Vitam et Mortem IC - Altsoba School of Sorcery

Eric had an easier time sneaking out. The window in his bedroom opened up fairly easily and he just... slipped out. He was closer to Banff, too, so the journey was shorter, and took less effort. He was already naturally quiet and agile, and it wasn't his first time sneaking off in the middle of the night. What he hadn't prepared for was... his mom. Sameen was sitting in the dark of her living room. She'd found the letter in her son's bedroom. The return address just a p.o. box. There was a girl he was into, and he hadn't shared it with her. The promise ring she'd given him was gone. There was a girl and she was not a hunter, because he wouldn't be hiding it. Maya stepped in hte living room a moment later. "He just left." Sameen sighed, "Follow him." By the time Maxine would reach the park bench, he was already there. Waiting. Pacing.

Maxine couldn't see Eric until she got quite close. She sped up when she saw him. "Eric," she whispered into the cold night, the words turning the air to steam. Once she was sure she wasn't going to scare him, she pulled him into a tight hug, pressing her face into his chest. "Nobody followed you?" She whispered.

He turned, surprised at her quiet approach. "Hey " he whispered, pulling her close. "No, I don't think so. You?"

Maxine shook her head. "No, I'm sure." She broke away, but kept a hold of his hand with her own cold ones. She sat down on the bench, cringing as it creaked under her weight. "There's been a lot of deaths at school," she whispered, though she expected Eric to already know as much.

He warmed her hands between his, rubbing them a little to help. He winced a little, but nodded. "I know. I mean. I didn't. But then the newspaper reports and I asked my mom..."

She nodded. "It's like, any time someone leaves the school, they end up dying." As if realising the meaning of her words, she glanced over her shoulder a few times. "I think everyone thinks hunters are back, now. But nobody wants to say it."

"I don't know a lot about what's going on," Eric explained, honestly. "I'm not a full Hunter, yet. But you're right... it isn't safe for you." He cupped her face to look into her eyes, "is that what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Max bit her lip, and nodded tightly. "I just wonder how long it is until there's a big attack."

Eric sighed and pulled her to him, kissing the top of her head. "I don't know, but I hate--" "Eric?" A woman's voice interrupted and a woman stepped into sight; she's not much older than Eric and looking very similar to him except for her dyed hair. Her eyes were wide and confused, "what's going on?" In a flash, Eric had whipped around, keeping Maxine behind him. His arms around her, protective. It was the fastest he's ever moved in front of Maxine and it was certainly supernatural. If she'd has any doubts before...

Maxine jumped, head twitching around to look at whoever had appeared. Before she could even try and react, the woman was hidden from sight, Eric blocking the view. Judging by Eric's reaction, the chances of this woman being just a normal person seemed small. She looked down to her boot, her wand hidden underneath her trousers. Maybe she could...

"Max, you need to leave." Eric growled. "Eric?" Maya still sounded confused, but her eyes focused on on the curly hair behind her brother. "What are you doing with a sorcerer?" Completely mystified and... a little heart broken.

Max looked around. No normal people, so it wouldn't be too risky to throw some spells around. Wouldn't even have to be anything too big. Just something to distract the hunter, and then she and Eric could escape. One hand on Eric's back, she moved around him and whipped out her wand, sending a spell that would - hopefully - bind the huntresses legs in heavy chains.
October 8, 2017

Maya was quick, she easily side stepped and the chains landed ineffective where she had been standing a moment ago. "Maya," Eric sounded as pained as his sister. He was completely prepared to run away or to fight his family for Maxine. "Please leave." "But what's going on?" "I love her, that's all there is to it."

Max grit her teeth, holding onto her wand tightly. She wasn’t going to put it away, even if it didn’t look like it would help. She seemed to glow at Eric’s words, moving her free hand from his back and slipping it into his hands. She stared at the other hunter, making sure she saw it.

She did see. Her eyes zeroed in on those two hands linked together. "Oh my god. Eric." The usually cool and collected Hunter ran her fingers through her hair. "It couldn't even be a human, you had to take it one step further and with a sorcerer. God." She started pacing. "Charming," Eric snorted. "Maxine, my sister: Maya."

Maxine held on tightly to Eric’s hand. “Nice to meet you too,” she said through grit teeth.

"Oh, sweetie, don't take offense. It's just... well, you know the history. This isn't exactly ideal." The pacing continued, "If mom found out, Eric, god she'd kill both of you."

The endearing term surprised Max, and she looked up at Eric to see if this was normal. She rolled her wand between her hand and her thigh. “She’s not going to find out,” she said.

Eric seemed surprised as well. But he didn't relax. "No. She won't." Maya agreed after a moment. "Do you have some kind of plan?" She turned on Eric, because she knows something is up with you." He blinked. This had taken an unexpected turn. "She knows there is a girl who is not a hunter. She saw her letter."

Max swore in a growl. She looked up at Eric. They'd never spoken about how he was keeping Max secret. She wrapped her other hand around Eric's, putting her wand back in her boot. "If we can trick her into thinking I'm a human, maybe it won't be so bad."

"Trick?" Maya snorted, but not derisively. "You seem unsurprised that he's a hunter, but do you know our mom is in charge of all the hunters in this area?" Eric shook his head, "after graduation we will run away."

"What?" Max whipped her head around to look at Eric. "You didn't tell me that," she muttered, rubbing the heel of her boot into the ground. Though she was eager to run away, she was skeptical. She glanced at Maya, not fully trusting the huntress to not tell.

"Okay. We just need to think..." Maya paused in her pacing. "I--" they were interrupted by another voice, older and feminine. Just a few inches behind Maxine. "I am extremely disappointed, Maya."

Maxine visibly jumped. She quickly turned around, still holding Eric's hand. She pulled her wand back out of her boot, looking to Eric for some sort of signal on wether she should fight or not.

Eric whirled around, too. "Mom?" He was already moving Maxine behind him but it would be too late, the sharp axe she had thrown was already in the air heading for Max's chest.

Max wasn't exactly quick, not even compared to a normal. So, how was she meant to avoid that? A shriek escaped her lips, grip tightening on Eric's hand for a moment. Then, it was just like she faded away. She crumpled to the ground, her fall only burying the axe deeper into her. But she wasn't gone, not just yet.

Eric was quick to catch her, falling to his knees with her in his arm. "Max, Maxine. Baby." His free hand fluttered where the axe had struck true. "Hey, honey." He kissed her forehead. "We can fix this." Somewhere he heard his sister yelling at their mom.

Max's breathing was heavy, looking down at her chest. For a moment, it looked like she believed him. Then, her breath caught in her throat, and there was something like a laugh. "I'm going to die," she whispered, eyes welling up.

"No, no. Baby." Something dripped on her face. Was it raining? No. He realized his vision had blurred. He was crying. It was his tears dropping onto her face. "We can fix this. You can fix this, right? Magic?" He cradled her face in his hands, "Please don't leave me."

