November
1592

I haven't dreamed since that night.

It has been two weeks since I've seen the mysterious noble man at the river bed. I have gone back every day since in hopes that he would reappear but it seems that luck was not in my favor. Days were growing colder and shorter now and it will soon become impossible to traverse outside of the village. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever have the opportunity to ask him how he knew my name upon our first time meeting....

He had said it with such a warm familiarity that it was as if we had known each other for ages and not mere minutes. I guess, in a way, we had? It was hard to deny the resemblance to the silhouette of a man I had seen in my dreams prior. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he really was the silhouetted figure.

These days the manor has been restless. The lady in charge of my employ has spent an increasing amount of time alone in her chambers. I've heard from the chambermaid gossip that she had been under some extreme stress and had been quite melancholy since the lord had departed some days ago after receiving some news. It is hard to say what sort of call he could have received but from my understanding, the matter was gravely serious.

I recognize that I am very fortunate to be in their employ as they treat their servants rather fairly. I have heard many horror stories through the gossip chains of the wealthy mistreating those that serve them. I hope that the matter ends soon and the lord can return to the manner and help restore the lady's spirits.

Well, the oil in my lamp is about to burn out, so I must sign off for now. I will return to the river once more, just to be sure, and if nothing happens I shall let the matter go for now as I must focus on my duties while the lord is away. I shall hope to return with news.

XxX

Hongjoong sighed as he straightened his tie while looking in the mirror that was on the inside of his closet door. His jacked was fixed neatly but, unlike the others, his moon was not accompanied by any kind of flowers yet. He was told from a letter in his welcome packet that he would have to be tested sometime before winter break but for now that he should just attend the remedial classes to get used to the school and adjust.

Once finished, he closed the door and glanced at the neatly made bed on the other side of the room. The sheets were so straight they looked as if they had never been slept in at all and could pass a military inspection.

The night before had been a little awkward to say the least. The boy from the library had hardly said a word to him and whenever he asked a question, it was mostly met with silence and a stare that could freeze ice. Giving up his endeavor quickly, the blunette just rolled his eyes and crawled into bed and quickly flicked off the light. When he had woken up this morning, the room was empty.

Trying not to dwell on the thought, Hongjoong grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He snagged his schedule off of the desk and headed toward the door, locking it behind him. He hoped that the first day wouldn't be full of surprises and end up fairly normal but something told him he doubted that.

Quickly scanning it, he recalled the others explaining that the first three letters on the schedule indicated the building and the numbers were the classroom. Seeing COM on the paper, Hongjoong took a moment to try and recall where the communication building was. After wandering around for a while, the new student found the sign indicating the building he was looking for.

Standing outside, it was probably one of the more modern and new buildings on campus as it had a lot more glass for not only aesthetics but gave plenty of opportunity for natural light. What Hongjoong found interesting as he walked up towards the wooden door was that the same stained glass design he saw in the library of a moon, sun, and star was present in each of the mid-sized windows.

Stepping through the threshold, Hongjoong took a moment to take in his surroundings and noticed that, while the outside was a bit more modern, the inside still had that older feel like the rest of the campus and was made of deep mahogany woods and soft earth tones that seemed relaxing. Each room that Hongjoong passed seemed large in size and even a few had double doors that were open and waiting for students.

It was when walking past one of the rooms that had open double doors that the blunette noticed the number on a gold plate off to the side matched the number on his schedule. Figuring this was the place he needed to be, he decided to stop his exploring for now, unless he ended up being late. Taking a cautious peek inside, Hongjoong was pleased to find that he was one of the first to arrive.

The classroom, as expected, was rather spacious in size. Large windows covered the far wall and they let in plenty of sunlight as well as a good view of the back forest that was still dressed in the vibrant colors of fall. The front of the room had a large wooden desk in front of an old school chalkboard that looked newly cleaned and fresh for a new group of students. The desks were more like long wooden tables that were lined up two-by-two and went about eight rows back. Two forward facing chairs were placed at each table.

