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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Great Hall, during the New Arrivals Kuffufle That first glance into the room during Lorenta's speech was the last Blaine saw of Letheia. He tried to hurry up and down a few aisles to look for her, but the servers rushed in at Professor Wiccapee's order, and it was all bhe could do to find an empty seat so he wouldn't have to skip breakfast. Oh, he was SO dead. He'd promised to sit with her! He'd be lucky if she just smacked him with that staff of hers. Breakfast was dull. In his haste he'd picked a table crowded mostly by Intermediates, whose conversation either went way over his head - not that he'd admit that out loud - or was just plain boring. Who /cared/ of Emelia Lineheart noticed someone? What did it matter if Headmistriss Lorenta decided to give her classes early in the morning? Emelia was always so crabby, anyway. She'd yelled at him the other day for being in her way - all the way across the room. Who'd /want/ to be noticed by her? "So what's with dimensional theory, anyway? I was /in/ that class last semester, and it didn't seem dangerous at all." Blaine's ears perked. The boy next to him shrugged, spearing a sausage from the serving plate and talking around it as he chewed. "Yeah, I was supposed to take it this semester, but if I can't even try it out..." "Doesn't matter, does it?" said the girl across from him, pointedly /not/ talking around her food. She was kind of pretty, with straight dark hair and blue eyes, and a slight accent. "Even if they did let you practice, you can't use it outside of school. It's restricted everywhere." "Seriously?" Blaine turned his attention back to eating. He didn't know much about dimensional theory; only that it was part of the theology department, and his mother was set on making him choose a major there instead of in combat, like he'd hoped. She'd change her mind if she could see how useful it could be! He'd be able to blast racoons at fifty yards! "Still. If you can't use it anyway, why are they restricting it?" the boy next to him asked. He looked kind of like the girl, with the same odd accent. "I wish they'd give us a reason. I was really looking forward to that..." The girl shrugged. "I heard someone got hurt. The teachers are being tight-lipped about it." "How can you get hurt in a /dream/?" No one seemed to have an answer for that, Blaine least of all. It was magic - weird things happened with magic. If he could blast racoons and heal wounds, maybe a person could be hurt by a dream, too. "Attention!" It was Professor Wiccapee again, calling for attention. She had to try a few more times before the hall quieted. "Students! Students! We will soon begin pairing everyone off now. Could you all separate into your respective years... starting at this pole I'd like to have all First Year Primaries, and then Second, and so on, all the way around the hall!" Yes! Finally! Blaine dropped his fork and slid out of his seat, surrounded at once by Intermediates who were much taller. He rolled his eyes and tried to push his way toward the direction the Professor had pointed, and hoped he'd find his grade level. He'd have to sooner or later. And now, at least, Lethe couldn't kick him. Yet. As soon as they were out of the sight of teachers... Blaine sighed, found the line he was supposed to stand with, and tried to hide behind behind a few of the other students. Maybe she wouldn't notice him. |