Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 4: The Lady in White

[Riin Whitewind]

"No." A small smile of amusement played about the lips of her Elder. Willow laughed quietly, but the young Undine across the table felt there was no malice to it. "No Sao, helping you will not trouble me at all."

"I'm glad." The steam from the hotspring curled about Sao, wafting gently over her skin. Even in this state, the water called to her as nothing else did. After the horrifying vision last night, all she had wanted was to curl into a current at the bottom of the deepest well Amaranth had. No chance of that, stuck in human form as she was.

Willow's too-long fingers curled around her hewn mug as she resumed, drawing Sao out of her reverie, "And, as for our sibling's parallel ritual..." She paused to take a sip of her horrid tea, while Sao tried not to make a face of distaste, "…you are the weakest of the campus's greater spirits."

"I hope it does not wound your pride when I say, your presence is not likely to be missed." Well, you could have phrased it more kindly... Instead, the healer tried to make light of it. "The curse of being the youngest in the family. My skills grow every day." That last was delivered with a confident smile - the last thing Sao wanted was for Willow to think she wasn't worth her time.

"Even in the event that something unexpected happens -" Willow chuckled again, her lustrous black hair swirling as she shook her head, "- and I suppose something always does - your Headmistress is unusually skilled at..."

Willow trailed off, and Sao followed her gaze - both spirits turned to gaze toward the hotspring. A female figure had appeared, and seemed to be speaking animatedly to Kohana. Sao had been trying to ignore the male pair - the young artist, with eyes as unusual as hers, made her itch with his very presence. Pretending he didn't exist made her more comfortable. Willow had explained enough to assure Sao that his affliction was beyond his control, lending her some charitible feeling toward the lad.

After a moment, Willow turned back to Sao. "…she's unusually skilled at coming up with contingency plans." The elder spirit resumed, shrugging lithe shoulders. "For a human, any way."

"Now then, we ought to discuss your training." Lifting her tea once more, Willow took a delicate sip. "Obviously, we will need to go over the ritual in further detail," the woman gestured dismissively with her free hand. "but that can wait."

"More important is the fact that it will need to be performed deep in these woods, near a large source of water. I have the location in mind already, of course. The trouble will be getting there." She offered Sao a soft smile, who nodded. Sao would need all the raw power she could get her hands on to even think about controlling a spell of this caliber, and a pool of water would go a long ways to supplying it.

"Even assuming my own ritual is flawless, the spirits of the dead are not without ability to harm you. And, if a particularly powerful spirit comes through the veil, or heaven forbid, my own ritual fails completely, you will need to be able to defend yourself - and the Black as well."

Another slow sip of tea, with her eyes closed in quiet delight. "For this reason, I recommend bringing a handful of allies you can trust. And, as well, you will need a spell or two to banish, repel, or otherwise deal with the spirits of the dead." Two pairs of crystalline eyes met, as Willow lowered the mug to her lap. Once again, she watched Sao seriously. "Have you any thoughts on either of these matters?"

Sao thought back to her vision - it had shown her, among darker things, that some of her classmates possessed combat ability. Whether they were trustworthy, and securing their assistance, would be entirely separate matters, but one step at a time. "I believe there are some among the students I can ask to aid me. How open may I be about the nature of this ritual?"

"As for the dead..." Steam crowned Sao's head for a moment, before dissipating. "I would like to learn how to banish the dead from this world. Though I cannot be of assistance in the two greater workings, a way to attend to the strays would be beneficial," she elaborated with a smile. "I would also like to learn a spell to repel them, if there is time."

[Bard The 5th LW]

"If you want to," she shrugged, "sure. You can take the second cushion if you like, Sean."

'Then maybe I have met her before?'

"But the tea's for someone else, I'm afraid."

"That's alright, thank you, I'll try not to be long" he said as he stepped past her bodyguard and slowly sat down upon the cushion. As he looked at her, memories of the vines holding his arms and neck flooded back, but he managed to keep a friendly face.

It was silent for a moment. He tried his best to keep eye contact as he spoke.

