The next day, Tenthé found that the majority of students attending the college had been touched by the forgetting. Most ignored him, while a few wondered what a little kid was doing here. Just to be sure, he would do his best to avoid everyone he’d made a significant impression on, like the Combat Magister. At least until tomorrow.

Currently, he was going to Alchemy. Something he had never studied. From talking to his dorm-mates, he found out that there was a lot of reading, writing, and measuring. Not his strong suits, but hey, whatever. He’d figure it out.

His friends that made up his honor guard for today were surprised at the indifference from the other students, and were starting to believe. With some insight, they debated what would happen if there was a long break; would everyone in the dorm forget, too? Then, somewhat callously, they discussed his parents. Had they simply forgotten him?

To tell the truth, Tenthé had often wondered the same thing.

***

An hour later, Tenthé was in the Alchemy isolation zone, with smoke and fumes rising from purple stains that covered most of his body. Magister Blackvale was explaining that the color would fade in a week or two. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

He was also quite pungent. So much so that Bear had flattened himself against the containment wards, begging anyone to take him away. Tenthé ignored the toy’s screams while unsuccessfully trying to convince his hair to lie flat.

The Magister was at a loss to explain how it was even possible to cause such a simple formula to go so horribly wrong. He’d mused that understanding this event might open up entirely new fields of study.

One side effect was that Tenthé was now banned from Alchemy. He really couldn’t read or write well enough to follow the instructions, and didn’t have the patience for the careful measurement and methodology the field demanded.

The major holdup was that it was necessary to wait until his toxicity levels dropped to a point that would allow Tenthé to use the halls to get to his room and shower. Which might or might not remove the purple. His clothes were a write-off and had been stuffed into a contaminated material bag which would be disposed of. The only thing untouched was his robe, since the students had been directed to store theirs in a closet before the class began. Just in case of situations such as this.

Presently, he was draped in a semi-transparent one-size-fits-none gown-of-shame. A healing amulet hung around his neck, although he didn’t let anyone know it wasn’t needed; he could take care of himself.

As the students filed out, Varsh and Dhal pushed in and walked over to the exclusion zone. Upon seeing him, they began laughing so hard they cried. Tenthé was of the opinion that this was not much help, but sometimes all you could do was endure.

The Magister approached, made some gestures, then studied the glyphs that appeared in the air. He looked at Tenthé.

“It appears it is safe to let you out. Without your natural defenses, this could have been much worse. I truly have no understanding of how you managed to achieve this level of destruction and I repeat, you are not allowed anywhere near an alchemical class until I have some clue about what happened. I mean it! No Alchemy for you! None! Never! Ever!”

He made a pass, and the shield disappeared. Immediately, everybody gagged and took a step back, pinching their noses. Bear scrambled as far away as possible, muttering that he’d never get the stench out of his cloth.

Even the Magister was impressed. “If I could duplicate that smell, it would make a potent weapon,” he muttered to himself.

Everyone in the class hugged the walls as Tenthé went past.

Varsh ran ahead, yelling for one and all to stay back. When Tenthé exited the lab, the crowd looked at him, started to laugh, then rushed to get away when the odor hit. A few weren’t fast enough, needing to relieve themselves of their last meal before fleeing.

The parade progressed down the hallways with Varsh leading, followed by Tenthé, then Bear being dragged along by his link to Tenthé, and finally Dhal. Who hung back. Way back.

As he closed the door to his room behind him, Tenthé could hear those outside heave sighs of relief.

“Get in the shower, get in the shower! Get in! I swear I’m going to be puking stuffing if you don’t do something about that smell!” Bear yelled from under the bed. In class, the toy had avoided the same fate, having been stuffed in a jar where he could still see, but not cause any more trouble, after the first incident.

Tenthé dropped his bag that contained his cloak, and ripped off the gown, which disappeared, taking itself to a realm where it could never be smelled again. He got in the shower and started scrubbing. It took a long, long time until there was almost no purple going down the drain. Tenthé hoped the sewer could handle it.

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He looked at his hands, now a muted lilac color. Bear stuck his head out to comment that he didn’t smell too bad. Just a faint hint of rot. That meant he needed a few more rounds. Eventually, red from scrubbing, he couldn’t see any more purple on himself and all he smelled was soap.

He got out of the shower and checked his cloak. It was okay, as far as he could tell. He dressed and sniffed. Bear verified that there didn’t seem to be any lingering odors. The only reminder was his hair, which stuck out everywhere and showed no sign that it would be tamed anytime soon.

He decided it was best to get it over with and swung his door open to face a crowd of his dorm-mates. There was a round of clapping while Nikolaus approached. Nearing, he halted, sniffed, announced he was cured, then clapped him on his back.

