[center]
[h1][color=f7941d]Dakota Brookes[/color][/h1]
[sub]Interacting with: [color=DodgerBlue]Damien[/color] [@Achronum][/sub]
[/center]

Normally Dakota would have laughed at Damien’s stammered response, listening to him try and salvage what he could from the misconception that had just occurred. There was no sense of judgement from the youth, but Dakota had a habit of pushing jokes just a smidge too far at times. This was the first person Dakota had managed to click with so far that didn’t feel especially awkward or forced. It would be a real shame to lose a friend so soon, especially in a place like this school.

Instead, Dakota opted to grin instead, offering a curt shrug before falling back into line with the pace Damien set. It became clear rather quickly that he didn’t actually remember the way with any degree of clarity, but Dakota didn’t mind the roundabout route. An adventure wasn’t good until someone started walking in the wrong direction.

Eventually the pair was able to locate the stop, the line a bubbling entity of a surprising amount of order. Students were paired together talking about this and that, somehow maintaining an actual line instead of an amorphous crowd. Small bits of various conversations floated from the group back to the approaching pair, but nothing that really drew Dakota’s full attention. There was mention of some guy named Eris which Dakota assumed meant the oddball from an earlier class. Despite the vampiric world’s penchant for strange names and titles, even Dakota doubted there were many people who went by that name.

Ever so often Dakota would hear a hushed whisper about a vampire throwing a mage across the arena quickly followed by a shuffling of bodies. This, for whatever reason, annoyed the young mage. That particular event happened not too long ago, and yet it was already a topic of conversation at a bus stop of all places? On the one hand, being able to identify that kind of a threat in order to avoid it was one thing, but it was Dakota’s experience that the victim quickly becomes the center of attention.

Despite the many conversations Dakota could have tapped into, a movement out of the corner the eye caught the youth’s attention. Glancing over to the side, Dakota caught sight of Joryldin rushing up to speak with a small group. From the looks of things, one of them was a vampire… which shouldn’t have seemed all that weird if not for the fact that Jory had spoken so harshly of the race before. A change of perspective wasn’t a bad thing, but the timing of it all sat strangely in the gut. He didn’t seem nervous at all, at least not from the distance Dakota was spying at, but his mannerisms seemed almost relaxed which was a big difference from how he had been back at the dorms.

[i][color=f7941d]What have you gotten yourself into?[/color][/i] Dakota thought silently before slowly nudging Damien with a gentle elbow. Once Damien’s attention was grabbed, the youth pointed the small group out with a tilt of their chin, expression difficult to read.

“[color=f7941d]That’s him, my partner… or so-called anyway. Has enough sense to tell me that he’s going to be out late and not to wait up, but won’t tell me anything about what he’s doing. Now I catch him hanging out with another vampire, something doesn’t feel right about this.[/color]” A scowl was beginning to form on Dakota’s face but their eyes shone with concern. There was no real context given for Damien, the youth forgetting that he had not seen the text message, nor had they spoken at much detail about the boy’s previous behavior… the realization of sounding like some jealous lover dawning quickly.

“[color=f7941d]Ah, sorry. I meant to just point him out, not trying to get you wrapped up in anything.[/color]” This time it was Dakota’s turn to grin and laugh sheepishly.

[center]
[h1][color=f49ac2]Amaris Marivaldi[/color][/h1]
[sub]Interacting with: [/sub]
[/center]

Leaning against the far wall Amaris stood with her arms criss crossed along her torso, unblinking eyes locked on the book awaiting her return. She could feel the warmth of the light in the tank on her side but she couldn’t bring herself to move just yet. The countess, despite her discomfort, found herself continuing to just stare at the book from a distance... wondering. There was little in the way of understanding of what stayed her in these moments, especially after all she had gone through to get it in the first place.

Amaris had been so ready to face expulsion from the school, not to mention severe punishment from the Crown, yet now that she had her prize she found herself hiding from it. Sure, the sudden appearance of her name among the list had been rather startling, however there was something more than surprise at work. It was a sinking feeling deep in her gut that only twisted tighter the longer her thoughts dwelled on the object.

