Guinevere Curtis's Story

Guinevere couldn't help but frown at the sheer malice she felt coming from some of the people around her, all centered on one of the junior class boys. Don't misunderstand, some people were genuinely worried about the threat he supposedly represented, but those were few and far in between. She looked at Blaise, who had rolled her eyes at them, Guinevere sensing her childhood friend was feeling somewhat irritated at their behaviour.

Not that she had strictly needed her empathic abilities to confirm this, if push came to shove. Blaise's face showed it enough that even the socially challenged Selene could pick up on it, which she did.

"How disgusting", Blaise said loudly, not exactly being subtle with her ire, with the way she was purposefully letting her voice carry across the plaza, when she could have just talked normally. "A prime example of Stupid prejudice."

And yes, the 'Stupid' deserved a capital.

Blaise sighed theatrically, and continued in the same loud voice: "Honestly. If the child took after his sire or even simply was on good enough terms with him, there would have been repercussions of treating a scion of the house of Jace in this manner already, most likely in the form of 'bad news from home'."

Guinevere enjoyed herself 'ooh'ing and 'aah'ing at the right places of said 'explanation'.

Selene in the meantime facepalmed at the obvious show the two of them were making, but disguised it as facepalming at the Stupid as she joined in and deadpanned equally loudly,

"So what you're trying to say is that those who are buying into it are Stupidly suicidal, while the others or just Stupidly Dumb, harping on an innocent kid for fun? Especially since it might drive him to become like his family after all?"

Nevertheless, it was effective. Some of the kids had paled and started glaring at their 'friends', who had probably been the ones to convince them to join in on this.

Aeryn could not help but form a bit of a smile as he heard a few others nearby make some comments and stand up for him. He probably wouldn't get as much luck in the Sevrianna Continent, but this was the Rosetta Continent. It was far enough away so that the rumors and influence of that name should be lower. He had sort of hoped it would be negligable or non-existent, but it seemed that would not be the case.

But as the twelve year old boy adjusted his glasses, as water was still dripping off of him from his wet body, in response there was another voice that spoke out against them.

"Except its not just his father! His brothers, his grandfather, there have always been rumors! They might seem to have increased with this generation, but its in their blood. Hell, it was even discovered that his ancestor sided with Demon King Millen over one thousand years ago! And just recently...you and your family murdered my family! Worse then that, you made it as if they never existed in the first place!"

The one who spoke up was a boy just a bit older then Aeryn. The boy who had spoken up didn't appear to have much if any notable features, and was likely not a noble. However, in his eyes along with rage was more shock and surprise. After saying his mind, he started to cry a little, and then ran off. But Aeryn didn't mind that.

Unlike the others who just heard rumors and such, he was directly hurt. Strange that he was left alive though...well, as much as I would like to say something to help him, I don't really know how he feels or thinks on the matter and it would be better to let him cool off before I talk to him...besides, people would probably just go and fight me thinking I was planning to erase him or something...

Aeryn just thought like that, and shrugged it off. This was not the first time this had happened, and it probably would not be the last. But in this case, he was someone who had been legitimately hurt. His outburst was mostly because he did not expect to encounter someone from the Jace household here most likely, so it was possible he didn't honestly believe what he said actually and knew better.

But Aeryn did take note of the other three.

"Thanks for that. It's nice to meet you. My name is Aeryn...well, you know the rest and I would prefer to leave it at that".

Unfortunately, between everything that happened, he felt like hostility from some of the people seemed to increase. It appeared to be increasing, and honestly he wanted to get out of these wet clothes soon since they were uncomfortable. Also, walking every barefoot was slightly annoying, although because the maintenance at the academy was good, he was not getting any pebbles or such in his feet. In truth, because another boy who usually got bullied was away on a camping trip, his troubles had increased for that time.

I doubt anyone would just outright attack me...but, my father has been rumored, and might have actually, done some really bad things. Who knows, there may be people that are as severe or even more severe then that boy that are about to lose control...

"Also, I apologize in advance if doing the right thing and sticking up for me causes you any troubles. I really do appreciate it though".

Blaise mentally winced a little at the wording of Aeryn's last sentence, but didn't say anything.

Guinevere looked slightly distracted, "Ah, I'm Guinevere Curtis, and these are my friends Selene Estelion and Blaise Hyperion". She looked at the two of them in turn as she called their name, to indicate which girl went with which name.

"I'm sorry, it's probably better if I...", she continued, still looking anxious. Blaise nodded, and motioned to Selene to go with Guinevere. Both went into the direction the other boy had run off to.

"Ah, please don't mind them leaving. Guinevere has a bit of a bleeding heart, courtesy of her Empathic gift. She merely wants to ascertain the boy will be alright too."

The fact that Blaise in part had remained behind to ensure Aeryn would be also be okay was implied, but went unsaid.

She sent him a pointed look, "Either way, please don't apologize. I stand by what I said. If you really were as bad as they seem to think you are yourself, you wouldn't just take the abuse. Besides, I can't think of a single purposefully bad thing you've done since arriving at the academy. And believe me, I'd know."

A few upperclassmen that had also been relaxing nearby, looked away awkwardly, no doubt remembering the times Blaise casually displayed knowledge of a few of their secrets.

Blaise paused again, as if remembering something,

"If you'd allow me I'd like to cast a cantrip to dry your clothes? Would that be alright? They wouldn't quite be clean yet, but it will undoubtedly feel a lot more comfortable than walking around sopping wet."

---

In the meantime Guinevere was coming closer to finding the other child. Selene followed after her.

"Ah, thanks. And yeah, I don't want to be defined by my father, or my family name. Although, its unfortunately that what that boy said is true, its been like this for generations. Well, there are also cases where they were clearly trying to be good people with donations and such and only rumors could be confirmed, but...ever since those records about our family being connected to Demon King Millen came up, only the bad really gets focused on. As for what I know myself...well, he kept or at least tried to keep us or at least me outside of what his usual business was, stating it was to keep us safe, so even I don't know anything for certain. That said, we had a fight recently before I left, so we are not really speaking right now".

