I sighed, looking around at the surroundings as Milaek and Azami chewed Briar out.
“Really, of all the times to try out a new power, it had to be in the middle of a match, when we are legally obligated to protect you!” Azami said sternly.
“If you had chosen any other time we could have just let you be killed. But nooooo. We had to follow you here and save you from whatever it is that wants to eat humans on this plane. Just lovely.” Milaek picked up, looking quite put off.
I could hear some odd rustlings coming from the forest surrounding us, and was suddenly very unsure of this area. This seemed to be Briar’s native plane, and when he and the headmasters had teleported here, it wasn’t hard to follow. As I had learned many years ago, some Elementalists of Space have the inherent ability to warp to other planes. Each of these Elementalists had a “Native plane” or a plane specific for them to travel too. This was usually the only plane they could access. I could access five, now six; though I wasn’t too sure about trying to access the Glade of The Joyful on my own. Up till this point actually, I had avoided warping, because it’s unwise to travel to the plains without proper protection. They are known to be extremely dangerous and deadly. But hey, it was about time to try it out, instead of just reading old dusty books from the forbidden section of the library back home! Though I’m sure Briar could have picked a better time to try it out.
I managed to zone I right at the end of Milaek and Briar’s one-sided conversation.
“And furthermore your fellow students have no teacher…” she paused, looked up slightly and smiled. “Well it turns out that’s not too much of a problem.” She turned to Azami. “Azami dear, do you think we could leave them be for the rest of class? You know how much I love this sort of thing.”
Azami smiled knowingly.
“Well if you insist… I wont complain, I find it quite pleasing as well.”
I was thoroughly confused, and one look at Briar told me he shared this sentiment. But the headmistresses didn’t forget us for long, and were soon back to scolding Briar.
“Well now, I hope you’re happy, because you and Zenery have to now go find the first gate so you can return to our plane.” Azami picked up where Milaek had left off.
“Gate?” Briar asked.
Azami sighed, and then spoke as if to a toddler.
“Yes Briar. A gate. There are many gates scattered around the planes, and in order to unlock the next plane you need to go through all of the gates in this one.”
Milaek picked back up.
“Most plane travelers can only go to their native plane, but you and Zenery are special cases.”
“Native plane?” Briar asked.
I decided to explain this time.
“A Native plane is the plane where a Space Elementalist’s soul feels most comfortable. It is sometimes also referred to as the Mother plane, because some people speculate that it is where the person’s soul originates from, or that the plane itself watches over you. Nice one you have here by the way.” I said, my amusement growing as his jaw dropped.
“How the hell do you know all that? And what do you mean ‘nice one I have’?” he questioned.
“That’s for me to know and you to not know. And I said ‘nice one’ because I thought it would be polite. If you rather I tell you that your Native Plane is a dreary, nasty place, then so be it.”
Briar’s look of confusion suddenly dissolved into horror.
“No way. No freaking way. This CANT be my native plane.”
“Well I would think it is, because I can go to the four soulless planes, and this one was not one of them.” I would have stopped but I could see the question rising in his mouth. “The four soulless planes are planes where no souls reside. To some Plane travelers they are accessible along with their native planes.”
“Wait, so most people can’t go into soulless planes?”
“No. Most people who can warp can only go to their native planes. And only a few can go to the soulless planes.”
“What about other peoples native planes?”
I paused.
“Not usually, but I managed to follow the warp trail you left. I’m assuming that’s what Milaek and Azami did too.”
I ignored the fact that this wasn’t supposed to be possible.
Azami and Milaek, whom had been caught up in mysterious musings, finally took this moment to speak again.
“Yes, very good Zenery.” Azami said pleasantly.
“But the two of you still need to go through your gates so you can move onto the soulless planes and return back to our plane. Or at least, your plane.” Milaek said, much less pleasantly.
“Okay, so basically Zenery and I have to go look for this gate together, go through it, then go back?” Briar said, finally starting to get a hang of things.
To my surprise Milaek shook her head.
“You’re half right. You will be traveling through the Glade of the Joyful, your native plane, to find the gate. Zenery however” she said turning to me, her eyes flashing mysteriously, “really should be getting to her plane. It’s not time for her to be in other peoples. Yet.”
Briar looked at me suddenly curious.
“What’s your plane like?” he inquired enthusiastically.
“I don’t know. Haven’t gone there yet.” I said shrugging.”
“Yes well!” Azami interrupted, “You must each find your first gate in your native planes to leave. Milaek and I will watch over you to make sure nothing TOO bad happens, but we will not interfere beyond keeping you from death. In fact, you will neither see us nor hear us. We won’t technically be there, but we have our ways of monitoring you.”
I nodded silently. These were our trials.
“Well then Zenery, if you would please go.” Azami motioned to me.
I looked at Briar, who nodded assuringly, then closed my eyes and went into my mind. I saw the four glowing dots, dull though they were, and the brightly shining purple dot labeled “Woods of Creation”. I pressed it and felt myself be sucked into the plane.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Briar's POV
Professor Vantas was extremely talented with runes, I will grant him that. However, he was a terrible teacher. This is basically how the lesson went-
“Alright, fuckers, this is how you make fire.” He’d quickly sketch a rune in the air, make complicated signs with his hands too quickly for normal humans to follow, and voila! Fire. The only people who were able to keep pace with him were Lisse, Nico, and, of course, Gareth. Zenery, Tyron, Larimar and set all seemed to manage alright, but the rest of us were completely confounded. After quite a lot of vocal abuse from the Professor, I think he finally realized it was hopeless and dismissed us. However, we all realized, once we were standing in the hall and Professor Vantas had slammed the door behind us (We could still hear him mumbling profanities), that none of us had any idea which class we had next.
“It’s probably combat,” commented the ever-practical Larimar. Nico raised an eyebrow.
“If it’s not? I, personally, don’t want to be tortured in a variety of painful and creative ways just because the Headmasters forgot to tell us our next class.” Luckily, Azami took the decision out of our hands. Her voice echoed through the corridors, a tad irritable.
“Why are you not here yet? Combat is a vital class, and you really oughtn’t miss it. That might lead to… consequences.” We looked at each other, and ran.
