Present day....
Minimal, that's the one word that best describes the interior of a Galileo hall dorm room.
hardwood floor, decorative mosaic tile borders, arched window at the corner getting the least light, two student beds on either end, and a human chandelier.
"Ding....." A bell tolled at the distance.
"I hate it here, tell myself that every morning, Can't seem to figure out exactly why though. Narrowing it down leaves me with three reasons."
Huey thought to himself, his cross shaped necklace catching the light as it hovered just over his face.
"maybe it's the three.... no two hours of sleep I struggle to get every night". A chaotic blue aura seemed to be stopping him from falling.
"Ding...." Tolled the bell for a second time.
"could be Calvin's repulsive snoring"
His barely open eyes trailed towards another young man sprawled across the ground like a dead roach, the metal objects around him seemed to float every time he revved up the engine.
"Or,... waking up like this every morning"
"Ding". tolled the bell for a third and final time.
His bright blue eyes finally shot wide open and with that his trance like state coming to an end.
Whatever it was keeping Huey's legs glued to the ceiling wasn't anymore, and his lean 5'10 frame came crashing down. It was a nasty fall yet all he could muster was an indifferent.....
"Ow"
Huey proceeded to stand up, dust his pjs, crack his back and head towards the arch shaped window.
He didn't know it but anytime Huey saw sometime he admired, he let a small smirk slip while he stroked the frosted tips of his dark blue hair.
And oh the "virelia institute for rift related studies" was quite the site to behold.
Two storeys down, students in red cassock robes flooded the colonnaded walkways like blood through veins.
All heading toward the central dome.
Five times the size of the Pantheon and connected to eight smaller domes via marble corridors.
After prayers, shower and skin care.
He pulled on his uniform; white shirt, red cassock robe with the single gold stripe indicating his Neophyte rank.
More than twenty minutes late.
" Perfect ".
Huey still found the time to grab an apple from the fridge and finish up with the most important part of his monotonous morning routine.
slamming the door so hard on his way out, he woke his roommate up.
The latter whom always got up angry but found no one in the room to vent at.
Turns out the tardiness was intended. It was a crucial part of his signature look—
"fashionably late"
Mass ended rather quickly, as it should when everyone else was forty minutes earlier than you, and it was now time for the students to sit on the floor and do yoga poses.
"Pitiful" spat professor Thadeus, light glistening against the frame of his glasses.
His eyes fixed on the petite pale skinned girl trying to meditate right next to Huey as he walked past the group of students huddled at the back of the cathedral.
Huey was by no means a backbencher but being an "Achusoi " that is one without grace forced such on you during MMM(Mandatory Morning Meditation)
A few meters ahead from Huey and the rest of the Achusoi sat the rest of the students.
Among those students, a well dressed young lady began to hover a few meters above the ground and glow with a golden aura all while maintaining her yoga pose.
The professor along with the other students students wore looks of surprise, and whispering could be heard amongst them.
"Huh" Huey let out a quiet remark accompanied by vapour breadth as he noticed the temperature in the room had dropped a several degrees.
Meanwhile the students right next to Huey suddenly began shivering.
"Mira must have been so deep into the excersise she unconsciously activated her crest." Huey thought
He spotted a glance at the petite girl.
She seemed to be affected even more than the other students at the back.
He quickly unbuckled his Mozzetta and wrapped it around her.
All the petite girl could let out was a slight nod with a genuine smile though it was evident the short cape wasn't of much help.
After spotting another look at the girl and the rest of the shivering students, Huey decided he's had enough.
"Hey Princess, you know rumors spread way faster than the cold". Said Huey, all eyes now fixed on him.
He took a deep breadth before uttering the next sentence. "And I heard your pneuma isn't the only thing about you that's arctic flavoured".
Within a heartbeat the golden aura surrounding Mira evaporated and she hit the hard marble floor with a thud.
Mummuring could be heard amongst the students with questions like "what's he talking about",
"could it be true" and....
"How does he know that".
"even if you weren't gonna consider we the little guys at the the back who don't have any resistance to the temperature drop your crest was causing, what about poor Mr Harry the Lion. Looked like he was bout to catch Frostbite down there"
added Huey feeling the extra shove would make sure such didn't happen again.
Laughter erupted all over the cathedral and in that instant Mira's hands flew over her skirt, pinning them against her knees as her face flushed a shade of crimson that put Huey's robe to shame.
"Harry the Lion?" wheezed one boy in the corner, clutching his stomach. "No way the badass Ice princess has toddler prints on her panties?"
Huey didn't laugh nor did he smile. He just let out a long, slow sigh of relief as he felt the biting chill begin to lift from the air.
The frost on the petite girl's hair next to him began to glisten as it melted back into water
"Thank you" said the girl as she tried to take off Huey's mozzetta.
"Keep it, I'm sure you're still feeling a bit chilly". Said Huey with a smile.