Aeryn said that while wearing a smile, although there was a bit of pain he felt in his heart. He did appreciate the fact that she stayed, and he also understood why the other two left. He was also worried about the boy.

"Yeah. All that this is would be words after all. I have no intention on getting violent over words so easily, though...I will admit I cant promise anything after my roommate shows up, if they involve him as well. But that depends entirely on what they say. As for the cantrip..."

He looked down at the damp stone ground underneath him, and sighed.

"You can try if you want, but to warn you this is ocean water".

Ocean Water. Although it was really impossible to dry clothes well with magic while they were being worn anyways, due to the fact you had to spend a lot of mana to make the magic go around the person wearing them or else you would risk doing damage to them by dehydrating them, ocean water made it even worse. Because it was salt water and not fresh water, and because it had a different structure and more complex then normal water, magic also had issues with dealing with it. It was not impossible, but it tended to be more difficult as a result. That was why Aeryn did not try himself, he was not familiar with drying magic in the first place and so even if he did manage, the effect would be minimal. Maybe her spell would be a bit more effective since she learned it properly, but he had no idea about her magic so he couldn't really say.

And yet as he was about to continue to converse...several magical projectiles emerged from nearby and came right at Aeryn! Aeryn pivoted around with his foot and suddenly a barrier made of what appeared to be blue hexagon panels appeared in front of him.

"You claim to be so noble?! Prove it! I challenge you to a dual, right here and now!"

Aeryn was not particularly happy about the appearance of this dual, since he still wanted to get changed into clean clothes, and there was no rule saying he had to accept. However...

"If I deal with this now, they wont hassle me later. You see, I have been asked to look after a young student who will be my roommate it seems. It would be better to get this over with I think but...what is your opinion? It never hurts to have an outside opinion after all".

"Ocean water will be fine", she said dryly, thinking back to all the times she had to dry herself and her two friends, whenever Guinevere got in the mood to splash around.

She put her hand on his shoulder, making contact with a few of the wet clothes she wanted to dry. It would help focus the magic. With a short muttered spell his clothes were dry again.

---

The attack happened.

---

Blaise pinched the bridge of her nose at the sheer level of Stupid.

"Nope", she told Aeryn firmly.

She addressed the one who had attacked him after that first. "At which point exactly, did he claim to be 'so noble'? What would the fight even prove? As far as I know strength has little do with nobility of character. Besides, you aren't exactly a paragon of virtue yourself, attacking someone when their back is turned to you."

She turned to Aeryn again.

"Reasons not to do it. First off, -even at this academy known for the liberty it grants its students- unsupervised duels are prohibited, you could get in serious trouble with the school administration, even if you were not the one who started it. Second of, do you really want to sling spells in the middle of such a big crowd without magic protecting them? Third. I've already said this to Stupid over there, but it won't prove anything."

She sighed, and continued to both of them. "If you both want this duel nevertheless, please get permission first. You'll be able to fight under supervision of a teacher and a healer, in an area warded so that the fight won't spill over to the bystanders. Capiche?"

---

In the meantime Guinevere and Selene were still searching for the boy who ran away.

Meanwhile, elsewhere....

Rio had run off, no longer wanting to be found by people. He activated a personal field that would soften noise around him, and make him harder to notice at a distance. It even had a sort of perception filter put in.

Anything so that he no longer had to deal with that family ever again. He quickly adjusted his sleeve, and made sure his energy blade which could be produced from his arm gauntlet hidden inside his sleeve, still worked. If he got attacked, he was well trained and was good with tech. He had designed a large variety of tech, and he encased his thoughts into his tech for a moment. That helped him calm down a bit.

"...I definently dont want to be the one to fight that guy though. Even if it was in a duel, no especially then, I would get my butt kicked. I have heard about his fighting ability..."

Rio was totally unaware two people were following him though...

Meanwhile...

Aeryn heard all those words, but felt he needed to make a few corrections.

"Actually, duels dont need to be supervised by a teacher or anything. They do have to take place in a public area though, and both sides have to accept. It cannot be done one sided, nor can the opponent strong arm someone into accepting. After that, the school has some sort of advanced system combining high tech and magic replicate the area they are in, and creates a sort of false isolated space that will prevent damage to the real world or to bystanders".

After that, he then added.

"Well, I dont feel the need to prove anything. I only want them to leave me alone and stop bringing this up. Beating up a guy that is weaker then me isn't something I find enjoyment in".

"Hey! Who are you calling weaker! How about you stop being a coward and acce..pt?"

The man, who Aeryn had decided to refer to as "I1" in his head which stands for Idiot 1 after that outburst, tried to walk up to him to perhaps intimidate him, but in a swift and clean movement Aeryn mysteriously had a spear appear in his hand and moved it so the blade rested right at his neck, touching but without spilling blood. I1 suddenly grew pale as he saw Aeryn's eyes. Although he was acting quite calm right now, it could be felt instinctively...he was angry, or at least irritated.

Notably, the spear gave off magic energy, so it was likely to actually be his magic casting tool that let him cast magic easier.

"Let me correct you on something. I am not a coward. I am not afraid to defend myself, or fight. However, just because I have won three Regional Tournaments in a row, and made the top eight in the Rosetta Intermediate National Tournament, does not mean I like to fight all the time. I like to have coffee too. I like to run in the morning. I like to practice my magic and spearmanship peacefully. I like to play video games as well, and watch movies. I like to create new magic tools that could help people. But what I do not like, is being considered my father's son. I do not like being called Demon just because his blood runs through my veins. And I do not like bad rumors being spread about me. Understood? Oh, and I guess since my spear hit your neck, I win. I hope you are satisfied by that".