Walking towards one of the middle rows, Hongjoong plunked his bag down and settled in. In the back of his mind he hoped that he wasn't taking anyone else's seat. He wanted to avoid an awkward situation and any form of attention on himself as much as possible until he could finally get out of this weird school and back out to where things made sense again.

Hearing a clunk against the wood, Hongjoong looked down and caught sight of the bracelet Wooyoung had given him last night placed delicately on his wrist. Absently, the blunette reached for the small charm hanging there and fiddled with it between his fingers. It was truly a pretty, yet simple, piece of jewelry. Just the silver chain and a six pointed stair. Running a thumb over it and watching it shine, Hongjoong realized that the charm looked just like the stained glass star in the library and on the building doors.

Before the boy could ponder this any farther, a loud yell jolted him out of his musing. Looking up, he noticed several other people dressed in the same uniform walk into the room, ready for class. Just like in the forest, some of the students appeared dressed down and lowkey while others were using the full range of their expression with eccentric hair colors and loud jewelry donned upon their ears, arms, or hands. This made Hongjoong smile, wondering if he could actually get away with accessorizing his own uniform for self expression, something that was heavily frowned upon before.

Just as Hongjoong was about to duck his head back down when the group thinned out, a face caught his attention and caused him to look back up sharply.

Jongho? Wasn't he in the second level class?

The other student must have sensed Hongjoong's stare for at that moment, his eyes turned in his direction. As soon as he caught sight of the blunette, his cheeks flushed and he quickly ducked his head back down. Quickly, he turned on his heel and sped towards the other boy's direction.Still not making any eye contact, Jongho threw his bag onto the desk and collapsed into the seat next to him.

"You're not supposed to be here..." The boy mumbled, his cheeks a small pink in embarrassment.

Hongjoong just raised an eyebrow at that. "The real question is what are you doing here. Aren't you one of the second tier students or something?" He could be mistaken but he could have sworn that everyone he had met last night was not supposed to be in a remedial class.

Jongho just groaned and placed his head on the desk in despair. "No one is supposed to know." He huffed. "This is the worst."

"You fail a class or something?" Hongjoong wasn't going to let this go and let his curiosity get the best of him. Secretly, he was a little pleased that he at least knew someone in the class that could help guide him or keep any unwanted attention off of him, even if Jongho was technically younger.

The other boy grumbled something from where his face was pressed against the desk and the blunette had to lean down just to try and hear him. It just sounded like a muffled speaker.

"Huh? What?" Another grumbled. "What was that?"

"I can't control my gift, okay?!" Jongho suddenly hollered, his head suddenly popping up from where it was laying and startling the other. The rest of the class noise seemed to go silent for a moment and, realizing his outburst, the boy slumped back into his chair and placed his head in his hands miserably.

After a moment of shock that he wasn't expecting, Hongjoong cleared his throat. "I'm new here obviously," He started, "But I thought to get to the second tier you had to awaken your gift?"

"That's just it," Jongho lifted his head and just crossed his arms instead. "I have awakened it....I just don't really understand fully....what it is?" As he was talking, the tone of his voice climbed higher and more unsure. "You only need to really have your gift awakened to get the second tier. That is where the practical application comes into play which can be difficult for some. If you haven't noticed, most of the people in this remedial room are fairly young and thus need a bit more work."

At that, Hongjoong swiveled his head around the room and did notice that a large number of the other students did appear at least a few years younger than he did. There was an odd older student or two but for the most part, it seemed Jongho was right. Damn, now he felt a bit out of place being here.

Wait, when did he want to stay and fit in?

"Alright class!" A voice called, trying to gather the classes attention. In walked a man dressed in a white button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and tailored black pants with a belt and loafers. The man seemed rather young, maybe in his late twenties, with dyed blonde hair pulled into a very small ponytail at the base of his neck. He placed a rather large book on the desk with a thunk.

'This guy was his teacher?' Hongjoong thought a bit wide eyed. He didn't think he could remember having a teacher quite like this. Most of the ones he had in the past were rather uptight and quite a bit older so this was a rather interesting change.

