NationStates Jolt Archive

"It is one of the fields of arcane magic that the Godulans consider themselves already particularly adept at. It is a narrow field, to be sure. Stripping or suppressing enchantments and magical effects from an object or area is really little more than extrapolations on the same base principle. We are, however, eminently proficient at it. The only issue is that we know only of the Shirassi versions of the spells. We may well have to relearn all these spells form scratch, but in doing so we will be able to compare with our present repertoire and expand upon it. We know of wards and a few other basic enchantments, but our specialty is in 'leveling the battlefield', so to speak. Even force effects can be vanquished, and while we cannot disjoin a mind from a kython body such as ours, we will be prevented from communicating via the overlink."

He placed the book upon his stack even more protectively than the last tome, then turned back to Shari.

"We even know the equivalent of a thermonuclear bomb when it comes to annihilating magical effects. An Akurzan Reality Sever will remove enchantments, dispel undead, eradicate magically reinforced buildings, terminate summoning and binding rituals... all within a certain radius of the caster. The spell is terribly complex, though, and we, that is the five of us in this avatar, do not possess the skill necessary to properly initiate the effect. At the present time, we can only suppress a few enchantments like so..."

He hummina-hummina'd for a moment with a wave of his free hand, then pointed at Shari's stack of books, which momentarily lost their support and thumped to the ground without even one falling off... then, half a second later, the stack rose back into its original position as though it had never been disturbed.

"A reality sever cast in this area would be tantamount to a declaration of war, though. We know not how many undead or magical effects would be caught within the affected radius, and the vampire population would likely suffer significant casualties. So it is best that we cannot do it even were we so inclined to make the attempt."

Shari didn't know how to reply to that. She didn't like the idea of her books being dropped to the ground even though she had yet to pay for them.

"Don't do that to my books again," she warned.

The footsteps stopped near them and two girls approached.

"Hey Shari who's your friend?" one of them asked.

"New student," she told them. "Sivv'Raxis if I remember correctly."

Alice watched as the girl approached them, obviously another student like Raven has guessed. The face was certainly familiar but Alice couldn't quite put a name to it and feared things were about to get awkward when Raven saved the day.

Flashing Iris a brief smile, Alice moved slightly to the side to accomodate the other student and the trio continued walking into town, which was now clearly visible for everyone, supernatural sight or not.

"So what brings you down to the town, Iris?"

"Our apologies, we simply wished to demonstrate our suppression spell, and the levitation effect on your books was the only magical effect we could see. We might have done it with the screaming tome, but we know not how a suppressant would work on an arcane text of that nature."

Sivv'Raxis did not look surprised at the arrival of Shari's friends, and smiled beatifically as Shari and Co. exchanged pleasantries.

"We just arrived today, much like a goodly portion of the other students, we would wager. Might we venture to guess that it was you two that opened up the screamer down the way?"

Shari just shrugged off Sivv'Raxis apology. The two girls looked at each other and nodded.

"Unfortunately," one of them said. "The book didn't like us and actually threatened to kill us."

"We heard stories about books that could do that... the hand-copied versions of the Necronomicon did that, though not the photocopied ones. We never did figure out why, but we gather great amusement was had at the expense of hand-copiers deemed 'unworthy' by the tome and the raucus chase that would inevitably result. Would there happen to be any books here that can fly around like bats like the Mad Arab's works did? Beyond the Necronomicon and a few other tomes, Godulan magical experience is primarily Shirassi in origin, and they are too dead to give us personal testimony relevant to the subject.

"That aside, we thought we detected a rather malefic tinge to that howl you elicited from whatever tome it was you were inspecting."

Sivv'Raxis turned back to Shari and continued: "Would the experience of your friends be another example of 'being deemed unworthy to read the book' like this tome here deigned to consider me?" He tapped the screamer-book's spine, and the rune text present there seemed to ripple slightly as if protesting being referred to in such a manner.

The two nameless girls just looked at Sivv'Raxis.

"Well those locks on certain magic books are there for a reason," Shari told him. "Powerful magic is extremely dangerous in the hands of those whom are not skilled enough to use it."

She took a book from the shelf. 'Beginners Guide to Summoning'.

"This is more your level."

"You look ... (like moonlight on the loch in the winter. Like deer grazing at dusk. Like an otter diving. Geese in flight. The light through the big stained-glass window at the Abbey. Like the Maiden Herself.) ... like a very beautiful girl in a very beautiful shawl," said Ruari prosaically. He couldn't bring himself to tell her his daft list of things she really did look like.

"Findhorn folk don't marry young, either," he added, not wanting to talk about how shocked he'd felt for a minute when she mentioned proposing. As if he were the sort of pond-scum who'd propose marriage before he was well able to take care of a child! While he was still not much more than a child himself! Goddess, what kind of family did she think he came from?

But then he'd realised she hadn't meant to be insulting. Put that aside for now. Better to concentrate on the things he could answer.

Though, in fact, this was one he couldn't.

"I don't know what it's made of," he said. "The setting is silver, and it's very old -- see how worn the edges are? You can barely make out some of the spirals, and I can't polish off that blackness, it's sort of fused on. But the stone -- it's weird. It looks greyish, but when you look into it it's all mottled. And it's always warm. Here, you feel."

He took it off to hand it to her. It wouldn't come off his finger properly, he had to really tug. And then, when he went to put it in her hand, he ... didn't want to. How dumb can you get? he asked himself impatiently; and, to prove he didn't mind, curled the ring into her palm. With his arms wrapped around her, holding her close against his body, he took her other hand and guided her index finger to the stone's smooth surface.

The power-surge threw them both to the floor. Ruari didn't see how it could have happened. Neither of them was touching anything electrical; Mierin didn't have an electric blanket and her bedside lamp was battery-operated. Besides, the rug they'd been standing on had a non-slip backing. He knew that because it had somehow landed on top of Mierin, covering her completely. She was very still.

"Mierin!"

Frantic, he scrambled over and dragged the rug off her. Her eyes were wide open, staring upward. But even as he began to panic, she blinked and looked at him.

"What was that?"

They both said it at the same time. Ruari laughed in relief and reached out a hand to smooth her tumbled hair away from her face.

And Uncle Hector's ring shone back at him, circling his finger neatly as if it had never left his hand.

"I don't think it likes me," Mierin managed to laugh. "Thanks" she muttered as Ruari helped straighten her hair. "What in Loki's name just happened?" she asked, readjusting the shawl that hid nothing.

Obviously, that little piece of stone was more than it appeared. Mierin felt it wise to let it stay on Ruari's finger, since it didn't seem to like being on hers. How odd that she was thinking of an inanimate (or was it?) object being conscious and having likes and dislikes. However, considering where they were, perhaps that was not so unusual.

She got up and walked around, just to make sure she could, before going back to the bed and sitting on her lover's lap, snuggling up to him.

"Ah yes... we had not yet gotten the opportunity to look there... that would not happen to have been in with other 'beginners guides' would it? All we have been able to acquire so far are relatively gimmicky tomes and general treatises on arcane creatures, including one that seems to read like a shipwreck in that it is both horrifying yet exhilerating at the same time. That aside, we are here primarily for texts relating to what is to be our eventual curriculum, and texts on that were relatively scarce, if one discounts the ones that scream, cackle, or attempt to force the reader into selling his or her soul."

Robin shrugged. "You pay them, they still like to be called a victim," he replied.

Zero nodded at Arpad's suggestion and they began to walk along the road in the direction of the village once again. Robin was however glaring at Zero, annoyed that he had told Arpad of his pub fights.

"Sometimes you get wankers in the pubs," he explained. "They end up pissing me off to the point of punching them."

Thinking for a moment, Arpad realized that in this land, it might be the very thought of being a vampire's "victim" that spurred what he would otherwise call donors.

"Wankers in pubs, imagine that," the Callisdrunian said sarcastically. "Astonishing, don't tell me that they're blathering morons as well, that would just be too much shock for one day."

Then, more seriously, he said "So, I infer that it's perfectly all right for us to go to pubs then. Which one is the best?"

Raven smiled at her. "You'll enjoy your second year even more," she told Iris.
"I hope that I will, I am looking forward to it." She grinned.

Alice watched as the girl approached them, obviously another student like Raven has guessed. The face was certainly familiar but Alice couldn't quite put a name to it and feared things were about to get awkward when Raven saved the day.

Flashing Iris a brief smile, Alice moved slightly to the side to accomodate the other student and the trio continued walking into town, which was now clearly visible for everyone, supernatural sight or not.

"So what brings you down to the town, Iris?"
Iris returned the smile,"Curiosity mostly, I haven't been yet, I though I should see it." She glanced at the others," What about you guys?"

"Ah yes... we had not yet gotten the opportunity to look there... that would not happen to have been in with other 'beginners guides' would it? All we have been able to acquire so far are relatively gimmicky tomes and general treatises on arcane creatures, including one that seems to read like a shipwreck in that it is both horrifying yet exhilerating at the same time. That aside, we are here primarily for texts relating to what is to be our eventual curriculum, and texts on that were relatively scarce, if one discounts the ones that scream, cackle, or attempt to force the reader into selling his or her soul."

"All beginners guides to your lessons are here," Shari mentioned.

She pulled out another book, this one huge. 'Beginners Guide To Necromancy Part I'.

"Parts II to XIII should be around somewhere."

Thinking for a moment, Arpad realized that in this land, it might be the very thought of being a vampire's "victim" that spurred what he would otherwise call donors.

"Wankers in pubs, imagine that," the Callisdrunian said sarcastically. "Astonishing, don't tell me that they're blathering morons as well, that would just be too much shock for one day."

Then, more seriously, he said "So, I infer that it's perfectly all right for us to go to pubs then. Which one is the best?"

Robin placed his hands behind his head as they walked into the village. "Fucking drunks the lot of them," he remarked. "Personally I like the Vikings Stop."

Zero sighed. "The one the warriors tend to stop at as they march through Dark Valley."

@Dri vel

"Looking for Zero actually, he's probably in the village right now," Raven told Iris.

Iris nodded," I take it you both have been here before, what is there to do exactly?" she questioned quietly.

"Sounds like my kind of place," Arpad joked as he followed them into the village. He supposed he probably wouldn't draw much attention in this area as he normally would in a foreign country, the academy being filled with all sorts of strange youths.

"Actually it's my first time as well. I've got nothing to do until classes start tomorrow so I figured I'd wander down here and check things out."

Despite barely knowing her, Alice was sizing up Iris as a potential friend. As of yet she didn't know enough about the girl to decide whether she liked her or not but so far she was proving to be an acceptable companion.

The town itself interested her slightly due to the fact it presented an arcane world outside the confines of the Academy. The only magical instruction Alice had ever known was in strictly controlled environments, whether it be under her father or under the Academy.

"Unfortunately the pubs don't offer much appeal to my kind."

Alice's vampirism was a constant reminder of what she had sacrificed a few years ago. She was now 'undead' and thus could not drink or eat, she couldn't get drunk like many people her age, unless perhaps she drank from an intoxicated source of blood. Whilst at times it was somewhat depressing, she had done it for a reason, the longevity.

"Sounds like my kind of place," Arpad joked as he followed them into the village. He supposed he probably wouldn't draw much attention in this area as he normally would in a foreign country, the academy being filled with all sorts of strange youths.

Zero laughed. "Probabl," he replied.

The soon arrived at a dimly lit pub and Robin led them inside. It was rather empty in there, aside from the barkeeper there was only one patron. A large bearded man drinking by himself.

"Here it is," Robin said. "Quieter then usual."

Iris nodded," I take it you both have been here before, what is there to do exactly?" she questioned quietly.

"Shopping and drinking mostly," Raven joked.

"Actually it's my first time as well. I've got nothing to do until classes start tomorrow so I figured I'd wander down here and check things out."

Despite barely knowing her, Alice was sizing up Iris as a potential friend. As of yet she didn't know enough about the girl to decide whether she liked her or not but so far she was proving to be an acceptable companion.

The town itself interested her slightly due to the fact it presented an arcane world outside the confines of the Academy. The only magical instruction Alice had ever known was in strictly controlled environments, whether it be under her father or under the Academy.

"Unfortunately the pubs don't offer much appeal to my kind."

Alice's vampirism was a constant reminder of what she had sacrificed a few years ago. She was now 'undead' and thus could not drink or eat, she couldn't get drunk like many people her age, unless perhaps she drank from an intoxicated source of blood. Whilst at times it was somewhat depressing, she had done it for a reason, the longevity.

"Well actually there are some that do serve blood," Raven pointed out. "Most even sell blood mead, but that does contain actual mead."

She looked around the village, she recognised a few students wondering around in small groups. However there was no sign of Zero.

"Dammit, I can't even sense him."

"That's okay, sometimes quiet is better," Arpad responded. Fights tended to start when pubs were more busy, as the more people were there, the more chaotic a place grew.

"How's the selection here? Do they have mead? Absinthe?" the boy enquired. Callisdrunians usually began drinking in moderate levels well before adulthood. Arpad knew his limits, though of course, as a moroii, his tolerance level was even higher than a normal Callisdrunian's.

"Yep mead and blood mead," Robin said.

The barkeeper eyed them with suspicion as they headed up to the bar.

"Start another fight and I'm selling you on the slave market," the barkeeper warned.

"You wouldn't dare," Robin smirked.

"I would."

As they walked Iris looked over the lights of the town. It looked like it was a good sized town, small enough to feel small yet big enough that you wouldn't have to dive to the city if you needed something.

Iris said with a smile,"Sounds like home; though, there you have to be 19 to drink in any of the bars or pubs."

"No minimum age here," Raven mentioned.

"Slave market?" Arpad exclaimed quietly. "Strange..." Slavery had always been viewed as highly dishonorable in Callisdrunian society, and had never been legal. It brought up very negative histories for moroii, abuses they'd suffered at the hands of enemies in wartime.

He determined he probably shouldn't worry too much about it, it wouldn't help anything. So he went up to the counter and ordered. "I'll try this blood mead, please."

"He's bluffing," Zero said. "Slavery is illegal."

Robin too ordered a blood mead but being a non-vampire Zero ordered a normal mead. The drinks were soon in front of them and Robin was quick to take a gulp.

"No minimum age here," Raven mentioned.

"Really?" Iris asked quite supprised,"There is no minimum age here,that seems so strange to me."

Iris shrugged slightly and glanced at the different shops and buildings as they passed, she promised her self that one weekend she would come back and look around.

"All beginners guides to your lessons are here," Shari mentioned.

She pulled out another book, this one huge. 'Beginners Guide To Necromancy Part I'.

"Parts II to XIII should be around somewhere."

"I will take them all, if you might be so kind as to assist me in starting up another pile. My current one is starting to lean."

"Really?" Iris asked quite supprised,"There is no minimum age here,that seems so strange to me."

