I gawked at Emberline as she sighed and kipped up to her feet, untangling her foot in one smooth motion

"Little rascal, where did you scurry off to?!" she grunted, looking around frantically before her eyes landed on me.

"Ah, Lux! You're awake! I was just about to send you a message!"

"Um..." I repeated, my eyes flicking around the room. I could see that a few things were knocked over, but everything was more or less intact. Except for the potted plant that was laying sideways on the floor. There were little bits of dirt scattered around it.

"Sorry! Sorry! I was trying to get something from my cabinets when Eric's.... old friend got loose," she said, looking a little flustered.

Eric? Er.... Oh. Erichthonius? The president?

Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was messy, and she had a small smudge of dirt on the side of her nose from where she had fallen. Despite all of that, her bright, orange-yellow eyes shone with a vibrant intensity, her skin had a healthy glow, and her smile was as warm and friendly as ever.

It was... a lot different than what I was expecting. She was a veteran, one of the best in the world, but... I had never actually met her in person before.

"The... president's friend?" I questioned, looking around.

She blinked at me before laughing, scratching her neck sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah. Erm. Right. His name's Butestreus. He's a, erm, he's a..."

A sudden chirp and a flash of movement caused me to jolt to the side as a small figure scurryied up my leg and perching itself on my shoulder made me shriek.

"W-What the heck?!?!" I flinched, almost stumbling over my own toes as I tried to regain my balance. I found my footing and immediately tilted my head to the side, blinking in surprise.

A creature stared directly at me, its body elongated and covered in soft, snow-white fur that glimmered with an golden hue as the will-o-wisps around the room merged into its body. It had large, round, and curious blue eyes, and an almost fox-like snout, with long, thin, whiskers.

Its tail was long and ridiculously fluffy, and it had a pair of small, rounded ears.

And it was staring at me, its nose twitching curiously.

I felt a shiver run down my spine as I looked back at the creature. "Wh-what?"

"Hey there, little fella." Emberline cooed, stepping over and reaching out to the furry creature. It immediately perked up and leaped into her hands, nuzzling against her cheek. She chuckled and gave it a little pet.

"Relax, he won't hurt you," Emberline reassured me. "He's a... he's a... magic mongoose."

"A mongoose?" I raised an eyebrow, looking at the strange creature.

It looked back at me with curious, unblinking golden eyes and tilted its head.

"Mm-hmm. A... magical, lucky, dangerously clever mongoose who's usually a good boy." Emberline smiled at the little creature, her voice taking on a slightly higher pitch as she spoke.

Her cheeks flushed. "Well, we've always called him a mongoose. Or Butez. Eric won't say what species he actually is. He just said he got it as a gift from a 'family member' like twenty years ago, but... yeah. Magic mongoose. Cute little fella. And very mischievous. He's always out and about and getting into trouble. Saved our butts more times than I can count when we were still a team, too. Not just from the bad guys but also the paparazzi, and... other things."

The mongoose squeaked at Emberline and she chuckled. "But, yeah. He's the president's longtime best friend. Eric's the only one he ever really listened to, and he's usually well-behaved when Eric's around, but I guess the poor little thing's got separation anxiety or something and he's been a real handful. He keeps stealing my stuff! Like, my pen, or my phone, or my snacks, or anything else that's lying around. And he hides it somewhere and won't tell me where!"

She stuck out her tongue, blowing a raspberry at the creature. Butestreus chittered in what almost sounded like laughter, and Emberline just shook her head.

"We took care of him while we were all a team, but he kinda comes and goes between us as he pleases these days. He likes to explore, I guess, and the Headmaster doesn't seem to mind him roaming around."

The mongoose chittered something at Emberline before leaping off of her palm and landing on my head. It crawled down and draped itself around my shoulders like a scarf, nuzzling my neck.

She laughed, her voice light and cheerful. "Awww, see? He likes you!"

"Yay." I replied flatly.

And its big, curious eyes were staring right back at me again.

It chirped, and I sighed, patting its head. I was not going to be able to get rid of this thing. It was... kind of cute.

