Chapter Text
Hyacine’s first-ever roommate was a cat.
Not literally, of course, but there was no other logical explanation for the teenage girl curled up on a bed, asleep and purring. Hyacine’s eyes told her that it was human-shaped, but every single other piece of information she was receiving was whispering to her to ‘get the lint roller now!’ Even her silvery gray hair, half concealed beneath her hood (which, by the way, was a hood with cat ears ), was fluffy like a cat’s fur.
Hyacine tiptoed into the room, attempting not to wake up the sleeping cat girl, and her shoe nearly crashed into a cardboard box. She looked down, only to see the most unorganized, chaotic box pile she’d ever laid eyes on. Inside the boxes, it wasn’t any better - they were filled to the brim with random objects - unfolded clothes, electronic gadgets she didn't even recognize, even jewelry.
“Dear Aquila, is that a box of cat toys?” she whispered to herself.
“What about it?” said a voice from behind her.
Hyacine jumped, spinning around. “Nothing!”
“Oh, OK,” the cat girl yawned, leaning against the wall. “Must’ve been the wind.”
Despite her relaxed demeanor, her luminous sky blue eyes felt like they could pierce through Hyacine, and even with her slouched posture she still stood a full head above her. Hyacine was not sure how she was able to move so quietly.
“Don’t mind the mess, I’ll clean it… sometime. Don’t count on it. You can call me Cipher. Or Cifera, if you want to be sorry, because I’ll open a window and steal your blanket in the middle of the night.”
“Hyacine!” said Hyacine, still rather nervous. “I also have a name, as in, of course I have a name but I also have a name I don’t like, Hyacinthia - a full name, you know, an embarrassing one. Oh, not that Cifera is embarrassing, it’s very pretty! Cipher is great, too. Yeah.”
Cipher clapped her hands, delighted. “Ooh, that’s a fun name to say! Hyacine. Hyyyacine. Okay! Well, Hyacine, welcome to the mess! This is my dorm, as you couldn’t tell before -” she gestured around at the mess - “and I’m going to make a wild guess that you’re my new roommate?”
Hyacine nodded nervously.
“Welcome to the mess, then!” Cipher said, dramatically flinging her arms outward. “And the greatest beginning to a new chapter of your life!”
Just as Cipher said that, there was a sharp beep from somewhere in the box pile. She winced. “I have no idea what that is. It’s probably fine.”
A smile tugged at the corner of Hyacine’s mouth. "It’s not a bomb…?”
Cipher snorted and patted her head. “Don’t be silly. I’m going to annoy my friend Mydei before the not-bomb goes off, want to come?”
Hyacine laughed at that. “I have to unpack,” she said with great reluctance. “Another time?”
Cipher shrugged. “Your loss!” she said, sauntering toward the door. “You’ll see him around, I’m sure. His name is Mydei and he kind of looks like a brick wall, but on fire.”
The door clicked shut, and for a moment, the silence of the room felt loud. Hyacine glanced at Cipher’s cluttered chaos, and at her own neat stacks of boxes, and laughed. She set her bags down, silently promising herself she’d make this place hers.
As she began to unpack, her smile never quite left her face.
As the orange rays of the setting sun began to shine through the windows, Hyacine stepped back, admiring her handiwork. It wasn’t perfect, but most of what she’d set out to accomplish was done: tea was brewing in the little kitchenette, her bedding was laid out neatly (next to Cipher’s unmade, rumpled up blankets), her towels were folded up in the bathroom (across from Cipher’s un-folded towels hung up lopsidedly on the bathtub), and she’d neatly laid out her books and papers on one of the desks (the desk that wasn’t covered in crumpled papers with oddly cult-like markings on them).
Hyacine stood wide-eyed in front of the desk, staring at the pile with growing concern. “Um, Cipher…?”
Cipher, curled up in a position no human had any business in, cracked one eye open. “Oh, those? I was bored.”
“...Bored?”
