"What's wrong with you now?" Lilianna growled as the redhead flopped onto her bed and screamed into her pillow.
"Kurai pisses me off."
"Everyone pisses you off," Lilianna muttered.
"This is different," Chandra growled.
"How?" Lilianna looked at her flatly. Chandra did look more irritated than usual but she complained about everyone pissing her off. She also kept trying to help them like she was some warrior of light come to save everyone from their own problems. She was incredibly impatient and didn't seem to understand that sometimes pestering hurt more than it helped. She also didn't seem to understand some people's desires to be left alone.
"He just pisses me off! Ugh! He's a manipulative no good-"
"I thought you liked him," Lilianna studied her.
Chandra's eyes flashed in genuine anger. It was a face she hadn't seen in quite a while. The redhead had definitely grown up since the previous time line but had lost a lot of her intriguing personality in the process. She still kept up a mask of it but it wasn't a true representation of her anymore from what Lilianna could gather.
"What? I mean you've spent enough time talking to him in class," Lilianna shrugged.
Chandra gritted her teeth, "I sit next to him and therefore I have to work with him in two classes. There's a difference Necromancer!"
Lilianna sneered, "That's good to know." There's Chandra. I was beginning to believe she'd lost all her independence and fire from trying to look after everyone in Elspeth's place. I always knew she pestered Jace and got along well with that damn lightning bug but this is something completely different. "Have you actually grown up some?"
"Lilianna," Chandra's eyes burned with anger, "shut up."
The brunette smiled, "You may be older birthday wise," she got to her feet and patted the redhead on the head as she walked towards the door, "but you will always be younger than me. Lunch ends in ten minutes. If you aren't in class I'll tell Elspeth and Gideon that you stole a lighter and help Michael and David disobey the rules."
"You-" Chandra stared at her. Her face hardened into a glare, "You keep your mouth shut!"
Lilianna disappeared quickly out the door and down the stairs. She heard the pyromancer's indignant somewhat angry pursuit and smirked. She hurried back to the lunch room, "Finally. Jeez." Hopefully that Chandra will be the one that sticks around. That is the Chandra that can defeat dragons. Sure. She's still an overprotective nosy little brat. But that is the Chandra that will fly into a rage for no apparent reason and change the course of history. That is the Chandra I've put my faith in. If she falters none of the rest of us stand a chance. She doesn't understand any more than Jace does. There is a reason Elspeth asks for her input. It's not just because it's easier to work around her impromptu tendencies. That is the Chandra that killed me in the previous loop and that is the Chandra that I am relying on. She's the one that can remove both dragons from play. She is the one that can lead the others where I want them to go. Of course that means I'll have to watch out for her later but if I play the cards right I won't have to. She sat next to Onyx at the lunch table.
"Hey, Lili," Erin greeted her, "Is Chandra okay?"
"Do you fancy her?"
Erin's cheeks turned red, "No!"
"Alright," Lilianna shrugged, "She might be coming. She might not." She looked at Kurai, "You did piss her off after all."
"Oh," he smirked, "Well then."
"What did he do?" Melody asked.
Lilianna shrugged, "Chandra didn't tell me the details." She looked around the table. It was relatively crowded. Jenny was yammering to a very confused looking Caedrus. Whisper and Erin played a card game of some sort while Ral watched. She cocked her head to the side, "What game is that?"
Ral grinned, "It's called Magic the Gathering."
Lilianna watched curiously for a little while. Erin was playing a deck that appeared to be associated with the colors blue and green. Whisper however seemed to play a deck associated with the colors white blue and black. "How many colors are there?"
"Five," Erin explained, "Each color has a signature...personality attached to it. Blue is controlling, manipulative and sneaky without being exactly evil. Known for mind mages geniuses and sphinxes and stuff."
"Okay?"
"White is good, law, order. All that fun stuff. Known for soldiers, angels. A big emphasis on community. Red is chaos. Lots of chaos and lots of fire. Or lightning depending on how you play. Green is nature. Nature is good and life is amazing. That kind of stuff. Big monsters that take a while to get into play but can and will destroy you if you ignore them. Black is ambition and focused entirely on personal gain. Demons, zombies, necromancers. That stuff."
Lilianna nodded, "Alright. What's the premise of the game?"
"Well each player takes the role of a planeswalker that travels the multiverse and duels other planeswalkers because yolo," Erin shrugged.
"Ah," Lilianna nodded, "Sounds cool. Enjoy." She looked at Ral and jerked her head away from the group. He got to his feet and followed her just outside the cafeteria, "We're characters of...a card game?" Lilianna stared at him.
"Apparently. Our stories are pretty damn different though," Ral shrugged, "According to the card game you and Jace had a thing and Jace and Chandra fought and Jace is allied with Gideon, Nissa, and Chandra in a battle for Zendikar."
"Okay. I don't care about the story," Lilianna rolled her eyes, "This could very well make things a hell of a lot more interesting."
