#mage!roman

“Virgil, thank goodness. What were you doing in the sun?” he asked, slowly maneuvering his friend into a sitting position.

“Wasn’t- gah!” Virgil cuts off with a pained gasp, as he tried rising to his feet.

“Easy, being exposed to sunlight drained you severely. You’re lucky to be alive,” Logan commented, his voice trembling slightly at the last sentence. He scooped Virgil up into his arms, the vampire too weak to protest.

“No shit, Sherlock. And I was attacked by a mage,” he huffed. Logan nearly lost his grip on Virgil.

“What? Surely not-”

“No, not Roman. This mage was a girl, just some kid,” Virgil cut him off before he could finish. Logan relaxed slightly, shifting Virgil a bit in his arms.

“Let’s get you home. I’m sure Hestia’s tears will be able to take care of those burns,” Logan said. Virgil hummed in agreement, and Logan carried him out of the school building.

Patton was humming at the stove, stirring a pot of chicken noodle soup. Although Roman wouldn’t admit it, being in musicals tended to take a toll on his voice. So Patton took it upon himself to make soup for dinner, under the excuse that he wanted to try out a new recipe.

His train of thought was interrupted by the door opening. Patton grinned, setting down his ladle. Logan and Virgil must be home! He walked out of the kitchen, and towards the front door. However, his grin quickly slipped off his face and he gasped at the sight before him. Logan was cradling Virgil in his arms, who seemed barely coherent and had terrible burns on his face and hands.

“Virgil?! What happened?” Patton cried, rushing over to them. He brushed Virgil’s hair out of his eyes, who whined in discomfort at the contact. Patton quickly withdrew his hand, looking to Logan with a teary-eyed expression.

“He was attacked by a mage. Can you help me get him to the living room? He’s a lot heavier than he looks,” Logan explained. Patton nodded, and guided them to the living room. He helped Logan lay him down on the couch, trying to keep his hands from trembling.

“Where’s Roman and Hestia?” Logan asked.

“Roman’s still at musical practice… I think Hestia is with him. I’ll call him,” Patton replied, beginning to take his phone out of his pocket. Logan reached out and put a hand on Patton’s wrist, stilling his movements. Patton looked up at him, brow furrowed in confusion.

“I’ll call Roman. Because judging by the cat apron you’re wearing, you left something on the stove,” Logan pointed out. Patton glanced down at himself, then let out a sheepish laugh.

“You’re right, I’ll be right back,” Patton replied, rushing off to the kitchen. He quickly turned off the stovetop, and just in time, seeing as the soup was about to boil over. He walked back to the living room to see that Logan had his phone up to his ear, and he was tapping his foot impatiently.

“Is Roman not answering?” Patton asked. Logan held his hand up, signaling for Patton to be quiet.

“Roman? It’s Logan, you need to get home as soon as possible. Is Hestia with you?” he asked into the phone. Patton heard some unintelligible, frantic words come from the phone.

“It’s Virgil, he was-” Logan was cut off by a sudden poof of red smoke in their living room. The smoke cleared to reveal Roman standing there with Hestia on his shoulder.

“Virgil,” Roman gasped, kneeling beside him. Hestia scrambled off of his shoulder, and began to cry her golden healing tears onto Virgil’s face.

“Stop wasting your magic,” Virgil rasped. Roman let out a slight hysterical laugh.

“It’s not a waste if it’s for you, my love. What happened?” Roman soothed, running a hand through Virgil’s hair.

“He was attacked by a mage, apparently,” Logan piped up. Roman’s eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder at Logan.

“A mage?! Who were they, what did they look like?” Roman asked frantically, looking back to Virgil. Virgil winced at Roman’s loud tone, causing Roman’s expression to soften.

“Sorry, let’s just get you healed up first,” Roman murmured, dropping a kiss to Virgil’s forehead. Roman stood up, and looked over to Logan and Patton.

“You think you know the mage behind it?” Logan asked softly.

“There’s only one mage family that hates vampires, Logan,” Roman replied.

“How do you know? They could have been a rogue mage,” Patton piped up.