After that, he turned around and looked back at Blaise.

"I apologize, it seems my family issue ruined your morning. And for the record, I know before you said I don't need to apologize, but I like to think that my sincere apologies make it clear I am not my father's son, but my own person...and yes, I am perfectly aware on how sad it is for a twelve year old to say those words".

Blaise frowned again. When had that changed? She remembered being told what she had just told them in her first year quite clearly. Then again, it was possible it had been updated, although she had trouble believing she would have missed something like this. Then again, duels didn't seem to be all that common anymore...

(They were in fact very common. The student body just didn't do it anywhere and at any time she would notice. On purpose.)

The upperclassmen who had looked away sheepishly after her earlier words, paled as Aeryn explained the newer rules Blaise. Variations of 'Fuck, fuck, fuck, the demon find out', going through their heads. 'Demon' in this case referring to Blaise, rather than Aeryn.

They had liked the changes at first, until they realized that it meant teachers would no longer supervise them directly. In the past the staff would ensure the fight remained 'on topic', so to speak. With the newer rules though, it meant that Blaise could do everything she had grumbled about wanting to do to those exhibiting 'Stupid' and more.

Blaise had been sick when it was announced -with Guinevere and Selene staying with her-, and the other students had splendidly ran interference so they wouldn't find out. The wind spirit could have told her, but he found the happenings quite funny, and decided not to tell her of the change. Even if only so that he could continue watching this comedic gold.

Blaise, noticing their reaction, smiled 'sweetly' at them. Correctly deducing part of what had happened. She was going to enjoy this so very much, first things first though.

---

Blaise made a non-committal noise at Aeryn, before walking up to Stupid.

Aeryn might have thought that what he did to discourage Stupid was enough, but she didn't quite agree. Once she was next to him, Blaise pulled off her glove, and threw it down.

"My turn", she purred.

Stupid looked like he wanted to cry, but tremblingly accepted, knowing that the alternative would be so much worse.

---

Guinevere knew the boy had to be around here somewhere, it was where the emotions she sensed from him were strongest.

"Please come out", she called out, "I promise we mean no harm."

---

Blaise stood next to the sad remains of Stupid. (Not that he was dead. He just wished he was.)

"Please leave the term demon for those of us who actually deserve it.", She called out to the crowd, "Can't have you besmirching our bad name."

Blaise realized almost directly after the words left her mouth that it might not have been the best thing to say.

As everything happened and unfolded in front of Aeryn, he had to wonder whether fighting Blaise or fighting him was the mercy. Well, Aeryn might not have gone that far, but in exchange he might have taken the boy's dry clothes to suit his own needs. Aeryn was one of the top ranked fighters after all, despite only being twelve years old. In truth, the reason he did this was to establish his own, personal reputation as Aeryn and not let his own reputation be "Lord Jace's Son".

That was why he worked really hard on his training, with both his weapon and training. Although, in truth, while they were considered Magi-Combat Tournaments, due to the advancements of the current era advanced technology and powers not based on magic were allowed as well now. Technically, no one had to use any of those and could try to use their own power...but people like that were unlikely to win.

"Hmmmm. I hope this will end all of this nonesense, but....well, I know better then that by now".

Aeryn had tried himself various times in the past, but it was really hard to change opinions apparently. Well, its not like everyone believed them though. There were some exceptional students that didn't, and most if not all of the oddballs didn't.

"At least I am not completely hated here. Especially Ollie, he absolutely refused any discussion on the topic and announced himself as my friend".

Ollie was one of the more well known and eccentric students of Astrius Academy. He was one of the very, very few, maybe the only, student that did not reside in the dorms, but rather in the tower where all of the various birds used by Astrius Academy for a variety of things and reasons were kept, and personalized it into his own space. Normally this would not be allowed, but because he single handedly takes care of everything there, they decided to make a rare exception.

Because of his eccentricness, and possible insanity, he could not be considered the norm though. But, he was often enjoyable to be around and talk to sometimes.

However, when he realized that she had not even heard of the updated dueling rules, he considered she might not know about Ollie too.

"By the way, have you heard of him or met him yet? Ollie Luna?"

Meanwhile...

Rio, who was still in shock, heard people who were likely calling out for him. He tried to keep himself calm, but his current mental state was confused and he did not really want to communicate with anyone right now. And so, he kept running and hoped they did not notice her, only he ended up tripping and hitting the ground.

And it was quite painful too.

Virgil used his god given gifts and stealthed in the hallway. He overheard the conversation and cringed as the boy fell over. Well, isn't that something? The boy fell flat on his face right in front of him, but he remained hidden in the shadows and looked on at the commotion. From what he could gather, he just witnessed the Demon King Aeryn being challenged to a duel. Unfortunately for Virgil, the duel had been cut short by some outspoken girl and her cronies. It looked like the fun had been cut short, but then this other boy appeared at his feet. He didn't know what was odder. The fact that he had witnessed Aeryn Jace attempt to duel on school property, or the fact that this stranger was now at his feet.

He blinked at the boy and made the quiet motion with his index finger to his lips. Virgl thought he heard voices and footsteps, so he pulled Rio up by the arm and brought him into the shadows. If he was smart, he wouldn't move. Virgil noticed the bruises, scraps and abrasions left from the fall. He had basic bandages, but they'd work for the time being until he could take Rio to the school nurse.

"Who's after you? Are you ok?" Virgil whispered and kept a sharp eye for any sudden movements. If the boy was being bullied, they'd regret running into Virgil. Once a few bandages were placed over the superficial wounds, he instructed Rio to remain quiet, until the coast was clear. Part of him was excited from the recent adventure with this stranger and another side of him wanted to leap for joy from seeing Aeryn Jace in person.