“Yeah,” she said, rolling over and letting one hand dangle over the edge of the bed. “I dunno, a cult seemed funny to join. Very mysterious. Builds character.”
Hyacine opened her mouth, closed it, and silently stepped away from the desk.
Cipher snorted. “Relax! It was a fake one. Probably. I think that’s the one I read about on the back of a cereal box. Don’t get too worked up - oh, you should go out to explore!”
Hyacine glanced out the window, where the sun was beginning to set. “Now?” She asked tentatively.
“Why not?” Cipher said, stretching. “Didn't you see the common room during orientation? It’s awesome. There’s a fireplace and everything.”
Hyacine hesitated. “A fireplace?”
“Yeah, a fireplace. It’s got fire, it’s a place… fireplace.” Cipher smiled, baring her teeth.
Hyacine blinked, trying not to smile. “That certainly is a fireplace.”
Cipher snorted. “It’s got good chairs, too. Not like these squeaky mattresses,” she patted the bed beneath her, which made a dying croak.
“You’re lying on the support beam.” Tempted, Hyacine glanced at the door. “You don’t mind?”
“Go explore, Hyacine!” Cipher said, waving her off. “Kids like you should be out blazing new trails, not holed up in a dorm with her weird roommate and her boxes full of beeping bombs.”
Hyacine laughed. “So there are bombs in there!”
“I said nothing,” Cipher said lazily. “Oh, don’t forget your tea.”
“Oh!” Hyacine rushed to the kitchenette to turn the boiling kettle off before it began screaming. Steam hissed as she lifted it carefully.
“Forget things a lot, do you?” Cipher said, amused.
Hyacine coughed, pouring tea into a little mug with a rainbow as a handle. “...Maybe. Would you like a cup?”
“That's okay, thank you," Cipher said, glancing up. "Also, if you see Mydei, tell him he owes me five bucks. Okay, now scram!”
As the door closed behind her, Hyacine breathed in.
The hallway air was noticeably cooler, tinged with the faint scent of new paint and a waft of something sweet in the oven coming from one of the dorms. Her footsteps were swallowed up by the soft carpet as she made her way down the hall.
Every now and then, a burst of muffled laughter or some notes of music drifted through a door, and the small peeks into the students’ lives made her smile. She didn’t know anyone here, but there was something comforting about the noise, like the building was coming alive.
She passed a faded bulletin board filled with flyers curled over time; tutoring advertisements, studying groups, a ‘lost cat’ poster with a photo of Cipher posing. She laughed. There was a wildly colored flyer for a ‘Music Night on Sunday!’ that had fallen to the floor due to a hasty tape job; she dusted it off and stuck it back on the board with a thumb pin.
Hyacine slowed as she reached the entrance of the common room, as stated by a carved, worn wooden sign. The space inside was warmly lit by the flickering fireplace Cipher had mentioned. There were many unoccupied seats scattered around, as well as a pool table, a small, old-looking TV, and a writing desk with piles of paper on top.
She stopped in her tracks.
Someone was sitting in front of the fireplace.
A boy sat on the edge of the couch, brooding. Firelight danced along his blonde hair that was woven into thick braids like a Spartan warrior, and caught in the deep auburn it faded into. His eyes were fixed on the fire, like he was trying to pry answers from the depths of the flame.
His name’s Mydei, and he kind of looks like a brick wall on fire. Hyacine almost laughed.
She hovered at the door another second, unsure whether to interrupt, then stepped in with no particular plan. The only sounds in the common room were the crackling of the fire and the quiet hum of the vending machine.
A floorboard squeaked under her shoe, and he glanced up, one eye meeting hers. Hyacine winced internally.
“Uh - hi,” she said cautiously, lifting her half-forgotten mug of tea like a peace offering. “I live down the hall. Just exploring.”
“Mm.” A noncommittal sound. Not friendly, but not hostile, either.
The fire crackled.
Hyacine tried again. “I’m Hyacine. I just moved in today.”
“Mydeimos,” he said, confirming her suspicions.
