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xerith-42 · 8 months ago

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Redesign the Nine

[This post is very long. Just a heads up.]

I'm a member of the Jury of Redesign, proud member of fleshing out previously left to rot or forgotten content. It's a hobby. A passion. I have and will continue to go into entire novellas to describe the inter personal relationships of characters we know next to nothing about, but what about characters we know literally nothing about?

We know only 6 members of the total 9 that belong to the Jury. Technically seven if you include Garroth, but that last for like twelve seconds, that doesn't count. And one of them is only made known as a member in Rebirth (which I really like and I like Rebirth). That means there's three entire characters just waiting to happen! How have I never thought of this before?!

This idea really struck me when I was looking at the Jo9 wiki page and saw this comment

The rest of the comment goes on to their whole theory about Ein killing Blaze, but I am mostly against the idea of killing Blaze because nobody ever gives it enough story significance, weight, and meaning. Only I get to kill Blaze, you all lost your privileges.

That's not what's important though. What's important is that I actually love Teony and Ein. I think they're some of the most wasted Aphverse characters, and that's saying something considering how I literally never shut up about Blaze. So let's flesh them out in a... different setting.

Teony

I imagine Teony being in a very similar situation to Katelyn and Jeffory. She has someone she deeply cares about that Zane knows about and is threatening to put in danger. For Jeffory and Katelyn, it was family. For Teony, it's similar, but just a slight flavor different. A gay flavor different.

Teony belongs to a high ranking noble family in O'Khasis, like one step below the Ro'meave family. Originally the plan was for her to be married off to one of the Ro'meave heirs (probably Zane), but then she did something weird. She uhh... She started training to be a guard. And got strong enough fast enough that nobody could really stop her because Teony would just challenge them to a round of armed combat about it despite being literally 12.

So she was allowed to go to guard academy and go through full training. She was never going to be a lord, and she could still easily join the Jury and serve the same purpose with less arranged marriage. Also if they tried to arrange Teony into a marriage she might just pull a sword on them about it. She learned very quickly that her parents wouldn't be allowed to abuse or control her if they feared her. Caused a different kind of trauma compared to the other children of nobles.

And then she found out she was gay. While she was at the academy the person who was writing the Jury recruitment list was the newest member of the Jury herself; Ivy the Venom Scythe. Teony fell in unending sapphic love from first sight. Even if she had become wise to her parents controlling nature in search of power, she still respected and revered the Ro'meave family, and the Jury of Nine. She was set up for it, and she wanted that. And now that she was finally experiencing love for a member of the Jury of Nine.

As always, things in Teony's life were set up for perfection. And she was such an overachiever, are you kidding me? Top ranks in all her classes even though she didn't need to. She would half ass it sometimes and still get the highest scores on every test. When she put her all into something, there wasn't any competition. She was just showing off for Ivy, and she did not hide that in the slightest. Ivy was fully aware that Teony was not only showing off, she knew that Teony was in love, or at least lust with her. Teony is not subtle at all, it's just not a concept to her yet.

On the last day of her training at the academy, Zane Ro'meave himself shows up. I imagine Zane and Teony were almost sort of childhood friends. Zane didn't really like having friends, but he and Teony were personable and able to get along when they were forced to spend time together by their parents. He has a sort of fondness for Teony in a "I'll see where you're going with this" sense. He's heard how passionate she is about fighting and being a guard. And he knows it's not for a violent sake, but because of that nobility that is her bloodline and the baseline of her identity as a person.

She may be overzealous, she may be a know-it-all, she may be a show-off, but Teony always fights with honor. She always showers her classmates a great amount of dignity and respect when they fight her. To her combat is an art form, one that she takes very seriously. She won't attack unless provoked, and more often than not will just skip the talking it out phase and just jump to the dueling stage because that's the part she understands best.

She's autistic. That's what I'm saying. Teony is an autistic lesbian. Look at her go! However, Zane is terrible and evil and so is Ivy. When telling him the candidates, he brings up that Teony is a no brainier. Which is when Ivy tells him that Teony is in love with her and was fighting to earn her attention. She willingly threw away some of her nobility in the name of love. Which means she can do it again if provoked to.

What better way to provoke her than to give it to her and then threaten to take it away? Zane and Ivy literally manipulate Teony, putting her on the Jury, assigning her to work with Ivy, and Ivy starts actively feeding into it in a rather coy way just to drag her along. And right when Teony is ready to fess up, her parents show up at the Ro'meave manner. Teony remembers what they expect of her. That they don't know the truth about her.

