Trial and Error

 

Bang, bang, bang.

“ORDER! There will be order in this court!” Lucifer XIV, the Supreme General of Hell cried, his booming voice overcoming all murmuring and outrage at the criminal.

It was a girl. Her hair, which must have been a beautiful dark red was now thin, pale, and frizzy. Her dead eyes stared at the wooden floor, not noticing anything beyond the burning handcuffs made of light, the moth-eaten grey gown, and her own tortured mind.

“Samantha Fenrir, you have been called to the highest order of the courts, one which all of the angels, demons, as well as fallen angels must attend. You have committed a crime more hideous than ever before recorded; you, originally one of the holy spirits, have poisoned the wellspring of Eden of the Heavens, fell the Fallen Angel King, and corrupted yourself with sins until half your soul condemned itself as a demon.” The speaker for the angels, Gabriel, looked at Lucifer, “Furthermore-”

He was suddenly cut off by the stunned crowd; they could not believe this woman, this girl, who did not look even eighteen by human standards would have committed such travesties. And yet...there was more?!

“FURTHERMORE!” Prince Arkas boomed, silencing the masses, “Furthermore, she alone is to be blamed for the release of more than six hundred sixty-six condemned souls of Hell. She has trampled on the balance, spat on it, changing the fate of millions, nay, trillions with her petty actions for a little more power with the Fey-kind.”

“Does the accused have anything to say against any of the charges?” Gabriel asked.

Sam looked up shakily, her still dead eyes welling up with tears, “N-n-no.”

“Does the accused have anything to add to the charges?”

“N-n-no.”

“How does the accused plead?”

“...Guilty.” she whispered.

“...I see. This court could only be called upon when evidence of action had already been collected, examined, and proven to be true and as such calls for a severe punishment. The court and Jury have already decided upon two choices. As they will affect the rest of your life you may choose-” The courtroom went up in a frenzy, even the hard pounds of mallets and shouts of “ORDER!” from the three heads could not stop the cries of blasphemy.

“W-what are they?” the simple line was enough to make the crowd to fall silent instantly. All the subjects of Hell, Heaven, and everywhere else stared at the girl.

“...One. You will be sent to Tartarus, where you will suffer the purgatory until your soul is cleansed enough to become a true demon. Then, your reincarnation will be condemned as a new soul in hell for eternity. Two. You will go to the Material realm. The balance you upset is in a very precarious place and the Fae wars are becoming stronger. The unnatural-natural disasters caused by the energy of the faes clashing only upsets the balance further. If the wars are permitted to continued in such a way, the entire universe risks extinction through the corruption of both hell and heaven fusing with the Material realm. Earth seems to be the most unstable; it has, beyond any other planet with sentient beings, the most amount of energy infused within. If Earth is annihilated by the wars, the sheer amount of energy the planet has captured will rip space. If the races on it are annihilated, the energy would revolt, causing the same disaster. For this reason, you are to aid the living beings of Earth to avoid annihilation as well as finding a way to restore the balance.”

“Which will you pick?” The three leaders asked in unison.

…

Earth. Home to nearly eight billion people. The blue planet which houses not only living beings, but also man-made automations and wondrous creatures of all sorts.

Along with the mundane, consumer masses, an odd boy walked. His backpack worn with age and use, showing numerous diagrams and scribbles of sloppy writing. He looked to the school in the distance and sighed when he saw the time.

Ah great, I’m going to be late again. He combed his black hair, with odd blue highlights, with his fingers.

Despite that mental remark, he stubbornly kept his slow, languid speed, preferring to think about interactions of, I kid you not, magic.

If magitron of fire attribute A affects material B, the energy released, provided the energy particle A breaches threshold energy and frequency, will be the two times the mass loss of material B plus threshold energy. The mass loss will be equal to threshold energy multiplied by the inverse of electron mass.

This boy is called Hono Tsubasa. To the average other student, he was odd and a loner. The world he inhabits is equally as odd, however as technology came a long way in the twenty-first century. What were thought as scientifically impossible once upon a time were made possible by the exact same magic Hono was calculating. After all, magic is simply science brought to a whole new level. Albeit a level not all can comprehend nor manipulate.

Regardless, he found himself locked outside of his high school class. The teacher had had it up to here with his lateness.

Unfazed, Hono sat down to draw more diagrams, all depicting gibberish to the average human. To him, it was a wellspring where magic happened.

