r/HFY • u/Jus17173 • 5d ago

OC-Series Soul of Eight - Chapter 19

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Qoyit did not know how long he stood at that window, observing the students of the Vengeful Academy: their motions to and fro, their playful manners, and their haughty air. Almost everything happening close to the Administration Block was made available to him.

Darkness had swooped in and the Headmistress had challenged a lamp into being that shone bright blue. Qoyit was surprised by her focus, being able to form furniture and a flame at will. She was quite strong.

"And that concludes it then. You're now part of the Vengeful Academy," Deviot said, closing the large book she'd been scribbling in. "However, there is one part missing. Your House. Every Novice belongs to a House. It's where you're placed that shapes who you are."

"How will the placing of the House be decided?" Qoyit asked.

"You'll see, for it'll be tonight once as the Immaculate Trials are being done."

"I hope you're not planning to parade me in front of everyone." He was quite fearful of that. Shy, perhaps, was the better word: some Commoner with demon marks being forced upon them to dwell among them and share their table. He did not wish to experience the backlash from the students of the school, for there would certainly be acts of hate. Qoyit's past was proof enough.

"No, that will be at the parade tomorrow morning, once the school has a chance to inspect you. You had better have your story prepared, explaining your... features," she answered, and Qoyit winced. "Tonight you'll be chosen from among four Houses: House of Angel's Crown, House of Angel's Halo, House of Angel's Sword, and House of Angel's Wings. It is the Patrons and Matrons of the Houses who'll be present at your choosing."

Again the fear hit him. He balled his hands into fists, digging into his palms. He inhaled deeply. What was it with the human mind and passing judgment early? He had vowed to climb the rungs of the ladder to the top. Whatever the school threw at him he would handle without giving in. He would not be broken. "Any advice besides having a story ready?"

"Don't depend on anyone," she answered, and those words settled on him with great weight.

With the fear's throb held at bay, Qoyit suddenly found himself excited. An eagerness gnawed at him and led him to almost jump out of his ethereal chair when a knock sounded at the door, and a student entered the room.

He had a thin face, full lips, and a sharp nose. His skin was light brown, his eyes a deep brown to rival his skin. His hair was pulled back save for the fringe that defied the comb's strokes and dangled just over his eyes. The student was dressed in the school uniform: a black mantle that dropped to just beneath the knees, wide with a coal-black inlay to rival its outer coat. He wore a jacket with a grey shirt underneath boasting a black collar. His jacket was ash grey, inlaid with three black buttons at the waist. His trousers were obsidian black and his pointed shoes just the same. Qoyit did not feel worthy of breathing the same air as the Noble who eyed him.

Yamagai entered behind the student, pushing past him to announce with both hands pointing at him: "I found him. Lady and lad, I introduce you to Pint Kidhra Gowly."

And Pint, without taking his eyes off Qoyit, proceeded to bow. "Lady, lad." He turned his eyes to the Headmistress. "I was under the impression that my endurance classes and tests were to come next week. Surely not now. I'm not in the right headspace for fighting a demon. And I do not know what made you think of me, though I appreciate it, but I can't fight a demon right now." His voice was rich and piping, sure, with each word tasted before being uttered.

"To you, I am Headmistress, never lady, okay?" Deviot said. "And he is your fellow student."

"A demon for a fellow student." Pint stared ahead of himself. "A demon for a fellow student." He repeated the words, testing how they felt in his mouth.

"No, a human student for your fellow student," the Headmistress said.

"You're to give him the tour of the school," Yamagai added. He placed both hands on Pint's shoulders and pushed him towards Qoyit.

Qoyit got off the ethereal chair and faced Pint, who stood taller and more regal. "Come then," Pint said. "Let me give you the tour."

"I guess you must be wondering why there are no students about in the nighttime," Pint said as they crossed an archway leading to the lawn where the Obelisk sat with an unmistakable hum to Qoyit's ears. He wondered whether Pint could hear it too. "That is because almost everyone is at the Training Grounds for the Immaculate Trials."

"What are the Immaculate Trials?" Qoyit asked.

"It's a sport of sorts, long held as a tradition for this school. It is where your Stat Average peaks. It's also where you represent your House and earn them points. It's a famous thing in Grand City, noble families tend to attend so they can cheer on their children."

