Ebil Bunny

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

@Silver Carrot Lohren looks like she needs friends, what do you think of her and Manny (in all her unapologetically open-book-ness) becoming pals as fellow parliament students? I imagine Manny taking her under her friend-making wing and pulling Lohren into all sorts of hijinks to increase her friend number, all of which completely unsuccessful

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Just putting it out there, if anyone wanted to set their pre-existing relationship with Ana as anything other than neutral prior to starting, I am open to suggestions. It can help flesh out the 'relationships' section of the character sheet.

@Ti

I can see a few different ways a dynamic between Ana and Manny could go as Illuminaire and delinquent. Reading her character sheet, Ana certainly seems more compassion-focused than order-focused, but would that manifest as finding Manny's acting out and lack of motivation as being in need of guidance for her own good, or would Ana see it as caused by her fish-out-of-water outsideness and the disdain from other students, and thus try to be a judgement-free ally?

I think Manny would notice Anastasia's lack of hostility either way, but if it's the former I could see that resulting in treating their relationship like a long-running but good-natured game of hide-and-seek to the exasperation of the older girl. The latter might result in her trying to use Ana as an oasis to get out of trouble in a "Mooom, they're bullying me~!" kind of way

I'm sure there are plenty of other possibilities as well, what do you think?

-

And to everyone else, I'm also down to do some relationship setting if anyone has ideas or interest ^^

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

<Snipped quote by Benzaiten>

Honestly, I was a bit hand-wavey with the descriptions of which ones were EC or not, but yes, the EC classes do count toward the 4-6 per year. The thing is that if you take all the easy classes early on, in your later years, you'll be stuck with all the hard classes all at once, so aside from the ones that are mandatory, like Gifts and Sustained Flight, it's better to balance out each year with easy and hard classes. But it is up to the students ultimately. And yes, Student Council counts as a class, as there are daily meetings that student council members attend to. Student Council is a class you can take every year if you're accepted into it by the Illuminaires; you might just have to stack up on other classes as time goes on. Students eventually have to take all the classes. Excluding Clubs and Student Council, which are the only ones that really arent required, there are 33 classes and over the course of 8 years, that's four classes per year. You may have to do a little stacking since Gifts is mandatory every year and Sustained Flight is also required for first years. So you'll likely have 2-3 years where you have to take 5 classes instead of four, just because that's how the numbers come out (I think lol).

There are also advanced versions of some classes, but I didn't really think to add them to the list. Honestly, some parts of it are a bit hand-wavey, ill admit. lol So don't think too hard about it tbh.

@Aeolian

Ah, didn't realize all classes would need to be taken eventually, so I added another class to Manny's list. Had the additional benefit of a new relation, too!

@SunStar Ezekiel passively suctions vitnesse on contact, but does he also do so more weakly at a distance? I realized that since Manny's Reincarnation activates automatically upon interference towards her aeonheart, Ezekiel might actually just pop her like a balloon any time he's nearby, and I find that absolutely hilarious xD

Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined

Haven't roleplayed in a good while, and this looks like a promising one to come back to :)

Manny Ryi

Theme

◈ A p p e a r a n c e ◈
Due to the nature of her gift, Manny's physical appearance is always changing with no image to call her own, other than the constant lilac butterfly mark on the left side of her neck. Even to those not aware of this feature, she is still easily recognizable by her thick accent and overt personality, in addition to the white clothing peculiar to her magic. She can't be bothered to keep up with the academy uniform every time it activates, after all. She doesn't bother with cosmetics or accessories of any kind either, other than her house pendant sometimes, having come to find the whole ordeal meaningless without a set appearance she considers "herself".

◈ "What're they genna do, kiell me?" ◈

◈ N a m e
Manny Ryi

◈ S p e l l c a s t e r N a m e
Pupa

◈ A g e, H e i g h t, a n d W e i g h t
13 years old, varying around 150 cm (4'11'') and 45 kg (100 lbs.)

◈ R a c e
Mystic

◈ G e n d e r
Female

◈ S e x u a l O r i e n t a t i o n
TBD

◈ Y e a r
1st

◈ P e t
An owlette named Puddy that she rarely interacts with outside of Pet Bonding class, instead leaving it to the Owlette Specialist.