Max's eyes drifted to her wand. She'd dropped it when she fell, and it lay within reaching distance. Not like she'd know what to do if she had it. She'd never taken healing, and if they'd ever been taught anything that could help, she couldn't remember it. She looked up at Eric, tears rolling down her cheeks, and shook her head. "I don't want to die," she admitted in a whisper.

"I don't want you to die," he whispered, the tears were growing cold on his face, but he didn't care. "I love you so much, Maxine. I have never loved anyone like I do you, and I will never love anyone the way that I love you." Someone kneeled beside him and he was about to push her away until he realized it was Maya. She reaced forward and he yelled, "Don't touch her. Don't you dare touch her." "Just... let me help, Eric." She was crying, too. She had barely met Maxine, but she'd seen the way her brother looked at her. The way he had been ready to figher her for this girl. If that wasn't love... Her heart was breaking for him. "It's going to hurt," she warned Maxine quickly yanking out the axe in one easy motion and then just as quickly applying her jacket to the wound. When had she taken it off? Eric lay down beside Maxine, tilting her face toward him so he could hold her and look at her. Placing a kiss to her forehead, "You promised," he reminded her, tapping the ring on her finger. "We were going to get married." "Don't be ridiculous, Eric." Sameen snapped, but he ignored her.

Max screamed as the axe was torn from her chest. She couldn't do much to resist or help as she was moved, but her eyes were on that blurry figure, just standing there. Watching. Wishing she would die faster, probably. She couldn't help but smile at what Eric said, eyes flickering to the woman who must have been his mother. She nodded as she looked down at the ring. "Yeah," she whispered, scrunching her hand up into a fist. She couldn't bring herself to look over at the figure.

"Hey, just look at me." He had one cupped on her face, keeping it to the side looking at him. He didn't care that his clothes were getting soaked, or that it was cold. The only thing that mattered, the only thing that ever mattered, was Maxine. She was here, in front of him and he was losing her. "She's lost a lot of blood," Maya whispered. "We should take her to a hospital." Eric said, his eyes never leaving Max's. Sameen was on the phone with her husband, demanding that he get there and help him. Her children had lost their minds. She hung up and crouched beside Eric, "You are made to kill sorcerers. Not fall in love with them. This... whatever you feel for her, it isn't natural. She's kept you under a spell for who knows how long." "Get away from her or I will kill you," Eric said, simply.
"Her death will free you, son."

Max looked over at Sameen. Normally, she would have something to say, something witty or intelligent that would put that woman in her place and leave her dumbfounded. But now, she had nothing. Just the pain, and the sadness, and her shirt being soaked. With shaking hands, she tugged the ring off her finger, and slow enough that Sameen would definitely see, she put it in her mouth. She maintained eye contact as she swallowed it. It was going with her. She reached out and took Eric's hand. She wanted to tell him to run, to pack up his stuff and just run, get away from that madwoman. But she couldn't, because she was right there. Why did she have to be right there? She squeezed his hand, but her grip was weak. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too, Maxine." he whispered back. He could barely get the words out, getting choked up behind his tears. "so much, baby." She was his, always his. That ring never would have gone to anyone else, but he was glad that she would take it with her. "Eric," Maya whispered, "She won't make it to a hospital." He knew that. Somewhere in his heart he had known the second he'd seen the metal glinting in the moonlight, still the pain cut deep in his chest like he had been the one struck by the blade. He wished he had. He leaned forward and kissed her lips, soft and sad. "I'll always love you," he promised.

Maxine didn't have the energy to speak again. She struggled to move forward, pressing herself into him. When she breathed out next, it was a horrible, sobbing shudder. Then, her grip faded, and her body went limp. Gone.

The above was written in collaboration with @romamaro

Eric was crying now, full on ugly cry holding Maxine in his arms. "Eric, we have to..." Maya touched her brother's shoulder and he shook her off.

"We can't waste the body," Sameen said, fully expecting her son to snap out of his delusions any moment. "Maya, please remove your brother so that I can--"

Eric cut her off with a cry as he pulled Maxine closer to him. "No. Don't touch her. I will take care of her." His voice was so raw, so hurt, so much emotion. For a moment Sameen almost believed that he had truly loved the girl. But it was a spell. Still, until it wore off. "Fine." Because even Maya was looking at her like that.

"I'll stay with him, make sure she's... taken care of." Whatever the hell that meant.

She'd find out thirty minutes later that it meant a burial, a proper one. Right there in the park. And Eric would cry the entire time as he dug a hole. As he gentle placed Maxine in the ground, as filled the hole and covered up the dirt with the snow. Hours later you would never know that the love of his life had died right here in his arms. Maya tried to help, but he wouldn't let her, "You didn't know her!"

When he finally returned home he didn't go to his house, instead heading down the street to his best friend's house. The only other place he could go, the only other person who would understand.

-----

Eva jumped up as soon as the knife clattered to the ground. She heard Anna's whispered shield spell and her own wand was out. As she eyed the dangers that appeared to be all around them. One second she had been talking animatedly with the small dueler and the next second there was a nice heading in their direction and... "Oh, Zach." She gasped, completely unprepared for that scene in front of her. There were four other people on the bus with them, including the driver and it looked like they were all hunters.

What in the world had happened?

The man Professor Topp was pointing her wand at was... grinning. She cast a spell in his direction, mean to trip him, but he was faster than she'd anticipated.

The woman heading for Max stopped as the knife struck into her chest. There was enough force to embed into the skin, but not deep enough to kill. It slowed her down, though, enough for him to make a second attack. There were two more heading for Anna and Eva and the driver was climbing out of the seat, approaching the Professor from behind.

Eva shot her wand forward; she'd intended a water whip, her preferred method of self-defense, but it shot out directly as a spear of ice and shot straight into the heart of one of the hunters heading their way. "You can do this, Anna." The girl was good, she just doubted herself, but now was not the time. "Just... attack."
 
Mia woke up much later than usual on the Sunday morning. She was still in her day clothes, not to mention she was thirsty, exhausted, and there was a taste in the back of her throat like she’d thrown up. She groaned as she sat up in bed, rubbing at her temple to try and calm the dehydration headache she could feel setting in. What, she was sick? Well, maybe that made sense. She’d been too busy with researching to really look after herself...she’d get a drink, then see how she felt.

“Hey, Max? Could you...?” She lifted her head to see her best friends bed, empty. Mia groaned, using the side of her bed to support herself as she stood.

She hobbled out of her room and to the bathroom, cupping her hands under the tap and taking a cold drink. The water got rid of the taste in her mouth and pushed the threatening headache away someplace else. She knew she would be good enough to work, now.

She left the bathroom and got changed. She went to her suitemates’s room to tell them she was leaving, but upon knocking they didn’t answer. Mia frowned. She quietly opened the door, peering her head in to check on them.

One of her suitemates was sprawled over a runes textbook. The other was perched on her bedside table, leaning against the wall at her back. Both of them were sound asleep.

