The bell tower that hovered over the centuries old campus reverberated the sounds of the old brass bell all the way down its winding staircase and into the common area as students milled about, going from table to table as they surrounded the main walking areas between the buildings that both housed the students and their classrooms. The students were getting not only their room assignments for the next 180 days, but also their class schedules. Some students were year round for circumstances that were out of their control- non acceptance from normal humans or simply because they couldn’t handle themselves in the real world- but that was less than a third of the student population. The headmistress did not feel that they needed to stay hidden away from the world, it wasn’t healthy. Those who were stayed on campus outside of the school year were being taught how to function in society on their own. They weren’t completely abandoned, to be clear, they would stay together, just not where they were the headmistress’s problem.
The
headmistress was a stern woman, one who had seen her fair share of the world’s worst, imprisoned it herself and in that act gained her immortality. In her search for a way to contain the physical manifestation of Malice- a force so evil and so consuming it had done in the best of mankind- she found that the best way to confront it was not to come at it with a desire to win. It was beat and contained by the desire to protect others- by Selflessness and Altruism. Her reward was an ascension for mortality and her magic capabilities were enhanced. She felt she had to continue that desire to protect and to help, hence her opening of a school.
She had opened it centuries ago- long enough ago that her school was considered a historical site and was officially protected, not that she needed their protection; she had amassed a wealth to keep the school running and the mountains around it in her name for another century. She did keep much of the wealth at all for herself, less than what she paid her staff. Luckily there were plenty of supernatural children out there that either were being protected by their families in her care or wanting to be hidden by society that she didn’t really have to charge that much to keep the doors open and keep her students’s needs attended.
Her staff was nothing to sneeze at either. Some were previous students who wanted to return the favor to their headmistress and help the next generation; Others were some of the strongest and most impressive beings Amelia could appeal to around the world. Elves, witches, other immortal humans such as herself, and some that she wasn’t entirely sure what they were, not that she asked that kind of question in her interviews. But there was a rule she had about staff and students; the types of beasts that made their living by feeding off the lives of other sentient beings had to be willing to use substitutes- substitutes proven to be as effective as the original source- or be turned away. She would not unleash monsters on to the streets or harbor them.
Her right hand was the first to prove that simply animal products or by products were effective, and she did so willingly. She owed her sanity to the headmistress, thus the fire dragon
Katerina Savage would give her life should Amelia Blakley require it. Her comrade
Elyana, a unique and rare golden dragon- a being meant to restore peace to the dragon race at its worst- found her loyalty to an immortal human bizarre and almost unnatural. Amelia couldn’t explain it to her, but Katerina insisted that had Amelia not imprisoned the force that was Malice she would have surely turned into a monster and Elyana would have had to destroy her- as was her role, destroying dragons that had become nothing more than raging beasts or had manipulated their people into being as such. Elyana had not felt a need to join Amelia’s ranks, but she was often on campus to visit her friend, who had taken up the role as head of security.
Amelia and Katerina were present among the students as they entered the school, watching from the watch tower, though Katerina had her hands over her ears as the bell tolled, having a hard time tuning out the noise as Amelia had as she was focused on watching her pupils. She was looking for potential trouble makers and those that would clearly excel in the competitive environments that tended to brew inside the school walls. Not all could handle it, and it was also good to figure out which students would be keen to panic/anxiety attacks in advance to alert
Erynhil Zaheer, their head counselor, as to which students he should expect on his doorstep. For an gypsy- a devolved, yet just as pretentious race as the elves- he was very good at getting people to open up to him and letting him know all about what was troubling them. He was also good at helping them find a way to work through their troubles. And he was full of dating advice, unfortunately, as he kept trying to pair Amelia up with the male teachers he found attractive and Katerina with the females... or with Elyana, but Elyana was (luckily in Katerina’s opinion) oblivious to the preferences of her comrade. Regardless, he was at the base of the tower, listening to conversations as he worked on sketching some design in his sketchbook, barely paying attention to his hands as he was the students, preparing himself for the mental breakdowns and the guidance and many would need.
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"Eryn, you don't blend in well, brother."
The counselor looked up from his sketch book and smiled at the blond haired elf that was standing the bench, "Well, I don't believe blending is my goal, merely listening."
"They're not going to say much around teachers and strangers, so what do you hope to hear?" the blond elf sat, looking at the throng of students that were going about their day with a variety of attitudes- a variety to fit the variety of students and species, more than he'd seen in the past, for sure.
"My hearing isn't fading, Nero, I can easily hear across the courtyard even with bell tolling so loud," Eryn defended himself with a sniff of being offended. Nero just smirked as his brother went on, "Even if they're not talking to even each other, students that are going to be in need of aid, either from me or teachers or even other students will often grumble or mutter to themselves. They're either angry or giving themselves pep talks that they can survive the year. The angry ones are typically the ones who get stuck in here in the summer for the summer program."
"A program all about blending in with humans. I here some brave souls come up from the closest towns to help with that," Nero glanced up at the clock tower, wondering where Amelia got the gall to ask them do such a thing. But her icy gaze was fixated on her pupils for the time being. He looked back down as a black haired woman shoved her way through the throng trying to get to the main building where the teachers stayed, having apparently finished her duty of handing out a set of student room assignments. Amelia felt the need to keep that particular busy because she was the prime example of the "idle hands" saying. Plus she
had to be polite when speaking to students or Katerina would give her what for, so it was likely a lesson in humility as well.
"I think this year ought to be interesting. I'll go help with the assignments- I'll be sure to let you know of any
particularly perturbed students that cross my path," Nero stood up and Eryn grunted.
"You're mocking me again aren't you?"
"I have never mocked you, brother, that's Amera. She mocks everyone."
"I am so glad Amelia could not convince her to come. I love our sister, but she is such a buzz kill."
Nero laughed lightly before going towards the tables, grabbing a section that from someone who was doing three at the moment and started to help pass them out as students came to the tables marked by the beginning of their last names- sometimes up to three letters depending on just how many people had similar last names.
The woman- Nuka, if you hadn't guessed- went into the main building and closed the door with as much oomph as she could without getting a scolding. If she wasn't aware of the fact Amelia and Katerina could and would easily hand her her butt on a silver platter in a second, she would not put up with being bossed about and treated like one of the students. She was an adult, had been one for a century or two- back when women could first wear britches- and certainly knew how to act like one. She pulled a flask out of her boots where she had to hide them during the day, and took a longer sip than necessary of whatever alcohol she'd put in the thing that morning. She'd gotten crafty in that game of hide and seek, either that or as long as she was sober during the day Amelia had decided to let her spend her evenings doing what she wished- aside from the grading, which Katerina had insisted on them getting an assistant for her on that because she was worried of Nuka giving unfair grades. Nuka scoffed at the idea, "Of course I do," she muttered before going back towards her room, her obligatory hell over with for the day.
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