By the time we reached the arena, a good five-minute sprint away, not only were all of us out of breath but Azami and Milaek were out of patience. Not, of course, that they had much to begin with.
“I was unaware, Milaek dear,” began Azami acidly, “That there was a fifteen=minute break between classes.” Milaek sneered.
“There isn’t. These impertinent first-years,” she hissed, “decided to be late. To the one class we teach. I would have thought they’d have more sense then that.” Azami smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“Well then, I suppose we’ll skip the introduction, since we simply don’t have the time for it. What you’re going to do…” here Milaek picked up seamlessly, “… is try to kill each other using your powers.” I stared at her incredulously. Either they were joking (highly doubtful) Or they were quite, quite mad. I’d place a large bet on the latter. A few of my classmates looked faint, another couple extremely angry. Overall, however, the first-years looked bewildered. Befuddled. Confused. Whatever word you wish to use, we stared at Milaek in mixed levels of incredulity. (I noticed that Amber switched her gaze between Milaek and Azami, just to be accommodating).
“And, just to be fair… Briar, Tyron, and Caleb can have their room back if two of them win their matches.”
I leaned against the wall after watching the match between Lisse and Caleb. Poor Caleb and his rat both looked scared witless, and I can’t say I blamed either of them. After that match, no one wanted to go within a ten-yard radius of Lisse and her evil snake and her creepy cannibal smile. Most of the other matches had been similarly eventful, although short, as very few students had any training. Set, evidently not wishing the headmasters to reveal any more of his past, gained an easy victory over Amber though, as she was distracted by ‘The Shinies’, whatever those happened to be. I had the vague idea they may have been Set’s rabbit’s eyes. In any case, no one really had a chance to appreciate either of their powers. The match between Gareth and Xerin lasted hardly half a second, as somehow he knocked her out cold (it was too fast for any of us to be able to tell what had happened). She still hadn’t moved, and her dragon (much decreased in size) was nudging her frantically, not that either Azami or Milaek cared. Zenery defeated Illia through tricky use of telekinesis on their surroundings (for that match, the arena was rough terrain). Larimar nearly vanquished Tyron, but right before she dealt the finishing blow, he swung himself onto his elephant and opened an enormous crevasse beneath her feet, causing both Caleb and myself to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, it was my turn. Nico watched me uncertainly as we mounted the stairs to the arena.
“Last match, is it? Hmm… Nico would have an unfair advantage on rougher topography… so you two will engage in your little skirmish on the ice!” Azami looked delighted with her idea. Nico and I exchanged an incredulous glance.
“Oh fuck,” was his only comment.
The floor of the arena became slippery beneath us, and the room seemed to disappear. Tall pillars of ice flew out of the ground, and the pieces we were standing on began to break up beneath our feet. Freezing water sloshed over the sides of the ice.
Then the starting bell rang.
I had seen enough matches to know how it went, and apparently so had Nico. Instantly, he pulled his lance out, and charged at me across the slippery ice. I materialized my longsword and darted backwards to avoid his attack. However the instant my feet came back in contact with the ice I realized exactly how bad of an idea moving at all on this was. I lurched foreword on the slippery surface and barely managed to catch myself before I fell into the water. Nico seemed to be having the same issue, seeing as he had gotten no further than a few feet before almost falling into the splits. Just thinking about that made me wince. I could hear someone laughing loudly amid all the other giggles, and recognized the voice to be Xerin’s. Of course she would find this humiliation hilarious. Her match, at least, had been over quickly. I had a feeling however that I would not be as fortunate. Nico seemed to have gained his bearings again, and I could see him thinking, as his eyes seemed to get a bit more violet when he was deep in thought. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the look was gone. So either he had come up with a way to move on this goddamned stuff, or had decided just to jump in the water and be done with it. When his eyes started to crackle with energy I hurriedly decided on the former. I quickly did a mental scan to try and remember what the fuck his power was.
Suddenly I noticed a shadow above my head. I looked up just in time to see a jolt of purple-white energy shoot out of a rain cloud that had not been there moments ago. Oh yeah. I thought as I flew across the room. Fucking weather. The blast hurt like a bitch, but thankfully didn’t seem to have caused any real damage. Unlike Illia, Nico’s powers were based in water. So the electricity cast from his storm clouds was only a small amount, and the bulk of the blast seemed to be made up of water or ice. Still hurt like all hell.
I slowly picked myself up from the snow bank I had been lucky enough to land in. Only a few feet away there was a deadly- looking shard of ice sticking out of the ground. If I had hit that… well let’s just say I wouldn’t have had to worry about Nico anymore.
Speaking of Nico, he had yet to make another move. If I were him I would have followed up with slamming me into the ground with the lance before I had the chance to right myself. I coughed a little, wincing at the pain that shot through my chest, and glanced up to see exactly what the devil Nico was up to. Much to my surprise, he stood in the exact same place, and was leaning heavily on his lance. Then it dawned on me. A stunt like that must have taken quite a bit of energy. Well , he wasn’t the only one with powers here, and he was probably too tired to move for the next couple of seconds. My turn. I quickly retreated into my mind and grabbed a fistful of power without really looking. I narrowed my eyes. That ought to be enough. Using that peculiar twist in the threads that allowed me to teleport, I swooped in and landed behind Nico. I saw him turn, shocked, as I aimed a kick at the back of his knees. His legs buckled and he crumpled forwards, sliding several feet. I tried to teleport again, but was too distracted to focus. Instead I hit the ice, and skittered backwards, nearly sliding over the edge. Just as I began to regain my balance I glimpsed something blue in the corner of my vision, then proceeded to feel it as it rammed itself against my legs. Goddamned 5-foot lance. I fell on my hands and knees, and slipped towards Nico, who was now using his lance to help him stand. It was easy to see he was nearing his limit, and I could feel the pull of fatigue on my own mind. If this went on much longer we would both probably end up losing the ability to walk, let alone fight, on this horrible arena. I wanted to finish this, before we both broke our necks on this damned ice. I frowned, groping for a thread in the center of my power. It was a charnel house, but I was confident I could find the one I wanted. Wait… what was that? Five glowing spots of color pulsed in front of the usual tangle of gold filaments. Blue… bronze… red… green… orange. They all bore inscriptions- The Seven Halls of Sadness, The Clockwork Realms, The Ruby Prison, The Glade of the Joyful, and the Flaming Halls. This was, to quote Louis Carroll, becoming curiouser and curiouser. Frowning, my inner self drifted closer to the green spot, the one labeled ‘The Glade of the Joyful’. I was not expecting it to suck me in. I was also not expecting to end up in a gloomy, dangerous-looking forest. I was positively shocked, however, to see an interested Zenery and both headmasters materialize a moment later.
