Finley found themselves walking with Annika. They had a meeting with their advisor Croan, though they much more wished they could go to the dorm and spend time with Dysphoria. It was irritating to be told where to go and when, but they had signed up for that when agreeing to attend the school. And the school had its benefits. Such lovely benefits.

”I do not bite. Unless you ask,” Finley told Annika as she stood as far apart from them as was physically possible in the hallway.

Upon entering Croan’s office Finley sat quickly on one of the chairs, not quite flopping, but that was only because Finley had had an impressive training of looking like they were unbothered by anything.

”Hello Croan. Yes, we are in the same coven. I did a binding spell for our little group. We shall find our way back. Despite Annika’s blood being slightly resistant to such machinations. Not as resistant as Rohan’s, which I’m surprised even worked.”

Rohan... the strange cursed creature. Little love was lost between them. Rohan was nervous about Finley, any who knew the fae were. But none of their pleasant demeanor had worn him down over the years that they knew him. Constance had not tried to force the matter. She did not care how people interacted with each other as long as it was civil enough and the blood did not get on her. Finley remembered her face the moment she learned how their powers worked. No wonder she never joined them in any of the rooms at Haven.

Finley pulled a loaf of bread out of their bag and started eating it. The bread was not sliced, they did not put anything on it. They just ate directly from a nearly full loaf, this did not seem to be a new thing as the loaf had clear bite marks.

”Would you like some, Annika?” They offered.

---

Leaving room 12 had left Connie fuming. She was irritated at Croan. She was terrified. She was angry. There were a lot of feelings she was feeling. As she walked to Prof. Ravoux’s office she counted. She sorted through them. Placing them into discrete mental boxes. Not closing those boxes, but organizing them. It was a lot to sort through and she hadn’t finished by the time she arrived at Prof. Ravoux’s office.

Entering the cottage she felt some of the boiling emotions peel off of her. She paused, exited, and re-entered the room four times before she finally felt centered enough to follow Prof. Ravoux’s directions. Gently she placed her bag down near the entrance, sat down and made a face of mild disgust at the body of the rabbit.

”Do you have a towel or something that I can place on my lap?” The cold clipped tone that had been in her voice while in room 12 was gone now, replaced with her normal slightly detached tone. Connie couldn’t stand body fluids. Blood or any other, getting on her. She had considered once that maybe she had OCD, but had never really dug into it. As far as she was concerned it did not affect her life enough to be an issue. Except in moments like this. She also wished she had gloves, her hands shook a little at the idea of touching the dead thing.

Zéphyrine chuckled slightly, nodding as she pointed with her head towards the nest in the corner. “‘Elp yourself,” she offered. There were towels mixed in there with the various blankets. She had been doing this sort of work for far too long to care if a bit of blood or guts got on her - and given her nature as a shifter, it was more common for her to find a bit of dried brain matter on her heel than to not. “You want to talk about w’at’s on your mind, chère? ‘Arkness said t’ese sessions are meant for us to get to know eac’ ot’er as mentee and mentor, but I reckon we know eac’ ot’er plenty by now.”

Connie gathered a towel, finding the least crunchy one, and lay it out on her lap to start preparing the rabbit. ”I have quite a bit on my mind actually. I am working on a Mystery with Croan,” she said his name with a bit of venom in her tone. Connie took a deep breath and re-centered herself. Focusing for a moment on the task at hand.

”I shifted between my swift form and into human form. As I did, I saw something. That has never happened before. I do not have visions. But I saw his past. I saw him with his lord, and lines of people falling at his hands.”

Zéphyrine cocked her head to the side, curious. “A vision? Mm… Your magic or ‘is?” she inquired. Her own opinions on Croan were complex, but at the end of the day, he was one of them - he was part of her pack. “Visions can be as murky as a swamp. Many a witc’ has lost more t’an just sleep over t’em. And you know as well as I t’at t’is world ain’t easy for folks like us. Croan’s ‘ad ‘is own ‘ards’ips. Do you t’ink ‘e’s wicked?”

”Hmm, I can’t say if it was his or mine. It was his history. I don’t know if wicked is a word I would use. But he has little unclear intentions. The fact that he has been obsessed with this statue for so long and that unknown cohorts have lost their mind to it, but he continues to choose to let us go into it blind is frustrating. I am meticulous. I plan, I do not like to leap into things blindly.” The longer Connie spoke the more irritated her voice became. She stopped herself taking a deep breath, calming herself down again.

”I could have touched it and tried to turn the stone to flesh, but I won’t, not until I know more about it.” She shook her head. ”Unlike Jake, who just... licks things he doesn’t understand.”

She nodded sympathetically. There was a reason Zéphyrine did not lead a coven. Risking the lives of young witches, before they had even fully bloomed, it was too much to bear. No, she much preferred keeping them tucked away behind her skirts, practicing simple lessons where the price of failure was nothing she could not fix.

But that was not the point of the coven system.

“Do you know w’y we ‘ave you look into these mysteries?” she asked. “You’re old enoug’ now, mon amie, t’at you could ‘ave left t’e nest and struck out on your own, your own witc’. But you decided to stay. W’y? We taug’t you all your spells, your potions and incantations - t’e only t’ing left to teac’ is a lesson most don’t get a second c’ance at. ‘Ow to live - ‘ow to see a problem t’ats killed a t’ousand of your own and walk away to tell the tale. If you ain’t up for t’at, t’eres no s’ame in it. But t’is is w’at it means to live in t’is world as a witch’ - you gotta keep on leapin’ in blind. T’e day you can’t do t’at is t’e day you meet our Lady.”

Connie was quiet for a moment, thinking over what Ravoux said. She contemplated. If thousands of other witches had tried this, what made her better than them?

”But if I do leap in blind, it can kill me. Preparing for what the dangers are mean I am less likely to die. The previous cohorts had just as much training, maybe more. Yes, I’ve gone to this school a long time, many that knew me when I first came are long gone, moved on to other things. But I like learning. The environment here has always helped and fostered my skills.” And kept her safe from the outside world.

“I ain’t disagreein’ wit’ you. Your odds are better if you prepare. But t’e coven system ain’t about learnin’ t’e way you want - if you want a test to study for, ‘omework to fill out, t’en you’re in t’e wrong place. I can talk at you till I’m blue in t’e face and it won’t teac’ ya ‘ow to live when t’e w’ole world wants ya dead. Learn to function in c’aos. Or leave, go walk in t’e mortal world and take t’eir exams, take t’eir lessons. T’e pat’ only gets ‘arder from ‘ere. I’m sorry, chère, but it’s t’e trut’.”

Connie chewed on her lip. She had not spent much time outside of the French Quarter since she was a little kid. ”Should I just try to transform this statue? Turn it from stone back into the flesh it once was?” Connie wanted to do that. She had resisted the urge. But fear had held her back.

---

---

---

---

Annika eyed her professor while Rohan cut into her. Consider anything as a resource? Well, that sounded a little ominous. Her father always pushed her to do things outside her boundaries and comfort zones, but there were also lines he never wanted her to cross. Annika didn’t think Sariel had the same thought process.

Annika smiled appreciatively at Rohan after he made the cut and handed the glass container to Finley. However, Rohan was already back at work. Right, off with her too then. After wrapping her arm, Annika set to work with a spool of silver. She channelled her power into it, with some help from Nochella, before adding it to the heart. As the construction started to pulse like a real heart, Annika watched her silver wink in and out of the flesh, almost as if her work were the veins of their little coven project.

Then the room shifted, and Nochella hissed before disappearing. The world screamed as if it were being ripped apart. Annika felt a wetness on her cheeks, and when she pulled her fingers back, they were covered in blood. She swallowed, but wasn’t given much time to absorb it, as whatever was happening continued to progress.

Annika scanned the room as each member was connected to their object and Sariel. Annika shivered, her hair standing on end until the connection was complete. Sariel’s attitude was jarring in its pleasant dismissal. Annika blinked a couple of times before looking at Rohan.

She frowned and caught the cloth Franklin tossed. “Says the guy with a hole in his chest.” She dabbed at the wetness by her ears before gathering her things and leaving. What a strange first day.

---

Annika whipped her head to look at Finley. They said they wouldn’t bite without permission. Calm yourself, girl. Still, Annika smiled awkwardly at Finley before laughing, painfully so.

They reached Croan’s office quickly, and Annika found a seat. She smiled at the professor and nodded to his assessment. Shadow magic. She had only ever had one teacher. Annika wondered how Croan would measure up.

”It was interesting, to say the least. It sounded like the world was screaming, and I had an adverse reaction,” Annika noted, gesturing at her ears. She had cleaned them as best she could, but Annika was sure she had missed some blood that had no doubt dried now. Not to mention the unhealed cut on her arm.

”When we have questions, how would you like us to schedule appointments with you?” Annika asked curiously; she was new to the school after all.

---

---

---

---

Cal frowned at Nick and shook his head. No. There was something more going on with Mikkail. Sure, there were knee-jerk reactions, but that wasn’t usually Mikkail’s MO. Not to mention that man was always the calm one in a situation. Excitable, sure, but stressed? Never. That alone was a red flag. Why didn’t Nicky get that?

Cassiopeia came over then, interrupting the couple's conversation and anything else that could have happened between the bookstacks. Cal was mildly annoyed, but smiled cheerfully nonetheless, appraising Cassi’s book haul.

”Incredible! Let’s head—” Cal’s words cut off as a scream echoed through the library. The sound of fluttering met Cal’s ears next, and Luna came flying frantically around a bookshelf.

Willow.

Callaghan ran after Cassie. If anything happened to Willow…. Cal felt tension roll through his neck at the idea of someone under his care, in his coven, getting hurt.

Cassi was the first to Willow’s side. After assessing Willow, Cal quickly took in their surroundings. He saw a worn book, open and a little way away from the two women. Cal walked over and attempted to collect the book. After, he returned to Willow and Cassie.

”Are you okay?”

”I don’t know if I’m okay…?” That made sense. Cal had no idea what had happened, but Willow looked rather shaken.

”Alright, well, I think we should go see Professor Zephyrine. She’s our healer,” Cal said, quickly looking at Cassie as he explained before looking back at Willow.

”Uh, okay.”

Cal smiled gently, even though Willow couldn’t see. ”Can you walk?” he asked.

”Nope. Not without Luna, and I don't know where she is."

Cal nodded. ”Okay. I’m going to carry you then,” he said, and carefully scooped Willow into his arms after shoving the book he had grabbed and the weird book Willow had dropped into a bag and slung it over his shoulders.

”If you want Cass, you could check those books out or just leave them, and I’ll let the librarian know I’ll be back for them. We can resume our study session later,” he said and left with Willow without another word. Hopefully, Luna would find their way and follow.

---

Callaghan paced in Professor Zephyrine’s hut while they examined Willow. Willow explained her symptoms and what had happened in the library, which left Cal with far more questions than answers. Just what the hell was in that book, and what the hell was Mikkail making them all go after? If Willow was permanently scarred over this…

Zephyrine worked hard to cleanse Willow. Despite how tense Cal was feeling, the sound of tinkling bells relaxed his shoulder muscles to a point where he could finally sit down. He listened intently while the professor handed Willow a tincture, instructing her to rub it into her wrists to soothe and calm her mind, and gave her some protective charms to ward off negative energy.

The idea of protective charms wasn’t unusual to Callaghan. Growing up where he did, the humans had a strong culture with witch doctoring and talismans. There were even a few his people had adopted over the years. The next bit threw Cal for a loop. Willow was instructed to crack an egg each morning and have someone examine it. If the egg looked weird in any shape or form, she needed to bathe in water exposed to the full moon's light. Not eclipse water. Zephyrine seemed very keen on that distinction.

”Does she have to bathe alone?’ Cal blurted before common sense caught up. Thankfully, Zephyrine didn’t bat an eye. In fact, she seemed happy with the idea, going as far as to recommend bathing together. Cal glanced at Willow. If only she could see him right now.

”Well, only if the lady consents,” he said with a wide grin. ”Thank you for your time, Professor Ravoux,” Cal said, his tone shifting to try to compliment the French of her name. ”We should be going, Willow. I think I heard the gong for our next class. We’re meeting with our advisors, which means you are stuck with me for a little while longer.”

He walked over to Willow and nudged her with his elbow, offering his arm to help her walk. He would carry her, but he figured it would take a little more time with students milling in the hallway.

---

Cal expertly led Willow through the school to the Observatory Tower. He took one look at the stairs, then at Willow, before he made the decision to carry her, this time on his back. It was far safer, Cal determined. Even if Luna assisted, one misstep could spell a nasty drop and another visit to Professor Ravoux.

Once they reached the top, Cal set Willow back down. He looked around, smiling to himself. ”You must ask Luna to show you the view. You’ll love it,” Cal assured her.

