ARTHUR

Arthur couldn't totally supress the sigh when Vivian asked him to get Merlin. Nymue wasn't likely to hand Merlin over no matter he was needed. He went reluctantly to her class and was glad to see the students leaving. He tentatively entered the room and told Nymue all that had happened reaching for Merlin. He truly wasn't expecting to get him but Arthur had to at least try.

SERPENSORCIA

"I'm sure we are trying to hard,"Serpensortia answered, meaning her family. "Still, though, it is because we're all taught to use the wand for so blasted long." She chuckled to Nancy's words. "Daddy doesn't mind being shown things if it is done in the right way. He'll be proud of me for learning it, I think."

FROST

Frost laughed. "Well humans like you are out of the ordinary for me, so we already have a bit of something in common. I'm half faerie and half human. My parents are very supportive, and my Mum is actually at the school helping out. Poor Da got the raw end of it, but then again both of them usually do." He looked briefly sad before changing the subject. "Anyway any help you'll find yourself needing or any magical questions you have, just feel free to come to me, and I'll give you all the help I can. My adopted sis, Lark is there, and she'll help you as well." He grinned.

LISSA

Lissa smiled. "I can understand that. A faerie, huh? Wow... My family would probably freak out... They treated me and Amy like we were demons..." Her face got sad for a moment. "Thanks, Frost. I don't know much about magic and such except what I've read in the eighty or ninety fantasy novels of my world, and I'm not sure how much of it might actually apply in reality..." She grinned a little sheepishly. "I'm glad I spoke up. You know, usually I'm too shy to talk to people. My cat was the one who told me I should say something. I don't have many friends."

She paused a moment. Why was she telling him all this? All this for someone she had just met... But he was friendly enough, and she decided it was okay, if a little out of the ordinary for her to be so open.

NYMUE AND MERLIN

Nymue clutched Merlin to her chest. "I need him to be here. You go and tell Vivian that."Her tone was harsh and angry as she glared madly at Arthur. "I gave you life again, you huge beast of a thing. Can't you at least leave me be? I can't part with him...send him helpless in to danger, plus I'm sure that Morgan wants to separate us so that she can do worse. You must bring the fix back to him."She blinked back tears, and her angry look of insanity now held a bit of desperate pleading for Arthur to see the way of it.

The bird that was Merlin, leaned his head against Nymue's breast, and looked distressed.

FROST

"Enough of the facts in those books are actually true, but not all of them. Sometimes simple mortals do tend to misunderstand things,"He explained to her. "I've heard of some humans thinking magic is evil. I'm sorry that you had to deal with that. Do you think they'd ever change their minds if they saw the good that magic can do?" He somehow doubted it, but hoped otherwise for her as it was her own family in question. "I had to be the social type myself,"He went on as a response to her saying that she was shy. "With all my siblings, I had to."He grinned widely.

LISSA

She smiled. "Thanks for that tip--I'll have to keep it in mind," she said in answer to the comment that some of the fantasy-book magic was true. "I don't know if they'd change their minds or not--I actually tore the house apart, not realizing what I was doing. I'd never used magic before, and then suddenly, I could talk to all these different animals, and because I was mad, every time I felt like throwing something or knocking something over, it happened without me ever having to touch it. I didn't understand what was happening until it was over, and by then, it was too late to apologize." She sighed. "I wish they understood. But if they want to treat me like this, that's their loss," she finished angrily.

"I almost can't imagine having so many siblings--almost. My best friend had about ten siblings, and I practically lived at her house...until I turned fifteen, and she got scared of me. But it was almost like I was related to all of them. Some of them understood me, and that was what kept me from being completely alone."

FROST

Frost gave her a sympathetic look. "Well, why were you so angry in the first place?" His open and honest face said clearly that he wasn't meaning at all to try, but only had a true interest. "Even your best friend turned away from you? I just don't understand that."He shook his head. "I've not been much out of faerie, though, so I'm sure there is a lot I don't fully understand.

NANCY

"I suspect he will," Nancy replied, "though he'll still probably wish he'd have mastered it long before you did. He won't hold it against you of course, being family. Family or friends he doesn't mind excelling. I try to give him a lot of credit though; he always had self esteem problems in school. I don't understand why, though; he's a great wizard."

SERPENSORCIA

"His home life wasn't the best,"Serpensortia answered briefly. "I didn't exactly master it over him, either, so it is all good. It is simply that I got to come here and learn, and he didn't." She chuckled. "Though he'll be more peeved about the fact that you, being his age, did, and he didn't." She gave a deep sigh. "I suppose he had other places to be, though."

NANCY

"Oh, I suspect he'll be a bit jealous, but not overly so. I've always given him credit for many things. He can do just about anything if he puts his mind to it; it's just that he thinks he has to be perfect at everything, and he doesn't." She paused. "Yes, I suspected his home life was less than perfect. He didn't talk about it much, and I didn't push him about it. It was one of those instances where I curbed my own natural curiousity for someone else's sake."

LISSA

Lissa saw the _expression on his face, and was grateful for someone else who understood how she felt.

"Well, you'll probably think it was silly, but... I'd had a really bad day, and I'd been raising this tiny little black kitten for a few weeks. Her mother had left her behind, and she was the runt. I'd followed her voice and I took care of her. But on the day she opened her eyes, I was already aggravated. My parents insisted that because her eyes were purple, added to the fact that she was black, she must be a demon. They tried harder and harder to make me get rid of her, and I wouldn't do it. So they waited until I was in my room, getting ready for bed. They thought I was asleep. They tried to get rid of her for me, before I could stop them..."

Lissa's eyes blinked painfully at the memory. She remembered it too well--Amy's voice, desperate and scared, screaming for help. Lissa had just gotten into bed and was almost asleep, but the instant her baby called, she was running down the stairs.

~"What are you doing to her?!" she screamed, before she could even see them. "Amy, my Amethyst, what's wrong?!"

:Help me!: the cat cried.

She rounded a corner into the kitchen.~

"The neighbor's dog was out on our back porch, snarling and growling at my kitten. He told her he hated cats, and that he would kill her. My parents were just sitting there at the kitchen table, watching it. I screamed and went for the back door. My dad tried to stop me."

~"No, honey!" he said, trying to hold his struggling foster daughter. "That cat needs to go! The dog is just going to scare it away!"

"The hell he will!" Lissa screamed. "I can hear him yelling at her! He's gonna kill my baby!"

The next thing she knew, her dad had been knocked across the kitchen. She ran for it, out the door and straight for the dog. She grabbed the dog by the tail and scruff of the neck, and with a strength she hadn't known she posessed, she threw him off the porch. Later, she thought it must have been magic, but then, she was just scared and angry.

"Leave her alone!"

He ran away, back through the open gate leading to his own yard.~

"I got rid of the dog, but before I could claim my cat, my mom had scooped her up by the scruff of the neck and tried to throw her into the pool."

~"NO!" Lissa screamed.

Her mom fell back onto her butt in the grass, and a flailing Amy sailed threw the air to her mistress, who held her close.

"Amy, are you okay?"

:Iloveyou, Iloveyou, Iloveyou,: the cat repeated over and over.~

"I finally rescued her and went on a rampage through the house."

~"I can't believe you!" Lissa screamed. "You tried to kill her! She's not even your cat, dammit! You tried to get rid of my cat, just because she's different!"

A lightbulb in the living room went out, shattered. Two lamps and a bookshelf sailed throught the house until they crashed into the walls. Tables were overturned, and doors slammed open and shut.

"And what if I was different? Would you kill me, too? Answer me!"

Lights flipped on and off, and hanging light fixtures swayed dangerously. Plates and silverware found their way out of the cabinets and drawers where they belonged, flying through the kitchen until they hit the walls and fell to the floor.~

"Afterwards, they agreed to let me keep her, but only because they were afraid of me. I tried to apologize, tried to tell them it was all a mistake, an accident, that I didn't know what I was doing, but they didn't believe me. I spent most of the next three years holed up in my room, because I couldn't stand to see the way they looked at me. My sister Alana actually tried to use a cross to keep me away. It hurt, the way the treated me. My only allies in that house were Amethyst, my adopted brother Jason, and the little animals Amy dragged home for me to take care of."

Lissa wiped away a tear that had escaped her attempts not to cry. She stared at the floor of the boat once more. This was the memory she'd tried to keep away, and now that she'd called it back, she wished it were gone again. Against her will, a quiet sob shook her shoulders as another tear, then another, then many others, slid unbidden down her face.

ARTHUR

"I've always liked your tactfulness Nymue. I didn't want to come and tell you this, believe me. However, I'll let Vivien talk to you which is what I should've done in the first place. She can explain the intricacies better than I can," Arthur said to Nymue. He sighed inwardly, seeing her point but thinking there was no way around taking Merlin on the quest with them.

VIVIAN

Vivian, after waiting for Arthur to be out of sight, decided to follow after. He wasn't going to be able to convince her, that much she knew. But she didn't think she'd do such a fine job herself--Nymue and herself rarely got along well on anything.

"Patricles, you and Wyn stay here--I'm off to talk sense into Merlin."

Yes. Merlin would be the only one to convince Nymue to let go of him for his good.

PATRICLES

Patricles shrugged, and looked to Wyn.

"Wanna play cards? Me thinks this might take a while."

VIVIAN

Vivian found, indeed, the vision she had received from earlier--a Nymue nearly choking the life out of Merlin and reeking of hostility.

Vivian frowned. Conversing with Nymue would be pointless.

"Merlin--the only way that we can get you cured is to have that spell unwoven--we can't drag someone away from their homeland out of selfishness. It is not the way of things--and you know that."

SERPENSORCIA

Serpensortia nodded. "GrandDa said that Daddy didn't talk of it to him until his 5th year, and then it had to be pushed when Daddy was..."She shook her head. "It is no matter. It is over, and now his home life is great." She chuckled. "Seeing things as I do now it is hard to relate to the days before I was born when things were less than good." She sighed. "I suppose that is the natural way, but it is still quite interesting meeting up with you, and getting a bit of a glimpse of that world."

FROST

Frost frowned in thought, trying to remember the human history lessons he'd gotten from his father. "Ur...What time do you come from? I ask because I'm told that this school is sort of between and out of times. My father came from a different world, but when he visited the mostly non-magical earth, it was around the year 2000 or so. It seems as if you lived in much more of a primitive time for people to be so upset about a animal's eyes or to believe that the animal is a demon." He gave the cat's head a sympathetic rub.

WYN

Wyn grinned at Pat. "What kind of cards? And sure thing." She was glad not to have gone along. She knew nothing much about these people, and didn't want to be involved when she didn't need to be.

NYMUE AND MERLIN

Nymue glared at Vivian. Merlin turned his head round to look at his wife, and then back to Vivian. He spoke in a forced croaking voice that wasn't easy to understand as he'd not had much practice with this bird's mouth.

"Can they not be brought here? My magic is not easy to wield in this form, and I would be almost defenseless to leave. I'd think you'd know as much. If I go,Morgan shall have even more of a field day. I'd like to think Nymue's earth collapsing spell killed her, but I somehow doubt that."

NANCY

"Well, I'm glad to hear that he's happy now," Nancy replied. "Things are still a bit volatile in my time; there's no telling where Severus will go next, though I did advise him not to tell me anything that might be used against him later. You probably already know, but I come from a troubled time. And yes, it is odd meeting up like this, but it's odd meeting all sorts of people from different times."

TITANIA

Titania shrugged her head.

"I never knew him when he was worse--though, Albus told me lots of when your da and his worked together at the school--how stiff your da could come off sometimes!"

Titania choked on something inside.

She had not intended to bring up Albus again.

"...I think those Strauss twins came from the time when he was still without you" Titania continued. "It seemed that way--the boy-girl was absolutely horrified to hear mention of the name!" Titania giggled.

PATRICLES

Pat smiled, and shuffled around in his pockets for a deck of cards.

"Hmm...nope, those are Morgan-greer tarot...don't want the deck of unuseful items...ugh, not that one...hmmph."

He took off his black leather over coat to reveal a thinner tan cowhide vest underneath laden with pockets.

"Gibbers--regular cards take forever to find" he muttered under his breath, and finally resorted to a pants pocket to pull out a tattered pack of paper cards.

"Ahh. Here we go. Ever heard of the game speed?"

VIVIAN

Vivian shook her head slowly.

"There are many planes of existence--many which exist knowing of other planes, and many more which do not. To take a citizen of such a realm and expose them to things they were not meant to be seen is something that breaks our laws. But I know for certain" Vivian said, stepping forward, "that, if indeed, Morgan has been there--then this place we seek is one you are intended to see it as well."

Vivian smiled.

"And goodness! Do you take me a complete fool and uncaring, asking you to go off when most vulnerable?" she laughed. "That is why your two companions are Arthur and Wyn: Morgan cannot defeat her own blood, and her magic prevents her from attacking those of faerie kind. Surely you knew this?"

SERPENSORCIA

"Yes, I like the way Daddy can put the fear of himself in to people,"Serpensortia chuckled happily. "He isn't exactly friendly to most now, but I'm sure it is indeed better than it was."

CASSANDRA

Cassandra saw the way Titania looked when she spoke of her former boyfriend. "You shall keep each other in your hearts, and you'll see each other again when you're both ready,"She said softly.

WYN

Wyn shook her head. "No, but I learn fast." She made a table appear for them to play at with a wave of her hand.

MERLIN AND NYMUE

Merlin stared for a moment at Vivian, and would surely be frowning if he could. "It is not enough protection, but you leave me no choice. Enough meaning that they will have to struggle harder with any attack only being 2." The bird's voice croaked out carefully, but he made a move to go to Arthur after a long look at Nymue who's eye filled with silent tears as she gave Vivian a hate filled look before turning away.

TITANIA

Titania stared at Cassandra.

"Do you read people's mind by force of habit?" she said pointedly, a bit annoyed at having her thoughts read

PATRICLES

"Nice" whistled Pat, and he dealt out the cards. "So, we have a pile of five cards here, two cards here which are face down, and another pile of five cards here" he said, demonstrating. "Now, each of us gets 20 cards." He dealt out twenty, and gave that pile to Wyn. "So. You then have five cards from your pile in your hands."

VIVIAN

Vivian left the room, leaving behind Nymue with her indignant, sulking self.

"That went better than planned" Vivian noted, looking to Merlin and Arthur.

She frowned.

"We'll be meeting with Proffessor Patricles who will distribute the gear for the journey" she noted, and walked through the misty campus with head held high

NANCY

"He never was very friendly, not even to me," Nancy replied. "I pretty much attached myself to him, but you've probably heard about that already. It just so happens that he can tolerate me more than most people. I joked to him once that if he wasn't married by the time we were 30, I'd marry him, but now I know he'll turn out just fine. The idea seemed to horrify him, though. Can you imagine what our kids would be like?"

ARTHUR

Arthur reached for Merlin throwing a sympathetic look at Nymue. It was hard to maintain his annoyance when she looked as she did now. He waited to see if Merlin or Nymue had anything else to say before he left.

LISSA

Lissa had, of course, noticed that the cat had escaped her carrier, but didn't mind. She dried her tear-streaked face on her sleeve. Lissa wished very much that Frost was right about her coming from a much more primitive world, but unfortunately, this wasn't the case. She had, in fact, come from the year 2008, having been born in 1990.

"I wish that were true, Frost," Lissa said, smiling despite her despair. "If my world had been more primitive, I might still have had a chance at being accepted in the future. But the thing is, I'm from the year 2008. There are still people rooted deeply in the Christian faith who take themselves far too seriously, seeing evil in the most innocent of beings. My family is an example of these kinds of people. They don't mean to cause harm, but nevertheless, they do, simply because they believe me to be something I'm not. I guess it's not really, their fault, but I still can't help being upset with them. One would think that they would at least try to be more flexible for their own foster daughter, but I guess not."

Amy gave a purring trill of agreement that somehow still managed to be angry, sitting next to Frost and leaning into his hand, hoping to be pet again.

:You know,: the cat said, :I think he's perfect for you.:

Expecting a glare from her mistress, the cat was caught completely off-guard when Lissa laughed instead.

"Give it a rest, would you?" she said to the cat, forgetting to be silent.

CASSANDRA

Cassandra pulled her hand back and flushed as she stepped back. "I'm sorry if I upset you." She turned away, wishing she could stop seeing things, and above all stop speaking of them. This was a wizarding place, though, so she'd thought things may be different.

SERPENSORCIA P>Serpensortia was giving her an odd look, but for once the Snape girl kept her snide thoughts on the matter to herself.

"Mum had a hard time talking Daddy round to marriage,"Serpensortia said with a smile. "He didn't understand why she'd want to do such a thing as having a relationship with him." She shook her head. "I think she just told him to try it and that he'd like it or something like that."She flushed. "I don't really like to think of them...well...like that."

WYN AND MERLIN

Wyn was just getting in to the card game when the others came back. "Blast!"She said and sighed.

Merlin was lost in deep thought, and hadn't even noticed when they arrived. How the hell had Morgan managed to...

TITANIA

Titania frowned.

"It's okay" she mumbled. She just didn't like being continually reminded that he was gone from her life.

CASSANDRA

Cassandra nodded. "Well he doesn't have to be gone,"She said softly.

She'd thought to leave Agamemnon behind, but here he was.

TITANIA

Titania sighed.

"Please stop doing that" she whispered.

She then blinked, and shook her head.

"I mean, it's nice of you to care, but I really need to solve it...my own way."

Titania pat Cassandra on the back.

She hoped that was the right response.

NANCY

Nancy grinned. "He didn't like to think of me like that either; he was the same way you are now. We're close friends, but he'd probably drop dead before he shagged me. I did kiss him once though; it was our third year, and in private. He never liked people touching him much. Anyway, I'm glad someone grew on him. I must remind myself to tell him that relationships aren't so bad."

PATRICLES AND VIVIAN

Pat looked up in surprise.

"Well" he began, putting the cards back into the pocket from whence they came, "there's a bit of debriefing to get on with. Might was well start--hoookaay..."

Pat shuffled around in his robe for a bit more.

"Dangblast, now where'd those things go..."

Vivian looked at him with a curious look in her eye.

"Alright--these are things that I don't think I'll need while I'm here" he said, looking to Arthur and Merlin, "but that I think you'll find useful. This" he said, pointing to a rawhide water flagon, "is a never-emptying water flagon. Water's fresh and pure--good for drinking if you run short of rivers" he noted. "And this beauty" he said, pulling out another odd item from his cloak of many pockets, "is a non-stop food supplier." It was a lightweight tan-leather pouch that tied around the shoulder with a brass buckle. "It doesn's supply much of a variety, but it serves for daily nutrition." He laid that next to the flagon. "Hmm...ah yes. A ward against evil" he pulled out a big diaomond with an obsidian core. "You wear it round your neck with this leather chain" he demonstrated, and placed it in Arthur's hands. "Now, what that does is cloak you against creatures completely taken by dark. They won't be able to detect you, so it's good for when you need shut-eye. It's not good against those who are looking for you, though, so I'd advise a watch all the same"

He scratched his chin.

"Hmm. Do you want the buckler of defense?" he inquired. "Gives you a magical shield that can withstand iron and anything weaker when attacked."

CASSANDRA, SERPENSORCIA

Cassandra seemed to shrink back more. "I'm sorry,"She whispered. "I can't help what I see. I didn't ask for it, you know." She wasn't sure if she wanted to be angry or to cry, so forced herself to do neither.

"Lay off her,"Serpensortia said mildly. "Have you never read of Troy?"

It was still odd to Cassandra to think of herself as Legend. That is how that new one, Arthur must feel. She tossed a grateful look to they dark haired girl who had spoken in her defense. She knew, however, that if she had something to tell Serpensortia Snape about her future that she'd not believe it either. She knew for example, that the girl was going to marry a muggle assassin, and that would cause trouble between herself and her father. The girl was to stuck up, even if kind at times, to believe that she'd end up with a muggle, as they called them, though.

TITANIA

Titania perked up.

"Ooooh...Now I get it" she noted. She then smiled--

"But in the future, don't tell me what you see, alright?" Titania suggested. "I don't mind you seeing--just the telling bit that gets me off--Ooh! What's that?" she pointed, in the direction of an especially odd-shaped bit of fog.

SERPENSORCIA

Serpensortia spluttered with laughter. "You kissed him? Tell me about that. I mean what brought it on, and what did he do? UG it simply isn't natural to think of my parents doing that. They do it to upset me, I think."She shuddered.

NANCY

"Oh, I think we were on our way back from the Halloween dance. We were alone, and he was actually touching my arm for once. I just kissed him lightly; not really much of a snog, but it did surprise him. He stood there speechless for a few minutes, then made me swear not to tell anyone. Typical of him, really."

SERPENSORCIA AND CASSANDRA

Serpensortia looked at the fog. "Probably some dark bit of fluff sent by Morgan to take your soul,"She told the fae girl darkly.

"I'm sorry,"Cassandra said again. "I would just want to know if something that I was sad about could be put right." Her mouth hardened. "I'll leave you with your unhappiness, though."

Serpensortia only shuddered again, trying not to picture that. "Too young to do that,"She finally managed. "13?"

ARTHUR

Arthur stared with wonder at the things Pat was pulling out of his pockets. This was someone who was always prepared. What Arthur wouldn't have given to have a never-ending supply of food during his previous battles.

