O Merlin in your crystal cave
Deep in the diamond of the day,
Will there ever be a singer
Whose music will smooth away
The furrow drawn by Adam's finger
Across the memory and the wave?
Or a runner who'll outrun
Man's long shadow driving on,
Break through the gate of memory
And hang the apple on the tree?
Will your magic ever show
The sleeping bride shut in her bower,
The day wreathed in its mound of snow
and Time locked in his tower?

- Edwin Muir, Merlin

It was a truth universally acknowledged that it was impossible for any mortal, and nay most vampires, to elicit an unguarded reaction or expression from the Night Class at Cross Academy. According to their elders (and themselves), they were a generation of young vampires whose bloodline and aristocratic peak was unseen for many generations. The gathering of so many ancient aristocratic bloodlines around the pureblood, the rightful commander, had not been seen in many years. Despite their taking up at Cross Academy, shared with mortals being quite a debate among the vampire high society, the Night Class would never admit to the rebellious streak they were all satisfying at choosing to stay at Kaname Kuran's side despite the wariness of their families.

When Headmaster Cross designed the course curriculum it was an unspoken rule that the students of the Night Class be taught by other, knowledgeable vampires. These vampiric pseudo-guardians would continue to guide the newest generations of vampire society in the right direction. Headmaster Cross relented in this area, but felt that there should be some diversity in the students' lives. After all, this program promoted pacifism and peaceful coexistence with humans, and these students would need to learn to apply the lesson to practice.

Finding a mortal instructor for the Night Class proved difficult. The very crucial requirement that the applicant know of the existence of vampires and their customs narrowed down his options considerably. Then they must support pacifism with the Night race, or at least coexistence sans bloodshed. Once those two were filled the criteria that they be able to teach and offer something to these extraordinary beings left only five or six people to choose from.

It was still debated about amongst the Night Class as to whether the Headmaster made the right call.

The students were growing mildly irritated as the first day of Comparative Western Literature dragged on without their instructor making an appearance. Now vampires, particularly noble ones, did not grow restless. And if they did they certainly didn't show it.

"Where are they?!"

Unless said vampire was Hanabusa Aido.

"A half an hour late?!"

As Aido continued complaining Ruka forced herself to stay in her seat and not leap across the room and rip out the other's throat with her nails. Of course it was irksome that their new teacher still hadn't shown up, but Aido didn't have to keep complaining about it!

Allowing her eyes to drift briefly to Kaname, she found that his expression showed no emotion or irritation. Not for the first time did she wonder what thoughts raged behind those dark eyes. Despite knowing the pureblood for years he still had not let any of them past that impregnable wall he'd erected around his heart. It caused an ache so painful in her own chest she had to look away. Unbeknownst to the beauty of the Night Class the sharp eyes of Akatsuki Kain watched the thoughts flicker across her face just as the door opened loudly and all the vampires' heads whipped to stare.

They all caught the unmistakable human scent.

"'Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning —

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past'."

A mismatched pair of of human eyes searched the faces of the vampire students. "This is the last paragraph of the first book we will be reading."

The students all stared.

"I apologize for being so late. On my way here I was detained by a very sour looking boy who was very adamant that I not be wandering the campus grounds at night… But that's hunters for you, always spouting orders. It took me 30 minutes, my teacher's ID badge and several prayers to the Almighty to convince him that I was supposed to be here. Please direct all complaints about my tardiness to Zero Kiryu."

Kaname allowed one slim brow to rise. Well this was certainly a surprise. Headmaster Cross must be giggling himself silly in his office. The pureblood permitted himself to unabashedly study their new instructor. Tossing a mortal into the vampires' path was - what was that American saying? - 'a hail Mary pass'. It certainly would force them to put their professed pacifist ideals to the test.

She was young, no older than thirty but most likely twenty-eight or twenty-nine. Her figure was pleasing but had a hard edge to it, her feminine curves not able to disguise the rigid muscles in her body apparent in the way she held herself. Even Kaname had to admit that her appearance was very striking but not because of the lines of her body. Her skin was a tan olive tone suggesting Mediterranean, most likely Italian heritage. However her accent was clearly American. The color of her skin only accentuated the shade of her hair, which was a bright platinum blond so light that it looked snow white. Tumbling over her shoulders and down her back the bright hair framed a round, cheerful face where a pair of large, mismatched eyes looked out at them. The right eye was a deep, sea green color while the left was milky white as if blinded.

The pureblood had the feeling however that this woman was anything but blinded.

"My name is Dr. Elaine Hex. It's such a pleasure to meet all you lovely young vampires." Her smile widened to reveal a set of perfect dimples.

"Dr. Hex? Seriously?" Aido grumbled, not believing the situation. Headmaster Cross hiring a mortal to teach them?!

"Attitude, Mr. Aido! Otherwise I may just have to put a curse on you." Elaine placed her large, sleek black tote purse on the desk and walked to the blackboard. Her black heeled oxfords clicked with each step she took. "Now, did anyone recognize the quote from earlier?"

