In the depths of a restless slumber, Leo found himself in memories he mourned. A library down the street where only ash now remained. A delicate warmth in the sheets that now hold a numbing absence.
As he sank deeper and deeper into his dreams, his mind opened to its deepest, forgotten corners. Images flashed in his mind that held no sense yet carried a strange familiarity.
A black flame consuming a landscape of golden sands. Figures sealing him in chains. Hundreds of chains. A man with a large, open book for a face watches from a distance, draped in a tattered, brown cloak.
An armor-clad woman with long, silver hair is pinned down as she raises her head to him. Tears in her pitch black irises.
Her silent lips read, "I'm sorry."
Ear-splitting lightning had thrown Leo out of his sleep, causing him to sit up and catch his breath. He took the silk sheets and wiped the sweat off his olive musculature.
Using his fingers to comb his jet black hair out of his face, he turned to his rustic, copper table clock. His eyes widened as he read the time, hoping the grogginess was deceiving him.
"A quarter past four?!" He yelled out to the empty apartment as he stammered out of his bed to get dressed.
Hopping on one foot into brown-grey silky pants and nearly falling in the process, Leo buckled his dark leather belt before slipping his feet into polished black shoes with tightly laced panels.
Making his way to the bathroom, he straightened a white button up shirt. His position as a professor had called for some sort of dress code. Although the code wasn't all that strict, he still preferred to be well-dressed.
He stood before the mirror for some moments, fumbling with a black tie around his collar.
He stared into his amber eyes while feeling the stubble across his jaw with his fingers before snapping out of the momentary trance.
After brushing his teeth for perhaps not long enough, he threw on a black trench coat that rested a bit above his knees.
Fastening the lower buttons and leaving the top part open, Leo rushed out the door, down the stairs, and out of the apartment building.
He wouldn't be too terribly late as his classes began at five in the morning, but the train wasn't too fast either.
Just as Leo thought his morning couldn't have gotten any worse, he had forgotten his umbrella. Jogging through the rain, Leo's path was dimly lit by the burnt orange hue of the old, flickering street lights above.
The tightly knit walkways and railways mix with the compact apartments and establishments, weaving together a city built towards efficiency with a sort of gothic architecture to it. Augustine wasn't a very pretty city, but it was much better to be inside the walls then out.
Leo had finally found himself at the train station. The line leading into the passenger car felt as though it were stretching, Leo frantically glancing between the railway clock and back to the line while the rain continued to drizzle down on him, soaking his hair.
Moments later, Leo sighed in relief, having finally made it into the car. He combed the damp hair out of his chiseled face, causing a few passengers to look in his direction.
He let out a grunt as he sat himself beside a window, falling into a state of deep thought as he fixated on the sounds of heavy rain.
As the train moved, a sense of anxiety slipped into his mind as he began to calculate the expenses that were due that week—A topic that he had been trying to not think too much about.
His daughter Maria's hospital bills were bleeding his wallet dry. He would need to make about one-hundred and ten notes by that Sunday to cover everything. Far more than even the most accomplished professors could afford.
He had about ninety notes saved up, but wages as a combat professor only paid around one dein and a rook per hour. He pulled his wallet out, opening it to count his coins.
He took the smallest pieces—pence—counting ten of them. This made one rook. Doing the same with ten rooks, he counted one dein worth of rooks.
He saw that with about four deins worth of coins, he'd need one more to total it into a single note.
It was already Wednesday, his heart tightening as he realized he would need to sell off something else.
This feeling of hopelessness had subsided as he thought of Maria. Her long, straight hair as black as his own. Her amber eyes looking at him with a usual cold indifference yet holding a warmth only for him. He could just imagine her scolding him for picking up more hours again.
A younger woman with strawberry blonde hair had taken the seat next to him and occasionally stole glances at the taller gentleman, far too nervous to speak. Rachel Heizer.
Leo snapped out of his daze as he quickly gazed over with an expression of pleasant surprise.
"Ms. Heizer," he said with a small smile. The dark circles under his eyes betray his attempt to seem at ease.
She hesitated before stuttering out, "Good morning, Mr. Morwyn. You seem restless, dear. Is everything okay?"
Leo leaned his head back on the seat and sighed as his cover was blown. He didn't enjoy the consolation of others when it came to his hardships. It felt like pity to him.
"Just… expenses."
She acknowledged this as she looked back down to her lap, thumbs fidgeting. He had already turned back to the window, watching the buildings fly by.
She seemed as though she was going to speak once more but gave up on that effort before she could.
Close to forty minutes later, the train arrived in the north-east section of Augustine.
Leo stood up after his colleague with a stretch and made his way through the crowded car, reaching the dry bricks of the pavement outside.
It seemed that the rain hadn't reached here yet. For a moment, he let himself believe it never would. But storms always find their way to every corner.
Leo straightened his tie and coat as he approached the expansive grounds of the Augustine Reveur Academy.
Large, towering walls separated the school from the outside world. Two golden rectangles of cloth hung parallel to each side of the massive gate, swaying from the upcoming storm. Each bore the design of a single black leaf, woven into its center—the Augustinian flags.
His forgiving nature had gotten him quite the positive reputation among the students. Especially when said nature reflected in his grading.
