#request lizart

“If you can’t look on the bright side, I’ll sit in the dark with you.”

Word Count: 1600+ Characters: Kaldur’ahm, Queen Mera, Garth of Shayeris, Lori Lemaris, Topo, La’gaan, Tula Requested by @bat-mike. Thank you for the request, I’m sorry it took so long to finish this. I hope you enjoy it!

Kaldur rubbed his bandaged arm, biting his lip as he looked the splendid building up and down. The architecture and art was second only to the palace of Poseidonis, not far from the doors to Queen Mera's Conservatory of Sorcery where Kaldur now stood.

"Kaldur," He looked up at his parents. Sha'lain'a and Calvin each had a hand on one of his shoulders, smiling at him encouragingly

"If you want to go home, you can."

Kaldur swallowed his nerves. "No, I can do this."

Sha'lain'a hugged him tightly. "I know the queen. She is a wonderful woman. You will be happy here."

The words "You will be safe" were unspoken, but with his Matim's tone, Kaldur knew that was what she meant.

"Ah, Kaldur'ahm!" Queen Mera herself chose that moment to appear, and Kaldur bowed as deep as it was respectful, just as they'd taught him in the military.

The Queen chuckled. "Rise Kaldur'ahm, and welcome to the Conservatory of Sorcery." She held out her hand to him, and hesitantly, he accepted it, looking over at his parents for reassurance.

Calvin and Sha'lain'a smiled at him proudly, gesturing for him to go on.

Kaldur didn't know how much longer he could take separated from his parents. He had been conscripted into mandatory service in the Atlantean military for the past two years, with only a few letters from home each month. He'd only returned home for two months when Sha'lain'a and Calvin recieved word that their son showed aptitude for sorcery, and was invited to attend the Conservatory of Sorcery in Poseidonis, at the invitation of Queen Mera herself!

"Follow me," Mera gently encouraged him. Young Kaldur hefted his pack onto his shoulder and followed the Queen through the elaborate maze of hallways, carved out of a jade-green stone.

"That doorway leads to the courtyard," The Queen waved her hand in the direction of an open archway, "Many students favor that spot for practicing, either together or alone."

Kaldur nodded quietly, still following obediently, trying to avoid catching attention from any purist students who might want to cause trouble.

"The mess hall is down there, the classrooms to the right," Queen Mera continued, pushing a heavy set of doors open with her magics, "And these are the student dorms."

The hall had numerous doors on either side, stretching off as far as Kaldur could see. So many people, living in such a big building.

"Girls are on the right, boys on the left. And this is your room," Queen Mera pushed open the fifth door on Kaldur's left. "I picked your dorm-mate myself. Kaldur'ahm of Shayeris, meet Garth of Shayeris."

Despite being from the same city, Kaldur couldn't recognize the boy. It was probably due to his rommate's lack of any distinguishing fish-features. Unlike Kaldur, this boy was not impure, and especially in Atlantis's outer city-states, purists typically kept themselves separate from any they deemed "impure".

Garth, who had obviously arrived much earlier yet wasn't quite unpacked yet, turned to greet his new roommate, and Kaldur felt his nerves returning as he gripped the straps of his pack. Would the boy reject him at the sight of his gills? Would he have to relive the two years of torture his comrades had subjected him to in the military?

"Hello Kaldur'ahm, I am Garth. Do you mind if I call you Kaldur?" Garth held out his hand.

Kaldur knew Garth felt the webbing between his fingers when he accepted the handshake, but the purple-eyed boy made no comment.

"Yes, Kaldur is just fine," He nodded.

"I will leave you to get settled in. There is orientation in the courtyard in less than an hour, where you can meet the rest of your classmates." The Queen informed them. "I look forward to our classes together."

She closed the door, and Kaldur wished he didn't feel so trapped.

"Which bunk do you want?" Garth asked, hefting up his own bag. "Each one has it's own window, but I would like bottom bunk if that is alright with you."

Kaldur nodded, he didn't have a particular preference, "That is fine." He agreed.

"We can each have half the closet, and half the drawers to keep our things in. Which half would you like?"

"I do not particularly care," Kaldur admitted, climbing up to the top bunk bed with his things.

"Are you certain?" Garth inquired curiously, wondering why the other boy was acting so shy.

"Yes, I am certain." Kaldur said. He looked down at the other boy, watching as he carefully counted out the drawers to make sure that they each got the same amount, and tried to make sure that his clothes only fit in one half of the closet.

There was a knock on the door, and Garth quickly went to answer it.

