Poisoned Hearts (A Jaric Fanfic)

4) Childhood

Before the sun had even risen above the horizon, a shriek punctuated the silence of the night: "RAFAL JAPETH SADER-MISTRAL! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Japeth rolled out of bed, his mop of ragged long hair more matted than usual. He looked blearily at his twin, whose face was red with rage. Japeth managed a small snicker, despite his unbearable exhaustion.

"What?" Rhian lashed aggressively.

"You sound like mother. What makes you think you can talk to me like that? You're barely older than me." Japeth joked, ignoring the look of rage on Rhian's face.

"You weren't in class yesterday afternoon! And you weren't anywhere to be seen at curfew! And now you just show up and act like nothing happened! You can't skip class, Japeth! You could get expelled!" Rhian screamed.

"Good."

"What?"

"Good." Japeth echoed. "I'd welcome that. It's not like I want to be here." All the laughter was gone from his voice, replaced with a withering glare. A glare fixed right on Rhian. 

"You wouldn't last a second alone in the Woods." Rhian taunted.

"Wanna make a bet?"

But Rhian had no time to answer, because just then a girlish voice cooed: "Boys! Time for class!"

In the heat of their argument, the two of them had completely missed breakfast. Rhian changed out of his lion pajamas at record speed and Japeth's scims morphed into a black button-down shirt and jeans. Then the twins made their way down the stairs to class. Apparently they weren't the only ones who had missed breakfast, though. Aric made his way down the stairs shortly after them, clad in a sleeveless black leather shirt and black breeches. Dean Brundhilde was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, rather than in the classroom like she usually did.

"Stop right there, you two." She said. Rhian and Japeth abruptly stopped. "Not you, Rhian. Head to class, I'll be there in a moment." She smiled sweetly.

"You two!" Brundhilde thrust a finger at Japeth and Aric. "RJ, Aric, would you care to explain why neither of you were in class yesterday afternoon? Or why you were out past curfew?"

Neither boy said a word. They just looked straight ahead with matching, self satisfied smirks. The dean tapped her toe impatiently, waiting for one of them to give some sort of explanation. Finally, after what felt like an hour, she had had enough.

"No? Okay then. Week's detention for both of you for skipping class. And another week's detention for being out past curfew."

Japeth and Aric began to walk off towards class, but they were stopped abruptly once more.

"Oh, and one more thing." Brundhilde added. "Last night there was a fire at the field behind the park. Do either of you know anything about that?"

Japeth had to stop himself from bursting out into laughter, but instead just shook his head.

Brundhilde smiled. "Okay, just thought I'd ask. You two are free to go to class."

"Is the fire still burning?" Aric asked hopefully.

"No. Thankfully, it was put out before it could cause any really damage." She added, still smiling that stupid, fake smile.

Aric repressed a groan and headed to class, following Japeth. Much to his chagrin, class was not much different than the previous day. Three more brain-leeching hours of Brundhilde lecturing them on the importance of chivalry.

He leaned over to Japeth and whispered, "God, is class always like this?"

Japeth nodded and whispered back. "Except on quote unquote special days." He did little air quotes with his fingers.

"What happens on those days?"

"Farming." He groaned vaguely.

Aric stared perplexedly at Japeth, but he didn't elaborate. Without anything else to focus on (besides the lessons, but he would have rather gouged eyes out than listened to a word that old hag said), Aric returned to vandalizing his desk.

A few minute later, Japeth leaned over and started whispering again. "What was your old school like?"

"My... my old school?"

"I've never been to any other school than Arbed House. Are they all this terrible?" Japeth asked.

"I- I don't know." Aric admitted. "I've never been to another school either." He picked anxiously at his nails. "The first several years of my life were... difficult."

Japeth arched an eyebrow. "How so?" There was a hint of concern in his voice. He had never seen Aric this unsettled.

He bit his lip. This was clearly an uncomfortable subject for him. "I don't really like to talk about it."

"Oh, that's okay." Japeth remembered his own childhood. The fights. The abuse. The beatings. It hurt him even to think about it. He didn't blame Aric for not wanting to talk about his life before this school.

"Anyways," Aric said, in a feeble attempt to drive the conversation elsewhere. "Uhh... what do you umm... like to do in your free time?" He continued awkwardly. 

Relieved to have something to take his mind away from his early life, Japeth replied almost immediately. "I like to hang out in a little clearing just off of school grounds and play my sax."

"You play the sax? Awesome!"

"How about you? What do you like to do?"

"I don't know." Aric sighed. "I'm not used to all this." He motioned around himself.

"What? A school?" Japeth asked.

"No. Having a home. One that lasts, you know?" He smiled sadly. Then, suddenly, he snapped back to his senses. "Sorry! I shouldn't have gotten all soft like that."

But Japeth didn't mind. In fact, he kind of liked it. But he'd never tell Aric that to his face.

Then, out of nowhere, the bell rang, causing Japeth to jump out of his skin. How odd. For the first in his entire life, Japeth couldn't believe class was already over.
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Author's note:
I am so, so sorry that it has been so long since I last updated. I was on Spring Break. I will try to update more in the future.