The Academy - Side B

BONUS: Lila and Marcus

Age 14

Lila didn't understand who this strange boy was. He'd just run into the auditorium with Eri, her new roommate. He may have been average looking, but Lila found him quite cute. His messy brown hair and honey-coloured eyes suited him.

She later learned that his name was Marcus. Just Marcus. It was only a month or so later that she found out he was an Aster. She'd heard about the Asters. Her tutor back home had told her about them. They were a family of famous scholars, but she didn't care. Marcus was kind and funny, and made really bad jokes.

"Why did the chicken cross the road?"

"I don't know."

"To get to the idiot's house."

"Huh?"

"Knock-knock."

"Who's there?"

"The chicken."

He sometimes helped her out with her homework, and gave her the answers to tests when the teachers weren't looking. She figured that if she wasn't in love with Valerian, she might have fallen for Marcus. But she liked it better that he was one of her best friends. She hadn't had many guy friends after coming to the Shadowland.

Age 15

When she ran away, Marcus and Eri came looking for her. She'd been so afraid that they would not accept her, because her family had corrupt ancestors. But Marcus said it well: "We're your friends, which means we accept you no matter what crap your family has done."

After that, they realized they had more in common than they'd first thought. They liked looking at the gossip magazines and joking about celebrities. They liked making up random pronunciations of runes, because nobody knew what they sounded like as an oral system of communication. They liked volunteering with various student societies, despite their own club activities.

Age 16

With Kazu spending so much time with Eri, Lila and Marcus found they had a lot of time together. That year was spent in more bad jokes and plans on how to improve student life after joining the Student Council.

The year was also spent in grumbling to each other just how oblivious their friends were. 

"She likes him! It's plain as day!"

"Yes! And he likes her too! How do they not notice?"

"For the top students in class, they're pretty stupid."

"Can we just force them to go on a date together?"

"No, we need to make them realize it naturally. Also, Valerian needs to end the contract."

"I'll get it done, no matter what it takes."

A wind spell here, a little remark there, a bit of this and that. Matchmaking really did bring them closer.

Age 17

The Student Council was theirs. They had broken barriers to reach where they were now. It was their responsibility to make the school a better place, to give back to the institution that had done so much for them.

There had been a time when Marcus wanted to leave school, and just give up. But Lila convinced him, barely holding on herself, to stay. They'd become much stronger since then.

And when Valerian ended the contract, it was hard to say which of the four friends was the happiest.

Age 18

He was complicit in the whole act. He had no idea how he'd gotten himself involved in the whole mess, but there he was, watching two of his three best friends torture a man for the sake of the third.

Nobody said anything, but he was the one who chopped the man's hands off. Lila stood by him, supporting him in the way only a best friend could.

Someone back home had once told him that a boy and girl could never be just friends. There could only be romantic attraction. 

Marcus disagreed. Lila was the best friend he'd ever had.