A Journey Unwanted

"Lucinda got detention!"

"For real!?"

"Yeah, but that's not even the crazy part. I heard she had a late rendezvous with a boy!".

"You're screwing with me, Lady Lucinda? Impossible."

"It's the truth, man."

"No, not my Lucinda!"

"Calm down, man!"

The academy was in uproar, with some seeing it as unjust for Lucinda of all people to be suffering detention. Even when they did not know the full situation, they still believed it was unfair. Though the majority of the student body was much more focused on the fact that their dear sweet Lady Lucinda had a late-night rendezvous with some random rat, It was inconceivable. It was impossible. And it was simply unforgivable and unfathomable that there was a chance that Lady Lucinda had someone in her life who held a deep value to her.

The boys seethed that day as they used every bit of resources to figure out who this punk was that would dare sully the great Lady Lucinda and her perfect image. The bastard would pay, and each and every boy and some girls' would make sure of that. Lucinda was an angel that should never be tainted; she might as well have been the face of the entire Kingdom of Galadriel. And some punk comes along and thinks to sully her? Not on their watch.

"Good God, what a shit fest." An extremely bored Mikoto murmured as he tried to not doze off at the lesson of Professor Gregory. He noticed a glance from his seatmate.

"Then why not simply leave?" Agatha bluntly asked, and Mikoto turned to the girl with a raised brow hidden behind his mask.

"Eh, I'd get more detention." He said it with a shrug.

"More than you already have for meeting up with the spawn of Octavia?" She questioned.

"Yup. Hold on, how do you even know about that?" He asked, Professor Ass hat Gregory had been keeping it under wraps from what he knew. Sure, people knew Lucinda got detention due to meeting up with someone, but that is all.

"I have my sources." The girl merely mysteriously answered.

"Uh-huh." She had been quite talkative lately. Why? He had no idea, but he indulged her; she was decent company to keep him from getting bored in Professor Gregory's history class. "Say, you've been talking to me a lot lately."

"And? What of it?"

"Any reason for that?" He asked as he glanced at the blonde.

"Do I need a reason to converse?" She merely shot back a question of her own as he shrugged.

"Guess not; just find it odd. You don't seem as outgoing as your brother." He stated that he did not miss how her eyes narrowed at the comparison; it seems that it would be wise to just change the subject. Luckily, the two sat at the back of the class so they could converse to their hearts content. "Anyway, I noticed you sit alone a lot."

"And how would you notice such a thing?" She questioned

"I just see you around sometimes; I just find it surprising considering you're so famous." Mikoto spoke, giving his thoughts. Agatha was pretty popular; everywhere she looked, there were students gawking and pointing. Though it still paled in comparison to Lucinda, hell, even the Princess did not seem as well liked as his fellow spawn of Octavia.

"Fame is nothing. Most fear me." She murmured with a ghost of a smirk. "Ironic considering who's spawn I am."

("Right, even the princess isn't feared as much. Wonder why that is, though?")

"Then you want to hang out with me?" He asked. Sure, he was not really a social butterfly, but it never hurts to make friends. She seemed momentarily surprised by his offer, but she quickly composed herself.

"I..I'll have to refuse." She seemed hesitant to speak those words, but Mikoto just shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He merely murmured with a shrug. If he had to hazard a guess, it most likely had something to do with her brother being in his little friend group.

"Mr. Yukio Is my lesson boring you?" Suddenly he heard the loud voice of Professor Gregory directed his way, and immediately all eyes turned to him. Most were filled with expectations for another verbal battle between the two.

"And why would you say that, Professor?" He merely questioned him cluelessly.

"Do not play with me, boy." His eye's narrowed into a glare. "Though I suppose you do not have enough detention, shall I add another week?" He threatened.

"Now why would you go and do that?" He asked with the same clueless tone. Others could not see it, but he was hiding a shit-eating grin upon noticing the apparent veins bulging on the man's head.

"Very well, another week's worth of detention shall be added." Professor Gregory stated with a cold glare. "And I expect a five-page essay on why you should respect your superiors. I expect it tomorrow." Various whispers began about how Mikoto Yukio once again managed to piss off Professor Gregory with so little effort. It was a ritual that whenever Professor Gregory came to give class, Mikoto would not pay attention to the lesson. It was history; some things were interesting, but when Professor Gregory was the teacher, well, then everything was such a bore. So for the duration of his lessons, Mikoto merely stared out the window or slept, which got him a heap of detention.