◈ H o u s e
House of Seraphine

◈ I l l u m i n a i r e
No

◈ C l a s s e s

◈ Gifts (Mostly skips and looks through animal books from the library, more useful for her magic)

◈ Sustained Flight (Decent enough, but she can practice flying whenever)

◈ Pet Bonding (Wanted a wink but they wouldn't let her, so she plays with others' winks instead)

◈ Janitor Apprenticeship (The guys are just happy to get the help, and Manny can be done in thirty minutes if she's quick)

◈ Parliament Studies (Surprising to many, she actually enjoys this one)

◈ A r e Y o u O n Y o u r H o u s e ' s W a a g a T e a m?
No, but can be convinced

◈ "Weil sum'ins lookin' lak a bungral without ainy wipwappers. What's wraong?" ◈

◈ P e r s o n a l i t y
Adventurous ◈ Confident ◈ Stubborn ◈ Friendly ◈ Rebellious

Even amongst the other free-spirits from outside island society, Manny likes to be loose. So now finding herself in the heavily regulated academy, she's decided to rise up against these meaningless etiquettes and expectations! She publicly ignores any rules she doesn't agree with, scores poorly in all her classes (except Parliament Studies, Manny likes challenging herself in that one), and only accepts punishments in order to show her resoluteness. Since nobody can really stop her, no punishment seems work, and her acting out tends not to hurt anything other than her own education and reputation, more relaxed disciplinaries have begun letting her get away with such actions as going to the wrong classes, not wearing the uniform, or perching atop the Seraphim statue.

Despite her rejection of this foreign culture of unnecessary rules and order, she in no way desires to hurt anyone and is actually quite social and amicable. She, in fact, rather takes pride in helping other people. Unfortunately, things she considers "requiring help" include being anything less than a high-energy, optimistic extrovert. Add in her complete disregard for age and she'll even bother adults just trying to relax because they "look bored and need some fun".

◈ H i s t o r y
Manny was once a part of the Yharta, one of several tribes of nomads that have lasted for generations living on fleets of large, low-flying ships skirting the Endless Ocean Below and catching various goods to trade with the islanders. While these tribes are mostly disliked by islanders due to surviving the Liberation War through exiling mystics, the Yharta took it a step further and actively supported some Ni-Seraphi with information in exchange for peacefulness. When the Order of Harold and Hope won the war, it was nearly decided to end the Yharta. Eventually, an agreement was made that allowed the tribe to subsist, but all Yhartan mystics were thenceforth to join the newly founded Harold's Academy for the Magically Inclined and become islanders, among other compensations.

The girl herself was a middle child of a large family, leaving her lots of room for mischief and adventures. Her infectious personality drew in several other brats upon whom she was quite the bad influence. Together, the squad lived in merriment, causing plenty of damage to things and themselves in their daredevilry, and growing close in their war against consequences from their elders.

It was an especially unwise endeavor that resulted in the manifesting of Manny's magic. An attempt to catch a scorpiotross bird revealed a fatal allergy to its venom. Fortunately, what could have been a tragedy was instead the absurd sight of a four ton frigidon wearing a fluffy white dress and standing atop the poop deck. Shock, confusion, then relief, was followed by sorrow. After all, a mystic was forbidden from remaining in the Yharta.

With heavy hearts and after difficult goodbyes, a ship separated from the tribe, carrying Manny's massive form to the nearest port city. The time on that voyage was a constructive one however, as all the other Yhartans onboard took time to sit down with her. To reflect on what happened, and what is to come. To treat her like the person she was, instead of the animal she looked. And when the large island materialized overhead, Manny felt a bit like herself again. And as the ship slid into the harbor, Manny chose to look forward instead of back.

◈ R e p u t a t i o n
The young Yhartan would have faced little scorn for her heritage thanks to the Academy stamping hard on such things, if not for her disregard towards rules supporting many negative presumptions about the tribe. Despite her short time at the Academy and ever-changing appearance, Manny has already become well-known as a delinquent, especially to anyone who desires order or their personal space. However, there are plenty who don't mind her eccentricities and some even find her endearing. Proudly facing any animosity towards her head on has also earned her an amount of respect.

