"EVERYONE TO THE BRIDGE, NOW! I MEAN IT! GET HERE NOW!" Vadei screamed through the airship's speaker system. And when we all properly registered it in our heads, we bolted out of the cafeteria. Larishazza was the only one who tried to keep her food with her but she quickly lost it.
"What's the problem!?" I asked immediately once I was done tearing up the floor when I came to a sudden stop.
"That..." Vadei answered as her baffled face pointed towards the large screen she had brought up. And when I saw it, I felt like I had gone a bit cold because I was not expecting that at all.
"Oh..." I let out with uncertainty as I stared at the contents of the screen. It was a crowd, a very, very large crowd and it was gathered at the hanger. We were never going to sneak back in undetected, so we decided on going in with our heads high. But, none of us could have accounted for this.
"Why are there so many of them!?" Liadanann hysterically asked as this likely made her very uncomfortable. But, I would not say it to her face, because that was underselling it by quite the magnitude.
"D-Do we stick with the plan?" Einervaene gulped out as she started to hide her face. The other one, however, did the opposite, instead, she went outside. And soon we were watching her land before the crowd with a dazzling display of magic.
"Yes." I said quickly and simply as I screamed on the inside at what we were about to experience. But, once Larishazza's magic had stopped blocking our view, I noticed something odd. They were cheering... They were all cheering...
"Okay, any changes?" Vadei let out as her hand trembled on the button that would let us land properly.
"We aren't getting out of this..." I groan quietly before I found myself latched onto. Liadanann was practically shivering in fear and I would have to try my best to comfort her.
"Okay, let's go." Einervaene said once she had finished breathing in and out. She then went on ahead and was noticeably pale as we walked.
"Wait!" Vadei let out as she chased after us as the ramp began to lower itself. And, like with Liadanann, those two moved closer to me as we exited the airship. It was there we truly grasped the scale of everything as well. Because the moment we stepped outside, we were barraged by sound and flashes.
"COME ON, COME ON! GIVE US A GOOD SHOT OF HER!" someone with a camera screamed amongst others doing the same as Liadanann set everyone off.
"Got anything you aren't telling us!?" I loudly and awkwardly joke to my friend as she shivers against me.
"G-G-Get us..." she couldn't even finish before I heard whimpers leave her.
"Okay, let's try and get you to the dorm..." I told her, hoping it would reassure her. But, my plan was instantly grounded because the Academy's security forces were hovering about. So, instead, we were forced to walk through the opening in the crowd. And, in a way, I felt like the Equilibrium and his fearful son, because Liadanann was acting like him.
She was trembling under my cloak and she was shaking as if she was being shocked. It did a lot to make me forget my own worries, but, now all I could think about was her. To say nothing of the careless disregard some people had to my privacy when they tried to tear at my cloak. Liadanann was pretty much in tears before we had even got past the first few people.
"YOU TWO!" I roared as I clutched onto my friend protectively before a magic barrier suddenly appeared. It had given us the room we needed to move and I took advantage of it. So I picked up my friend and ran with all the haste I could back to our dorm. I didn't even open the door, I just smashed it down and dashed upstairs into my room.
Which, now that I remembered this place, might've been a bad choice given its...
"Why're there so many of them!?" Liadanann managed to get out as she broke down crying before me. Before I answered, however, I took hold of her and held her as a stampede headed towards us. I wasn't sure what we could do about it. So I waited for the others to arrive, well, with the exception of Larishazza.
"My word, what's is wrong with them!?" Einervaene asked us as she as lightning began to flow from her hands as she guarded the door. Vadei, meanwhile, made sure all the other entrances were sealed shut.
"Come on now, quiet, it's alright." I cooed to Liada as I moved her closer. Stroking her hair carefully and I made sure I could hear her in case she was mumbling.
"I-I'm sorry if this is my fault..." Vadei was quick to whine presumptuously. Features, like usual, began to go down or stay still. But, there was no need for them to do so.
