[center][b]The Academy
Night-time[/b]

[i]Collab: Merlin Hawk, Yoshua, Wind Wild[/i][/center]

Nodding and watching Ian massage his shoulder absentmindedly, Reates again noted the misaligned essence in that area. The doctors had done a marvelous job, but almost no one possessed the sight and while there was magitech which allowed a fairly accurate diagram of a body’s essence. Still, nothing was quite as good as the real thing and so he hardly blamed the fellows for missing what he now saw.

Then Ian crumpled to the floor, mere moments after Abstractis briefly revealed itself to him. A look of worry crossed his features and he began to kneel down to put a hand on the boy’s shoulder--intending to steady him. However, Hazumi beat him to it.
 
Shock colored Ian's features, No way in hell Koshmar could be doing this, something else was going on. Koshmar wouldn't dare use Mistress Hazumi's visage or try to replicate her. Hazumi's touch sent shivers down Ian's spine. This was the real deal for sure. He looked up into her golden eyes. "Mistress Hazumi, I'm so sorry I'm rather tired and Professor...." Ian trailed off as he tried to remember Reates’ name. "Master Saerne!" He finally managed to dig through his muddled memories. "He was just helping me with my arm and I got a little disoriented." Ian lied and his ears turned slightly pink. He didn't want Hazumi to think that he was unfit to be at the academy or incapable of controlling his instrument. "I'll be fine I just need some sleep," more lies but Ian couldn't help himself.

Deciding to kneel despite the elegant woman’s arrival, Reates tried to lock eyes with Ian, his concern evident. As Hazumi made contact and the boy responded to him. [B]”You’re far more tired than ya seem ta be lettin’ on, are ye certain you don’t want to find your bed an’ have a nap?”[/B]

Feeling somewhat responsible, at least for the boy’s confusion, Reates snapped his fingers once, then twice more after a brief pause. [B]”This is Abstractis,”[/B] around them fluttered literally hundreds of green, luminous butterflies. The majority of them rested on the walls and ceiling, with a good amount finding purchase over the surface of Reates’ body. He did not appear at all bothered by this, [B]”He’s a companion, ye might say,”[/B] he stated before snapping his fingers once more. The swarm faded into the background again, disappearing entirely after several brief moments.

Following this, Reates reached out for Ian’s hand, offering to help him up. [B]”Don’t tell the other students though, not a soul, aye?”[/B] The professor smirked and gave him a wink, intending it to be a secret between the two, something of an inside joke.

Meanwhile, a gentle smile fluttered across Hazumi’s lips as Ian spoke. Being referred to as “Mistress” was something she had grown accustomed to. Yet it never failed to touch her heart, and warm it from the inside. Every time she heard it it sounded special. Often she felt like she truly was appreciated as she should be. Other times she thought she was receiving appreciation she wasn’t worthy of.
 
And yet the boy’s words were misleading. She could see it. Did the students still not trust her, like the principal suggested? Did they perhaps even still fear her?
 
They had good reason to.
 
The thought stung. She wasn’t what she used to be back then. Yet, back then it had still been her. A more vicious her.
 
And part of that now lived in the boy. Her hand on his was soft and treacherous like the gentle brush of nettle-leaves. Soon enough he would feel the burning itch in his arm, realise that her eyes were not only staring at his, but through them. That her question wasn’t just a question – it was a demand.
 
[i]What are you doing to my boy?[/i]
 
Master Saene had stepped in, averting the boy’s eyes towards him, distracted his attention… Still, Hazumi’s eyes never left the boy. However she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at Koshmar. There was no softness in her gaze.
 
[i]You forget where you stand. [/i]
 
As the gentle stinging sensation travelled up the boy’s arm, so did the being’s consciousness recede. Fade.
 
[i]Know your place![/i]
 
The stinging reached Ian’s insides and broke out like a dozen burning torches. It was engulfing every inch of him in a fierce embrace he never asked for.
Hazumi’s hand was squeezing Ian’s while Reates was holding his shoulder. To a bystander without the gift to see essence, it would appear like the perfect picture of companionship and care. To someone endowed with that gift, it might look like torture.
 
Still, when Hazumi’s hand left Ian’s, so too did the pain. A sudden lightness befell him like a weight lifted off his shoulder. Like an embedded collar removed, the lack of pain only confirmed the previous existence of such.
 