Iris shrugged slightly and glanced at the different shops and buildings as they passed, she promised her self that one weekend she would come back and look around.

"Well Draconians can handle alcohol pretty well," Raven replied. "So what do you want to do first?"

"I will take them all, if you might be so kind as to assist me in starting up another pile. My current one is starting to lean."

Shari looked over at his pile and clapped her hands. The pile stopped leaning and hovered much like her own. It was very much stable.

"Better?"

"Apparently very much so... would you be so kind as to teach us that?"

Alice chuckled at Iris' surprise. If something like the lack of a legal drinking age surprised Iris then Alice figured the girl might very well die of shock as her studies progressed. If she could drink, Alice would be old since Assington deemed it appropriate for eighteen year olds to be treated as adults.

The idea of alcoholic blood served as a beverage was somewhat strange to Alice, mainly due the fact she was used to living in a nation that loathed her kind and the only facilities provided for vampires were cages that funnelled the sunlight or caught on fire.

"I'm keen to look around a bit and in the process we can keep an eye out for Zero."

"Apparently very much so... would you be so kind as to teach us that?"

"Sure," Shari replied. "Maybe when we're back at the academy."

"I'm keen to look around a bit and in the process we can keep an eye out for Zero."

Raven sighed. "If he's with Robin watch out for fighting in a pub," she mentioned.

As they walked along the street they were passed by a tall hooded figure carrying a large sack that appeared to be emitting the smell of rotting flesh.

"So what do you want to see first?"

"Foo..." Sivv'Raxis replied, looking much the same as a young child being told he would need to wait until after dinner for a cookie. He busied himself with retrieving the rest of the beginner's guide books for a moment, then stood back to take stock of his... stock.

"That should get us through the weekend at least. Now we need to go get cauldrons. You would not happen to know if we need special stirring rods or not, would you?"

"He's bluffing," Zero said. "Slavery is illegal."

Robin too ordered a blood mead but being a non-vampire Zero ordered a normal mead. The drinks were soon in front of them and Robin was quick to take a gulp.

"Good stuff," Arpad said after taking a swig. Perhaps he would mention it back home and see if anybody would try making it. There were a couple brewaries owned and operated by moroii clans.

Most alcohol in Callisdrun was made by small, local operations. The large companies were usually just distributers. "So it's usually busier in here than it is right now?" the moroii asked.

Robin gulped down his blood mead and belched. "Yeah usually," he replied.

"Adventurers avoid these parts when the academy starts it's year," the barkeeper mentioned.

Shari nodded. "You can use large ordinary wooden spoons if you wanted to," she told him.

"So we need biodegradable spoons, or can we use more modern methods?"

Shari looked at him. "How do you mean modern?"

Sivv'Raxis looked about for a moment, as if scanning the basement for spies, then brought forth a curious little metallic rod as though pulling a bunny out from his sleeve. About two inches in length, it was too short to actually be used as a stirring rod.

He placed the object on a clear space of a nearby table, then tapped it a couple times before dancing away as if expecting the thing to explode.

With a slightly comical buzzing noise, the small rod started spinning about like miniature helicopter blades. For all intents and purposes, it moved under its own power.

"Admittedly, it looks somewhat more useful when it actually IS stirring something," Sivv'Raxis commented as he melodramatically inched toward the small rod and poked it again to turn it off, returning the object to wherever it came from.

Shari shrugged. "I suppose that could work," she said.

Of course to it that seemed rather hollow, there was great pride in stirring ones own cauldron.

"Oh good. We would hated it had we needed to devote personal stirring time to each cauldron. We fear we would not have had enough hands for the sheer number of concoctions we intend to experiment with."

Having completed his enormous stack of texts, he turned back towards the stairs. "Now we must purchase the cauldrons as well. If you are still looking around for books down here, then we shall leave you to it. Thank you for the assistance."

"Hmpgh," Shari replied and went back to her book hunt. "You are one strange person, you'll fit in fine at the academy."

Iris shrugged,"Well I am up for what ever."

She wrinkled her nose slightly as a man walked past with a bag that smelled of rotting flesh,"I hope hes not planning on eating that" she said with a laugh.

Dimitri found his way out of the hallways and back into the entrance hall. A big clock chimed somewhere in the building.

Later than I thought.

Dimitri sighed and started back up towards the dormatory floor.

Iris shrugged,"Well I am up for what ever."

She wrinkled her nose slightly as a man walked past with a bag that smelled of rotting flesh,"I hope hes not planning on eating that" she said with a laugh.

Raven smirked at Iris, it was an almost cruel smirk.

"No probably planning to resurrect it instead," she replied.

She then waited to see if Alice had anywhere she wanted to go.

Dimitri found his way out of the hallways and back into the entrance hall. A big clock chimed somewhere in the building.

Later than I thought.

Dimitri sighed and started back up towards the dormatory floor.

Several students raced past him. The final student who looked the youngest bumped into Dimitri and fell to the ground.

"Fuck it," he swore, brushing yellow hair away from his eyes.

Dimitri sighed and looked around before offering the boy a hand up.

"Everybody's in a hurry. You alright?"

Sivv'Raxis bowed slightly, a wan smile his only other response to Shari's comment, then wandered back upstairs with his disturbingly large stack of books.

He meandered his way over to the cauldrons, selected two relatively large ones, and brought everything to the shopkeeper.

"How much for all this?"

The boy took Dimitri's hand, he would have noticed it was orangey-yellow in colour.

"Yeah I'm fine," he replied. "Heard a couple of older students were about to fight."

"Why am I not suprised."

Fighting was something that Dimitri had grown up around, so he wasn't all that inclined to go watch. Then he remembered where he was.

"Actually fighting or using magic... or whatever it is they teach around here?"

Sivv'Raxis bowed slightly, a wan smile his only other response to Shari's comment, then wandered back upstairs with his disturbingly large stack of books.

He meandered his way over to the cauldrons, selected two relatively large ones, and brought everything to the shopkeeper.

"How much for all this?"

The shop owner eyed him and then looked at the books.

"That will be £2,012," she said.

"Why am I not suprised."

Fighting was something that Dimitri had grown up around, so he wasn't all that inclined to go watch. Then he remembered where he was.

"Actually fighting or using magic... or whatever it is they teach around here?"

"Magic of course," the boy replied. "At least I hope so. I hear they're from two powerful necromancer families."

Dimitri looked up the stairs, then back at the boy.

Who needs sleep.

"Should be a good show then."

He nodded over his shoulder and stood aside.

"Lead on."

The boy looked around for a moment as he tried working out where the others had gone.

"This way," he yelled and ran off down the hallway.

The other boy took off. Dimitri let him get a few steps out before he started after him.

Sivv'Raxis looked about for a moment, suddenly realizing he had no cash on him and that there were no signs reporting acceptance of credit or check. It would have been so much easier to just form a datakey and transfer the necessary funds physically, but anachronism seemed to be the word of the day for this realm.

"Pardon me for a moment," he said turning and moving to a clear area of the shop floor. As he arrived, a great door of light opened up and another Godulan poked his head through.

"You have a lot of nerve calling us after what you sai-- hey, this isn't a bar."

"I found an establishment more immediately interesting. It appears there is a concern that we failed to address."

The other Godulan, still leaning only halfway through the gate, stepped through and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Cash. They do not take electronic transfer methods."

"Oh. My my my. A moment." The Godulan darted back through the door, and approximately half a minute later, a stack of money flew through and bonked Sivv'Raxis on the forehead.

"If any of that goes to buying booze, your ass is grass. Personal Exploration is through personal accounts only. That there is your first expense allotment for educational purposes."

"Phooey."

The door of light vanished from existence with a rather amusing *shoop* noise. Sivv'Raxis crouched down and picked up the cash money and wandered back to the shopkeeper. Picking out three £1000 notes and passing them over.

"Do not worry about the change, but would you be so kind as to keep track of it? We will be back, and it would assist us greatly if we had some form of tab."

The other boy took off. Dimitri let him get a few steps out before he started after him.

"False alarm," one of the boys from earlier had said.

"Shit," the boy replied and looked over at Dimitri. "Sorry we got false info."

"Do not worry about the change, but would you be so kind as to keep track of it? We will be back, and it would assist us greatly if we had some form of tab."

"Fine," the shopkeeper replied and waved her hand.

Nearby a pen began writing into a book.

"Done. Come back soon."

Dimitri slid to a hault and brushed a lock of black hair from his eyes.

"Dissapointing, but not unexpected. Something tells me that something like that would get broken up quickly."

He rolled his eyes and turned to start headin back towards the stairs.

"We will," Sivv'Raxis replied with a rather musical tone. He then placed the books inside the two cauldrons and headed out of the store.

Standing outside, he decided that it would be necessary to put his new acquisitions away, and thus began to 'skate' back towards the academy, mumbling about how the embassy had tripped him up on his quest to learn about booze.

Perhaps performing odd jobs around the academy would net him some added income...

Raven smirked at Iris, it was an almost cruel smirk.

"No probably planning to resurrect it instead," she replied.

She then waited to see if Alice had anywhere she wanted to go.

Alice's particularly sensitive nose picked up the rotten fish and she couldn't help but give a similar expression of disgust. She didn't really care what happened to them as long as she didn't have to endure that stench again.

"I'm good to go wherever you want. I wouldn't know where to start around here anyway, so lead the way."

Dimitri slid to a hault and brushed a lock of black hair from his eyes.

"Dissapointing, but not unexpected. Something tells me that something like that would get broken up quickly."

He rolled his eyes and turned to start headin back towards the stairs.

The boy shrugged. "Next time we'll get to it quicker," he then said.

The boy was surprised however, most non-Draconians would have been making remarks about his orangey-yellow skin.

Alice's particularly sensitive nose picked up the rotten fish and she couldn't help but give a similar expression of disgust. She didn't really care what happened to them as long as she didn't have to endure that stench again.

"I'm good to go wherever you want. I wouldn't know where to start around here anyway, so lead the way."

"Well it all depends on what you want to do," Raven then pointed out.

She led them along the street, the faint smell of rotting flesh still hung in the air as she looked around still keeping an eye out for Zero.

"Do you want to drink or check out the local magic shops."

The kid who had bumped into him was nearly as strange as the rest of the things around here. Dimitri was either too tired to care or he had reached his wierdness limit for the day. Either way, he'd have to remember to ask about it later. For now, bed was calling, so he half-heartedly waved over his shoulder at the other boys, then walked up the stairs towards the dorm level again.

Robin gulped down his blood mead and belched. "Yeah usually," he replied.

"Adventurers avoid these parts when the academy starts it's year," the barkeeper mentioned.

Arpad couldn't help but laugh a bit. "Are they afraid of schoolchildren like us?" he said in a mock innocent voice. He drank his blood mead not too quickly but not slowly either. It was normal and legal for teenagers to drink in Callisdrun.

"Get's too noisy scares the monsters away," the barkeeper said half jokingly. "They like battling their monsters, no monsters no adventurers, get my money from students instead."

Robin looked over at Arpad and smirked. "Whatcha think?"

Sivv'Raxis skidded to a stop outside the academy, sending a small spray of gravel before him but otherwise appearing none the worse for wear as he walked into the academy through the front doors. Moving as though his considerable cargo bore no encumbrance upon him at all, he walked up the side of the stairs and made his way to his room.

The door barked at him for a moment before recognizing him as its owner, and he opened the door, a strange crackling noise accompanying the move. Some thumping and banging emanated from the room, obviously the result of Sivv'Raxis finding some place to put his new acquisitions.

He did not emerge for some time...

"Well it all depends on what you want to do," Raven then pointed out.

She led them along the street, the faint smell of rotting flesh still hung in the air as she looked around still keeping an eye out for Zero.

"Do you want to drink or check out the local magic shops."

The notion of alcoholic blood still had Alice fascinated as she'd figured after her vampirism she'd never have another drink again. This was something she'd evidently like to investigate and seemed much more interesting than a few dusty old books.

"I'm up for having a drink."

Alice new Raven was interesed in finding Zero yet she reasoned he was a guy and probably having a drink anyway, so within her mind it really made sense to head off to the pub anyway.

"What about you, Iris?"

Raven nodded. "Plenty of pubs around here," she then said looking around. "I hear no fighting though."

She awaited Iris' response.

Iris shrugged and said," Heading to a pub is fine with me."

She was indifferant as to what they did knowing that whatever it was would be a new experiance. If hersecond year was going to be anything like the first, it would be full of supprises, might as well start now, she thought to herself.

"Then it's settled," Raven then said.

Around the corner they found a pub and a grin crossed her face.

"I can sense him, he's inside this one."

Not waiting for the others she headed inside. Sure enough Zero was inside with Robin and Arpad.

"So here you are," she said.

Zero twitched and looked around. "Hey Raven."

Since all were in agreement Alice simply followed Raven into the pub, soaking in the sights, sounds and smells which assaulted her supernatural senses. The stench of human sweat and spilled alcohol was dominant yet Alice expected such and whilst not used to it, she could bear it.

Locating Raven, Alice noticed she'd located a number of other students including Zero, Robin and Arpad. Flashing a brief smile towards her three peers, Alice waited for Raven to direct what would happen next as she wasn't particularly familiar with any of the others.

Taking a look over her shoulder, Alice noticed Iris right behind her.

"You up for a drink?"

Raven looked at Alice and Iris before motioning for them to follow her. She took a seat and ordered up a tankard of mead for herself, leaving the other two to order for themselves.

"I was looking for you everywhere," she told her boyfriend.

Zero just shrugged. "I know but you were busy," he replied.

It was probably for the best that things happened as they did, for Arpad had just formed a cheeky reply when their three female classmates walked into the pub. Upon having another moment to consider things, he thought better of it.

The Callisdrunian took less than an instant to recognize all three of the girls. Being a vampire by no means canceled out the fact that he was a teenage boy, and so naturally he subconsciously noted that as far as he knew, only Raven was with someone (that someone of course being Zero). "We were just sampling the local wares," he said cheerfully. "This blood mead stuff is very odd, but good, too, though I'd guess only Alice would be interested." Iris and Raven were not vampires, he knew, so they had no reason to order blood-mead. "I suppose the regular mead would probably be good too, by extension."

"I don't think it likes me," Mierin managed to laugh. "Thanks" she muttered as Ruari helped straighten her hair. "What in Loki's name just happened?" she asked, readjusting the shawl that hid nothing.

Obviously, that little piece of stone was more than it appeared. Mierin felt it wise to let it stay on Ruari's finger, since it didn't seem to like being on hers. How odd that she was thinking of an inanimate (or was it?) object being conscious and having likes and dislikes. However, considering where they were, perhaps that was not so unusual.

She got up and walked around, just to make sure she could, before going back to the bed and sitting on her lover's lap, snuggling up to him.


