Pranks and Poltergeists

Oh all the pranks I pulled... Eda hummed surprisingly happy, despite her less-than-ideal situation, she was making the most of this trip down memory lane. So far the pair had taken care of several ghostly situations, The old girls locker room, which could now be put back into use, the cafeteria, turns out one of the regular ladies that worked there was a ghost the grey-haired witch had summoned. Bump wasn't too pleased to lose her, but she seemed grateful to 'retire' and 'move on'. When Eda was young, she had an affinity for summoning spells, whether it be ghosts, ghouls, abominations, or any other beast. Cleaning the ghostly messes up wasn't as problematic as anticipated, if anything, many of the ghosts had seemed happy to see Eda again and return to 'other business' as some so eloquently described. To think I wasn't losing any of my magical abilities... Ridiculous, this curse has taken more of me than I thought... No, no, Eda, that's not right. I've ignored the issue. The older witch knew that despite all her efforts, all her elixirs, and reserves of magic, she would eventually face the ultimate consequence of the curse, she just hoped by then Luz was well on her way to succeeding in the human realm.

Banishing demons was certainly a lot more work than ghosts – even groups of ghosts –, where some ghosts were happy to see Eda, almost all the demons cursed and tried to flee upon seeing her return. The goal when she had summoned these demons and little devils was to simply annoy, pester, and prank without constantly needing to watch over them. She can see now how that was a mistake, the demons and devils had their fun with every teacher and student they interacted with, but over the years got more and more violent. Their sudden turn to malice made it much easier for the older witch to justify their demise, as she wasn't strong enough to send them back Well... Not strong enough to... to not turn... I guess. The tasks grew more and more tedious as the day went on, her bilesac burned in her chest from the effort even though she had been holding back, she still felt strained. The curse was always just under the surface now, ready to rear its ugly mug the moment she let her guard down or overspent on magic. "Don't look at me like that" she suddenly snapped at Principal Bump, who had been silently watching her at every event. She could feel his gaze, feel the shift in perspective he had and the questions that bubbled in his mind. I'm still the strongest witch in the boiling isles

Just as Eda was about to throw another comment at her previous mentor, Bump cleared his throat and shook his head. "Pardon me, I hadn't intended to stare at Edalyn." There was a short pause before the older man continued, crossing his arms over his chest again while he looked away. "It's just been some time since I've seen you perform magic, you are … quite reserved. Control is important." He muttered the compliment, attempting to brush by the topic with tact, rather than face it head-on. "I've personally tried everything I could think of on this enchanted graffiti... So, as a last resort, heres a mop and bucket. I'll be back shortly, once I check in on your human." He tried his best to convey his thoughts and feelings through as little words as possible, so as not to risk offending the great witch.

The trip to the library was short for the principal, as he was well acquainted with the halls of his school, however, the same couldn't be said for Luz. The human was sitting at a desk near the edge of the grouping of study tables, her arms were slumped to her sides, dangling freely as her face was firmly planted on the tabletop. Concerned, Principal Bump made a cautious approach, his silent footsteps never giving away his presence. "Is this a Human custom?" The inquiry was genuine and thoughtful, as he didn't know much about the nuances of human culture. His words were met with a loud yelping gasp, the young apprentice quickly lifted her head from the table, her brown eyes wide with shock. When she was sitting upright again her exhaustion was evident, it looked as though her journey to the library had been less than ideal. The girl was now sporting a red mark on her forehead, as if she had been slapped and her eyes were slightly swollen, along with her left ear. The odd appearance startled the old man, they had only parted a few hours ago.

