Flower petals danced across the scattered papers, whirled here and there by the wind in a loose, carefree manner.

The boy lay on his side in the old narrow bunk and watched them vacantly.
Master had sent him back to his room at breakfast. He had no idea what he had done, only that whatever it was this time, Master would hurry up and end the punishment, or at least not drag it out too long so that he could go back to deciphering the codices in the library.

They were fascinating little things, those codices, full of various tales and information to last him lifetimes. If only he was immortal like Master and the other teachers then he’d be able to study them with all the time in the world.

He blinked slowly, sucked in a deep breath. Maybe he could be. Everyone knew how immortals were created and even how humans could become immortal themselves. He rolled off his cot and plucked a blank paper and a pen from his desk. A list of things he needed and methods he needed to prepare could be written down and made to look like an essay to present to one of the masters.

He worked quickly, finishing the list and making plans for all situations. When the time came for his punishment he took it and endured it, using some of the tasks to gather his supplies. Eventually, the day came that a great many of the masters were called away by their own superiors and there were too few around to see and put a stop to his endeavors.

He arranged and set and fixed and fiddled until he could afford to waste no more time. He stood in the center of a diagram he had traced out on the floor and clapped his hands together to activate the array.

Blinding white light and pain shot through him and then winked out. He fainted for a moment and then opened his eyes and looked around, hoping nobody had noticed the flash. Finally, looking down at his hands he saw that the skin was pale and slightly translucent. He reached up and pulled a strand of his hair out and held it before his eyes. Snow white. He grinned; he had done it. He was now an immortal.

Days later he was told that it should have been impossible for a young novice to perform the transmutation alone. Sometime after that it was discovered that he had been an immortal from birth. Someone had changed his features and locked away his strength. But who, and why?