◈ G o a l s
The tribe granted few opportunities, and Manny was content to fall into whatever role caught her. Now in a strange new world with countless options that yet feel so unattainable, she is left lost and indecisive. Thus, she instead avoids such burdensome thoughts and lives life in the moment, enjoying herself as she can.

◈ R e l a t i o n s
Yharta - She and they still consider her Yhartan, and they regularly exchange letters when able. Unfortunately, the difficulty in making contact with wandering nomads makes such letters rare.
Janitorial Staff - It's not often for a student to take being a janitor as their apprenticeship, so Manny's become something of a mascot and been admitted into the S.S.G.E., the Secret Society of Grime Elimination. Their clubhouse is a broom closet featuring a fully stocked minifridge.

◈ "Bein' a cait does nawt make cait chow taiste any beidder, Ah'm teilin' ya!" ◈

◈ M y s t i c C l a s s i f i c a t i o n
Somatic

◈ G i f t
Reincarnation

◈ M y s t i c C o d e
Reincarnation automatically triggers if Manny dies, her aeonheart is interfered with, or if she consciously wills it. Upon activation, her old body turns to dust and she reincarnates as a new creature at peak health and swaddled in fluffy, snow white clothing unique to her gift. There are only a few consistencies between incarnations - she is always female, physically fit, has a butterfly mark on her neck over the vessel connecting her aeonheart to her brain (though it's usually hidden by fur, feathers, or scales when in animals forms), and her human forms are always of her true body age. Other than these, all physical characteristics can and do change. Her animal incarnations are nearly biologically identical to real animals, but their physical brains differ to support her human thought processes and she retains her aeonheart.

◈ L i m i t a t i o n s a n d W e a k n e s s e s
While Manny can cause herself to reincarnate, that is the extent of control she has; the creature and its physical appearance being random. Consecutive reincarnations in quick succession temporarily increase the time it takes between death and reincarnation at a rapid rate, meaning "rerolling" is detrimental in any time-relevant situation. Her gift's automatic activation upon her aeonheart being influenced additionally means many otherwise mild or even beneficial effects can trigger it. Finally, despite these forms always being physically fit, she can never become stronger as any efforts would be undone upon the next reincarnation.

Having completed mine, I can see that there are several characters that would make for some very fun interactions

Royal Rumble!

Hey guys, I'm really sorry but I think I may have to drop out. I hate to do so because finding a lasting community like this is very rare, and the things that have been happening have been so interesting, but I've just not been able to find time to post. I don't want to hold anyone back, so I've been kind of stressing over it.
Feel free to take over Cyan either as a PC or NPC if you want, I know Bee's wanting to do a collab. I also still plan on sticking around here and in the discord, even if I'm not playing playing. I'm too curious about the shenanigans ensuing not to. Plus, you guys are an absolute blast :D
And who knows, maybe time will open up for me at some point and I'll be able to jump back in again!

Royal Rumble!

Cyan

---

TAGS: @AtomicNut

---

Cyan sat atop his throne with the back of his head resting on his hands. It was pretty boring up here, and quite uncomfortable. Maybe sticking the throne on top of a huge mound of gold and valuable artifacts wasn't the best decision, as it caused the thrown to slant at a fifteen or so degree angle. Not to mention the throne itself was rather small, and so he had to sit on it sideways with his legs hanging over one chair arm and his middle back on the other. It was kinda painful, but there weren't any other chairs.

And above all else, despite hating to admit it, the boy felt lonely. Nobody else was allowed in the palace after all. He would have loved to invite some other people to play some baseball, or hide and seek, or just hang out. Maybe he should revoke that rule, he had the power after all. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. People were only ever after the gold. It's not like this was the first time he'd considered allowing others in. Cyan had revoked the rule several times before, each under different circumstances and with different conditions, but every time he found the room emptier than it was before. People never cared about him.

The fox tail, which was originally draped around his torso, drooped so much that it slid off and lay on the seat of the throne. Cyan sighed. He wanted to go for a walk, but that wasn't possible either. If nobody was here to guard the treasure, it'd all be gone by the time he came back. Samoth came by sometimes and guarded the palace (from outside, of course) which allowed the boy to stretch his legs in the forest, but Samoth was a third year. Third years had all kinds of things they needed to do in preparation for graduation. It wasn't often that the older boy was around.

