Seconds to Midnight: A Maiden of Midnight Prequel

Seth- Day One

“In three months time, you will have a test on the most powerful Demon Lord in Hell. This test will account for most of your grade. Fail it, and you will be immediately expelled from the Academy!”

Professor Nima Magus’ voice boomed across the classroom, Mira dutifully copying notes about the test from the chalkboard to her journal. I didn’t bother, not when I could borrow them from her later. The threat was enough that I saw the rest of my classmates doing the same, visibly bristling in their seats.

Instead, I turned my attention to my homework book, scribbling idly in one of the margins.

I knew virtually nothing about the most powerful Demon Lord of Hell.

From the nervous mumblings of my classmates, they were in the same position.

Which meant the library was about to be cleared out of books about said Demon Lord. It didn’t matter, I would find one. Nobody was going to keep those books for three months.

I didn’t have time to run to the library after this last class. I needed to get back home to Karla and help her with the cooking tonight. Her and Lucy were coming to visit us at Darcie’s home tonight, cooking for all of us, since he would be working late at the Academy; certainly past dawn.

One of my scribbles began to take the rough shape of a crown, and just as I was about to sketch a make-believe crest underneath it, a wooden stick slammed down atop the book, making me jump.

“Mr. Smith, do I need to have your book burned?” Around me, classmates laughed. I gazed helplessly around, Mira shrugging and grinning at me. I could read her thoughts, written plainly across her face: It was my own fault for getting caught.

Spluttering, gathering the book up close, I hastily shook my head, breathing, “No, Professor!”

“Then stop your useless drawing!” She strode back up to the front of the classroom, turning to face everyone, “The Septem Peccatis is powerful, certainly moreso than any other Demon Lord or Lady to rule Hell, but he is ruled by others! Can anyone name them?”

A hand dutifully rose in the back of the classroom. It belonged to Laurence Bramfield, a know-it-all in every sense of the title.

I rolled my eyes, eyeing up my pencil, wondering if Professor Nima really would burn my book if she caught me drawing a second time.

It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy my time in the Academy, it was just that this class, General Knowledge, was so boring. I was way more engaged in my other classes!

“Mr. Bramfield, go ahead.”

“The Seven Lords of Hell, Professor!” He caught my eye, smirking at me. I stared at him, tempted to pull a face.

“Very good, Mr. Bramfield. Can you name the Seven Lords of Hell?”

This was a question I could actually answer, not that I was going to.

Until- “Mr. Smith, would you care to answer this one?”

Lifting my head from my book, where I had been about to start sketching again, I rattled off their titles, “Wrath, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Envy, Pride, and Lust.” Mira blinked, impressed, as did several other of my classmates. They misjudged my silence in this class for stupidity. I wasn’t stupid, I was just bored. So impossibly bored!

“The last one is my favourite,” Bramfield nudged one of his friends with his elbow, making his whole posse snicker.

I wanted to bash my head against the desk. Bramfield wouldn’t know a woman from a pillow. I drew in a breath, preparing to tell him just that.

Then again, it wasn’t like I did either.

I clamped my mouth shut again.

“Excellent, Mr. Smith. Please keep in mind, class, that this information will be important for your test in three months!”

Fifteen minutes left of this class, and I could go home and cook.

It would be a blessing to slave over whatever dish Karla wanted me to help her make. Merry and Emmett would come home around the same time as Darcie.

Professor Nima reached around her desk at the front of the classroom, dragging out a stack of parchments, and everybody groaned at the sight.

“This is an Academy-wide test being taken today, by every grade level. You will have until the end of this class to finish it!”

Mira closed her journal, placing it aside and reaching for her quill, gently dipping it into the bottle of ink next to it. Merry had bought her that just last month, and she was still careful to use it only for important matters.

I was using the same, worn-down pencil I found on the ground months ago. Ink was too expensive for me to use for anything, and especially not wasted in General Knowledge.

My own book was swept to the side, Professor Nima slamming the parchment face-down on my desk. I didn’t dare peek at it.

Would I get an extra point for signing my name correctly?

When she had handed the parchment to every member of the class, the Professor strode back to the front, clapped her hands together, and shouted, “BEGIN!”

I flipped the page over, and groaned.

The questions were complicated, a mixture of multiple choice and full-length written answers.

By Lilith’s beauty, take me now. I would rather meet my fate at the hands of the Archangels than take this test.