“Maybe, but only one family knows the spell that could have done this to Virgil. Mine,” Roman declared gravely.

Virgil faded in and out of consciousness as Hestia healed him. He was vaguely aware of voices, someone running a hand through his hair every so often, and a slight shift in scenery. Someone had changed him into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and he now seemed to be in his room.

The sound of something being set on his bedside table caused Virgil’s eyes to flutter open. He glanced over to see Patton setting down a steaming bowl of something on the table.

“Pat?” Virgil asked, his voice sounding dry and rough. Patton jumped at the sound of Virgil’s voice, but a relieved smile quickly spread over his face.

“How are you feeling, kiddo?” Patton asked, sitting on the edge of his bed. Virgil slowly sat up, despite Patton’s gasp of protest.

“Patton… I’m like, two centuries older than you. I don’t think I’m your kiddo. And I’m okay,” Virgil replied. He took a look down at his hands, which seemed a bit raw and pink, but otherwise alright. At least they weren’t severely burned anymore.

“What do you mean, you’re not my kiddo?!” Patton cried, a look of hurt crossing over his face.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it like that… of course I’m your kiddo,” Virgil backpedaled. Patton gave Virgil a soft smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s alright! I’m just glad you’re okay. Do you want me to get Roman?” he asked. Virgil nodded, and Patton gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before leaving the room.

A few moments later, Roman burst into the room, Hestia perched on his shoulder. Patton and Logan were standing behind him, and Virgil felt his cheeks heat up at all of the attention he was receiving. Roman walked over to Virgil, sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached out and tenderly cupped Virgil’s cheek with his hand.

“How are you holding up?” Roman asked.

“I’m fine, just…” Virgil trailed off as he met Roman’s warm brown eyes, soft and filled with concern. It suddenly hit him why the girl was so familiar to him. Her eyes were the same brown hue as Roman’s.

“Virgil?” Roman murmured, brow furrowing with concern.

“The mage… she had your eyes,” Virgil gasped. Roman’s face went pale.

“I knew it. I knew my family was behind this. What did she look like?” Roman asked, his voice hushed.

“She had light blonde hair in pigtails and eyes like yours. I don’t think she was all that old, I did mistake her for a student. And I think she had a familiar. It looked like a winged rabbit, but I could be wrong. I wasn’t fully coherent at the time,” Virgil explained.

“Nova,” Roman gasped. Patton and Logan exchanged confused glances, while Virgil frowned.

“Who?” Virgil asked.

“My sister. I haven’t seen her in years… what is she doing in Ekeisdale?” Roman wondered.

“I wasn’t aware you had a sister,” Logan commented. Roman sighed, eyes downcast.

“I more or less cut ties with my family when I went off to college. I wanted to be in the world of humans, and even though my parents didn’t approve of it, they let me do so. You see, mages tend to look down on humans. Or anyone who isn’t a mage, really. And when I got so attached to the human world… they basically told me to choose my family or my passion,” Roman confessed softly.

“You gave up your family… for the human world? For us?” Virgil asked softly. Roman gave a sad smile, and nodded.

“I didn’t really get along with my family anyhow. Nova was the only one that seemed to understand me… but I guess she’s changed now. I suppose we both have,” he replied. Hestia let out a soft coo of sympathy, and Virgil’s heart threatened to tear in two at Roman’s downcast and forlorn expression.

“Then we’ll be your family, Roman,” Patton said determinedly. Roman visibly perked up, tears glistening in his eyes.

“Really?” he asked timidly. Patton smiled warmly, and walked over to Roman, leaning down and pulling the mage into a firm but comforting hug.

“Really,” Patton murmured. Roman grinned, even as tears trailed down his face, and hugged Patton tightly. A slight smile wormed its way onto Virgil’s face, and he scooted closer to Patton and Roman on the bed, tentatively wrapping his arms around them. Roman moved one arm from Patton to pull Virgil closer, and Patton did the same. Virgil glanced up at Logan, who was standing there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

“Logan, you better get over here and hug us,” Virgil said mock-threateningly. Logan let out a light chuckle, and climbed onto the bed, putting his arms around the three of them.

