Chapter 9: On Wings of Destruction

A blinding light exploded and Bloom found herself forced to cover her eyes. As she stood there, protecting her sensitive eyes from the sudden illumination, she suddenly realised that she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. As far as she could remember, the last thing she did was going to bed.

"Little sister. It is good to see you again," came a soothing voice.

"Daphne," Bloom realised joyfully and lowered her hands. She looked around, noticing she was standing, or rather floating, in the middle of a vast dark nothing. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"Indeed," her undead sister confirmed, her radiant form gliding through the dark. "Less taxing on your sleeping mind to only have the two of us".

"Makes sense, I guess," Bloom said, studying her hands. They were very lifelike. Usually, stuff in her dreams was very vague looking. "Hey, how come I can hear you so clearly? Last time you walked into my head while I was sleeping, I only got one fourth of the message and almost set my bed on fire".

"Yes. Those were... Less than favourable events," Daphne said, looking a bit embarrassed at the memory. "But I bring good news in that regard. Our meeting in Domino Castle and by Lake Roccaluce have strengthened our connection, which in return has made contacting you much easier. And I'm sorry I haven't done so sooner. Time easily slips by when I sleep".

"I hear you. I'd be wasting half my life sleeping if I didn't have an alarm clock," Bloom said, rubbing her neck. The feeling was kinda fuzzy, not quite how things felt in real life, but close enough.

"So, now that I am here, how has life been treating you, Bloom?" the ghost questioned.

"Well, now that I'm going to be queen, I have started what Avalon calls royal studies," Bloom started. "So I can catch up on all those titbits and stuff that are so important for us royals to know".

"Do not fret if you have trouble with it," Daphne advised. "It is difficult to remember such a myriad of complicated rules".

"Yeah. Faragonda has also officially become my guardian until I'm recognised as an adult by the societies," Bloom continued. "I wish my parents could count, but they are back on Earth". Bloom thought for a moment. "Hey, what was my... That is, our parents like?"

Daphne looked pensive for a couple of moments. "They were good people who wanted the best for us," the spectre finally stated. "I can show you one of my memories, if you want me to".

"Really? I'd love to," Bloom said.

"Alright. But not too much," Daphne said as she lifted her hands. "The point of sleeping is resting, not having your head turned into a theatre".

The darkness around them was torn apart and Bloom suddenly found herself walking down a hallway. That is, Bloom was not in control, she was simply walking down the warm hallway without any choice.

"Do not be afraid, little sister," she heard Daphne's voice say. "You are experiencing my memories from the only viewpoint I have. My own".

Through windows in the walls, Bloom could see snow falling from the skies, a winter wonderland stretching out towards the horizon.

"Domino," Bloom realised.

"Yes. At its prime," Daphne said. "It was a beautiful place. Cold and rugged, but with an undeniable charm. I miss it so. Its frozen husk is but a grim mockery of its lost glory days".

"Don't worry. I'll do what I can to fix our kingdom;" Bloom promised.

"Oh, little sister," Daphne sighed, somewhere in-between joy and sadness. "Many great magi have tried to do so and, quite obviously, all have failed so far. But I applaud you for desiring to restore our ancient realm".

Bloom, locked inside Daphne's body, continued her path down the hall and stopped by the door. She could hear voices from inside the room. One, the warm but firm voice of a man, said: "She's got your fiery hair".

"And your mother's lovely eyes," cooed a female voice.

Bloom, or rather Daphne with Bloom inside her, peeked into the room. It was a nicely decorated room, warm and comfortable, with a crib in one corner. Around it stood two people, whom Bloom immediately recognised from the picture she had seen in the abandoned castle of Domino. The woman with the fiery hair and the brown-haired man. The memory froze and Daphne's crystal clear voice said: "Our parents. Your birth parents, Queen Mariel Kadmos and King Oritel Kadmos. They were so happy to have you, Bloom. It is a shame you should grow up without knowing them". The memory faded and Bloom was returned to the darkness.

"Wait," Bloom said. "There's still one more missing. The man from the picture".

"Ah, so you noticed. Yes, that would be the prince," Daphne said slowly, her face falling into a melancholic expression. "He fell not long after I died, shortly before the Ancestral Witches' attack on our realm. Our parents were lost not long after. It's a... Horrible story".

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." Bloom began apologetically.

"It's okay, little sis. You have the right to be curious about our history," Daphne said comfortingly. "Some wounds are just... Very fresh for me. My long periods of sleep leave me little time to work out the... Issues that have cropped up after the dark fate of our family. But I hope that I can tell you everything in time. I just ask that you give me the time to do so".

"I understand," Bloom said.

"I figured you would be forgiving on this subject," Daphne said happily, as she faded into view again. She cocked her head, as if straining to hear something. "It would seem that there is quite the ruckus in your vicinity. I advise you to investigate it. We'll talk again later, little sis".

"See you later, Daphne," Bloom said and waved, as everything blurred. The royal redhead opened her eyes and found herself in her bed in Alfea. Outside the window, the sky was grey and drops of rain pelted the windows.

Not far away, probably in the common room, she could hear insistent knocking and the even more insistent voice of Griselda saying: "Open this door now. This is a serious matter".

Bloom hurried out of her bed and walked, clad only in her pyjamas, out into the common room in order to investigate the sudden commotion. "Everything okay, Miss Griselda?"

"Hopefully, but I doubt it," the deputy headmistress said, tapping her foot against the floor. She knocked again, and the door was opened by a very tired looking Musa who was clad in everyday clothes, though most of it put on wrong, indicating that she had dressed herself in a hurry.