A snuggling, mostly-naked Mierin was not to be ignored, whatever events had led to the situation. Ruari hugged her tight -- she could have died! They both could! -- and began checking her body carefully. She might have broken something, or cut somewhere ... the examination quickly became somewhat less clinical. The new tattoo, especially, caught his interest. Obviously his tongue would be the most satisfying means of exploring it.

Matters were progressing nicely when Ruari leapt up, almost tossing the young moroi to the floor. Catching her just in time, he tucked her into bed and pulled the covers up round her, fluffing the pillows, smoothing the sheet, insanely domestic to cover up his sudden distraction.

"I'll -- I'll just make you some hot chocolate," he gabbled. "After a shock like that, you need something hot. And sweet. Hot chocolate, that's what you need."

He was determined to ignore any move on Mierin's part to suggest that she needed something else entirely. A particularly dreadful thought had struck him: what if the ring was jealous? If they continued, would the ring deal more harshly with her this time?

He sent her nervous grins and rattled spoons and mugs as he boiled the jug. "Powdered, of course, but it's better than nothing," he chattered, all the while trying to reason it out. Think, dammit!

Okay, so there'd been that incident back home, but that hadn't been anything serious, and there'd been no action from the ring at all. And it hadn't interrupted while he and Mierin were actually making love. Only when he'd tried to get her to touch it. Or was it because he'd taken it off his finger, then tried to have her touch it? Or had he tried to put it on her finger? He tried to retrace what had happened in the seconds before they were thrown apart by the surge of power, but events were muddled in his mind.

Turning, he looked at her, all cosy in the bed; child-like and fragile she seemed to him at that moment, though he knew she was stronger and probably tougher than he was. His heart turned over at the thought he might bring her pain. His hand shook, rattling the spoon in the mug. But with concentration he was able to bring it to her unspilt.

"I found where you hid your biscuits, too," he said mischievously. "That'll be the end of them." But the teasing rang hollow, even to him. He sat on the end of the bed, drinking gloomily. Questions chased themselves round in his head. Finally, though, there seemed only one way to go. Carefully not looking at her, in case she saw how close he was to crying, he explained what was troubling him.

"... So maybe, to keep you safe, we'll have to ... not ... you know." He couldn't say it. "What do you think?"

It was probably for the best that things happened as they did, for Arpad had just formed a cheeky reply when their three female classmates walked into the pub. Upon having another moment to consider things, he thought better of it.

The Callisdrunian took less than an instant to recognize all three of the girls. Being a vampire by no means canceled out the fact that he was a teenage boy, and so naturally he subconsciously noted that as far as he knew, only Raven was with someone (that someone of course being Zero). "We were just sampling the local wares," he said cheerfully. "This blood mead stuff is very odd, but good, too, though I'd guess only Alice would be interested." Iris and Raven were not vampires, he knew, so they had no reason to order blood-mead. "I suppose the regular mead would probably be good too, by extension."

Raven smirked at him. "Well actually anyone can drink blood mead," she pointed out. "You don't really need to be a vampire to have a taste for blood, you could be curious or just plain fucked up."

She took a gulp of mead and glared at Robin.

"You start a fight and I'm staking you myself."

We need to test this information. In order to ascertain whether we can actually perform this magic or not. If our Kython form cannot accomodate the arcane energies required then our mission is doomed to failure.

Nonsense. We are versed in Shirassi magics, so this arcanery should be little alteration.

We agree with the necessity to test. It does not hurt to examine how magic might react to our nature.

We concur.

I believe this simple illumination spell would be sufficient to test ourselves. It is harmless towards vampires, and should be sufficiently small in effect to avoid notice.

Excellent, let us proceed.

I advise against this, we do not know how much power we should put into the spell. We might accidentally overpower the spell. We must learn how much is enough.

Your caution is noted. Initiate spell, but try to use caution in the application of magical energies.'

Acknowledged.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The light could be seen from orbit, even though the roof blocked any vertical emissions. At first it was suspected that a nuclear attack was underway, but the lack of actual radiation or heat readings suggested that it was just some sort of REALLY big flashlight.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would appear you needed to exercise more caution than you did.

I didn't even use that much! It was the same amount we put into that suppression spell, and that's hardly enough to make a spoon twitch!

We must examine the spell further.

It is too bright to study the book, perhaps we should try to shade ourselves from the effect.

Sivv'Raxis brought the massive shaft of light to the window and poked it outside in order to read the book further.

Ah, here it is. You placed all the energy into magnitude, not control. Let us try to switch the balance slightly to see if that assists in reducing the effect.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doubtless many vampires would have been confused somewhat by the tremendous outpouring of light, both in regards to how it became daylight so quickly, or why the daylight was not harming them.

After a few moments, the light shifted from a great ball of light into a shaft of near-blinding light focused directly on the nearby village.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It does not appear to have been of assistance.

Turn it off!

Why? We still need to refine the spell!

Turn it off dammit! You're aiming that light spell right at the town!

Oh. Oops. Terminating.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And then the light was gone. Darkness returned to the dark valley, accompanied by the hoots, chirps, and squawks of confused birds, to say nothing of the rather significant amount of howling as various packs of wolves conversed amongst themselves to figure out what the hell had just happened...

The bright light had not gone unnoticed. Professor Bräck was quickly stood outside the door of the room the light had come from and heavily knocked on the door.

Several students from the boys floor had come out from their rooms to see what was going on.

Sivv'Raxis opened the door rather slowly, showing an extremely wide, if sheepish grin.

"Your presence was not unexpected. Would you be so kind as to assist us in ascertaining what went wrong with our cantrip? The book says the light should be akin to a torch, but as you no doubt have noticed... it was not."

Professor Bräck looked sternly at the young student. "You are delving into magicks beyond your understanding it would seem," he explained. His stare coldened. "I would suggest refraining from learing anything more tonight."

"Really? Would you be so kind then to tell us if this is too much power?"

Sivv'Raxis brought out his left index finger and displayed it to Bräck. With a light *poit!* a small globe of light materialized an inch above the finger, gingerly hovering and providing a soft glow to the gathered students around. He regarded the small orb with a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"Oh. NOW it works properly..."

What the hell? I didn't change anything in the spell.

I changed it. I figured it out a bit. Its a duration spell! You put in that amount of power TOTAL over the duration of the effect. You were feeding it constantly the amount of power it needed overall. Sucker's supposed to last an hour, and you effectively amplified it by several thousand times.

Okay, HE does the spell crafting from now on. I don't like that look the boss if giving us. I don't want to see it again.

"Eh-heh... we figured out what went oops."

Professor Bräck crossed his arms and smirked. "Well that's good then," he said. "I'd suggest only practising small spells outside of class and please read the instructions thoroughly before attempting them, the infirmary cannot deal with so many blind students."

As Dimitri had be assending the mostly dark staircase, he was suddenly bombarded with... something. His pupils shrank almost to the point where they no longer existed. The flash of light hit him so fast he didn't even kow what hit him. All he knew is that it hurt. Alot. His eyes closed instinctively and he hit the deck and tried to shield himself from whatever it was. A few minutes after the light dissapated so too did the blinding pain in Dimitri's head. He opened his eyes and they slowly readjusted to the darkness, and again took on the faint glow. He stood and made his way the rest of the way up to the boy's dorm floor. Other kids where milling about in the hallway.

"What the hell was that?"

Raven smirked at him. "Well actually anyone can drink blood mead," she pointed out. "You don't really need to be a vampire to have a taste for blood, you could be curious or just plain fucked up."

She took a gulp of mead and glared at Robin.

"You start a fight and I'm staking you myself."

The moroii boy hadn't expected Raven's response, but luckily, he thought of something to say quickly enough. "Well, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was implying the latter about them," he said quietly. His tone was jesting, but certainly not mocking.

"What the hell was that?"

One of the other students looked over at him. "Seems that weird Godulan kid did something fucked up," he explained rubbing his eyes.

The moroii boy hadn't expected Raven's response, but luckily, he thought of something to say quickly enough. "Well, I wouldn't want anyone to think I was implying the latter about them," he said quietly. His tone was jesting, but certainly not mocking.

Raven laughed. "I know, I know, I was just rubbing you," she grinned.

Zero sighed. "No one ever understands your sense of humour Rave," he remarked with a roll of the eyes. "Not even me."

Dimitri sighed and threw his arms up in the air.

"Of course he did."

Dimitri pushed through the crowd towards his room, only to discover that his room was directly opposite of the one that Siv was poking out of.

Yeah. Definently would have prefered that they just kill me.

He shook his head and walked to his door, opened it and walkd in. he neglected to close it just on the off chance that his room suddenly burst into flames or something.

"Well we can only expect more weirdness from him," the older boy shrugged.

"Fortunate it is then that we did not attempt a voice amplification spell. We fear we might have accidentally annihilated the academy with the sonic boom. Rest assured that outside of class we are very careful only to use spells that are relatively harmless if accidentally... overpowered. If that is all, then we would like to return to our work, now that we can better control the spell, you will not need to expect any other unfortunate mishaps. Is this matter settled to your satisfaction?"

Professor Bräck nodded. "Just becareful what spells you consider using as you will not like detention," he then warned. "As you were."

The headmaster then turned and headed down the hall whistling a funeral march tune.

Unable to withold her curiosity, Alice approached the bar and asked for pot of blood mead, digging into her pocket for the appropriate cash as the bartender filled her a glass. Leaving a reasonable tip for the man behind the bar, Alice made her way back to the table and sat next to Raven.

"This should be interesting..."

Not holding back in the slightest, Alice took a large swig of the drink, allowing it to slide down her throat. Of course it was quite thick, due to the blood and possessed a somewhat familiar sweetness. Having never experience mead before, Alice didn't know what to liken it to but she could definitely notice the presence of alcohol, something she hadn't experienced since before she'd been turned.

"Hmmm, it's not bad."

Taking another sip, it was evident Alice had quickly developed a liking for the drink.

"Glad you like it," Raven replied.

Robin took a gulp of his own blood mead and smirked. "Blood goes well with everything," he said.

Zero looked somewhat distracted. He was looking back to the dirty windows.

"Did anyone else just see a bright flash?" he asked.

Sivv'Raxis pondered the little ball of light in his hand, then willed it away. Considering his now un-illuminated hand, he brought the light back, on and off, a few more times, then began to grin mischievously.

He angled his hand down, and with a slight flexing of his fingers a flash akin to several cameras going off all at once illuminated the floor. The other students still surrounding him slightly all jerked back in surprise, doing so again but only slightly as Sivv'Raxis fired it off again, confining the flash more and more to a specific area.

With a slight "Hmm!" he turned back and returned to his room, shutting the door. About every five seconds after that a flash of light could be visible from the space beneath the door, along with the occasional cackle.

"Especially with mead," Arpad commented in response to Robin's statement. Of course, his opinion was biased, being a Callisdrunian, as mead was one of the most popular drinks in his country, though a rarity in many other nations. It wasn't especially hard to make, all it required was honey, water and brewer's yeast. And in this case, blood.

Almost halfway done with his, he took another swig. "I should suggest this when I get home, it's delicious."

Then Zero mentioned a flash of light. Arpad had thought it only some sort of illusion. "Yes, a little bit," he said.

A snuggling, mostly-naked Mierin was not to be ignored, whatever events had led to the situation. Ruari hugged her tight -- she could have died! They both could! -- and began checking her body carefully. She might have broken something, or cut somewhere ... the examination quickly became somewhat less clinical. The new tattoo, especially, caught his interest. Obviously his tongue would be the most satisfying means of exploring it.

Matters were progressing nicely when Ruari leapt up, almost tossing the young moroii to the floor. Catching her just in time, he tucked her into bed and pulled the covers up round her, fluffing the pillows, smoothing the sheet, insanely domestic to cover up his sudden distraction.

"I'll -- I'll just make you some hot chocolate," he gabbled. "After a shock like that, you need something hot. And sweet. Hot chocolate, that's what you need."

He was determined to ignore any move on Mierin's part to suggest that she needed something else entirely. A particularly dreadful thought had struck him: what if the ring was jealous? If they continued, would the ring deal more harshly with her this time?

He sent her nervous grins and rattled spoons and mugs as he boiled the jug. "Powdered, of course, but it's better than nothing," he chattered, all the while trying to reason it out. Think, dammit!

Okay, so there'd been that incident back home, but that hadn't been anything serious, and there'd been no action from the ring at all. And it hadn't interrupted while he and Mierin were actually making love. Only when he'd tried to get her to touch it. Or was it because he'd taken it off his finger, then tried to have her touch it? Or had he tried to put it on her finger? He tried to retrace what had happened in the seconds before they were thrown apart by the surge of power, but events were muddled in his mind.

Turning, he looked at her, all cosy in the bed; child-like and fragile she seemed to him at that moment, though he knew she was stronger and probably tougher than he was. His heart turned over at the thought he might bring her pain. His hand shook, rattling the spoon in the mug. But with concentration he was able to bring it to her unspilt.

"I found where you hid your biscuits, too," he said mischievously. "That'll be the end of them." But the teasing rang hollow, even to him. He sat on the end of the bed, drinking gloomily. Questions chased themselves round in his head. Finally, though, there seemed only one way to go. Carefully not looking at her, in case she saw how close he was to crying, he explained what was troubling him.

"... So maybe, to keep you safe, we'll have to ... not ... you know." He couldn't say it. "What do you think?"

The examination for injuries, which quickly turned into something else entirely, was thoroughly pleasing to Mierin when it did. The skin around her tattoo was still a bit tender, so Ruari's tongue felt quite nice on it, though the vampiress hoped it would eventually drift elsewhere. "Oooh..." she murmured.

Naturally, she was quite surprised when her lover suddenly jumped up, making a small yip like cry as she almost fell, only to be caught and tucked in. The vampiress didn't really understand what was going on with Ruari, but then again, that was one of the things she liked about him, that he wasn't predictable and could do things she didn't expect. As he started making hot chocolate, she smiled. "Thank you, I'd like that." The prospect of something chocolate was even enough to overcome her disappointment of her boyfriend having stopped the ministrations with his tongue. The fact that he was doting on her so nicely helped too.

Mierin kept looking at her lover, wondering what was on his mind, as something was clearly troubling him, probably the incident just a few moments ago with that odd ring. She didn't interrupt though, instead just sipping her chocolate and letting him contemplate things in his mind. It wouldn't do to rush him. For some reason, he looked like he might cry.

She then found out why. Obviously, her mouth was agape when he concluded, and she almost dropped her drink. Managing to close her mouth, she frowned, thinking. Her mind worked differently than Ruari's and it took only a moment to decide her course of action.

Putting down her cup on the small table by the bed, Mierin walked over to Ruari. Though she wasn't trying to, she somewhat naturally swayed as she walked. "Ruari..." she whispered, pressing herself against his back. Since the bed was high, they were at about the same level, even with him sitting on it and her standing on the floor. He felt warm to her. "You know me well enough by now I think. My clan stems from the Batory line, which is infamous for several reasons, among them being insatiable in the area concerned. You know all this, though. Look at me." The moroii gently turned his head so they were able to look into each other's eyes. "I am no exception, as you've learned. So how could I accept not being able to make love with the person I love?" There, she'd said it.