But it was funny how only he was signaled out and not Agatha, but barring that...

("Yeah, I'm not doing any damn essay.") He rarely went to the detention room anyway; he just liked pissing off Professor Gregory.

"That's so harsh, sir." Mikoto finally spoke. "And I haven't even done anything. I paid attention to your lesson, honest." Professor Gregory merely glared at the masked boy as he spoke.

"Then you would not mind revising what I just went over?" The man challenged as Mikoto smirked.

"Well, of course. Demons invaded the human realm; something, something; the hero Azael killed some chump demons; something, something... Yeah, that's all I got." Snickering filled the classroom, and he even saw Agatha crack a smile, but soon all was quiet as Professor Gregory's cold glare swepped through the classroom.

"Another week's detention." The professor bluntly stated.

____________________

"That's the bastard! That's him!"

"For real, the mask weirdo?"

"I heard he pissed off Professor Gregory again."

"Guy's got balls of steel."

"He's going to have no balls if he dared to meet up with Lady Lucinda!"

"Wouldn't bother; I heard the guy lasted a whole few minutes against the Princess."

"He's good with magic too, I heard."

"I heard he's friends with that failure, William, though."

"That guy? Guy's got crappy taste in friend's."

"It seems I'm quite popular." Mikoto murmured to himself as he moved through the vast hallways of Luminare Academy and past the various glancing and whispering students. It seems merely openly pissing off Professor Gregory was already cause for attention; that attention was further amplified by his very short scuffle with the princess, which seemed quite exaggerated. Then there was the most recent one, his supposed late rendezvous with Lucinda.

Apparently, most did not bother to gain even a modicum of real information. They just heard rumors of Lucinda apparently meeting up with someone, and they went crazy. Apparently it was so unthinkable that their Goddess should be tainted so, but Mikoto did not care. It would all pass eventually. Kids liked gossiping, but eventually they would get bored of the same old subject.

But something else he did take note of was the mention of William. It seems the boy was seen as a failure for whatever reason; he did not know why. He should be a spawn of the Goddess Isadora, which should garner him respect passively. But it was not any of his business; he had detention to attend, though maybe it would not be boring with Lucinda there. Unfortunately, Ruby and William no longer had detention, so he could not hang out with them for a while.

"You there! I demand you stop at once!" He suddenly heard a loud voice directed his way from behind, so stopping, Mikoto turned around to see a seething boy.

"What? You talking to me?" Mikoto questioned.

"Yes, you commoner cur!" The one who directed the insult was a rather tall boy dressed in the standard male uniform. All that stood out about him was that he was tall and moderately handsome, with green eyes and raven hair perfectly styled. "I demand a dule!" He announced, and of course this gained much attention from the student populace, as it did not take much to gain their attention.

"Holy, Isaac is challenging him!"

"This is gonna be good!"

"Maybe Isaac can teach this weirdo a lesson."

"By the God's, I hope so."

It seems mixed in the crowd; many were praying for his downfall, yet Mikoto just shrugged it off.

"So, why do you want to duel?" Mikoto merely questioned the boy, ignoring his earlier insult.

"You have dared to sully Lady Lucinda! I will not let that stand; a cur like you has no right to be in her presence." Isaac declared. "I shall duel with you right here and now to reclaim the chastity that was stolen."

"Uh-huh." It seems Isaac was another victim of the exaggerated rumors surrounding Lucinda and himself. Honestly, he really did not know how those rumors had even spread—was it Professor Gregory by any chance? That man was the only one that knew, and he just might be petty enough to want to make Mikoto's life hell with exaggerated rumors. Well, it did not really matter, but still, this was somewhat troublesome.

"What? Too scared to speak, peasant?" Isaac taunted, but Mikoto merely ignored the boy as he pondered.

("This guy probably won't be the first to challenge me, huh. This is going to turn into a real pain.") He thought of accepting the duel and just brutalizing the boy. He could easily tell a person's magical prowess from observing their mana signature. His was a transparent lime green that engulfed his form; it was neither dense enough nor big enough. He could probably only draw out about 20% of his mana reserves, and his signature was so thin and weak that he could probably only manage Tier 2 spells. Yet here he was, being so cocky. It could be possible that he was spawn, Familial Arts were powerful but did not take much mana to activate.

