Ravenfire

Herbalism and Healing was probably my worst class so far. I was a Summer mage, typically one who was at home with warfare and destruction. A class dedicated to medicine and the healing arts was completely opposite to my nature. Despite my sincere eagerness to learn these useful skills, my performance could not pass even the bare minimum required.

Prof. Hermia Philomela, Prof. Alice’s older sister and probably the nicest professor in the academy, was giving a lecture in front of the class. “Nepenthe. Some of you who read ancient literature of the old world may find this word familiar. It is a fabled medicine that is said to induce forgetfulness of painful and sorrowful memories. In literature, this was a drink given to Helen by an Egyptian queen to make her forget her home. Now, such a drink is no longer a mere fable.”

She presented a bottle of blue liquid on her table. “This recipe is a recreation of the drink by our first headmaster, Emrys Blackthorn, published in his first volume of The New Medicinal Formulary. Its effects are the same, but temporary. Do note that its use must be limited because a prolonged use could result in permanent memory loss. Though I assume it must be a welcome side effect for those who truly wish for their bad memories to vanish.”

I sat beside Emma during the lecture. Herbalism and Healing was naturally the favourite class of the plant-loving Spring mage Emma. Her eyes brimmed with excitement, ready to once again show her natural talent in brewing remedies.

Prof. Philomela continued with her lecture. “Today, we will learn how to brew a bottle of Nepenthe. Everyone to your workstations.”

Ah. There are the words I dreaded.

The classroom was fashioned with everything you’d need to produce potions and medicinal products. Jars of ingredients sourced directly from the Spring gardens and the greenhouse lined the shelves around the room. Empty bottles and vials were also at the ready for the finished products to be stored in.

Brewing was a rather simple process that mostly involved grinding ingredients, mixing them together, and then boiling them. Sometimes, a spell was needed to complete the potion. Despite this, I still had trouble with it.

I stared at my second failed Nepenthe potion which was glowing ominously green instead of the shimmering blue reminiscent of the ocean’s majesty.

“Good heavens, Ravenfire! Is that radioactive waste or a potion of permanent forgetfulness?” Leslie jeered.

“Why don’t you try one and find out?” I offered her the potion.

“Ew. Get that thing away from me.” She moved away.

Prof. Philomela walked to our table and examined our potions. Emma obviously passed with flying colours, while I received a disappointed look. “Ms. Sweetblossom, could you please assist Ms. Ravenfire with her brew?”

“Yes, Professor,” replied Emma.

Prof. Philomela moved on to check the other students’ potions.

“Don’t worry, Remina. You’ll get it right eventually,” Emma tried to cheer me up.

I forced a weary smile. “I’m really not built to tend people’s wounds.”

“You said something similar about gardening before and now you got the hang of it. I’m sure it will be the same for brewing healing potions.”

Thanks to Emma’s assistance, I managed to produce at least a passable potion. Prof. Philomela came back to examine the product. She merely nodded and said, “The key to making good brews is practice. I’m going to have to give you an assignment to brew one bottle of Nepenthe, Ms. Ravenfire. You can work on it after class or during your free time. Just have it ready by our next class.”

I sighed. “Yes, Ms. Philomela.”

After she dismissed the class, I stayed behind to continue working on getting my Nepenthe potion right. I wondered if a bottle of it could help me forget the torment of having to work on Nepenthe potions.

“I can help you with your brew,” Emma offered.

“Thanks, Emma, but I have to learn to do this on my own,” I replied.

“Alright. Good luck.” She smiled at me before leaving the classroom.

I was in the middle of crushing herbs using a mortar and pestle when I noticed another student in the room busily working on a potion as well.

“Elliot, you have an assignment for class too?” I asked him.

He turned my way and shook his head. “No. I’m brewing a batch of dreamless potions.”

“Dreamless potions? What for?”

“To keep nightmares away. I take them every night.”

“Is it safe to consume daily?”

“I don’t know. So far, there have been no adverse effects.”

“Do you get plagued by nightmares often?”

“Every night. I hate it.” He sighed and continued boiling the liquid in a small cauldron.

“What are they about? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“You’ve seen that room in my memories. I always dream about it. Sometimes about Maura too,” he answered without looking at me. He busily stirred the liquid until it changed colour. Then, he turned off the flame.

“I imagine it must be difficult seeing her face everyday in school too.”

He turned around and sat on the stool facing me. “You’ve been helping. Trust me. Now that I’m used to being around you, it doesn’t affect me as much anymore. When I see her face in my dreams or memories, I also remember you. That makes it less frightening.” He gave a grateful smile that also had a tinge of sadness.

“What was that room in your memories anyway?” I continued asking questions.