"Was issit?" she groggily questioned.

"Large amounts of smoke appears to be billowing from your clustermate's window, which I find due reason for concern," Griselda said and made her way in, were after she started knocking insistently on Techna's door. "Miss Clearwater, open up immediately".

Seconds later, a google wearing and slightly confused Techna opened the door. "What, is it already time for room inspection? 'Cause I haven't cleaned mine yet". From her room, strange chucking, bubbling and gurgling could be heard.

"No. I am however concerned by the massive amount of smoke that seems to be coming from your room," Griselda said impatiently. "What exactly is going on?"

"Smoke? There's no smoke," Techna said surprised. After a moment, she added: "But it could be the steam. I mean, that could look like smoke, right?"

"Alright, then why is there so much steam coming from your room?" Griselda sighed frustratedly, rubbing her forehead.

"I'm glad you asked. I just finished my new cooling system," Techna said excitedly and moved back into her den, with Griselda, Musa and Bloom following. As they entered the cluttered and junk filled room, Griselda's face stiffened, Musa gasped and took a step back, while Bloom just stared and asked: "Techna. What is that?"

The scarred girl's computer had tripled in size and was rumbling and shaking like it was attempting to blend rocks. From its sides, shaking and vibrating pipes stretched into the wall, which Techna had apparently knocked a couple of holes in. Another pipe lead to the open window, from which steam constantly poured.

"See, as I increased my computer's power, memory and so on, I had more and more trouble keeping it cool," Techna explained. "So I rerouted water from the school through it and then pumped the resulting steam out of the window, were it won't harm anyone".

"Alright, where to begin," Griselda started while pinching the bridge of her nose. "First of, what gave you the idea that you could knock holes in the walls and use the school's water supply for this?"

"Well, the scholarship program promises to cover for water and such," Techna said with a shrug.

"I'm pretty sure this completely mangles the spirit of the rule, but I'll have to discuss that with the headmistress," Griselda conceded. "Secondly, are you sure this is safe?"

"I am completely certain," Techna said. Suddenly, the explosive sound of shattering porcelain and tearing metal could be heard from the bathroom. "Almost completely certain," Techna continued without missing a beat.
"What now?" Griselda groaned and hurried to the bathroom. Inside, the toilet, shower head and sink had exploded, massive amount of steam and water flowing from the pipes into the room.

"Okay, maybe it's pumping a little bit of steam back into the water pipes," Techna slowly theorised, rubbing her neck.

Another series of explosions rang out, followed by Stella shrieking: "DEAR SOLARIS, IT'S EVERYWHERE!"

"A lot of steam?" Techna suggested a bit embarrassed. "Maybe even into the sewer pipes and such?" Another series of explosions and shrieks rang out, as several unsuspecting porcelain appliances were blown to kingdom come. As Techna noted the look Griselda was now sporting, she continued with: "I'll go turn the computer off now".

"Sounds like a brilliant idea, Miss Clearwater;" Griselda added, her voice filled with the promise of disciplinary action.

...

Later that morning in the dining hall, the girls sat at a table. Stella and Aisha were both staring at Techna as if the girl herself was a bomb that might go off at any second, while the scarred girl was reading a copy of the school's rules. "Huh," she stated. "It really does say that students are not allowed to do major reconstruction of any part of Alfea without explicit permission".

"How often does a rule like that need to be enforced," Musa pondered and took a sip of water.

"Enough for there to be a rule, not enough for it to be common knowledge," Flora said. "At least Faragonda took it reasonably well. Then again, the damage is somewhat easy to fix".

"Right. Though I doubt anything short of, like, major cleansing magic will get the smell away," Stella muttered. "So, what's your next great project?"

"Probably a better way to direct steam," Techna said while looking speculative. "The water based cooling system idea is sound enough on paper. I just need ensure that every toilet in the building doesn't turn into a frag grenade every time I turn on my comp".

"That would totally be an improvement," the Solarian princess added with a hint of venom. She suddenly lightened up and said: "Hey Bloom".

"Hey," the redhead muttered in response.

"Something wrong?" the blonde asked concerned.

"I think something has gone horribly wrong with the breakfast," Bloom stated and stared at the plate she put down. A couple dry biscuits lay on the piece of dinnerware.
"SeFogelia is down with something magic-resistant," Musa explained. "So the staff whipped out some nutri-crackers".

"Nutri-crackers?" Bloom questioned, eyeing her breakfast with suspicion.

"They are filled with all the essential nutrients, vitamins and such," Flora explained. "Very popular on Limphea for their value as field rations".

Carefully, the redhead took an experimental bite. She stuck out her tongue, proclaiming: "They taste like sawdust".

"Yep. They compete with roos for the title of blandest taste possible," Techna commented.

"Nutri-crackers and roos are both very healthy options when it comes to choice of dinner," Flora said defensively.

"What would happen if you put slices of roo on a nutri-cracker?" Musa speculated.

"Some sort of blandness singularity no doubt," Bloom said and tried to wash it down with water. "Bleh. That just made it worse. It's sticking to my tongue".

"You are acting like children," Flora sighed, before taking a bite of her own nutri-crackers.

"Anyway, how harsh was your punishment?" Bloom asked, pushing her dish away from herself.

"Eh, not bad, actually," Techna said. "Have to help Palladium with something on the grounds. Most likely some weeding".

"Well, now you can add 'almost killed people with a crazy invention' to the list of things you've done," Musa added with a teasing smirk.

"I know you're making fun of me," Techna countered with a smile. "But to be honest, it ain't the first time".

"You're kidding me," Musa said slightly shocked.