Okay. He was really cute.

But, still—

Aww, darn it.

The way he was looking at me made my heart melt.

It had big, round, blue eyes and it was looking at me expectantly.

"Fiiine," I grumbled with a smile, petting it some more as it chittered happily.

I looked back at Emberline, and I noticed she had a small smudge of dirt on her face from her fall. I gestured at my cheek and then at hers. "You've, erm, got a bit of something right here."

"Oh! Ahaha!" Emberline reached up and rubbed the side of her nose, smudging the dirt a little more with an awkward smile. "Way to go, Emberline. Make an impression on the newbie like this, why don't you!"

She looked around and picked up a tissue, dabbing at the spot on her face.

I took the chance to look around the room while Emberline cleaned herself up. There were boxes that still hadn't been unpacked. There were books and papers stacked haphazardly in piles on the floor. It seemed like she had just recently moved into this office.

My gaze was drawn to a photograph that sat atop her desk, which was still on its side. I leaned down to pick it up and looked at the picture. Emberline was in the center, looking virtually identical to how she looked now, although there was a noticeable light in her eyes. Two boys in their late teens to early twenties flanked Emberline.

One of them was tall, and the other one was considerably shorter around Emberline's height, but both had black hair. They were wearing a similar style to her, with the long-sleeved white dress shirts, dark jackets and slacks. The shorter of the two boys was in a tuxedo that was completely black, while the taller of the two had a black and red suit.

They stood behind four teenage magical girls in an approving pose, with Emberline in front of them with her arms crossed in an X formation over her chest and a sunny grin while the tall and short boys grabbed a massive sword and a bo staff respectively.

The four teenagers wore matching dresses that only differed in colors and characteristic accessories that they had.

I immediately recognized two of the teenagers in front.

One of them had her hair pulled back in a pair of bright pink pigtails. The girl was in a pink and white dress, with a matching set of white and pink thigh-highs and knee high boots. The girl had a pair of red ribbons tied up like bunny ears and red laces poking up from her hair, and she had both hands raised in a double peace sign with her fingers forming a V shape.

Her bright, pink eyes were full of energy and happiness, and her smile drew all the attention to her, despite her small size.

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Next to her, a slightly shorter girl in a dark blue and white dress had her arms folded across her chest, leaning on the first girl with her back from the side with a reserved but happy smirk. Her hair was a deep, royal blue color and was cut in a short bob cut that framed her face. A blue hairpin adorned her bangs shaped like a bird, and a dark blue mask with two little wings hung around her neck.

She didn't have any bunny ears like the first girl, but her posture, the way she leaned against her companion, and her overall aura were the same as the girl she was leaning on. She had a calm, almost bored look, but she seemed happy to be there with everyone.

The other two were less prominent in the picture, standing to the right of the pair. One was wearing a yellow dress with long, straight waist-length blonde ponytail, while the other one practically had a mane of silver fur sticking out from all over.

The girl on the right side wore a green dress that was coordinated with the group's theme and was in a very enthusiastic pose with her hands in the air. A pair of fox ears and a tail peeked out from her mane of silver hair. She was grinning from ear to ear and her bright green eyes were twinkling with energy.

Her blonde companion was more reserved in her pose, standing with her back straight, with one hand on her hip and the other loosely on her breasts. Her eyes were a deep honey yellow, and her smile was gentle and sweet. She wore a black mask shaped like butterfly wings over her eyes, and a black ribbon was tied into a bow at her chest, matching a yellow choker that held a small golden bell.

They all looked happy. There was a sense of comradery between them that couldn't be faked. The picture was taken on the top of a building. In the background, I could see the setting sun behind the horizon of skyscrapers and cityscape, the orange sky contrasting against the cityscape behind them.

"Ah, I see you've found that old picture of my old team. And my proteges..." Emberline said with a small sigh.

"It is?" I looked at her. "This is... erm, your old team?"

"Yup! The old Team Stygian, before Professor Lunatrix came in and broke up the party." She gave a soft chuckle. "Good times. Before things... changed."

