The golden light of the setting sun was shining over the rooftops of the Academy, and outside the large court over the messed up roofs of Calibur.
-Why does the sun have to set just now?- He whispered, suddenly standing up in the blinding light and sending the chair to crash on the floor.
He walked to the window and opened it.
The weak wind slightly moved his short orange hair.
He used to love that view.
Even now, it could calm him down and make a sign of smile appear on his mouth.
The astronomy tower and the north wing blocked his eyes on the right, ending there the view, but to the south he could look anywhere until the southwest tower, slightly coming out of the wall of the Second Fortes.
There were few students walking around in the court.
And what did you expect? He said to himself This is the last night before the exam.
The golden trees were quietly moved by a wind that should have been a little stronger than the one which was blowing by the wall he was gazing out from.
The court was like a small heaven, besieged by the chaotic city of Calibur.
It was not the only academy in town, but it was certainly the most important one.
Or at least the most impressive one, as it was originally a defensive fortes, at its turn built on top of the ruins of the Sacred Mausoleum of King Arthur.
Since it was built, every headmaster who succeeded at the “throne” of the Academy, which was one of the richest non-royal buildings in eastern Europe, built something new, until it became the sheer citadel it was in 1789. The Crypt, a complex of underground tunnels and halls, was still in construction, despite the headmaster was very old and probably close to death.
-I’ve dreamt enough- He closed the shutters and the window behind them, and in the semi-dark room he came back to the desk, lifted up the chair and sat again in front of his mountain of books.
It took him a while to realize he couldn’t see a fuck.
Snorting, he stood up once again, reached the oil lamp, brought it on the desk and lit it.
The books looked even more impressive in the dancing light of the flame.
He put the elbows on the desk and his face collapsed between his hands.
-Who am I kidding… I’ll never pass this things- Taking a breath, he closed the book he was reading before closing the shutters and moved it by a side.
Dark Energy & Dark MatterThese four, terrible, incomprehensible words, were written in silver letters on a simple leather cover, decorated with a drawing of the Loop Theory.
Just at that moment, the door’s lock started making noises, and right after Jehrard came into the room.
-Hi there- He said happily, without deigning his room mate of a look, just patting him on the right shoulder.
He walked straight to window, opened it and slammed the shutters open.
-Fuck you- He commented, angrily.
Only at that point Jehrard looked at him, and realized he was blinding him. So he closed again the right shutter, without closing the window, and sitting on the left bed, in the sunlight.
He looked at him for a while.
He wasn’t that beauty the ladies described.
False, you envious genius. He’s much better than you.
His short, wavy hair were of a colour between blond and brown, and it looked he had never known acme.
His reconnaissance tie was slackened and the collar of his shirt was messed up, nor up nor down.
As soon as he realized his roommate was looking at him, he cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand, and started trying to give his uniform a semblance of order.
He had no doubt where he had been all afternoon.
You fucking…
-In your opinion, why do we study Dark Energy if we’re no mages?-
-You spend days immerged in books, and you ask me about things to study? I’m not sure you are the genius teachers talk about-
-Me too. I’ll never pass this fucking exam-
-Come on dude, school’s not everything-
-Well, school is not nothing, too. Do you ever study?-
-Yes, and very often too- He gazed out of the window –Hidden under the stand of the girls’ gym!- Despite he tried to keep himself from it, he laughed together with Jehrard.
-And my tests are what overseers ask me when they spot me. I would like to see you, standing in the middle of two hundred girls facing an old acid teacher who has never seen a boy in her whole life- This time he didn’t laugh, though his roommate accidentally shown him something red on the hand he cleaned his mouth with.
-Whose turn was, today?-
-Ah, my friend, you only joke when it’s not the time- His face suddenly returned serious, and he restarted looking out of the window –You have not seen her, you’ve never heard her voice, seen her smile. I love her. From her toes to the tip of her hair- He just twisted his head and started looking at him hilariously. They stayed silent for a while.
-Jehrard, those are the exact same word you told me about Kheyra- Jehrard face got even more serious. He stood up and walked towards the door.
-You’re sadist. One of the worst I’ve ever known. Don’t complain if you have no friends-
-Have I ever complained?-
-Ah, don’t say a word- He opened the wardrobe, took off the uniform and randomly thrown it inside, then picked up a long brown coat and put it on.
-What will you do about the exam?-
-Do you want any help to study?-
-I can only make extra mess in my head having to talk to someone in addiction to fit these pointless bullshit inside my head-
-Fine. Then I’ll leave the Academy for a couple of days. Tell ‘em I got a flu, or a cold, or one of the illnesses you study every fucking day-
-You’re really not planning to leave this place with a certification?-
-This is the best period of life, and I have no intention to spend it crashing my head over books-
-This period is goin’ to last until you’re dead, if you don’t take the exams-
-I’ll leave as soon as she’ll do, and start helping my father to manage our farmlands- He looked the ruined desktop and didn’t talk for a while.
Jehrard was like fighting the door to open it.
He was probably too enraged to realize he’d closed it with the key he left in the pocket of the uniform.
Like if he heard his thoughts, he took the long black dress and foiled in the pockets ‘til he found the key.
-What’s her name?- He asked, at the same time Jehrard manage to open the door.
-Fuck you- He left and closed the door behind him.
Why was he still in the same room of that person? Mystery.
Anyway, that day nothing more would have entered his head.
He arranged all the books in piles, stood up and closed the shutter and the window.
The lamp was still lit.
He grabbed it, switched it off and left the room.
It was time to leave those four walls.
 
He was on the roof of the North Wing when the last ray of sun disappeared behind the hills of central Europe.
The soft breeze would soon have stopped, making that place hot as hell.
He had to pass that exam.
More time at the Academy would have meant more months of taxes, more delusion by his uncle and more frustration and pressure. For three months. It was something that would have broken his projects for summer.
He didn’t want to wait ‘til he was 400 to see the world where he was living, to travel to the extreme cape of Europe, and his uncle wouldn’t have allowed him such an expensive experience until he would have finally stopped receiving letters from the Academy asking him to pay taxes.
But what could he have done to pass, now, that only a few more hours were left before the exam?
Nothing but stopping thinking and worrying about that.
He took the uniform off and lain on the roof, gazing at the sky turning orange.