"Nope. Once almost killed a friend of mine. Involved a home-made toaster, a re-purposed vacuum-cleaner and a bag of frozen peas," Techna said.

"What happened?" Stella asked.

"It's a sordid tale," the scarred girl replied. "Hey, aren't you going to finish you food, Bloom?"

"What, those biscuit things? No, starving until noon seems preferable," the redhead said. The comment caused Flora to sigh and shake her head.

"No, I meant that juicy fruit," Techna continued, pointing at a deep crimson apple-esque thing that had appeared on Bloom's tray.

"I don't remember bringing that," the redhead said suspiciously.

"I don't remember you bringing it, either," Aisha said. "In fact, it wasn't there last I checked".

Carefully, Bloom extended a hand and tried to poke the sudden fruit. Her finger passed right through. And then the thing suddenly multiplied. The redhead withdrew her hand in shock, as the fruit continued doubling until an entire pile filled the dish and surrounding tray. "What the..."

"He he, got ye, lassie," Wizgiz said as he walked up to them. "I was just testing me latest invention. An illusion projector". In his hands was what resembled a wooden video recorder, with crystals sticking out of the top.

"I didn't take you for the inventive type," Musa stated. "No offence".

"None taken, lassie," Wizgiz replied. "Truth be told, I'm not that handy with artificing. I sometimes get ideas however and DuFour is always happy to help me out. Right now, we're stress testing it. Ye have a good day now". Then he sauntered off, eagerly looking for more opportunities to test out the experimental artefact's applications.

The doors to the dinner hall opened and Avalon walked in, a bouquet of brightly coloured flowers in hand. He scouted the hall, before lifting his arms in the air, small golden bubbles manifesting around the flowers and carrying them through the air, one for each student and teacher. "I wish you all a great day," the paladin declared as the students stared at the unexpected gifts.

"Do you think he got a raise or something?" Techna quietly asked the others.

"He probably just wants to be nice to us," Bloom commented as she happily inspected her flower.

"Wow. Yer must be in a good mood," Wizgiz commented as he sniffed the flower that had flown over to him. "And they do smell very nice. Thanks for sharing".

"I'll admit, I had Palladium help me pick the right ones out," Avalon said as he headed for the teachers table. "Flowers aren't my speciality, to be honest, but I do like the occasional floral fragrance". As he passed by, he stopped by Bloom and said: "By the way, do you have time for more studies tonight?"

"Sure. I got nothing better to do," Bloom replied.
"Most excellent," the paladin said and continued towards his seat.

"Ah right, those princessology studies," Techna said. "How are they going, by the way?"

"Well, I am progressing. I think," Bloom said. "It's just... A lot to wrap my mind around".

"Yeah, I can see how it would be kind of overwhelming," Stella said sympathetically.
"Bloom, do not worry. You are a royal by blood and as soon as you get started, you will find that it comes naturally to you," Aisha said supportively.

Techna and Musa both rolled their eyes at the statement.

...

About half an hour later, Bloom found herself in Avalon's class. The middle-aged warrior of light patiently awaited the start of class.

As the clock shifted and the class officially began, Avalon immediately began the lecture with: "Now then, as has been revealed to you in earlier classes, magic is much more than what many people assume. In fact, there is a trend of people thinking that the rules of magic are set in stone, unchanging. But to imagine it to be so, is to forget the history of the worlds. What we call the rules or laws of magic could easily be but a fragment of the complete picture. To understand this, to really see how much things can change, I will give you a history lesson". He began pacing. "The earliest records of magic does not describe the techniques or formulas of the magic, rather, magic was described as forcing one's will on the world. This is an apt description, but as you all must be aware of by now, magic is much more than that. Most likely, the first type of magic was the spontaneous kind, were flaring emotions caused bursts of magic in one form or the other. These people knew not of knacks and spells and the like. All they knew was that some people could sometimes make things happen. Some saw it as a curse, some as a blessing, but most assumed it to be just that". He took a brief pause to adjust his clothes. "We now from later, much more complete records of the start of disciplinary magic. That is the type of magic paladins like me utilize. It requires great force of will and training, and focuses on creating very specific magical effects through repetitious training and patterns that become ingrained in your memory. Again, no knacks. These early paladins, monks and such were often quite convinced of the superiority of their magic, that this disciplined approach was better than the emotional bursts. Why, when the first fairies started appearing, they were looked down upon as unstable and flighty. But the first faeries learned of knacks and learned to harvest their emotions. An easier path than the one of discipline. And so, in the end there were simply more faeries and they proved the undeniable potential of their magical arts. Then there were of course the results of trying to utilize a combination of the two types of magic. Do you start to see a pattern, students?"

Several hands shot into the air.

"Camilla?" Avalon asked a pink-haired student.

"That every time everyone thinks they know how magic works, someone finds something new?" the girl suggested.

"Exactly. Much like everything else in the world, the quest to learn never ends," Avalon continued. "And just when everyone thought they had figured magic out, witches showed up. As people tried to codify the laws of magic, they found they had to make a dozen exceptions to every rule. Magic is a wondrous and well-known force, but it is still a mystery to a degree. I suppose what you should take from my lesson is that you should keep an open mind about magic. There may still be types of magic that have yet to be discovered and codified. But as for your time in Alfea, we will do our best to teach you all what is known".

In her seat, Techna began biting her lip, slowly mulling over an idea that had taken hold in her mind. A smile tugged at the edge of her mouth.

...