The four of them- and Hestia, of course- stayed in that embrace for what seemed like ages. That is, until they heard a sudden knocking come from downstairs, at the front door. Logan frowned, and pulled away from the hug. They all slowly disentangled, watching as Logan slowly got off the bed. The knocking was heard again, and they all exchanged confused glances.

“None of you were expecting anyone tonight, were you?” Logan asked.

“Not that I know of,” Virgil replied, shrugging.

“Maybe Thomas and the other kiddos decided to drop by?” Patton pondered. Silence settled between them, and the knocking came again, louder.

“Whatever the case, it seems urgent. I’ll go down and see who it is,” Logan said, walking out of Virgil’s room, then down the stairs and towards the front door. Patton followed after him, while Roman and Virgil stayed in his room for a moment.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” Roman said. Virgil didn’t reply. It couldn’t be a coincidence, that he got attacked and now someone was very urgently knocking at the door.

Suddenly, the sounds of shouting came from downstairs. Roman and Virgil exchanged panicked glances, then quickly scrambled off the bed, out of Virgil’s room, down the stairs, and to the entryway. They were greeted by the sight of Logan standing protectively in front of Patton, glaring at two women now in their house. Virgil’s blood froze when he realized one of them was the girl who attacked him earlier. The other woman’s face was impassive, but her steely gray eyes glittered with determination. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into an intricate bun, and she wore a deep red cloak over a long-sleeved gray tunic, black slacks, and brown lace-up boots.

“Roman. We need to talk,” she said coldly, her gaze flickering between Logan, Patton, and Virgil, before finally landing on Roman. He swallowed nervously, closing his eyes briefly before meeting the woman’s gaze.

“Hello, mother.”

Suddenly, a tired and confused squawk was heard from beside the bed. Roman and Virgil glanced over, and saw Hestia in her “nest,” which was really a hoard of things that Hestia had stolen from the various housemates. There was one of Patton’s cardigans, a tie from Logan, one of Virgil’s old hoodies, and a blanket of Roman’s. Her head poked out from beneath Roman’s blanket, and her golden eyes blinked tiredly until she shook the blanket off, and unfurled her wings to fly up to the bed.

Hestia had grown quite a bit in the past month. While previously, she was about the size of a mouse, she was now the size of a small kitten. Which honestly still wasn’t very big, but it was much larger than she had been. Her wingspan was probably about a foot long, and each flap of her wings sent puffs of air at Roman and Virgil.

She landed gracefully on the bed, and then folded her wings in. She ambled over to Roman, and nuzzled his arm in a reassuring manner. A warm, fond expression spread over Virgil’s face as he watched Roman’s familiar, and Roman felt himself falling head-over-heels for Virgil all over again.

“Good morning, Hestia,” Virgil murmured, reaching over and stroking the top of her head, massaging a spot behind her horns that made her purr.

With his boyfriend distracted by his familiar, Roman took the opportunity to try and get the upper hand. His arms snaked around Virgil’s waist, hands running up his back and tugging Virgil down on top of him. Virgil pitched forward, gray eyes flying wide with surprise as his face was now suddenly inches from Roman's.

“Are you sure you need to go to work?” Roman asked, his voice low and sultry. Virgil’s face flushed a light pink, and his lips were parted slightly in shock. Roman leaned up to capture those lips with his own, causing Virgil to make a soft, high pitched sound that sent fire skittering along Roman’s veins.

Roman thought he had finally convinced Virgil not to leave, but a sudden high-pitched and annoyed roar caused them to break apart. They glanced over to see Hestia giving them a disapproving glare, her tail swishing back and forth with annoyance. Virgil huffed out a laugh, while Roman sent a slight pout towards Hestia.

“Well, since all of us can’t jump around and act like an idiot on stage for a living, I need to get up,” Virgil teased, giving Roman a quick peck on the cheek before gently removing himself from the mage’s grip.

“For your information, it’s called acting!” Roman protested, watching as Virgil clambered out of bed and walked over to the closet.

