Despite the anger still obviously bubbling under the surface, Headmistress Nighblood managed to deal with the rest of the conversation in her usual measured manner.

Sugar had to commend her. If he was the principal of a magical academy such as Scarwood, and someone had the nerve to suggest that there was a werewolf as a student, he would have a lot more colourful words for them.

Also, how the hell did that woman even get into the school? Sure, from the way she held herself, she probably got an associate of hers, either someone in the teaching staff or the Peace Sorcerer to let her in, but how did news about the disappearance even leak that fast? He was sure that even some people in the school had only heard about it for sure that morning.

Finally, Solaria seemed to realise that trying anything else would be like talking to a brick wall.

"No matter. You can fight this however you like," Solaria said, sounding awfully like a young child pouting, "But you won't be able to hide from the truth. I will be talking to the school board about this."

She scowled one final time at the headmistress, before stalking out, slamming her door behind her.

Headmistress Nightblood did not react to her exit, but looked relieved, as if a mild inconvenience had disappeared. Instead, she turned her attention to the twins, who looked like they really wished for the ground to swallow them up right there and now.

"I am very sorry you had to witness that," she said, as if as an apology for the argument they had to witness, "if you wish, I can let you two off for the rest of the period."

"Y—"

"It's fine." Asteria cut her sister off, throwing Salem a sharp glare in order to shut her up, "we can continue with the lesson."

Nightblood looked confused for about half a second, but shrugged it off (probably too tired to care much more), instead turning back to the blackboard.

"So, where were we?"

As Nightblood continued to explain the fall of the four domains, and how it lead to the prevalent animosity between magic-gifted humans (who later became witches) and magical creatures, Sugar spied Asteria pass a small note on a black piece of paper to her sister, who looked at it confusedly for a few moments, as if struggling to read it, before passing it backwards to Charlie.

Either Asteria was letting them copy some of her notes, or they were secretly discussing the topic of the werewolf. Both were equally likely.

A werewolf? Surely not... but even so, Sugar had the sinking feeling that the flamboyant Mrs Bones might not be far off the truth.

"Do you think there's actually a werewolf at the school?" he whispered, turning to Rosa.

"What makes you think I would know? Well, for the record, I don't think it would be true. It would be way too risky of a move for Miss Nightblood to make. It just sounds like that woman was making up things to get a reaction. Miss Nightblood does have an infamous temper, from what my siblings tell me..."

"An infamous temper?" Sugar said, eyebrow raised. Sure, the rage that he had seen on the headmistress' face seconds earlier was certainly genuine and intense, but it looked like she was able to control her anger really well.

"Yeah, you wouldn't guess it from how done she looks all the time, but if you rile her up enough, you'll be able to unlock her vicious side... though it doesn't happen much anymore, since she's more experienced as a teacher now. But my eldest brother witnessed her wrath once!"

"Really? What happened?"

"Eh, it was mainly stupid kids being stupid kids. I think it ended up being something about a few of the troublemakers in class making an edgy joke about the Bombing of the Council during the Mythica War. She gave them such a lecture that all of them cried."

"I mean," Sugar cringed, "serves them right for making a joke about a war crime."

"S-she probably lived through it too," Hugo said, "It was only 15 years ago, and she looks like she's in her thirties..." his brow furrowed as he quickly did the math.

"That would mean she would have been going to Scarwood when the War happened."

"What's the Mythica War?" Knight finally entered the conversation, having sat silently in his seat throughout the entirety of Mrs Bones' outburst.

The three other witches blinked, stunned.

"Knight, do you have non-witch parents?" Rosa asked kindly, but there was a certain 'how-do-you-not-know-this' flavour to her question.

"Well, my pa's actually a witch," the boy started, "but he never went back the witch world after he met my ma. He hates magic too for some reason... my aunties had to argue with him for ages before he would even let me come here."

Ah, so it sounded like his dad, despite his knowledge of everything to do with magic and the witching world, had shielded Knight from pretty much everything.

"Why wouldn't he let you, though? Scarwood's one of the best schools out there. Turning down an offer is straight up stupid." Sugar said, starting to feel second-hand irritation towards Knight's father.

