PREP Highschool

[Artemis]

[Hunting Class]

Landon picks up his arrows and scowls a bit at Asami's back. It seemed Agate was ok with the peanut brittle desk. At least she could eat it. The day-walker stuffs the arrows back in his quiver and sits at his desk. He looks at the cage with curiosity. "What's in the cage, Mr. Huntsworth?"

[quillpleasant]

[Library]

So, Asami has a habit of jumping to action when there's danger. In a sense, she was dependable in that way. For some reason, however, she was hesitating to do anything here. Its as if something about being at PREP made her more of a scatterbrain.

Still helplessly sprawled out on the floor, she manages to raise her voice at Mac, "It's not a dairy! Its a notebook!"

Library

Mac looks between Darko and the strange person.
"Oh, he's not real? Okay."
Then Mac rounds on the magic person and immediately fires a blast of lightning at it.

The lightning bolt crackles into the summoned bully and he's sent staggering backwards, temporarily stunned by the blast. Darko grins at Mac. "Nice!" The best way to fight magic is with more magic, right?

Darko is a little concerned about Asami though, as she's clearly not herself. The best thing is probably to get her notebook back, so he darts forward to the ice cage, drawing out the long, shiny dagger that he got from Mat the squirrel. "Can you dismiss your ice?" he asks over his shoulder.

But now the pale boy is getting to his feet, baring his fangs. Still a little slow from the electricity, he lurches forward, swiping a fist across Darko's face and sending the smaller boy reeling. Melee is not his forte.

[Earl of Purple]

Cheer Practice

Mat turns to grin at Mary, a rather vicious look in her eye. "Oh, yes."

(Flashback)

Mat ignores the two until the burial mention, at which point her tail fluffs itself up and her ears stiffen, one swivelled straight at the twins as she pretends she's not listening to them. The tells are there, though, if Poppi or Pippi are paying attention. She slams her locker door shut and locks it, ensuring that she'd need to calm down before she get to her sword.

Ecbatana

"Sorry, milday. The tub was empty before we filled it with water. I have no idea where that came from. May... I have a look at it?" The speaker is mostly human, with dark skin and yellow-orange eyes. She also appears to have a slightly deformed mouth, caused by having had a tusk removed from her lower jaw.

Hunting Class

"The ceiling, Asami. The sky, clouds, some birds, y'know. The usual. And someone's caked my desk in peanutty goodness." Another piece is snapped off and eaten, as the dwarf smiles at the star-girl.

When Mr. Huntsworth asks the question, Agate will cautiously raise her hand. "I'm learning how to play the flute, and I've got one in my bag." Agate will get the flute in question out, a well-made wooden instrument gifted to her from Mary at Thanksmas.

[Ironsmith]

[Cheer Practice]

Mat and Mary might get their chance sooner than they realize.

The sound of a tin whistle pierces the air as the cheer team's coach makes his way out onto the field. He appears to be an older gentleman... a much older gentleman, once one factors in elven longevity. He's built rather whispily, with thin, willowy limbs and an equally thin, pointed face.

Before he even has a chance to say anything, though, Pippi and Poppi are on him like a pair of vultures on a carcass.

"Hey, mister Lightfoot, you don't look so good today." The angel twin notes with a voice of faux concern, leading him toward a fold-out chair near the edge of the field.

"Are you all right? Do you need some water?" The demon twin asks, already prepared with a bottle of the stuff.

"Here, here, have a seat... it's okay, we can run this first practice ourselves."

"Just take a little rest and feel better soon, okay?"

Moments later, the twins are standing in front of the team, the angel holding the clipboard and the demon holding the whistle, while the coach is left sitting quietly in his chair some distance away.

"All right, now listen up, ladies!" The demon twin begins. "...And Carl."

"We're gonna be dividing you up, based on your stated skill level." The angel twin explains. "Some of you are already exactly where you need to be; PREP competes at level 5 and you've got experience there. Some of you are even past that point; I even see we have two level 7s on the team." She smirks and flips through the clipboard. "And some of you... oh."

"Some of you just aren't cutting the mustard." The demon twin frowns. "The good news is, session one is mostly for you. We're going to get you trained up so the rest of us aren't left carrying around dead weight."

