Perhaps, had it happened a long time ago, Pietro would have run away in fright after hearing what he would be subjected to in the school he was meant to join. But he could not. He had spent fourteen years in this world, spending his time dreaming of all that he could learn and experience once he was old enough to leave the temple, and now...Now he was finally here. The monks had once described the city of Dramora to him, and while he had barely listened, so much so that the name of the city had nearly slipped his mind, he had remembered one thing.

They had called this city: the City of Wonders. And he would be damned if he did not experience all that it had to offer him. He put up a tough front and he followed after Commander Bernos, taking in the sight of the large city as he passed through its gate. It was modern and yet ancient, the buildings were large, far too large for something that would have been built in a world stuck in its early ages, and yet the people looked as though they had come from the middle age, some did at the very least. The buildings were not all built in the same style, and Pietro noticed it immediately. The administrative building located near the gate for some reason looked oddly Roman or Greek, he had never learned the difference. They were all white and quite imposing. The houses oddly resembled those he had seen when he had briefly visited France during his life on Earth, except perhaps for their roofs. He had never seen in his entire life roofs made out of metals. They shone under the twin suns and the light they reflected made him avert his eyes.

How strange it was for him. He could somewhat understand that metal would make roofs sturdier, but did demons need to build with sturdy materials? Could they not simply apply their powers to their buildings as they did with their equipment? Once more, he left his mind wander across the myriad of questions he still had. He did not want to ask anything just yet, for he simply did not know who would be able to answer. Questioning those who knew nothing would simply leave his curiosity aching even more, so he would wait until he had reached the school and met with some professors or librarians. 

Schools had librarians, didn't they? He could not quite remember if they did. Perhaps some did, and others did not. He had never gone to school himself for a long period of time. In fact, he had mostly convinced himself that he had once gone to school whilst he remained alive, for truly he did not remember it and only had flashes in his mind, mere fleeting moments he remembered but could not decipher. 

His attention immediately went to the busy streets they neared as his eyes caught on something quite shiny. An old habit of his. He saw a woman dressed from head to toe in clothes that seemed to have been cut from the greatest of fabrics. He was not shocked to see how dark her attire was, Demons did seem to prefer dark colours to vibrant ones in most cases, but when it came to her jewellery...Now that was another story.

Pietro did not think even Kings on Earth had as many rings, bracelets and shiny adornments as the woman wore on herself. She wore a black robe that did not cover up to her collarbone, with long and ample sleeves, even her tights were as equally black. Yet all the gold and silver she wore glistened under the suns and pushed away the darkness of her velvet clothes. 

Pietro could feel something touch his arm and saw Commander Bernos push him slightly with his elbow.

"Got your attention stolen away, didn't ya kid? What are you lookin' at while I'm speaking." The man told him with a small smirk that could not hide away the annoyance he felt from having been ignored. Pietro cursed his actions, but he still answered straight away. He did so by pointing at the woman, and to his surprise, none of the soldiers whistled or chuckled...Or any of that in fact. Their faces darkened and they all looked at their leader who merely motioned with his hand, telling them to remain in their position. 

"I don't know if you are really lucky, or a bit cursed kid." Bernos said softly. He had spoken fairly loudly until that point, and now he seemed to be minding the volume of his own voice. Quite curious. 

"Why are you saying that, Commander?" Pietro asked while taking his eyes away from the captivating sight. He saw a flicker of movement from where he had previously been looking, and before the commander could answer, another voice resounded. This one is a bit too feminine to belong to anyone in the group.

"Yes, why is that so Commander Bernos?" 

Pietro jumped away in fright as the very woman he had been observing now stood in between the commander and himself. From afar he had not seen how she truly looked, for only her attire had caught his eyes, but now he understood why she dressed so. With her face and her skin, vibrant colours would have certainly clashed. Her skin was pale in a sickly way, her eyes were narrow and intimidating on their own, and even her pupils were so as they resembled those of felines. Both those eyes of hers and her hair were purple, though her hair was very much darker. Speaking eyes, her left one was marred by a large vertical scar that joined another one which went from the corner of her mouth to her cheek. It did nothing to her natural beauty surprisingly enough, it simply made her far more threatening than her stature did. She was just a bit smaller than Asura but her voice betrayed her age. She appeared older than the commander, though that did not make the man respectful towards her.

"I just knew it. It is so like you to be listening to conversations you should not even be hearing, Professor." Bernos answered with thinly veiled disdain, no in fact it even sounded like disgust. Now, Pietro was certainly intrigued. Far more so by the situation than the mere, albeit dazzling, looks of the woman who was apparently a professor. 

'Wait...A professor!?'

" Madam, are you a teacher at the Forneus Academy?" He asked a bit too suddenly. It had gotten out on its own, but he had been looking for someone to answer his numerous questions and she had just appeared. In fact, wasn't that a bit too much of a coincidence?

"That she is. One that should not be in the streets at this hour." Bernos did not give her the chance to answer and brought back the attention on himself while sneering at the woman." Call me paranoid, but I am thinking that this is not quite normal. Some kids show up to enter the school, you're out wandering the streets and you listen to conversations around you...What are you doing here?" 

Just like that, the situation turned from highly interesting to impossibly tense. Pietro experienced something he had only ever felt around Asura, and even then it had not been this intense previously. He felt a pressure, a weight pressing down on his entire body, so much so that he felt like kneeling. Bernos was glaring at the woman with glowing eyes, it was like those green orbs of his were projecting a sort of aura. Pietro would have been able to name the process he was now a witness to had he read more books about the abilities of Demons, but he had always been far too interested in impractical knowledge for that.

"Commander, my actions and the reasons behind them are for me to know and I am under no obligation to answer you. More than that, I find you quite vindicative. I was merely on a shopping streak. You see, I found a way to free up some time in my planning. That is all." She said. Her voice was not as sweet as it first sounded when she suddenly appeared around the group, now it seemed far more genuine. It was the voice of a rough individual, one who was not easily pressured. The professor sounded like a prickly person, though perhaps she simply held as much disdain for the commander as he did towards her. 

She passed by the group without sparing any of the soldiers even a mere glance, she ignored the commander who gritted his teeth, and lastly threw a kind look at Pietro who had himself little during the tense exchange.

"You are a future student, yes? I will be in charge of the admissions tomorrow, I look forward to seeing you there, you and...Your friend." She whispered to him while bending towards him. Her eyes remained fixated on Asura for perhaps too long of a moment, as she took in the sight of his bizarre body for the first time. Her eyes narrowed even more than they naturally did and she finally left. 

When she did so, Pietro heard the soldiers release heavy sighs. So...They had been afraid of her, soldiers that they were, afraid of a mere professor. Only now did it click in Pietro's mind that the commander had warned him about just who made up the staff of the Forneus Academy. It appeared that he would indeed need to be wary of just about anyone there. Fantastic!

In a corner of his mind, Pietro was glad Asura had passed out. If not he feared that the young boisterous demon would have challenged the professor to some duel. Mind you, Pietro would have liked to see what a Demon Veteran was capable of. He just would have liked to see it from a distance, a safe distance.

"Shopping, huh...Why can't this city stop attracting shady fuckers..." The Commander tightened his grip over Asura and resumed his walk, and even if he tried to hide it, Pietro noticed how much paler the man's left hand had gotten due to him clenching them as hard as he could. In fact, Pietro could swear he had seen the palms bleed before the Commander remarked his stare and hid his free hand in his pocket.

What had he gotten himself into exactly? Was it a school or his soon-to-be tomb?