Luz had been a little more adventurous on her way to the library than she had intended, at first, she did her best to find the library, using the very few signs in the hallways as a guide. Once she was turned around by the signs for the second time, she decided to take matters into her own hands, she would at least get something from wandering around the school. Confident there were no active dangers without school being in session, Luz made her way through the many different coven track home rooms. That assumption was the first mistake, the second, was touching things despite all the signs indicating you should in fact, NOT touch the thing. Letting her curiosity take over, Luz had spent most of her journey to the library in the plant coven homeroom, inspecting different plants, extracts, student projects from prior years, and whatever she could get her hands on. The biggest plant in the room was the teacher's personal side project, it was a giant purple and yellow spotted Lilly, with large spore tendrils poking out. All she could remember was touching the soft-looking spores and feeling a very euphoric high, along with some intense shocks. When she had finally came to, she was sitting on the floor in front of the plant with a large red mark on her face and what she could only assume was an allergic reaction. Having learned her lesson, she decided it was time to sit and read, by the time Bump had found her, the human girl had only been there for a few moments. "Oh! Principal Bump!" Her swollen features made articulating her words incredibly difficult, "Not a human custom... I may have gotten... Curious about some of the home rooms." She averted her gaze from the older man and rubbed her arm, bringing further attention to her increasingly swollen features.

Before more could be said about the situation, Principal Bump disconnected his hand from under his long sleeves and drew a medium-sized blue circle. "I'll let this one slide... You would do well to exhibit more caution to things you are unfamiliar with." His tone was firm but still exuded kindness, as he spoke the medium-sized circle moved from where it was cast and stretched over Luz's whole body, sending intense shivers through her body. It was clear that the human apprentice had no time to review the documents provided to her, letting out a small sigh the man walked around to the opposite side of the table and took a seat, resting his hands on the tabletop in front of him, lacing his fingers together as he had in his office.

After what felt like an eternity of Principal Bump staring into Luz's soul, he spoke "Our rules and consequences are very clear, our detention is served in a chamber infused with generations of magic and nerdowells, like Edalyn, are put on the detention track. Despite being her apprentice, I am assuming that you will not act as she had." his intense dark eyes stared at Luz in an attempt to discover any alternative motives. To his surprise and delight, the human seemed to have plenty of conviction and drive.

"I think Eda is an amazing witch and I want to get to know more about the witch she was at my age... but, I want to learn as much as I can while I'm here. I may... Get into some accidents but that's all they are, no summoning ghosts or demons, or sending belongings to the 'in-between'." As the words fell from her lip she could see a small shift in the man's demeanor. "Thank you, for healing me by the way... Didn't uhh... Know I was allergic to anything." She let out an awkward chuckle, putting her hand in front of her, and inspecting her palms.

She seems genuine, perhaps we really did just get off on the wrong foot... Seeing Edalyn has been a pleasure but... I don't think I have it in me to write another few thousand reports. "That's all I need to know." He gave a nod that put the conversation to an end, pushing himself up from the table he decided to give the young apprentice some insight into the plant she encountered. "The plant you touched is a special hybrid, its spores can cause swelling and allergic reactions in everyone. However, its main point is to stun the target." Upon finishing that advice he started to make his way to the exit of the library, "When you have finished reading, follow this hall to the end and take a left, there will be a large door that is labeled 'field'. We will be moving to some misdemeanor corrections once Edalyns's last indoor task is finished." No space to reply was given as the older man exited the library in the same silent fashion he had entered.

Without a sore face and swollen appendages, Luz set out to complete the reading she was given, loathing the idea she was missing out on getting more information from Principal Bump on Eda's past. Trying to get her head back in the game, she was in slight dismay that her head was still swimming from the altercation with the hybrid plant, It was hard to believe some of the stuff the school just left out. Concentrate, once I've read through this, I can meet them outside. She took a deep breath and laid the pages out in front of her, rolling up the sleeves of her green jacket to just past her elbows. "I can do this" She muttered, determined to skim the documents for the necessary information. I'm sure there can't be that much I need to know for the exam...

