RSE CH 20 (Patreon)

The class he had the next morning was a subject that Leo had always had a hard time getting excited about—History. It wasn’t because he wasn’t interested or bad at it, but because of the erroneous ‘facts’ that filled every history textbook.

For example, the history of the witches of Salem was sad yet hilarious at the same time. How could normal humans hunt down and burn true witches?

Though it was true the Vatican hunted witches, since human magic came from studying the magic of devils, witch’s executions weren’t publicized. After all, you could never know what curse a witch or a wizard might cast on those who came for them.

Of the four known groups of magicians, two—the Grey Wizards and the Rose Croix—were tied directly to devils. The first was created by Faust after his infernal pact, and was now controlled by the devil Mephistopheles. The second was created by Heinrich Rosenkreuz, who was now a reincarnated devil.

The third organization, the Golden Dawn, was a magician organization that was founded by William Robert Forrest, William Wynn Wilcott, and William Mathers. Unofficially, exorcists called it God Wills in a play on its founders first names. It was a relatively young organization, with ties to the church order.

Leo was even close to one of its members, Le Fay Pendragon. He was also close to her brother, Arthur, though their relationship wasn’t a close one.

Honestly, Leo considered magicians and wizards or witches great people. They were humans who, through the power of their minds, made the impossible possible. Their minds literally broke through the constraints their humanity placed on them.

All powerful holy swords were created by powerful magicians and alchemists.

But Leo’s admiration did not extend to the magicians of the fourth and final organization. Witches and wizards belonging to that organization all needed to be reduced to ashes.

Hexennacht.

Hexennacht was composed of stray magicians and witches. It was led by a truly crazy woman. Leo still remembered how he’d nearly died when he was nine while on a simple mission hunting a low-level vampire.

The culprit had been Walburga, who possessed Helig Lans, one of the thirteen pieces of Longinus—the spear that pierced Christ’s side on the cross. Longinus was God’s last gift to humanity, a final tool to help them survive amongst supernaturals.

That particular gear was one of the holy relics of the church.

If the Ice Princess, Alessia Glassare, hadn’t been chasing after Walburga, Leo didn’t think he would have survived. Alessia was one of the the Grey Wizards. She now held the title of strongest witch, thanks to her piece of Longinus, Pedale Demise.

Leo chuckled at the memory. It was ironic that a bunch of exorcists had nearly been killed by a Holy Relic. Almost as much of an irony as them being saved by a witch who served Mephistopheles—the sworn enemy of the exorcists.

Leo’s shook his head, dispelling those memories. He needed to focus on his history class. Professor Dillard was talking about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What the professor obviously didn’t know was that after the first bombing, the damage to Hiroshima was so terrible because of the battle between Abaddon and Nico Caputo.

It was even worse at Nagasaki, since that was where Lane Karteros had fought Salvatore. In the end, the damage had escalated to a point where it threatened to destroy the entire island.  The two stopped before all of Kyushu was split asunder.

“Well, that is it for today,” Professor Dillard finished his lecture. “Don’t forget to do your reading for next week, there will be a quiz in addition to your paper being due. ” The young professor smirked. “And don’t wait to the last minute to write your paper! I know if you wait to the last minute, it only takes a minute… but I guarantee you that everyone can tell how much time and effort you put into it.” 

Nodding to the students, the professor left the classroom.

Leo stood after packing his books back into his bag and stretched.

“Leo? Do you have a minute?”

Leo blinked at the grinning, silver-haired girl who’d called out to him. 

‘Is that… that’s Maria, right?’

The way her purple eyes shone with a mischief made him hesitate, but in the end, his curiosity got the better of him. Since what had happened on his first day at the school, he hadn’t talked to Kira or Maria. 

“Sure… What’s up?”

“I was going to grab a coffee. Want to join me? We can go to the coffeeshop off campus.”

Leo shrugged, it would be a good chance to get to know her. “Sounds good. Professor Dillard about put me to sleep today. I need something to wake me up.”

“Great!”