She knows beyond a shadow of a doubt they'd disown her. Jury members aren't supposed to have family anyway. For a minute she thinks about outing herself to sever her ties. But then she learns that her mother is pregnant again. She... She has a little sister on the way. And if she cuts ties with her family now, she'll never get to meet her. She doesn't know Zane invited them at first, but when he talks to her later, she pieces it all together.

Zane says he'll let her family live, even let them be known as her family if she wants, but she isn't allowed to be with Ivy in any non-professional manner. Otherwise she'll give herself away, and while he doesn't exactly threaten it, Zane makes it very clear he will out Teony to her parents if she doesn't do as he orders from now until the end of time. It's then that Teony realizes she's trapped. She went from one gilded cage to another.

Until it got to be too much for her. Remember how Jeffory was apparently on the Demon Warlock Island in Gal'ruk? And it was literally never explained. What if he was there to find her? What if it became too much for Teony after meeting her sister, and she ran away? Zane doesn't know what happened when Teony met with her younger sister, but it was enough to shake her that she barely responded to Zane's taunting when she returned. And then she left that night.

Jeffory was sent to follow her trail. And he actually found her before she managed to break the Demon Warlocks curse. On a completely different continent, no guard escorts, and no way that Zane can hear them, they talk openly. They confide in one another. And they work together, as friends, to break the curse and get themselves back home. Teony moves to a different island in Gal'ruk, and tells Jeffory to give Ivy a letter the next time he sees her.

And he's not allowed to let it leave his hands unless it's Ivy taking it. No messengers. No leaving it somewhere she'll find it. Jeffory never learned the contents of that letter, but he did manage to deliver it to Ivy. Only she and Teony knows what's contained in those pages.

(Final note, idk what her funny anime villain name or her weapons would be. I would love council/jury/anyone to give input here. Same for the next member)

Ein

Ein being a big heroic softie is the best thing ever to me you don't understand.

Much like the doll anon, this anon changed my life. I love this idea so much. Listen, I like unrelentingly evil characters, just look at Zane. But that's the thing. Zane's already there. And so is Janus. And Ivy. And probably Lilian. And another character I've yet to get to. And even more characters when we get out of the Jury. We need more innocence that becomes corrupted in the Jury, everyone likes being evil too much.

So I want to make Ein a big ol' softie. He grew up in the Brightport Wolf Tribe with his best friend eventually turned lover Blaze. They mostly stayed within the confines of their tribe, which was small, but spacious enough for two wolf children prone to rough housing to get their energy sufficiently out. It was only when they were older that they started waking up to the... less than ideal circumstances of their relationship.

After being friends and being incredibly close and physically affectionate, when the two started thinking about mating and all that dumb romantic nonsense, it just made sense that they would be with each other in that way too. It's how they got through everything else in life. It was at the ruiner and creator of gay romances, that Irene forsaken Guard Academy that things got... worse.

Because Ein is definitely a very well rounded fighter. He's decently studious, wanting to keep up on speaking both the werewolf language and the more common language, and making sure that Blaze does the same. But Blaze finds these things to be dreadfully boring and doesn't put in more effort than Ein makes him. This is fine when they were kids and their plans weren't more ambitious than protecting their tribe. But their Alpha wanted to see if humans and werewolves could truly get along.

If anyone could prove that werewolves are just as human as they are, it would be these two dorks. But uhh, people are racist. And homophobic. So it doesn't go great. Couple that with the fact that the academy prioritizes individual excellence over collective greatness and suddenly things are just doomed to go wrong for these two. Ein naturally excels, and Blaze who's used to having someone to rely on starts falling behind without the consistent support system.

That was his emotional support nerdy jack of all trades boyfriend! How could you take that away from him? And Ein is stripped of his absolutely pure of heart dumb of ass boyfriend. They don't even get to stay in the same bunks as each other, and barely have any classes together. It's just awful. But Ein finds... something else. After doing particualrly well on a certain test, one of the teachers pulls him aside and tells Ein he might be able to qualify for the Jury of Nine position. Or at least be their bench warmer.

Ein's ambitions in life never went too far beyond the borders of their childhood home. He was the one who always pressured Blaze into going further than they were allowed, but Blaze was easily convinced anyways. But Ein was always an ambitious person. He just didn't know enough about the world to realize them. The highest he'd ever gone was thinking "Wow, it'd be cool to be the Alpha." And like that's it.