"Thank you so much Pat, your help has been invaluable and yes I would like to wear the buckler of defense," he said putting the pendant that warded against evil around his neck.

TITANIA

Titania shrugged.

"Naaah. She can't manipulate fog" she stated matter-of-factly, and shrugged. "Maybe it's one of Auntie Vivian's wardens."

She mouthed a small "thank you" to Cassandra, as that was exactly the way Titania liked her sadness--to be her own.

NANCY

Nancy shrugged. "It wasn't as if we were making out," she said. "It was just a light kiss, really. He was shy you know, and still was when we graduated. I don't think we were too young. It all depends on your point of view, really."

FROST

He listened thoughtfully. "That is why religion is such a bother,"He told her. "Being spiritual is ok, but religious people have always felt the great need to control people, ya know? So what is your major here?"He asked, thinking to cheer her up wit a more hopeful matter of conversation.

LOUIS

The next class, Herbal Medications, interested Louis. Back in the 1700's he had learned a lot from the workers on his plantation about certain plants and leaves that provided anything from pain relief, to soothing rashes and injuries to slowing the flow of blood from an injury. He wondered if this instructor, Isilme, knew of the self- same "tool" he had learned. Being a vampire, his body had its own way of healing itself, and he did not fall ill, but still if he was to be a healer he would have to know how to treat someone else with the use of these medications.

LEGOLAS

Legolas was also very interested in the medications. He had seen many strange herbs and concoctions in Lord Elrond's healing rooms, as well as the healing rooms at Mirkwood. Now, he would have a chance to learn of what they were and how to use them. Still, he was feeling a bit stiff from sitting for so long. Being his usual independant self, Legolas stood up, amidst the class, and stretched. Feeling eyes upon him, he blushed and sat down. He turned to Louis "Somehow I think I've just made a bad impression. I do that at home all the time," Legolas tried not to smile. Louis laughed silently. "No, not a bad impression, more along the lines of 'What the heck is he doing?'" They both held back snickers.

LISSA

Lissa agreed with his view on religion, but turned her attention to answering his question.

"I'm majoring in Care of Magical Creatures, actually, with a minor in Healing. I figured, I love animals, and I already know how to take care of mundane creatures, what with Amy dragging home every 'toy' she's ever had, from squirrels and birds to baby racoons and 'possums. My latest rescue was the only one I had trouble with. I don't even know what it was she brought me... I've never seen anything like it. It was some kind of baby bird, I think, but definitely not something native to the area--maybe not native to any area... I think...maybe it was...a phoenix... I felt terrible when she just kept getting weaker, no matter how hard I tried to help. Eventually, she did get better, but it took some time, and more effort than I've ever had to put into anything, because most of it was guesswork."

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh slinked along after them, as he had the same classes that they had that day.

He shrugged as he sat down.

"Most likely better of an impression than mine was--I think I might have convinced her that I'm a very pretty rock" Ashleigh noted. "But whoever this teacher is shouldn't have that same misconception--I'm going to be confused as heck, and I know it."

FROST

"WOW!"Frost's eyes widened. "That is real talent you've got with healing of animals without any training.I can see how you got an invite here. Do you know if magic runs in your blood family?"

WYN AND MERLIN

Wyn looked excited as she moved back to Arthur's shoulder. "I only hope we have enough to get us where we need to go. Now where is our guide, and all that? Shouldn't we have a list of instructions or something?It isn't like Arthur or I know anything about this sort of thing, after all. We're up for it, though, I'm sure."

The bird who was Merlin was trying not to look worried.

PATRICLES

Patricles looked up at Vivian as he handed Arthur the buckler.

Pat looked at the group with a glitter in his eye.

"The answers will find you when you get there" he said vaguely. "Now--as for your guide...that's where I come in."

He laid the glass shards on the ground. He wasn't particularly fond of making wights...but the times called for desperate measures.

"Watch."

He placed the five shards--living in their own right--and encircled them in a ring of black powder. He then readied the five shards--placed in a star-like pattern. He dropped a small dark crystal between them, and the five shards were brought together at the end. He then began to hum in the ancient dead language. Continuing the chant, he then drove a dagger right through the centerpoint where the crystals all met.

The glass crystals let loose a shrill cry of pain that none would ever forget. Pat withdrew the dagger, still humming the chant under his breath. But the words had no sound.

He made some hand gesture over the fragments, no longer glowing with the light they did before. They now had a pale, deadish light emanating from within their glassy shapes. Pat muttered some more words from the soundless tongue, and then backed away.

From the circle wafted up eerie shadows that had no voice, no shape, no form. They looked on at the group, and Pat held them under his hand.

"These are glass wights. They know the way to Hacradel, and I have instructed them to follow what commands you give--only the basics. 'Stop for now', 'Go', 'Faster', and 'slower'. Wights aren't terribly intelligent" Pat noted. "A command from either of your three will sway them, so I hope you all get along on what you need to do" he joked. "And so. If you need to contact us back here, the order for that is 'Contact'. You'll see what they can do" Pat shrugged. "Alright--any more questions before you're off? The wights are anxious to get going" he noted. And indeed, his hands were shaking before them. The ever-multiplying wights that wafted up from the glass structure were beginning to emanate the same dull shriek akin to rats.

SERPENSORCIA

Serpensortia had eagerly awaited this class, so made sure to be there on time. She sat quietly in the front of the room, hands folded in her lap. Was it just her, or did the place even feel...other worldly already?

LAURAINA AND CASSANDRA

Lauraina walked with Cassandra to the next class. She could see that the unwilling psychic was still in low spirits, so she smiled and patted her arm. "My uncle always says that we will never understand everyone, so that we shouldn't let that fact bring us down."

Cassandra nodded and smiled. "Thank you. Your uncle is right, and you're kind."

"I try,"Lauraina chuckled. She wondered how she'd feel about being told something about herself. Well if it were good she'd be glad, and if it were bad she'd try to change it. Some things were fated, though, and couldn't be changed no matter what. She knew, though, that that bit only fell in perhaps the 5th percentage.

The 2 girls headed in to the class and took seats together in the middle of the room.

LUXOR AND PAT

Luxor, after having not been entertained by the questions of the snake, walked into Pat's classroom--

:Hmm...Master's not here yet, and there are students waiting. Wonder what--oh. I should alert him: he decided. :he can be so absent-minded at times....Master! Your class!: the last part being a broadcast to his master.

Pat's collar burned on his neck.

Pat suddenly blanked.

"Uh...sorry, no questions" he said hurriedly. "Er--good luck to ye!" And with a flourish, Pat released the Wights.

They stilled in the air, and then began to waft aways into the fog...but they could still be seen, as their dark coloring starkened against the white of the mists.

VIVIAN

Vivian looked on, and made the fog an even thicker white. The numerous wights seemed to trickle from the glass--there was a steady trail of them now.

/If there was another way...but there isn't/ she thought morosely.

She stared at the trail of wights coming from the glass shards and frowned.

/Isn't there a way to make it stop?/

LUXOR

Luxor felt the hurry from his master.

:Oh...he must have been busy.:

TITANIA

Titania waved them goodbye, and went off to find a nice place to study.

She had, afterall, a free period at this current time.

She frowned.

"Hmm" she said, and wandered around, looking for a good stump to ponder the things she'd learned today.

WYN

"So do we follow them?"Wyn asked Vivian? We don't know nearly enough. Is he mad?" She was trying not to feel panicked, and Merlin was trying not to feel ill.

VIVIAN

Vivian nodded her head somberly.

"Yes. The glass wights made from glass of Hacradel always return home" she said. "You will not find a truer path. Fare thee well" she called out, and watched with an ever-caring eye.

MERLIN AND WYN

Merlin gave a worried cry as Arthur carried him away as they had to move quickly to follow the tings. "Shit," Wyn groaned, clinging to the big man's shoulder.

ISILME

Isilme watched as all her students filed in for the next class. Many of them were from her previous class, but there were some new faces. "Welcome to Herbal Medication," she said. "This class deals with the healing aspects of various herbs and plants. No doubt your different realms will have different plants, but I shall try to cover some universal ones as well as the more useful ones here.

"Some things you can do with herbs are easing pain and discomfort as well as slowing or even staunching bleeding. Many herbs can be used to cure various illnesses as well; you just have to know which herb or plant does what. But be careful; only certain parts of a plant do certain things, and you don't want to get it wrong."

DARKEN

Darken sat and waited expectantly for class to begin. He took a seat near Lauraina and thought to himself how strange it was to be in a class with his younger sister. He nodded a greeting to Dorian as he entered the room. Dorian didn't seem to have any friends and it never hurt to be social.

LISSA

Lissa smiled at his reaction. She had never had anyone think much of her talent with animals. It felt somehow strange to have anyone react like this simply because she was good with sick and injured animals.

Her expression turned slightly wistful. "I have no idea what my blood family is like, but I can't help but think they must have been more like me. The last three years, I couldn't help thinking they would have accepted me and what I can do. I can't say that I've hated my life with my foster family, but I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if my real family had decided to keep me.

"I always felt a little out of place, really, even when I was younger. Alana, my parents' only blood daughter, is tall, and she has red hair, like our mom. Jason, my adopted brother, he's tall too, and his hair is somewhere between blonde and red, like our dad. But I've always had dark brown hair, and I've always been short. Even my eyes are a different color! Their eyes are light brown, and mine are blue and green. But it wasn't until I started showing magical abilities that I felt like I didn't belong."

She sighed. "But it doesn't matter. I can't go back and change my blood parents decision. I just have to accept that I'm different, and that my family might never get over that." She smiled then. "Besides, I'll be accepted by other people like me. You don't think I'm all that strange, right?" She grinned. "You don't have to answer that."

DORIAN

Dorian would come to his next class neither looking right nor left. He'd been trying really hard to pay attention to the classes but with Merlin...who was one of the only 3 people to ever show him kindness...transformed he wasnot having much success in that. He longed to run to Nymue but he couldn't yet because he had to stay in class and not get in trouble especially with that slutty bitch, miss fairy queen, running the damned school. So he sat there trying to reach and see what was going on with Merlin. When he felt him leave he was even more sick at heart. Dorian

LOUIS AND LEGOLAS

Louis and Legolas both turned at Ashleigh's voice. "No, I doubt that," Louis said gently. "It's your first class, your second day. It's my first. I wouldn't worry. I know Isilme, she's very very fair. She would not think of you as a rock." Legolas added, then bit his lower lip as he saw the teacher enter the room. Isilme. "Uh, afraid it's the same teacher," he whispered to Ashleigh. "Don't worry, she really is nice." he continued then he and Louis sat near Ashleigh.

Louis noticed Darken and waved. He also smiled at the faery Darken was smiling at. Louis recognized him from his dorm. Dorian was his name. Legolas followed Louis' gaze, smiling also at the two students. Legolas believed in being friendly with everyone, helped keep the karma healthy.

Legolas noticed Cassandra was also in attendance. He smiled and nodded to her. He still hoped she would show up for archery practice some morning, she had seemed anxious to learn.

Legolas turned around and focused on Isilme words. Yes, this would be the class where he would mess up. He could tell right off the bat. He could NEVER get the herbal plants right, even for the horses he tended. He knew he would have to pay extra special attention in here.

Louis listened anxiously. NOW he was getting his feet wet as the saying went.

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh hoped so.

"Uhh...cool" he said to himself, as Isilme began the class. He couldn't help but wonder if she got tired out from teaching the same students straight for some time.

DORIAN

Dorian returned Darken's smile with genuine enthusiasm. He had talked to a few people but he really had no one he could call a friend except the dragonlings in the cave. But that wasn't going to help him now. Dorian nodded and smiled at the students and sent a telepathic hello to the vampire. But 95 percent of his thoughts and concentration remained in the administrative section of the school. He knew he would have little trouble with herbal medications since he had seen Merlin use herbs since he was 4.

LAURAINA"

Hello, Brother," Lauraina said dryly, but her warm smile belied her dry tone.

She wondered if Kid had this class, and if not, what class he had. "Sortia gets to go play with dead things this period,"She grinned.

FROST

Frost grinned. "Of course you're not strange!" He answered honestly. "And red hair is usually a mark of witchery among religiously silly humans. My dad said so." He chuckled. "My Mom has red hair. Lots of it, and it is curly and goes everywhere."

LISSA

Lissa smiled and laughed. It felt good to laugh--she hadn't laughed much lately.

"Well thank you, glad you don't think I'm strange." She grinned. "I never really thought about the hair thing like that before... Although that would certainly explain at least half of the self-proclaimed 'witches' where I come from either already having or dying their hair red. I think those people were probably the only ones who never heard about what happened, because my parents were afraid to talk to them. Once they realized everyone else was afraid of me though, they asked somebody about it and they all made this little plan to come to school dressed all in black."

Lissa giggled. "There was a full circle of Goths and witches crowded in at my table that day, all wanting to know what I'd done and how I'd done it. The funny thing was that I was wearing all black that day too, so I fit in perfectly. We all laughed at the stares we were getting. Afterwards, people actually started turning the other way in the hall or else getting outright hostile toward me, but it didn't bother me too much anymore. It still bothered me, of course, just not as much. The group that finally accepted me was the one group of people that no one else accepted--I found my place with the people who had no place. It was ironic, to say the least, and people hounded after me with no end in sight, but I stayed with the people who didn't care I was different."

She smiled. "Even then, though, I was a bit different from them, because I just didn't have enough black clothing to wear something black every day. It didn't matter too much to them, though, so it was okay. Sometimes I just borrowed clothes from the other girls--which seemed to make everyone happy."

LEGOLAS

Legolas gave Ashleigh a comforting smile. "Trust me, she is kind and does not think you a rock," he said warmly. He turned his attention fully to Isilme. :Yes, no kidding you can make mistakes,: he thought to himself. He had done so many times. For a moment he wondered how Nancy's classes were going. On moving onto this class he had noticed her happily chatting with Serpensortia. It appeared they were both making friends. He just hoped she hadn't forgotten about him. Legolas yanked his attention back to Isilme, quickly opening his notebook and preparing himself to take notes, tons of them.

LOUIS

Louis noticed Legolas' seeming nervousness. He guessed this was one class his roommate would have trouble with. He, too, removed his notebook and quill. Whether he knew things or not, he would take all the notes he could, as he had in the last class, and the classes yesterday until they had been interrupted. :Please, let's not have that again today.: he thought to himself.

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh nodded, and looked to Isilme. He raised his hand. He had a question already

ISILME

Isilme was about to begin her lesson when she noticed Ashleigh's hand. "Yes?" she asked. "Do you have a question? Why don't I take questions before we begin? I'm sure all of you have lots of things you want to ask. Don't worry if it seems overwhelming at first; you can't expect to get everything right the first time. Besides, some plants are hard to remember."

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh put his hand down and began to speak--

"Are you going to cover the multiple properties of plants? I mean, how some plant with another plant can result in totally separate effects and stuff? Like, for example, how Belladonna can be used for a relaxtant, but is more often used for poison?"

FROST

Frost laughed. "What is it about clothes? I mean why did you all need to dress alike? Then back home lots of the full blood faeries don't wear any clothes, and Da, being fully human, insists upon them. Mum always wore them too, but my adopted sister Lark didn't always want them, and Da insisted." He laughed. "He's even worried that she'll not keep them on at school, but of course she has to, and besides...I'm sure she's out grown that now."

KID AND GHOST

Kid slipped out of the classroom in between classes and ran to the Dining Hall to see if he could find Ghost. As he approached, through the forest, he spotted Ghost, with Tantalus the snake and Luxor, Professor Pat's dog. When he noticed that the snake and dog seemed to be arguing about something he 'called' to Ghost.

Ghost, who had been sitting quietly listening to Tantalus and Luxor, heard Kid's 'call' in his head and looked over to see Kid standing at the edge of the forest. He looked down at Tantalus, coiled loosely around his feet, and carefully stepped over him and trotted, unnoticed by the others, over to where Kid crouched down to meet him. "Hi, Kid! How was your first class today? Anybody faint or get turned into anything weird?"

Kid laughed and hugged his furry pal, "Nope! Nothing like that today. So far, anyways." He held Ghost up and with the smile disappearing off his face he asked, "So what have you heard about Merlin? Is he OK? Is he still a bird?"

Ghost told Kid what had been going on with the familiars and what he had learned from Luxor before Tantalus had interrupted them. Then he hesitated a second before saying, "That Luxor creature is a strange one," and told Kid what he had learned about the strange being that looked like a dog. "He may be one of the most powerful beings that we have ever met, but he's like... innocent? Hmmm... nice? He's ... nice. I like him." The albino raccoon declared and waddled back to Luxor just as Tantalus was leaving. He didn't think that Luxor had even noticed that he had left.

*Luxor watched the snake leave. :...is there something wrong with him?: he whispered to Ghost. :I only told him he should get a nicer definition--I'm not really good at explaining myself--literally.:

Ghost grinned at Luxor and said, "There is nothing wrong with him. He is a snake." And left it at that. He followed Luxor to Prof. Pat's classroom...

Meanwhile, Kid had returned to Isilme's classroom. He said "Hi" to Louis and Legolas as he passed by their seats and grabbed a seat for himself next to Lauraina. He smiled and nodded to Casandra, Darken and some others that he recognized. Turning to Lauraina his smile widened and he whispered, "Hi Princess, how was your last class? Who was teaching?" ...

LISSA

Lissa laughed again. "Actually, I have no idea what it is with humans and clothes. It must have something to do with the way we're raised, because there are some people who only wear clothes when they have to. I had actually read somewhere that faeries didn't wear clothes most of the time, but I never thought I'd meet one and find out it was true."

She giggled. "I can just imagine a human going into the faery realm without knowing what to expect and then being shocked when people walk around naked. Your poor dad must feel so out of place, probably being one of the few people who considers clothing a neccessity rather than an option." She grinned. "And as for the dressing alike, it's part of the whole acceptance thing. You dress like you see everyone around you dressing, and for some reason, it makes other people accept you more readily--though truth to tell, you're not the only one who's confused by that. I myself have never understood it either."

FROST

Frost smiled. "Well Da always took it well enough. Mom was always one of the odd ones who wore clothes, so I think that helped. The boat suddenly stopped and then moved with a quick glide through a shimmer before stopping for good at a rocky sort of place. "We step out on to the rocks, I think."He told her moving out and then reaching back to give her a hand.

LAURAINA

"Don't call me that," Lauraina flushed. "And it was Nymue...She seemed upset, then..."She shook her head, not wanting to talk in class. "Later," She whispered.

Tantalus came in and slithered up Cassandra's body, to coil loosely about the girl's slim neck.

"I've missed you," She thought as she stroked the snake's cool skin. "Where were you?"

The snake hissed in annoyance as if to say that there was nothing useful to tell.

LISSA

Lissa smiled, taking Frost's hand and stepping out. She almost lost her balance in the transition from water to land, but somehow managed to keep from falling--which was unusual for her, since every time she'd ever been in a boat, she'd fallen on the way out of it. She suspected it had something to do with Frost's helping hand...which she was still holding. She then realized what an idiot she'd been, having left her things in the boat, but when she turned around, her things were picking themselves up and coming to land of their own free will. Or, more accurately, of her will.

It was yet another of those times that she had done something without realizing it, but for once in her life, she wasn't embarrassed or afraid someone would see. A slight smile crossed her features and spread slowly wider as she realized she was free--free at last to be herself! She laughed joyously as a tear of happiness formed in the corner of her eye. Her things settled on the ground beside her, and Lissa pirouetted once on the spot. Oh, to be herself again! Nothing to hide, no one to tell her she was doing something wrong and unnatural!

Amy piped up. :You're awfully happy. What's wrong with you? For most of my life, you've been miserable... It's strange to see you happy, Lissy-girl--but I think I like you better like this...:

Lissa smiled at the cat. "I'm glad you like it," she told the cat aloud. "I like it too. I just realized I was free, Amethyst--free to be who I really am, after three years of lies!"

FROST

"Hey that was good!" He grinned in slight surprise. "I would've done that for you, but you got it all on your own." He let go of her hand to pat her shoulder. "Now lets go and find someone. I'd thought Mom would be here."He frowned slightly. "I don't see her though. He moved toward the forest where he could see the tops of a few buildings. Nothing fancy, but that may be good. One needed to focus on the simple things that made up the worlds after all

ISILME

Isilme cleared her throat. "Ahem," she said. "Kindly do not talk in my class; there's so much to discuss after all, and when you talk like that, it makes me wonder if I'm a bad teacher." She frowned. "Since belladonna was asked about, I suppose we'll cover that first-assuming everyone is ready, of course." Her voice held no anger in it-just a hint of sadness.

LAURAINA

Lauraina flushed as she's been thinking the same thing, and nodded, giving the professor an interested smile.

After all, she did need to know all of this, and it was quite interesting.

LISSALissa grinned back. "Thanks, but it wasn't entirely intentional. I kinda did it by accident, but it seems that my powers kick in whenever I want something. I sort of practiced a little...just an hour or two on Saturdays, but hey, I guess it's better than nothing...and come to think of it, all that time adds up. Thing is, though, sometimes my abilities respond to negative desires as well as positive ones now that I've let them build up."

She followed Frost as he made his way toward a collection of buildings, wondering at the fact that no one was here to greet them. If Frost had expected his faerie mother to be here and she wasn't able to make it, shouldn't they have sent someone else? Had something happened?