"Especially with mead," Arpad commented in response to Robin's statement. Of course, his opinion was biased, being a Callisdrunian, as mead was one of the most popular drinks in his country, though a rarity in many other nations. It wasn't especially hard to make, all it required was honey, water and brewer's yeast. And in this case, blood.

Almost halfway done with his, he took another swig. "I should suggest this when I get home, it's delicious."

Then Zero mentioned a flash of light. Arpad had thought it only some sort of illusion. "Yes, a little bit," he said.

"Heh, you'll find hundreds of different recipes for blood mead," Robin explained. "Different vampires have differing tastes varying from region to region."

"I wonder who that was," Zero said of the flash. "Spell I reckon."

<snip> "I am no exception, as you've learned. So how could I accept not being able to make love with the person I love?" There, she'd said it.

Ruari couldn't believe what he'd heard. He loved her, obviously; he'd known it when they talked late into the night in that cafe on their first date. But he'd never expected to be loved back. Liked, yes; he'd thought Mierin probably considered him a friend, as well as a lover. This, though -- well, all the more reason to be strong. For her sake.

"How could I accept killing the person I love?" he protested. He could feel her pressing against him, her breasts bare against his back, her nearness having its usual effect. He groaned. He was fourteen; he was a man. A man can control himself. If they made love again, if the ring really was "jealous", this time it might kill her.

She turned his head to look in his eyes; he turned his shoulders; she ...? he ...? Ruari couldn't tell which of them moved, but --

Lips met. Tongues ventured. Hands grasped --

... and nothing happened. Well, nothing ring-related.

"You are a wicked, wicked wench," Ruari said happily some time later, gazing at her through a fog of exhaustion. He couldn't actually move. He didn't need to. He was fizzing over with joy. She loved him. They could make love. What more could he ask of life?

He let his eyes flicker lazily about the room, idly checking out the lamp, the bookcase, the books -- a familiar cover caught his eye. Oh, surely, it couldn't be. He'd seen that title among his sister's books. It was a childhood favourite; she hadn't had the heart to give it away. So, little-girl Mierin had read the same thing? Smiling, he summoned just enough strength to reach for it.

"Look," he teased, "The Naughtiest Girl In The School. Fancy dear old Enid Blyton knowing about you!"

She snatched the book from him. He was laughing too hard to get away.

"I don't care, I'd do it again," he told her fondly, several action-packed minutes later. "It was worth a spanking. But you hit quite hard -- for a girl."

It seemed that the task of keeping Ruari in line was one Mierin might have to devote quite a bit of time to.

On the day of the academies first lessons the students, those still asleep anyway, were awoken by a loud explosion that rocked the mansion. The explosion came from one of the classrooms, the Necromancy classrooms in fact. Professor Bräck stood back and chuckled to himself, the returning second years were in for a big surprise. Quickly and using his magic he cleared up the mess made and headed out into the corridor fully expecting the students on the floors above to be wondering what had just happened. He did expect some of them at least to put it down as just another Aaron Vs Diego fight.

Robin was one of those already up, he was a vampire after all and so was naturally nocturnal. Also was the fact that under the cover of darkness was the best time for Robin to sneak out to the villages to get the blood he would feed upon. Only today he was cutting it close as the sun was already beginning to appear over tree line.

He’d heard the explosion and saw the smoke rising from a small dungeon window. It seemed somewhat foreboding since he knew it was from one of the necromancy classrooms. So what did Professor Bräck have planned this time, Robin dreaded to think. So long as he didn’t bump into the headmaster on his way back to his room, but the headmaster would always appear out of nowhere.

Problem was, Professor Bräck was too often talking to him about missing villagers. Accusing him of things he didn’t do and no doubt the headmaster would be there waiting for him, checking up on him. As far as he knew the headmaster didn’t really warning the other vampiric students about not wanting to hear of missing villagers. It was something the headmaster always warned him about yet he had never killed a villager, sure he had willing donors and sure he started fights in the pubs but he never once killed any villagers.

Professor Psyren on the other hand. That was different though as she’d had it coming. Damned vampire hater, Robin thought to himself. But his train of thought was soon derailed.

“Hey Robin out late again?” came a familiar voice, thankfully not that of the headmasters.

It was Elrohir.

“What’s it to you?” the vampire boy replied.

Elrohir placed his hands behind his head. “Nought really, just saw you coming back.”

There were also a few other students around, mostly to see what the explosion was.

“Hmph,” Robin remarked with a shrug. “See the headmaster is blowing up things again.”

Elrohir grinned. “Thought so,” he said and looked in the direction of the dining hall. “May as well grab breakfast.”

Iris followed the other two girls and took a seat. She decided against getting a drink, as she had forgotten to bring along some money with her, instead she sat back and listened to the others banter while wondering what the new year would bring.
------
Iris hit the floor of her room with a solid bang as she was tossed out of her bed by the explosion, she groaned and picked her self off the floor ,"ouch! hope they don't make a habit of that",she thought,fighting the urge to crawl back into bed. With the help of a nice hot shower Iris was soon awake.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt then threw on a sweat- shirt, well aware of the bruise that was making its appearance on her side. After a quick glance in the mirror Iris pulled back her long black hair in to a a messy bun.
Iris grabbed her book and made sure her cat was with her before she left her room and headed down to find some breakfast.

Alice was already awake when the explosion rocked her room. Somewhat used to these unexplained outbursts, Alice paid it little attention as she petted her skeletal cat. Whilst she wasn't quite sure whether the cat could actually feel anything, being all bones, it seemed to enjoy the attention and so Alice kept it happy. She'd learned early a happy cat was much better than a spiteful cat.

Classes would start soon enough and Alice was anxious to get on with necromancy whilst subjects such as vampire studies she could do without.

"Ying ying!"

Darting amidst the increasing crowds of students as they came out of their little sleepy-holes, Sivv'Raxis hovered a couple feet above the ground as if sitting on some invisible seat and pedaling leisurely at some unseen mechanism. a foot or so in front of him, a small notebook hovered as if carried by some similarly undetectable receptacle.

The explosion had not even fazed him when it occurred. Although he did stop and mumble something about "Oh, 'Do as I say not as I do,' huh?" He left his dorm room innocently enough, then initiated the curious spell effect before setting off to inspect the more 'foodly' aspect of the academy.

"Gangway for the invisible bike! Ying ying!"

Coming upon the stairs down, he slowed to a crawl and angled his 'invisible bike' for the trip. "Going down... WEEEEEE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EEEEE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-EEEEE!!! Ying ying!"

He passed Robin and a few others on the way to the dining hall, most choosing to respond with only an exasperated shake of their heads as he went by with the occasional "Ying ying!"...

Clambering down the ivy to his bedroom earlier in the morning, Ruari had been filled with the joy of life. Mierin loved him, he loved her, what else did he need?

At this hour, though, the answer was clear enough: sleep. Lots more sleep.

A bit more information wouldn't go astray, either. Like, what was the deal with Uncle Hector's ring? And what was going on with his chess set?

It had happened once before: he'd come back to his room and found the red king backed into a corner of the board, surrounded by all the other pieces. This morning it was the same. Anyone could have crept into his room and done it; he hadn't exactly been spending a great deal of time there, not with Mierin a brief ivy-climb away. But why bother? It was too mild to be any sort of hazing ... even as he thought that, his stomach flip-flopped. If it was so mild, why was he so worried?

Determined to think of something else, something he could do something about, he propped his timetable up on his mug and began ploughing through the over-milky and over-sweet porridge he'd been served. Once he put a sprinkle of salt on it the stuff was edible, and at least it wasn't noisy, like that cereal that first-year kid over there was putting away like there'd be no more meals this term. Explosions he could deal with -- over the past year, he'd recognised they were just a fact of life at Nocturne Academy -- but crunchy munchies was a bit too much at this hour of the morning OMIGODDESSNOOO!

Apologetically mopping down the table and his nearest neighbours (it was astonishing just how far it was possible to snort porridge when upset), Ruari sneaked another peek. Maybe the timetable had changed its mind.

No, it was still flaunting the news that had set off his outburst. First class of the year: Necromancy.

It could have been something predictable, like Vampire Studies, or something almost enjoyable, like, say, discovery and preparation of magical materials. Everyone knew the first class set the tone of the whole year, and he could have managed to get by with either of those. But no. Ohhh no. His fate was sealed, his year was ruined.

Ruari went off to scrabble books and papers together and hope desperately for another, bigger, classroom-specific explosion.

That strange Godulan kid annoyed Robin even more than that strange Godulan diplomat did.

"Wanker!" he yelled much to the amusement of Elrohir.

Soon enough though they had arrived at the dining hall and took their seats at one of the tables. Like they were used to the food they thought about instantly appeared in front of them. A few others were in the dining hall as well, including Zero and Raven who once again looked as though they had been out all night.

The explosion caused Dimitri to roll over. He opened his eyes and his pupils immidiatly shrank down to nearly non-existant. He shut them tight and held his hands over them.

Not again! Damnit Siv...

He cracked his fingers a bit and took another look. His eyes acurally adjusted a bit this time, and e realized he'd just left he window open. Growling at his own stupidity, Dimitri rolled out of bed. In the light of day, he noticed something he hadn't last night. It looked like a class schedule. He walked over to it and looked it over.

Vampire studies? During the day?

Dimitri shook his head. He tucked the schedule away in a pocket and started down towards the dining hall. There was still awhile left before the class started and Dimitri was feeling a bit peckish. He fumbled his way down the stairs and into the dining hall. The little corner he had occupied the previous night was still vacant, so he took up that spot again. He looked around and wondered where one would go to get a waffle. Then poof. There was a waffle, right in front of him.

Alright, that I could get used to.

And without further ado, the seat across from Dimitri sprouted a Godulan kid. Sivv'Raxis pondered the table for a moment, noting several other kids sitting down and food 'appearing' before them, said 'hmm' a few times, and then concentrated slightly.

A full scale continental breakfast buffet appeared in front of him, complete with coffeemaker. Looking over his 'spread', Sivv'Raxis could not help but grin. "Five of us thought it, and we got a meal for five. How interesting."

Dimitri grinned. The Godulan was a little strange, but it could have been worse.

"This is the kind of wierdness I could get used to."

He winked at the other student, then snagged himself a biscuit and dug in. After a minute a glass of blood-wine appeared next to his plate.

Wow. Great service. Just hope there's not a magic tab running up somewhere...

Dimitri took a sip from the glass and savored the slightly chilled beverage. He had only had one taste of the glorious beverage in his life, and that had nearly cost him a year in lock up. He silently cursed that barman for being so alert, then contenued with his meal.

Professor Bräck seemingly appeared from out of nowhere near Dimitri and smiled at him. Something black and smouldering was held in one hand and was giving off a fair amount of smoke.

"Ah not to worry Master Vauhn, that all comes as part of the boarding," he said.

Without waiting for a reply the headmaster nodded and headed off somewhere else trailing smoke behind him.

A few biscuit crumbs tumbled out of Dimitri's mouth as the headmaster spoke, then walked away.

"Great. The headmaster can read minds."

Dimitri would have to make sure to keep his thoughts more safeguarded from now on.

"I did wonder," Sivv'Raxis said between bites of bacon as the headmaster walked away. "Logic would dictate this stuff must come from somewhere. No matter, we have a sufficiently sized expense account that you need not worry about that biscuit. We might strike many as eccentric or even oddball, but we are also quite well-funded."

"After all, we have already procured an extensive selection of arcane texts from which we have garnered the use of several amusing abilities. You need not fear another rapture-esque flash of brilliance, as I have been able to control it... a little better."

With a flick of his wrist he sliced into a stack of pancakes with a magically-conjured laser, then picked up a decent amount with his fingers and ate it as though testing the taste. He never used a fork or a knife as he ate, though his fingers never got dirty or sticky due to syrup or butter or eggs. Any possible thing that remained on his fingers afterwards seemed to be absorbed into his body within moments.

As he ate, his green eyes began to take on an eerie glow, ever-increasing in its intensity with each bit of food. His movements seem to take on an awkwardly restrained nature, a slight tremble, as though his body was attempting to move faster but being held back by some internal force. One could almost call it a Caffeine high, but he had not yet even laid a hand on the coffee.

"And... they say... we do not need... to eat..." Sivv'Raxis said as he leaned back and turned his attention to his spasmatic hands. "Come on... just like they showed us... put it all into reserves..." With visible effort, the trembling subsided, and Sivv'Raxis returned to his food.

"Do not worry, it was a momentary lapse. We do not digest things as organic folks do. It was actually quite... pleasant..."

Dimitri smirked and turned his attention back to the other kid.

"No worries here Siv. Just give me a little warning before you start experamenting with spells again. That way I can, I dunno. Hide under something."

Dimitri winked and went back to his meal.

The explosion woke her as surely as it had the rest of the students. Even so, Mierin was slow getting out of bed. The young vampiress was not built to get up this early in the day. Her kind were naturally nocturnal, and what's more, the previous night had been spent... in much activity. She reflected on it with a smile.

OOC: Think of this as a flashback
Ruari couldn't believe what he'd heard. He loved her, obviously; he'd known it when they talked late into the night in that cafe on their first date. But he'd never expected to be loved back. Liked, yes; he'd thought Mierin probably considered him a friend, as well as a lover. This, though -- well, all the more reason to be strong. For her sake.

"How could I accept killing the person I love?" he protested. He could feel her pressing against him, her breasts bare against his back, her nearness having its usual effect. He groaned. He was fourteen; he was a man. A man can control himself. If they made love again, if the ring really was "jealous", this time it might kill her.

She turned his head to look in his eyes; he turned his shoulders; she ...? he ...? Ruari couldn't tell which of them moved, but --

Lips met. Tongues ventured. Hands grasped --

... and nothing happened. Well, nothing ring-related.

"You are a wicked, wicked wench," Ruari said happily some time later, gazing at her through a fog of exhaustion. He couldn't actually move. He didn't need to. He was fizzing over with joy. She loved him. They could make love. What more could he ask of life?

He let his eyes flicker lazily about the room, idly checking out the lamp, the bookcase, the books -- a familiar cover caught his eye. Oh, surely, it couldn't be. He'd seen that title among his sister's books. It was a childhood favourite; she hadn't had the heart to give it away. So, little-girl Mierin had read the same thing? Smiling, he summoned just enough strength to reach for it.

"Look," he teased, "The Naughtiest Girl In The School. Fancy dear old Enid Blyton knowing about you!"

She snatched the book from him. He was laughing too hard to get away.

"I don't care, I'd do it again," he told her fondly, several action-packed minutes later. "It was worth a spanking. But you hit quite hard -- for a girl."