After Avalon's class ended, they moved on to Palladium's, which was being held in the banquet hall. The day's lesson would apparently require some space, but the rain continued to pelt the school, preventing the grounds from being used.
"Good to see you all," the once brunette now blonde elf greeted them. "Today, we will train in peripheral knacks. Ah, I see your questioning looks". He coughed lightly and continued. "Peripheral knacks are... Well, how to put this, closely related to your knacks. No, more accurately, they are things closely associated with your knack. You will find that much like you have an easy time operating within your knack, you will also have an easier time working with your peripheral knacks. Yes, Bloom?"

"Well, I have fire as a knack," Bloom started. "Would my peripheral knacks be stuff like smoke or heat?"

"Those are very good examples," Palladium said. "And yes, you are correct. Many even use peripheral knacks without thinking much about it. But what we are going to work with is what is termed removed peripheral knacks. That is... Hmm, the best way to describe it would probably be that it means working with your peripheral knacks without your actual knack being present. Let's see... Well, let just go with the example Bloom just gave us. If she were to work with her removed peripheral knack, she would have to create, maintain and disperse heat without there being any fire involved. As another examples, it could be somebody with a knack for dirt having stone as a peripheral knack. Sometimes, it involves finding new applications for the knack. As might be increasingly obvious, this is a very fluid and hard to pin down subject. What this and following classes will do is help you experiment and figure out what you can easily work with. Techna, you have a question".

"So, my knack is tech and I primarily use it for making purely non-magical machines," the scarred girl began. "But could my knack translate into, for example, artificing?"

"An intriguing question," Palladium said. "Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you. Only experimentation will reveal the answer to you. But I will say it sounds plausible".

Techna rubbed her chin, a speculative smirk on her face, as she considered the elf's words very carefully. The inspiration that had hit her began to bloom into a full-blown idea.

"As if she needed a teacher's permission to experiment," Musa quietly commented from somewhere not far from her.

...

After classes had ended, Techna hurried to the library, where she stayed for a while, engrossed in various books on, among other things, artefacts and paladins. It was while perusing the books that her friends found her.

"Okay, I'll bite. What's got you all, like, hitting the books?" Stella asked as she, Bloom, Musa and Flora sat down by the round table Techna was studying at. "Because neither Avalon nor Palladium gave us any homework today".

"I'm trying to come up with how to make a wing pack," Techna answered, not looking up from the book she was reading, titled 'The Flying Book'.

The other girls exchanged a few glances.

"Alright, so maybe that sentence will make sense to us if you could start at the beginning," Bloom suggested. "Because I don't know what a wing pack is and I don't think the others do either".

"It's an idea I came up with," Techna explained. "Look, a couple of days ago, me and Databoy were on a VR date. We flew through a virtual Zenith using jetpacks, dancing in the slowly falling snow. It was awesome and very romantic".

"It sounds like you participated in a cheesy music video," Musa snarked.

"But it got me thinking. See, a jetpack is an awesome concept, right?" the scarred girl asked them.

"Indeed. But very impractical," Flora said. "The exhaust can cause considerable damage to the wearer and fuel efficiency is a concern".

"And magical antigrav tech doesn't work either," Musa added. "To actually fly and maintain a decent speed, you still need a lot of extra equipment to fuel and power it. It's just more practical to install it in aircycles or cars".

"Right. But here's the thing. There are still people who fly around on their own with magic," Techna explained. "And that's where my inspiration comes in. I thought of it while in Light Knight's class. Remember, Light Knight can fly by using magical wings. In fact, it's an iconic paladin ability. What if that ability could be used in a wearable pack?"

"If it was practical, wouldn't somebody have, like, done it before?" Stella speculated.

"I read up on it. There have been a few attempts, but nothing major," Techna said, tapping one of the books. "The biggest problem is that paladins learn to adjust the wings in flight to compensate for environmental factors and nobody's been able to make an enchantment that can automatically do that. Thing is, with modern technology, it should be a cinch to create a program or something similar that can register the environment and make the changes on the fly".

"I'm pretty sure that's easier said than done," Musa commented.

"Probably. But it's worth a shot," Techna said. "First step is stalking Avalon and scanning him to get the readings I need".

Glances were exchanged once again.
"Techna, I'm pretty sure that when the very first step of your plan involves stalking a teacher, you might want to go with another plan," Musa said. "Like, you could for example, and this may be a revolutionary idea, just ask Avalon to demonstrate his ability to fly".

"I know," Techna said matter-of-factly. "But since he inspired me, I kinda want to surprise him. I've already convinced Tune to help me out".

"The really orderly pixie who's all about proper behaviour?" Bloom questioned. "How did you convince her to help you with stalking?"

"Turns out, she has a slight weakness for scientific studies," Techna replied with a smile.

...

"Please remind me, how you convinced me to do this," Tune flatly requested as she followed Techna out into the grounds. The rainy clouds had been blown away by the wind, leaving only the slowly sinking sun to reflect in a multitude of puddles of water.

Techna stopped for a moment, trying to recall the line she had memorised for the occasion. "Because we have the chance to make a scientific breakthrough that will help everyone advance in the field of artefact creation," she recited and eyed Tune. The pixie looked like she put all of her effort into not drooling.

"I feel so used," she muttered, as she followed the grinning scarred girl.

"Alright, let's split up. Word through the grapevine is that Light Knight likes taking walks at this time of day," Techna said and looked around. "You fly that way, I go this way. If we see him, we use these handy-dandy magic scanners to get an impression of how his magic works. And we stay in contact through these nifty Red Fountain earpieces".

"How did you get your hands on those?" Tune asked suspiciously.

