Lacuna

Chapter 2 - Meeting The Headmaster

I hesitate for a little before sitting down on the seat in front of Sir Dranc.

          "Good. Now tell me, what is your name?" He asks in his raspy yet silky voice as he puts his hands together on his desk. I slowly notice the cold atmosphere in the room as I start to feel self-conscious of my own movements, at even the subtlest movement of my fingers.

          I slowly parted my lips and spoke. 

          "Cole." I slowly look up to meet his gaze. His eyes are oddly soft as he looks at me intently. There are a few seconds of silence before he spoke again.

          "Do you have a family name? Or a last name?" He slowly raised his right hand and rested his chin, the elbow hitting the desk. I notice as he relaxes his eyebrows.

          "Celestin, Sir. Cole Celestin." I slowly relax my tense body noticing his soft gesture.

          "Cole Celestin, Thank you for your cooperation. I appreciate it deeply and I hope you continue to do so." He spoke as he lowers his hands onto his lap and leaned back onto his chair.

          "You must be confused. I'm grateful to both Flavio and Xue for bringing you here safely. Who knows what might happen if you revealed yourself in front of some Necrics." He closed his eyes as he lowered his head to sigh. He slowly opens his eyes and meets mine.

          "They must have explained the situation to you, correct?" "Only the sum of it, yes. Necrics, Maugens." I replied as I look down, disconnecting the eye contact.

          "That's good. Do you mind if we chat more personally?" He leans back towards the desk and rests his arms on the edge of the desk.

          I look halfway up, hesitating to look at his face. "No, Sir. I don't mind." I look to the side, onto the bookcases.

          "Very well." He pulls a sheet of paper from the side of the desk and grabs a pen. He sets them in front of him. "I hope you don't mind me grading my student's test papers as we speak." He looks up at me while his hand resting on the paper.

          "Not at all, Sir. Do you teach as well?" I subconsciously asked him. I slightly look away in realization. He chuckles as he notices.

          "Yes, I do. I teach History in this high school." He smiles as he grades the papers in front of him. He pauses for a moment and looks up at me. "Ah right, Do you have a family?"

          I freeze for a moment before answering his question. "My parents, they died in an accident." I hesitate a little before mentioning my brother. "I also have a sibling... a brother. He disappeared when I was 13." Before I realize it, I furrowed my eyebrows.

         "How old are you now?" Sir Dranc asks.

        "15 years old, sir," I answered.

          He softens his gaze more. "I am sorry to hear that, Cole. But, speaking of disappearances..." He turns his head towards the glass window beside us. I relax my eyebrows as he furrowed his.

          "There is an alumnus of ours, He disappeared 3 years ago. He was our most talented student... He also knew very well how to fight and was on top of his class. Some of us heard that he got exiled, we still do not believe the rumor, however." He continues to stare into the view from the window. I couldn't help but turn my head towards the window as well. It's the view of the whole school.

          He suddenly spoke as I continue to stare at the view as well. "Say, would you like to study here?" I quickly turn my head, facing him. "For free, guessing you don't have money in the currency here." He continued, still facing the window. I can't help but go speechless at his offer. I wait for a few seconds before replying.

          "There must be something you want me to do in return, right?" I replied as I slightly lean forward in worry and suspicion.

          "Nope, nothing. Completely free. I believe you can and have the ability to be as talented as our missing alumnus." He turns to face me as he spoke, having hope in his silver eyes.

          "But what if I fail?" I lean back and lower my head. "I guess that will be fine. It might be nice having a half-blood studying in our school once in a while. You might learn a thing or two after graduating." He smiles softly. He then stands from his seat and tidied up the test papers onto the side of his desk. He slowly walks to the glass window and stares down to the courtyard. He waits for a moment and turns to face me, inviting me to stand with him.

          I slowly stand on my feet and step towards the glass window. I look at Sir Dranc's face once again and turned my head towards the end of his gaze. A student. I squint my eyes to look closely at their features. They have smooth black hair with a gradient of grey, No animal ears or a tail and a slender build. A snake? I wondered.

          After a while, Sir Dranc finally spoke. "Do you see the student over there? The one reading a book." I look up to face him and turn to see where he pointed his finger to. It was the snake-like student. "He is currently our top student in this high school. However, He doesn't have many friends. He's always in this courtyard reading a book. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Hearing him talk like this makes me curious about the student too. But, what does that have to do with me?

          He then looks at me and struggles to hold in his sigh, releasing a quiet exhale. "Have you thought about it?" He asks, gazing into my eyes.

          "Thought about what?" I asked. "Thought about studying in this school, I was thinking that it wouldn't be safe for you to return to the Necrics." He furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

          I start to carefully think of what to reply to the kind yet suspicious offer. I don't think I can return by myself and like what he had said; it might not be a safe choice. I look up to him, returning his gaze and nod carefully.

          "Oh, wonderful!" he claps his hands together and smiled. "I will take care of your documents for the school and I'll let someone accompany you after school to take care of your other documents if that is alright with you." He continues.

          I slowly nod, catching only half of what he had said. But suddenly we hear a knock from the door. "Sir, there are 2 students in class 1-C that are fighting. We tried separating them but they won't budge!" a boy shouted from outside the door.

"Alright, thank you for reporting to me, I will come there in a second." Sir Dranc shouted back from his office. He turned to me and spoke "Sorry for the disturbance, this school is not as perfect as it seems but you should come with me as well. Think of it as a tour." He jokingly smiled at me and I nodded.

          We walk towards the door as he opens the door for me. What am I getting myself into?

Hope you all are enjoying the chapter so far! Please forgive me for some of the possible grammar mistakes I've made!
Please stay tuned, there will be more lore coming in!