Testing The Outcast

Once in his room, he fell onto his bed. The Outcast was nothing like the stories. Her hair was black, not red; her clothes were black to hide everything instead of sensual flaming reds and golds; her eyes were a light shade of turquoise and not the red he had expected; instead of a fiery beauty, she was plain; she was voiceless instead of having the lovely voice of a siren. What had she been thinking as he looked her over? Did he really care what she thought? She was born from the sins of her parents. What sins were those? How did she speak with Headmistress Caung? Did she know how to read and write? Rolling to his back, he covered his eyes with his arm. What did it all mean?

Saturday morning came and Vires usually gathered with the rest of the students in the dining hall to study. But Vires sat at the desk in his room, just behind the door. He heard a soft knock, but ignored it. The door swung open a little with a soft creak. He turned. The Outcast came in. She closed the door quietly behind her, not seeing him. Vires turned more and watched her clean up the dust. Her work left everything looking good while not leaving a trace of her presence.

"Outcast," he said.

She froze and turned. Her wore her sunglasses, despite being inside. She bowed respectfully and stepped towards the door. Vires stood and blocked her exit.

"Finish what you started," he said, arms crossed.

Turning, she worked until she was finished. She turned to the door again, but Vires hadn't moved.

"Is that it?"

The Outcast just stood.

"Answer the question, Outcast!"

Slowly she nodded and he let her out.

When he looked out into the hall to see where she was going, she was gone. Why had she come in? Was it really just to clean up the dust? She didn't look much older than he was, but stories of the Outcast had been going around long before his first year at BSM. He stood in the doorway of his room for several minutes. He couldn't see the anger. He couldn't see the hatred. He couldn't see the malice with her shades on. Even when he'd spoken her name, the tension in her frame was not tension caused by anger, but something much softer.

Why the dichotomy? He could feel in his heart that he still wanted to befriend her, but how? How could he befriend her without giving too much attention to what he was? Vires returned to his desk. He wrote out his questions. His observations of her. And what little Headmistress Caung had given him. There was more to her as an individual, but what was it? Did she really feel as angry, malicious, as she looked? Or was that a result of her parent's sins? Letting out a sigh of frustration, Vires turned back to his studies.

At dinner that night he ate his food, not really tasting it, as always. He left the dining hall and wandered out into the garden, instead of returning to his room. He walked to the fountain and stared at the water. Watched it flow from bowl to bowl, until it reached the base. He watched for several minutes then turned for his room. The Outcast's appearance returned to his mind. Her animal patch-worked skin and her turquoise eyes. Eyes that no one, save someone with a deep hatred, could posses.

He had felt himself reject what he had seen, and yet he couldn't help but wonder what she was like under all of that. He recalled the slight shift in her eyes when he had asked his question. She understood words enough to know what he had asked her. Was she okay that everyone rejected her? Had his persistence to understand, pushed her towards wanting to end her life as the Headmistress said? How much of the stories about her was true? What had her parents been trying to do? What was the sin she had to redeem them from? Was there anyway he could help her?

Vires changed his walking routine Monday morning. He walked past the windows overlooking the gardens first, instead of last, hoping to see her. But she was nowhere to be seen. After class he went to his room instead of the library. He left a small magic spell on his door handle to alert him to her presence while he took a nap. His door never opened. He left the spell in place while he was in class, hoping to get an idea of what time she came in, but the spell was never triggered. By the end of the week, he began to wonder why she wasn't coming. The dust was very noticeable.

He took the spell off the door handle then sat at his desk. He worked on his assignments. Focused on what he didn't quite understand. He pulled his testing device closer to answer the questions about what he was studying. He felt he was doing well until a question about The Peacemaker came up. A being just as confusing as The Outcast. He tried and tried and tried again without success to put the creation steps in order. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the screen.

He was so focused on the puzzling through the problem in front of him that he didn't hear The Outcast come in. He scrubbed his forehead before the sound of a shuffle behind him made him turn. The Outcast was working with more speed today, almost like she hoped to leave before he saw her. He left his desk and drew her hair back from her shoulders. She stiffened again, but did not shake with rage. So, what was she really feeling?