"Right. So, we're going to call out names here. If you're in group one, you're going to be helping group two with some stretching exercises. Group two, limber up, you're going to be doing some stretching exercises. And group three, you're doing laps." The angel twin clears her throat. "Group one! Shortbelte, Pippi! Shortbelte, Poppi! Erikson, Carl! ..."

She's going to keep going down the list like that. It's probably not especially surprising where Mary and Mat end up.

[Ecbatana]

"...Yeah, I suppose. As long as you don't break it or do anything weird with it." Aiko relinquishes the tooth. "...Are you sure that's not some kind of good luck ritual or something I don't know about? A tooth is kind of an odd thing to leave anywhere, isn't it?"

[bc56]

Cheer Practice
Mary is not surprised to be put in the group running laps.
They must be hoping she'll get exhausted and give up on the whole thing.

Joke's on them, because Mary can run. Succubi have endurance, after all.
She doesn't even break a sweat; nor does all the bouncing seem to hamper her movements. She catches up to Mat at some point and matches the squirrel's pace. "So I was thinking," she says, not sounding out of breath at all, "At some point today they're gonna try some routine, right? We could sabotage them and then do the same routine perfectly. They'd look bad and we'd look good by comparison." It's an idea, at least.

[[brackets lover]]

[Library]

As Darko's sent backwards, adrenaline surges through Asami and grants an extra burst of energy despite her current weakness. She quickly rushes forth below Darko, catching him from under his armpits.

"Senpai! Are you hurt?"

[Hunting Class]

Asami looks a bit confused for a second before suddenly giving a wide smile and noting, "Oh! Like up, the direction. Hahaha! I get it."

Mr. Huntsworth scoffs, chuckles and whatnot at Landon's question. He points a finger to the class and opens his mouth for a long second. All of a sudden, he closes his mouth and rapidly swipes the cage, making a mad dash away from the pavilion. It was anyone's guess where he was going, but he seems to be in a panic and soon to go out of sight.

Asami's immediate response to this situation is to pull a school-provided pillow and blanket out of her backpack and walk up to the front desk.

"I want you on lookout," says Asami authoratatively as she points to a random student. She places the pillow and blanket on the front desk, proping herself on it and laying down. Within seconds of pulling the blanket over her, she begins to snore.

[Keeper]

Library

Mac waves a hand and the ice begins to melt rapidly.
He’s not waiting though, as he flips the saber up to a normal grip and charges. Mac is shockingly fast for someone so round, though that wouldn’t be a surprise if either one of them knew his species. He barrels towards the magic construct, lashing out with a Z-shaped trio of cuts.

[quillpleasant]

Library

Unfortunately, Darko isn't able to grab the notebook right when the ice is melted due to the blow he's received. It doesn't look too bad, but he'll probably get a black eye out of it. Leaning against Asami, he shakes his head to clear it, an expression of disbelief on his face.

"I'm okay, but... My magic hasn't actually hurt me before," he says, a little worriedly.

Meanwhile, Mac lunges forward, his sword whistling viciously into the construct. It's not prepared for the speedy attack, and the sword slices through it, revealing that it's utterly hollow save for a faint blue glow. With a hiss, it falls in pieces to the ground, slowly beginning to transform into mist.

Standing fully upright, Darko cheers, his trepidation forgotten. "You did it! Wow, that was awesome!"

[Earl of Purple]

Cheer Practice

"We could, if it won't bounce back on us." Mat's also running fairly well, breathing easily despite the exertion. She does need to breathe, unlike Mary, but she's fit and athletic so this running is not a problem for her. At least not yet. "This is literally the last sport club that'll have me, I'm not gonna get kicked off it." Not true; the sensha-do team would accept Mat... But she's got no mechanical experience and mild claustrophobia, so it's really not suitable for her.

