"So let me get this straight, even with all that magic stuff you've got goin' on, you're not one of them nobles? Not even a descendant?"
"Not in the slightest," Darrian confirmed, earning a grunt of surprise from the man who'd asked the question. The kitchen's head chef, Marteau, leaned back against the counter with crossed arms and a look of disbelief on his face. "Believe it or not, where I'm from, we don't have nobles at all. Besides that, almost none of the magic I'm capable of actually comes from me."
Those bits of information sent titters and whispers running amongst the servants present in the kitchen, something that didn't surprise Darrian at all.
Different cultures, different customs.
"What do you mean, your magic doesn't come from you?" Siesta asked as she offered a bowl of soup to Darrian, who accepted it gratefully.
"That's a bit tricky to explain," Darrian responded, stirring his soup as he put on a thoughtful expression. "Some of the magic I can use is part of me. Like my inventory."
With a wave of his hand, an array of squares appeared in front of Darrian, many of which were filled with small pictures. Choosing one of the squares at random, he pulled the picture from it and dragged it away from the apparition, at which point it expanded in a small glow of light to take the form of a small golden bell.
"With my inventory, I can store a vast quantity of items, with no weight or specific arrangement requirements."
"Sounds damn useful for hauling cargo," Marteau commented, rubbing his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"That's a good point," Darrian agreed, rubbing his own chin to match Marteau's posture. "Could be worth looking into, actually. To answer Siesta's question, the majority of the magic I'm capable of is actually bound to specific items. Like this bell."
With a shake of his hand, Darrian rang the golden bell, and a small blue orb of light with tiny fairy wings chimed into existence. Barely the size of the bell used to summon it, the orb fluttered about, orbiting around Darrian as it cast a pale blue light over the room.
"Most of the direct use items are like that," Darrian said, giving the bell another ring, causing the orb of light to disappear. "There's other things, like armor or accessories, that give their own advantages or bonuses, but it's nearly always a passive thing in the background."
"I wonder…" Siesta mumbled, giving the bell a long look, then clamming up when Darrian shot her a curious look. "Oh, it's nothing! I just… wonder. If the magic is in the object, then… maybe…"
"Maybe you'd be able to use it too?" Darrian finished for her, earning an embarrassed blush from the maid, but no response. "You can give it a shot, if you want. Just ring the bell and find out."
Siesta stared at the bell, then looked between it, Darrian, and Marteau. The burly cook gave her a wide grin, as if to encourage her to at least try. With a deep breath, the maid took the bell from Darrian's hand, and screwed her eyes shut as she gave it a ring. As if to defy her expectations, the same chime sound rang out through the kitchen, and a pink orb of light appeared and began to orbit around Siesta.
"Wow," Siesta breathed, awestruck at the little pink light fairy that she'd summoned. She cupped her hands together and held them out, and the little light immediately fluttered down to sit in her hands. Many of the servants had crowded around her at that point, fawning over the maid and her little light.
"Good to know," Darrian said, sharing a grin with Marteau. "Y'know what? Why don't you keep the bell."
Siesta shot him a shocked look, ready to protest, but fell silent when Darrian gave her a look. Understanding that he wouldn't take no for an answer, the maid couldn't help but smile warmly in appreciation, pulling her little light close and cradling it against her chest.
"Heh, yer alright, kid," Marteau laughed, nearly knocking Darrian over with a clap on the back. Darrian swatted his arm away, but couldn't help but grin back at the burly man, and the two shared a laugh.
Mathilda wasn't having a very good day. Between maintaining her cover, dealing with that pervert of a headmaster, his equally perverted mouse familiar… sometimes she wondered how she would keep up with this whole charade. Taking a moment to lean back and relax in her chair, Mathilda decided that there would be no more undercover work for her in the future. Nothing would be worth the hassle.
"I'm telling you, Headmaster, there's nothing else this could possibly be!" Professor Colbert exclaimed earnestly, looking equal parts frustrated and excited.
"Without the binding ritual, there is no way to know for sure, Professor," Osmond chided, running a hand down his considerable beard as he stared idly into empty space. Mathilda almost rolled her eyes as she cast a quick sensory cantrip, and quietly scooted the headmaster's mouse out from under her chair. The headmaster cast a quick glance in her direction, earning a deadpan look in return.
