Elasmo's Guest Story
Idu Intinn
This story takes place the Monday after Book 2, and is written by Elasmo.
Mark moved with the herd into the main hall after his last class Monday. The whole Fifth Cohort was being ushered together by the staff, their expressions by and large showing various degrees of confusion. He was glad he at least had an idea what was going on, Eris, his Fourth-Cohort girlfriend, having mentioned that magic classes would be starting today.
He was in good company at least. Kylie stood close behind him, her furry ears poking up out of her hair adorably. That lovely young redhead from his late morning classes was just to his left, clutching the purse she always carried. On his right, however, was the gorgeous goth girl he’d been eyeing in Japanese. Two blondes flanked her, male and female, but he didn’t know them. He looked both ways, smiling at both the redhead and the goth girl. Kylie, meanwhile, waved at the redhead – they shared PE, Mark recalled.
The redheaded girl waved back at Kylie with a warm smile – in sharp contrast to the frosty glare the other returned when she noticed Mark looking her over. Nonetheless, he smiled broadly at her and extended a hand, his panther-like tail swishing behind him.
“Hi there.”
“Hello.” She offered her gloved hand, palm-down, and her cold smile warmed slightly.
Mark took the hand and raised it almost to his lips. “I’ve seen you in Japanese, but I haven’t had the pleasure. I’m Mark.”
“Hajimemashite. Shahin desu. Kochira wa Yngvi-chan to Aelgifu-chan desu.”
A warm chuckle rose from Mark’s throat as he listened to her.
“English will do, I don’t study that hard. This is Kylie.”
He gestured to Kylie with his free hand, lowering his other but not yet releasing his gentle hold on Shahin’s glove. Kylie had rolled her eyes at Mark, beginning to turn towards her other side, but looked back for a moment at the sound of her name, trying her best to smile.
“Hi.”
Shahin nodded to Kylie, offering her a smile warmer than the one Mark received, though also more cautious.
“Hello, Kylie.”
Mark wasn’t sure if Shahin was clued in, so he tipped her off as he started the conversation.
"So, we get a taste of our own magic today. This should be interesting."
"It should." She moved to take her hand back from Mark. "I see you've both been experiencing the... 'Changes'?"
"All kinds."
He released her hand, flicking his tail up between them, slowly waving the tip of it.
"Go ahead, it's kinda soft."
Kylie snorted, shaking her head, and Shahin chuckled softly.
"I think your tail is spoken for," she said dryly.
"I like her." Kylie pointed at Shahin.
Mark chuckled, shaking his head and scritching Kylie’s ear.
"It's not like I'm asking her to bed, hon..."
Shahin’s smile grew a bit sharp-edged at that, even as Kylie purred, leaning into Mark’s hand.
“I’m being nice, but I still have human emotions, and I can’t help myself all the time.”
Mark smiled warmly, eyes moving back to Shahin as he continued scritching Kylie.
"Not that you're not lovely, but I'm afraid Kylie might eat you."
Shahin’s smile remained the same and yet, somehow, grew cooler.
"You're assuming you'd get far enough for Kylie to be concerned."
"He tends to do that," Kylie grinned impishly.
"I meant just for my inviting you," Mark laughed.
"Oh, really?"
Shahin raised an eyebrow, sharing a conspiratorial grin with Kylie.
"Have him on a short leash, do you?"
"As short as he'll let me have, which is irritatingly long." Kylie pouted a little, before chuckling. "I already have to share him with my girlfriend and my best friend."
Shahin managed to look not at all surprised by this. "And I thought I had a complicated relationship."
"Everything here is complicated. It’s worse than a Spanish soap opera," Kylie put in.
"True. If you aren't versed in all the complications yet, Shahin, come to my self-defense class tonight; at least part of it will be enlightening."
Shahin shook her head, amused.
"Self-defense? No, thank you. I have my own ways of dealing with bullies."
"It's not all physical. Around here, the biggest dangers aren't."
"I'm aware."
Kylie stepped up again, smiling at Shahin.
"You might want to come to at least the first one... before the traditional self-defense kicks in... there will be a lot of information."
Mark nodded.
"That's what I'm talking about. But if you're already aware..." He shrugged.
"We might stop in," Yngvi said, a bit of warning in his voice.
"I won't make anyone, but I put the option out there. Too many people here learn the hard way," Mark smiled
"I can imagine," Yngvi said dryly.
About then, Mark found his attention drawn, almost unwillingly, to Regine walking in, Ambrus following behind her. Everyone fell silent, turning to watch the obviously impending presentation. Regine nodded at the group, smiling slightly as she looked them over and began to speak, projecting uncannily well for a room with no acoustical benefits to speak of.