Ecbatana

"Not an Ecbatanan tradition, it isn't. My grandmother was a diplomat for Immonia, teeth were a common motif there. Especially as gifts from the city; my grandmother had one that... is nearly identical to this. She said it was a symbol of her position as an ambassador, given to her by Immonia herself on the shores of the Stinking Lake." The mostly-human attendant rubs the tooth around, holds it to the light, and holds it in shadow, as she talks. Before delicately sniffing it. "It's... a bit sulphurous. Have you been to Immonia?"

[[brackets lover]]

[Library]

Asami seems to forget about her notebook entirely as she focus on Darko, gingely holding his arm.

"You should see the nurse. Make sure, and all."

[Ironsmith]

[Cheer Practice]

As the two converse, they may or may not notice the other runners (a half-dozen or so other girls of varying size and species) fluctuating around them, with some initially going faster than Mary but slowing down as they tire, while others seem to need some time to pick up speed, and most of them don't maintain their current pace for very long. Mat in particular might notice a cheetah girl who keeps switching paces, darting out ahead on all fours and raggedly lurching back on two feet as the breakneck speed overwhelms her. The team's pixie seems to have come to the conclusion that she can just fly through the laps and casually zips a few circles around the duo, giggling to herself and showing no signs of exhaustion.

Meanwhile, the remainder of the team is engaged in the aforementioned stretching exercises... or, perhaps if the Shortbelte sisters were being less euphemistic about it, contortion exercises. The twins themselves are currently demonstrating the proper way to put one's foot behind one's head, which the team's cyclops is trying to replicate with little success. Her partner, who is apparently some kind of gorgon, also seems to be having trouble with this technique, albeit for completely different reasons.

In amongst all the activity, Mary and Mat still find themselves somewhat unsupervised. Even the pixie doesn't seem to be especially interested in what they're actually saying.

[Ecbatana]

"That would be quite a trick." Aiko replies, watching her fiddle with the tooth. "The Loremasters brought me straight here from school. I was in a carriage the whole time, and I didn't look outside too much, but I don't think we stopped at any other cities on the way up."

Good thing, too; she's not liking the sound of being gifted a tooth at a place called the Stinking Lake. That's an experience she could do without.

"...I guess someone from Immonia really likes me, then, huh?" Aiko titters, covering her mouth with her hand. "What do you think, Yaeba? Could someone have left this here on purpose, maybe as a way of trying to get on my good side?"

[Keeper]

Library

Mac looks immensely proud as he sheathes his saber.
”Aw, that wasn’t nothin’ for the second star of the fencing team. You okay buddy?”
Mac will hold out a hand to offer Darko a little bit of his white-magic healing too. A weak little bit of it should help with a scrape and a bruise.

[quillpleasant]

Library

Darko can't pretend the sympathy isn't nice- but it's even nicer to get some instant healing. He smiles gratefully at Mac. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks to you two." Touching his face gingerly, he smiles. "Doesn't even hurt now!"

He hands the notebook back to Asami. Wait, how did he get it from the floor? Well, he just did. "Sorry about all that. I wish my magic would just leave you alone." It seems like it's targeted her more than anyone else- but that's probably because she's the person he's been spending the most time with.

[Rebonack]

[A!A Field Trip]

Well that was quite the exuberant attack from Darko.

Looks like his magic can actually pull off useful effects sometimes instead of messing everything up!

No doubt that was a total fluke.

Regardless, the robot gets its head caved in, making a mess of the lump of processing elements inside its metal skull. It definitely isn't going to be causing any further trouble for our heroes. And it sounds like everyone is okay! Though Mat is a bit rattled. Definitely could have gone worse.

Should our heroes check just beyond the chamber they're in, they'll discover a room filled with shelves and in those shelves canisters of bright magenta pulsing orbs.

...okay so the computer thing didn't actually tell them what they're looking for actually LOOKS like but those sure look like cellish sorts of things.

Maybe they just need to grab a few of the canisters and hoof it back to the computer?


[A New Year of Magic]

Khannie is...

A bit skeptical about Asami's reaction here.

Or should she say 'Mary's'.

But sure.

Whatever.

"Okay but I'm pretty sure thinking harder doesn't count as magic," Khannie points out, letting her human illusion flow off again. At least by her estimation it doesn't. "Magic's like-"

Okay miss smarty hooves what IS magic, anyway?