Her father had rejected the information and the consequences that went with it, or so she had been told. But how much of those words could she actually believe? Princess Ryner had seemed pleased with the countess’ decision to keep the original copy, going as far as to lie to her own sister about the arrangement and provide false intel to the royal guard. There was also the matter of her parting words, more warning that instruction the longer Amaris sat on them.

[i]“[color=bc8dbf]I would consider, before you try what is in that book, the information you’ve learned today and attempt to reconcile that with the father you knew. I hope you see with new eyes. For history goes to the victor and we have yet to win.[/color]”[/i]

The concept of winning spoke of a struggle, but it was the ‘yet’ that held Amaris’ attention. Could it be that such a struggle was still ongoing? And if so, who all was involved? It was as if Amaris had been watching a play only to discover the back curtain concealed an entirely different play that contradicted the source material. The whole situation had trapped the countess on a carousel of thoughts, running her round and round until she couldn’t distinguish directions any longer.

There was no other alternative.

Amaris finally pushed away from the wall and approached the vanity, taking a seat before opening the cover once again. The pages looked exactly as she had left them, her name still shining back at her in scarlet text. Whatever happened, whatever was happening, she was now a permanent part of it and there was no erasing that fact. Her only option was to move forward and hope that it didn’t get her killed.

Flipping to the next page, Amaris almost burst out laughing. Somehow it was not at all a surprise that the first topic of study would be how to hide the damned tome, and yet the relief just about brought tears to the countess’ eyes. It would seem her nerves were beginning to get the better of her after all.

Glancing over the text, the first lesson it thought to teach was something known as a glamour. It was a general type spell with many applications as far as she was aware of. Magic was cast to change the appearance of something, make it easier to hide or misdirect those searching for it. She had seen it used several times by the researchers employed by the family, but she had never once seen them use a process anything like what the book was describing.

She read the words silently to herself for fear of accidentally setting something off she would have no control over. Words of power spoken careless was just asking for trouble, though she doubted she would be able to pronounce half of them correctly anyway. The glamour in question not only called for a sinister sounding incantation but a sacrifice of blood in specific amounts. If that was any indicator of what the rest of the spells would look like, she was in for a painful time. She would have to be cautious not to draw attention to herself with injuries if she was going to be practicing any of them.

Pushing the extra thoughts aside, Amaris returned her full attention to the words before her. There was a recommendation to start small before attempting a full cast, but the patches of information weren’t exactly complete. The text gave her an amount of blood to be used for the full spell but said nothing about how much should be used for a small piece like it was suggesting. Was it the same either way? How was she supposed to know what was going wrong if the paper didn’t change colors?

“[color=f49ac2]Well Getsuga, it seems like this is going to require a little more research than I thought. Do you think the library would have anything that could help me?[/color]” She asked, turning around in her seat to gaze at the reptile who lifted his head to gaze back.

“[color=f49ac2]I know, I know. There won’t be any books on this type of magic, but maybe I could get a better understanding of magic itself if I read up on it a bit… Oh, but someone might get suspicious if a vampire starts checking out books on magic spells. So what should I do, it’s not like there’s anyone I can tell about this who knows how to cast-[/color]”

[i]”[color=bc8dbf]Lord Marivaldi is fully aware of all the details…[/color]”[/i]

[i][color=f49ac2]It’s worth a shot I guess. Who better to explain magic to me than a former mage? He’s probably going to be really mad at me for getting into this sort of situation in the first place though. I did promise to stay out of trouble after all.[/color][/i] A sigh of resignation was followed by the rustling of Amaris searching for her phone. Turning the screen on, Amaris selected a number from her list of contacts that did not have a name associated with it and opened an empty text thread.

Her fingers tapped lightly against the screen as she entered her message and sent it off, sitting back in her chair to await the possibility of a response.

[hider=Text]
[i]Apologies for the hour, are you free?[/i]
[/hider]

Her words were intentionally casual and overly familiar as it would defeat the purpose of concealing the number to address the recipient as she normally should. In all honesty, Amaris had only intended to use the given contact in the case of an actual emergency but the situation was much different now. After all, she couldn’t very well hide from her Lord forever after speaking with Ryner now could she?