“Was this really the best time to poke the glowing circle, or were you afraid of losing the match?” was the first thing out of Zenery’s mouth.
“Alright, fuckers, this is how you make fire.” He’d quickly sketch a rune in the air, make complicated signs with his hands too quickly for normal humans to follow, and voila! Fire. The only people who were able to keep pace with him were Lisse, Nico, and, of course, Gareth. Zenery, Tyron, Larimar and set all seemed to manage alright, but the rest of us were completely confounded. After quite a lot of vocal abuse from the Professor, I think he finally realized it was hopeless and dismissed us. However, we all realized, once we were standing in the hall and Professor Vantas had slammed the door behind us (We could still hear him mumbling profanities), that none of us had any idea which class we had next.
“It’s probably combat,” commented the ever-practical Larimar. Nico raised an eyebrow.
“If it’s not? I, personally, don’t want to be tortured in a variety of painful and creative ways just because the Headmasters forgot to tell us our next class.” Luckily, Azami took the decision out of our hands. Her voice echoed through the corridors, a tad irritable.
“Why are you not here yet? Combat is a vital class, and you really oughtn’t miss it. That might lead to… consequences.” We looked at each other, and ran.
By the time we reached the arena, a good five-minute sprint away, not only were all of us out of breath but Azami and Milaek were out of patience. Not, of course, that they had much to begin with.
“I was unaware, Milaek dear,” began Azami acidly, “That there was a fifteen=minute break between classes.” Milaek sneered.
“There isn’t. These impertinent first-years,” she hissed, “decided to be late. To the one class we teach. I would have thought they’d have more sense then that.” Azami smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.
“Well then, I suppose we’ll skip the introduction, since we simply don’t have the time for it. What you’re going to do…” here Milaek picked up seamlessly, “… is try to kill each other using your powers.” I stared at her incredulously. Either they were joking (highly doubtful) Or they were quite, quite mad. I’d place a large bet on the latter. A few of my classmates looked faint, another couple extremely angry. Overall, however, the first-years looked bewildered. Befuddled. Confused. Whatever word you wish to use, we stared at Milaek in mixed levels of incredulity. (I noticed that Amber switched her gaze between Milaek and Azami, just to be accommodating).
“And, just to be fair… Briar, Tyron, and Caleb can have their room back if two of them win their matches.”
I leaned against the wall after watching the match between Lisse and Caleb. Poor Caleb and his rat both looked scared witless, and I can’t say I blamed either of them. After that match, no one wanted to go within a ten-yard radius of Lisse and her evil snake and her creepy cannibal smile. Most of the other matches had been similarly eventful, although short, as very few students had any training. Set, evidently not wishing the headmasters to reveal any more of his past, gained an easy victory over Amber though, as she was distracted by ‘The Shinies’, whatever those happened to be. I had the vague idea they may have been Set’s rabbit’s eyes. In any case, no one really had a chance to appreciate either of their powers. The match between Gareth and Xerin lasted hardly half a second, as somehow he knocked her out cold (it was too fast for any of us to be able to tell what had happened). She still hadn’t moved, and her dragon (much decreased in size) was nudging her frantically, not that either Azami or Milaek cared. Zenery defeated Illia through tricky use of telekinesis on their surroundings (for that match, the arena was rough terrain). Larimar nearly vanquished Tyron, but right before she dealt the finishing blow, he swung himself onto his elephant and opened an enormous crevasse beneath her feet, causing both Caleb and myself to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, it was my turn. Nico watched me uncertainly as we mounted the stairs to the arena.
“Last match, is it? Hmm… Nico would have an unfair advantage on rougher topography… so you two will engage in your little skirmish on the ice!” Azami looked delighted with her idea. Nico and I exchanged an incredulous glance.
“Oh fuck,” was his only comment.
The floor of the arena became slippery beneath us, and the room seemed to disappear. Tall pillars of ice flew out of the ground, and the pieces we were standing on began to break up beneath our feet. Freezing water sloshed over the sides of the ice.
Then the starting bell rang.
I had seen enough matches to know how it went, and apparently so had Nico. Instantly, he pulled his lance out, and charged at me across the slippery ice. I materialized my longsword and darted backwards to avoid his attack. However the instant my feet came back in contact with the ice I realized exactly how bad of an idea moving at all on this was. I lurched foreword on the slippery surface and barely managed to catch myself before I fell into the water. Nico seemed to be having the same issue, seeing as he had gotten no further than a few feet before almost falling into the splits. Just thinking about that made me wince. I could hear someone laughing loudly amid all the other giggles, and recognized the voice to be Xerin’s. Of course she would find this humiliation hilarious. Her match, at least, had been over quickly. I had a feeling however that I would not be as fortunate. Nico seemed to have gained his bearings again, and I could see him thinking, as his eyes seemed to get a bit more violet when he was deep in thought. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the look was gone. So either he had come up with a way to move on this goddamned stuff, or had decided just to jump in the water and be done with it. When his eyes started to crackle with energy I hurriedly decided on the former. I quickly did a mental scan to try and remember what the fuck his power was.
Suddenly I noticed a shadow above my head. I looked up just in time to see a jolt of purple-white energy shoot out of a rain cloud that had not been there moments ago. Oh yeah. I thought as I flew across the room. Fucking weather. The blast hurt like a bitch, but thankfully didn’t seem to have caused any real damage. Unlike Illia, Nico’s powers were based in water. So the electricity cast from his storm clouds was only a small amount, and the bulk of the blast seemed to be made up of water or ice. Still hurt like all hell.
