Hey! So Warrior is getting posted again! After this, I'll likely be posting a chapter of this with each Halfling posting, at least for a while! Hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter 12
Marelda's POV
The next few days we slipped into a routine similar to our old one. Sir Vargas returned, bearing news that it wasn't my village that was having problems with raiders—which caused me immense relief—and Luca would randomly pop up during my lessons. It turns out Sir Vargas knew that he'd been doing it since the beginning, and hadn't cared as long as Luca didn't become a problematic distraction. He even had Luca spar with me a few times, saying I'd need practice with my weaponry against a magic-user, and that Luca worked just fine for this sort of training (and I will admit that it was entertaining watching him dive out of the way when I flung a knife or something at him).
"If he keeps hanging around like a stray, we might as well get some use out of him," was all the warrior said of it.
The week seemed normal. I even, dare I say, enjoyed myself. Sadly, this feeling of normality didn't last.
The next Saturday morning I awoke to a note on my dorm door.
'Due to certain circumstances, students are forbidden to leave the dorms today without special permission from a professor or a dorm matron. Please remain in the dorm house.'
"You've got to be kidding me," I grumbled. "How in heck am I supposed to train?" I resolved to gather my normal things and head to the dorm matron to ask her if I could get permission to go out in train. Just then a magic note fluttered in, landing on my hand as it reached for the door. I unfolded it and saw the familiar handwriting of Sir Vargas.
'You are excused from training this morning. Just do some stretches this morning and do your homework. You can make up the practice tomorrow morning. The grounds are unfit for training due to a mishap with a spell. -Vargas'
I sighed. Sunday's were normally my day to catch up on my homework and spell practice for my normal classes. I guess I'll work on it today. I'll go eat first, though. My stomach is on training time, regardless of whether I actually train or not.
I didn't realize until I got down to the kitchens what had happened. Rather, I actually looked out a window for the first time this morning.
"Bloody hell!" I gasped. There were little white creatures—magical ones, I think, but I don't know which kind—covering the ground, layered deep enough to where it'd even make walking through them hard. No wonder we were confined to the dorms. This was crazy!
The dormmother didn't seem surprised to see me down in the kitchens. "You've seen outside, then?"
I nodded. "I've been excused from morning training because of it. What are those things, anyway?"
"Carbuncles. A form of rare magical creature, though for being rare there are an astonishingly large amount of them. The headmaster was very vague about how they came to be." She sniffed, disapproving in every manner. "Something about a student casting a summoning spell for one of them, and ending up summoning enough to cover the entirety of the grounds and a large amount of the forest. Many of the teachers are going to spend the day vanishing them back to where they came from, wherever that is. Apparently the student who did it and her buddy are going to have to help with that."
While doing all this, she finished putting my breakfast together. The food for the rest of the students was being magically mass produced. I was one of the few students who had special meals made for them due to certain dietary restrictions or preference—I know of one girl who was strictly vegan, and another who was allergic to a bunch of things.
"Speaking of the girl, would you mind fetching her? I need to watch the food or I'd do it myself."
"Sure." I replied. The dormmother told me the floor and room number, as well as the girl's name, and I left my food on a table. Climbing a set of stairs, I wondered what kind of girl caused something like this.
I knocked on the correct door, and heard a groaned, "Coming...!" A few heavy footsteps later, the door opened to reveal Amelia Nile, her long caramel hair a bedhead-mess.
"Is a Katalina Sommer here? She's supposed to report to the front of the dorm in about half an hour, by order of the headmaster. Apparently she caused this carbuncle mess?"
Nile looked extremely confused, "Yeah, she's here. But what do you mean by carbuncles?"
"Look outside." I noticed that they had the curtain to their balcony closed, and I waited at the door while Nile hurried over to the curtain, yanking them open only to yelp as the light hit her eyes. A moan came from the other bed, where something, presumably Miss Sommer, was curled up under the blankets with a little pink ball on top of her. The pink ball fell off when Amelia gasped, causing the other girl to sit up.
"Waz goin' on?" she mumbled.
"Katalina, did you do this?" Nile said, pulling the confused brunette out of bed and over to the window.
The girl stood there for a moment before letting out her own gasp. "No way!" she groaned.
Nile started laughing. "Girl, you've really done it this time. You're supposed to meet the headmaster in front of the dorm in, what was it again, Krammer?" She looked over at me.
"Half an hour," I replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go." I turned, shutting the door behind me, and walked back towards the place where my breakfast awaited.
Next to my plate I found another magic note waiting for me. I opened it, and it contained a very nice, almost calligraphic script. It wasn't signed, but I knew exactly who it was from.
'Meet me in our clearing at noon.
P.s. bring lunch, your dormmother likes you more than mine does me.'
I snorted. Of course.
But I wondered what he wanted. Surely it was more than just a picnic.
…. …. ….
Luca's POV
I was walking through the school, burning time before I went to go meet Marelda. I was even legal—I asked the headmaster permission to wander about the grounds, carefully wording it so he'd know I'd be doing it whether or not he ended up giving me permission. Very directly telling him I meant no harm, I informed him that I refused to be stuck inside on such a nice day, regardless of the strange occurance of a carbuncle takeover and what had proceeded it. Which was something else I hinted at knowing about. That was mostly based on speculation and deduction rather than hard fact, but it did the trick.
He sent a quick note back with permission.
It wasn't hard to walk through the school itself. All the teachers were gone, presumably taking care of a sector of the grounds, and the carbuncles were only outside and were disappearing fairly rapidly. I was passing one of the courtyards on my way towards the South Forest when I heard voices. I decided to listen in, because why not?
"It seems like they've made Professor Merkulova resign." That was Elias, I believe.
