Dear Diary,

Y'know, it's been so long since I was actually in class as a student, I almost forgot I was supposed to go this morning.

That's a sign of me growing up some if there ever was one. On top of signing up for an actual class, not because I had to take it to get my Hero status and the fame, wealth, and power that comes with it and makes my nethers all tingly, but because there's stuff all Heroes are supposed to know and I don't, I also am not taking every opportunity to cut said class. Okay, yeah, I cut the days where Siobhan was teaching, but that wasn't me tryna skip class. That was me knowing the subject matter for those days already, and not wanting to give up putting my favorite Ice Pop in my mouth for weeks on end just to get a completely meaningless perfect attendance score.

Seriously, I'm going to class to learn, not to get a particular grade or even to pass it to graduate. How fuckin' weird is that? I think I did that with a class or two back in the day, but those were always classes I thought of as 'fun' or 'interesting'. Now I'm wondering if I had that shit backwards, and the classes I thought of as 'fun' were the ones that I was actually learning something that I didn't already know, or something I couldn't find easier and faster online.

So yesterday I pretty much just noodled around doing nothing much at all. Playing with the kids, helping Marie out in the kitchen, both at the Academy and the Homestead, playing seat cushion for my Kitten while she tinkered with her new Inspect. Just kinda chillin' like a villain. Even if I'm pretty sure I'm not one. Not in any kind of objective sense, at least. I get it, everybody's the hero in their own story, and everybody's the villain in somebody else's story. But there are some folks who are just fuckin' downright villainous, to the point where everybody paying the slightest bit of attention is entirely boggled how they haven't been torn into little tiny pieces by a pitchfork and torch wielding crowd yet. I'm almost entirely certain that if any mobs come after me, it'll be for my Murder Mitten's awesome chili, since I'm pretty sure most of the Alliance has had some of that by now.

At any rate, I got home and had some fun playing with the kids in the Bath. Mostly doing the 'big bad kaiju Mama' thing, swimming along the bottom of the Bath, then popping up to blow raspberries on bellies. There may have been a couple small tentacles involved when they all teamed up to slay the Mama beast, with Ria and Alex leading the charge. Gotta hand it to Lindsey, though; I did not even realize she'd snuck behind me until the backs of my knees hit her where she knelt behind me. Once my ass hit the bottom, my little pony girl held me down while the rest of them went to town doing their best to tickle me. After a couple minutes of that, I surged up out of the Bath long enough to shout, "oh, noes! I am defeated!" Then I plunged backward into the Bath again, doing my best 'I'm a dead bitch' pose. Kept my eyes closed, though, because the hot water didn't feel nearly as good on them as it did on my scars.

Got rewarded for tiring all the kids out and getting them absolutely ready for going right to sleep by my ladies doing the same for me. Dreamt of my lovely ladies, Karen and Tallulah included, having a tea party at a little table floating in the middle of the Maw.

Slept late. Okay, late for me. After getting a waffle made special for me by my Murder Mittens, hopped over to the Academy right near the end of breakfast, totally intending to steal something from the kitchen and head back home after a quick confab with Headmaster Miles.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Good Morning, Headmaster!"

He swallowed his most recent bite of bacon after chewing it thoroughly, obviously in no particular hurry. I wasn't either, so I just waited until he said, "good morning, Champion. Did you need something?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to let you know that we didn't find the source of the Dire Bears."

He nodded. "The Cadets told me as much upon returning."

"I'm thinking we head out next week and see if we can spot something."

"You're willing to go on a third recon in force with the Cadets this month?"

I shrugged. "Until we find the source of those things or they stop wandering down so often, I think I'd better keep looking."

"I'll have the Cadets ready first thing Monday then." After a pause where I tried to think of a polite way to say 'you gonna eat that' about his remaining bacon, he said, "will you be attending class today?"

"Oh, shit. Sorry. Gotta go!" I'm not sure if he noticed me swiping one of the bacon slices, but I stepped to the classroom before he could react.

Doc Roberts and Doc DeLeon stood there at the front of the class. They looked at each other, then back at me, then back at each other. Doc DeLeon just stepped backward and waved Doc Roberts forward. For their part, Doc Roberts just shook their head and sighed. "Good Morning Tabitha. We weren't sure we'd see you today."

I slipped into the closest empty seat to the front, putting on my best innocent look. "Aw, c'mon, Doc! I only skipped the last few because I already know Cure Disease and Heal Injury."

Somebody behind me with a suspiciously familiar voice said, "shagging."

I laughed, turned halfway back to where Sarah slouched, grinning at me, and said, "well, yeah, that too. You blame me, though?"

The class laughed, and I turned back to the Docs. "Seriously, though. I knew those spells and didn't want to disrupt Sister Siobhan too much during class."

"You could have just not done..." Doc Roberts stopped, then facepalmed.

"Remember who you're talking to all of a sudden?"

"Yes. Yes, I did. Well then. I'm still uncertain why you're here this morning. You seem to have a firm grasp of the first Shape of the day already."

I blinked, "Uh, what Shape would that be?"

Doc Roberts nodded to Doc DeLeon, who said, "this morning I'll be demonstrating a Shape called Private Message. It's similar to the Direct Message Shape, but is much harder to intercept or detect. Essentially, it can function as direct mind-to-mind communication."

"Well, shit, why haven't we heard of this one before now?"

Doc DeLeon just rolled his eyes at me. "Despite you using it more or less constantly? It requires a great deal of familiarity with your target, or a great deal of Mana. We've added it to the curriculum at the Imperator's suggestion, since long distance communication seems to be far more important for the Alliance than it was for Phileo."

"I do what?"

The class laughed a little, and Doc DeLeon said, "for those of us with more ability to sense and ferret out the purpose of Mana Shapes, it's clear you've been using that Shape or a similar one with the Imperator for quite some time."

"Oh. Uh. I guess? Maybe? I still don't know the Shape, though." I sat upright, folded my hands in front of me, and said, "I'm ready and eager to learn, though!"

That got a laugh out of the class. Doc DeLeon just rolled with my absurd bullshit and demonstrated the Shape. It was at the same time both incredibly familiar and totally foreign. Like, total deja vu on watching him do it. Partnered up with Sarah again when it came time to practice. I managed to get the Shape right on the first try. Amazing how much being able to see the fuckin' Shape the instructor is making helps.

Speaking of seeing things, Doc Roberts introduced another new Shape to the curriculum after lunch. This time it wasn't something added because of the Alliance, though. Instead, he taught us a Shape called 'Mana Analysis', which let us see Shapes being cast in intricate detail, not to mention a weird kind of slow motion thing. Mana Analysis was a new Shape, one of Doc Roberts' own creation, replacing the Shape that had previously been taught during the class, which was called 'Enhanced Sight'.

Guess my Kitten's started a new trend.