The Red Haze
“Dreadfulâ€.
The Lalafel teacher sighed as he watched over the 4th year classroom of Conjuration.
“I fear that most of you did not understand my teachings and that we’ll have to organise a resit. Most of you did not pass for your midterm exam.â€
“But mister Tamasho, I studied so hard!†one of the students said to the Lalafel Teacher who stroke an elaborate goatee on his chin.
“That may be so, but you clearly did not understand the fundamentals and differences between Conjuration and the Arcane, and most of you did not get the concept of Woodsin. Now enough quivering, I will call out the grades from low to high along with your name.â€
The classroom looked on, struck between fear and anticipation as hopes of an early midterm vacation were gradually crushed for the entire class as the grades were called out. At the front of the class, sitting at a single table with no one next to her, Kisha looked on at the teacher with a firm grin as her name was not called out. She was very confident to have passed the exam and listened as all of her ‘stupid’ fellow students were confronted with F grades.
“…Lyn Celes, E-, Quen Maru, E+ and..Kisha Taluun…A+†The teacher smiled lightly at Kisha as he called her grade. “Well done, miss Taluun.â€
“Thank you, mister Tamasho.†Kisha replied with a neat bow, smirking widely and her ego obviously being stroked.Â
Meanwhile, the rest of the class were livid, angry and were gossiping with each other in a murmur. Although Kisha could hear most of it she wasn’t really hit by it emotionally. Nothing did from ‘those lesser intelligent beings’.Â
“…That bitch, why does she always have such high grades! I bet she cheats with her mother, no way she can get such a high grade otherwise. She always stays late in school…bet she collaborates with the teachers!â€
Mister Tamasho raised his hands and his voice. “Quiet down class, you’ll be able to redo the exam next week so there’s no need for a commotion.â€
“But mister Tamasho, I was planning to go on a vacation to Vylbrand next week! And now-“
The student was cut short as the Lalafel teacher replied. “That’s your own problem of making plans and overlapping them with your midterm resits. However, Kisha, could you elaborate on the concepts of Woodsin, the differences between Arcane and Conjuration and how you were able to get a good grade by answering these questions? It could help the rest of your fellow students.â€
Kisha took a moment to process the question Mister Tamasho had posed to her but she started to frown as she turned around on her seat and spoke to both her teacher and the rest of her class.
“Mister Tamasho, do you expect me to give the fruits of my hard labour away to the rest of the class for free? Are my additional hours every day at the end of school not appreciated by the school staff and the board of the directors? What you are asking is similar to a sporting event where the Gold Medallist wins by a considerable margin and is then somehow expected to share his or her gold medal with the –entire field-. I will simply not answer that question. The fruits of my labour are mine and mine alone to enjoy.â€
Kisha’s reply was met with a deadly silence across the classroom as they needed a few moments to recover from her strong words. Fearing a cannonade of shouting from the class, Mister Tamasho quickly adjourned the class and motioned everyone to go outside. The murmur continued as the students left the room.
“Wow..she’s insane.†“Selfish bitch!â€. “We gotta’ teach her a lesson not to mess with us.â€
Once more Kisha acted as nothing had happened and silently placed her books and writing materials into a shoulderbag and made ready to leave. As she attempted to leave the classroom, Mister Tamasho motioned her to come speak with him, waiting for all the others to leave the classroom.
“Yes, Mister Tamasho?â€
The Conjuration teacher leaned back into the chair, which was obviously far too large for him but nonetheless he found a way.
“You might be the brightest student of this year in the Sharlayan College, but you are not the student who is contributing the most to our goal of sharing and gaining knowledge.â€
Raising her eyebrows, Kisha crossed her arms and then turned to a frowned stare replying swiftly.
“I work very hard to get my grades to the level where they are at. The rest of these students, if they do note fornicate they play such meaningless games such as..Triple Triad.â€
Mister Tamasho sighed and opened his notebook as he was about to start checking some of the homework assignments the students had brought in today.
