Knight of the Black Rose (25 page)

On the board behind him words appeared and books appeared in front of everyone and they all quickly pulled out their pens and started writing. "It might sound far fetched to some of you, even those from mixed families who haven't been completely informed. But, the majority of what you call supernatural beings, did or rather do come from other worlds. Though the reason why Earth has had so many sightings is because the people there are compatible with most of ours, as they're a mixed raced to begin with, capable of advancing to the levels that some of the other races have already achieved. At this school especially, there are students from all over the galaxy from hundreds of different worlds, and yes everyone may look human and normal, but most of these races learn to change their appearance so that they can pass among us unnoticed. And before you worry, it isn't to foul us, but to protect themselves. Here at Burnaby we ask you to keep an open mind, and not to judge a whole race because of the actions of one person or some fictional stories. Now, I'm sure that you all have a few questions, and I will be happy to answer them for you."

This time hands shot up straight away from both estates, it looked as though someone had finally gotten a topic that they wanted to talk about.

"Are vampires real?"

"What about werewolves?"

"Fairies?"

"Demons?"

"What type of monsters?"

"How many different types of aliens are there?"

"Okay, I'll answer those questions first before you shout out anymore," Prewitt told them as the board carried on writing down everything that was said. "In order. Yes, vampires are real; though there are several different kinds which you will learn about, not just in this class but in several others as well. Werewolves, or as the race itself is known, Lycanthropes are also real; though there are more than just wolves. Again, you will learn about Lycanthropes in this subject and in others. Fairies are also real, though their are many different kinds among their race that come under the heading of Fairy. Demons, there are races that are considered demon like, but they are not what you believe them to be. They're just normal people also, who can change their form, yes they're very strong but that's just how they've had to evolve on their worlds. The different races will be explained to you in more depth, but if you can't wait for those lessons, you can always check out the library and learn more yourselves. As I do encourage free thinking, and it will also help with the monthly projects. Other teachers might have already mentioned this as I know they do it in Potions and English, and in a few of the others. The projects help you to think for yourselves, give you something to achieve. You can choose a race this term, just one; then write a report on what you've found. They will be read out in class, so that you can share what you've learnt with your classmates. Err...considering this is your first project, if you like, you may work in pairs with the person beside of you; though I won't always allow this only on special assignments.

"Now, back to your questions. Monsters, that's a tricky question as we all consider different beings as being monsters, especially if we don't understand them. And aliens, there are hundreds of different races and sub-races. All of these races are to be treated with the same respect that you would want someone to treat you with, all because they are different doesn't mean that they are evil or unnatural beings."

"So vampires and demons are evil?"

"Are we allowed to be changed into them?"

"On whole the vampire and demon races aren't evil no, they're just different to others. Yes the Vampires do need to drink blood but that doesn't make them evil, just different; and there are of course people who are willing to be donors for them. Your question of are you allowed to be changed, yes; but there are many laws in place to keep you safe from that. If you wish to be changed, you need to apply to the official department in the government that handles that; this process takes quite a bit of time to go through the system. There is also an age limit of twenty-one years old."

"That isn't fair!"

"Actually it is. You are asking to be changed into something else, something that you probably couldn't possibly really understand. The change is for life, you will not be able to change your mind once it has taken affect; and there is no total guarantee that it will work. You have to been taken as close to death as possible, so that your DNA can be overwritten, and some just can't survive that. It is not to be taken on lightly."

Everyone walked out of History after the bell had rang, they had just had a double period of it; and even though after the beginning of the lesson where everyone got to ask questions before they went onto actual work, they were all still quite excited about what they had learnt.

"So it’s all real," Libby said smiling. "It’s kind of scary and exciting you know, to think that we could actually meet a vampire or werewolf,"

"You do know that there some in the school?" Selena asked her.

"Really?" Libby asked excited.

"That is kind of scary," Jess agreed.

"All other beings are allowed to keep their species a secret," Lucy told them.

The twins of their class came up along side of her, they both looked identical; sandy brown hair and grey eyes set in a slightly round almost heart shaped faces.

"I agree that it’s safer for now to keep their identities a secret," Holly told them.

"You mean until they properly understand them?" Lucy asked, because she wasn't just going to tell them all that she wasn't human, or that they weren't either, well for one it wasn't her place to gossip about others, and she didn't want to be signalled out either.

"How are we supposed to understand if we don't know anything about them?" Libby asked.

"I've kind of lived my whole life of the edge of that world, and still don't really know that much about it," Jess told them.

"That's what schools for," Lucy told them as she followed them out of the building to walk across to the facing building.

"You know what, I don't think they would put us all together if we couldn't really all work together properly," Will suggested. "It's new for everyone to be together like this, we just all need time to get used to the idea."

"You mean that we're not alone in the galaxy?" Libby asked.

"Yeap," Will answered as Troy opened the door for them just up ahead.

"You know considering that we're agreeing to say that it's alright to keep it all a secret, kind of makes it look like we're not what we appear to be," Selena pointed out.