Kaname allowed for a beat of ten seconds to pass to observe if anyone other than him did. No one raised their hand. When Dr. Hex turned back round, a piece of chalk in her hand, he inclined his head. "The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald."

She grinned and he was graced once again with the sight of dimples. "Very good Mr. Kuran." Turning back to the board Elaine began delicately scripting titles of various Western texts. "Now I'm a firm believer in student-led learning. Therefore aside from the first book I'm going to let you choose the other texts that we study in this course. I'll start by listing some ideas and then I want you all to come up with some you believe we should study." After The Great Gatsby she added The Iliad, The Hobbit, Pride and Prejudice, and 1984. "While my own list is quite extensive as to what I believe every student of Western literature should read, these are only a few. Now your thoughts?"

Aido waited a beat before scoffing. "No Dracula?"

The other students collectively rolled their eyes and Ruka sighed heavily.

"If you feel that text is significant in what you want to learn from this course, Mr. Aido. Personally I believe Stoker's tale could be interpreted in a variety of ways, from a retelling of mortal sickness of the poor or the English gentry's brutal occupation of Ireland, but if you would like to study it then I'll be sure to remind the class of that everyday when we read it."

Aido didn't have to look to feel the glare of his peers. "Erm… no, that's alright Dr. Hex."

"Hm," Elaine searched the faces of her students. She couldn't decipher whether the vampires were still in shock at having a human instructor or whether they were truly indifferent. It would not have surprised her, this was the group of vampires who had designed the blood tablets, an unprecedented scientific discovery. No doubt these were some of the brightest minds in the contemporary world. There must be a part of them that resented being tutored by a mere mortal.

"I have always been intrigued by Dante's Inferno." Kaname spoke up, his cadence calm and even. "The tale of a man pining for his lost love, forever separated by a force greater than himself, to literally go through Hell only to be unable to even touch her. It is quite compelling." Kaname would never admit out loud the kinship he felt with Dante's character. He oftentimes viewed himself in Dante's place, an interloper in the mortal world struggling to reach out to his beloved but unable to grasp her…

Nodding, Elaine added the title to the list in her neat script. "Those are very valid reasons as to why Inferno is a text we should study."

"I'm quite fond of Sir Arthur's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, particularly The Hounds of Baskerville." Takuma Ichijo piped up. The other vampires groaned, their vice-president's love of mysteries almost as legendary as his obsession with manga. "The character of Holmes has become enduring, being remade many times through many different lenses. And Sir Arthur did not wish to be remembered solely for his tales of Sherlock Holmes. What an irony!"

Scripting the title onto the board, the remainder of the class passed with a few more titles being added. Eventually the class voted and their syllabus was set. In the end the vampires decided that in addition to The Great Gatsby they would read Hamlet, excerpts from Le Morte d'Arthur, The Iliad, poetry of William Butler Yeats, A Farewell to Arms, and Dante's Inferno.

"You are truly ambitious students!" Elaine slapped her hands together, sending chalk dust into the air. "Before you leave pick up your copies of The Great Gatsby and read the first three chapters for the next class! And I'll know if you're not reading!" She warned. "Not reading means quizzes, and I'd rather not give quizzes. You are truly the bright minds of the vampire world and I'd rather spend class discussing the readings with you rather than testing you."

Months had passed since that first class. Dr. Hex had not necessarily become the Night Class' favorite instructor but she had certainly earned a prestige onto herself. Kaname in particular had become quite fond of her. Ruka and the others still remained at a loss when it came to the pure blood's affinity for mortal women, but they all agreed that Dr. Hex was more favorable than that insipid Cross girl. Their instructor was at least intelligent and, they had to begrudgingly admit, fearless. They had never once seen her afraid to challenge them and speak to them as equals. Despite being a mere human it was strangely refreshing when compared to their other instructors who merely flattered them. Dr. Hex challenged them, pushed them even, but she was never disrespectful and she was never shy about giving praise when she felt it was earned.

Before any of them had realized it, they had accepted Dr. Hex, even if they hadn't meant to. Soon she was teaching not only Comparative Western Literature but also Arthurian Literature, Intermediate Parapsychology, History of Magi and Christianity: The In's and Out's for Vampires. Her life had certainly been interesting despite the briefness of it as her fate of a mortal. So far they had learned that she studied abroad both in Ireland and Turkey, for a time she had been a student of the infamous paranormal investigator couple Ed and Lorraine Warren, and was both sanctioned by the Vatican to perform exorcisms and an adept in various martial arts styles such as Krav Maga.

Eccentric was what Kaname called her.

Each evening she greeted them in the same fashion.

"God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!"

"Something like that, sensei." Aido would always reply.

Still there was something about Dr. Hex that none of them could quite verbalize. It was a feeling similar to that they felt around Kaname. Underneath the light smells of citrus, white musk and lilies and couture clothes there was the undeniable feeling of power. It was more instinct than a sense, but the best way the Night Class would be able to describe it was like the scent of ozone that flares up before the electric snap of lightning struck the earth.

Kaname accepted her, and for the rest of the Night Class that was satisfactory enough.