Tamar and Fleur walked into the room, the former looking aloof and the latter looking embarrassed.
Ray watched them with the intensity that could melt the reinforced walls.
So, that was his game!
Noble had been so concerned about the possibility of him being an Other that she had barely noted his awkward questions about the professor's morning activities.
Noble now realized the real reason the boy had accepted her invitation to join the other new students in her class that afternoon.
Ray was looking for them all along.
Was he a Legacy chaser? Had he seen Tamar at some public event before? This infatuation hadn't come out of thin air.
For that's what the boy was feeling right now.
He was filled with head-over-heels love. Whether it was simply teenage hormones fueling the boy's desire for a relationship or a deeper desire was anyone's guess. Either way, Noble wasn't willing to let it play out in her classroom just now.
"You're late, but what else is new among the sisterhood?" Keth rolled his eyes, breaking the silence in the room, but only adding to the tension.
Pulling her attention away from her lovesick student, Noble leveled the young man from the Aegis Rose Clan with a stern glare.
"If you are meaning that women are perpetually tardy, I suggest you keep those comments to yourself."
"N-no! I didn't mean all women, I meant those from…" Catching himself, the young man averted his gaze. "Nevermind ma'am. I seem to have misspoken."
"Keth and misspeaking are old friends." Tamar held her head high. She addressed the professor. "We were delayed by a disturbance on campus."
"Disturbance?" As she was still adjusting to her new level of power, Noble had tightened her emotional sense to a small area so she could focus on the class.
Now she wondered if that was a mistake.
Fleur's shoulders rose up and down slightly. "From what I understand, a girl summoned her family echo to show off what it could do and set fire to trees out front. The exit to our dorm was blocked as they doused the flames and ventilated the smoke from the halls."
"Ah," Noble wished she could say that such instances were uncommon, but Sleepers with tools beyond their capabilities often ended poorly.
Thankfully, the Academy was designed with Sleepers in mind and could cope with the odd mishap. This one seemed minor in comparison to the one that had happened back in the spring…
"Well, that does explain things, doesn't it?" Noble clasped her hands. "I am glad you could join us. Ladies, please take a seat. Ray, you can head back to yours as well."
As the young man who no one could properly sense headed up the aisle, all eyes remained on the two gorgeous young women still standing in the doorway.
While Tamar took the attention in stride, Fleur tried and failed to shrink behind her bag as she searched for the closest seat. She scurried quickly to claim her prize.
Unfortunately, both ladies eyed the same one. In an effort to sit, they bumped into one another.
Tamar frowned, looking certain that the insult had been on purpose.
"Sorry!" Fleur squeaked.
Not wanting to suffer any legacy's wrath, she slid over to the next spot in the same row.
Noble took a deep breath and forced a smile.
"Now that everyone is situated and comfortable, who else would like their Memories examined?"
Every single hand shot into the air, except Tamar, who was still getting her bearings.
Not that Noble would have called on her anyway. The Legacy wasn't going to be first to be picked when she was last to arrive, no matter what the circumstances were.
That didn't mean Noble didn't show a slight bit of nepotism now and then. Her next pick was one of her former students in Ravenheart, Balefire.
He summoned a Memory called the [Wayward Resonance]. The tool resembled a ram's horn. Its marbled surface opened into a wide cone.
"I can tell it is supposed to have some sort of communication property, I just haven't figured out how to work it."
"I can confirm that the tool has an auditory component," Bee Two's metallic voice seemed to echo more than usual.
"Resonance, hm?" Noble's soft hum gave her an idea.
Having Balefire lift the horn, Noble sang a clear tone into it. Sure enough, the sound came back at her a few moments later."
"Try singing." The professor aimed the thin end toward the student's mouth.
Balefire's tenor voice rang out in a beautiful melody.
"Let's waste time chasin' cars…"
The room fell silent, no one daring to make a comment on the boy's voice.
"A car is like a PTV…" he added sheepishly.
Before he could explain further, the horn sang the song in perfect mimicry while ignoring the spoken addendum.
"It seems talking won't make it work, but singing will. My guess is this can record countless songs which can be played at will, though that might require your essence to properly hone." Noble watched as the Sleeper mulled over the possibilities. "So it's a music box?"
"I would look at it as a music notetaker." Noble smiled. "Of course, if you find a way to store a lot of songs on there, you will be the life of any party in the Dream Realm.
The next memories were from the two oddly named gentlemen who had answered her question at the beginning of class.
Back also had a musical Memory—it seemed the Spell had been in a mood when passing out melodic tokens to its most recent victims. Only this music was deadly, literally. The nodes of the music, once plucked on the lyre, cut through the air like razor-thin wires.
Fortunately, Noble had stuck the student and his instrument in the containment chamber beforehand, so no one lost a finger or an eye.
And Absurd? His Memory was perhaps the most interesting concept. It was a storage Memory, though not in the traditional sense.
The charm stored the pain that the wearer received. Then, at a critical moment, it could release all of that pent-up damage on an enemy.
"Thank you," Absurd refrained from commenting on how he would use the Memory, but Noble suspected he would endure a world of hurt so that he would have the weapon when he needed it most.
The more secrets Noble and Bee Two unlocked, the more eager her students became to show off what they possessed.
The professor was torn between telling them to keep their best assets hidden and asking them to bring her all they had. She wanted to see them as much as they wanted to share.
'I have missed this!' Noble felt invigorated.
"I will be happy to help analyze more Memories after class. For now, we need to move on. I have made my point, and your time is more valuable than soul shards as we come close to the solstice." Noble watched Keth's hand lift into the air.
"Might I make an appointment? Some of us have tighter schedules due to the value of our time."
Noble smirked.
"Funny you should say that. Bee Two, Other than knowing how a Memory functions, what is the most important factor concerning their usage?"
"Timing," the android answered easily.
"Exactly. You know what that means?" Noble watched the group look back at her with blank stares. "Field trip!"