Suddenly, one of the coins in the pile loosened under the pressure of the throne. As it began to slide down the pile, a chain reaction occurred. The treasure pile turned into a treasure avalanche, and Cyan was balancing, poorly, on top. The boy tried to slide off the chair to stand somewhere safe, but the throne fell over with him on it, and he began to get covered. The treasure was bearing down on his chest and he couldn't move. As a pile of gold coins flowed over his face, he found himself unable to breathe. This is where he'd die, strangled by his own treasure...

---

The boy awoke, struggling against two arms that were squeezing him much too tightly. His face was pressed up against some round blob of flesh and he was running out of air. Pushing as hard as he could against the belly of the beast, Cyan finally managed to make some room for some air. After taking some deep breaths, he managed to calm himself down to some extent. Ah yes, he was at Meredith's house, meaning this thing was probably Meredith's belly. The boy distinctly remembered her saying she'd sleep on the floor. So much for that. As fatigued as he was, the boy decided walking back to the academy was definitely the better option at this point.

Wriggling the best he could, he somehow managed to escape the death grip the girl had on him and he flopped onto the carpeted floor. A wave of relief washed over him and he lay panting for a moment. That was the most intense and unwanted hug he'd ever experienced, and he'd experienced quite a few unwanted hugs in his time. But now that he was free, he needed to somehow make it back to St. Laurel's, and he still didn't know where it was.

After thinking for a second, he began to look around Meredith's room for a phone charger. He didn't need to charge it much, just plug it in so he could use it to look up general directions. From there he'd be able to make it on his own by memory.

---

Royal Rumble!

Cyan

---

TAGS: @AtomicNut

---

Cyan would have seriously been fine with sleeping on the floor, but he supposed a compromise would have to be made if either of them were gonna get any sleep that night.
"Alright, I'll sleep in the bed," he conceded, deciding not to mention Meredith's contradiction in saying that nobody should sleep on the floor immediately before volunteering to do so. At this point he just wanted to sleep. He removed his shoes and put them together beside the bed, then rolled under the covers. Facing the wall with his back to whatever Meredith might be up to, he closed his eyes.

...

...

This was really bad. Everything was fluff. It was like he failed the worst possible coin-flip and got covered in tails. Not to mention the fact that he'd never been in a bed so objectively comfortable before, and it was actively making it difficult for him to sleep.
'Maybe once she falls asleep, I'll take a blanket and sleep on the floor after all. People fall out of bed all the time, she wouldn't blame me for that, right?' he thought, and lay still in an attempt to listen for signs of Meredith sleeping.

"I'm gonna hunt you, Mr. Hamsalot..." he heard a mumbling and tensed up in surprise.
'The heck? Is she playing video games? I'll never be able to escape this padded prison!'
Slowly rolling over as naturally for someone to be asleep as he could, he peaked through one eye. There she was, lying on the floor and wrapped with her own wings, and most definitely sleeping. Okay, good. Mission Jailbreak: Begin.

Unsure of how light a sleeper the girl was, he did his best to make as little noise as possible. Rolling up the blanket on the bed, he inched his way to the edge and put his feet over. Halfway there. Putting the large ball of comforter on his lap, he began to stand up when suddenly nyan cat began to play.

'Crap, the alarm! I've been caught!' Cyan quickly unrolled the blanket and laid back in bed as if he were sleeping.

"INTERNAL BLEEDING?! Oh Satan take me!" Meredith almost screamed in response to what turned out to be her phone, not an elaborate trap set to make sure he stayed confined within this ocean of cozy suffering.

'Wait, internal bleeding? That's a bad thing!' The boy thought and bolted upright.
"What's going o-" he began to say until he say Meredith changing and immediately averted his eyes and lay back in bed. Maybe she wouldn't notice he "woke up".

"WILL YOU PIPE DOWN, MAMMOTH!" shouted a younger female voice. Great, now there were more people. Pulling the blanket up to cover his eyes and ears so he couldn't see or hear, he gave in to the inevitability of never getting out of this bed until morning and did his best dead fish impression. Once he got tired enough, he'd probably fall asleep despite the unearthly luxuriousness of this piece of furniture. Probably.