"I don't know. I mean, he's always like that, closed off and stuff. It got worse after my ma..." he shook his head, "never mind."

Sugar glanced at Rosa and Hugo. Probably not the best to push the matter any further. It would be better if they just explained it to him.

"Well, The Mythica War happened when a group of witches called The Smouldering Ones became furious at what The Witching Council was doing in order to improve witch-magical creature relations." Rosa started, "they believed that witches would be in danger if they continued to assimilate with the magical creatures, so real nut jobs. They began to convince more and more witches to join their cause and eventually launched a series of attacks, in order to restore the world according to their beliefs."

"That's... terrible," Knight shuddered, growing a little pale, "but, like, what did they attack?"

"They went after a lot of places," Sugar said, picking the explanation up, "like covens and individuals that didn't agree with them, and even a few academies too. Not Scarwood though. It's probably because Scarwood's really proper and stuff, so they didn't have a reason to attack it. There is a rumour that a lot of The Smouldering Ones' either taught here or their children went here, which is why they didn't attack. Take that with a grain of salt, though."

Knight nodded, taking the information in.

"No, that's not correct..." Hugo nervously butted in, "the war did reach Scarwood, towards the end... there was a famous battle fought in the school between two opposing factions amongst the students: those associated with The Smouldering Ones, and those who believed in the acceptance of magical creatures... it was short-lived though. The war just kinda... stopped after The Department of Curios was bombed..."

"The Department of Curios?" Knight frowned, tilting his head.

"Oh, it's a part of The Witching Council," Hugo continued, "it was... is a place where all sorts of magical items and artefacts are kept. People to this day still don't know why this department was bombed... maybe they wanted to use some of the weapons inside? We're still not sure. But fortunately, the news of where and when the bombing was going to take place was leaked, and they were able to evacuate everybody... well, mostly everybody."

"Mostly everybody? What happened?"

"Well, there was one person who was still inside the department when the explosions started: Emeline Kingston, one of the brightest alumni of Scarwood, who managed to secure a position within the Council mere days after graduating."

"It's not really that impressive," Rosa said, "she was the old Headmaster's only child after all, he might have pulled some strings. But that doesn't change the tragedy. My mother said the old man really changed after that... they couldn't even find a body, so there wasn't anything to bury."

"Yikes..."

"Yikes indeed." Rosa said with a sigh, "but that was enough for the Council to really get to work and channel all their efforts and resources into stopping the war, once and for all. They jailed a lot of the members of The Smouldering Ones in the years since. Some of them were even quite high-ranking witches. Caused quite the scandal."

"Did they ever confirm that Mrs Bones was guilty?" Sugar asked, thinking the others might know, "I know her husband got arrested eventually..."

"Are you dumb?" Rosa rolled her eyes, before lowering her voice, afraid the twins might hear. "If she's walking around like she owns the place, she's obviously fine. I mean, she was probably in on it, but from a legal standpoint, they can't pin anything on her, so she's technically innocent."

"Huh, so lack of evidence?"

"Pretty much."

"Seeing how much you four are talking, I assume you've already finished the work?" Miss Nighblood said from the front of the classroom, not even having to name anyone to make it clear who she was talking about, "making friends is good and all, but do remain on task."

"Ah, crap, sorry Knight. Looks like we'll have to explain it to you later."

The class continued on as it normally did, and soon, it was time for the group to move on to their next class, but just as they were packing up to go, Headmistress Nightblood called out:

"Mr DeLune, would you mind staying behind for a bit? The rest of you are dismissed."

"Sorry guys, gotta go." Knight said, getting up, "See you guys soon!"

"Wonder what that's all about..." Rosa mused, watching the boy move off to their teacher.

"Oh, Knight has some kind of medical condition. He told me on the first day." Sugar said with a shrug.

"You think it's flaring up?" hugo asked, "he seemed really pale today... m-maybe it's being worsened because of the anxiety about the disappearance?"

"Perhaps... hey, Rosa, what do we have next?" Sugar said, shoving his books into his bag.

