything, drew closer to Nerluce as if his arms were an embrace they couldn't help but be drawn into. He made an even wilder gesture because the spirits had literally proved his point but his friends didn't seem all that convinced.

"Oh that is weird," Corbett mumbled.

"And spirits are everywhere," Eko said, looking vaguely terrified and vaguely thrilled. "You're always being watched, no matter what... and they will tell Nerluce."

"I can't speak with spirits!" Nerluce whined.

"Then how did you find Doite?" Lyana asked, raising a brow. "You literally never told us - more specifically me - anything about that." She poked him furiously. "Everyone saw you and Aristide run after that wind spirit so... was it not taking you to the Chosen Light?"

"Well yes but-"

"Then you can talk to spirits!" Corbett said, looking as though he'd cracked this whole ordeal right open.

"That's such a powerful ability I'm sure Nerluce is guaranteed a spot too," Eko said with a sigh. "I only hope there is room for us normal people."

"Like you're normal," Corbett grumbled.

"Like you are either!" Eko shot back.

"More normal than any of you people!" Corbett said, shaking his head. "Lyana is the most powerful Magickian of our generation, Nerluce can talk to damn spirits, Eko has that freaky good memory thing, and Hamelin-"

"Freaky good memory thing?" Nerluce asked, cutting Corbett off because... he stopped caring. "What freaky good memory thing?"

"You don't know?" Eko asked.

"Is it a special kind of Magick?" Lyana asked.

"Gods no!" Eko held up their hands in a shy defense. They weren't big on any attention being turned on them, much less all of the group's attention all at once. "Look, it's not really that big of a deal. Corbett only knows because he threw a fit and claimed I was a cheater when I'm not I just... have a good memory."

"A perfect memory," Corbett said. "They're like a real echo."

"Oh... oh!" Nerluce's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Sort of?" Eko said, rubbing the back of their neck. "It's... a bit embarrassing so I don't really talk about it and also get called a cheat-" They shot a glare at Corbett who simply shrugged it off, "but I just have... a lot of vivid memories. It isn't perfect though and I tend to remember things I've heard more than things I've read or saw."

"That's amazing!" Lyana said. "Do you remember the first thing I said to you then?"

"Um-"

"Lyana, you're being insensitive," Hamelin said, his deep voice sounding more solemn and stern than usual.

"Oh am I?" Lyana asked before she grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Eko said before they nodded to Hamelin. "Thanks."

Hamelin nodded back.

They walked the rest of the way to the dining hall chattering about Eko's newly discovered talent. Nerluce was impressed - his friends always found new, secret little ways to impress him - but the weight of what Eko knew about Nerluce seemed all the heavier. Eko would remember that night forever, each word etched into their skull in vivid detail. Nerluce was pretty much the same but... that didn't mean he wished it upon anyone else.

A part of him wished that it was an event that Eko would just forget. That he would just forget. That way... did it really even have to happen at all? It had been almost a year and Nerluce hadn't used that Magick once. He'd successfully buried it and he would make certain that it never saw the light of day again. If he had the strength to both do that and become a Seraph... well that was yet to be seen.

They hadn't yet completed their hardest midterm after all.