“Just think about my words Kisha, you’ll be seen as a much better person if you actually act like an exemplary student instead of just getting the best grades.â€
Pondering about the words of Mister Tamasho, Kisha walked out of the classroom and silently walked up the elaborately lavished stairs to the library of the college. As it was the last day of the week and past four in the afternoon, the place was completely deserted. Placing her shoulder bag down on a table, Kisha took out a notebook along with an elaborate tome on the Arcane and sat down, stroking the skirt of her uniform down. She silently started to study, the silence only being broken by the sound of her quill being dipped into a small bottle of ink and the sound of her writing. During times such as these, Kisha could completely ‘zone out’ and focus on her studies without her mother being around to bark orders at her on how she should plan out her studies. It was something she enjoyed immensely, especially during the last days of the week when only the school’s staff were still around their offices, and they were often quiet as well.
As evening draw nearer and the clock rang six, Kisha made ready to leave the library and was busy packing her bag again as she suddenly heard a number of footsteps behind her. Startled, she quickly turned around to find two of her classmates with one of them carrying something reminiscent of a wooden baton.
“Well well..being out late here again, are we Kisha?â€
She could recognize the both of them obviously: A well-built Hyur-Garlean mix called Taven Ranir and a somewhat downtrodden Hyur named Eren Wyren who was obviously the ‘follower’.
Turning around, Kisha continued to pack her bag, although somewhat more quickly and obviously a bit more panicked than before as she replied.
“I was studying, though now I am finished and thus returning home.â€
“Oh are you?†Taven replied. “Well I think not. We’d like to have a look around your bag, see some of your notes. Share a little bit, hmm?â€
Having packed her bag, Kisha was not about to accept Taven’s taunts and quickly attempted to walk away but she was pulled closer towards him as he tore the bag from her shoulder.
“You Garlean degenerate, leave me! If only you could -actually- use your third eye perhaps you’d have been a bit faster at grasping theory!â€
Kisha appeared to strike a nerve in Taven with the comment as he grabbed Kisha by her shoulders, his superior strength forcing her onto the table where she was studying. Eren was watching, obviously torn as to what to think of his friend doing to Kisha. Although she attempted to struggle free, Taven’s force was just too much for her to escape as he also used the baton to refrain her from standing up.
“Eren! Look through her bag, I’ll keep her here..†Taven shouted at Eren. Although it was clear that Eren wasn’t completely on-board with Taven’s plan, he meekly obeyed and started to scavenge through Kisha’s shoulderbag. Kisha looked on as she was powerless to stop it.
“See Kisha..if you do not share, we’ll just take it from you. A good lesson hmm..?†Taven taunted at her once more but instead of just holding her down, she could feel his hand reaching down the inside of her tunic and resting on her bare back.
“You bloody bastard, let me go!†Kisha shouted from the top of her lungs as she started to squirm with all her power to get free of Taven’s hold as she could feel his hand touching more of her lower back.
Whatever Kisha tried to do physically didn’t work, he was just too strong. However, he wasn’t as smart. Finally realizing that she was not going to stop this by fighting the ordinary way, Kisha lunged up her left arm at a bookcase standing towards her right. The wood started to crackle under her spell as a large section of it broke free and smacked with a sickening crack against Taven’s head, making him fall backwards. Eren dropped Kisha’s bag with a shriek and saw this as the perfect reason to flee away from the library, leaving just Kisha and an injured Taven alone.
“Let that be..a lesson, you bloody pervert.†Kisha gasped as she stroked over her sore neck and chest after being physically assaulted.
Taven could only be heard groaning on the floor. Kisha could have left it at that, but the rare occurrence of adrenaline coursing through her veins had a profound affect on her conscience. She was angry, he had to pay for assaulting her! Grabbing the wooden baton from the ground, Kisha started to uncontrollably slam it against Taven’s body who still lay on the ground who was unable to defend himself against her smacks. A red haze formed in front of her eyes as the library started to fill with the sound of agonizing screams: Kisha throwing profanities at Taven while Taven shouted loudly as several bones in his body were broken by Kisha’s unrelenting fury.
“GODS! Stop this madness!†Kisha dropped the baton from her hands in shock as she heard a familiar voice, that of the headmistress of the college who had come rushing up to the library along with several of the teachers. The red haze dissipated from her eyes, leaving only her dark grey hands being covered with Taven’s blood. She stammered in a quiet voice.
“...Mother, forgive me..â€
