Meira met Dana early the next day and he filled her in on what they had found beneath the library. She nodded slowly as she took in the information as he spoke.
“So while the dragon attack likely had nothing to do with what happened to the president, the inciting incident may have. If it weren’t for dumb luck and the protective instinct of a sister we might not even know someone was trying to access the Fount.” The elf walked alongside him as they crossed the campus.
“It seems that way… did you know the… what did you call it Fount, was down there?”
“Not there specifically, but in the center of the campus makes sense for where such a powerful well of magic would be. Though nothing good can come from someone wanting to access it.”
“Why? What could someone do?” Dana sipped at one of the coffees he had brought in with him, finding the slightly spicy coffee the FaeEx had delivered interestingly.
“There are few enough people who have been here as long as I have so a lot of what I am about to tell you is not common knowledge.” She looked around conspiratorially before continuing. “This place… the whole island really was not built to share knowledge like it is now. It was first used to hoard it. A conclave of wizards stumbled upon the Fount here and tapped into its power to do experiments both great and horrible.”
“Magic made progress by leaps and bounds… in a scant century these progresses gave rise to many powers in the world… and the destruction of others. Some even go so far as to tie the rise and fall of Atlantis to work originating from right here. One story even claimed this island to be the last piece of Atlantis above the waves but I’ve gone diving around here and found no sign of civilization in the waters.”
“So someone tapping into this Fount could accomplish…?” Dana prompted, trying to get her back on topic.
“Nearly anything they set their mind to truthfully. I doubt that a construct girl like who you say was at the library stumbled on the Fount by accident. She may have been built specifically for that one purpose… hopefully she wasn’t disassembled just as quickly after what happened. I know there is some kind of tie between the magic coming from the Fount and the island itself… Eterna would have known more but… I think I know who we can ask to find more out about our mystery girl… though convincing her to help may be easier said than done.”
She led him quickly back to the Administrative building, up to the second floor where even more offices were located. She stopped at a door that proudly proclaimed ‘VP of Student Affairs and Campus Life’. She pushed her way through the door, dragging Dana along with her.
Inside, sitting cross-legged on the floor of the empty room was a woman dressed in an elegant green dress adorned with gold accents in intricate patterns throughout. She had the head of a lion with deep green hair springing from her mane and flowing down her back, a single twisting red horn protruding from her forehead. Nothing was in the room besides her and the small mat she appeared to be meditating on.
“Bai Ze!” Meira exclaimed, really playing up the excitement at seeing the lion woman, even crossing to her and folding her into a hug.
“Meira…” One of the lion’s eyes opened to look at the elf, a smile tugging at her lips but not quite forming. “You never seem to visit during happy times, only when something is going wrong… so what is it now?”
“I am wounded, Bai Ze! Can’t someone stop by to see an old friend and even introduce one of the newest teachers to her?”
“Someone can…” She said, not moving from the floor… her voice was calm and measured as if considering each word as she closed her eyes once more. “You, on the other hand? And I know of our new teacher… if only by reputation. Professor Dana Wilde, PHD, 25, a graduate of Harvard with a major in Mythology and Folklore. Two years on the boxing team with a record of 22 wins and 6 losses in practice bouts, ten of those by knockout but quit before his first official tournament to focus on his studies. Authored and self-published a book just last year with... modest sales.”
“Remind me to get you for my author’s bio in my next book.” Dana grinned awkwardly. “You seem to know more about me than most.”
“That’s what Bai Ze does, she has an encyclopedic knowledge of all creatures and spirits in the entire world, so she saves us a ton of paperwork just by keeping track of the student body in her brain.”
“And you want me to break confidentiality and give you information on one of the students here, right?” The lion sighed, yawning wide showing a mouth full of sharp teeth. “Who is it and why?
“We… well we don’t exactly know,” Meira said embarrassedly. “How many golems or constructs do we have made out of organic materials?”
“Currently within the student body here we have twenty-two constructed sentient beings… three of which are flesh-based with two more being plant-based. Both I believe would be considered organic.”
“It’s one of the flesh ones…” A small shiver went through Dana at the phrasing. “Face is black on the left side, white on the other… stitching showing at the shoulder joints. She looked to be five foot ten… weighed I’d say one seventy-five, one-eighty. Didn’t really have time to get a good look in all the commotion.”
“Laverne Lavenza, senior here… first year in the school. Apparent age nineteen, actual age seven.” Bai ze rattled off quickly. “She’s staying in Lestat Hall over in the vampire sector. Reported absent without notice for all of this week from every one of her classes.”
“Any information on her? Parents or… builders I suppose?” Meira asked, trying to get anything out of the woman.
“I’ve told you more than I should already, Meira, and you know it. I don’t know what your interest in the girl is but if it has to do with why the girl seems to be missing her home life isn’t likely to be of much use. Perhaps you could talk to her roommate and find out something useful.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Okay Bai Ze, thanks for the help. I owe you one.”
“Of course you don’t Meira… its good to see you smiling again is all. It’s been long enough after all.” Bai Ze closed her eyes once again, placing her palms up once more as she returned to her meditation, dismissing the both of them.
* * *
“What was that about, Meira?” Dana asked as they made their way back to the class buildings.
“It’s… a long story. I mentioned I was here a very long time ago when the last human set foot here, right? Well… it was a lot more than that. We fell in love and were even to be married at one point but it, it wasn’t meant to be.”
“What do you mean? Did something happen to him?”