 Ian forced a smile at Reates “I won’t tel-” He broke off as the pins and needles sensation changed to an acute burning sensation. [i]You’ll have to excuse me Ian, It seems the good lady wants a word[/i]. And with that Koshmar was gone. Ian felt the weight of Fidrieon disappear at his side and for a moment he panicked. He rolled his shoulder and surprise crossed his face. A genuine smile stole onto his face “Thank you professor!”

Letting a gentle flow of essence from him sooth the boy’s nerves, Reates nodded, waiting out his pain before smiling slightly. He offered the boy a hand even as he himself rose to his feet, [B]”Not in the slightest, lad. ‘Tonly takes me, but a flick of the wrist and the twist of a cat’s whisker,”[/B] the amusement moved back into his eyes, which briefly glanced at Hazumi, his head nodding before his gaze returned to the boy.

She would hear Abstractis’ voice relay his full message, [I]’Gratefulness to you, Hazumi, our companion noticed a struggle, but could not ordain its origin in the ballroom’s din of essence.’[/I] Ian would not hear Abstractis this time.

Meanwhile, the professor simply waited for Ian to take his hand and rise onto his feet again. The lad was able bodied and certainly able minded if he’d been resisting the influence of such a troublesome instrument for so long. He estimated it’d been almost 48 or so hours since the boy had slept properly, if not longer.

“My pleasure.” Hazumi thought at Abstractis. The creation never failed to amuse her, its essence so close to both beast and human that it was hard to tell where exactly it belonged. So in the end, she always treated it like it was treating her.
 
Her consciousness always operated on many more levels than one – it was never truly confined to the physical space her body occupied. Of course, the biggest part of it was here. But countless smaller shards of it spread over the entire world and monitored every movement of every individual. Currently, in a far corner of the world, a war was starting currently, even just in Loom, a dozen people were dying. But while she registered all that, not everything had the same weight in her mind. She loved the entire world; she loved all the beings in it with that motherly love only a parent could feel for their children and gods - to their creations. That was what she’d inherited from the Gatekeepers. But her love for everything was unlike theirs. It wasn’t unconditional and it wasn’t evenly distributed. Maybe if she were whole, it would have been. Or maybe then the cold and impartial nature of the Gates would have overpowered the emotions. She was a collage of feelings and the lack of such, all ruled by a human heart. 
 
Strangers fighting, strangers dying, those were scratches on that heart that would sting and heal fast. People she knew, suffering, that was something else. And she knew it was wrong, and she never told anyone. But maybe it was more often than she thought, that her eyes revealed the truth she wouldn’t.
 
She felt guilty for what that piece of her was inflicting on a mere human boy that deserved better. And she felt ashamed in knowing that she had to return his nightmares to him, sooner or later.

“I’m sorry, Ian.” Hazumi spoke, her voice motherly once again, her smile genuine and apologetic. “I know it wasn’t pleasant. But you’ll be free of Fidrieon for a few days. It was having a bad influence on you so I had to remove it. Come take it back when you feel that you are ready.”

Ian looked at Hazumi with surprise. “I can handle….” his voice trailed off as he realized that he didn’t want to lie to her again. Even if it was only a thin one that no one believed. Feeling as though for once the storm inside had quieted he slid back onto both knees. “How did you know?” he’d heard she could see Essence but he’d always been too intimidated by Mistress Hazumi to ask. It was embarrassing to have his fragment taken but he felt an overriding sense of gratitude more than anything else. 
 
Patting the boy’s now-healed shoulder, Hazumi stood and smoothed out the skirts of her dress. She advised Ian to have a hot bath and a day off lectures and thanked Reates for taking care of his shoulder. She bid the two men farewell and headed to one of the tables lined up at the two far ends of the ball room. There she found a pleasingly full glass of champagne and relaxed her back into the chair, taking a sip of the golden liquid.
 
[i]Are you drinking this because you like it, or just because it looks good?[/i] Koshmar teased in her head.
 
[i]You’re not going to be very pleasant company, are you?[/i] Hazumi asked and before he could answer, stole his consciousness, integrating it into her own. The voice was gone and the sound of music was the most important thing once again.