I slowly picked myself up from the snow bank I had been lucky enough to land in. Only a few feet away there was a deadly- looking shard of ice sticking out of the ground. If I had hit that… well let’s just say I wouldn’t have had to worry about Nico anymore.
Speaking of Nico, he had yet to make another move. If I were him I would have followed up with slamming me into the ground with the lance before I had the chance to right myself. I coughed a little, wincing at the pain that shot through my chest, and glanced up to see exactly what the devil Nico was up to. Much to my surprise, he stood in the exact same place, and was leaning heavily on his lance. Then it dawned on me. A stunt like that must have taken quite a bit of energy. Well , he wasn’t the only one with powers here, and he was probably too tired to move for the next couple of seconds. My turn. I quickly retreated into my mind and grabbed a fistful of power without really looking. I narrowed my eyes. That ought to be enough. Using that peculiar twist in the threads that allowed me to teleport, I swooped in and landed behind Nico. I saw him turn, shocked, as I aimed a kick at the back of his knees. His legs buckled and he crumpled forwards, sliding several feet. I tried to teleport again, but was too distracted to focus. Instead I hit the ice, and skittered backwards, nearly sliding over the edge. Just as I began to regain my balance I glimpsed something blue in the corner of my vision, then proceeded to feel it as it rammed itself against my legs. Goddamned 5-foot lance. I fell on my hands and knees, and slipped towards Nico, who was now using his lance to help him stand. It was easy to see he was nearing his limit, and I could feel the pull of fatigue on my own mind. If this went on much longer we would both probably end up losing the ability to walk, let alone fight, on this horrible arena. I wanted to finish this, before we both broke our necks on this damned ice. I frowned, groping for a thread in the center of my power. It was a charnel house, but I was confident I could find the one I wanted. Wait… what was that? Five glowing spots of color pulsed in front of the usual tangle of gold filaments. Blue… bronze… red… green… orange. They all bore inscriptions- The Seven Halls of Sadness, The Clockwork Realms, The Ruby Prison, The Glade of the Joyful, and the Flaming Halls. This was, to quote Louis Carroll, becoming curiouser and curiouser. Frowning, my inner self drifted closer to the green spot, the one labeled ‘The Glade of the Joyful’. I was not expecting it to suck me in. I was also not expecting to end up in a gloomy, dangerous-looking forest. I was positively shocked, however, to see an interested Zenery and both headmasters materialize a moment later.
“Was this really the best time to poke the glowing circle, or were you afraid of losing the match?” was the first thing out of Zenery’s mouth.
Larimar's POV
Set sure is a strange piece of work. I couldn’t hear what he and Zenery were talking about, but all of a sudden he flipped out, and looked like he was going to kill someone! Luckily the bell rung, and we left class with all our limbs attached. I positively couldn’t wait for our next class. Combat is something I like very much. However, as we entered the arena we were met with another terrifying sight.
Azami and Milaek were standing in the middle of what I think used to be the arena. However, large chunks of it seemed to be fading in and out of existence, and about half of it was missing completely.
“Hello first-years.” Azami said lightly, as if she wasn’t standing in the middle of a war zone.
A few of us muttered hello, but the rest stayed silent.
Azami continued.
“As you know, your normally scheduled class at this time is Combat. However, in case you hadn’t noticed, the arena is not currently in… the best condition for use.”
Milaek picked up flawlessly.
“So while we…fix it, you will go to your next class, Basic Pyrotechnic Runes taught by Professor Vantas.” With that a tall man stepped out of the shadows.
Most of us gaped.
He looked about our age, but that wasn’t the surprise. Milaek and Azami also looked about our age, but that was to be expected with Elementalists of their power. No, the real surprise was that he was a pale grey color, and from the top of his shaggy head of black hair protruded two little yellow-orange horns. On his black shirt was a large symbol in dark grey that resembled the Cancer symbol. This, of course, made Caleb smile to no end. However, when Lisse whispered to him that it was a rune, not a Cancer symbol, he drooped slightly.
“Hey Fuckers.” Professor Vantas said in a scratchy, pre-pubescent voice.
This made Xerin and a few others jump. That was NOT how we expected a professor to talk.
Milaek smiled brightly.
“Karkitty here may not look like much, but he’s a master of runes and such. Especially the pyrotechnic kind. He’s pretty easy to get along with,” at that Azami snorted slightly, but Milaek continued “But don’t under any circumstances bring notice to his nubby little horns.”
“Fffffuck you” Professor Vantas spat out at her.
Milaek smiled, and suddenly another mood swing was upon us.
She waltzed over to him and grabbed his horns.
“Nuuubby liiitttle hooooorns~ So smaaaall and piiiiitiful~ I bet you can’t fight at aaaaaaall with them nubby little hooooorns~~~!” she sang happily, rubbing the horns in question.
Vantas tried to shake her off, but she seemed to have a grip of iron. Suddenly, the Cancer rune on his shirt glowed, and two small sickles appeared in his hands.
Milaek jumped back with a happy shriek, and started dancing around him singing, “Nuuubby hooooorns~~~ Nubby hooooooooornsssss~~~”
He swung viciously at her with the sickles, but she just laughed and jumped out of the way of each swipe. The laughter was the kind that sent shivers down my spine, reminding me of who exactly we were dealing with here.
Finally, Azami seemed to get fed up with the singing and dancing, and she snapped her fingers. Suddenly Professor Vantas froze midair. Milaek just kept right on skipping around him, but the singing stopped.
“Milaek, please. Now is not the time.” Azami sighed.
Milaek looked depressed for a second, but suddenly snapped back to her terrifying self. No, scratch that. BOTH sides of her were terrifying.
“LET ME DOWN FUCKASS!!!” Vantas screeched at Azami and Milaek. Milaek smiled again, an ‘eat your kidneys’ smile this time, and turned to Azami.
“Azami dear, I think it would be best if we let the nubby horned beast down. He still does have a class to teach, and if these students don’t learn, we’ll have to punish them.”