"Kaldur!" Lori Lemaris cried, pushing past Garth and barely noticing him.

"Can you believe it? We are finally here! At the Conservatory of Sorcery!" Kaldur's old friend swam up to his bed and pulled him down to the floor, where La'gaan and Topo were also entering the room.

"I saw them setting up in the courtyard, they have so much food!" Topo blurbled.

Lori giggled. "La'gaan said he was going to eat crab until he was sick!"

"Well, maybe I won't," La'gaan chuckled nervously.

"Come on, you have to meet my roommate, she is so nice! Oh, speaking of which, where's your roommate, Kaldur?" Lori cocked her head to the side curiously, and it took Kaldur a moment to realize that she had stopped talking and was waiting for a reply.

He gestured behind them to Garth, who was waiting by the door, watching Kaldur's friends in fascination.

"Lori, La'gaan, Topo, this is my roommate, Garth of Shayeris. Garth, these are my friends from home."

Lori gasped and swam over to Garth, shaking his hand. "I must have shoved the door open in your face! I am so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?" She begged.

For a split second, Kaldur thought that Garth would be angry and yell at Lori, like most other purists the four of them had to protect themselves from over the years, but Garth laughed and smiled, shaking Lori's hand in return.

"There is no harm done. I know you were anxious to see your friend." Lori' sighed in relief, and Topo and La'gaan swam over too. Kaldur found himself following them.

"So you're from Shayeris too?" Topo asked.

"Yes, my parents are good friends with the Lord and Lady of Shayeris!" Garth said, with the slightest note of pride in his voice.

"How come we've never seen you around before?" La'gaan asked.

Garth shrugged, his cheeks tinted pink with embarassment. "My parents liked to keep me close to home. I...I have been homeschooled up until now, but when Queen Mera invited me to attend the Conservatory, my parents couldn't say no. I have never been around so many Atlanteans my own age until now." Garth said, unable to stop smiling at Kaldur and his friends.

"Oh my goodness!" Lori gasped, her tail flicking back and forth nervously, as it always did whenever she forgot something, which was often, with her flighty head.

"The orientation! We have to get going!" Lori grabbed Kaldur and Garth's hands. "You still have to meet my roommate!" She swam out into the hall and towards the courtyard. Kaldur was barely able to grab Topo and La'gaan before her powerful tail shot them all through the water to catch up with the other students.

Kaldur had never seen so much diversity. There was his friend, Blubber, speaking with a half-human half-shark figure. Fins and tails were evrywhere, mixed with gills and normal human attributes. Half of the new students seemed scared of everyone else, and the rest were awkwardly mixed in with them.

"Lori! There you are!"

"Tula!" Lori called the girl's name, and pulled her over to the rest of the group.

"Boys, this is Tula, my roommate. She's from Xebel, just like Queen Mera. You can tell by the red hair!" Lori said, pointing to the short locks chopped off just above Tula's ears.

Tula laughed lightly, warm and bubbling through the water like the feeling that arose in Kaldur's chest when her aquamarine eyes rested on him for just a moment.

"While I do have hair similar to the queen's, it is more than my red hair that makes me Xebellian." Tula told Lori.

"Like what?" Topo blurted out, the only one seemingly not entranced by Tula's beauty.

"Well, there is my aptitude with magic," Tula cupped her hands for a demonstration, and a small whirlpool swirled above her palms for a moment, "and, as my father would say, there's also my natural hard-headedness and tenacity that many Xebellians are known for." She rapped her knuckles against her head, making everyone laugh.

"Shh!" La'gaan hissed to them, having already found a plate of crab and shoving meat into his mouth, "The queen is going to speak!"

As if they had all somehow heard La'gaan, everyone in the courtyard started to quiet down, spotting Queen Mera standing on the decorative steps that lead up to the main hall.

"Greetings, young Atlanteans," The queen's voice was like a reassuring hand on everyone's shoulder, making each new student feel included and welcome.

"Welcome to the Conservatory  of Sorcery. Each of you has been invited to attend due to your natural ability with magic, or your potential to develop such an ability.

"As you look around, you will see many faces. Some familiar, more, I expect, are unfamiliar. The conservatory is here to grow friendships between Atlantis' city-states and those of its diverse culture. As you study here, I hope you will not only focus on developing your skills in magic, but also developing the invaluable resource of friendship and alliances."

As the others gave the Queen their undivided attention, Kaldur looked around. At Lori, Topo, and La'gaan, his old friends, and at Tula and Garth, possibly his new friends.

Maybe studying at the Conservatory wouldn't be as bad as serving in the military.