Chapter Text
Eiden clicked his tongue, magical pen at the ready against his would-be assaulters. Ever since the events that might as well have led to the end of the world– Er, twice actually, there’d been some sort of vendetta against Night Raven College.
An increased fear against mages in general due to the power they wielded– It certainly wasn’t helped much by the many overblots that had been covered up by the school, which had been revealed to the public.
And if you didn’t count the Shroud siblings nearly unleashing Phantoms hundreds of years old to wreak havoc on the world, then you’d definitely at least have to count Malleus Draconia, one of the top five most powerful mages, overblotting and creating a large field that put everyone to sleep. It’d been slowly expanding too, so it could’ve covered the entire world if the students hadn’t woken themselves up and beat some sense into him.
Unfortunately considering the people high up who had to get involved to get people to evacuate and monitor the very risky situation… Yeah it wasn’t like they could just sweep it under the rug.
Himself? Why he was of the mindful Scarabia, a junior the year it seemed everything was going wrong at once. Well, he’d been 19 then, having joined a year late for.. reasons.
It's been 4 years since then. Night Raven College still existed, albeit facing a large amount of criticism. Whether it was for failing to take care of its students to where several faced experiences where by all accounts should have died, whether it was for raising delinquents and monsters to later unleash upon the world… Not good.
Everyone who’d been there kept in contact with each other. Nobody wanted anyone to go out alone so there were buddy systems. It was just that it was rough for people who didn’t live near friends, and it was strongly implied that they wanted to prioritize protecting the younger ones since the others could take care of themselves.
It was fair since some of them had been only 16 or 17 when everyone’s eyes were on them, and it was still rough to this day.
People in higher positions were protected (although some of them were in shaky positions), such as Leona Kingscholar, second prince of the Sunset Savanna. Or Kalim Al-Asim, beloved by the population of the Scalding Sands.
Eiden though? Eiden was merely an orphan. His only connections came from his former classmates, and even then it was shaky.
‘Vil Schoenheit, famous and renowned actor— a real life villain?’ Poor guy. He was type casted into villains all the time, and the one time he breaks and overblots (Eiden figured that instead of threats, they should be seen as victims.) his career ends then and there.
People were working on making it better, but Eiden couldn’t help but wonder if by the time they can finally go back to their livelihoods, they won’t live to see it. After all, a fae’s lifespan is so long lasting that a mere human’s life can pass in an instant without their notice. With such a different grasp on time.
Man, this sucked.
The people rushed at him all at once, and he did his best to dodge them but it was rough in a cramped place like an alleyway.
“Ack!” His pen was slapped out of his hand– There went his safety net.
Eiden hopped back raising his hands, “Now, now boys, can’t you see you’ve got me helpless now? We can just talk it out now can’t we?”
It unfortunately did not seem to be pacifying anyone.
“You freaks of nature!” One spat.
His nervous smile turned into a pout, “How mean!” Last he checked he was just as human as they were.
Well, if you don’t make an attempt, then there’ll be a zero chance no matter what. But if you try…
He fluttered his eyes, making himself seem demure as he seemingly tried to hide himself from their eyes, “W-What are you gonna do to me..?”
Hook.
A darkness grew within their eyes and he could feel nothing but disgust.
Eiden placed his hand on his chest, feeling it stutter a little at the feeling of his necklace underneath his shirt.
“Won’t you let go just this once?” He started, eyes glowing the same color as the stone on his necklace– (The necklace that’d been found on him when he was left at the orphanage.) cycling through the rainbow.
“Give into temptation and time will pass in the blink of an eye.”
Line.
[Forbidden Knowledge from a Divine Tree]
“『Apple of Eden』”
Sinker.
The drain on his magic felt heavy. It was only natural. Without his magical pen, the blot had nowhere else to go. It was toxic, greedily devouring any piece of magic it comes in contact with.
His opponents faces turned flushed, breathing heavily as they stood still.
Eiden walked over to them, careful to not look downwards for any reason (lest he gag and accidentally break the spell too early), leaning in close to an open ear, “Why don’t you turn right back around and pretend you never saw me? I’ll give you a reward if you do~”
He was lying. His unique magic only worked if someone was even a little attracted to him, otherwise nothing. It felt nauseating even thinking about what they could’ve done if they’d caught him off guard with the fact that they were attracted to him .
It could persuade someone to do things they normally wouldn’t do. He describes it that way even though it was similar Jamil’s unique magic which controlled another person, because it was hardly as effective if he didn’t tempt them into doing it. If he didn’t give them a reason, usually something sexual in nature considering his unique magic also could make someone.. aroused. Now it could be interpreted as something like a high, a pleasure (not the sexual kind) but unfortunately a lot of people around him just had to be horny.
..Not like he could really say anything or he’d be a hypocrite in that department.
The older man nodded eagerly before walking away to somewhere he couldn’t care to know about. Soon the others followed suit as well.
Jeez..
..Wait, where was his magic pen?
Thump. Thump. Thump.
(..This.. essence..)
