The halls of the Draven Manor were lined with decades-old portraits, each bearing the striking features of generations long passed. Chandeliers hung from the ceilings, their light unmoving. In the main sitting room, the only sound was the slow shift of curtains as a breeze slipped through an open window.
Two figures sat across from each other, staring at each other with unerring silence. On one side sat Lucius Draven, golden-hazel eyes narrowed in quiet scrutiny—a sharp contrast against his warm brown skin and the long black hair resting at his shoulders
Across from him sat a woman who felt… familiar. Familiar in a way he couldn't immediately place. Tall, broad-shouldered, dressed sharply in a tailored pantsuit. White hair framed a face that was filled with warmth. A gentle smile on red lips and blue eyes that seemed to read him with too much ease.
Lucius sat back on the couch and crossed one leg over the other, his mind reeling as he tried to keep his outward composure. He had to be calm; this was his chance. He had to find out where he'd landed.
"So Mrs...." he began with a carefully neutral tone. Heart pounding in anticipation.
Her smile grew as she leaned forward, extending a manicured hand. "Weems, Larissa Weems. Headmistress of Nevermore Academy." Her voice was confident and proud, yet still unnervingly kind.
The moment she'd finished speaking, his world narrowed, his own heartbeat seemed to be the only sound for miles. Weems. He knew that Name; he'd heard his friends talk about wanting to climb the tree that was "Principal Weems" for months after they'd begun a new show that came out on Netflix.
Wednesday.
He'd personally never watched the show, not out of disinterest; he'd found the concept interesting enough. But before he could get around to it, he'd been visited by a 20,000-pound agent of death who had an unknown beef with high school students who were walking home.
He took in a deep breath and let it out through his nose. He didn't remember everything, flashes here and there that had started piecing themselves together when he was 10; after it awakened.
He glanced to the left, where the same message had sat unchanged since the memories started.
[Main Mission: Gain acceptance to______ Academy]
He didnt know why the Name "Nevermore" had been redacted, and right now, he didn't care. He-
"...Ven...Draven...Mr.Draven!" The voice of his guest brought him out of his thoughts, "Are you alright? I've been trying to get your attention for some time now, but you were unresponsive."
He blinked and straightened, extending his own hand to match her earlier gesture. "Yes, I apologize. I was just a bit surprised such a figure would come to visit me personally, and on such short notice."
She studied him for a few moments as they shook hands, "Yes, my apologies. I know my arrival was rather unexpected, but you are a rather difficult young man to get hold of," While speaking, she pulled out a purple envelope with the crest of Never stamped proudly in black on the seal. "I came here to inform you that your application to Nevermore Academy has been happily accepted," she said, smiling.
The silence that followed was deafening until a sound rang in his mind.
[Mission: Gain Acceptance to(Nevermore) Academy Completed! Reward: Rob Lucci Template Awarded!
Claim? Y/N]
"....Huh,"
Ignoring the message now floating before him, he took the envelope from her and examined it, tearing the seal open. His eyes skimmed the text before he placed it on the coffee table and raised his eyes to meet her somewhat expectant gaze.
"I'm sorry, but... you've made a mistake. I never applied for Nevermore." He said calmly. "But if you're offering, I'd love to attend."
Her smile grew knowing after his word, "Well, of course you didn't apply, when that application was put in you were only a babie," she replied
Lucius glanced down at the application again, examining it more closely. "2006," he said, noting the date of submission. "The year I was born, my parents submitted this."
"Indeed they did. It's unfortunate they aren't here to receive the news of your acceptance, but allow me to be the first to congratulate you." Weems replied sincerely, "That is...if you choose to accept?" She looked at him expectantly.
Lucius went quiet, allowing his mind to wander. The Draven family was an ancient family of 'Nunda', Wereleopards, hailing from African Folklore. A family as feared as they were unknown to the larger part of the world. How could you fear something you didn't know about? The same way a child fears the monsters in the closet, even though they open it every day, stories of old and the imaginative minds who head those stories.
A family whose Name caused so much fear among even the supernatural that they were forced into reculsion and abscurity. Eventually fading into nothing but legends and whispers that were overlooked by the ignorant, but those who were old enough knew. Knew of the monsters of golden fur and eyes that had haunted the world for decades. Until Him. Lucius Draven, the end of the Draven line and its greatest failure. An heir who was unable to use the family's bloodline. And his parents had disappeared before they could birth another heir. Since then, he'd spent his years in solitude, never stepping out of the manor, handling everything from then on by himself.
The fact that he was a soul that had lived two lives, the 'system' with the unchanging message, his failure to manifest anything but claws when he tried to shift, not knowing what world he could have ended up in, where any of this was even possible!
And now sat before him were choices. One dressed in a pristine white pansuit with a kind smile, offering a chance to be a part of something other than the dim halls of his home. And the other floating before him, offering him the opportunity to fulfill his duty to his family, to work towards being more than a disappointment to his family's memory. He knew Rob Lucci, and he knew what a template system was, the promise it held.
Both offered him two different things, but to Lucius they were the same: A chance, one he'd be damned to let slip through his fingers.
He looked up, looking at both choices simultaneously.
"Yes,"
"Excellent." The voice of Principal Weems said with evident joy, but the ringing in his head drowned it out.
[ Reward Claimed: Rob Lucci Template activated.
Syncrynzation progress: 2%
Draven Bloodline boost applied. ]
*****