It seemed that the task of keeping Ruari in line was one Mierin might have to devote quite a bit of time to.

“I am a very wicked wench,” she said in response to Ruari’s playful accusation. “It’s far more fun that way,” she added, pinching her lover.

Slightly embarrassed that she had brought the odd foreign children’s book (it had been a gift from a far-cousin of hers, Eszti Batory, who was now the High Priestess of Ithtyr… how she had procured it, Mierin did not know), but not so much as to become in any way docile, Mierin put the book back on its shelf. She then proceeded to ‘discipline’ Ruari. In a playful way, of course.

After she had finished with this game, her boyfriend commented on the force of her blows. And then added something that would obviously require some more discipline. “For a girl?!” Mierin exclaimed, in mock protest. “Well, it looks like you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”

The fun (though not the disciplinary sort) continued long into the night, both went to sleep quite late.OOC: End of Flashback.

"Ugh," she grunted as she drank a glass of water. Blood tasted wonderful new, but it didn't leave a very good taste in one's mouth after a night.

The moroii girl saw in her mirror that yes, she did indeed look as bad as she felt. It would be obvious how little she had slept, what with the huge dark spots beneath her eyes (the veins of which were a bit more visible than usual, which was about as bloodshot as her eyes ever got, thankfully). Her skin looked clammy and pasty instead of the silky white smoothness it had after a shower. Unfortunately, there wasn't time for one, she had to get down if she wanted breakfast before class. Her hair was a mess, but there was nothing she could do about, so Mierin simply tied it back in a pony-tail.

In a hurry, she threw on a red "Gomorrah" band t-shirt with its illegible logo and a tattered black jeans skirt. Finally, she put on clean socks (ever important for her choice in footware) and her boots and headed down to eat as she was. She would have preferred to wash up and look more presentable, but Mierin didn't mind that her appearence would bear witness to the fact that she'd had a late night and be a visual representation of how tired she was.

She sat down with a bowl of cereal and what looked like bacon, not really noticing who was occupying the nearby seats.

Meanwhile, Arpad, who hadn't gotten quite as late a night as Mierin, had already eaten breakfast and was heading towards Necromancy class. He was in no hurry though, since he had plenty of time before class started, he could walk at a leisurely pace, encountering whoever he might in the Academy's spacious halls. He had made a mental note of where in the nearby village the pub with the excellent blood-mead was, since he was interested in returning some time.

"You look like death," Raven remarked.

She was pretty sure that Mierin hadn't noticed that she had sat down with herself and Zero. Nearby too were Robin and Elrohir, whispering between each other and laughing probably at Mierins expense.

Professor Bräck was already back in the Necromancy classrooms preparing once again for lessons. He was expecting the odd early arrival, perhaps he could get them to help.

Might as well get it over with, then.

Finding all his things hadn't taken as long as he'd hoped. Ruari considered for a moment going back upstairs to fetch his "reconstituted" cat. But, with its fine sleek fur and knowing eyes, the little creature was a living symbol of what an idiot he was at Necromancy.

He shuddered again at the memory of that particular class last year. Everybody else had just reanimated their skeletons, and known exactly what they were doing and how they'd done it. But him -- he'd opened the box, and there was a cat. No skeleton, no skill, nothing.

Besides, if he brought it down with him, Professor Brack might want to turn it back into a skeleton, and Ruari was fond of the beastie. No, he'd take his chances.

The classroom looked deserted as he trudged towards it; the door was open slightly, but no lights were on. Well and good; he'd sit himself down in his favourite spot, right up the back, and if he kept quiet enough people might just forget he was there. Goddess, but he hated this subject! But he had to get good at it somehow, so he could send Granny Dhurigh back where she belonged, instead of forcing her to live out her afterlife in the Kennyite's Paradise City ...

The thought -- Granny's already in Paradise, heh-heh! -- gave him a spurt of bravado. Hah, Necromancy Classroom, You Don't Scare Me! With an exaggerated comin'-at-ya! flourish he kicked the door fully open ...

CRASH! Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle ...

OMG the glass pane in the door! Which was now the glass pane out of the door! And ... OMG OMG OMG ... shuffle glass together with feet ... look nonchalant ...

"Ah ... hello, Professor Brack ... uh ... had a good holiday?"

"It is pronounced eck not ack," Professor Bräck mentioned. "Note the accent above the a in Bräck."

The headmasters eyes turned to the broken glass. He clapped his hands and the broken glass was gone, it was now back in the door good as new.

"That'll be detention tonight, straight after your last lesson be here again sharp," the headmaster then said and the look on his face then brightened. "Ah yes I had a wonderful holiday, full of death and bringing the dead back to life. Wonderful stuff and how was yours?"

"My holiday? Oh, uh ... it was fine, thank you, sir," Ruari answered, automatically polite. "Er .. did you, uh, go anywhere?"

I can't believe this! Next thing I'll be asking him if he's had a nice day! Or what does he think of the team's chances -- I don't know if we've even got a team! Or what it plays, if it does!

Trapped in a conversation with a being he'd much prefer to have remained unknown to for the rest of his school career -- and now lumbered with detention, and what was that going to be like -- Ruari nonetheless did his best to look polite, helpful, obedient, peaceful and anything else that might get him out of this fix.

"I ... um ... I'll just ..."

He gestured awkwardly with his books, hoping to convey the idea that he needed to put them down before anything else happened, and began backing slowly and carefully towards the most distant desk, keeping his eye on the Professor as if the latter were a testy guard-dog. As his field of view widened, he could see boxes, baskets and cartons: the Professor must have been getting ready for the lesson.

"W-would you like some help with those, sir?"

Not waiting to hear the answer, he dumped his belongings, grabbed the box nearest him with both arms and hoisted it inquiringly.

The bottom fell out.

Whatever was inside didn't break, mainly because it fell on Ruari's conveniently placed toes. "Ow -- I mean, sorry, sir! Sorry! Don't worry, I'll pick it up, I --"

There was nothing on the floor. Nothing that he could see under the desks or the table. Just him, and an empty box, and a disturbingly silent Professor.

"Oh I do know what you are thinking," Professor Bräck smirked. "My team is Dark Valley CCC, they play cricket and the day is too early to say if it was a good day. Ah yes I could do with some help."

Having seen the bottom of the carton fall out, the headmaster reacted quickly to pick up the item as it bounced off Ruari's foot. Though it didn't look as if Professor Bräck had even moved.

"First day jitters?"

Professor Bräck held up a small glowing orb.

"Careful with this though as it contains Hobo's soul. I trust you remember the dog from last year yes?"

He knows what I'm thinking? Ruari's mind instantly filled with a kind of muddled mist. It seemed that every thought that he knew he mustn't think had started jostling for centre stage at the front of his brain. Like, for example, thoughts about Mier --

"Hobo?" he said, grabbing for a mental lifeline. "Hobo the dog? His soul? Oh. Sorry then, Hobo," he apologised to the orb. Watching it in the Professor's agile fingers, his mind scurried thankfully up another track: with a hand like that, the man must be a demon bowler. Cricket would surely be a safe subject to talk about.

But it was too hard; no matter what he tried, he kept on circling back to thoughts it was surely crazy to think in front of a mind-reader.

"Isn't there some kind of law about that?" he suddenly demanded. "Mind-reading, I mean. I thought people who could read minds weren't allowed to read minds. Like, invasion-of-privacy stuff."

Even as he said it, it occurred to him that it probably wasn't the smartest of moves for a person already on detention to question the Headmaster's actions.

Professor Bräck gently placed the orb into a draw in his desk, it would be safe there as no amount of magic could get in there.

"Yes I do plan on getting Hobo back into his body," the headmaster announced.

As he placed another closed box on his desk, suspicious looking black smoke appeared to be seeping through a few holes.

"Oh there are, but I am a headmaster," he explained. "Those rules do not apply to me so that I can catch out rule breakers."

By now Alice figured a few of the early birds would have arrived at Necromancy and so she decided it was time to head out. Throwing on a simple white t-shirt and long black skirt, Alice took a quick gulp from her bloodstone before grabbing her books and giving the curled up cat upon her bed a last glance as she departed.

Having already lived at the school for near to a year, Alice was quite confident in her path towards the Necromancy classroom, held downstairs in the dank dungeon-like portion of the school. Most people were either still in their rooms or getting some breakfast before classes began so Alice found the halls relatively empty

After five minutes or so she reached the Necromancy door and noticed voices from within and thus entered, assuming at least one other student was already inside. Taking in the pair before her, Alice remained silent as she found a seat in the row before Ruari but a few to the left.

"Morning..."

Professor Bräck looked over at the door as another student entered the classroom.

"Good morning Miss Darkmoor," he smiled.

Elsewhere in the lower dungeons, Professor Kvapil was too readying a classroom for the day. First up was Vampire Studies for the new first year students. The classroom was dark, lit by dim lights and there were no windows. As a vampire it was just how the professor preferred it.

No student ever complained about the light levels. Maybe they liked the atmosphere or maybe they were just too afraid to speak up. Professor Kvapil didn't care and never really thought much of it. His mind was only on the lesson and wondering what the new students would be like.

"You look like death," Raven remarked.

She was pretty sure that Mierin hadn't noticed that she had sat down with herself and Zero. Nearby too were Robin and Elrohir, whispering between each other and laughing probably at Mierins expense.

Professor Bräck was already back in the Necromancy classrooms preparing once again for lessons. He was expecting the odd early arrival, perhaps he could get them to help.

A little startled, Mierin looked up (but slowly, being as she was exhausted). She smiled, exposing her barbed fangs. "Yeah... I suppose I probably do, though you know, that could be a complement in another" she yawned "situation." She didn't mind that Robin and Elohir were making jokes (that she could hear) about her, since she had placed herself in the position of being the butt of them.

"I had a late night, or morning rather," the vampiress added.

Even walking lazily as he did, Arpad still reached the Necromancy classroom in the lower levels of the building with several minutes to spare. As he walked in, he noted that he was not the first, and greeted his classmates and professor in a friendly manner. "Morning, Professor. Hello Alice, Ruari."

Having gone to bed relatively the other night, the Callisdrunian lad was well-rested and had no reason to be a grouch, so he wasn't.

Raven chuckled. "Sound like me," she admitted. "I'm sure you'd have noticed me missing from our room on a few occasions at least."

She took a bite from her pan d'chocolate and looked over at Mierin.

"You'll get used to the lack of sleep," she smirked.

Professor Bräck smiled as another student arrived. "Good morning Master Kereshtur," he said.

Though he appeared to eat at a leisurely pace, Sivv'Raxis finished his breakfast disturbingly quickly, showing no other signs of his curious reaction to 'eating'... apart from one subtle indication as he spoke to Dimitri...

"Wellnowthatourmealiscompletedweshalldepartforourfirstclass..."

He paused for a moment then flexed as though clearing his throat.

"Ahem... we shall leave you to finish your breakfast. We believe... Vampire Studies is the course of the morning for us. We find ourselves curious as to what in Vampire nature is so necessary that it seems to take up a multiple-year curriculum..."

And with that, Sivv'Raxis hovered into the air and rode out of the dining hall as if he had gotten back on his 'invisible bike'. "Ying ying!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having made his way to the classroom with some time to spare, he nonchalantly strode into Vampire Studies, then stopped immediately. Even though he could see clearly in perfect darkness, it struck him that the low light would be a slight hindrance to his perception of color.

"Dark in here."

No sooner had he uttered his small commentary than his eyes blazed to life, creating a pair of miniature spotlights that followed his 'field of vision' as he quietly traveled to his seat. He sat down, and stared at the front of the classroom, bathing it in surprisingly intense light.

Dimitri shook his head as Siv 'rode' off. He was getting used to the wierdness, much as that disterbed him. He pushed that thought from his mind and finished up his meal.

After a few minutes he stood from the table and started making his way down towards the classroom from wense he came last night.

Alice liked Bräck, despite his somewhat unexplained and strange behaviour. Obviously he was an experienced and powerful necromancer so he automatically had Alice's respect and his somewhat odd humour and general manner made her laugh on occasion.

Alice gave Arpad a slight smile and nod in greeting. She didn't really know him that well but from her impressions he seemed like a reasonable kind of person and he was a friend of Mierin's.

"What's go you here so early?"

Professor Kvapil watched as Sivv'Raxis' eyes lit up. It wasn't that dark in the room.

"You must be the Godulan student," he said. "It is not that dark in here."

A couple of other students entered the room, one a girl with all black eyes, much like was common in the Blackheart family of necromancers. The girl with her had purple eyes and purple hair. They went to the back of the classroom and silently talked between themselves.

"Well we'd better head off to class," Raven said standing up. "Alchemy, we have a new full time teacher at least this year after someone killed the last one."

She glared at Robin who just shrugged back.

"She was a vampire hater, she had it coming," the white-haired boy protested.

Raven rolled her eyes and forcedly pulled Zero up and dragged him off.

"Wonder if the headmaster will be as nuts as usual," Elrohir remarked before he and Robin too went to head off to their lesson.

Dimitri pressed through the door to the classroom. The Godulan wasn't the only student who had beaten him to the class. There was an odd looking pair of girls at the back wall. Dimitri just sighed and made his way into the classroom. It had been a few years since he had attended a 'school' and it felt a little wierd. He slected a desk against the far wall and able half-way to the back, outside the range of Siv's headlight-projecting gaze.

"Phooey," Sivv'Raxis replied at the professor's comment. Making a show of flipping some unseen switch, a noticeable 'click' accompanied the room's return into relative dimness.

Iris quickly finished her breakfast then made her way the Necromancy classroom. She slipped through the door and took a seat in the back row on the right hand side right next to the door, the small cat jumped up on to the table and sat flicking its tail about. "Morning everyone", Iris said, a hint of sleepiness in her voice.

"Phooey," Sivv'Raxis replied at the professor's comment. Making a show of flipping some unseen switch, a noticeable 'click' accompanied the room's return into relative dimness.

Professor Kvapil tapped his chin with a long clawed finger. "I can see that you are going to be trouble this year," he remarked.

Iris quickly finished her breakfast then made her way the Necromancy classroom. She slipped through the door and took a seat in the back row on the right hand side right next to the door, the small cat jumped up on to the table and sat flicking its tail about. "Morning everyone", Iris said, a hint of sleepiness in her voice.

"Good morning Miss Darhaven," Professor Bräck said with a smile.

There was the faint sound of scratching accompanied by a long howl from one of the draws in his desk. The headmaster appeared to ignore it.

As Professor Bräck still awaited the arrival of the last few students, Professor Kvapil watched the last stragglers walk into his classroom.

“Well then,” he began to say while they took their seats. “For a strange reason the headmaster has decided that your first lesson shall be Vampire Studies. So here we are, vampires.”

His beady eyes watched over the students, he knew some of them were vampires themselves.

