Poisoned Hearts (A Jaric Fanfic)

2) Mr. No-name-kid

"Why didn't you introduce yourself like everyone else?" Rhian chastised Japeth as the two of them walked to their dorm room.

"I was simply told to introduce myself. You never told me how." Japeth replied slyly.

Rhian gave an annoyed grunt in reply, opening up the door to their room. Once in the dorm, he sat down on his bed and began a long-winded rant about how disrespectful the new kid was. Japeth just ignored him, messing with a piece of string on his frayed curtain. Not that he disagreed, but he had never minded disrespectful behavior as much as Rhian did. Perhaps because he was used to being hated.

The sun was beginning to set, leaving an orangey haze of clouds to hang in the sky. As the night went on and the otherworldly orange haze darkened to a deep blue, Japeth couldn't help but think about that unusual evening. He remembered the way the new kid-Aric, Dean Brundhilde had called him- had smirked at him, rather than recoiling with fear, as everyone else did. He recalled the way Aric's purple eyes flickered with madness, fueled by evil and hatred. Two things Japeth knew all too well. Looks like he had some competition.

The scorching sun rose into the sky the next morning, waking the two twins with blinding light. Rhian sprung out of his bed and hastily got dressed, while Japeth simply walked right down to breakfast, morphing his suit of scims into his desired outfit. He was the first one down, like usual, but he heard footsteps behind him soon after he arrived. He didn't bother to turn around to greet whoever was there, because whoever they were, they certainly wouldn't have been happy to see him.

"Hey!" A voice behind him called. Japeth turned to see a tall, muscular boy with ivory skin, spiked black hair, and violet eyes that glinted mischievously in the morning light. Japeth turned back around, ignoring him. "Hey!" He called again. "Mr. No-name-kid! I'm talking to you!"

Japeth turned to face Aric, glaring at him with annoyance. "What do you want?" He demanded.

"Who are you?"

"I already told you. I'm someone you should stay away from." Japeth huffed.

"I suppose I could say the same about myself. But that's not what I was asking." Aric explained in a slightly pissed off tone.

"Then what we're you asking?"

"What's your name?" He asked.

"I don't see why that's of any relevance." Japeth pointed out.

"Well, I'm not just going to keep calling you 'Mr. No-name-kid'. And besides, you already know my name."

"Fine." He sighed. "My name is Japeth. Now fuck off, will you?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Aric smirked. "I have class, just like you."

Darn, he had to go to class with this kid, too? That fact had completely slipped Japeth's mind until now. He was starting to get Rhian's annoyance with the new kid. Never mind that, two could play this game.

"So, Aric, what's your deal? What's wrong with you?" Japeth said bluntly.

Aric scoffed, offended. "What's wrong with you?" He countered.

"I asked first." Japeth piped.

"Real mature." He replied with a groan. "I shouldn't be here. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Is that so? Then why did you come here in full body chains?"

"Fine, I might've done something a little wrong, but I didn't deserve this!" Aric motioned around him at the wreck of a school Arbed House was. "So I burnt down a house! So I killed a few pests! So I stabbed that idiot girl! So what?"

"You burnt down a house?" Japeth asked. Aric nodded. "Nice!"

Aric cocked an eyebrow. "Nice? What exactly did you do to end up in this prison."

"I had a rotten mother who never loved me. Tried to kill her several times. But she was more skilled with her magic than I was." He said sourly, as though this were a sore subject for him.

"Magic? What magic?"

"Her villain talent. I have one too. Only, mine makes me a freak."

"Can I see it?" Aric asked excitedly.

Japeth hesitated, taken aback by Aric's sudden change in demeanor. "Oh, sure. I guess."

Slowly, Japeth's regular clothes morphed into a suit of squirming black eels. Two of them flew off the suit and towards Aric, demonstrating their abilities.

"They're called scims." He explained. "They can do loads of cool stuff for me. Come in handy when I've got my hands full."

"Awesome! Can I touch one?" Aric asked, suddenly smiling at the boy in front of him, rather than scowling.

"S-sure."

He reached his hand out, petting the scims with no fear. Japeth had never seen anyone so comfortable with his talent before. Aric looked at him and spoke in his deep, strapping voice.

"Maybe we're better off not being enemies."

Suddenly, someone shrieked behind him. Aric spun to see a group of boys on the stairs. They stared at the scims, horrified.

"What're you looking at?" Japeth yelled.

Rhian stepped forward from the center of the group. "They're just not used to your talent, that's all. You haven't used it in public in over a year. Don't be so hard on them." He tried to reason.

Japeth gave an agitated "hmph" and sat down to have breakfast. Aric followed, sitting down next to him. Then the other boys sat down, though everyone kept their distance from Japeth, still wary of him.

Oddly enough, Dean Brundhilde was the last one to arrive. She was apparently oblivious to the shrieks that several of the boys had emitted. Or she was simply ignoring them. She flounced down the stairs in a disgustingly bright yellow dress with pink hearts on it, smiling obnoxiously.

"Good morning, boys." She cooed.

"Good morning, Dean Brundhilde." Several boys chanted. Neither Japeth nor Aric said a word. Japeth had never met another boy who cared as little for rules as he did. Oh yes, they were going to get along.