The Ghost of Vermil-Chapter 31: Diana II

Diana believed herself to be the luckiest. Afterall, she possessed the Peerless Luck. But lately, she had not been feeling so fortuitous.

Catherine Ashwood! She loathed her. If not for that woman, she could have successfully reaped her revenge. She used the lightning bolts as a signal for Marco Vermilon to find us. She wasted so much holy energy just for that. But what is the Ghost even to her? I know she is well aware of the rumours about him.

Diana was supposed to read on some Basic Enchantments but her mind kept wandering elsewhere.

The failure of her recent endeavour had left a dent on her disposition. Irritation overwhelmed her at the slightest inconvenience. Even the sound of Carlos's munching as he feasted on peanuts annoyed her.

"Can you eat quietly?" She grimaced at him.

"I'm sorry." He tried to chew slowly but it was still audible. It made harder for Diana to focus and read.

"Forget it, just finish it," she said, looking around at the Concord which teemed with other scholars from freshmen Aleph, Daleth and Heth along with higher year students, all nose-deep in a piece of parchment or a book. The Concord connected the Boys and Girls wings, and served as the only space in the dormitories where they could share a space.

Diana's eyes found Apple who met her gaze for a second before she resumed her conversation with her friends. The Ghost of Vermil was nowhere to be seen.

Eleanor, a daughter to a House that branched out from the Ruperts, looked up from the book she was reading and spoke, "Did you notice something about the Ghost earlier?"

"What do you mean?" Diana was not in the best of moods to talk about him, but she tolerated it.

"He did not approach Apple at all. Are they having some kind of quarrel?"

"Indeed, I saw it too," Carlos affirmed.

In the morning class which the Ghost shared with them, Diana had noticed that the two were purposefully avoiding each other. Apple used to come up to him to greet him but today, she seemed cold to him. She probably asked him what I told her. But he wouldn't simply admit to his crime. 

After the encounter in the forest, Diana expected Apple to confront her but the black-haired righteous commoner never said a word. Diana had been ignoring her out of spite, but a part of her was curious if Apple of Heinstead had learned anything. She would have approached her already to ask were it not for her pride as a Rupert.

As though her luck could not get any worse, in the middle of Energy Perception class before the day had ended, Professor Hilbury had brought the Ghost to the room, declaring, "From today henceforth, Zayin would be permanently attending all classes with Aleph."

It annoyed Diana that he was so close, yet she could not touch him. Demach prohibited unofficial fights driven by grievances in the Academy grounds. Expulsion was the only penalty. She kept her composure, not wanting to bring shame to House Rupert.

Professor Mallory had said, "We are doing a Test in two days' time, to gauge their energy perception. I cannot—"

"All the better," the other professor had said. He approached the Perception instructor and whispered something in her ear that made her frown.

Then with a smile she had told the Ghost of Vermil, "We'll just have to make do, then. You need to join a group first. They are only supposed to have three in each but let's see. We determine the teams randomly, so how about picking a lucky number from one to ten, Lucas."

The pale-face lad had looked perplexed but had answered anyway, "Eight?"

Professor Mallory had turned to Diana enthusiastically, pointing with her hand, "Rejoice, Miss Rupert, you have earned yourself a fourth member."

Diana glowered at him then, seething with anger, but her adversary, on the other hand, had appeared unperturbed by the sudden arrangement. If he was afraid of her at all, he had not shown it.

The next morning, the Ghost of Vermil sat at the centre of her thoughts. Like an itch that needed scratching. She had been pondering ways to make his life miserable. Being in the same room often gave her more opportunities. Her eyes kept flicking to the corner of the auditorium that he occupied alone. Would I look like the villain if I kick him around? Because of Apple, her classmates had labelled her a ruffian for hurting someone weaker than her.

Diana scoffed at the injustice of it all. He's pretending to be timid and weak. He could surely stand a few beatings a day.

Enchantments drifted by. Then the next class. And the next. At lunch, her eyes sought him again, as if to ensure that he was still physically there. This is obsession, she thought. The only cure is to get rid of him.

She spotted him eating all by himself at a table made for eight. "Come," she beckoned Carlos and Eleanor.

"Diana, you can't make a scene here," Eleanor whispered, carefully clutching her meal plate.

"Am I making a scene?" She asked with ire. She had been so on edge. It was unfair to her friends, she realized. "I'm sorry. But we're just going to eat, and look, there's vacancy."

The three of them slumped on the seats facing the Ghost whose lips drew up in a mirthless arc. Hm, he knows he's in a safe place.

"Where are your friends?" Diana asked him as she started picking at small cheese-glazed potatoes.

His eyes darted to Apple who was looking on anxiously. Diana peered at her. Are you going to protect your lover?

"You're so shameless, aren't you? Intruding in our class?" Diana continued, "I won't let you drag my group down, do you understand me?"

"There's some room here," she heard a familiar voice say. She looked up at the grim face of Marco Vermilon who pulled the seat next to his brother and slumped on it. "It's great to meet new faces, come, you three. There's seats for us."

