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montesquedemeadowshire · 6 years ago

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Silver Ravens Pt 1

A crowd waited.

In the city of Kintargo, under the hot noon sun, a crowd waited in front of the city’s renowned opera house. The new Lord-Mayor of the city had announced that he would be making his first public proclamation that day at midday, and the crowd gathered to bear witness.

Some waited because they wished to see this man who had been appointed to lead their city by the far off empress of Cheliax, this Lord-Mayor who had, in the month since his arrival, passed a variety of strange and seemingly petty ordnances into city law. Others waited, and talked, and tried to gain support for a variety of causes, many of them mutually exclusive. Here, a young man speaks to a warrior with two swords, explaining to him the glories of the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune and the Cheliax Empire which it had brought to prominence. There, though more quietly, a half orc carefully seeks out those he might tell of the horrors he has seen within the Church of Jaedis. Still others are there only because it seemed the most likely place for something interesting to happen, such as a young elven maiden and a lizard-woman, both newly arrived to Kintargo, both still seeking their place in the bustling port city. They see one another and, each for their own reasons, turn away, distracted by the growing dissatisfaction of the crowd.

The dissatisfaction does not go unnoticed, for around the court yard of the Opera House are several detachments of the Kintargo city guard, known as the dottari. Many of them are beginning to look uneasy, fingering their weapons and casting steely looks upon any of the assembled citizens who appear to be getting too boisterous. Noon has come and gone, and the crowd is edging ever closer to becoming a riot, as their dissatisfaction grows in the hot summer sun.

At last, the silver bells atop the Opera House begin to chime. Once, twice, thrice they chime, and as the third pure note fades softly, the quieted crowd looks up to see, upon the balcony of the Opera House, a man dressed in the blacks and reds of House Thrune. He is of moderate build, with a harshly lined face, black hair cut short in the fashion of a warrior. He looks out upon the people and carefully represses a sneer, for, after all, he is Barzillai, of House Thrune, and they are his people, whether he likes it or not.

“Good citizens of Kintargo, my apologies for keeping you waiting. I am still used to the rather relaxed timekeeping of the capital, and am still adjusting to your admirably provincial punctuality. It does you credit. I appear before you today to greet you all as your new Lord-Mayor, and express my hopes that our relationship will be a long and fruitful one, both for myself as well as you, the citizens of my city. Of course, for this to be the case, we must first deal with destabilizing foreign elements. As such, all foreign-born ships captains are hereby banned from setting foot into the city of Kintargo, on penalty of squassation.”

This announcement garnered the confused reaction he had been expecting. After all, squassation was a form of punishment that hadn’t been practiced in centuries, and he was quite proud of having rediscovered it at all. He certainly didn’t expect any of these provincials to have heard of it.

“You mean torture!” A voice shouted from the crowd.

Barzillai froze. Before he could respond, this voice was joined by a throng of others, some agreeing with it and some denying it, but all shouting to be heard among the others. Then, from out of the crowd, quicker than he could react, a fragment of a cobblestone came flying through the air, clipping the side of his head. His vision turned red from pain and fury. He was the legally appointed ruler of this city, and these rubes dared to assault his person? “Guards!” he shouted, “Nox! Deal with this rabble!”

He turned his back on the city, cape billowing behind him, and retreated back into the cool depths of the Opera House.

In the crowd outside, a score of men and women threw off their cloaks, revealing the armbands of the Chelish Citizens’ Watch, an organization dedicated to the promotion and maintenance of the rule of the House of Thrune over Kintargo. Several of them immediately flocked to the man who had thrown the stone from the crowd, beating him senseless before he could escape.

Another approached the young swordsman who had been speaking with the Thrune supporter. The young man eyed the vigilante warily, but only moved when the man’s mace came swinging toward his head. Drawing the long blade at his waist, he blocked the man’s blow, then before his assailant could react, drew his second sword with his left hand and cracked its hilt against his temple. The Citizens’ watchman dropped like a sack of grain, and the young swordsman began to make his way around the edge of the crowd, seeking the nearest road by which he could escape the scene.

Several other knots of conflict had arisen around the square, some single fighters holding off the watchmen coming after them, some knots of resistance fighting against small groups. Most people, of course, were simply trying to flee as swiftly as possible.