"Hmmm... Divination."

"Oh great, we have that project, don't we? Writing a profile about a famous diviner, right?"

"Yeah... honestly, it's kind of boring. We don't need a whole lesson for that. I mean, we get a free period out of it though, and I won't argue with that."

The three exited, leaving only Knight and Headmistress Nightblood in the room.

✧༺✦✮✦༻∞　　∞༺✦✮✦༻✧

"So, I see you've made some friends." Beatrix Nightblood said with a small smile.

"Yes, they're lovely, even Sugar!" Knight said, some of the nervousness draining from his face, as he seemed genuinely happy to talk about his friends, "Really, the name is quite deceptive... but he's still a great person!"

"I see. I can already see him taking after his mother in many ways..." a frown crossed the headmistress' face for a moment before she shook her head, and turned back to her student, "So, about this inci—"

"I made a promise to my pa, miss!" Knight quickly blurted out, looking frantic, "and I don't break promises."

"I understand that, Knight." Nightblood sighed, "I'm not blaming you for anything. I just wanted to let you know some more information."

She took a sharp breath in.

"It's an adult, male werewolf. The Peace Sorcerers have analysed the pheromones. He's most likely wild, as there are no scent markers of the registered packs... just stay safe, okay? He might have sensed you, and he might see you as a threat."

"I-I'm sorry for bringing trouble," Knight said, lowering his head.

"There is no need for apologies." Nightblood reached out a hand to gently pat Knight on the head, "You did nothing wrong. I will do all in my power to get to the bottom of this. Just, try not to go too close to the forests, okay? Now, you should be going off to class. I am sure your friends are expecting you."

The boy nodded.

"Thank you miss."

As the boy made his way out of the class, Headmistress Nightblood sighed once more. She was probably going to get a visit from the school board very soon, thanks to Solaria. Oh, how she hated bureaucracy. Subconsciously, her gaze was drawn to the photo frame on her desk.

Whereas the frame was new, the picture itself was old. It featured four older teens holding a banner that said 'STARSEEKER GUILD CAPTAINS 2008!' amidst a confetti shower. On the very left was a tall, beautiful girl with long black hair: Sybil Thorn... Beatrix often wondered how she looked now. Probably no less beautiful. The Sybil Thorn of the photo had an arm around a pink-haired, punkish witch who was doing a very bad job of pretending she didn't want to be there. Beatrix stifled the need to cringe. Gods, she was so melodramatic back then.

Then next to them both, a tall boy stood, posed with his arms crossed, clearing using magic to do his part of holding up the banner. His sapphire blue eyes shone brightly against his rich, brown skin, betraying the softness hidden beneath his aloof exterior.

"What are you doing? Reminiscing old times again?" Mimi piped up, seemingly haven awoken from her nap, "We really need to get you one of those swear jar things, but instead of for swears, it's for whenever you think about her."

"Can it, Mimi. This does not concern her." Beatrix said curtly, "That boy... I just see a lot of Ferdie in him, I suppose."

"How so?"

"Hopelessly kind-hearted." Beatrix said with a scoff.

"I just hope it doesn't hurt Knight as much as it did his father..."

┌─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.☪ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┐

𝔸𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣'𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖

└─── ･ ｡ﾟ★: *.☪ .* :☆ﾟ. ───┘

Hehe, now i guess you understand the reason for Chapter 12's name now, don'tcha? :smuggerz:

Was this chapter a lame excuse to drop more worldbuilding? mayhaps, but at least we get some juicy Knight lore reveals, though im still keeping things mostly under wraps for lore reasons, hehe.

Now, there originally was going to be a paragraph describing the 4th figure in the photo, but that's a plot point I am fully prepared to make you wait for >:D (and also because this chapter became ridiculously and comically long. Take the length as compensation for falling a bit behind on updates again, though by looking thru the chapter list, you can see i've been MIA for longer... ;-;)

But that's enough yap from me, time for me to crawl back into my author hole and pump out another chapter, this time featuring a hot libriarian. mwhahahahaahahah

~Viva