Mia frowned, shuffling over to the one at the desk. “Lou. Lou, wake up,” she said quietly, taking the blonde sorceress by the shoulder and shaking her lightly. She was still in her normal clothes.
The water sorceress woke with a start, but straight after her head drooped. She yawned, rubbing at her forehead. “...jeez...” she muttered, looking at the situation and then at Mia. She smacked her lips together, cringing. “I feel like hell,” she muttered.

Mia fetched Louise a drink, then they woke up Sarah, who nearly fell over herself. They all sat in the living area, sipping water to keep the dehydration at bay.
“Weird that we all felt just as bad,” Louise commented. “Same symptoms. Bet you there’s something going around.”
Sarah shook her head. “Doubt it. It was basically just really exaggerated sleepiness. We all just had a rough nights sleep.”
Louise snorted. “You fell asleep sitting up,” she pointed out.

There was a second of silence. Mia finished her water and stood up. “I’m going to Professor Bell’s office,” she announced.
“See ya later. By the way, have you seen Max? We were gonna do some practice for specialisation today,” Louise asked.
Mia shook her head. “She was already gone when I woke up. I don’t know where she is.” She shrugged. “Bye for now,” she said as she left, hearing the muttered goodbyes from her suitemates behind her.


Anna was holding her wand so tight her knuckles were turning white. What the hell was she supposed to do?! ‘Just attack’ wasn’t exactly advice from a professional, was it?! She heard footsteps off to her left, then watched as the approaching person was killed by an icicle. She almost shivered.

There were more footsteps, from the right. She whirled around to see a woman running at them, knives in hand. Just...attack.

She whipped her wand out, a gust of wind blowing the woman back a few feet. A few feet enough for her to think. Think, think think think!

Something slid past her foot. The knife, the one the man had thrown at her, sliding past, her best chance, sliding past...

She bent over and picked it up, wary of the blade that had almost killed her. She threw it into the air and used the full extent of her powers to send it flying towards the woman’s neck.
 
Professor Topp tucked away her wand and instead met the man head on. It surprised the Hunter who thought that the sorcerers would rely on magic only. His surprise caused him to hesitate which would ultimately cost him his life. In three moves the professor had him flipped onto his back with she on top, pressing her thumbs hard into his throat until the light went out in his eyes.

There was a reason she was the one who taught the self-defense classes.

The knife that Anna sent flying with her wand would slice clean through the woman's neck, coming out the other side. She still stumbled forward for a second, fingers flitting around her throat as she tried to comprehend what had just happened. Then she fell to her knees... and to the side. Dead.

The Hunter woman stormed towards Max as she pulls the knife out of her chest, wielding it with a grin as it flashed, reflecting the light. Kicking over a chair, she praises the knife, before she lets out a strangled gasp and drops the weapon, the knife just missing Max's leg as it clatters to the floor. Stumbling back, the huntress clutches at her throat and chest as she trips over the chair she had kicked, falling to the floor. A few more moments later her fingers twitched before she falls still. It was unclear what had caused her death, but the end result was clear.

The last remaining hunter jumped over the bus seat and exited out the side door without a word or even a glare. It was clear, now, that he would not win this fight and he knew when to make a treat. It happened too quickly for anyone to do much about it and it wasn't worth running after him. "Zach," Professor Topp breathed and she hurried to her student, but it was too late. He had died not long after the knife had entered his chest. "Is anyone else injured? Everyone okay?" She looked around, examining the different children.

They were about to be in for an even longer night as they went to speak to the South African Magical Authorities to explain what had happened. It took Professor Topp a few tries, but she managed to get the bus moving again and then the remaining children were stuck being interviewed separately, having to repeat the same story over and over again as they simply refused to believe that Hunters had been involved, despite their own experiences with headless and heartless sorcerers cropping up.

By the time they were finally allowed to leave, Eva's feet were dragging more so than they had Friday morning on the way to the tournament. Their Magical Transportation went just as quickly as it had the first time, but they had missed their initial flight which meant they had to wait for several hours until there was enough room for all of them. Zach's body was not with them, being handled by the authorities in South Africa to be sent to the authorities in Canada.

Eva wanted to cry, and she was sore, and she was tired. All she really wanted was to be back at school where, for the most part, it was easier to pretend things were not turning to shit all over the world. When the Dueling Team finally made it back onto school grounds, it was late and nearing curfew. Professor Topp herded the kids inside but from there she hurried to go meet with the headmistress. Eva hesitated to be the first to separate from the group. They had all been through something together and she had killed someone. It would be catching up with her any moment...
 
Max panted, slowly standing up a she kept his wand pointing at the hunter. After half a minute or so of shuddering and shaking, he wventually moved his stiffened arm away from the direction of the corpse. Taking a deep breath, he tucks the wand back into his pocket before looking around.

Dear god... Zach...

He almost felt like throwing up, at the sight of what had become of his friend. Reisting the temptation, he forces himself to look at the wound. It had gone through his heart. He had died instantly. That... that was good. No... no pain. No hopelessness. There one second, gone the next.

The same could not be said for the huntress he had killed. Looking down at the body, Max couldn't help but think that he should be feeling... something. Anything. But instead he just looked at the person he had killed with a detachment usually reserved to road kill. She had tried to kill him. She wasn't strong enough. Simple as that.

Leaning over, Max picks up the hunter blade. The tip was stained red from where it had impacted the body. Glancing around, he subtly tucks the blade into his pants. He didn't know much about blades, but odds are it was high quality and it was always good to have a backup plan.

Giving the body of the huntress a kick, he silently returned himself to his seat. After a few minutes of staring into space, he felt Monique join him. For the rest of the journey, the two leaned on each other, oblivious to the world outside of them.

When they arrived back at the school they would be the first to disappear into the bowels of the ancient building, not reappearing for the rest of the day.

---

Charlie grumbled as she plonked herself into the chair, crossing her arms as she chews her inner lip. Glaring at Professor Loray, who she was pretty sure was only vaguely aware of her existence, she silently cursed the tattooed teacher as well as the one tha had caught her.

So what if she climbed the astronomy tower?! She was late to class! Did they know what her teacher would do to her? She didn't, and did not plan to find out. Besides, it was only a few stories and she was pretty sure she could slow herself a little with the wind!

Placing her feet on top of the desk in front of her, Charlie couldn't help but feel her anger flare again. Why was she even here?! What was the point?! 'Oh no, they had us sit still for an hour. Guess i'll stop.' Said no student ever. Geez.
 
Kenlei Crisp, trendsetter extraordinaire (at least in her own mind), sashayed down the hall toward Professor Loray's classroom. She was dressed in a school girl's red and black plaid romper dress cut just that hint of an inch too short to display long, lean legs encased in tall black stockings just past her knees. Red flats encased petite feet. Her golden hair was a mass of artful, natural curls down her back, held in place by a black headband. Her nails were painted a shiny black; she wore a black ribbon choker; and black hoops dangled from her lobes; her lips were glossed to a shine, and twin, yet subtle, cat eye liner edged her eyes. She looked, in a word: perfect. Well, she would have looked perfect if there had not been an ugly brown stain darkening a spot on the front center of her romper.