Honestly when it comes right down to it Khannie isn't really great at defining things. Much of her magical ability is more intuitive than anything else. She doesn't think it, she FEELS it. Except the wizardry stuff. That's like doing... magical math or whatever. But that's more of a hobby and an interest than something she's amazing at.

"You know."

She probably doesn't, Khannie. That was really lame.

[[brackets lover]]

[Library]

Asami holds the notebook tightly in front of her stomach, shooting an awkward smile at Darko. "Don't worry about it. I mean, it must think i'm important to you if its targetting me, right? I'm flattered, if anything."

[A New Year Of Magic]

"Please, I'm a demon," Asami says confidently as she takes a swig of the new cider, her eyes closing with contentment. A smile formed on her face, delighting in the scene set out before her.

However, Khannie's floundering amuses Asami enough to distract her from her drink. Chuckling, she interjects, "Magic is the powerhouse of the cell."

[Ironsmith]

[A New Year of Magic]

Morgan stares blankly at Khannie for a few moments, though in complete fairness her eyepatches make it difficult for her to stare any other way. Then she breaks out into a fit of cackling and shakes her head. "Stone me... I should've picked me words more carefully, aye?" She grins. "I mean how I hang meself is by witchcraft. Feast yer eyes on this." She brings her fingers up to her mouth and whistles. "Oi! Drop me half a meter an' switch the knot around me ankle to a cow hitch!"

Sure enough, the rope moves to obey, dropping the pirate girl most of the way down to the floor and slithering around her boot to form what was presumably a "cow hitch".

"It be good practice to do this someplace where the floor be soft, savvy?" Morgan grins.

Meanwhile, Asami is going to find that the cider bottle is almost exactly the right size to be not quite satisfying, running out just as it was starting to get good. Thankfully, she doesn't need to ask for a third; Morgan already has one ready, offering the bottle without hesitation. If Asami accepts, she'll find this drink isn't quite like the first two, coming off more like liquid butterscotch than fruit juice, and the vision here will be much more intense; Asami dancing on a table in a crowded tavern, gold coins stacked high around her heels as the patrons cheer for her. The whole room seems to lurch with every movement, and every so often her vision-self will kick out at the piles of coins, sending them flying out among the other patrons, to their collective delight.

Curiously, Asami will also find that the kicking seems to come instinctively outside of the vision, too, and if she's willing to give into the whim, she'll find herself replicating the dance nigh-flawlessly, although the effect isn't really the same without copious amounts of currency to shower onto an adoring crowd.

[bc56]

Cheer Practice
"See, I could do that," Mary comments, looking at thr girls stretching. She could, she's very flexible. "I bet I could magically make their joints lock up."
It's plausible.
She just needs an opportunity. Oh, it looks like the angel twin is doing the stretch now. With her foot behind her head, now would be an uncomfortable time to get stuck...

[quillpleasant]

A!A Field Trip

Despite the fact that the monster was essentially just a machine, and it was trying to kill them, Darko still feels a little sick at the damage he's wrought. Sure, his magic helped- but he can't help but imagine the same thing happening to someone who isn't an enemy.

Without waiting for the others, he quickly wheels and heads into the next chamber, as much to clear his head as to get what they came for. He hesitates at the magenta canisters. Maybe they should check for traps?

Nah. He reaches out and grabs a canister in each hand, trying to pick them up. They might be heavy, in which case he'll do his best to wrangle one.

[Earl of Purple]

Cheer Practice

"So could I. Mostly, anyway." There was one move looked a little tricky, if only because Mat has a very bushy tail that gets in the way of twisting things behind her lower back. Mat's also not trying to get to the front of the pack, more worried over actually finishing than winning. She keeps her eyes on the twins even as she runs, at least as long as she can. Doesn't seem fair to try getting the cheerleader without legs to put her foot behind her head, but snakes are flexible; maybe it's easier for her.

Ecbatana

Did Aikobaz miss that the temple to Immonia was on the shores of a steaming volcanic lake that smells heavily of sulphur? Because that's the Stinking Lake.