As he hastened along the edge of the square, one of these conflicts spilled in front of him. A slim man with slightly pointed ears and a burly one in mail armor backed in, pressed by two watchmen and two women. Dodging a thrust from a dagger, the slim, unarmored man spun and kicked his attacker behind the ear, putting him down. The other was harder pressed, being the more apparently resilient target, but seemed to be enjoying himself nevertheless, if the laughter was any indication.

The swordsman looked for a way around, but the crown was pressing in now, and it looked like the only way around was through. Sighing in irritation, he stepped lightly forward, cutting the back of the nearest Watchwoman’s knee, giving the large man the opening he needed to pin her to the cobbles with his spear. Now outnumbered, the watchmembers exchanged glances before melting back into the crowd.

The swordsman likewise looked to the other two, and said, “they’ll be going for reinforcements. Stick together until we’re out of this?”

The larger warrior laughed again, “You seem to know your way around those blades of yours. Let’s show those devil lovers some pain!” The slender one merely nodded and responded, “Aye.”

No further trouble assailed them, no doubt because the three together looked like more trouble than they were worth, and as they finally reached one of the major thoroughfares leading from the square, they heard an increase in the commotion behind them. From the front of the opera house, a sturdily built woman charged forth, swinging her glaive and cutting down those few who remained in opposition to the watchmen. In one hand she held a lead, which was attached to the collar of a hulking black dog with fiery red eyes. Behind her came a swarm of the Dottari, the official Kintargo City Watch who swarmed around the fallen to begin tying and cuffing them.

“Looks like we got out of there just in time,” observed the smaller man.

“I don’t know that we’re out just yet. Come with me to my clanhold, and I’ll make sure we all make it out of this none the worse for wear,” the swordsman offered.

“Clanhold?” The brawler asked, confused, “are you with those foreigners down on the South Bank, then?”

“I am. Shigaraki of House Sakaki, of the Crane Clan. Thank you for your assistance.”

“Winmer Felhold, of…well, here and there, I suppose,” said the slender man, with a slight smile.

“Korgac, no last name that I know of, right here in Kintargo,” was the large man’s response. “Now, let’s see about getting somewhere quiet, eh?”

#silver ravens #writeblr #original writing

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montesquedemeadowshire · 6 years ago

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Titan Academy PT 2

“He’s…a bit overwhelming, isn’t he?” Cameron asked, after the door had closed behind the Senator.

“Quite,” replied the headmistress, with a small quirk of her lips. She rose and headed towards the door. “Now, Cameron, Tracy, please come with me, and I’ll show you to your respective quarters.”

Cameron and Tracy followed Miss Carmine as she glided from the room, stopping briefly to allow Cameron to rush back into the office to collect his forgotten luggage. His fellow human student was looking notably impatient by the time he rejoined them, but the headmistress’ expression was undisturbed. She continued along the passage, her students in her wake.

Now that he had his mind about him enough to look around at the school, Cameron noticed that while the building looked like a perfectly normal specimen of its sort, a closer look revealed some interesting differences. For instance, both the doors and the ceilings were built about two feet higher than in a normal school, presumably to better accommodate larger-than-normal students. The posters, too, revealed slight differences. Many were of the normal, vaguely inspirational posters one would expect to find. However some indicated sentiments not normally found in a human school. Cameron lagged behind slightly as he read a poster showing what appeared to be a young male vampire being surprised by a photographer. It read AKWWa! Always Know Who’s Watching!

As he hurried to catch up with the two ladies once again, he overheard Tracy asking Miss Carmine something. “Excuse me, ma’am, I don’t know if it’s considered rude or not, but what…er…race are you? Is that right?”

Miss Carmine continued to glide down the corridor, but Cameron thought he could hear a smile in her voice as she answered. “As to your second question, we haven’t quite landed on a term we’re all happy with yet. Some prefer race, others ‘species’, etc. As a result no one has quite figured out which terminology to be offended by, so you should be alright with whatever version you’d prefer.

“As to your first, I am what is traditionally known as a vampire in America.”

Tracy stopped short momentarily, and Cameron noted a distinct nervousness to her expression as he passed her. She was walking alongside him a moment later, brow furrowed in thought. “But, ma’am, you were just out in the sun…I thought that…well, you know, that wasn’t possible.”

