After Dark #2: The Academy of Cordella

3. Ghost

Psychology of Battle is a class that hosts all the first years at the same time, about sixty eight or so. Familiar and unfamiliar faces trickled in, the ratio of men to women was like eight to one or something. Noble to non-nobles, two to one. Levi scoffed at the unbalanced demographic, but not much he could do about it.

Chatter suddenly decreased in the classroom and Levi looked up to see what was wrong. A thin, ghastly pale young man with sleek black hair tied in a ponytail stood by the door with a smile of amusement on his face.

"You all look as if you just saw a ghost," he chuckled. "Oh, wait, you did just see a ghost."

His grey eyes twinkled as he slowly walked in, as he got to where Ceairyes Roparium was sitting, beside Morticius at the front of the room. Then he stopped, "you need more than three grams of trichronium to kill a Shadow," he said. "Use a kilo next time." He then paused as if realising something, "oh wait, you probably don't have access to that much."

Ceairyes and Morticius both turned white like ghosts, they were shaking. The former was a noble and participant in the games too, but more specifically, he was the Winter Elf who had attempted twice to 'assassinate' the newcomer with little success, though Levi called a bullet to the forehead then one to the heart to be success enough, but it apparently was not enough to kill a Shadow.

Anyone who was in the twelfth games recognised the high profile newcomer, anyone who watched the games as it was streamed would know too, that was Graphique Edwards.

He strides down the classroom and sits down in the empty seat next to Levi, "missed me?"

Levi's face was scrunched up in a mixture of shock, anger and joy. Shock that Graphique was there, angry that he hadn't come back earlier, and joy that he wasn't dead. But he didn't know what to say, he just sat there with his head turned, dumbfounded.

Graphique's smile faded and he bit his lip, "no? Right."

Levi scoffed in disbelief, "you were alive this whole time?" His eyes were red and tears were creeping out.

Graphique bit his lips, "well, not really, there's terminology issues with that statement......"

"Graphique!" Levi cuts him off, "what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Graphique sighed, "things are getting complicated in the Legion, I'm sorry I did that."

"Um, not to pry," Kal gently cuts into their conversation.

"If you're wondering whether Jasper's still around, the answer is no," Graphique told him harshly.

Kal looked a little taken aback, "but you're still here."

"And I'm a god," Graphique reminded him. "Jasper Kachin is a mortal."

In a dust covered lounge room, a man in a black tuxedo stoked his giant white tiger, his long black curls fell around him and he chuckled at the scene in the classroom which was projected onto a holographic screen before him, "brother, you're mean."

Ghost Runes rolled his eyes, "lemme have my fun Magicius," he said, "Kalidion Craymount will never realise how much how cared for Jasper Kachin until he loses him."

"You're cruel," Ghost Runes' other younger brother, Yaomei said with a deep frown. He wore a pale coloured sweater and looked like a pop-idol most of the time.

Ghost Runes shrugged, "I highly doubt Jasper wants to see him, else he wouldn't be raiding every other noblemen's vaults except for the Craymount's."

Magicius Edwards nods in agreement, "he specifically said he wanted out for any jobs relating to the Craymounts."