"Good morning all!" The man greeted in a friendly manner while his eyes scanned the class. Once his gaze had reached Hongjoong, however, they seemed to lock onto him. The blunette squirmed in his seat. "Well, it looks like we have a new student among us. Well, welcome, you can call me Eden."

Hongjoong nodded his head and tried not to let his surprise show on his face. He was still a little unsettled from the stare but shook it off to pull out his school supplies. As he did so, he saw his bracelet again. It figured that he wouldn't be completely invisible, especially towards his teacher, but he hoped that it didn't go much further than this.

"Alright class, seeing as we have a new student joining us and a break coming up in a few weeks, now would be a great time for a review." Eden began as he turned to pick up a piece of chalk. "Who can name the basic fundamentals that most magic is built upon?"

Immediately, all the hands around Hongjoong went up quickly, slightly startling the other. Apparently everyone was rather enthusiastic about learning. Jongho seemed to see this and leaned over to whisper to him.

"The more questions you answer, the better your score. Once you reach a certain point, you earn the right to retest and finally leave the remedial classes."

Ah. Hongjoong nodded. That makes more sense.

After scanning the room for a moment, Eden considered his options. Finally he called on a young girl towards the back with fiercely severe cat eyes and a high pigtails that seemed to support her heart shaped face. As soon as Eden called on her, she seemed to sit up a bit straighter in her chair.

"The magic, in some way or another, is linked to the three Celestial bodies." She said matter-of-factly. "There are some cross-overs and exceptions, but for simplicity's sake, they are separated as Moon, Sun, and Star energies and are mostly governed by those bodies."

"Very good, Yeji." Eden nodded as he turned towards the chalkboard. He drew a quick inverted triangle with a picture of a sun and moon on the upper two corners and a familiar looking six pointed star at the bottom. "Can anyone tell me what these three symbols represent?"

Again, hands shot up. This time the teacher pointed to a boy sitting up at the front with bleached hair. "The Moon and Sun are representative of the four main elements. The Moon governs Wind and Water and things associated with those elements. The Star has the most varied ranges of magic and represents Humans and Space and Time."

As the student was talking, Eden continued to draw lines from the rest of the three main drawings. Underneath the picture of the crescent moon there was water droplet and some swirling lines that looked like they could represent a breeze. Under the sun there was a small picture of a flame and a triangle that resembled a mountain. Under the star was an hourglass, a tight looking spiral, and a stick figure. Next to the stick figure, Eden wrote in order: Mind, Spirit, and Body. Beside the word mind, there was a picture of an eye, next to spirit was a circle cut through the middle. The top half of the circle was colored black. Finally, beside body was a simple four pointed diamond shape.

"Exactly right!" The teacher exclaimed while finishing up his small rendition. "Now, most of you are familiar with the concepts but whenever you see spells, seeing one of these symbols is a good indicator for what the spell might be for, what it might require, or be associated with. Now, not all runic spells are this basic and may combine a combination of these powers which makes the spell more difficult and can be very draining if not prepared properly. That is why we, as teachers, try our best to get you all ready and adequately educated, less you unknowingly drain yourself magically and put yourself in danger."

As Hongjoong listened to the explanation, his eyes grew a little wider. He quickly looked back towards his bracelet for what felt like the umpteenth time. So this star actually meant something significant? He glanced back at the board and looked at the words written under the now familiar symbol. So it represented one of those things? Hongjoong wondered which one? This was all a lot to take in and try and wrap his mind around.

Feeling curious, Hongjoong tampered down his nerves and slowly raised his hand. Jongho, seeing the movement from beside him, turned wide eyes at his desk mate. He minutely shook his head but Eden noticed the blunette's hand first before the other could do anything about it. The instructor nodded for him to speak.

"You said that multiple symbols could be used in a single spell? How does that work?" A pause as he recalled something Wooyoung had mentioned to him in the library. "And what about Gifts?" Hongjoong probably sounded a bit stupid asking questions that everyone in the class obviously probably knew but he was tired of waiting on answers and couldn't help himself from being intrigued with all of this new magic stuff.