Once the coast was clear, they could begin to make the trek to the infirmary, but he wondered what type of story the boy would tell the nurse. Virgil wished that he could do more than simple bandages, but his healing wasn't up to par like he had hoped.

Guinevere couldn't help but feel worried for the boy, blaming herself more than slightly. Something that showed pretty clearly on her face too. She had been so focused on the Malice some of the students felt, that she had dismissed the worried students out of hand. How stupid could she be?

Not that the boy seemed to have known before their little play, but while she definitely didn't regret at least trying to help Aeryn, she could have done so in a different way.

Despite herself she started babbling instead of just talking, hoping the boy would hear her.

"I just want to apologize. Not for the fact that I said something I mean, because the way they're bullying that boy is not okay, even if he had really been like his family, which he's not. But I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention to the chosen words, to how they could affect someone with legitimate issues with the House of Jace. It's just, I have very few berserk buttons, but gleeful malice is one of them. A large number of them weren't even bullying him because they cared about his house, but because his house made him an acceptable target. But listen to me, prattling on about him, when I'm here for you. Trying to justify my actions, when I came to apologize for the way I went about them to begin with...

Would...

Would you please let me talk to you?"

It was clear from her voice and words that Guinevere was growing rather frustrated with herself. Selene remained quiet as always, more than aware that right now she would only make things worse.

---

Blaise felt slightly miffed that her drying spell wasn't good enough for the boy, but she understood the appeal of clean clothes without dried salt, even if they were rather ill-fitting due to the other person having a much larger build.

"By the way, have you heard of him yet, Ollie Luna?"

She was a bit confused, the question seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"Bird Tower Kid? The guy who inspired the new seventh mystery? Aside from that he has designed one of my favourite apps. Aura Sense is dead useful when you want to understand Selene's barely-there emotions, without having a natural gift like Guinevere."

Well, 'barely there' was not quite true. Selene's emotion were overwhelmingly strong actually, to the point that Guinevere had once felt them from light-years away. They had once even done a class on manifesting auras, and the vividness and wildness of Selene's aura was only equalled by how ruthlessly an completely Selene represses those swirling emotions. She did get slightly better after time, but she was still nowhere near even-slightly-expressive.

"Ah, yeah. Him. He is one of the few people who isn't afraid to hang out with me, and you weren't either, so I was curious if you knew him. It seems like he knows a lot of people after all, and you seemed well informed of my situation, so I thought maybe you heard it from him. Well, its true his Apps are useful too. Despite his eccentric personality, he really is a genius".

Aeryn was not really used to people being so understanding to the point they would speak up for him like that, other then Ollie, so he was curious if the two were connected in some way. But before he could get any further, a scream could be heard that sounded like the boy from earlier. Since he had run away from Aeryn, Aeryn was not going to chase after him originally, but...if he got into trouble because he ran away from him, and some strange rumor spread, things would only get worse. So Aeryn decided to chase after the scream...

Meanwhile...

Rio was a bit confused when this boy had appeared out of nowhere even though he intentionally ran in a direction away from people. Rio was a bit conflicted, because to him this boy seemed like he could be an assassin with the way he erased his presence, and so in a panic and from the confusion he still felt that made him act unlike what he might normally act, panicked a bit.

"No no! You are with those people aren't you?! The assassins! I don't care if people think I am paranoid, because its not paranoia when your family actually did get erased! When, they were not just killed, but records and even some memories altered so that no one remembered they existed! Just stranges on a wanted poster! They are after me...no, you could be one of them, appearing like that! An assassin of the Jace Household!"

Rio ended up screaming a little, which ended up attracting attention to him. A strange and dark mist seemed to flow around his feet from the cracks, and while it would be easy to miss anyone who did notice would feel an eerie pressense from it. In truth, it was moving towards Rio's legs with the intention of crawling up and doing something to his body, apparently feeding off of those negative emotions.

But before it could, in a flash of movement Aeryn appeared in front of the boy. He might have wet himself if he had not gone to the bathroom less then an hour ago. His spear had penetrated the ground, and the shadow mist that was difficult to notice had also been stabbed through which caused it to fade away and dissipate. Rio himself did not notice, but Aeryn had.

I don't know what that was...but it looked dangerous. Now, Rio probably thinks I am threatening him with that though. I need to calm him down...well, he looks afraid, but I see in his eyes the potential to be a fighter...in that case...

Aeryn looked around and saw Virgil, who seemed to have been trying to calm the boy down. In fact, Aeryn recognized him from the photo included in the letter.

He also remembered though that even though it was lessened to a good extent by Blaise, he was still pretty soaked and his clothes didn't look prestine at all, plus he was still barefoot.

"You must be my roommate, Virgil. I must say, your parents seemed very nice and understanding about my true situation, unlike others. It is nice to meet you, so I hope you dont mind if we skip usual formalities okay? Since, we will be roommates after all, and I would like to have a break from stiff talk there".

As he said that, Rio, who finally got his senses back, looked at the woman who were looking for him and trying to talk to him earlier, but it seemed the shock didn't really let him process their true meaning and intentions. In fact, in his panic, he looked towards Aeryn...and came up with a single solution. Since their commotion had gathered a large crowd, and because the people around him he believed to be allies or assassins of the Jace Household, he went with the only option he could think of.

It was risky, he would probably lose. He might even lose his life. But, this was better then the alternative.

"Aeryn Jace! I, Rio Aran, challenge you to a duel!"

The moment he did that, Aeryn's eyes did not show any sign of surprise or shock, but instead he seemed honestly happy and content. At the same time, although it was not his specialty so it was a bit costly on his mana, he sent a telepathic message to Blaise, Selene, Virgil, and Guinevere.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. He cant beat me, and also this will help me ease his mind. But now it is definently something I have to do. You see, the duel will be logged on various Academy Records, and also will have plenty of witnesses. He wants this duel because he believes that if he does this, afterwards me nor the Jace Household would be able to really touch him so easily and he would be safe. He is not wrong. And maybe, if the chance presents itself, I can show him I am not like my father or my other family. So, please do not interfere with the duel...I want to help him. Plus, maybe I can discourage others from wanting to fight me so easily. It would be rather problematic if people were to try and duel me when I needed to study for a test after all..."

