Nevermore - Caliban Hall - William and Xavier's Bedroom
♫ The Write Stripes - Seven Nation Army ♫
"...Will..." (Xavier)
(♫ Don't wanna hear about it)
"...W...ill" (Xavier)
(♫ From the Queen of England to the Hounds of Hell. )
"Did you say something, Xavier?" (William)
"If Bianca comes, tell her I'm not here. I don't want to see her right now." (Xavier)
Will looked away from his literature essay for next week. If he finished it a few days early, he could devote most of his time to his hobbies.
"Don't let her in, of course." (William)
After William's confirmation, Xavier got in the shower. The two of them had a bathroom in their room and didn't use the shared ones. That was the advantage of having a family that donated a lot of money to Nevermore every year. Xavier's father, the famous psychic Vincent Thorper, and the Stone family were major donors to Nevermore Academy.
William put his headphones back on. A few moments ago, Xavier was arguing on the phone with Bianca. He didn't want to have to listen to their couple's arguments, so his solution was to listen to some music and focus his attention elsewhere.
(He asked me if Xavier enjoys being around Bianca.) (William)
"Well, it's his decision." (William)
(♫ And the feelin' comin' from my bones.) (William)
Five minutes later, loud banging on the door caught William's attention. He reluctantly got up from his desk. He could smell Bianca without even trying; her perfume irritated his nose and filled the hallway with its scent.
"Good evening, Bianca. Can I help you with something?" (William)
William opened the door slightly. Bianca was aggressive enough with Xavier that she might try to push William aside, and he didn't like that idea.
"I want to see Xavier. Let me in." (Bianca)
"Xavier is out. He's not in his room." (William)
"Then who's in the shower?" (Bianca)
"Ajax, you left your room key in the lounge, you didn't want to have to go back for it" (William)
"Let me go and check" (Bianca)
Bianca's tone sounded irritated at this point.
"I don't think it's appropriate for a girl to enter a boy's room alone without being his partner, so my answer is no." (William)
"You forced me into this, Will." (Bianca)
Just as William was about to close the door and forget about the matter, Bianca placed her hand on his necklace and covered the dolphin's eyes with her fingers.
"Get out of my way." (Bianca)
Pink mist emerged from Bianca's lips along with her words. It was her siren voice, capable of manipulating anyone who heard it, erasing memories, manipulating people into doing things they wouldn't normally do, or even making them feel emotions they didn't really feel—a rather convenient and versatile power.
*!!¡Scratch!!*
The sound of wood being torn scared Bianca, who backed away hastily until her back hit the hallway wall.
William's sharp claws, which had turned black and thick, left deep gouges in the door.
"Don't you dare use your siren voice on me again. I'm not Xavier. If he decides to ignore it, that's his decision, but don't come to me and try to control me on a whim, because next time it won't be a warning." (William)
*Pock*
Bianca sat on the floor and curled her legs up. The sharp claws and bright eyes with vertical pupils had really scared her. It was the first time anyone had resisted her siren voice since she had obtained it a few years ago.
"Did something happen, Will?" (Xavier)
Xavier's voice came from the shower after the sound of the water stopped.
"It's nothing, carry on." (William)
(♫ I'm gonna work the straw) (William)
Nevermore - Fencing Hall
*Gulp* (William)
"Now you want to tell me why Bianca has been giving you dirty looks all morning. Did something happen that I didn't hear about?" (Enid)
Enid sat down next to William on the wooden floor of the fencing hall.
William stopped drinking water and smoothed his tousled hair. He was dressed in his pure white fencing protective gear, just like Enid.
"Do you want the long version or the short version?" (William)
"The long version." (Enid)
Enid took the water bottle from William's hand and began to drink from it.
"And that's it." (William)
"So that bitch tried to control you." (Enid)
"Yes, it felt very unpleasant, as if many little hands were trying to play with your head."
Enid wrinkled her little nose as she imagined the unpleasant sensation.