"So what," Lucy said off handily, even though she did care, but she didn't want to draw that much attention to herself. So for now, she would just focus of class, and this one she had been looking forward to, even if they would have to do it with Disa.

They all piled into the classroom and went straight for their desks, as they were kind of getting used to the layout considering that all the classes had the same basic layout and they were all sat next to the same person in them all. Along the walls were shelves full of boxes and objects, every inch covered with something.

"Good morning," Professor Validus said from behind his desk, when he saw that everyone was here, even if they all hadn't sat down. "I'm afraid that today we only have a signal lesson, which means that we'll only be able to go through the basics. Transformations, what do you think of when you hear that word?"

"Transforming," Reagan said sarcastically, his friends sniggering.

"Yes," Validus answered. "So, what do you believe can be transformed?"

"Can we transform ourselves?"

"Turn objects into something else?"

"Yes to both of those questions," Validus answered. "Though in all honesty, it is much harder to turn yourself into something else,"

Libby raised her hand, and Validus nodded that she could speak. "We've been told that they're other races at the school. They look different to us, but have learnt to look human,"

"Yes, that is a very good point," Validus said pleased. "You are correct, that a lot of races have learnt to change their appearance so that they can pass as human. Though in truth this didn't just happen over night for the whole race, it took years, decades even until the races could properly pass. As they have been doing it now for centuries some for several thousand years, it kind of comes naturally. One would learn as a small child to change their appearance. Hair, eyes, skin colour. But it isn't as simple as you might be thinking it is if you think that children can do it. These are after all different races, and are capable of doing different things."

"Can you ask one of them to show their true form?" Reagan asked, even though he already knew the answer to that.

"No," Validus answered. "We don't force anyone to show themselves, it is up to the individual to come forward, and to be honest I don't expect anyone to, especially in their first year here. It's hard enough for some to find out about all of this, but then to really have to deal with everything straight away, it's too much for some. Now, you also mentioned being able to change objects, that is what we'll be doing primarily in this class. Learning to change objects and also learning to change objects back to their original form, as some change an object to hide what it truly is."

Lucy raised her hand. "Will we learn how to change into an animal?"

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Methos asked her.

"Though it is cool," Eddie added.

"Thank you boys," Validus said. "Methos is correct, it is very dangerous. If the spell goes wrong you could end up between the two forms. In some cases we can reverse the process, but not in all of them."

"So why are we being taught such dangerous things?" Reagan asked.

"We're being taught how to do it safely, so we don't do stupid things like that," Lucy told him.

"Domnus also said that we're learning to defend ourselves against people doing these things to us as well," Will added.

"Very good," Validus said. "I'm glad that some of you are paying attention. Yes, there are others with knowledge that will use that against you, that is why you are being taught the simple and difficult uses of magic; all can be used for good or for evil. It is down to the person to make that chose."

Chapter Eleven

It was Saturday morning in the Cadell and Punga food hall, and it was basically empty as it seemed as though everyone was sleeping in considering that they didn't have to get up for anything. Lucy was in her normal clothes, a jumper and jeans, sat next to Will eating breakfast with him and his friends; all of them out of uniform and back in normal clothes which meant jeans. She had woken up first in her dorm and the others hadn't wanted to get up yet, so she had gotten dressed and come over to look for them knowing that they were always up early and they had been talking about exploring the grounds all week.

"So, what're we doing today then?" Troy asked excitedly. "We have two whole days to ourselves,"

"Lucy will probably want to do more of her homework," Alex teased.

"At least I've started it," Lucy shot back at him.

"Those projects don't even have to be handed in until the end of the month," Alex reminded her.

"Yeah so, as soon as they’re done the better; at least I won't be like you then, running around on the last minute trying to think what to do," Lucy said smugly.

"Okay...who cares about work at the moment?" Will said. "Troy is right, we have two days,"

"So you're coming with us right Lu?" Tory asked her smiling knowingly. "Unless you want to hang around on your own until the others get up?"

"It isn't as though you have to ask," Will said shaking his head.

"So, where are we going first?" Lucy asked them as she topped up her glass from the jug of juice.

"We should check out that building we were told about on our first day." Alex told them.

Lucy looked at him, waiting, but he didn't say anything else. "Which building?"

"Oh...right, the one where that guy said we had arena's and club rooms." Alex told her.

"Actually that's a good idea." Troy said surprised.

Lucy laughed she couldn't help herself.

"Hay, what?" Alex demanded, but she wouldn't tell him.

They finished breakfast, not rushing in case anyone else turned up, but still there was no sign of the others, so they decided that they might as well get a head start as they could always meet up with them later. Even the food hall itself, still wasn't very busy, as it appeared everyone had the same idea being the first Saturday back to school, they were all going to sleep in.

Troy lead the way across the food hall to the other corner, which would take them out on the other side of their dorms, and then it was just a short walk across the path to their block. It was still kind of cold out, with the suns low in the sky and the cloud cover that was moving in over the estates.