Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Concentrate…”

Four grey walls surrounded her, forming a small, dull room. A solemn man with grey streaks in his hair sat across from her on the bare floor. The air was cold, like she was in a refrigerator. But she wasn’t allowed to shiver, not now. 

The environment shifted. There was screaming, icy like the room she had been in, piercing through her heart. But this time she didn’t withhold herself from trembling. Why was there screaming? Where was she? Everything was all a jumbling, confusing mess. She felt like crying, she felt like throwing up, she felt like yelling for help…

She woke up.  

Anya gasped and immediately clapped a hand over her mouth. 

Calming herself down, she tuned herself to listen to the nearby thoughts of Loid and Yor Forger, but to her relief, they hadn’t heard her over the sizzling of the sausages her father was cooking. 

She sighed and stayed still for just another moment before forcing herself out of bed. 

It was the fourth time this month she’d had that dream. 

It was weird, and mildly annoying. She missed her usual dreams of getting a lifetime supply of waffles, or making flower crowns with Damian, or successfully teaching Bond to attack Becky whenever she tried to flirt with Papa, or even the stress filled ones about school tests that made numbers float in the air, because at least those were familiar. This dream made her feel uneasy. The atmosphere of it was strange, the middle aged man was strange, the screams were strange. 

But the strangest thing about this dream was that it felt like a memory.

Anya spit out her toothpaste into the sink and filled up her cup to rinse her mouth. Loid hadn’t taught her to brush her teeth, but she couldn’t remember who did. She couldn’t remember a lot of things before she became a Forger at age nine. 

She could vaguely remember moving from orphanage to family, and back to the orphanage three times in the year or two before Loid found her. She couldn’t remember many specific details about any of those locations, just that it had been lonely in each new orphanage, and that she was a disappointment to each new family who only wanted a normal lovely daughter, though that’s what she tried her best to be. 

Her memories before that were even foggier. There were blurry faces huddled around her with clipboards talking about how they needed her for world peace, soggy cereal from a metallic tasting spoon that she ate every morning, a large metal machine that made gear-changing noises. 

There was only one memory from back then that stayed fully intact over the years, though it was only a fragment of a larger memory that she’d forgotten. 

“Anya!” 

“I’m coming Papa!” 

She fixed the ribbon at the top of her uniform before stepping out of her room to an impatient Loid Forger, and a smiling Yor Forger. 

“You have three minutes to eat breakfast before you have to leave to catch the bus on time,” Loid said tonelessly, hidden behind the kitchen counter. 

Anya slipped into her spot at the table, taking a fork and stabbing it into the sausage on her already set plate. 

“Five if I run to the bus stop,” she said before taking a large bite. 

“And trip and fall and rip your uniform again? It’s expensive enough to have to buy you a new one whenever you grow.” And I don’t want Sylvia on my back about extra costs again .

Anya rolled her eyes. Since when were spy organizations so stingy? Her father was clearly on a very important mission, Operation Strix , and if anything he probably deserved more money. 

Yor sat politely on the opposite side of the table, smiling in her usually friendly way as Anya scarfed down her meal. 

My Anya’s so beautiful. I can’t believe she’s turning seventeen soon. 

Technically she was turning sixteen, having lied to Loid when he adopted her since the academy only took in children from the age of ten. And she wasn’t turning sixteen for another month, anyway. She couldn’t understand why Yor was so emotional about it. It wasn’t like being a year older changed anything. 

“Borf!” 

“Bye Bond!” Anya patted Bond on the head before dashing out the door. Loud and Yor said goodbye but she barely heard them as she ran down the hallway out of their apartment. She made it to the street and frantically waved at the bus driver from across the road, catching his attention at the last moment. She climbed onto the bus with heavy breaths, taking the third seat from the front like she always did. 

Next time I ought to pretend like I didn’t see her and keep going . 

Anya caught the bus driver's eye in the rear view mirror. She wanted to stick her tongue out at him in defiance of his thoughts. 

There was only one thing that kept her from doing so. 

“You mustn’t tell anyone. Secrets are meant to be kept. “

It was the only thing that she could remember as clear as day, from before her days at the orphanage. A lady bending over her, keeping her face at an uncomfortably close distance to Anya’s, repeating the same sentence over and over again. Anya could remember her face almost exactly, a long bridged nose and wide set green eyes. She was wearing red lipstick as bright as her hair, and she had a soothing quality to her voice, despite how afraid little Anya had been of her. 

People acted strange when you knew their secrets. They’d be wary of you, they’d threaten you, they’d ostracize you. They’d do anything to keep their secrets safe. And if you ever thought that knowing someone’s secret gave you the upper hand, you were wrong. Because knowing someone’s secret meant a very carefully drawn line had to be tread. Anya knew that from experience. 

