knock knock

I withdrew my hand as I heard crashing coming from the room and the footsteps that grew louder and louder as they approached the other side of the door.

A loud click rang as the birch door swung open revealing August’s ever-so-excited face.

“Arthur!”

“Good evening your highness.” I greeted August with a brief bow before grabbing the cases I had momentarily placed down at my side.

“I thought I told you to call me August. Still, I can't believe you really did it! I was still in my fourth year when you arrived at the academy. But now we are both graduating in six months.” August pulled me into his room and I placed my bags next to the empty bed with its white laced sheets.

“Yes. Well, I made a promise so I only have three years. But, remind me again why I am now your roommate? I would’ve preferred to have my own room.”

August nervously explained, “Well… you see, once I heard you passed all your fifth-grade exams I immediately sent a request to the student centre for you to be transferred as my roommate. And since I’m the crown prince they would obviously comply.” He explained as he threw himself on his bed.

“You know, you are the only person in the academy that could get away with abusing their social status in an academy that voids all social standings whilst the students attend.” I began unpacking and sorting my clothes into the closet on my side of the room. “Isn’t the emperor, your father, super strict with you when it comes to not abusing your power as the crown prince?”

“Oh please! Father isn't going to care about such an inane thing. It’s not like I had the teachers change my grades!” He exclaimed with a hint of annoyance at my joke.

I chuckled as I finished unpacking my clothes, I placed my textbooks on the wooden desk sitting next to my new bed before letting my tired and overworked body fall into the sweet embrace of the imperial grade sheets. “At least there are some benefits to being the crown prince’s roommate.”

**

The room was quiet with its warm tranquil feel, but every now and then the silence was broken by the chime of the breeze from the open window. Sitting at the back of the study was Rose, she was elegantly flipping through the pages of books she’d read a multitude of times. After Arthur left for the academy Rose would spend the majority of the time in her study as it reminded her of him. Though Arthur's collections of books were large and had a vast amount of topics; she had read all of them in less than a year. Because of this, she had picked up a few skills over the years; one being magic. Though she wasn't at the level of Arthur in terms of magical skills she still had a basic grasp on the subject.

“Healing magic…” Rose mumbled to herself as she closed the book she was reading, she pushed herself to one of the bookshelves in the corner of the room and placed the book in the empty slot. She was having trouble grasping healing magic as she couldn't make sense of the books on the subject. It wasn’t that she was inept at healing magic; it was that healing magic techniques were developed around vague religious concepts. This was also why priests or nuns were said to have a greater aptitude for healing magic.

Rose strolled around the study to see if she could discover any books she hadn't read yet, though she was well aware she had read them all. As if to interrupt Rose’s thinking a loud “Caw!” filled what had been a quiet room.

Rose happily looks towards the open window to see the pitch-black bird perched on the sill. Noire immediately flies towards Rose and sits himself on her lap. “Well, welcome back Blacky.” She strokes the bird happily sitting in her lap as she continues to look for books to read.

“Should I just give up on healing magic..?” Noire looks at Rose for a second and immediately flies off her lap with a resounding “Caw!”

“Where are you going?” Rose asks as she watches the bird fly around the study in a frenzy.

Noire then stops at one bookshelf and lands on the very top.

He disappears from her view for a few seconds before popping back up while dragging something with him. Noire grabs the object with his claws and flies towards Rose and dropping it on her lap before perching himself on her shoulder. “What’s this..? Why was there a book there?” Rose examines the unlabeled book that had crude string binding and rough edges.

She opens the book and while dragging her fingers across the rough pages she begins to read the contents and it only took her a second to recognise it.

“Isn't this… brother’s handwriting!?”

——————————————

“Okay class, that ends today’s lesson! Remember to complete your homework!” The teacher places the chalk down with a loud tap as he ushers the students out of his classroom.

Finally! I hate math class, it’s so boring. I sigh as I look at the empty seat next to me. I don't know how Arthur still manages to get perfect grades even though he skips most of his classes. Though, to be honest, if I was him I’d skip too. But! He should at least have somewhat of a good attendance record. I pick up my endless amount of textbooks and make my way to the dormitory.