His heart suddenly started beating so loudly it felt like he could hear it in his ears. His breathing sped up as it felt like he was both heating up and absolutely freezing , his mind feeling endlessly dizzy.
“Agh..”
Eiden’s hand clutched at his chest, feeling the firm stone within his hand that seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat.
A bright light hit his vision and then nothing.
He woke up burning inside, his head spinning a little to where he figured it was better to try not to get up at the moment.
Slowly he registered the way too soft bed cover and blanket, the pillow , feeling of a stupidly high quality. His eyes met the richly reddish pink colored canopy over the bed.
Where..? ..It looked so very fancy. Like maybe the kind of thing seen in Pomefiore, if pink.
Eiden could hear voices he didn’t recognize. ..??? Was he kidnapped???
Eyes focused on a short pink-haired figure with pointed ears. ..A fae? And a taller person with purple hair and also fae-like ears, with smaller pink horns atop their head.
Pretty. But people didn’t get pretty privileges with Eiden.
Annoyance brewed within his gut the more they argued with each other until he finally gave up on trying to see if they’d say anything of value, “Quiet down!” Fuck, he might have a headache.
Both of them were startled.
..And then they were saying something about sucking him off and hypnotizing him?
“That’s only gonna piss me off more!”
The two apologized immediately.
Eiden made a face at them as he finally felt settled enough at least to sit up a little, to which he did.
Now that he was less high strung, he started noticing more– Like how he felt like he was being boiled alive, arousal thrumming under his skin eagerly as if to do anything else would make him die.
Fuck, what was it? Being in a room with two attractive guys? Usually he could restrain himself.
..
(His… Essence…)
Essence? …? ..What..?
In particular, it felt worse with the gemstone pressed against his skin, as if amplifying its effects.
The two men were talking again, “He might be from Master’s bloodline. One of his long lost descendants or something.”
..And then something about a ceremony?
His ears rang all of a sudden and he collapsed back into the bed. Comfy but not an ideal thing to do.
It seemed to spark some concern for him before they started saying something about.. Essence. ..That word. It feels important. Why?
The pink-haired one was identified as Aster, and the purple-haired one was identified as Morvay.
..Was there something wrong with him? What if he was going to die? Seriously, after everything this is what takes him down?
….
They did sexual stuff and somehow it made him feel better. ..Well, he’d done more for less if he was being real.
(They had paused briefly when they saw the gemstone on his necklace however. ..What was it?)
Something about essence regulation? That was.. Good to know. (They were calling him ‘Master’ now too.)
“I’m gonna go on a walk!” He confidently chirped out before awkwardly slipping out of the room and into a place he didn’t recognize at all.
..Eiden had heard it while he kinda felt a little delirious so it didn’t feel real, but another world, huh? Well he sure was hoping nothing bad happened during his indefinite stay here like how everything suddenly came to a head the year Yuu arrived.
Suddenly he heard a large growl from a purple.. Beast.. Thing? And a horn like a unicorn’s. ???
It charged at him and on instinct he powered up his magic, creating a gust of wind strong enough to push it back while being mindful of the surroundings lest he, hah, break a billion thaumark chandelier.
Focus, visualize it and keep a steady control over the wind…
The biggest threat it faced to him was if it was too close. Otherwise it wouldn’t be able to get a hit in so he just needed it to be far away enough that he could act if it decided to move again..
He heard the voices of the two he had met earlier calling out, and he would’ve done.. Well he wasn’t sure what he’d do when it felt like there was a loud pounding on his chest.
Eiden stumbled a little, hand clutching at the source and pulling it into view– The gemstone. His eyes felt drawn to it, mesmerized, until he noticed the inky stain. This was a magestone?
..He needed to be careful. At least until he could find an alternative. Whether it be his magic pen, or something like a magestone.
It’d go away with proper rest and care, but.. It’d felt unrefined. It wasn’t that he was making more blot than usual, but that the gemstone hadn’t been carefully carved and cultivated to hold blot with as much efficiency as possible. It was powerful for sure, yet with its jagged lines and sharp edges, it felt like it would be harder for it to take in as much blot as it could so some stayed with him while some went to it.
..And at the same time, it was impacted so much easier. ..Something told him that he should be careful not to get too much blot on it. ..Now letting blot (a waste product basically) stay within him was hardly an optimal solution, but it was the best he was gonna get until then.
With the gemstone now on top of his shirt instead of under, its effects felt lessened. Conjuring a small flame, it didn’t seem to affect the gemstone at all. Maybe it would if he produced it in larger quantities but the last thing he wanted to do was overblot. There was no convenient prefect to save his life after all.
His eyes refocused on the world around him, and he saw Aster and Morvay chatting while near the beast.. ..Perhaps a pet then?
Eiden exhaled slowly, making his shoulders untense. It felt weird to magic things from his hand instead of a sort of focus within his hand, an extension of it in fact– But he knew the students from RSA used brooches. (There is of course the rivalry between NRC and RSA– ..But when it mattered, RSA did their best to keep NRC from the crossfire, even getting hurt in their place. To him, that meant plenty.)
Until then, it seemed like those two, Aster and Morvay, would be his key to navigating this world.