Sliding through the bustle of the populous halls and luckily only twenty or so minutes late, opposed to the usual hour, Leo was met with several glances as he entered his expansive classroom.
There was clearly another, larger reason why he was so popular amongst the students and faculty, but he refused to acknowledge this.
The rows of idle conversation among the students died down as he fixed his coat onto the hanger.
Small whispers could be heard from around the class.
"Are you serious? That's our teacher?"
"Yes! Didn't I tell you? Enrolling was totally worth it."
"Do you think he'd let me suck on his chest if I paid him enough?"
"What…?"
He got to his desk and looked around, trying to find the enthusiasm for moments. A warm smile grew on his face as he began his morning roll call.
Some time later, he had taken up his white chalk and turned to the large blackboard behind him.
Just now though, he realized he forgot to plan a new lesson the night before. He brushed this off as he thought of a suitable excuse.
"Seeing as some of you are new to this class, we'll be reviewing today. Somnia, usually shortened as 'Som', means…?" He said with a questioning tone, turning to his class to see who's hand was the highest.
He ultimately pointed at a student with dark brown hair kept in a braid that slouched over her right shoulder. In a light voice she spoke up,
"Somnia is the energy that very few people are able to produce within an incorporeal second heart. The Eidcore, to be exact."
Leo nodded. "Very good, Emilia. As you all know, those born with an Eidcore are referred to as Reveurs. Can someone tell me what Reveurs can do with Som?"
Quite a bit of hands shot up, leaving Leo a bit overwhelmed of who exactly to choose.
As he scanned across the rows and rows of students, his eyes landed on a young boy whose eyes lingered on the window.
Leo spoke up to the back row, "Desmond. What is the most literal function of Som?"
The kid had flinched as he looked around and down at his professor. He hesitated for a few moments as his mind found itself back in its body.
"Well it… uhm. Sorry sir. I don't know."
Some students chuckled quietly as the kid shrunk in on himself. Leo waved a dismissive hand at the snickering.
"That's enough. Don't worry about them, Desmond," Leo reassured before turning back to the blackboard to illustrate his words.
"Som as an energy allows its users to manifest their ambitions and dreams into our physical world."
He began to draw a large circle to represent an Eidcore.
"The ability to manifest Som is rooted within Arts. These are engravings carved upon the Eidcore through months—sometimes years—of training. These grooves act as a sort of circuit to guide the Som to a preferred form or spell,"
He explained to the class as he continued his drawn example, sketching strange markings within the circle to represent the Arts.
He turned back to the class before continuing, "Along with this you have affinities—the specific form of element your Som takes form of, dictated by your blood. Some common affinities you may see are…" He trailed off as he wrote down a large list of words.
From top to bottom, the list read as: Ignis, Aqua, Terra, Gust, Frigus, Tempus.
He pointed to each word as he clarified, "The elements of flame, water, earth, wind, frost, and storms. In that order."
"Of course there's many other affinities and lessons that we could branch off to, like the usage of channeling to enhance one's physical body, but what fun would that be without a physical demonstration?"
The class seemed to beam with excitement as he said this. Many students would say that Prof. Morwyn's physical demonstrations were the best part of school. Maybe even on par with lunch.
He continued, "In my experience as a fairly accomplished Reveur, the key to bringing forth your Som is remembering why exactly you're using it in the first place. What drives you? Is it to make your parents proud? Is it to help others? And once you've got a clear answer…"
He held his palm out and thought about Maria for some moments. He could feel the engravings within his Eidcore fill up with that familiar, surreal sensation of reality itself warping and twisting within himself.
A brilliant orange-red flame bursted into existence from atop his palm, about the size of a baseball.
The class broke into an applaud of impressed claps. The act of manifestation wasn't too spectacular, more so the sheer clarity that only Prof. Morwyn could produce. A testament to his skill.
After about twenty more minutes of miscellaneous lessons regarding manifestation, the bell had rung.
The mood of the students began to simmer down as they'd have to move on to their next classes. A class where he wasn't the professor.
Many handshakes later, Leo found himself in the empty room that seemed even more spacious now.
He wouldn't have any classes for the next two hours, so he could take the opportunity to catch up on some work.
Locking the door and flicking the lights off, Leo sat back down at his table, flicking on a dim desk lamp. He let out an exasperated exhale after examining just how large the pile of unread papers were.
As he began to scan through the first document, he froze. His eyes wandered to a framed picture on his desk. Any recognizable emotion had left his face.
After some hesitation, he reached over and took the picture. His remaining hand wiped its dusty surface with a thumb.
The colorless picture displayed a younger Leo in an older set of clothes. Beside him, a tall, beautiful woman with long, kept hair.
Even without color, he could imagine the brilliance of her ocean blue eyes. The softness of her chestnut brown locks. She wasn't too extravagant in most eyes, but simply unbelievable in his own.
"Charlotte," he whispered to himself.
He clicked the desk lamp off, letting the room fill with that early morning blue. With the frame pressed against his chest, he slouched and gazed at the window.
Occasional droplets slowly appeared on the window until the shower became heavier. The drumming of the rain outside had made for an ambience of comfortable noise.
It seemed despite his wishes…
The rain had caught up with him.