Violated

A stick of incense burned in the corner of the room, red-colored smoke wafting out and turning the air hazy as Fate lay on the bed in silence. He stared absentmindedly at the whitewashed wooden wall, the light brown carpet floor visible out of the corner of his eye.

He lay on his side, right ear buried in the stiff hospital pillow and body covered in a thick woolen blanket. Even though it wasn't particularly cold in here, the blanket didn't make it oppressively warm. It was almost like it didn't hold any heat at all, instead weighing down on him comfortably, like a mother's hug.

Outside of Fate's expectations, the room didn't smell sterile and stale like he had told these kinds of places would smell like. Instead, the faint smell of strawberries hung in the air, the subtle currents of Mana laced within providing a soothing effect on his mind. This incense was perhaps the only reason he wasn't bawling like a child or throwing things in a blind rage.

But in an ironic twist, the calm was worse. It gave him the chance to think.

His bed was the only piece of furniture in this room besides the wooden swivel chair to his back. Within this chair sat the nurse of the Royal Mage Academy, a young-looking brunette with warm brown eyes and a gentle, if strict, smile. Fate couldn't see her from his position, but he knew from the sounds coming from that direction that she was reading a magazine.

When Professor Redek had brought Fate in, the man had dumped him on the bed and walked out without a second glance. The nurse went to work immediately, having been forewarned by Alessandra's message.

She had wiped the blood off of Fate's chin and cupped his cheeks in her hands as a Spell flowed through his body. The Spell massaged his mind away from its volatile state, forcing the incense smoke down his lungs to calm him as she went to work patching up his wounded psyche.

When he no longer felt like someone had torn him into millions of pieces and slapped him haphazardly back together in a hodgepodge mockery of his former self, the nurse told him to relax and rest. Then she sat down and popped out the magazine currently in her hands.

That had been three hours ago. Fate had already missed the second class he had been looking forward to, Spell Composition and Development, which was also his last class of the day. Now he'd have to wait until Tuesday to explore the world of Spells. But he couldn't be bothered to care; he had just been thoroughly violated in both body and mind, and now Alessandra knew every dirty little secret he had.

That fleeting feeling of a crush that he had forcefully crushed; the scar on his back that was sure to make him an outcast at the Academy should the information ever get out; even his most personal thoughts such as the deep, unresolved feelings he still bore for Samantha were all laid bare.

She had the power to ruin his life with a word.

He didn't think she was that kind of person, though. Even if she was ruthless to him mere hours ago, that had been out of a sense of betrayal rather than true malice. She thought he was a liar that had swindled her into giving him lessons he neither needed nor deserved, thoughts that were put to rest when she dug through his memories.

But it was still a deeply invasive feeling. She had quite literally seen every aspect of himself, even the ones he didn't know he had. How a Master could do such a thing, he had no idea. But such a Skill was certainly how she had obtained the position of Principal, a title handed out by the Empress herself.

The past three hours had been spent coming to terms with the fact that someone knew him better than he knew himself.

Fate was never one to mope around for too long. As the three-and-a-half-hour mark passed, he sucked in a breath and threw off the blanket, jumping to his feet. The nurse gave him an analyzing look before nodding and shooing him off.

He mumbled a quick "thank you" before heading out, on his way to Alessandra's office.

He threw open the door without regard for knocking, storming forward and dropping into a chair as he crossed his arms. He met the principal's inquiring stare with his own narrowed gaze.

Alessandra sighed and placed the pen in her hand next to the sheet of paper in front of her. She straightened, eyes softening somewhat as she gave him a once-over.

"I see you're doing better."

"No thanks to you."

"I am still your principal, young man," she said unhurriedly, as if talking about the weather. Her eyes turned flinty as a touch of her aura leaked out, reminding him of the power she held. "Regardless of the inappropriateness of my actions, you must still show me the proper respect."

"I give respect to those who deserve it," Fate growled. "Someone who'd so violently tear my mind apart and take control of the one thing I can truly say I control in my life, my thoughts, does not deserve it."

"What you were accused of is a serious charge, and a practice even the benevolent Empress does not tolerate. A Mage hiding their Stage and sneaking into the Academy to leach off of Her Majesty's generosity is more common than you think, and anyone capable of such a thing requires an extensive interrogation that leaves no stone unturned.

"This is a rule set forth by the Academy's laws, which were written by the Empress herself. Hate me if you wish, but I was doing nothing but my duty."

The stony look she gave him vanished, sincerity and regret marring her expression as she reached under her desk and pulled out a small ring, which she placed on the desk before her.