“As most of you would have realised by now that I myself am a vampire, a Nosferatu infact and therefore I’m pretty well versed on the subject. Now who here is a vampire? Raise your hand.”

A few students raised their hands, Professor Kvapil was disappointed that none were Nosferatu for the fourth year running.

“The usual number of vampire students I see,” he said. “There is a large vampire population in Draconis Nightcrawlis, particularly here in Dark Valley and of course the capital Exetergrecia.

“No foreign vampires this year, that’s a shame. Now in Draconis Nightcrawlis, vampires formed clans like the Nosferatu, anyone care to name another?”

Sivv'Raxis raised a hand. "Gangrel?"

Professor Kvapil smiled, "Good, good, Gangrel often savage vampires whom tend to be a little more rural," he said. "Any others?"

With the other students trickling in, Ruari was able to seek out his hiding place up the back and get down to some serious worrying. All the things he wanted to think about were things he wanted to keep secret from Professor Bräck. That business with the ring, for example; which would eventually lead to thoughts of himself and Mierin ... SHADDUP! he told himself fiercely.

What he needed to know was what the Professor's limits were. There must be some, otherwise he and Mierin would have been sprung last year. Maybe it was a matter of distance -- the Headmaster couldn't read your thoughts if you were upstairs, or downstairs, or something. Or maybe it was just surface thoughts he could read. Or maybe there was some way to guard against it -- he grinned to himself at the idea of persuading the whole class to make tinfoil hats to reflect Evil Thought-Rays.

Though that would probably land him in detention -- which was another thing to worry about. What did they do to you in detention here? Back home, he and Callum had been kept in after school often enough, but Miss Rees just used to chivvy them out to weed the school garden. Quite pleasant, actually, and sometimes they'd volunteer even when they weren't in trouble; especially if there were tomatoes ripe on the vine, or new peas.

But, somehow, he didn't think a few hours healthy gardening would be on Professor Bräck's agenda.

Hooowwwwllll!

A student soul in torment? Ruari wondered, as the noise from the front of the room interrupted his thoughts.

He wasn't quite sure if he was joking.

Instead of raising his hand, Sivv'Raxis pointed directly at Kvapil. "Nosferatu."

"I've mentioned Nosferatu already," Professor Kvapil told him.

"Oop. Ventrue, Malkavian, Toreador, Brujah, and Tremere are the others... Giovanni, Ravnos, Assamite, and the Followers of Set might count too..."

This is gunna be a long day...

As interesting as Dimitri would have thought this subject to be, Siv seemed to be suffering from diareah of the mouth. Kid had probably read the entire textbook already. If there was a textbook. Dimitri just sighed and descided to just let the lesson pass along. Eventually either the Godulan would start teaching or Professor Kvapil would shut him up.

"Well you could have allowed the other students to mention some," Professor Kvapil chuckled. "Mind you it is unknown if there are any Followers of Set left so I can't tell you much about them. I can however tell you of the madness of the Malkavians but alas I shall leave that for a nother lesson."

--------------------

One student to go.

"Master Kereshtur, perhaps you could find what is keeping Miss Darvul," Professor Bräck asked.

One boy leaned over to Dimitri and whispered. "A fiver says he'll get that weird mouthy kid teaching us before the end of the lesson."

Alice looked up as her sensitive ears picked up the distinct howl emitted from the headmaster's desk. With nothing else to do whilst they waited, she decided to pursue the strange disturbance.

"Got a new pet in there, professor?"

Alice didn't really care for pets herself, unless they served some sort of purpose. Despite her tolerance for her own skeletal feline, Alice would be done with it if it wasn't required of her to keep it.

Professor Bräck smirked. "Ah yes, a surprise for the lesson in fact," he told her.

The draw continued to rattle as whatever was inside was still trying to escape.

"We're doomed," Robin groaned.

Has he had the five, Dimitri would have taken the bet. Professor Kvapil didn't stike Dimitri as the push-over type.

"That or he walks out of here with a lump on his head."

He winked and turned his gaze back to the front of the class. From what he'd heard of vampires back home, they had really good hearing, so it was probably unwise to test that skill on the teacher.

"A tenner on Kvapil hitting him then," the boy then grinned.

"Well you could have allowed the other students to mention some," Professor Kvapil chuckled. "Mind you it is unknown if there are any Followers of Set left so I can't tell you much about them. I can however tell you of the madness of the Malkavians but alas I shall leave that for a nother lesson."

--------------------

One student to go.

"Master Kereshtur, perhaps you could find what is keeping Miss Darvul," Professor Bräck asked.

"Certainly professor," Arpad said, getting up.

Just as he did, though, the bedraggled young vampiress in question walked in. Arpad sat down again.

Having chit-chatted about late nights with her often-absent roommate Raven and her boyfriend Zero, Mierin had been slow eating, especially since she was so tired. Upon seeing that she was late, she seemed a bit embarrassed, quickly walking to a desk and slumping into a seat near Ruari. The Callisdrunian got out her various things as quietly as possible, knowing she was already a disruption and not wanting to get into any further trouble.

Professor Bräck clapped his hands. "Well then, now I think we can start the lesson," he said.

As students began to quieten down, the headmaster leaned against his desk.

"Know I hope you have all been taking care of your cats, I want to see them on your desks in front of you."

Sivv'Raxis raised his hand again, instead seeking to ask a question:

"Begging your pardon, professor, but why is vampire studies such a significant part of our curriculum? In our studies prior to coming to this class, we were unable to discern exactly why a course for multiple years is dedicated to them. Are there not other kinds of undead floating about that also deserve attention?

"None of the texts we consulted provided us with a satisfactory answer to this question, so we were hoping you would provide us with an answer for this particular concern."

Alice figured the headmaster would want to see their little pets and so with a wave of her hand across the desk and a brief incantation muttered under her breath, the skeletal creature appeared, curled up and obviously half asleep, if it were possible for it to sleep, Alice wasn't sure.

Noticing it's new surroundings, the cat looked up to Alice as if to ask what was going on. The young vampiress simply ran her hand down it's bony back in an attempt to put it at ease.

Dimitri smirked at the new offer, but said nothing. Dimitri had learned from past experiance that it wasn't a good idea to make bets with cash he didn't have. He didn't even know what the currency was in these parts. Dimitri made a note to figure that out. Tonight, if at all possible. Hopefully not everything in these parts caitered to the darker side of this new world. But for now, he resigned himself to taking in what information he could.

Professor Kvapil eyes Sivv'Raxis with his beady eyes. "Yes there are other undead but they are generally covered later in your Necromancy lessons," he said. "Only in your first two years do you have Vampire Studies, after that it is optional."

His eyes briefly flashed upon Dimitri and the boy he had been whispering with.

"The other difference is before, young students were preyed upon by the vampires in the area due to ignorance with them and so the headmaster decided on a course in Vampire Studies to help the ignorant, to which most in here including yourself are. Does that satisfactorily answer your question?"

-----------------

Professor Bräck continued to watch as the students brought out their skeletal cats. Most appeared to be well looked after, surprisingly even Elrohir's cat.

"Somewhat, though it is somewhat difficult for a vampire to 'prey' on us," he indicated himself, "Does that mean then that this course is more akin to a defense against the dark arts course? That is, to teach us how the fanged ones tend to operate in order to not fall prey to them in the future?"

"Defence against dark arts?" Professor Kvapil raised an eyebrow. "This is not Hogwarts, we enjoy our dark arts here. But yes you could put it that way."

"Hogwarts?" Sivv'Raxis replied, quirking an eyebrow. "We do not understand the reference."

Several of the students in the classroom laughed.

"Good, good, so you aren't the big know it all you aspire to be," Professor Kvapil chuckled.

"Indeed. We prefer to restrain our knowledge to factual and practical knowledge. Knowing 'everything' is counterproductive."

"Now can I get back to the lesson?" Professor Kvapil asked.

"If you wish," Sivv'Raxis replied with a grin.

"I warn you know that I will not always take attitude like that lightly," Professor Kvapil then said.

"No worries."

Professor Kvapil smirked.

“Now there are different clans of vampires, beyond that are two organisations. The Sabbat and the Camarilla. The Camarilla is of course the strongest of the two.”

He watched the various students whom had put their hands up to signal that they were vampires. None of them seemed to protest this so he figured they were either Camarilla themselves or of a neutral position, no Sabbat present.

“In fact it is rare for the Sabbat to sire child vampires, though we had one last year who unfortunately ended up being a pile of dust.

“In each city the Camarilla have a Prince, a vampire who oversees everything in the city, except in Sabbat strongholds. The Sabbat don’t like these Princes and generally have a tendancy to try and assassinate them.”

The professor chuckled.

“But enough of that, I need two students to come up here.”

He pointed at the boy whom had been trying to bet with Dimitri, “you, ” then at Dimitri himself, “and you, come up here.”

Fantastic. Something told me this would happen.

Dimtiri begrudgingly stood and made his way up to the front of the room.

Professor Kvapil watched the pair head up to the front of the class.

"Now you two, tell the class your names," he asked them.

"Anatoliy," the boy said.

"Dimitri."

It had been awhile since he had been at the front of a classroom. Or even in a classroom at all. He was slightly uneasy, but not nearly so much as he thought he would have been. After all, for all he knew someone sitting at the back of the class could pull out a magic wand and blast him. Or something to that effect. He shook off the feeling and just waited to see what he had to do.

"And human I see since you didn't raise your hand," Professor Kvapil then said. "Unlike Anatoliy here, what clan are you?"

"Ravnos," the boy said.

Professor Kvapil smirked at Dimitri. "Best not to make any more bets with him, it is a trait of the Ravnos clan to be deceptive."

"Yeah, probably not a bad idea."

The professor might have forgotten that Dimitri was what he was. He hid the smirk he felt coming on. For now he was content to play the role of human. Better to have folks underestimate you than know exactly what you where capable of.

"Another thing before we start," Professor Kvapil began. "Is something we will focus on later in the year, a subject alot of vampires don't like, The Sabbat most of all, dhampir's. Half human half vampires, almost unheard of in Draconis Nightcrawlis."

"That cause we keep killing them," one of the vampire students called out.

To which a couple more laughed. Perhaps it would be best for any dhampir at the academy to play human.

With everyone having their cats out, Professor Bräck decided to carry on with the lesson.

“Marvellous, I see that everyone has been taking great care of the skeletal cats,” he said and smirked. “Though I suppose it has been rather easy considering you don’t have to feed them.

“Now who wants to guess what I have planned for you this year?”

Hm. Death threats on the first day. This might be even more interesting that i thought.

Dimitri had been playing human for nearly 16 years. He didn't see any problem in keeping it up a little longer.

Professor Bräck walked by Alice's cat, giving her a slight nod of approval to indicate she had done things right. She of course knew this, but it was reassuring to have it confirmed.

Upon hearing the professor's question, Alice waited for someone else to comment and simply found silence. Not wanting to sit around all day in silence, she ventured a guess.

"Does it involve demons?"

Professor Bräck smirked. "Doesn't it always?" he replied and turned back up toward his desk.

For a moment he said nothing, he thought about something.

"So yes it does involve demons, nasty child eating demons."

Hm. Death threats on the first day. This might be even more interesting that i thought.

Dimitri had been playing human for nearly 16 years. He didn't see any problem in keeping it up a little longer.

"Now looking at these two, anyone venture to point out the differences between this human and this vampire?" Professor Kvapil asked. "You two can join in if you wish."

His beady eyes instinctively fell on the Godulan student half expecting him to bring out a thousand and one differences.

Amusing that they did not draw the connection between the professor calling Dimitri up to the front of the classroom and the subject turn to half-vampires.

How do you know they didn't?

Good point. More information is required.

"Actually sir," Sivv'Raxis began, "if you speak of physical differences, we went over that exact thing not half a day ago with the exact student you called to the front of the class.

"The most apparent difference between humans and vampires stems both from their vampiric nature and their inability to tolerate even the slightest amount of sunlight without dire consequences. Pale skin. Though vampires can have any skin pigmentation inherent to their genetic heritage, that pigmentation fades with extensive lack of exposure to sunlight, causing them to seem more like ghostly versions of their former selves.

"This is somewhat exacerbated by a vampire's nature in regards to blood. Vampires that have not 'eaten' in a while tend to be more pale than others simply because they are running low on nourishing blood, in much the same way that someone who has lost a large amount of blood appears pale. In contrast, a vampire who has recently fed appears blushed as the fresh supply spreads throughout the body, returning a semblance of color. This is less noticeable with darker skinned vampires, such as those of african or middle eastern heritage. Shall we continue?"

"Quite right," Professor Kvapil replied. "White vampires will always become pale, other race vampires may fade over the years if they don't feed properly. Vampires do not age, something child vampires will have to face.

"Now our human here will grow old and die of old age, hopefully. The blood a vampire feeds on will generally keep their body in it's current form and that includes the pigmentation hence the return of colour after feeding."

He turned back to Dimitri and Anatoliy.

"Another is in the touch, our human here his skin will feel warm and alive, our vampire on the other hand his skin feels cold and dead."

"Now I trust no one had any issues with their cat yes?" Professor Bräck queried.

**

"You two may sit down."

Anatoliy was quick to do so.

"Of course as you see with myself," Professor Kvapil began. "Nosferatu are different in that regards, our vampirism has disfigured us leaving myself with the figure you see before me. As such unlike other clans males Nosferatu cannot impregnate a mortal woman, like a female vampire of any clan cannot become pregnant.

"Of course the added difficulty is that the Camarilla bar human/vampire relationships which is why dhampirs in Draconis Nightcrawlis are pretty much non existent."

Dimitri followed the other kind back down the aisle to his seat. He took his seat and was content to just let the rest of the class pass by.

"Oh and before I forget, don't whisper in my class again, you won't like detention," Professor Kvapil warned.

"Now I trust no one had any issues with their cat yes?" Professor Bräck queried.



Mierin and Arpad both shook their heads to indicate that there had been no problems. Cats that didn't eat, didn't shed and didn't defecate were fairly simple to take care of. Mierin's aunt Ilona had found the skeletal feline quite intriguing. By the same token, Arpad's family thought his was amusing as well, though they asked why he couldn't have gotten a dog instead.

"Uh, Professor, m-my cat's upstairs," Ruari stuttered. "I didn't realise we'd be needing them today. I could go get it, if you like. I, uh, didn't have any issues with it."

Except when it jumps on my bed every monring and miaows at me. Fish-breath would be bad enough, but revived-cat-breath, eeeuuuwww ...

Though, Riari had to admit to himself, he'd even become fond of the little creature's scent of the charnel-house. Remembering last year's lessons, he hoped desperately the Professor wasn't going to make them force a demon into their pets.

The thought of child-eating demons didn't faze him, though. His old aunt had told him that story when she babysat him, and he'd kept on being as naughty as ever. If four-year-old Ruari hadn't fallen for it, 14-year-old Ruari certainly wasn't going to.