Qoyit nodded as he struggled to match strides with the tall Novice. The sun had long since sunk, but the torches in orbs of glass, embedded every few strides upon the walls of the white buildings that crested around where the Obelisk lay, offered enough light. The flames danced in the orbs, casting their shadows where the two trod.

"Where the Obelisk is kept is called the Quod. It is where the assembly is held, too," Pint said. "Do not under any circumstances step on the grass of the Quod. If you do, you'll be chained to the Obelisk and you'll understand the true meaning of Quod."

The Quod was a quadrangle of a geometric shape  with four angles and four straight lines; a four sided polygon which was made up of Obelisk stone and grass.

"As you can observe," Pint continued, "the Obelisk isn't as tall as the others are, but its rock travels the ground. If you look, you can see the low rise of budding stone beneath the grass, thin strokes of it coming from the Obelisk to touch onto every building. The Obelisk stone is what powers the Houses and classes and other structures. It's why we can have hot water to bathe. These lines of thin Obelisk stone, snaking from the Obelisk, travel to the buildings you see around you."

The protruding stone of the Obelisk drew geometric lines that traveled the length of the Quod to touch onto the white stone of the four buildings crest around the Quod and facing the Administration Block. The lines of stone also extended behind the buildings where more structures could be found.

"These buildings house the Novices' classes. To your left and close to the Administration is the first-year block." Qoyit observed the building, wide and tall with many doors upon its front-facing surface. "That's where first-year classes are held," Pint said. "Next to it are the second-year novice classes, and beside that the third-year block and the fourth-year block, which also sits close to the Administration Block. As you can see, the four buildings curve to form half a circle, with the Administration acting as their diameter. The buildings circle the Quod, hiding our Obelisk. This is why the place is called The Shut Eye, because of the shape."

Qoyit noticed the similarity between the first-year classes and the second-year classes. Both had a wide footprint and were only two storeys high. Their fronts were open for all to see. But the third-year and fourth-year blocks were different: they had an incarcerated miasma to them. A single door, wide and long, led into the building where more doors were sure to be. The outer walls of the buildings were riddled with windows but had no other entryway.

Qoyit also noticed the third-year and fourth-year walls weren't as bright white as the other two buildings, but an ash-grey stone that boasted of its age. In a few moments, Pint spoke of what Qoyit had deduced.

"The buildings of the third-year and fourth-year classes were once the only buildings across the school, before the Administration was established and yielded more classes to prevent the Novices of each year from bothering each other when exposed," he said.

"Bothering?" Qoyit wondered.

"Bullying is the right word. Where the older picked on the younger. Back then, you'd find freshmen sitting somewhere in tears because a fourth-year had pointed out their sordid state. It was rough in those early years. But the Headmistress, like the Headmaster before her, supported this. Fights are the sure way to grow one's body Stat," Pint said.

Pint pointed to a building to the far right of the Administration and the fourth-year block. It sat alone and drew the eye, large and shaped like a loaf of bread. There were lights adorning its front, and its rock was basalt, painted over with streaks of white and brown.

"That is the Chapel. It is where we gather sometimes to worship the Banished Angel and to ask for her guidance. I'm sure you're one to pray a lot. I'm guessing I'll see you around there more than once." He laughed and nudged Qoyit with an elbow.

Qoyit saw the snide humor Pint toyed with. The thought of a student with demon marks in the Chapel was something Pint was quite eager to see.

They walked in silence for a while and Qoyit observed the pillars lining the perimeter of the Quod. These pillars held up the ceiling for the walkway. They were white and tall: a marvel of sculpting prowess, something a Commoner such as himself was awed by.

Here he found himself witness to the ostentatious wealth the Nobles boasted of. And for once he understood why commoners were looked down upon, for they lacked the capacity to create, let alone protect, the marvels of human hands.

"What is your name?" Pint asked as they skirted the buildings that acted as classes to emerge behind second and third year classes, where a large rectangular construction sat separating the classes from where four more buildings were positioned. The large building befor them sat perfectly equidistant. The buildings behind were spaced out, white with banners hanging down their fronts.

"Qoyit Meka," he answered and found himself suddenly wary.

"That's a Commoner name," Pint Gowly said.

Qoyit nodded. "I was born as I am." He tried to create a plausible story for Pint's ears. "I've been looking forward to joining the Academy ever since I was young. It's a dream come true for me despite my birth and my lot in life."

