Saffron took a few minutes to prepare herself to meet with the headmaster. Washing up to get rid of the fish smell and got into her dress uniform as well as reapplying her makeup before finally, as confident as she was ever going to be to face the headmaster Saffron made her way to his office and went to knock on the door. Before she could, however, the door opened the person Saffron least wanted to see in her state, her mother Elizabeth Artemyeva, walked out. Snapping to a military salute and stepping out of her way. ‘Ma’am.’ Saffron said locking herself behind military protocol. Missing her daughter’s distress Elizabeth simply smiled and returned the salute before gesturing that they would talk later.
Not likely once this gets around. Saffron thought to herself bitterly as she went to knock again but the headmaster’s voice boomed out. ‘You may enter Ms de Cortez.’ Saffron complied and stiffly walked into the headmaster’s office then waited to be addressed again. Amarant Lovis, whose seventy years of life had only sharped his mind, did not address Saffron immediately. Instead, he rose from his seat and walked over to his student studying her silently. Saffron tried her best to remain calm and wait for permission but couldn’t endure the headmaster’s gaze for long and broke protocol. ’There was an incident at Alystra Plaza…’ Saffron began hurriedly before Amarant cut her off by raising his hand.
‘I know what happened at the Plaza.’ Amarant interrupted turning away from Saffron and moved towards one of the several artworks which surrounded the walls of his room and gestured for Saffron to follow. Stuttering as she followed Saffron tried to respond properly to Amarant’s seemingly impossible knowledge. ‘Do you know what this is?’ Amarant asked gesturing to a particular piece. It was a mask, looking like it was made out of stone decorated with semi-precious stones. ‘It… it’s a mask, sorry sir I don’t know its name but I know it’s from Menagerie. Now if I could…’ Saffron replied only to be once again interrupted by Amarant.
‘Yes no one knows their name, you can tell people took effort in its construction with the valuable materials and simply it surviving so long but they didn’t protect its name.’ Amarant continued turning back to face Saffron who met his gaze for a second before the latter breaking off instead studying the mask again. ‘Is this the kind of fate that you want Ms de Cortez?’ Saffron gasped slightly but managed to hold herself still. ‘No Sir.’ Saffron responded through gritted teeth. Amarant cocked his head at his student’s response as his eyes slightly glowed. Blinking a few times, the headmaster turned and made his way back to his desk. ‘So how are we going to stop that?’ Amarant asked coldly as he took his seat.
‘I’ll do better..’ Saffron began only to be interrupted by a harsh ‘How?’ Stuttering Saffron tried to continue ‘I’ll become a better leader..’ But she only managed to get a few words out before Amarant interrupted again. ‘How?’ Saffron was losing herself control, it wasn’t her fault, she didn’t choose this, what right did the headmaster have to treat her like this, why won’t he simply punish her and get it over with. ‘I’ll learn, I’ll try harder, I’ll….’ Saffron answered, her voice rising slightly as her emotions started to overflow. ‘So have you not been trying before this moment or have we simply not been teaching you.’ Amarant responded, calm as ever only the glow in his eyes started to come back.
'WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY? THAT I WOULD HAVE GONE ALONG WITH THE PLAN IF IT WOULD KEEP MY TEAMMATES OUT OF TROUBLE AND NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE THAT? THAT I DON’T HAVE CONTROL OF SALT BUT I DON’T WANT TO?’ Saffron screamed letting the emotion which had been building up since the incident loose. Her outburst had left her physically drained and it was in this pit of exhaustion that the reality of the situation hit home. ‘Sir… I’m sorry…. That was…There is no excuse.’ Saffron apologised profusely. Amarant was silent for a few moments and Saffron shuffled uncomfortably in the void. ‘You are right Ms de Cortez, there is no excuse. I appreciate your frankness and you coming to me. I’ll take it into consideration with your punishment. You can leave now…. And take the mask with you, for a reminder.’ Amarant finished turning his attention to the paperwork in front of him.
Saffron stood still, face downcast, for a few moments before wordlessly complying. Hefting the stone mask and made her way back to the team room. The whole interaction had taken less than a minute but had left Saffron shaking and exhausted beyond words. Leaving the mask by her bed the last thing Saffron wanted to do was wait around for her team to come back so she headed back out to the training arenas. Walking slowly out of the rooms and tried to get her mind off the day but her movements lacked any speed or determination to actually get her to that stage.