**

As I approach my room I yank the doors open and yell “Honey, I’m home!” as if I was in a sitcom. I half expected Arthur to be sleeping but what I saw slightly shocked me. There was a girl. She had long snow-white hair that led into a rich red. And this girl who I’d never seen before was cradled by Arthur as her head leaned against his neck.

“Ah! My bad, I’ll come back later!” I tried to nope the fuck out thinking I had interrupted a moment but before I got the chance Arthur snapped his fingers. As the resoundingly loud snap faded surprisingly so did the girl. The girl who once seemed unmistakeably real crumbled into a deep blue sand-like substance that fell to the floor, which soon also faded into nothingness. “Oh, now this is even weirder.” That was all I could say at the odd sight.

“I was… uh, testing new magic I came up with.” He stated without sparing me a glance.

Right… I believe you. “Wasn’t it just illusion magic?” I asked because if it was new magic he came up with then it’s awfully similar to a normal illusion spell.

“Hmm, it is similar I guess. Okay, so illusion magic projects an image onto reality correct?” Oh no, he's going into lecture mode. I launch myself onto my bed in preparation. Arthur has a habit of getting lost in anything magic related.

“Yes, if I’m not wrong that is how illusion magic works, Arthur.”

“So the downside of that is that it can't really do anything but look pretty! So I thought why can't I use mana to make something tangible. Something with substance in the real world.”

“But, wouldn't that mean you can literally make anything?” I asked since if that was possible wouldn't he literally be able to make jewels and gold?

“No, what my magic does is mimic. I take something and shape mana in a semi-solid state and simply mimic what I’m trying to make. And for mana efficiency it's just one outside layer, it's hollow on the inside.”

“Whaaaaat… that's pretty cool I guess. Isn’t that a groundbreaking advancement in the illusion field of magic?” Over the years I’ve gotten used to Arthur's absurdness which is kind of a bad thing because now I constantly compare everyone to Arthur. Which means everyone else seems kind of… bland? “So what did you name this one..?”

“I haven't thought of a name yet, I’m not very good at that thing.” He sighed as he slumped down into his bed.

“Hmm, I’ll think of one then! Illusions… mimic… mimicry..? Mimic… projection… duplicate… magic… casting… spell..? Ah! How about projection casting!“ Not my best but it’s acceptable.

“Sure, I don’t really care what it’s called.” Before either of us could continue the conversation we were interrupted by the impressive sound of Arthur's stomach rumbling from hunger. “Right, I haven’t eaten today… I’ll be back, remember to lock the door if you decide to leave for something, August.” And without skipping a beat Arthur props himself up, puts his shoes on and leaves the room heading towards what I assumed to be the direction of the cafeteria.

——————————————

Tap… tap… tap…

A mysterious figure hidden by the darkness of a strange room was moving pieces on what seemed to be a game board. Every time he placed one down the sound echoed around the large and empty chamber that only contain a single chair and table. The figure had no opponent but nonetheless, he continued to move pieces back and forth with great thought. This would continue until he broke the icy cold silence of the chamber with his words.

“Oh..? Is it time already? It seems the insignificant cockroach is making its move… I’ll need to adjust my plans accordingly and bring them forward. I thought I had more time but they have begun to move as well… how troublesome. Now, I have high hopes for the child, he better not disappoint.” The figure placed one last piece on the board before standing up. As they walked away the board game that seemed to have concluded evaporated into a cloud of bright blue dust and was scattered by the chambers breeze.

The figure walked down a dark, cold, and narrow passageway until he was stopped by a large door that towered over them. As the figure began releasing a small amount of mana the door began to creak and churn as it slowly opened. The figure stepped through and immediately after the door slammed shut creating a resoundingly loud sound. The force created by the large door closing under its weighted mechanism sent a shockwave that rattled the stone walls of the dark and wet passageway.

To Be Continued.