Still at Orientation

The world is black for a few moments as you simply lie on the hard ground. Despite the discomfort, the darkness is comforting, and you don't feel compelled to do anything about it. Relaxing in the infinite void that is your mind, you take a deep breath and smile. There is no stress here, no anxiety here, no nervousness or judging peers. You could rest here, be happy here.

Unfortunately, the universe has other plans as you are forcefully shaken, shattering the endless expanse and snapping you awake. You jolt upwards, sitting up so fast you nearly headbutt Headmaster Hallgrave. Your breathing is fast and uneven, as your immediate memories came flushing back. The entrance ceremony where you became the black sheep of the student body, living alone without a roommate to bond with and make a friend out of, and the Orientation. You wish you could go back to the emptiness.

You let out a groan as your head throbs, feeling the pain of falling over onto the solid, barely carpeted floor beneath you. But there is another reason your head hurts, you remember. The vision returns, of the orb shattering, that twisted mass of flesh with a giant eye gazing into you, into your very soul. Your breath speeds up once more at the memory, causing the Headmaster to look at you with a concerned expression.

He puts his hand on your shoulder, holding you reassuringly yet firmly, as he speaks. "It's alright boy, you aren't in any trouble. No damage that shouldn't be able to be fixed, and more importantly, nobody is hurt." He pauses as he sees that hasn't done much to calm you, raising an eyebrow in concern. "Are you alright, boy?"

Before you can respond, you hear professor Schwartz speak in a tone that was a mix of intrigue, concern, annoyance, and amusement. "I don't believe I need to say this..." You look over to him, seeing him hunched over the pedestal where the orb was resting. "But uh... well I can't grade that." He gestures to the pedestal with his hands, pointing at it with only his middle and ring finger, his other digits in a relaxed position.

Looking cautiously to where he is pointing, you quickly understand what he means. The orb is black, but not the solid black it had been in your vision. It looks as if it was left in a fire, charred and dusty. One thing that is the same as your vision is the fact that it seems to have broken outwardly. There are shards and chunks all around the pedestal and even the floor nearby it. bracing yourself, you look at the inside of the orb, seeing only the dull grey appearance that the interior of the orb has taken.

Not a word is spoken as everyone looks at the crystal ball in silence. You swallow hard and breath shallow, wanting to avoid being noticed for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that isn't long as everyone in the room slowly turns to look at you. The faces of the faculty on and around the podium are immensely varied. Hallgrave seems to be looking at you with concern, worried for your wellbeing. Schwartz has an eyebrow raised, regarding you in interest. Dove's demeanor portrayed the slightest amount of fear, though her face showed concern akin to Hallgrave's. You could barely make out the scarred individual who gave you your schedule, with a look that portrayed... interest? You couldn't be certain, as they were far away and hard to read in general.

In addition to the attention of the teachers, you don't need to turn around to know the eyes of all of your peers are either on you, or are darting between you and the sphere. You shrink under all of the attention, wishing once again to be returned to that blank space where you were free of judgement. Whispers began to fill the silence of the room, echoing around in a way you could just barely understand the words being spoken.

People were coming up with the widest variety of theories. Many questioned if that meant you were too powerful for the crystal ball, hence its destruction. Some retorted that if you had been that strong, it should have glowed immensely bright instead of turning black. A few people muttered questions if that meant you were gifted in the dark arts, but that was mostly tossed aside as no Cerberus had made the orb any darker than its natural state.

Taking a deep breath, you slowly stand up, an act that the Headmaster seems shocked you are doing and quickly goes to help you. As you get on your feet, your breath shaking as you grip your hands together, digging your nails into the opposite hands backs to subdue your oncoming panic attack. You feel the old Hallgrave rest his hand upon your shoulder comfortingly, and you manage to steady yourself once more as you feel a rush of calm.

However, as you look to him the uncertainty in his face makes you worried once more. He gives you an uncertain smile as he addresses you, bringing silence to the chamber once more. "Don't worry boy, we'll figure all of this out. In the meantime, if you could come with me to my office so we can figure a few things out?" His tone is far more uncertain than you expect, with a hint that makes it seem apologetic.