Suddenly he's told that if he somehow gets better than he already is he could hold one of the highest positions in the entire fucking continent. It's a no brainier. He has to go for it. He doesn't realize it means he's only being further isolated, pulled away from his few meet ups with Blaze to study, to practice, to do something that only a top student does and a near drop out student doesn't.

In fact the last time they see each other is, like with Teony, the day before the Jury posting for their class. Ein is sure he's on that list. Maybe not the top spot, but defiantly in the top five. Just as he's about to go introduce himself to Zane Ro'meave, try and make a good impression to sweeten his chances, he gets intercepted by Blaze.

Who just hands him a letter. And he whispers a single word under his breath as he's leaving; "Goodbye."

Ein reads the letter immediately, heartbroken to read that Blaze flunked out and is going back home without him. Blaze says he's proud of Ein for being able to go so far, and hopes he gets on the Jury. Ein knows he's lying. He tries to chase after Blaze, to try and make it up to him, but then suddenly Zane's there. He's caught Ein in a dangerously vulnerable moment, and while Ein manages to recover, he never gets the chance to wipe the tears from his eyes.

He never learns what rank he got on the Jury list. Just that he was one of the two who were filling vacant seats from this class. It's painfully bitter sweet. It's everything Ein wanted, but he realized that he never made room for Blaze in these dreams of grandeur. He tried to help Blaze at first, but Blaze eventually rejected his offers. And Ein couldn't even blame him. He'd been ignoring and neglecting the most important relationship in his life. And if Ein keeps going down this path, he realizes he'll destroy it even more.

In spite of that, he accepts the invitation and starts working as a Jury member for Zane. One month into his stay at the Ro'meave Manor as Zane's personal body guard, Zane asks him an odd question. A name he's apparently heard Ein muttering to himself and in his sleep. "Blaze."

Ein tries to say it's nothing, just an old friend he was thinking of reaching out to. That's when Zane makes it clear that Ein has absolutely no control here. Because he saw what happened between them. He asks if this old friend happened to be the one that gave him "that love letter". Ein tries to find it where he keeps it tucked into his armor, but Zane is holding it. He knows everything. And he's known the entire time he's had Ein in the Jury. It was all a test of loyalty.

If he reaches out to Blaze, he will fail. And again, Zane doesn't directly state what the penalty is, but he makes it abundantly clear that it's death for both Ein and Blaze. Ein was always easiest controlled when he was isolated. After this he was only paired up with two members of the Jury Zane trusted enough. Lilian, and the last member of the Jury. We'll get to him in a second.

As a result, Ein desired but never sought freedom. He knew Blaze was capable of a great life, he had a future, and was probably going on incredible adventures without him. He never forgot where he came from, and who he accidentally left behind. When Zane and Lilian disappeared... Ein was set free. His leash was just dropped for the first time. Mr. Mysterious wasn't even there to pick it up.

And he ran straight home.

There's only one threat that's unknowingly standing in the way of Ein's happiness. And his name is

Zachary the Plague

Nobody knows where the title came from. They don't want to. Zachary is one of the oldest members, sometimes referred to as the "shadow member" of the Jury. He's rarely seen, and scarily little is known about him.

And that's because he doesn't directly work for Zane. Unlike the others, who were all put under Zane's command after the other Ro'meave heirs died, Zachary stayed under the command of Garte. He did work for Zane here and there, Garte didn't get out much and was content to leave it all to Zane. And Zachary took a liking to Ein when they met, and when he requested that Ein train under him for some time, Zane wasn't in a position to object.

The only people who would be able to give more insight into Zachary are Garte, Janus, and Ein. Garte won't talk. Ever. Zachary is his most trusted guard, and that is all anyone needs to know. Janus just says they respect Zachary. It says enough given what it's known that Janus values. Ein freezes when he hears the name. Even when he says it.

He's only told Blaze what he knows, and neither one will willingly give up this information. He's a quiet fear in the back of Ein's mind, but Zachary stayed with Garte. Even when Zane disappeared, he stayed with Garte. He was never relieved of his duties officially or unofficially. The reason he abandoned Ein is because Garte told him to. He always followed orders.

It's unknown where he or Garte are now.