Azami smiled back, and slowly released the Professor, who brushed himself off indignantly. Milaek inched towards him, the mischievous glint coming back into her eyes, but Professor Vantas covered his horns hurriedly.
“Not this time fuckass. Come on slime suckers, let’s get the fuck to your class,” he said, stomping out of the room.
We all followed him as quickly as we could, eager to be out of the range of Milaek and Azami.
However, as we left I glimpsed the room again out of the corner of my eye. It was completely fixed. The haunting laughter of Milaek and Azami echoed through the school. Now why did I get the feeling that absolutely all of this had been planned?
Azami and Milaek were standing in the middle of what I think used to be the arena. However, large chunks of it seemed to be fading in and out of existence, and about half of it was missing completely.
“Hello first-years.” Azami said lightly, as if she wasn’t standing in the middle of a war zone.
A few of us muttered hello, but the rest stayed silent.
Azami continued.
“As you know, your normally scheduled class at this time is Combat. However, in case you hadn’t noticed, the arena is not currently in… the best condition for use.”
Milaek picked up flawlessly.
“So while we…fix it, you will go to your next class, Basic Pyrotechnic Runes taught by Professor Vantas.” With that a tall man stepped out of the shadows.
Most of us gaped.
He looked about our age, but that wasn’t the surprise. Milaek and Azami also looked about our age, but that was to be expected with Elementalists of their power. No, the real surprise was that he was a pale grey color, and from the top of his shaggy head of black hair protruded two little yellow-orange horns. On his black shirt was a large symbol in dark grey that resembled the Cancer symbol. This, of course, made Caleb smile to no end. However, when Lisse whispered to him that it was a rune, not a Cancer symbol, he drooped slightly.
“Hey Fuckers.” Professor Vantas said in a scratchy, pre-pubescent voice.
This made Xerin and a few others jump. That was NOT how we expected a professor to talk.
Milaek smiled brightly.
“Karkitty here may not look like much, but he’s a master of runes and such. Especially the pyrotechnic kind. He’s pretty easy to get along with,” at that Azami snorted slightly, but Milaek continued “But don’t under any circumstances bring notice to his nubby little horns.”
“Fffffuck you” Professor Vantas spat out at her.
Milaek smiled, and suddenly another mood swing was upon us.
She waltzed over to him and grabbed his horns.
“Nuuubby liiitttle hooooorns~ So smaaaall and piiiiitiful~ I bet you can’t fight at aaaaaaall with them nubby little hooooorns~~~!” she sang happily, rubbing the horns in question.
Vantas tried to shake her off, but she seemed to have a grip of iron. Suddenly, the Cancer rune on his shirt glowed, and two small sickles appeared in his hands.
Milaek jumped back with a happy shriek, and started dancing around him singing, “Nuuubby hooooorns~~~ Nubby hooooooooornsssss~~~”
He swung viciously at her with the sickles, but she just laughed and jumped out of the way of each swipe. The laughter was the kind that sent shivers down my spine, reminding me of who exactly we were dealing with here.
Finally, Azami seemed to get fed up with the singing and dancing, and she snapped her fingers. Suddenly Professor Vantas froze midair. Milaek just kept right on skipping around him, but the singing stopped.
“Milaek, please. Now is not the time.” Azami sighed.
Milaek looked depressed for a second, but suddenly snapped back to her terrifying self. No, scratch that. BOTH sides of her were terrifying.
“LET ME DOWN FUCKASS!!!” Vantas screeched at Azami and Milaek. Milaek smiled again, an ‘eat your kidneys’ smile this time, and turned to Azami.
“Azami dear, I think it would be best if we let the nubby horned beast down. He still does have a class to teach, and if these students don’t learn, we’ll have to punish them.”
Azami smiled back, and slowly released the Professor, who brushed himself off indignantly. Milaek inched towards him, the mischievous glint coming back into her eyes, but Professor Vantas covered his horns hurriedly.
“Not this time fuckass. Come on slime suckers, let’s get the fuck to your class,” he said, stomping out of the room.
We all followed him as quickly as we could, eager to be out of the range of Milaek and Azami.
However, as we left I glimpsed the room again out of the corner of my eye. It was completely fixed. The haunting laughter of Milaek and Azami echoed through the school. Now why did I get the feeling that absolutely all of this had been planned?
Set's POV
Surprisingly, Ancient Military wasn’t terrible. Professor Chiron was a rather interesting teacher. He managed to map out the strange tactics used by ancient Greeks and Trojans in the old wars, and had us use them against each other in a sort of elaborate chess game. Zenery, of course, was absolutely brilliant at this. I was unlucky enough to be paired with her when Chiron stopped the lecture and began the chess/tactic games. Of course, she didn’t seem to concentrate on the game at all, and instead went right back to poking around my brain infuriatingly.
“So, Set, your power is corruption, huh?” she asked, moving a large portion of her army to the southern point of the area she was supposed to be protecting.
I flinched, and refused to look at her, instead moving my army up to attack her weak northern point.
Of course she just kept right on talking, not bothered in the slightest by my refusal to respond.
“I can’t help but wonder how that works. Do you change people’s alignments or something? Or bend them to your will?”
I scoffed. She raised an eyebrow as she split her southern forces, and drew half into the guard zone.
“Do elaborate.”
I didn’t. Instead I pulled more forces in to attack, and sent a few to guard the border.
I was winning.
“Will you tell me if I win?” she asked.
At the rate this was going there was no chance. Her far forces couldn’t come back fast enough to help her troops, and they were fighting a losing battle.
“Fine.”
She smiled slightly, and suddenly folded her southern troop around my attacking forces, blocking them off from the rest and beginning her own attack.
Shit.
I increased attack on her men, and brought in my reserve, which was the smaller portion of my army.
She now had a look of complete focus on her face that had me sweating bullets.
Her guarding men came and re-enforced her worn out ones, which she moved to the guarding position a small portion at a time so she didn’t have to pull back completely and give me ground.
I flailed mentally. Not only were my troops receiving heavy fire from both sides now, I had no way to re-enforce.