A voice off to Lissa's left caught her attention.

:Lost, m'dear?:

She jumped, looking around for its' source. For a moment, she had thought it was a person speaking to her, until she realized the voice hadn't been physically audible. A screech sounded from overhead, and Lissa turned toward it. A hawk regarded her and Frost from a nearby tree, and another, smaller bird was next to it. Lissa remembered reading somewhere that female hawks were larger than the tiercels...actually, it had been a Mercedes Lackey book--the Mage Winds Trilogy, if she wasn't mistaken. She'd looked it up later and found it was true. It seemed to have been the female who'd addressed Lissa.

"Heh...well, yes, sort of..." she admitted. "You see, someone was supposed to meet us, but it seems they're not here...is there any way you could help us, milady?"

It had always been a policy of Lissa's to address a potentially dangerous animal with a title of respect. For some reason, it seemed to placate them and make them more agreeable. When dealing with a bird that was large enough to snap her neck with her beak should she so wish, Lissa was not eager to find out how a less-than-agreeable hawk might react to any disrespect.

:I believe I might be able to, child,: the hawk replied, seeming pleased at being called 'milady'. Briefly, she conferred with her mate, then turned her attention back to the human girl. :Well. I can help you find quick, safe passage through the forest, at least. My mate will fly ahead and get someone's attention for you.:

Indeed, the tiercel took flight, heading for the school. The remaining bird flew from tree to tree, providing guidance through the forest until they reached the other side, at which point she left them to their own devices with gracious words of farewell.

Up at the school, a tiercel circled the collection of buildings that made up the local wizards' college until he found an open window. He promptly dove for it, backwinging at the last moment to a graceful landing on the sill. He had hoped for an unobtrusive arrival, but alas, there seemed to be a class in session.

:Ahem,: the tiercel siad, regarding the class apologetically for his intrusion. :Pardon the interruption, but there seems to be a pair of new arrivals awaiting a greeter... My mate has graciously offered to assist them, but I believe a member of staff will be required for their arrival at the school.:

He again regarded the teacher and students apologetically, but stayed to be sure his message had gotten across to someone

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh blinked.

Had someone just been a worse student than he was??

He was--well, shocked didn't even begin to describe his emotions.

He quickly refocused on the teacher--

/Maybe I can keep this up!/ he thought excitedly.

FROST

Moss, a fae guard, heard, and went to fetch the students up to the school.

"Hi, Moss," Frost grinned at the other male, seeming to know him. He introduced his friend, and moss, the green haired fae, gave a deep bow. "Come on, then," he said. "Things have been a bit crazy around here."He lead the students up to the school, though the forest.

LISSA

Lissa watched the green-haired fae approach and smiled as Frost introduced the two of them, reminding herself not to stare--no doubt there would be many people who looked just as strange to her as Moss and Frost did. She liked being in the company of those so different from her, but she had a tendency to be at least temporarily awed by things she wasn't used to. She followed the other two up to the school, her things floating out behind her. The hawk that had been their temporary guide flew off into the forest, giving Lissa a final instruction to call for her if she needed anything, giving the name of Kyriel. Lissa thanked the bird, then turned her attention back to the others.

Amy chose that moment to return to being a pain. :...and he's very polite! Couldn't you just admit you like him and get on with it? I mean--:

:Amy,: Lissa interrupted, :drop it. If by some chance anything is going to happen between me and Frost other than friendship, it'll happen in it's own time. But right now, you're being a very pushy cat, and I just met him, for crying out loud!:

The cat promptly shut up, stunned. Lissa breathed an exasperated sigh of relief.

"Cats," she muttered. "Pushy little things..."

PATRICLES

Particles finally reached the room, and not a moment too soon.

:Master, you were almost late to your own class!: Luxor exclaimed, greeting the slightly exhausted proffessor.

"Phew! Aha" he began, standing up to his full height. The summoning of the wights had taken out a bit more of him that he thought--he'd had to make the creature as well as take its life away.

He looked at the class, and waved.

"Right! This is History of Practical Necromancies. We're going to learn about how Necromancy has been used over history, so as to show you how it can be used today. Now, what do most of you assume is the general 'stereotype' that circles around Necromancy?" he asked, finally settling himself.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia raised her hand. It was a very small class after all. "Well talking to the dead, I'd suppose, though it has much more uses. Oh, also some people think that it deals strictly with zombies, though if true would really be quite useless."

FROST

"So where is Mommy?" Frost asked darkly.

Moss had an oddly amused expression as he answered the younger fae. "She's gone off with the war lord on a quest."

"What war lord?"

"Well the one other wise known as King Arthur."

Frost frowned. "Don't play. He's been dead forever. Da did teach me of human history, you know." Then after a moment..."Wait. I forgot about time here. He's alive then? But he didn't have magic, so why would he be here."

Moss shook his head. "No. In this case time has not to do with it. You're correct in that he doesn't have direct magic, but he is alive again. Merlin's wife brought him back with a dark spell."

"WOW, and what has that to do with Mom?" Frost's eyes were wide.

"Well she's gone off on a quest to help Merlin," Moss said, leaving it at that.

PATRICLES

Particles nodded his head.

"Good-those are some things that people naturally associate with Necromancers" he began, and walked in front of the class. "Anyone else?"

A student in the back of the room raised his hand--

"Yes?"

"Eum...well, most people think that Necromancers are evil, and only use their powers to hurt others."

Patricles smiled.

"Bingo--most people don't understand the principles of Necromancy, and many only have the more selfish ones to serve as an example of typical Necromatic behavior. In this class, you'll learn how that's not true. To start it all off, we're going to start--right at the beginning..."

KID

Kid flushed and smiled apologetically to both Lauraina and Professor Isilme. "Sorry," he murmured. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed some of the other students trying to hold back laughter, some unsuccessfully as he heard a titter from behind him. Even Ashleigh had a funny look on his face. ~Way to go, Dannyboy,~ he thought to himself. ~Piss-off the Prof and Lauraina and make a fool of yourself all with one stupid comment! Sheesh!~ Kid told himself he would watch what he said from now on ~or at least until lunch break~ he told himself ruefully, knowing himself too well. He contrived to wait patiently and look attentive while Isilme droned on about Belladonna, hoping she would get to more interesting and less basic herbal lore soon.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia leaned forward eagerly. This was the class she'd really been waiting for, and at least the professor seemed to know what he was doing

LOUIS

Louis gave Kid a sympathic smile. Kid had not been the only one talking, so Kid shouldn't have felt he was being singled out. Louis returned his attention to Isilme, remembering his own knowledge of BellaDonna. It had grown everywhere in New Orleans, he was fully aware of it, but listened to her words, taking down any notes on the herb he was not aware of.

LEGOLAS

Legolas was writing like mad. As far as he was concerned, he knew nothing. Even if he did, he wrote it down anyways. He was NOT going to bungle this class. He was determined. When Isilme interrupted the class to make a notation about interuptions, Legolas found he even wrote that down. He smiled to himself as he crossed those words out.

ISILME

Isilme sighed. "Well, for those of you who are actually interested, I will tell you about belladonna and its uses. It has other names as well, such as 'Devil's Cherries' and 'Deadly Nightshade'. It produces small, red to black berries and is what some humans might call a meter or two tall. In addition to being used as a poison in general, it can also cause delusions.

"As was pointed out earlier, it can be used to treat others as well. One use is as an antispasmodic-in other words, something to help cure erratic or fitful behavior. This is thought to be a more ancient use; common uses now are for minor burns, abrasions, and skin irritations."

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh wrote down what she was saying slowly, trying to make sure that his handwriting was legible. He was a nit-pick about things like that.

Why exactly he demanded his handwriting to be neat was a mystery. He supposed it had to do something with his general nit-pick about things being neat (like his appearance)--but he didn't really know.

/Hmm....Erratic or fitful behavior/ he thought. /Sounds like Billy on an everyday basis--/

He blinked.

When were they going to get around to curing her, anyways?

PATRICLES

He coughed to clear his throat, and then began.

"In the beginning, centuries ago--Necromancy was, in fact, an art that was accepted amongst the many forms of simple magic. It began as a means of divining truth."

He walked over to a desk, and sat on it, facing the class.

"Those practiced in the art would commune with spirits of the dead to find answers. It was mostly harmless, and limited to those who could see death. There were rituals involved in finding out who actually could see and commune with the spirits, just as there were schools and apprenticeships for any other type of magic. These early Necromancers would summon up the intangible spirits of the dead, and ask them questions which they believed only those who have passed through death would be capable of answering--something to the effect of 'questions the living can't answer', as you may put it." He frowned. "You could say that one of the reasons why they were accepted in early times was that as schools of magic went, Necromancy was a weakling. They had no real control of the spirits--they could only ask them questions and hope they got an answer, sometimes. "

He then folded his arms together.

"Things changed, however, when one seer of death--another name for Necromancers back in the day--discovered a way to change the rules..."

He looked to the class.

"Right. Now, today we're going to get into groups and experiment."

He got down from the desk, and took out some papers that were rolled up inside of one of the drawers.

"I always say that learning by experience is the best way to understand things better--and this is no different when trying to understand history. Now, you're going to get into groups of three and try to emulate the practices of the ancient methods of Necromancy. I'll explain the rules, and any other questions you may have" he added, handing out the rolls of parchment to various people in the classroom.

Each roll of parchment--obviously made by some ancient form of making paper--had diagrams and directions for spirit summoning.

LAURAINA

Lauraina, the half goblin girl, raised a long slim hand. "What sort of delusions, Mam? Is it like LSD or something?"

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia opened the parchment eagerly, and then looked about for partners. She was never the best at connecting with people, but quickly found 2 others that had not yet found a 3.

CRYSTAL

Crystal Star rushed down the halls of the school. She had been late getting to the school. She didn't intend on going till a few days ago. She tried to block out the memories of what happened. "Oh this isn't getting me any where." Her wings flew back and she instantly started to fly through the halls at a blinding speed. Let her get in to trouble she had to get to class. She finally ended up at the door. "Perfect." She knocked softly and opened the door. "I am sorry Professor that I am so late." She said softly as she entered. Her pale blonde hair and soft pale blue eyes made her look exactly like a pixie for she was so small in stature.

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

LSD? Legolas had never heard of such a term. Oh, this was making him nervous!! Not only did he have to concentrate on learning the medications properly, but all these new terms from Earth. He couldn't help it, he groaned. Quietly, but a groan nonetheless.

Louis looked at Legolas with an arched brow. The elf looked troubled. 'I'll have to help him later with this class.' Louis thought to himself.

Both of them looked up as the new student came, literally flying, into the room. Louis was more startled than Legolas, as he was not used to strange creatures. Legolas had heard of pixies and faeries. He had never seen one as they had left Middle Earth ages ago, but only recognized them from the drawings in his Ada's books.

LAURAINA

Lauraina hoped she'd not have to explain what that was, for she only knew a little about it from what her father and uncle had heard while visiting modern bars.

GHOST

Ghost wished that he was a student. He waited with Luxor and watched carefully as the class divided into groups and started reading the parchment scrolls...

ISILME

"LSD? I do not believe I have heard the term. Can you describe the effects for me? Many hallucinogens have similar affects, but some are stronger than others, and some people have better or worse reactions to different ones. Does anyone have any more questions? You should know that there are many different varieties of belladonna as well, but I won't get into that yet; right now you should just know what it does and can be used for."

Isilme looked up when Crystal rushed into the room. She frowned slightly, but didn't appear angry. The girl did seem sorry after all, and everyone had their bad days. "It's all right," she said. "Just have a seat and try not to be late again. We were talking about belladonna; see if you can get with one of your classmates about notes and such."

KID

Kid held his hand up at Prof Isilme's comments about LSD. This was something that he knew a little bit about...

LAURAINA

Lauraina frowned in thought. "I'm not sure, except that it makes you see things and hear things that are not there, or that are perhaps in a different place, like another world or level or something." She shrugged. "My father heard people talking of it in the...world earth in modern times. We only go there for supplies, though.,"She ended.

MORIG

Morig came in and sat next to Ghost. She watched the students with some interest.

GHOST

He half watched the class and tried to read over Morig's shoulder with the other half of his attention. Finally, giving up and being nosey he asked her, "Whatcha reading?"...

MORIG

"Can you read?" She whispered, at last looking away from her letter to turn bright eyes to the raccoon. "It is from the Were...My...UR...Boyfriend...Life Mate..."She flushed.

U>GHOST

Were? Boyfriend? This was interesting... "No, I can't read." He said with a shrug. "I can recognize my name and I know what some of the letters look like, but I can't read. So your boyfriend is a were... wolf? That must be interesting..." He nudged Luxor who had gotten very quiet...

MORIG

"He and Serpensortia's family do.not.get.along."Morig sighed quietly. "So there is always a row about it."

LUXORLuxor felt Ghost nudge him, and looked over to the harpy.

:Oo! I can read--Master taught me how: Luxor noted, a bit of pride showing through. His master was such a great teacher!

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh couldn't help but smile.

LSD? Even he knew what that was all about.

He raised his hand.

Exactly how he knew so much about it was something that he'd never admit to in his entire life.

PATRICLES

The unfurled parchment revealed what looked like a floor plan for a drawing diagram. A Venn Diagram, to be exact. There were three circles for this one, to accommodate for the three-person groupings. Writings from an ancient tongue were inscribed on the outside of each circle, and in the areas where the circles intersected.

There were instructions written in on the side:

1. Three people must sit facing each other, at least arm's length apart.

2. Using either chalk, dirt, charcoal or any other easily removed material, each person must draw the circle around them to look like the diagram. The circle should be relatively close to the creator, but big enough to intersect with the other student's circles.

3. Copy the inscriptions for the inside of the circle. The outside inscriptions create themselves.

It was somewhat confusing to see that, as to the actual summoning part of the exercise, there were no instructions specified.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia and those in her circle drew the diagrams, and then Serpensortia waved to the professor to let him know that they had finished, and were ready to know what else they were supposed to do. This was all so interesting, and she couldn't wait to write home about it.

MORIG

Morig smiled at the dog. "Well reading is a good and useful thing. I learned it fast enough from my mum, though many harpies don't bother." She shrugged, and put the letter away. "He's not doing anything interesting just now."She said with a sigh. "He doesn't do much interesting unless I'm around."She looked satisfied. "I make him laugh."

LUXOR AND PATRICLES

Luxor cocked his head.

:That sounds like you get along really well together:, he observed. :I'm happy for you:

Patricles walked over to the group that had a hand being waved, after looking at some of the shoddy work that the other groups were doing. Some of them had been drawing squares...sheesh. Kids these days.

He looked over the completed diagram from the outside, and smiled.

"Yup, you have that step out of the way" he noted. "Now...I'm guessing that most of you can't read what's written there, right?"

Unless they'd been taking classes over the summer. Patricles hadn't yet instructed any of his classes on the ancient dead language--that was another course set completely on its own.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia shook her head. "We didn't get classes on the ancient languages in high school, though it would've been quite nice."She gave an annoyed sigh. "They gave us stupid divination, though."

PATRICLES

Patricles smiled.

"It's quite alright--you don't need to know it just now. I don't start teaching it until the second year, anyways" he noted. "But for now, you do need to know something: All three of you, look at those inscriptions that are in the middle of your circle. They roughly translate to, 'Together, we see as one, Death come to our eyes, my eyes...stuff like that."

Something in his wrist popped.

/I hate it when that happens./

"Well...concentrate on the writing, with that meaning in your mind." He looked at the other two, who seemed to also be rather exceptional students (one was the one who had answered one of his questions earlier). "And repeat after me, in unison..."

The whole class was watching, knowing that when they finally fixed their own diagrams, they'd have to do the same thing.

Patricles clapped his hands together, elbows stretched apart. His eyes were closed.

"Meellurai, moeten, builere da Hothie. Uhederas, naisheda hooluru, ahkataras

CRYSTAL

Crystal nodded and quickly moved to a seat. She would ask a student after class. Her wings slowly flatened against her back as she calmed down. She pulled out her writing utensils and began takeing notes.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia stared at the professor for a thoughtful moment before repeating his actions, and hoping that she was supposed to do so as she spoke the words carefully. If that wasn't right, he'd have to slow down, but she always had a good enough ear, so hoped for the best.

ISILME

"Earth, eh? I've only heard a bit about that one, particularly the modern time. I shall have to learn more about it." She was about to go on when she noticed Ashleigh's hand. "Yes?" she asked. "Do you have a question, or can you help out with this little discussion?" She smiled. "This probably goes without saying, but you shouldn't take belladonna to cause hallucinations; you might end up being poisoned in the process."

PATRICLES AND UNRULY SPIRIT

The other two in the group followed in a similar pattern, repeating the words and actions of their instructor.

The words in the center seemed to flicker a little with power, and then flashed what could only be described as a brilliant grey (ooc--yes, I know--not exactly the brightest of colors, but this IS necromancy we're talking about bic)

The words that had been written on the perimeter of the model diagram on the paper wrote themselves on the outside with an eerie grey light. The three circles were then illuminated with a pale glow.

Smoke stirred in the center where the three circles met. They spiralled together, forming something--

"Hey!" the spirit shouted out. "What the--"

The spirit looked in Patricles' direction--

"YOU! I shoulda' known. Damn it all!"

Patricles frowned.

"Ask him a question" he directed the students, doing his best to ignore the skinny and rude-mouthed ghost within their midst.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia hadn't actually expected anything to happen yet, and was admittedly startled. She asked the first question that came to mind. "Who are you?"

UNRULY SPIRIT

The spirit glared at Serpensortia with a scowl on his features.

"What's it to ya, brat?"

He spat what could only be defined as ectoplasmic saliva, for it vanished in thin air. He growled, and then crossed his arms stubbornly.

One of the boys, who was obviously as surprised as Serpensortia had been, inquired, "Please?"

The ghost spun around--

"HAH! So, manners exist! Well, whaddya know" he grumbled, and shifted his non-existent weight. "But that won' help ya none, bugger."

Patricles gave the ghost a stern glare.

"...Fine. FINE! I'm Thaddeus R. Hopkins, formerly stuck in the land of the dead until you chivvey's summoned me up here! HAH!"

He spat some more.

SERPENSORTIA

"So you're a hypocritical ghost, then?"Serpensortia drawled with a raised brow. "You are rude, yet expect us to be polite? Anyway, it is polite to ask for one's name anyway, so I wasn't being rude. If you'd respect rudeness more, though," And she then stuck her fist right through his face. "Nice to meet you then."

PATRICLES AND UNRULY SPIRIT

The ghost just sniggered some more--

"How's about that! Fire in this girl, hohohohoho!!"

The spirit then shot a death glare at Patricles--

"And YOU! Making them drag me here for goodness knows what! Pee-pee--"

And that's where Patricles cut him off.

"As you can see," he began, addressing the class, "Necromancy way back in those times was unreliable, at best. The summoners never knew what spirit they were going to summon, how powerful it might be, and had no actual way of making it answer their questions."

He then smiled a thin smile on his lips.

"And, as I was saying earlier, one among them found a way to change things--"

"You! You're ignoring me again!!!"

Pat turned to the students who were part of the demonstration.

"Miss Snape, if you will--repeat after me" he coaxed. It was obvious that he was going to enjoy this next bit more than the current experiment.

"...Heelleru nast, hellelena baust. Sh'dean, herenan."

SERPENSORTIA

"Can not one learn to compel the spirit to answer any questions?" Serpensortia asked, but then she was told to repeat something, and quickly did before she forgot it. Would this language ever become easy for her? She hoped so.

UNRULY SPIRIT

Instantly, at that second, shackles shot up around the spirit, and tied him up. One tie of the shackle then tethered itself to Serpensortia's hand. It was freezing to the touch--yet it didn't even feel as if it were there at all.

"No, they could not...unless they had assistance from the underworld."

Patricles pointed to the chains that bound the ghost--

"Hey! Hey, this isn't fair! Cheatin' ****!"

Pat coughed into his hand.

"As I was saying" he continued, a smile on his face, "one necromancer discovered that no matter what words were used, whatever spells of compulsion he tried, there was no magic or any codewords that could force a spirit to talk. They were, afterall, of the living. To make the spirits do as they asked, without expunging any extra effort on their part--necromancers had to use that of the dead."

He looked to Serpensortia.

"You may ask your questions now."

"So this binding is what makes...You answer?" Serpensortia asked, directing her question to the spirit instead of the professor who it had first been aimed at. He had told her to ask the spirit questions after all, and he also should know.

UNRULY SPIRIT

He squeaked--

"Yes! And damn you all!"

He glared at them all, and shot an especially vehement look towards Pat, who only kept on smiling.

SERPENSORTIA

"What exactly is this?" She asked pointing to the coldness on her wrist. "Also how did you die, and what powers have you now?"

UNRULY SPIRIT

The spirit cringed.

"They're chains! Chains of the undead--summoned from the land of the dead itself!" He was gasping now, eyes wide. "And you're under the strange notion that people get powers after they die--you're wrong! We just get trapped in the underworld, with all knowledge of the workings of the dead and living!"

He shot a look in Patricles' direction.

"I died because some necromancer thought that my work to improve mankind were evil! He was right, oh yes--but that doesn't mean that he should have been able to win!"

