. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ EUNOIA ] ࿐ྂ
chapter one.

OUT of all the days of the year, margot hated this one the most. she despised seeing the eyes of her fellow nevermore students light up with excitement when they saw the faces of their parents walk through the entryway. it made her sick, deep down, knowing that she would never get to experience that herself.

margot had no say so whether or not she attended nevermore academy, seeing as principle weems was now her legal guardian. two days after she found out that her parents had been murdered, margot found herself on a plane, flying to the other side of the country to some random boarding school. to say that she detested the academy was a huge understatement.

sure, she could have stayed in her room, or hung out with xavier thorpe, seeing as he didn't have any family to be with either, but what she really needed right now, was a break from everyone and everything remotely related to the reputable academy.

which is exactly why she found herself wandering through the woods. it was like her own little safe haven. a place where she could go to blow of some steam or just simply relax.

she ran her hands along the fallen leaves on the ground, watching the colors shift from brown to bright green. "there... that's more like it." she smiled cradling it in her hand.

she had explored every inch of this forest, front to back. which is why the moment she stumbled upon something strange laying across the ground, she had to inspect it. what she didn't expect to see was a boy, who looked about her age, covered in dirt.

and he was .... naked?

after her initial moment of shock, she snapped out of it, unsure of what to do in this absurd situation. clearing her throat, she clapped in his direction, not wanting to get too close.

"uh, hello? sir? are you okay..?" her voice shook nervously.

the stranger didn't move in the slightest bit. "okay. come on mars, think of something." she muttered to herself.

she grabbed a nearby stick. walking closer to the unconscious boy. she poked him slightly, waiting for some kind of movement, but to no avail, he remained motionless.

after a few minutes of poking and prodding at the boy, she tried one last time, poking the stick into his ribs, harder than she intended too.

without warning, the boy jumped up, lashing out at her, knocking her onto the ground. before he could get any closer, she conjured up the vines around her, making them wrap around the boy, rendering him motionless.

margot huffed, dusting herself off as she pulled herself off the ground. the boy, thrashed around, trying to get out the grip of the vines, but it was no use. realizing he wasn't making any progress, he stilled, breathing heavily.

"are you calm now? huh? cause i was just trying to help." margot crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the taller boy in front of her.

the boy didn't dare look her in the eyes, he fixed his gaze on the ground, taking very deep breaths.

"i'm sorry- i'm sorry.." he spoke barely above a whisper, his face covered with a mix of confusion and terror.

margot's heart felt heavy at the boy's sudden change of emotion. for some reason, she could tell that he was being genuine and sincere. she sighed, dropping her arms to her side.

"if i release you, you won't try to attack me again will you?" she asked.

"no. no...i won't." he shook his head slowly.

she took a step back, in case he actually did want to try something, before she returned the vines back to their original place. the boy stood up straight, regaining his balance.

"oh uh.. here." margot took off her coat, handing it to the boy to cover himself.

"thanks...." the boy cautiously took it, putting it on himself.

the pair stood their awkwardly for a few beats, not sure what to do next.

"i'm going to leave now-" the boy turned on his heels in the opposite direction of the academy.

"wait no-" margot stopped him, "i can help you!"

"with what?" the boy turned, confused.

"with you cuts and bruises. they look bad." she pointed to blood now starting to dry onto his skin.

sure enough, the boy was tattooed with red, blue, and purple splotches. but before he could even respond, margot had him by the arm, leading him to nevermore academy.

he could have protested, but he went along with her, for if he came home in this condition, his dad would make a big scene, that is if he was even at home.

they were just about to reach the front lawn before he pulled away. "look, i don't know if this is a very good idea. i mean, i don't even go here and-"

"don't worry, everyone is on the quad. it's family day. besides, this shouldn't take long and then you can go back to wherever you came from."

the boy only nodded, following her inside slowly. "oh, i didn't get your name." he said, looking down at her.

"margot. and you?" she asked, pausing in the doorway.

"um, tyler- galpin. tyler galpin." he nodded, clearing his throat.

"nice to put a name to a face." margot smiled, walking up the stairs to her dorm room, leaving tyler trailing behind.

once the two were finally in margot's dorm room, she directed him to sit on her bed while she got her supplies.

"so what are you, if you don't mind me asking?" tyler watched her pull out a box that looked like it was filled with leaves and random bottles.

"what are you?" margot asked, stopping what she was doing, looking him dead in the eye.

tyler's mouth went dry and they both went silent. he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"i'm just kidding! i know you're a normie. you should have seen your face!" margot laughed, putting her hand over her mouth.

after a few moments of hysterical laughing, margot wiped her eyes, "i'm a nymph. specifically a plant nymph, although the technical name would be dryad, but no one really goes into technicalities here."

tyler nodded, still not having recovered from their previous conversation. "oh, um. that's cool. so where did you learn how to do all this stuff? your parents?"

margot's smiled faded into a sad frown, "yeah, my mom actually. she taught me all about healing techniques and how to conjure nature."

"are your parents here? since it's family day?" tyler asked innocently.

"actually, can we just change the subject? that would be great." margot turned away from him, not saying anything else.

"yeah, sure..." furrowing his brows, tyler looked around the room as she gathered all of the supplies that she needed.

after minutes of rubbing random saps and salves onto the boys cuts and bruises, margot broke the silence, "so, how did you end up in the middle of the woods with no clothes on?"

"um... i can't really remember.." tyler told truthfully, scratching the back of his neck.

margot decided not to pry for anymore answers, seeing as he had no remembrance of anything.

walking over to her closet, she grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and an oversized tshirt. "i'm not sure if these will fit but it's all i have."

tyler smiled, "thanks. i'll make them work."

before they could say anything else, margot heard footsteps coming up to the door. "quick! you have to hide. if they find out i have a boy in here, i'll be in so much trouble."

margot opened up her storage chest, motioning for him to get inside.

"yeah no, i can't fit in there. i'm definitely not that flexible." tyler shook his head, backing up.

"get in!" margot whisper shouted, pushing him inside. right before the door opened, margot slammed the box lid shut, sitting down on top of it.

"weems, what brings you here?" margot asked, sitting in the most awkward, non-natural way possible.

"i didn't see you at the quad...i was wanting to make sure you were okay. i know this day is hard for you-"

"yep! yeah. i'm good. a-okay." margot faked smiled, putting up a thumbs up.

"you know, if you ever want to talk about your mom and dad, i'm always here. i still have a hard time accepting that they're gone too."

"weems, really, i'm okay! sorry, but i have to start studying for my intro to necromancy exam." she said, trying to change the subject and to get her to leave.

weems nodded, "okay. i'm sorry. go back to whatever you were doing. but really, margot, if you need to talk, i will listen."

she nodded, smiling slightly. once she was gone, margot sighed loudly. she was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt frantic tapping coming from under her. she completely forgot about tyler.

"sorry, i forgot you were in there-" before she could open the lid all the way, tyler pushed it forcefully as he jumped out.

margot didn't even have enough time to blink before she was face to face with a creature with giant eyes towering over her.

"a hyde? great. i brought a hyde into nevermore." she thought.