"They sell out of the surplus and outdated goods. Databoy knew I was looking for something like this, so he gave me a tip that Red Fountain was upgrading and selling the older, junkier ones," Techna revealed. "But they're good enough for me".

The two of them split up and Techna tried to move inconspicuously through the grounds. Which meant whistling a lot while taking really long, overly 'sneaky' steps. Rounding a corner of the school, she suddenly noticed Avalon smelling flowers.

"Techna to Proper, I repeat, Techna to Proper. I found the target," she eagerly and quietly said.

"You do realise that I already have a name that sounds like a nickname?" Tune dryly stated back. "And it would be much more 'proper' for you to use it".

"I know, but this is much more fun," Techna replied.

"Also, I see Avalon too," Tune continued. "He's over by the banquet hall, right?"

"If by 'over by', you mean on the opposite side of," Techna continued. "He's over where Palladium had those new flowers planted".

"What? That can't be right," Tune said a bit confused.

Then Techna's phone went off and the scarred girl immediately rushed back around the corner and pressed herself against the wall. She took the call and a peek, noting that Avalon was still busy with the flowers.

"Hello," she said quietly into the phone.

"Hi, it's Musa. You asked me to tell me if I saw Avalon inside. Well, he's in the dinner hall right now".

"Huh, how odd," Techna stated. "He's already two places outside".

"What?" came Musa's voice from the phone.

"Hang on, Bloom's calling," Techna said as she noticed blinking on the phone. She pressed a button, adding the redhead to the call. "Hey, Bloom. Whassup?"

"You mentioned you were going to... Ugh, stalk Avalon," Bloom groaned. "Well, he just came by and said he had a hole in his schedule which he offered to spend with me and my royal studies. Just wanted you to know so you wouldn't waste time running all over the school trying to find him".

"What? But Avalon's in the dining room," Musa said surprised.

"And two places outside," Techna stated. "Seems like he's everywhere today".

"But how is that possible?" Bloom speculated.

"Dunno. Tons of twins maybe," Techna suggested. "I mean, normally I wouldn't mind, the guy's seriously good looking. But it's kinda inconvenient. I mean, do I have to scan all of them now?"

"I don't know, Techna," came Musa's dry voice over the phone. "But then again, I don't have a lot of experience with stalking and scanning people".

"Maybe you should just wait for Avalon to be in one place again. Or, as you said, just start scanning them all," Bloom suggested.

"I tried scanning the Avalon on my end. Nothing but very faint magic," Tune reported through the earpiece. "Indistinguishable from the background".

"Hang on, Stella's calling," Techna said and added the Solarian princess to the call.

"Hi. I just want to help you out and tell you that Avalon is, like, down in the greenhouse," the blonde informed her.

Techna sighed and said: "It's going to be one of those days, isn't it?"

...

"So, what will we be looking at today?" Bloom eagerly asked as she entered Avalon's office.

"Well, I have gotten my hands on an overview of your family's lineage," Avalon said and turned to a bookshelf. He withdrew from it a large book, big and thick enough that if it could double as a riot shield, which he placed on the table with an audible thump.

"That's a lot of lineage," Bloom commented as she eyed the book.

"Indeed," Avalon agreed and opened the book. "Most royal lineages take up considerable space. It's due to the constant cross entanglements with other royals, nobles and such. Causes quite the complicated mess. Now, I've done some preparatory work and I think we should focus on those relatives who are still alive today". He flipped through the pages. "Your family will be one of your most important resources, Bloom, but family in these kinds of circles can be a fickle and troublesome thing. Some might have more to gain by backstabbing you, and there are those that will, but others will be all too eager to help, in order to advance their agendas. What we will try to do is sort through the different people and try to create a basic assessment of them all".

"And will I have to remember it?" Bloom asked with rising dread.

"Well, no," Avalon admitted. "But it is very much recommended that you do".

Bloom sighed deeply.

...

"For fucks sake. This one's a bust too," Techna grumbled as she tried to scan another Avalon. What had first been a sort of exiting scavenger hunt was now turning into quite the frustration-filled evening, as Avalon after Avalon turned out to have all the magic of a dead hamster.

"I thought this was ridiculous when you actually convinced me to stalk one of your teachers," Tune, who had joined up with the scarred girl, stated. "But now this whole outing has just become bizarre".

"Well, this isn't working," Techna sighed and shut off the scanner. "Maybe I can just use the instructions from the book. It was pretty detailed, shouldn't be too hard to follow".

"Right. Improvising a complicated spell reserved for elite warriors," Tune echoed. "Not too hard at all".

"Well, Databoy sent me a copy of a program that's used by unmanned drones," Techna said. "So if I can just modify it a bit, it should be usable in my wingpack".

"Should being the keyword," the grey-haired pixie pointed out.

"Hang on, cell's ringing," the magenta-haired girl said and pulled the phone from her pocket. "Yellow".

"Yellow what?" came the reply from the other end.

"Ah, Flowergirl. What's up?" Techna jovially asked.

"Well, I was reading up on artefact creation, both because what you said made me genuinely curious and because I do not wish to see you blow yourself or anyone else up," Flora explained. "And I stumbled upon a thesis on the creation of standardized artefact enchantments. Guess who wrote it".

"Well, obviously it isn't you, since you would just flat out tell me," Techna continued. "Is it DuFour?"

"No. Griffin, the headmistress of Cloud Tower," Flora said. "I would suggest that you give her a call and set up a meeting. She might possibly be able to give you a few pointers that will be essential if you want to continue with you project without any more destructive setbacks".

"Alright," Techna replied happily. "Thanks for the tip, Flowergirl. Maybe this won't turn into such a disaster after all".