"Perhaps not, but there are no other occurrences that would suggest an alternative," Colbert countered, cracking open the book he was waving around emphatically. "The summoning of a human familiar has only been recorded in a single instance-"
"The Founder himself, yes," Osmond cut in, finishing for the professor. "I am not claiming that you're wrong, Professor, merely pointing out that you are working with incomplete information. The only way to know for sure is if young Darrian were convinced to agree to the binding."
"Which isn't likely to happen," Colbert sighed, falling back into his chair and slumping over. "Even if he were to agree, Miss Valliere seemed rather against the binding entirely."
The pair of men fell silent as they entered classic thinking poses, contemplating the implication behind the recent summoning. Before either of them could continue the conversation, Mathilda excused herself from the room, expressing a desire to acquire lunch.
While Mathilda could understand the interest in the summoning situation, her own interest was elsewhere. Namely, her purpose for coming to the academy. Her path towards the dining hall took her right by her objective, giving her the perfect excuse to stop and stare for a moment.
The academy's vault, which contained numerous treasures and powerful artifacts that would sell for tidy sums. Above all else, the Staff of Destruction, a weapon said to be capable of felling the greatest and most dangerous beasts with a single attack.
With the gold promised to her by the Reconquista in exchange for that powerful weapon alone, Mathilda would finally have all she needed to hang up this thief nonsense for good.
"Impressive, isn't it?" spoke a voice out of nowhere, causing Mathilda to jump. She turned quickly to see that Professor Colbert had followed her from the office, and was now staring at the vault with an almost wistful gaze. "A work of art, really. Some of the most sophisticated magics known to man, weaved together to create a vast defensive array, said to rival even some of the Founder's magics of old."
"It definitely seems like a lot," Mathilda commented with a mildly bored tone, drawing a curious gaze from her colleague. "I wonder if the trouble was worth it, for whatever's hidden in there."
"I would imagine so," Colbert commented, raising an eyebrow at her. "There are many destructive relics being safeguarded here, we can hardly afford a chance to allow any of them to be absconded with."
"I suppose you're right," Mathilda said with a huff, mentally kicking herself for slipping such an obvious hint as to her true purpose here.
"Are you alright, Miss Longueville?" Colbert asked, shooting the secretary a concerned gaze.
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Mathilda responded in a curt tone, prompting the balding man to avert his gaze awkwardly. She wasn't alright, though. With every passing day, fatigue consumed her more and more, continually sapping away at her already waning will to continue the chase.
Tearing her eyes away from the vault with a sigh, Mathilda continued on down the hall, leaving Professor Colbert to stare at her back. Setting aside her goal for a moment, Mathilda idly wondered when she'd be able to return to her home, and the family that was waiting for her there.
Someday soon, Tiffa. I promise.
"We have to think of something."
"The festival is still a few days away, Louise. We have plenty of time to figure it out."
Darrian formed a swirl of pink and purple energy in his palm, then tossed it out, watching idly as it expanded before bursting and vanishing. Louise watched, entranced by the swirling energy produced by the Nebula Arcanum, but didn't seem relaxed or relieved in the slightest. She'd been a tad jealous at first, seeing her own summon able to cast magic feats that she just couldn't, but had been calmed somewhat upon learning that the magic was apparently in the items and not Darrian.
They were in the same field which hosted the Summoning Ritual, cycling through Darrian's abilities in an effort to put together a decent display for the coming Familiar Exhibition, an annual event required for all second years at the academy.
"What's got you so worked up all of a sudden?" Darrian asked bluntly, casting an orb of light from a rainbow colored rod, which promptly began zipping around the field as it shifted between the various colors of the rainbow. "You didn't seem too concerned at first, but then you started freaking out about it, seemingly for no reason. So what's up?"
Louise said nothing, grimacing to herself as she held her gaze on the wandering rainbow orb, glowering somewhat as it began tracing slow circles around her. The pink haired girl shot Darrian an annoyed glare, receiving an amused grin in return as the orb flew away again.
"Princess," a near silent voice spoke up behind them, causing Louise to flinch and look away. Darrian turned and cast a confused glance in the direction of Tabitha, who was leaning against Sylphiid with her book closed in her lap, having apparently been more interested in the demonstration.
"Princess?" Darrian quoted, looking from Tabitha to Louise, who was staring out across the field with an embarrassed expression. Darrian guided his orb towards Sylphiid, who immediately pressed her nose into it, trilling happily at the small burst of colors. "I guess that makes sense, if a princess is gonna be there to watch. Impressing someone like that could be a good opportunity."