"I see." a girl's, Katalina's, voice said, "He was such a nice teacher, too. Power really does make people go crazy, I guess."
"Yeah…" Elias agreed, sounding distracted, "The weaker you are, the more power you want. I was the same…"
This seemed interesting.
"Elias…"
"Remember that time I challenged Luca to a duel in Practical Magic?"
I wonder how this pertains to what he said.
"Yeah."
"At that time, if Luca had really wanted to, he could have beaten me, easily."
"You don't know that."
I shook my head, laughing silently. That girl was exactly what the Prince needed. I've been able to tell from very early on. Maybe he's figured it out himself?
"No, I do. Luca is a lot stronger than he likes to let on." I am. I've got my reasons, though, don't I? "But...I feel like I understand a little more about how Luca feels, about why he never takes magic seriously. Maybe it was because he possessed such 'power'. Maybe it's the thing he's afraid of the most. Selene once told me—and said she was quoting some sort of fictional hero with spider-powers or something—that 'with great power comes great responsibility.'"
Surprisingly insightful for a stiff. But he's not quite right. I just love screwing around with magic. It's more fun than following the books. Also, classes are boring, seeing as they really don't teach me much I don't already know.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Katalina sounded confused. Nothing new, really.
"The more power you have, the more pressure there is on how you use it. Selene told me that one of her biggest fears is that she'll end up hurting someone with her magic. Her fire is pretty much under control, and her wind is now, too, but she once told me something. When she goes into an extremely emotional state, she completely loses control of her powers, and doesn't remember anything that happens once control is lost until she passes out. She told me she once nearly killed a kid because of it, and that she's lost control like that seven times in her life. And it terrifies her that one day she might lose control and never be able to get it back. Selene is one of the most powerful magic-users I know. But I don't think I'd ever want such power, if such heavy burdens and fears came with it. It takes a stronger person than I to have so much power and be able to manage all the responsibilities that came with it."
Huh. I hadn't known that about Selene. I filed it away in my head for later.
"Elias…"
"Well," he said, "No matter what we say here, it's not really going to change anything, anyway." I heard a quiet thump, like Elias had sat on the ground. "The sky looks nice today, too." Apparently I was right.
"Yeah. It's beautiful."
It was a little while before either of them said anything. I just leaned against the pole and waited, lost in thought. I wonder if Marelda will actually come, even though it's not quite noon yet. She's not much of one for breaking rules, even temporary ones.
"You're really something." Elias said all of a sudden. "This sky, the wind, the earth, the warm sunlight...it feels like they're all a part of you." Wow, what a sap! I had to physically cover my mouth to not laugh aloud at that.
"Wha…"
"Maybe there's something about you I've admired all along…something I don't have…"
"Elias…"
"That's why I…"
Huh. I can't believe it. He's actually about to confess to her. Impressive.
And fun. For me. I pushed myself off the pillar and sauntered into the courtyard. "Are you guys taking a nice friendly nap, or something?"
Katalina and Elias both jolted at the sound of my voice, looked at one another, and then scrambled to get up.
"Hey lovebirds." I smirked, watching as they brushed the grass off their uniforms.
"Luca!" Katalina exclaimed.
"What are you doing here?!" Elias demand, "Without permission, students are to stay in within their respective dorms!"
I chuckled, "Why don't we say, 'I went for a walk.'"
"Luca!" Katalina scolded. "Doing things like this without permission is just going to get you in trouble!"
"Oh, are you worried about me?" I could practically see what Selene would call the "irk" mark on Elias' forehead. This was too much fun. "Aw, you shouldn't have been worried, Kittycat, I'm not going to get in too much trouble!"
"Shouldn't you be worried about how Selene would react? From what I've heard, she'd get upset with you. I've also heard that when Selene's upset, you shouldn't be near her." Katalina continued.
I laughed putting an arm around her shoulders. Elias' fists clenched.
"Hey!" He growled at me, "Don't touch her!" He grabbed my arm and yanked it off Katalina.
"Ouch, your grip is too tight, man," I whined as he pulled Katalina behind him, all protective-like. I smirked. "Let me guess. You've gotten yourself a special little princess, huh?"
"It's got nothing to do with you," he replied, sounding about as stuffy as he could.
"Well, as we're on topic, why don't we have a duel? If you win, I'll go back to the dorms, no fuss. But, if I win," I paused for effect. "I get Katalina."
It cannot be said that I am incapable of riling people up.
Katalina choked in surprise. "What?!"
His eyes narrowed as he glared at me, "Let me tell you this. I don't know what you're up to. And I'm not going to hand over Katalina, that's for sure."
"Aw shucks." I grinned, laughing. "How boring. Ah, whatever. Anyway, I'm going to come for you again sometime, Katalina." I winked at her. "But for now, I've got places to be, so see ya later Kittycat~!"
"Luca!" Elias snapped.
I lost the rest of what probably turned into an irritated rant as I made my way to the South Forest. Messing with Elias was just too easy.
When I finally was in the clearing, I found it empty, of people and carbuncles. It was a little messy, so I used a wind spell to clean it up real quick before taking my bag off. It was a little before noon, so I pulled out my current sketchpad and started drawing.
Review Replies:
TheFallenHer0: Well, Marelda has no patience 98% of the time for Luca's crap, and Maeghan isn't a huge fan of Luca, really. But she's from a family of healers and so feels a duty to help the injured. And yeah, the cleaning stuff was terminating not only natural bacteria that could cause infection, but also magical residue that would have made healing the wound naturally impossible. Without the magical residue, it would have been less painful, but not a lot. I mean, antiseptic liquids hurt against open wound, you know? And I hope you like what's upcoming, because I've had a lot of fun getting this story started again!