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whitemilkandbacon · 5 months ago

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Phoenix Drop High Rewrite Chapter 1

Hey guys, we got bored and became re-obsessed with Aphmau again so we decided to start re-writing some series starting with phoenix drop. We're currently waiting for the request for our joint ao3 account to go through but we thought we should upload it here since we're planning to update the tumbler with the fic a little bit before we update the ao3 in the future anyway! Make sure if you enjoy to follow us for more chapters and general Aphmau content!

Thanks,

WhiteMilkandBacon :p

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Aphmau desperately scanned the crowd of highschoolers, looking for anyone who was alone. Unfortunately for her, everyone was already grouped-off, pleasantly chatting about their summer break and exchanging wistful comments about their shared memories at previous schools. She sighed defeatedly as the fact began dawning on her that she was completely alone.

“Double fuck…” she let out a shaky breath, willing her legs to move forward and enter the grounds. Aphmau attempts to sneak past the groups of teens completely unnoticed, catching snippets of conversation causing her nerves to spike more than they already were.

“...that delinquent group who keeps tagging the school…”

“...werewolves are actually at the school…”

“...the principal is actually insane…”

Her thoughts raced a million miles an hour with different ‘what if’ scenarios. Her overthinking was abruptly cut short by colliding with another student. She stumbled backwards quickly trying to regain her balance. She snapped her gaze upwards, locking onto the abrasive figure.

“Um? Rude much?”

He scowled and rolled his eyes purposely bumping her shoulder as he walked past continuing to look at his phone.

She huffed making her way to the door, just wanting to find her lessons and get the day over with.

“Just get in and get to class…things can only get better, Aphmau… you've got this…” she hyped herself up and grabbed onto the door’s handle.

It didn’t budge.

“You have to be fucking kidding me…”

She tried again however it remained firmly closed. She heard some giggles from behind her not helping with her current irritation. She snapped around to find the source of the giggling, finding a sophomore stood watching her struggle.

“You know that's a push door right?”

…

“...fuck…”

She felt heat rise to her cheeks, flushing her face a rosy-red. Irene, that was so embarrassing.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” the sophomore soothed, a kind smile on her lips, “I did the same thing on my first day too.”

Aphmau fumbled with the hem off her sleeve, unsure how to resume. She wanted someone friendly to talk to so badly, however actually getting past the awkwardness seemed far more difficult than she could have ever imagined. It was different when she was online, there was no blank staring and uneasy silence, just letters typed out on a page with various emoticons to convey whatever she or her teammate was feeling.

“I’m Teony, by the way,” the other spoke, coaxing the freshman out of her anxious spiralling, “I’m a teacher’s aid, so if you need anything I’m quite happy to help. I can help you find your friends, if you need.”

The offer was well-meaning and genuine but Aphmau couldn’t help but wince. It wasn’t Teony’s fault that she was unaware of her friendless-status, but the reminder still stung all the same.

The silence stretched on between them, only interrupted by the din of constant chattering of other excited freshmen and the upperclassmen arriving and weaving past them to meet with their own circles of friends or to enter the school building. Aphmau watched as Teony’s expression remained perfectly patient and inviting, her cedar locks of hair framing her face perfectly.

“I.. um.. Sorry,” Aphmau laughed sheepishly, just to break the uncomfortable atmosphere that her lack of response had created. Peering up, she noted that Teony was still entirely unbothered at how difficult she was making this interaction seem, “I don’t have any friends here.”

To this, the older girl’s eyebrows shot up in genuine surprise, however her expression held no judgement.

“None at all?” she commented curiously, and slapped a hand over her mouth in horror as if realising how blunt and rude that sounded, “Oh my Irene- I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, it’s just that people normally come to highschool with a previously-made friend group from middle-school… Not that not having an already-made friend group is anything to be worried about!”

To both girls’ surprise, Aphmau just began to giggle. All of the nerves and frustrations of the morning finally overwhelming her, combined with the relief of seeing how Teony had stumbled and struggled with her wording, released a significant amount of weight on her shoulders that she wasn’t even aware she was carrying.

Teony blanched, momentarily looking extremely startled, before she too began to laugh. Nervous and unsure at first, more so joining in to try and understand what was so funny, but as the two continued to laugh it was as if something slotted into place and the strange tension dissolved for the air.

“I’m… I was homeschooled up until now,” Aphmau gasped out between bouts of laughter, a soft pink dusting her cheeks, “That’s why I don’t know anyone.”