'God, how do I ask this? Hey have I met you in a dream once? I'm just going to sound like an idiot.'

"Well, Hannah-"

'How did I know that's her name?'

"-this might seem like an odd thing to ask, but have we met before? I can swear I've seen you somewhere before but I just can't place it."

[Steel Shadow]

Without the weight of the nightmare wearing away at her, Diana was slowly regaining the energy she was known for. The sun was shining! The birds were singing! The walls were gleaming, and the water sparkling! Diana cared for none of it! She had far more important things to focus on.

Time was running out. Already she'd wasted half a day. Half a day! Inexcusable! What kind of super Director was she?! No no no, this would not do! She had to get filming right now, this very second!

She spun around and pointed. "You!"

Target locked:
Name: Jackson Hall
Designation: Classmate
Information: - Vines growing through th- - Panicky guy!
Priority: High

"Jack! Hi, do you remember me? We're in the same class. Wasn't all that Greek history stuff interesting? Weird what happened about the duel though, but! Anyway, could you give me a short interview? I'm trying to get one from everyone in the class. I think I said something about it yesterday? It'd really help me out."

Hurricane Diana had struck again.

[SinrXIII]

Koh came to a halt mid-step, eyes falling on Hie as she knelt to wave at Puppy.

More concerning were her lack of markings from the coyote.

"Nice to see you, cousin. Where are your ears?" The shaman's tail flicked as Sieg appeared behind him, apprehension on par with Koh's own. "Find a new way to hide 'em?" He spins one of his axes and frowns at the girl, his own ears tilted forward. Stepping forward, he stands over Puppy and tightens his grip on his tomahawks.

"What's going on, Hie?"

[Girasol of Chaos]

Chou settled herself down into her chosen chair. Adeline had one gold eye that alarmed Chou mildly, but she tried her best to ignore it. And the fact that this chick ended up dead in her nightmare... but that had no bearings on reality, of course.

The brunette took a sip of her drink and seemed to be sizing her up. "You're Chou, right?" The oni's reaction to this was a slight bristling. "Are you Shin's twin or something?"

Taking a bite of her sandwich, the azure-eyed asian chewed slowly and decided the normal approach wasn't...adequate here. Gathering herself she swallowed, "Erm, yes, we're related." Shin must have said something, but didn't entirely reveal their disorder? The two had long ago agreed that silence and assumptions were the best for everyone around them. "Shin has trouble keeping up with her...academic studies, so I sometimes attend for her so she doesn't flunk out. Thankfully the school is alright with that."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Safe middle ground. "Typically she doesn't even mention me though." Adeline's mismatched eyes were really distracting at this point. The intense gaze of the girl was making Chou even more nervous about her assumptions. At least her nightmare informed her of the right name. Another bite, this time mostly out of genuine hunger, " How could you tell? Most of the time I'm unnoticed." This was a legitimate concern, was there something wrong with the human disguise?

"Shin left me a note with some names and brief descriptions on them, but that's about it." She chewed slowly, picking her next words carefully. "Did anything of importance happen yesterday?" Something must have happened for such a strange-and accurate-nightmare to unfold. Daintily devouring the sandwich she awaited the curious girl's responses.

[Dracorion]

Okay, stop staring creepily At the crazy girl from your dreams.

Yeah, Jack thought he was nearing stalker territory. He didn't even know if she was crazy on real life. Just a bitch.

"You!" He heard someone yell from behind him. Probably a one of the students lounging around calling out to her friends. He should probably go back to his dorm and call his parents so he could get yelled at. Much as he wanted to, it probably wasn't a good idea to put it off any longer. Turning off his eyes, he sighed and turned aro-

"Jack! Hi, do you remember me? We're in the same class. Wasn't all that Greek history stuff interesting? Weird what happened about the duel though, but! Anyway, could you give me a short interview? I'm trying to get one from everyone in the class. I think I said something about it yesterday? It'd really help me out."