"I-it's not just about that," Louise mumbled quickly, crossing her arms and shifting her gaze a little further away from Darrian. "When I was little, I… I had the honor of being Princess Henrietta's royal playmate."
Darrian hummed in response, looking thoughtful for a moment.
"So you're her childhood friend," Darrian surmised, causing Louise to flinch once again, and she turned to gawk at him.
"I-I wouldn't be so… b-blunt about it!" Louise rebuked, blushing further as she waved an arm comically around.
"Why not?" Darrian asked with a raised eyebrow. "At least in a private setting, admitting that you were friends might mean a lot to someone like her. People like that, royalty, they don't tend to have the freedom of friendship or love."
"I… I suppose," Louise conceded, crossing her arms and calming somewhat. "Even still, I… I want to impress her. Not because she's a princess, or because it might yield opportunity, but because… she's my f-friend."
Darrian could only smile in response, laying a hand on Louise's shoulder gently, and earning a small smile in return.
"Should probably get started then, I've already got a couple ideas" Darrian grinned, stepping back and summoning a weapon that Louise couldn't help but giggle upon seeing. The blade had more angles and corners than Louise had ever seen in a weapon before, and was mostly bright pink, and the outer edges of the blade were an equally bright blue. The guard was most striking, giving the appearance of a cat's face, with its ears sticking out and acting as the proper cross guard. Finishing off the absurd appearance was the pommel, sticking out from the hilt in what appeared to be the shape of a cat's tail.
"Wh-what is that!?" Louise croaked, trying and failing to contain her laughter at the comical weapon. Darrian didn't seem offended whatsoever, grinning along with her as he'd likely anticipated the reaction. Worse yet was the name, 'Meowmere', which even hearing sent Louise into a second laughing fit.
"Remember how I said that Terraria was originally a work of fiction?" Darrian asked once Louise reigned her laughter under control, earning a nod of acknowledgement. "Well, a lot of the stuff in Terraria was designed deliberately to be quite… silly. As you can tell. A lot of what you'll see me use will be like that, I guess. Lots of joke or meme items."
Darrian gave the sword a swing, and Louise couldn't help but smile amusedly at the energy that formed in the shape of a cat's head, leaving a rainbow trail and meows as it bounced across the field.
"What was that word you just used? 'Meme'?" Louise quoted slowly.
"Memes are… trendy kind that get spread around by lots of people. Meowmere, for example, is based on an old meme called Nyan Cat, which was a cat that had a pop tart for a body and left rainbow trails in the night sky. Absurdist stuff like that."
Louise hummed in response, looking very much like she didn't understand, something that Darrian was well prepared for. There were bound to be many things about their distinct cultures that they could each readily describe without the other properly understanding. Instead of going into further detail, Darrian gave Meowmere another swing, sending another trail of rainbows and meows across the field once again. Before it could reach the other side, a fireball appeared from behind the crest of a hill, causing the cat's head to burst in a wave of rainbow flames.
"Yoohoo~!" Kirche called, smiling brightly as she crested the hill, her salamander familiar warbling happily as it trailed behind her. "Sorry I'm late, lost track of time!"
"Losing time hiding in your bedroom with another one of your… paramours?" Louise asked dryly, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow at the redhead, who smiled back mischievously.
Even as the pair of girls immediately began their routine bickering, Darrian's attention was grabbed by the burst of flame that Kirche had caused, and the gears in his head began to turn.
"Kirche," Darrian called, cutting the girls off from their banter as he hefted Meowmere onto his shoulder, priming for another swing. "Do that again? I wanna see something."
Kirche and Louise shared a curious glance, before the redheaded girl nodded and issued a command to her familiar. With another nod, Darrian let the blade fall, sending out another cat's head to bounce over the field. After the first bounce, the salamander spat a fireball perfectly on course, causing it to burst the way it had before in a display of rainbow flames.
"Thought so," Darrian commented, grinning widely at Kirche and Louise as he stooped down to give Flame a few well deserved head scritches. "Terrarian items and weapons weren't made to interact with each other, but now I'm not bound by Terrarian rules, at least in some ways. Never woulda thought to try and combine items and effects."
Darrian's grin grew wider as the gears in his head began churning in greater force.
Man, I forgot how good it feels to move like this!