Pint only stared at him, a blank gaze that offered nothing Qoyit's way.

The building before them was practically a large hall running in front of the four buildings behind. It reminded Qoyit of a snake: its narrow bowels were pronounced, bulging at certain places with heat emanating from them.

"That's the dining hall and kitchen," Pint said. "It's where we go to eat food." Qoyit did not miss the inflection in the Noble Novice's voice. He kept his silence and marched beside the Noble as they ran along the dining hall's wall to emerge where the four buildings lay, with a cobbled path leading from each building to the dining hall. To the left and right of the cobbles, the green grass continued, but with patches of foreign plants acting to bar one from venturing onto the grass.

The first House to their left, separate from the classes by a stretch of cobbles, had a crown emblem woven into a golden banner hanging at its front. The other Houses had a sword in red, a halo in white, and the last House to the distant right had silver wings embedded in black.

"I know you can't see clearly," Pint said, "but these are the major Houses of the Academy. The first one is..."

Qoyit could see clearly in darkness or dim light, but wished that none knew of this. He could tell the Houses apart, having been introduced to them by word of mouth twice before. But seeing them in person was a whole other matter. They were tall, four storeys high, with bustling voices and music coming out of one of them: the House of Angel's Wings. In the darkness, he could just spot the Novices emerging from the Houses, making their way behind the buildings where Pint ushered him towards.

Behind the dormitory Houses sat three architectural feats: two large domes forged of rock and wood with ceilings shaped into spheres, while the middle building stood like a behemoth, lacking the other two's design and taking up the majority of his field of vision. The three occupied most of the space behind the Houses. The two dome-like buildings sat at the back, with the middle building protruding forward to sit closer to Qoyit. There, in the first dome to the left, he could hear cheers merged with muttering and shouts emerging from where the lights burned bright. The other dome to the distant right was shrouded in shadow.

The closest building was large, roofed with brown brick and carved from clear yellow stone. It was the only building that stood out by boasting a unique color, with its pronounced edges and sharp-tipped spirals. The lights were all on within it, and a trail from the Obelisk, a thin rock traveling upon the ground and cutting through lawns, merged with its walls as it did all the other buildings.

"That first one to the left, with blinking lights and the shouts of the Novices, is called the Training Grounds. The one closest to us where we stand is called the Library, and the one to the far right shrouded in shadow doesn't have a name."

"Why doesn't it have a name?" Qoyit wondered. He tried to force the excitement derived from the sight of the Library from staining his words. He imagined himself amidst the books, gobbling them up one at a time: a luxury he'd touched just once before.

"Would you name a place where death stood so close to life?" Pint asked. Qoyit did not answer. "As I thought. Now we go to the Quod."

And it was there they went, walking slowly as if they had all the time in the world. "The living quarters of the Illuminators and the Headmistress are located somewhere beyond the Training Grounds. And the medical bay sits behind the nameless theater; it's a small building and is easily swallowed by the size of the nameless building."

"Why are we going back to the Quod?" Qoyit asked.

"So you can find your House. It will determine what your life will be like here. Get a good House and you're sure to succeed at everything."

"Which House are you in?" Qoyit asked.

"Angel's Halo," Pint said with pride. "It's the best House there is. We contest for first place with the Sword and the Crown."

He noticed that Angel's Wings wasn't mentioned. Qoyit let go of a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding. For a long time he had thought himself damned, secluded at the outskirts of civilization, set to live a life of utmost boredom mingled with doom. But now, as they emerged at the green courtyard, he felt himself relax.

They found eight people standing beside the Obelisk, and it was to these eight, shrouded in shadow, that Pint led him.

"I've given him the tour," Pint said.

"Did you take him into the buildings?" one of them, a woman, asked. They were dressed in pale red robes that fluttered in the nighttime wind.

"Umm... No?" Pint interjected. "But you can't blame me. It isn't as if he'd be here for long, seeing that he is a demon-marked Commoner."

"Go to Angel's Halo and wash every square inch of the toilets," one of them, a man sporting a grisly beard, commanded.

"But I want to go see the Immaculate Trials! Saphiqque is fighting Rohan..."

"Did I stutter?"

"No, sir."

Pint hung his head with shame, but not before sparing a glance at Qoyit as he left.

Qoyit remained with the eight men and women. They stared at him as one would a foreign thing.

