Chapter 5: Return of a... Friend?

POV: Parsley

The blonde dwarf walked around the mess hall until she found an empty table. She set down her tray of food and settled in for some much needed lunch.

Thyme had gone off to spend her lunch break studying some herbology books. The elf couldn't be talked out of researching the Rot whenever she could. Her obsession with the Rot may not be the healthiest, but Parsley had to admit that she admired her roommate's determination! Thyme would make a great guardian one day.

As she sat about to take her first bite, Parsley saw a couple of familiar faces in the crowd. She waved them over to her table "Rosemary! Snapdragon!" The two headed over with their own trays of food in hand, bringing with them a guest.

"Hi! I'm Parsley!" The dwarf greeted. She smiled at the masked newcomer. She figured he must be a student from her friends' warrior class that she's never met before. Maybe a transfer student with the new semester?

The strange boy bowed, surprising the dwarf a little. "Alexandrite of Mage Country."

"Oooooh – you're with the ambassador party! That's great!"

Snapdragon sat down across from her. "He IS the ambassador, Parsley", he corrected her.

"What?" She looked to Rosemary who was taking the seat beside her. "Really?" She looked to the boy, Alex. "But you're so young?"

Snapdragon made an impatient sound in his throat. "He's been training under the Archmage and was asked to escort the mage scholars here to assess the school."

Parsley was impressed. "Sounds like a lot of work for a kid!" She covered her mouth quickly, not wanting to sound rude. "Um, well, I mean, not just a kid. I didn't mean it like that." She back peddled her words.

Alex chuckled. "No offense taken. May I join you for lunch?"

Parsley gestured eagerly for him to sit. The mage took the only remaining seat at the small table, beside Snapdragon. The dwarf watched him curiously as the very covered-up stranger began to take off his layers. First to go were his dark gloves – being carefully folded and set beside his tray of food. As he removed them, Parsley noticed that Alex had long, slender fingers – quite the opposite of a blacksmith's – and he had black fingernail polish on. She knew that Snapdragon had noticed as well because the boy's eyes lingered on Alex's fingertips for just a moment before blushing and turning back to his food quickly.

Looking to her other friend, Parsley saw Rosemary watching Alex intensely as the stranger started to remove his dark mask as well. With Rose's look of focus, Parsley had to assume that the pinkette had been waiting all day to see the boy's face for the first time. The dwarf turned her attention back to Alex as his face was revealed.

'Wow', Parsley thought to herself. 'He's kind of pretty for a boy.' With his soft features and large eyes, the newcomer sort of reminded Parsley of, well, Snapdragon. She shrugged it off as a coincidence, but Rosemary continued to stare at the boy. Parsley could almost make out the individual stars shining in Rose's eyes. Parsley remembered that same look in her eyes from the Aster fiasco.

Parsley sighed.

Some things never change.

The group ate and talked about the school. Alex occasionally asked about the attack and the damages from the fire. But mostly the ambassador remained silent, listening to the others talk. Snapdragon was strangely quiet too. Parsley noticed the red-head's eyes continuously dart over to stare at Alex, lingering for moments before hastily looking away again.

Luckily, Parsley knew better than to touch that. Better to just let the warrior-in-training think he was being subtle~

She did hope that her two friends wouldn't let this pretty new face distract them too much though. They were supposed to be focusing on becoming guardians after all!

POV: Sage

The first day back to school and already Sage had a list of assignments for homework. She knew it was necessary work if she wants to become a great healer, but she still wasn't looking forward to it.

Even though they had spent the entire break together at her cousin's house, Sage still just wanted to head back to her dorm room and curl up at Rosemary's side while she read through her textbooks. She never tired of the girls' presence. Somehow her best friend could always motivate her to do her best.

Walking back to the dorms, she wondered if the warrior class had a lot of homework too. Just as she was unlocking the door to their room, she spotted Rosemary and Parsley heading her way.

"Hey! How did everything go?" She ushered her friends inside. "Where's Alex?"

"He headed back to his group after lunch." Rosemary explained. But something seemed off about her friend. She had glazed over eyes and she looked like she was only half paying attention. Not to mention the goofy grin on her face.

No. Oh no. Not this again.

"Snapdragon went to find Amaryllis." Parsley chimed in, jumping up to sit on Rosemary's bed and letting her feet dangle over the side. They weren't even remotely close to touching the floor.

"Was he feeling any better from this morning?" Sage asked hopefully, keeping one eye on Rosemary. The pinkette flopped onto her bed facedown.

"He seemed fine when I saw him", Parsley shrugged. The blonde looked over at Rosemary as well, shaking her head with a small sigh. "This one here has been acting the fool ever since she got a look at that young ambassador's face."

"Oh", Sage stated simply. "Good looking?"

Rosemary rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling, still with the silly grin. "So good looking~" She said.

Sage hid her annoyance and went to go put her books down. "Strange that he wears a mask then."

Rosemary sat up in bed, clutching a pillow to her chest and looking dreamily into space. "No, no, that's just a 'stealth' thing. You should have seen him in class! Totally made Cal look like an idiot."

"I imagine that wasn't too difficult", Sage said, a little sharper than usual.

Parsley chuckled while Rose continued her praises – "He's so smart and strong and… well travled."