"Right!" Hyacine said. "I also have a full name. Hyacinthia. Not that... it matters. Or anything."
Mydei said nothing, but the corner of his mouth might've moved a bit. Hyacine couldn't tell.
“Do you, um, live in this wing too?”
Mydei nodded, eyes going back to the fire.
Silence fell again, once again emphasizing the crackling of the flames.
Hyacine gathered her courage again. “It’s surprisingly quiet. For a common room, I mean.”
Mydei nodded. “Everyone’s busy. Last day before classes.”
“The quiet doesn’t bother you?” Hyacine asked, scrambling for something to say.
“Fire’s good for thinking,” he said, his voice reminding her of the slow burn of coals. “Sit.”
Hyacine nervously sat down on the couch, not too close to him. “Cipher talked about you,” she ventured.
Though his head didn’t turn toward her, his shoulders shifted slightly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Hyacine took a sip of her tea. “She said you owe her five bucks.”
Unexpectedly, Mydei barked out a genuine laugh - rough, warm, and surprisingly calming. The sound filled the room with warmth, and Hyacine’s chest lifted. She found herself smiling, surprised at how reassuring such a simple sound could be.
“Cipher’s been telling me that every week for years,” Mydei said, a tiny hint of a smile in his voice now. “It’s more of a running joke at this point.”
“She’s very…” Hyacine trailed off, thinking about how to describe her.
“Interesting? Dramatic? Annoying?” Mydei nodded. “Definitely an acquired taste. You’re her new roommate?”
Hyacine’s eyes widened. “How’d you know?”
“She’s loud,” he said bluntly.
Hyacine laughed too, and she thought she saw Mydei’s smile lift a tiny bit. “How long have you known her?”
As Mydei opened his mouth to speak, the door burst open. “There you are!” Cipher’s voice rang out like she was summoned. “Oh my goodness, are my ears mistaken? Mydei, did you just laugh? I feel like this needs to be written in the history books.”
Mydei didn’t look up. “I laugh at good jokes, not the weird cult drawings that you stuck all over my door.”
Cipher gasped, looking offended, as she flopped onto the armrest next to him (ignoring the open seat between him and Hyacine). “Excuse me? Those were a gift! Hand-crafted cereal box cult sigils.”
“You got into that cult off a cereal box ?” Mydei said incredulously, pausing mid-brood to look at her in disbelief.
Cipher burst out laughing. “Yes! And you know what they said - they said those sigils were meant to protect you - from cereal killers…” The rest of her sentence dissolved into laughter. Hyacine couldn’t help but laugh.
Mydei shook his head, but his eyes were almost fond. Hyacine smiled to herself.
Cipher, looking proud, got off the armrest and performed an exaggerated spin, falling into the nearest beanbag. “I don’t care what anyone says, that cereal cult was awesome for the three days I was in it.”
Mydei nodded. “You’re right. And we totally needed that chanting. At 2 AM, when everyone was trying to sleep.”
Hyacine’s eyes widened. “You chanted out loud?”
Cipher waved her hand. “Only a little,” she said dismissively. “Only enough to summon a cereal killer shield.” She snickered again.
“It was loud enough to wake the RA,” muttered Mydei. “I pity your roommate.”
“Oh, buzz off,” Cipher said, leaning forward to swat him across the knee. “If you're going to warn her about anyone, why don’t you warn her about Anaxa?”
Mydei shuddered. “Because I’d rather not talk about him.”
“My point.” Cipher nodded, satisfied, and turned toward Hyacine. “You haven’t met him yet, have you?”
Hyacine shook her head, wide-eyed. A professor who could scare Mydei? She hadn't known him long but he didn't seem like the type to be easily intimidated...
“Oh, you will,” Cipher said ominously. “Anaxa - Professor Anaxagoras if you don't want to be publicly humiliated in front of an entire class - teaches logic and chemistry, but I’m pretty sure he’s a resurrected alchemist. Also, I’ve never seen him in the sun, so don’t be too surprised if it turns out he’s a vampire.”