"Very well, I accept" Aeryn told him as he prepared his spear, which was also his magic casting tool. Even though he was still damp, a bit salty since it was salt water, barefoot and clearly under dressed for a duel, while Rio seemed fully outfitted and prepared, he looked confident. After all, he had won various tournaments in the past. And also...regardless of the outcome, this would help Rio. He wanted to help Rio no matter what, undo some of the damage that had been done on his mind.

Although, in truth Aeryn somewhat doubted his father's involvement with Rio Aran. After all, totally erasing a family but leaving their son, their blood relative son, alive? Aeryn had no doubt that even if his father was truly a bad person, this was clearly just something another did to create a false bad rumor. He suspected that it was possible a few others around him had already picked up on that as well, and possibly even Rio had picked it up but had not said anything from shock of seeing Aeryn and mental trauma of losing his family.

And so, unless someone really went out of their way to interrupt and disrupt it somehow, the Academy would automatically respond and creating a dueling field for them to prevent any interference, damage to the envirornment, or any accidental injuries to others.

Incidentally, Aeryn had no idea this was what ten year old Virgil wanted to see also.

Virgl blinked at the boy oversharing his personal information upon first meeting him. From the old comic books he used to read, the boy reminded him of a superhero, or bad guy, giving a long monologue. He watched him react and then nodded in agreement to his words. How could you argue with the boy’s perception? When someone was stressed like the boy, it was useless trying to reason with them in that mindset. Virgil decided to leave the boy to his own devices and kept to himself after the strange meeting. If most of the students were like this, then he’d have his work cut out for him. It hadn’t even been a full day and he was already experiencing unnecessary drama. This was something his father had warned him about, but he shrugged off the advice and assumed his father was being ridiculous. Alas, he would be owing his father an apology in his next letter home.

Just as things began to calm down, he was approached by Aeryn Jace. He attempted to speak to him, but was too dumbfounded to communicate. His lips moved, but no words came out. Nonsensical utterances formed, which sounded like abrupt stuttering. Virgil forgot about Rio and focused on Aeryn Jace, a person he admired since the time he took up the idea of being a magic user.

Virgil mentally yelled inside his own head and attempted to make sense, or at least carry on a conversation. He looked at Aeryn Jace with a blank expression, as though he didn’t quite understand what he was saying to him. On the contrary, he was overcome with joy at seeing one of his favorite people at the academy. He didn’t know that they’d be roommates, but that must have been the “surprise,” his father mentioned.

He formed a string of sounds, which came out like a strained squeak and his face turned crimson in embarrassment. Other students nearby chuckled at his reaction to Aeryn Jace. It was a foolish reaction, but this particular individual was like a superhero to ten year old Virgil Lacroix.

It took all of his excitement to bubble down inside him and he was able to make coherent words. His face was still blushed from embarrassment, but he ignored the fact. “N-nice to meet you, Sir Jace.” Sir Jace? His face burned with humiliation and he heard the laughter of students behind him.

He wanted to crawl under his bedroom covers and hide from the world.

Guinevere didn't know how to feel about her intentions being ignored completely. On one hand she could sense the now identified Rio wasn't really in a mental state to understand her, an hadn't been from the beginning. Usually at least the general feeling, body language and tone of voice came across though.

Then again, her only major example (not the only example in general, but the most significant one) was Selene, who was more than a bit feral at the time and therefore in closer contact with her instincts.

She had noticed the shadow at roughly the same time as Aeryn, but her reaction time was a lot slower.

---

Selene, try as she might, could not understand the boy. that might have to do with her spirit heritage though, having slightly different thought processes than what most would consider normal. Still, she had to wonder if the boy was slightly suicidal.

She didn't notice the shadow until after Guinevere did, which even then mostly was by virtue of Guinevere's tensing and line of sight. Still she didn't quite realize what she was looking at until it was already dissipating. (Not that she was necessarily right in that assumption) Evidently Guinevere had come to the same conclusion.

"Selene, go get a teacher. Any teacher. No, scratch that. Get any teacher safe professor Uchini..."

-Not that the man was incompetent in his field, he was just too stoned to be reliable at times. Not always, but she'd rather wanted to be safe than sorry when it comes to the well-being of everyone-

"... Tell them an emotional student was about to get possessed by a strange mist. Assumably Type Beta or Delta.

There were several types of possession they had covered in class.

• Type Alpha was the possession by a sentient being.
  • Alpha-1 is the possession by a malignant entity.
  • Alpha-2 is the possession by a neutral entity
  • Alpha-3 is the possession by a benign entity.
• Type Beta was the possession by an artificial intelligence, often created from a curse.
  
  
• Type Gamma is possession by an ID. A split personality of kinds, consisting of parts of ourselves we repress until these unwanted things begin to live their own life.
  
  
• Type Delta is possession by a naturally occurring grudge.
  • Delta-1 overwhelms a person quickly, causing them to go berserk.
  • Delta-2 is parasitic in nature, feeding on a host's emotions to strengthen itself enough to control the host.
  • Delta-3 feeds on the host's emotions until the host is an empty shell, moving on after that.
  • Delta-4 is relatively benign, in the way that the parasite merely fed on the host's emotions for a bit until moving on.
• Type Omega. This basically is the 'FUBAR' of all possession types, indicating Possession by an Eldritch 'Abomination'.
  • Omega-1 is already bad enough, often resulting in mercy-kills. This still denotes entities below a certain threshold.
  • Omega-0 is worse, as it involved Eldritch Gods and all that implies.

