March 20th, year 024 Angels Descent

Daisy was very eager for her next lesson. It was her first chance to sit in and assist Alex with his kindergarten lessons. Finally, she would witness why her brother raved about him so much. Arriving extra early, she found Alex already at his desk reading a book.

“Morning, Sir,” Daisy greeted as she entered.

“No, Kline?” Alex asked without looking up from his book.

“He did win the draw, but I forced him to let me go first,” Daisy explained as she looked over the book Alex was absorbed in.

“I really should chase down the Norns to find out why they keep messing with him.”

“Anything good?” Daisy asked as she stepped up to his desk and gestured to his book.

“Nothing really much, just the basics of Insurgency tactics.”

“Is there a need to learn about that stuff?”

“Always. Best case, I can deal with a rebellion if one rises. Worst case, I can lead one of my own.”

“Let’s hope you don’t need to utilise the skills for either option, sir.”

“Precisely. I would much rather have a slightly dark skill I never use than a dark skill I must often utilise and be found wanting.” The school morning bell at that moment rang to let the students know to make their way to the first lesson.

“So, sir, where are the students?”

“Oh, right there. They’ve been very quiet since I started reading.” Alex said, not looking away from his page. Looking around the classroom, she could only see herself and Alex.

“Sir, we are the only ones here?” Daisy asked, confused. Lowering his book, Alex looked around the classroom and narrowed his eyes.

“So it would seem. Golly gosh, I guess the honeycomb sweets will all be mine then.” There was no reply as Alex swept his gaze across the classroom.

“Sir?”

“Jacob, I don’t think your sister would appreciate that,” Alex said as he leant around Daisy and looked behind her. Spinning around to look where her little brother supposedly was, she found empty space.

“Sir, are you under an illus-” Daisy stopped mid-sentence as she felt something slimy wriggle its way down from her shirt's collar to her lower back.

“ARGHHH!!!” Daisy spun around in a panic as she untucked her shirt, something she already considered the highest of impropriety. With a splat, a piece of green gunk fell onto the floor. As this happened, Daisy heard a number of giggling voices from around the room.

“Sir, what is going on?!!”

“Guys, come on out and help Daisy see you. It isn’t fair on her as it's her first day.”

“Buh Alex, today is meant to be prank day,” a high-pitched voice whined.

“No whining. Remember, the only whining I want is from vineyards.”

“Yes sir,” a disappointed voice replied as a boy suddenly appeared in front of Daisy.

“Ahh!!!” Daisy yelped as she stumbled backwards and collided with something.

“Ow, that hurt Daise!” a voice she recognised as her brother’s whined as he appeared where she had crashed into.

“Come on, guys, the rest of you!” Alex’s voice took on a stern tone. Dotted around the room, three more children flashed into existence.

“Sir… Why do your five kindergartener students know the invisibility spell?!!”

“Five? Well, it's a skill best learnt young. You can maintain it far more easily if you get lots of practice from a young age.”

“THEM GETTING PRACTICE IS NOT THE ISSUE. THAT IS NOT A SPELL THAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT TO CHILDREN THEIR AGE!!”

“Wow, you were right; your sister does have a stick up her bum,” the little boy who had appeared in front of her said as he glanced at Jacob.

“Daisy, calm down. Why don’t you take a breather, and all six of them can introduce themselves? Remember kids, the first rule?”

“Pretend to have manners to lull them into a false sense of security?” a girl near the back asked.

“No! Heh, you are making me look bad, kids. No, it is only polite to introduce yourselves to anyone new you meet.”

“Buh, she didn do dat?!” a boy near the girl said, pointing at Daisy.

“Jake here has told you about Daisy. You have her at a disadvantage.”

“But you said we should seize every advantage the idiots give us and dominate them?” Jacob asked.

“Dammit, kids, just line up and introduce yourselves or I won’t do illusion showtime today.”

Like a switch had been flipped, all the students quickly scrambled and lined up in front of Daisy with such military precision that Daisy couldn’t help but give suspicious looks at Alex.

“I’ll go first so we can keep things fair,” Daisy said as she stepped in front of the assembled students.

“My name is Daisy. As you probably know, I am Jacob's big sister. I already know Jacob, but I don’t believe I have had the pleasure.” Daisy said, giving a picture-perfect greeting.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I am Olivia Varis. I am the great princess of this classroom. See, I’ve got a princess crown and everything,” Oliva said, gesturing to the tiara on her head.

“That is so cool; where did you get it?”

“Hopridge and Sons Jewellers,” Olivia answered.

“Isn’t that a real…” Daisy’s voice trailed off as she looked to Alex for help.

“Olivia very much is like a princess. Her family is one of the golden plains' most influential noble clans.”

“That’s right!!! My family may as well become the rulers of the gluttony region in its entirety!” Taking a step back into the line, next to step forwards is the boy who had scared her.

“My name is Cassius De-Luca.”

“Oh, like Lord General of the Envy Legion Mikael De-Luca?”

“You heard of my dad? He always insists he’s cool, but he’s more embarrassing to me.” Daisy paled, looking at the boy whose rank was leagues above hers—straining her face to keep it from worrying the kids, she gave a weak smile.

“Told you she has a creepy smile,” Jacob said as Cassius returned to the line.