Just as I was eyeing up the window, and debating if the drop would actually kill me, or if the sweet release of death would be worth it anyway, the Professor reminded, “Mr. Smith, the test is necessary if you wish to continue your education here.”

Groaning, I plucked up my pencil, reading the first question.

Which of the following is used in making a Scara Tonic?

a) Burning Cap b) Bindweed

c) Forlorn Bittercress d) Hovering Cabbage.

How was I meant to know that?! I didn’t know how to make a Scara Tonic! I just chewed on the raw petals of the flower, which worked well enough!

It actually was stronger than the tonic. Pointing that out to the Professor would probably have me meeting with the Headmistress before the end of the day, and with twelve minutes left, it wasn’t worth it.

Tapping my pencil against my arm, I picked a random answer.

‘A’. Let it be A.

Then, I read the next question.

How do you tell the difference between ‘Hollow Blight Blossom’ and ‘Dark Blossom’?

Uh… The answer could be in the name? I didn’t really pay much attention to my Plants and Tonics class, either. Not when I had Jason to help me.

Besides, I couldn’t afford tonics, nor the ingredients to make them. We relied on bandages and boiling water at home, and ocassionally, a bottle of rum or ale to sanitise the region.

That was only if Darcie was willing to spare some for the injury. It needed to be pretty damned bad for him to do so.

As my mother said, if it wasn’t bleeding or broken, it was fine.

To the extent that I cared, the only difference between ‘Hollow Blight Blossom’ and ‘Dark Blossom’ was that Dark Blossom was darker.

I wrote my answer dutifully.

What ingredients are found in the Junenara Tonic?

I didn’t know this one, either.

I could dimly remember one of my Professor’s explaining it about a week ago, but I mostly remembered trying to catch up on homework for another class at the same time, and the panic I felt on forgetting about it.

I might as well take a shot in the dark.

Dark Blossom, Radiant Broadleaf, Fermented Bitterweed, and Medusa Bittercress.

That sounded… right. It felt like it was missing something, though.

Which of the following is NOT a plant-based alchemy ingredient?

a) Burning Cap b) Baleful Brittlebush

c) Fermented Bitterweed d) Divine Bindweed

e) Dying Bean f) Sentient Bittercress

All of these sounded like a plant to me!

Actually, thinking about it, I knew this one!

It was Baleful Brittlebush. Despite its name, it wasn’t actually a plant. It was an insect, named after the type of bush it was found in; a brittle, thorny weed.

The insect was incredibly evil, leading to the first part of its name: Baleful.

They liked to bite. I liked to squash them. Never was I happier than when we were using them in our Tonics class.

I moved onto the next question, glad to have gotten one of them right.

What must be done in order to make a ‘Nightmare Cap’ safe to consume?

I knew this one, too. It needed the cap removed, and then dipped into a brew made from Bindweed and Radiant Broadleaf.

I only knew that one because Jason used Nightmare Cap on Merry a couple weeks ago, when he couldn’t sleep.

Which category does the Sentient Bittercress fall under?

a) Mushroom b) Vine-based

c) Herb-based d) Vegetable-based

Sentient Bittercress was another tricky one. Its name made it sound like a herb, but it was actually a mushroom.

Maybe that Herbs and Tonics class was paying off.

What is the difference between a Scara Tonic and a Junenara Tonic?

Thankfully, I knew this one as well.

Scara was used to heal wounds. Junenara was used to numb pain. Anything from broken bones to headaches. Too much Junenara could knock a person out cold, though.

Finishing the test, I slid it to the top of my desk, the Professor collecting it. I’d been the first to finish it.

“Nerd,” Bramfield whispered under his breath toward me. I glared at him.

“Know-it-all,” I countered just as quietly, “You’re just jealous I finished before you.”

“You’ll always finish before me,” he countered with a smirk. I rolled my eyes again as his friends erupted into laughter. It was a stupid joke.

That laughter quickly vanished when the Professor strode up, and tore their papers in half.

She spared mine and Bramfield’s, although she did glare at the both of us.

I waited quietly until the end of class, counting down the seconds to be released, watching my classmates hand in their papers. Bramfield handed his in next, then Mira, followed by the others. Adriel wasn’t in this class, nor was Emmett or Merry, but they would be taking the same test upstairs.

Finally, just as I was about to lose my mind, the Professor released us. I waited for Mira to pass by me before rising, joining her out in the hall. Bramfield was already scampering away to sneak into his older brother’s fighting class, trying to gain enough experience to ace our current grade’s fighting class.