His hubris could also stem from him not taking the rumors about him lasting so long against the Princess seriously. Though he supposed that did not matter, as he prepared to accept the duel, he was stopped by a third voice.

"My, my, this simply will not be do." From the students that had gathered around due to the commotion of Isaac, whispering suddenly engulfed the hallways as Mikoto heard footsteps behind him before he noticed someone stop besides. Those ojou ringlest...

"Victoria?" He remembered meeting the girl back at the café in the capital city a while ago. Fiona did not seem to like the girl one bit, but it was kind of hard to forget her due to her elaborate hairstyle.

"Oh, I am so flattered, you remember, dear Mikoto." Victoria glanced his way with a smile adorning her doll-like face.

"Holy shit, this guy knows Lady Victoria too?"

"What sorcery is this!?"

"What a lucky bastard..."

"Just who is this guy?" Various murmurs engulfed the hallways as people commented on the appearance of Victoria. Like most she seemed popular; though a lot of Academy student's were popular so maybe that was not surprising.

("I didn't even know she went to this academy.") Well, most of his time was spent in detention, so he could hardly be blamed.

"L-lady Victoria What are you doing here?" Isaac was bewildered as Victoria merely smirked.

"Well, you're trying to pick a fight with a dear friend of mine." She started, and the murmuring from the surrounding students once again began, but Mikoto just ignored all of the whispering.

("Friend huh? What's she playing at?") He could not help but question

"I-I did not know he was an acquaintance; forgive me, lady Victoria." Isaac seemed strangely pale and fearful, for whatever reason.

"Oh? But now you do." The girl stated it matter-of-factly. "But I'm fearful you will try this again when I turn a blind eye."

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Isaac quickly defended.

"That is great to hear, little Isaac." The girl gave a eerie close-eyed smile. "Now please do get out of my sight." Isaac did not say another word as he all but bolted away, fearful for whatever reason.

"Thanks." Though he really had no need for any kind of help, he should still show his gratitude. Victoria had saved him some trouble with driving Isaac away; a duel would have been a pain, no matter how easy it might have been.

"Oh, think nothing of it, dear Mikoto." She waved it off. "I was merely helping a 'friend' after all, but come walk with me." She gestured for him to follow, so shrugging, he obliged as he walked beside her, ignoring the various murmuring students around her who kept glancing their way.

"So why did you step in?" He could not help but ask.

"I merely wanted to converse, and little Isaac was in the way." She curtly answered.

"Uh-huh, so what could you want from me?" Mikoto questioned.

"Oh, nothing much. I just find you interesting." She admitted it with a smile.

"And why's that?"

"Who knows?" She merely said with a smirk.

"Is it because of the mask?" He asked as he tapped on the eerie, grinning face of said mask.

"Mayhap, it is a magical object, correct?" She deduced, and he merely nodded; it was not as if he needed to hide said fact. Anyone could easily spot out that the mask was a magical object. But her next words did surprise him. "To change one's outer appearance."

"You're able to tell that much with a glance?" He was slightly bewildered.

"A trait of being the spawn of the God Almeric." Almeric, the God of Alchemy and Knowledge, that certainly explained why she seemed to deduce the function of his mask with just a single glance. But still, he really only knew of a few Gods and Goddesses; he might need to brush up on the lore of this world more.

"I see, that sounds like a neat trick." He started with a murmur before he continued. "But why are you talking to me, really? I doubt I'm that interesting."

"You underestimate yourself, Mikoto." The girl merely stated "Most talk around the academy concerns you; talk of how you fought the princess and survived; talk of how you constantly stand up against Professor Gregory. And of course, more recent talks concern you and the ever-radiant Lucinda, the spawn of the great Goddess Octavia. The girl, despite her smiles, is very reclusive, so to meet up with someone here is quite interesting." She informed.

"Rumors all. And they're exaggerated too; I really am not interesting. Just an average boy." He clarified with a shrug. Victoria merely stared at him with an unreadable expression on her face as she hummed.

"Somehow I doubt that." She mumbled