“Cameron?” Miss Carmine replied as he looked askance at Tracy.

“Actually that’s a common misconception,” Cameron began, quickly warming to one of his favorite topics. “as we now know, vampire are perfectly able to be out in the sun, and suffer no significant ill effects from it, aside from a possible higher likelihood of major sunburn over extended periods of time, though the evidence for that is still anecdotal.”

Miss Carmine glanced over her shoulder and nodded approvingly. “Very good, Cameron. Personally I feel that I am a bit more susceptible to sunburn than most, but as you say that is only anecdotal evidence. I think you’ll find, Tracy, that many of the more common rumors about the sorts of students we have here at the Academy are distortions of the truth, at best, or outright fabrications at worst. Though, admittedly, many of them have at least a grain of truth to them.”

“Like that vampires require blood to survive?” Tracy inquired.

“Exactly. While we can ingest and metabolize human blood much differently and better than humans, we do not actually require it on a regular basis to survive. On the other hand, our enhanced abilities require us to expend our own supply of blood, and so to survive we require…outside assistance, lest we succumb to anemia.”

“I suppose that makes sense…” Tracy said, obviously pondering all this as they walked. The three walked in silence for a while, as the headmistress led them from the school building back out into the burning sun, which seemed to have lost none of its heat as it had descended.

Tracy, Cameron, and Miss Carmine proceeded towards a rather large complex of

buildings some distance from the school. The older woman spoke up again as they entered the shade of the buildings. “These are the dormitories. You will be staying here for the year. The upper floors are the student quarters, while the ground floors are various amenities and staff quarters.”

Cameron and Tracy looked around, somewhat bewildered. There were six buildings, all of which had at least three stories, and seemed to be about the same size as airplane hangars, if not larger. Cameron asked for them both, “Um, Miss Carmine, I didn’t think the Academy had that many students yet. That is…last I’d read, there were only about one hundred going here?” He was beginning to feel rather uncomfortable, afraid that Tracy was going to think he was showing off by knowing so much about the school.

Miss Carmine looked back at him, smiling slightly once again. “Partially true. Our attendance numbers last year were in that vicinity, however we have doubled our numbers over the summer after the success of last year. We also built the dormitories to accommodate the numbers of students we hope to have, rather than how many we currently do. Finally, well…That will be easier to show than to tell, I suspect.” As she finished speaking, she veered aside onto a branch of the sidewalk which led into the nearest dormitory building.

Cameron hauled his suitcases around and hurried after her as she opened the door to let them through. Immediately, his eyes widened at the sight before him. The building seemed to be built around a massive pool, equal to several olympic-sized pools set together. He vaguely registered that Tracy had stopped beside him and was also goggling at the sight. As they watched, he noticed that the pool actually appeared to be an extremely close approximation of a beach, from the sandy shore to the waves breaking upon it.

Tracy stammered, looking slightly wild eyed at the headmistress, who was looking quite proud of herself. “But…how…this isn’t…I mean…”

“Quite impressive, isn’t it? The finest engineers we could find designed each of the dormitories. In truth, most of them accepted a reduced fee due to their excitement over the challenge. You see, many of our students have special requirements to live comfortably. The merfolk and kelpies, for instance, become very uncomfortable if they are not immersed in salt water at least once every…36 hours or so. Beyond that they face serious health concerns, and so we designed this dormitory to fit their needs. The water is a close approximation of clean ocean water, and the pool goes to a depth of around 500 feet, sufficient for even those students who prefer higher water pressures. The upper floor is also an aquatic environment, similar to a very large rooftop pool, composed of fresh water. Fortunately none of our students who prefer fresh water require extreme depths, so we were able to construct it without the gradient of this pool.”

Tracy was recovering from the shock of the building’s interior rather quicker than Cameron, it seemed. “So then, it’s not a matter of the buildings being built for a lot of students, but rather that a lot of the students require special accommodations which take up a lot of space, right?”

“Quite right. There are refrigerated dormitories, extra-heated ones, some of a more…open construction such as this one. It was all quite an undertaking, but we knew it would ultimately be worthwhile. We do hope you’ll agree.”

Cameron tore his eyes away from the miniature ocean and smiled broadly at the headmistress. “Yes ma’am!”