"We don't know what's going on out there. Hopefully, we can squeeze an explanation out of the staff..." I say with uncertainty as I began to think of harsh their words were likely going to be... We stole an airship and interfered with their business, they were not going to be happy...
"They were very... Aggressive in their curiosity." Einervaene commented as she turned back to look at me and Liada.
"Yeah... Something is very wrong. I can get them knowing that we'd be coming, but, how would they know that Liada here was there? Were we scanned or something, Vadei?"
"Not that I picked up, no!" she was quick to answer before her body lowered itself down in apology.
"It must have been something we had no way of preparing ourselves against, then." I say as I turned my attention back to Liada. She needed all the help she could get right now as while I was nervous along with the others... She was terrified, she was, indescribably terrified. And it's a shame I knew why...
"So many... Humans..." she quietly whimpered as she trembled on my lap.
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"Hey, guys!" Larishazza cheered as she skipped in through the front door with an orange glow following her. Thankfully, no one else came in after her. The crowds had gone for now, something must have driven them off.
"Alright, now, where is she?" a curious man asked as he quickly proved me wrong with his presence. It was our Head of House, Frihdeicalkbr.
"YOU!" I assumed straight of the bat when I saw the way his eyes sparkled with curiosity. But, he did not back down in fear, instead, he just smiled as his hands slipped into his pockets.
"Me, now, where is she?" he asked as he got back to the point he wanted pursued.
"I'm not telling you a th-" I began to growl out before he just brought up a screen. Yet, I did not move to grab him when he started to walk past me. I was fully aware of the likely consequences of something like that... And, as much as I cared for my friend, an instinctual selfishness kept me in check.
"So you are what our device picked up." Frihdeicalkbr said as he sat down before the scared ddrai'och. And, were it not for her lack of magic, I'm pretty sure that mug she had would've broken.
"G-Get away from me..." Liada let out fearfully before I stood between her and our Head of House. She was very familiar with the gaze of scientists and I would not let him provoke her.
"It's alright, it's alright." Frihdeicalkbr admitted with open hands as he stepped back before sitting down awkwardly. He did it intentionally too. He brought his chair too close to the table and chose one close to the wall... He was making it clear he was not going to try anything...?
"Have you got answers for what is going on out there!?" Einervaene jumped up to ask with a loud thud as her hands slammed the table.
"I do, on the condition I ask our curious friend here some questions of my own." Frihdeicalkbr said before a growl left Liada as she contradictorily retreated closer to me. And, when she did, he made a note of it on the tablet he had brought with him.
"What kind of questions?" I cautiously asked on Liada's behalf as I happily went along with her attempts to hide behind me.
"Simple ones, not particularly... Digging ones." he answered with a professional tone before he drummed his tools on the table.
"Do you want to?" I asked my friend as she started to calm down slightly.
"Will he go if I do? Will they all!?" she hysterically asked me with a tone that was too loud.
"I will, and, I can create measures if you want." Frihdeicalkbr answers to my shock.
"What kind of measures?" Liada asked with suddenly gained confidence as she practically rushed him down. Details he took note of as well when he had the space to.
"Obviously, I can't ban a student from parts of Suhurlodst Academy of Arcane Learning and Understanding. But, I can implement an exclusion zone around the dorm for non-residence of this dorm and the neighbouring buildings. Small things like that, however, I can also not do anything about the Reporatation and Documentation Club." he tells us as Liada backs away towards me.
"What do you want you know?" she asked him once she had regained her until recently, all but lost posture.
"Let's find out. First question, what is your name?"
"Liadanann."
"Hm, interesting pronunciation. Foreign." he comments.
Liada then looks back to me, "There's nothing wrong with the way I speak?" she asks me, hoping to get some support.
"It's fine, Liada, don't worry." I tell her, but, she frowns when I call her by her nickname. Maybe it was just the pressure getting to her, because she has had no issue with it before.