Callaghan looked at his professor in a new light. Something was going on with him. This mystery the coven was tasked with was no simple feat. Whatever it was, Cal wondered just how deep this personal connection he had went. However, Cal still looked up to this man and couldn’t help but grin and laugh when Mikkail offered to introduce himself a second time.

”I mean, I never tire of your introductions, but we should let Willow lead the conversation. Then, after, perhaps there will be room to ask about our coven’s mystery?” Cal set his pack down and opened up his bag to grab his notebook and take notes for Willow, should it be required.

---

Jake had been having such a great day!! And it was only going to get better!! He’d been told he was supposed to meet with his advisor next, and after how fun working with Croan had been, his expectations were sky-high. To make things even better, he didn’t have to go alone, either!! His magic was apparently something called Wild Magic and he wasn’t really sure how that was different from Chaos Magic, it might have been the same thing? There were a lot of terms he just didn’t know, and it seemed weird to him too, that people were naming and dividing types of magic. Wasn’t magic, well, magic? What made something more chaotic and less wild? It gave him a headache to think about, but he was definitely going to ask the advisor!!

He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, as the door opened up to their advisor’s office at the appointed time, revealing…

“Heelloooooooo?” Jake called out. “Magic professooooor?”

There were so many things in the room, however, that he immediately became distracted and started going through them. He picked up a strange dodecahedron, with little knobs and notches on it, and started trying to peer through the little holes in it. He gave it a good shake. “I don’t think he’s in here!”

Cassie had been looking forward to meeting her advisor. From her knowledge of how college worked, the advisor was your go-to person for help with your school career. They were also the object of one’s affections sometimes or a rival for your heart, but she figured that wouldn’t be the case here.

She walked along with Jake, thankful she wouldn’t be alone. Jake’s energy was positively infectious, and Cassie found herself as excited as he was.

Cassie walked inside as Jake opened the door. The room was empty of people, but filled with an assortment of wonder. Cassie walked over to where some items were laid out for them as Jake played with some weird multi-sided dice thingy. ”No, I don’t think they are in there. Perhaps the letters here will tell us more?”

She opened hers up and read it, her excitement falling slowly and slowly as she read. It seemed their advisor was on vacation, which was fine as Cassie believed everyone deserved to take vacation time (and it was for their husband which was sweet!), but surely the time for vacation was not at the start of a new school year. ”Oh, it seems they aren’t here, but still intend to teach us? I’m new to this magic stuff kinda, but that seems extreme even by this school’s standards. How are we supposed to learn from someone we can’t even speak to?”

“Oh! What does mine say? I don’t know how to read,” Jake explained, bounding on over to Cassie like a puppy, having left the strange object behind where he’d found it. He peered over her shoulder at the piece of paper, squinting as if that would somehow let him read the letters on it, but it was just… a bunch of squiggles. He had no idea how those made words or how anyone could recognize the shapes. “So how are we being taught if he isn’t here?” he tilted his head, a little confused. “Maybe Connie is going to teach us! I like Connie. She turned into a bird today!”

Oh. Cassie hadn’t considered that Jake didn’t know how to read. Oh cripes, did that make her ableist?!? She swears she isn’t! ”Oh, let me read it to you then.” Cassie read out Jake’s letter. Once done, she set it down in case he wanted to take it with him. ”It looks like we have daily tasks to do, exercises on how to manage our emotions. I guess Chaos magic and Wild magic are similar in that it connects to our feelings. Makes sense now that I think about it. You have mantras to do and I have a magic pen, and all of this will somehow be tracked by them. We can also contact this Pixie person if we have questions. Since we’re together on this, perhaps we can practice our daily stuff together? I can help read them to you. I don’t think Connie is going to teach us, but perhaps she can help?” Cassie let the bird comment slide, though she desperately wanted to learn more.

“Awww, he’s married! That’s so cute! I wanna be married one day! Can you be married to a lot of people, though? I wanna marry everyone!” He paused for a moment, blinking as if something had occurred to him, before he corrected himself. “No, I wanna marry maybe like two people! More than two would be too much and wouldn’t be allowed,” he decided, the smile then reappearing on his face. “What’s a mantra? And yeah!!! Let’s do it!! Do we start now? I figured out how to make myself vanish for a second and reappear in the same exact spot earlier, it was super cool!! What can you do???”

”Ok wow, and I thought I was energetic. I am pretty sure it depends on where you are, but some people marry multiple partners, I think? I don’t know, I just want to find Mr. Right and fall in love and get married and live happily ever after!” Cassie drifted off wistfully a bit, before she came back down to reality. ”Oh right, umm…matras are like words or phrases you say repeatedly to like…calm yourself down or relax. Like during yoga where people say “ohm” over and over.”

Cassie looked around the room. ”I suppose we could try? I am not fully sure what I can do. It’s sort of why I am here. I know I can….it’s hard to explain. I believe Chaos magic was the term, but it’s more like I can alter things. What about you?”a

“We’re gonna find him for you!! Can I help? I want to help!!” Jake couldn’t stand staying still for a moment longer, as he started to pace back and forth, practically circling Cassie. Every bit of his being wanted to just fucking run, combined with a strange urge to lift the heaviest thing he could find and do so repeatedly.

“Oh! Frankie said - he said that wild magic is volatile and unpredictable. He said it might explain why my face hurt really bad and then there was water coming out of my eyes and it was hard to get it to stop and it was wild - ha, get it, wild! Because it’s wild magic! I love that! It’s so funny!”

”Jake, it sounds like you were crying. Which is fine and is normal, but that’s part of what our advisor said about controlling emotions. Gosh, I hope watching a sad movie doesn’t trigger our magic.” She wondered about that.

”I mean I am sure the right person will come in time. I want to learn magic first. Romance second.” Though a certain handsome dragon came to mind instantly. And then her mind wandered back to him and Willow, how she had tried to help Willow only for Cal to snake in and run off with her to the healer, leaving Cassie alone. Not to mention how he was clearly annoyed she had interrupted…whatever it was he was doing with Nick. There was more going on than he was admitting. She could feel herself getting warm in her cheeks before she took a deep breath. ”What say we start with some of the mantras listed and practice calming ourselves down?”

He paused in his pacing, before nodding. Crying. Right. That’s what it was called. He wasn’t sure what a movie was, but watching something sad making him feel sad made sense to him. Maybe the best thing to do for his magic, then, was only doing happy things! Like running and looking up at the stars and sitting on the grass with - nope, not that one, never mind! Just more running and helping people and being a good protector! “Right. Only alpha male bros don’t cry,” he said very seriously. “I learned that!” he beamed, proud of himself.

“Yes, let’s do it! Let’s do some mantras!!! What’s the first one? I’m so excited to calm down!!!”

”So the first one is “I am one with the force and the force is in me.” So repeat that over and over and try to clear your mind out of other thoughts and distractions. It helps to close your eyes and sit down. Like this.” Cassie sat and demonstrated. ”I’ll do it with you. I could use the relaxation.”

Jake nodded, as he quickly sat down on the ground, mirroring Cassie’s pose. “I am one with the force and the force is in me - I love that! I don’t know what it means! What’s the force and why is it in me? Does it hurt to have things in you?” Jake chattered. “Oh, oops, mind clear - mind very very very clear - not a single thought… Just the force… that I am one with… and it is in me…”

“The force…” he sounded almost dazed, as his head emptied of almost every thought, and he sat there, completely at peace - a complete 180 in terms of energy from just seconds ago. “... my name is Jake…” he murmured. “I’m one with the force…”

Cassie opened one eye as she watched Jake go from a bundle of energy to…complete control and relaxation? She hadn’t thought it possible, but if he could manage it, then his Wild Magic could be more controlled. She resumed doing the mantra, feeling herself calm down some. She needed this too.

---

---

---

Being dragged off by the ear left Root to haul tools out of the entrance to the Neverish. The owl packed things into the toolbox and hoisted it out, fluttering along as his master was led to a rather impressive “office.” Rohan’s attention was immediately grabbed by the lighting-struck table. The wood wizard took a great interest in the way it was carved to preserve the damage in such a way that one could tell where the lightning made contact. He fell into a chair and felt like he could get used to be in a room such as this. Root plopped his toolbox down at his feet and then perched up in another chair, standing on business.

”Pass.” Rohan did not dare drink around wizards and witches he didn’t know as well as Connie, or outside of particular occasions. He liked having his mental faculties in order.

As for what they were doing… Well, he already dropped the reveal earlier. Rohan wasn’t thrilled about getting into it, and Marino seemed like she was a few cards short of a full deck. But he was in a coven now, if there was a way, he wasn’t going to find it on his own at this rate.

”If we’re sharing… Yeah, I’ve got a few.” Rohan sunk into the chair. ”Mystery aside, I came to this school to find a way of controlling the curse I have. Can’t get rid of it, that’ll kill me. It’s more important than whatever’s in the Neverish, but that’s a close second after today. I want to stop the spread, and find some balance, keep what I’ve got left.”

“While reaching the understanding will be tricky, I'd be happy to offer the tools and insight on how to proceed. What steps have you taken to explore the curse thus far, what have your results been, and how did you adjust from there? Have you kept notes on your processes and have you rotated what has been effective?”

”A friend of mine can use her magic to reverse some of it, but that’s temporary. Most of what I do is just reject it. Being here in a place where the woods have no authority makes it angry, which makes me more like me in the process. It's the human things that push back, like building fences to keep animals out. Only problem is that it won't stay out forever. All just temporary fixes."

“Sounds like you need more information in general. All curses can be broken - we just need to understand the tether and the method. Do you know what creature cursed you and what region it is from? If so, I can give you limited authorization into more esoteric literature and artifacts that may help you understand your affliction.”

Rohan frowned. Even if it could be broken, that wouldn’t work for him.

”A very, very long time ago, before the inventiom of swords and paper and even bronze, there was a man named Namiki. Some people say he was born out of the foulest sins man ever committed, some say he was never human to begin with,” He began. ”He was native to where I grew up, way back home. The simple explanation is that I killed him and he got the last laugh. He was a monster, perverted the woods for so long that the woods became another world anchored around him.”

There was a dark look in his eyes. That was the day he died and was reborn. ”The curse makes me more like him, more wrong. There’s a reason I’m not very open about it.”

---

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---

---

Willow had been vaguely aware that the book had been silenced, and that Cassie and Cal had come to check on her. She was vaguely aware that they were asking her questions and that something was going on around her. Without Luna she couldn't really 'see' what was going on, only hear, and her sense were still overwhelmed from earlier. She answered the questioned asked over her the best she could before she felt Cal scoop her off and take her the healing hut.

---

Willow was thankful for Professor Zephyrine's cleansing, and offering of charms. She gently put them on and felt herself calming down a bit, especially in combination with the calming tincture. She was use to such charms as well, given she had a few on her person already, and also a few in her room. They were suppose to prevent visions in her sleep, but proved to work better when she slept in her own bed.

She listened as Professor Zephyrine told her about the egg, and nodded. She figured she might ask for Connie's help in observing the egg, since she was her roommate. Then came the part about bathing and Willow barely batted an eye as Cal asked if she had to bathe alone. Did people not bathe in groups at the academy? She was use to washing up with her Tia so the idea of having a bath with others didn't really seem that abnormal to her.

"I would be happy for your company, Cal, if such a time comes that I need such a bath. And yes, full moon water bath if the egg is irregular." Willow nodded and smiled. By that point, Luna had finally caught up to them and nuzzled in close to Willow.

She thanked the Professor and happily accepted Cal's arm, as she was still feeling a bit wobbly after the vision.

---

"Oh!" Willow giggled softly as Cal carried her on his back up the stairs and nuzzled in close as he did so. She looked around with Luna's help once they reached the top and gasped a bit as Cal was right. She did love the view. To see all the stars, plants and heavenly bodies during the day was lovely.

As Professor Mikkail arrived the room shifted and Willow was seeing sights she had not seen before. She gasped softly at the hues of purple, red and white, and the constellations she had never seen before. It was so beautiful, and it pushed the questions and concerns from earlier out of her mind. Until Cal spoke, and she took a breath.

"Thank you Professor. I... this school has much magic about it, and much mystery. In fact so much mystery that I am almost... afraid. My sight has been open more times in the past two days than it usually has been. Including due to our mystery." Willow reached up to gently pet Luna and then looked to Cal. "How much experience do you have with divination and the second sight, Professor?"