“Right,” Virgil replied, and although Virgil had his back to Roman, he was certain the vampire was smirking.

Virgil became a sudden blur of motion, getting dressed in a matter of seconds. He ran a hand through his hair, fixing it from when it had gotten mussed from such a quick change. Roman’s mouth hung open slightly as he took in his boyfriend’s appearance. He wore a lavender dress shirt, dark purple tie, black sweater, and black dress pants. The outfit was rather casual, but it made Virgil look sophisticated nonetheless.

“Someone’s gotten the hang of dressing trendy,” Roman commented with a smile. Virgil looked down at his outfit with mock disgust and annoyance.

“I blame you entirely,” he huffed.

“You’re welcome,” Roman scoffed. Virgil rolled his eyes and walked over to his desk to retrieve his bag, as well as his black umbrella.

“Well, time to go to school and interview a bunch of people. How Logan roped me into this, I’ll never know,” Virgil sighed. Virgil walked out of the room, and Roman watched him leave with a sigh, flopping back onto the bed.

Hestia let out a soft coo, and cuddled into Roman’s side. The mage smiled, giving his familiar an affectionate scratch behind her horns. Hestia purred, eyes fluttering shut.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to sleep some more until it’s time for musical rehearsal,” Roman yawned, snuggling back into the bed.

Logan glanced down at his watch impatiently. Where was Virgil? They had twenty minutes until they needed to be at Ekeisdale High School, so that they could begin the interview process.

A sudden kiss on the cheek startled Logan out of his thoughts. He looked over to see soft green eyes peering up at him from behind a pair of glasses.

“Hello, Patton,” Logan murmured, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend. Patton giggled beneath the kiss, cupping Logan’s face with his hands.

“Hello to you too! And stop worrying, I’m sure Virgil will be down soon,” Patton murmured when Logan pulled away. A look of puzzlement came over Logan’s face.

“How did you know that- I wasn’t worrying!” Logan protested. Patton giggled again.

“Logan, you’ve told me about this interview committee thing that you and Virgil are doing at least a couple times now! And yes, you were worrying. Your face gets all cute and scrunched up and frowny when you’re worried. Not that your face isn’t cute all the time, though!” Patton chirped. Logan’s cheeks tinged pink, and he adjusted his tie nervously.

“Patton, I-”

“Oh no you don’t, you are cute!” Patton interrupted.

“But Patton-” Patton silenced him again by putting his finger to Logan’s lips.

“Nope! You’re the cutest!” he insisted. Logan rolled his eyes and grabbed Patton’s wrist, pulling his hand away from his face.

“Patton, the adorable one here is you. Your kind heart, goofy but loveable smile, and your weird little quirks that you have from being a werewolf,” Logan stated firmly. Patton blushed slightly, but determination was still set in his features.

“But you’re cute too! Your passion for your work, the way you care about your students, the way your tongue sticks out when you’re concentrating on something, your- mmph!” Patton was cut off by Logan abruptly pulling him into a kiss. Patton’s eyes flew wide for a moment, but he quickly melted in Logan’s arms, fingers twining into his hair. He was vaguely aware they were moving backwards, Patton’s back eventually hitting the wall. But Patton didn’t care, far too focused on the feeling of Logan’s mouth against his own. His lips tasted like coffee, as well as a hint of the jelly that had been on his toast.

“Why is it whenever I walk into the kitchen, you two are either making out or are about to make out,” a voice huffed, causing Logan and Patton to break apart. Virgil was standing in the doorway, leaning on his umbrella, with his bag slung over one shoulder.

“Well it’s about time,” Logan muttered, reluctantly pulling away from Patton, adjusting his tie as he did so. Patton let out a nervous giggle, smoothing out Logan’s hair from when he had run his hands through it.

“Have a good day at work, sweetheart,” Patton murmured, leaning up to press a kiss to Logan’s cheek.

“Thank you, Patton. See you later,” Logan said, hoping that Virgil didn’t notice how hard he was blushing. But due to the smug grin on his face, Logan was certain that Virgil had noticed.

“Alright lovebirds, break it up. Logan and I have to go,” Virgil teased. Logan rolled his eyes.