Teony’s expression settled on something akin to genuine surprise and sympathy, her eyebrows subtly knitting together as the laughter faded and she prepared herself to speak once more.

“That makes sense,” she replied cheerfully, shrugging her shoulders back as if to shake the remnants of the prior awkwardness, “Well, you know me now! So you officially can’t say you know no-one!”

Aphmau smiled.

“Well since you didn’t get a map from your middle school, i guess i should show you around!” Teony made a move forward only for a teacher to call for her.

“Teony!....homeroom…chaotic kids…my markers…help…” he panted out causing the sophomore to sigh.

“I'm so sorry I have to go help. If you head inside, past the lockers you can probably find someone to help you there! Have a great first day!” she smiled running off to help the teacher.

“...just fucking perfect…” Aphmau sighed. “Alone once again…” she sulked making her way inside following Teony’s instructions. She tried to look on the bright side smiling as she realised maybe not everyone at the school was so bad.

Smack.

…nevermind..

Aphmau fell to the floor clutching her nose, hot pain shooting through her face.

“Fuck! What the shit?!” she glared up at the moss coloured locker door that suddenly appeared in front of her. “Does no one look where theyre fucking going?! Who the fuck opens a locker in someones face like that?!” Aphmau continued to angrily swear at the locker before a strikingly-blonde boy slowly peered out from around the side of the jade metal door.

“Uhm… I’m sorry?” he murmured shakily.

She felt the sudden pang of despair as her face blanched, judging by the expression of deep guilt and sorrow, she’d just yelled at someone who had made a genuine mistake. Of course, trust her luck.

To say that his eyes were blue would be the understatement of the century, they were so bright that she honestly felt a little uncomfortable. Beneath them, his tan cheeks were lightly dusted with golden freckles and an embarrassed blush was very quickly causing them to flush a rosy pink.

Aphmau paused, mouth slightly-agape. He was familiar in a way that she couldn’t name, something about the way his curly cowlick swooped down to obscure the tip of his right brow, how his eyes shone with the promise of an apology, how she suddenly found herself unable to speak.

“Oh…” she took the boy’s outstretched hand, unsure when it had been lended to her and tried to recover from whatever that was, “Don’t worry about it too much, I guess. But for future reference, maybe be more careful when you’re opening your locker.”

Laughing somewhat tensely, the other half-closed the offending door, revealing more of himself in the process. He was tall, with a filled-out frame that she wouldn’t have expected from someone of his age, and his uniform looked worn in a way that suggested this wasn’t his first year at Phoenix Drop.

His face morphed into a strained smile, obviously still guilty about whacking her straight in the nose. With a well-meaning sigh, he agreed, “Honestly, you’re right. I wasn’t thinking, sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She shrugged, glad that the throbbing of her nose had basically disappeared entirely, “Eh. I’m tough, so it doesn’t hurt anymore, really,” as she continued to discreetly scan his appearance, she still couldn’t shake the thought that he was awfully familiar, “Well, I’d like to at least know the name of my assailant.”

The wince Aphmau got in response to her joke told her that maybe it wasn’t as funny as she’d intended, still, a jab at one’s ego didn’t hurt as much as a locker door to the face, she would know.

“My name’s Garroth, Garroth Ro’Maeve. I’m still sorry about the locker by the way, really sorry,” he pulled the last textbook out of his locker and stuffed it inside of his bag, “I’m a Sophomore, so if you need any help with anything, it’s the least I can do,” there was a brief silence, in which his brows furrowed and he seemed to come to a conclusion unbeknownst to Aphmau, “...especially for such a stunning girl.”

Once again, she was speechless.

“Ga-roth!” A voice trilled from somewhere behind Aphmau, the strange pronunciation of Garroth’s name not going unnoticed from either of them. She watched in quiet curiosity as his body seemed to initially relax and then immediately tense.

Upon turning, she was met with the sight of three girls, two sharing a vague resemblance in their faces and the other disinterested, completely engrossed in whatever was on her phone. The one who’d called Garroth’s name - however weirdly she’d said it - had the aura akin to a bird-of-prey, with the confidence of a lion. Her teeth-baring grin and vibrant magenta hair did nothing to dispel this image.

The other, who shared some indiscernible resemblance to her, stood with her arms firmly folded across her chest, scowling. The phone-intrigued girl still made no effort to raise her head, even as the other two came even closer to Aphmau and Garroth.

