Bam! Eye contact.
Levi entered the cafeteria, his stomach growling loud enough to drown out the chatter of his fellow students. As he scanned the room for an empty table, his eyes locked with Lysandra''s across the sea of breakfast-goers. Suddenly, the world''s most intense staring contest began.
Lysandra''s silver eyes bore into him with the intensity of a cat eyeing thest can of tuna. Levi felt like a deer caught in headlights, if the headlights were attached to a very angry, very powerful truck.
''Blink, you fool!'' Levi''s inner voice screamed. But his eyelids refused to cooperate, apparently enjoying this awkward standoff.
Was that recognition in her eyes? Anger? Indigestion fromst night''s mystery meat? Levi couldn''t tell, but he was pretty sure his soul was being judged.
Levi''s mind raced. Should he wave? Wink? Break into song and dance?
Just when Levi thought he might turn to stone under her gaze, Lysandra broke the spell with a head shake so subtle it could''ve been mistaken for a nervous twitch.
Levi released a breath he''d been holding so long he was pretty sure he''d discovered a new form of meditation.
"Well, that was…scary," Levi muttered, making a beeline for an empty table. His tray of food suddenly felt as heavy as his chances of ever having a normal conversation with Lysandra.
Settling into his seat, Levi decided to drown his social awkwardness in the only reasonable way - by inhaling his body weight in breakfast foods. He attacked his te with the enthusiasm of a man who''d just discovered eating wasn''t just a hobby but apetitive sport.
The scrambled eggs were so fluffy they practically floated off his fork. The bacon was crispy enough to make him consider proposing marriage to it. And the pancakes? Oh, the pancakes!
As Levi took his first syrup-drenched bite, he made a sound usually reserved for people discovering lost civilizations.
But breakfast wasn''t Levi''s only mission this morning.
Oh no, he had ns.
Spy ns.
Bird-brained spy ns, to be exact.
ncing around furtively, Levi closed his eyes, trying to look like he was savoring his food instead of summoning otherworldly bird spies.
To anyone watching, he probably looked like he was having a very intense rtionship with his pancakes.
But first, a snack for his faithful shadowpanion.
Carefully, Levi slipped an egg from his te to the shadow under the table. A shadowy beak emerged, snatched the egg, and disappeared faster than a student''s motivation on Monday morning.
"Enjoy your egg-cellent meal," Levi whispered to his shadow, grinning at his own pun.
Somewhere in the depths of his shadows, Noir probably rolled its eyes, probably thinking, ''This is not even enough to fill a hundredth of my stomach.''
Nevertheless, with Noir fed, Levi activated his connection to the phantom birds he''d slipped into his roommates'' shadows the night before.
Now that Noir had evolved, it was easy for it to maintain Phantom Flock for lomnger period.
And since it had only summoned three - it was very easy to keep the ability active.
As he activated the ability - his vision shifted.
Suddenly, he was seeing the academy through three different bird''s-eye views. It was like having his own personal reality TV show, minus the bad drama and plus a lot more magic.
The first view showed the training grounds. Students were scattered around, some lifting weights that glowed ominously, others swinging weapons that definitely vited severalws of physics.
Levi spotted a few ssmates and mentally awarded points for style and "most likely to identally blow something up."
This was probably from the perspective of the ckbird in Alex''s Shadow.
Next up was what looked like a mad scientist''s dreamb. Bubbling potions, glowing magic circles, and enough blinking lights to rival a Christmas tree on steroids.
Levi silently bet himself five imaginary coins that Ryn was in there somewhere, probably cackling maniacally over a beaker.
Feeling pretty smug about his spy game, Levi turned his attention to the third bird. And promptly choked on his pancake.
There was Toby, sweet, quiet Toby, doing... THAT!
Levi''s eyes snapped open, breaking the connection as he coughed and sputtered. Nearby students looked at him with concern, probably wondering if the Heimlich maneuver worked on idiots who couldn''t handle their breakfast.
As Levi caught his breath, his mind reeled.
''What did I just see?''
He wondered, shock visible on his face.
Who knew Toby had it in him? It was like finding out your goldfish could tap dance.
Toby was... dancing. Not just any dance, but the most ridiculous, over-the-top interpretive dance Levi had ever seen. Arms iling wildly, legs kicking at impossible angles, all while making faces that looked like he was simultaneously experiencing enlightenment and severe indigestion.
As Levi watched, ck-jawed, Toby attempted a dramatic spin. His powers activated mid-twirl, causing him to floatically for a moment before crashing back down in a heap of limbs and cape.
It was at this point that Levi choked on his pancake, his brain unable to process the sheer absurdity of what he was witnessing.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Levi returned to his now slightly soggy pancakes. The day had barely started, and already he''d survived a staring contest with the academy''s resident force of nature, conducted a covert breakfast-based feeding operation, and discovered hidden depths to his roommate that he was pretty sure he''d never be able to unsee.
He cast onest nce at Lysandra''s now-empty table. "Well," he mused, "at least life here won''t be boring. Terrifying, possibly fatal, but definitely not boring."
As Levi polished off thest of his breakfast, he couldn''t help but grin.
With his phantom flock at his disposal, he was like a one-man spy agency. A very amateur, possibly idiotic spy agency, but hey, you had to start somewhere.
He stood up, ready to move on to the next part of his schedule for the day.
Onto the training grounds!
---***---
Which character image do you guys want next?
1. Toby2. Lysandra3. Ryn4. Alex