Mydei said nothing, solidifying Professor Anaxagoras as a terrifying entity in Hyacine’s mind.
“See?” Cipher said, pointing at his face. “That’s the expression of someone who’s seen things.”
“I took his class last year,” Mydei muttered. “Never again. Never.”
“Everyone takes his class,” Cipher said dismissively. “You’re not alone.”
“He hated me.”
“He hates everyone. He once made a kid cry just by asking him to list the periodic table,” Cipher added helpfully to Hyacine. “He didn’t even raise his voice. He just stared at the kid until he started crying.”
“...Wasn’t that you?” Mydei asked innocently.
Cipher’s jaw dropped. “ME?! That was that crybaby Damionis who was taking Law! I cried because he demanded me to define existence. That’s a whole other story. I resent that comparison.” She turned to Hyacine, eyes wide and serious. “You will see. I truly believe that man is an 18th-century alchemist.”
“Does he have some… baggage?” Hyacine asked cautiously.
“Good luck asking him,” Mydei muttered, leaning back against the back of the couch.
“A tragic backstory, no doubt,” Cipher agreed. “Maybe he couldn’t figure out how to turn his own pee into gold, so his wife left him?”
Hyacine wasn’t sure if she should laugh, panic, or start preparing a will, so she did a little of all three, internally. “I hope I don’t have his class this semester,” she said weakly.
“Oh, don't worry,” Cipher said brightly. “First years always get one of Anaxa’s classes - it’s called... what, “Introduction to Logical Thought”? Don’t ask why. Some higher-up really hates blossoming kids who aspire to become functioning members of society, I guess.”
Hyacine nodded into her cup. “Maybe we’ll become best friends.”
A moment of silence, and then Mydei snorted, and Cipher laughed so hard she almost fell off the beanbag. “You and Anaxa getting along?! Oh Zagreus, please invite me! I want to see the exact moment your soul leaves your body.”
“...So the midterm?” Mydei said.
“I’m doomed,” Hyacine said, nodding and accepting her fate.
“Exactly!” Cipher grinned, showing her catlike snaggletooth. “The trick is to accept it, and never let him smell your fear.”
“He can smell it?!”
“No. Not smell,” Mydei rumbled. “He just knows when you haven’t done your reading.”
“Don't scare her, Mydei!” Cipher said with a perfectly innocent expression. “Just don’t make eye contact and you’ll be fine," she added to Hyacine.
“Or correct him,” he muttered.
"Or speak at all!"
"Or turn to the wrong textbook page."
Cipher tapped her chin. “Or breathe too loudly! And if you’re late even once, it's okay because I’ll help you start a new life. I’ve never faked anyone’s death before - that sounds fun.”
“Yay,” Hyacine said feebly, taking another sip of her rapidly cooling tea.
There was a moment of quiet, as ukulele music from a dormitory floated into the common room. The singing voice was off-key, but the singer seemed to be putting their soul into it. The sun had set, and the fireplace was the only thing lighting up the common room.
“Well -” Cipher stood up and stretched with a yawn, her hoodie ears flopping about. “I’m off to bed! Coming, Hyacine?”
“Yeah!” Hyacine scrambled up, cradling her mug. She looked back at Mydei.
Mydei gave her a small nod. “Pleasure meeting you.”
“You too,” she said, smiling as she realized she meant it.
"You still owe me five bucks, by the way!" Cipher called from the door.
As soon as the door was wide enough to reveal Cipher’s bed, she was splayed across it like she’d been shot. One of her legs dangled off the mattress.
“Sorry I’m not in Anaxa’s class with you,” she said into her pillow. “But you’re gonna have to go through hell alone. Although I heard someone’s retaking it just for ‘fun.’ Nutbag.”
Hyacine laughed softly, placing her now-empty mug on her desk. “Do you always sleep like that?”
“Like what?” Cipher rolled over, one sock half off.
“Like someone dropped you out of the sky.”