"I guess," Ral shrugged, "I think the art is pretty."
"Of course you do," Lilianna pinched the bridge of her nose, "Just talk to Jace about it alright?"
Ral nodded, "Unfortunately Cat Ears made himself sick somehow."
"He's actually sick?" Lilianna looked at him in surprise.
Ral nodded, "Yeah. I don't know what happened but he's sick. I think it has something to do with the fact that he hasn't slept much or eaten much but keeps using magic lately."
"Great. That's just brilliant," Lilianna sighed, "Alright."
"I look cool," Chandra smirked as Lilianna showed her one of her own cards. Two days had passed uneventfully. Michael and David managed to get highlighters and paint banned somehow but that didn't concern Lilianna. She glared at her roommate, "Really? This could be a problem!"
"I know," Chandra shrugged, "We have plausible deniability on our side. The characters of the game are fictional to everyone here. We can just remind them of that fact and they'll buy it." She smirked, "In case you hadn't noticed no named fictional character has ever existed on this world. Fictional creatures have sure. But never actual developed characters."
"Fine," Lilianna rolled her eyes, "Naturally you aren't worried one bit. What the hell happened to wanting to successfully blend in here?"
"Start fangirling over the story then," Chandra shrugged.
"No," Lilianna shook her head, "I'm not going to fangirl."
"Your loss," Chandra smirked. She skipped down the hall to her fourth class. She had finally managed to convince Jace to sleep and eat. Of course that had involved drafting Melody's new friend into looking after him when he had almost collapsed the day before. It was quite the event and he probably hated her for it but she didn't care. Nix did take things a little too seriously. According to Ral she followed the guidelines she had been given to the letter. Jace wasn't even allowed to read. All he could do was sleep and eat. She had said that he could only sleep and eat but she hadn't been completely serious. Of course then again with Jace's tendency to forget to eat or sleep in favor of reading it might be better that she does follow everything I say to the letter.
"Chandra!"
The redhead turned in surprise, "Alice?" The cat eared girl had never said anything to her so it was odd for her to talk to her. Of course she spent as much time in the library as Jace did in his dorm room and didn't really talk to anyone.
"Is Jace alright?" Alice asked worriedly.
"So you heard about what had happened? Well...he's fine. Considering he's sleeping and eating when I checked in this morning," Chandra shrugged.
"I'm glad."
"You know him then?"
Alice looked uncomfortable suddenly, "Well..." She trailed into silence and turned to walk away.
Great. Good job Chandra. Way to touch on a sensitive subject the moment she starts talking to you. "Sorry. Hey. Do you want ice cream?"
"Not hungry."
"You like caramel don't you?"
"How'd you know that?" Alice turned to stare at her in surprise.
"She knows everything!" Michael and David grinned as they jumped up behind Chandra. She glared at them, "I do not!"
"We toys can see everything!"
"So play. Nice!" the twins ducked behind the two girls as security walked past obviously looking for them.
"Attention students. Mechanical pencils are officially banned and all of them will be turned into the office to be replaced by a wooden one by the beginning of class tomorrow."
"What did you two do?" Chandra stared at them.
"We rocketed a mechanical pencil into the principal's lunch," Michael admitted sheepishly.
Chandra couldn't help but laugh, "What's with that?"
"Well Jace suggested that if we get every writing utensil banned then she'll have to repeal the rule eventually."
"Why does that seriously sound like something he'd say?" Chandra cocked his head to the side in amusement.
"It does?" Alice asked.
Chandra nodded, "Yeah. He's quite the trouble maker but only if he's positive he won't get caught."
"Really?" Alice looked surprised.
Chandra nodded again, "Yeah."
"Help us out?" Michael grinned.
Alice shook her head quickly looking almost afraid, "I'd rather not."
"It'll be fun," Chandra grinned. She leaned in closer to the other girl and whispered softly, "And just because Michael and David get caught doesn't mean we have to."
Alice still looked apprehensive but Chandra managed to convince her. She led the three of them to the gate of the school, "We have to figure out what to do with wooden pencils if our goal is to get all the writing utensils banned."
Alice stared at her fearfully, "I don't think this is a good idea."
"It'll be great. Trust me," Chandra looked up as she felt more than heard someone approaching. Jace walked up to them. Nix trailed him insisting that he go back to his room. Jace turned to her in annoyance, "You seriously went leaping out the window after me?! Are you insane?"
"You went leaping out the window," Nix said expressionlessly, "Phoenix insisted that you spend the next day and a half from now doing nothing but sleeping and eating."
Chandra sighed, "It's alright Nix. What's up?"
"What are you guys doing? And why are mechanical pencils banned?" Jace asked.
"Well…those two decided it would be a good idea to rocket a mechanical pencil into the principal's lunch today," Chandra explained lightly.
"This is a really, really bad idea," Alice said for the nth time.
"Don't worry about it," Jace sighed, "It'll be fine."
