“First and foremost: Brakket Magical Academy is and has always been open to anyone who wishes to learn. We do not discriminate against species, beings, races, creeds, colors, or magical affinities.
“We do not currently have any elves, goblins, and so on enrolled, but this is due more to them having their own magical education catered to the methods they use to perform their specific brands of magic.
“We do, however, have a number of students who are not fully human. They have chosen Brakket–and therefore, human methods of casting–for reasons that vary between the students.”
That got a few gasps from the students. Many started looking around as if knowing that would suddenly let them know who Martina spoke of. More than a few glances went in Eva’s direction.
The little nascent demon sat in a small bubble of her own; only her two roommates and two of her other friends sat near her. The other two of her friends seemed to be giving her a little space, though they were still closer than any other student.
“Don’t bother looking around,” Martina said after a moment. “If they don’t tell you, you likely will never know. Most of them have little to no secondary characteristics of other species. Those that do can hide them well enough that it won’t matter.
“At least one individual does have distinguishing characteristics, although this individual’s case is something of a special one. They were not born as they are now, merely altered into being at least part creature. The nuns we were…
Another pause. It was only tangentially the truth, but it was the truth that would best serve in the future. Besides, Martina wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to sling mud at the Elysium Order.
Eva didn’t look happy about it. She sat at a distance, but her grinding teeth were easily visible to her enhanced senses.
Tough for her. It would be better in the long run for her as well, even if that was only an untended side effect.
“This individual’s aforementioned distinguishing characteristics were unfortunately revealed in a public setting just last night. They were the indirect cause of all the concern that reached my desk. Rest assured that this individual is the same person who has attended Brakket Academy for the entire past year. Because you learned a new fact about them does not change who you’ve known for over a year now.
“Relevant staff have known since the incident occurred last November. Nothing has changed due to the events of the previous night.”
Martina stopped and waited. The students started speaking to one another louder than they had before. It took a scant few moments for them to return to their former, quiet state.
“I will once again reiterate that Brakket does not discriminate against
“Any questions and concerns by students or their guardians regarding Brakket’s anti-discrimination policies should be forwarded to my secretary’s desk.”
Turning her voice to a more light-hearted tone, Martina said, “It is your first week back at Brakket–your first week period, for some of you. I’d just like to say, welcome. I hope you all had an energizing summer to prepare for this year’s schooling.
“There was going to be an announcement assembly sometime next week, however I think we can all appreciate condensing long, boring speeches down while I’ve got you here. I’ll skip over all the boring part so we can get on with our lives.”
Martina waited for the students’ forced chuckles to die down.
“The biggest announcement is the addition of Rex Zagan to the teaching staff. Many of you had his combative magic class yesterday while the rest of you will have him today. I encourage everyone to pay attention. He has had more experience fighting than any singular person I can think of.”
Light and scattered applause started amongst the students and staff as Zagan stood to give a suave bow.
“Aside from that, there are a number of policy changes regarding security practices at Brakket Academy. This is due, of course, to the frankly disgusting events that occurred last year.
“First and foremost, there is a curfew in effect. All students fourth year and below must be in their dorms by sundown.”
That caused an uproar. Students started arguing and shouting. For the life of her, Martina couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like many of the city’s buildings stayed open long after dark–especially in the winter when students avoided going outside at all–and there wasn’t much else to do in Brakket city.
Students complaining for the sake of complaining or some perceived restraint on their ‘freedoms’ was the likely cause.