Nicholas left Callaghan to play damage control, vanishing into the crowd while the rest of the coven played emotional support animal or whatever children needed these days just to brush their teeth. He'd often contemplated if the loss of the hardships of old was partly to blame - food was easy enough to get these days and even easier to steal with less consequences (no one was losing a finger or a hand for a loaf of bread), shelter simple enough to take with as much sat empty, and water poured easy from every place with restroom. Wild animals rarely tried to tear you limb from limb, hunting and foraging was a thing of the distant past, and disease a temporary inconvenience. The people of this era, children concerned with how their coven treats them and if their books are made of human flesh and screaming at all hours of the day, would not last a day 400 years ago.

“Do you wish to reconvene prior to our meeting or shall I meet you there?” Nicholas sent his brother, already planning to vanish away into the green house after. The lingering irritation with Mikkail and his covenmates followed the message.

”Feel free. I am in the courtyard having a bit of a smoke after a very stressful outing with my so-called ‘Coven’.” Barty took another long drag of his cigarette, closing his eyes as he let the smoke billow into his lungs, the heat warming the back of his throat like a fireplace, before finally letting the smoke softly escape through barely opened lips along a deep sigh.

A smoke sounded like exactly what he needed, an annoying buzz in his veins the nicotine would chase away, and he turned at the next corner to make his way outside. His brother was relaxing against the wall, cigarette between his fingers, and Nicholas wove between the other students, pulling out his pipe and packing in tobacco. He light a match and warmed the pack before puffing gently to open the flavors, settling in next to Barty against the wall as his lungs filled and he held the smoke for a beat longer than normal before releasing it in a long, steady exhale.

“The dragon is looking to add witch hunt artifacts to his collection. Gathered his little protégé, a diviner, and a first hand source to his group to make it easier. Nicholas grumbled.

Barty raised his eyebrow. Now that was certainly an interesting new spin to the year. The old dragon never seemed particularly harmless, only ever caring for the knowledge and not the execution of it it seemed, but still if he was to gather these items and become a threat…They would have to keep a close eye on him moving forward. ”The sentimental old bat has seemed to have gotten himself entangled with what has been deemed a cursed statue. Some old friend of his he owes a favour to, but it doesn't look like a curse, only acts like one. What's more the bird head spent the whole time writing notes and that Jake was about as useful as dulled saw.”

“Simply a side effect of hunger. Varn's grown lazy; a buffet of students at his disposal and the entirety of New Orleans. The vampire fad in the early 2000s certainly made feeding easier for them.” Nicholas shrugged, further cementing his certainty that modern day was too soft. “Connie's rigidity remains fixed as ever, it seems, and… Jake seems almost new. He found me in the greenhouse this morning, strangely upset about what happened last night. His face presents a dangerous weakness for me. I do not know if it is wise for me to be alone with him.” Nicholas admitted, annoyed at the softness he'd shown the man earlier in the day.

Barty shot his brother a cold and jealous glare from the side. Taking in another long drag as he spoke. ”According to him he may as well be new. Born yesterday he says. His mind certainly shows it.” He held the hit in, exhaling through his nose before snuffing the cigarette with his fingers and tossing it to the cobblestone floor. ”Care to see what this ‘Advisor’ has for us?”

“Just because his face is dangerous, does not mean he is more important than you, Bartholomew. I offered you that so you could help keep me from blindness - my conviction in him is not yet solidified and I would appreciate my brother keeping my back safe in the event my suspicions are correct and I am foolishly taken with sentiment.” Nicholas offered back, an apologetic touch on the shoulder. While Barty may be kind enough to dispose of his smoke, Nicholas savored his pipes and whoever his advisor was would need to adjust. He knew where to meet them but hadn't bothered to read who it was. “I suppose, if we must.” Nicholas sighed, a puff of smoke following.

---

Nicholas regretted attending this school. He ought to have insisted they escape this forsaken place because this garish display was even worse than Mikkail's office and he squinted in the brightness. He took a puff on his pipe and exhaled slowly, letting the smoke curl from his nose and relishing the burn left in its wake. At least it was more grounding than… whatever this insane excuse of an office was. Nicholas refused to sit in anything, ready to wrap them both in his magic and bolt.

“All grown up? You have seen barely a twentieth of the years we have and now, we are all grown up?” Nicholas scoffed. “If at all possible, I would prefer we maintain a minimalist relationship: I only contact you when desperate and you only contact me when required by your position.”

”Wild to think that this isn't the danger room. This place has so much vibrant puke it may as well serve as a danger to my eyes, No I'm not stepping foot in here. We can discuss from the doorway.” Barty leaned against the wooden frame of the door, refusing to even walk in before finally deciding that if he was going to interact with this person he would desperately need a drink. He pulled out his flask and took a swig from it, letting the Scotch do its work.

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There was an irony to it all. The way that Rohan spoke of this curse, its affinity for forests and the spread there of, all while overlooking the very same thing he was wishing to run away from. From how he told it, it would seem he killed some centuries old thing, got himself cursed, and then came crawling here searching for an answer. But that didn't exactly seem quite right to Frankie. Already he'd spoken of how he felt the mage over exaggerated his tales, this was no exception. Though Frankie truly believed that Rohan thought he'd killed this malicious spirit, it felt more as though he had gotten himself an attachment. The spirit would feign its death and escape the confines of the forest, spreading its curse through him.

“Being secretive of it also won't help.”

Franklin offered before pulling out a small bit of cheese and offering it to Igor. The rat sat there as it nibbled on the food ferociously. “I work with organics, I can help take a look if you would like. See if there's even a difference between the parts of you already cursed and those not. That way we can access a baseline. Run some tests, all that jazz. Beyond that an enchanter would be a good place to look. They deal in curses, and hate it as much as you will, one of the twins would be a decent start…if it wasn't for the fact that it would likely cost you. Get them to owe you first, or find someone who they owe and grab that favor.”

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Prof. Gray - Chaos and Wild Magic
Advisees: Jake, Cassie

Mor will send a collab starter

Prof. Gwynn - Illusions and Enchantments
Advisees: Nicky, Barty, Finley + Dysphoria

Pixie’s left eye twitched as one of her students refused to set foot inside her office - and as the other dismissed her readily. Had they not been her students, she would have indulged in her more petty nature - made them believe that the so called vibrant puke extended throughout all the halls of the school. And at the insistence that she was only a twentieth of their years, she yearned to ask them then why she was their teacher and they her students? Why their magic still needed guidance and supervision when hers did not?

“Sounds great!” she lied through gritted teeth. “For what is absolutely necessary - that is going to depend on you. I’m here as a resource for you as you’re developing your magic and working on your mysteries. You’ve decided to continue at Strange Academy for a reason - and it’s my job to help you achieve your goals! So - what heights are you seeking? My specialty is obvi in illusions and enchantments, but I’ve also got a good amount of fae and demonic magic in me if you’re interested in exploring further.”

Prof. Ravoux - Healing and Necromancy
Advisee: Connie

Zéphyrine considered for a moment Connie’s question. “W’at do you know about t’is statue?” she asked. Connie hadn’t told her much - had told her some of the history, but not what she’d known about the magic. It was almost contradictory, telling Connie to embrace the unknown and pausing to ask for information. But there was a difference between accepting there was no pre-determined answer and acting without thinking. “You know my met’ods. I like to listen, to craft my wards and bindin’s wit’ intent. Some of my colleagues like to just s’out some words, force t’eir way t’rough t’e magic and t’e ‘exes, make it into a battle of wills.”

“If I were you, I would take t’e day to just see w’at you know, w’at you’d seen - not w’at someone else ‘ad told you, not w’at some fool of a sorcerer done wrote in a book, but w’at you know. Breat’e it all in, and t’en make your plan. Dealing wit’ t’e unknown doesn’t mean you can’t be cautious, don’t mean you can’t t’ink it t’rough. You’d be surprised ‘ow many of t’ese unbreakable curses were just called t’at because blastin’ it wit’ magic didn’t ‘elp t’e problem. Maybe it’s as simple as stone to fles’. Maybe that ‘urts you. I ain’t seen t’is statue, so I don’t know, chère. But what I do know is t’at if t’ere’s any witc’ w’o can sort t’is out, I’m lookin’ at ‘er.” She offered Connie a warm smile, before setting down the rabbit she’d been cleaning. “T’at’s lookin’ great. I know you ‘ate t’is work, but I appreciate it all t’e same.”

Professor Varn Croan
Advisees: Annika, Finley

Croan watched Finley fish out a partially eaten loaf of bread and continue to eat it. His eye twitched at the thought of crumbs on his floor, but he kept himself stoic as he nodded along with the information given. “Professor Marino is an excitable instructor. She is certainly of the mind that pushing systems, and people, to the breaking point is the only way anything sustainable can be produced so take extra precautions during her lessons. They are valuable, if not deadly.” Croan advised, fulfilling his mandatory advisory quota for the day. He hummed thoughtfully. “Why was Annika’s blood resistant? Did the two of you discuss any specifics or do you plan to?” Croan put the question to the pair.

“I prefer written letters. Under the door, with at least 24 hour notice. In an emergency, feel free to knock.”

Dysphoria settled more firmly into the crook of Finley’s neck, a spiderweb of tendril spreading under clothes as Dysphoria’s tongue continued to flicker out to taste what may be in the room. Anxious energy rolled off them in waves into Finley, the frustration and fear from their encounter with Rohan’s curse still prominent, and the need to steal their Darling away from the eyes of others, where they could hurt them or take them, was quickly mounting.

Professor Mikkail Genesis
Advisees: Callighan, Willow



“Always the gentleman and I am always happy to spend time with my students, so please use my time as you wish.” Mikkail laughed, though it had more of a wistful edge to it than normal. He hummed thoughtfully at Willow’s question, pacing back and forth for a few moments before answering.

“I do not share the gift of an innate Sight, but I do boast a fair few methods to call on it should I find myself in need. But places steeped deep in secrets begging to be heard call naturally to those with such talents and this Academy explores wonders near and far and in dark, dark places where the light refuses to shine. I am not surprised to hear your Sight has seen many and much already. Compared to the natural order that maintains stillness among the magic in your home, this place is a tumultuous sea amongst a hurricane. It is difficult to keep any eye off the danger it offers, terrible and beautiful in equal measure.” Mikkail offered, pausing as he collected his thoughts further. He tucked his hands behind his back as he settled and faced the pair again.

“Though, I suppose I ought to cut myself off before I continue to get ahead of myself. As a direct answer, more than my fair share of experience with the diving arts but little beyond other’s accounts and academic knowledge of the Sight. Even if I do not know the answer to your question or problem, I am often capable enough to find the proper resource to get them to you!”

Professor Sariel Marino
Advisees: Rohan, Franklin

“Franklin’s baseline development is the best route. Unfortunately, denying it has also denied you the opportunities you’ve needed to explore and understand it, despite the fact it has kept you human presenting. I would not, at this time, attempt to have others work on your curse, if only because you have no way of qualifying data and you may find yourself wasting time by repeating processes or even worsening it when they interact. I would recommend that you first establish this baseline. This will allow you to chart clear and obvious trends and will better help others assist you in the future. Then, you can develop a series of stress tests to understand how the curse develops under a variety of circumstances. During that, you can research your direct symptoms and progression from your baseline to see who else has encountered this and what methods they used, in the event no one has had an opportunity to break this before.” Sariel poured herself a drink, something amber that caught the light and seemed freckled with green bits.

“I’m not fond of initial impressions with such little detail but I’d assume it a Ki no Kami if it had the power to warp an area to that degree. Unfortunately, there are any number of them and searching for a single one before the dawn of the bronze age would certainly be a challenge.” Sariel tapped one finger on the glass thoughtfully before she took a sip.

Their offer of a bite of their bread was ignored, all well, her loss. Finley did not seem to notice Croan’s displeasure at them eating in his office and continued to take occasional bites. Finley could feel Dysphoria’s distress and tried to send soothing feelings back through their bond. Soon. They could be alone soon. They snuggled their cheek slightly against Dysphoria. Almost as a cover for Dysphoria, Finley tried to seem as non-chalant as possible.

“Hmm, I can guess as to why Rohan’s was resistant to my working. However, Annika, I do not know enough about you to guess. I would love to discuss with you what the reasons may be.” Finley smiled, over their loaf of bread at Annika. No threat in their face, though the amusement in their eyes could have meant anything. “Are you cursed as well?” Finley had not taste tested Annika’s blood. They had not dared any after Rohan’s. However, that did mean they did not know Annika’s blood composition. Hmm, what a waste of an opportunity. Another time hopefully. Though if Rohan continued to speak ill of Finley to Annika and the way she almost recoiled from them already, it was unlikely an opportunity would arise again.

Finley liked to think they were very reasonable. Compared to many of their kind Finley was reasonable. They had no desire to control land or people. They wished to enjoy their Dysphoria, Dewdrop, and whatever strange delights should cross their path and live in relative peace, in that order. Finley was simple. But others had opinions. They held in the sigh, exchanging it for a bite of bread.