"Second question, what are you?" Frihdeicalkbr asked, interrupting my opportunity to reassure her.
"I'm a... Dd... Ddrai'och." she tells him as she silently begs me to take her hand. But, when I do, the resulting notes Frihdeicalkbr writes down makes her let go.
"I see, and, let me see. What sort of magic do you use?" he asks with a rather obvious motive. It was after all the same one that saw me become a student here. Which, in hindsight, I was thankful for as it meant I could live.
"I o-only have m-my..." Liada began to say before she went silent as she clutched her talisman.
"Supported caster, got it. Now, I think I can work with this. We'll send tablet work for the rest." he tells us before he gets up. His gaze, however, was locked on me and Vadei as he moved to leave.
"I take it..." I began to say as I believed I knew what that gaze was for. And he smiled before he brushed aside some of his black and grey hair.
"We'll talk about that, but, for now, make sure your new dormmate feels welcome." he tells us before he leaves before stopping.
"Sorry... I broke it in the rush to get in..." I say as I watched his gaze focus on the splinters.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
"Your magic has changed." he comments before walking off. Which, left me confused as I wasn't sure how he picked that up from splinters and snapped doors.
"Well, I'ma take a shower." Larishazza hummed out with a whistle before she started to skip out of the room.
"Right." I let out with uncertainty as everyone started to calm down. But, my attention went straight back to Liada as she was fidgeting a lot.
"What does he mean by dormmate?" my friend asked in confusion as her hand clung to my chest when I got close enough.
"He means you are probably now a student here with us..." Einervaene answers for me as I was focused on stroking her backhand.
"Student...?" our friend let out in confusion before curled in on herself and sighed.
"Well, at least it means you get to stay with us without issue!" I nervously chuckle out as I watch her grow increasingly uncomfortable.
"I better not have to deal with any other..." she began to say before a cold air began to spread through the dorm. And when I turned around to see what it was, I was greeted by the enraged face of a sister. One whose touch was covering the room in frost and she was on a mission. Thankfully, it took her past us, but, I had to tend to Liada because of it.
Her lack of magic made her vastly more suspectable to the anger-driven aura.
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"Going for a shower, going for a shower! I'm going for a shower in a place that is still!" I loudly sang cheerfully as I danced about the first floor. Using my magic here and there to slip on down the hallways until I reached the showers. And once I was in the shower room, I closed the door behind me before I felt something familiar. So, I opened the door again and peaked out it.
"LARISHAZZA!" my sister roared furiously as she stomped up the stairs. A carpet of ice spreading out before her as she marched towards me. And I went pale as I stared at her as she approached me. Only slamming the door shut again just before she got near me.
And I jumped away from it with a clumsy stumble, "Oh, yeah, that's right..." I laughed out, terrified of what I was likely going to be on the receiving end of. Thankfully, Tiya presumed I stayed at the door, so she did not come barging into the wet, steaming room. Unthankfully, however, she was likely aware of this and I was quickly trapped in freezing ice while naked.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" my sister demanded to know once she opened the door. But I was simply too focused on the fact I was turning blue and encased in solid ice. She must have been really mad if the ice was thicker than a wall!
"C-C-C-C-C-OLD!" I squealed through clattering teeth before I was forcibly pulled from the ice and tossed at the nearest shower. Then, once I felt warm, steaming water, I curled up under it and cackled as if I had nearly died.
"ANSWER ME!" Tiya roared down at me as the ice began to prod at my newfound warmth. Forcing me back up to my feet before I ended up stuck behind thin strings of ice made from the shower water.
"I went out with my friends..." I told her as I tried to squish myself up against the wall. Only for her magic to suddenly disappear before she crushed me in the immediately following hug.
"DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW MUCH WORRY YOU CAUSED ME, MUM AND DAD!?" she roared straight into my ear as her hug kept me still.