Tracy was looking askance at Cameron, he noticed, but she addressed Ms Carmine rather than him. “I assume there are more…well…standard dormitories where we’ll be staying?”

“Indeed,” the vampiress replied, gliding once more out the door behind them, leaving them to follow. “Most of our students who do not require special accommodations live in the Arcana dormitory, straight ahead. I’ll show you both to your rooms now, if there are no further questions?”

There weren’t, as it turned out, as both Tracy and Cameron were quite eager to see their rooms. The first floor of the Arcana dormitory was occupied by many of the staff members, as well as a sizeable commissary serving food from various nations. “As it’s the building with the most ‘neutral’ ground, it made sense for the main dining hall to be located in Arcana,” Miss Carmine explained as they entered. “Speaking of which, there is someone you need to meet before we go upstairs. Please wait here for just a moment.”

#titan academy #golden masquerade #writeblr #writing #original

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montesquedemeadowshire · 6 years ago

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My Wordpress. I’ll be posting further content from it as time goes on.

#golden masquerade

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montesquedemeadowshire · 6 years ago

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Titan Academy, Pt 1

“Are you sure you remembered your toothbrush?”

Cameron looked up from his book towards his mom’s seat. “Yes, I am. I also was the last five times, but I appreciate you checking.” He stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed.

“All right, all right. I know I’m being repetitive, but can you blame me?”

“I suppose not. Though of all the things to be worried about, I think most people would put that pretty low on the list.” Cameron leaned back in his seat and looked out the window, hoping there would finally be something out there worth looking at. The west Texas scenery, unfortunately, continued to be barren and dry. The most interesting features seemed to be fenceposts and telephone polls. There had been a row of cadillacs stuck face-first into the ground some ways back, but very little since.

After some time, his father responded from the driver seat, “Yes, well, we wouldn’t have agreed to let you attend if we thought there was a real danger there for you.”

“He probably would have snuck off anyway.” His sister commented from beside him. Only a year younger than him, she probably knew him better than just about anyone. In this case, she was right, too.

Cameron pulled the pamphlet he had printed off from the back of his book, studying it once again. Titan Academy: A Wholesome, Friendly Learning Environment for All Students, it read, above a small group of smiling students. It looked like a perfectly run of the mill pamphlet for a reasonably well-off private school…except for a few small details which set his heart racing.

For his entire life, Cameron had had peculiar interests. In the beginning, he had carefully and systematically exhausted the spooky story collection at his library, beginning with the school’s before moving on to the public collection. Then, when he had finished there, he had moved on to the adult collections, both the research journals and the more frightening collections of folk tales. And then, just as he had just about finished those, The People exposed themselves, opening up a whole new range of possibilities, not to mention more tales and research than a young boy could possibly get through in one lifetime.

As the boy once again inspected the worn pamphlet, his eyes were drawn around the page to the small, telltale details which proclaimed the unique nature of the school he was to be attending. On one girl, around his own age, her canine teeth protruded slightly from between her closed lips. Another girl, of a similar age, had golden eyes with a vertical pupil, if one looked very closely. A young man with a small hint of scaling around his eyes, and another with slightly pointed ears. Each could have passed without comment in any crowd, but all together, they proclaimed the nature of Titan Academy: The nation’s premier school for other-natural students.

“There it is!” Cameron’s father called into the back seat cheerfully. Cameron snapped his eyes from the piece of paper to get his first glimpse of the school in person. “Looks solid enough. Pretty standard, really. I like it.”

Cameron, overall, had to agree with his father. He obviously hadn’t been expecting gothic architecture and gargoyles (unless perhaps as part of the student body), but even so it was an almost remarkably unremarkable campus. The buildings were well-built, nice without being gaudy, and the campus itself was fairly large, being as it appeared to have no neighbors within some distance with which to compete for space.

Mr. Verres pulled to a stop in front of a building with a sign proclaiming it to be the Academic Building. As his father got out to stretch his legs, Cameron climbed out of the back, wincing as the hot, desert air hit his face. From the front doors of the building, a woman peeked out. Her eyes widened, and she darted back inside, only to emerge again shortly bearing a large recording device, which was itself focused upon a hefty, well dressed gentleman and a tall, pretty woman in a dark blouse and long, red skirt, as they made their way up the sidewalk towards the family.

