Love Poison No Cure Needed

First Year Term One: Ah, how to explain 2.0

Sorrel rolled over in the bed at the gentle nudge to his shoulders and looked up at the willow branch swaying overhead. As he sat up Sorrel reached out to grasp the branch, “Is it time Aunt Low?” Sorrel asked.

Yes, it is well past the sun's rising and you will not have time for morning meal if you do not get up soon. The voice was gentle and kind as the branch reached out to stroke across the top of Sorrel’s head.

“Right, I’m up.” Sorrel rolled out of the bed with thud and straightened to stretch. He strode across the room and picked up the uniform that he had hung on the outside of the wardrobe the night before. He was starting the term a week late he felt that created an obligation to at least be organised. The uniform was black dress pants, a white shirt and a deep blue vest with a sky blue tie and a black blazer or jumper. It was a nice look really and after he struggled for a while try to do the tie before he resigned himself and let the willow branch do the job.

After a quick check that everything he’d been told he needed was in his bag Sorrel snagged his phone and put it in his pocket before checking his watch. Forty minutes till he needed to be on campus. It was a ten-minute walk but Michael had said he would drop him off this morning. He glanced briefly at the thick file he had spent the previous night absorbing that contained the information of all the instructor’s that worked at the school.

It was an easy format to remember. Photo next to, name, age, paranormal status, and then a brief description of their speciality and roll at the school.  Sorrel felt it should be pretty complete since Michael had assured him that he had had it checked the day before.

In the privacy of her room Sorrel allowed his hair to plait itself before tying a cord around the bottom for appearances sake and then headed down stairs. Michael waited at the entrance to the back kitchen with a bowl of fruit and cream. Sorrel smiled as he took the bowl and settled on the stool at the preparation table.

“You have everything?” Michael asked as Sorrel wolfed through the food and stood up again.

Sorrel nodded in response as he swung his bag onto his back and headed out the door with Michael locking up behind them.

When Michael finally found a parking space Sorrel determined that it would be less hassle to walk to the gate himself. He would just ask for directions if he couldn’t find the office on his own.

As he approached the gate Sorrel wondered if the school was smaller than he had initially assumed. Given the degree of staring that the other students were doing it seemed as if they were immediately aware that Sorrel was not a student in any other area of the school from them. Which seemed strange given what Sorrel had heard as to the size of the institute. Michael had said that Bellare Preparatory Academy was a famous senior high school with an excellent occupation and university acceptance rate as well as being the best mixed other institute with classes for both magic users and all other forms of Others.

The implication of a mix of Master Realmskin instructors as well as Elder Beastskins including a dragon. As well as an Archmage amongst the ordinary human teachers was likely to be confusing. Thus, the student body of the school was estimated to be at least five hundred to one thousand students. However, Sorrel figured it was a good way to start if he could get used to that degree of jumble and no doubt racial tension he would be set for the rest of the world. Still, it should have been difficult for students to rule out the possibility of a person belonging to different courses than them out of hand.

The other students continued to stare at him as Sorrel approached the ornate gated entrance. Just before the gate the high stone wall started to taper down to waist level before shooting up to become the gates supporting poles.

Directly on the other side of the wall was a sprawling forest up to a hedge and flowers that lined the crushed stone path into the Academy. The plants were well maintained though not as rigorously groomed as the mini palms of Arch Mall. Sorrel decided to widen his senses to see what his kin on the land had to say about his new primary growth ground for the next three years.

It’s the sampling.

The true ancestor’s human sprite.

He seems a bit delicate.

We will have to watch out that the Humans and Others do not try to bully our kin.

He feels nicer than even the Sidhe prince.

Of course, how could mere affinity of the Feyskin be a substitute for kinship.

Cousin. Amongst the cacophony of the different competing voices of the trees, flowers and the hedge a small voice whispered. The tiny whisper distracted Sorrel and his steps stopped at the side of the gate as he tried to find the source of the small voice.

However, the voice didn’t sound again. While the voices of the other kin grew louder until Sorrel forced his sense closed again. It was perhaps the pleasure of the humans to not be able to understand the voices of his kin since even the cacophony of the humans that had crowded into the mall’s courtyard was mild in comparison to the hundreds of voices speaking at once. For the true plants to hold ten conversations at once was normal; and while Sorrel could split his attention quite far it was still a struggle to split it as far as the normal plants did. Nonna Yew said it was because the body had a lot more to do and so couldn’t do as much. Thus, Sorrel limited his senses so that he heard from only the kin he touched.

“Tch, a new student and already looking to stand out.” A cold sneer grabbed Sorrel’s attention and caused him to turn and focus on the teacher standing at the gate. Sorrel first thought he was a human but on closer inspection realised that similar to Simon he bore the nature of human magic marked by precision. Having gotten messages from William and all his friends headed with their names and natures and including a photo had been interesting, a strange approach but immensely helpful. Sorrel had categorised away the aspects of their nature so she would not mistake the type for regular humans a second time.

The sorcerer was solidly built with short cropped blonde hair and was dressed in crisply ironed grey slacks and a white dress shirt. As he noticed he had Sorrel’s full attention he said, “the flowers will have to go, we don’t allow such frivolous decorations to affect the schools presentation.”

Sorrel paused contemplating this. It was a bit of an awkward demand since Sorrel couldn’t actually remove them permanently. They were a manifestation of her mana in human form and so if plucked and left without a purpose would prove dangerous to lethal to anyone who touched them. He wished he had thought to ask Michael for an excuse for them for the human side since he could hardly tell the sorcerer that they were mana when there was an unknown number of normal human students around.