“Like you and Roman are any better. I’m sure a certain mage of yours got clingy this morning, hence why you were late coming down,” Logan scoffed. This time, it was Virgil’s turn to blush.

“What- I- shut up! Let’s just go,” Virgil huffed, grabbing Logan by the arm and tugging him out of the kitchen. Patton giggled and gave a small wave to Logan as he was basically dragged out of the house.

Virgil buried his head in his hands. They had gone through two of the three applicants for the counselor position, and frankly both of them were terrible. The first one had been a short, hot-tempered man that Virgil suspected was a dwarf. His credentials were fine, he just seemed a bit… unpredictable.

The second applicant was a seemingly sweet young woman, but every so often, a forked tail could be seen swishing about, and there seemed to be horns hidden beneath the woman’s curly hair. There was also the fact that she tried to seduce both Virgil and Logan into giving her the job.

“Let’s hope this final applicant isn’t like the other two,” Logan sighed, shuffling through his papers and breaking Virgil from his train of thought. Virgil gave a muffled grunt from beneath his hands.

“I did like how you told that lady off though,” Virgil replied, after a moment of silence.

“Hmm?”

“You told her that ‘unfortunately, my coworker and I are both homosexual and taken, please take your seduction someplace else,’” Virgil said, chuckling lightly.

“It would be highly inappropriate to have a succubus as a school counselor, Virgil,” Logan huffed.

“I know that! But you told her to fuck off in the most respectful way!” Virgil laughed.

“Of course I did. We are supposed to be professionals, after all,” Logan smirked. The two broke into a slight fit of giggles, both covering their mouths to muffle the sound.

A sudden knock on the door broke the two teachers out of their giggle-fest. Both of them immediately schooled their expressions, Logan adjusting his tie, and Virgil fiddling with the ends of his sweater sleeves. Logan glanced at Virgil, and the vampire nodded.

“Come in,” Logan said. The door opened, and a man with vibrant purple hair, glasses, tan cardigan, and pink tie walked in. The man gave a friendly wave, and began to walk into the room. Or at least, he tried to. He stumbled over his own two feet, and nearly face planted into the table that Logan and Virgil were seated at.

“Hi! Sufferin’ succotash… sorry about that, I guess I haven’t quite gotten my land legs yet!” the man said cheerily, sitting down at the table. Logan and Virgil exchanged nervous glances.

“It’s… quite alright. I’m Logan Taylor, and this is Virgil Caelius,” he said, gesturing first to himself, and then to Virgil.

“Well gosh, it’s good to meet the both of you! I’m Dr. Emile Picani,” he replied. Virgil raised an eyebrow. This was sure to be an interesting interview.

“You made a comment about ‘land legs’ earlier. And just now you said you weren’t a ‘fish out of water,’” Virgil replied. Emile glanced around nervously, refusing to look either Logan or Virgil in the eyes.

“Uh, I- I’m just kind of a goofy guy, I guess!” he laughed nervously. Virgil didn’t look convinced, but Logan gave Virgil a slight glare, silently telling him not to press on the subject. It was clear that Dr. Emile Picani was hiding something, but Logan was confident that he was trustworthy, even if he was a bit… over the top.

“That is quite alright, Dr. Picani. Thank you for your time today,” Logan said, giving the doctor a thin smile. In return, Emile gave Logan a dazzling grin.

“Thank you! I guess th-th-th-that's all, folks!” he proclaimed, giving a cheesy impression of Porky Pig, waving at Logan and Virgil. While he was waving, Logan caught a glimpse of something on his wrist. It seemed to be a bracelet, made out of pale pink and blue seashells. But before he could comment on it, the exuberant doctor had left the room.

“Well that was…” Virgil trailed off, sagging in his chair.

“Interesting. But he is our best candidate,” Logan said. Virgil gave Logan an incredulous stare.

“That guy? Really? I think the short-tempered dwarf would be a better option,” Virgil huffed. Logan’s mouth set into a firm frown.

“Was that a pun?” he asked, his voice low. Virgil snorted out a laugh, covering his mouth as soon as the sound escaped his lips.