Then the mattress began to compress as another body, a small one, lay down on it. At this point Cyan was beyond caring about what happened around him.
'Just sleep. Just sleep. Just sleep.'

---

Royal Rumble!

Cyan

---

TAGS: @AtomicNut

---

Cyan's relaxing vacation on the floor was interrupted by the surprise appearance of a classmate.

"Hi Ceylon! Are you on a late errand too? My mother wants whipped cream and strawberries but I didn't see her bake a cake at all tonight. It's curious. Oh... are you that tired? You can't sleep in the floor, silly, it's dirty!" She rambled a greeting, sounding like she was attempting cheeriness but was audibly tired.

"No, I was just..." Cyan trailed off as he turned to look at the monster that was drooling all over the window. Now that he got a better look at it in the light, it... Well, it didn't have glowing red eyes.
"Uh... Yeah, my phone ran out of batteries." It took him a moment to regain his trail of thought, but once found he tossed in a non-sequitur. It was probably best not to admit that he'd been running at top speed for the past five minutes to get away from that thing. Even if he knew better, she would probably think of it as a lovable newfoundland dog.

Pulling himself back to his feet, Cyan brushed off the seat of his pants. The other student hadn't been lying about the state of the floor. This place needed a janitor, someone at least as good at cleaning as his tail accidentally was. The boy grimaced as he pulled off a few leaves and brushed off bits of dust that collected in his tail. Some of it was probably from running from the dog though.

"So... Meredith, right? How come your mom's making you come out here in the middle of the night?" Cyan asked in an awkward attempt to not be awkward. Luckily he knew her name, even if she didn't know his. It wasn't that he was especially good at names, she was just one of the more memorable students in his class, even if he hadn't talked to her before.

---

Royal Rumble!

Cyan

---

"Sorry for keeping you hanging, but it turns out Andras would not be affected by the first casting of any spell, meaning that you'd have to get heads twi-" Suddenly the phone beeped once and shut off. Cyan's phone had run completely out of batteries. Hopefully they would be able to continue whatever plan they had without his help. Something about raising the dead so someone wouldn't attack someone else? It was all very confusing, but Cyan wished William the best.

However, at this point in time, he had his own problems to figure out. There was no way he could just continue sleeping in someone's house, he could get into a lot of trouble if anyone found out. So he basically needed to find his way back to the academy.
'Now seems like a pretty good time to use a coin-flip, but if I can figure things out without it, that would be better,' he through, and looked around. It was a partly cloudy night, but there were a few lampposts dotting the area so he could see alright. It seemed like he was in a pretty nice part of the city. Big, house-like buildings with neatly trimmed hedges and trees. Signs posted out front showed that they were businesses rather than homes, though. A lawyer here, a doctor there, a funeral home...

Cyan frowned at the realization of what the comfortable box thing had been. He didn't want to be here anymore.
"Heads I get some power back in my phone, tails, uh... I get chased by a big dog," he mumbled as an ordinary gray coin materialized on his fist. Immediately after flipping it into the air, he reached up and grabbed it out of habit, speeding up the flipping process. However, he didn't even need to check what the result was. A low, gutteral growl from behind him gave it away.

'Crap!' The boy took off running immediately. That was like the third bad flip in a row. Taking a quick glance behind him, Cyan saw what was indeed, a big dog. It was maybe the size of a wheelbarrow and had thick, dark brown fur. And also sharp teeth. And probably glowing red eyes. And it was fast. Using its loud and constant barking to gauge its distance behind him, he focused on searching for somewhere, anywhere he could go to get away from this demon.

---

Cyan slammed the door shut behind him, panting almost as loudly as the beast on the other side, which had stopped and was now staring at him through the window. After taking a minute to calm his nerves and catch his breath, he looked over to the young store clerk that had the unfortune of manning the small convenience store at the wee hours of the night.
"That's... That's not my dog," he said, and slid to the floor.

---

Royal Rumble!