Instead, he worried about his little cat and forgot that there had once been a 13-year-old Ruari. One who'd come to the Academy not believing in vampires.

Professor Bräck smirked, "This time yes," he said. "In future I would prefer you to realise you may need your cat in your Necromancy lessons."

Since he'd been focusing on Ruari, he'd momentarily picked up on the boys thoughts about child-eating demons.

"You have nothing to fear in this classroom," he chuckled.

“Now another difference between the Camarilla and the Sabbat is in regard to education,” Professor Kvapil said, continuing on with the lesson. “Hence why there are no Sabbat clans currently in this classroom, you could say that they are uneducated brutes.”

Most of the vampires in the classroom laughed, they certainly agreed with that.

“They tend to go for brute force rather than intelligence. About the only thing they agree on is dhampir’s, they are seen as a problem as dhampir’s always end up being vampire hunters. They are almost always killed before or after birth. But then we see another difference, The Sabbat always kill the mother as well, The Camarilla banish the father instead.”

"Before I carry on with the lesson I require four volunteers," Professor Bräck then said.

He watched over the classroom to see who would volunteer, already some hands were going up.

Eager to actually do something instead of sitting around talking about their skeletal cats, Alice placed her hand in the air. Necromancy was the main reason she was here and thus was usually happy to get fully involved. She knew whatever Bräck had in mind would probably be somewhat dangerous and shocking, yet she wasn't exactly as innocent as some of her classmates.

Sivv'Raxis' hand came up shortly after the mention of Dhampir's turning into vampire hunters. "Why do they 'always' become vampire hunters?"

"Because they always hate their father," Professor Kvapil said. "Family issues as usual. Their mother brings them up human, that lasts until they start craving blood which generally starts anywhere between the ages of five and fifteen."

The Nosferatu shook his head.

"Because of that very danger that they gave out kind they had to be dealt with before they could turn on us. Hence why you are very unlikely to find a dhampir on this planet."

Eager to actually do something instead of sitting around talking about their skeletal cats, Alice placed her hand in the air. Necromancy was the main reason she was here and thus was usually happy to get fully involved. She knew whatever Bräck had in mind would probably be somewhat dangerous and shocking, yet she wasn't exactly as innocent as some of her classmates.

Professor Bräck took note of those raising their hands. He was surprised that Alice had raised hers, he began to think about who to bring up to the front as he waited to see if any of the other non-Draconian vampires were going to volunteer.

"Why do they 'always' hate their father? Is such a similar issue for vampires in general, or is it just because the father hates what he has created?"

The way things had gone so far, Ruari thought, if he volunteered, he'd probably end up bringing the roof down on his head.

On the other hand, if he volunteered and got something right, he might get out of detention.

But on the other other hand, if he didn't volunteer, he might be in even more trouble. Ruari was all too well aware how adults never said anything definite, but always complained about "attitude".

And then there was the other, other, other hand. No matter what happened, if he volunteered, it'd be something different.

Yeah, right. Worth a go. Ruari's hand went up.

"Why do they 'always' hate their father? Is such a similar issue for vampires in general, or is it just because the father hates what he has created?"

"It's not a case of the father hating the son it's a case of the dhampir hating vampires," Professor Kvapil explained.

Professor Bräck smiled, he didn't think any other of the foreign students were going to volunteer.

He pointed at Alice, "You," at Robin, "you," at a pink-haired girl near the front, "You," then finally at Ruari, "and you, come up to the front please."

Alice stood without question and began making her way towards the front of the room, flashing a brief smile at Mierin as she walked by. She was somewhat concerned about the choice of Rurai in this little demonstration as the boy seemed to be way out of his depth when it came to necromancy and was probably more of an unintentional threat to everyone. Either way, she would deal with what came her way.

Arriving at the front of the class, Alice spun around to gaze upon the other students, those too afraid or inept to volunteer for this unknown task.

Professor Bräck smiled watching Alice head up to the front. In concentrating on her he had picked up her thoughts on Ruari which made him chuckle.

"So what do we have to do?" Robin remarked as he and the pink-haired girl headed upfront. "Any skeleton raising?"

Professor Bräck shook his head.

"It's not a case of the father hating the son it's a case of the dhampir hating vampires," Professor Kvapil explained.

"But WHY do they hate vampires? Why does either side hate the other? What is the mechanism behind it?"

DImitri just rolled his eyes and leaned back at his desk. Something told him that Siv didn't have a real good grasp on what made one person hate another. Sometimes they just do. No reason. But Dimitri did find it interesting that most dhampirs became vampire hunters because they hated their fathers. Dimitri felt no such hatred. At least, no more towards his father than he did to anyone else he had never met.

Professor Kvapil shook his head. "Because society is taught to hate vampires," he said.

"That is the all-too-common logical flaw of circular reasoning," Sivv'Raxis replied. "You hate them because they hate you because you hate them. This is not an acceptable rationale. This does not qualify as proper justification. When a person is driven to hate another, there is some form of impetus behind it. Whether it is genetic or situational. As you have effectively informed us that this is not so much an instinctive thing as something taught as a societal regulation, we are driven to conclude that such must have been brought forth by some form of specific situation.

"Was an influential vampire a real dick to his half-vampire son, who eventually grew up and jammed a tree through the aforementioned vampire's heart just to shut his father up? Did a half-vampire get drawn in by some group of high-and-mighty crusader types and gather a nice collection of fangs before getting a ballista bolt to the head?

"What is the impetus to this old hatred? What initiated the purge? Who started it?"

"The vampire hunters started it by recruiting any dhampirs they could," Professor Kvapil explained. "All through history lore has taught people to first fear then hate vampires."

"I don't think I need to say why."

"That seems odd. Why would dhampirs feel that their parents deserved such a fate? In order for them to actually be driven towards such murderous ends against the race of their origin, one would suspect that some form of impetus be required?

"Do all dhampirs come from the union of male vampire and female human? In which case, did the father ever actually attempt to pursue an active role in rearing the child?"

"Of course not," Professor Kvapil replied. "Most dhampir pregnancies are a product of rape."

"As the mother is always human, a female vampire cannot handle a pregnancy as they cannot gain enough blood despite what Angel The Series would have you believe, a dhampir would not kill their mother. It is always the father that is a vampire and whom they will go after."

"That does explain the Dhampir's typical hatred of Vampires, and also points out that for the most part it is the fault of the Vampires themselves. Are we also to conclude that Dhampirs are somewhat rare? We also note that you said 'most' are a result of rape. What of those Dhampirs that might have spawned from consensual unions?"

"A couple have known to have happened but both were terminated through forced abortions," Professor Kvapil explained. "Having a child as a vampire is against vampire rules, hence why in most rape situations it is the father who kills the mother before the dhampir is born. A vampire having consensual sex is very, very rare, most women run screaming at the mere touch of a vampire but that might just be my experience with mortal women."

With all four students at the front of the classroom, Professor Bräck smiled and took a step back.

“Now I want you four to stand in a circle,” he told them and they quickly did so.

It went Robin, Alice, Shari then Ruari. They stood in a circle holding hands still wondering what the headmaster was planning. Robin was grinning as he was expecting something dangerous.

“Now you will have to chant the following repeatedly,” he began. “Bwci, Hysbryd, Ysbryd, Phasmatis, Phasmatis, Spectaculum, Draugur, Andi, Vofa.”

The other students looked over at the headmaster recognising some of the words.

“Bwci, Hysbryd, Ysbryd, Phasmatis, Phasmatis, Spectaculum, Draugur, Andi, Vofa, Bwci, Hysbryd, Ysbryd, Phasmatis, Phasmatis, Spectaculum, Draugur, Andi, Vofa, Bwci, Hysbryd, Ysbryd, Phasmatis, Phasmatis, Spectaculum, Draugur, Andi, Vofa.”

They continued to chant that as Professor Bräck held up another book.

“Chymer ni at 'r dirio chan 'r farw, ble 'r asbri a gwna i maes yn cynnig bwyso, chymer 'r ddosbartha fel a canfyddon 'ch byd.”

The classroom then went pitch black, not even those who could see in the dark could see anything.

“You may stop chanting and you don’t need to hold hands any longer.”

Robin was quickest to let go of the others as an eerie howl echoed around the room.

“Did I forget to mention we were going on a class trip?” the headmaster chuckled.

Iris quickly decided that she would rather watch what ever it was that the Professor had planed for them rather than volunteer to help. She shivered slightly as the four students began to chant. As soon the room was dark Iris smiled slightly, despite the eerie howl, the complete darkness was slightly comforting in its own way. "Professor where exactly are we going?" she asked hesitating a little.

"We are already here," Professor Bräck replied. "A spirit world, thought it may just help you in necromancy."

Holding Shari's hand, Ruari reached out to Robin and joined the chanting. It was oddly easy, despite the unfamiliar words. The droning rose up, filling his head -- and suddenly they were somewhere else. He knew it was somewhere else. He could feel it.

Disconcerted, he automatically reached out with his mind for Mierin. Ah, yes, there she was, he could feel ... hang on, he reached out with his mind?

The others were around him, he cold tell, even the Professor. He couldn't hear their thoughts, but he could .. sort of ... somehow feel the shape of their minds?

It was like having a loose tooth. Ruari's mind poked at the feeling. At least, he thought it was his mind, and he thought it was a feeling. The whole thing was so hard to find words for, it felt imaginary.

Professor Bräck lit a fire in front of him lighting up the room once more, only the walls were no longer there. Nor were their desks and chairs which suddenly caused those who were sitting in class to fall to the floor with a groan.

"Ah yes, should have suggest you to stand up, I'll try and remember that for next year," the headmaster grinned. "If you'll form a line I shall take you on a tour."

***

Professor Kvapil scratched the side of his head.

"As dhampirs go we all know about Blade yes?" he then asked. "Who can name some fictional vampire characters."

Alice got up and followed the instructions quietly. She found it was always best to be concentrating on things when the headmaster assigned you a task. Repeating the words exactly as they were spoken, Alice couldn't help but wonder what it would accomplish. She recognised some of the words but others were completely lost on her, she couldn't even place the language.

Once the chanting stopped, Alice remained still but attempted to observe as much as she could about her new surroundings. The room was darkness itself, even she could only barely see in front of her own face. This was somewhat unnerving considering she was used to being able to see well in any place.

"If you'll form a line I shall take you on a tour."

Moving into a roughly formed line amongst her peers, Alice awaited further explanation as to why and where they were.

"A couple have known to have happened but both were terminated through forced abortions," Professor Kvapil explained. "Having a child as a vampire is against vampire rules, hence why in most rape situations it is the father who kills the mother before the dhampir is born. A vampire having consensual sex is very, very rare, most women run screaming at the mere touch of a vampire but that might just be my experience with mortal women."

"Which brings us to another question: have any vampires, or at least Draconian vampires, ever attempted to achieve some form of symbiotic relationship with humans? After all, humans can recover what blood they lose with sufficient nutrition and recuperation time, but from the sound of it Draconian vampires seem to prefer just draining people dry, are we correct?"

Professor Kvapil smirked. "Most do like to kill their victims, just like meat eaters," he said. "Mortals tend to kill their meet so we're not too different in that regard, I myself do enjoy a nice very raw and very bloody steak now and then."

For a brief moment he rubbed his chin before carrying on.

"Now there are blood banks available for vampires whom prefer not to harm mortals and by academy rules, vampire students are not to drink blood from the unwilling and certainly not allowed to kill those they drink from."

"Carnivorous meat eaters do not 'like' to kill for their food. They do it because instinct and hunger drives them into such courses of action. Carnivorous animals do not kill needlessly. It is wasteful to terminate a human in pursuit of blood, if that termination can be in any way avoided. For every human that is killed in that manner, a constantly replenishing source of blood is removed from further consideration.

"While vampires might feel that there are sufficient humans around to offset this waste, one suspects that perchance a great majority of the animus directed toward your kind by humans is in fact because you lot cannot bloody well control yourselves. Not killing people for personal amusement may well go a long way in reducing tensions."

"Instinct," Professor Kvapil commented. "You don't think that it is by instinct that vampires kill their prey?

"Not killing would do nothing, it is the mortal way to fear what goes bump in the night and vampires tend to go bump in the night. Would it be possible to tell a mortal serial killer not to kill people? No, then why do you think telling vampires not to kill people will work."

"A serial killer 'likes' to terminate people. Survival does not enter into the equation. They are abominations to the natural order as they terminate others for enjoyment rather than a necessity to feed or defend oneself. While Vampires might not be a part of the natural order either, that does not necessarily mean they have to behave accordingly."

Professor Kvapil ignored the screwed up paper ball that promptly hit Sivv'Raxis in the head.

"Instinct is to kill your prey, no two ways about it," he replied.

The paper ball did not bounce off of Sivv'Raxis' head, instead sticking to his scalp as if anchored by some unseen patch of glue. An eerie green glow pulsed lightly around the crinkled paper, and it sank into Sivv'Raxis head with a low thrumming noise.

Slowly, his head turned until it had completely about without the rest of his body so much as even turning lightly, and stared directly at the student from which the paper had come. His expression trembled, as if barely managing to contain itself, and little arcs of energy danced about his eyes, and he grinned gleefully at the other student. "Thanks... for the... snack..."

Then, his head twisted back around as if it had never been otherwise, and continued.

"Only when survival depends on killing others. A lion kills because it requires meat to survive. An eagle kills because it requires meat to survive. Vampires, however, do not require meat to survive. They require blood.

"Perchance a comparison to another creature that requires blood to survive? A mosquito, perhaps? A mosquito requires blood to survive, but rarely does it terminate those from which it draws blood. Such instances of termination are either due to massive amounts of mosquitos targeting one target, or the indirect termination caused by Malaria.

"A vampire requiring blood to survive does not inherently translate to terminating any and all sources of blood that the vampire should happen to feed from. Was no thought given to the possibility that maybe one could spread a feeding out amongst multiple individuals, without killing any of them? You have blood banks, would it not be but a small expansion on the principle to hire 'professional' blood provisioners?"

There were mutterings from the other students when that occurred. Mostly utterings of "Freak."

"Same way mortals can become vegetarians?" Professor Kvapil questioned him. "Mortals are still animals so why should they be exempt from what they do to other animals, dying for someones food."

Amusing.

What.

They call us 'freak', when they are the just as unnatural as we are.

Indeed. The hypocrisy is quite amusing.

"They kill for meat. One must kill for meat. Vampires do not eat meat. Vampires subsist on blood. A more conventional analogy would be less on killing animals for prey, as much as it would be milking a cow. The cow is kept properly fed and happy in order to provide a continuous supply. The cow is not terminated during or after a milking. Such is wasteful."

"You're a fucking idiot," one of the student vampires told him. "It's our right to kill them as instilled by our vampire elders, you're foreign scum you don't know shit about us."