“Today, you will be testing to discover where your specialties in what is commonly called ‘magic’ will lie. Of the twenty-two Words that focus our power, some will resonate with you, some will not. We are still studying how this resonance works, but, at the moment, we are certain that it does, indeed, work. Please take a seat.”
“This will seem strange to many of you, of course, but we are going to ask you to ‘play along’ for the moment. One of the faculty will say a word, and we ask that you repeat it as well as possible.”
Mark frowned, but nodded, wondering if they were going to be called up individually or if the faculty would be able to distinguish their voices in a chorus. Suddenly Regine no longer seemed to command his full attention, and he saw that the staff had moved around the room, one of them near each pair or so of students. Shira Pelletier stood beside him and Kylie, and he inclined his head fractionally to her in greeting, his eyes bright with anticipation. She nodded back at them both, equally shallowly, and then the Words began, the staff taking turns speaking, moving around the circle.
The words were entirely foreign, sounding as if they came from any number of different languages, but Mark tried to repeat them as best he could, finding that the ease of saying them did not necessarily correlate to the word’s apparent difficulty; some just seemed to reject his tongue. Fully half of them he could not say at all, though he successfully stumbled over words like Unutu, Intinn, Panida, Quipia, Jasfe, Abatu, and Meentik. Three he managed well: Tlacatl, Tempero, and Aistrigh. Almost every time a Word was spoken, one of the staff would ask the faculty member speaking it to repeat it, listening again to the responses. Pelletier demanded repetitions of Tempero and Aistrigh, as well as Kaana and Qorawiyay, which Kylie seemed to do well with. One Word, however – originally intoned by Professor Vanderlinden – Mark repeated flawlessly, echoing through the room. Pelletier stared at him for a moment, then asked for a repetition, only to receive that crystalline echo once more. “Hugr.” The word was short and harsh. He wondered what it meant.
The students were redistributed according, as best Mark could tell, to their proficiencies. Pelletier pointed him towards Vanderlinden, unsurprisingly, and Kylie towards Valerian, where she joined her redheaded friend. Shahin, Mark noted, went to his own Mentor, Luke, for her pronunciation of “Kwxe”, a word Mark couldn’t even comprehend.
Discuss
Idu Intinn
This story takes place the Monday after Book 2, and is written by Elasmo.
Mark moved with the herd into the main hall after his last class Monday. The whole Fifth Cohort was being ushered together by the staff, their expressions by and large showing various degrees of confusion. He was glad he at least had an idea what was going on, Eris, his Fourth-Cohort girlfriend, having mentioned that magic classes would be starting today.
He was in good company at least. Kylie stood close behind him, her furry ears poking up out of her hair adorably. That lovely young redhead from his late morning classes was just to his left, clutching the purse she always carried. On his right, however, was the gorgeous goth girl he’d been eyeing in Japanese. Two blondes flanked her, male and female, but he didn’t know them. He looked both ways, smiling at both the redhead and the goth girl. Kylie, meanwhile, waved at the redhead – they shared PE, Mark recalled.
The redheaded girl waved back at Kylie with a warm smile – in sharp contrast to the frosty glare the other returned when she noticed Mark looking her over. Nonetheless, he smiled broadly at her and extended a hand, his panther-like tail swishing behind him.
“Hi there.”
“Hello.” She offered her gloved hand, palm-down, and her cold smile warmed slightly.
Mark took the hand and raised it almost to his lips. “I’ve seen you in Japanese, but I haven’t had the pleasure. I’m Mark.”
“Hajimemashite. Shahin desu. Kochira wa Yngvi-chan to Aelgifu-chan desu.”
A warm chuckle rose from Mark’s throat as he listened to her.
“English will do, I don’t study that hard. This is Kylie.”
He gestured to Kylie with his free hand, lowering his other but not yet releasing his gentle hold on Shahin’s glove. Kylie had rolled her eyes at Mark, beginning to turn towards her other side, but looked back for a moment at the sound of her name, trying her best to smile.
“Hi.”
Shahin nodded to Kylie, offering her a smile warmer than the one Mark received, though also more cautious.
“Hello, Kylie.”
Mark wasn’t sure if Shahin was clued in, so he tipped her off as he started the conversation.
"So, we get a taste of our own magic today. This should be interesting."
"It should." She moved to take her hand back from Mark. "I see you've both been experiencing the... 'Changes'?"
"All kinds."
He released her hand, flicking his tail up between them, slowly waving the tip of it.
