Hawkaun, Cyrean, Trollain, and Leonel were the four houses at Swinescar. For the past five years or so, Cyrean had been the head of the dorms, leading in both academic performance and magical intelligence and efficiency. It was the one house that everyone aimed to be a part of, but only the most resilient and intelligent students became a part of. Without knowing they had the most luxurious dorms on campus, or the highest grades in every subject, you could spot a Cyrean student by their deep teal robes, embroidered with silvery trim and lined with the real fur from an Argon Hydra. And their renowned uniforms were topped off with their house crest over the left breast pocket, a sharp bolt of ice in the center of a circular rune that spelled out the great motto of some great philosopher that no one really cared to know.
Always a step behind Cyrean was Trollain. House of the overachievers, the teacher’s pets, and the just-barely-missed-it-by-two-points’. Other than the finely tailored robes of mahogany velvet with a rosary insignia on the back, many students would tell you that there was basically no difference between Cyrean and Trollain. Both houses’ students were full of stuck-up, snobby rich kids who thought they were better than everyone else.
Leonel was next in line, and was home to many of the middle class students. Nothing was special about them. Average grades. Average magical abilities, and slightly average attitudes about future prospects. They did, however, have the most beautiful attire of the four houses, and they were the only house who had different attire for men and women. Men’s robes were a silky white with a golden trim, and their crest a three headed snake coiled around the bones of a human arm and hand. Very ominous. Women’s attire of house Leonel was quite similar, though they’d been fashioned into snow white battle dresses, with slits on either side stopping high on the thigh, and silver chain links that wrapped around their heads, draping over their ears to hang below their eyes, wrapping back around under their ears and looping over to the forehead.
Lastly is Hawkaun, the lowest of the low by academic standards. This house consists of those students who just barely made it into the college, those students whose magical abilities were only subpar, and those whose families had to scrape up every last dime to get them enrolled. Their poverty and low rank on the academic hierarchy were only enhanced by the dingy brown robes they wore, with their house crest, a crooked lion mask, stitched sloppily over the left breast. A lion of all things!
Unaware that freshmen weren’t the only ones who used the alchemy lab, Abel was furious that flasks and beakers sat on benches by the dozen and still held remnants whatever had been used that day. He seemed to recall something about lab etiquette, jumping in surprise as Angelique strode out of the closet with a pair of gloves and a face mask. Her white hair had been tied into a ponytail, revealing a sharp jaw and delicate ears that were sunset red at the tips as if she were a bit cold.
The two stood in silence, Abel scratching his head and Angelique narrowing her eyes in remembrance of her exploding juice carton.
“You really didn’t have to come, you know? I can do it by myself.” Abel moved to grab a beaker coated in a frozen bubbly orange goop, whipping it from his hand as it burned his palm, cursing as the glass smashed to bits on the tiled floor that desperately needed polishing.
Angelique shook her head, striding over and dropping the gloves and face mask next to where Abel leaned, cradling his hand. “Clearly,” she said, her tone drenched in sarcasm. Her purple eyes raked over her fellow freshman, analyzing the flow of his magic; and she found herself mesmerized by his lithia.
Lithia was the magical energy that flowed through every living being, much like how blood flows through veins or water through the roots of trees, beginning in the center of a body and sprouting throughout it. It took special training to see people’s lithia, and many would go their entire lives never even seeing their own despite being able to use some form of magic. Angelique knew that her own was an icy blue, much like her physical magia. But as the sun raised shadows in the dim lab, Abel’s lithia was a rainbow of warm tones twisting from his core and spreading throughout his body.
“These are for you. Be careful enough and maybe you’ll end this semester with all your fingers.” Angelique made for the opposite corner of the lab, swishing her hands around, moving dirty pieces of equipment through the air, rinsing them in the special made lab water that could clean anything and was absolutely not for human consumption.
