Alistair lay in his own bed for a full minute as he heard Juno speak.

“Hey, is everything okay? Yo, open up.” Juno knocked on the door again. “Hello? You in there? Want me to try a song? Let’s see. Ooo, I got one. Remember this old classic? Bloodvun Sal, ol’ Wafflestan, Turgan Sturfan dick-in-hand. Grabbed a man, stabbed a lad, gladly gripped his mighty—”

“I’ll be up in a moment,” Ghost said for Alistair.

Alistair: Please let me do the speaking with my friends. We’ve been over this.

Ghost: You’re lucky I’ve let Juno live this long. It would be easy to slit his throat while he sleepwalks.

Alistair: What the fuck?

Ghost: Assassin humor. But seriously, you’re lucky I let you rest this morning. You should be up doing calisthenics.

Squish? Ziggy, who had been perched on Alistair’s table, jumped over to the bed. He snuggled up next to Alistair.

“Maybe…” Alistair couldn’t believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Maybe a jog would do me good.” After running his hand through his hair, he approached the door and popped it open to find Juno just about to knock again.

“Bro.” Juno slowly lowered his fist.

“Hey.”

“Don’t hey me, first your cut from the quest is on the table, so don’t forget it. Also, Zola handed over the summon to Tarnis, just so you know. But who gives a shit about any of that. What the hell happened at the mansion? I thought you wouldn’t be back until later today, yet here you are.”

“A lot of shit happened,” Alistair finally said.

“Like? Remember, we have a pact. I won’t tell anyone aside from Zola.”

“Maybe I should just tell both of you what happened while you are together.”

“I guess that could work. But Zol-lotta-botta is still getting ready.”

“Perfect. I was going to go on a jog anyway. Want to come?”

“Not really, no. But if you clue me on what happened, sure. We have a guest lecturer today, by the way.”

“We do?” Alistair asked Juno.

“You didn’t get a message from Humbutt? That’s right, he hasn’t sent it yet. We saw him yesterday at the Archives. You should be getting a message any moment now.”

“I’ll look for it.” Alistair yawned. “Get dressed. Let’s go on a jog. Ziggy?”

Squish?

“Time to come back.” Alistair touched his chest and the slime disappeared.

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to a jog,” Juno said as he turned back to his room.

“It will be fine, trust me.”

After changing, the two left the dorm and were heading in the direction of the Ephemera Gardens, when Professor Humboldt’s message appeared, accompanied, as always, by a yawn.

Professor Humboldt: Ah, good morning, Slimeclad Sovereigns. I am surprised you have not changed your coterie name, but that is a choice for all of you to make, not I. Now, as today is the start of the week, I thought it would be appropriate to have a guest lecturer, a dear friend of mine, Lobos Vitaminas. Professor Vitaminas can normally be found at the Azure Mirage Academy, discussing more arcane and perhaps forbidden topics of Resonant Mana. Normally, any lectures from the esteemed Professor Vitaminas happen during your Mageling year, but I called in a favor, and you can thank me later. Meet at ten at Verdant Hall and do not be late. We do not want to keep him waiting. Anyone late will be assigned the task of trimming the tanglekodama’s recent undergrowth. You do not want to be tasked with this, believe me.

Alistair turned to Juno. “Professor Vitaminas? Heard of him?”

“Nah, or maybe? Maybe, nah.” Juno stretched his arms over his head. “Am I doing this right?”

“Sort of. Stretch your legs instead.”

Juno tried to do the splits. “Have you ever thought about learning to do the splits?”

“No, I have not—”

Ghost: You’re here to jog.

“But you know what?” Alistair said. “I’ll try now.” He stretched his legs out as wide as he could. “And then what do I do next?”

“I don’t know. Melissa used to be able to do it,” Juno said as he too stretched his legs out as wide as he could. “She taught me how one time but I can’t remember what she did.”

Ghost took over. He rolled and came up into a jog. “Keep up,” he called back to Juno.

“Wait!” Juno soon caught up with Alistair, just as he regained control of his body.

“Ugh,” Alistair grunted, which was meant for Ghost.

“That roll was sick,” Juno said. “I’ve always wanted to be able to roll properly. It’s a hard thing to practice, you know.” The two Fledglings reached a flat path and slowed to a steady jog mostly for Juno, who was already a bit breathless. “There should be a rolling class here. I’d totally take it.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“That would be interesting.”

“You know what else would be interesting, you telling me what happened last night.”

“Mutiny,” Alistair said as his escape flashed across his mind.

An assassin’s mutiny was something he never wanted to be part of again. The bodies extended into the forest, some barely alive and groaning, mutilated in terrible ways.

Alistair got the sense that while the mutiny had started because of Felix and the rumor he had started, it had grown into something grotesque as the assassins battled through old grudges and used Felix’s trainees as targets to test out their worst behaviors.

It was savage.

And it was one reason Alistair wanted to run now. The trauma of it all pushed him to run even faster as he took off, Juno barely able to keep up with him.

“Bro… what… happened?” Juno panted. “Slow down!”

Alistair raced around a hedge and waited for Juno to catch up with him. “Assassins fought and we escaped.”

“Assassin… battle… royale?”

“Yes, come on.”