“You’ll always finish before me,” I mocked under my breath, trying to mimic Bramfield’s deep tone as best I could.

“You shouldn’t goad Bramfield,” Mira sighed, following alongside me as we began the long descent down the stairs leading up to the Academy, my shoes crunching against the snow while she hovered neatly above it. Normally she waited for Merry to finish his classes. I wondered why she was following me home today.

Not that I minded. Mira was a friend, and beyond that, she could end up my sister-in-law one day. I didn’t want to make her unhappy for the same reason I hated how hard Merry could throw a punch.

Because it hurt being hit by him, and upsetting or insulting Mira would definitely lead to that.

“Bramfield is…” I scowled, trailing off, not wanting to curse, and Mira finished for me, “An idiot.”

“Sure,” I agreed with a slow exhale, “Except he isn’t, and that’s half the problem. At least if he was a nit-wit, I could tell myself that whenever he tries to torture me.”

Bramfield was smarter than me. He was bigger and more developed, too.

I didn’t hate him for it, but I did hate the fact that he used those things against everyone, and for evil.

Why do something evil when you could be good? And why did his friends tolerate it? I could never tolerate someone like him. He was rude, insulting, and acted like he knew everything!

“Bramfield could be a lot worse.”

“Why are you defending him?” I whined, shooting her a frustrated look, and she shrugged, “I’m not defending him, I’m just saying he could be worse. He hasn’t taken a swing at you yet.”

“Should I be thanking the Archangels for that?” My prayers would be better spent on literally anything else.

“Probably. A hit from him could send you straight to see Jason.”

I snorted. The idea was almost laughable, even if Mira was right.

“What if I did fight him? Do you think he would leave me alone if I won?” I glanced up at her, watching the way her hair drifted with the wind blowing around us, and she grinned.

“I think Karla would box you around the ears for being stupid enough to challenge someone to a fight, and so would Merry, before he helped you win.”

“You think my brother would need to step in to save me?” I groaned with a little laugh, “How embarrassing.”

“Not as embarrassing as watching you get floored by Bramfield. He’s only smart because his parents could afford a noble education before sending him to the Academy, Seth. You’ve worked harder than him to get to the same spot.”

I wasn’t sure if that could be classed as a compliment or not. Coming from anyone else, I might have doubted it, but I trusted Mira. Giving her a grateful smile, I murmured, “Thank you, Mira.”

“It’s true!” She cried out, “You, Merry and Emmett are the three strongest, most hard-working men I know!”

I could barely be called a ‘man’. Plenty of adults around Ordeallan would still call me a boy if they saw me, although I was an adult by Ordeallan standards. I could have married years ago, if I’d wanted.

I didn’t want to, not yet. I wanted to find the right person. Karla was set on the idea that I would meet someone worth my while any day now. I was afraid she would hold her breath until I did, and die.

She wanted me to marry nobility, and better my prospects. A girl from the North or West of Ordeallan wouldn’t lay her eyes on me, much less anything else!

“Emmett? Hard-working? Those two cannot go in the same sentence together!” I teased, making Mira laugh. She drifted just a little bit higher in response to her own joy.

It was a joke. Emmett might have frequented the Rusty Tin a little too often for Darcie’s liking, but he was a hard-worker when he needed to be. He helped Merry split wood in the forest when we needed it, or hunt animals for meat.

He did repairs around the house, too.

Both he and my brother were the exact kind of men my mother wanted me to be, sans the partying.

Darcie’s home came into view. The porch groaned under my weight, but it didn’t give way.

Thank the Heavens.

“Put Bramfield out of your mind, and focus on your studies,” Mira wisely councilled, “Everything will be worth it, Seth. You’ll meet your pretty noble wife like Karla wants, finish your studies, and become a Demon-Slayer or whatever while raising a gorgeous family.” She shot an impish grin toward me, “Work hard enough, and you might just marry a Princess!”

I scratched at the back of my neck, huffing a laugh.

A Princess?

“The only Princess in Ordeallan is Leena, and she’s a little too old for me.”

“Fine, a Lady,” Mira amended, “Since Leena is too old. But I bet if she was younger…”

Opening the door, I entered the house, shaking my head and laughing. Mira drifted by me and up the stairs, off to do her homework.

I turned to enter the kitchen, singing out a cheery greeting to my mother, still imagining the mad dream of me marrying a Princess. Yeah, in my dreams was right.

No Princess would ever choose me.

Shaking off the wistful daydream, I grabbed the ingredients I would need to make dough for bread, and set to work…