“You know, you have to carry that positron over.”

“Ah ha! That’s why the charges didn’t add up!” Hono cried triumphantly, “Thank you! Um… who are you?”

“My name’s Viz Maiara, what about you?”

“Hono Tsubasa. Thanks for the help; I forgot about the positron I left back up. Maybe should make this a bit neater….” The last part was muttered lowly to himself, “So...you can read magic as well?”

"No, not at all. Can't you tell?"

“Nor the fact that you’re not fully human. But who cares about those things?” Hono shrugged, smirking a bit.

"You seem to have a knack for diagrams and such, when you don't leave your positrons lying about, but you certainly seem to be lacking in social tact."

“Perhaps, but scientists have to sacrifice some things for a better understanding of the world. Especially the one we live in.”

She tilted her head. "You certainly have an interesting outlook on life. Is being on time for physics class another thing scientists have to sacrifice?"

His face glowed bright red, “S-shut up!”

She chuckled, the turned on her heel. "See ya around, fire-boy."

Hono looked down and grinned, “Humph, I guess we will. See ya later!” Hono gave her a mock salute.

…

“Ah man...getting chewed out by the teacher is getting old fast. I’ll have to set the alarm half an hour earlier.” Hono yawned, “Dammit. I’m still tired.”

"Perhaps if you actually sleep instead of reinventing and redefining the physics of magic as we know it all night, you wouldn't have this issue."

“But I get sleep!” Hono whined to Viz, “...Sometimes….”

She scoffed as he yawned again. "I can see that."

“Ah, put a lid on it.” He muttered, rubbing tears away, “So do you always go talk to random people or did you just find me fascinating?”

“Oh,” Viz waved her hand flippantly, “You know, just interested in seeing another magician in regular school.”

“Hmm. You know, I haven’t really seen you before.”

 

, “We should probably get ready, Men In Black at twelve O’clock.”

"Hmm. How exciting."

Hono yawned yet again.

"Ready for action, you are."

“We need lights and cameras.” Hono swirled around to face the two men in black and cheerfully said, “Why hello there gentlemen. What do the two of you have to do with us?”

"Who's to say they have anything to do with us? Someone here might have a pair of gay lawyers for parents and are being picked up."

“Well, judging by their outreached hands, they are either secret agents, rapists, or kidnappers.”

"Ooooh. Kidnappers are fun. And taste good with salt."

“Of course you would say that. I should drop you in the swimming pool. Anyways, what’s going on?”

Another person, this one a woman in formal looking dress, stepped out of the car a few meters away. She looked at Hono and Viz and gave them each a card.

“We represent MAGIC; Mages Against Global Issues and Crisis. Looking through your records, we have enough proof that you, both of you, have the aptitude to become one of our agents. You have the potential to be one of the twenty mages to be accepted by MAGIC out of the five hundred we test...provided you wish to attend the testing.” The woman told them.

“Uh huh, so what’s the catch?” Hono asked drily.

“If you refuse, your research will be confiscated, and you will be prevented from making more. You will also be denied the privilege of performing true magic. If you accept, even if you fail, you will be provided with monthly stipends and access to some of our research databank.”

“Sounds like a win-win to me. Show up; fail and you get cash and free stuff, succeed and you turn into some kind of secret agent.”

Hono sighed, “I guess it is quite an advantage to accept. Sure, why not.”

The woman grinned, “Well, with that formality over, my name’s Cassidy, but I’d prefer it if you would call me Professor Harkinson.”

“Ah. So it’s a fancy magic school.  Excellent.”

“Well then let’s-” Prof. Harkinson was cut off by the two MIB, both with grim faces.

“...Please...let us drive instead. James’s not back from the bathroom yet.” they deadpanned.

Viz and Hono looked at each other, giving silent messages of Oh gods what have we gotten ourselves into?

…

The headquarters of MAGIC...was something all secret agent base wishes to be when they grew up. It was a massive thing, at least fifty stories tall and a kilometer wide. Through windows, doctors, scientists, engineers, and everyone and anyone of a profession could be seen studying people. Some were like Hono and Viz, young adults, some even younger. Others were older practitioners of twenty or older.

When they entered the building, Hono and Viz could see that many of them were hooked up to machines and devices, each measuring something slightly different.

“I’m suddenly getting the feeling that this whole “test” thing might not be as simple nor as pleasant as it sounded.”

“Something wrong? You’re looking a little green around the gills.”