"Huh, what?" It took him a moment to recognize the girl as someone from his class. Diana, was it. She made him feel uneasy. It was probably the camera. He remembered she featured on his dream, rescuing him with a sword. Though he got her hair wrong on the dream. Then he finally processed everything she said. "Oh, uh... an interview?" Appearing on camera, talking about his life? No, Jack wasn't very much into the idea.

He eyed the camera on Diana's hand like it was a gun, or a nuclear device, and folded his arms protectively. "Err, I- I don't think so." Hopefully that'd be enough to dissuade her. "Sorry." He added murmurringly.

[Steel Shadow]

He was camera shy. Great. And he'd seemed so eager during introductions, too! Diana resisted the urge to sigh and let her frustration show. That would just be unprofessional. Instead she just raised her hands, both open in a placating gesture, and gave Jack a helpless smile.

"Oh! Don't worry, it's nothing big or anything. Nah, sorry, I make myself sound way to business-y sometimes, don't I?" she laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "It'd just be a few questions, like, your name and hobbies. That's all, nothing complicated. I wont start grilling you for anything top secret or personal, Promise!"

She lent forward, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes look from under her cap, holding her camera behind her back. "Pleeeease? C'mon, I helped you out, consider this paying me back."

[Teal Mage]

"Erm, yes, we're related." Chou replied hesitantly between bites of her sandwich. "Shin has trouble keeping up with her..." The azure eyed girl trailed off momentarily, "...academic studies. So I sometimes attend for her so she doesn't flunk out. Thankfully the school is alright with that." There was another short pause before Chou added, "Typically she doesn't even mention me though."

"Huh." Was Adeline's only reply. Expression curious, she kept her eyes politely on the girl across from her, as she fished an orange slice from her tray below. From her relaxed posture, it seemed that she'd accepted the half-truth.

After another short pause, a bite of her sandwich, Chou went on. "How could you tell?"

Adeline frowned, "How could I tell what?"

"...most of the time," Chou returned, tone somewhere between awkward, embarrassed and hesitant. "I'm unnoticed."

"Oh!" Adeline laughed a little, before offering - what she hoped - was a reassuring grin. She selected an apple slice from her tray, before gesturing vaguely toward her lunch partner. "Your eyes are blue, Shin's are red." Adeline popped the piece of fruit into her mouth, and, between chews, went on. "Plus your hair's different. And -" She swallowed, "- you don't act anything like Shin." Adeline shrugged, then smiled brightly, "Wasn't hard. Besides, we did meet la -"

Adeline stopped herself in mid sentence, tensing suddenly. An awkward laugh followed, "Ye-yeah. We met last night." Looking a little shaken, she fell silent, turning her eyes toward her tray below.

* * *

"We met last night." Hannah replied, easily. She took a sip of her tea. A bright and warm smile bloomed on her face, as she regarded the Canadian across from her. "Well, more like we ran into each other." Hannah set the tea down and chuckled sheepishly, folding her hands in her lap. "Sorry about that, I guess you hit your head harder than I thought, if you've already forgotten."

"Hannah." The bodyguard standing a few paces behind Hannah's back spoke up, a note of urgency in his tone.

"Yes Al?" Hannah returned easily, glancing over her shoulder.

He pointed across the Field, toward a student sitting on his own. "Jay Miles is here." Glancing back toward the green eyed blond, Al went on, sounding concerned, "Should we leave?"

Hannah smiled ruefully and shook her head. "Jack's restrained himself so far, and he's been gunning to kick my ass since I showed him up last night." She shrugged, "I'm sure Jay will behave."

Al grunted what was probably an assent, before turning away.

"Sorry about that." Hannah went on, turning back toward Sean. She smiled softly, shrugging, "I tried pretty hard to get one of your classmates to challenge me to a duel last night." A soft laugh followed, and her smile turned sad. Self-consciously, she reached back into her hair to touch the bracelet-turned-hairband that was secured there. "I went a little overboard though. Al and Zet are worried I'll get jumped for it."