LIGHTNING

Lightning walked off from Clarissa's room to take a walk. The large white tiger walked throught the halls making his way easily towards the outside. Once outside he walked a little faster till he found a little patch of wild flowers, much like back home. He stretched before plopping first on his stomach then on to his back to wiggle around upon the ground before turning to his side to lay and enjoy the sunshine.

SERPENSORTIA

"So you don't get to keep of any of the powers/talents you had in life?" Serpensortia asked, leaning forward slightly with interest. "Also, what was your idea to improve things? I may like it." She smiled darkly.

UNRULY SPIRIT

The ghost scowled. "No. Death takes everyone--no one can fight against the land of the dead!" He twitched.

"Kill all the self-important artists. They weren't doing anything--and nobody likes art, anyways!--Oh, and all those annoying pretentious 'intellectuals', too" he muttered. "They just kept trying to hold it over everyone that we were stupid and they weren't! And teachers--I wanted to get rid o' them too! But that one right there stopped me!"

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia a recoiled slightly. "Sounds like you were crazy and needed to die,"She said in a heart felt tone.

Then turning to look at the professor,"And my last question is for you,Sir."She smiled slightly. "Why could we not have had a more interesting and less insane example of life after death?"She raised a brow much in the manner of her father.

PATRICLES

Pat was unfazed.

"As I stated before--early necromancers had no control over the spirits that they summoned--even less control over what spirit they summoned. They had no choice in what spirits came forth--they'd just have to do the whole ritual again to find a more compelling subject."

He looked her straight in the eye.

"I sense that you are eager to send this spirit back to where he belongs?"

SERPENSORTIA

"So we start out like the ancients," Serpensortia said in understanding. "Very well. I suppose it is good to know. Yes, it needs to go back." She chuckled.

PATRICLES

Patricles was relieved to see that someone had grasped the lesson. He then said the words that were needed--

"Repeat after me. Haallada neruu meorda kousella" (OOC�ROUGH TRANSLATION: Die again ghost scum)

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia quickly and carefully repeated those words before, as in the case of the first ones, she forgot them.

UNRULY SPIRIT AND PATRICLES

The spirit spat in the direction of Patricles before the chains suddenly evaporated, resolving into ribbon-like ropes that pulled the spirit of the psycho back into the land of the dead where he was meant to be kept.

"Now, for those of you who have not been able to successfully simulate the exercise, you are to keep the groups you have and work together outside of class to get the results. You are free to report to me to get the right words. This is the reading that you must complete for next class period" he added, scribbling page numbers into the air with a dusty gray line of smoke.

"Any questions?"

TITANIA

Titania neatly folded her papers and squirrelled away her quills--

"Done with that part!" she exclaimed cheerfully. "Lovely timing, too--there's not that much time from now until the next period!"

She hopped off of her choice stump, and ran around in a circle before zooming off in a semi-swagger towards nowhere in particular.

When her head finally stopped spinning, she likewise stopped. She gaped at the sight in front of her. A deep expanse of blue, riddled with trees of fog and clouds of mist.

This was the lake. The one that they crossed?--no...it didn't seem that way.

But it was by no doubt misty and foggy as if her aunt had touched it with her mark.

Then something stood out, suddenly, from the mists--

Surely not?

She stood on her tip-toes, squinting her fae eyes as much as she could to see, but then shook her head. She then opened them wide--

It was!

There, was Arthur himself standing in the middle of the lake--

...No, he wasn't standing! He was walking! He had a bird with him too, and a bright light.

"How'd they get out there?" she pondered, and then shook her head again. There seemed to be something...glistening...just above the water's surface. Beneath the traveler.

"I must be imagining things" she muttered to herself, and then spun the other way and ran back in the direction of the school.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia, glad to see the stupid spirit gone, quickly wrote down the page numbers. Now she knew what Mum meant about negative energy. After her things were carefully put away, she told the professor that the class had been very excited, and stood to go before taking a glance at her schedule. "Oh, I've you for the next class as well," She laughed, sitting back down.

DARKEN

Darken Estell nodded good-bye to professor Isilme as he exited her classroom. He approached Crystal with a copy of the notes she'd missed.

"Hi, I'm Darken Estell. Thought you could use the notes. Tell me what your schedule is and I'll be glad to give you anything you've missed," Darken offered holding out the notes.

LOUIS

Louis walked down the hall towards the Healing Charms class, reading over his notes from the Healing Medications class. Already he had picked up quite a bit. He felt invigorated!! Again, he pondered his decision to leave. He had always wanted formal education, it went along with his character he felt. So, why shouldn't he get it now? Because he missed Lestat, that's why. Louis sighed. If he went back to New Orleans he could study at the university there, but nothing like this!! This was more suitable for a vampire. 'Maybe I should stay,' he thought to himself. He headed into the next class, seeing it was the same professor. 'Poor elf, why don't they let her take a break? She must be exhausted.' He found he really liked these elvish beings. Professor Isilme seemed very warm, and certainly was knowledgable, and his roommate he had liked on sight. 'Too many things are weighing up against me leaving,' he pondered. He also remembered last night, assisting with Billy and searched for Morgan. Queen Maab had told him he had a touch for magic. Perhaps he should explore that more, and what better place to explore magic than here at Wolfbanes?

LEGOLAS

Legolas left the class going over his notes very carefully. This was the reason he was here, he was NOT good at the medications. Several times he had mixed up ingredients while assisting the healers in Mirkwood. Thankfully his mistakes had been caught. Could he help it if he was a better warrior than healer? But, being the son of a King made it mandatory for Legolas to learn healing. He found it hard to believe he was learning from Isilme. At first his father had debated sending him to Lord Elrond, but the Lord's schedule did not allow for tutoring his son. Then, Gandalf had been consulted, and it had been decided by one and all that Legolas would come to Wolfbanes. So far, except for his nervousness in Healing Medications class, he was happy here. It actually felt good to be in a different world, with all these different beings, and away from his father's scrutinizing eye.

Legolas was well behaved, a cherished son like his other brothers, but when it came to decorum Legolas was more the archer, the swordsman, than the diplomat. His father left him alone after all these years, considering how exemplary Legolas was with the bow and with a sword. But, Healing was something all the Princes learned, and there was no getting around it. Legolas didn't mind, as long as he could keep a handle on that darn Healing Medications class!!

CRYSTAL

Crystal walked out of class and rushed after Louis. "Excuse me I was wondering if I could borrow your notes to look them over." She asked quickly once she caught up with him. "My name is Crystal by the way." She quickly added.

LOUIS

Louis turned to the faerie beside him. "My pleasure. As soon as we get to the next class, I'll copy them for you and they're yours. My name is Louis. Nice to meet you. You just arrived here I noticed. How are you finding it so far?"

He smiled at her as they continued on to the next class. "Are you majoring in Healing also?"

THE QUESTORS

Merlin tried not to look for long at the wights who were guiding them. Nymue would've had a much easier time of it with such creatures, as the poor girl had seen much worse. Come to think of it,He thought with amusement, they were better to look upon than Morgan. After passing easily over the mist of the lake, they seemed to pass through more mist in to what he was sure was another world. The druid knew that feeling well after all.

Wyn, on Arthur's shoulder seemed to know as well. "Lets go world hopping,"She sang softly with a small grin.

LAURAINA

Lauraina smiled widely at her brother. "Are you feeling alright, Darken?" She asked him with a laugh. "You are being nice, you know." She faked a worried look as she reached a long slim hand to feel his forehead.

CASSANDRA AND SERPENSORTIA

Cassandra came in looking nervous and took a seat near Serpensortia, who was the only person she knew so far.

"How was your last class?" She asked.

"Oh I met a rude useless spirit, but we had to learn how the ancients did it, and all the troubles they had before things were improved," Serpensortia said with a shrug.

"I suppose a priestess must know a bit about this sort of thing," Cassandra said unhappily.

Serpensortia nodded.

PATRICLES

Patricles sat behind what could be considered a desk, and looked on as some students left, others came in, and many stayed where they sat.

Luxor looked on his master with interest.

:He looks beat:

WIGHTS

As if they had understood, the trail of wights began to latch on to each other. Their glassy limbs knotted themselves together, forming a chain. They formed a line, almost a wave, in front of the adventurers.

Something sparked.

A break in the fog allowed rays of sunlight through. The rays danced upon the glass gaseous forms of the wights, and a prismatic light shimmered just beyond the trees. The wave poured through, and all was white...

ARTHUR

Arthur followed behind the wights carrying Merlin saying nothing. He'd never seen anything like the wights before and he never wanted to again. It wasn't them exactly it was more what they represented he had the problem with. He found himself thinking he'd be a lot more secure and less likely to make a mistake on the battle ground. It was a new thing for him to think of battle in such a positive way.

DARKEN

"I'm not that bad Lauraina. She always thinks the worst of me and I don't know why. My sister has enhanced anything I ever did to her as a child and of course minimized my good qualities," he said to the group as they walked. Being nice was sometimes useful and it never hurt to have friends these days.

CRYSTAL

"Thanks. Yes I just arrived. I didn't know till just yesterday if I would be coming at all." Crystal said as they walked. "I am finding it rather different. I have been home schooled all my life. I am minoring in Healing, majoring in Care of Magical Creatures. What are you majoring in?" She asked.

She turned as Draken approached her. "Hi my name is Crystal. Thanks. Guess then I don't need yours Louis." She said turning back to Louis. "Are either you taking Care of Magical Creatures courses?" She asked both of them.

Crystal blushed as she watched the two. She looked over the notes quickly to try and pick up what she had missed.

LAURAINA

"No, I can't take care of magical creatures. I'm half goblin and most animals don't like me," Darken said. "I'd be happy to help in any other classes. I'm majoring in healing."

ISILME

Isilme had taken a moment to gather her materials for the next class and get something to drink. She'd been allowed a few minutes between classes before most of the same students filed back in. It was hard teaching several classes in a row, but she was enjoying it, even if it was a little trying at times.

"Hello," she said when she noticed Louis entering the room again. "You're one of the early ones. Just have a seat anywhere, and we'll get started once everyone's arrived."

THE QUESTORS

"That looks better," Merlin tried to say. "Sure does," Wyn said happily as Arthur passed through.

They looked eagerly around. "So we just go as far as they lead us and hope we know what the hell do to," Wyn said to Arthur, trying not to look worried.

LAURAINA

"Die Darken," Lauraina said pleasantly as she smacked her brother across the top of his head. "He tortured me when I was a baby and young kid. I'm off to learn about dead things." She grinned and skipped away.

LISSA AND AMY

Oh, wow, Lissa thought. Arthur? And Merlin? I never thought I'd hear those names outside of myth and legend! And they're here? Wow...I am so sheltered...I'm like a little kid who's just discovered she really does have a fairy godmother... But apparently something happened to Merlin, and Arthur's been called in to help, and I have the feeling I'm not going to find out what's going on until later...

Amy chose that moment to intrude on her thoughts. :You really are easily fascinated, aren't you?:

:Oh, and you're not, oh cat of the one-track mind?: Lissa retorted. :You have to remember that until I found you, Amethyst, I didn't even think magic existed, much less that some of the so-called 'fairy stories' I'd been hearing since childhood had some truth behind them.:

The cat laughed--a strange sound to hear from a feline throat. :I want to explore,: Amy told her mistress. :Lemme go,: she commanded.

Lissa giggled and rolled her eyes, but obligingly complied, releasing the cat and watching as she streaked off on a quest of exploration.

She settled back into following the two fae, silent for the most part once again.

"Yeah, it has been a bit crazy around here,"Moss commented with a grin. "But it'll smooth itself out soon enough."

"We're going to take the 2...UR...3 of you to the office of Vivian. The Lady of the Lake herself."He grinned.

"I've not even met her yet," Frost murmured, a bit of awe in his tone.

LOUIS AND LEGOLAS

As Crystal told him she would use Darken's notes instead, Louis just shrugged and walked away. So, why did she ask him in the first place? As he continued on to the next class he was reminded of why he wanted to leave. No matter what he said or did, if he was quiet or loud, none of these students were ever going to like or except him.

As he entered the room for the next class he noticed Isilme was already there.

"Hello," she said when she noticed Louis entering the room again. "You're one of the early ones. Just have a seat anywhere, and we'll get started once everyone's arrived."

He smiled a bit at her. These elven beings seemed nice. Legolas had been nothing but nice to him, as the elf was to everyone it seemed. Seemed to be in their nature, not to judge.

Legolas came into the room, sitting next to Louis, which to Louis proved his point. "Louis, did you lend the new girl your notes?" the blond elf asked.

Louis sighed, "No, she borrowed Darken's instead."

"I'm kind of glad. Can I see them a moment? You really seemed to know what you're doing in there, and I will admit to you and the rest of Wolfbanes that I certainly do NOT excell at Medications." Louis smiled softly, handing over his notes. Legolas looked carefully at the vampire. "Is something wrong? You look terribly upset," he asked.

"I'm fine," Louis answered, not wanting to burden the elf with his problems. 'He'll probably walk away from me too.' Louis thought.

Legolas looked compassionately at the vampire. He seemed lonely, and something had happened between the last class and this one to upset him. Reluctantly, he turned his eyes down to the notes, checking them against his. He let out a sigh of relief. "Looks like I did get everything down right, now if I could just learn it right." he shook his head, smiling. "Well, I guess I can with your help," he turned his sappire eyes on Louis. "Please. I'll do anything, clean the room all by myself, do all your other homework, walk your-whatever familiar you have, wash your clothes..." As the elf continued jokingly with other chores Louis found himself laughing heartily. "You don't have to do a damn thing, Legolas." He smiled softly at the elf, taking back his notes, "You already have,my friend. I'll be more than happy to help you," he said, then remembered he wanted to leave. "...but I don't think I can. I'll be leaving soon, going home."

Legolas looked at him, frowning. "Why?"

"I-I don't fit in here. I miss my companion, and it's....I just can't." Louis looked away, busying himself with his papers, book and pen.

"Louis," Legolas said softly, waiting for the vampire to look up. "You're intelligent, you're quick witted, you have the power within you to heal, most vampires do it's almost natural to them. If the other students don't accept you, why should you care? You're not going to spend the rest of your life with them, are you? No,you're not. So, ignore them, be the best student in this course, because I bet you are, and walk away laughing."

"Besides," the elf added, a twinkle to his beautiful eyes, "you promised to help me BEFORE you told me you were going home. You're stuck now. Please? Someone may die with my administrations," Legolas joked, "do you want that on your conscience? Hmmm?" Louis couldn't help it; he smiled. He sat back, considering Legolas' words.

VIVIAN

Vivian had just returned to her office when a flicker of an image came to mind.

"Ah..yes" she said aloud to herself. "Then a most fortuitous meeting it shall be..."

Vivian went to a mirror that was set against the wall. She pondered at it for a while...

Living glass of Hacradel, hmm?

Such a thing still bewildered her. But perhaps it shouldn't...magic was everywhere.

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh came in just then. He had already decided that the girl was too much of a faerie for him--he just didn't get along very well with them.

He saw Louis and Legolas talking--

"Man!" he said, breaking their talk. "Same teacher again? How does she get to all these different rooms before we do?"

LISSA AND AMY

Lissa's jaw actually dropped. The Lady of the Lake?! Meet her--in person?! Lissa's mind was spinning, and it took her a moment to realize she looked like a gaping fish. She snapped her mouth closed, blushing and hoping no one had noticed. She had the feeling she would seriously embarrass herself at some point during the first week, but she hoped to avoid it as long as possible.

Amy sent an inquisitive mindtouch to Lissa. :What's going on?:

Lissa shook her head to clear it. :Sorry, kit, I was a bit stunned... We're meeting the Lady of the Lake in a minute, I'm not sure if you need to come or not--:

Lissa stopped, seeing a black furball streaking back towards her in a blur. :Are you kidding? You're nuts if you think I'm gonna miss this!: the cat said excitedly.

Lissa giggled as Amy leaped to her accustomed perch on her shoulder. :Now who's the little kid?: she teased.

Amy's only response was to flatten her ears against her head, but Lissa had the feeling that if they hadn't been so close to their destination, the cat would have made some smart-alec retort of some kind.

CRYSTAL

Crystal kinda just looked dumb founded as Louis walked further away. Good going Crystal just screw up making friends your first day. She entered the room slowly walking past Louis with her head down taking the seat not far from him and opened the book to keep her attentions somewhere else. What was she suppose to do when Darken already had the notes for her? She sighed as she prepared for the lesson.

"Oh well I am mostly majoring in that. I am gonna run a head and get in to class to talk to the teacher quickly." Crystal said to Draken as she started to rush away. She so wished she could be back in the forest again.

ISLIME

Isilme noticed that more and more students were filing in, so she decided to start talking. "We still have a few more minutes," she said, "but this is Healing Charms class. This class deals more with magic itself. Magical Massage deals with magic as well, but it also requires a desire to heal. Healing Medications, of course, requires a knowledge of plants. This subject will test what sort of healing magic all of you have. I have a bit myself, though perhaps not as much as some people. My specialty is magical massage and medications, along with various other Elven healing methods."

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

<"Man!" he said, breaking their talk. "Same teacher again? How does she get to all these different rooms before we do?"> Ashleigh took a seat near Louis and Legolas.

Legolas looked at Ashleigh with compassion. "She's an elf, we can move faster and stay alert longer than most," he hesitated. "I hope you like Isilme, don't misunderstand her, she's very helpful if you're not understanding something. But, I do think they should give her a bit of a break, it would give us one also," he grinned at Ashleigh.

At that moment the new fae, Crystal, walked into the room. She walked with her head down, and took a seat near Louis. Legolas leaned over to his friend. "Louis, she looks absolutely miserable. If she meant any harm do you honestly think she would walk in here looking like she was going to her death? Please, say something to her. She looks like she lost her best friend, as do you." Legolas arched a brow at Louis, staring him down.

"You're right, I probably misunderstood," he whispered back to the elf. "You did. Why would she deliberately take the other student's notes over yours? She's new, she was late, it was mass confusion in those halls. Give it up, will you? Don't leave her like that. She's too pretty to be frowning so." Louis smiled at that, and gave a small laugh.

Nervous, Louis turned around to Crystal. "Excuse me," he started. "I'm sorry about that in the hall. I misunderstood. Please forgive me," he said to the faerie.

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh shrugged. He figured that they would have at least seen her go by...but maybe they knew funky shortcuts. Or the school didn't have the same rules about apparation that Hogwarts did.

He sat down, and looked to the front to listen to Isilme. He ignored Crystal

CRYSTAL

Crystal had been staring at the page her book was turned to. Not really reading. When Louis spoke to her she looked up and smiled a little. "It is alright. I didn't know what to do when the other guy had the notes already copied for me. But I also wanted to say hi to you as well." She said then quickly blushed red realizing what she said.

DARKEN

Darken watched Lauraina run off to class and headed for healing charms. He kind of felt sorry for Professor Isilme since she'd taught 3 classes without a break. He sat down near Louis and Crystal and took out note-taking material. He spoke to Louis briefly before class had officially started.

"Hi, Louis, I'm really sorry. I didn't realize you'd already given her notes. I wasn't trying to cause any problems. I guess I picked the wrong time to be helpful," Darken said. He was sorry but also thought Louis was being a bit sensitive. Darken didn't know how to deal with sensitive people and hoped he wouldn't continue to offend Louis.

LEGOLAS

Legolas could see that Ashleigh was still curious at how Isilme got into the room so quickly. "Well, Louis got here early also, perhaps they flew," he whispered jokingly to Ashleigh. Louis snickered at him. "I hate flying, for your information," he said to Legolas. "I wouldn't want to fly either." Legolas grinned. When he finally saw Louis turn to Crystal, he turned to his books, getting himself prepared for the lesson. He smiled to himself as he saw everything was going well, even with Darken. "So. Still planning to leave?" he whispered to his friend.

LOUIS

"Well, I am glad you said 'Hello'," he said softly to Crystal. "Welcome to Wolfbane�s. It's only the second day of classes for everyone, your first," he pointed out, "so everyone is still jittery. If you ever need to borrow my notes, let me know." He smiled in what he hoped was a warm manner, nodded to her, then turned around.

"Darken, it's fine, really. I apologize also, I'm tired today, too much went on last night," Louis told the half-goblin.

ISLIME

"Ahem," Isilme said, observing her students with a rather amused look. "Is everyone ready to begin? I know you have a lot to talk about, what with classes and meeting so many people, but I want to get started as soon as possible. Healing has become a bit of a passion for me; many of you will find that you feel the same way, whether it is about healing or something else. Are there any questions about anything before we begin?"

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh raised his hand.

"How'd you get here so fast?"

That was really, really bugging him. And from what he knew of elves, they couldn't fly

CRYSTAL

Crystal had smiled at Louis before he turned around. "Apparition--that must be it, isn't it?" She said hoping she didn't just make a fool out of her self.

DARKEN

Darken was glad Ashleigh had asked what he was wondering. He looked at the teacher expectantly waiting for her answer. Couldn't the others wait to converse after class? He thought the professor would be rather annoyed if this kept up and he was glad he wouldn't have a part in it.

LOUIS

"Appar-what??" Louis whispered, waiting for her answer. He had not a clue what she had just said, but she definately knew what she was talking about.

LEGOLAS

Legolas shushed him, and gave Crystal a pleading look. "Class is starting, if she's anything like HER teacher, it will be doom if you talk out in class," he whispered for their benefit. He smiled cheerfully at Crystal, and then turned his attention to Isilme.

