It was finally Autumn’s turn to take the final test the next morning. Passing and entering Nobility was his only way to escape from the role that had been chosen for him. Unfortunately, before he could worry about passing a test, a different kind of trial lay before him in the form of a magic bomb smuggled into the castle. His keepers had grown impatient and wanted results.
How was he meant to get out of this one? Autumn didn’t know how powerful the bomb would be, and things would only become worse for him if he was caught with it. Ever since he had become Keane’s pair, the magic genius had been obsessed with seeking him out for experiments he had been unable to perform before. At least Cassandra’s idea was working.
“What is that?” Keane asked, almost making Autumn drop the bomb in question. How did he always sneak up like that?!
“It’s… uh… Something I need to disable?” he asked more than told.
“I can help with that,” Keane offered, “I’ve dragged you along on enough of my experiments I should help with something of yours.”
“You might get in trouble if you get involved with this,” Autumn warned. Plentiful experiments or not, it had really only been a day since they had met. He was sure Keane wouldn’t want to get involved in this big of a mess for him. Not yet.
Rather than backing off, like Autumn expected, Keane gave a knowing smile. “I understand. We must be subtle, right? Or do you need to make a show of it malfunctioning in a place where neither of us are?”
“That… I guess the latter one? I can’t let either side find out yet.”
“Got it,” Keane said and took the bomb from Autumn’s hands, “Just lend me a bit more magic and I will take care of it.”
Keane had already gone well over the usual magical allowance of a pair, but now wasn’t the time to be worrying about such minor details. Autumn had been offered a way out of his situation, and he was going to take it. It didn’t matter if it put him in Keane’s debt because they were already connected with a magic sharing bond.
“What exactly are you planning on doing?” Autumn asked.
“You’ll see.”
==========
After the test ended, Cassandra was given the option to be escorted back home or stay in the castle until the start of Nobility. If she did decide to stay, she was introduced to various messengers set aside for the new students so she could send news of her success to her family. Since she hadn’t really planned on returning from the start, Cassandra chose the second option.
It was now the final day of testing, and she would be able to meet all of her new classmates who had successfully passed. Marcus had already passed the day before her, and so had Wayde. Maximus, Keane, and Autumn were all testing that day. Based on Autumn’s suggestion that Maximus was one of the romance targets in the game she had a terrible feeling he was destined to pass.
Keane was a genius in many ways, so Cassandra wasn’t really worried about him. She was mostly concerned about Autumn, and what to do to prevent him from becoming a weapon for Gaia in the event he failed. Then again, as Keane’s pair, he might get a free pass on Keane’s passing mark.
As she was fretting about the fate of the catkin, Cassandra started to smell something that definitely did not belong in the Scholar Wing of the palace. Smoke. Evacuating the area would likely be the smart thing to do, as well as warning the others, but Cassandra had magic on her side now. It would be far more efficient to remove the smoke from its source.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The smoke only grew thicker as she followed it to its source, and she had to use magic to keep it out of her eyes and lungs. Cassandra had no intentions of going out as a careless hero who died from carbon monoxide poisoning. As the smoke continued to thicken it became nearly impossible to see. Did she dare to use wind magic to clear it out? If the source was a fire, the wind might feed it to become even worse. She couldn’t suck all the air outside because she still needed to breathe.
Suddenly she spotted a familiar pair of sparkling wings through the thick gray fumes. Maximus? What was he doing here? Cassandra felt a breeze begin to pick up around her ankles.
“Wait!” she called out, “The fire-”
The force of the wind coming from the area ahead blew the rest of her words right out of her as well as clearing the smoke. The good news was that she could see and breathe clearly now. The even better news was that the wind had not fueled some raging fire. Instead, the smoke appeared to have come from a magical experiment in one of the spare study rooms that had been improperly disposed of.
Cassandra quickly tugged the last remnants of life out of the broken experiment and breathed a sigh of relief before turning on Maximus. “What were you thinking?!” she demanded, “You could have made things much worse if there had been a fire!”
Maximus shook his head, seeming oddly confident. “Magical smoke smells much different,” he told her, “The fumes are thicker and heavier. Smoke from a fire usually smells a bit like whatever it is burning.”
“I see,” Cassandra said, not sure how to respond now. As she had not thought to sniff the smoke and see what it smelled like, she could not tell whether he was telling the truth or not. Still, it was a relief to know he wasn’t just some heroic idiot.
A stampede of footsteps approached the corridor as the guards and servants prepared to face an emergency situation. They had likely been alerted by the smoke as it spread away from the area. Once again, Maximus surprised her by stepping up and explaining the situation as he had encountered it. Cassandra concurred with his story when asked, but neither of them knew who the experiment that caused this mess belonged to.
By the time the both of them returned to the dining hall of the Scholar Wing, the others had finished their test. Autumn was feasting on a wide spread of desserts while complaining about an awful taste in his mouth as Keane laughed at him. Had they both passed, then? Hold on… Had Maximus left the test early? Did that mean he failed?
Cassandra whipped around to face him. “Maximus-”
“It’s fine,” he told her, “I passed early due to special circumstances.”
What a vague answer to his question. “Then where is your pin?” she demanded instead. She wouldn’t believe he had passed without some kind of proof.
Maximus obediently presented his pin. The silver metal tightly grasped a ruby heart. “You may not believe me, but I actually took the test last night. The Headmaster gave me special permission.”
Cassandra wanted to ask why, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t answer. She also had a feeling he wouldn’t have even told her this much if he weren’t currently trying to get closer to her. Instead of prodding those potentially dangerous topics, she decided to change the subject.
“Is there any way to find out how that half-disposed ex[eriment got there?” she asked.
“We could check to see who used the room last,” Maximus suggested, taking full advantage of the fact that Cassandra was not pushing him away for once.
“Which room?” Keane asked, catching onto their conversation.
Since Keane was a master of experiments, he might even know who had done it, so Cassandra explained the situation to him. As she did, an odd look came over his face. Towards the end he even began to grimace.
“I’m sorry,” he told the both of them, “It seems you both cleaned up after my mess. I will go turn myself in before things get blown out of proportion.”
Cassandra stared at him for a few moments. “Keane, you mean to tell me you forgot to properly take care of one of your experiments? But you have been so meticulous so far.”
Keane replied with a sheepish smile. “I was running late to the test so I was a bit rushed,” he admitted, “I should have known better than to start something so close to time.”
Something still felt off, but Keane had already admitted to everything. Perhaps it was best just to let things go for now. If it came to it, she could get answers from him later. Hopefully it was just an honest mistake like he claimed.
==========
As the smoke rose from the castle, a certain group hiding in the capital of Tethia were filled with triumph. It seemed their little rat, or cat in this case, had paid off! Which pillar had he used it on? Better yet, had he used their special gift to take out all of them at once? They waited with bated breath for news from their informants.
Unfortunately, what they got was not news of victory. It seemed their bomb had been mistaken as a magic experiment gone wrong, and the most damage it did was smoke up the whole Scholar Wing. The plan had failed, but they still had their cat on the inside. Since things had become like this, they would have to give him new instructions.
“That rotten merchant must have given us a dud,” one of them spat, still furious that such a perfect plan would fail so ridiculously.
“It is also possible it could have been damaged in transit,” suggested another, “Those magic devices are said to be quite fragile.”
“Ridiculous! If it wasn’t for that brat’s grandfather demanding his safety we could have gone with something more volatile and sacrificed him for the cause.”
The group did a careful look around to make sure the person in question wasn’t nearby after they spoke. It wouldn’t do for a figure with such powerful connections to hear them badmouthing his family, even if he was related to a pathetic beastkin.