“Ga-roth, did you not hear me, love?” she practically whined, encircling her arm around the sleeve of his blazer. Aphmau internally pulled a face, finding her display of affection uncomfortable for both her and other unfortunate onlookers and Garroth, who also seemed a bit out of his depth, attempting to subtly and kindly un-intertwine their his arm from hers.

Not taking the hint, she merely held on a little tighter, judging from the sudden increase in proximity. She reached to fix Garroth’s blazer lapel, casting her eye over to Aphmau and raking her piercing gaze up her. Never before had Aphmau felt like a scientific specimen, but she supposed there was a first for everything.

“Uh, what was that, Ivy?” Garroth finally stuttered out, looking a little bewildered and unsure.

“Nothingggg!” she sang, beaming, before she returned that frosty glare to Aphmau. “Who’s she?” She spat, glacial eyes narrowing in disdain.

Garroth followed Ivy’s eyeline to Aphmau, making direct eye-contact with her.

“The freshmans? Oh! That’s…” he trailed off, realising rather quickly that he didn’t yet know her name. She continued to hold his gaze while he searched for an answer and merely raised her brow humorously, as if to say ‘Really? You hit me in the face with a locker and you don’t even know my name?’

“Aphmau,” she finished for him, just glad to put him out of his misery as even she was starting to feel sorry for the guy, “And you must be Ivy!”

Surprisingly, Ivy’s cold gaze filled with warmth and delight. She flicked her eyes from Aphmau to Garroth and then back to Aphmau.

“He spoke about me?” she asked, unable to stop her face from spreading into a wide and sickeningly lovestruck grin.

“No,” Aphmau corrected, watching with self-serving glee as all of Ivy’s hopes and dreams were crushed before her very eyes, “He said your name just now when you spoke so…”

“Oh, I’m surprised he didn’t mention me,” she seethed, “Seeing as we have such an extensive relationship.”

Garroth visibly winced, which Aphmau had to feign a cough at to hide her outburst of laughter. Luckily, Ivy didn’t see through her deception, instead she remained stationary, arms firmly crossed beneath her breast and teal eyes boring holes into Aphmau’s own. She then watched as the amusement briefly drained from the girl’s face, her gaze focussing on the gap between Aphmau’s nose and cupid’s bow. At the same time, the girl in question felt something hot drip from her right nostril.

“Looks like someone’s got a nosebleed!” One of the other girls, who had a vague resemblance to Ivy, exclaimed snarkily, pointing at where Aphmau could feel hot syrupy-liquid gathering beneath her nose. Tentatively, she brushed her white sleeve against her nose, not at-all surprised when it came back stained a deep crimson.

“Oh my Irene!” Garroth gasped, mouth remaining agape in a mixture of guilt and alarm. He took a few steps forwards, entirely disentangling himself from Ivy’s toxic grip, “I’ll take you to the nurse. I’m so so sorry!”

“No need, Ga-roth,” Ivy chirped, eyes narrowed and sinister, “Me and the girls were heading that way to class, anyway. We’ll drop her off.”

Aphmau watched as Garroth glanced from her to Ivy, his expression strained and torn. She could practically watch the debate going on in his brain plain as day on his face.

“Would that be okay, Aphmau?” the blonde asked, fiddling with the lapel of his blazer awkwardly, “Ivy’s a good friend of mine, you can trust her. It’s just my class is on the complete opposite end of the school to the Nurse’s Office and I really don’t want to be late on my first day back…”

Admittedly, Aphmau could think of nothing worse than Ivy and her pack of equally petty friends but she could tell that Garroth was already antsy to get to his lesson and by asking him to take her instead, she’d be putting him in a more stressful situation than he already was. Not to mention, she was too nervous to actually voice her dislike for Ivy and her gang just yet, so there wasn’t any hope of avoiding it anyway.

“Yeah!” She breathed, hoping that her false optimism was at least somewhat believable. “That’s great, actually. So great.”

Garroth was either dense enough that he couldn’t see through her obvious lies, or for his own sake he was choosing to ignore it. With a wane smile he looked gratefully to Aphmau and then Ivy, who beamed sickeningly-sweetly at him, before he lugged his backpack onto his shoulder and slammed his locker shut, twisting the key until a satisfying click sounded. He then started off past Aphmau and towards some grand-looking stairs, at his departure, Aphmau felt her breath hitch in her throat.

“So…” Aphmau finally said after an uncomfortably long silence, “Where abouts is the Nurse’s Office.”