She shook her head, sighing. "Well, anyway." Hannah collected her tea and took another sip. "Did you need something Sean? I'm sorry about being so rough with you, by the way." Another warm smiled followed, before she fell silent, awaiting his response.

* * *

"What's going on, Hie?" Eyes narrowed suspiciously and ears perked alertly, Kohana interposed himself between his cousin and Sieglind. His hands gripped his tomahawks firmly. Between his legs, the black wolf pup quieted and backed off a pace.

Hie chuckled and fluidly uncoiled, returning to her full height. She grinned, "Nothin'." Folding her hands behind her head, the tanned girl stretched her back with a groan, before shaking herself and throwing a grin toward Sieg. "Was just bored, so I thought I'd come look for you two." Her smile turned bright, as her gaze shifted back to to Kohana. "You're way too suspicious 'cos."

Abruptly, Hie turned away. Gaze shifting from left to right, the short haired blond began to move around the clearing aimlessly. "So," She asked idly, "what are you two doing out here alone anyway?" Now several steps away from Sieg and Koh, Hie threw a grin toward them over her shoulder. "Was I right about this being a D-A-T-E?"

"Hie." Sieg spoke up suddenly, one hand upraised, and held nervously before his chest. "What did you do?"

"Hm?" Hie twirled around fluidly to face him. Her face split in a bright, and mildly unnerving, grin. "I didn't do anything Sieg." The smile lost its unnerving quality, and turned mischievous. "If I did do something, I wouldn't have been bored enough to traipse out here looking for ya both." She winked.

"You're lying." Sieg replied, voice soft, stepping impeccably closer to Kohana, as if to hide behind him.

Hie laughed happily, "Nope!" She clasped her hands behind herself, "Dunno what you think you're sensing Sieg, but I'm the same as I always was."

"..." Sieg didn't seem convinced. If anything, the youth slipped further behind Kohana's back. He didn't press the point further.

After a moment, Hie turned her attention away again, to dart curiously around the clearing. Perhaps tellingly, she was always careful to stay out of Kohana's melee range with his tomahawks - and, by her stance, wasn't quite as relaxed as she played it.

* * *

"…Shin left me a note with some names and brief descriptions on them, but that's about it." Chou offered, after a few quiet moments of silent eating at passed between the girls. This time, Adeline only glanced briefly up, before returning her eyes to her tray below - she was busying herself stirring the small pot of melted caramel sauce with her finger. Seeming to take this as a signal to continue, Chou went on. "Did anything of importance happen yesterday?"

"…" Adeline slowed, then stopped her stirring. The girl withdrew her finger from the caramel and raised her gaze to Chou again, slipping the confection coated digit into her mouth in the process. She seemed to be considering what to say. "…probably not." She replied, at length, lowering her hand to her tray again.

"Professor did something with pyrotechnics and animatronic tentacles, I guess." Adeline added, thoughtfully, "But it kinda seemed like she does that a lot." The brunette shrugged. "Jay got into an argument with some scottish dude over baseball, so you may wanna keep clear of that topic with him -" Adeline chuckled, "- unless you wanna get yelled at, I guess." She paused momentarily, then nodded, "Let's see, that jackass Shuyin also burst in and got Landry to challenge him to a duel, but that got cancelled so that's probably not important."

"Oh! Right, uh," Struck by a sudden thought, Adeline's gaze sharpened on Chou. "Diana's running around trying to interview the class, so, like, if you’re not supposed to publicize that you’re not Shin, you'll need to be careful." The brunette chuckled and gestured vaguely, with a newly collected carrot stick, toward her lunch mate, "She puts interviews up on her blog for the school's Publicity's Club, and until you open your mouth, its pretty easy to mistake you for Shin so..." Adeline trailed off, with a shrug.

And then turned bright red.

"…ah, yeah. That's it." She mumbled, eyes suddenly lowering. She looked embarrassed about something.