"One can only hope," the brunette responded. "See you later".

"Laters," the scarred girl said and ended the conversation. Then she flipped through the phone's phonebook and called Cloud Tower.

...

"Thanks for picking me up, Databoy," Techna said. She was sitting on the backseat of Timmy's aircycle, the two of them driving to Cloud Tower.

"Well, what better way to spend a free evening than helping out my girlfriend?" he said. "Besides, I'm curious to see if you can get this idea of yours off the ground".

"Was that an intentional joke, because if it was, good one?" Techna asked with a chuckle

"Heh, well, yeah that was intentional," Timmy admitted. "By the way, the tune up you did on the aircycle works like a charm".

"Hey, it was rattling like every part was about to fly off, and let's be honest, you're more into programming than mechanics," Techna added.

"Eh, guilty as charged," Timmy replied with a shrug.

Minutes later, they came to a stop outside the great structure of Cloud Tower and made their way inside. The two of them were escorted to Griffin's office, where the pale headmistress showed up not long after.

"Greetings. I hope the wait wasn't too long," she said as she sat down in her chair.

"Not at all," Techna replied. "So, you wrote a thesis on artefacts?"
"Straight to business, I see," Griffin noted with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I have quite the expertise in it. I wouldn't call myself revolutionary, but I've created a new artefact or five in my lifetime". As she noted Techna's excited look, she added. "And I can guess that you have come up with some idea for a new artefact that you now want to create".

Techna didn't reply, she just started rapidly nodding her head, eyes and smile wide in eager anticipation.

"Well, the first thing you should know is that you will fail," Griffin started. "That is, at first. Creating a stable, easy to recreate artefact is hard work and involves a degree of trial and error. Also a bit of luck, to be perfectly honest. So first of all, don't expect it to work the first time. Or even the first couple of times. Start small, make some prototypes, see how they work. If you start too big, well, then I hope you like soot marks as wall decoration. Also, always keep in mind the potential application of your project. Just because you can make a nose hair seeking missile doesn't mean anybody will want it".

"That's a thing?" Timmy asked.

"Yeah. One of our students wanted to make personal hygiene more interesting," Griffin explained. "Fortunately, his nose could be patched together again".

"Anything else?" Techna asked, eager for more advice.

"Well, that's about all the advice I can give. Everything else is a question of applied techniques and such, which you should be learning at Alfea," Guinevere continued. "Though to truly succeed, you'll also need to have or develop some experience, patience, guts and positive attitude in the face of adversity".

"Alright. Got it," Techna said and got up from her chair. "Well, thanks for your words of wisdom, but I should get home and apply some of it. See ya".

She eagerly left through the door, thoughts already consumed with ideas of what to make and how to make it.

"She's going to make a full-sized prototype," Griffin stated.

"Yep," Timmy sighed.

"I recognise that look. She has an idea and will not let it be compromised," Griffin mused. "Either she'll pull off a miracle or cold, hard reality will be her teacher".

"I just hope she won't be too disappointed if it blows up in her face," Timmy added a bit worried. "She's really excited about this".

Griffin chuckled and added. "Given what I know of the girl, she probably won't mind the part where it explodes".

"Maybe not. Anyway, thanks for your time, even if it was a rather brief meeting," Timmy said and shook hands with Griffin. "I better get going. Don't want to risk her driving away without me".

"I sincerely doubt that will ever be an issue," Griffin added as the bespectacled warrior left the office.

...

A couple of days later, Bloom once again entered Avalon's office in order to expand upon her knowledge of royal procedures and such. Although, Bloom felt more like the only thing she was actually expanding was a headache. Avalon had tried to fill her in on her extended family, but after having to go through five different family trees of considerable size and writing down five pages of cross references and notes, the redhead felt like a mess. And thus, while she was appreciative of the effort invested in securing her future as a royal, she also started to dread its complicated games and double meanings.

"Ah, Bloom. Considering how drained you were after our last lesson, I suggest we temporarily drop the subject of your family and focus on something else that will be important," the paladin greeted her. "That is, the art of giving gifts".

"They've certainly been eager on the gift giving front," Bloom remarked. "I think I've shared chocolate and candy with every single student on Alfea by now. Not to mention some of the other students have suddenly become very friendly".

"Indeed, that is to be expected," Avalon sighed. "We are lucky that Faragonda is so adamant about keeping politics out of Alfea. I have no idea where we would be without her".

"Probably drowning in party invitations," Bloom commented. "So, gifts. I assume, based on our previous lessons, that this is also somehow needlessly complicated".

"Well, yes," Avalon admitted. "You see, now we move into the territory of gift meanings. Now, giving a gift with the wrong meaning doesn't mean that you're suddenly married to someone, but it will be a serious social faux pass. It will make you seem ignorant, which could be damaging for you nation's relations with others. Let us starts with flowers".

Bloom sighed as Avalon opened a lexicon. That there actually had to be one for such a subject struck the redhead as completely ridiculous.

"Well, before we begin, how have things been going lately?" the paladin asked as he flipped through the floral lexicon.

The redhead thought back on the last couple of days, before responding with: "Good, for the most part. I've gained a pretty good control of heat and smoke as my peripheral knacks. Now I'm just curious to learn if I have more".

"I'm happy to hear that you are advancing at a steady pace," Avalon praised her. "I always knew you had talent, Bloom".

"Thanks," the redhead said, blushing a bit. "Also, Techna has more or less locked herself inside her room. She's obsessed with... Well... A project".