Neither party moved, instead the three girls in front of her exchanged glances, silently communicating something that she couldn’t decipher. If she didn’t feel alienated before, she certainly did now.

“Oh… it’s like… this way…” the girl with long ebony locks drawled, icy-blue eyes shifting lazily to the direction from whence they’d came.

“Lily, we have to actually take her, you know?” Ivy hissed, nudging Lily harshly enough to consider it a shove. The other girl, Lily, didn’t seem phased at all, instead using the push to step into action.

Much to Aphmau’s irritation, the girls lead her through the school, giggling and whispering the entire time. Although it was obvious already by the other’s distaste for the freshman, the giggling had confirmed the fact that they were planning something but in Aphmau’s eyes she didn't care, just wanting to go to the nurse to deal with her bloodied nose.

So it was safe to say she was confused when the three older girls stopped at the front of school. Lily roughly grabbed Aphmau, pushing her forward and causing her to stumble. She struggled to maintain her balance, snapping her head to glare at the three who stood giggling at her. Anger and embarrassment flashed through her as other students stopped to stare at the scene.

Don't they have anything better to do?! She thought sourly.

“If I were you freshman I'd go home and transfer.” Ivy giggled bitterly.

Aphmau became aware of how loud she was being. Everyone was staring at them. Each set of eyes she could see watching her, either smirking, giggling, or cringing on her behalf. It filled her with an overwhelming feeling of dread. Still, she couldn't help but want to sock the two of them. She would love nothing more than to punch those stupid smirks off their faces, give them a broken nose to match her. She balled her fists at her side, clenching her jaw.

“Everyone knows what a pathetic and embarrassing freak you are.” she laughed, turning to walk away.

“Irene knows she doesn't belong here.” Alex spat, giggling with Ivy as they walked to class.

Aphmau’s face felt hot. What the fuck. She felt her hand trembling, tears welling in her eyes as she struggled to contain her anger. Everyone was watching. All those eyes looking on with pity or amusement.

She could never show her face here again. She could never show her face in this town again. But if she went home now her Mum would be so disappointed. She promised she'd try today. She’d-

Someone tapped her shoulder lightly “Uhm… are you oka-”

“Fuck! Can you just mind your own fucking business?! Does every-fucking-body in public school have to be involved in absolutely everything?! Can’t I even get to the stupid fucking Nurse’s office without some total dipshit bothering me or fucking assaulting me, either verbally or physically?! So what in Irene’s name could you possibly want?!” Aphmau practically screamed at this total stranger, causing the final stragglers heading to class to down-right glare. Aphmau shot a withering look right back in their direction and the gaggle of students finally decided to mind their own business.

The poor boy she’d just ripped into stood there struggling for words.

“I’m... sorry?” he spluttered, rubbing his glassy eyes.

Aphmau sighed, guilt eating at her. It wasn't his fault that Ivy had a vile personality or that her day was fucking shit.

“Sorry… none of that was your fault…” she grumbled out, ready to just go and look for the Nurse herself, but not before the golden-brown haired boy spoke up once more.

“Uhm wait! Do you need me to take you to the nurse?” He offered, somewhat sheepishly.

She turned around, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Why do you care?” she spat.

His heterochromatic eyes shone with surprise, blatantly bewildered by Aphmau's response.

“Well your nose is still bleeding pretty bad and it's obvious Ivy wasn’t showing you…” he blinked, not quite registering her harsh tone.

Aphmau stared at the older student for a moment, a small laugh of disbelief escaping from her. She shook her head with a sigh.

“Just…show me the nurses office..” she spoke slowly, completely defeated.

The other took the lead, walking just a few paces ahead of her. It was a little awkward, but at least it gave her time to properly look at the first person who wasn’t being a complete nuisance to her that day.

His eyes were peculiar, they were primarily a pale sage with a jutting portion of cerulean blue striking through his left iris. If she wasn’t mistaken, it almost looked like he’d had eyeliner on, the remnants sticking to his waterline from the previous day. The older boy’s hair parted into well-styled curtains and had a shine to it that suggested he took his hair care very seriously.

The welcome silence was soon broken as the tanned boy suddenly began a spiel about soccer and the sports teams available at Phoenix Drop. Unwilling to contribute due to sheer social exhaustion, she merely nodded along as the one-sided conversation steered from techniques of kicking a soccer ball, to the fashion associated it, to then men’s fashion in general.

