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January 8th - 4:45am[/center] 

Early morning mist drifted off the ocean, seeping across the campus to swirl around students’ ankles as the last lingering classes finally ended. At first the campus was still quiet, the exhaustion that came with extended magical working after a break period dimmed the excitement that came with the freedom from classes but it couldn’t last forever. Soon enough, the campus buzzed with energy and noise as friends found each other again, tales of how they’d spent their breaks breaking into radacious laughter. The paths filled with students unhurriedly finding their ways to hang out spots, club meetings, and even the occasional rush to the library or arena to get a head start on assignments. 

Varis clicked his tongue irritably as he stepped out of the lecture hall and into the cool morning air. The chaos that the campus inevitably devolved into after the structure of the schedule fell away exhausted and annoyed him to no end. Didn’t these ingrates have anything better to do than involve themselves in meaningless conversation? Even his own mage had succumbed to it, slouching outside between periods and playing with his phone. He’d thought the boy above that but apparently [i]Starags[/i] were still just mages, short attention span and all. He instinctively started debating how many lines it was worth but caught himself. Varis should technically reward the boy for when he accepted the offer―Varis knew he’d get him even before they’d left the dorm this morning, Staragian sense of duty and all―but he hadn’t been sure what would be appropriate. Forgiving him a single transgression seemed reasonable, Varis supposed. 

[color=f7976a]“Now that we’ve finally escaped that dreadfully dusty Professor’s sad excuse of a lecture,”[/color] Varis sighed, disappointed in Ryner’s choice of staff. Between permitting mages such unregulated freedom and her staff’s clear incompetency, he was surprised the Queen hadn’t razed the whole place to the ground. [color=f7976a] “I have to get my living quarters arriaged sufficiently for a serious night. I made the boy an offer that he won't turn away and I need the proper ambiance.”[/color] Varis didn’t bother looking back to see if Eris had followed him out of the hall. [color=f7976a] “Do you need to attend to the sad excuse of a mage Ryner stuck you with?”[/color]

[hr]

A rotund vampire watched the mage as he left his lecture, unseen by those around her. She’d barely understood a word of the language, the modern tongue having slipped her mind long ago, but she’d caught a name: [i]Taldin[/i]. She remembered that mage. A funny little man whose magic didn’t work quite right. It was a sad night when she’d put him down. 

But that didn’t matter as she stalked the mage. The hair color was off, brown instead of black, but otherwise if she hadn’t known better, she might think her daughter walked once more. He was surly where she’d been inquisitive, defensive where she’d been loving, but the eyes, were full of life and passion, spoke to a time long ago before everything was so messy, so complicated. 

She hadn’t been looking for him. That thief thought he’d been so well hidden but she’d always had a nose for his bullshit and it only took half a century to find where he’d squirreled himself away. She’d followed him after he left, trailed him back to this grooming ground, without really knowing what to do now that she’d found him but it didn’t matter anymore because she found something far more precious. 

[i]Maxwell Aldermann.[/i]

She’d failed her daughter. She won’t fail this time.