{rp} Tysra's Aftermath [6/6]

Hilda began slowly opening a door and before she answered, motioned Silva to follow. As Silva entered the next room, a dull string of yellow lights hung above him as he presumed this to be Hilda's bedroom. The floor was somewhat littered with toys and papers and a table with a similarly disordered fashion to it had stuffed bears sitting around it. Hilda's walls held a simple white striped design, but papers seem to stick out from it, some resembling drawings or even a couple of basic runes Silva was able to pick out in the dark.

As Hilda plopped herself down on her bed, she kicked off her shoes and sighed loudly,

"It feels so gooooood to be home. My father works as a powder smith for students who aren't completely attuned to their magic yet. He works with the academy here in Ozvio, so he's always doing something away from home. Sometimes it gets lonely without him, but I make do. My mother said I should join the academy so she'll won't have to look after me so much during the day, but the Fall Session's starting in a few days and I doubt I'll have time for an entrance exam. Ugh, it's a bit bothersome..."

As Frozlar took out his papers to work, a couple of minutes pass and a chair could be heard being moved beside him. Glancing, a familiar face flashed a small grin at him. Elizabeth pulled the chair beside his desk and rested her head on her hands,

"So, tell me about your first day. Don't think you'll be spending homeroom doing work without talking to me, I wanna hear the scoop."

To Frozlar's surprise, as he looked around, most of the students were already in groups talking. Some were working on assignments and others were just lounging around.

Ky dropped the spear beside the door as he chased after his grandfather. Eventually reaching his workshop space in the back of the smithery, Ky observed his grandfather rummage through the drawers,

"Where is that blasted book...where is it..."

"Then please, lead the way. You probably know these streets like the back of your hand."

With that, Beci rolled her skirts up as a means to run better and she looked around them,

"Let's hope this storm won't bring with it anything else than what we've already faced..."

One of the twins quirked his ears and stretched his arms and legs, his voice surprisingly deep,

"A new recruit to the ranks? We've noticed you hanging out with the Runies, but I didn't pin you as an Earth Circle. I'm down for you to sit with us."

The other twin sighed and rolled his eyes, turning to Tae as he moved his bangs away from his eyes,

"What he means is that we don't usually see other students from different Circles within our studies. Earth Circle students are rather isolated with their learning, so seeing different circle faces...surprise us. But please, do sit with us. My name's Rez and the annoyingly casual twin beside me is Arlio."

Arlio sighed dramatically and rested his head on a small, tan girl's shoulder,

"How shall I go on, dearest Ezela?"

"Oh woe is me, Arlio. Oh woe is me..."

Arlio and Ezela continued their dramatic fainting as Rez shook his head, scooting over to make room for Tae.

"Ignore those complete clowns. Anyways, you had questions for us?"

 

"Hopefully" i start running for the goldenberry but slow enough that Beci can keep up

 

"An academy, you say? What learnings do they impart at this academy?" Silva asks, his interest piqued.

 

Look through the area for a book like object.
"What does it look like?"

 

"Well, to my surprise, it did go slightly better than expected." I start to mumble, "...although there were some... imperfections. On the bright side, I did meet one who looked like me. Although... I didn't really get the chance to talk to him. Or her.

"What about you?"

 

@Katoshii Sorry for using tags but I can only use my phone and quotes just won't work.

Tae brushed her hair and looked briefly to the different students of the Earth Circle. Turning to look at Rez, the woman spoke. "Thanks for the introduction and uhm." She waves at the two acting "Hello. Could you maybe tell me a bit more about how these classes work?"
Tae lightly clapped her hands together. "And maybe when they happen?"

 

(midterms and mid semester projects are finally over. thank you for being patient, I really appreciate it everyone. <3)

Kollin rushed through the windy streets, Beci several strides behind him. The rain still poured over them, but unbeknownst to Kollin, it seemed to have lessened. Over some time, the duo reached the Goldenberry tavern, although a grim sight awaited them. The tavern looked rather damaged on its exterior, wooden planks torn off and tattered flags laying on the ground. Beci gasped as she pointed at a thin trail of red streaming down a window sill,

"What's that, Kollin? Is that...blood?"

Suddenly, sounds of glass shattering and yelling echoed from the tavern. From the sounds of it, it seemed like some sort of conflict is occurring.

Hilda sighed and grabbed a bag of what looked like apple slices from her bedside counter. She bit into one of them as she spoke.

"Just typical circle stuff, Earth, Fire, all of that. Although, something interesting happened yesterday and it sent the academy into a stir."