Viz stopped walking for the express purpose of glaring at Hono. “You. Have got. To be fucking. Kidding me.”

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.”

Viz was cut off from any more raging by the front desk, “Oh it’s Prof. Harkinson! And I see you have more vict- I mean, students!” The secretary laughed, “Ah, I know it’s you and all, but I still need to see your ID.”

“Here.” she whipped out a silver coloured card. On it, in a rather gaudy gold, was a letter; A.  Below was the card holder’s info;

            Name: Cassidy Harkinson

Sex: F

Date of Birth: 89, 06, 12

Profession: Trainer/Teacher

Authorization Number: 189333140

“Ok, you’re all ready to go! Ah! The boss would like a few words with you when you’re done.”

“Ok. Come in.” the professor gestured to an automatic door, “And welcome to MAGIC. Registration is over there, talk to the man with the blue hair and suit. Please excuse me.”

“Right then.  Hopefully our souls aren’t forfeit. Shall we?”

“Might as well, we’ve gotten this far. It’s not like we’re going to end up sleeping with the fishes.”

“I hate you.  It’s been less than a day, I don’t even remember your actual name, I officially hate you.”

Hono just laughed as she repeatedly whacked his back. They got to the man in blue relatively unscathed. The man, who seemed rather bored sighed and stretched, “Ah, fresh blood. I guess it’s that time of year again. Welcome to MAGIC.” He said, rifling through his desk, picking out documents, “No doubt you have heard from our scouters. You have been observed and deemed worthy to attend the special program of MAGIC. Here are some forms which you’ll have to fill out. It’s all really a big pile of formalities so we can process what kind of training we should give to you. Here’s a pen, please give me the forms when you are done. There are tables and chairs over there in the corner.”

“Thank you.”

The period of time which the duo scribbled away at their papers was filled with...silence. Eventually Viz looked up to talk to Hono...who was nowhere in sight.

“Ooh, so you’re a year younger than me. Hmm I wonder what your affinities are. I guess they’ll have a machine for that.”

“Has anyone told you recently that you are a little shit?”

“Yes. My sister. Every day.”

“I’d quite like to meet her. She seems to have excellent opinions.”

Hono shrugged, “Well, I’m done. I’m pretty sure you’re done as well. You might want to put your race down before handing the form in though."

“It’s not a specific question, I see no reason to do so.”

“Fine, just tell them you like seaweed and fish. I’ll be handing in my form.”

“Whatever, hothead.”

“Ha-ha.”

Once both of them were finished with the forms, the man in blue handed them a bag each.

“In here are some general books and guidelines, as well as a map of the building. Um...and I’m forgetting something...ah! Right. You’re newcomers so most of your visits will be limited up to the fifth floor, any beyond that you’ll have to contact a staff and present your reasons. You’re actually just in time for Physical Training so please head to the gym in the basement. The elevators are on your right.”

“After you, Tsubasa.

“Why thank you Maiara.”

“Wait. Did he just say Physical Training?”

...

The gym door was slammed open. The force behind it was a boy with black hair and blue highlights and a struggling girl girl with equally black hair. He was visibly struggling with the panicking girl as he dragged her along with two hands.

“HELL NO. I DID NOT JUST GET OUT OF GYM CLASS TO GO TO HARDCORE GYM CLASS!”

“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT! IF YOU HAVE THIS MUCH STRENGTH THEN STOP FLOPPING LIKE A FISH AND STAND UP!”

“ONE: I HATE YOU. TWO: IF YOU WOULD LET GO DAMMIT THEN THIS WOULDN’T BE YOUR ISSUE.”

“So it wouldn’t but I find it funnier with you around.” Hono laughed, releasing the poor girl, sending her sprawling to the ground with a yelp.

“You sir, are a little shit.”

“Yea, yea, tell that to my sis.”

“Would if I could and/or knew who the hell that was.”  Viz dragged herself to her feet, grumbling.

“ALRIGHT EVERYBODY IN!” a loud, booming voice echoed through the large place.

Compelled to follow the command, Hono and Viz both jogged towards the source. Said source was a really, really buff man with hard grey eyes,a  muscle shirt, and a necklace with a miniature motorcycle on it. He also wore camouflage cargo pants and a five O’clock shadow.

“Alright you little shits-”

“I like him already.” Viz whispered to Hono.