---

Blaise found it rather typical how her friends tuned out all else in their worries. Not that Blaise wasn't worried, mind you, she just paid attention to the current going ons too.

"Please play nice with this one", she semi-asked Aeryn out loud, after Selene left. "This one isn't Stupid, just Understandably Emotional. No stripping him naked to have your wicked way with his clothes."

And yes, she was still rather peeved at that.

Perhaps Aeryn had missed something incredibly vital, maybe of the highest importance, no, perhaps it was something so vital it should have been understood immediately, but...Aeryn noticed that she was kind of peeved at something and he didn't know what. Also, it seemed like she indicated he had some desire to embarass the boy, which was not his intention.

Although it would probably help vent his frustration at being pulled into this again.

Before the duel started though, he looked at Virgil....and he blushed a little. Combined with his multi-colored hair which oddly worked together, as if looking at one of those glass mosaic windows, it finally gave him a more normal appearance...though to others, it might just make him look more amazing if they did not notice his true reaction. "I never had anyone stutter like that before when they met me...at least, when it was not fear....heh...well, you can just call me Aeryn, okay Virgil?"

Suddenly, as the duel had been accepted, a strange field surrounded them and replaced the normal space they were in with a duplicated isolated space, which would allow the two to fight here without inflicting any damage onto the surrounding area, or anyone nearby, as well as preventing outside interference. This would be a good stage for this.

Rio came at him first, a quick attack, as two energy blades came out of his sleeves. It seemed he was more tech based, but nothing wrong with that. Aeryn lightly dodged. In this case, being barefoot was to his advantage. Even if it was slightly, he could pick up vibrations through his feel, and gave him an idea of when Rio put his foot on the ground and when he took it off. Rio deflected one blow with his spear, while the other he dodged, and then he summoned several water bubbles around him before shooting them at Rio.

But Rio was not that unskilled, and managed to cut through several with speed and accuracy. There was some wasted movement, but not too much. Aeryn was impressed, this boy had trained well. He considered saying his parents would be proud, but...he knew better then to do something so stupid.

In fact, now that Aeryn had begun a duel, he stayed eeriely silent. But to those who knew dueling, they understood what it meant. It meant he was being serious, not spending energy or focus on speaking but instead on the fight. Rio fired several laser blasts from his gauntlets, but Aeryn had his hex-panel barrier deployed and it stopped all of the attacks head on. It appeared to be there to prevent ranged attacks from hitting, but due to the previous encounters it was pretty obvious it would not deflect attacks inside a certain range.

However, that range was inside the area his spear could reach, which was also his magic casting tool. Rio tried to fire more lasers instead, searching for a weakness in the barrier. Aeryn summoned ice shards this time and sent them at Rio, but Rio deployed an energy shield from his gauntlet as he kept firing lasers. Aeryn had his barrier hold up, but it looked like there might be a limit to it's protection ability as he began to intercept shots with his spear.

That said, he was intercepting laser blasts with a spear, so one should give him credit for that. However, as the pressure kept on, Aeryn managed to hit the boy with a firebolt to the leg and reduced his speed and momentum.

This boy is good...he has exceptional talent. He could really get somewhere in a few years. But...

Suddenly, Aeryn clad his spear and body in lightning, and moved right in front of Rio. From the start, Aeryn had not moved his feet once, so this came as a surprise to Rio. Yet, the boy was still fighting with all he had, and managed to put his arm up as Aeryn went to kick him in the face while clad in lightning. The blow was blocked, but it was painful, exceedingly so. But Rio kept on it, and ducked as Aeryn attempted to knee Rio in the face.

Rio took a distance and then charged forward with energy blades, keeping things fresh, but Aeryn cut down one and made it impact the other, throwing his balance off ground and making him tumble a bit. Aeryn tried to move the blade to his neck, but the boy rolled over and jumped up ready for more. Aeryn took advantage of this though and quickly re-directed the swing so it impacted Rio all the same.

Rio got sent flying across the field, but before he recovered he was hit in the stomach by Rio's lightning clad punch, and then finally he collapsed onto the ground. It was not a particularly long duel, but then again, there was still a world of difference between the experience Aeryn had and the experience Rio had. The dueling zone dissipated, which confirmed that Aeryn won the match.

"You...back there you..."

Rio started to gasp for air, and tried to get his words out.

"You intentionally put yourself at an opening, even though I might be faking, just to adjust yourself so that you did not break any of my ribs....why?"

"Same reason I prefer to be called Aeryn instead of Jace. It does not matter who we are born to, what matters is what we choose to do and the actions we decide to take. I am Aeryn, not the son of Jace, and I will do whatever I feel I have to in order to prove it. Anyways, now we dont need to duel again, because there is a very public and well known record that I beat you".

Aeryn said that, and then turned back towards Virgil, Blaise and the others with a satisfied smile...although, it looked a bit weird since he was still a bit underdressed and discheveled. Meanwhile, Rio, who was being helped by a few other students, looked at Aeryn with shock...as he understood those final words, and realized Aeryn dueled him, Rio, in order to protect him and give him peace of mind.

Aeryn had notably taken zero damage from the whole duel, as he looked to the people who had not met him with ridicule or insults.

"Well, what did you think?"

As the party following Selen reentered into the Plaza, Andolen had a scowl upon his face like someone had served him spoilt milk with his dinner. "Utter foolishness, the both of you." He proclaimed as he strode forth. "Aeryn Finariel, stand aside, I'll have words with you momentarially. Rio Aran, at attention. We need to examine you immediatly for possible possession and manipulation."

His tone was terse and flinty, the more he had learned of this exchange from selene, the more irritable he had become. It would seem to those nearest and closest to him that he took the actions of the students personally in this regard, though there was nothing to indicate as to why.