A brief walk and a lengthy explanation on ‘why having good taste in fashion doesn’t mean you’re attracted to men’ later, Aphmau was finally sat in the Nurse's office with a tissue to her nose, waiting for the bleeding to stop. After the nurse had checked she wasn't concussed and there were no further injuries, other than her wounded pride, she was left now with a rather-chatty sophomore smiling at her.

“My name is Laurance, by the way! I'm sorry Ivy didn't give you the warmest of welcomes to the school but I promise we're not all like that!”

Aphmau rolled her eyes in response, completely doubting the statement.

“I'm sure you're not…” she mumbled sarcastically.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Laurance spoke up again. “Soooo freshman, what school did you go to? Do you know anyone here or share classes with any of your middle school friends?”

“Irene, you just want to know everything, huh?” she narrowed her eyes. He attempted to hide the wince that crossed his face and Aphmau sighed, reminding herself that her foul mood wasn't his fault…yet…

“No. I was homeschooled.” she replied bluntly.

“Oh!” he raised his eyebrows in surprise, and something else that she couldn’t quite decipher. “That's so cool- uhm… What's your name? I feel a bit weird calling you Freshman when I'm trying to have a conversation with you.” he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

A small smile crept onto Aphmau's face. Although a bit awkward, Laurence seemed friendly enough. “Aphmau. It's nice to meet you, Laurance.”

“Aphmau huh? A pretty name for a pretty girl.”

Nevermind. She instantly took back anything and everything nice she’d thought about Laurance. Despite her irritation, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed. She opened her mouth to rip this sophomore a new one but unfortunately not before the nurse came back.

“The bleeding should've stopped now. Head to homeroom now and come back to see me if your nose starts bleeding again or you start feeling lightheaded or dizzy.” She smiled while shooing the two out of the room.

“Shit. I don't even have my schedule yet.” Aphmau swore, causing Laurance to chuckle a little.

“Come on. I'll show you to the office to grab your schedule and then I'll take you to your homeroom.” he offered with a genuine beam.

After enduring Laurance’s incessant chattering about topics she frankly didn’t care for and occasional flirts for the better part of ten minutes, she had finally gotten her schedule and her social battery was completely drained. Despite herself, she thanked Laurance for his help and quickly walked into her assigned homeroom classroom, sitting down in the only available seat. Thankfully, her teacher was still fumbling about with his laptop, struggling to set it up to the projector so it wouldn't be a problem about how late she was.

She let out a sigh of relief sinking into her chair. Finally , a moment to breathe…

“Ahem…” a shy voice cleared their throat.

…are you fucking serious…

“Hi! Im uh- I’m Travis! What's your name?” The emerald-eyed boy asked shakily.

Aphmau slowly looked up, her right eye twitching in irritation. The boy sat next to her visibly tensed, obviously nervous and regretting his decision to initiate a conversation.

“I'm sorry! Just ignore me!” Travis squawked out , slipping off his chair, almost falling before turning back to look down at his desk. Aphmau couldn't help the small amused smile crossing her face at the boy’s behaviour, washing away her previous irritation.

“No need to apologise Travis. I’m Aphmau!” she smiled politely. “I'm sorry I’ve had a bit of a stressful morning…” she giggled awkwardly. The boy's face lit up as she spoke to him.

“Oh no no it's fine! Sorry! I'm just so glad you're talking to me!” he spoke excitedly. “I don't really know anyone and I don't want to be alone…” he confessed.

Her smile widened in excitement. “Oh my irene, me too!”

Travis chuckled, matching her sudden burst of energy. “Oh thank Irene! What do you say we be like not..alone buddies?” he spoke, sounding unsure about the name cringing slightly.

Aphmau giggled. “You know what? That sounds perfect, not alone buddy.”

Aphmau and Travis began to talk about hobbies and interests, getting hyper off of each other's excitement. It didn't take long to find their mutual love for video games.

“Video games are always such a great way to find people with similar interests!” the white haired boy smiled brightly.

“Yeah, I mean I have this friend called FC who I've been messaging for years and we met playing together online!” she spoke happily in response.

“And that brings me to the first point of discussion for today's homeroom session.” The teacher stood right behind them listening to their conversation. The two freshmen jumped in their own skin.

“Welcome to your first year of phoenix drop high school. Today we’ll be discussing internet safety and stranger danger.” his voice remained monotone as he locked eyes with the two teens.

Are you fucking serious…

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