The large gentleman pulled ahead of the women, camera trailing like a dinghy, and flashed a glowing smile at Cameron’s father. “Well, I’ll be darned! We were just about to send out a search party for y’all. Glad you made it. This place can be a bit tough to find, after all.” He extended a ringed hand, which Mr. Verres shook with a small smile. He had a good head of height over the other gentleman, but seemed to be in danger of being overwhelmed by sheer force of personality from the shorter man. As Cameron’s mother rounded the front of the car to join them, the stocky gentleman’s attention immediately shifted to her, and she was soon having her hand pumped as well. “And you brought the whole family! Good to see, good to see. They’re a lovely bunch, Mr. Verrez.”

“Thank you, sir. And you’re almost right, but it’s Verres. One syllable, Mr…?”

“What? Oh, hah! Mr. Arnold Haven at your service. Honored to be a Senator for this great state.”

Mr. Verres blinked confusedly. “Oh, I’m sorry Senator. I have seen you before, of course. Not sure why I didn’t recognize you.”

“Not at all, not at all. Don’t you be sorry. They say the camera adds ten pounds, but I’d say the right hair, makeup, and lighting folks’ll take 30 back off! I wouldn’t recognize myself in half those pictures and interviews if I hadn’t been there myself.” The Senator guffawed merrily, clapping Cameron’s father on the shoulder.

“And this’d be the boy himself, then?” The Senator bustled over towards Cameron, accompanied by the camerawoman. “Smart looking boy, he is. Sure he’ll do grand here, just grand!” Senator Haven put a meaty hand around the young man’s shoulders, grinning widely as the camera darted back and forth in front of them, snapping pictures from various different angles.

The woman who had come out of the building alongside the Senator had never sped up beyond a sedate walk, and only now reached the Verres family. She extended a hand to Mr. Verres, who shook it uncertainly, then brightened at her pleasant smile as she introduced herself. “Isabella Carmine-Amador. I’m sure he’ll do marvelously, Arnold. Now why don’t you release the boy and let him have a few moments with his family before we’re about business, hm? Plenty of time for pictures later, if need be.” She cast a cold eye towards the camera woman, who hastily snapped the lens cap back onto her camera.

“Quite right, quite right. Getting a bit ahead of myself. Miss Carmine and myself will be waiting over there,” the Senator waved vaguely towards the brown grass alongside the sidewalk. “Just let us know when y’all are ready to go inside.”

As they drew aside, a second vehicle, a very expensive looking one, drove up to disgorge a small family. The apparently sole child was dark haired and pretty, though she seemed quite nervous. The Senator and the women with him strolled over to greet them, though they were too far for Cameron to hear what they were saying.

Cameron joined his family again, who were watching the Senator and the others have their hushed discussion as they made their way down the sidewalk. Cameron watched as well for a moment before speaking, and noticed that while the Senator seemed to be doing most of the talking, he listened intently whenever the pale, dark haired woman spoke. “I’m sure that they’d give you a tour if you’d like.”

Mr. Verres looked at Cameron thoughtfully, then back at the school. “Y’know, I’m sure they would. And if you’d like us to we will. But you’re the one who made this happen, Cam, and if you want this to be your thing, entirely, I’ll understand that too.”

Cameron smiled at his dad. “I thought you’d understand, dad. Love you.”

“You too, kid. Now don’t forget to give your mom a hug or I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Love you, mom. See you soon.”

“That’s right, you will, and don’t forget if you change your mind or something happens, we’ll be just a phone call away, alright?” His mom, already a couple of inches shorter than him, was obviously holding back tears.

“I know, mom. And I promise I’ll call when I can. Ok?”

“You better.” She wrapped him in a tight hug, then sighed softly and reached up to pat him on the shoulders.

Cameron smiled down at her and turned to his sister. “Y’know, you’re not completely terrible. And I promise I’m coming back, sorry.”

She rolled her eyes, and barked a laugh, though he could still see worry in her eyes. “Yeah, of course you will. How could you continue to torment me otherwise? See ya round, try not to get eaten. I’d hate for anyone to get indigestion.”

Cameron stuck his tongue out at her, and she replied in kind. “Well, I think I’m off. Love y’all.”

His father cleared his throat. “Mm. Hey Cam?”

“Yeah dad?”

“You might want to grab your bags from the car.”