Giving a half-hearted nod, you are led off stage and through the center of the crowd, past the lone desk you had been occupying before you were called. You hang your head as you feel all the eyes following you out of the room. As you walk through the doorway, you hear Dove clear her throat before beginning the address you expect was supposed to happen a bit sooner after all of the students had been graded.

Walking through the twisting corridors, you can't shake the feeling that you are still being watched. The halls stretch on, with the Headmaster taking what almost seem like arbitrary turns along the way, making you quickly lose track of where in the building you are. At last, you find an end to one of the hallways, with a rather decorated door that had a plaque reading: "Headmaster Fredrick Hallgrave".

With a smile the old headmaster opens the door, offering for you to enter first. You give him a nod as you do so, taking in the room around you. The room's interior is very ornate, with a polished, intricately carved ornate desk at its center. Along one wall is a bookshelf, seemingly made of the same darker wood as the desk and with similar patterns carved into it. The opposite wall had a series of portraits, each labeled with a name and stating they were a former headmaster. You take note of the fact that it seems to shuffle among four names for the most part, them being the Hallgraves, Ashcrofts, Kyries, and Eldrics.

Each family seems to have a similar appearance amongst their members. Hallgraves dress commonly with brown and silver, a color scheme reminiscent of Cerberus. Ashcrofts had reds and gold, akin to the Pheonix house. Kyries wore blue, accented with bronze metals and finishes, which you remember being similar to Wyvern house. Lastly, there are two things you note of the Eldrics. The first, is that they wear pink and purple, and the second is that every last one in the pictures is a woman. You can quickly deduce that they are close to Pegasus house from those two facts.

While there is of course the odd one out, every person on the wall seems to follow this rule, the Headmaster nearly always being a member of one of these four families. However, as you look at the beginning there is one more name you see that seems to have vanished in the more recent years. Near the start, there was a family dressing in orange and green, with the name "Blackthorn" shared among them. You tilt your head quizzically as you ponder why they disappear from the rotation, spacing out enough to be startled as the current Headmaster clears his throat.

Quickly scrambling to the seat across from him at his desk, you sit down at attention. Your rush and nerves **** a slight chuckle from him before he addresses you. "I do hope you understand you aren't in any trouble. I highly doubt you had any intention of destroying the artifact, and I don't feel you should be punished for not yet understanding your magic."

His smile turns slightly apologetic as he speaks up once more, "Now, I do hope you will forgive me, but I took the liberty of asking some of our local experts to take some tests and figure out where you might have come from, so that we can figure out your two... anomalous events." He gives a weary chuckle, subtly trying to judge your reaction.

You let out a deep breath as you speak back timidly. "I hope that works... I grew up in an orphanage, found on the doorstep when I was a newborn. I never knew any of my family, and any DNA test they tried to do came back with no one." You shake your head sorrowfully at the memory, looking down at the desk. "So, lets hope magic methods work better, yeah?"

Looking back up, you see Hallgrave giving you a very considering look, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Just as he is about to speak, the door at the back of the room opens. You both look towards the door, yourself having to turn around in your chair to do so. You are greeted by the sight of a woman with... unusual proportions. She is exceptionally slender, though you have no doubt that all of her mass has been funneled to her height, as she stands tall enough to have the top of your head unarguably beneath her chin.

She looks up from a series of documents, a glance darting between the two of you at the desk before she speaks in a highly professional tone. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but I have the results from the tests for..." She looks at you again, seemingly finally recognizing you, though you don't remember seeing her before. "Well, him."

With a genuine smile, the Headmaster holds out his hand to receive the papers, which the woman hands over unceremoniously. "Ah, Aspecta! Great timing as usual, and I must say you completed that quite quickly!"

Giving you a quick glance, Aspecta replies with a mumble under her breath that you can just barely make out. "There's a reason for that..." Her tone leaves you confused and, in all honesty, concerned, worried now more than ever just what your heritage holds.