---

Considering the question ‘What do you know about this statue?’ Connie knew it was painfully little. She could recite the history that she had on the statue. She could explain its appearance. The supposed history of it. She even knew a little about the man. But the box was a mystery. Connie didn’t like not knowing. For something as old and well tracked as this statue was there was surprisingly little information about it. What bothered her was that it ‘ate’ magic.

Connie was pleased with her work on the rabbit, the one foot she had left still intact, but otherwise it was cleaned efficiently. She nodded at the compliments, “I understand that distasteful things must be done. I will be scrubbing up as soon as I am done.” A shudder passed through her. She was at her limit.

To be told that Ravoux believed that if anyone could solve it it would be her was reassuring. It was ego boosting. Connie did not consider herself one to have a large ego. She knew what she was capable of. She knew where her skills and talents lay. She was good. Not perfect. She had room to improve. She had a lot to learn. That was why she had stayed. She could have gone out into the world, but she chose not to. This was the challenge she had to face now. She would have to sit with the notes she made and dissect those. That was how Connie always did her notes anyway, that wasn’t new. She’d transfer her mess of ideas over to the other cleaner notebook. That would be organized, clean, and a resource.

“I only have what I saw with my own two eyes. A statue of a man in distress gripping a box-like object as if it were his only hope. The statue is covered in lines and glyphs. I copied the regularly occurring ones into my notebook.” She held up her bloodied hands, “However, I am not going to grab that right now.

“I know that I have turned a statue that was never a cat into a cat. It could not be a living breathing thing. It had no life force to it. If I were to touch this statue and use magic on it, it would eat my magic. That magic lingers. And people have become insane after spending too much time with it.” Except Croan. Who had used student after student for his own means and had yet to solve it. He had stood the test of time... or had he?

“If I transmute this statue, I do not know if the box will continue to consume it until I am drained. I do not know if it would be safe to try. But that is where my skill lies in such things. I will sleep on it. Discuss with Barty and Jake.” And Rohan, he may have ideas too.

Zéphyrine nodded, intrigued. Glyphs and lines - that was as good a lead as any. She could appreciate spell work like that, one where intent had to be physically demonstrated, where words of powers had to be carved and sigils carefully crafted. The old ways were a dying art, replaced with fanciful blasts and catchphrases. “Start t’ere, t’en. Decode t’ose lines and figure out w’at kind of workin’ you’re dealin’ wit. T’e library s’ould ‘ave t’e knowledge you need to translate it. Tell w’at sc’ool of magic it is, give you a better idea on ‘ow to undo it - if t’ats w’at you c’oose to do. You know as well as I do t’at a workin’ of divine takes a different strategy to untangle t’an one of c’aos for instance.”

“Can you look at them and tell what school of magic it is, or is that part of my task?” She had done as diligent a job as she did anything else at writing them down. She had not written down what she had seen from above, but the view there was no different than from the angles. If the specific location of the glyphs mattered she could worry about that after translating them. She would be happy with a task such as that. Though it was likely someone else had already spent the time. If she could launch from their work it would save time. However, having the knowledge of doing it herself and knowing it had been done correctly was something she’d much rather have than a shortcut.

Prof. Ravoux smiled at Connie, as she shook her head. “I ain’t doin’ your ‘omework for you, chère,” she laughed softly. “But it’s sweet of you to ask. Surely between you and your coven mates, you can identify a sc’ool of magic or two, n’est-ce pas?”

“I expected as much. Barty will be of assistance. Jake, hmm, I may be bringing him to visit you soon. And the fourth member was not in our room this morning, nor did he arrive for our meeting.” Her missing coven mate/roommate was a mystery of his own.

Zéphyrine’s smile faltered for a moment. “You t’ink ‘e went into town per’aps, ‘ad ‘is way wit’ t’e bottle?” Campus was closed this early in the year, with students expected to remain on grounds. But it wouldn’t have been unheard of for a student to slip away, meet with a lover, and come back later than they’d intended. But still, the ominous chill in the air came back to her, as Zéphyrine quickly finished off the rabbits feet, muttering under her breath as she wrapped them in twine. “‘Ere. For you and a friend. I ‘ad a girl in ‘ere just before you, complainin’ about visions. Mik’ail’s boy was wit’ ‘er. You stay safe, okay mon amie? You need anyt’ing - you come ‘ollerin, understood?”

Connie considered the question. “Last I saw him was when we brought our things into our rooms. I figured he stayed in the room rather than hangout with everyone. And he wasn’t there when I returned. It is possible that he chose to leave campus instead, and got caught up in something. I will. Thank you.” The last part was said as she collected the rabbit feet. Connie may not be the type to sense such things as bad air or strange things afoot, but she had long since learned to trust those that said they could. Especially coming from Professor Revoux.

She needed to clean up. Having fully hit her limit of fluids on her. She wiped off her arms as best as she could with the towel she had been using. Nausea was starting to roil in her stomach and she shook a little. She went over to the basin of blissfully clean water and scrubbed at her hands and arms. It took a full minute before she felt clean. And even then she knew she’d be washing her hands in running water as soon as possible. But at least this way she didn’t feel like clawing off her skin.

With that taken care of Connie gave her goodbyes and headed back into the main building of the school. She swung by the bathrooms and cleaned her arms again, this time with running water and lots of soap. She felt even better. Connie needed to get something to eat.

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Franklin wasn't wrong about the secrecy being a problem. Though, Rohan had plenty of time to figure out the situation. His approaches, his predicament, his limits. The Forest of Ghosts did a number on him mentally, but he liked to think he wasn't so bad off he developed some kind of aversion to trust. Granted, Connie or even his own familiar might disagree, but Connie wasn't here right now, and Root was snoring. It sounded like branches creaking. The old creature just went ahead and elected to take a nap, unbothered by the world.

"Back up a moment. I have notes stashed away somewhere, I can find them. I might take you up on that offer, Frank." Rohan nodded. "If I do, I'll find some way to make it up to you. I don't know about no longer being human completely, but embracing it isn't easy. When I leave the school, I go into the woods. Sometimes, I end up far from here. Out there, I can let it loose. Those places are where my curse thrives. Out there, I can hunt and roam free, and all the Wrong Things of Nature come out to play. I'm like a fugitive to them, the longer I stay in a place where the natural world is in control, the more the monsters hunt me. The more the grass and soil under my feet try to kill me. I don't stop being me, but it's more like losing a few tenths of a percent than just losing everything at once."

Rohan watched Sariel pick up a glass of what he could only assume was magic whiskey. He didn't recognize the language on the bottle, the label was an archway draped in moss. It threw sparks as she sipped away at it, and he couldn't help but notice the look in her eyes. She was thinking of something. Maybe she didn't think it would work, or maybe she'd think about it and get back to him. Odd.

"...It's when I come back to places like this, that I shove it under the bed. That's when the monsters my little Ki no Kami throws at me have no choice but to run away." He drummed the fingers of one hand over the other. "I usually do some field experiments, before coming back. I've tried some grizzly rituals a few times that just seem to give a bit of breathing room, I've made artifacts I had to abandon after they backfired. I'll find the notes and research I did a week or so ago, but that's what I'm working with. It's always easier to just push back."

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Annika smiled slightly at Professor Croan’s old school need to have handwritten letters before a meeting was agreed on. ”Simple enough. I look forward to what I might learn from a different teacher. My father had a rather… hands-on approach.”

She smiled to herself, falling silent while she drifted into her head. The mention of Annika’s blood drew her back to the present, and she looked between Croan and Finley. Annika fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair, glancing at Dysphoria then back to Croan.

She shrugged. ”Not that I’m aware of. Although…I am a product of two different timelines. Could that be a reason?” Annika asked, looking between Fin and Croan.

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Cal remained silent while Mikkail and Willow spoke. He had plans to remain behind after their little informational session to discuss the book he had brought for Mikkail. But in the meantime. ”Is there anything you can tell us about this book, Professor? Willow was reading it when she collapsed,” Callaghan said, and pulled the journal of Heinrick Krammer out of his bag and handed it to Mikkail.

Cal had yet to look the book over himself, far more preoccupied with Willow’s well-being. But now that she was okay, his curiosity was overflowing. He seemed reluctant to let it go to Mikkail, wanting to dive into the secrets himself rather than have someone else give him some insight.

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Willow let out a soft sigh at the Professor's response. It made sense that being in such a place steeped in magic would trigger her senses so much, so what he said was probably accurate. She just hoped that he could help her learn to rein in her visions so that she could stop having them every few hours. Thought it had seemed that the journal really had been the source of so much pain and energy that it really had overwhelmed her.

"I do know that journal has something about it. It seems innocent at first, but as you flip through it more, the writing turns to drawings and rambling scribbles. Something in there triggered my sight. Badly. I don't know if it was Kramer himself or maybe something that might have driven him off the edge at the end, but that journal for sure has his dying words and breaths in there."

Willow didn't really want to touch the journal again so soon, so she was content to just watch as Cal offered it to Mikkail. She did notice his reluctance, and raised her brow. Maybe it was because it was something to be used for their mystery? Is that why he was reluctant? She would have to ask him later.

She did want to talk to a few others though, like Cassie. She hadn't meant to just brush off her help earlier, but Cal had rather just scooped her off and carried her off. She did also need to talk to Connie and request that favor. She just hoped she would have time to do both that afternoon.

---

Jake decided he was done being calm.

It’d been fun!! He hadn’t really known what was happening or where he’d went, but he was hanging out with his best friend Cassie, so it couldn’t be too bad!! He hurried back up to his feet, bouncing from side to side as the energy rush returned to him. “That was so cool!!!! It’s like I didn’t have a brain!!! I was so empty!!!! But now I wanna do magic!!!! Let’s do magic!!!! What can you do? I wanna seee!!!!! oooo what if we did something together and came up with a cool thing to shout out as we did it??? Like a combo!!!!”

Cassie opened one eye, seeing Jake get up and get bored. She shouldn’t have been surprised, but his energy was infectious. Surely if their advisor paired the two of them together, their magic would be complementary.

”We have to be careful though. I don’t know much about wild magic, but I imagine it can get out of control. Same with my own. But, we can try. But maybe somewhere that isn’t the advisor’s office? Just in case.”

Jake thought for a moment about where they could do magic. He’d spent a lot of time exploring the school during the night, and he scrunched up his face, thinking on where might be a good location. Some of the hallways were pretty big. And there was a nice courtyard outside! Maybe that would be good! He didn’t like going outside as much as he liked wandering the halls of the school, though. “We could go outside! Lots of room there! Near the greenhouse where Nicky showed me how to help plants!! It was so cool and he gave me a present!!”

Cassie bristled at the mention of her coven-mate. She still was unsure about him. He felt…off. Like he always had something going on underneath. But she didn’t want to burst Jake’s bubble of happiness. ”Outside is great! Lots of room with, hopefully, minimum chance of property destruction. Lead the way!” Cassie also did not want a repeat of her home breakout. She had a feeling if she caused as much havoc here she would be thrown out. This was her chance to learn and grow.

“Can I take your hand? It’ll be faster! We can run! Go so fast!” he beamed.

Cassie offered her hand in return. ”I’m not the fastest runner, but okay.”

Jake took Cassie’s hand, and immediately took off at a run. He loved running! He spent some of his time exploring just seeing how fast he could go, running back and forth down the empty halls as everyone else slept. He’d started to get an idea for how everything connected in the school - not so much that he didn’t need directions, but enough that certain corridors and turns looked familiar, and he was able to retrace his steps to make it outside to the courtyard. “See, the greenhouse! I learned how to clean pots!!” he gestured, pointing at the gleaming glass building he’d been in just a few hours prior.

But instead of entering the building, he came to a stop in the stone courtyard, staring out across the rolling, expansive grounds. There weren’t any other students around, not that he could see at least, but he could hear the faint buzzing of life and activity in his ear. People were around somewhere, he just wasn’t quite sure where. “Should I go first? Do you wanna go first?” he asked, releasing Cassie’s hand. The area was pretty clear for them to practice in, stone benches on the edges, but for the most part this was a liminal space, one designed to be passed through rather than dwelled in.

Cassie caught up as best she could, but Jake was quite quick. Her heart pounded a little bit when he held her hand (calm down Cassie!), but it was relieved when she saw the greenhouse and the courtyard. The school was breathtaking in its architecture and design. It also provided a space for them to practice without hurting others or damaging property. Hopefully…

”Why don’t you go first? Remember what our advisor said also. Center yourself and use your mantra.” Cassie was interested to see Jake’s magic in action. As she observed, she thought about what she could do within this space.