"No. Nobody really thinks of Immonia these days. Nobody's lived there for decades; even my grandmother was driven off by a rain of teeth. Besides, you met the King of Immonia, and his magic creeps you out." The scarecrow is still dancing, behind its screen. Aikobaz can't see it, however.

A!A Field Trip

"Yay, we did it! And I have a headache. Ow." Mat stands up and rubs her ear before picking her sword up and searching the body. Mostly she's interested in recovering her throwing knife, the one she tried to stab it with, but perhaps there's other useful things there too.

[Ironsmith]

[Cheer Practice]

...Huh.

You know, you'd think a demon princess cursing someone with tendonitis would cause a bit more of a clamor than that. From this distance, it looks as though almost nothing at all happened; the angel twin's pose simply falters briefly, before she slowly lowers her leg back down from around her back, rubbing at her hip and giving a little gesture to her instructees to carry on as they are. She then walks over to her sister and starts talking to her in an obviously conspiratorial way, in a little two-person huddle that's briefly interrupted by the twins simultaneously looking over in Mary's direction.

It doesn't last. The angel twin breaks out of the huddle and makes her way over to the coach, unfolding a second chair next to him and grabbing a water bottle from the cooler at his feet. Apart from her sitting it out, the session continues much as it has been.

[Ecbatana]

Aiko's memory isn't perfect. Even when lucid dreaming. Trivial things like where she had important conversations tend to get discarded compared to things like the contents of the conversations themselves. She already doesn't remember what the room she met Ecbatana in looks like.

"...Yeah. He does." Aiko sighs, shaking her head and sinking back into the tub. "...Oh, well. I suppose that particular mystery is going to have to just go unsolved for now." She looks back up at the servant she just designated "Yaeba" and smiles. "Although, if that is somehow still tied to Immonia, I'm not going to throw it away. Any way you could get it on a necklace for me? I think I'd like to wear it around a while."

[bc56]

AA Field Trip
"You think these might be the cells that voice was looking for?" Achuak holds one up to examine it. "We should get back. Hopefully Khannie's all right." He still doesn't trust the thing.

Cheer Practice
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the twins know, or at least suspect, that Mary tried something. Since it didn't seem to work, she can't be exactly sure what's going on. "I don't think it worked," she whispers to Mat, "We might have to do something more mundane." Mary's already getting some horrible ideas, but she wouldn't be able to pull them off this practice, she'd need to set things up and do it at the next one.

[Keeper]

Library

"No problem." Mac says with a grin.
"Can't say I know much about your magic though. Mine's usually a lot more tame. Or involves crystals." Everyone likes magic crystals.

[quillpleasant]

Library

Darko shoots a look of surprise at Asami. "Well yeah, duh. You're like my best friend." That thought does make a sudden worry blossom in his mind, however. If the magic went after his family before, then maybe it is specifically targeting people he cares about. Maybe becoming close to people puts them in danger. Oh god.

He gives Mac a rueful smile. "Crystals are pretty cool. I wish mine were more tame- it just does whatever it wants, and I can't control it. I'm working on getting rid of it, but it's been years and it's still just as much of a problem." Even a little more, since he's not alone now.

Shaking his head, Darko dismisses these worries. For now, the magic has been bested again thanks to the power of friendship. And swords.

[[brackets lover]]

[Library]

"Heheh, crystals. Like in Final Fantasy," Asami remarks.

Darko calling Asami her best friend causes her to gasp quietly and excitedly. Her face brightens with satisfaction and a double rainbow forms in her corona.

When Darko finishes talking, Asami interjects "D'aww c'mere" before standing on her tiptoes, pulling Darko into a headlock and giving him a noogie.

[Keeper]

Library

"Well, yeah? I'm Ivalician." Maybe Asami never played XII. Or Tactics A2.

"You'll get a handle on it eventually, one way or another." Mac assures Darko. He has absolute confidence that things will work out eventually.

[Ironsmith]

[After School]

Aikobaz could be doing literally anything else right now.

She had a fencing meet scheduled today. Or she could have gone swimming. Or she could be helping some of the lower-tier members of the chess club with their sense of strategy. She could be hanging out with Kol. She could be studying for her Klingon test tomorrow. She could be meeting up with the Shortbeltes and commiserating over a certain succubus, maybe arranging some support there.