It was tough for Luz to accept just how wrong she was about the reading, every paragraph was like entering into a foreign land, The concepts were at times wild and confusing, but above all else, some of the rules just seemed unnecessary. Our students are committed to keeping our school grounds clean and clear of debris, which includes but is not limited to Trash, recycling, griffin excrement (If a janitor is not available), dangerous creatures, dead bodies, limbs, organs and any melted items/creatures/bodies that were caught in the rain. Reading that paragraph was wildly uncomfortable, she agreed that it was everyone's responsibility to clean up, but how often were the listed items appearing that it needed to be added to an orientation document. She shivered and moved on, trying to commit as much of the information to memory as possible. Aside from the strange or unnecessary rules, Luz found it to be quite similar to the human realm, two students to a dorm room, full moon buddies Okay so maybe that part IS a bit different... , mandatory club, no more than 4 clubs per semester, the list went on. As she neared the end of the paperwork, she could feel her excitement reigniting in her gut, She was so close, and every day was bringing her closer to her dream.

Eda was thankful her former mentor had left her for their current project, The proud witch would never admit it aloud, but she was struggling. As Bump mentioned she is being reserved, and controlled, all things she had heavily rebelled against in these very walls. Once she knew she was alone, she let out a loud huff, turning her back to the lockers and allowing herself to lean on them. The enchanted graffiti had quickly reacted to the change and rather than calling out insults, it surrounded Eda's body with questions. The witch had her eyes closed and her arms crossed over her chest, Normally this would be when she came up with a fiendish plan or clever exit strategy, and yet, she just felt drained.

Exhausted from the events of the morning, exhausted from the day's tasks, having to measure out her magic with care to prevent another episode, and above all else, pretending that being here – in these halls – was okay. I know every nook and cranny of this place, I can remember every boring lecture, every spell I enhanced … Everyone I met. The older witch briefly touched her face, dragging her bottom eyelid down as she did it. Some wild witch I am... Her pain ran deep, she couldn't recall who or what cursed her, she could, however, recall all the relationships the beast had caused her to lose. She pushed her mother away to stop her from obsessing over a cure, She broke away from Lilith, letting her reach her dreams, any friends she had at school she dismissed and avoided. "Ugh," She pushed herself from the lockers and turned to see the outline of questions and concern the enchanted graffiti had for her. The oddity caused a sudden and sharp chuckle to break the silence, "I had no idea you cared!" She teased the enchantment and tapped a thoughtful finger on her golden fang. "How about we make a deal? I'll move you to a new location, you can keep doing... Uh, whatever it is you do. Just somewhere else. Eh? How about it?" She couldn't believe she was trying to negotiate with an old enchantment. However, the graffiti swirled around in bright colorful streams, weaving over the locker's surface as if contemplating the deal. Finally, after a minute or so a large 'Deal.' appeared in bright erratic writing. "Well... Alright then!" Not wanting to jinx the interaction, Eda was quick to summon a medium-sized canvas from her large gray hair. "Hop on" With a twirl of her finger the great witch started to pull the enchantment from the wall and onto the canvas, marveling at the ease, it was a vastly different feeling than when she was using magic to eradicate the graffiti.

Due to her exertion from previous tasks and moving the graffiti onto the canvas, Eda used the provided mop and bucket to clean up the rest of the graffiti on the lockers. Having pushed her quarter sleeves up past her elbows, the witch was ready to do the physical labor. Just as sweat started to bead on her face from exertion, Principal Bump returned and to Eda's pleasure had a semi astonished look on his face. "Yup, still got it" She tried her best to sound casual and not let her exhaustion seem obvious as she used the back of her hand to wipe away the beaded sweat.

"Well done, this enchantment has evaded me for years." The compliment was genuine but mixed with an obvious air of curiosity for how she performed the feat, however, when an answer wasn't provided right away the man was quick to move on. "Your apprentice is rather..." He allowed his sentence to trail off as he thought of the right words, all the while removing his hands from his sleeves and casting a small spell circle. The thoughtless magic pulled the mop from Eda's grasp and went to work on the remaining graffiti. "Unique" he finally decided, his eyes meeting his former students. "She is a very unique case, curious, brave, human... and yet able to cast magic."

His statement hadn't demanded an answer and yet Eda felt compelled to praise Luz, "She has all my greatest qualities and very little of my attitude" Although... She is a little bit accident-prone, which is its own issue... Before the witch could continue, her former mentor raised his hand and motioned down the hallway, obviously wanting to move on to the next matter.