“Not intentionally. But come on, Logan. This Dr. Picani was clearly hiding something. What if he’s a siren?” Virgil protested.

“Sirens are supposed to sing about your heart’s deepest desires. Dr. Picani was making puns and wouldn’t stop quoting cartoons. Not really my heart’s wishes,” Logan replied.

“You do realize that you are dating Patton, right?” Virgil smirked. Logan’s face flushed slightly.

“I- um, that’s not the point! And if Dr. Picani really is a siren, then I’m sure you would have heard musical tunes and Disney quotes,” Logan shot back. Virgil rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Okay, so he’s not a siren. But there’s still something weird about that dude,” Virgil muttered.

“I did notice he had a seashell bracelet on. Perhaps he likes the sea? That ‘land legs’ comment could merely have been a reference to a trip to the beach he had taken recently. We very well could be reading into this too much,” Logan pointed out. There was silence for a moment, while Virgil mulled over what Logan had just said.

“Maybe you have a point. Guess I’m just paranoid, as per usual. So we’re gonna hire this guy?” Virgil asked.

“He is our best option,” Logan replied. Virgil let out a sigh.

“I guess you’re right,” he shrugged. Logan nodded, giving Virgil a small smile.

“Very well. I’ll take care of the paperwork and get it to Ms. Torres,” he replied.

“Sounds good to me,” Virgil said, standing up from his chair and stretching. Logan shuffled through the papers on the table, making sure that each document was in its place.

“I’m gonna head to my classroom, if that’s alright with you. See you at lunch?” Virgil asked, beginning to leave the room. He stopped at the doorway, casting a glance back at Logan.

“Of course, Virgil. See you then,” Logan replied, sparing a quick glance up from his paperwork, then focusing back on the pile in front of him. Virgil smiled, then left the room to get ready for the school day.

The day carried on rather uneventfully, however, Virgil was glad when lunchtime came around. While the morning had been uneventful, it had been quite boring. Then again, Virgil supposed, it was a Monday.

As he walked down the hallway to Logan’s classroom, Virgil hoped that a certain group of misfits would be joining them for lunch. That is, he was hoping to see Thomas, Joan, and Talyn. The trio, by invitation of Logan, would often have lunch with the two teachers. At first it was because they wanted to discuss the Mythical-Human Relations club meetings, seeing as Thomas, Joan, and Talyn ran the club along with Logan. However, now they joined Logan and Virgil for lunch simply because they wanted to.

“Mr. Caelius! Quick question for ya!” Joan asked, once Virgil had entered Logan’s classroom. Virgil raised an eyebrow, setting his bag down as he took a seat at the cluster of desks. It seemed that the three teenagers had once again rearranged Logan’s classroom, something that the science teacher didn’t particularly enjoy. However, having his classroom slightly rearranged to accommodate the five of them was better than the alternative of them not eating together at all.

“Shoot,” Virgil shrugged.

“Okay, so the vampire thing where you can’t see your reflection. Is that true?” Joan asked, leaning forward in their chair. Thomas and Talyn leaned in as well, while Logan rolled his eyes, and shook his head with a fond smile.

“Well… it depends on the mirror. If it’s made with silver, I can’t see my reflection. But if it’s made with a different metal, I can see myself just fine,” Virgil replied. Thomas and Joan immediately slumped back in their chairs, while Talyn smirked.

“You both owe me five bucks,” they said smugly.

“Wait, you guys bet on whether or not I could see my reflection?” Virgil asked, trying to suppress a laugh.

“Yeah, I bet that you couldn’t see your reflection, but Joan was convinced that the whole mirror thing was a hoax,” Thomas sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“And I told them that they were both wrong,” Talyn shrugged. Both Logan and Virgil chuckled at that, while Joan and Thomas gave out various mumbles of frustration.

“So tell me, has anyone heard anything from our undersea friends?” Logan asked.

“You mean Annika and Haven? I haven’t heard anything from them since Annika decided to go back to the ocean,” Thomas replied.