Elliot looked around cautiously to make sure nobody was within earshot. The professor left the room temporarily, so it was just the both of us in the classroom. He lowered his voice. “When I used to live in the village, that was where they kept me locked in. It was basically my prison.”

“In that dark room? Why would they lock you in there?” I couldn’t imagine living in a place like that. It must have been terrible.

He was struggling to give an answer. It was as if his mind wanted to speak, but his mouth refused to let the words out. It was clearly a difficult topic for him. “They…”

“It’s alright, Elliot. Don’t force it.”

He shook his head. “No. I want to say it. I never had a chance to talk about it with a friend.” He took a deep breath before trying again. “There was a fire in the village. They thought I caused it because I was the only survivor.”

“What really happened?” I leaned forward and listened intently.

“A thief broke into my family’s house. A Summer mage. There was a struggle and the house ended up on fire. I barely made it out alive. I lost my family that night.” He was suddenly breathing erratically and his fists were clenched. He could only sigh deeply as memories of that night came back to him. “I don’t show it, but fire actually makes me anxious.”

“That’s terrible.”

“After that, I just spent the years alone in that dark room. They gladly handed me over to the professor when he asked for me. I never thought I’d ever get to walk outside again.” For a moment, he remained silent then took a long, deep breath to try and calm himself down.

I walked over to him to see if there was anything I could do to help him find relief. “You’re free now. You’ll never be back there again,” I said to console him.

“Sorry. I may need a potion for my nerves.” He reached out for a bottle of Nepenthe, but I stopped his hand.

“You don’t need a potion, Elliot. You need a hug.” I opened my arms and offered him one. I wasn’t exactly the hugging type, but this poor boy needed it badly and there was no one else around to give one to him.

He hesitated for a moment, stunned to receive such an unexpected invitation. Soon, he slowly moved closer while seated and accepted it. I felt him relax in my arms and later noticed a slight dampness on my chest from what seemed to be silent tears. We stayed in that position for about a minute. Once he was satisfied, he pulled back.

“Thank you, Remina. I feel better now.” He was slightly embarrassed.

“Promise me you won’t overdose with potions.”

He nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

“Good.”

Prof. Philomela walked into the room, so we went back to working on our potions. I tensed up as she watched over me like a hawk, making sure I did every step correctly.

“I’ll put these in my room. See you in the dining hall,” Elliot said to me before leaving.

“Alright. I’ll head there when I’m done,” I replied.

Prof. Philomela smiled at our exchange. “I’m glad to see he’s making friends. I was worried about how he would fare here after everything he’s been through.”

“You know about his past, Prof. Philomela?”

“Only the parts that my sister Alice managed to uncover. He didn’t want to open up to us. The professors and I have been trying to help him with his recovery.”

“I assume you’re the reason he ended up in the gardening club?”

“You assumed right. Gardening can be therapeutic. I think it turned out alright, wouldn’t you agree?”

After successfully completing the assignment, I finally managed to get some lunch and sat down at the dining hall to eat with Elliot. He was still a little bashful from the hug we shared earlier. Too bashful to even start a conversation, instead resorting to quick nervous glances.

Behind him, I could see Cy staring at me again, which I tried my best to ignore. He wouldn’t dare approach me with Elliot around, right?

An excited Emma soon approached our table to break the awkward silence. She looked like she had good news to share.

“The Days of Madness are fast approaching,” she announced with a huge grin.

“That sounds threatening. Should I be worried?” I replied.

“No, you should be excited!”

“What is that?” Elliot asked.

Emma explained to us clueless souls, “It’s a school festival dedicated to one of the first professors of the academy who went mad and wrote volumes of poetry. For a whole week, there are going to be booths, food stalls, performances, and contests. Guests from outside the academy are also invited to come visit.”

“It’s rather interesting for the academy to celebrate someone’s mental decline, but I’m open to week-long festivities,” I remarked.

“He wasn’t just mad in a mental way. Even before he went truly mad, his ideas always challenged the norms and that paved way to more discoveries in the field of magic. I think it’s this type of madness they want to celebrate,” Emma offered her interpretation.

“I feel like I'm going mad the longer I stay in this academy making potions for class.”

Emma went on, “Oh! And there’s also a dance! Everyone is free to attend it. I heard you can ask someone to attend it with you as your partner.”

“Are you asking Salamander to the dance?”

“Remina! Not so loud.” Emma was blushing red out of embarrassment.

“Don’t worry. Only Elliot and I can hear. Besides, I’m sure Elliot already noticed your infatuation.”

Elliot nodded to confirm my statement.

Emma sat down and sighed. “Am I really that obvious?”

“Speaking of Salamander, he’s coming this way,” Elliot pointed out.

“What?” Emma started to panic. “Right now?”