Nothing came good from knowing everyone’s secrets.

Chapter Text

“Hey Sy-on boy!” 

Anya called out Damian’s nickname in the crowded hallway, causing him to whip his head around with a grimace. 

“Stop calling me that!” He immaturely yelled back. A few students glanced at their interaction but most ignored the two of them, too dignified to care about their small argument. 

“Tch tch,” Anya scolded, smirking. “Is that any way to greet a friend?”

“We’re not friends!” Damian huffed before turning back. Emile and Ewen gave her the stink eye, echoing sentiments of agreement. 

“Boys,” Becky complained with a roll of her eyes when they fell out of eyesight. “We’re turning seventeen this year, don’t you think they ought to start acting more mature? That’s why I have my eyes set on my Loid, he’d never act like that. I can’t wait for our birthday party next month when he gets to see me in a beautiful dress!”

Becky and Anya had shared a birthday for as long as Anya found out what day Becky was born, and told Loid later that day she also had the same birthday. In truth, Anya had no idea what day she was born, but she wanted to share a birthday with her best friend. Loid freaked out about Anya telling people when her “real” birthday really was, so he changed her documents the same evening. Since then, it had become a special event for the two of them and they celebrated every year with a huge ball at Becky’s. 

“Wouldn’t you say it’s a little immature to crush on your best friend’s dad?” Anya said in a sarcastic tone. 

“Immature? In no way is my love for Loid immature!” 

“I dunno, sounds pretty immature to pine after someone like that.”

“You’re one to talk! You’ve crushed on Damian longer than I’ve liked Loid.”

Technically she hadn’t. Having a crush on Damian had initially only been an alibi to explain to Becky why she wanted to become closer to Damian. 

But she couldn’t deny that it was a crush now . 

“Let’s get to class, we wouldn’t want to be late,” Anya said, pulling Becky’s hand forward. 

“Hey! Way to change the subject!”

But Anya only responded by giggling, and walking even faster, narrowly weaving through the student body. 

They entered the classroom with plenty of time to spare. Damian, Emile and Ewen were already seated, near the back, and Anya waved at them as she and Becky took their usual spot near the front. Damian, who had been twirling a pen in his hand and pretending not to notice her enter, ignored her greeting too. 

God, why does she always have to be so loud? … and why is it oddly endearing. 

Anya smiled at Damian’s thoughts. Damian acted like a jerk, but that’s all it was– an act. And somehow, it never truly annoyed her. If anything, she found it endearing too, especially when she could hear what he was actually thinking. Besides, she could understand what it felt like, having to lie for the better sake of your family. The smile faded off her face. 

“What has you in a sour mood all of a sudden? You were perfectly happy when we walked in,” Becky said as she took out her assortment of colour-coding gel pens. 

“Anya doesn’t want to go to class.” 

“Quit acting like a child. The whole third-person thing only works because you’re my friend, anyone else would think it's weird.” Although she might get a free pass because she’s cute.  

“Come on, Becky. Don’t you think I’m cute enough to get a pass?” 

Becky groaned in response. “Could you be more full of yourself? It’s ladylike to be humble, so at least try?” 

“Anya doesn’t care about being ladylike.” 

“That’s it, I’m not going to let you borrow my gel pens anymore.” 

Anya jumped up and was about to protest before a gentle yet commanding voice from the front of the room called out. 

“Settle down, everyone. Ms. Forger, please take a seat instead of standing so….inelegantly.”

Anya slinked down to her seat, giving Mr. Henderson a bashful smile. The rest of the class also settled down into their seats. It was a bit strange to see Mr. Henderson in History, he wasn’t their usual teacher. Perhaps he had an announcement to make?

That's when a tall man in a light brown suit stepped into the doorway behind Mr. Henderson. The morning sunlight hit his face in an angelic way, creating a halo around his head. The light should have made him look heavenly himself, highlighting his face at all the right angles like a sunlight catcher. But it didn’t do that. 

On the contrary, he looked quite dead. 

Sunken cheeks and sunken eyes. Saggy lips and saggy ears. Greyish purple wrinkles in his forehead. There was a touch of handsomeness between these features, like his thick brown hair or sharp eyebrows, but their decency was lost among his more eye-catching assets. 

What happened to his face?

Where’s our history teacher?

Is he supposed to be a sub?

How’d they let someone as ghastly as him even enter the school?

Thoughts flitted around the room like a cacophony of flies buzzing about. They were so loud, Anya had trouble directing her focus to the man’s thoughts, the thing she did first whenever she wanted more information. 