Jake stuck his tongue out slightly, scrunching his face together in concentration. Center and use his mantra. He was one with the Force. He could do this! He didn’t know what he was about to do, but he could do it! He stopped bouncing from side to side, and took a deep breath. He winded his arm up like he was throwing a baseball, and as he let go, a sparkling orb of pink-purple energy flew out, soaring across the courtyard and colliding into a bench… and leaving behind not a single trace. No damage was dealt.

“Woah!!! I made sparkles!!!”

Cassie observed the magical energy as it unleashed from Jake’s hand. It seemed he had managed to control it and didn’t cause any permanent damage. ”Way to go Jake! That was so cool! And I love the color.”

She then wondered about her own powers. There were destructive qualities to it. Chaos wasn’t something that could be controlled easily. But she needed to prove herself.

“Yeah!!! Now your turn!!!! I wanna see what you can do!!!” he preened. He hadn’t even considered that he had controlled it and not broken anything. He was mostly just enamored with the idea that he had done magic at all, even if it had just been producing a fun color.

Cassie nodded and took a power stance (or what she assumed was one). She closed her eyes, feeling the swell of magic in her. She cleared her mind. She was one with the force and the force was with her. When she opened her eyes they glowed a warm, reddish-pink color before she lifted her hand towards a nearby tree.

What came forth was, in no uncertain terms, a small screaming goat projectile that smacked into the tree. The resulting blast was acidic, a chunk of the tree’s bark deteriorating before her.

Her eyes returned to normal. ”Well, can’t say that’s typical, but I did it!”

“Understood - your specializations are noted. We will be in touch if necessary.” Nicholas replied, turning away from Pixie and meeting his brother at the door. “We have never sought heights in magic. Such gross indulgence in power is oft the very hubris that brings about the folly of man and survival has ever been our goal.”

”But I will keep in mind your deftness with demonic magic should I ever decide to dabble in it. It could be a wonderfully refreshing challenge to court a demon and see how they lay.”

Nicholas could feel his blood pressure rise and snatched Barty by the ear, dragging him down the hall and away from the door. “Do not bring those anywhere near her.” He hissed once they were out of earshot. “Start with research less capable of stealing and then deal with sentient creatures if you must.”

”You, my dear brother, worry too much. I wouldn't even allow them to be in the same room, let alone let anyone aware of their presence.” Barty said with a cool smile before smacking Nicky's hand off of his ear. He readjusted his coat and shirt to ensure he looked presentable once more. ”Why she even believes that she could be of any aid to us is beyond me. As you said, we aren't searching for grander power. Just a humble life to live.”

Nicholas nodded in agreement. “Let us reconvene for supper then. My plants still need potting if we wish to replenish our supplies.” Nicholas offered his brother a quick, private smile before setting into his usual flat expression. “They hired her and she followed their orders, simple enough. No need to ponder on the motives of children. It would be satisfying to have a favor on her, however. Maybe we can plan that later.” Nicholas turned, heading g back outside and towards the greenhouse.

---

In the dining hall of Strange Academy, Root nestled into a chair beside his master, who was sitting with his back against a table with a snack he snatched from the kitchen. He picked away at the food while pondering the events of earlier. Sariel seemed like a damn lunatic, and yet also seemed like another option on a dwindling list. It was a pretty eventful day, he never mixed his magic with four other people before. If one of the modern world’s forefront artificers didn’t have a solution for his predicament, no one did. If it wasn’t in the Neverish, he wasn’t particularly sure where it’d be.

The owl by his side made a mrp noise, half asleep.

Connie, nose buried in a notebook in one hand, food in the other, lifted her head long enough to glance around for a place to sit. She saw Rohan brooding at one table and made her way over to him.

“Good afternoon, how was your first meeting with your coven?” she asked, sitting. She marked her page, and closed the book, her attention now on Rohan and her food. Her day had been frustrating. Even after talking with Ravoux she was annoyed at Croan. Connie was starting to think that her default state with Croan would always be annoyance. It was like he tried to be annoying.

”Bloody, thanks for asking.” Rohan stuck a plastic spoon down in the bowl. ”We made a magic heart out of metal, meat and wood, and I think I’ve got the honor of being the one person on Earth whose blood Finley doesn’t want to consume.”

Connie frowned at the description, pausing in her bite of food. “Gross. Alright. Uh, Finley’s magic comes from using blood, that’s impressive. We just stared at a statue, well not just, we discussed it too. It seems that a human was transformed into the statue. I’m considering trying to transform him back into flesh. My concern is going insane, having all of my magic drained and possibly dying. You know, classic Strange Academy school days.” The last part was dripping with sarcasm. Though, the statement itself was uncomfortably accurate. “It was less bloody, though Ravoux had me help prepare some rabbits with her.” She shuddered slightly, looked down at her food and sighed. She was going to struggle to eat the rest of it.

”Any way you can put a barrier between it and you?” He asked, changing the subject. ”Give it something separated, so it only eats that instead of you? Probably has to be a lot if it’s a whole statue, but you could take your time with it.”

Connie leaned back in her seat and considered Rohan’s suggestion. She made a slight humming noise, then clicked her tongue. “My biggest concern with that would be that I have to touch the object I am transmuting. Even cloth prevents my transmutation from being effective. If Barty, and Jake have something they can provide as assistance, then maybe. I expect Barty more than Jake to have an idea. I can bring up the suggestion to them during our study session. Barty is aware of my talents. I also would be concerned that if I don’t complete the transmutation quickly the person trapped would not be revivable. I don’t even know if he will be now. I’ve never done something this large before. I’ve never had a whole person turned to stone, and then I attempted to turn him back before. And whatever did that to him is still connected to him. I assume it is this box thing in his arms.” Connie opened her notebook and flipped to the page with the rough sketch of the statue, showing it to Rohan.

He looked at it and realized he had no idea what he was looking at. ”...Yeah, that doesn’t look like a tree to me. If that block is the source of it, has anyone ever tried chipping away at it? Hammer and chisel, just cut away from the hands and body?”

“I don’t know,” Connie huffed. “The library’s information was scarce. I am now waiting to get to the notes that Croan claims to have. However, he withheld them until we could look at the statue with fresh eyes.” She rolls her eyes. “I love being kept in the dark. But considering this thing is a couple of hundred years old, and Croan has been working on it almost since day one, by sending hundreds of young witches into the meat grinder so to speak, I expect it is possible someone has tried that. I didn’t see any sign of it, but I didn’t look for that specifically. Hmm, but maybe if I can get his hands into flesh and pull the box away so I can focus on transforming him back into flesh without the box there. That could be a good approach. Have Barty or Jake pull the box as soon as possible from his hands. It would be nice to save the man’s life, but I don’t know if that is possible.”

”Hmm.” Centuries of throwing people at a problem, with hundreds of possible approaches to magic, and the vampire guy still couldn’t get the man out of the statue? Rohan was curious now. ”If he’s actually still alive in there, how does anyone know he wants to be set free?”

Connie shrugged, flipped the page to show the face of the statue. The pain of the transformation painted clearly there. “I don’t know. I don’t even know if that is the goal Croan wants. I think he wants the box. It eats magic. Jake said he could taste the magic in it. Could sense the flavors of Barty and Croan’s magic within it. He didn’t sense mine, which makes sense because at that point I hadn’t interacted with it. So it doesn’t eat ambient magic, just what is sent into it.” Connie shifted, and then sighed. “What about you, what is your mystery? Anything I can give advice on?”

”We’re going into the Neverish. Not the Haven part, but anywhere else. I think, more than anything, we’re just exploring to see what happens. The heart we made is an anchor so we don’t get lost in there. Marino took us to the gate, and didn’t tell us much about what’s inside. Just that it’s dangerous.”

“Well, good to know our group isn’t the only Mystery with the potential for insanity and death. The Neverish is a chaotic realm. It is attached to ours, deeply intertwined, it is a good thing you have an anchor as getting lost is easy. You should be prepared for the reality to twist, and the rules to change in the blink of an eye. Supposedly within the Neverish are magical secrets, or if someone could harness the magic of the Neverish they could fundamentally change themselves permanently and entirely.” Connie tilted her head, the movement bird-like. “Hmm, you’ve never had any adverse effects from traversing to and from Haven correct? That is a well established path so the chaos there is less. I would suggest packing extra supplies, be prepared for something that you think should work to not work, and vice versa. Many have lost their way never to be seen again, others just their minds. Find something that keeps you grounded. That anchor your group made will at least give you a compass to come back if you get lost. Who all is in your group? You said Finley.”

”Me, Finley, Franklin Stein and Annika Hawthorne-Falling Star. One of them is a shadow wizard, the other makes things that are alive. He didn’t have anything alive with him, but I’m imagining it’s flesh golems or something.” Rohan bit into his food again. Root ruffled his feathers in the seat.

”Either of those sound familiar?”

“Well I know Franklin fairly well. He’s the guy you go to if you want a working phone. I don’t know Annika Hawthorne-Falling Star. She must be one of the new students. I do remember seeing the shadow creatures while everyone was tripping balls last night.”

Rohan chuckled. ”Yeah, I think I offended her when I turned that magic candy down. Showed her around the workshop I was using last year, Root took a liking to her.”

Connie shrugged, “If she finds it offensive that someone doesn’t want to consume a magical drug that’s on her. I’m glad Root likes her.” Connie smiles softly at the little owl. “I was supposed to have four people in my coven as well. But one of them is missing. Pancho, the guy with the colorful familiars. He is a dorm mate too, and I didn’t see him this morning.” She frowned. She had spent the day considering the Mystery, not wondering what happened to her roommate. “You know Barty, obviously, and then Jake is one of the new people too. It turns out he is an amnesiac so I’m going to have to see if I can help him with that.”

”How’d he get into a place like this, and into a coven if he can’t remember anything? Is he just here for his own safety, or…”

“Great questions. I wonder if he applied before the amnesia, and doesn’t remember applying.” She shrugged. She turned her notebook to a new page and wrote that down, as well as several other questions she had in mind to ask Jake. “I did already tell him I’d help him with reading, since he can’t remember how to read either.”
Rohan and Root exchanged a glance.

”...He can’t read. At a magic school where everything’s recorded in books. Yeah, that’s rough. Do I even want to know what magic he does?”

Connie looked up from her notebook. “As far as I can tell it just happens, which implies some form of Chaos magic. I know precious little about that type of magic. But considering he licked one of my stones to get a literal taste of my magic I don’t particularly want to know more about his type of magic.” She shuddered. “At least he didn’t try to lick me. He would have learned that I am capable of turning his flesh into stone if he had tried.”

Great. Another magical being around this place who loved getting way too comfortable with people to access their magic. Because of course there was another one. Why wouldn’t there be. Rohan drummed his fingers along his leg. ”Watch your back around him. Either he’s malicious or just plain foolish, but either way, that’s a liability when there’s magic being thrown around. Don’t get too hurt you can’t sort yourself out, alright?”

Connie smiled, she appreciated the concern. “I will. I have no desire to be hurt. Just because I can heal it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when it happens. Thank you. If I think he is a danger I will let you know.”

”Good.”

There’s a lapse in their conversation, where Rohan just seemed to stare into nothing.

”Marino’s giving me access to some things, after I told her about the curse. Some books and artifacts that aren’t normally opened up to most people here.”

Connie sat up straighter. Rohan’s curse had been vexing to Connie for the years they knew each other. She wanted to help more than she could currently. At least she had been able to keep it from getting worse.

“Do you want help?”

”If you’re offering, then sure. I’ll have to get into that stuff before I know what it can do, but there’s magic that can change people permanently. She mentioned that any curse can be broken, I told her that’s not an option either way. I think Marino’s just happy to get her hands on me.” He thought back to the way she looked at him like a damn maniac when they first met. The woman wasn’t alright in the head.

“I am always happy to help you, Rohan.” She frowned as Rohan described how Marino had reacted toward him. “I am starting to think the professors only became professors to use students and not to foster the future.”
”Wouldn’t surprise me. I’m not convinced Marino isn’t a few crayons short of the box. She lit us up with some magic that damn near had me on the ground. Without warning.” It made his blood scream being under that effect. ”Maybe she’s just that excited about experiments, I dunno. Definitely had enough tools to set everyone up with, though, so she’s got to know what she’s doing at least.”

“Hmm, I think I’m going to not trust any of them. Keep cards close to the heart.” She considered her choices. “I don’t like that I can’t trust the coven. Barty is fine enough in the correct setting, but overall I would check that if he gave me a penny it wasn’t wooden.”

”Can’t say I blame you, being the guy who always packs a magic staff to Barty’s little den of hedonism so I don’t get brainwashed.” They were both in good company, being paranoid around witches like him and his brother. ”Sometimes I wonder if he’s never tried because of that, or if he really just doesn’t care.”