“-Time to see what you’re made of. You have been selected to be Elites of the world, aiding in missions and events which calls for MAGIC’s help. So in order for you to become Elites, you have to train every aspect of yourselves; your mind, soul, and body! I’ll be in charge for your physical training so to get you up and running I WANT ALL OF YOU TO RUN TILL YOU DROP!” He yelled the last part, making more than a few of the younger people cry. Some started to run, others started to jog. Others kept crying.

“I take that back. I completely take that back. If you need me, I’ll be flopping around on the floor.”

“I WANT A YES SIR FOR A REPLY!”

“YESSIR!” Everyone began to run all of a sudden.

“Is no, sir alright?” Viz whispered, starting jog along.

“NO IT’S NOT! DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!”

“I’m so doomed.”

“WHAT WAS THAT?!”

She heaved a sigh and dropped to the ground. “Yes sir."

It took a while for everyone to stop, about half an hour. This was only because some of the more athletic people were able to endure the half an hour. Of course, Klaas, the teacher, spiced things up a bit, forcing people still alive to do drills while running, such as lunges, raising your leg as high as you can each step, squats, and any other torture he could think up. In the end, even the most athletic of people dropped dead.

"THIS IS ALL YOU'VE GOT?! WE HAVE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO. STARTING TOMORROW, WE WILL GET DOWN TO BUSINESS."

A cumulative groan echoed through the gym.

"WHAT WAS THAT, YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SHITS?"

“...yes...sir….”

...

"I can deal with no research and no magic use if it means not dealing with that ever again." Viz groaned.

“That was fine, we didn’t even do anything too strenuous.”

She decided not to say anything else to him on the subject, choosing instead to just fix him with a cold glare.

Hono laughed at the dirty look, “C’mon, we have dorms now.”

She followed him silently, branching off when they found a divide between the Ladies and the Gents.

“Well, guess I’ll see ya later! Don’t spend all your time in the pool!” Hono laughed as he ran off.

She flipped him the bird and walked away in the opposite direction, muttering enough obscenities to make a sailor blush.

As Hono skipped towards his room, he noticed harsh whispers and meaty thumps. Quickly becoming serious, his footsteps became silent as he sneaked around corners, following the noise.

The scene he saw was exactly what he envisioned; a gang of teens with I-think-I’m-better-than-you disease teaming up on one other kid, threatening and extorting money.

The leader was rather gangly, probably some rich brat.

“Hey Jacob, the boss says you owe him money. He ain’t got the time to wait forever nor to check on insignificant specks like you so we came instead. I hope you know what that means.”

Nevermind, Mr. Thin and Lanky’s a leader of the Yakuza or something.

“He wants Visnew now.”

Then Hono was forced into the conflict by a hand. A hand that picked him up and chucked him at Jacob that is. The two boys struggled with flailing limbs for a bit before becoming untangled. Hono looked up and frowned.

“Can I help you?”

“You overheard something you shouldn’t have.”

Ugh, shit. Can’t use magics. Hono looked from side to side, “So?”

“It means, you’ll have to disappear now.”

Dammit, I guess have to. Hono flung his hands out, a white flash passing by the gang members.

They laughed, “Where the hell are you aiming? That was pathetic.”

“I aimed just right. Deep Freeze.”

Thin and Lanky turned to see what the white blur was; a card with runic inscribings over it embedded in the ceiling. It glowed a faint blue as he said, “Oh no.”

The hallway was transformed to a badly kept freezer, icicles formed haphazardly over walls and the floor. Hono sighed a breath of relief and retrieved his card. He looked at the runes and facepalmed.

“I knew it! I knew I should have used pi instead of Tau! Ugh, Tau has too much force.” He continued to mutter to himself until he felt a hand tug his shirt, “Hmm? Oh yes, you. I almost forgot about ya...you should be careful in this place, it seems that there are bad people everywhere.”

“Ah...ah...THANK YOU MISTER!” the kid bowed.

“Hmm, you’re a bit young to be dealing with the ice sculptures aren’t ya?”

“I’m ten! I can handle myself!” The kid argued.

Hono laughed, “The only thing I think you can handle is being cute. Here.” he gave Jacob the card, “Keep this as a souvenir. I changed the tau to pi so it won’t create quite as big of a disaster. Well, I guess I’ll see ya later.”

...

"Right then, 226. Hmm..." Viz roamed the halls of the rather maze-like girl's wing, attempting to track down her room and the sweet solace of a mattress. "Ugh. 223, 224...239. What?!"