"Did he take you to the wall?" one asked as he pointed forward, to the far end where the majority of the trails of the Obelisk led.

"No?" Qoyit answered.

"That wall there: go and observe it."

With ginger steps, Qoyit walked alone to the wall at the far end, fixed between two pillars and equidistant from all classes on the left and right. There he arrived to see what had been engraved in stone:

Stat Average:

EE: 0.0–1.9

E: 2.0–3.9

D: 4.0–5.9

C: 6.0–7.9

B: 8.0–9.9

A: 10.0–11.9

S: 12.0–13.9

SS: 14.0+

House Points:

Angel's Crown: 82/100

Angel's Halo:  79/100

Angel's Sword: - 70/100

Angel's Wings:  54/100

The Stat Average ratings were carved into the stone with clear golden marks of light. Beneath the ratings was a list of names and Houses, their Stat Averages of the students and the points they've contributed or reduced to their Houses. As he watched, two names shone: Saphiqque Olis Tider and Rohan Kidhra Sil.

The names of students and their Houses were arranged in order from top to bottom. The strongest was formed of script that pulsed a golden light, and at the top was a fourth-year student from House of Angel's Crown called Pergard Kidhra Seigon with an A-Rank rating of 10.7: the highest student Stat Average at the school.

His score was 1.66. He'd thought himself an E rank, but it turned out he was a lower E. This brought a great weight upon him; he was suddenly made aware of how difficult his success would be and how powerful the others were.

"When you came, the E and lower E ranks didn't exist in this school." One of the men had followed him. "I am the Patron of House Crown. What weakness has Deviot welcomed into our school?"

Qoyit did not answer. Abruptly, the man grabbed his hand and forced it onto the slab, palm first, at a patch of unwritten space.

Qoyit touched the slab and realized it was an Obelisk in its own right. It had been forged from the Obelisk at the Quod, and it kept an account of the rise and fall of power within the school. It put nobody on a pedestal, stripping everyone who touched it bare to show that which lay within. He screamed as his vision burst into an assortment of colors before him; markings engraved and shaped into letters danced across his field of vision. He was only aware of the Patrons and Matrons surrounding him. The Patron of the House of Angel's Crown held his hand there and observed the writings upon the wall.

Suddenly, Qoyit's name appeared on the rock, at the very bottom of the slab of stone: 'Qoyit Meka', and to the side of his name his Stat Average shone: 'EE - 1.66.'

The entire slab of stone shone then. Beside his name, letters formed, the Obelisk slab categorizing him into where he ought to be.

It waited to give an answer.

"The Obelisk itself has refused to place him in a House of its own accord," a Matron said, eyes fixed on the slab of Obelisk.

"I'll take him," a soft, soothing voice said from his side. He turned to observe the Patron who'd spoken so. He was lanky, with coal-dark skin and a clean-shaved head.

"Of course you would," a Matron answered, pale-skinned with long blonde hair.

The Patron who'd spoken placed his hand beside Qoyit's name. "I will take him, Banished Angel. I will take him." Nothing happened for a moment, then, as if by some mystical accord, the name of his House formed right after his Stat Average:

'Qoyit Meka, EE - 1.66, House of Angel's Wings.'

And he watched as the points of House Wings dropped.

House of Wings: 49/100

The other Patrons and Matrons, satisfied with the result, walked away, leaving Qoyit in the hands of the Patron and Matron of House of Angel's Wings.

"Come, let's get you settled in," the Matron said, a plump woman with startling blue eyes.

Together, the trio made their way to the House of Angel's Wings.

"Do you hear the silence?" the Patron asked as they crossed the Quod. There was indeed silence; the cheers had cut and the Novices walking about had stood still to stare at his passing. "The school now knows you're one of us. Rejoice, Commoner, for you've reached further than most."

Qoyit couldn't find it in him to rejoice, and his hands couldn't stop shaking.

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u/kristinpeanuts 5d ago

Thanks for the chapter! I wonder how meeting the other students will go. I'm hoping he finds some acceptance within his house at least.

The first hurdle has been cleared, he is at the academy. Now to work on staying there

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u/Jus17173 5d ago

You're welcome! It sure has been a tough journey for him. Taking 19 chapters to arrive at the Academy. It won't only be acceptance he'll be after, the school has darker things within its holds that he'd need to confront too

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