* * *

Under the heavy weight of Willow's beautiful green gaze, Sao quieted for a moment, losing herself in the memories of her dream. Willow lowered her own gaze and raised her tea-cup, giving her younger sister time to collect her thoughts. "…I believe there are some among the students I can ask to aid me." Sao stated, firmly. "How open may I be about the nature of this ritual?"

Willow set her half-finished (had she been gulping that stuff!?) stone mug on the rock table before herself. "The Masquerade remains in effect." She stated, voice firm despite its breathy quality. "Do not involve any more Blacks, or humans who do not already know that spirits such as us exist." A wry smile followed, "This ritual's nature goes against the purposes of the Masquerade - Blacks are not to be Awakened," Her eyes grew hard and her expression serious, "and certainly not by the design of those such as us. Be cautious revealing the intent of the ritual, and keep the group you select small."

She paused for a moment, then, "...however." Willow continued, "They should know all the details well before the night this is to occur, and must also be prepared to deal with the spirits that will oppose them, possessed animals and plants, as well as the ritual itself." Another moment passed, before Willow offered a weary sigh. "Would that things were simpler."

There was a short stretch of silence, punctuated only by the distant conversation on the opposite side of the hot spring, to their south.

"As for the dead..." Sao ventured, "I would like to learn how to banish the dead from this world." Eyes distant, Willow offered a faint smile and nod in response. She gestured for her sister to continue. Smiling ruefully, Sao obliged. "Though I cannot be of assistance in the two greater workings, a way to attend to the strays would be beneficial. I would also like to learn a spell to repel them, if there is time."

Willow chuckled softly, before shrugging. "Of course there is time." A strange smile appeared on her lips, "We are immortal, after all." Then, the woman shrugged, "Whether there will be time before the ritual, though, that depends on you." A warmer smile followed, and she chuckled softly, "For my part," she went on in her soft and breathy voice, "will do my best to drill as many skills as you can handle into you."

"But, I suppose there is one final question to address..." Willow continued, with a sigh. "You are a Spirit of Life, Sao." Her smile turned sad, "As was I, when I was born." She gestured dismissively with her delicate fingers. "I can teach you to expand your domain into extend into the realm of death, do not fear. But..." Willow smiled softly at her sister. "...it will change you, forever."

"As this is preparation for a single night," The dark haired woman continued, "you may be better suited studying Human Magic for it." Willow's next smile was warm. "Kirk could instruct you in Druidic arts, and I know a handful of Eastern Magic users on the campus who may be valuable teachers for you, in this instance." A soft, ruefully, laugh, followed. "Of course, learning Human Magic will take longer. I estimate you have sufficient time to master two spells, if you focus on this instead of your school work, but..." Willow shrugged, expression turning wistful. "...truthfully, I am not sure."

"You'll need to commit to one route or the other within the next few days, however." Willow added, before shrugging. "Unless you have further questions, perhaps you should take some time to think about it."

* * *

Near the Field of Honor's western stairs, Jack had been ambushed by Diana.

"Oh, uh... an interview?" Jack offered, hesitantly, in response to Diana’s flurry of questions. "Err, I- I don't think so." Crossing his arms and lowering his gaze to the concrete path below him, and Diana, the trenchcoat-clad youth finished with a murmured, "Sorry."

Diana's aura flared.

"Oh! Don't worry, it's nothing big or anything." To Jack’s eyes, the world suddenly seemed to grow a shade darker. A scent, unpleasant, dusty, with a hint of something sickly sweet, brushed his nose. Diana raised her hands before herself, turning her camera away from him the process. "Nah, sorry, I make myself sound way to business-y sometimes, don't I?" Self-consciously, Diana raised a hand to the back of her head, and rubbed it sheepishly. Suddenly, she seemed a lot…cuter.

...there would be no escape now.

"It'd just be a few questions, like, your name and hobbies." Diana went on, cheerfully. The uneasy feeling Jack had when she first approached suddenly seemed much stronger. "That's all, nothing complicated!" But she did seem to be telling the truth… "I won't start grilling you for anything top secret or personal, Promise!" Blue eyes widening and lower lip extending slightly in a pout, Diana leaned forward to pear up at Jack, fixing him with a pair of incredibly cute puppy eyes. "Pleeeease? C'mon, I helped you out."