“I’d like to welcome Mr. Adler. Unfortunately your usual history teacher received some untimely news regarding family back home, so he had to step down for the semester and potentially the rest of the year. Mr Adler is a highly qualified individual who will be taking over. I expect that you treat him with the same elegance you treat all of our educators and show him how outstanding the students of Eden Academy are.” He addressed the class with a straight posture, and his hands behind his back, before turning to Mr. Adler. “I’ll leave the rest to you, Mr. Adler.” 

“Thank you Mr. Henderson. I hope that I, too, can show Eden Academy why I’m a faculty member here.” Mr. Adler smiled, but it looked all wrong. There were cracks in his lips and his smile stretched too far into his cheeks, despite how delicate the smile was. 

Mr. Henderson left the classroom, and all eyes focused on Mr. Adler, who seemed to be taking in the classroom, his eyes slowly scanning the surroundings, taking more time than the average person would have. The rest of the students became nervous and jittery, echoing questions inside their heads about the new teacher’s weird mannerisms, but Anya– who still couldn’t hear his thoughts over everyone else’s, was more curious than her peers about what he might be thinking. She looked at the classroom herself in an effort to understand what he was seeing instead. 

The room was large and brightly lit. Anya followed Mr. Adler’s line of sight to the row of windows on the side of the classroom, large enough for someone to jump through, if they were open. Walnut wood with gold accents encased the window in a frame, and continued along the walls in a slightly darker colour. The ceiling was made of wood too, with fancy lights installed periodically. They looked beautiful, but Mr. Henderson’s thoughts had once informed her that they were huge fire hazards. 

Anya looked back at Mr. Adler to see where he was looking at now, only to find him staring straight at her, smiling.

“My apologies, I got lost in a moment in the beautiful architecture of the classroom,” he said finally, breaking eye contact with Anya and addressing the entire class. The moment of eye contact lasted so brief, she wondered if it had even happened. 

“I think that today, instead of boring you with a spoken introduction, I’ll show you who I am. Please rise, and follow me through the door.”

Mr. Adler gestured to the entrance with a soft sort of smile, though it didn’t ease the peculiarities of his face. The students, not exactly sure what to do at the strange and vague suggestion, eyed each other before slowly getting out of their seats and heading down the rows of desks, Anya included. They shuffled into the hallway silently, with whispers starting to emerge. As Mr. Adler didn’t scold them for talking, nor did he tell them where they were going, the chatter began to grow. 

Anya was always naturally a curious child, one that only grew into a curious teenager, or nosy, as some people would say. As a result of always being able to read others' minds, it made her somewhat anxious when she didn’t know something, and the fact that she still couldn’t read Mr. Adler’s thoughts didn’t help. She frowned from the back of the crowd, Mr. Adler all the way in the front. The physical distance wouldn’t have normally made a huge difference in her mind reading abilities, but with the buzz of the student’s thoughts, and what Anya had to assume at this point was Mr. Adler’s infrequent and quiet thoughts, it was difficult for her to get through to them. 

“Where do you think he’s taking us?” Anya asked Becky, who was walking beside her. 

“I don’t know Anya,” Becky said, rolling her eyes. Seriously, it’s like she expects me to know everything. 

Becky had a point, if someone was going to know anything, it would likely be the green haired boy who got top marks in almost all their classes. 

Damian, along with Emile and Ewen, were walking right in front of them, giving Anya the perfect opportunity to tap Damian on his left shoulder. 

She faced his right shoulder when he turned back, just to annoy him.  

Jesus Christ , Damian thought as he had to turn to his right, only to find Anya had swayed back to his left side, so he had to turn again, coaxing out visible frustration on his facial features. Anya bit back from giggling. 

“Sy-on boy, where are we going?”

Damian furrowed his brow. “You did all that just to ask me a question I obviously wouldn’t know the answer to?”

“But you always have the answers! You know everything!” She gave him those puppy-dog eyes that made his heartbeat spike, and he turned back to face the front, to avoid her seeing the blush that spread across his face. 

“He doesn’t know everything, Anya. The last thing you need to do is feed his ego,” Becky sniffed. 

“Hey you take that back!” Ewen exclaimed. 

“Damian is the smartest student by a mile, his pride is only built on facts!” Emile said, just as enthusiastically.  

“Then he can prove it by telling us where we’re going!” Becky said. 

“Jeez,” Damian said, irritated, “I just said there’s no way for me to know that, I can’t read his mind.” Anya fought the urge to smirk at the fact that she could read minds. 