ISILME

"Apparition?" Isilme asked. "No, that wasn't it. I don't know how to do that. For those of you who don't know, apparition is a method of magic that allows you teleport from one place to the other. Are you forgetting this is a school of magic? Anything is possible here. However, I myself am an elf, and as Legolas may tell you, elves move fast. Any other questions?"

ASHLEIGH

"...Okay..."

Ashleigh didn't really think that answered his question. Just being faster than humans didn't exactly account for how she could have been in the room when he left, and then in this room when he got there. He had the deep suspicion that maybe it was some elf thing that they were hiding from him.

He frowned, and shrugged, indicating that he, himself, had no more questions.

PATRICLES

Patricles looked at the incoming students as they filed in. Now, this was quite the diverse group!

He smiled as they all sat down.

"Welcome to Remedial Necromancies, everyone. I'm the instructor, Patricles Pinaforte. You can call me 'Proffessor'--or, if you're one of those touchy-feely people that think that stuff is too posh for you--call me 'Pat'."

Luxor tried to suppress a snort.

"Today, and as well as the rest of the year, you will be learning what you need to know about Necromancy. First off--what's your name?" he asked, gesturing to one of the students in the front row.

OBSCURE

Billy was still stuck in a comatose state. Not very fun for her, as you might imagine. Obscure sighed, tickling underneath Billy's nose with her tail. The girl smiled, but other than that, nothing happened.

Obscure wondered if the information she'd gotten for Vivian had done anything.

/Maybe I was supposed to tell her about Skazz...?/

Obscure shook her kitty head.

/No. I have a feeling that the...name...was meant just for me to know/ she reasoned.

But still...

What could it all mean?

:Oh, Billy--when are they going to cure you?:

TITANIA

Titania had another question, though.

"Do you know if there are magical wards which prevent such transportational magicks from working within the school walls?"

She was rather curious. If not--then she could use her blinking to get to classes faster! That would make it much simpler for her.

LISSA AND AMY

Just as Amy had resettled herself on Lissa's shoulder and they were nearly to Vivian's office, the purple-eyed cat changed her mind.

:You know, I think I'll have plenty of time to meet the Lady of the Lake after all,: she said to Lissa, jumping down off her shoulder again. :I think I'll give you the pleasure of meeting her for the first time without me talking your ear off; I'm restless. Later, Lissy-child!:

Lissa watched as the cat stalked off again, this time seeming to wander aimlessly until she rounded a corner and passed out of her mistress' sight.

Cats, she thought. They're so strange. And Amy in particular can't seem to make up her mind what she's doing, silly thing.

Amethyst wandered through the halls aimlessly, but with the air of one who knows exactly where they're going and is just taking their sweet time getting there. Soon enough, she came to a classroom full of students--and cursed her mistress for being such an insatiable bookworm.

This class seemed to be taught by an elf-woman, and while she didn't stay long enough to figure out what the class was about, there were at least two among their number--sitting side-by-side, even!--that struck a chord in her memory of descriptions Lissa had read her out of two very different series of books. The first, a white-skinned, black-haired, green-eyed beauty of a man, reminded her of Louis de Pointe du Lac from The Vampire Chronicles series, and the second, a fair-skinned, blond-haired elf, reminded her of Legolas from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Amy shook her head vigourously to clear it, mentally rebuking herself for being so foolish as to think those two might actually exist. Right, of course--and pigs really could fly. She watched a moment longer, then moved on--until she came upon another black cat...

OBSCURE

Obscure saw the cat come into the room.

:Uh...what are you doing here?: Obscure asked, looking at the strange new cat.

Obscure was wearing was could be clearly read as a kitty-frown.

Billy giggled in her sleep.

KEATS

Keats trotted down the hall, anxious to rejoin Obscure. But, he had HAD to do the "kittie thing" as in toilet. As he turned the corner into the room, he stopped short, his nose almost up another cat's, well, you know.

<"What are you doing here?"> He heard Obscure asking the strange white cat. Keats walked around the cat, it had purple eyes!!! Keats blinked his plain green ones. :Hello, my name is Keats, and this is Obscure. She's watching her owner, Billy over there. Billy is - well - sick, she's - ummm. Not well: Keats moved back over to Obscure, licking the side of her face. He turned back to the new cat. :And you are?: he said, in a friendly manner.

LEGOLAS

Legolas glanced quickly at Ashleigh, who still looked a bit frustrated at the fact that Isilme had gotten to the class so quickly. "I'll explain it to you later," he whispered quickly, then returned his attention to the class.

As they listened to Isilme teach, Legolas could feel a presence outside of the room. He turned his head to see a white cat observing him. He smiled softly at the cat's thoughts, but wondered at its observations. Books? There were books written about him? Couldn't be. "Pigs can't fly, but I do exist, whoever you think I am. Yes, my name is Legolas," he thought to the cat. He watched the cat shake its head and move off. Legolas hoped he hadn't frightened the pretty little cat. He realized that here not all animals were aware of wood elves and their ability to communicate with them. This one had not been prepared, he was almost sure.

AMY

Amy really thought she was going crazy when she could have sworn the elf she'd thought looked like Legolas answered her.

"Pigs can't fly, but I do exist, whoever you think I am. Yes, my name is Legolas," he thought to her. VShe froze a moment, then thought back, :Um...well, nice to meet you Legolas...er, yes, there are books about you where I'm from, but I for one never thought I'd meet anyone from Middle Earth...sorry to distract you from class, my mistress--Lissandra, by the way--is new here, and I wanted to explore a bit, and you just caught my eye...I think I should probably go now...:

Oh my God! she thought to herself. I can't believe this! He's really Legolas! But wait--if he's Legolas, that could mean the other one was Louis! I'm a poor, dazed kitty...

Then she continued on her way, making good on that suggestion to stop distracting him, and shortly came upon a room with a black cat whose first words to her were, :Uh...what are you doing here?:

REMEDIAL NECROMANCIES

"I'm Cassandra of Troy,"The girl said carefully.

"So is this class for Tard Babies?" Serpensortia asked after raising her hand. "I mean...It sounds as if it is..."

Lauraina bit back a laugh as she smiled shyly at the professor. This class seemed as if it would be fun/or was it funny?

AMY

Amy suddenly found herself the center of two black cats' attention, and was suddenly very timid. She felt like she'd intruded on something, until Keats introduced himself and Obscure and she relaxed slightly, but not entirely. She now knew why she felt as if she'd intruded--Obscure was watching over her sick mistress. Amy could understand that, of course--she'd have done the same for Lissa in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, her purple eyes held apology.

:Um...hi, Keats, Obscure...I'm sorry to have intruded on anything... My name is Amethyst--although no one actually calls me that often--and my mistress, Lissandra Corsica, is new here... We just arrived not long ago, and I wanted to explore the place--I didn't know about Billy being unwell, I'm very sorry. Er...did I mention my name was Amy?:

Amy was feeling extremely scatter-brained just now. She felt like a complete moron--first, she'd been caught gawking at Legolas and the black-haired man sitting next to him, and now she'd walked blindly into someone else's room. What next? No, wait--she shouldn't have asked that question, because now she knew the answer: now, she was lost, because she had no idea where she was, and she would have to wander around for hours later just to find Lissa's room, and if she was really unlucky, Lissa either wouldn't be there or would be asleep and she would have to wait until her mistress was able to let her in.

She groaned--this was not a good first day...

OBSCURE

Obscure blinked.

:Oh! So you're new here--thought so: Obscure noted. :Makes sense--news of my master's condition became public knowledge yesterday. Her soul got broken by an evil sorceress, so...I don't know how they're going to cure her.:

PATRICLES

Patricles nodded.

"This is your first lesson--you should always be wary of giving your name to a Necromancer."

He grinned. He obviously loved playing this trick.

"Afterall, it's common knowledge that Necromancers can put curses on you with your name!...or so many believe..."

Patricles stood up from where he was sitting.

"This class is all about learning what to expect from necromancers in the magical world--differentiating what's real from what's not, and how to interact or protect yourself from them. Now, I want everyone to stand up, and look around at all their other classmates."

CASSANDRA AND SERPENSORTIA

As Cassandra stood she nodded. "Yes, I know well the power of names, Sir, and not only for your kind. But as you're a professor, I considered it safe." she chuckled.

"Can a wizard's code name be used against them in the same way?" Serpensortia asked looking interested.

AMY

Amy cringed at Obscure's initial remark. :That obvious, huh?:

Then Obscure continued, and Amy understood. She sat silent a moment, stunned at what the other cat had told her. A problem...with the girl's soul? She was horrified, and utterly at a loss for what to say.

:Oh my God,: she finally said earnestly. :I'm so sorry...I don't know what to say. I don't know what I'd do if something like that ever happened to Lissa--probably freak out. A sorceress...broke her soul? Wow...it must be hard to deal with this...I wish I could help.:

Amy looked mournful at that last--in all actuality, she and Lissa had never been able to do anything in the way of magic together back home beyond Lissa's weekend practice sessions; anything else had been out of the question, because that gods-be-damned annoying family of hers had somehow always known when the girl was in the middle of something important, and they seemed to have a knack for interruption.

All except Jason, that is, Amy thought. That boy was her only friend in that house, the only one who didn't treat her like demonspawn, and the only one who wouldn't have tattled to the others that Lissa was 'practicing the Devil's Craft'--yeah right, like that girl would ever have hurt anyone if it hadn't been for the fact that they were trying to have me killed! And even then, it was an accident--it was the first time she discovered her abilities, for God's sake!

Amy forced herself to shove those thoughts aside and calm down. She shook her head to clear it, bringing her mind back to the present

OBSCURE

Obscure shook her head.

:You don't need to worry--I'm more angry at the staff, really: she began. :They sure are taking their time in finding someone who can fix her! Some high-level arcane glassblower, or something like that: she muttered

AMY

Amy still felt bad for her, but she was glad Obscure could handle it, and she knew there was no point in worrying over what she couldn't help with. :I can understand that. I know I'd be outside their doors screaming bloody murder at all hours of the night if it were me, until I was satisfied that they were making a good effort...: She chuckled a bit. :Of course, Lissa would chide me for beeing overdramatic or extreme...but I would still do it... Besides being strong, you must have amazing self-control...: She laughed again.

LEGOLAS

While Legolas was communicating with the cat (unbeknownst to Isilme of course), Isilme turned to answer Titania's question. "Some wards are in place," she said, "though it depends on who you are and what spell you use. Merlin, for example, could get past any ward without even taking it down. So yes, there are wards, but there are certain spells you can use to move around faster."

BROCKTON ESTELL

To any of the Wolf banes staff:

Greetings. I am Prince Brockton Estell of Anteara, and the father of new students Lauraina and Darken Estell. I'm told that one of your students is having a bit of mind trouble. My badger is from a world of naturally telepathic animals. If it is anything that can be done in her mind, he could go as deep as needed. He can also link with my brother who is a strong healer and claret if that would help.

My best wishes,

Brockton

VIVIAN

Vivian read the letter as she waited for Lissa to arrive.

"Hm. A Cleric..."

He might be able to contact someone with the capacity to fix that broken vial!

Vivian thought about responding.

Hm...

Merlin was on a quest, Nymue was overwhelmed, and the other staff members were teachers.

Vivian went to her desk, and began penning a letter--

To Prince Brokton Estell of Anteara;

Your news comes upon grateful ears. Indeed, we have a student with complications. However, they are not limited to the mind; her soul was broken by a powerful sorceress, through complex binding magic. We have the item, but are unable to sever the tie between the two, as she would surely be trapped in this state for the rest of her life.

I do not know much in the ways of repairing such horrid magical items; but I do know that those who do are hard find. Any information that you or your brother may come upon in regards to the location of such a person would be highly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Lady Vivian of the Lake

She placed her quill aside, and then lifted the paper in her hands. She folded it into a crane, and then breathed it into the wind.

The paper crane flapped its wings, and took on the guise of a real crane. It set out in the sky.

TITANIA

Titania cocked her head.

"So, the wards only have effect on transportation spells? Then...would faerie blinking be uninhibited?"

OBSCURE

Obscure blinked.

:Me? Self-control?:

She looked at Keats.

:Do I?:

BROCKTON ESTELL

Lady Vivian,

My brother, being a cleric, can restore life, so perhaps in turn could restore the soul. If not, he could kill the girl, and restore her life, thus healing any harm. I realize this sounds frightening and a bit drastic, but it would, of course, only be a last resort. I died once of a plague sent by an evil spirit to our Kingdom, yet still live to write this letter to you thanks to the gifts given to my brother.

When would you like for him to come?

Brockton

FROST

Frost walked with Lissa as Moss lead them, chatting in a friendly way the whole way there, to Vivian's door. The fae guard knocked and then backed away. "She's a good sort. Good luck,Kids."And he was off to his duties.

Frost grinned at Lissa. "Here we finally are."

"Greetings, Lady." Frost gave a slight bow. He, being only half human, the other part being pixy fae, knew well who Vivian was, though he'd never seen her. "I'm a bit late in coming because I was helping Father settle the rest of the siblings. It has been hard having Mum away helping out here."

KEATS

:No, you are not interrupting, dearest Amy. We just woke up. Well, Obscure did anyway. Welcome to Wolfbanes. Seems like fun here to me. All the familiars are grand. Obscure has been worried over Billy. I really don't understand any of it. My owner, Louis, was trying to help the other night. I think he got more confused. Poor Louis: Keats gave Amy a cat grin.

He looked started at the name Obscure mentioned. :What name was that again? He's a WHAT?: Keats could feel confusion setting in again.

OBSCURE

Obscure cocked her head.

:Who? I thought we were talking about me?:

She licked behind his ear.

VIVIAN AND FROST

"And now you are here" Vivian said calmly. "...and your mother is not."

Frost sighed and nodded. "I was hoping to see her, but Moss, the guard that brought us here, told me she'd went off with Arthur some place. I'm sure Da knows, but he'll worry." So would Frost a bit, but that was no real matter for the present conversation.

Vivian merely smiled.

"His concern isn't wasted--the journey ahead is indeed full of challenges...but I believe your mother to be fully capable of being a valuable part of the whole. Now, as you are new to this school, we must register you properly..."

Vivian took out a quill from her desk.

"So--What was your intended major?"

He told her his major, and any other information she'd need to know, and then waited for Lissa.

WYN

Time was odd to Wyn. Had it been days or only hours? Sometimes they stopped to rest, and once to sleep. She knew that travel could be odd as far as time in different worlds so there was no real way to tell. The bird, Merlin, was ever watchful, and Arthur went doggedly along as he was expected to do.

She sort of felt sorry for him and admired him at the same time.

She missed being away for so long from Mordeth, and thought with amusement that he'd get to see what it was like to play Mommy while she was away.

QUEST

As they went through the landscape, dark and foreboding clouds hung overhead. They were walking on a seemingly deserted plateau, with nothing but a few crags of greenery every now and then--and even the greens looked grey.

A deep and scorching cry rung through the air.

LIGHTNING

Lightning padded down the hallways fresh from his nap outside. He turned the corner to find a whole gang of black cats outside of a room. He knew he looked strange being a white tiger familiar but he could change his size to match them but he didn't. He padded closer. :Hello I am Lightning. I am pleased to find other familiars as well.: He plopped down in to a sitting position.

QUESTORS

Wyn shivered when she heard the scream. "Sounds like something wants to fight,"She told Arthur in a seemingly calm tone. "I got the magic and you got the sword, big guy." She gave his hair a light tug.

"Come out, then, you freak," She yelled.

QUEST

And then something began to peek out from the mists.

Well, "peek out" wouldn't be the exact term. Rampaged through, yes.

The mists were torn asunder as the monstrous lizard tore through the landscape--

And passed right by the group, miniscule in comparison.

"ERRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

His scream once more shook the skies.

WYN

Wyn stared in awe. "WOW. Sorry then. We'll be trying to pass through. I'm of the fae folk, so won't be building things round here." She didn't even know if the great beast had heard her. "Ur...You'd not happen to know of any way through here would you?" She also didn't expect an answer, but had to try just in case.

GODZILLA AND MOTHRA

The big giant beast heard nothing. There was far too much distance between them and his ears.

And even if he had somehow managed to hear...well, he was a giant oversized lizard with a miniscule brain.

Just then, a giant moth came out of the skies.

"Erieeeeeee!!!"

It attacked the gigantic lizard with no provocation!

The giant beast's scales that went down his back began to glow, and he fired a gigantic column of fire at the ridiculously oversized moth. <

WYNP>Wyn only shrugged. "Looks like they'll not bother us," She told Arthur. "Lets move on."

WIGHTS

The glass wights sparkled on the landscape, leading the trio through what seemed to be a marked path.

A path marked by the fact that there were two rampaging monsters fighting a battle to the death right over it, and anyone who walked on that path could risk getting squished kind of marked.

The wights, of course, had nothing to fear, as they were immaterial.

As the crow flies, so they say.

WYN

Wyn swore under her breath, and cast a shield of air over them that was protective in that if one of the ever-so-lovely monsters happened to come in to contact with it, they'd feel as if they were bumping in to a hard wall.

"Ok, I can't hold this all day, so lets move." She frowned with her focus.

KEATS

Keats widened his green eyes at Obscure. :You mentioned some name.....oh, never mind,: he sighed. :Really, who cares?: he yawned. He had caught on that she didn't want the name revealed, for whatever reason either her reasons or for Billy's protection. :So, Amy, how do you like it here so far? We're a pretty friendly bunch considering we just met yesterday, I'm sure you'll fit in and like us: he smiled a kitty smile at her, which slowly turned to a kitty frown as another very large cat entered the room. Keats relaxed as he realized the cat was someone's familiar. A beautiful white tiger. :Of course you can join us, welcome to the Kitty Korner: he gave a small cat laugh.

LIGHTNING

Lightening couldn't help but laugh. :I am sorry for startling you. Here is this better.: He closed his eyes and his form was shrunk own to that of a kitten tiger. :There I am now the same size as you all.:

GODZILLA AND MOTHRA

The monsters way up there were, of course, oblivious to the fact that there were people trying to get through their battle. The wights didn't care, though.

STOMP!

A gigantic foot landed inches away from Arthur

THRASH!

The tail whipped by them, blowing a strong wind in their direction.

And then Mothra fell down--

"ERYIIIAAAAHHH!!"

It was then that the trio saw a transportation spell be cast all around them.

Gone were the monsters of lore, and the cave surroundings became very, very clear.

The wights seemed to be skittering around, clawing each and every wall of the cave.

Then a faint light appeared in front of the trio...

KEATS

Keats laughed lightly as Ligtening shrunk himself (herself?). "You didn't have to do that, I don't believe any of us were frightened, just overly concerned with Obscure and her Billy here. By the way, how DID you do that?" Keats walked around the now cat sized tiger, observing the animal carefully. "Never seen such a thing! Does this mean I can turn into a tiger, or a cheetah? Yea. A cheetah. What do you think, Obscure? I could catch this evil wench about this place if I was a cheetah." Keats settled down, realizing the futility here. "Guess not, huh?" he said to Lightening. "Guess you have to be magic. Darn."

WYN

"Go in to the light my boy," Wyn said in a sing-song imitation of the flowing and mystical sounding voice of Vivian, lady of the lake, herself. "In to the damned light, and hope it is the right way to go."She laughed, giving Arthur's thick bushy hair a light tug.

The bird in the large warlord's arms leaned forward and blinked as if to better see.

LIGHTNING

Lightening laughed softly. :I am a magical creature. My mistress teaches that course as well. A friend of hers gave me to her.:

KEATS

:Well, I'm a pushover now, being this little itty bitty kitty: Keats snickered at his own comment. :I'd still like to be a cheetah, even if it was just for a day:

He blinked at Lightening. :What does your mistress teach? My master is a student, he's studying Healing. I don't think he trusts himself with magic even though he DID help with Billy last night.: Keats said proudly, then glanced at the still sleeping girl. :Wish we could do more: he said, giving Obscure a sympathetic look.

He turned back to Lightening. :So, could your mistress turn me into a cheetah?: he asked, then gave a sidelong look of guilt to Obscure.

OBSCURE

Obscure smiled from the corner of her mouth as she caught the look from Keats.

She was looking at Lightning as a potential help. Maybe he could get that master of his to do something?

LIGHTNING

:She teaches care of magical creatures. I don't know maybe she can.: Lightning said looking at he girl. :Maybe she can help the girl though.:

QUESTORS

Arthur looked rather shocked when the entire company was teleported into a cave. What else could possibly go wrong? He wouldn't be surprised if Morgan were behind some of this somehow. He carried the bird in one arm and felt around the walls of the cave with his other hand hoping to find a way out. Maybe a loose stone to begin with. He found this unlikely but worth a try.

"I assume your magic doesn't work in here?" Arthur asked Wyn hoping she had the use of her magic. He doubted it though since nothing else seemed to be working in their favor. What did Merlin expect him to do again powerful magic users?

LE TWINS

A haunting song then began to echo through the cave.

Which was an odd thing, as there were no passages to external caves. The song did not waver, bouncing off the walls.

This could, of course, only mean one thing.

There was someone else in the cave...

"...."

The song continued to lilt, and then slowly began to fade.