But, she left me confused, "How were Mom and Dad worried?" I asked as I tilted my head at the red-faced beast.
"YOU WENT MISSING AND THE ACADEMY STAFF HAD NO ANSWERS! SO I CALLED HOME AND TRIED TO GET HELP FROM THEM! WERE IT NOT FOR YOUR BANK TRANSACTIONS, THEY'D HAVE HIRED A WORM-RIDER TO FIND YOU!" she started to explain before she started to thrash me back and forth violently. And when she was done and my mind settled down, I nervously giggled.
"S-Sorry." was all I really could say as I desperately pleaded on the inside that she would not use more of her magic. Then, when she let go of me, she walked away briefly.
Her face soon found a palm to rest against and she growled into it, "What am I going to do with you, bloody idiot." she spat out before her magic suddenly froze me in place again.
"AH! AH! AH! COLD!" I complained as I frantically danced about, hoping to break the bricks of ice encasing my feet. And I kept this up until I remembered that I could just use my own magic to blast it off. So I did, and I stood there quietly, ashamed by my lack of awareness. And that shame quickly shifted on over to thoughts of my family.
I rushed after that airship so quickly back then that I had forgotten to tell anyone. And, my first thoughts when getting back here weren't to make sure my sister was alright... It was to instead enjoy the crowd that had so inexplicitly formed before I went on to do other stuff... It was, and I was, as it was called back home, a water-hogger.
Selfish...
"Tiya! Tiya!" I called out once I had left the shower room and found her room. I could not sense her magic, but, I was assuming she was in here. Only to then jump up in shock when I felt a piece of ice form on the base of my neck. Right by where it gets a little bumpy.
"Stop walking about naked." she chastises as she fiddles around with some kind of device.
"I'm sorry..." I mumbled once the freezing sensation was gone.
"So you should be." Tiya commented as she crossed her arms. But, she was not upset in the way I thought she might be.
"I mean it... I just got so excited... Whenever it was and I lost track of everything..." I told her as I started to stroke my goosebump covered arm. A nervous gesture that soon evolved into me trying to return warmth to my body.
"We know, we all know. Which is why Dad called off the idea of sending a worm-rider after you when we got news of your various bank transactions."
"How do you even know about those? I did them in a bunch of different towns all over the place!" I exclaim as I took the tone as a means to chipper up slightly.
"Same bank, runny brain. They just tell us when something happens out of the ordinary, remember? Or has you brain run out of your ears already!?" she tells me before she flicks some ice at my ear.
"Hey!" I whined as I backed away from the aggressive woman.
"Get changed already!" she then commanded with a harsh stomp before her misty breath chased me back to the showers.
"YOU BETTER STAY DOWN THERE!" I scream back at her before I slammed the door. And, once I was on my own again, I dashed to the warm, running water. Turning on multiple and flooding the floors with steaming water. And I stayed there until this heat-starvation I was suffering from went away completely.
Then, I went and got changed into a fresh set of clothes that had been gathering dust in my dorm room draws. It wasn't much different from the usual, but, it was a lot finer in design. I was back at Suhurlodst now, after all, so I did not have to worry about my clothes getting wrecked. So it meant I could put on my cuter and or sexier outfits!
"That's better..." I sigh out with relaxed pleasure before I went back downstairs see if the others had returned. After all, it has been a while since I have spoken to either Grumpy or Ombo! The first one I just wanted to have some nostalgic fun with while the other I wanted to hug!
"Ah! The sister is back!" Ombo declared happily as his larger-since-last-time body thundered on over. And, were it not for my pre-emptive jump onto his belly, he would have flung me across the room.
"Hello!" I let out against his breast fat as I happily bashed my head on his jiggling body.
"Haha! I was worried about you." he told me with a cheerful smile before he let me get down.
"Eugh, why'd you come back with the same standards?" Quinshuu commented bitterly as his eyes carved deep holes into the Liada.