Vires drew a little more of her hair back. "Where have you been, Outcast? The room has gotten filthy."

She slowly set the last item back into place.

He stepped back and she headed for the door. He set his hand against the door as her hand rested on the door handle.

"There is something I want you to clarify for me," Vires said.

The Outcast kept her gaze on the door, but slowly released the door handle.

Vires motioned to the chair at the desk.

She stepped around him and hesitantly sat in the chair.

"I know you understand spoken language, but I want to know if you understand written language as well."

She kept her face in his direction, only turning it slightly when he set his testing device in front of her.

"All you need to do is put these sentences in order. Just touch them in the order you think they belong."

The Outcast stared at the device for some time before she lifted a shaking hand from her lap. She touched the third sentence and the bar turned green. Her fingers jerked as she extended them to touch the second sentence. Her hand didn't pause as she moved it down to select the fourth sentence. Vires furrowed his brow when the bar turned green. He glanced at her face. But the set of her mouth and her sunglasses made her difficult to read. The device chimed, letting him know she had answered the question correctly. The Outcast pushed away away from the desk. Vires stumbled back, unable to stop her from fleeing the room.

He caught himself then sat hard in the chair The Outcast had just vacated. How did she know the right order? She wasn't allowed to learn magic. Had she picked up magic over all the years she had been here? Vires shook his head. Headmistress Caung would never allow it. He turned to the device, but the screen had already changed to the next question. He set it down, still dumbfounded that she had gotten the question right. He knew now that she could read as well, but he figured that since he couldn't answer the magical question, she wouldn't have been able to either.

Vires rested his elbows on the desk with his forehead against his hands. The steps he had been struggling to put in order were only a few of the many steps that would allow him and his future wife to create a pure magic child. A child that the non-magic folk would call The Peacemaker. A process so powerful that the younger students were kept distracted by stories of The Outcast. And even then, he was only being given bits and pieces about The Peacemaker. Nothing he could connect. Nothing he could figure out on his own.

A sharp rapping on his door brought him from his thoughts. He stood and opened his door.

"H...Headmistress Caung, wha...?"

"Come with me," she interrupted.

He followed after her, not sure what kind of trouble he was in. All he knew was Headmistress Caung was not pleased.

"What did you think you were doing, Vires?" she exploded when they reached her office. "Do you have any idea what your test has done to The Outcast?!"

"…Was there something wrong in proving she is intelligent?" he hedged.

"No. It was the question you used to prove it!"

"The Outcast is nothing like The Peacemaker, so what of it?!"

"The Peacemaker has everything to do with The Outcast, Vires. And now because of your stupidity we'll have to keep a better watch on her, and hope the pain she will soon feel is not enough to push her over the edge!"

"Head...," Vires began.

"Silence! I will hear no more. You are to focus on your studies and stop setting traps for The Outcast. You are not to pursue her for any reason. If you see her, you are to completely ignore her or I will have you striped of your powers and removed from the school. Do I make myself clear?"

Vires clenched his jaw. "…Yes, Headmistress." He bowed respectfully then left the office.

Now he had even more questions. The Peacemaker has everything to do with The Outcast? How? Vires reread his texts, but the information was too general to understand—or even know—what specific things were necessary in creating The Peacemaker. He rubbed his eyes then picked up the testing device again. He might as well finish answering the questions. He answered several before another question about The Peacemaker came up. He read the steps listed. None of them were ones he had seen before. He stared at the screen for a long time.

"The Peacemaker has everything to do with The Outcast," he said quietly to himself.

Vires read through the steps once more. If he were to recreate The Outcast as she seemed to be on the inside…. He slowly and methodically made his selections and got it correct.

"That doesn't make sense," he said aloud to himself. "How can The Outcast be made using The Peacemaker's creation spell?" Vires stood to search the garden for The Outcast, but then sat down again and sighed. "If only…."