Sitting at her desk, Kira watched Leo and Maria leave the classroom. She considered it, but ultimately decided not to follow them. She knew that Rayne had invited Leo to join them this afternoon. She could wait until then.

Now that she knew that Leo was the son of Lane Karteros, there was so much she wanted to tell him. But she was too shy to call out to him like Maria had done, and too much of an introvert to walk up and start a conversation.

She hoped she would be braver that afternoon.

***

During the whole little walk to the coffee shop, Leo stayed silent while Maria hummed while almost skipping along beside him.

‘This girl seems to always be happy.’

Leo believed that those who always smiled were the same people who hid all their pain deep in their hearts. The depths of their pain was unfathomable. Of course, he wasn’t close enough to Maria to ask what she thought about his theory. 

And he could be totally wrong, too. There were exceptions to everything. Instead, he Kept his thoughts to himself.

“I will also get a coffee for Kira!” Ordering mocha latte’s at the counter, Maria asked Leo what he wanted.

“Large black coffee… two sugars, please,” Leo told the barrista.

As they sat at a nearby table to wait for their orders, Leo arched an eyebrow at Maria. “What did you want to ask me about?”

The girl suddenly turned shy, trailing her finger through a water ring on the tabletop and doodling with it. “I wanted to ask you out on a date.”

He coughed. “Wait… what?” Leo cleared his throat, surprised at the sudden proposal.

Maria grinned as she watched his reaction. Though she wasn’t as bad as Shuri, she liked teasing people. It was fun to watch them squirm in shame or embarrassment. 

Leo was saved by the barrista calling out their order number. He excused himself and went to the counter to pick up three coffees in a to-go carrier. Returning to the table, he handed Maria her coffee and took a sip from his own.

Still watching him, Maria took a sip of her coffee, eagerly awaiting his next words. Surely they would be either a stuttering acceptance that would give her another chance to tease him. 

“Sorry… but I’m not interested.”

Maria coughed, hurriedly setting down her coffee and pressing a napkin to her lips. It was Maria’s turn to clear her throat. She coughed for quite a while because it was the first time she’d heard such an answer when asking a boy anything. 

His answer was so different from what she’d expected, that it came to her as a great shock.

Finally having gotten control of herself, she blinked at Leo. “Can I ask why not?”

She was curious. Maria wasn’t vain, and she knew that her current appearance looked rather young for a college student. But she still considered herself a beauty. To be so bluntly refused was quite a shock.

“Why not?” Leo sat back in his chair and scratched his cheek. “I just feel like going out with you will get me into trouble—more trouble than I care to get into.”

Maria was once again left speechless. She couldn’t really deny what he’d said. 

“Huh…” Leo snorted, a smirk curling one corner of his lips. “It was mostly speculation, but seeing your reaction, it seems I wasn’t wrong.”

“Ha ha ha… What are you saying? I won’t get you into trouble.” She leaned over the small table, propping her chin on her hands and fluttering her eyelashes at him. “Unless you want me to, that is. I can think of all kinds of trouble I’d like to get up to with you, Leo.”

She paused, then sighed and sat back in her chair. “But since you don’t want to, I won’t force you.” Maria stood, laughed awkwardly, and fled the scene with her and Kira’s coffees in the carrier. 

She could have insisted on the date, but she knew that doing so would be short sighted. At least she had managed to let him know she was interested. Now, she just had to get him to warm up to her. 

Today wasn’t a complete failure in her books.

***

After Maria ran out the door of the coffee shop, Leo had to admit that it had been fun to flip the script on the little minx. He’d even been able to relax with her. He decided he needed to stop thinking about his past and to focus on the present.

Speaking of the present…

He remembered his promise to Miss Hastings. He briefly considered skipping out on checking in with her in the infirmary. But, she seemed like she took her responsibilities as a nurse seriously. He fully believed she would chase him down if he didn’t drop by.

“I should simply drop by the clinic, show her that I’m okay, and be done with it,” Leo muttered to himself.

With a grunt, he stood and drank the last of his coffee. Leo dropped the empty cup in the trash on his way out the door.