Ascot, Andras, and Cyan

---

TAGS: @Letter Bee @Crowvette @CavnderOHeart

---

Cyan appeared in a room even darker than the one he left, but it was definitely more cozy. After his eyes adjusted to the sunset light straining through the closed window shades, he saw he was in what appeared to be a living room of some sort. On the floor was a thick, comfortable carpet, and against the wall with the double window was a couch. A couple other comfortable-looking armchairs were also in the room. On two walls opposite of each other were bookshelves, the contents of which were quite varied in size and thickness. In the middle of the room was a large table with some sort of equally-large, comfortably-lined box. Cyan hadn't a clue what that could be.

Being too tired to really care about much other than sleeping at this point, but still thinking clearly enough to realize that he was probably trespassing, he decided to curl up in the corner next to the couch rather than sleep on the couch itself. Would make it less likely he'd be spotted. Luckily, the carpet was more than worthy of sleeping upon. He then pulled his fluffy tail over himself as a makeshift blanket and fell into a deep sleep, thoroughly exhausted.

He suddenly awoke to the chorus of The Final Countdown by Europe, and knocked his head against the hard plaster wall.

His first thought was, 'Ow!' followed by, 'Crap, I'm trespassing and now my phone is going to wake them up!' He rubbed his head as he attempted to fumble his ringing phone out of his back pocket while lying down. Finally managing it, he held it over to his face and noticed the clock in the corner.

1:43 AM

'Who on earth would be calling me at this time at night?' he thought, and swiped across. Unknown caller ID. This could only mean one thing.

'Wrong number,' he thought, a bit irritated, and hung up.

---

William Ascot thanked Vernon with a smile and a "Thank You; make sure he only shoots at the wheels of that half-demon's transportation and does not kill anyone," but frowned when he mentioned Cyan. "To be honest, I was going to call him now to help boost mine and Andras' luck so that we pull the right cards. As for a love triangle, only if he's willing. Emphasis on willing."

Andras blinked. 'Shoots at the wheels? Love triangle? H-Have these amazing things been happening all around me without me being aware of it?' She studied the two boys with a renewed perspective, but decided to keep her speculation to herself.

And with that, Ascot searched for the fox-boy's phone number on the White Pages, the privately-owned database of cellphone numbers. Once he was done, he would send a text message: Hey, Cyan, it's me, William Ascot, the St. Laurel's Student who frequents the library a lot. I need your help; am willing to pay $1000 out of my private savings; been saving it up since I was eight. Text me back if you're willing.

No answer.

Ascot decided to call Cyan through voice instead this time. No answer again. He attempted one more time and finally got through.
"Hello, Mr. Bridget?! It's me, William Ascot! A fellow St. Laurel's student! And I'm willing to pay $1,000 dollars out of my private savings for your help!" he said over the phone, a note of desperation in his voice.

---

After hanging up, Cyan stood up. He was still drowsy of course, but after getting some rest he realized the importance of not being found in somebody else's house. He unlocked the one of the two doors that lead outside, and his phone started playing music again.

'Well they must be trying to reach me if they're ringing me a second time,' he thought, slightly embarressed by the idea that he just hung up on someone.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he tapped the answer call button and held it up to his ear.
"He-"
"Hello, Mr. Bridget?! It's me, William Ascot! A fellow St. Laurel's student! And I'm willing to pay $1,000 dollars out of my private savings for your help!" the voice on the other side almost seemed to shout in the quiet.

"One thousa- Hold on," Cyan whispered and glanced behind him to the other door, afraid someone would come through. Satisfied that nobody was coming yet, he left whatever building he ended up in, locking the door again before closing it.

"Alright, what is this about?" he asked in a hushed, and rather confused, voice.

The answer was short, with a low, fast, nervous tone. "I need two things. One is a boost to luck for me and another person, Andras - you may know her as Alexandria Sova. Another is a boost to my health; my life force. Two coin-flips for 500 dollars each, right?"

Cyan didn't know anyone named Andras or Alexandria Sova. He didn't even think he knew this William, though he did recognize the name.

"Um, well, what's this for? Like, I could try to do those things, but if I know what it's for maybe there's a better way to do it," he asked, slightly puzzled. Nobody had really asked him to coin-flip for them as a service before. He then added, "And it's not really two coin-flips, it could be like three to five or something, with several bad things."