But no, she's got detention again.

At least the school's being nicer about it than last time. After last time, when she nearly went insane from the strain of just trying to sit still, it was apparently decided that was too cruel a punishment and she's been put to work instead.

Aikobaz sighs and pulls the old fliers off the corkboard at the end of the hall, tossing them into garbage bin she's rolling behind her. She then starts thumbing through the stack of notices under her arm, looking for the ones earmarked for this hallway, and starts filling the empty spaces, struggling to keep the fliers under one arm and working the stapler with the other while making sure that trash can doesn't go anywhere she'll have to chase it down.

It's tedious, frustrating work, but at least it's work.

[bc56]

After School
"WHAT THE HELL, AIKO!?"

Uh oh.
That voice is familiar.

"I'M GONE FOR TWO MONTHS AND AS SOON AS I GET BACK, THERE'S A LIVE SKUNK WAITING IN MY LOCKER!? HOW THE HELL DID YOU EVEN KNOW WHEN I WAS GONNA GET BACK!?"

The demon princess is furious, sparks cascading from her hair and feathers.
Yes, feathers. During her disappearance, Mary apparently had a makeover. Her wings and tail are now covered in indigo feathers, and she's now imposingly tall, having gained a foot of height. Her voice has changed too, but it's harder to place exactly how.

She does smell faintly of skunk, but she's done her best to wash it off. When she gets the chance, she'll give herself a lava bath to burn away all traces of the spray.

"I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOU!!"
"Here" is pretty high, just above the succubus' ample bosom.

[[brackets lover]]

[After School]

As soon as Mary shows up, Asami pops out of the trash can with a banana peel in her hair.

"Surprise attack!" Asami exclaims, tossing a crumpled up piece of paper at Mary's center of mass.

Finally, Asami leans on the edge of the trashcan and tilts her head, "Sup, Brignole. Anything new? How's Vallarm-senpai?"

[Ironsmith]

[After School]

Oh, great. Just what Aiko's day needed. A surprise visit from Mary.

...Who has apparently had one hell of a growth spurt over the winter break. The difference in height is severe enough that Mary could probably use Aiko as an armrest if she wanted to. Nineteen inches doesn't sound like a lot, but putting the two of them side-by-side like this makes it abundantly clear just how radical a difference that is.

"It's rather distressing how close to the age of majority you are, with the knowledge that you still haven't developed any diplomacy skills. At all." Aiko deadpans, stapling up a notice for the Drama club's yearly production of an obscure Shakespearean play. "Considering you don't have any proof I was even tangentially involved, you could have at least opened with some probing questions."

She turns and frowns, suddenly confronted with Mary's waistline and straining to look up toward where she presumes the succubus's face to be. It's difficult to tell for sure, as there are a couple of things in the way of her view. "Is this the part where you threaten to hex me on suspicion alone? Because detention was getting dreadfully lonely-"

And then Asami's attack!

Aiko smirks and shakes her head, stifling a little chuckle and holding out her fist to the star-child. Mary might be bigger and more intimidating now, but there's no real risk to her getting more upset than she is. On the contrary, Asami would probably be inadvertently rubbing in just how powerless Mary is to do anything other than yell at her, and coordinated bullying like that was part of the reason they even had a club in the first place.

Also it was funny. She can't really deny the value of that.

[bc56]

After School
Bip! Asami's wad of paper bounces off Mary's chest. The succubus barely seems to notice. Asami is ignored for now.

At Aiko's response, Mary takes a deep breath...
...and smiles. It's a far more dangerous expression than her earlier shouting, displaying a cool, razor-edged confidence. Where is the blustering, the fiery threats and insults? What happened during those two months Mary was missing?
"Yes. Diplomacy. But no head of state worth their salt would bother using diplomacy with you. A self-proclaimed empress without any power or authority? You're rabble for the bodyguards to keep away." Mary doesn't have bodyguards here. They're not allowed on campus. But she thinks she's made her point.
"I'm done even trying to treat you like an equal. I'm an immortal demon princess. You're a nobody."