“Excellent going, my good man,” he said loudly, “You have achieved a new first! The fastest anyone has been banished from any class, ever! You enjoy multiple talents. We,” he indicated everyone in attendance, “are in complete awe. You’re a legend!”

“Thanks. I guess,” Tenthé responded. After another round of clapping, he continued, “Why is everybody here? Aren’t there classes?”

“No. Most of us have the second period off on Twosday. Some sort of tradition. Maybe it was started in anticipation of celebrating your ability in Alchemy?”

Together, the crowd nodded. No need for logic to disrupt a good story.

“From now on, let’s call it… Alchemicalenthé period!” Nikolaus suggested.

This drew a bunch of here-heres from everyone.

At that moment, Elishua appeared, sniffed, then beckoned Tenthé to follow. He received a few sly jabs, which he stoically endured as he chased after her receding form.

As they walked, Elishua explained why she was there, not that it was much of a surprise. “In the light of your recent… successes, we’ve decided we need to revise your schedule. Yet another time, so you have a reasonable class burden. Pictures of your morning escapade are already circling around the College.”

The meeting with the typical participants was short. After his forced exit from Alchemy, his voluntary-ish removal from Combat, and the decision to not continue the remedial courses, Tenthé had three open slots. That left him with only four of his original classes: Tactics, Physics, Mystic Studies, and the Study of Gods. At least for now. By the end of the week, who knew?

There was some debate over what he could take. They could try some mundane subject such as History, but those required a significant foundation and Tenthé probably wouldn’t have the attention span. Politics was right out.

Tomas complained, “This is difficult. You’re either too advanced, or too young. Or rather, too immature. No offense. When we push you into inappropriate classes, you become a one-man disaster machine. We’re not set up to deal with someone with your background and, uh… talents.”

Seeing that Tenthé was in the process of digging around in his cloak and not really listening, he barked, “Pay attention, young man! We are trying to find you subjects that will actually be of benefit! It’s important for your future!”

Tenthé kept searching, but commented, “Up till now, except in the Pools, Bear set up what I do. I just worked at what he told me.”

“Maybe we should talk with him, then,” Tomas suggested.

Bear peeked out of his pocket, muttering, “Took you idiots long enough.”

“So, Tenthé has informed us you are his, what? Mentor? Teacher? How did that come about?” Tomas asked.

“It’s a secret.”

“Why?”

“That’s a secret, too.”

“Helpful. Okay, then, what do you think we should do?”

Bear looked around at everyone, then stated, “Look at him. What do you see?”

The Envoy answered, “A cub picking his nose.”

“Yeah, a cub. What do you expect a cub to do, huh? Eat, fight with his brothers and sisters, get into trouble, mimic adults. You know, kid stuff. Sound like anyone you’ve met lately? And, with your cubs, sometimes do you come across any who’re really good at something? I mean, way better than everyone else their age, or even grown-ups?”

Awareness dawned.

Elishua blurted out, “So basically he’s a precocious child?”

“You got it.”

“And what is your place in this?”

“I’m here to help him advance in what’s appropriate: fighting, magic, that kind of stuff.”

Tomas broke in, “So you’re his trainer!”

“Sort of. More of a guide, but these days he doesn’t need me so much.”

“Hmmm, this is interesting. Do you know where he came from?” Tomas probed.

“Nope. My job’s to kick him in the right direction. I have no idea why, or who was involved to set this all up.”

“Liar!”

“Yeah, well. You gotta go with your strengths. I hate to admit it, though, but these three aren’t completely stupid. If they keep digging, they’ll figure a few things out. We’ve got a little time to find out why we’re here and what’s really going on, and who knows, maybe you’ll even learn something.”

“Hmmm, you’ve given us a lot to think about,” Tomas mused. “Why don’t we assign you to the Library to fill in the extra class slots, for now? There have a number of primers for students to improve their fundamentals and you two need to work on your reading skills. Get them up to a level so we can avoid events like what happened in Alchemy.”

He continued, “And, Tenthé and Bear, thank you for your help. We should have listened to you before now, but I have to admit that I’ve no experience with a situation even remotely similar to this. Although, we probably would have had issues, no matter what.”

He glanced at the timepiece on the wall. “There’s a little time before your next class. If you hurry, you should be able to make it while the rest of us discuss what we can do to help.”

Tenthé grabbed Bear, put him under his arm, jumped down to the floor, and skipped off.

Watching them leave, the Envoy said quietly, “He looks so cute. Does everyone agree we are totally screwed?”

No-one deigned to answer.