"What's this about coin flips? Five hundred dollars?! William, who exactly are you speaking to?" Andras felt a bead of sweat roll down her temple. 'These negotiations are getting rather expensive... William sure is something else. Shootings, love triangles... Luck and health boosts... Maybe I should meet him outside of the library more often!'

William Ascot explained to Cyan as best as he could: "There is an 'enemy' student, Vittorio Twinveil, who only hates Alto because he thinks that the latter is somehow to blame for the death of his parents, who were gardeners at St. Laurels', and his four best friends, who were St. Laurel's students. This was two years ago, and their real killer was a Demon who was seeking out Alto. Now, I was told that resurrecting the parents and best friends is impossible...and that's normally true. But my friend, Andras/Alexandra Sova, has a power that can get around various cosmic laws. But this power requires drawing random spells from a magical source of power, and of those random spells, reliable resurrection requires magic that takes away half your life force and physical health. So I need both a luck and health boost. So please, help me."

"As for why you should aid me in aiding a Mephisto's student, well, let's just say that his story is tragic. Or if you don't care about tragedies, well, resurrecting four St. Laurel's students and getting Vittorio to defect will improve the school's position greatly. So yeah, again, please help me." And with that, Ascot waited.

Most of the stuff William said went in one ear and out the other for Cyan. It seemed like they might have been in over their heads, but they seemed pretty adamant about their objective. Something that did catch his attention was their mentioning of this Andras being able to get around cosmic law with randomly drawn spells.
'That sounds a lot like my power... I haven't heard of anyone else having a power like this before,' he thought, curious.

"If Andras or Alexandra is the one using her random power, only she would need luck, right? Or do you need luck for something else?" Cyan asked after William finished his spoken essay.

The response was, "True, very true. So one luck boost for Andras, one Health boost for me. Also, I will be taking on every bad result on myself; it's unfair to ask you to take on any side-effects alone. Will you be all right with that?"

The side effects were mainly what the boy had been worried about, so he thought that would be a deal he'd want. However, for some reason, he felt a bit guilty at the idea of being paid to just flip a coin and potentially really hurt someone else. It didn't feel right to have other people take the consequences of his power.

He was silent for a moment, thinking it over.
"Are you sure?"

William felt fear for the first time in this quest, a cold feeling in his chest. Nevertheless, he answered, "Yes. I was the one who demanded this of you, after all. Plus, I heard the story of how you got your tail; it isn't right to allow something similar to happen to you."

Cyan was taken aback by the mention of his tail. What? Who did William hear the story from? He put the question aside, though. That wasn't really important right now.

"In that case, do you have any suggestions for tail flips? The worse the 'side effect', the better the heads flip would be. It also helps to make the flips similar, like good luck against bad luck," he said, feeling a pit in his stomach. This wasn't right. Maybe they didn't understand what the coin flip could entail? That would explain their willingness, and if so, then it would definitely be wrong to make them take the consequences.

Ascot was impatient now, "We're wasting time. The flipside of the luck boost would be my worst enemy," this was Galbrek, even though he didn't know his name, "...getting a full dossier about me and my powers and countermeasures against said powers, effective tomorrow. The flipside of the health boost, for me, would be getting wings. And not the functional kind, either; I think wings that actually allow flight would be a cheat."

The impatience and forcefulness in William's voice took Cyan by surprise. All of this stuff was important! If he didn't know these things, he wouldn't know what to flip and his power wouldn't work.
"Um, and, when would you like the boosts to begin? And for how long?" he meekly ventured another couple questions, afraid they'd jump down his throat again. It was important to know though, he didn't want to mess this up.

The reply was softer, "Two hours each; that ought to be enough time for the plan. And the boosts can begin now."
Cyan nodded, even though that didn't really communicate anything during a phone call, and held out his fist. An ordinary copper and nickle quarter appeared on his thumb, ready to be flipped.

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COIN-FLIPS
Andras Luck vs. Galbrek Info - FAILURE!
Ascot Health vs. Ascot Wings - SUCCESS!

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SCOREBOARD
Heads: 2 - Tails: 3

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