“Jakey, don’t spread rumours to Cass!” Alex admonished.

“Ok, next, please.” Obeying Alex’s command, next to step forward was another girl who Daisy noticed was hiding behind her desk when she dispelled her invisibility. As she stepped forwards, she mumbled something.

“Sorry honey, I didn’t hear that?” Daisy asked as she leaned down for the girl to try again.

“I’m Alison Klistor,” the girl said in what even a whisper would claim was quiet.

“Alison?” Daisy repeated, to which the girl nodded.

“Uncle Alex said you were nice,” Alison said with a smile.

“Oh, that’s nice. So Sir, do they all refer to you as Uncle Alex?”

“No, just Alison.”

“Oh, she a special case?”

“Well, not really. It’s just I am literally her uncle.” Daisy’s eyes widened like saucers as she rushed over to Alex to have a hushed conversation with him.

“Sir, you aren’t lying?”

“Of course not. Little Alison is my sister's daughter.”

“But she’s so… quiet and well-behaved?”

“Yeah, and?”

“But she is your relative and the daughter of that woman we saw that night?”

“I still don’t see your point. Is there a problem with a kid being well-behaved?”

“No sir… You know what, forget it,” Daisy said as she stepped back in front of the students. “Sorry guys just needed to check something. Thank you for speaking with me, Alison.” Alison hid behind a teddy she was carrying as she returned to the line.

“Ok, last one,” Daisy said with a smile at the class.

“Miss Daisy, Lucas isn’t the last one, though,” Olivia said.

“What are you talking about? There’s five of you. Is one of you still invisible?” Daisy asked as she looked around the classroom.

“No, Miss Daisy, Zaparis is up there,” Lucas said, pointing to the ceiling far above them. Following where they were pointing, Daisy looked up to see a pale girl with hair darker than night standing on the ceiling.

“Arghhh!!!!” Daisy retreated a step before turning to Alex in a panic.

“Sir, we need to help her down!!!”

“Zappy is ok. She just likes to use her spider feet spell when she’s here. Something about hanging like a bat that makes her feel safe.” Alex explained.

“Ok, now introductions are out of the way. Why don’t we tell Miss Daisy what we were learning about?”

“Bomb-making!!” Cassius eagerly shouted.

“No… what we agreed we would say when we had witnesses.”

“Oh, sorry, Alex… Ignore me, miss Daisy. I’m five and would never work with high explosives. It is all make-believe,” Cassius said in a monotone as if he was reading a script.

“Yes, we are learning our magic tables!” Olivia answered.

“One moment, kids,” Daisy said as she dragged Alex to the corner of the room.

“You are teaching kids high explosives?” Daisy hissed at Alex.

“What, no. Didn’t you hear him? It is make believe.”

“As if I would believe that! He clearly has been coached to say that line. What are you really teaching them?”

“Ok, class seems like we’ve been rumbled.” the class gave a disappointed groan.

“It’s all your fault, Cass. If you had stayed quiet we could’ve watched fireworks over the holidays if you had stayed quiet.”

“Fireworks?” Daisy repeated.

“Yeah, I’ve been having them paint the rockets,” Alex explained as he pointed to the back, where it looked like a stack of tubes were piled.

“No explosives?”

“Of course not!! Daisy, I am only reckless when it comes to my own safety. If I ever expose my students to danger I make sure to limit the forms it can take. The closest these kids have been to explosives is watching me fill a firework and explain the safety.”

“Kids, is that true?” Daisy asked, turning to face the class.

“Y-yes, Miss Daisy!” a few of the class chorused.

“What about the invisibility?” Daisy asked.

“I taught them that spell after we had someone try to assault the classroom. They can go invisible and hide, so any attackers think they lost them.”

“And the spider feet?”

“That's just a fun spell.”

“STOP BEING MEAN TO ALEX!!!” Zaparis shouted. Looking up at her, Daisy felt a chill run down her spine as she could see Zaparis had begun chanting to launch a fireball.

“Wait!!!” Daisy shouted, holding up her hands to stop her.

“FLAMETES!!” Zaparis shouted, using a weakened short chant and launching a finger-sized fireball at Daisy.

“AEGIS!!” Daisy shouted, deploying a flash shield blocking the flames.

“Wow!! Someone blocked Zappy’s spell. You weren’t wrong, Mr Alex; she is good,” Lucas said as he looked up at Daisy with adoration.

“She’s still got a stick up her bum,” Jacob insisted.

“Sir, why did she launch an attack spell at me? This is a kindergarten class.”

“Yes, it is, and we have the children of high nobles who get taught magic at a young age. Why do you think they might be attacked? Hell, why do you think I am their teacher?”

“B-because you are so good?”

“Hah!! No, it’s because I’m good enough to keep them safe and mad enough to stick around. Also, I am good at teaching them.”

“So… what do I do then? I’m not meant to fight off any assaults, right?”

“You will only need to help around. They may have questions. They may need help with other things. Right now, we are going to go back to learning our magical tables,” Alex said as he clapped his hands.

“Come on, everyone, take your seat. Zappydown from the ceiling, you’ll end up red in the face.”

Zappy jumped from the ceiling and did a flip, landing like a cat on the ground. Before shuffling to her desk.

“Ok, class, remember the elemental rivalries?”

With that, the class properly began.