The child giggled and crawled over to Silva, beckoning him to sit at the small tea table. Silva reluctantly took a seat, slightly surprised as to how it managed to keep him stable. Hilda sat at a chair opposite of him, filling a teacup with water and pushing it towards Silva,

"Apparently, some woman trained in the arts of Witchcraft visited the academy and said she plans on hosting some form of meeting with current pupils and prospective students. No one knows when she'll appear tomorrow, but until then, everyone's very interested in her. What do you think about her sudden arrival?"

Ky's grandfather mumbled under his breath a brief description,

"Silver cover...gold spirals...pages that looked like it survived a Wynvia tsunami, check that pile over there?"

His grandfather pointed towards a cluster of books beside his desk. From where Ky stood, it looked like there were a couple of prospective covers. Suddenly, a resounding crushing sound of rock and water exploded outside the smith. Ky looked up to see his grandfather rushing to the door, slamming it shut and barring it with whatever he could grab,

"Find that book, Kylian!!!"

Elizabeth nodded and took out one of her notebooks, flipping to a page and began doodling as she spoke,

"Huh, well that's interesting! It sounds like you're staying afloat though, maybe you should befriend this automation of yours? Either way, last period there was-"

The sounds of a baton tapping the chalkboard caught the attention of the class and the students turned to Mr. Nevic. He cleared his throat,

"I need a few students to send these letters and reports to other professors and administrators. Please come up if you're willing to help."

For the most part, no one really showed any indication of interest. Elizabeth stood up and poked Frozlar's desk, softly whispering to him,

"Come on, let's go! This'll be a great way to give you a tour of the place."

(perfectly fine! again, I've been busy myself, best of luck with the computer repairs.)

Rez nodded his head and coughed rather dramatically, gaining the attention of Arlio and Ezela,

"May we introduce Tae to what we do, Romeo and Juliet?"

Ezela scoffed and flipped her hair back, grabbing a book from her messenger bag, her theatrical voice still in play,

"How dare you mock our performance! No matter, here you are Tae, a rather simple lecture written into life."

Tae reached out and read over the paragraph notes Ezela made. For the most part, it seemed to resemble topics in her class with Grelo, such as combat and awareness. Off to the side, Tae squinted her eyes to read a small note about herbalism. It seemed like there were more details into these Magic Circles than Tae originally thought. The idea intrigued her and passed the book back to Ezela. Rez bit into the last of his apple and tapped his fingers on the table,

"We have lectures with Madame Tressa regarding using our magic in combat and open sessions with a herbalist here at the institution, Madame Sinvi. These two constitute our knowledgeable lectures, situational experiences, and our work with the resources around us. We have our session with Sinvi in just a bit, her plans entailing us to use our abilities within a natural area on campus. Perhaps you're willing to join us?"

 

"What's happening?!"
Briefly stop the search for the book to look around for items to protect us (weapons, shields, throwables).

 

''Maybe you should hide for a bit'' I'll take my daggers and try to stealth in through the window to see what's going on

 

I give a discreet nod and head up to Mr. Nevic.

"I'll help."

 

"I shall admit that I am not very knowledgeable about the world, but I would assume that the academy wasn't aware of her sudden arrival? If so, then it certainly piques my interest to see what the academy will do about her." Silva says, taking a sip from the teacup.

"Regardless, is Witchcraft some sort of taboo? I do not see the reason why someone trained in common magics would cause an uproar." he asks.

 

As Tae straightens up her back and tries to sound formal, she responds. "Uh, surely. When will we leave for the lecture?" The woman tried to remember the information on the book, hoping it would be of later use.

 

(I hate how I stalled 2 weeks and I forced myself to take the time and write an update at nearly 3 AM ahahah, please forgive me. I've prepared big story leaps for the next couple of instances to remedy my absence and maybe just maybe we get to see some collaboration?)

Kylian's grandfather just placed a small cabinet onto the door when a rush of water rushed underneath his feet. Not a moment later, more water began flooding into the room and as Kylian's grandfather took several steps back, the door flung open. Wind flew into the room, scattering papers and books all over the place. Moreover, it seemed like the papers and books..were flying out of the room, almost like thw ind was siphoning them! Kylian in that moment looked around him and discovered a dented iron shield pressed against the wall behind him. Kylian's father grunted as he seemed to have lunged towards the book he had just described, his voice barely registering to Kylian as he yelled,

"The door!!! Close it!!"

Kollin drew out his twin daggers, attempting to slowly approach the window.

Stealth: 1-49 = Fail / 50-100 = Success ||||||||| Result = 54

Kollin was barely able to reach the window and duck behind it before some object smashed through the window, fumbling into the streets. From the broken window, he could hear several of his guild members shouting and yelling for just a brief moment,

"That wretch of a woman confronted us! What if she reached Kollin?!"

"That's not what we will bring up here. What we need to do is find Jonathan. He'll know what to do-"

"Aye, keep your voices down?! Who knows what's outside now with you blasting that window out."