“It’s more efficient,” Cipher said, grinning sleepily.
Cipher was already half-asleep when Hyacine finished brushing her teeth, but as her roommate emerged from the bathroom, she blinked one eye open. “Oh! Wait - I almost forgot.” From her bedside table, she grabbed a small key and threw it across the room with surprising accuracy. Hyacine caught it, startled.
“For the door,” Cipher mumbled. “In case you ever want to lock me out if I go cereal killing. Or, y’know, if you just want to get in.”
Smiling, Hyacine pulled out a keychain. Attached to it was a little worn pegasus charm, with button eyes. She delicately looped the keychain through the key.
“What is that?” Cipher said, sleepily curious.
“It’s Ica.” Hyacine held it up to the moonlight. “My good luck charm.”
Cipher laughed, softer than anything Hyacine had heard before. “Hyacine, are you sure you’re not a princess? Or lost kid?”
Hyacine rolled her eyes, her smile growing. “I’m sure.”
“Well,” Cipher murmured, “I hope Ica has sweet dreams…”
The room quieted again, then filled with the sound of her rhythmic breathing.
Hyacine changed into her comforting fluffy pajamas, then climbed into her bed, drawing the blankets around her. The mattress was a bit firm, and the sheets were a bit thin, but somehow Cipher’s steady breathing from across the room brought a presence that was more comforting than the softest bed.
Hyacine closed her eyes and slept, a smile still on her face.
The morning air was cool and crisp, and dewdrops rolled off the long blades of grass. Hyacine pulled her jacket tighter around herself, feeling a bit like a lost duckling as she followed Cipher, who was striding along with a root beer in hand. The hazy orange of the rising sun peeked over the buildings, lighting up the maze of unfamiliar paths and looming buildings of the campus.
Hyacine looked around, trying to get her bearings. A few groups of students passed them, talking excitedly amongst themselves.
“You look like you just woke up,” Cipher teased.
“Where are we?” Hyacine asked tentatively.
Cipher glanced up at the nearest building. “Very good question! This is the Arts building, which means Science is…” She looked around, muttering to herself. “Ah, wrong way - wait, no, that’s right. Don’t worry, Hyacine, your reliable upperclassman will for sure lead you to salvation!”
Hyacine hesitated. “...I thought you were a sophomore?”
Cipher waved her off, hoodie ears flopping. “I deserve the title of upperclassman after surviving a full semester of Anaxa’s class.”
“Right.” Hyacine was unsure whether that was meant to be reassuring.
They turned a corner and passed by a group of students crowded around a bulletin board, chattering excitedly. One was wearing three T-shirts over his hoodie.
“...Is that normal?” Hyacine whispered to Cipher.
She barely glanced at him. “Oh, we get all sorts of crazy fashion choices on campus. Especially during finals, but some begin their descent into madness earlier than others.” She squinted at the board and made a dismissive noise.
“What is it?” Hyacine watched Cipher theatrically take another swig of root beer.
“Nothing exciting,” Cipher said, leading them around another corner. “Just some students having a -”
She stiffened, hackles rising.
“Cipher?” Hyacine asked, suddenly wary. She looked around.
For a moment, Cipher’s sharp, luminescent eyes dimmed and went out of focus, like she was seeing a memory from long ago. Her usually playful but guarded expression shifted into something more subtle - soft, but vulnerable.
Then she was back, like nothing had happened. “Yes! Here we are!” She quickly herded Hyacine into a building on the left, a smile stretched across her face that was far too wide to be natural. “Locker time! Oh, these lockers aren’t fun. The lockers in the Arts building are always funny - there’s weird drawings stuffed in them all the time.”
Cipher’s voice was animated again, but Hyacine couldn’t shake the feeling something had thrown her off - something she was trying very hard not to show.
Cipher steered them briskly around the corner, to a hallway lined with rows of lockers as far as the eye could see. There were more people around now; the lively chatter of students filled the halls.