"Stop looking at me..." she begged as she trembled under the pressure of Quinshuu's magical eyes.
"Impressive, you have caught a rare creature indeed. Truly, a hunter." Quinshuu complimented as his eyes turned to Nin.
"Uh, thank you." Nin answered with uncertainty as Liada kept close to him in her time of uncertainty.
"So what kind of food do you like, Red One?" Ombo asked as he approached the counter before laying out various tools. What kind was pretty clear, but, he had gotten out quite the array.
"He has a point, you have been quite picky." Einervaene points out as I found myself smiling at her pickiness during our travels. All the while, I was sneaking closer to Vadei until I had forced her into a corner. She said nothing but I was happy to have squeezed her tail between me and her.
"This is nice." I say quietly as she stares intently at me. She tried to push me away, but, I was just too good for her, so she let me stay.
"You won't be able to cook what I like..." Liada says as she eyes a spoon of all things curiously.
"Stop that!" Nin immediately told her when she began to chew on the metal utensil.
"I'm hungry!" Liada growls at him before she throws the spoon away in frustration.
"You eat metal?" Vadei asked as her eyes widened slightly.
"Yeah, but I haven't had any for months now... Just bits of meat." she answers as her face goes against her palm.
"I think we might have a solution to this problem." Nin then says as he looks at Einervaene.
"What?" she asks before Ombo comes over and picks up the spoon.
"You are not strong, so I don't think I could safely melt this." he explains with disappointment in his tone.
"It won't matter anyway... It's not gold." Liada groans before she leans back into the chair.
"Expensive diet, huh?" Nin jokes before he gets what might as well have been a tap from her. A peculiar tap made with an elbow.
"Is it a nesscary part of your diet?" Ombo asked with utter seriousness as he shook the building on his way to the ground so he could sit.
"I don't know... I haven't really been hungry since I started travelling with Nin."
"Then your body is getting all it needs right now from the environmental magic supply, then." Ombo professionally points out.
"It doesn't feel right not eating because I need to..."
"I know that feeling, don't worry." Nin tells her as he strokes her shoulders.
"Oh yeah, you had the same problems, didn't you?" Vadei asks as she sticks her head out from behind me.
"Unfortunately, yeah." he grumpily says back as Liada's head rests against him.
"At least, today has me tired." she comments with a strange kind of relief before she stands up and takes Nin with her.
"So how are we going to feed her when she does start getting hungry again?" I ask as I move over to Ombo to help him up off of the floor. Only to end up on the floor myself as his belly had bashed into me. But, I laughed it off as it was fun.
"Why not ask the men of the deep earth to hunt for it?" Grumpy offers up as a solution before he drinks something that isn't milk.
"What you got there?" I asked him before he shot a bit of light magic from his own eyes and into mine.
"AH!" I wailed as I stumbled back into the wall.
"It's a milkshake, I got him into them while you were gone on your trip!" Ombo chuckles out before he starts to put everything away.
"Using a machine to slice up nature's bounty finely is an acceptable drink." Quinshuu points out in his own, strange way before he gulps the rest down. A loud thud echoed out from the table before his chair moved and he left.
"I think I'm blind..." I let out with despair before a pair of fingers open my eyes for me. A nervous chuckle then leaves me before I take a few steps back.
"Are you sure? Do you want to take a step outside first?" Vadei asked me before something outside gave us a reason to go look.
"What the..." Einervaene let out as we all rushed outside with Nin coming to a stop by the bottom of the stairs as we got to the door.
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"Vapooliar?" I let out with uncertainty as I took the final step off of the stairs. But I was quick to go back onto them when I saw Vapooliar's expression. Pure, hardened anger was all I could see and she was approaching us with dangerous intent.
"Where have you been?" she asked in a rather quiet tone given her current feelings. And Vadei went pale as she was the main target of her gaze.
"I-I... We..." she failed to get out before the intimidating, aura-emitting woman that towered over her.