The air turned sour and not a pin drop could be heard the moment professor Thadeus hand reached the air.
He approached Huey and the rest of the Achusoi at the far end of the cathedral
"I don't know who you think are," said Thadeus as he crouched to meet the eyes of a Huey who still held his meditation pose.
"but let me remind you that this is a sacred house of God and to interrupt the meditation, say such vulgar things and even go as far as to direct them at the princess despite being an Achusoi. That takes balls or rather I say a high level of stupidity."
"What is your name." The deep voice of Thadeus echoing through the cathedral.
"Huey Cross". Said Huey with all the calm he could muster
"So you're him.....". Thadeus now had his back turned to Huey and was walking away.
"The curse of the house cross".
No words were needed, judging eyes could be seen everywhere, even from those he had originally sympathised with.
The statement on their mind was crystal.
So this is the boy who has no crest despite coming from a major house.
The day's activities progressed as per usual and now the evening air was cooling down.
Huey walked Josephine towards the gates of St. Helena church.
It's towering spires loomed ahead glowing with a soft sanctified light in much contrast to the hard marble of the institute.
"You really don't have to do this, Huey," muttered Josephine, clutching her note to her chest with one hand and playing with her hair using the other. "I can manage the walk back."
"Sure you can," Huey replied in a sarcastic tone, his hands tucked into the pockets of his red cassock.
"I recall the institute having more than enough female dorms though. So why do you insist on commuting from off-campus"
Josephine looked toward the spires, her expression softening into that familiar, self-sacrificing mask. "The church raised me, Huey, gave me everything I needed when I was nothing. Living here and performing my duties... it's the least I can do. I still haven't proven I was worth the investment."
Huey stopped walking for a second, and started looking at her with a dry, unreadable expression.
"You know." His voice dropping to an octave. "I watched everyone spend the day telling you how amazing and 'Grace-touched' you are. It's always the same story every day. So, tell me why is it that you're the only one who chooses not to believe it?"
Josephine flinched as if he'd slapped her. The silence stretched between them, becoming heavy and uncomfortable, until she forced a small, tight smile and looked away.
"I know you don't even like me that much, Huey," said Josephine, looking to pivot the conversation. "So why walk me all the way out here?"
Huey let out a small smirk, and touched the frosted tips of his hair. "That may be the case". Josephine's body posture suggested she didn't like the sound of that. "But as it so happens, my new job is just a few blocks from here."
He struck a dramatic pose, looking toward the horizon. "Throughout the Heaven and Earth, I alone am the hired one."
Josephine rolled her eyes, the tension breaking. "You're just there for the apple pie, aren't you?"
Huey didn't say yes, but the way he didn't say no was answer enough.
THUD—
The air in Huey's lungs quickly deserted him after Josephine buried her fist into his solar plexus.
"The fuck did I do this time" said a doubled over Huey, clutching his stomach. His face twisted with pain.
"I saw what happened during MMM" said Josephine, her voice stern but her eyes shimmering with respect.
"The way you stood up for that girl and the others. You played the villain, humiliated Mira, and drew all of Thadeus's rage. I know you, Huey. You hate being the center of attention, yet you did that anyway."
Huey managed a pained smirk while still gasping for air. " That's some top-tier... deductive thinking... but why the punch though?"
"Because," she snapped, "you should know better than to treat a lady like that. You could have helped them without being so degrading. Consider that a reminder to use your brain for something other than guessing what type of underwear a lady has on."
His first shift at Vie's pie was at its final lap and Huey thought it only proper to bake a ceremonial apple pie to celebrate the milestone.
The cold air of the night hit Huey the instant he stepped onto the cobblestone path of
Via del pianto. Apartment blocks on either side and street lamps lined up against statues of forgotten saints.
He only had twenty minutes left till curfew but Huey thought that a small price to pay for the contents within the warm box In his hands, besides "I know a totally unsafe shortcut". Thought Huey to himself
Beep, beep, beep.
A sharp digital pulse echoed from the city wide sirens, Huey's shoulders stiffened up a bit but he realized it was only a drill.
Common occurrence in a world where rifts could happen anywhere at any point in time and spill the nightmarish variants out of it.
He kept walking, loafers tapping rhythmically against the stone.
He reached a corner where a rusted metal sign hung precariously from a stone archway: " stay away, high number of Achusoi recorded missing ".
Huey finally recalled having seen the name of the street on Luce Nera case files he had gotten from Hailee.
"Hahh." Huey let out a sigh. "Of course neither the arcanum division nor any toppler agency would take any serious action seeing as it was the unwanted percent of the population going missing here."
"Well not that I have anything to worry about".
Huey took another step into the shadowy street, his main focus being the sugary delight contained in the four corners of his pink box.
There was no sound of struggle, just the rough texture of a thick paper bag being wrapped over his head.
"Oh," Hueys muffled voice could be heard through the bag, sounding more disappointed than scared.
"I forgot."