"Hey, looking for your room?" Viz whirled around to the sight of a tall, golden haired girl smiling sympathetically.

"Yeah...this place makes no sense at all."

"I was the same way last week. Which room are you in?"

"226."

Blondie's face brightened. "Hey! That's my room! I guess that makes us dorm buddies! Oh, I wish I had known! I would have at least bothered to clean up my arrows...oh well. You look like you just met Klaas. Follow me!"

Well. She's certainly a ball of sunshine. Viz thought, surprising herself with the lack of sarcasm. She trailed after the chatty blonde, learning that her name was Aeliana, she was originally from Wales before being dragged here, she had a triple affinity for life magics, and that the girl was more or less married to her longbow.

"Well, here we are! I'll get my stuff off the floor and let you catch a nap. Care for a dinner time wake up call?"

"That would be fantastic." Viz dumped her school bag on the ground by her bed, leapt ungracefully over various arrows and shortbows, before collapsing onto the down mattress. She was out like a light.

...

“VIZ COME LOOK! SOME IDIOT FROZE HALF THE HALLWAY!” Aeliana screamed into her room, slamming the door open.

"AGJWDKDALGS-WHA?!" Viz rolled off the ever-so-comfy bed, falling with a thud, before her mind processed what Aeliana had said. "Ya wanna run that by me again?"

"Come on!!" Aeliana took off at a full out run.

Great. One of those athletic kids. FML. Viz leapt up and followed her to the hallway in question. It was indeed frozen, icicles all over the place, a slippery-as-all-get-out floor, and a random gouge in the ceiling. "Huh."

Viz then saw Hono trying to sneak by. A vein popped in her forehead as she rushed at him at speeds she had never reached on land before. He never knew where the fist came from.

"YOU FROZE THE HALLWAY?! What the hell Hono?! Explanation. Now."

“Um...I...fought the Yakuza?” He said from the floor.

“LIKELY STORY!”

“BUT IT’S TRUE!

"THEN EXPLAIN THE WHOLE THING, DIPSHIT! I SERIOUSLY DOUBT YOU WALKED INTO THE HALLWAY, WENT 'Hey, you guys are Yakuza! I'm going to freeze all your asses. Don't mind that I'm a FRICKING FIRE MAGE OR ANYTHING.'"

“Well I actually don’t know what gang they are in but I accidentally overheard them talking about Visnew. So...I used one of my cards to freeze them...I used a wrong rune though, and that caused the um...icy paradise.”

"You can be such an idiot at times. We'll talk later. There seems to be a crowd forming. And while I'm sure you wouldn't mind a few fangirls, I have a sinking feeling that one of the teachers - or worse yet, Klaas - is going to show up soon."

“Well I think the fangirls may be a bit too cold for me….”

Viz smacked him upside the head.  "That was terrible."

“Yes, so it was. But I think the only ones that would like that display would be ice mages. Speaking of ice, we better get out of here; I’m freezing.”

She sighed deeply. "Let's go. Dipshit."

“Before that, introduce me to your friend here.”

"Right. Aeliana, this is Hono Tsubasa, otherwise known as dipshit. Dipshit, this is Aeliana Andraste."

Hono sniffed, “You’re so mean! And it’s a pleasure to meet you Aeliana.”

"Same to you. Viz and I are roomies!" She grinned like a kid given the biggest slice of cake.

“Speaking of which, my roomy hasn’t shown up yet. His name’s Michael or something.”

"That's normal! I waited a full week for mine. Hey, do you guys wanna grab food?"

“FOOD!” Hono cheered.

"Dipshit."

...

“Do you actually eat, or do you just inhale and food happens to get in the way?”

“PHFT DO EFT NMOMMALFT!” Hono swallowed with the aid of another cup of water, “Oh dear god I thought I was gonna die. I do eat normally, I was just very, very hungry.”

“Are you ever not very, very hungry? That is the question here.” Aeliana tossed in, chuckling at the shenanigans of her two new friends.

“Um...when I’m sick or full?”

“That was a rhetorical question, dipshit.” Viz rolled her eyes.

“You have quite the foul mouth.”

“Only around people I particularly dislike. And you can bet I’m not talking about Aeliana.”

“Well then how do you eat? I doubt you chew your fish thoroughly.”

“Don’t need to.” She grinned, and for a flash of a second, her teeth looked like they’d be more at home in a shark’s mouth than hers.

