Priest. (Nevermore Academy/Xavier Thorpe x Reader)

Chapter 1

Inverness, Scotland
July, 2021

*****

The summers in Inverness are never particularly warm, and it rained frequently and heavily. It was one of those days when the storm clouds brewed and rain fell out of the sky as if the gods were crying, and the world was dark despite it being noon -- as if the sun was hiding away from view. 

Y/N loved days like this. Maybe it was because her mother was so connected with the water, or maybe it was because the strong raindrops seemed to cleanse away her visions, but she felt at peace with the rainfall. 

Today, she had been in the greenhouse when the rain hit. Her greenhouse was a magnificent Victorian-age beauty, constructed of old glass panes and black metal which curves in elaborate and magnificent ways. It was large as well, with three large tables separated by two walk ways. That morning she had decided to come out and prune the vegetables, cutting back unruly vines and weeding every bed. By the time it started raining, her jeans were covered in dirt, and her white tank top was damp from sweat and the humidity. She loved the greenhouse, though, for it offered her the opportunity to work with her hands and listen to her favorite songs. 

Now she stood at the greenhouse's door, faced with the down pour and the quarter mile walk back to her home. She tucked her phone and Airpods into the deepest part of her jean pocket that she possibly could, and braved opening the door. 

The minute the rainfall hit her, she came alive with feeling. Suddenly, a force she did not understand took over and she could feel the life and vibrance of every living thing around her. She was aware of all seven crows in the trees, the rabbits hiding beneath the bushes lining her path, every blade of grass seemed spiritually connected to her. The sensation was so overwhelming she almost couldn't handle it, but she allowed it to surge through her like electricity, aware that it was one of her only clues. 

Once she felt peacefully in tune with the world immediate to her, she walked towards her home. There was no use running now -- she was already soaked to the bone. With every moment that passed, she became gradually more comfortable with the hyperaware state she was in, even enjoying it to some degree. As she approached the home, she could immediately tell her mother returned from grocery shopping because she could feel Scarlett Priest's presence. Her mom's sensation was unique -- whenever she felt it, and really focused on it, she could taste frost-cold water and a resonant feeling of nature unlike that of Scotland's. Her mother was an American-born nymph, meaning she imprinted on the land there. Y/N had never been to America, but she wondered if it would feel like her mother. 

Y/N opened the door into the kitchen, and quickly shut it behind her. She was soaked. 

"Mom?" Y/N called out. 

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can you bring me a towel?"

Her mother didn't call back a response, rather she appeared seconds later with a fluffy white towel. Y/N carefully took off her yellow rain boots and tapped herself dry before wrapping her hair up in the bath towel. 

"You got caught in the rain, huh?"

"Yeah, I forgot to grab an umbrella when I left this morning for the greenhouse," Y/N explained, her sensations dying down now that she was indoors and only surrounded by her mother's aura, and that of the home itself, still feeling trace amounts of her father's, "I think I'm gonna take a shower. We're doing dinner tonight?"

"Of course, I was thinking pasta."

"Sounds great, ma," Y/N smiled, walking out of their kitchen and into the foyer hallway, up the grand staircase and towards her room on the third floor. 

Her home was an old Scottish manor, beautifully constructed with plenty of windows and light everywhere. The journey up the stairs was decorated with framed paintings her father had once collected, alongside family portraits. One of her favorites was that of his father's mother, who she shared a striking resemblance with. Doris Priest shared Y/N's hair, as well as Y/N's white-colored eyes. That was another one of her clues. 

Once she hit the third floor -- which consisted only of her bedroom, her "personal" room, and her bathroom -- she went into the bathroom and started filling the tub. From her bedroom, she gathered a cozy set of pajamas before sinking down in her bath. 

She pushed her head underwater, and waited for her mind to clear. Once submerged, she no longer felt that presence of her mother, or the house's, or her father's. All she felt was nothing, and in some ways, that was bliss. 

Y/N had always been plagued with visions she couldn't understand, sensations of the life forces which surrounded her, and a few inexplicable events in which the things she imagined materialized. The thing that was the most insufferable, though, was the knowledge that her father held all the answers of who she was, and why this was happening. Neal Priest could tell her what "type" of non-human entity she was, by simply stating what his mother had been. 

Neal Priest had been missing for five years, and presumed dead for three. Her father could not answer her questions -- instead, his disappearance only generated more. 

Y/N brought her head above the water, and began washing her hair. 

*****

Scarlett had made pasta that night -- specifically, creamy pesto pasta, a side salad, and garlic bread. Not to mention two tall glasses of iced tea.

"Wow, mom," Y/N remarked, "What's the special occasion?"

"Well, I have some news -- sit, sit," Scarlett motioned, pointing at Y/N's designated seat at the dinner table. 

Y/N sat, watching as Scarlett tucked red hair behind her ears as her green eyes nervously danced across the dinner table. 

"Mom, what's up?" Y/N asked, reaching for a piece of garlic bread. 

"Well... remember how I told you that your father and I met in school?"

"Yeah, that American academy," Y/N answered, reaching forward for the pasta to serve herself. 

Scarlett took a deep breath as she herself reached for the salad, "I think you should go to Nevermore Academy -- where your father and I met -- to learn a bit more about yourself. They're completely dedicated to 'outcasts' and could hold answers to what exactly you are."

"But... it's in America." Y/N stared at her mother, dumbfounded by the proposition that she could be shipped off to a separate continent for school. She was only sixteen. 

"Yes, but imagine how much simpler your life would be if you understood your extraordinary abilities! You could cultivate true power, or even just find some peace."

Y/N chewed her food in contemplation. After a moment, she asked, "Well... when would I go?"

"September, probably around the 20th. The school year starts promptly September 1st, but we would have to enroll you, ship your belongings, figure out a study visa, blah blah blah..." Her mother explained, "So, you'd have the rest of the summer here! And in just a few months you'd get a break for Christmas, so if you absolutely hated it we could transfer you back to regular school here."

"Did you like it?"

"I liked it, but gosh -- you're father LOVED it. He wanted to send you right when you were thirteen, but..." Scarlett's voice cut off, not wanting to talk about Neal's disappearance. Y/N hadn't spoken to her mother about it since he had been declared dead. 

"Will you be okay without me?" Y/N asked gently. 

"Don't you worry about me! If you go off to school there, it will allow me to travel a bit more. Maybe I'll even go back to my childhood home -- it's pretty close to Nevermore, maybe three hours away by car."

"Dinner is really good," Y/N interrupted with a smile, "Maybe I could even see your childhood home! It's been forever since I saw grandma and grandpa."

"I'm sure they'd love nothing more than free accessibility to their one and only granddaughter."

Dinner continued with casual conversation about Scarlett's young life in America's Northeast, until Y/N retired to her room and began violently Googling 'Nevermore Academy'.