"Oh, freshies," said a sophomore with a crow's nest for a hair. "How are you all doing?" Winking at her, he took the seat at the end of the table on Eleanor's side.

Diana glared at Catherine Ashwood who smirked at her. She flanked David's murderer on the other side. Another lad settled on the other end of the table.

"Diana, we should go," Carlos muttered, sliding his plate close, ready to leave.

In their presence, especially the Heir of Vermilon, Diana and her friends shrunk small. But she was not intimidated so easily. Before she could stop Carlos, the one before her spoke.

"No, stay," said the Genius of Demach, smiling. To his friends he shared, "These are talents from Gallagher, my earldom."

"Oh, your subjects. Introduce us." The lecher craned closer to Eleanor.

"Stop making them uncomfortable, Oli," said the sophomore opposite him, to which he obliged by scooting away. "I'm Kelvin, by the way. I apologize in advance that our friend can be a little dense."

"Ah, they should introduce themselves," Marco said, already chewing on a drumstick.

The two sophomores who hailed not from Gallagher waited expectantly. Catherine Ashwood uttered, sipping from her glass, "Perhaps, lady ginger head can begin."

"I am Diana Rupert," she replied, staring directly at the Ghost of Vermil who could not even meet her eyes, "The second daughter to Viscount Rupert. I had a twin brother actually. David. He could have attended Demach along with me but unfortunately, he was murdered. His killer is still at large."

The eyesore of a man coughed, "Wow, what interesting detail to share..."

Catherine Ashwood's scornful smirk faltered and faded from her facade, replaced by a brooding stillness that suited her better. Meanwhile, Marco swallowed a lump in his throat and downed a glass of water.

"How about you?" Kelvin asked Diana's male companion, oblivious.

"I'm Carlos of House Sparsby. I don't have a twin brother," Carlos answered.

"Shame," Kelvin said. "And you, my lady?"

"Eleanor of House Bolstring."

"And you?" Kelvin turned to the Ghost of Vermil who mumbled, "Lucas. Just Lucas."

"Wonderful," he said, nodding at the four of them as he repeated their names, "Carlos. Eleanor. Diana. Lucas. How is the Ordination Class so far? We heard you're about to do the first test on Energy Perception. Want some tips..."

Diana suffered from indigestion after that. She could not even finish her already scanty meal.

On the same afternoon on Energy Perception class, Professor Mallory allowed them one last strategy meeting on how to go about the Test. She explained, "I'll repeat for the sake of those who are not aware," she glanced at the Ghost's direction in particular, "The Test on Energy Perception will gauge how much you perceive holy and demonic energies. Born with an innate talent to sense or not, your holy power alone can react to holy energy and demonic energy, so we are going to measure that. But the Test is not so simple.

"You are to take a simple series of rooms with five doors. One door is imbued with an artifact of holy power, one door with a demonic artifact and three without. The amount of energy perceptible will drop at its stage, thus increasing the difficulty.

"The three plain doors give no merits. The first holy door will give you 10 merit points, the next 20 and so forth. They lead to a reward room. Don't expect gold or riches, they're just food. The first demonic door will earn you 30 merits, the second 60, and so on. Thrice the merits that you can earn from the holy door. But the catch is, it leads you to a penalty room. Your whole team must endure the penalty or else you lose all your merits earned in the Test. Then your chance ends. Just to be clear, you need to shout 'I surrender' in the case you feel you can't endure anymore. You see now, how you will need to strategize to balance risks and merits."

She looked around, her eyes resting on the Ghost again for a second more. "Any questions? Then, know about your members' strengths and weaknesses. Plan which stages you're braving the penalties. For the sake of inspiration, allow me to share with you that last year's top team on the Energy Perception Test scored 450 merits."

The auditorium gasped in awe. Professor Mallory bobbed her head proudly, "The highest possible score."

The professor had ascertained that each of the ten teams would have a top ten in it. The rest of the members were decided by random assignment. Diana's two members walked over to her. They all watched as the infamous Zayin student stepped down and approached them in his timid gait. They started their discussion before he even reached them.

"Last time Professor Mallory had us guess the artifacts, I scored eight out of ten. I think that's pretty good," said Rickland. Among the three of them, he had the most sensitive perception.

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Diana countered, "Apple got all ten right." Diana would have loved her to be on her team, even if they would not get along.

"But they might not choose to suffer the penalty," Jennifer said.

"I think they will, as shall we," Diana declared with finality.

"But don't you reckon it's a risk if he's with us?" Jennifer regarded the tall pale figure of their fourth member who harboured no holy power within him.

He stood over them like a whitewashed statue. "My lord, my ladies," he greeted, "I promise not to be a burden."

They all ignored him for the rest of their conversation. Still, he remained in his spot, unmoving and mum.

Jennifer asked, "What do you presume the penalties could be? Will they be dangerous?"

Rickland spoke, "I asked around and they said it would be our greatest fears. It will be easy to deal with mine."

"I heard it was a random sort of punishment. There was a swarm of mosquitoes in one last year," Jennifer shared.

Diana said, "We'll fight it head on, no matter what it is."