“Somewhat…there was found to be a plot against the school… or to take over the school… I never got all the details but everything led right to Zack. It looked like he had been playing me the whole time and it hurt… but it was a long time ago and I dealt with it. It became a bit of a joke among the rest of the faculty that I shut myself off from people after that.”
“I can’t imagine you shut off, Meira…” Dana put a hand around her shoulders, giving her a small squeeze. “You’ve been nothing but kind to me and I am grateful for that.”
Meira blushed softly, looking away from Dana. “Like I said, it was just the other girls giving me a hard time. Nothing serious.”
“What ended up happening to the guy after all came out anyway?”
“I didn’t ask.” She put her hand up over his as it rested on her shoulders, a smile creeping across her face. “Ruska was still part of the disciplinary committee back then so she probably had him sent away and good riddance.”
“Hey… I know it’s not the height of professionalism here but would you like to grab a drink after classes are done? I’ve got training later with Master Whisperwind and I can always use a drink after that.”
“I think I would like that very much, Wilde… but you’re paying, got it?” Meira laughed as she ducked out of his arms dancing away towards her class. “Until then, big guy!”
Dana shook his head as he walked into the class building. The blond elf had become a source of joy for him in his new life here. Even should he be dismissed at the end of the term he was determined to stay in this world past then… if not as a teacher then as co-owner of the Exalted, he was betting everything on his future being here.
As he walked to class he saw Daeva, the sexy succubus that often teamed up with Jett to tease him mercilessly every day walking across the grass. She was holding hands with another girl, an adorable-looking redhead who seemed to almost hop alongside her as they walked. As the two girls walked they looked around with nervous glances before they let their hands go. Moving separately through the other girls of the school making their way to class.
Dana made his way to the classroom where most of the students were already gathered in the class, ready for the day to begin once he arrived, including a new face. Fyre, the recently resurrected phoenix had taken a seat quietly in the back of the class using one of the spare desks.
“Fyre!” Dana walked up to the girl, surprised to see her after what Meira had told him about the school’s politics. “You in the right classroom?”
“Of course!” She said indignantly, seemingly offended at the mere idea she could make a mistake like that. “Apparently I left instructions for me to take this class before… well, you know. Seeing as there is no class quite like it in the school I figured it was a chance I couldn’t afford not to take so here I am!”
She moved like she had more energy in her than she knew what to do with. After seeing her escape from the office that might actually be true. He had been told some power fluctuations could happen with the rebirth process and Fyre looked full to the brim of her namesake.
“Well I am happy to have a new student, I know the other girls will make you feel very welcome here.” Dana made his way back to his desk at the front of the room in time for the first bell, seeing a memo left on his desk that he read over as the class got settled.
“Good news girls, our new President has approved an idea of mine. Two weeks from now we will be hosting a cultural festival to celebrate all the unique creatures and cultures we find here at the school.” He put the memo down as he addressed the girls. “Everyone is encouraged to bring in or make something to represent your people’s culture and history.”
“I will be personally giving extra credit for any project you girls make for the fair but it is completely optional. I hope through this to learn even more about you all and how you came to be here in this time.”
Hands shot up in the class as the girls’ faces lit up with excitement.
“How much extra credit are we getting for participating?” Wispa, a bunny girl, asked first.
“I’ll count it as a full test grade towards your semester total so with a little effort you could bump your grade up a lot if you need it.”
“What about if our people don’t really have an established culture per se?” Gail Grimm, the class zombie asked. He still didn’t know quite how the girl had died or even anything about how she came back normally shuffling from class to class keeping to herself.
“Anything you want to share is fine, you can make something about yourself or even just make a booth for a game if you want to keep certain things private. I’ll be grading more on the effort put forth rather than the content of what you create.”
More hands shot up as Dana spent the majority of the class fielding questions about the upcoming event. As he spoke to the class he noticed something that concerned him about Kasa… the dark, quiet girl normally forwent make-up of any kind but today she had it caked onto her face… even more worryingly it seemed only to be on one side of her face and not the other.
As class wound to a close and the girls stood to leave for the day Dana asked Kasa to stay behind a moment. She froze in place when he called her name, back to him as she stared at the door. For a moment he thought she might just bolt out of the class but finally, she turned and came up to his desk.
“Yes, Mr Wilde?” She stood nervously in front of the desk as the last of the other students filed out into the hall.
“I just wanted to check in and make sure everything is going okay. I know you expressed an interest in making use of the hotel to live in and we are working to get everything set up…”
Kasa nodded, he could see her eyes shining with unshed tears as she fought to keep herself under control.
“Kasa… you know you can talk to me about anything, right? If anything I am so far out of the normal circles here that I can offer a fresh perspective on things.”
“I told you already… things… Things at home are… complicated. My dad and I got into it last night and… worse than ever and things got out of control.”
Something broke in the girl at that moment, tears began streaming down her cheeks. “He’s hit me before… it was always training but last night… last night was different. I’ve never seen him so angry at me.”
Dana rose and crossed to the girl to comfort her and she practically jumped to him, burying her face in his shirt as she wept loudly. He rested his arms on her shoulders, giving her the chance to recover on her own without his judging. After some minutes her sobbing slowed and she looked up into his eyes.
“I know he didn’t mean to hurt me, Mr Wilde… our family… our whole species are killers. Nameless assassins through the ages but every time I tell him I don’t want to hurt people he gets so angry… talking about betraying our family’s legacy…” She started crying again, Dana holding her in the empty classroom.
“Alright, Kasa… let’s give him a few days to cool down. We’ll give you a room at the Exalted to stay until you and your dad can sort things out.”
“Thank you, Mr Wilde…” Kasa said between gasping sobs. “Thank you.”