A Magician Never Reveals Her Secrets (Quaggan!)

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Um..." Susie said, now thoroughly confused. "I... I guess? I'm not sure-"

"No, man."

Arthur had woken up, and was now rubbing his eyes groggily. "To control a golem like your on body, you need to put your own soul in it. That process is, like, not reversable most of the time. Easier to just program a normal golem, really."

Susie blinked in shock. "I-isn't soul tampering i-illegal? Should we be talking about this? What if somebody hears and we get in trouble?"

[quaggan]

 "Oh! Were we too loud? Sorry" He was always a boy who had his priorities straight - even if he was accused of soul tampering, nobles were allowed to wear whatever they want to their execution. But if Arthur decided not to hang out with him any more because of this rude awakening, who would Ria make the blanket cape for? No way would he be able to convince Vesyll to wear it.

Susie looked more concerned about the soul part - no wonder, he was yet to meet a girl who would want to wear the kind of prison attire those lower born had to contend with. "Then we can stop talking about it" he offered. "No worries."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Susie shot Ria a thankful look, but Arthur wore a disappointed expression. "Aw..." he said dejectedly. "Nobody ever wants to talk about soul stuff with me..."

The redhead stared at him, eyes wide. "Yeah. Because it's illegal."

"Yeah but, but that doesn't mean it's theoretical applications can't be talked about!" Arthur said, clearly beginning to get defensive. "Maybe it shouldn't be illegal!"

Susie began to rock back and forth, lips trembling. "Arthur, stooooop! We could get in trouble!"

[quaggan]

 "What is exactly forbidden? The soul shaping or talking about it?" Ria asked. A clarification was necessary, although it would be really stupid if talking about it was illegal as well. This way even Susie would be a criminal for telling them to stop. It sounded unlikely. He quickly realized that just discussing the problem further would make her panic even more, and he did not want to be the kind of a person who made his underclassmen cry.

"If you want, we can discuss souls later" he offered to Arthur. Ria liked to both have his cake and eat it too, and in this case, it would be achieved by simply not involving Susie in such a discussion. "Maybe when you come back for the blanket cape fitting."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"C-can you do that? P-please?" Susie whimpered, seemimgly on the verge of tears. "It's not worth f-fighting over..."

Arthur threw back his head, an exasperated groan escaping him. "Ugh. Fine." The pillowheaded boy looked at Ria expectantly. "How's the hackysack coming?"

[quaggan]

 Ria shared in Arthur's frustration. There were no tattletales like Beatrix around, and he was pretty certain that just talking wouldn't get them in trouble. Even if it did, they weren't just some helpless idiots - his father could bail him out, Arthur's family were big shots in Atlas Verde, and since she got here, Susie probably had a noble patron to protect her as well. But he kept quiet - if he upset her, she might decide that he was too unreliable, and not let him make the hackysack! How would he grow then?!

Fortunately, it wasn't a big sacrifice to make. He grinned with pride, showing the chosen scrap to Arthur. "We've picked the fabric I'll be making the hackysack from! As you might notice, it isn't enough, but I will place some new orders soon. What do you think?"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Arthur smiled, nodding sleepily. "Yeah, that looks-" The boy yawned abruptly, cutting himself off. "-looks good. My brother had one like that I think..."

"Oh no!"

Susie stood up, a panicked look on her face. "I completely forgot! I need to be at Magistrix Fen-Breath's classroom in like, seven minutes!" The girl looked at the two boys with an apologetic grimace. "I-I need to go now! I'm sorry!"

[quaggan]

 Oh no indeed! Especially since Plutonius wasn't anywhere around to give her a lift. That was a problem - the magistrix, unlike Professor Zinc, actually wanted students to attend her classes. Ria never would have guessed that this thought could come to one's mind without a trace of irony, but in the end he agreed that there were things some teachers could learn from the Master of Disenchantment.

"Do you know how to get to the classroom?" he asked. It sounded stupid without context, but he was not questioning her ability to remember where the class was held. Upperclassmen dorms were in a different building than underclassmen, so unless she had some interesting escapades no one was privy to, she would have to find her way out.

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Susie held her head in her hands, muttering under her breath. "What if I'm really late? What if Magistrix Fen-Breath decides to make an example out of me and turns me into something horrible? Will I be able to turn back if she does? What if I get there and class is already over and I fall behind? Could I flunk out of class because of this? What if-"

The girl shook her head violently. "Ahh!! I don't have time!" She bolted out the door, eyes wide. "Sorry!" she called back as she left. "T-thank you for helping me!"

"What if they're mad at me for leaving so soon? Oh Myyla, I'm such a mess-up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur stat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Man..." he mumbled. "She's almost as fast as Plutonius, huh?"

[quaggan]

 Ria' chuckled, clearly amused by Arthur's words. He wondered what would Pluto say to that. "Man, am I glad not to have classes with Magistrix Fen-Breath" he admitted. She looked scary - what if she turned him into a toad?! He wouldn't fit into his robes! And it would do such horrors to his complexion!

He put the scrap of fabric chosen by Susie atop his very cluttered desk so that he wouldn't forget about it. As he placed it carefully on one free square of space, something poked his wrist. Oh no. Not this shit again.

'This shit' was a small time spirit bound in a hourglass the previous occupant of the room left. It didn't take a long time to guess why - it was incredibly obnoxious. Ria has made the mistake of telling it his schedule, hoping to take advantage of its affinity to time, and now the blasted thing kept bothering him. It was clearly displeased with its imprisonment so it took its frustration out on him by droning endless reminders about his next class - it was fifteen minutes and thirty four seconds until his lesson, it was fifteen minutes and twenty nine second until his lesson... He ended up bribing a dwarf classmate to get a silencing spell from her, which partially solved the problem. Now that the spirit was silenced, it could only grab at whatever was in range - in this case, his wrist.

"One day, I will just throw you out of the window and get some peace of mind" he grumbled. Perhaps he should do it right now, but as he reached for the source of his frustrations, a ray of sunlight fell on his hand. If the sun was shining through the window, it meant that the time was- Oh no!

He promised Vesyll they'd meet for lunch! While the gnome was not the kind of a person to hold being late or even not showing up against him, she also wouldn't keep a seat for him forever. He would have to hurry if he wanted to make it! "I made plans with a friend for lunch" he began to explain the situation to Arthur. "I have to go soon. Do you want to come by later to discuss the blanket cape? You could pick what you want it to be made from, the colour and all the fun things!"

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Ok! That sounds- *yawn*- sounds great!"

Arthur sleepily pushed himself up. He stretched his arms, yawning as he did so. "Yeah, I gotta go to. Promised my brother that I'd help him him with one of his, uh, school projects." The boy meandered out of the room, waving goodbye. "Nice meeting you! Let's talk at dinner!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Myyla, I'm going to be so late!"

Susie barreled down the halls, moving as fast as her legs could take her. The speed at which the girl could move often came as a suprise to others, and a few of her friends back home called her "Featherlegs" because of it. Turning a corner, she barged into Magistrix Fen-Breath's classroom. "S-sorry I'm late!"

The hag craned her neck to look at her, smiling. "Just in time! Go on, take a seat." Susie sat down, and the magistrix lifted a sheet from her desk to reveal a kettle and a small dog. "Today we'll be continuing our transmogrification lessons..."

~fin~