Darrian couldn't help but grin as he weaved between trees, flying at high speeds through the forest surrounding the academy. The last time he'd been able to go flying like this was before the final sequence of fights in Terraria, not that long ago in hindsight, but it felt like forever after everything that had happened since then.
It had been a few hours since their practice in the clearing had come to an end, with Louise expressing a desire to get some studying done, though she and Darrian both were feeling hopeful that they'd be able to set up a suitably impressive performance for the Exhibition.
In the hours since finishing practice for the day, Darrian had spent most of his time flying laps around the academy. He'd taken it slow at first, getting a feel for the area, but he felt compelled to go faster with every passing lap. Of course, it wasn't perfect - he'd already planted his face in a few trees, at which point he'd thanked his lucky stars that his Terrarian resilience stopped him from breaking anything.
As the sun was beginning to set, he decided to take it easy for one last lap around the academy before calling it quits and heading back. Of course, given his luck, it was during that last lap that something eventful decided to happen. Just as he was passing over the road leading away from the academy, a voice called out to him.
"You there, halt! Hold it right there!"
Darrian immediately pulled off and planted his feet into the nearest tree, using a hook to keep himself lodged there as he looked around for the source of the command. Glancing towards the road beneath him, he saw a cloaked woman with blonde hair and green eyes standing at the driver's seat of a carriage, with a flintlock pistol aimed directly for him.
"Whoa there," Darrian said cautiously, holding his arms out to the sides as he stood from his noted idly that he probably looked somewhat absurd, standing fully sideways on a tree, but decided that was probably an unimportant detail at the moment. "Can I ask why you've got a gun pointed at me?"
"That depends," the blonde woman remarked with narrow eyes and a stony expression. "You don't look like someone who belongs at the academy. What are you doing here?"
"I actually live at the academy," Darrian answered, lowering himself slowly and releasing his hook to stand upright on a sturdy branch, just to give himself a more level view of the woman on the carriage. "Believe it or not, I was summoned by one of the students as a familiar."
"Mhm, and commoners are practicing magic in the streets," the woman retorted, clearly not believing him at his word.
"It's true," Darrian affirmed with a sigh, slowly running a hand through his hair frustratedly. "Are you heading to the academy? I can take you to the professor that directed the summoning. Or better yet, we can talk to Louise, the girl that summoned me."
"Louise?"
The blonde woman cringed as the door of the carriage swung open, and out stepped the most regal looking woman that Darrian had ever seen. She was dressed in a white, very fine looking gown, with a relatively cheap looking cloak layered over the top. It was hard to make out the features of her face with the hood pulled up, but Darrian could tell at least that her hair was a distinctly royal purple.
The blonde woman immediately dropped her guard, putting away her pistol and jumping to the ground to attend the regal woman.
"Your majesty, please, it may not be safe!" the woman protested, only to growl in frustration as she was entirely ignored.
Majesty? Could she be the princess Louise was talking about earlier?
"Come down from there, please," the hooded woman commanded gently, smiling gently. Darrian hesitated for a moment before complying, spreading his wings out to glide to the ground. The hooded woman seemed quite surprised at the action, but apparently decided to set it aside. "Please, tell me about the one who summoned you."
"Er, her name is Louise," Darrian said, shifting his stance as he held a hand up to around his shoulder. "She's about this tall. Pink hair and eyes, relatively petite. Real smart, but has a curious problem with her magic."
The hooded woman held Darrian's gaze for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief, and turned to face her escort.
"We can trust him, Agnes," she said, earning a look of bewilderment from the blonde woman. "His description matches Louise Françoise perfectly, in a way that only a close friend would be able to provide."
"...very well," Agnes muttered with a sigh, hoisting herself back up to her seat atop the carriage, casting her gaze quickly in several directions. "Regardless, we shouldn't linger."
"I apologize for Agnes' demeanor," the hooded woman bowed, pulling her hood down and smiling politely at Darrian.
"Ah, no worries," Darrian dismissed with a casual wave of his hand. "She's just doin' her job."
Silence fell over them, and Darrian shifted his weight from one foot to the other awkwardly until Agnes cleared her throat, prompting the princess to flinch and retreat back towards the carriage.
"Would you like me to take you to Louise?" Darrian asked, earning a quick nod from Henrietta before she shut the carriage door behind her. Shooting a look up at the annoyed Agnes, Darrian turned and began the walk towards the academy, with the carriage slowly trailing behind him.