Kollin felt his stomach drop the moment he heard Jonathan's name. Why is Jonathan involved? What is he doing with all this?! Beci managed to crouch towards Goldenberry's front door, still closed firmly shut. She motioned towards it, as if trying to mention Kollin if entering is what they should do.

Mr. Nevic huffed a sigh as Elizabeth and Frozlar approached the front of the room, muttering softly to them,

"Hah, to think I thought you were all selfish. Elizabeth, may you please lead Frozlar throughout the errand? You may be dismissed once you're done, just so long you not only get in trouble, but I won't get in trouble as well. Understood?"

Elizabeth simply nodded and kicked Frozlar's foot, who prompted nodded as well. With a wave of his hand, Mr. Nevic sent the duo off. The whole expedition was simple enough to Frozlar, Elizabeth mainly doing all the talking to the teachers and administrators. According to a nearby clock, the duo had about ten minutes left before lunch. They eventually stumbled into the Main Hall of the academy, a large and open corridor with two stairwells leading up to a second floor and a triangular glass ceiling above them. Spinning on her heel, Elizabeth asked Frozlar,

"So newbie, some place here you wanna check out before we crash lunch? I practically know anywhere in this school like the back of my hand. Classes? Clubs? Secret Hangouts? Holler when you're ready."

The girl wiggled her fingers at Frozlar, giggling to herself as she looked over at a couple of flyers on a notifications board. She walked over to look at them, leaving Frozlar standing there to decide the next destination of their journey.

"Oh, no no! Witchcraft is known in Ozvio, but hmm...how could I put this?.....Ah! It's in a sense, more rare. Most of the pupils in the academy study Elemental magics, as I mentioned with Earth and Fire. There are fewer numbers regarding Alchemy, Witchcraft, Runes, all that other mumbo-jumbo. Here's another secret..."

Hilda scuttled even closer to Silva, leaning to whisper into his ear,

"The academy's Witchcraft instructor had to abandon her position just last Winter Session. No one knows why and for this new instructor to appear begs the suspicions. There are even rumors that the woman looks almost like the old professor. This new figure in the academy is causing more of a ruckus than I think she truly believes."

Retreating back to her chair, Hilda took a sip of her water and grabbed one of her stuffed animals, holding it close to her,

"Do you...plan on staying to meet this woman? I was wondering if the magic you used back in the forest against that boar was Witchcraft, but I didn't want to assume anything."

Ezela stood up from her seat and slung the messenger bag around her shoulder, walking over to ruffle Rez's hair,

"Rezzy here loves getting to lecture early, so to him, I'm assuming he's leaving right about now. You can leave with us now too Tae, or just hang out with your Runies for a bit more before heading over. To be clear, I meant the Runies as a compliment, not the insult."

Rez sighed and swatted Ezela away, Arlio placing his arm around Ezela as the duo walked out followed by the other Earth Circle students. As the other twin fixed his hair, he turned his attention back to Tae,

"As Ezela said, you could simply meet us at our next location. Do you recall a plain square tiled plaza with forests, bushes, the lot around the perimeter? That's where we'll be located. I heard some Fire Circle students ran into trouble last night, but I only heard snippets of the tale. Have you heard anything of that sort?"

 

I whisper to her "give me a minute" I'll try to use my daggers to leap inside the window and say pretending that i just got here "Whats going on here and why did something fly out the window?"

 

Move to close the door, making sure to step high so the water doesn't hinder me much. Once its closed, I'll have enough leeway to get the shield. Maybe. Hopefully.

 

"I would like to return tomorrow to meet this woman. The disappearance of the old professor does pique my interest." Silva says.

"Backtracking a bit, is there any specific reason as to why Elemental magics are more... well-received than other forms of magic?"

 

I find interest in this so-called Secret Hangouts.

Head over to the bulletin board. "So... um... what's this secret hangouts you're talking about?"

 

Tae huffed and shook her head slowly, thinking about the incident the night prior. "The Runic students were doing a game, and then the Fire Circle appeared and..." The woman gestures a small explosion with her hands and sighs "... You know? So we ran off into a building and waited for them to go. I don't remember much more than that."
Picking up her items, the black-haired woman looked back at Rez. "I think I'll head to class with you as of right now."

 

(thank you for calling me out like that, I appreciate it. really. please do this more often. i hated how i kept y'all waiting again. i'll do better to balance things out, big promise.)

Kollin hopped through the window, noticing several of the guild members seemingly in an argument for a moment before turning their attention towards them,

"Kollin? That was some ol' mug from the bar. Jonathan showed up a while ago to tell us he was off looking for ya. He seemed a bit distraught, looked like he saw a ghost or somethin'. We were all debating about whether or not to chase after him. "

One of the guild members cut the man off, flipping her brilliantly silver hair,

"More importantly, what are you doing here, Kollin? Isn't it sort of suspicious that you're out and about late at night without any main reason? And don't use our title as an excuse."