Within three minutes she was done, and my small metal replicas were a pile of dust.
“Good. I won. Now tell me how they work.” She said smugly. Little bitch. She had known the outcome from the beginning.
“How what work?” I feigned, eyeing the clock warily. We only had a minute left. If I could just distract her for that long...
“Your powers. And don’t try to weasel out. We made a deal.”
I sighed in defeat for the second time that day. With this girl, a minute was faaar to long to hold out.
“I’m not really sure. Sometimes it kind of billows through people and makes them hurt. And sometimes it just darkens the place. And somet-“ I cut myself off.
“Sometimes what?” Zenery asked in what would have been an innocent voice if it hadn’t been her behind it.
I didn’t answer. Instead I just stared at the wall behind her. Not like she would be able to tell.
“Is it something having to do with how you killed your girlfriend? Is that why you don’t wanna-“
I jumped up and my chair clattered to the floor. I was shaking and even I couldn’t tell if it was from anger, or some other unknown emotion.
I was about to... I don’t know. Punch her? Choke her? Cry? Run? Something along those lines, I think. But I suddenly became very aware of the eyes of the entire class on me.
“Is there a problem, Set?” Professor Chiron asked from the front of the room.
I froze.
“No.” I managed. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Chiron looked like he was about to say something, but the bell chose that moment to ring, and all that came out was “Class dismissed.”
I couldn’t tell if I was terrified for combat class, or couldn’t wait to get in that arena.
“So, Set, your power is corruption, huh?” she asked, moving a large portion of her army to the southern point of the area she was supposed to be protecting.
I flinched, and refused to look at her, instead moving my army up to attack her weak northern point.
Of course she just kept right on talking, not bothered in the slightest by my refusal to respond.
“I can’t help but wonder how that works. Do you change people’s alignments or something? Or bend them to your will?”
I scoffed. She raised an eyebrow as she split her southern forces, and drew half into the guard zone.
“Do elaborate.”
I didn’t. Instead I pulled more forces in to attack, and sent a few to guard the border.
I was winning.
“Will you tell me if I win?” she asked.
At the rate this was going there was no chance. Her far forces couldn’t come back fast enough to help her troops, and they were fighting a losing battle.
“Fine.”
She smiled slightly, and suddenly folded her southern troop around my attacking forces, blocking them off from the rest and beginning her own attack.
Shit.
I increased attack on her men, and brought in my reserve, which was the smaller portion of my army.
She now had a look of complete focus on her face that had me sweating bullets.
Her guarding men came and re-enforced her worn out ones, which she moved to the guarding position a small portion at a time so she didn’t have to pull back completely and give me ground.
I flailed mentally. Not only were my troops receiving heavy fire from both sides now, I had no way to re-enforce.
Within three minutes she was done, and my small metal replicas were a pile of dust.
“Good. I won. Now tell me how they work.” She said smugly. Little bitch. She had known the outcome from the beginning.
“How what work?” I feigned, eyeing the clock warily. We only had a minute left. If I could just distract her for that long...
“Your powers. And don’t try to weasel out. We made a deal.”
I sighed in defeat for the second time that day. With this girl, a minute was faaar to long to hold out.
“I’m not really sure. Sometimes it kind of billows through people and makes them hurt. And sometimes it just darkens the place. And somet-“ I cut myself off.
“Sometimes what?” Zenery asked in what would have been an innocent voice if it hadn’t been her behind it.
I didn’t answer. Instead I just stared at the wall behind her. Not like she would be able to tell.
“Is it something having to do with how you killed your girlfriend? Is that why you don’t wanna-“
I jumped up and my chair clattered to the floor. I was shaking and even I couldn’t tell if it was from anger, or some other unknown emotion.
I was about to... I don’t know. Punch her? Choke her? Cry? Run? Something along those lines, I think. But I suddenly became very aware of the eyes of the entire class on me.
“Is there a problem, Set?” Professor Chiron asked from the front of the room.
I froze.
“No.” I managed. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Chiron looked like he was about to say something, but the bell chose that moment to ring, and all that came out was “Class dismissed.”
I couldn’t tell if I was terrified for combat class, or couldn’t wait to get in that arena.
Xerin's POV
Our first lesson in Applied Enchantment was surprisingly informative. Aside from Professor Elena glaring at Amber every few minutes (she had possibly the shortest attention span of anyone I’d ever met) the class went fairly smoothly. It’s likely that everyone was still shocked from Milaek’s downright creepy personality change, though, so it was far too early to tell which students would perform well in class and which would… have more difficulty. It was clear, however, that Amber fell into the latter category. She perked up quite a lot, however, during our first Ancient Military class. It was taught by a Professor Chiron. He was a rather intimidating person, for all his lack of height, with grey hair smoothed completely back. A polished, perfectly smooth hemisphere of some sort of silvery metal hung around his neck on a chain of the same substance.
“This is Ancient Military. If you do not perform satisfactorily, I will call upon the Headmasters to deal with you. Make no mistake, however- I am perfectly capable of it myself.” He paused, satisfied with the trepidation on everyone’s faces. “These lessons will be extremely useful for the one class you have that is taught by the Headmasters themselves- which is, to say, what you learn here will be indispensable for your Combat class.” Set’s face drained of color. I frowned.
“Combat is taught by Azami and Milaek?” The Professor looked a tad disapproving at my informality, but curtly nodded his assent.
“It is taught- or rather, overseen- by the Headmasters. And considering that is your next class, we shall begin our lesson now.” He gestured with one arm, and a small metal reproduction of a battlefield sprung out of each of our desks, complete with miniature soldiers and generals.
“The first, and simplest, tactic is this…”
“This is Ancient Military. If you do not perform satisfactorily, I will call upon the Headmasters to deal with you. Make no mistake, however- I am perfectly capable of it myself.” He paused, satisfied with the trepidation on everyone’s faces. “These lessons will be extremely useful for the one class you have that is taught by the Headmasters themselves- which is, to say, what you learn here will be indispensable for your Combat class.” Set’s face drained of color. I frowned.
“Combat is taught by Azami and Milaek?” The Professor looked a tad disapproving at my informality, but curtly nodded his assent.
