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Wixorth Academy of Magic was quite honestly the last place Nicolai wanted to be. His mother and father had been trying to get him to go since the day he was born with those little piercing white fangs. It was undoubtedly certain he was going to be a vampire, both of his parents were, but with his mother- Caera, being only half vampire there was some fear of him being human. 

 

He managed to stay away from Wixorth for most of his life, attending standard human school, despite the bullies. Nicolai would always protect those he cared about, himself just wasn’t one of the things on that list. 

 

His sophomore year, his parents had finally run out of schools that would enroll him after the incident. He had no choice but to attend the famous school. His father refused to be seen with him but his mother and his little sister Kali, drove him to the dreaded school. 

 

When he arrived, Nicolai was greeted by the headmistress of the school, Ms. Estrada, and her assistant, Mr. Jenkes. Quickly he was ushered to where he would be staying during his time at Wixorth Academy. 

 

As the dorm teacher, Mr. Izaz opened the door to the dorm. It was a large room with two beds on each side. “Your roommates will be arriving back from their classes soon. Would you like me to wait with you?” The seer asked, showing Nicolai to the vacant bed. 

 

“I’ll be alright, Mr. Izaz.” The vampire nodded, gently placing his trunk at the end of the bed. “I do have a question, however.” 

 

“Go ahead, Mr. Von.” The teacher smiled gently. 

 

“What species, and what grades, are my roommates?” Nicolai scratched at his neck uncomfortably. 

 

“You are rooming with two other sophomores, and a junior. The two sophomores, Theo and Astris, are both nymphs but often also identify with the term fae,  while the junior, Chulo is a gorgon.” He said, scanning the vampire for any reactions, “Will that be all, Mr.Von?” 

 

“It’s Nicolai, sir. That will be all.” 

While waiting for his roommates to arrive, Nicolai investigated the room. The bed across from his was tidy, neatly made with an unremarkable black blanket over white sheets. On the owners dresser lay an assortment of silk head wraps and different colored beanies, Nicolai concluded that it must be the gorgons space. 

 

Across from him, were two messy and bright beds. The one on the left was haphazardly made, with a yellow blanket over standard white sheets, many posters of stars and celestial maps were scattered on the wall, post-it’s with messily written notes about each star on top of them. The vampire assumed that one of the fae he was rooming with was a celestial. 

 

On the right, lay a green blanket, piled up and thrown on top the sheets, an open notebook with incomprehensible notes and a sketch of something Nicolai couldn’t quite identify, this fae’s posters were much more ‘real world-ly,’, Criminal Minds, Ariana Grande, and Megan Thee Stallion, littered the walls, albums stacked neatly on the bookshelf. 

 

Just as Nicolai started to unback his own bag, the door opened and he heard two pairs of lightweight foot steps enter- the fae’s. “Hello.” He spoke, standing up straight and looking at them, most people would jump away from his white eyes, confused by the white pupils and irises. The fae seemed unbothered. 

 

“You must be the new kid!” The taller of the two spoke, wings fluttering softly. “I’m Astris Tudor, I’m a celestial fae and a sophomore.” 

 

Nicolai nodded, the boy- Astris, had midnight blue wings and purple eyes, it was obvious he was a celestial being. Nicolai’s eyes shifted over to the other fae. 

 

“And you?” He asked, seemingly startling the smaller. 

 

“I’m Theo Mercia. Sophomore, and an underworld fae.” The smaller smiled, looking back towards Nicolai. 

 

It made sense, that the other fae was of the underworld. Opaque milky-white wings, fair skin, dark eyes. 

 

“What about you, stranger?” Theo continued, black eyes meeting those of Nicolai’s pure white. 

 

“My name is Nicolai. I am a sophomore, and I am a vampire.” He explained, popping a quick smile to show his fangs. 

 

“Dimitri is a vampire too! You’ll have to meet him at breakfast tomorrow.” Astris piped up. “Well obviously you're eating breakfast with us so you’ll meet everyone else too but, you know.” 

 

“Dimitri? As in Dimitri Rivera?” Nicolai asked, going back to unpacking his trunk. 

 

“Yeah! You know him?” The celestial asked excitedly, retreating over to his own bed. 

 

“I used to.” Nicolai let out a sad smile before quickly returning to his signature blank slate facial expression. 

 

“Why are your eyes pure white? All the vampires I’ve met have had red eyes.” The fae continued to ask questions. “Is it like a genetic thing?” 

 

“No.” Nicolai spoke. “It’s not genetic.” 

 

“What is it th-” Astris started before being cut off. 

 

“Drop it, A.” Theo spoke, looking up from where he sat playing on his phone. “We just met Nicolai and you’re bombarding him with questions, at least let him finish packing.” 

 

“Fine, I’ll bother you then.” Astris scoffed, jumping over to the other's bed. 

Nicolai was glad Theo had cut Astris off, unsure of how to answer the question. He couldn’t just tell his new roommate something like that, it was rare for it to happen, and it wasn’t a moment he liked talking about. 

 

Another part of him wondered if Theo had cut the older off because he knew. Underworld fae could see ghosts, death, illness, pain, all of it. Had Theo been able to see it? The other part of him. 

As his thoughts ran, recollecting everything his mother had taught him about underworld fae, he made his bed, placing a black blanket over his black sheets, the one his mother had made him. He placed his blood supplements on the table he was sharing with the other roommate, Chulo if he remembered correctly. On his half of the wall he put up posters containing his favorite bands, and a photo of him with his mom and sister. He was praying Astris wouldn’t notice that his eyes are red in the photo. It was taken before the incident. 

 

Chulo arrived back moments later, his ‘hair’ safely tucked into a black beanie. “Is the new kid hear yet?” He asked, looking over to the two fae who simply pointed at Nicolai standing a little behind him. 

 

“Hi.” The vampire waved. 

 

“Oh, Hello! My name is Chulo Neko. I’m a junior and a gorgon, it’s nice to meet you!” The elder smiled offering Nicolai his hand to shake. 

 

“I don’t do the whole touching over people thing but I appreciate the sentiment,” He spoke, “Nicolai, Sophomore, Vampire. Nice to meet you too, Chulo.” 

 

“Ah well, Dinner is soon, do you plan on joining us? You can meet everyone else while their tired that way, if you wait until tomorrow you’ll be bombarded.” Chulo asked, setting his books down. 

 

“It can’t be any worse than Astris.” Nicolai joked, trying to lighten the mood. 

As he prepared for dinner, he could hear Theo and Astris talking outside the bathroom door. “It’s so weird, T. I can never tell if he’s looking at me. It’s super creepy.” Astris spoke in what apparently was supposed to be a hushed whisper. 

 

“Would you say that s**t about a blind person?” Chulo scolded, “That’s just how Nicolai is, it’s not creepy.” 

 

“What Chulo said, A. You’ll get used to it. Just-just go down first and tell everyone not to say anything about it okay?” 

 

“Is it dinner yet?” Nicolai coughed as he heard the dorm door close. “I’m starving.” 

 

“Yeah, Astris went to claim a table with the others.” Chulo smiled, holding the door for Nicolai and Theo. As the two left he whispered under his breath, “Please god let this go well.”