“Can’t you try, please?” Anya looked at him again, this time easing up on the puppy eyes but still trying to show sincerity. 

Damian, after visible deliberation, finally said, “Ugh, fine.” Goddammit why can’t I just say no to her. But just as quick as he thought it, he forgot the angry thought and started looking around, questioning where they were. 

We’re in the West wing, on the third floor. But there’s nothing important up here, unless he’s taking us to some old classroom. There’s the upper lounge, I guess. He’s not taking us there though, he’s going straight, to the end of the corridor. The only thing down there is–

Damian’s brain momentarily scrambled with panic as he realized what building they’d be led to if they were to take the flight of stairs at the end of the hallway. It was a place neither him nor Anya had been to, though both dreamed of entering one day. A place so grand, certain staff were not permitted to enter. Heck, even Anya’s father desperately wanted to get in, but couldn’t. It was the Tower of Wisdom. 

The tower where Imperial Scholars resided.  

Chapter Text

Anya had seen the Tower of Wisdom from the outside nearly every day. It stood squarely at the end of the courtyard, visible from half the windows of any classroom, and was the tallest building within school grounds. It was a testament to Eden’s grandeur and prestige, meant for only the best of the already gifted. 

Anya had heard rumours about the place and took great interest in them, as did any other student, though the ones she wanted to know the most about were usually food related… But being an Imperial Scholar was her one and only goal, the dream she hadn’t given up on since her first day of school.

Whispers increased the further they went, as the other students were starting to catch on to what hallway they were being led to. The jittery energy of the students only increased and mixed in with her own determination, Anya felt slightly overwhelmed. 

No, we can’t be going there, other students aren’t allowed. Damian, especially, was panicking and tried to rationalize things to himself. He’s probably just taking us to the entrance. 

They continued onwards, going down the stairs, and taking the exit from the main building to the outside. A large shadow cast upon the students, and Anya looked up. The height of the tower made her feel queasy. Like she was a tiny ant, about to be stomped by a giant. Why did they have to make it so big? The amount of Imperial Scholars was small, what did they possibly do with all the space in there?

They walked in the freshly mown grass along the perimeter, up to the front entrance– the only entrance. The students stopped, not moving beyond the lawn, but Mr. Adler kept going up until the door, putting his hands on the knob. He glanced back, his face looking very much alive. Anya was shocked at the contrasting change. Suddenly he looked playful and young. Was he just pretending to open it? Did he find pleasure in shocking the students? Maybe he was only pretending to be ugly and now he was going to do some sort of grand reveal?

The door opened. 

IS HE CRAZY? We-we’re not allowed in there! 

Damian frantically looked around along with the other students, scrambling to find reason in Mr. Adler’s madness. 

Anya turned away from the students and looked inside and saw… a hallway?

“It looks pretty boring in there to me,” Anya said. 

“Anya!” Becky gasped. “You can’t say that about the Tower of Wisdom!” 

But wasn’t the Tower of Wisdom supposed to be some sort of big thing? Anya pictured pixie dust exploding and stella stars falling from the sky. What she saw instead was what looked like anything you’d see in any part of the main school building. Polished dark wooden beams lined the walls, and with portraits of people she didn’t recognize. She squinted, making out what looked like a room at the end, but it was too far to see what it looked like or what was in it. 

“Hey, where’d the new weird teacher go?” Someone asked in the crowd, causing the students to notice Mr. Adler had disappeared. 

Another torrent of thoughts came Anya’s way, and she flinched at the sharp intake of them all. 

Should we go look for him?

Should we call him?

He must have gone to the side of the building, right?

Surely he’ll be back soon…

Despite many thoughts of action, the students ended up staying in the same spot, in front of the open entrance, waiting for the reappearance of Mr. Adler. Even without knowing their thoughts, stress was evident on their face. Especially for one student to Anya’s left. She glanced at Damian, his downward posture and gaze matching his thoughts. 

In three months, I’ll be an Imperial Scholar. I’ll join Demitrius and father in the line of Desmonds who’ve achieved greatness. Until then, I- I can’t–

If being an Imperial Scholar was everything he ever wanted, why did he look so afraid?

“Hey Sy-on boy, I’ll bet you a dollar he’ll take longer than five minutes to show up.”

She bumped her shoulder into Damian’s, and he took a step back, looking scandalized. HIs cheeks turned red and he looked at her like she was an alien. 

How can she make jokes in a situation like this?

“Or are you scared you’re gonna lose?”

“Scared? Like a Desmond like me would be scared! I’m just stunned at your stupidity, obviously he’ll be here any second.” 

“Then let's up it to five dollars if you’re so sure of yourself.”