“I appreciate that you do bring your staff. I know at least one of us will not get manipulated that way. Alright, as pleasant as this chat has been, I want to swing by my room and see if Croan actually followed through and left me notes. I want to start going through them. I’ll see you later.” She picked up her unfinished snack and stood up.

”Yeah, I got things to do, I’ll be around.” He gave her a smile and finished off his noodle bowl. Root chirped at Connie, without opening his eyes.

Connie smiled back, turned to leave, she paused, set her things down, and dug into her bag. She removed a rabbit's foot. “Almost forgot. Made these today with Professor Revoux.” She held it out for Rohan.

”Huh.” That fascinated him. ”You chopped up a rabbit? Didn’t know you did that sort of thing, always thought I was the one who did,” he joked.

“I’d rather not have, but it was the task I did with Professor Revoux. She is my advisor. It was already dead, but I did have the distinct displeasure of skinning it. Do not remind me. I’ve already lost my appetite enough. Do you want the good luck charm or not?”

”Yeah, yeah, thanks.” He took it and held it close, looking down at it. ”People like us can’t ever get enough luck.”

Connie smiled, she did not say that she thought the rabbit’s foot was probably one of the strangest ways of claiming good luck. It had not been enough for the rabbit. Why would it be for her? “I’ll see you later,” she said instead, picked up her things and left.

---

---

The session with her advisor had gone… alright. Willow still had so many burning questions she wanted answered, but she had the feeling that Cal wanted to talk to their advisor more. That or their advisor really had nothing more to offer her.

Willow rubbed at her temple a bit, thinking about a few things and realized what she really wanted to do was talk to Cassie. The other woman had checked in on her before Cal had scooped her up and taken her away. She hadn’t even gotten to properly answer her before that, and Willow did feel a bit bad about that, and a few other things. It wasn’t hard to see that Cassie was harboring feelings for their dragon covenmate, and those feelings might get her in trouble.

Willow sighed as she turned to Luna. ”Have you any idea where she might be?” The moth just turned towards the courtyard where the sound of something hitting the tree was heard. She could see the vague shape of Cassie, and smiled. ”Thank you!” She took off for the courtyard, and waved as she entered it.

”Cassie! Do you have a moment?”

Cassie had just finished up her cast, taking a moment to savor in the fact she did something that powerful. There was a thrill there, both enthralling and terrifying.

Just as she was about to try something more, she heard someone call out to her. A familiar voice and, in turning towards it, a familiar shape. Willow. She hadn’t seen her since Cal had carried her off from the library, leaving Cassie to her own devices. There was still some uncertain tension there. Cassie remembered being dismissed at the new student soiree when she had just wanted to help and get to know Willow. This, on top of the clear something going on with her and Cal.

Still, Cassie waved in return, then, remembering that Willow would not see that, put her hand down. ”Willow! How are you feeling?

”I’m doing a bit better now since meeting with Professor Zephyrine, but still a bit mush. I am sorry about earlier, just… that book overwhelmed me. It was his journal. And I think he went a little crazy at the end. But, I have some new charms, which is always a plus. How did the meeting with your advisor go? Willow smiled at Cassie and relaxed a bit, and then waved to the other person there, before giving Cassie all her attention again.

Cassie shrugged, ”I don’t know, honestly. Our advisor went on vacation and left us some things to do to practice. Jake and I kind of went off to do our own thing. Thus, the destroyed tree.” Cassie looked over to the tree that was still slowly dissolving from the acid.

”I’m a little bummed because I wanted to learn how to control my magic better, but at least it’s something. And I can always talk to Professor Mikkail, I’m sure. And there was Professor Sariel at the start when we had to get the key from the fish who said I could talk to her. I’m sorry, I am rambling. I’m glad you’re feeling better and that Cal got you to help quickly.”

”Cassie, please never apologize to me for rambling, ok? I do it sometimes as well. Especially if overtaken by a vision. I am sorry to hear about your advisor. I’m sure Professor Mikkail wouldn’t mind helping you when he can. Though,” she looked over at the tree that was dissolving from the acid, ”It seems you’re making strides yourself.” Willow chuckled softly at that and looked at her.

”I did want to ask if you were alright after last night. I would have asked then, but… vision triggered. Willow sighed as she hung her head a bit, feeling awful. She did want to be friendly with Cassie, but was sure she had started off on the wrong foot.

Cassie had to admit she felt a little thrilled to have her work recognized. Then she remembered the other night in the library, where she had wanted to impress Cal and felt..ignored? And how him and Nick were acting like she had interrupted something. How Cal wanted her to not be there in that moment. Only to end up swooping in and being the hero Willow needed. Cassie only wanted to show she was meant to be there. She did what she was asked. So why did she feel so bad?

”I mean, you weren’t in the best state to be checking in with others so you’re easily forgiven for that. There was a moment, however briefly, when I had found all of the research Cal asked for. I even found something more extensive and wanted to share. But he seemed so….irritated. And he was with Nick, and Nick makes my skin crawl, kinda. Does that make sense? Then you needed help, don’t get me wrong, I am glad you are good, but again, I felt like I was a nuisance when all I wanted to do was help.”

”They have… an interesting relationship. Nick and his brother, well, I get the feeling they’ve been through a lot.” There was no way Willow was going to tell Cassie what she knew about the brothers, but she couldn’t fault Cassie for feeling the way she did about Nick. He wasn’t really warm and welcoming. ”And Cal did carry me off before I could let you know how I was doing, and I am sorry for that.” Willow was not sure how to explain that to Cassie either, what their relationship was. Protective was one word for it, but Willow was afraid if she said that, Cassie would be hurt more.

”If it is any comfort, Cassie, I do not think you are a nuisance. I want to be friends with you. You are very kind, and I think much like me, learning how the world works. I know it started awkwardly, but do you think we can be friends?”

”I mean, I kinda thought we were friends this entire time,” she said warmly, to show she had no ill will. ”That’s why I am glad we got to be in the same Coven. I had someone I connected with. I’m new here and, admittedly, don’t know much about how all of this works. Not just the magic parts, but relationships in general. I was homeschooled by very Conservative Christian parents who never let me leave the house unless it was with them and then it was only to go to some other rich adult’s home so they could foist me on their irritating and gross son. I think my parents were afraid of me. So I wanted to learn how to control my magic, moreso for me than them, because it kind of scares me too. So when I was dismissed by Cal and Nick, and to a lesser extent you, it hurt more than maybe it should.”

”Oh.” Willow blushed deeply at that. ”Clearly, I am also bad with relationships. I… I mean I was raised in the rainforest, by my Tia. She was the only person around. I grew up with monkeys, birds, lizards, snakes, and my visions. So, I guess, I didn’t realize that friendship was that easy. And also that hard. But… we’re here now. And we’re friends. And I’m sorry about your parents. They are missing out by not knowing you, the real you. I will do my best not to dismiss you again.”

Cassie felt herself tear up, but held firm. She would not lose it, not now. ”I mean that sounds awesome! I love animals!” She did ignore the bit about her parents. She wondered what they were doing right now? Did they call the police to come find her? Did they even care at this point? ”We’ll need to do all the things friends do then. Like I need to introduce you to some critical media like romantic comedies. And have you ever had a mani-pedi?”

”I’ve never heard of a mani-pedi. What is that?” Willow tilted her head curiously.

Cassie gasped. ”Oh my goddess, it’s like…one of the best things. My mom and I actually went often and it was…well I liked the process. It’s basically getting your fingernails and toenails done. They buff and scrape and clean and it feels soooooooo good after. You can even get color on your nails! I doubt the school will let us leave to do it, but maybe we can conjure some home stuff to do them ourselves in our magic bedrooms!”

Willow’s grin grew wider as she could hear Cassie’s excitement in her voice. ”I think that would be lovely. Probably have to be in our bedroom, but as you said, they are magic.” She giggled softly.

”I mean it spawned a lot of stuff I asked for, it’s so cool! This school is awesome. I’m happy I was able to come.” She left the other part unsaid. How, if she hadn’t, she would be locked up like some fairy tale princess. But there would be no Prince Charming to come save her. She’d likely die in that room.

”So am I.”

The experience with their would-be advisor left Nicholas on edge and he found his feet moving faster than his mind, escaping a poor situation before it got poorer. It was an understatement that Pixie was a resource that would stay abandoned for this year as the thought of interacting with the nauseating amount of pinks and bright lights in her office made him want to tear off his skin. Nicholas preferred the quiet and the calm, sticking with cool tones and cool demeanors because anything else would get you killed. Pixie was basically everything he disliked in a single person and she hadn't bothered to hide how displeased she was with them as well. At least they could agree that their relationship should be aggressively limited.

The greenhouse door swung open and he once again unbuttoned his coat and hung it on the hook, sliding on gardening gloves. The smell of dirt and flora hit him hard and he felt himself. Plants didn't talk at him, had no expectations of casual conversations, didn't skitter around him like a foal just pushing themselves to their feet. They just needed a consistent, even hand and just enough attention to keep pests away from them and their soil damp. He rolled up his sleeves again and started filling the pots he'd cleaned earlier with Jake, layering different types of socks as he did.

Greenhouse, greenhouse, greenhouse. Annika glanced around as she hunted for the greenhouse Croan mentioned. She felt it a little strange that he tasked her with an errand. Maybe he liked her? Or maybe he hated her. The twins seemed a little separate and “other” from the rest of her classmates. She wasn’t sure if it was because they were powerful witches or something else that made them stand apart.

”Ah, there you are.” Annika pushed open the greenhouse door and was assaulted with the potent smell of loam and growing things. Truthfully, Annika was still getting used to the idea of nature. The Everdark didn’t exactly have soil, growing things, and colour like most places on earth. Annika had grown accustomed to the dark, bleakness of her home. It was beautiful, comforting. Nature, on the other hand, was intense and unpredictable. Then again, some would say that about the Everdark. Annika smiled to herself as she wandered further into the greenhouse.

”Nicholas? Professor Croan sent me,” Annika said, tentatively.

Nicholas glanced up from the pot he was sifting soil into. When the door opened, he'd resigned himself to aggressively ignoring whoever wandered in to work on their own projects; so long as they stood far, far away, Nicholas wouldn't snatch their noise and toss it out the window. What he hadn't counted on was the interruption addressing him directly. Croan had sent some member of another coven to what, bother him, irritated him, rile him up? He just sighed. Whatever game was happening here, Nicholas would certainly make sure Croan knew to keep him out of it next time. He gave the girl addressing him a once over and tried to remember who this was. He recognized the face but a name eluded him.

“Yes, that is me.” Nicholas peeled off his gloves and placed them neatly next to his pot, pulling out a flask, unscrewing it, and taking a drink while his hands weren't covered in dirt. “And why did he send you?”

Annika followed the sound of the voice and smiled. She walked over to Nicholas and offered him the ring box. ’He’s my advisor this term. I just finished meeting with him and he asked me to bring this by,’ she said and glanced at the flask before looking at the plants Nicholas was working with.

Nicholas took the box and cracked it open. Inside sat an unassuming key. Nicholas snapped it shut, tucked it away in his pocket, and turned back away to his work, pulling the gloves back on and returning to carefully layering soil. “Reason enough, I suppose. Good luck. He is a challenging person to earn the respect of.” Nicholas paused for a moment, considered her, and sighed. “I would consider waiting to bring any issues you may have until after this evening. He'll be less… Croan, a bit more Varn.”

Annika peered closer at the plants Nicholas had been working with while he looked inside the ring box. Caltheas. It took Annika a while to think about their purpose, but she did know they were more located in the Southern continents and Southeast Asia. Annika shifted her gaze to Nick as he started to glove up again. New beginnings, harmony, and balance. That’s what Calatheas were used for. Curious.

She raised her hand, hovering it over a leaf, but didn’t touch it. ”Hmm? Oh, is that because of the whole vampire thing?” Annika pulled her hand back and made fake fangs with her pointer fingers.

Nicholas stared at Annika's strange mimicry, snorted in amusement, and started working once more. “There was a strange saying on the picture box a few decades back - you aren't you when you're hungry, I think? Varn is never… pleasant, but tolerable when he's sated. Probably hasn't eaten in a few weeks. He's grown lazy with a trapped food source. Rather wait than hunt.” Nicholas explained as he gently unearthed one of the calatheas from its original pot and worked on freeing the roots from the dirt. “Vampires are far more palpable after they've eaten. A hungry vampire is a difficult thing to deal with.”

Annika smiled slightly at Nick's reaction. Even if he thought she was strange, it was a different reaction from his usually stoic, uninterested expression. She peered closer as he worked with the plant, exhibiting great care with the plants. This, too, made her smile. Books should never be judged by their covers. Then Nick's words caught up with her and her face fell as she snapped her head to look at his face.

”Wait. Are you saying he feeds from the students?”