Andolen would stride forth if left unimpeded, and should his orders be followed, immediatly take a stance before Rio Aran, placing around him with a sharp gesture a runic circle of containment. Once established the circle preventing entities with any form of magic from exiting the circle, containing them within a gravitational effect that yanked them back from beyond the circles borders.

Following this he would begin his incantation, designed from the ground up to isolate and detect the distinct magical energies that flowed through all beings. Should anything be within young Aran that was not OF the boy himself, This would reveal it.

"You were amazing!" Virgil rushed up to Aeryn and watched the actions of Rio. He didn't understand the concept of how duels worked, so he was blunt with his next choice of words: "Will you teach me how to duel?" He asked enthusiastically, his eyes focused on his idol. From his knowledge on Aeryn Jace and his family history, Virgil could write an entire novel on what he knew about the young man. It wasn't just Aeryn Jace he had knowledge of, but infamous students and staff as well. He had a passion for history and he enjoyed researching the academy's past. Everything he had taught himself about Aeryn Jace and the academy was coming to light, but that he didn't doubt for a moment. Reputation was everything to Virgil, so his excitement didn't wane when he witnessed Aeryn Jace about to execute a duel between another student. He watched with eagerness on the sidelines and took written notes, which were scrawled effortlessly onto a leather bound journal. Virgil was determined to become a magic user, even if his blood lacked the gene for it. His parents managed to leave their mark on the academy, but their son lacked any magic in his system. Roguish by nature, he was more suited for espionage, but he was determined to follow in his father's footsteps. It didn't help that his roommate was an idol of his, so his fantasy of becoming a magic user was preserved in his mind.

"Will you please teach me? I promise I won't get in your way!" Virgil blurted out again and ignored any staff, or students nearby. He was too engrossed in having a conversation with Aeryn Jace, to pay them any mind. There was a sense of arrogance in him, but it didn't last for long. Enthusiasm overrode any other emotion, but he managed to keep a level-head about himself. He knew others were watching his every move, so he didn't want to give the wrong impression. His willingness to be trained by Aeryn Jace could be misinterpreted the wrong way and he didn't want to appear needy. He stepped back and allowed Aeryn Jace time to think about his request, then finished the final touches on his journal entry for the day. Even if the duel hadn't manifested like he had hoped, there were some things he scribbled down that would come in handy for future lessons.

As Andolen reprimanded the two for being foolish upon arrival, Azler looked around while discreetly releasing a magic that he overloaded so much into the stealth factor of it, it wouldn't even be a trickle of a drop in terms of mana affecting the atmosphere. This was also one of the reasons he wanted Andolen to do the examinations, if he was to do this simultaneously alongside that, it would be troublesome. That said, he had his own remarks on the duel...

"I don't know. It looks like everyone got what they wanted or needed from that duel. And certainly, if Rio learns well from it, he should understand that this will help him in more ways then one. Though it looks like they both had the same core idea..."

Azler couldn't say it with one hundred percent certainty, but he was pretty sure based on what he heard he understood why Rio suggested the duel, and why Aeryn accepted. They both did it so that Rio could get peace of mind. With a duel like that with so many witnesses and public record of it, if Rio was disappeared, then it would be obvious who to suspect. Incidentally, now if something strange happened to Rio and no source could be identified, it would actually hurt the Jace Household as they would be suspected and investigated.

That was why Azler thought it was not so foolish. It was because he realized that this was waht they had intended.

At the same time this was happening, Andolen was examining Rio while Virgil was complementing Aeryn. It appeared within this huge incident, several smaller interactions were also occuring. And Azler sensed it all, though Andolen's spell was better in terms of Rio due to its focus and it was not being stealthy.

Aeryn just smiled at Virgil as he was praised and admired. Although he was acting pretty cool and connected, his expressions seemed far more cheerful and expressive now. Since he was used to the insults and misperceptions of others, it appeared he did not have much resistance and experience with this so it was pretty clear compared to the normal him that he enjoyed it. "Thanks, and sure".

Meanwhile, Rio's body seemed to light up and his clothes became a bit transparent....or perhaps, the magic was just showing the details through the clothes. Well, it was probably like that because even though it only seemed transparent, it was clearly focused on the boy's soul and mana circuits, though as Rio himself did not possess much or any aptitude for magic but relied on technology and skill, perhaps that was why it happened this way. It never became full see through though, a good deal, but really just so they could see the issue.

For the most part, his body appeared normal and fine...however, one could see something. A thread of darkness, invisible to the naked eye, that was wrapped around his body. It went under the clothes as well, but it probably wouldn't have been visible normally. It looked like it traveled throughout the skin, and through the mana veins even, but not exclusively...as if, it did not need them, and only just took advantage that they were there.

In addition, the strongest area where it was could be seen around Rio's feet. And it did not only reach out into his body from there, a connection could be seen going to Aeryn through his spear...but, there was something very notable. Not only was it extremely weak, but it was withering. Dying rapidly, to be exact, and if Andolen had not cast it sooner they might not have seen it at all because it dissipated in front of their eyes.

Aeryn noticed it for a moment, but looked puzzled. "I don't recall feeling any chance...I wonder, maybe it wasn't compatible or something?"

Azler had his own theory. Most likely, because Aeryn had no dark emotions at that time when he dispersed it, or maybe because of his exceptional emotional control, the mist had tried to possess him but ultimately failed due to a lack of sustinance. Or perhaps, it had designated Rio as its target, and so could not adapt to another host immediately. Or maybe, Aeryn had just inflicted damage on it, and it was withering from that.

It looked like the mist had moved not just to what was visible, but also non-visible. It could be more complicated then that, but Azler was sure Aeryn stabbing it had some sort of positive effect at least.

Rio meanwhile, who was just understanding the situation, realized he had totally misunderstood why Aeryn had seemingly "attacked" him before. He also understood now something tried to possess him, and that Aeryn saved him from that.