Damian opened his mouth to respond, but he didn’t have a chance to. 

“Settle down everyone!” Mr. Adler appeared again, just as quick as he had left. He raised his voice only mildly, but the students calmed down instantly to the authoritative figure. Anya blinked, not noticing the smug grin on Damian’s face. She could only stare at Mr. Adler in anticipation. 

“Okay, I think that’s enough for today! You’re all free to go early, see you tomorrow.”

He smiled gently before closing the door. He then waved at the students before putting his hands in his pockets and whistling some sort of melody as he strolled back to the main building.

The students burst into whispers once again. If the new teacher was always going to be like this, then Anya was constantly going to have a headache. 

“Aw man, we got a lunatic for a history teacher,” Emile said, kicking the grass beneath his feet. Once the shock wore off, other students began to leave the grounds. 

“Yeah, what was up with that?” Ewen responded, just as irritated and bewildered. 

“You owe me five dollars by the way,” Damian smirked at Anya. 

“Uh, but I’m broke.” 

“Shouldn’t have bet anything then, guess the price you pay will be a lesson.” 

“Okay Damian, since you need FIVE dollars so DESPERATELY, I guess I can lend you some money.” Anya raised her voice and some students looked behind to stare.

“I don’t NEED your money, ugh, you know what, just forget it.” 

“You guys…” Becky rolled her eyes. Young love, I suppose.

“Actually Damian, I have something better to give you than five dollars.” 

“Yeah?” Damian raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?” Probably going to say something dumb like candy.

What was wrong with candy? “A proposition.” 

“A proposition for…?”

“I can only tell you in private.” 

Oh my, is Anya going to ask Damian out? I would have hoped that she’d tell me beforehand, but you can never expect anything from that girl. 

Gah, that girl is always so weird, but Damian will probably hear her out, knowing him. 

Why’s she always up to something suspicious? And why does it always have to involve me?

Damian gave Anya a look, the unimpressed one he gave whenever he was humouring her. But maybe he could see that she wasn’t joking around, because the glint in his eyes looked sharp. 

“I’ll meet you guys at our next class,” Damian closed his eyes, like he was mentally preparing himself for whatever Anya was about to suggest. 

Becky, Emile, and Ewen left, leaving Damian and Anya completely alone. Anya looked around, making sure no one was overhearing them. It was time to turn on super spy mode. 

“Lets go inside the Tower.” 

Damian jumped back a foot. “Are you fucking crazy?” He slapped a hand to his mouth, not meaning to swear, not that Anya really cared, Loid’s mouth– or should she say brain– was pretty foul. 

“I’m serious.” 

“I can tell, otherwise I would’ve reacted by laughing.” Damian glared at her. She must really think I’m stupid.

Anya sighed. Okay, if she was serious, then she supposed she’d have to do more to show it and convince him why this was a good idea. In actuality, the plan had only come to her a minute before. Even though she’d been attending this school for multiple years, she, well, thought that only Imperial Scholars could enter the building… Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure where the logic in it was. It’s not like the scholars walked around dangling a keychain, and although something like fingerprint recognition was cool, it wasn’t exactly a possible technology yet. But besides her unfortunate assumption, sneaking into the building was a great idea. There was probably lots of super spy information in there, including more information about Demitrius. If she found his room, she could hide in front of it, listening to his thoughts, sparse as they were. Of course, she could do that alone too, but she had a feeling this was something that Damian wanted. 

“Listen, I know we’re not allowed to, and I know you hate breaking the rules, but don’t you want to see what’s inside? You’ve been waiting your whole life for this Damian, why does the inside of this tower scare you? It’s just a tower.”

“It’s not just a tower.” What a foolish thing to say. This tower is my life, it’s my past, present, future, my family, my legacy… Going inside that tower means everything, how could I just take it when I haven’t earned it yet?

Damian thought back to the rare occasions he’d seen his family members. He at least saw his brother occasionally, the brief meets at the end of the school year, or the quick calls to ask him something. Demitrius was quick to dismiss him… but he always answered. His mother was there as a presence, she sent gifts and messages through staff, but she rarely saw him face to face. In fact, he learned more about his mother through Anya, who’s mom was friends with his. His father, on the other hand, very rarely visited. He could count on his fingers the amount of times they had actually interacted beyond a greeting. 

“Don’t forget, you’re a Desmond too, if anyone deserves to go inside, then it’s you.” She reached for his hand. Surprisingly, he let her hold it. His skin was softer than she expected, and she had the urge to hold it by her heart, though she didn’t dare. “Everything will be fine, I promise.” 

He looked up, his green eyes searing with determination. 

“Okay.”