If Eden seemed surprised by the question, he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he nodded and turned towards the board. "Good question actually. Now, like I mentioned before, these are the basics. There is no way that just eight things can cover the entirety of all magical practicing, especially when there are so many different kids that vary from East to West. While practices may change, the basic elements never do."

The teacher paused in his instruction and, on a clear part of the chalkboard, drew a circle. "Now, everything on this planet is connected. Some call it natural order and others mention it as spirit energy, but all of us have a connection to something. We step on a flower while walking, it leaves an imprint, an impression, and it changes the environment around us. What if that flower was home to some kind of bug or that flower was meant to be used in a medicinal cream? Now that it is destroyed, that small insect no longer has a place to return to or that cream cannot be made. Every action has a consequence and a price to pay. A give and take. It is on this principle that we practice magic. Spells, while a powerful tool, also come at a price."

Eden turned around briefly to check if the class was still paying attention. "With this in mind, you would think it might be difficult to separate these things from one another completely, and that is true. We use these symbols to draw out the most prevalent power that we need at that moment and sometimes these can even cross over to another body. Take a flower for example, what is needed for a plant to bloom?" He directed the question towards Hongjoong.

The boy looked confused for the odd thing to ask but just shrugged. "Sunlight, soil, and water?"

"Right," Eden made a connecting line between "water," "earth," and the "sun" before finally making a full circle around the last symbol. "Notice anything?"

Hongjoong's eyes scanned over the line for a moment, wondering what he was supposed to be looking at, when something crossed his mind. "Water is a moon element but earth is a sun element. They crossed over."

"This is what I mean when multiple elements or energies need to be used in a spell. In this case, if we were doing a spell that involved growing plants, since the sun itself is used, that is the governing body and will use the most energy but symbols for water and earth would also show up, though not as prevalent since sun rules over earth. However, many things in this life cannot exist without the other."

Eden finally moved away from the board and set down his piece of chalk while placing both hands on the desk in front of him. "Now as for your question about Gifts, they are usually related to one of these on the board. They vary in strength and ability from person to person but they are rather handy tools to have for a practitioner. A gift associated with the mind property could vary anything from being gifted at memorization, to reading people's thoughts, or even making things explode. It really is the sky's the limit when it comes to these things."

"A gift can make spells associated with that particular property easier but it is not always the case. That is also to say that someone without a gift in that property can't also perform the spell as well or better than the other person. Gifts are different and special and it is even possible to maybe manifest more than one in your life but nothing will ever be as strong as the one you first manifest. The highest recorded number of Gifts in history is only three, and the last one didn't appear until the near end of this person's life, so don't be discouraged if you don't end . up developing another. Cherish the one you have as it is truly a wonderful thing."

Hongjoong sat there trying to take in the information like a sponge. It was all new and confusing but he couldn't say that he wasn't a little bit intrigued. He had never thought of the world being all connected together but it made sense. This world he had found himself stumbling into was probably governed and lived by a whole different set of rules than he was used to.

Maybe all of this new information could help him figure out the real reason he ended up being sent here.

XxX

"Huh, you want to learn more about magic theory?" Wooyoung said from around a bit of rice, his spoon still hovering in the air before his mouth. After class the exuberant teen had caught up with the blunette and asked if he wanted to join him and the others for lunch. Despite the cooler weather, the group had huddled in the courtyard at an empty picnic table.

Hongjoong, seeing the other's incredulous and confused look, paused in his own eating before nodding. "Yeah, it seemed a bit interesting. Figured if I was stuck here, might as well learn something new."

Yeosang, from his position leaning against the tree they were under, scoffed lightly. "And here you were so against being here in the first place. Now you're eager."

Ignoring the younger boy, Hongjoong just held up his arm, the charm on his bracelet dangling. "So this is a magical symbol? How does it work and what property is it supposed to be using?"