"I hope it goes better with this one than with her last project," Avalon said and looked up from the lexicon. "I was about to take a bath when it happened. Almost got my head knocked off by a flying shower head".

"That is quite the image," Bloom chuckled.

...

Meanwhile, inside Techna's room, the scarred girl was bent over her project. It was made from several linked pieces of metal, so that it could fit over a wearer's back and follow to curves of the body. Its front was covered with small cameras and sensors, to allow the machine to register wind and weather in every direction.

Sparks flew as Techna soldered enchanted crystals to circuits and fused rune engraved metal with wires. Magic flowed experimentally from her and into the machine, guiding her in the creation. A dozen books were spread out, detailing artefacts, construction methods and paladins. Beside her, her computer nosily churned away as it worked on feeding the project line after line of advanced code about weather recognition.

The pixie Tune flew over to the magenta-haired fairy and wiped sweat off her brow with a small towel, before asking: "Don't you think you should take a break and go out and see if your friends can still remember you?"

"Not now," Techna replied with something approaching manic glee. "I am close to a breakthrough. This time, I got it".

Tune eyed the small shards of crystal embedded in the wall, before dryly asking: "Just like the last one?"

"No, no, I've learned from my mistakes," Techna insisted with intense excitement. "I've balanced the power more, upgraded the memory and used less frazzled wires. Small issues that have been swept away". Her computer beeped as she closed the lid on the machine's exposed innards. "Alright, data uploaded. Ready for the test?"

"Yes," Tune confirmed, as she hid behind a pile of miniature sandbags. "You go ahead and attempt to make it work".

With a wide grin, Techna pressed the start-up button.

The wingpack rumbled and vibrated, before slowly, golden wings started unfolding from its sides.

"It's working," Techna gasped. "It's actually working. IT'S WORKING! IT'S WOR..."

Then the artefact shot forward with considerable speed and smashed through the wall with a noisy crash.

"It's through the wall," Tune commented.

Seconds later, the sound of a door getting smashed down could be heard.

"Should probably go fix that," Techna added and hurried out of her room and into the common room.

"I'll stay here. That thing scares me," Tune said.

"What in the Abyss just happened?!" Stella exclaimed as she and Aisha stormed out of their rooms. The door to the common room has been splintered by a fearsome impact.

"I had an accident," Techna stated. "Still, I'm impressed. It's actually flying".

"Wait, you got your crazy dohickey to work?" Musa asked as she hurried out the room. "Where is it?"

"That way," Techna said and pointed. "Would you mind helping me catch it? It's kinda a possibility that it will break something. Well, something else than what is already has".

"Ugh, fine," Stella groaned.

"Why are you assisting her?" Aisha asked a bit confused. "Clearly, this is her own mess and her own fault".

"Yeah, but it's what friends do," Stella sighed. The princess of Tides did not look convinced.

At that moment, Bloom walked in, too engrossed in her notes to notice the broken door. "So dark chocolate is considered romantic in Solaria, but an ordinary gift in Isis, except in cases of funerals, in which it might mean..." she mumbled as she sat down with her notes. "...used in family outings. Very presumptuous if given by..."

"We're going to go hunt my renegade machine. If it comes back, tell it to stay, okay Firetop?" Techna asked as she hurried out the ruined door, Musa and Stella in tow.

"Yes, yes, if the flower machine brings chocolate, tell it to go to a picnic," Bloom mumbled absent-mindedly as she continued to go through her notes.

...

Avalon sighed happily as the warm steam enveloped his body. Truly, he loved the fact that part of his teacher gig involved access to a sauna. It was one of the joys he had once been without, but now, he could not imagine ever having to live without a readily available sauna. His muscles relaxed as sweat slowly flowed across his skin. Being a teacher might not be the most strenuous job, but it was still rough with all the students and classes, making these moments of complete relaxation a treat for the teachers. He lazily opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. It was getting late and he realised he should probably spend some time preparing for the next day's classes. He forced himself up and headed for the door.

...

"Where could it be?" Musa questioned as the three of them charged down the now nearly empty hallways of Alfea. Outside, the sun had vanished and the skies had gone dark. "You wouldn't think a disembodied pair of glowing wings would be so hard to find".

"Maybe it, like, turned off at some point," Stella suggested.

Techna pondered for a moment, before whistling and calling: "Come back to momma, little wingpack".

"You seriously thought that would work?" Musa asked, eyebrow raised in a gesture of disbelief.

"It might have," Techna replied with a shrug as they rounded a corner. "I mean, stranger things have THERE IT IS!" she exclaimed and pointed.

Indeed, the wingpack rounded a corner and flew down the hallway with the speed of a bullet.

"After it, after it!" Musa called as the three girls broke into a sprint. "Before we lose sight of it again".

"Somehow, I just know this won't end well," Stella gasped as she started sprinting.

...

Avalon hummed a melody as he walked down the hallway in a white bathrobe. He felt that getting back in his clothes right after a bath and sauna was annoying and inconvenient, so he'd rather saunter back to his office in the soft and warm embrace of his bathrobe. Of course, he had made sure that Faragonda was okay with it. One thing Avalon had ingrained into his priorities was that he should always make sure his ideas were okay with the staff and rules, so as to avoid unnecessary conflicts. It was with these thoughts in mind that he rounded a corner and froze. A silver missile with glowing white wings was coming at him with the speed of a runaway train. Training kicked in and Avalon immediately turned and ran, manifesting wings to try to escape the potentially deadly item. He rounded a corner, the flying object trailing him while Techna, Musa and Stella were trying to follow them both.

"Is it chasing him? Why is it chasing him?" Musa loudly pondered as she tried to keep up with the two winged beings.