“So, lockers,” Cipher said, scrutinizing Hyacine’s locker. “Mm, not bad. No graffiti yet. Exterior is an eight out of ten.”
“Why eight?”
“Small dent near the bottom,” Cipher said gravely, like a professional locker appraiser. She tapped a carefully trimmed nail against it. “That’s classic sabotage. Your hidden rivals in the shadows are trying to shake your confidence.”
Hyacine laughed. “There are shadowy evil factions?”
“Oh, yes,” Cipher said, grinning, clearly enjoying herself again. “One dent leads to two. Two dents lead to five, and eventually you don’t have a door anymore, just a floating lock that you still need to input the code for.”
Hyacine turned her attention back to her locker, recalling the code. “So… you turn left first? Or right?”
“No,” Cipher said helpfully. “There are no right answers here.”
Hyacine exhaled, smiling. “You’re not much help, y’know.” Her hands slowly turned the small lock, locking onto a small ‘33’ with precision, then back the other way, counting carefully until she hit the next number. “There’s twenty-one, and then…?”
“Pain!” Cipher supplied. “Alright, alright, it’s fourteen.”
Hyacine turned the dial, and as soon as the arrow met the small number, the lock sprang open with a satisfying click . “Told you!” Cipher said.
Hyacine’s brow furrowed. “How did you know?”
“I have the Sight,” Cipher said very seriously. “It’s a rare gift passed down through generations - here comes someone interesting!”
Hyacine followed her gaze up, and her breath hitched.
Walking through the hall by herself was a girl with flowing purple hair that caught the faint morning light. Her footsteps made no sound on the tile floor - she seemed to glide more than walk, like a pale mist washing over a forest. As if by instinct, the crowd around her thinned and conversation quieted a little.
Hyacine’s breath quickened as she passed by. She could almost feel a chill brush against her skin, like the temperature dropped a fraction everywhere this person went. For that moment, time felt like it slowed to a halt to let her pass, the world narrowing to the pale figure ahead. Hyacine suddenly felt hyper aware of the awkwardness of her large jacket, the brightness of her hair, the sound of her own breathing.
Then the mysterious girl vanished into the crowd, leaving behind a strange sense of fascination that Hyacine couldn’t quite understand.
“Who was that?” She asked Cipher, breath still a little short. Conversation started back in the halls, a few hushed whispers trailing after the mysterious girl.
“Castorice,” Cipher said, almost reverently. “She’s first year, same as you.”
Hyacine blinked. “ First year?”
“Mhm. Can you believe it’s her first day here?” Cipher shrugged, a faint hint of bafflement in her voice. “And yet, she’s already a complete enigma. No one knows anything about her, except that she’s brilliant, but if you ask me, she seems like the type of person not to put up with much nonsense. Maybe she’ll borrow a page from Anaxa’s book and make you cry by glaring at you?”
Hyacine shook her head, a nervous smile tugging on her lips. “Let’s hope not…” she murmured as she closed her locker.
Without warning, Cipher spun her around, putting a hand on each of her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes (bending a little to do so). “Hyacine. You’ll do fine.”
Hyacine swallowed. “Yeah, maybe,” she said, still unsure. “I hope no one hates me.”
“Pfft,” Cipher said dismissively, patting her head and earning a few strange looks from the hall in the process. “Nonsense, no one could hate you.”
Hyacine laughed. “That means a lot, Cipher.”
“Anytime. Go show ‘em what you’re made of!”
Feeling a bit steadier, Hyacine smiled and watched Cipher drift away with a lazy wave. As she rounded a corner and vanished from eyesight, Hyacine found her eyes wandering back to where Castorice had disappeared. The memory of that silent figure lingered in her mind, unsettling and strangely captivating.
Hyacine headed into the first class of the day, the mysterious purple-haired girl and her silent walk settling down in a little corner of her mind.