Professor Kvapil raised an eyebrow. "A difference of opinion."

"On the contrary," Sivv replied without turning to the student who had made the very much editorial comment, "we are learning more and more with every passing moment. For instance, you have essentially reinforced a theory we have postulated that as a result of your inability to control yourselves in a manner that would prove beneficial both to Vampires and Humans, as well as typical behaviors related to long held but notably detrimental traditions espousing ethnic or racial superiority, that you are more likely to rather violently go on the defensive against anybody who attempts to call such traditions into question.

"Take also that the nature of these traditions, self-serving as they are, has led to a culture of arrogance and domination that has led a great many people to desire your termination. As it is eminently clear now that vampires such as yourself kill what you consider to be your prey for little more than the laugh you get out of it, we can properly understand the nature of the hatred that would bring half-vampires to act out against vampire-kind. That is, they hate you because at the present point in time you lot act like a very large collection of coordinated serial murderers with the general mindset of a five year old who enjoys ripping wings off of flies.

"We also knew that one of you, if not more, would make a comment about us being 'foreign scum' in such a manner as to imply that it changes anything about our argument whatsoever. Thank you for confirming our stand."

"Well hey, everyone in this room will kill someone sooner or later if they haven't done so," the vampire grinned at him. "Mortals kill animals for fun, why should they be exempt from suffering the same treatment?"

"Discounting for the moment that we do not advocate lethal recreational hunting, human hunters do not siphon various vital fluids from their targets before killing them. Raping their prey is also heavily frowned upon, if not completely illegal, depending on the moral outlook of the governmental entity.

"Further, just because the eventuality of terminating another might be inevitable for all present here, that does not inherently mean that one should go about doing it on purpose."

"Do laws stop them?" Professor Kvapil questioned him. "No they don't, there are anti-hunting laws that plenty of mortals flaunt and break and in the end kill an animal in most often nasty ways. Imagine being torn apart by nasty dogs while mortals looked on on horseback saying 'jolly good show'."

"We are the punishment for the evil deeds of mortal kind," the student vampire said.

Sivv'Raxis smirked.

"You are the punishment for nothing. Humans who violate anti-hunting laws are subject to punishment as set forth in such laws by their peers. Are there similar laws set forth by your peers? From what we have learned today, it would appear that the answer to our question is a most resounding 'no'.

"It is too bad."

There were some giggles as Sivv'Raxis entirely missed the point.

"You don't really know much about our nation as a whole."

"Then be so kind as to enlighten us. After all, we came here to learn, and that does not strictly pertain to course curricula. Explain things to us, prove our theory incorrect, if you would be so kind. At the present point in time, everything we have thus taken note of has not countered our hypothesis in the least, no matter how much you and your ilk might smirk and giggle amongst each other in smug satisfaction at whatever presumed truths you seem to hold in confidence.

"For instance, right now we have seen our challenge run the gamut of every single childish excuse from 'It has always been that way' to 'Other creatures do it so why can't we' to 'Its our divine right' to 'You don't understand us'. Be so kind as to elaborate on this latest rationale. We really are quite curious."

By this time in the agument, Dimtiri was hunched over his desk and banging his head on it every couple of seconds. All the hope he had had for gaining any sort of interesting information on vampires was no shot to hell by Siv and his attempts to wrap his mind, or minds as the case may be, around what it means to be human. He was grateful that he didnt have a watch though. If he had, he would have been driving himself nuts by looking at it every 10 seconds. His grip slowly began tightening on the edges of the desk, so much so that he could feel the wood slintering slightly beneath his fingers. It was satisfying in a way.

"For the love of god Siv, just shut up."

He said this under his breath, so he and maybe the kids on either side of him heard. Then he contenued banging his head.

"Young Dimitri here is correct, I am the professor, we go at my pace," Professor Kvapil said. "I am sure during your reading that you have come across The Norns yes?"

Sivv'Raxis heard, but completely ignored Dimitri's hushed demand. The Godulans had learned that nothing should be permitted to block the acquisition of knowledge. In fact, they were somewhat curious as to why Dimitri was not following the conversation himself, instead choosing to make repeated attempts at busting his head. The amount of sociological and psychological information that had been garnered in the increasingly heated exchanged would keep behaviorists arguing for months, possibly even longer, as it provided significant insight into the nature of vampirism, which had previously only been known from memoirs by Maximillian, Xenith, and Skye.

But they sensed that Kvapil was as eager as anybody else in the room to attempt some change in subject, and these Norns were known to them, though it took a minor amount of effort to hide fully the instinctive revulsion.

"Confirmed. We have read of these semi-deific beings not only from Draconian texts but from reports submitted by Sevren Aktei. Does this relate to our previous inquiry?"

Professor Bräck lit a fire in front of him lighting up the room once more, only the walls were no longer there. Nor were their desks and chairs which suddenly caused those who were sitting in class to fall to the floor with a groan.

"Ah yes, should have suggest you to stand up, I'll try and remember that for next year," the headmaster grinned. "If you'll form a line I shall take you on a tour."



Both Callisdrunians gave audible "oof"s as their posteriors hit the ground. Mierin stood up as gracefully as was possible, trying to keep some measure of dignity and then found Ruari, whose hand she promptly took, smiling with fangs bared up at him.

Arpad, on the other hand, didn't worry about looking dignified as he scrambled to his feet and simply got in line without saying anything at first. Curious at heart, though, he eventually had to ask "Where are we?"

"Confirmed. We have read of these semi-deific beings not only from Draconian texts but from reports submitted by Sevren Aktei. Does this relate to our previous inquiry?"

"Oh yes, what happens to you while in Draconis Nightcrawlis happens to be as a result of them," Professor Kvapil said. "We will be delving into The Norns and vampirism later."

Both Callisdrunians gave audible "oof"s as their posteriors hit the ground. Mierin stood up as gracefully as was possible, trying to keep some measure of dignity and then found Ruari, whose hand she promptly took, smiling with fangs bared up at him.

Arpad, on the other hand, didn't worry about looking dignified as he scrambled to his feet and simply got in line without saying anything at first. Curious at heart, though, he eventually had to ask "Where are we?"

Professor Bräck turned to him. "We are in the spirit realm," he explained. "This is where spirits used in necromancy come from, it is important for necromancers to have a feeling for this place."

"Oh yes, what happens to you while in Draconis Nightcrawlis happens to be as a result of them," Professor Kvapil said. "We will be delving into The Norns and vampirism later."

"To us, only indirectly."

Almost immediately Alice had recognised the strange world they had entered. Although she'd never physically entered this spirit world, she'd been here in one form or another. Knowing full well there were multiple entities floating about this place, Alice maintained a vigilant awareness as she raised layer upon layer of defences.

"You can't see them normally... but they are here."

Muttering a light spell under her breath, Alice's eyes became a lightless abyss, devoid of any colour, although no one could see such anyway. With her sight now altered, Alice was able to better view any spirits that wished to get a little too close for comfort.

"To us, only indirectly."

Professor Kvapil chuckled. "In their realm you are currently sat," he replied. "It'll be directly so I'd avoid getting on their bad side, they're known to be very nasty."

Almost immediately Alice had recognised the strange world they had entered. Although she'd never physically entered this spirit world, she'd been here in one form or another. Knowing full well there were multiple entities floating about this place, Alice maintained a vigilant awareness as she raised layer upon layer of defences.

"You can't see them normally... but they are here."

Muttering a light spell under her breath, Alice's eyes became a lightless abyss, devoid of any colour, although no one could see such anyway. With her sight now altered, Alice was able to better view any spirits that wished to get a little too close for comfort.

There weren't any where they currently were. But as Professor Bräck led them along, they came across two ghostly guards guarding a door.

"Good day Professor Bräck," they greeted and the doors creaked open.

A bright orange light flooded out from the doors.

"He is awaiting your class," the two ghostly guards said.

Inside the doors, fires raged, it was particularly hot. Professor Bräck led them inside.

"Ah Professor Bräck, this years necromancy students yes?"

A slim tanned woman in a long flowing black dress walked towards them, her eyes were strange. Her left was gold, her right silver.

"Indeed," Professor Bräck replied. "Students meet Amalia, mistress of the spirits."

"We are not in their realm, at least in the most technical sense. This avatar is here speaking to you all, and to some of you, entirely too much, but the minds controlling it are neither here, there, nor much in the way of anywhere. Plus, even if we WERE here, the Triad sees to our 'fate'. After the 'incident' at Terivine, the Phages will not permit otherwise.

"But that is tangential to the curriculum. I apologize for leading the class on such a lengthy digression. Please continue with the course."

Professor Kvapil rolled his beady eyes. "No more interruptions or it's an unpleasant trip into the dungeons," he warned.

Leaning back against his desk he carried on with the introductory lesson.

"Now, name some fictional vampires."

Sivv'Raxis twiddled his thumbs innocently.

As they entered some vast hall guarded by two evidently ethereal creatures, Alice immediately took note of the fires. Back in Assington, there were two things a vampire attempted to stay away from at all costs during their nightly adventures. Silver and fire. More than aware of the flammable liquid sitting inside her veins, Alice moved past the flames as fast as she could, until she was quite content they could not reach her.

"Students meet Amalia, mistress of the spirits."

Alice had never been aware of a 'mistress of the spirits' before and was somewhat surprised. It took her a moment to remind herself her father certainly didn't know everything, nor had he taught her everything he knew and thus it was quite likely there was a lot she didn't know.

Eyeing up Amalia, Alice took the silence as an opportunity to voice a question.

"What exactly does a mistress of the spirits do?"

There was no criticism in her voice as she kept her gaze upon Amalia, simply curiosity.

Amalia smiled, her eyes flashing. She had no visible pupil.

"I keep the spirit world in check," she explained. "At least where Hel has no authority anyway."

She raised her hand up and the flames died away.

"I do know about each student of necromancy and as such I apologise for not getting rid of the flames sooner Alice."

She looked over at the headmaster.

"I oversee how spirits are used in necromancy and a failed spell might just be my doing."

Everything about this land was strange. Only a day ago Pharinae had stepped from the Sea Lord's skycraft onto the earth, and the ship-master's best mutes had carried her trunks down after her. The skycraft had risen, turned, and sailed off, the iron and black glass and polished bone of its hull dwindling to a point in the distance, and Pharinae had been abandoned upon alien soil.

That had been the extent of the Shimmering Isle's help; well, she had suddenly become an embarrassment to the Imperial Court, after all. Long conditioned to the Court Lords' disdain, Pharinae had found the sudden shift in their regard difficult to deal with. The annoyance that the least of the Court had become suddenly a problem, to pull them from their parlours and their seraglios, could not be avoided by retreating to the distant corners of the Palace; nor could the envy, the anger that the most pitiful scion of the God-Made-Flesh should have such power, that a mere woman might be greater in Will than many a mighty Lord.

And no mere woman could disturb the hallowed Schools of the Lords of Night; so the Court had sent here here, where barbarian lordlings bore not the slightest line of tattooing to speak of their ancestries, and barbarian princesses walked in men's clothing, their arms swinging wide like the worst of dockside women (or how she thought such women might act, at least - no such ill-bred peons would ever set foot within the hallowed walls of the Palace, of course).

It got worse. Through some horrible mistake Pharinae was forced to share a room with one of those barbarian women; and a shockingly plain and small room at that! She'd thought herself inured to small spaces, but even the deserted attics and old, dusty wings of the Palace were more opulent than this. Her trunks barely fit.

And it got worse still. There were no chamber-slaves at all - nobody to braid her hair, or tie her sashes, or apply her makeup. She'd done her best to tie the sashes as was proper, and made a right mess of it - nobody was going to mistake it for the proper herringbone-pattern binding, and in the Palace they'd have refused even to laugh - but her hair hung loose as a concubine's, and her face was unpainted.

She'd even managed to get lost on the way to the classroom, only to discover finally that it was a lightless dungeon, taught by a deformed homunculus who would have been given at birth to the priests of Those-Who-Wait-Without-The-World, had he been born in the Shimmering Isle. And he was a vampire! Far too many of them were vampires! Why they'd even admit it she didn't know - it wasn't like they'd be talking about their tapeworm infestations next, or their lunatic delusions, was it? And surely the barbarian armies could rid the area of bloodsuckers, so why would they need to learn about how to defend themselves against them? It was bizarre, and she spoke none of her questions.

Thoroughly miserable, Pharinae huddled in a corner, doing her best not to be noticed.

Dimitri took that time to look around the room. He took in faces and guessed as to those who where human and those who where more than. The professor posed a question to the class, though most looked disinterested or down right bored. He couldnt blame them. Siv had thoroughly sucked the life out of the class. So Dimitri descided to toss a name out there. He knew he was almost certainly wrong, but at this point he didn't really care.

"Dracula?"

Professor Kvapil chuckled.

"Yes, Count Dracula has been in a lot of stories hasn't he?" the Nosferatu then said. "But alas he isn't completely fictional, there is a Count Dracula and he does in fact have a holiday castle within Dark Valley."

"I do know about each student of necromancy and as such I apologise for not getting rid of the flames sooner Alice."

Alice flashed Amalia a brief smile as the flames subsided, happy to see the dancing threat die off.

"Thanks."

The idea that one could perform a spell correctly and yet still have it fail due to someone else intervening irritated Alice. Unfortunately necromancy wasn't as simple as simply muttering the right words and watching everything work smoothly.

"Why would you intentionally cause someone's spell to fail?"

Amalia chuckled.

"Because I enjoy being a bitch sometimes."

She raised her hand and pulled her hair back, briefly showing a bird-like black mark on her neck.

"Of course everything has quotas and as such spirits are limited to whom may use them. As inexperienced as you are, all of you as second years have a small quota, you therefore do not have the ability to take many spirits from my realm.

"Then of course there are spells, spell which can damage this realm when taking spirits. Can't have the realm damaged now can we?"

"Because I enjoy being a bitch sometimes."

Alice didn't say anything in reply to Amalia's comment. Although she was trying to become a more light hearted person, when it came to learning about necromancy she was all business. The idea that Amalia ruined spells just for the hell of it irritated Alice somewhat, to think they it could be her spell that gets ruined just because someone felt like being a pain.

As Amalia further explained the reasoning, Alice took note of what little detail she gave and committed it to memory.

"And what is our quota, is second year students?"

This idea of a quota for spirits was quite new to her and she couldn't help but wonder whether it varied depending on where you were at the time. Her father had never mentioned anything about a quota and had performed many spells in a manner unique to himself, or at least those in Assington.

"Five a day, just like a mortals fruit and veg intake," Amalia told her.

She eyed the other students and smirked at them.

"Oh and don't think that just because your spell failed it's because of me," she then added. "Most likely it's just because you're crap."

Professor Bräck decided to step in. "Now does anyone have any further questions to ask?"