Hedgesville, West Virginia
Harbinger Academy
Wednesday, August 21, 1996
12:04 PM

Resting on floor mats that sat in the middle of a large gymnasium, Jennie found her class partner sit down beside her. His eyes were silent as he sprawled out. In Jennie’s eyes, he seemed like a rugged boy who had spent most of his time outdoors, climbing trees or roughing it on a mountainside.
He whipped his head around, glaring at her, after one second too long of her staring at him. “You got a problem?”
Jennie shook her head wildly as her ponytail whipped her ears harshly. “No.”
“Then quit staring at me.” He flicked his head back to the side as Jennie face scrunched up irritation.
“Brat,” she cursed under her breath as she looked to Ashlee and Kasei who were sharing a mat together. Both seemed to be arguing about something. The esper abruptly slapped the cat demon then scooted away from him.
“Bonjour! Bienvenue to weapon study!” a man said, entering the gym. He had long, wavy blond hair with blue streaks while his eyes were large, blue, and held a certain wildness. “I am Professeur Michelle Gelure. I’m glad to see you all have partners already. That will make things easy.”
The door to the gym opened as another young man stepped into the room. Jennie peered back to find a familiar looking man as her mouth dropped open.
“He was with that redhead,” she said, remembering the face from the mall. A flash of hot, white light flashed through her mind as she remembered Rowen’s words. “He could‘ve killed my father.”
“What?”
Jennie peered to her partner as he stared at her with vacant, purple eyes. He seemed unexpectedly interested in what she had said.
“What?” she said back at him as he leaned forward where their foreheads almost bumped together.
“Diver killed your father?” he asked as Jennie nodded with uncertainty.
Diver was his name? Yeah, that’s what that guy said at the funeral. So he’s the one.
“His name is Diver?’ Jennie asked as the boy beside her nodded. “He‘s the one then.”
“Really?” The younger boy drew back and watched Diver with careful eyes.
“Monsieur Oyate will be helping me with class,” the teacher said as he motioned to Diver who stood beside the French speaking teacher. “I will be separating the class into halves. I shall take one half and Diver will take the other. Those on the left hand side will go to Diver.”
“That’s us,” Jennie growled as she bit her lip. “I don’t want him teaching me anything.”
“It’s okay,” Shanyuan said in a hushed tone. “If he touches you, I’ll lop his head off his shoulders. And just call me Shan.”
Staring at Shan with wide eyes, she noted his tone of voice was dark and callous. It was as if he had a problem with Diver as much as she did.
When she heard her name being called out, she realized the teacher was doing the roll call. Placing her hand into the air, she caught sight of Diver’s eyes on her. An intense fear washed over her as the darkness of his brown eyes swallowed her up.
“Shanyuan Shuai-Xu?” Jennie turned her attention to Shan as he flicked his hand into the air and looked thoroughly annoyed. “Merveilleux! The prince of Mid Caven is in my class.”
“Prince?” Jennie asked as Shan gave her a sharp look. “You’re a prince?”
“Yeah,” he muttered as he turned her head away again.
“I’m so lucky!” Professeur Gelure stated as he placed both his hands into the air elatedly. “To have Le Roi Yaozu's son in my class and the dear Seraph.”
“I’m hating his accent,” Jennie mumbled as she felt eyes on her.
“And to think that the prince and Seraph are partners,” the teacher said, placing a dramatic hand over his eyes. “Star-crossed lovers.”
“Who said anything about lovers?!” Jennie shouted, standing up abruptly. She pointed a finger at the French teacher and growled. “I didn’t ask to be paired up with him. I’m just here to learn how to use a weapon, so get on with class!”
“Oh my,” the teacher said as he placed a hand over his mouth to hide a wavering smile. “The Seraph has a bad temper on her. Well, choose your weapons, étudiants, and then you will get your weapons study uniform.” He pointed to the far corner of the room to a woman who was sitting at a desk with a pile of clothing around her.
“How do we choose?” one of the other students in the class asked and the teacher smirked.