"I let your hu- I mean, your apprentice, know she can meet us outside by the grudgby field once she has completed all the reading. It may not be important for the exam, but understanding the day-to-day of campus life here is integral to her success." The older man put his hands together in front of him as he walked, allowing his long sleeves to meet and give the illusion of one piece of material.

"Listen, Princy-B" Eda was quick to match pace with the man as they traveled the hall. "I can do this till the spiders come home, but I need to know, 100% that Luz will have the same opportunity as everyone else and that her admittance when she passes is free and clear." Their pace didn't stop as the great witch made the request of her former mentor and his expression was far too stoney to read, something Eda had always hated about the man. You could never quite know what he was thinking or feeling about something just at a glance, something he's perfected with age.

Finally, as the two emerged outside, he let out a small sigh, "Seeing as we've solved a lot of the pressing matters plaguing the school since your departure... I will see to it that she has the same fair treatment. If she passes the exam, we can discuss tuition arrangements and potential boarding." Principal Bump spared a glance over at his previous student and gestured towards the many fields "Until then, I'll need you to get our two back fields back from the worm-bug things you found and housed in our fields." He had tried previously to get the worm-bugs to speak with him to figure out better arrangements, but he was always blocked out, threatened, or ignored and he wasn't about to wipe them out by force unless absolutely necessary.

A loud groan escaped Eda as she recalled the incident with clarity, she had known the weird little things since they were little, she had occasionally fed them, saved them from predators, the regular stuff. However, when they matured, they certainly did not think the gestures were small or normal, they had essentially lifted Eda into godhood. The day they ransacked the school, it was just on a simple whim as she mentioned countless times how much she didn't want to go and learn. She recalled that at the end, in an attempt to get them off her back, she told them to thrive and grow, gifting them the fields as a way to start. I didn't want to deal with the problem then and I still don't want to deal with the problem now She knew what she had to do, she'd have to use the way they uplifted her to her advantage and move them out.

While waiting for Luz that's exactly what the two did, Eda took the lead and was immediately recognized as "The Red Goddess" despite her hair having turned gray. On the other hand, Hieronymus Bump was named "Joy Killer", which certainly was to Eda's liking. They were taken underground and through a maze of tunnels, some only dirt, while others looked to pre-date the worm-bug existence. Some halls were polished marble or lined with brick/stone patchwork. In the central chamber, there was enough light to see the worm-bugs had truly taken to Eda's words. Quotes were scribbled on the walls, with crude paintings of her in her youth. 'Remember, never befriend a man in sandals. And always measure twice, cut once.' , 'School is where your soul goes to die' , 'Hot dang, we got 'em good.' and Eda's favourite 'Welcome to, the Bad Girl Coven' She had struggled to keep her attention on the very large worm-bugs in front of her, she was somehow creeped out and flattered at the same time. It was the slightly larger one that spoke, its scratchy voice echoed in the circular room, causing both Eda and Principal Bump to flinch. The exchange was brief and concise, the Wild Witch could feel the creature's displeasure with needing to depart but somehow found solace in it being another direct instruction from their god.

When the two emerged from the underground they were silent for a long while, the experience was odd and foreign. "That was... Not what I expected but uhm... They'll be gone by the start of the school year." Eda didn't pull her eyes away from her blank stare into the distance, There was so much wrong with what she had just seen and yet if Bump wasn't with her, she could say for sure she would have had much, much more fun. How did they even get so big and so many... What was with the weird hallways? Despite her bewilderment, she was pulled out of her mind when she saw Luz sitting on one of the long empty benches in the lower stands.

"I'll see to it" The older man muttered, obviously still pulled into his thoughts, "Don't let that go to your head Edalyn, they were vulnerable creatures." The words echoed in the powerful woman's mind but found no grounds to stay, her mind was far too occupied with the experience and now, about sharing the news with her apprentice. This had been the final step, there was nothing between Luz and her exam now, all she could do was study until her assigned date. If only she knew the challenges that awaited.