He nodded as he worked out a particularly difficult clot of dirt and examined the roots for any further bits. “Yes. Some of the Professors as well.” Nicholas replied absently, neatly placing his plant in the pot and slowly working soil around the roots. “He's generous in his recompense and there is a style to it. Nothing like younger vampires. Feeding is a lost art these days.” He sighed but glanced at Annika out of the corner of his eye.

“I can introduce you if you are interested.”

Annika blinked, slowly absorbing Nick's words. He couldn't be serious. Could he? Annika had a sinking feeling that Nicholas was entirely serious. Besides, he didn't seem like the joking type. Annika wasn't the praying type but she prayed Croan would ask before taking. She had a feeling she was more at risk of being a midnight snack due to her close proximity to Croan this term.

”Introduce me…? To younger vampires or…?” Annika pointed to the plant. Please be the plant.

“Despite my general disinterest in others, I don't wish ill on you. Younger vampires are a bit much for someone's first foray into the creatures of the night. No, Varn. There's a bit of pomp and circumstance to it but it's worth it in the end.” Nicholas looked between his plant and Annika's finger several times before finally settling on staring at Annika like she'd grown a third eye. “Are you afflicted with madness? You are well aware this is… just a plant? Tis not some fairytale druid.”

Annika relaxed a fraction, shrugging her shoulders. ”I suppose I should. Though I don't particularly want him to feed from me… But I don't think I'll have much say in the matter,” she said. This place was quickly teaching her that some boundaries would be moot.

Nick's next statement made Annika laugh. She looked around the greenhouse while she spoke. ”I am aware. However, I'm half indigenous. My people believe all creatures have a soul and carry some sort of purpose. Which isn't nearly as strange as books having a mind of their own. My father had a tendency to put things in books he shouldn't. So, plants having a soul wasn't that odd of a concept for me to learn.”

“Hm.” Nicholas didn't bother correcting her. He didn't particularly care how others saw the vampire so if Annika thought Croan a monster who preyed on whoever might cross his path, so be it. “At least your other half has some sense. Too much of magic has left the Earth these days; people tend to forget where it comes from in their pursuit of power and might. They forget the Earth can forget you too.”

Annika smiled more warmly and nodded. ”Yes, it certainly can. Although, I think some of us are tied a little more strongly to magic than most. Hopefully that’ll make what little remains stay.” Annika stepped closer to the table and nodded to the plant. ”Can I help? Or is this more of a solo activity?” Annika thought she was having a good conversation with Nick, but she didn’t want to overstay her welcome.

Nicholas paused at the question. This girl wasn't grating by any means… Nicholas offered a noncommittal hum but perked his head at the empty pot next to him. “Feel free.” He didn't have any more gloves to offer however.

Annika smiled and looked closely at the pot and plant in question. She fell silent while she worked, filling the empty pot a quarter full with some soil before she moved the transplant. She didn’t mind that her hands got dirty. It was comforting and grounding to work with the soil again. After a while, she spoke up again.

”Is there anything else I should watch out for in this school? People or other teachers. Sariel is a bit intense.”

Nicholas paused to consider the question. “No more than any other, I suppose. Magic demands an eclectic personality and those are oft equal in their intensity. That Harkness hag obviously. Don't cross paths with her if you can avoid it. He's on sabbatical, but definitely Professor Gray. And don't ask the artifact archivists too much. They can and will melt your brains out of your nose and ears. It is not a pretty sight nor particularly comfortable.” Nicholas advised and then shrugged. “Of course, you may well have different experiences with these people. My centuries make dealing with most people of this century… bothersome.”

Annika finished transplanting her plant while Nick talked. Some of his warnings worried her, but then his last statement made her pause. Perhaps it was an age different, but then again, she assumed most of her professors were older as well.

”Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind. I should get going. Thanks for the advice.” She found a rag to wipe most of the dirt off her hands, but she would need to wash and change still. She waved a goodbye before leaving Nick to his work.

---

After Callaghan ensured Willow was okay, he went to his room quickly to retrieve the book he had collected over the break before returning to Professor Mikkail. Cal presented the book to Mikkail, more than comfortable with the professor knowing secrets about his family that others didn’t. It was Mikkail who provided his family with many answers and help during their short time on earth. Even if Mikkail seemed off to Cal, there was something honest and truthful about the professor that made him feel safe.

The book contained story after story about Cal’s lineage, their origins as dragons, and their struggles with continuing the family line on earth. Pairing with humans was proving to be difficult. Their lives just weren’t sufficient enough to contain the life of a dragon. It seemed that just as soon as the dragon was beginning to uncover the secrets of their past lives, the human would inevitably die. Even though they had a symbiotic relationship that significantly extended the life of an average human, it wasn’t enough.

”Mother wanted me to pass along her greetings and extend an invitation once again for you to come visit,” Cal said, watching his mentor closely for any reaction from his words or the book.

Mikkail still stood in the center of the observatory. The view hadn't changed since the brief conversation with Cal and Willow and he accepted the book eagerly, flipping it open with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “Well, I shouldn't put that off for too long, should I? It wouldn't do to keep such a kindness waiting.” Mikkail chuckled. “And what a fascinating book you've brought me. Would it be too much trouble to ask to make a copy of it; otherwise, I fear I'll spend more time reading than talking. You know how easy it is for me to spiral into forgetfulness when I have something new to focus on, but slake my curiosity for a moment: is this an impersonal account of these challenges or is this a collection of memoirs?”

Cal grinned ’Mother made that copy for you actually. All the information we require is stored away,’ Cal said,tapping his head. ’You are correct. They are more memoirs from the past generations. At the end there is a reflective section, and some information on how we have advanced. Including a section penned by yours truly on how my little mission is going.’

Mikkail beamed with delight at the revelation. “Truely a gift, my boy. I will be treasured for as long as I have.” Mikkail gently wrapped it in the folds of his robes and gave Cal his attention once more, pulling out the dairy he'd offered him earlier.. “Now, I believe I still owe you some insight into the book our moth friend found. It is a fascinating window into the mind of the man who developed such brutality, but even more so that it seems entirely uninterested in offering its secrets to me. I can feel something there, setting at the edge of my mind like a name of a long gone friend, but I can't seem to understand what it was that Willow experienced. I have read this, of course, but I have failed to glean further insight into the madness it offers. It seems only interested into those with the Sight, or gifts of such similar nature, so your best opportunity would be Willow or you friends that it finds interesting.”

Callaghan frowned at the offending book. He held his hand out for it, hoping the book would be willing to share its secrets with him. ”Should we really put Willow through that again? She reacted rather violently to it…Unless, is it always like that when someone uses Sight?” Cal asked.

Mikkail passed it back over. “I would personally determine the source of magic causing this. One of your covenmates, or another colleague, ought to be able to interact with magic unlike Willow and give you an idea if the experience was a result of echos in the magic, true sentience in the book, a lingering spell, or something else entirely, if you'd care to spare Willow further anguish.” Mikkail suggested, considering the second question for a moment. “The Sight is a fickle thing. I warned Willow against relying on it too much because its never true in the way you'd expect and its visions are often too difficult to understand. The Sight revealing things from the perspective of the one wielding it more often than not.”

Cal flipped through the diary, analyzing some of the paragraphs, and noted how strange the language became the further he read. He hoped something would reveal itself to him. ”Maybe Cassie. She has chaos magic. This might respond to her.” Cal continued to read even as he asked questions. ”Do you think you’ll be able to help Willow with her power?” Cal asked bluntly.

“With the Sight? I can certainly offer methods of meditation, direction for relevant reading, and introducing her to those who can aid her, certainly. The Sight doesn't come with incantations and gestures and such like we are most accustomed to but I certainly have resources to offer. My study has plenty of them!” Mikkail replied with a chuckle. “Chaos magic is a generally excellent choice - it's very versatile, though unpredictable in even the most experienced wielder's hands. It would be quite exciting to see what happens! You'll have to tell me what happens!”

Callaghan chuckled at his professor’s enthusiasm for what could go wrong. He hoped, at least, that what happened wouldn’t be too catastrophic. Cal would have to see how Cassie felt about looking at the book.

Cal tucked the book away, his thoughts drifting to what had happened earlier today. ”Professor…This mystery you have us working on, you mentioned it was something you had been trying to uncover for a while. How personal is this?”

“The magic isn't particularly personal. It's simply a puzzle that has eluded me despite my best efforts, so I have offered the newer generation an opportunity to excel where I have failed. My notes and my writings are yours to explore of course; they are kept neatly in my sitting room for ease of access, though I do have the boorish habit of protecting my work in such a way that even I sometimes forget what I see is not what is true. The key to the challenge is teamwork and understanding the role you all play.” Mikkail explained, his gaze drifting once more to the stars around them. “Through all my years, I have rarely interceded in the affairs of the worlds I visit. And now as I consider my place in this universe, I find I regret it. There was so much opportunity to make change and I rarely did so focused on my own self assigned purpose. You are a good man, Callaghan. I do hope you find a way to break the cycles of history.”

Cal looked up at the sky with his professor. Taking in the stars as they blinked in and out of view. Mikkail’s last statement rugged on something deep within Cal. He looked back at his professor, concern plain on his face.

”Is everything okay, Professor? I noticed your dragon was close earlier today.”

“Indeed, this human form has begun to weigh on me more lately. I have not spent enough time in my natural form, I think; but otherwise, everything is just fine. My years are starting to show, my friend. My mind wanders and I find myself remembering things I thought were long gone.” Mikkail laughed, something soft and weary. “Certainly something to consider, but my own reminiscences aren't something to worry about. Rather, how do you think you'll lead your group to success in this? I'm curious to hear how you'll get your group of misfits to band together.”

Cal sobered, remembering tales from his elders on what it was like to grow older and have the weight of multiple lifetimes on your shoulders. As much as Cal looked forward to those days, simply because of the knowledge he would have accumulated, he was grateful to still be young.

”Ah,” Cal said with an affectionate chuckle. He looked back up at the sky, in deep thought. ”I believe Willow and Cassiopeia are both eager to learn and prove themselves. It is perhaps Nicholas who will struggle to integrate. I at least want him to be able to trust the others to get the task done. I don't care if he likes them, but trust is the only way we will be able to find the answers. Any advice?” Cal asked, looking back at his mentor.

“Hm. How do you pry open something that welded its own locks shut?” Mikkail pondered and tilted his head. “I would recommend time and proximity, much like a wary cat, but I doubt the full extent of their lives would be enough to earn that. Should you wish to be crafty and underhanded, you may consider contriving a situation in which Willow and Cassie are forced to save the witch and perhaps that may earn it; though, I do not recommend it personally. I find it distasteful and the bonds forged fall apart once the illusion unravels - a particularly poor method against an illusionist. Perhaps a conversation and simply laying it out there; although, you would know better what methods of persuasion may work on him. And if none of that works, purchase it. A favor for trust would be a mighty favor indeed from someone so guarded, but I believe Nicholas’s favors far more… benign certainly is not the correct phrase, but straightforward may be. I know his brother’s are often wrapped in confusion and trickery. Nicholas seems to like the simple way of it.”

Cal agreed with his professor. Trickery was not the way to win about Nick's favour or his trust. However, Cal was well versed in the art of persuasion. He smirked to himself, wondering if those methods would truly yield the results Cal was intending. Purchasing it? Well, perhaps, but what would Nick want that Cal had the means to give.

”All helpful thoughts. Thank you Professor. I'm sure you will soon know if I'm successful in that endeavour. I'll take my leave. Read the book, let me know if you have any thoughts or questions,” Cal said, scooping up his bag once more.

“Of course, my boy, of course. I shall have plenty before sundown.” Mikkail clapped Callaghan on the back. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a small bottle, just larger than the size of his palm with several small red blooms inside “Ah, actually a little something for your friend. An old seer offered me this once, saying a tea brewed of these leaves will offer some respite from the demands of the Sight. I forgot I had this on me; I certainly won’t find any use for it but I believe Willow may. The name slips my mind, but I think it should be fairly easy to find more.”

Callaghan accepted the bottle from Mikkail and held it close for examination. He smiled. ”Lycoris radiata the red spider lily. Thank you. I'll pass this along to her. I'll see you soon, Professor.” Cal tipped his head respectfully to Mikkail before leaving the professor to his own devices.

Jake was bounding through the halls of Strange Academy with giddy glee. He had learned and seen so many new things that day! He loved his coven, they were all so cool! And he adored getting to work with Cassie, she was so nice!! He’d started exploring after their advisor session, stumbling upon some locations that he definitely wanted to revisit. There was one in particular that he had adored - it was a room filled with mirrors, with strange contraptions all about, and objects that fit into his hand so easily but were deceptively heavy. The ground had been strange too, an odd padding covering every surface, such a departure from the stone floors outside. There had been a giant ball, too - just the perfect height for him to sit on it and to bounce with glee. There had been smaller balls nearby, but those ones had been so incredibly heavy, it had been hard to pick them up and when he’d dropped them onto the ground, they thudded rather than bounced. And the crisp scent in the air - he couldn’t identify it, didn’t know what it was - but he was immediately smitten. When sleep evaded him, he would be returning to this strange place.

