The Blight Chronicles: Odalia & Alador

The Rival

By the time the pair had arrived at school Odalia was firmly grasping onto Alador’s hand who would wonder off at the sight of anything. She almost lost him completely after he took off running after a bug. She was starting to question how Alador ever made it to school on his own. 

Although she shouldn't be surprised. They were in the same class and he was almost always late. It was so frequent that the teacher had given up on reprimanding him for it. Everyone was so used to it that hardly anyone noticed when he came in. 

"We'll if it isn't two of the brightest minds Hexide has to offer." beamed Principal Bump. "Oh and you're holding hands I didn't know you two were so close." he said, raising an eyebrow at the unlikely pair. 

Odalia's face flushed instantly "Oh no it's not like that" she was interrupted by Alador who simply stated "We're partners." Odalia's face turned a deep shade of crimson at her companion's nonchalant statement.

"Ah I see a partnership hmm well I can't wait to see what will be the product of this partnership." He said with a wink. "Seeing as you're here on time for the first time I can already see the benefits. Well I won't keep you any longer, go on then head to class." He said as he waved them past him.

The realization that she had walked to school holding hands with a boy had not hit Odalia until that moment. To anyone else looking at them, they would assume they were dating when in reality she just wanted to keep him close to her. She immediately let go of his hand feeling extremely self conscious.

Alador only looked at their hands and then at her but he didn't question it. There were many things Odalia did that didn't make sense to him but he preferred not to question it. He had already come to terms with the fact that he would never truly understand people.

"Should we head over to your locker to get your things?" Muttered Odalia in an attempt to break the awkward silence.

"I don't need anything," said Alador in his usual monotone voice.

"What do you mean?" question Odalia forgetting her inner struggles.

"I memorized all the material in the first week of school." Note Alador as if it was no big deal.

Odalia stared at her companion completely flabbergasted. "You learned all the material for the semester in one week? You really are incredible, you know that?nYou never cease to amaze me." Beamed Odalia. 

Alador gave her a half smile but didn't say anything. His stomach suddenly felt uneasy and now he was wondering if it was something he ate. Maybe he had eaten some of the abomination goo in his sleep. It wouldn't be the first time. 

"I need to stop by my locker to get my books. I have a lot of work to do to try and catch up to that wonderful mind of yours.” stated Odalia with a sly smile. 

“How utterly distasteful to have my eyes assaulted by such blight so early in the morning." Scoffed a voice behind them. “And did you say wonderful mind? HA! More like half baked!”

The pair turned around to see a tall dark skinned youth with green eyes who radiated style even while just wearing the school  uniform. The boy was smiling at them with a look of contempt in his eyes. 

“You poor girl if you think Alador is a genius that means you need more than books to help you. If you want to see a true genius you only need to look at me.” he boasted as he made a grand gesture to himself and struck a pose. 

“Alador, did you hear that? It sounded like a mediocre witch was trying to compare themselves to you.” sneered Odalia to Alador who did not seem to be at all bothered by the youth’s words. Nor was he interested in joining the conversation.

“Mediocre?! Do you know who I am? I am Darius, the number one abominations student Hexside has ever seen! I’ll have you know I am twice the witch he'll ever be! He’s nothing more than a hack and a blight to the abominations track.” fumed Darius. 

“Oh please you are nowhere near Alador’s level. And why do you keep calling him a blight?” retorted Odalia. 

“How dare you compare me with him! He is nothing but a hack. His experiments are a stain on the abominations track. Creating abominations is an art. There is beauty in what we create. We put a part of ourselves into our magic. What he does is an insult to that art! He should not even be allowed to work this kind of magic.” hissed the youth. 

“So what you're saying is that his ingenuity and innovations are like a blight to the track? Well then I guess we should take it as a compliment. If being different and carving your own path makes you a blight then I would definitely want to be one too.” boasted Odalia while glaring at Darius. 

Alador did not like the look in Odalia’s eyes and he had seen first hand how scary she could be when she got angry. She would be even more angry if they did not make it to class on time so he grabbed her hand and started pulling her away. He did not  care for pointless conflict; it was only a waste of time.

Odalia did not resist if anything she was more surprised that Alador was being assertive. “Hey Alador,” started Odalia before being interrupted by Alador who simply stated “We are going to be late.” 

Behind them they heard Darius shout out to them “Well that’s just perfect! You two are deserving of each other Mr. and Mrs. Blight!” He then turned around and stormed off in the opposite direction. 

 “What was that guy's problem? Is he always like that?” demanded Odalia trying to make eye contact with Alador.

He merely shrugged and said “I don’t think he likes me very much.” Looking away from her because he really did not like seeing her angry. 

“Well that’s an understatement.” she muttered. Glancing at Alador she could clearly see he was uncomfortable. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. The entire ordeal was nothing to her. She was used to arguing with people but it was probably too much for him.

“They are going to call you blight now too.” mumbled Alador in his usual monotone voice but Odalia could hear a tiny hint of guilt. 

Given that it was Darius they were talking about, she knew Alador was right. By the end of the day everyone in school would be calling them blight. On the bright side everyone will know who they are so it would be like free publicity.

“Let them call us blights. If being great makes you a blight then that’s what we'll be.” she said with a fire in her eyes. " We'll show Darius and anyone else like him how amazing your inventions are." She boasted giving him a big smile. Alador returned her smile with his own much more reserved one.