Josh Bailey was one lucky duck that she had only smashed his face down into his pudding after he flicked a spoonful across the table at her, and really, was it her fault that pudding snorted up his nose causing him to choke a little bit and possibly cause a nose bleed? The guy had had it coming ever since tying her pigtails to her chair in 6th grade causing her to stand and topple over with the chair on top of her the very first day. So embarrassing! Her hair had gotten snagged in the chair's bolts causing the teacher to snap her free with the help of her scissors. It had taken two years for her hair to grow back out to this length, and she had taken great satisfaction in sliding her fingers into Josh Bailey's hair, grabbing a handful, and yanking his head down to his bowl of pudding. The very thought caused a grin to spread across her lips before she caught the odd look another student gave her as she passed, and she wiped the smile from her lips, chin tipping upward.

Curling her fingers around the handle, she pulled the door open and stepped inside. A cursory glance around the room sent her toward a desk by the only other student in there. She recognized the girl...Charlotte? Charity? She couldn't reme---Charlie? That was it! Proud she remembered the name of someone she'd never officially met who was not in her circle, Kenlei offered a smile before sliding into the seat with a little finger waggle of hello to the girl. She didn't dare chance an actual voiced 'hello' as that might garner the attention of the teacher.
 
Anna didn't know what she had been expecting, firing something that sharp at a part of the body that vunerable. But when she was the woman fall, she screamed. She hadn't meant to kill her. She hadn't meant to kill her!

The rest of her memory was in bits. There was a bright room, where she sat in an uncomfortable chair and repeated her story again and again and again. She cried so hard she threw up, and then tried to get rid of the horrible taste with lukewarm water. She screamed at somebody, angry that it was the fifth time she'd had to repeat the story. The seventh time, she'd flat out refused, saying, "if you won't listen to me this time, you won't ever listen!" That was probably the boldest thing she'd ever said.

When they were finally let out, Anna didn't stray away from Eva for even a moment. If at any point the water sorceress was out of sight, Anna was frantic until she could find her again. She had a feeling she was annoying the other sorceress, but Anna didn't have it in her to leave her alone. Leaving her alone would have meant Anna was alone, and Anna didn't want to be alone ever again. Zach had been alone...hadn't he?

But that wasn't right. Zach was in a public space, surrounded by people who liked him. Not alone, by any sense of the word. What did that mean, then? Was she not safe, no matter what? The thought launched her into paranoia. She stayed even closer to Eva. She stared at everyone who started at her, expecting them to run at her with a knife the size of her arm. But it didn't happen. Thank God it didn't happen.

They arrived at the school. At some point, Anna had taken Eva's hand. She very gently let go, feeling far more safe within the school walls. No matter what, nobody could get in now. No one could hurt her now.

She looked up at the taller water sorceress. "Could you come with me to my room?" She asked quietly. "I...I don't want to go alone," she said, face still blotchy.


Mia spent the rest of the day in Professor Bell's office, working just as she had the previous days. However, near the end of their working, there was a knock at the door. Mia got up to answer it, seeing as she was closest to the door, and behind it was Louise. She ran a hand through her long dark hair, biting her lip as she looked up at Mia. "Sorry. Max hasn't dropped by, has she?"

Mia shook her head. "No. Why would she?"
Louise didn't answer the question. "I've spent the whole day in our room, waiting for her. She's not dropped in, not even once."
"You've checked home economics?"
"Of course."

Mia hesitated to jump to conclusions. Max had enough common sense to not get herself killed, didn't she? Still, the articles she'd been studying burned in her mind.

She shrugged. "Wait until we're headed to bed. If she's still not turned up, we'll go to a teacher about it."
 
Monique and Max were the first to head off and soon there was just Anna and Eva. The latter hugged the smaller girl tight for a moment and was about to head off when Anna made the request. Eva nodded. She understood very well not wanting to be alone and so she would walk with Anna, quietly, side by side all the way to the girl's dormitories and to Anna's room. She would stay there until Anna was changed, showered and tucked into bed. She didn't mind being there for the other girl; Eva had always felt a need to care for others and the little wind sorceress would be no exception. "Anna..." She wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear; that they had done what was necessary, but she was feeling the same sense of horror that was displayed on Anna's face. "You can't blame yourself."

She would offer the other girl another fierce hug before quietly exiting the dorm, careful not to wake her roommate.

Once she had left Anna's room, there was one person that Eva really wanted to see and... she had a feeling she knew where he would be. He had probably spent nearly the whole weekend there. Once outside, the crisp winter air striking her in the face... Eva would hurry to the lake. Her overnight bag was still slung over her arm, and her clothes were all dirty, but she couldn't find it in herself to care.

Using her wand to light the way, she would find Nito there by the lakeside in a vortex of crystalline shards and spheres. It wasn't something she'd seen him attempt, no matter how hard he had pushed her during their practice. This time she paused, still, so as not to interrupt him again... until he had collapsed and she rushed forward, worried. When she reached him, though, he was laughing and it was so good to see him that she flopped down lay with him in the snow.

There she would tell him about the events of the tournament. Everything from what had happened in her first round with the Russians, to the attack from the hunters, crying when she got to the part about how she had killed someone (even though she thought he was a little proud about the ice spear). When she finally convinced him to get inside, to get warm, they went to the library and... Eva felt mostly at peace as the pair decided that they would be trying, together. The face of the hunter she had killed would not haunt her dreams until the next night.

----

The following morning Dueling practice was canceled, but Eva found herself wide awake and unable to go back to sleep. The rest of the day she would either be with Anna (but the other girl was always with someone) or with Nito. She wasn't sure what to do after their conversation, but for the time being she was content with spending more time with him, walking through the halls together, and maybe sitting a little closer than the usual careful distance she had kept between them.

Most of the day Eva was in a fog, not even sure why she went to class. She retained nothing and couldn't even contribute to the group lesson during specialization. Except... she needed to go to class. If she didn't go she would be alone in her dorm room, alone with her thoughts, and... she could tell it wouldn't be good for her. So, she went, mechanically going through her day. She did make sure that Nito was eating, that Ishade was eating, and that Anna was not alone. But that was as far as her functioning could go.

----

Blake Andrews did not typically get detention; he often deserved it, but more often than not he could talk himself out of it. So, it was a bit odd to see the young Grade 9. Except, as she walked into the very quiet room and saw who was in charge of detention... even Blake froze a little and tried to edge into his seat unnoticed. He did recognize the few other faces in the detention room, only two others were in Grade 9 like him. Charlie and Kenlei.

He knew the names of almost every kid in his class (especially the girls) and both of these two had rejected him in... very different ways. Didn't stop him from smiling at them both; absolutely no hard feelings.

After Professor Loray had finished calling them all degenerates for being here, she paired them up into groups with different punishments. Being the only ones in Grade 9, he ended up the two other girls and he approached with his bucket and scraper. "Ready to scrape some gum off some desks?" Friendly, confident, and just a bit of a goof.

