It was a sunny day on Felium, it was the first day of school after a long break actually, and a day that one of his accursed teachers had told Rondel they would soon have a test, in alchemy, his worst subject.
He had been stressing himself out the entire vacation, so much so that he had actually gotten quite good at the subject, Ujotrian physiology, so he was actually beginning to look forward to this day quite a bit as he finally awoke form his slumber, eight years old, but ready to take the test, crush it, and become a class-celebrity for a few hours in a world in love with alchemy and magic, something that did give the fastest kid in school quite a run for their money when it came to popularity.
Rondel was no exception to that, and while had didn't exactly have any talent when it came to alchemy, like many others did have, he had talent in magic, yearning to, one day, become a grand mage that would pivot the skies and help his race, the human race, prosper in their home.
That was what he wanted to do in the early morning, but now he wanted to succeed in his test, but he could barely even concentrate as he looked at his test, realizing that he had been completely wrong in his assumptions.
The test took thirty minutes, and he was certain he had been able to answer at least half of the questions right, sighing as he handed it in, his heart filled with worry, but his mind eerily calm, his world always having been known for being quite mature, allowing it's children to vote at ten years old, a mental defect allowing them to be as mature as adults at the age o nine, and as mature as adolescents at six even, not that that was anything new to him.
He leaned over to his friend, Julia, and began talking after the test was over, not really caring about the gender barrier that some of the older people cared about, after all, at eight years some things and thoughts were still very much different from before.
The girl had brownish long, unkempt hair, as was normal for a child, she wore a chequered shirt relatively long with frilled bottom, she wore jeans, a weird choice in this place as most others wore linen, preferring them due to fashion choices, a sign that every place was truly different, she had bluish green eyes and yellowish teeth because she never really brushed her teeth, she had freckles, was relatively pale, her body easily catching sunburn, her nose was slightly off, she had once fallen off the stairs as a child, but it was barely visible, she had a few cuts and bruises, she always ran around a lot.
Rondel himself had reddish hair and was pale as well, a reason they had become friends as both of them mostly stayed indoors because the very sun was their sworn enemy, as they laughingly referred to it, he had brownish hair, relatively long as well, though he did keep it quite clean, something most other children here did not have the nerve to do, the hyperactivity of the childish body keeping the a-natural maturity in check, he wore a white shirt that was soon to be full of dirt when the breaks hit, he wore a long linen pants that was too long and covered parts of his shoes that were brown.
Other than that he had a normal face, was relatively average in comparison to most kids in school if a bit talented at magic and a bit fast, for some reason both making him a bit popular, though Julia was better than him at alchemy by a wide mile.
Nevertheless, right now he was ready to finally talk with his friend of five years, though he couldn't remember three of those, being too young to really take care of the memories.
"How did you do?" he asked, the chair having been turned all the way around, his hands resting atop it, his head held low, already showing his result, disappointing to say the least.
"I think I got most of the questions right" she smiled and laughed as she saw him, a childish smile stemming from her surprise as she had just raised her head from a piece of paper she had written notes, or perhaps a cheat-sheet, atop.
No, no, she wouldn't use a cheat-sheet, she was always very much honest to herself and others, especially when it came to things like this, so much so that some would even call her obsessed, to say the very least, or perhaps even just righteou-
"I don't think I have to ask you how you did?" she pointed at him accusingly, but in a playful manner, as all was that children did at their age.
"No, you don't, I probably got a bit better than normal, but still, alchemy is and stays as my worst subject by a fair margin." he sighed and threw his head back, his relatively long hair, though still quite a bit shorter than hers, fluttering int he imaginary wind he was feeling, the boos of a world, though only as the fun of it.
"What's with those snobbish words?"
"I just read one of those weird old books, my mom reaallyy wanted me to, after all..." he shrugged his shoulders, indicating he didn't really mind it, just having been bestowed with this accent for a short bit.
"How was it?" she asked, not really intending to read it or anything of the like, just trying to be honest and polite, as her mother, a good teacher, had taught her when it came to manners.
"It was fine" he said, not really meaning it, believeing it to be bad but wanting her to waste her time as well, childish banter after all, "you should try it too, it'S exactly what you'd like" he said once more reinforcing his little white lie, even though it totally was not what she'd like.
He knew, after all, that her parents would force her to read it if she asked them for it.
Sadly she never did try the book out, and he never had his fun.