Cameron flushed, and laughed, then darted towards the trunk to retrieve the two bags of personal possessions he had brought along with him. “Alright, now I’m off. Have a safe drive home. I’ll call once I’m settled in a bit.”

“You sure are,” his sister retorted, “and if you must.”

Mr. Verres tousled her hair and put his arm around his wife. “Alright then, back in the car, guys. Cameron’s obviously in a hurry to get on with things, and we’ll not keep him any longer than we need to.” He shot a wink at his son to show he understood, and herded the girls back into the car, waving over his shoulder as he got in. Cameron watched him get settled, give the school buildings another once over, and rest his gaze upon him once again, before nodding in general satisfaction and starting the car.

Cameron took a deep breath and turned towards the others. Well, he thought, here we go. The girl’s family appeared to have already departed, and she was standing with Senator Haven and the women.

They appeared oblivious as he approached, the Senator speaking even faster than previously. Cameron could make out a few words as he drew closer. “-know that we’ve had threats, and it’s just gotten worse since…” he cut off as the woman raised a hand. He looked rather upset at being cut off until he noticed Cameron coming nearer. Then he put on his gleaming smile and came to meet him. “Fine family you’ve got there, boy, fine family. Didn’t they want to take a tour of the school? Get acquainted with the place?”

“No sir, I don’t think so. They’d rather I get acquainted with it first, I think.”

Senator Arnold looked rather perplexed by this, but the woman beside him nodded and smiled softly. “Quite practical, Cameron. Your father struck me as a wise man. Are you both ready to begin that process then?”

Cameron smiled back, “Well, ma’am, he’d say that’s because you don’t know him very well yet. And yes, I am!” The nervous looking girl merely nodded, but eyed the school as if she were afraid it might bite.

“Very good,” she nodded, and turned back towards the school building, Cameron and the rest trailing behind. “My name is Julia Carmine, and it is my pleasure to be the head of Titan Academy. You might call me the principal, I suppose, though my duties are rather more…expansive, all things considered. Senator Arnold and I are the ones who have put together the plan which has brought you here, as well as selecting you both from the pool of volunteers.”

Cameron looked at the other teenager, and smiled (he hoped) pleasantly. “Oh, right. Cameron Verres. Nice to meet you…?”

“Tracy Culver, sophomore.” The nervous looking girl introduced herself.

The young man looked between her, Miss Carmine and the Senator. “Well then, thank you very much. I didn’t really think I had a chance, really, but I wanted to attend more than almost anything.”

Carmine stepped inside the building, holding the door for Cameron to enter, followed by Senator Arnold. She proceeded to a nearby door with her name inscribed into it, and held it for them as well.

On the other side was an office, though a rather nicer one than any administrator’s office that Cameron had ever seen. The furniture was all rich, black wood, the cushions the same color leather. The headmistress glided towards the chairs arranged in front of the massive desk, and reset them into a small circle, each facing the others. She motioned for Cameron and Arnold to each take a seat, then looked at the camera woman, who had bustled in behind them, and motioned towards a couch in the corner. “Would any of you care for some refreshment?”

“A water would be fine, Julie, and one for the kids, too. They look parched.” Cameron shut his mouth as the Senator answered for him, but nodded in agreement, as did Tracy. Miss Carmine’s eyes never moved towards the Senator, staying firmly fixed on Cameron.

“Very good.” She tapped on the corner of her desk, and a small hatch popped open in the side, from which she drew three bottles of water. She handed both to Arnold, who handed one to Cameron and Tracy, before taking her own seat.

After she had settled her long, red skirt to her satisfaction, she glanced up again and spoke. “Now then, I thought it best that we both be here to answer any initial questions you might have. To address the one you implied earlier, the circumstances of your selection were unique.” She leaned back in her chair, back straight as she captured his gaze with her own. “As you know, we have no academic requirements for entry, merely that the student be otherly-natural. When it was decided that, in the interests of relations between the species, a pair of human children should be admitted to the Academy, rather more strict requirements had to be devised.”

“Yes, ma’am, that does make sense. That’s actually what I didn’t really understand. I’d figure those requirements would be based on grades and things, and as I’m sure you noticed, mine have never been what you might call amazing.” Cameron replied, breaking her gaze to look at the patterned black and white carpet of the office, blushing slightly in embarrassment.