And quite notably, something Andolen would probably be happy about, the weird substance that had latched onto Rio was also withering quickly and at a rapid rate. Andolen would likely notice this due to his high skill, but it appeared that it was because it was hit by a powerful, magically infused weapon before it actually started the possession process. In a minute or maybe two, the strange substance that was invisibly wrapped around Rio's body would be gone, and his appearance would return to normal.

However, because of his high skill he would have also noticed that this was not the source, but more like...a reaction. The exact cause would not be able to be determined, but he would defeinently be able to confirm it was a sort of composite of Delta 1 and 2, meant to feed on emotions and strengthen itself, while causing the host to go berserk and cause more chaos. If it progressed far enough or on certain people, it was possible an effect of Delta-3, where it would eventually cause them to burn out and become an empty shell while the entity moved on to another more viable subject, would occur.

Aeryn meanwhile looked towards Virgil again, and smiled. "I cant say for sure, but it looks like everything will be fine here. How about I show you to the dorm rooms? Besides, I want to get changed anyways before class starts, and it looks like everything here is covered".

And as this was said, Azler looked towards Andolen. "Well, I will make sure to have this strange occurance investigated, get some teachers on it while they are off, and look into this area a bit more, but it looks like this area is clear. Unless you have something you want to add, I think it should be safe for you to get to your class. That said, I think just to be absolutely safe, since we are a school and all, I should have Rio go to the nurses office for a bit for continued rest and examination".

Andolen continued his investigation for quite a while before speaking. The students would have seen it as concentration, but Azler would know better. Andolen was silent because he was furious, and opening his mouth at that moment would not have been kind for the students.

He finished his ministrations of the boy and then shook his head, exhaling and with the breath saying "This will need further investigation, but for now Rio is safe enough to secure with the nurse."

To Rio himself he said "After the nurses check you over and make sure your well, return to class. After class You will meet me and Azler in his office, where we should go over everything you remember to see if we can't isolate where this came from." Andolen then turned and walked over to Azler, saying quietly so that only the doctor would hear. "This possession was not some fluke accident, whatever this was it seems to have been crafted, almost.... Almost like someone was attempting to weaponize it. I suspect someone sought to cause a scene somehow."

Andolen paused a moment more, glancing back at Aeryn and Rio before saying to Azler "These two should be kept seperate for the time being, I think. But I'll leave that to your discretion, Doctor. As it stands Your right, I need to get to my class."


He then proceeded a short distance away, saying aloud over his shoulder. "If any of you have my class this period and your not present in the next two minutes I will be marking you tardy for the day". With a gesture he opened a gateway, through which the interior of his class could be seen.

The three of them were glad everything turned out alright in the end. Well, not alright, but at least better than it could have been.

"Are we still heading into the city?", Blaise asked Guinevere. "It might have been our original plan after we finished our lunch, but..."

Guinevere help up her hand to silence her friend, "No, we're still going. It might be a bit later than planned due to all the excitement, but it's not like it's late to the point that everything's already closing. Besides, how often do we have an afternoon without classes? Best to get our supplies now..."

Blaise and Selene nodded, and the three of them started to walk towards the school entrance.

While the confrontation between Their, Cliff and the guards was going on at one point in the lane, a portal opened up at a far enough distance not to be too noticeable to the five basic senses, although it may have pinged on a few magical ones.

Two dishevelled looking girls and a pristine looking one were dropped from them.

Guinevere raised her head, "We're back?", she whispered joyfully. before slightly louder, "We're back."

She uncharacteristically grabbed Selene, the other dishevelled girl, and hugged her in an open display of emotion.

"We're back! Those Elves did it! We're back!"

Normally Selene would have protested at least slightly, insisting on at least a semblance of professionalism, but even she had been rather shaken by what happened in the other place. Blaise, while looking rather unruffled, not even a hair out of place, at the very least agreed with the sentiment.

"Never again", Guinevere swore, referring to going through an unknown portal. This she meant, even if the circumstances had forced them to, as the portal had appeared right underneath their feet.

Blaise send her a Look, and Guinevere amended,

"At least not until professor Uchini decides on having another one of his surprise outings."

---

To understand this conversation one must go back in time a few relative months. Unfortunately, the narrator is rather lazy, and won't explain anything, beyond saying that they were dropped on a world called Sekaysu, after an attempt to summon a certain former Rose Knight back went awry.

---

Selene on the other hand, send Blaise a disbelieving look right back.

No, seriously. Selene did. This is not a joke.

At that out of character display of the silver-haired girl, Blaise admitted, "Okay, that world might have been a bit too nonsensical, even for someone of my skills. But hey, at least we figured out the cause!"

At Guinevere's similarly raised eyebrow, the other girl twitched and continued, "Even if it was something as fucking ridiculous as an airborne STD having come to affect the entirety of the native human race. Like, how even can that be qualified as one if it's airborne?"

Yes, despite her unruffled looks, the happenings had affected even Blaise to the point of swearing.

The three girls had decided to enter the Hospital shortly after having returned. Just to ensure they hadn't caught anything. They could have gone to the nurse's office at the school, but they were literally 20 meters away from the Hospital Entrance. If they did catch anything while off-world, it would have been better to have it looked at ASAP. They might have not been affected themselves, but they could have become carriers of the disease either way.

It was an unwarranted fear in the end, everything having turned out fine according to the hospital staff, although they did get praised for their vigilance. The doctor in question even wistfully commenting how they wished all students at Astrius were this diligent in trying to prevent otherworldy plagues from spreading after their adventures. Which turned out to be an actual problem.

In the end they did take pity on the three girls and offered them use of their showers. They quickly accepted, it being a heavensent after spending months on a planet without running water and shampoo.

Afterwards they rebought their supplies -the supplies they bought before having been used up on Sekaysu-, before returning to the school.