“It is taught- or rather, overseen- by the Headmasters. And considering that is your next class, we shall begin our lesson now.” He gestured with one arm, and a small metal reproduction of a battlefield sprung out of each of our desks, complete with miniature soldiers and generals.
“The first, and simplest, tactic is this…”
Amber's POV
Elvis… and refrigerators! Caleb was hilarious. Professor Elena didn’t seem to agree, but the way she controlled the water was really cool! I’m excited that I’ll learn to use my power like that. Applied Enchantment is going to be a difficult class, though… Professor Elena is really nice, but it’s demanding and the concepts are hard to learn. Milaek was funny earlier. I wonder why she was acting so oddly. And Azami has a really scary voice. I’m glad I wasn’t the one being yelled at. It is nice to finally get to know all of my fellow classmates~ Gareth is fun to annoy! He doesn’t really show his expressions, but it comes out in his voice. I wonder why he didn’t have to go through that whole thing with Azami and Milaek. He’s weird. But there are a lot of weird first-years. Like Set, who never takes off his sunglasses, and Xerin, who has a giant winged lizard. They called it a dragon, but I know dragons don’t really look like that. My tiger is ghosting around my head, but since he’s annoying I’m ignoring him. Ignore, ignore.
‘Just give up already’. Damn. It’s not working. Does everyone have to deal with impudent, irritating Animal Spirits? Look, my vocabulary is expanding~!
‘It’s not working. I know you can hear me.’ I ground my teeth in frustration.
‘Yes,’ I sent back, ‘but I’m trying to pay attention to the Professor right now, so stow it.’ He lazily did a back flip.
‘Whatever you say. At least I’m not sarcastic, like Capricorn. You should count yourself lucky.’ I looked curiously at Larimar. She did look a bit upset.
‘… Maybe.’ Apparently pleased that I appreciated his lack of sarcasm, he curled up at my feet, and went to sleep. If Animal Spirits could sleep. Could they? I would have to ask Milaek or Azami next time I saw them. I wondered why people were scared of them. They were funny! I couldn’t understand half of what they were talking about, but Milaek was like a cat and Azami was like a snake. Or maybe they were both like snakes. I’d have to think about it some more. Azami was more formal though, which was no fun. I pouted, before being distracted by Professor Elena’s necklace for the 93475857464th time. It was so shiny… and such a pretty blue… She raised an eyebrow at me, and I grinned. No, I wasn’t paying attention. Oh well. Professor Elena was kinda like those angels we always saw in Western paintings when we had to study European history. Not that I really paid attention in class~ it was so boring. My classmates were all so interesting. Illia looked like fun~ plus, it would be amusing to watch Tyron blush around her. Zenery liked playing mind games, which were hilarious. Tyron looked like someone I could train with! Xerin and her attempts to avoid Briar would be fun to watch, and Caleb was amusing~ Gareth was so much fun to annoy. Not that he was easily annoyed. But I could try! I wondered if Set was easily annoyed. Lisse was kinda creepy. Spiders were evil. Nico and Briar were too obsessed with horses to be much fun. But since Briar had short apprenticeships to a smith, a horse breeder and a falconer before, I could leech knowledge! Ireland sounded like such a quaint place~ it’s so cool they still have apprenticeships and things like falconry and smithing.
Professor Elena was glaring at me again… maybe I should pay attention.
‘No, really.’ I flushed.
‘Shut up.’
‘Just give up already’. Damn. It’s not working. Does everyone have to deal with impudent, irritating Animal Spirits? Look, my vocabulary is expanding~!
‘It’s not working. I know you can hear me.’ I ground my teeth in frustration.
‘Yes,’ I sent back, ‘but I’m trying to pay attention to the Professor right now, so stow it.’ He lazily did a back flip.
‘Whatever you say. At least I’m not sarcastic, like Capricorn. You should count yourself lucky.’ I looked curiously at Larimar. She did look a bit upset.
‘… Maybe.’ Apparently pleased that I appreciated his lack of sarcasm, he curled up at my feet, and went to sleep. If Animal Spirits could sleep. Could they? I would have to ask Milaek or Azami next time I saw them. I wondered why people were scared of them. They were funny! I couldn’t understand half of what they were talking about, but Milaek was like a cat and Azami was like a snake. Or maybe they were both like snakes. I’d have to think about it some more. Azami was more formal though, which was no fun. I pouted, before being distracted by Professor Elena’s necklace for the 93475857464th time. It was so shiny… and such a pretty blue… She raised an eyebrow at me, and I grinned. No, I wasn’t paying attention. Oh well. Professor Elena was kinda like those angels we always saw in Western paintings when we had to study European history. Not that I really paid attention in class~ it was so boring. My classmates were all so interesting. Illia looked like fun~ plus, it would be amusing to watch Tyron blush around her. Zenery liked playing mind games, which were hilarious. Tyron looked like someone I could train with! Xerin and her attempts to avoid Briar would be fun to watch, and Caleb was amusing~ Gareth was so much fun to annoy. Not that he was easily annoyed. But I could try! I wondered if Set was easily annoyed. Lisse was kinda creepy. Spiders were evil. Nico and Briar were too obsessed with horses to be much fun. But since Briar had short apprenticeships to a smith, a horse breeder and a falconer before, I could leech knowledge! Ireland sounded like such a quaint place~ it’s so cool they still have apprenticeships and things like falconry and smithing.
Professor Elena was glaring at me again… maybe I should pay attention.
‘No, really.’ I flushed.
‘Shut up.’
Illia's POV
The bout of laughter that ensued after Amber’s extremely random outburst was far too much for me to handle. I bent over laughing, and had to grab on to the nearest solid thing to keep me upright. This thing just so happened to be Tyron’s arm. It was definitely a good thing he was too busy laughing too to notice.
That’s the state in we entered the classroom, bent over in laughter and muttering “Elvis” and “Refrigerator” with whatever breath we could spare and probably looking like lunatics in the process.
It wasn’t until we were all suddenly doused with icy cold water that we stopped.
My head snapped up, and I could feel the sparks on my skin. Apparently Tyron did too, because he jumped away.