“Yeah, and Haven went with her. Something about wanting to meet aquatic fairies?” Talyn added, glancing at Joan for confirmation.

“Yeah, she also said she wanted to explore the world. Haven was held captive by D.O.M.E. for quite some time,” they said.

“Makes sense,” Virgil shrugged. However, Logan seemed puzzled.

“But how would she go in the ocean and visit the undersea creatures? She’s a fairy, and as far as I’m aware, fairies do need to breathe. And I don’t believe her tiny, delicate form could handle the deep sea pressure,” Logan pointed out.

“Maybe she has water wings?” Thomas grinned. Logan’s lips pressed together in a firm line.

“Or magic. Fairies use magic,” Joan added. A small, frustrated sound escaped Logan’s lips, and he brought one hand up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fine. I suppose that makes sense,” he huffed. The teenagers and Virgil broke into laughter, while Logan let out a sigh.

The lunch period continued as normal, with the teens idly chatting with each other, Logan and Virgil occasionally joining in the conversation. Soon, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Thomas, Joan, and Talyn said goodbye to Logan and Virgil, and then Virgil returned to his own classroom.

The day seemed to drag on slowly, until finally the final bell rang. Students rushed out of the building, leaving Virgil alone in his classroom. He straightened the papers on his desk, debating on staying late and grading them. As much as he didn’t want to, it probably would be better if he started now, rather than waiting until later.

With a sigh, he walked out of his room to let Logan know that he was staying late. Virgil could have just texted Logan this, but he needed an excuse to stretch his legs, as well as put off grading for just a little while longer.

While walking to Logan’s room, he noticed a girl standing in the hallway. She wore a mauve cape coat, black jeans, and black ankle boots. Her platinum blonde hair was pulled up into pigtails, her warm brown eyes glancing around frantically. There was something… familiar… about the girl, but Virgil couldn’t quite place it.

“C’mon, Zephyr, where are you?” the girl muttered. Virgil raised an eyebrow, stepping closer to the girl. She didn’t seem to realize he was there.

“Looking for someone?” Virgil asked. The girl jumped, eyes wide. She stumbled backwards slightly, and Virgil put his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Whoa, it’s okay! I didn’t mean to startle you. You just looked a little lost, and I wanted to help you,” Virgil said, giving his best attempt at a reassuring smile. The girl seemed to become more terrified.

“Vampire,” she gasped. Virgil stiffened, self-consciously running his tongue over his fangs, as if he had forgotten they were there. This caused the girl to thrust her hands out in front of her, shielding her face.

“Hey, don’t freak out! I may be a little… irritable sometimes, but I’m not gonna-” Virgil’s sentence was cut off as a sudden gust of wind blew him backwards, knocking him off of his feet. He groaned as his back slammed into the ground, trying to discern where that sudden wind came from. They were inside so how… unless…

“A mage?” he wondered aloud, slowly rising to his feet.

“That’s right, vampire,” she spat, hands held out defensively. Virgil sighed.

“Look kid, I’m not gonna hurt you. I don’t hurt anyone,” Virgil explained. A determined frown came over the girl’s face.

“Right. You probably use this school for some sort of sick feeding ground!” she scoffed.

“I’m telling you the truth. Not all vampires are bad, you know,” Virgil shot back. The girl’s eyebrows furrowed, and she took a deep breath.

“Eno degnaf eht nrub, nus fo syar nedlog!” she cried, and a brilliant light formed in her hands. Virgil hissed in pain, dropping to his knees. It felt like his skin was smoldering, and he squinted up at the light before him. Somehow, this girl managed to create sunlight in her hands.

Suddenly, as soon as the sunlight appeared, it faded away. Spots danced in Virgil’s vision, and he could barely stay upright. The girl didn’t seem to be faring much better, as she was leaning heavily against the wall. She managed to get her bearings, and straightened up, holding out her arm. A ball of fluff- which seemed to be a rabbit with wings, unless Virgil was really out of it- flew over and perched on her arm. The girl turned, casting one last glance at Virgil over her shoulder before darting away. Then Virgil fully crumpled to the ground, his vision fading to black.