---

After Friday night, Meghan wasn't sure how she was supposed to be acting around Vivian. It was a weird... limbo kind of place. She avoided her roommate for most of the weekend by hiding out in the library, but it wasn't completely to avoid something that was just a bit terrifying; she also had a crap ton of reading to do by Monday. If she kept reading in her bed, she'd keep falling asleep and end up painted in high lighter.

Regardless, Vivian seemed distracted by something else, too, so Meghan felt free to give her some space to figure out whatever was on her mind.

Monday, though, during lunch, she did sit with the other girl. Quietly, without saying a word and started poking at her mashed potatoes. They looked good, she just wasn't very hungry.
 
[Max and Monique are... uh...

Look they aren't here right now. Leave a message.]
---

Charlie's mood had not improved as she saw who she was supposed to be sharing detention with. Alright, so they weren't that bad and really, she only had problems with the other girl. What was her name? Kylie? Something like that. She had seen her around before but they had never talked. She was just so... girly! Always talking about boring stuff lole clothes or the latest trends or whatever.

And then there was Blake. They had been friends for about an hour when he asked her to go somewhere with him, but then left her! What was up with that! She was all ready to show him the best tree! She had been all excited to make her first friend to... She wondered why he was here anyways. Normally he never went. Well, that's what she heard from eavesdropping anyway.

Having responded to the little... whatever that was from K-lei with a confused look, Charlie was soon introduced to the monster that was Professor Loray, quickly realising why every senior student seemed to be sitting ramrod straight. Feeling honestly a little hurt by the teacher's words, she was soon disacted by Dylan appearing to her left, between her and Kenlei(!).

Standing up excitedly, and having to catch her chair before it hit the floor, she curls her hands into fists in excitement as she grabs her scraper and bucket. "Yeah! Let's do it!" She says cheerily, bouncing on the balls of her feet a bit. She felt much better on her feet and doing some sort of activity. She wondered how much gum there would be?
 
One leg was on its way to drape over the other when low and behold Blake Freakin' Andrews walked in causing her to want to slump a little further down in her seat, though of course she would not give him the satisfaction of doing so. The boy had asked her out in...was it seventh grade? She honestly couldn't remember, nor did she care to. She had had the biggest crush on someone else and wanting to impress her new popular friends, Kenlei had not exactly let down Blake easily. In fact, she'd been downright rude. Karma had come around, though, because that boy had dumped her faster than lickity split when one of Kenlei's so-called friends asked him out behind her back. She hadn't had the nerve to say anything to Blake ever since, and she was not about to start now, though she did return his smile with a cheerful one of her own.

Kenlei's attention turned when Professor Loray stood to address the students, and she folded her fingers together on top of the desk. Eyes already a melted chocolate brown darkened further to midnight when the Professor's address became more of a berating of the students, and her little chin firmed. Now she knew why the upperclassmen hated and feared her so much: the professor was terrifying! And hurtful! She may or may not have felt the corners of her mouth wobble a bit before the professor pointed to the three 9th graders and assigned them together. Why was she even surprised?

A finger poked the scraper that had been plonked on her desk as if it was some foreign object origin unknown. "Gross." She opened her mouth to ask Professor Loray if she had any gloves to use while de-gumming the desks, but then snapped her mouth shut because she just wasn't that brave of a person.

As Blake appeared between Charlie and her, she lifted her shoulders in a shrug, "I mean, I guess. It's not like there's a choice." At Charlie's excitement, she stared at the girl, "Are you really that excited to scrape chewed up gum that has previously been in someone's mouth? Think of the germs and who knows what else." Turning in her seat, she stood and flicked a golden curl back over her shoulder before falling into step with the other two.
 
There were no hard feelings between him and Kenlei (at least on his part), though her particularly harsh rejection had been a blow to his ego for a few days... weeks...months. But that's okay! It's in the past! He's moved on and she's... only gotten more attractive over the years, if a little high maintenance.

Charlie, too, had been a little harsh in her sarcastic rejection, but she was cute, too, in a very different way. And Blake was going to spend a whole afternoon with these two. Not bad. Not that he'd be going there with either of them again, once was usually his limit.

He did grin, amused, at Charlie'so eagerness to clean up the remnants of other people's chewed up gum. "Aw, c'mon. Live a little, Kenlei. It could be fun!" He gave her a goofy look before wandering into their assigned classroom. "Hey, Charlie, bet I can get more gums than you." He stuck out his hand as he issued the challenge, willing her to shake on it. To Kenlei he added, "What happened to your shirt?"
 
The days had passed by agonizingly slow while Eva had been away. Everything seemed to stretch into eternity. The time he spent on his homework took an age and a half. His meals, eaten alone because Gregori still wasn't going out of his way to be with him, were terrible silences and tedium. His lake-side practice sessions felt empty by comparison, and his private research nights stretched longer than they had most nights.

He was beginning to, on occasion, lose himself in that...tome...

But more than that, all the rediscovered solitude had given Nito plenty of time to think. Think about what he wanted. About how much time had passed. How, even now, weeks later, no questions had arisen about Anthony's disappearance, and Eva had only grown closer to him that same time. Everything seemed to be in his favor. So when his romantic interest found him that bleak and frigid night...in the midst of one of the most intense cyromancy rituals he had ever performed...and after sharing with him the details of her side of their time apart...And his confession...And hers...Things could not have been better.

But the sensation did not last long. Eva was clearly distraught, judging by her behavior and unusual silence during there time together the following day. Nit would do his best to be there for her, and for once, it was more like he was the one following. Helping. Holding her hand. Keeping close to her. Opening doors for her. At lunch time, it had even been him who had brought her food, instead of the opposite, though she would still be the one to take credit for breakfast and dinner.

Except when they had to, the young ice mage wouldn't leave her side the whole day...
 
The weekend had been tough for Heinrich, training had nearly consumed his life at this point. His health was starting to show it, his eyes slowly getting more bloodshot with the lack of sleep. The numerous nights he spent passed out in the meadow had caught up with him, as a cold was setting in. His face was paled and his nose was beginning to run, yet he had accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. His focus had increased tenfold it would seem, and his endurance while training had increased significantly as well. Getting sick was just another test that he would have to get passed, food was the biggest necessity. He would barely notice losing ten pounds in the past couple of days, more focused on becoming stronger.

Yet his stomach would eventually win on Monday, its growling and whining becoming insistent at that point. It was about noon by the time he fully emerged from the woods, small leaves and twigs entangled in his hair. He looked like a wild child, less like a student than some crazy old hermit of the forest. He wanted to continue training, but he knew with the weekend over he would have to continue going back to classes. His grades were slightly slipping, as his focus had become directed to his training. He didn't care, as long as he was passing.