"I've seen her use it before. People seem happy to follow her orders." (Enid)
"It must be because they can't resist and give in, they let themselves be carried away." (William)
"Well, it seems you did scare her. Some girls saw her looking dazed at breakfast and she couldn't answer Professor Thornhill's questions like she usually does." (Enid)
"Maybe I overreacted and went a bit too far." (William)
"She deserves it, and because Xavier and Bianca argued last night, she came to your dorm too quickly, unless..." (Enid)
"... She was already waiting nearby, maybe she knew Xavier would refuse one of her requests and she was..." (William)
"...ready to use her siren voice on Xavier." (Enid)
Yoko, sitting across from Enid, stuck out her tongue as she watched the two finish each other's sentences.
"This will be fantastic for my Nevermore blog." (Enid)
Enid smiled excitedly as she held her cheeks.
"All right, William, enough rest. Come here. You'll face Bianca in the next round."
Fencing master Professor Vlad turned his attention to William, who said goodbye to Enid with a kiss on the cheek.
"Why is he so demanding with Will? He couldn't even rest properly," Yoko whispered to Enid.
"He wants me to be the next captain of the fencing team for next year's inter-academy tournament," Enid replied.
"He wants him to be the next captain of the fencing team for next year's inter-academy tournament." (Enid)
"But Will has to lead the archery team." (Yoko)
"That's what Will told him, but apparently Vlad insists on the idea. He wants him to leave the archery team and focus on fencing." (Enid)
"That must be tough for Will" (Yoko)
"To be honest, he doesn't seem to mind Vlad's insistence. Anyway, do you have everything ready?" (Enid)
"Everything's ready." Yoko adjusted her sunglasses.
"It'll be fantastic" (Enid)
William and Bianca approached Professor Vlad.
"You still haven't changed your mind, William?" (Vlad)
"No, Professor, I'll continue with archery next year." (William)
"And you, Bianca, you're the second best in the academy." (Vlad)
"Thank you, but I'll continue with the choir club next year." (Bianca)
Bianca's eye twitched slightly when she heard Vlad say she was the second best. William had practised for six months under Professor Vlad's guidance and, with his reflexes, flexibility and strength, he had improved by leaps and bounds.
*Suspiro*
Vlad sighed wearily; neither of his two best students were willing to take on the position of captain.
"You'll be popular if you're the team captain" (Vlad)
Professor Vlad made one last attempt.
"I'm already very popular" (Bianca)
"That's not something that particularly interests me, Professor" (William)
"We'll talk about this another time. For now, practise. You'll be members of the team that will participate" (Vlad)
William and Bianca walked to the stage of the duel, a mat.
The practice duel was fairly standard. Bianca was a woman, so William held back. If he were to fight seriously, it would be like a level 100 warrior specialising in hand-to-hand combat against a level 50 charmer with paper-thin defence.
*Tick* *Tick* *Tick* *Tick*
William easily parried each thrust and sweep of Bianca's sabre. It only took a brief moment for William to glance at Enid, who waved at him from across the room.
*Stack*
Bianca's sabre struck William's mask squarely. A blow to the face in a fencing duel does not count as a point.
"That was personal" (William)
"Who says it wasn't ~" (Bianca)
Bianca shook her head as if to point out the obvious, William responded with a smile behind the grille of his mask.
*Stack*
William struck harder at Bianca's protective vest, who grimaced in pain under her mask.
(Tsk, that hurts) (Bianca)
"Point for William" (Vlad)
*Tick* *Tick* *Tick*
"Point for Bianca, last point to win for both sides" (Vlad)
William and Bianca moved away again and took up fencing positions with their sabres in front of them.
*Tick* *Tick* *Tick*
"Arghh"
Bianca let out a slight cry of pain when William's sabre struck her wrist with enough force to make her drop her sabre.
"Are you alright?" (William)
William removed his mask. He may have used a little too much force to end the duel before the end of class.
"Fuck you" (Bianca)
Bianca aggressively approached William after picking up her sabre and removing its cut protection.
"Miss Barclay, that's enough. William won, and this was an accident. It's normal for these things to happen." (Vlad)
"I remember you did the same thing to Rowan during their first practice together. It's not fun when it happens to you, is it?" (William)
"Ohhhh!!!"
The rest of the students watched the commotion, including Xavier. Bianca had complained about what happened last night with William, and things got worse between them when Xavier took William's side. No one likes to be manipulated, and Bianca was there that night because of him, so the least he could do was support him.