I nodded, setting the photograph down, my gaze lingering on it. It seemed like a nice memory.

"Arcadia Vox..." I whispered, brushing my hand over legendary the pink-haired magical girl. I turned to look at Emberline, who was looking at the photo fondly, a soft smile on her face.

"She didn't go by Arcadia Vox at the time. They had a bit of a theme going on. They were the, ah... 'Sensational Sparkling Shimmering Stars' or something. The name was Arcadia's idea. It was pretty silly, but it was what they wanted." Emberline gave a fond sigh.

"Star Bunbun, Star Nightingale, Star Monarch, Star Foxtrot." Emberline pointed to each of them as she said their name. "The four of them... were, well, an honor to mentor. It's just a time honored tradition for upperclassmen and university journeymen to take newbies under their wings here, you know?"

I brushed over the girl with the dark blue hair, feeling a lump in my throat. She was the only one in the group with Caucasian features.

The other three were all clearly of East Asian or Pacific Islander descent. But I knew she wasn't.

I didn't need to look at her face twice to know who she was, though.

It was surreal to see my mother smiling as a confident teenager, with her best friend. She looked like she could have been in my class, at my school, with her friends and classmates, just like me. Like she was a normal teenage girl.

Her skin was smooth, and her eyes were bright. She looked happy, and she looked... different. Like a completely different person. This wasn't the broken woman who had given up on life that I knew. This was a young, energetic girl, full of hopes and dreams.

It was hard to reconcile that with the person I knew. It was hard to think of her as the same person.

She seemed like a completely different person than the one I had grown up with.

A happier person. A stronger person.

And someone who would eventually become the right-hand woman of the Dark Empress herself.

I felt a pang of... something, in my chest, as I looked at her picture. I wasn't sure what it was.

Grief?

Sadness?

Regret?

I didn't know.

"I..." I paused, swallowing back my emotions. "I... didn't know."

"About what?" Emberline asked curiously, looking at me.

I gestured vaguely at my mom in the photo. "She, ah... that's her. Forget it."

Emberline frowned, before looking back down at the picture. She squinted, and her frown grew more pronounced. Then she blinked.

She turned to me and her frown turned into a soft, gentle smile.

"Oh, I see. Well, I won't pry, but... I feel your aura shifting with some heavy emotions there. Something big and nasty weighing on your heart and soul. Are... are you alright?" She walked over, placing her hand on my shoulder.

I tensed up, but she squeezed my shoulder comfortingly, and the mongoose chirped, nuzzling me.

"Er, yeah. Yeah. Just a bit... overwhelmed," I mumbled, absent-mindedly stroking Butez's fur.

She smiled, her eyes softening. "Well, I think that's perfectly reasonable, given everything. You did get thrown into the deep end yesterday, and I am more than a bit upset with the approach Tess took with the whole training exercise thing."

I nodded.

"It's... fine," I mumbled, looking down at the photo again. I didn't know what I was supposed to feel, honestly.

"Listen, Lux. I'm sorry you had to go through that. Seriously, she's a highly regarded professor in Applied Mathematics. Five Stars down the board on Rate My Profs! She should definitely know better. I don't know what's gotten into her! And that milquetoast Headmaster isn't gonna get anywhere within a mile of mine or Tess's way, so it's up to me to set things straight."

That was... understandable.

Albert had arbitrarily made the compelling case to me once that the two strike teams who'd taken down Mortifera Vox stood a reasonable chance of taking on every hero or villain across the world not already battling at the citadel simultaneously.

And probably come out on top or at worst a mutual draw.

Suppoedly, Tesseract and Emberline weren't on the level of Arcadia Vox or Mortifera, but they had reputations that preceded them, to say the very least.

She sighed. "Tess and I are going to have a very, very, very stern conversation. And Eric will chew her out too, once he finds out about this. We'll be having a very stern chat. A stern, professional chat, about her methods. Eric needs her here. And for her and I to not fuck up. And then we'll all take a bath and drink a cup of nice tea together, and have a good cry about how the world sucks and our jobs suck and then Butestreus here will go off and prank Tess until she stops acting so damn serious and pulls that folding magic space cube out of her ass. Trust me. That doesn't sound like much, but trust me on this. We know exactly what grinds Tess's gears and gets her to stop being a dolt."