"The star is probably one of the most commonly used in spells." Yunho added into the conversation from Wooyoung's right. He reached out and tapped the charm still hanging up. "The star represents a lot of the things we interact with the most, particularly ourselves and others."

"But what property is this one?" Hongjoong asked, putting his arm down. "You said it was suppose to keep people's attention off of me? The teacher still noticed me though."

"Well it isn't an invisibility spell." Mingi chuckled, his head resting in a velvet gloved hand. "A teacher will probably call on you but they won't target you for anything."

"As for the property," Wooyong answered. "It is mind magic. Basically, it gives subtle suggestions for people to ignore you or overlook you."

"So mind magic involves manipulating people?" The blunette raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how he felt about that.

"Not necessarily," Jongho said from Hongjoong's side, closest to the tree. "Take Yeosang, his Gift lies in mind magic but it has nothing to do with manipulation. He uses his mind to move things."

"Jongho!" Yeosang scolded lightly. "Why are we telling him these things if he doesn't already know anything about magic. This information could be dangerous in the wrong hands."

The younger student just rolled his eyes at his friend's statement. "You act like he is about to sell us out in a Witch Trial."

The blonde didn't have anymore to say on that and instead just turned his head. Hongjoong frowned but honestly couldn't say he blamed the boy. It was easy to distrust a newcomer, especially one as ignorant as he was. He himself still didn't understand his own place here and was hoping that being around these guys could help him figure it all out.

"So what other kinds of Gifts are there?" Hongjoong turns back to the rest of the group to ask. "I know Yeosang's now and Wooyoung is teleportation. What category would that be?"

"What did you go over in class today," Mingi chuckled. "You sure are full of questions."

"Why don't you take a guess?" Wooyooung grinned as he reached for his water bottle. Hongjoong frowned and thought for a moment but ultimately just shook his head. "Space and Time. I bend the space around me so it looks like I appear out of nowhere but I can only teleport as far as I can see."

"So, Space and Time and the Mind?" Hongjoong pondered. "Both of those are connected to the Star, right?"

Yunho nodded. "It is the most common connection but has the most variety in Gifts. However, the ones connected to the Sun and the Moon have great power since they aren't seen as often."

"Well, what about you two?" The blunette let his eyes dart between Yunho, Mingi, and Jongho.

"I'm another connection to the Star but in a different way than Yeosang and Wooyoung." Mingi raised a finger. "I have a connection to the Spirit."

"The Spirit?" A tilt of the head.

Mingi nodded and then held up his glove covered hands. "Tell me, why do you think I wear these kinds of gloves? As a fashion statement?" Hongjoong shrugged. He himself liked to wear interesting clothes and style thing so he wasn't one to say anything. "I have the Gift of Second Sight."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I can reach in and touch your soul and see things about you that you might have never told anyone else about, kind of like a seer." The tall man smiled. "I have to be careful though because I don't have too much of a control on it and it activates using skin-to-skin contact."

Hongjoong widened his eyes, a bit surprised and wondering how it might feel if somebody just suddenly knew some of his deepest secrets. He shuddered at the thought. He also must realize how inconvenient it would be to constantly have to watch yourself and make sure you didn't accidentally touch someone and see something you didn't want to see or invade someone's privacy. It must be hard.

"I also have a Star related Gift." Jongho mumbled. The blunette suddenly remembered what they talked a bit about in class. "Mine has to do with the body. I can change the chemical properties of things, like Alchemy. I can make a door's material stronger or more brittle."

"I think I'm the only one that has one related to the Sun." Yunho smiled brightly, his grin matching his Gift's property. "Mine is associated with the Earth."

"So you can move mountains and make flowers grow out of nowhere?" Hongjoong asked the other, interested.

The pinkette laughed. "Uh, not exactly. I can help accelerate the healing process and enhance those kinds of properties in flowers and herbs."

The blunette was a bit surprised to hear this. It was definitely different from all the things he had heard earlier. In a way, it made sense. Yunho had a very lively, but nurturing, air about him. It definitely fit.