"Quit mumbling." Vapooliar demanded as she took another step forward. The pressure that surrounded her soon forced Vadei to the ground and she was quickly over taken by terror.
"That's enough!" I declared as I moved to step in between them. But I only ended up stopping and backing away once I got near the force the others were so close to. Not that me moving backwards mattered, because Vapooliar just moved to me instead.
"Where has she been?" she asked me coldly while her presence alone kept me pinned against the nearest floor.
"We went h-home... We went back to my home..." I told her with uncontrollable shivers. And my answer made me confused because she stepped back confused. Hurt all over her face before anger came back to it.
"You promised..." she incoherently muttered just before she advanced on me again with what seemed like murderous intent.
"PROMISE WHAT!?" I could help but yell out, terrified.
"You promised that we would do that together, that I would help you! How can you have forgotten that!?" she clarifies and that only made me more confused. Was she seriously clinging onto a promise from last year!? One that was made while I was still a human!? When I could actually call her my friend!?
"W-What...? You c-can't be serious...?" I asked, completely baffled by this behaviour. She didn't want anything to do with me since I became a bug! And now she was enraged that I didn't hold onto a promise we made!?
"And you weren't serious about going home were you?" she asked, and her words made me feel colder than any of this magic of hers did.
"Vapooliar, don't..." Vadei warned.
"Unless, something happened. You went home but something went wrong. A something I could have prevented. So, what went wrong?" she asked with a stern face but cruel tone.
"I..." I couldn't get out before thoughts of my failure drove me to silent tears.
"Your home is gone, isn't it? Something you did or something you brought with you did it." she quickly deduced before she looked up at the sound of approaching steps.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Liada screamed before some magic from her talisman forced Vapooliar away. Much to her shock and surprise as she was definitely skilled enough to tell Liada was nearly magicless.
"What's it to you, Ideric Beast?" Vapooliar asked through clenched teeth as I took the opportunity to return to my feet and get up the stairs. And, in a strange twist of fate, I hid behind Liada who in turn hid us behind her divine magic.
"Y-You know what I am...?" Liada asked with some bafflement as everyone else up to now had no idea what she was.
"Not formerly, no. But your answer tells me everything I need to know about your thunder-struck race!" Vapooliar nearly shouted before a shockwave of magic rushed through the house.
And those words set Liada off, "HOW ABOUT YOU SAY THAT TO MY FACE YOU MURDEROUS SLAVE OF THE SKY!?" Liada roared as she slammed against the barricade she had created.
Vapooliar snorted before turning to leave, "Don't do that again, Vadei." she then cautioned our terrified friend with a calm, quiet tone before she left. The signs of her arrival and departure scarring the path before our dorm deeply. Then, when we were certain she was gone and the magic Liada had made was waved off. I started to hobble upstairs.
"Nin?" Einervaene called out to me as the sound of my crying became the only thing anyone could hear. But I didn't want to answer her, I just wanted to be left alone. Not that I had an opportunity to be alone as the girls all raced after me and got into my room before me.
"Please, leave me alone." I begged Larishazza, Einervaene, Vadei and Liada as they all stood by my bed. But, when they refused to leave, I just cried more openly after taking off my mask. And I slid down the door until I was on the floor.
"It's not your fault..." Vadei tried to tell me as she offered up her tail to me.
"YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE! ALL OF YOU KNOW!" I roared, scaring off the weaker two but leaving the other half unmoved.
"It is not your fault, Nin." Einervaene told me as she held me on the left while Larishazza squeezed in on the right. Doing her usual thing of having fun with it by holding my head from above. And, once I had calmed down, the other two came back over. And they had me take Vadei's tail into my claw, but I would refuse it soon after.
I couldn't stop my claws from shaking, so I was scared I would hurt her...
"Just leave me be..." I begged them as I breathed with uncertain stability. Trembling quietly before I started to relax into their grips.