"Well-traveled?" Sage questioned. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's exotic! I've never been anywhere close to Mage Country. I've never really been too far out of Pebble."

"I know Rose… we grew up together", Sage reminded her. But Rosemary was too distracted to hear her.

"Maybe we should go to Mage Country sometime guys. I wonder if all the boys are that pretty up north~" She fell back onto her bed with a sigh.

Parsley gave Sage an apologetic look. "She's been like this for the last twenty minutes. I figured I'd dump her back in her room. Didn't realize I'd be dumping her on you." And with that the dwarf got up. "Later!" She skipped off out of the room, leaving a very irritated Sage to listen to her best friend jabber on about the cute ambassador.

Sage attempted to open her books and make a point of trying to study at her desk, but Rose kept talking for a good ten minutes without getting the hint. Finally a voice out of nowhere spoke up.

"Okay, okay, we get it already! He's dreamy and you wanna be 'Mrs. Mage Ambassador', meow."

Sage jumped in her seat, almost falling backwards. She instinctively reached for her Terrasphere, activating it and turning to face the familiar voice coming from under her bed.

There was a giggle as a fully grown girl manifested from under her bed, dropping her cat disguise. Olive stretched and got up. Even Rose had yelped and readied Flowering Thorn when they're heard the villain's voice.

"Relax ladies, relax, meow~ I'm not here for a fight. The Triad put their necks out for me after learning I turned on Mandrake rather than killing their students. They offered me a deal – spill on my employers and work for the academy as a school guard or… life in prison, meow. I took the job as a glorified hall-monitor, as you can imagine." Olive hopped up onto Sage's bed, crossing her legs beneath her and smiling widely. "Guess they didn't tell you gals yet~"

Sage lowered her Terrasphere. "No. Would have been nice to know though…."

"So why are you hiding in our room!" Rosemary exclaimed.

Olive pawed at her ears, scratching them. "Well I thought it'd be a fun reunion. You know, give you kittens a chance to thank me for not stabbing Thyme when I had the chance an all."

Rosemary scowled. "Thanks…" She muttered.

"Olive, what did you tell the Triad about the people that sent you and Mandrake." Sage asked.

Olive's ears flattened against her head. "Well, not much… I didn't know much to begin with honestly. I was a street cat, then I got approached by some baddies to become a spy. My transformation magic is uniquely difficult to see through, as you know, so that's the only reason they were interested in me. I was never given more information than necessary to do my job as a spy. That's all I can tell you though!" She sat up straighter, looking snooty in her refusal to go on. "The Triad specifically doesn't want me talking to students about the information I gave them. They don't want you all going off vigilante-style and messing with things you don't have any business with!"

Rosemary bristled. "We helped save the school! We have a right to know who's behind the attack!"

Olive made a motion to indication her lips were sealed.

Rosemary growled taking a step off her bed and towards Olive but Sage put her Terrasphere out to block her movement. "No Rose, she's right. As long as the Triad know the information she has and are working on a solution, we don't need to interfere."

"Listen to your pretty friend, meow~" Olive smirked.

Rosemary still didn't look happy, but she backed down anyway.

"Now then~" Olive said, stretching out on Sage's bed happily. "Tell me more about this ambassador fellow~ Not his looks. I want motivations. Part of my new job is to keep an eye on our foreign visitors~"

Sage was a little shocked. "You mean the Triad doesn't trust the ambassadors from Mage Country?"

Olive shrugged. "I didn't say that. I'm just supposed to keep tabs on everyone. So~ What's your impression Rosemary?"

Rose put Flowering Thorn away. "He seems genuine."

"Sure you don't just think that because he has a pretty face?~" Olive inquired.

Rosemary rolled her eyes. "I liked his style even before I saw his face. He's a little quiet, kind of stoic, but that might just be because of the mask… Anyway, he's come a long way and was appointed by the Archmage himself, so he doesn't seem like a threat."

"What if the Archmage is a threat?" Olive pushed on.

Sage frowned. "Does the Triad think the Archmage is a threat?"

Olive shrugged again. "I didn't say that either~ I'm just doing reconnaissance. Wouldn't be doing my job well if I just went around trusting everyone, right? I don't know crap about Mage Country, so I'm going in with a blank slate. Guilty until proven innocent, meow~"

Sage nodded. "I guess it would be better to not get to close to them until we know more, right Rosemary?" She looked to her friend.

Rose was pouting. "Snap and I just spent the whole day with him. He's fine, trust me!"

Sage's frown deepened. She knew her friend didn't always have the best judgement… "Just be careful, okay?"

Rose waved her off. "You don't have to worry about Alex. I've got a pretty good feeling about the guy."

Olive hummed softly. "Oh I have no doubt you have certain FEELINGS regarding the mage, but Sage isn't wrong to be cautious." Rosemary bristled again at the feline's words. "Well I should head back to work. Good seeing you gals again though~ Meow~" Olive popped back into her cat form and hopped up onto the windowsill and out of sight.

Sage looked to Rosemary. "Well… at least she's on our side now..."

Another chapter! Thanks everyone for following this far through. Couldn't not bring Olive back, gotta have our catgirl! Hope your holidays are going well!