“Here’s your chance, Emma,” I encouraged her.

Salamander soon stopped in front of our table, wearing his usual unfriendly scowl. Emma was frozen from shock and unable to say a word in front of her crush.

“I need to talk to her. Could you please excuse us?” He dragged me away before I could even protest, leaving Emma and Elliot confused about what was happening.

“You really had to swoop in like a hawk in the middle of lunch, huh?” I said as I was being pulled by the arm to a faraway hallway no one was sure to pass.

“I wish you at least had some sense of internal urgency. This is more important than whatever it was you were discussing.”

When he was satisfied with the spot, he wasted no time and began, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I discovered the existence of some cipher devices owned by Emrys Blackthorn. One of them is bound to be the one he used to encrypt his diary. The bad news is that they’re kept inside the academy’s storage room somewhere in the basement, an area off-limits to students. We’re going to have to sneak in there if we want to take a look.”

“What if we get Prof. Ariston’s help? He could grant us access to the area,” I suggested.

“I’d rather not involve the professors. We don’t know if they’ve been compromised or not.”

“Looks like we’ll have to sneak in then.”

“We’ve already been in trouble with Scheep. If we’re not careful, we could get expelled. We have to plan this properly. I’ll need time to study the area. I’ll contact you when the plan is ready.”

“Alright.” I was impressed by Salamander’s efficiency. Maybe working together wasn’t so bad afterall.

“Any updates on your side?”

“I’ve been investigating this peculiar rumour that bothered me. Someone witnessed a student transforming into that thing that attacked us at the Endless Library.”

“So that wasn’t a coincidence? That thing really followed us to the Endless Library and meant to attack us?”

“If that’s true, it couldn’t have gotten in without Bartholomew’s help.”

He wasn’t surprised. “The librarian has always been suspicious.”

I reached into my pocket and showed him the metal ankh. “Bartholomew also showed me this. He said he found it at the burial site. Do you recognise it?”

He thought for a moment then shook his head. “Nothing beyond what it’s supposed to represent, ‘life’. I don’t trust anything coming from that demon though.”

“I had my own reservations as well, but he claimed to have found this with Prof. Ariston, and told me I could ask the professor to confirm it.”

“We’d best take anything he says with a grain of salt.”

On our way out of the hallway, we were surprised to see Prof. Alice alone enjoying a sandwich and some juice within earshot of where we stood. She acknowledged our presence with a nod and a smile.

“Enjoying your lunch break?” she asked in a friendly tone.

“Prof. Alice…” We were both shocked.

“Oh, don’t mind me. I like taking my lunch at quiet places.”

We excused ourselves and hurried back to the dining hall.

“Do you think she heard everything?” I whispered to Salamander.

He looked worried. “I certainly hope not.”

After we parted ways, I returned to my seat at the table where Emma and Elliot had been waiting for me to explain what just happened with Salamander.

“What did Aidan want to talk to you about, Remina?” Emma asked curiously.

“Uhh…” I tried to come up with a cover-up story and delivered it dramatically, “He and his snake had a terrible relationship-breaking argument and he desperately wanted some advice.”

“How do you get into an argument with a snake?” Elliot was confused.

Damn it, Elliot.

“They can understand each other,” I said it like it was a well-known fact.

“That’s terrible. I hope they managed to reconcile.” Emma immediately felt sympathetic to Salamander’s fictitious plight.

“Don’t worry. They’ll be fine.”

The last class finally ended. I was on my way back to the dormitory when I bumped into Lysander who was walking to the Martial Club room. Once again, we found ourselves facing each other in front of the statue of Leu where we first met.

He seemed happy to see me. “Hey. You haven’t stopped by the clubroom lately.”

“Yeah, about that... I just don’t want to bump into Cy right now. There’s something about him that makes me uneasy,” I replied.

He was surprised. “You too? He’s been acting strange lately. It’s like he’s a different person now. Seeing that dead student in the hallway really changed him.”

“You mean he wasn’t always like this?”

“No. Cy was… funny and outgoing. He wasn’t serious and silent like the current Cy. It’s like he doesn’t even recognise us.”

“Peculiar. Did you notice anything else strange about him?”

Lysander thought hard. “He has this weird obsession about the Blackthorns. He asked everyone whether we knew any Blackthorn here.”

“Anything else? Particularly something about him transforming?”

“Transforming? No. Summer students aren’t particularly good at transforming.”

“What about other strange behaviour?”

“That’s all I noticed so far.”

“If you notice anything else, do let me know. See you later, Lysander.” I walked away.

“Remina, wait!”

“Hm?” I turned around.

He looked like he was struggling to say something. Then, he just gave up. “Nevermind. It’s nothing.”