A dazzling smile followed. "Consider this paying me back."

"Well!" A sudden exclamation to Diana's right! The girl's aura gutted itself. "There you have it, folks!" A tall, dark haired and slim youth, wearing a tight-fitted, black, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of well-fitted black jeans, under a dazzling white belt, had appeared. In his hand was a camera. He'd just turned it away from Diana, and was now speaking into it. "This is irrefutable proof that the, so-called 'Great Director Diana Tear', relies on coercion, blackmail and her deceptively innocent charms to trap unsuspecting victims into invasive interviews!"

The youth chuckled and raised a hand to the pair of sunglasses on his face. "What say we," He lowered the shades to reveal a pair of sparkling green eyes, before winking into the lens, "teach her a lesson?" A green aura flared around his form, and the air around them suddenly seemed to sparkle.

…even Diana would have grudgingly admitted he was attractive, in that moment.

The mysterious newcomer twisted fluidly, shifting the camera's angle so it caught him, Diana, and Jack. Once again, Diana's aura flared – and that faint scent resurfaced. "Diana!" The boy declared, jabbing his finger at her dramatically. "No, means no!" He chuckled, and withdrew his hand to waggle a finger at her disapprovingly. "Or haven’t you seen the posters all over the school? A true Professional never forces herself on a camera-shy youth!"

The camera was suddenly back on his face. "But, we already know she's no Professional." He tugged his shades down again, and winked conspiratorially. The sparkles were back. "Ain't that right, fans?"

Enter, Alex Darrow.

[Krylo]

"It's only been a day, my dear Keeper," Dal replied, keeping his voice low even as he straightened back up, his body visibly relaxing at Morgan's aggressive line of questioning. "Not even I could have possibly masterminded any great plots or hijinx in such a limited time," he continued his voice rising to normal speaking levels.

"I'll take your over confidence in my, quite limited, abilities as a compliment, dear cousin." He flashed her a charming smile as he took a step back away from her, and toward the door. "And, lest your suspicions gnaw at you incessantly, keeping you turning and spinning at night, I'll take a moment to confirm that my concern was for myself."

Spinning about to face the door, he continued over his shoulder, "It's much too early in this bright new year for me to take any risks, even through inaction."

He hovered a moment to be certain Morgan wouldn't wish to keep him any longer, but his own curiosity was now fulfilled. Though he did make a mental note to avoid the art club in the future.

[SinrXIII]

Abruptly, Hie turned away. Gaze shifting from left to right, the short haired blond began to move around the clearing aimlessly. "So," She asked idly, "what are you two doing out here alone anyway?" Now several steps away from Sieg and Koh, Hie threw a grin toward them over her shoulder. "Was I right about this being a D-A-T-E?"

"Hie." Sieg spoke up suddenly, one hand upraised, and held nervously before his chest. "What did you do?"

"Hm?" Hie twirled around fluidly to face him. Her face split in a bright, and mildly unnerving, grin. "I didn't do anything Sieg." The smile lost its unnerving quality, and turned mischievous. "If I did do something, I wouldn't have been bored enough to traipse out here looking for ya both." She winked.

"You're lying." Sieg replied, voice soft, stepping impeccably closer to Kohana, as if to hide behind him.

Hie laughed happily, "Nope!" She clasped her hands behind herself, "Dunno what you think you're sensing Sieg, but I'm the same as I always was."

Koh was, for his part, ignoring Hie's jabs magnificently, though the temptation to leave was powerful. His toes dug into the ground however, and he held his ground.

"Hie. I won't ask again. I'm not in a mood to deal with your evasive bullshit today. I had a strange dream last night and I can't make heads or tails of it. Sieg is here to help me, but now you've got him scared. You know Sieg doesn't imagine these things." The shaman's aura flared, dusty amber light flowing around his body.

"Tell me what you did, or get the fuck out of this spirit's glade and leave me to think."