But for now, he was too excited by all the possibilities to remain just in one spot! So he zipped about through the halls, opening doors and peering inside, gasping with wonder at the incredible sights - and then squealing with delight as he opened one and saw one of his favorite people.

“Frankie!!! Hi, hi, hi!!! It’s me, Jake!!! What are you doing? Can I see? Can I help? I love helping! Please, please, please let me help!!” he begged, barreling his way inside the small room. It was a strange space, too, dimly lit except for a spotlight at the center. It was sparsely decorated, with a metal slab in the dead center, and rolling carts filled with what looked like tools. And on the slab, there was…

Jake’s eyes widened. “Is that a person? Is he okay??”

Frankie had some goggles over his eyes, though unlike others they had a magnifying feature to be able to see his sutures and work better while staying safe. His lab coat was closed, and some blood splatter was on the sleeves and torso as he worked, stopping at the sound of a familiar voice before he looked up to see Jake bounding in.

“ Oh hey, I'm not sure how much you'd be able to help but you can assist a bit if you'd like.”

Frankie grabbed the goggles with one hand, lifting them up and placing them onto his forehead.

“ Uh, Yes that is a person and no. They're dead. Only fo – have, pieces of them though. So I can't exactly perform a full resurrection. Was thinking of maybe detaching the hand and animating that instead to help out.”

Jake gasped. “A resurrection? That’s so cool! Can you resurrect me? What’s that?” He’d never heard of the term before but it seemed so exciting and he wanted to try! He bounded on up to Frankie’s side, a little bit of blood already having found its way onto his cheek, as he started to pace, circling the slab. “Do I have to wear a cool outfit like yours too? Do I get second eyes? Or do you have to be born with them? Were you born with them?”

Frankie laughed, placing one hand on his hip as he followed Jake with his eyes. “Usually yes, you would have to wear the proper gear to be working on something like this, but given I have no spares there isn't much to do. Really I just try and use it to keep my clothes clean. Some people find the sight of it all unseemly.” He shrugged.

“Oh, and no you don't have to be born with them you just have to buy some or make them yourself. They're quite pricey, but I'm sure Rohan would be able to make you some, or Annika. They're both pretty handy at crafting. And resurrection only works on the dead, youre plenty much alive and I'd like to keep it that way. You're…sweet.” Frankie looked away from Jake, turning back to his work to busy himself.

“Oh. But you look so pretty like this!” Jake gushed. “Why wouldn’t people like it? The red reminds me of some flowers I saw earlier, and flowers are really pretty, so you’re also pretty then!” he reasoned. Frankie looked so much more vibrant than everyone else, he wasn’t wearing dreary browns and muted greys and dull blacks. The red contrasted sharply to the white of the coat and it caught Jake’s eye, pulling his easily captured attention.

He picked up one of the body parts - a leg, he realized - and gave it a good sniff, before licking it. “Huh. Is this what all dead people taste like?” he asked. He didn’t know what to think about Frankie telling him he was sweet. The only thing he knew that was sweet had been the candy from the night before, and Jake hadn’t liked that at all. Was Frankie telling him he was like candy? He didn’t like that. He didn’t want to make Frankie feel like that.

“Please don't lick the body parts…or eat them for that matter. I'd caution against the brain the most, but the head’s missing so no use there. But if you do come across it don't lick or eat it.” Frankie held out his arm, placing it onto the leg as he tried to slowly lower it down and away from Jake's mouth. He was an interesting case, seemed to have absolutely no compass of any kind, no knowledge, yet the capability to speak. He recalled the wild magic surging inside of him, and he wondered if perhaps Jake was some manner of undead. It would explain the memory loss he supposed, but if that was to be a side effect of raising the dead…he would need to study it and find a way around it. No use reviving a loved one if they don't even know who they are.

“Why?” Jake asked simply, as he let Frankie guide the leg away from his mouth. Eating it would have been silly. He knew that he wouldn’t get much out of that. But licking it seemed harmless and safe - and it gave him so much information when he used his tongue! It was quickly becoming one of his favorite senses, taste - and not licking things to learn about them made as much sense as refusing to open his eyes and look at things, or refusing to touch them or smell them. “Is it bad to lick things? I’ve been licking a lot of things. I licked some stuff Connie made earlier - she even gave me some of it as a present afterwards, she was so nice!! Wanna see? I have it in my pocket, because I didn’t know where to put it - and I got a gift from Nicky. Two gifts!!”

“Mostly because there's chemicals used in preparing bodies that are harmful to you and others. We also aren't aware how they died and that also could pose a health risk to you if you licked the wrong thing. As a general rule of thumb, you shouldn't put anything in your mouth unless its meant to be there, like food or drinks. Even if it seems extremely tempting.”

Frankie understood that was how newborns helped to process information. But typically they had parents to minimize the amount of dangers that that would present. “Say, do you mind if I ask you a few questions while I work?”

Jake frowned, considering what Frankie had said. It was dangerous to put things in his mouth? Food and drinks were the only things meant to be there? That didn’t seem right. There had to be other things that were okay to go in his mouth. It seemed wasteful for it to just be food and drink - something he had no interest at all in. Why even have a mouth? And then, his expression brightened up. Talking! Of course! Words were the other thing to put in mouths! He giggled a bit at his own shortsightedness, before nodding. “Okay! No more things in my mouth!” he agreed.

But Frankie didn’t say anything else about touching, so he was happily picking up the different body parts, fiddling with them as he tried to understand them. Joints were very fun. He liked how bendy they were! More body parts ought to be bendy, he decided. “Yeah, you can ask me questions!! What do you want to know? I don’t know a lot of things but I can try!”

Frankie didn't mind Jake touching things. He'd long since decided the piece he cared about most was the wrist and hand he was currently holding. The rest would be preserved for later use. He held the hand up, goggles back in place, as he began to ask his questions, inspecting the hand all the while.

“How much do you remember? You seem to have some gaps of memory, I'm curious where they start.”

Jake had been about to list off everything he remembered, when Frankie clarified he just wanted to know where his memories started. That was easy at least! “Yesterday, when we were in that big hall with the key fish. That’s when I woke up!” He had shifted his task with the body parts, having moved on from playing with joints to instead trying to stack them to form a tower.

When he…woke up? That was certainly one way to put it. But even then. “Wanna play a game? It's called Doctor. You'll be my patient and I'll be your doctor.”

His eyes lit up. He loved games! He nodded eagerly, abandoning the small tower of body parts. His torso and arms and face were now thoroughly covered in blood and guts. “That sounds so fun!!”

Frankie pointed towards another slab, one unoccupied by a corpse. “I'll grab a few things, go ahead and sit over there”.

“Okay!!” Jake preened, as he hopped up onto the slab, his legs swinging as he waited.

Frankie grabbed a few tools out of his bag. Mainly a tongue suppressor, stethoscope, and small rubber hammer for reflexes. There were a few other devices as well that got carted over next to Jake. He put on the stethoscope first. “This might be a little cold, so fair warning.” Frankie blew hot air onto the metallic end before sliding it under Jake's shirt and listening for a heartbeat. It was there, no doubt about that. He moved it to his back, checking the lungs as he continued to instruct Jake on what to do. Breathing normally, taking in a slow long deep breath and holding it before giving him a slow long exhale. Everything seemed to check out. If he was an undead, he was a perfect replica of a living being…minus the memory issues. Perhaps he just had amnesia then? A miss-spell that caused a head injury or something along those lines.

“Did you find anything?” Jake asked, curious, as Frankie put a strange, cold device on his chest. It made him nervous for a moment, how close the other boy was to touching him - but it was just a game, they were only playing doctor, it would be fine. The chill didn’t hurt, although he didn’t like it, either. Bad things were cold. He trusted Frankie, though, so the device couldn’t actually be bad. “Can I help?” he then added. “Are you looking for something?”

Frankie shook his head. Taking the ear buds out as he placed them into Jake's ears. “You're helping by following the instructions. Watch.” He took the metal disc and placed it over his heart, allowing Jake to hear its thrum for a few beats before pulling it away. “The device let's me hear your heart and lungs, shows me how healthy they are and if there's anything in them that shouldn't be. You're in good health.” Frankie grabbed the next device, testing Jake's reflexes.

Jake was very still for a moment, as he listened intently to the sound of Frankie’s heart beating. He’d never heard anything quite like it before - simultaneously soft and reassuring, a rhythmic lull that caused a bit of tension in his body to leave. He frowned, his eyes glistening a bit as the sound was taken away from him, as he couldn’t hear Frankie anymore. “Does everyone sound as nice as you?” he asked.

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As the first full day of term came to a close, the grand, heavy oak doors to the feasting hall swung open at the stroke of seven, as the room came to life with sudden intensity. The older population of the student body crowded into the expansive room, their idle chatter drowning out any other sound. It was a small mercy that the actual children had supped earlier. There were a variety of seating options, from long banquet tables to more intimate round tables and booths, some even with the privacy of a tapestry that could be drawn around them to avoid wandering eyes. At the head of the room, elevated up above as if on a stage, was a long table dedicated for the professors - a table that rarely saw itself filled, as most members of faculty chose to eat in the faculty lounge and receive a much needed respite from their pupils.

The light in the room was provided by flickering, soft yellow flames, the orbs idly bouncing around the room, drifting from table to table. A protective sphere prevented them from setting the room ablaze, of course. The stone walls were adorned with historical portraits, depicting some of the most famous magical practitioners of the age - including one of the absent headmaster himself, Stephen Strange whose eyes seemed to follow you no matter where you sat.

The food, of course, was enchanted to appear upon request. At each table, a small card indicated the menu for the night - and this early in the school year, the options were more than palatable, the quality having not yet dropped. Drinks were provided by request, with students merely needing to whisper into their goblet what they would like, and the liquid appearing… within reason.



While most of the conversations that could be overheard in the feasting hall were repetitive and dull, focusing on newfound crushes, schemes to get out of homework for classes, and newfound conspiracy theories as to just exactly where Prof. Gray had gone off to for the year, one bit of gossip in particular may stand out:

“Did you hear what someone found in the dungeons earlier?” a young Conjuration witch whispered, in between mouthfuls of puff pastry.

“Croan’s sense of humor?”

“No, this is serious, Betty!” her friend protested, even as she herself dipped her spoon into her dessert. “Someone found a head. Like, not one that a professor brought to show off for some freaky lesson, but an actual human head.”

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Jake was positively vibrating with excitement, as he found himself in the Feasting Hall, surrounded by friends he had yet to meet! So much of the school was here and he stared at his fellow classmates with awe, suddenly enamored with the possibilities before him. There were so many people he didn't know, so many types of magic he had yet to see, so many stories that hadn't been told! And had he not been there to spend time with the friends he had made so far, he would have rushed about from table to table, frantically introducing himself until the next person caught his eye, sending him running off again, almost tripping over his own feet. Instead, though, he had a critical job to do. He was brought here to protect and defend, to keep his friends happy and safe and free from harm - and there would be no greater harm than not having a place to sit!

So he had practically materialized in the hall the moment the doors had opened, securing a table with enough spots for all of them - it was large and circular, meaning that everyone could see everyone. He was thrilled! He'd done such a great job! There were pieces of paper with scribbles on them, he didn't know if those were important or not, but he didn't bother with them, instead sitting on the table itself, his feet propped up on a chair, as he watched the entrance with great intensity. Each time he saw someone in the coven system, he waved at them frantically, shouting their name if he knew it - and if he didn't, just going - "Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi!!!!" to get the point across.

His attire had changed from earlier in the day, on account of how filthy he had gotten playing with Frankie. He didn't have any other clothes, so he was wearing some of Frankie's - an olive sweater with a white undershirt and dark trousers. His new friend had even let him keep a little bit of the blood on his face, specifically on his cheek - it was something called rogue - or was it rouge? he didn't remember - and it was supposed to make him cute! Jake really liked that. He liked being cute. He hoped Cassie would like it, too! He really liked Cassie. She was one of his favorites. Nicky and Connie and Barty were favorites, too! And everyone else was just a favorite he hadn't gotten to know yet! Frankie was his most favorite, though. His face felt strange and hot around him, and his fingers tingled in a way that didn't make sense, and when he had parted ways from Frankie after their game, something cold had settled in him. It was the same sort of cold he felt when he'd left Nicky earlier that day, but a little stronger, a little more intense. He didn't know what any of it meant, though.