“I’m going to pass out a catalogs for each of you,” he said. “You should discuss with your parents and guardians on what to get. Prices ranges from low to high, so it’s best to think about it. Naturally the better the weapon, the more it costs.”
When Jennie was handed her catalog from Diver, she stared at the booklet then to Shan who wasn’t even looking in it. Instead he raised his hand into the air.
“Yes, Prince Shanyuan?” Professeur Gelure questioned.
“Don’t bother with the prince stuff,” Shan said calmly. “Can I use my own sword?”
“Naturally,” Professeur Gelure stated as he nodded. “If you have something already, then by all means use it. This class is to help prefect what you may already know. As for the rest of you who are weaponless, you just chose a basic weapon now and tomorrow you can tell me which one in the book you wish to order.”
Flipping through the book, Jennie paused as she looked at the bows. “So pretty,” she whispered, staring at the various styles of bows. “Composite and compound. Short and long.”
“You should get a recurve bow,” Shan said, leaning in to look at what she was looking at. “This one would be nice.” He pointed to a nicely designed bow that contained rune-like designs on the ashen colored wood. “It’s made from a tree in Mid Caven that never breaks or dies. It’s as immortal as demons.”
“If it’s so unbreakable,” Jennie said, staring at Shan with composed eyes, “how did they make the bow?”
Shan stared at her as he blinked. “You know nothing of Mid Caven, do you? The Shinlu tree contains an ancient spirit who will grant demons and humans with compassionate souls to take from their tree and make weapons, furniture, and what ever else. And since compassionate souls are rare, these weapons are rare. And the weapons are indestructible, so the price for them are really high.”
Staring at the price of the weapon Shan had pointed out, Jennie choked then grabbed her chest. “I can’t afford that,” she said. “Not even my inheritance would pay for that!” She peered down the list of bows and pointed to a fairly decent priced one. “That’s what I can afford.”
“That would snap in two in a few weeks,” Shan said. “Do you want the other bow? I could get it for you.”
“No!” Jennie said frantically. “There’s no way I could let you do that.”
“It’s okay,” Shan stated as he looked up at her. “I am a prince after all. My father could afford to get me the bow.”
“Oh, so you’re a prince when it’s convenient. Besides, isn’t your father Yaozu?” Jennie questioned as Shan nodded. “He wouldn’t help me out. He wants me dead.”
“He wants me dead, too, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t support me,” he stated flatly. “And I gotta used my status for something from time-to-time.”
“I refuse to use it,” Jennie said, looking away abruptly.
“Really?“ he asked with as his brow rose.
“Yes,“ she announced clearly.
His lips curled. “So you’re okay with refusing a Scion?”
“What?“ Jennie asked as she whipped around to stare at him with dumbfound shock.
“Oh,” he smugly stated with a tilt of his head, “guess you didn’t know I was a Scion, huh?”
A smirk formed on his face as he leaned back. The look of his face said it all. He was thoroughly amused with the situation. It was as if he liked playing games with people.
“What kind of Seraph are you if you can’t even tell who your Scions are?”
Jennie’s mouth dropped open as Shan laughed. She couldn‘t even think of what to say.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I‘ll get the bow. And you can‘t refuse. That would be adding insult to injury.”
“But how can Yaozu’s son be a Scion?” she asked as he nodded. “I thought Scions came from Scions.”
“No kidding,“ Shan stated. “My dad can‘t just shit me out. I did have my mom.”
“Seraph, what shall you be taking up?” the teacher asked, kneeling beside her as his long hair fell over his shoulders.
“She will be taking this,” Shan announced, holding up the book and pointing to the bow.
“Oh, the Shinlu bow? Wise choice for the Seraph.”
“Please put it on my father’s tab,” Shan said as Professeur Gelure nodded.
“Thank you,” Jennie whispered as she found Shan giving her a friendly smile.
“Anything for my Seraph,” he said.
Jennie turned her attention to the other side of the room where Kasei was eyeing her. His pupils were narrowed into thin slits and his ears were bared back. It was easy to tell he was glaring straight at Shan.
“Calm down,” she mouthed out at the cat demon when she caught his attention. He frowned and looked away as his face reddened.