“I’ll just call you shark-breath from now on.”

“At least I’m not full of hot air.”

“Ouch.”

“Hey guys,” Aeliana said, staring at the far end of the room. “sorry to interrupt, but do you guys see what I see?”

“A brawl.”

“Stupid people.” Hono said at the same time.

“Sounds about right.  But it was a lot smaller before.  and it’s also getting continuously closer to us.”

“Eh. So long as they don’t start going all magics-” Viz didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence before she had to duck out of the way of a fireball. “Never mind.”

Hono caught the fireball and crushed it, “Hm...it’s a bit weak.” With that said and done, he went back to his food. That is, until it exploded in his face.

“Ooooooooohhhhhh they are so deeeeaaaaadddddd.”

Hono got up, food still in mouth, and ran to the dispute. The ‘stupid people’ fighting stopped to stare at the angry boy shouting unintelligible curses through a mouthful of food. Hono suddenly stopped, turned blue and stole someone’s water and drank it all. After successfully saving himself, he belched…flames.

The orange flames forced the crowd to disperse for a little while, “Ugh, that was painful.”

“Classy.”

“Still painful.”

“At least the stupids stopped fighting....Never mind.  It was a good minute while it lasted.”

Aeliana squinted at the group of idiots who had managed to progress to the center of the room and sighed.  “Ugh. These guys pull this shit at least twice a week.  Pardon me a minute.”  She stood up, hopped onto one of the tables, and yelled loud enough to make dust fall from the ceiling.  “THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH! HOW OLD ARE YOU, 6?! GET YOUR ACTS TOGETHER YOU IDIOTS, OR ELSE TAKE IT SOMEWHERE ELSE.  YOU WERE NOT BROUGHT HERE TO START CHILDISH BRAWLS.  NEED AN OUTLET? TRY TRAINING. IT’S WHAT YOU’RE HERE FOR ANYWAY. NOW PULL YOURSELVES TOGETHER, HAVE A SENSE OF DIGNITY, AND GET THE HELL OUT.” As she spoke, vines pulled all of the brawlers apart and pinned them against the walls of the room. Aeliana glared at each of them in turn, then let them fall to the floor to scramble for the exits.  A quick hop, and she had calmly returned to her seat and her dinner.

“Hey Hono?”

“Yeah Viz?”

“What just happened?”

...

“WHAT HAPPENED?!”

“There was an unnecessary brawl in the cafeteria, sir.  I fixed it.”

“YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN HERE A WEEK MISS ANDRASTE.  YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS TO BE NO MAGIC USE OUTSIDE OF THE TRAINING ROOMS. AND MR. TSUBASA. YOU HAVE A HALLWAY TO ACCOUNT FOR.” Klaas raged at them from over his official looking desk.  The three had been “escorted” to his office barely five minutes after the fight was broken up; Aeliana for breaking it up, Hono for his hallway, and Viz for being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.

“Sir, with all due respect, isn’t it better to use some harmless magic than to stand by and watch as a number of students beat the crap out of each other?”

“We have rules Andraste. Rules. And they are in place for a reason.  If those kids beat the shit out of each other and can’t participate in training, then the number of possible dumbasses in MAGIC is reduced for us.  Everything that is in place here is there for a specific reason.” Klaas turned to Hono, “And what’s your excuse?”

“Um...I burped?”

“I WAS REFERRING TO THE HALLWAY YOU LITTLE SHIT.”

“I used a wrong rune?”

“NOW LOOK HERE YOU LITTLE F-”

“Klaas. That is no way to treat a fellow student.” A woman with long silvery hair and a white dress spoke up from behind Klaas.  Nobody had even noticed she was there.

“Sorry Harmony.”

“That’s better. Now Hono, could you please tell us exactly what happened that made you feel a runic card was necessary?” Her honey-gold eyes held nothing but encouragement.

“I don’t want to actually use magic.” Hono pouted.

“That’s certainly interesting.  Perhaps we should talk about that later.  But for now, why did you feel that any magic was necessary?  What was happening in that hallway?”

“That….”

“Perhaps a chat in private? No Klaas that would not include you, get over yourself.”

“If it would be possible Ma’am.”

“Alright, come with me and we’ll get this all sorted out.  And you two should probably head to either your dorms or one of the free training rooms.  Klaas,” her eyes narrowed, and the regularly confident man shrank in his seat.  “We’ll talk later.”

…