The Dining room smells hit him first, then came the sounds of the other students. Everything was louder there, everyone talking and trying to be heard over the table next to them. At that moment Heinrich almost felt like an animal, leaving the safety and quiet of the surrounding forest. He almost didn't feel welcome anymore there, a savage entering a strange modern world. However, his hunger would supersede any feelings of
un-welcomeness. It propelled him further into the dining room, to the carving station that he used to frequent. In his solitude Heinrich had no need to speak, the only company he ever had were the animals of the meadow. At the moment of reaching the station, that fact had really shown, "U-u-um, can, have some?" His mind too weak to see his incorrect choice of words, the carving chef looked at him quizzically before reluctantly serving him some. If it hadn't been for the red cloak that Heinrich wore, the chef would have thought he was some lost child.

Heinrich quickly gathered as much of the food as he could on a single tray, his hunger making him slightly too primal and headed back out to the courtyard. Keeping his head low as to avoid any glances from the other students, he quietly ate.

------------------------------------------------------------

By Monday Morning the lights of the Healing Lab were off in the back offices, with Vivian slumped one of the back desks.She had fallen asleep there the previous night. Her head nestled in her arms as she sat, having passed out during her studying. She hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours for the past weekend, Marie's brain had been screaming non-stop since Vivian first brought it to her room. While she was happy her experiment was a complete success, she hadn't fully taken into account at the strong will of the brain. Thankfully as well, the brain was only psychically connected to her, so no one else could hear the screams.

She knew there would be an adjustment to the new environment, but Marie was understandably upset by the whole experience. Vivian had moved to her office in the Healing Labs so she could study in some peace, trying to come up with ways to calm Marie down. Vivian just needed to get her to stop Screaming, maybe then she could start working on the next phase of her experiments. As she took her power nap, Vivian would be abruptly woken up to the sound of the Lunch bell. Groggily she would pack up her notes and books into her bag, sleep still trying to pull at her eyelids. Her notes full of scribbles of various charms and runes that she had been researching, trying to find anything that might calm the distraught Marie.

The brain wasn't the only thing on her mind, as the Friday night prior Vivian and Meghan had kissed. It was one of the few comforting thoughts for Vivian, while also being a point of conflict for her. She wasn't used to feeling things towards people, which allowed her to keep her distance in the past with others. Yet Meghan would constantly pop up in her mind, at first it was loathing for being a Clairvoyant. Someone so unassuming having being blessed with such an awesome gift, it infuriated her to no end. However, living with the her and slowly getting to know the shy little girl, while unexpected, had produced a bond that couldn't be explained to anyone else. It was of Meghan that Vivian's dreams would end up being filled with, the only thing to wash away the constant gnawing thoughts, the unending needs of her hungry mind.

In the lunchroom Vivian would pick a secluded table in the corner, away from everyone else. Everyone except Meghan of course, who sat quietly next to Vivian poking at her potatoes. The Dining Hall was louder than usual, either that or Vivian was getting grated by it more today, "Maybe a Silence charm would help. No, no, then we couldn't hear anything being spoken." Vivian would scratch her pen into her notebook, slightly lost in her thoughts, before quickly looking over to Meghan, "Or would an Amnesia spell work?" Her eyes slightly bloodshot, tiny bags forming underneath her eyes.
 
Charlie grins as she grabs Blakes hand with hers and shakes it energetically. "You're on!" She says confidently, before facing Kenlei, grinning at the other girl. "I'm just glad we get to do something, you know? I hate having to sit around!" She says cheerily as she twirls the scraper between her fingers.

She hums a little as she upends as desk with one hand and uses her foot to drag her bucket over. "Man that... that is a lot of gum." She mutters a little as she begins to scrape, enjoying the feeling as she put her body weight into the motion. Looking back at the other two, she is struck by a (rare) urge to talk to these people.

"So why are you two in here? I climbed the astronomy tower, which is apparently not allows for some reason?" She asks, tilting her head a little confusedly at the end of her sentence. She really didn't get why they had to kick up such a fuss. I mean, come on, it was only a little high up, the babies.
 
Holding the scraper a little bit away from her body so as not to contaminate her clothes with whatever nastiness might be lurking upon the scraper's sharp blade...and handle, though there was nothing she could do about that, Kenlei was quiet as they entered their assigned classroom. Though she had been determined to keep a frown in place during this entire sticky process, the self-proclaimed trendsetter found the corners of her lips tipping upward in a grin at Blake's silliness and Charlie's energy.

The thought of setting aside her scraper and offering more work to Charlie crossed Kenlei's mind, but that really wouldn't be very nice, and on top of that...she was beginning to feel like this was maybe a teamwork thing, and really, her romper was ruined now anyway thanks to chocolate pudding. She slid under one of the desks and nearly gagged at the sight of the the gum-coated underside. It was a little amazing how many colors gum came in: electric blue, neon green, pink, and even brown, though Kenlei wasn't sure if that was Juicy Fruit or perhaps just a dirty white piece. Some of the gums were smoothed out completely flat like a pancake as if they had been smeared instead of just stuck like the pieces looking more like wrinkly balls with teeth marks. Lifting the scraper, she began to scritch along the desk's surface.

“Do either of you know Josh Bailey? He had this idea that splattering me with chocolate pudding at lunch would be really funny; I thought dunking his face in his own pudding would be funnier.” She grunted as she shoved against a particularly stuck on piece of gum. “And it was. However, the cafeteria monitor did not share my enthusiasm when Josh went crying over to her because some of the pudding snorted up his nose. Ya wanna know what's not funny? The fact he did not get detention even though he started the whole thing.”

Pausing to give her arm a break before scooting over to the next desk, she glanced at Charlie. “Did you really climb the Astronomy tower? That's pretty wicked! Pretty sure I'd never have the balls to do something like that,” she assessed Charlie in a new light. The girl was down right brave. “Why were you up there anyway? Just for giggles, or were you dared maybe?”

A smile was sent to Blake's direction, “And what about you? You're in detention probably less even than me, so how did you manage to get caught doing something?”
 
Eva could see how hard Nito was trying. To cheer her up, to take care of her, to be there. The first half of the day she spent trying to persuade him that she was okay, but he wasn't buying her act and it was too exhausting to keep up. Instead, she just allowed herself to lean on him for support. She just... needed some time to get used to the idea that she had murdered another person, regardless of the fact that they were trying to kill her.

It was... she hadn't meant to, and that was the part that terrified her the most. It just... happened.

Sometime after dinner a little color returned to her cheeks and a little life to her eyes, though she still hadn't eaten very much. She just seemed to brighten a little. Whatever introspection she had needed, it seemed she'd come to some kind of conclusion in her head, and she was actually able to focus on her homework in the library where she sat across from Nito writing out her essay.

---

Meghan looked up from her mashed potatoes to study her roommate, trying to interpret her rambling. "You should really get some sleep," The clairvoyant smartly observed. It took some prodding and some negotiation, but she finally managed to convince Vivian that a midday nap would be best and she escorted her friend up to their room.