"What are we doing about the wooden pencils anyway? After that we'd just need to get colored pencils, crayons, regular markers and whiteboard markers banned," Chandra said.
"What to do. What to do," Michael started pacing. He grinned suddenly, "We need wooden pencils, rubber bands, tape, and Popsicle sticks!"
David grinned, "Yes!"
"We'll start a war at lunch tomorrow in the cafeteria!" Chandra grinned.
"Wooden pencil ballistae!" Michael and David exchanged excited grins.
"What?" Alice squeaked.
"We need to talk to Onyx. Get him to take us to the department store to get all this stuff," Michael grabbed Alice's hand and dragged her back into the school. David followed excitedly.
"Nix, keep an eye on Jace!" Chandra followed them.
Jace scowled. Great. Thanks Chandra.
"You should go back to bed. You are still unsteady on your feet," Nix insisted.
"You're seeing things," Jace muttered.
"You want me to-again?" Onyx sighed, "Fine. Fine." He got to his feet and followed the twins, Chandra and Alice out the door. He nodded to the security guards, "We're getting lunch."
The security guard nodded.
"No guys! This is a very bad idea!" Alice squeaked.
"No. It's a brilliant idea."
"It's a BAD idea," Alice hissed.
"Relax. All your doing is supplying your Ascension City peers," Chandra smiled reassuringly, "It's the most innocent part you could do. Besides Michael, David, or I can take the blame for the part you played."
"But then that's not-"
"It's how we roll," Michael shrugged.
Onyx parked in the parking lot of the store and followed the four others into the store.
"What are you two up to this time?" A clerk asked upon noticing Michael and David. The two of the grinned mischievously.
Chandra shook her head, "C'mon. You can brag after we get what we need."
Michael and David loaded up three large shopping carts with rubber bands, Popsicle sticks and wooden pencil packs. They stopped by the clerk and described in great detail their plan while the clerk shook his head and scanned the items, "How the hell do you even pay for all this stuff anyway?"
"We have a Black Lotus money card," Michael and David shrugged.
"I swear. He's probably looking at what they're spending his money on and just like 'these fucking kids though. How even?'" Chandra laughed.
"I still think this is a very, very bad idea!" Alice insisted.
"And you can but you did agree to help," Chandra shrugged.
"You drafted me!" Alice squealed. Her tail flicked in agitation and her ears were tilted backwards.
Chandra smiled, "You have to get out of your comfort zone somehow don't you? We're just helping you along the way."
"There's a reason it's called a comfort zone!" Alice growled.
Chandra shrugged.
Onyx shook his head, "I am transporting illicit goods to and from the school now. God I've done some strange things but this...this is just weird."
"It's Michael and David."
"And only they'd be able to get something as trivial as a mechanical pencil banned," Chandra chuckled.
"Don't you think it'd have been easier to just obey the rules that were put in place?" Alice asked quietly as they rode in Onyx's copper colored van back to the school.
"Easier sure," Chandra nodded, "but there's a very good reason rules don't work well with this school. Nearly every student is a hell of a lot older than they seem. We don't need to be directed or protected even. We can do that ourselves. We just stay here, in Elendeth, to live out as normal of a life as we can. The school is designed for younger generations, yes, but younger generations entail something a little different when we're dealing with near immortal beings."
"So you don't want rules?" Alice asked.
"Rules are and always will be treated like guidelines," Chandra shrugged.
"And that's why you've been bugging the principal?"
"Yeah," Michael and David nodded, "We just don't like being treated like children because most of us aren't. And we protect anyone actually can't protect themselves from whatever happens to be...causing problems."
"It's kind of like paying our due. We protect those too week to protect themselves in return for their acceptance and gratitude."
"Oh. It must be nice," Alice looked away.
"I would be shocked and appalled if you've never risked something to protect someone," Chandra admitted honestly.
"It's not like I haven't but it's...complicated," Alice didn't look at any of them.
Chandra cocked her head to the side, "Complicated huh? Well I'm sure whoever it was definitely appreciated it."
"I doubt it. I'm weak. I can't do any-" Alice stopped as Chandra lifted her chin so she was no longer studying her feet. Chandra's bright orange eyes studied her face calmly, "Weak? You can't do anything? Are you really weak? Would you be here today, right now, standing in front of me, if you were weak?"
"Jace was always protecting me!" Alice's eyes widened and she looked away.
Chandra smirked, "So you do have a common past. I was wondering. Your attitudes were so similar it was astonishing. My point still stands. Everyone has their own strengths and their own weaknesses. You can't call yourself weak just because someone else protected you. I'm sure whoever you've saved and protected appreciates it."
"You really think so?" Alice asked quietly.
"Would I say it if I didn't?" Chandra asked, "I don't deal in lying to make people feel better. Or make myself feel better."
"We're still gonna need your guys' help making the ballistae," Michael cut in.
"Besides, didn't we say we protect each other?" David grinned.
"You two don't protect much of anything," Chandra muttered.
"We do too!" the twins said in unison.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."