Hyacine’s first day was a blur of desperately tracking down four-digit room numbers, sitting in way-too-small desks or way-too-tall tables, and lectures that were either much too slow or much too fast. By the end of the day, her shoulders ached from the weight of the books in her backpack, and her legs had a half-numb feeling that was her body’s signal telling her it was rebelling.
Still, she was smiling.
“This school is a labyrinth,” she declared breathlessly, struggling to keep up with Cipher’s long strides. “I was following a hallway, and it stopped, and I couldn’t believe it went any higher, but it did.”
Cipher huffed a laugh. “Yeah, welcome to the vertical maze. Allegedly, there’s a stairwell that, if you enter, you can never leave, and some black-robed guy in a steel mask called the ‘Flame Reaver’ chases you endlessly, and if you go up or down the stairs you’ll end up exactly where you were before. Basically if you see a stairwell labeled ‘The Scary One’ don’t go in it.”
“That one was made up, right?” Hyacine said, still out of breath. “I can tell that much at this point!”
Cipher paused. “Define made up.”
Hyacine groaned. “Professor Anaxagoras can’t be worse than this…”
Cipher snorted and rounded another corner - at this point, Hyacine wasn’t entirely convinced they were still on campus. She breathed a sigh of relief as they slowed.
Then, she realized this hallway felt different; the walls were painted pure white, and the clean tile floors reflected the overhead lights like a mirror. Upon closer inspection, the polished wooden trim was simply colored like wood, but one single color, as opposed to the strips of shades in real wood.
“That’s kind of creepy,” Hyacine said, pointing it out to Cipher.
Cipher barely spared it a glance. “That’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Hyacine looked around again. “This doesn’t feel the same as the rest of the school. It’s too… shiny?”
Cipher barked a laugh. “There’s one way to describe it! Anaxa runs a very tight ship. Of course, he can’t chase everyone with muddy shoes away -” as she said that, she gestured at the floor behind them, which, upon closer inspection, was smudged by hundreds of faint footprints - “but that’s the closest you get to disruption,” she finished with a smirk. “Everything else is spotless and painfully precise -”
“Oh no, I forgot Ica!” Hyacine exclaimed, stopping in her tracks to pat down her pockets.
Cipher stopped too. “You made it through all day without noticing you were missing your keys?”
Hyacine shrugged, sheepish, as she flipped open her bag to check. “I guess I was too caught up in everything else…” She looked inside and sighed in defeat.
Cipher shook her head affectionately. “Is this something I’m gonna have to deal with regularly? The entire day . Should I be worried or impressed?”
“Maybe a bit of both,” Hyacine laughed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “Sorry, Cipher.”
Cipher bumped her with her shoulder, causing her to unbalance a little. “Don’t stress it! I’ll let you in when we get back - just don’t make a habit out of it.”
Hyacine smiled gratefully. “You’re a lifesaver,” she said.
“Thanks, I know. Ah, here we are!”
Lo and behold, an arched wooden door appeared at the end of the hall, way too ominous for a classroom.
A faded brass plate above it simply read:
PROFESSOR ANAXAGORAS
“Your stop, madam,” Cipher said, grinning.
Hyacine exhaled, trying to push out all the nervousness that was still fluttering around in her stomach.
She set her shoulders, determined to make a good first impression on this apparently unimpressionable professor. Just another classroom, another person to meet.
She pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped inside, heart pounding.
The door made no sound as it slowly swung open.
The room was formal and orderly; the surface of the tile floor gleamed under the harsh fluorescent lights buzzing ahead. Rows of long, curved lecture hall desks stretched out before her, all occupied.
All occupied.
She risked a glance upward and around, pulse quickening, searching for any sign of an open spot. Of course, no one was really looking at her, but it still felt like hundreds of pairs of eyes were watching her every move.
Her gaze flickered higher, scanning the last row -
There! The sight of an empty seat sent a wave of relief crashing over her, almost forcing out an audible breath. Then her eyes shifted sideways, and she saw who it was next to -
Flowing purple hair, a presence like mist washing over a forest.
For a brief moment, she locked eyes with Castorice.