She poked the mongoose in my arms repeatedly during the rant, who chittered back happily at her. Emberline shook her head with a scowl, before looking up at me.

"But for now..." Emberline continued, looking me in the eyes with a gentle gaze. "You are here, now.. With me. And you are a student of mine, and you are my responsibility, and I can only hope to make you feel at ease."

She smiled warmly, and I couldn't help but return it.

Tesseract did rattle me and push me too far for my liking, but Emberline was here and she had a way of making me feel like she genuinely wanted to help me. Like she was looking out for me, and that was all that really mattered. Tesseract might have been cold and callous and heartless, but she wasn't my only teacher.

Emberline was the kind of person who would look after me. The kind of person who would make sure that I was okay, even if I wasn't her responsibility. Even if I was just another face in a sea of hundreds.

She cared, and that was enough to make my gut trust her, and that was more than enough.

"Alright. Okay, er. Thank you." I nodded, feeling a bit of warmth in my chest.

She nodded, giving me another soft smile before she turned to the couches in the corner.

"Anyway, I was about to ask if you wanted to take a seat. I've got snacks and stuff and tea and soda and stuff in my desk. You can help yourself to anything. It's the good stuff."

She gestured towards a cabinet that had been toppled over. I could see that it was full of snacks, drinks, and other treats.

I could see the various snacks, and it looked like she had stocked up on a variety of things. And not the cheap kind of snacks that they usually sold in the school cafeterias or the vending machines at my middle school, but rather the kind that you could buy in an organic supermarket or something.

"Help... help myself? To this?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I know how stressful the whole experience was, so it's important to be able to unwind. And sometimes it's just... easier to talk and vent and share and... decompress over something tasty and nice. And I want to hear your side of the story, and I'd like you to feel comfortable, alright?"

"Oh, okay." I nodded, feeling a little more relaxed.

"Alright. You can sit wherever, but I think that couch is probably more comfortable." She gestured at the one on the left. "And if you want, we can just talk, or... or we can just watch something. There's a holovid there." She gestured at the flat screen on the wall. "And I'm sure you're probably feeling a bit...... overwhelmed, so if you need a little time to just relax and decompress, then I think we can just watch a show together or something. A silly thing like constructive criticism can wait 'till the end. I've already written and printed a small handbook for you, anyway."

"Um, I..." I hesitated.

I wasn't sure what to make of this.

This definitely wasn't what I was expecting. Not that I had any expectations. I wasn't sure what to expect from a one on one debrief session with Emberline of all people.

I didn't know how to feel about it. But it was nice.

I relaxed my shoulders and nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"I think I'd like to do that. Just relax for a bit. I'm not feeling particularly talkative at the moment and I'd rather not, ah, relive it too soon."

Emberline smiled. "Of course, that's totally understandable. I'd probably be feeling the same way if I were in your shoes. Do you like cartoons?"

Cartoons. Cartoons?

"Or maybe you're more of a soap opera gal?"

"Er, yeah, sure. I like them a lot. Erm. Less soap opera, more cartoons," I answered, blinking a bit at the sudden question.

It felt a little bit like a whiplash.

"Oh! That's great!" She beamed. "What do you like to watch? We have a ton of stuff. Let me just..."

She trailed off as she led me to one of the couches and sat me down, picking up a long overturned desk like it was a pencil case and flipped it over with one small, 'delicate' hand. Then, she reached down and opened one of the drawers.

"Now, how about we start off with some snacks?" Emberline asked, pulling out a box of fancy-looking chocolates and biscuits. "I've always loved me some Zaaney Toonz!"

I stared at her for a moment.

Was this really happening?

Was she supposed to be a teacher here or what?

I blinked, my brain still trying to catch up with the situation, before shaking my head and nodding.

"Y-yeah, sure. That'd definitely be nice," I said.

"Alright!" she replied with a sunny grin. "Let's get settled in, then."