Pushing through the water currents, Ky eventually reached the door and slammed it shut, the water being sealed on the other side. He was just able to reach the shield when a blast of energy washed over him. Turning towards his grandfather, Ky noticed the man with his eyes closed and the book's pages flying madly. Suddenly, the water that was soaking his feet slowly evaporated into the air, steam flying Ky's head. His grandfather closed the book and turned to Ky, walking towards him,

"We've got work to do, Kylian. First, we must head to someone's humble abode. They'll have at least more answers for us there. Take the shied, as well as anything you need from the work station. We won't be coming back here for a long time."

Gripping the door handle, Ky almost warned his grandfather before swinging the door open, when he realized that his grandfather didn't seem to pay any attention to him. Ky's grandfather opened the door and simply began rushing downstairs, not a single drop of water in sight.

Hilda drummed her fingers against the table for a few moments, letting the thought sink into her head before continuing,

"Hmm, I honestly don't know! I think it's sort of a stigma within Ozvio. Elemental magics are just simply seen as more superior compared to Alchemy, Runes, and Witchcraft. It seems a bit unfair, but that's how the people play it to be I guess. Father has it has something to do with politics, but that just sounds like a big mess. Why is magic a competition anyways?"

The girl huffed in annoyance, but still downed the last of her water before yawning,

"Whatever. Anyways, it's getting late, and apparently my family wants to see the academy within Ozvio with me. They said I can make a good Air Mage, or whatever it's called, and they're dragging me along with them. Maybe I'll sneak away from them if you're visiting the new professor?"

Elizabeth softly cackled to herself, turning away from the bulletin board and walking down a corridor beside them. As Frozlar followed Elizabeth through the maze of the school, he noticed a couple of things that popped out to him. There were plenty of award cases and displays throughout the school, whether it be in combat tournaments, alchemist demonstrations, or even works of literature with regards to runes. The boy also thought he saw several classrooms with plenty of work stations for supposedly runic and fire magic circle students, something Frozlar thinks he should inquire in the near future. He guess Elizabeth may have an idea, but perhaps he could find someone more attuned to those areas.

The duo eventually reached a somewhat busy section of the school, students and faculty roaming about. Frozlar guessed these are the more older aged classes and after a brief moment, he accidentally bumped into Elizabeth's shoulder. Elizabeth didn't seem to care and she spun around, striking a pose with jazz hands,

"Ta-da!~ Welcome to the Chill Zone Hangout!!"

Frozlar looked at the tucked in space underneath a stairwell, but he had to admit, it did seem kinda cozy. Some plush chairs and bean bags were tossed about, a few shelves with books could be seen against the wall, and hanging yellow and white lights were streamed above the windows. Elizabeth promptly tossed herself down onto a purple beanbag with a book on top of it, crossing her legs as she flipped to a bookmarked page,

"This is where Nicholas and I dip during classroom breaks or lunch. Oh, yeah you haven't met Nicholas yet! Super chill guy, you'll like him! He's not annoying unlike most of the kids in this part of the school, but he takes some time to get used to. We don't usually bother with the older classes since they don't seem interested in me, but hey, fine by me. Feel free to grab a book and spend some time reading or just sit back and relax, I think Nick's almost done with class soon."

Rez's eyes widened and he covered his mouth to stifle a laugh, but a chuckle still escaped him. He shook his head and stood up from the table,

"Those clowns really know how to spark some controversy. Very well, let's head out. I'm sure we'll at least meet Ezela at the plaza, Arlio tends to...take his time, you may say."

Rez rolled his eyes and lead Tae out of the cafeteria, not noticing the shocked looks of Lys and Kindra. As the duo began their walk, Tae noted how pleasant the day was to her. A clear blue sky and slight breeze almost gave a peaceful environment, if not for the cheers and shouts in the distance. Rez glanced over to the commotion and shrugged his shoulders,

"Most likely one of those new orientation games for the new students. I remembered our class game was seeing who was able to lift someone up into the air using this boulder in the middle of the circle. It was tough, but we managed to levitate everyone in the air! It was a small victory, but at least a step in the right direction."

Chuckling to himself, Rez took out a pair of wired rim glasses and pushed them up his nose, turning back to Tae,

"Would you like to talk about anything, as Arlio puts it, mademoiselle?"

 

What. Whaaat.
Quickly take the shield and go to the workstation in a stupor. Just slide every tool that was on the table into my bag and hurry after him, I'll check it all later.
Only one person knows what's going on, and its not me.
Try calling out to him, and if he doesn't respond, keep trying.