Meghan could skip classes for an afternoon and she needed a nap herself. It would take a bit of sleeping drought for herself and Vivian, but neither would wake again until past dinner time. The younger of the two waking first, and stretching out in her bed. She had definitely needed that sleep. She wandered over to Vivian's side of the room, unwilling to wake up the wind sorceress. She actually looked peaceful, like she was finally getting some rest.

---

Blake snorted at both stories; he could absolutely see Charlie climbing the astronomy tower and it was no surprise to him that Josh was dick who probably had that coming to him. He opted for the tipping over the desk approach, unwilling to have old chewed up gum fall and hit him in the face or something if he didn't catch it in time.

"You could make a mural out of this mess," he mused in a mumble before squatting down and starting to scrape at the bottom of the desk. "Josh had it coming," he assured Kenlei, nodding his head. "Karma will come around." His scraping paused as he was asked how he had ended up in detention, and the dark skinned sorcerer would grin. "I'm just here to talk to the cute girls."

---

At some point during that Monday evening the announcements will go around:
October 31 would be the Halloween Dance. Tickets start going on sale tomorrow!
The Spring Semester Altsoba will be hosting the Tournament of Sorcerers. More details on how this will effect students and who is eligible to compete will be going around, soon!
 
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Jera hummed quietly to herself as she munched on the cookies she'd slipped from the banquet hall, books spread out in front of her in a disastrous looking pile. Dancing blue eyes were focused intensely on a rather thick book in front of her, it's pages edged in silver while the cover was a deep black. She smiled slightly as she read a passage, hair swinging as she swayed her body slightly from side to side, quietly hummed notes of a nonexistent song leaving her as she continued her studies.

Brushing a crummy hand on stretchy dark-wash jeans, the young trickster draws a peacock quill to her with the crooking of a finger. A gentle breeze stirs and the light feather floats into her hand, sky blue eyes flicking from book to notebook as she makes a note in jittery handwriting. Smiling to herself, Jera grabs another cookie, stuffing it in one cheek with one hand while she reaches to turn the page with the other.

"Quiet, quiet." She murmurs to herself, words tilted with an accent that speaks of bamboo forests and peaceful temples. The touch of excitement in childlike tone speaks of mischief though, and her grin only confirms it as she glances quickly around the library.

Her little nook is well hidden, the young student wary of teachers finding her sneaking food into the library again, but she can see most of the large room from where she sits. Not far away, she notices a boy and a girl studying quietly together. 'Couple' her mind tells her. The way they lean towards each other and how they move as if each gives off a gravitational pull to the other... It's obvious to her.

"Wrong." She hums to herself, voice wavering in song, yet quiet enough none would hear her.
Ice blue eyes are drawn to the downturn of the girl's lips. The creasing of the boy's brow and the bags under both their eyes cement the image of melancholy that surrounds the two. Jera's lips pinch at the corners for a second before curving once more.

"Here. Little friend, little friend." She breaths, a small piece of cookie offered towards the floor as she lets her hand hang down, eyes following the motion expectantly.

The limb hangs there motionless for a moment, only her pinky making small figure eights as she waits. Her secretive smile curves further, pearly teeth making their appearance as she grins. The ticklish brush of whiskers makes her hand twitch, the crumb taken from slim fingers before she curves her hand to allow passage. There is a pause before little claws gently scratch her hand, Jera waiting for the tiny passenger to climb fully aboard before lifting it to eye level.
The small brown mouse blinks button eyes at her, sitting on it's haunches and regarding her patiently once she holds it up to her eye level. Her grin is in full bloom now, a soft joy evident in her features as she leans in close. Gentle front paws rest on her nose as it wiggles it's nose at her, sniffing curiously while waiting for what she has to say.

"Small friend, shy friend." She murmurs to it quietly, voice gentle in respect for it's skittish nature. "Help a sad friend?" She poses the question, waiting patiently through many tiny mouse breaths before the fragile creature leans further forward to lick the arch of her nose.

Jera's eyes are sparkling now as she smiles.

"Lovely friend kind friend. Come to me for kindness in the future to return the one you are showing them." She whispers promisingly, the rodent's head bobbing in a strangely human gesture before settling once more into her hand.

Jera lowers it gently to the ground, whispering hushed words of encouragement as the mouse runs towards the couple that had caught Jera's eye. It climbs a table leg, making it's way to the top of the desk before pausing for a breath. Catching it, the mouse steps cautiously forward with a wary gaze trained on the girl. It continues, stopping in the middle of the girl's paperwork, being careful not to smear anything. It stares up at her for a moment, head tilted before skittering over to her hand. Tiny paws grip at her first finger, lifting it and placing the tip carefully on it's own head, and then curling up while looking up expectantly.

Jera watches from her nook, smiling to herself for a moment before turning back to the books spread before her. Catching sight of a passage she wants to record, the young magic user reaches for her quill this time instead of summoning it to her. She's distracted enough as it is, and doesn't want to ruin what she's started with the mouse before it has it's desired effect.
Another cookie finds it's way to her mouth as pale eyes once again make tracks over ancient text, occasionally flicking back to the couple.
 
It wasn't that Nito hated rodents. He was intelligent enough to realize that every animal served its own unique purpose in the grand scheme of nature. Just because he practiced a field of magic that was, for lack of a better word, the antithesis of life and warmth, it did not mean that he was a heartless sociopath like many of his peers and underclassman would whisper. The young cyromancer actually held a great affection for living creatures, especially arctic and aquatic species.

The problem arose, however, from two different sources. Nito did not appreciate a creature that could potentially be housing diseases coming near his lady love. On top of that, if a mouse was in the library, then chances were that some books somewhere were being gnawed on. There were old books here, some of them older than the tomes passed down through his family. They deserved respect and decent treatment, and they most certainly didn't deserve to be chewed up and defecated on. It was unfortunate, but the prodigal ice mage would only have one response to seeing such a creature...

And that would be to kill it, as painlessly as possible.

As quietly as he could, Nito would draw his wand from inside the hem of his robes. Pointing it at the tiny mammal. Silently mouthing a quick incantation...
 
Quick eyes flick back to the couple for a second, observing how the boy's eyes were trained now on the mouse. Glancing back down at what she's writing, Jera finishes the sentence before looking again at the boy, this time freezing when she sees the wand. Her eyes widen, shock rippling over her features before she smooths them again. Her link with the mouse drops immediately, the small animal freezing for a second before moving to run away. A feeling of fear having been instilled in it before Jera released it from her sway, the creature darts for it's quickest exit, straight back down the table leg, closest to the girl.

While the animal escapes, Jera rises swiftly to her feet, her own wand in white fingered hand.

Her quill goes sailing and book pages flutter violently as the small sorceress uses an untamed gust of wind to propel herself forward, toward the table filled with those she had thought needed comforting. Her eyes were tight, but her smile wide as she nearly flew to their table. Wind whipped around her, the red ribbon adorning her hair lashing almost violently as she gripped her wand tightly.

Loose paper blew off the table the two were sitting at, only objects holding weight enough to stay stationary. Jera's full attention was on the boy, her grin wide and ice eyes wild as she stared into his.