That was when a rock pavillion began to rise from the center of the cave. It stopped at the height of Arthur's waist, and two figures began to materialize.

Two tiny figures.

They were a pair of japanese sprites, decked in brilliant kimonos of shimmering color which stood out against the dull pallor of the rest of the grey land. Their faces were painted white, and their black hair done up ornately. They smiled up at the group, and waved their japanese fans in front of their faces.

And that was when the words of the song became known.

"Mosura, mosura!" the two petite japanese sprites sang out. "You have no need to aporogize" said the golden-persimmon kimonoed one on the right, her Japanese accent heavy in her speech. "We wele the ones who summoned you hele."

"Thele is some prace you need to go, light?" the silvery-viridian kimonoed one on the left asked.

QUESTORS

Arthur started in surprise when the rock pavilion began to rise. He watched warily as the 2 sprites materialized and listened intently to the words of their song.

"Are you going to assist us then," Arthur asked hopefully.

"Great music," Wyn said lightly. "We're sorry that we ended up in here. It wasn't our choice. May we ask your names or at least some sort of information about this cave?"

LE TWIN SPRITES

The two sprites looked to each other and smiled.

They once more faced the trio and bowed.

"That depends on whele you ale going" said the vermillion-gold one.

"What rand do you come flom, and what ale you rooking fol?"

WYN

Wyn gave a relieved sigh. These beings were types of fae as the pixy was herself, and so she felt more at ease. "Yes, actually we do. This is Master Merlin," She gave a nod to the uniquely bound bird in the large man's arms. "And carrying him is the ancient war lord Arthur who was...brought back to life by Merlin's slightly insane wife Nymue." She chuckled. "So we're on a quest to fix him...Merlin that a is." She waved back at the two and added," Nice make up."

LE TWIN SPRITES

They looked at each other, confusedly.

"What is wlong with youl bild? He rooks fine to us."

QUESTORS

"Do you not know who Merlin is?" Wyn asked looking somewhat shocked. "Never mind then. Just look carefully at him. You'll see the enchantment. He's not supposed to be a bird. He's a grumpy old druid, actually."

The bird in Arthur's arms nodded eagerly to this assessment.

LE TWIN SPRITES

They squinted, and then gasped.

"Oh my! Such a powelfur culse!" the persimmon-gold one claimed.

"Vely tlagic! To be tlapped in a folm as that..."

They fanned themselves.

"We wirr herp you" the two chorused, once they had regained their composure. "Though we cannot bleak this culse...We know of a prace whele someone might be abre to herp you go down the light path."

The twins looked at the wights, and then looked at each other as if they had a brilliant idea.

"Those spilits are youl guides, light?"

WYN

"Yes,"Wyn agreed eagerly. It was really quite wonderful to see a helpful face. Come to think of that, it was odd seeing herself in the role of someone helpful as well.

LE TWIN SPRITES

The twins bowed, and then began to sing again.

"Yume no Kuni wo sagasu kimi no na wo! Kimi no shinjite desu ka?"

The wights began to glow, as the song resonated within them. The dim and grey cave suddenly reflected off thousands of colored lights, prismatically changing the appearance of everything!

"Dizzy, dizzy, May you find what you ale rooking fol!"

And the colors spun around, and around, and around...

KEATS

:Could you find her, bring her here?: Keats asked Lightening, his green eyes pleading, :Billy's been suffering for so long. Even my master tried to help, but that's Louis,: Keats grinned, :he helps everybody.: Lightening nodded as he stood up and turned around shifting back to his normal size. He moved quickly back to Cassandra's room. He entered slowly.

CLARISSA

"Well you have been gone a long while now haven't you." She looked down at her companion who looked up at her with worry in his eyes. "Ah I see." She said standing up and going to her bags. She quickly rummaged through the bottles and picked two. "Lets go." They moved quickly down the hall till they found the cats. She looked in the door and entered and began to talk with the nurse.

LIGHTNING

:She was taught magic in Avalon, she should be able to help.: Lightening said sitting down.

ELMO

Elmo Webster had just entered Billy's room as part of his rounds and was greeting the cats when a large white tiger entered with a woman in purple robes following.

She seemed to be carrying what looked like a couple of small bottles. He looked at her suspiciously, but with a smile as he said, "Good day to you! I don't think that we have met before. I am Elmo Webster, the School Nurse, and who would you be?" He eyed the bottles warily thinking of Morgan and poisons....

OBSCURE

Obscure looked up at the professor worriedly.

:You sure? I'd think that there'd be a reason why the other professors haven't been able to do anything...other than the fact that Morgan really stuck it in all of us: she added.

VIVIAN

Vivian then looked at Lissa.

"And you?

WYN

Wyn stared in to the colors, wondering if they were supposed to scry somewhat out or to go in to the spin as it were. "If we don't see anything interesting, we'll try to go." She told the warlord.

QUEST

The colors then began to settle, like a snowglobe effect. There were clouds, blue sky...

Lots and lots of blue sky.

The trio realized that they were, in fact, falling from the sky.

WYN

Wyn had time to pray to someone that they'd been right to trust this, cause if not they would be in a lovely fix. "Well blue is nice," she shouted to Arthur, giving a laugh.

QUEST

Just then, as they were falling, a breath-taking sight appeared amidst the fog of the clouds.

There, standing atop a mountain that defied the laws of nature, stood a chinese empirial castle. The red roof glinted in the light, and the black veneer wood shone. There were many terraces, all overflowing with flowers, and a pond with water lilies was visible. And in the middle, there was a garden. They could not see everything that was there, but...there was one peach tree that stood out from the crop.

Its grandeur was amazing...

Unfortunately, they were heading straight for it.

It was then that a light was seen shining from one of the brilliant pavillions...

WYN

"Shit," Wyn shrieked, trying to use her wings to keep her up and from falling in to the tree. She couldn't have time to do as much for the hulking warlord, though. Merlin gave a squawk as he tried to open his bound wings.

GOKU

The golden light shimmered, and shot up from the pavillion--

"Ho ho ho ho!!!" shrieked the figure, who seemed to shoot past the trio as if riding a cloud--

In fact, he was riding a cloud!

"And what brings you to the high heavens today, strangers?" the small figure asked, looking positively jovial.

He scratched his head.

It was then that they could tell that he was...a monkey. Wearing traditional chinese clothing.

WYN

"Don't I get to meet the dragon?" Wyn sulked. "Well you're cool anyway." She was glad they didn't have to crash in to the tree. "We were sent here by some sprites. Would you know them? We're trying to lift a spell from Merlin." Nodding at the bird as she opened her wings for balance while making sure that Arthur stayed up as well with a small thread of magic.

GOKU

The monkey grinned.

"Know them? Hoho! I know everything!" he boasted, and then flew circles around them (they were still falling, afterall).

"And I, Goku, am more than just 'cool', I'll have you know!"

The monkey giggled, and spun around.

"Lift a curse, hmm?? This sounds like a good story" he said, and crossed his legs, balancing on the cloud with his tail.

"I'd better sit you down to hear the whole thing--"

He then flipped around to behind them--

"HaCHA!!"

A blast of energy blew from where he had extended his hands, sending the threesome flying in the direction of the castle.

"Ho ho ho ho!"

CLARISSA

"I am the Care of Magical Creatures professor Clarissa. I studied on Avalon and thought maybe something I had in my bag might help." She held the bottles out to Elmo.

ELMO

Elmo relaxed. Pointing to her bottles he said, "You may as well put those away. Nothing that you could possibly have in those bottles is going to help this girl." He settled himself into a nearby chair and studied the professor for a moment. Then, pointing at the white tiger sitting nearby with the smaller cats, asked, "A snow tiger? That's an interesting choice for a familiar. How did you come by him?"

KEATS

Keats jumped from the couch where he had been sitting beside Obscure as Clarissa entered. He looked up to her, wide eyed, hoping she could help. She was a professor of Healing, animals, but still....

Keats turned his attention to the door when Elmo entered. School nurse, working together with a healer. Keats got all excited. Perhaps, and please, they could both help Billy so he and Obscure could get on with their kitty lives. Sleeping, washing, eating, and sleeping. :Thank you, Ligtening. I hope they both work together to help poor Billy.: < P>Keats was so pleased he wound himself between the two human's legs, purring almost as loud as he imagined Ligtening would purr.

CLARISSA

"One of them. Lightening." Clarissa nodded as did the tiger. He quickly shifted in to his smaller form and jumped in Elmo's lap and looked up at him. "A friend gave him to me before we were separated on Avalon. He has been with me ever since. As for what I have do not be so sure that it won't help. I was schooled in Avalon." She looked down to watch the cat winding around their feet purring.

LIGHTNING

:You are welcome: Lightening said as he settled in Elmo's lap. He knew the man was startled by having a tiger in his lap but knew he was calm about it as well.

WYN

"Does it have to be so fast?" Wyn called, hoping they'd not crash in to the castle, and if they did, hoping it wasn't solid. This must be, if he were what he seemed, one of the great spirits of this land, right along with the tiger, turtle, and such.

GOKU

Goku didn't seem to have heard.

The trio crashed right into the peach tree, and landed just below it.

"Yo-ho-ho! How did you enjoy the ride, mmm?" Goku inquired, appearing before the three with a mischeivious grin on his face.

STORM GOD

That was when the sky thundered.

"Goo--kuuu!!!"

A man with a strong build, a stern face, and a brilliant robe of blue came out, eyes flashing along with the sky. "What foolhardiness are you engaging in now? What--"

He saw the three strangers.

"What man is this that you bring to the sacred tree of life???" he scowled, staring down at the three with disgust written in his features.

QUESTORS

Arthur, after calling the monkey several ancient Celtic curse names, looked up at the angry looking man as if he could be next. Merlin bit him hard. (Arthur, that is)

"Is Merlin the High Druid good enough for you?" Arthur growled at the man after a moment. It had been a long day, and he'd about had enough. First Nymue, and then this questwhich was full of the magic that he had none of!

Wyn, hoping that all was not lost, gave the man a charming smile (as charming as an evil looking pixy could manage) as she sat herself on Arthur's shoulder.

STORM GOD AND GOKU

The man harrumphed.

"I see. Goku has brought in ignorants from below, who know nothing of the gods" he said. "GOOKUU!!!"

The monkey laughed, and walked over.

"Cheee! And I had so much fun--they were falling from the sky!"

"Falling from--" the man began, and then furrowed his eyebrows even deeper.

"Harrumph. If that is the case...then..."

He picked up Goku with one finger.

"Ah?"

--And threw him.

"Aiiyaaaaaaahh!!!" Goku screamed, disappearing like a dot into the sky.

The man clapped his hands together.

"I am sorry for Goku's actions. He is still a disciple--and such an arrogant one at that" he added acidly. "Please--follow me into the main palace chamber."

QUESTORS

"So you're speaking of us as lower and annoying life forms, but expect you to follow you?" Arthur growled.

"We've no choice," Wyn hissed, and gave his hair a tug. "I knew about the gods," She called after the man as she poked Arthur to follow. After a moment he did, still scowling.

Merlin held his head up proudly as they went. Bound and proud. He could've laughed.

STORM GOD

"Wise" the man said. They reached a dais overlooking a chinese-styled fishpond, complete with a stone-carved fence surrounding it. The floor was inlaid marble, with dragon designs swimming around on the floor. There were various cushions placed neatly around the dais, embroidered with golden fishes and ranging from a variety of hues of green.

"Please. Sit" he said, motioning to the cushions. "I take it that you were...sent here, from another realm?"

QUESTORS

"Yes, we were sent here. Did not willing come here, so are not totally stupid, beg pardon," Arthur growled quietly.

"We were told that you or someone here could help to perhaps lead us in the right direction for lifting Master Merlin's curse." Wyn told him, trying not to look as tired as Arthur did. The bird in question was busily looking around.

STORM GOD

The god looked at them with little interest reflected in his eyes.

"Of course. The twins. Hmm."

He then took a sip of tea from a traditional Chinese tea set that had materialized in thin air.

"There is such a person who can lead you in the right direction. This person, of course, is not me."

He set down the teacup.

"Yes...the great being shall be able to help you."

It was at this time that the wights began to materialize in the room. They had just finally caught up with the group.

"These are your...traveling companions, so to speak?"

WYN

"Guides," Wyn said quickly. "We had no choice, really. They aren't the sort you'd chat up, you know?"

LISSA AND AMY

Lissa found herself suddenly very shy--yet again. Somehow, though, she managed to sound calm. She smiled slightly.

"I was hoping to major in Care of Magical Creatures, with a minor in Healing."

Amy was just about to respond to Keats when the white tiger startled her. From then on, the purple-eyed black cat found herself in a daze at how fast things began to happen. Her thoughts got caught running in so many circles she was dizzy. Lightening's mistress was the Care of Magical Creatures professor? And she would try to help Billy, whose soul had been broken and no one seemed able to help so far? And if she was the professor, that meant Amy had now met one of Lissa's new teachers...

:Lissa,: Amy called, :I'm dizzy...I think I just met one of your teachers, Legolas is real, I think I saw Louis de Pointe du Lac and that I've been talking to his cat, there's a girl with a broken soul, and everything's happening so fast... Oh, and by the way, you little bookworm, I just about wigged out when I saw those two in that classroom! I was walking past that room, and then I stopped because they fit the descriptions you read me out of those books! Legolas actually talked to me, too! Oh, good Lord...I'm dazed...:

There was a brief touch of confusion as Lissa's mind brushed with her cat, turned quickly to astonishment. :You...you saw Legolas? And Louis? And he has a cat? And you've been talking to him? And you met my teacher?:

:Yes to all of the above,: Amy answered.

:Wow...: her mistress said. :Now I'm dazed...:

VIVIAN

Vivian smiled.

"A good choice. You're to be in the water house--there are quite the large amount of different kinds of people there...Lissa?"

Vivian detected that her mind had suddenly gone elsewhere.

LSSA

Lissandra Corsica shook her head to clear it, having realized Vivian knew she'd been talking to Amy. She blinked a few times, slightly embarassed.

"I'm sorry, my cat..." she began. "Apparently Amethyst is having a very eventful day, and we've only been here a short while...she was telling me about it, so I got distracted. I'm sorry."

Lissa colored slightly. Darn cat, she thought. Oh well...that's Amy for you...

Now, what had she said? Oh yes!

"Thank you," Lissa said, smiling. "I usually get along pretty well with all kinds of people, I'm just kind of shy..."

STORM GOD

The man scowled.

"I see."

The wights floated around like it was no one's business.

The man rose from his seat, and floated out of the room.

"I shall show you the way."

VIVIAN

Vivian smiled.

"I'm sure you'll be alright" she said. "Though, I must tell you...there is one student in your house who is...not here at the moment."

Vivian really didn't want to elaborate much on Billy's condition at the time. She barely understood it herself.

"Very good. I'll see to it that you have your class schedules to you right away" she said, standing up. "But first--you must want to see around the school, don't you?"

KEATS

Keats watched the two people's faces as they spoke back and forth. Thank goodness Billy was to be helped!! He noticed the newer cat, Amy, looking a bit out of sorts. :Don't be nervous of Lightening, he's big, but he's a cat: Keats walked over to Amy, and noticed she was off somewhere. :Hello?: he said, then sat in front of her, waiting for her to return from-----wherever.

OBSCURE

Obscure merely rested her head on her paws and meowed.

MYSTERIOUS PLOTBUNNY

Somewhere, within the depth of the forests...

A shrill whistle was heard.

Those of untrained ears would dismiss it as merely the wind blowing through the trees.

But this was a school of magic.

There were words...

"...heelleru nast deveru, shantirii hannanae..."

QUESTORS

Arthur sighed, and got up, wordlessly following the god. Well Merlin always wanted to meet the damned gods, so here one of them was. At that thought, he glared briefly down at the bound bird in his arms, who was craning his neck to stare after the robed man.

"Where are we going?" The druid's voice came out in a croak. Wyn, on Arthur's shoulder, leaned forward, also interested in the answer.

QUEST

The man didn't turn around to face them, but kept on going.

"To see the great one."

The wights followed after the god.

Arthur hoped that the great one was yet another god for Merlin to meet. All that work for his quest to bring the gods back to Brittan. Well the gods had left them. The gods cared not.

"Great," Wyn spoke aloud seeming excited.

"I don't see anything," Arthur growled. He really wanted to lie down and go to sleep. He wanted to stop feeling out of his element, and didn't see any of his wants happening for him any time soon.

"Hi," Wyn waved happily about.

The god merely eyed Arthur with a look that resembled something akin to pity.

"The great master is here, all around. You cannot perceive, therefore you cannot see him."

Meanwhile, the great Buddha smiled at Wyn.

"I see that one amongst you can see that I am everywhere" the chubby man said, smiling at Wyn.

He had a face that seemed to have a smile painted on it, almost--his eyes were thin, with black streaks painted around the edges. He wore a plain tunic, with no shirt underneath, and a Chinese skirt.

Wyn bounced happily and nodded as Merlin seemed to stare firmly at nothing. Arthur only scowled. Of course he couldn't see bloody magic. He said nothing, only standing like the carrier horse he'd been forced to be.

The thunder god took note of Arthur's obvious irritation.

"You desire to see that which is everything and everywhere?" he asked, icy blue eyes staring straight into Arthur's soul.

The Buddha nodded sagely.

"I see. Of course, you, a sprite, so close to nature, can find me anywhere" he said. "It is those who lack the natural connection that cannot see..."

"I don't wish for anything," he said flatly. "It is just annoying to be surrounded by what is real to everyone else, but unseen to me. I fought my fight as I was trained to do, and died. Now I'm brought back when I'm needed for a cart horse." The warlord scowled deeply. Merlin leaned his head against the big man's chest seeming distressed.

AMY AND LISSA

Amy shook her head, realizing Keats had been talking to her, and she hadn't noticed. She ducked her head in embarassment. If she could blush, she would have.

:I'm sorry, Keats,: she apologized. :I was talking to Lissa...I didn't mean to be rude.:

She took a moment to recall what he'd said, then began to form coherent responses from her jumbled thoughts.

:I do realize he's just a really big cat--it's just...: she paused and took a deep breath. :He's black and white... I have a problem with black and white, not with Lightening--black and white dogs, I mean... I was just startled, is all...and I was talking to Lissa...and everything's been happening so fast today, it's just...: She chuckled a bit. :I'm having a very eventful first day...

"Yes, thank you," Lissa said earnestly. "I'd love to see around the school." She grinned. "That'll give me at least half a chance of not getting lost--and besides, I've never been to anyplace even resembling this."

She fell silent, thinking for a moment. Vivian had said something about a student being "not here", and she'd hesitated, as though that wasn't the whole story. Hadn't Amy mentioned that there was a girl here with a broken soul? Was that who the Lady of the Lake was talking about? Lissa's brow furrowed a moment, then smoothed again. She could always ask later.

FROST

Frost, who had been lost in his own thoughts wondering where his mother was now, looked to the lady of the lake. "Where should I go, Mam?"

VIVIAN

Vivian looked back. "

For now, you two, just follow me. We need to get you acclimated to this environment, no? And there's one place in particular which will be increasingly important to you as the year goes on..."

Just then, a letter dropped from the air. Presumably, a bird had flown over and dropped it down.

Vivian looked at the letter. (OOC--it's the response from that guy willing to help them ^^ bic)

She smiled as they walked on.

"Very well" she said to herself, and flapped the paper in the air. The page became blank, and she wrote a rune above it in the air.

"..."

The paper was soon filled with these words;

Thank you so much for your offer. I extend you an invitation to our school, so that you may help us resolve this matter. The well-being of our students is of grave concern to us, so please come with haste.

The Lady of the Lake

She then crumpled it up, and tossed it up into the air. There, the paper reformed itself into a crane, and flew off.

KID

Kid was the last person to leave Isilme's classroom after the Herbal Medication class was over. He slowly gathered his books and headed out the door towards the Dining Hall. He could see his class mates on the trail ahead of him as they also went to see what kind of scrumptious lunch Lucy had made for them today. He could see students from the other classes, scattered throughout the forest, also converging on the DH. As he hurried to catch up with Lauraina and his other friends he thought that he spotted Serpensortia as she came from her Necromancy class on the other side of the glade they were crossing just then. He waved to her as he caught up with the others. "Is anyone as hungry as I am? I could eat a... a..." *POP* horse *POP* "or even a..." *POP* moose *POP* "How 'bout you, Lauraina? Hungry?"

GHOST

Ghost awoke with a start! Realizing he had fallen asleep leaning on Luxor is Prof. Pat's History of Practical Necromancies class he grinned sheepishly up at the big dog and shrugged "It was nap time." Noticing the class getting up to leave he said, "Come on Luxor! It's lunch time! Let's go eat!"

TITANIA

It was then that Kid suddenly felt a weight on his back.

"Ho-ho-ho! Animal man run like wind" Titania said, imitating a man from a western movie her da had shown her when she was young. (ooc-Tonto). "How'd it go?"

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh walked out into the hall--

"GAAH!" he said, seeing Titania there. "Again! How the heck do you faeries and elves do that--aah, never mind!"

He frowned, and sat down at a table and began to eat.

TITANIA

Titania frowned.

"Yeeee--oooo---haaa-buuuuh meeeee---chuuuu---suuuuu--tuuuu-reeee-soooooo!" Titania remarked, still hugging Kid from behind, imitating a Japanese accent. Looking at her, one would almost think she was.