"Maybe it's targeting him. Might be a mistake in the code," Techna gaspingly suggested.

"Well, stop it before it hurts Avalon," Stella hissed, her legs burning from trying to keep up with the speedy apparatus.

In front of them, Avalon weaved around corners and rushed down hallways, trying to lose the homing device that seemed unwilling to leave him alone. He twirled around columns, made sharp U-turns and even pushed doors shut to stop the advancing projectile. The wingpack didn't care, smashing through any object between it and its target, even as the metal started to crumble and the insides started to spark from the force of the repeated impacts. Holding on tightly to his bathrobe, Avalon rounded another corner by the big window that overlooked the school's courtyard and froze, suddenly face to face with a shocked Griselda, who was making her rounds. He paused but for a second, surprised to see the deputy headmistress.

Unfortunately, that second was long enough.

The wingpack crashed into him, forcing the paladin against the great window, which fortunately resisted the impact, only gaining a few cracks in its glass. Unfortunately, this impact was too much for the machine to handle. Connections burnt out, crystals shattered and drivers melted as the insides ignited and detonated. With a bright flash, the entire thing exploded. The window shattered as Avalon was hurled howling through the air, his magical wings obliterated by the flare of the dying artefact, small fragments of burnt bathrobe and underwear floating in the air like confetti. With a prolonged scream, he sailed through the air, before flying head first into the waters of the school's fountain.

Techna ran to the shattered panes of glass and stared down into the moonlit courtyard. In the waters of the fountain floated the unconscious, but still living Avalon, his bathrobe and underpants obliterated by the event.

"Okay, not good," Techna said and turned, only to also realise that the deputy headmistress was present. Her eyes was wide, her jaw completely surrendered to gravity and her clipboard began to slowly slide out of her hand, before falling to the floor with an audible clunk.

"Ehm, hello Miss Griselda," Techna chuckled nervously. "As you might have noticed, there's been a slight accident and I think Avalon might need some medical attention. And pants".

...

Faragonda rubbed her temples in reaction to the story she had just heard. She had been called by Griselda after a very audible explosion and now she, the deputy and Wizgiz and gathered in her office along with Techna, in order to decide what to do. Slowly, she asked: "Pollyanna, what made you think, especially given what happened the last time you attempted an experiment on such a scale, that trying to construct an experimental flying device in your own room was a good idea?"

Techna adjusted her collar, the use of her actual name an uncomfortable reminder of how much trouble she was in. "Well, I just wanted to surprise everyone".

"And in that, you have succeeded," Griselda added humourlessly.

"Indeed. Fortunately, Avalon is as tough as they come," Faragonda continued. "He will recover from this with no scars but his memory of being defenestrated by an unstable artefact".

"Yeah, really not the intended function," Techna admitted.

"Do ye have any idea why it happened, lassie?" Wizgiz asked. "Why did that crazy thing go all haywire and try to knock poor Avalon over?"

"Well, turns out part of the weather program I used compels the drone to seek out interesting weather formations," Techna explained. "So maybe when I fed it data of paladins in order to make it regulate its wings, it wanted to seek out one and fly into it".

"Alright, now that that has been established, what do we do?" Faragonda asked the others.

"Well, admittedly the rules are a bit vague when it comes to students creating magical things in their off time," Griselda started. "After all, some students do make artefacts as a hobby and it is allowed. But I am pretty certain that this violates if not the word, then the spirit of that rule".

"Right. But we can't punish if the rules themselves are vague," Wizgiz argued. "If something is up for interpretation, there's always the risk of people pushing said rules to the limits. I say we let her go with a warning".

"You bring up a good point," Faragonda agreed. "Alright, Techna, in light of the fact that the rules are vague on this point and considering the minimal damage done, I am willing to overlook it this one time. I will recommend that if you want to continue your project, then you do it in the workshop. You can work there after hours without teacher oversight, but I advise you to be careful".

"Right. I think I'm going to start small from now on," Techna said. "I've just always wanted to get to the big finish as quickly as possible".

"I hear ya, lassie," Wizgiz said and pulled his experiment apparatus forth. "But we have to learn to crawl before we can walk. Ye would have much more success if you took a breath and started small. Me and DuFour did the same for this apparatus and now..." He pressed a button and dozens of Avalons appeared in the room. "It's running stable," Wizgiz said.

"So that's why there were hot teachers all over the school the other day," Techna said excitedly. "You were running a trial".

"Yes, but I started small," Wizgiz insisted. "If I hadn't, this device might have..." The device suddenly detonated in a flash, causing all the illusionary paladins to fade. Wizgiz blinked in confusion, before he slowly began picking splinters out of his eyebrows. "Well, back to the drawing board I guess".

...

Techna walked into the common room.

"Well. What was the verdict?" Musa asked.

"The rules were vague, so they let me go with a warning," the scarred girl replied.

"Then you are very lucky. Few people could get away with publicly blowing the clothes off a teacher," Flora stated.
"Yeah. And now naked Avalon is tots trending on the school forums," Stella commented.

"I just hope he'll forgive me," Techna sighed. "At least, I've learned something about starting small".

"I wish I could start small," Bloom moaned, eyeing her notes. "This is a mess. I don't know how, but somehow I've written that if I give candy flowers raw chocolate it will insult all nearby party picnics when at funerals. I can hardly make heads or tail of this mess to begin with and now I've made all of these nonsense annotations. My royal studies are a completely absurd nightmare".
"Yep, starting small sounds real good," Techna said affirmatively as Bloom bashed her head into the table with a groan.