Undine's Academy for the Undesirable
The world calls you a monster. At Undine's, you're just another student. Welcome to the Academy for the Undesirable.
Plot
UNDINE'S ACADEMY FOR THE UNDESIRABLE They called you monsters.Undine called you students. YOU ARE UNDESIRABLE. At least, that's what the world calls you. Vampire. Oni. Goblin. Cyclops. Werewolf. Demon. Spectral. Orc. Different names. Different peoples. All placed beneath the same ugly word: UNDESIRABLE. For generations, students like you have been refused entry to prestigious academies, distrusted by ordinary citizens and judged for powers, appearances and ancestors they never chose. Then someone decided she'd had enough. WELCOME TO UNDINE'S. Founded as a sanctuary for those the rest of society rejected, Undine's Academy for the Undesirable has grown into one of the world's most unusual magical academies. Behind its ancient gates, nobody cares if you have horns. Nobody stares at the vampire eating lunch. Nobody screams when the spectral student walks through a wall. And having only one eye is considerably less interesting when three people in your classroom do too. Here, you're not an Undesirable. You're just another student. YOUR FIRST YEAR BEGINS. Attend lessons. Learn magic. Train your abilities. Join clubs. Explore the academy. Make friends, rivals and perhaps something more. Try to pass your exams. Try not to get detention. And try to remember that being able to phase through the library wall does not
Opening scene
Time: 09:04 | Term: 1 | Day: 01 | Location: Grand Hall The Grand Hall is full. Not metaphorically. There is a spectral boy currently occupying the same physical space as the back of somebody's chair. Hundreds of first-years fill the tiered seats beneath towering stained-glass windows, and for perhaps the first time in your academic life, nobody seems particularly interested in what anybody else is. Small groups have naturally formed throughout the hall. Several oni sit together near the front, brightly coloured horns poking above the crowd. A group of goblins have somehow claimed twice as many seats as there are goblins. Vampires congregate beneath the shaded gallery, away from the morning sunlight spilling through the windows. A handful of cyclopes talk amongst themselves. One catches someone staring. "First day?" The other student immediately looks away. Werewolves, gnomes, demons, orcs, spectral students and dozens of others fill the remaining seats. Different cultures. Different appearances. Different needs. But nobody is screaming. Nobody is reaching for a weapon. Nobody is calling for a guard. It's surprisingly ordinary. The great doors behind the stage close. Conversation gradually dies away as a woman walks towards the lectern. Headmistress Undine. She doesn't raise her voice. "Good morning." The last few whispers disappear. Undine looks across the assembled students. "Some of you have travelled hundreds of miles to be here. Some crossed borders. Some left communities where everyone looked like you." A faint smile. "And some of you live twenty minutes down the road." A few students laugh. "Regardless of how you arrived, every one of you has heard the word written above our gates." Her gaze moves slowly across the hall. "Undesirable." Silence. "It is an ugly word." She lets that sit for a moment. "It has been used to mean dangerous. Uncivilised. Untrustworthy. Unnatural. Monstrous." Undine rests both hands against the lectern. "It means none of those things here." Her voice remains calm. "At Undine's, a vampire is a student who happens to drink blood. An oni is a student who happens to have horns. A cyclops is a student who happens to have one eye." Somewhere to your left, a voice mutters: "Usually." A few cyclopes snicker. Undine's mouth twitches. "A spectral is a student who I would greatly appreciate using the doors." The boy halfway through the chair slowly sits upright. Laughter rolls through the hall. Undine waits for it to settle. "You will meet people here whose cultures you don't understand. Whose abilities you have never seen. Whose food you wouldn't touch for all the gold in the treasury." A goblin near the aisle quietly lowers whatever he was about to eat. "You will disagree. You will embarrass yourselves. Some of you will fall in love. Some of you will fall out of it. You will make friends you never expected to make." Her expression softens. "You will also have homework." A collective groan immediately rises from the hall. "Yes. Terrible, isn't it?" She steps away from the lectern. "The world beyond these walls has spent centuries deciding what people like us are." She looks across hundreds of faces. "While you are here, I ask only that you decide for yourselves." A pause. "Welcome, first-years, to Undine's School for the Undesirable." Applause erupts through the hall. Undine waits several seconds before raising one hand. "Now. Before orientation begins, I have been legally advised to remind our spectral students that 'I forgot there was a wall there' is not an acceptable defence for entering staff offices." More laughter. The spectral boy sinks slightly into his chair. Your first day at Undine's has begun.
Characters
Tags: Fantasy School Academy Supernatural Vampire Werewolf Demon Non-human SliceOfLife Adventure Friendship Romance AnyPOV Student Teacher Demi-Human Mysterious Playful Kind Friendly Growth FindingSelf BreakingFree Modern Urban SchoolLife
Chats Started: 25
By: gloom
Stories
- Help! The Prettiest Girl in Class Picked Me
- First Human In Elven Academy
- My Armour Is Alive?!
- My Overpowered Second Life in Another World
- Forced Married to the Orc Tribe Chief?!
- Rifted to another world
Redirecting to ISEKAI ZERO...