"Now you can see why he's in the third tier, right?" Mingi grinned, seeming oddly proud. The pinkette just blushed a little and lightly elbowed him in the side.

"Wow, I had no idea that they could all be so different." Hongjoong whistled while picking lightly at his sandwich. He let his gaze wander across the courtyard and watched all the different kinds of students meander around. As he took a look, he tried to think what kind of Gifts that they might have.

Suddenly, he caught sight of a boy with black hair and a silver streak. He had his hands in his pockets as he walked down the path towards one of the buildings. Hongjoong vaguely remembered seeing him on Halloween.

"Hey, I've seen that guy before right?" The blunette asked. The rest of the table turned to see who their friend was talking about.

"Oh yeah," Jongho nodded. "That's San. You must have seen him at the bonfire."

"What is his Gift then?" Hongjoong asked. He had a bit of an idea but wanted confirmation for himself.

"I'm surprised you didn't already figure it out." Yunho stated, turning back around. "Like me, he has a connection to the Sun but he is on the other side. He has Pyrokinesis."

"Woah," Hongjoong whistled, impressed. "That is like, controlling fire right?" The table nodded.

"He's also in the same class as Yunho, tier three." Yeosang supplied, speaking up for the first time in a while. The blunette was pleasantly surprised.

"So do you know most people's Gifts on campus?" He asked.

Wooyoung shrugged. "More or less but not always. Sometimes people surprise us."

Hongjoong took this and thought for a moment. "Then, what about my current roommate? What about him?" He was curious to find out anything about his current dorm mate. He had hardly seen him and was dying to learn at least a little about him. Maybe if he figured something out they could be friends?

"What room are you in again?" Mingi asked while popping a chip in his mouth. That was the first time the other had noticed he had taken off one of his gloves to eat but was careful not to make any contact with others.

"1024." Wooyoung supplied before Hongjoong could get a word in.

Mingi let out a low whistle. "Oh man, tough luck buddy."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" The blunette grumbled, miffed at another lack of answers.

"Because no one really knows about that guy." Wooyoung shrugged. "I told you how he switches roommates all the time. He is a bit of a loner and no one has really gotten close enough to find out anything."

"Well that doesn't seem very healthy." Hongjoong huffed. "Are you sure he doesn't talk to anyone? Surely he has to talk to someone, even a casual acquaintance."

Yunho frowned and shook his head. "Unfortunately, the others are right. He doesn't talk to anyone. I've hardly even seen him on campus myself."

"Well, what level is he in? Someone has to have class with him and see what he does there." Hongjoong continued to frown. He didn't like the sound of this and was feeling a little bad for how much time his roommate spent on his own.

"None of us happen to have any classes with him," Mingi shook his head. "If I didn't know any better it is almost like he is a ghost or something."

Suddenly, something hit Hongjoong. He was asking all of these questions but then he realized he didn't know something very important. He felt like smacking himself on the head.

"Geez, well this is great." The blunette rolled his eyes. "I don't know anything about the guy I live with. Not even his name." This seemed to cause the rest of the table to share an uneasy look for a moment. After a moment, Yunho spoke up.

"His name is Park Seonghwa." The pinkette started warily. "And he is the headmaster's son."

Notes:

Hello, sorry for the wait on this chapter. I know it probably didn't make up  for the wait but, as I said, Asphyxia is my priority and  I had to get the boring explanations out of the way. Hopefully you have a  teensy bit more understanding of the world we are in now and I apologize for the shorter chapter. I hope the explanations were clear enough and it made sense. If not, the more  we go on in the story, the more these will be used so  hopefully you can get used to them.

The magic used in this story is made up by me. I have drawn inspiration from many things so, at times, there may be  similarities to other actual magical practices or stories but I promise that none of these are supposed to represent any real magic or be offensive to actual practicing witches. 

*If it helps your imagination, this is Inception era Ateez hair color wise. Mingi's trench coat and velvet gloves look are drawn from Answer era and the Fellowship Tour Seoul shows.