"Hello." She murmured quietly. Her childlike voice was light and airy, but held a hidden chill. She paused for a second, stance stiff as she kept her smile in place. The wind had died down, but her ribbon still swayed. "My name is Jera, might I have the pleasure?"

The grip on her wand hadn't loosened in the least.
 
Charlie gave a minute grunt as she scraped some more gum off, already onto her second desk. Boy was she glad there weren't any teachers around, because if she had to hear 'you can't just flip the desks over' or 'stop playing with the scraper and get to work' every few seconds she might have snapped.

Looking up from where she had been crouched at the base of a desk, she laughs a little at Kenlei's story. "Oh yeah, I remember that guy! Doesn't he have braces or something?" She says, tilting her head to look at Kenlei just as Blake speaks up.

Looking back at the guy, she giggles a little bit at his comment about being able to 'build a mural' out of the gum, although that stopped when he mentioned being here for the 'cute girls'. Looking back at Kenlei, she drops her scraper and bucket and approaches her for a second, chin in palm as she looks her over.

"I mean... I guess you can call her cute I suppose. If that's your thing." She says uncertainly as she analysed the girls face, observing her from this angle and that. Didn't they wear makeup? Her mum was always trying to get her to try some on, saying something about 'behaving like a proper girl' or whatever. Man, one teacher sends a report home about brawling with other kids and suddenly you're not 'lady-like'. Whatever that is.

Snapping out of her little tangent, Charlie retreats from her close proximity to Kenlei, grabbing her scraper and bucket again as she looked at Blake. "But why are you actually here? I don't think that teacher would have let anyone in that wasn't supposed to be there. Did you see the look on her face?" She asks as she shudders a little bit.
 
Eva looked up from her books to smile at Nito, nudging his leg with her foot under the table to get his attention. Just to share a smile. It was silly, really, but being with him made her happy despite the events of the weekend that she was still working on processing. She just wanted to convey that in the small smile on her face.

The dark haired girl ducked her head back into her books and missed the wand, but she did hear the whisper and she brought her head back up, tilting it as the question formed, "Hmm?" She thought he had been speaking to her, but a moment later a girl approached. She was young, had to be in 9 or 10, though it was hard to say for sure.

She was staring intently at Nito and Eva looked between the two, wondering why the girl felt the sudden need to introduce herself to the grade 9. The Italian put her pen down and glanced at her... Hm, boyfriend(?) and then once more back at the girl, trying to figure out if there was something she had missed the whole thing was so completely random.

But it was nice, too, because she knew the reputation that Nito has around the school. Most think him a sociopath, it was nice that someone felt they could approach him, so she smiled warmly and propped her chin up in her hands waiting to see how this would play out.

----

Sophie was studying in the library, for once without her roommate sitting beside her. She'd been quietly reading through her math book when she saw her suite mate get out of her chair and of all... The young girl's eyes widened and she nearly ran after Jera, but it was too late. The girl had reached the table of Nito and some other girl who was scary by default because she willingly sat next to the scariest sorcerer Sophie had ever seen up close.

"Jera," Sophie whispered, trying to get her friend's attention. You don't just approach crazy psychopaths and expect things to go well!

"Hello," The older girl said, moving her gaze from Jera to Sophie. Up close Sophie recognized her as one of the girls it was rumored sold potions around the school. Sophie turned pink and gave the water sorceress a small wave of her hand.

----

Andy was in the bathroom when she first heard the rumor. The sorcerer was in a stall when two other girls entered the restroom giggling, gossiping. “... I mean, i heard he’s pretty strong and he’s not that bad to look at, either.”

“Yeah, now that he’s not always hanging around his cousin. I don’t know. Never realized how cute he is. Nito, though.” Both girls laughed and Andalyn smiled as she realized they were talking about Gregori.

“Too… creepy, though.” The first girl said and a stall door opened, closed, and locked.

“Not as much now, though, He looks almost normal these days. Especially when he’s with that potion girl.”

“Having a girlfriend can do that, I suppose. I wonder if Gregori is looking.” The first girl, the one in the stall next to Andalyn, mused. “I mean I know he’s hooking up with Andy--”

“Who hasn’t, though?” They giggled together.

“Right? But anyway, the way I heart it, he was ambushed in the hall and she dragged him into a classroom. He’s probably too nice to tell her no and, well, he is a guy.” At some point during this she had finished up and now she flushed, exiting the stall.

Andy could feel her face turning read. It’s not that she wasn’t aware of the untrue reputation that she had, but it never got easy as she heard the assumptions people made about her. ‘Who hasn’t?’ would be replaying in her head for days to come. It hurt, hearing things spread around about her. All that really mattered, she would remind herself, is what Gregori thought of her and Andalyn was confident in those feelings.

“I’m pretty sure he’s gay, or maybe bi.” Girl two was saying over the sound of the faucet. “Everyone’s always saying how he’s always camping with Ishade and you know that boy wears his boner on his sleeve.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean…”

“Unless he’s blind, there’s no way he doesn’t know Ishade is interested. And if he knows, well… would you go camping in the cold with someone who wants to smash if you weren’t hoping for something to happen?”

“Valid point,” Girl one said and Andy could hear the sound of the bathroom door opening again. “But…” and then they were gone.

Placing her head against the door of the stall, Andalyn would squeeze her eyes shut. It meant nothing. She knew, all too well, how wrong rumors could be. That’s all that it was. Two girls chatting and sharing bits of incomplete information and speculation.

Still, it was not easy to listen to.

Worse, still, were the feelings the conversation had brought. Jealousy and insecurity squeezed at her chest painfully. At first there had been mild amusement at the idea that this girl wanted Gregori now that he was unavailable. But the idea that he had options; that idea fueled something in Andalyn that she did not like. It was deeper than the jealousy and insecurity, though that was a part of it.
No, the bigger problem is Andalyn is afraid.

She likes Gregori, a lot. More than she liked her last boyfriend. That feeling is what terrified her. He comes from a good name, a decent sorcery family. Her name is nothing, and she is nobody. He has potential for a future, and he’s kind, and sweet, and so fucking adorable sometimes. She talks too much, is inappropriate 98% of the time and has a rep to boot. She’s no idea what she wants after graduation and she drinks way too much. Right now, he wants her. Like she had said, though, all those days ago, she had paid attention to him. Sure, maybe he liked aspects of her at the moment but what would happen when he realized he had other options. That other girls (and guys) saw him the way she did. What would happen when he truly began to see her?

In that moment, standing in the fourth floor girls bathroom, Andalyn realized Gregori had the potential to break her heart. Coming to the understanding of the magnitude of which he could do so, that was the weight currently crushing her. That was the thing terrifying her most.

This experience had left Andalyn to face the reality of her feelings for Gregori, stronger feelings than she was really prepared to admit because Feelings would only lead to pain.

That evening, after dinner, she'd be heading to the Willow Tree on her own.
 
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