The two continued into the grass, where they came to a statue of a severed head. Professor Halor’s voice sounded off as it always did when Alistair came across something new on campus:

Professor Halor: Ahem, you are looking at a statue dedicated to the head of Aidan Hughes, an important battledeck arts professor who began his career as a cutthroat as part of a clan of marauders. Professor Hughes taught for thirty years at the Lumina Battledeck Academy before an old rival hired a student to use a now banished guillotine card to decapitate Professor Hughes in a shocking murder that sent shockwaves through the kingdom. Known for such works as The Feedback Loop, a fascinating exploration about a card discovery that could put someone onto a repeating time loop, Professor Hughes will be remembered for his contributions to Resonant Mana and his dark humor. It was a morbid request to a former student that saw his head be placed on a pedestal. That student, who later became Professor Sophia Frances, paid homage to his dying wish through this unique statue.

“The… things you learn…” Juno said just as Alistair was about to take off. “So we’re still on for this weekend, right? Whatever happened back at Felix’s mansion, it doesn’t change what we’re going to do, right?”

“Right.”

“And Kanda. Did she get the dungeon card from bitchass Tarnis?”

“I don’t know,” Alistair said. “We parted ways last night and I haven’t spoken to her.”

“You’re practically her boyfriend. Contact her.”

“I’m anything but.”

Juno let out a deep breath. “What can I say? I’m jealous. I don’t seem to have much luck with the ladies these days.”

Ghost: Did he ever have luck? Ask him that.

“Was it easier in Solaria?” Alistair asked.

“You mean bagging babes? Of course, it was.” Juno puffed his chest out. “I had so many girlfriends.”

“Really?”

“Tons. I was a ladie’s man at my academy.”

“Really?” Alistair raised a skeptical eyebrow at his roommate.

“For real. Well, not really. But sort of. There were two girls that liked me, Marnie and Jade. They almost fought over me.”

“Really?”

“I swear.”

Ghost: I call bullshit.

“Let’s just keep going,” Alistair said. “We need to eat before we head to this guest lecture.”

After their jog, and after Alistair updated Zola on what they had learned over a quick meal, they joined Finnian and Lauren outside of the dining hall.

“Hey, Alistair,” Lauren said, a sparkle in her eyes yet again as she saw him.

The message from Juno came rapidly.

Juno: I think she’s as into you as Kanda is.

Alistair: Definitely not true.

Juno: The writing’s on the wall!

Alistair touched his chest and summoned Ziggy, who flopped onto the ground and looked up at him with pleading black eyes. Squish?

“Here.” Alistair tossed a grain roll at Ziggy, who quickly caught it and swallowed it down.

“Catch!” Juno did the same, the boy producing a sweet roll glazed in cinnamon and nuts from his overcoat.

Squish? Squish! Ziggy caught the sweet roll and did a flip. After he finished the second roll, Alistair returned the slime to his chest.

Finnian laughed once he saw Zola’s face. “What’s wrong with feeding the slime?” the other boy asked her.

“You have to be careful what you give your summons. Human food isn’t made for them.”

“You know that isn’t true, Zolski,” Juno told her as they started toward Verdant Hall together.

“No, I’ve heard it too,” Lauren said.

“See, Juno? Summons are tied to your Resonant Mana. They don’t need food,” Zola said as they continued through one of the campus’s numerous courtyards. Students lounged about on blankets, some studying and others simply staring up at the sky.

Juno stuck his tongue out at Zola. “You two are teaming up on me. Come on, Finnian, Alistair? Where are my bros?”

“I have no idea if summons should be eating or not,” Alistair said. “I just like feeding Ziggy.”

“Finnian?” Juno asked, a playful, yet pleading look in his eyes.

“I think Humboldt mentioned something about it, but I don’t remember what he said. At least I think he said that. It might have been Professor Lysander in one of his after lecture lectures.”

“Hold the shit on. You actually stayed for those?” Juno asked Finnian.

“I did.”

“Well, there won’t be any more now. That guy is dead. And the new professor is legit, especially when he’s chatting with himself.” Juno snickered. “That shit is wild. Professor Yuber is a real one, though.”

“A real what?” Zola asked Juno.

“I’m just saying he’s not bad. If they really wanted to prop us up for Celestial Binding, they would tell us a little more about that. I definitely don’t want Snake Eyes talking through me, hissing, or whatever.”

“It’s funny you mention that, because that’s what the lecture today will be about,” Zola said.

“Wait, seriously?”

“Didn’t you listen to what Humboldt told us yesterday?” Zola’s eyes bulged slightly. “We literally ran into him in the Archives.”

“I know, I know. But when he started droning away, I started thinking about that time we had to seduce the Underhall. I could have sworn that the wall behind Humbutt trembled or something.”

Both Alistair and Finnian burst out laughing.

“Juno!”

“What?” he asked Zola. “The Underhall is horny.”

Lauren cringed as Zola lit into Juno once again: “You were supposed to be paying attention.”

“My mind wanders, and when it wanders, I usually just let it end up where it will end up.” Juno grinned at her. “It’s much better that way sometimes.”

“Well…” When it was clear she didn’t have an answer for that, Zola switched back to the topic at hand: “Humboldt said that Professor Lobos Vitaminas was going to talk to us about Celestial Binding, the problems with becoming an Invoker, crafting, and esoteric ways that this concept has been used in cards with profound soul effect. He said that the professor is known for his lectures that go off the rails.”

“Now I’m interested,” Lauren said.

“For real? That’s what the lecture is about?” Juno asked. “Dang, I shouldn’t have been staring at the wall.”

Zola nodded. “And considering both Alistair and you can bind, it might be worth paying attention.”