"Go ahead, it's kinda soft."
Kylie snorted, shaking her head, and Shahin chuckled softly.
"I think your tail is spoken for," she said dryly.
"I like her." Kylie pointed at Shahin.
Mark chuckled, shaking his head and scritching Kylie’s ear.
"It's not like I'm asking her to bed, hon..."
Shahin’s smile grew a bit sharp-edged at that, even as Kylie purred, leaning into Mark’s hand.
“I’m being nice, but I still have human emotions, and I can’t help myself all the time.”
Mark smiled warmly, eyes moving back to Shahin as he continued scritching Kylie.
"Not that you're not lovely, but I'm afraid Kylie might eat you."
Shahin’s smile remained the same and yet, somehow, grew cooler.
"You're assuming you'd get far enough for Kylie to be concerned."
"He tends to do that," Kylie grinned impishly.
"I meant just for my inviting you," Mark laughed.
"Oh, really?"
Shahin raised an eyebrow, sharing a conspiratorial grin with Kylie.
"Have him on a short leash, do you?"
"As short as he'll let me have, which is irritatingly long." Kylie pouted a little, before chuckling. "I already have to share him with my girlfriend and my best friend."
Shahin managed to look not at all surprised by this. "And I thought I had a complicated relationship."
"Everything here is complicated. It’s worse than a Spanish soap opera," Kylie put in.
"True. If you aren't versed in all the complications yet, Shahin, come to my self-defense class tonight; at least part of it will be enlightening."
Shahin shook her head, amused.
"Self-defense? No, thank you. I have my own ways of dealing with bullies."
"It's not all physical. Around here, the biggest dangers aren't."
"I'm aware."
Kylie stepped up again, smiling at Shahin.
"You might want to come to at least the first one... before the traditional self-defense kicks in... there will be a lot of information."
Mark nodded.
"That's what I'm talking about. But if you're already aware..." He shrugged.
"We might stop in," Yngvi said, a bit of warning in his voice.
"I won't make anyone, but I put the option out there. Too many people here learn the hard way," Mark smiled
"I can imagine," Yngvi said dryly.
About then, Mark found his attention drawn, almost unwillingly, to Regine walking in, Ambrus following behind her. Everyone fell silent, turning to watch the obviously impending presentation. Regine nodded at the group, smiling slightly as she looked them over and began to speak, projecting uncannily well for a room with no acoustical benefits to speak of.
“Today, you will be testing to discover where your specialties in what is commonly called ‘magic’ will lie. Of the twenty-two Words that focus our power, some will resonate with you, some will not. We are still studying how this resonance works, but, at the moment, we are certain that it does, indeed, work. Please take a seat.”
“This will seem strange to many of you, of course, but we are going to ask you to ‘play along’ for the moment. One of the faculty will say a word, and we ask that you repeat it as well as possible.”
Mark frowned, but nodded, wondering if they were going to be called up individually or if the faculty would be able to distinguish their voices in a chorus. Suddenly Regine no longer seemed to command his full attention, and he saw that the staff had moved around the room, one of them near each pair or so of students. Shira Pelletier stood beside him and Kylie, and he inclined his head fractionally to her in greeting, his eyes bright with anticipation. She nodded back at them both, equally shallowly, and then the Words began, the staff taking turns speaking, moving around the circle.
The words were entirely foreign, sounding as if they came from any number of different languages, but Mark tried to repeat them as best he could, finding that the ease of saying them did not necessarily correlate to the word’s apparent difficulty; some just seemed to reject his tongue. Fully half of them he could not say at all, though he successfully stumbled over words like Unutu, Intinn, Panida, Quipia, Jasfe, Abatu, and Meentik. Three he managed well: Tlacatl, Tempero, and Aistrigh. Almost every time a Word was spoken, one of the staff would ask the faculty member speaking it to repeat it, listening again to the responses. Pelletier demanded repetitions of Tempero and Aistrigh, as well as Kaana and Qorawiyay, which Kylie seemed to do well with. One Word, however – originally intoned by Professor Vanderlinden – Mark repeated flawlessly, echoing through the room. Pelletier stared at him for a moment, then asked for a repetition, only to receive that crystalline echo once more. “Hugr.” The word was short and harsh. He wondered what it meant.
The students were redistributed according, as best Mark could tell, to their proficiencies. Pelletier pointed him towards Vanderlinden, unsurprisingly, and Kylie towards Valerian, where she joined her redheaded friend. Shahin, Mark noted, went to his own Mentor, Luke, for her pronunciation of “Kwxe”, a word Mark couldn’t even comprehend.
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