LUXOR AND PATRICLES

Luxor smiled.

:Sure: he said, and looked at Patricles as the students began to file out. :Master?":

"I'm comin', boy" Patricles said, and followed after his lab. Luxor licked his palm, and then chased after Ghost.

OBSCURE

*Grruummble*

Obscure blinked.

:...Food would be good right now: she said to Keats, looking somewhat embarrassed. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday...since Billy had gone catatonic.

KID

When Kid felt Titania's weight on his back he decided to give her the ride of her life. Still in moose form he turned onto a side trail and started running. With Titania's arms wrapped around his neck and hoping that she wouldn't let go he started changing shapes, after each shape change he would go for a few metres and change again. *POP* kangaroo *POP* bengal tiger *POP* asian elephant *POP* giraffe *pop* musk ox *pop* donkey. When he came to a small lake he kept on going. As he leapt *POP* polar bear. Huge splash! *pop* california sealion. Then quickly *POP* walrus *pop* manatee *pop* northern elephant seal *POP* harbor seal. Then reaching the far side of the lake he turned back *POP* spectacled porpoise *POP* narwhal *POP* bottlenose dolphin *POP* orca and then just as he reached shore *POP* hipopotomus *POP* rhinoceros *POP* wildebeest *POP* zebra and finally just before arriving back at the Dining Hall *POP* He was Kid again and Titania was riding him piggy-back. With a huge grin on his face he waited for her to dismount...

VIVIAN

Vivian then showed them to most likely the most grand place of all--

The dining area.

There were many students milling about, getting ready to eat.

"Well?" she said, looking at the two. "You had better start to get yourself acquainted--you're already behind!"

MOSS

Moss watched this with interest, and then began to follow the lady once more.

This forest like dwelling with its huts and such was a quite interesting place to behold. Its power, though, was obvious.

KING DUDE

In a few minutes, Vivian would receive this reply.

Lady,

I'll send my brother, Adrian, and remain behind, as it is not I who is the healer and cleric. As he is the king of our land, I'll be staying behind to take up his duties until his return. I wish you all the best of luck, and it has been a pleasure and an honor to write with you.

Prince Brockton Estell

TITANIA

Titania whooped.

"Wow! You're so fantastic, Kid!" Titania exclaimed, and gave him a squeeze. She then quickly dismounted, and ran around acting like an airplane to get her food.

SERPENSORTIA, LAURAINA, MORIG

Serpensortia waved to the professor, and walked out between Lauraina and Cassandra. "I suppose we need to learn that stuff, but it really gives me the creeps," Cassandra said with a shiver.

"It isn't really that bad. The 'dead' are really only living in a new realm in a new form."

"When you say it that way, it isn't so odd, but when they come up looking scary as hell, it is hard to remember,"Lauraina chimed in with a laugh.

Lauraina burst in to laughter at Titania and Kid's antics. Serpensortia only shrugged, and Cassandra smiled and waved.

Morig flew to Serpensortia's side and smiled. "How was the class?"

"Interesting," Serpensortia told her friend with an eager expression.

"Ok, well don't give details, as I'd like to sleep without nightmares," Morig laughed.

KID

Still grinning, Kid watched Titania 'fly' away as he approached Lauraina and the others.

"Well, I want to hear details! What is Professor Pat like? I don't have him teaching any of my classes which is a drag. Not that I mind Prof Isilme, but Prof Pat seems pretty cool."

SERPENSORTIA

"He's interesting!" Serpensortia's green eyes sparkled. "I'm going to learn soooo much! Combined with father's knowledge, we'll be able to do all sorts of powerful things." She then fell silent.

"He's different,"Lauraina smiled, after a moment. "He is nice. It is just that those things he works with are..."She shivered.

FROST

Frost nodded to Vivian, and moved in to the large, wooden dining hall. It smelled wonderful! His eyes took in all the interesting and unique creatures roaming about getting their food. He looked to Lisa to see if she were coming, and began to do so himself.

Spotting Titania and lark, he gave them a wave. Lark was as a sister to he and his siblings, and he knew, as all did, the fae queen's daughter.

CASSANDRA

"He wants to talk about zombies while we eat!" Cassandra laughed, her eyes sparkling as she looked about for Agamemnon.

SERPENSORTIA, LAURAINA, MORIG

"No. He didn't show us how to do that, and I hope he never does!" Lauraina answered Kid firmly. "Sortia is the only of us learning the hard stuff!"

"Yes, but he says it isn't all about making zombies, though I'm sure I'll learn that as well," Serpensortia said eagerly to kid. "It is about talking to the dead, calling up ghosts, learning how to work with them, and all about their realm and its powers for a start!" Her eyes gleamed.

"Sounds sweet," Morig made a face.

KID AND GHOST

While Kid was talking with the girls he was looking around the DH and wondering where Ghost had got to. He noticed Lucy standing at the top of the stairs to the Kitchen, like she always did at meal times. Watching everyone enjoy the food she had prepared. Today it was a pasta feast, with ten types of pasta and seven types of sauce to choose from.

He noticed Vivian enter with a couple of new students. He reminded himself to ask her about Merlin and Arthur, but later, after lunch. He did not want to disturb her at mealtime. Finally he spotted Ghost coming in with Professor Pat and Luxor. Excusing himself from Lauraina and Serpensortia he hurried over to his little friend. Dropping down to one knee he rubbed Ghosts ears the way he liked and asked him,"So what have you been up to?"

Ghost sucked up the attention for a few seconds before answering Kid, "Kid, I'd like you to meet my friend Luxor and his master Professor Patricles. Luxor, Professor Pat, this is my master, Kid. I've been in Prof. Pat's class with Luxor."

Kid stood and held his hand out to the professor. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

PROFESSOR PATRICLES

Patricles looked at Kid and smiled wide.

"Hey, nice to meet you too" he said, and shook Kid's extended hand. "Too bad you're not taking my class, huh? You look like a good student" he commented, remembering some of the less enthusiastic students in his class with a mix of sadness and annoyance.

He looked over behind Kid--

"Ah! I recognize those girls over there" he said. "Are they your friends?"

ASHLEIGH AND TITANIA

Ashleigh looked around.

"Hmm...Wonder where Louis went off to..."

He saw that the Lady of the Lake had walked into the hall. Very bizzarre--she seemed to be one of the few "head honchos" who were still working. Maybe Nymue and Merlin were just supposed to fall into the background like that?

"Sounds like just the kind of stuff Billy would love" Ashleigh muttered, and then sighed.

Titania frowned.

"Focus on the positive, young man! Life is full of things to occur, and too short to miss out on 'em!" she piped, and whacked Ashleigh on the back-

"Yow! You crazy bi--"

"Hmm?? Ooo, Aunite Vivian's here!"

Titania caught sight of Aunt Vivian come in, and saw two students behind her--

"Oho! Newbies!" she cheered, and then squinted.

"...By the stars. Is that Frost? No way!"

Titania brushed off her skirt, and ran over to Frost--

"Is that you? You look so different now!" she commented, examining Frost.

LARK AND NARCISSUS

Lark had enjoyed her first day of classes and couldn't wait to hear what others had been doing. She wondered idly where Narcissus and Darken were. Just then Narcissus entered and headed to join his sister. Lark waved at Frost and waited for him and Lyssa to come and join her.

"Hello Lyssa my name is Meadowlark," the half-faerie said to Lyssa. Narcissus filled a plate and turned to his sister.

"So how's your day been," he asked conversationally.

AGAMEMNON

Agamemnon strode briskly into the dining hall waving at Cassandra as he went to get some lunch. He filled his plate and headed in her direction before wondering if it was appropriate to even sit with a student. He stopped and gestured for her to come to speak with him for a moment.

"So how's your day been? I'd like to sit with you but I'm not sure it's appropriate," he said to her in greeting.

KEATS!

Keats' ears twitched and he turned to Obscure as she meowed. :Are you okey, my dear Obscure?: he asked, blinking at her.

He turned to Amy. :Oh, not to worry, that's understandable. But, there are dogs here, a wolf and a dog. Luxor is the dog. He's very gentle. Actually, all the creatures here get along fine. I guess Merlin has it that way, he wouldn�t want the familiars fighting in his school.:

Keats returned his attention to Obscure whose stomach certainly did rumble. :It appears to be lunchtime about now. Would you like me to get Cook to bring something up for us, or would you prefer to go down on your own? I can stay here and watch what they do with Billy.:

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

Legolas stood up, cautiously stretching, remembering the strange looks he had gotten before for stretching in the middle of class. "Well? Looks like we get to shut our minds down for a bit," he said to Louis.

Louis, meanwhile, turned to Crystal, asking her to join them for lunch.

Legolas stopped for a moment. "Umm, you, well. What do you do about eating?" he asked the vampire.

Louis smiled softly. "I do feed from creatures, mostly animals here provided by the kitchens," he noticed Legolas' somewhat startled _expression. "These are animals that are dying, that live here on the island. Where I am from,I would feed on evildoers, but there seems to be a lack of those around Wolfbanes."

Legolas smiled at his remark. "I would hope there would be no evildoers about. I'm not used to being around them. Elves are peaceable beings. Certainly, we know how to fight, how to wield weapons, we come from a dangerous world, but mostly we're peaceful." "Most vampires are as well. We cannot help what we are," Louis said softly.

"No, of course not," Legolas answered, smiling at his new friend. He fell thoughtful for a moment. "There was another vampire here last eve, a dark haired one. Who is that?"

Louis frowned, "I am not sure. Are you sure he was not fair skinned, and blond? My maker came here, just to visit. Perhaps you saw him?"

"No," Legolas said, "this one was dark, hair as well as soul," he looked at Louis. "I didn't like him, not at all."

Louis started to worry. "Where did this vampire go off to?" he asked. Legolas shrugged, becoming more concerned himself as he saw Louis' _expression. "I know not. I thought at first it was you, but when I saw you in our room, I knew you two were not the same." Louis pondered for a moment, "This vampire either left when my maker did, or is resting here somewhere. We will know by this evening. Merlin must be aware of him, no being comes here without Merlin's knowledge."

Legolas nodded. They were distracted by Kid's "ride" to Titania. Both watched, fascinated. "There is a lot of magic amongst many of these students," Legolas remarked. "Most of which came from another school before this one," he added.

They reached the lunchroom, and Legolas searched for Nancy. He wondered how her classes had gone that day.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia waved to Pat happily, before going to get cheese and chicken posta. Lauraina followed while Cassandra looked over the professors for Agamemnon, hoping he'd not ask her about the class.

OBSCURE

Obscure looked back at Billy.

:I'll go with you: she said.:I don't know if I'd be able to watch:

She hopped off the bed, swishing her tail around her.

KID

Kid grinned at Prof. Pat and pointed at Ghost "So how did you meet up with him?"

Kid turned to see where Prof. Pat was looking "Yes, sir, those are my friends. Would you like to join us for lunch?"

PROFESSOR PATRICLES

"Ah...unfortunately, I have some things to do during lunch" Patricles apologized. "You know--the whole 'teacher' thing--and some other things" he noted, remembering that he ought to check on that wight source he had left lying around.

NANCY

Nancy had just reached the dining hall herself, having spent the past several minutes conversing with her professor and other students in her class. She spotted Legolas standing next to a rather pale-looking fellow that she presumed was the vampire roommate, and walked up behind them.

"Hiya, Legolas," she said cheerfully. Legolas was an elf after all, so she doubted she'd be sneaking up on him. "Is this your vampire roommate? You know, in my world, it's a common misconception that vampires can't use magic, but it's not true. Vampires use magic, it's just that it's a little different than your typical wizard."

MEADOWLARK

�So how's your first day here going? I see you've met my brother Frost? Where are you from," Meadowlark asked conversationally. She could see Lyssa's discomfort and sought to put her at ease.

LISSA

Shy little Lissa suddenly found herself staring up at a seemingly friendly girl who'd introduced herself as Meadowlark.

"Hi," Lissa said, smiling from behind a waist-length curtain of wavy bronze hair. She extended a long-fingered, delicately-boned hand, suddenly out of things to say. Her 'shy mode' had kicked in, and she wished Amy were there to berate it out of her.

Wow, she thought. This sucks...somehow, I can talk to Frost, but no one else. I hate being so shy...

Another student turned around with a plate of food and asked how Lark's day was, and Lissa found herself trying hard to find something intelligent to say that might start a decent conversation...

Amy was fine with dogs--as long as they didn't tell her they didn't like cats and threaten to kill her. If Keats said the dog was gentle and no one would hurt her here, she believed him. Besides, Lissa wouldn't let anything happen to her. She wasn't fifteen anymore, and she was much better with her abilities now than she had been that first time, even if she didn't want to admit it.

Everyone seemed to be going to lunch, so Amy filed out after them. Maybe Lissa would be there. She hoped she was--that way, she could berate the girl into actually talking to someone.

"So magic existing is a new concept for you. That's really interesting but I'm sure it's rather disconcerting for you at times. If you ever have questions about anything or want to talk feel free to seek me out. I take it Amy is your familiar? I find the

concept of familiars cool but I've never found an animal I was tempted to bond with. Where is Amy by the way," Lark asked to Lyssa. The new student seemed to be relaxing a bit which Lark took as a good sign.

Lissa smiled, relieved. Lark knew, then, that her mind was frozen, and seemed to be good at finding topics of conversation. This made things much easier.

"So far, today has been interesting. My cat has been telling me a few of her little stories, I've gotten the shock of my life with magic really existing, and I met Frost on the way here. If you knew anything about me, you'd be amazed I was even brave enough to speak." She grinned, her blue-green eyes reflecting her amusement. "Thank god for little black cats, I say. Amy was the one who told me I should say something. I'm glad I listened to her--now I have at least one friend, and I've now met his sister."

CASSANDRA

Cassandra moved to Agamemnon's side. Not hugging him was her display of self-control. "Of course you can sit with me. We can sit alone near the lake and eat. That way, you'll not sit with students, and I'll not sit with staff. Lets go and get food. How are your classes? I hope Merlin comes back soon. I can't see anything at all about the situation. They must be in another world already, and my sight doesn't go that far."

FROST

"Hi, Larky," Frost grinned. He looked at Lisa with a grin. "Don't worry. Lark isn't dangerous anymore. She used to throw fruit when we were little, but luckily for all of us, she's grown out of that."

SERPENSORTIA

"Vampires have lots of mind magic," Serpensortia agreed with Nancy, coming up behind the group. "I had Professor Pat's class, and loved it!" Her eyes sparkled, looking much the way her father did when he'd found a really wonderful book.

AGAMEMNON

Agamemnon smiled. Good idea. He took her hand as they went to get their >food. So far they've been going great. I think I have a few promising >students. What about you?

DORIAN AND NYMUE

Dorian had barely been able to concentrate on his last class. He decided to skip lunch. He was half demon after all and could choose not to eat. He walked as quickly as he could without running to Nymue's office hoping she was in. He had to know if Merlin was all right. Merlin was the closest person to a father that he'd ever had.

Nymue, who was half-sleeping rather than having lunch, jumped to attention when the halfling boy came in. "Is something wrong?"She asked quickly.

Dorian shook his head. But I'm worried about Merlin. Has he started on the quest yet? And I'm also worried about you. You don't look well. Would you like me to get you some tea. I confess I haven't been paying as much attention in my classes this morning. I know that's not good, but I'm worried. I really want Morgan's soul! That was the only sign of anger he would show.

CASSANDRA AND AGAMEMNON

"Things are interesting enough," Cassandra said to Agamemnon as they collected their plates full of food. "I'm sure things will get harder as I go along. At least the food is always good. The cook must love her job." She smiled.

The girl was looking forward to eating at the lake, for she always liked to be near water. The serpent about her neck lifted his head to hiss a greeting at the Greek commander. "Tantalus has been exploring during most of my classes." Cassandra said of her serpentine friend.

Agamemnon gave the snake a friendly pat and then walked with Cassandra to the lake. "I'm sure they will, but you're up to the challenge." He knew that the best decision he'd made so far was following his princess to her school. Now he had a class full of students to teach and she wasn't being tormented. He smiled. Now if they could just figure a way to undo that curse, life would be perfect.

NYMUE

Nymue gave a harsh laugh. "If Morgan only had a soul. Merlin left yesterday with that big elephant Arthur to carry him, and Wyn for magical aid. They have these awful dead creatures called wights to guide them. I have tried to see them in my dreams, but can't see them at all." She gave a tired sigh. "I can't get the proper sleep to do so."

LISSA

Lissa smiled. "Yeah, Amy is short for Amethyst, and I guess you could call her my familiar. I've had her since she was a kitten--three years now. I'm not sure where she---aaack!!!"

Lissa cut off as a large ball of black fur catapulted itself to her shoulder. :Hiya, Lissy-child!: the cat greeted her.

"Hi Amy," Lissa responded.

:Good, you're talking to someone,: the cat said. :That means I won't have to bully you into it.:

"Yes, Amy, I'm talking to someone. We were talking about you, actually. I was just telling them how glad I was you told me to talk to Frost."

The cat went still on Lissa's shoulder. :Really?:

"Really."

The cat beamed, rubbing her face along Lissa's before jumping down. :Thank you, Lissa. I'll leave you alone now.:

"Okay. Have fun."

The cat was trying to be casual, but Lissa knew she was touched. She grinned after the retreating cat, then turned back to Lark.

"That was Amy," she told her. "Did you see her eyes? They're the reason for her name." She grinned. "And back on the subject of magic, yes, it's a fairly new concept for me that it actually exists, so I appreciate the offer of help."

LARK

"Don't call me Larky. I grew out of that a long time ago. Glad you're here anyway even if you're going to tease me. I suppose you've seen Dorian," Lark asked Frost trying not to shudder at the memory of what her younger brother used to be like as a child. �I use to throw fruit for fun or when I was having a tantrum," Lark explained to Lyssa. "Your cat is beautiful. I was going to ask to rub her but she disappeared so quickly. Anyway, how did you bond with her exactly? Was there some sort of spell involved," Lark asked curiously.

DORIAN

"Ha! Well, then I'd like what's left of her. I've never tried to use my demonic abilities and it might as well be on someone like that. Let me make you a sleeping draught. It may help. But you know, I think Merlin will beat me to it if we ever get our hands on that creature." For once in his life, he wished his demonic side was stronger. Then he could just find Morgan and bring her there.

KID AND GHOST

"Well, if you say so. It's nice to meet you, sir." Turning to Ghost he asked, "Coming, Ghost?"

"Of course!" Ghost replied, "How about you, Luxor? Hungry? Or do you have to go with the Prof?"

NYMUE AND DORIAN

Nymue shook her head. "I thank you, Dorian, but I must stay awake for my final classes. Have you no need to eat lunch?" She pushed tangled hair back from her face, trying not to worry too much over Merlin. "Good luck finding Morgan. I tried to trap her in earth, but don't think it worked. I don't really believe she's even human anymore." She sighed.

"Probably not, but demon torture works on all sorts of creatures." As he said that, his face twisted into a snarl. He got himself under control. "No, I can wait till dinner and eat then. I don't see how you do it. I couldn't concentrate and I'm just a pupil." And of course, he thought to himself, Merlin meant a heck of a lot more to her than he did to Dorian.

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

Legolas turned at Nancy's approach. "Nancy! It's good to see you. How did you classes go?" He saw her steal a glance at Louis. "This is Louis de Lac, he's also studying Healing as well as he's my roommate. So I think between the two of us we'll get to graduate." He smirked, filling his plate with the usual vegetables, fruit and nuts. "Oh, Louis, this is Nancy Hepburn, she's studying the Dark Arts. Going to become a great wizard some day!"

Louis greeted Nancy warmly. He gave her a quizzical look at her comment. Queen Maeb had hinted at something similar the night before while he had assisted with Merlin. "How do you know this?" he asked curiously.

"Mind magic?" he said to Serpensortia's comment. "Are you referring to our ability to read minds and such? If so,that can be explained physcially. A vampire's senses are much more acute than another beings, hence mind reading and sensing another's presence is natural to us."

"Let's find a table, shall we?" Legolas intoned. "I'm interested to hear this myself."

LARK

"Get unused to calling me Larky. I don't want others following in your footsteps. Dorian is at least trying not to cause trouble although I'm not sure how long that will last. I'm going to try getting along with him since we have to go to school together," Lark said as she filled her plate with food.

"Any seating preferences?" she asked.

KEATS

Keats looked at Obscure ,surprised that she was leaving Billy's side. :Okey, dearest one, let's raid the food table. I'm sure Ghost is already there: he gave a cat grin. :I do so like that racoon.: he added, hurrying out the door. He would also be glad to see Louis again. He was used to Louis disappearing for hours at night, so Keats was not concerned about Louis and he not being able to spend time together while his owner was in classes. Keats was happy to have met all these wonderful new friends. He hadn't had many of those back home. Being strictly a house cat, he didn't meet any other animals.

:Anyone else care to join Obscure and I?: he asked at the doorway.

NANCY

"Oh they were interesting of course," Nancy replied. "Some of the material I'd heard about before, but I think I'm going learn a lot more, especially about simpler ways to do things." She glanced at Louis again. "Nice to meet you; I read a lot of things most people don't, so I know about vampires. Besides, my ancestor was a great friend of vampires.

"He's right about the mind thing, you know," she told Serpensortia. "That in itself helps with the magic thing, but just like humans, some have it more than others."