“True, but never terrible, either. Almost strictly average, in fact,” she continued, “but what interested us most was the obvious passion and knowledge of the Other-natural community which you presented in your essay. You were alone, after all, in quoting passages from The Compact in yours.”

“I…didn’t really expect that, ma’am. I mean, it’s so important to any understanding of the last six years….”

“Indeed it is. The fact that you recognize that is one of the things that made us take a second look at your application. It has been a…delicate process, and the human children who would attend this academy will need to have an accurate understanding of that.”

Cameron frowned down at the carpet, then nodded. That made sense. The Compact Between Other-natural Nations, as it had been called, was the document which had forged the various other-natural nations of the world into a political force. Their first order of business had been to reveal themselves, and the existence of the other-natural, to an entirely unprepared world.

The reaction had been…mixed. For every supernaturalist who felt a sense of vindication, there were at least three people, of all races and nationalities, who thought only of the dangers of the other-natural races living among them. Riots had swept through the nations of the world, carrying both humans and nonhumans away in fits of violence and hate. Cameron shivered slightly as he remembered the shouting of a mob overheard in his neighborhood. His parents had locked the doors tight, but he could still remember the voices, bestial and mad, outside.

Things settled, of course, as they always did. In the six years since the Emergence a tense peace had developed between the human community and those of the other races. Distrust was still great between the two, and it was a rare month in which an incident of some sort didn’t flare up somewhere in the world.

In order to ease relations between the races, the Compact had purchased grounds for schools around the world for their members to use. Titan Academy was one of two in the United States, and the first to be established. In addition, after two years of peace and successful education at the academy, it was decided that it should be the site of a bold and highly controversial experiment. Two human children would attend Titan Academy from their Sophomore year of highschool onward. If they succeeded, and no incidents took place, then the academy might entirely integrate. If that should happen, it would provide a great example of peaceful, productive relations between the communities, and from there, it was hoped, further integration between the human world and that of the other-naturals could proceed more easily.

Cameron mulled all this over in his mind as he considered what the headmistress had said. He had never been much of a student of politics or history, but he had devoured all news and information about the other-naturals ever since they came out of the dark just as he had books on paranormal studies before. It made sense that that would hold more weight in the minds of the selection committee than simply his GPA.

“And besides,” added Senator Haven after a moment of contemplation, “your classmate, Ms. Culver, holds up the other end of the spectrum, so we’ve covered our bases, I think. Very smart cookie, from everything we could tell.”

Tracy’s eyes flashed slightly, and she held her head up as she nodded. “Yes Sir. Top percentile for my grade, nationwide. I intend to make you proud, sir.”

Senator Arnold smiled broadly and looked at her approvingly from across the circle. “Got a bit of fire in her, too, it seems. Good, good. I imagine you’ll both need that.”

Cameron nodded. “Alright, makes sense. I guess I’ll probably get my class schedule and living situation sorted out shortly, so…just out of curiousity, what species are represented here at Titan?”

Ms. Carmine closed her eyes for a moment, lips moving slightly as she recalled the information. “Let me think…yes. Thus far, we primarily have a number of Animal-folk, vampires, merfolk, thaumists, and trolls. Most of the other currently enlightened races have at least a single representative. It’s become something of a mark of prestige for a group to have at least one student in Titan, though most tend to send two or more, so as to prevent the child from feeling too isolated. Obviously the climate makes it difficult for some to attend. The Academy in Montana, for example, has far more snow-people than we do. The poor dears just don’t do well in the heat, I’m afraid.

Cameron smiled slightly. “Well, ma’am, I don’t know that even humans do too well when it’s this hot.” He had been watching Tracy as Ms. Carmine had listed off the school’s attendees, and she seemed to shrink down in her chair a bit with each race mentioned.

Senator Haven laughed heartily, and began to stand. “That’s more than a little true, boy, more than a little. Speaking of the heat, I’m afraid I’ve got to head back into it. Too much to do, too many appointments to keep. Besides, from here on out you’re in Ms. Carmine’s hands. I was just here to make speeches in case something went wrong.” He winked at Cameron, then clapped him on the shoulder, shook his hand, and strode out the door, the camera-woman again trailing behind him.

#titan academy #golden masquerade

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