“Sorry” I mouthed to him.
He nodded, and gave me a half smile.
“Excuse me, but why in heaven are you talking about Elvis? And refrigerators?” A very high, sing-songey voice queried from the front of the room.
Standing there was a tall blue-eyed woman with long blonde hair dressed almost completely in white and covered in feathers. The only exception to her white-ness was the brilliant blue stone on a silver chain around her neck.
“Awwww, don’t be mean, Elena-chaaan!” I shuddered at the familiar voice and glanced sideways to see none other than Milaek. She was eyeing us like we were steak and she hadn’t eaten in days.
“I’m sure they were just having fuuun.” Her teeth were glistening white, and looked dangerously sharp as always.
“Milaek, not to be rude, but why are you in my classroom? Don’t you and Azami have business to attend to?” The lady (I assumed she was Professor Elena) asked Milaek, with no sign of the terror I’m sure would have shown if it had been any normal person up there.
Milaek pouted.
“I do, but I’m here to choose a favorite! Azami already chose hers, and now I wanna!”
I could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces that they were just as confused as I was at Milaek’s strange behavior. Just a minute ago she had been the creepy woman we had come to expect. Now she was acting almost, normal? No, normal was definitely not the right word. Maybe more… Catlike? Girly? Cat girly?
Just as I came to that conclusion, Milaek stretched herself out on Professor Elena’s desk. Cat mood swings much?
“Milaek, as much as I respect your need for favoritism, do you really think now it the time? They barely know their powers yet.”
Milaek just smiled up at the Professor.
Elena sighed.
“You found and raided Azami’s secret stash of fanfiction, didn’t you.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Maaaaaybeeeee…” Milaek’s grin grew tenfold.
It seemed as if we had been completely forgotten by the headmaster and teacher, and I wondered how long this would go on for. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
Azami’s voice suddenly boomed through the room, shaking the floor.
“MILAEK, GET OVER HERE NOW!!!!”
Professor Elena put her head in her hands and sighed again.
Milaek jumped up and smiled at us. Not like she had been smiling at Elena earlier. This one was more of a ‘remember I can and probably will eviscerate you in your sleep and eat your kidneys’ sort of smile. I shuddered.
“I must be off. Oh, and children?”
She was back to her old self again.
“If I were you I’d remember that more than your educations are on the line here.” She laughed low.
Then she was gone, as if she had never been there in the first place.
Professor Elena sighed again.
“Always with the theatrics, those two. I wonder sometimes if they do it just to infuriate me.”
Finally she turned to us and flicked her wrist.
Only then did I remember that we had all been wet seconds ago. Now the water was suspended in the air above our heads, and we were completely dry. The water did an elegant swirl around the classroom before shooting into the professor’s necklace and disappearing.
“Welcome to Applied Enchantment, class.”
I passed a look at Tyron. He grimaced.
This was going to be interesting.
That’s the state in we entered the classroom, bent over in laughter and muttering “Elvis” and “Refrigerator” with whatever breath we could spare and probably looking like lunatics in the process.
It wasn’t until we were all suddenly doused with icy cold water that we stopped.
My head snapped up, and I could feel the sparks on my skin. Apparently Tyron did too, because he jumped away.
“Sorry” I mouthed to him.
He nodded, and gave me a half smile.
“Excuse me, but why in heaven are you talking about Elvis? And refrigerators?” A very high, sing-songey voice queried from the front of the room.
Standing there was a tall blue-eyed woman with long blonde hair dressed almost completely in white and covered in feathers. The only exception to her white-ness was the brilliant blue stone on a silver chain around her neck.
“Awwww, don’t be mean, Elena-chaaan!” I shuddered at the familiar voice and glanced sideways to see none other than Milaek. She was eyeing us like we were steak and she hadn’t eaten in days.
“I’m sure they were just having fuuun.” Her teeth were glistening white, and looked dangerously sharp as always.
“Milaek, not to be rude, but why are you in my classroom? Don’t you and Azami have business to attend to?” The lady (I assumed she was Professor Elena) asked Milaek, with no sign of the terror I’m sure would have shown if it had been any normal person up there.
Milaek pouted.
“I do, but I’m here to choose a favorite! Azami already chose hers, and now I wanna!”
I could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces that they were just as confused as I was at Milaek’s strange behavior. Just a minute ago she had been the creepy woman we had come to expect. Now she was acting almost, normal? No, normal was definitely not the right word. Maybe more… Catlike? Girly? Cat girly?
Just as I came to that conclusion, Milaek stretched herself out on Professor Elena’s desk. Cat mood swings much?
“Milaek, as much as I respect your need for favoritism, do you really think now it the time? They barely know their powers yet.”
Milaek just smiled up at the Professor.
Elena sighed.
“You found and raided Azami’s secret stash of fanfiction, didn’t you.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Maaaaaybeeeee…” Milaek’s grin grew tenfold.
It seemed as if we had been completely forgotten by the headmaster and teacher, and I wondered how long this would go on for. I didn’t have to wait long to find out.
Azami’s voice suddenly boomed through the room, shaking the floor.
“MILAEK, GET OVER HERE NOW!!!!”
Professor Elena put her head in her hands and sighed again.
Milaek jumped up and smiled at us. Not like she had been smiling at Elena earlier. This one was more of a ‘remember I can and probably will eviscerate you in your sleep and eat your kidneys’ sort of smile. I shuddered.
“I must be off. Oh, and children?”
She was back to her old self again.
“If I were you I’d remember that more than your educations are on the line here.” She laughed low.
Then she was gone, as if she had never been there in the first place.
Professor Elena sighed again.
“Always with the theatrics, those two. I wonder sometimes if they do it just to infuriate me.”
Finally she turned to us and flicked her wrist.
Only then did I remember that we had all been wet seconds ago. Now the water was suspended in the air above our heads, and we were completely dry. The water did an elegant swirl around the classroom before shooting into the professor’s necklace and disappearing.
“Welcome to Applied Enchantment, class.”
I passed a look at Tyron. He grimaced.
This was going to be interesting.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)