LUXOR AND PAT

Luxor panted.

:I'm free: he said. :Master has a lot of work to do, and it'd be best if I weren't around:

Pat gave Luxor a reassuring scratch behind the ears.

"You're never in the way--but you do need fun" he agreed, smiling.

NYMUE

Nymue frowned in an absent minded way. "Not that I care, but Merlin wouldn't you to allow your demonic side out or to even use it unless it were life or death." She supposed the old man was right, but when had she ever done the right thing, thus she had no right to talk in her own name.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia filled her plate with fruit, nuts, and some turkey and fish before following the elf, vampire, and Nancy to what ever table they wished to sit at. "Yes, the telepathy,"She answered Louis, "As well as the way you can unlock doors with the mind, make people do your will, fly, and do things with fire, among other telekinetic things. You may think of it as an unknown science, but so is our type of magic, really." She shrugged. "I did a extensive report on vampires for school long ago,"She smiled slightly.

FROST

"I've not seen your half-brother," Frost told Lark. He tried to stay away from the boy just much as Lark did. "And I'll call you Larky because I'm used to it."He gave a grin that said she couldn't stop him. Falling silent, he finished piling his plate full of food, allowing Lark and Lissa to finish their chat about cats or whatever.

CRYSTAL

"Of course I would love to." Crystal smiled as they walked out of the classroom. "I would think they would use those animals for the Healing class for animals." She said softly as they walked.

TITANIA, FROST, NARCISSUS

Titania popped up behind Frost.

"You grew taller than me" she noted. She pouted slightly, and then shrugged. "But that's nine years in a bucket, no?"

She had a leaf of lettuce in betwixt her teeth.

"Your brother was looking for you!"Frost said turning to Titania with a wide grin. "And I'm half human so I'll always be taller than you,"He gave the end of her hair a gentle tug. "You look great, though."

She gave him a half-smile.

"Thanks for reminding me" she said, slipping up.

Titania had once thought she was half-human, too...

"...Which brother would that be, again?"

"So how was your day," Narcissus asked his sister as he filled his plate. "The food is so good here."

Titania spun around, hearing the voice behind her.

"Oh--yes! The vegetables are very fresh" she noted, nodding her head. "And quite the variety"

"Yes, the vegetables are quite fresh. I must say things have been rather interesting since I've arrived. I like all the teachers I've met so far," Narcissus responded to Titania.

DORIAN

He sighed. "I know that, but I can't stop the way I think. Especially when someone hurts someone I care about. But of course, the bloody ************ fairies don't think I care about any damned thing!" He got himself under control with effort. "He told me there would be fairies in this school but I didn't realize how it would affect me. They all think I'm going to turn rabid in a moment's notice. I know what I did when I was little was wrong. But that's because no one in the fairy realm wanted to take the time to teach me right from wrong. Now, thanks to you all I know. I'm sorry, Nymue. I didn't mean to go off like that."

KID

With a final wave to Prof Pat, Kid turned back towards the food table. As he loaded his plate with a heap of fettucine and covered this with a creamy bacon alfredo sauce, he looked around the DH. He spotted Lauraina and went and sat near her. Without speaking he started eating and did not slow down until half of the plate was uncovered. At this point he filled a large glass from a pitcher of milk sitting nearby. Guzzling it all back he placed the glass down and dove back into the pasta, listening to the conversations going on around him. Ghost led Luxor towards the familiars table, looking around for Morig and the other familiars...

Elmo smiled at Clarissa's comment about using the animals in class, "You are the teacher. Ask for volunteers. I'm going to stay here and keep my eye on Billy," he told Obscure and Keats. "You relax and enjoy your meal, she'll be fine until you get back."

TITANIA, FROST

Titania thought about it for a bit.

"Yes--the teachers have all been fascinating" she agreed. "But some of the other students...some of them whoodle me--whoodle, whoodle!"

Frost blinked at Titania, after pointedly ignoring Lark's request not to be called Larky. "How many brothers do you have, anyway?" He raised a brow at the fae princess. "I only know about Narcissus." He grinned. Then turning back to Lark,"It doesn't really matter round here where we sit, I think. However, Larky, you've been here a bit longer, so..."He lifted one shoulder in an eloquent shrug, cracking another grin.

Titania squinched her eyebrows.

"Um...I don't remember. I guess There's one here, anyways..."

LAURAINA

Lauraina, who had been quiet as well, grinned over at Kid, after a few minutes. "Not very hungry,Huh?"

Her eyes sparkled as she looked, with amusement at his plate.

NYMUE

Nymue reached awkwardly to pat the boy's shoulder. "it is perfectly understandable, Dorian. Remember the faeries don't have very good judgment," She reminded with a chuckle. "How about the half goblins? Aren't you friends with them? And that Snape girl is dark enough...Serpensortia is it? She was quite interested in curses. Oh, have you met my vampire pet, Santino yet? He'll be sleeping now, but, naturally wakes in the evening." What with all the stress over losing Merlin, she'd totally forgotten the vampire.

NARCISSUS

Narcissus stared at Titania for a moment. What did she mean by that? "Have you made any friends yet? I haven't gotten a chance to get to know everyone yet," he said heading for a table. "Let's follow Narcissus," Lark said to Frost and Lyssa. "What does everyone have after lunch."

DORIAN

"Yeah, Darkin is cool. But it still pisses me off to be around all those simpering little...never mind. I'm sure some of them are nice enough. No, I haven't. How did you get a vampire pet?" He laughed a little. What would she come up with next.

TITANIA

Titania followed, ignoring the look of dawning incomprehension that Narcissus gave her.

She really wouldn't be able to explain it, anyways.

How could she talk about how she'd been hit on--by a revenant?

"I think so" Titania noted. She had never had too many friends at Hogwarts--mainly, she'd only had one. And he had become her boyfriend. And then broke up with her to go off to France.

Titania's brow brooded, complete with a pout. And then she took a hand and whacked herself in the face, acting out her expression being wiped clean by a cloth.

LOUIS AND LEGOLAS

Louis looked a little embarrassed at the attention. "It's very strange how the things I do in everyday life are considered as magic by some. I look at them as part of my being."

"Well, of course you would," Legolas stated. "It is part of your being. But, vampires are magical beings. My father always told me that. They are looked upon by the elvish race as somewhat like faeries or unicorns. Something we see as magical, but they were not created to be magical beings," he wrinkled his nose. "Am I making an iota of sense?" he said, laughing.

They all sat at a table and Legolas dug into his plate. "Nancy, you will learn more here. We all will. I'm glad you had a good morning,"he smiled at her.

"Everyone, this is Crystal. She is studying Healing also. Today is her first day," Louis said, introducing the faery.

"Serpensortia, who was your ancestor and what did he know about vampires? Louis asked curiously.

ASHLEIGH

"Sorta" Ashleigh butted in, mouth halfway full. "But even though I grew up the way I did, I still think that my whole family is messed up."

/That, and I never listened.../

Maybe if he had, whatever had happened to Billy wouldn't have happened.

NANCY

Nancy nodded as Ashleigh jumped into the conversation, then moved to remark to Louis's response. "I suppose it all depends on your point of view, really," she said. "There's magic, and then there's MAGIC. Some people might consider potion-making, for example, not real magic, but its effects can be far more deadly than any spell. Some in my world consider vampires cursed, while others agree with Legolas's point of view.

"Hello Crystal," she said. "Then she added, "Depends on which ancestor of Serpensortia's you're talking about. I'm acquainted with her family's history a bit myself, but of course she probably knows more than me."

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh mulled the thought over, and then forgot it.

"Are you talking about the teacher one? The Hogwarts guy?"

ARTHUR

Arthur couldn't help his reaction. He stared down at the bird with a rather blank _expression. It had been a long day and it wasn't likely to end soon. Maybe people didn't sleep in this age, he thought sarcastically to himself.

"Just when I thought we might be free," Arthur muttered to Wyn. He stared at the tiger waiting to see what would happen next. What else could he do after all. He had no magic to fight with and even if he did he'd hesitate to hurt an animal unless it became absolutely necessary.

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

"Is it natural magic that you are referring to?" Legolas asked Nancy. He looked at Louis. "It's a natural ability that you have. We elves have a certain amount of natural magic, it only goes as far as caring for nature, but it's there. We have a tendency to overlook it as magic also."

Both Louis and Legolas looked at Ashleigh as he broke in twice. Louis smiled. "We're talking about vampiric magic," he informed Ashleigh. "Any word on Billy?" he said softly to Ashleigh alone.

Both the elf and vampire laughed at Ashleigh's comment on his family. "What makes your family so disfunctional, Ashleigh?" Legolas asked.

"Are you enjoying your lunch?" he asked Nancy. He was glad to see her, he liked her company.

KID

Kid just grinned at Lauraina and got up to fill his plate again.

ASHLEIGH

Ashleigh shook his head at Louis, eyes downcast.

He then perked up at Legolas' question. Ashleigh never missed the opportunity to complain about how messed up his family was.

"Well", he started off, "the first part of it is that no one in the family's allowed to wear gold. It's a family rule, passed down from generation to generation" he noted. "And every year around Halloween, someone in the family gets chosen to be 'ritually changed', by having the local vampire coven drink their blood on the harvest moon. Billy's done it 3 times--geez..."

He decided to change the direction in which that was going.

"We aren't allowed to bring healers or priests to the house, because they're seen as people who wrongly allow life to continue when it shouldn't" he said. He had begun ticking off family quirks on his fingers.

"Every night of the new moon, the family has to go out in the middle of the woods, dressed up in dark masks and some traditional robe-thingy, and kill some forest creature. Then we bring it back to the house, and I don't even want to know where they go" he noted. "Billy would say that they drain the animals and then give the blood to the vampire covens nearby, and then the animals are...well, she never told me what they did with the animals" Ashleigh admitted. "Or maybe I forgot it on purpose."

Ashleigh seemed to have forgotten that other people were trying to eat. He certainly didn't have much of an appettite to spoil.

KID

Kid stopped eating and stared at his roommate! "And how much of this stuff do you do?" He asked Ashliegh. He was wondering what kind of wierd stuff was going to be happening in their room during the next few years.

ASHLEIGH

Asleigh blinked.

"None of it, of course. If there's one thing I'm grateful for learning, it's the 'lack of substance' spell--keeps me hidden every event" Ashleigh said, grinning. "If I didn't do that, they'd find me and drag me out on all those crazy events. Guuh" he shuddered, and looked at the food that he had taken from the lunch area, almost as if he didn't know what to do with it. He took one bite of his sandwich, and put it back down, sighing.

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia sat down, giving the new girl,Crystal who seemed to be another faerie, a nod. To Louis she said,"I'm not sure. My father studies the dark arts as do I, and vampires deal a lot in that in our area of the world because they aren't generally excepted. We with magic, never think it is special, because it is part of us, and one of our natural talents."She assured.

LISSA

Lissa laughed. "You threw fruit? God, that sounds just like my brother Jason! Me and Jason are adopted, of course--Alana is my parents' only birth-child... Anyway, back to the cat! You should have just reached out and scratched behind her ears, she'd have loved it, and she's used to strange people petting her all the time. Anyway, no, there was no spell with me and Amy, but there might actually be one, I don't know. My talents, actually, are moving things without touching them, which some might call 'telekinesis' or 'mind-magic', and talking to and taking care of animals of every sort, and I think that really helped with the whole bonding thing--well, that, and the fact that I've had Amy since she was a one-week-old, abandoned runt. I'm pretty much her world--her mother, her sister, her best friend, her Guardian Angel, the Giver of Attention and Bringer of the Food. Likewise, she is my everything--my daughter, my sister, my best friend, my responsiblity and my favorite plaything, the Bearer of Comfort when I've had a bad day, my baby girl."

Lissa smiled, then sort of faded into the background for a while, while conversations went on around her...

KID

" 'Lack of Substance' spell?" Kid repeated, "You 're gonna have to teach me that one. Tell us more about these 'events'. Was it serious or play-acting?" Relieved that Ashliegh wasn't going to be sacrificing animals and trying to get Louis to drink the blood or some other such thing, he dug back into his food. He really was interested. He had never met a revenant before.

NYMUE

"The vampire came here to cause trouble, but I took care of it, magically bonded him, and have decided to find him useful."Nymue smiled sweetly.

"Don't go talking of it all over, though."

ASHLEIGH AND KID.

Ashleigh shrugged.

"Well, you know--I skipped 'em all. I don't know for sure" he admitted. "But I'm pretty sure it was all real...our family has a history of being pretty tight with vampires, anyways" he said. "All thanks to some girls some centuries ago wanting to help out some woman with a son named Lester, or something like that." .

Kid looked up from his plate at that, "Lester?" He asked, with a glance towards Louis. "Was this Lester a vampire?"... .

"Never was made clear in the story, but I think he was" Ashleigh said. "You'd have to ask Billy what the right name...was..." .

Ashleigh smacked himself in the face and rubbed his forehead. .

It wasn't until a short while after that he realized he'd made himself bleed on his ear.

QUEST

From around a nearby pavilion roared a huge bengal tiger, bounding and leaping and gliding to a halt mere inches from the questing trio! With a great roar that shook the nearby walls and made the trees sway, as if from a great wind he asked, " Who be these strangers, Master? I see a rat with a bug on it's shoulder holding a bird for my lunch. May I eat now, Master?" The tiger licked his huge fangs with a long slavering tongue...

ASHLEIGH AND KID

"Hmmmm..." Kid was using a piece of bread to sop up the last of the delicious sauce. "Well, I hope Merlin and the others have some luck helping Billy so we can ask her." With a smile he got up and put his and on Ashliegh's shoulder. Giving it a squeeze he said, "I'm sure that they are having a great time and things are going smoothly for them and they will be back soon with a cure for your sister." With a final pat on Ashleigh's shoulder he turned to get some desert...

Ashleigh murmured a thanks, and looked at his plate.

"Hm."

Somehow, he doubted that the help that would be coming would be from Merlin. He had been rather pissed off at Billy the other day. He seemed--to Ashleigh, anyways--the type of teacher who loved to hold grudges.

QUEST

"I can assure you I know not of the monkey you speak. I'm on a quest for Merlin who�s a bird at this present time. We're looking for someone who can help undo the spell placed on Merlin by Morgan," Arthur explained. Why should he not be surprise to be spoken to by a tiger? Arthur looked down at the bird beseechingly but wondered what exactly he expected Merlin to do? He waited for the tiger's response hoping he hadn't angered the animal further. Hopefully the tiger wasn't hungry.

DORIAN

"Oh, of course not. That would not be good. Did Merlin know of it before he left? I'll have to come back tonight and meet your pet. Are you sure I can't get you anything to eat before lunch is Over?"

QUEST

The tiger growled and began to pace back and forth in front of the questing trio, still licking his chops. "Why are you here?" He growled."How did you get here in my master's garden? Does this have anything to do with that stupid monkey? I'll eat him! Stupid scampering, fruit throwing monkey! Always foolish and getting in trouble! No pride! No dignity! WHY ARE YOU HERE, RAT??" He roared this into Arthur's face!!

CRYSTAL

Crystal smiled at the girl who said hello to her as she sat down. She listened to the conversation as she ate. The conversation took her away from the thoughts of home and what happened.

LEGOLAS AND LOUIS

At first Legolas was intrigued by Ashleigh's "family problems" then he began to grow uncomfortable at the student's mention of vampires and how they were portrayed in his homeland.

"Um, I'm sure all vampires do not require this of others," he said, glancing to Louis. He was shocked to see Louis softly smiling. Obviously the vampire had either heard this tale or was not bothered by it.

At Legolas' glance Louis sighed. "It's okey, I nor my coven acts this way, and really it's history. It doesn't happen this way anymore." Louis was figuring that Ashleigh was exagerating, something everyone found out later. Louis felt badly for Kid, who looked worried for a while.

"Ashleigh, you family is not allowed to wear gold. Can they wear any other kind of metal?" Legolas asked.

"Lack of substance spell?" Louis asked Ashleigh.

NANCY

"That 'lack of substance' spell sounds a lot like some invisibility spells I know of," Nancy said. "Or charms, rather. I've never tried them; some are harder than others, and it comes more naturally to some. Serpensortia's right in that magic is considered a natural ability of wizards. This is especially true with the accidental magic that shows up in wizard children. Another example is a metamorphagus, or shapeshifter. Those are rare in our world, and they're born, not made. There might have been one in my family, but I'm not certain.

"Oh, and yes, lunch is good. Nothing beats Hogwarts, but this is great. Lots of variety."

LOUIS AND LEGOLAS

Louis nodded, showing he understood Nancy's explanation. "But, if you and Serpensortia are saying I was born with these magical qualities, I am afraid you are wrong. I was created as a vampire when I was in my 20's. Before that I was a mere mortal. No magical abilities at all. If these abilities became a part of me after my creation, that I can understand."

"Nancy was born with magical qualities, as are most of the Istari - uh, sorry, wizards," Legolas added, remembering previous conversations with Nancy in regards to her knowledge.

ASHLEIGH

"Umm...Silver. That's about it, actually" Ashleigh noted. "And rubies. I guess they're all paranoid about werewolves or something" Ashleigh noted.

"As for that spell...well. I don't know if I'm actually allowed to teach it to anyone" he said, twiddling his fingers. "It's, um...kind of a family trade thing."

NANCY

"Well, there's more than one way to make yourself invisible," Nancy told Ashleigh. "I'm not offended if you don't tell. It's not as if I couldn't do it if I tried. It's just never come up, really."

She glanced at Louis. "Magic being transferred is rather rare. All humans have magic, it's just that some have more than others. Perhaps the conversion brought out your innate magical abilities. And yes, I was born with mine. My parents said I was knocking things over before I learned to walk."

QUEST

Arthur was rather relieved none of them would be dinner for the raging tiger. Something had worked out for them today. Would miracles never ceased. Arthur smiled at the mention of guest quarters. He was so tired he didn't even wonder what disasters would befall the party the next day. Negativity wouldn't help the situation anyway.

Merlin had been studying the Buddha in complete awe, trying to formulate what should be said to such a god, when the stupid tiger dared to call Arthur a rat. "You are as blind as you are impudent, and trust me, we'd not digest well,"He croaked at the tiger in the only voice he could manage at the moment. He glared at the beast's nose as if he'd like to bight it. He would've done if not for his bound wings. Curse Morgan LaBitch!

The Buddha merely smiled pleasantly.

"Pay no mind to the Tiger--he has always been upset at anyone born of the Rat for what Rat did to his cousin" the Buddha said.

The storm god nodded, and glared at the Tiger.

They never said that animal's name in the heavens

"Born of the rat?"Merlin blinked. Is that why he called Arthur a rat? "Well the boy can't help his birth year."

"And their is no year of the bug!"Wyn piped up indignantly.

"Are you willing and or able to assist us in our quest?"Merlin croaked out to the Buddha.

"Indeed. I am most willing to aid you to get to your destination. Unfortunately, this place that you seek goes down a path that I do not know...very difficult, you see."

The Buddha looked on without changing his expression.

"So you're telling me that even a god doesn't know what the hell we're in for?"Merlin asked and laughed. "I always said Morgan was no longer human. Any idea how to kill her while we're at it?" He laughed again, seeming quite amused with the whole thing.

"Indeed--these...dimensions that exist outside of our own...they are not the path. Each god reigns in his own place and time; this is my home...and out there, I am out of Place."

SERPENSORTIA

Serpensortia ate silently, seeming bored with the conversation going on around her. Lauraina sat quietly beside Kid looking interested and mildly shocked as the chatter progressed.

QUEST

"My gods left Brittan which is why I was going to go on a quest for the powerful objects to call them back. This problem got in the way though,"Merlin said sounding slightly confused. "This wasn't supposed to happen, you know." He glared round at Arthur. "Blasted evil creature, Morgan!"

"Too bad cursing her existence won't kill her," Wyn chuckled.

"So where do we go now, and when do we get to sleep?" Wyn asked the god looking interested.

The Buddha smiled.

"We shall have your needs tended to first, of course. You cannot begin a journey without a good night's rest."

The storm god, as if on cue, signaled for them to follow him.

"Your quarters are this way."

NYMUE

"Sure, bring me something if it'll make you happy," Nymue laughed. "Yes, Merlin knew. He's been distracted, though. Why, do you think he'd care?" She then frowned. "Not that kind of pet,Silly boy."She tossed a ink well at his head, laughing.

LARK

"Does your brother Jason have magic also or were you adopted from different families? Can Amy talk to other people as well or just you? I'll rub her the next time she comes around. I'm surprised she isn't trying to eat from your plate or at least waiting to be fed. I'm sure you wouldn't allow her to actually eat from a plate you were using. I never found an animal I was interested in long enough to bond with it the way you did with Amy. How did you find her," Lark asked.

DORIAN

He laughed, caught the inkwell from the air and tossed it back at her. "I know that." He then ran out of the room to get her something to eat. He came back chuckling. "Just had to be sure, you know. I have to protect you while he's away." He broke into laughter.

NYMUE

Nymue laughed in return. Merlin is gone and I don't feel whole," She said with a sigh as she began to eat. "Not being able to scry on him doesn't help. At least he has Arthur with him, and that one always had the gods own luck. Now what are you planning to keep yourself busy with?"She asked, looking up from the plate.