“Everyone seems to want you,” he said after a few moments’ silence, his voice distant as if coming from his own dreams, “Best friend, worst enemy, potential conquest, Queen, hero, rival, mystery…”

Before Phantasia could reply, Ms Thorburn shuffled into the room and ordered the class to make their way to the morning assembly. Dante disappeared before she could reply, as was his nature. She didn’t notice him again until the class were settling down in the auditorium: he was seated at the far side of the room, barriers raised.

It was the weekly assembly for Sapphire House students, and the three teachers of the house – Ms Thorburn, Sabeen Haan, and Mythology teacher Mr Barton – sat on stage while Mr Payne gave the usual announcements. This was the first time Phantasia had attended a house assembly and she found herself filtering out the headmaster’s news while she looked around for the first and third-year students. There was no way to tell who was in what year, but she figured the majority of Sapphire First were the young students huddled together in a mob at the front of the auditorium. There were a few scattered groups of elder teenagers – some even older than eighteen-year-old Doyle – but they could have late starters. Sabeen Haan helped provide some clarity.

“As you know, most of the Third Years are out on field work at present,” he said, pacing across the stage making exuberant hand gestures while his battered coat swept along behind him. He went on to explain about a recent field trip to town ruins in the east, showing the students some examples of ancient artefacts that had been recovered.

“The group even managed to unearth an old computer, dating back to the early 21^st Century, which has been passed on to Mr Smith for further examination,” he said, giving John a knowing look at the mention of his father.

“We’re just lucky those Malkuthian vultures haven’t picked every corpse clean yet,” added Mr Barton.

A smug grin spread across Sabeen Haan’s face. “The Malkuthians avoid certain areas out in the wilderness because of their ‘unnatural activity’. Things you students will learn to deal with before you’re allowed outside the town borders,”

“Of course,” interjected Mr Payne, “We want you to understand that ‘unnatural activity’ in no means refers to anything of a ‘supernatural’ nature. It is not in our syllabus to teach such dangerous heresy to such young minds,”

Phantasia heard Joel chortle to himself, and noticed the thumbs-up Mr Barton was giving his superior. She also heard Mr Haan whisper something like “That oughta cover us,” to Ms Thorburn, who was watching the corners of thee auditorium with suspicious eyes. John, who was sitting next to Phantasia, nudged her and pointed at the screen of his laptop. He’d written a message:

Place’s been bugged again. Godhand. Dad’s gotta decipher the code.

After the assembly, Sapphire Second were reunited with Sabeen Haan – and with Emerald Second – for their History lesson. Once again, Phantasia could feel the cold glares of Astrid from the back of the class and could hear her whispering among her friends.

“Albino’s working with the Hawks now.”, “Albino is some sort of witch!”, “Albino’s the one summoning those demons!”

Chapter 10
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