Love Crafted, page 10
You return to Abigail and slip most of your hand in hers. “I’m back,” you say.
She smiles down at you. “Good! I was just rea—” she lowers the pamphlet she’s holding and raises her hand. Her face goes really white, which makes her freckles stand out a bunch. “What happened to your hand?” she squeaks.
“Wuffles.”
“We need to find the nurse’s office,” Abigail says.
You roll your eyes, just like she taught you, and tear your hand off with some tentacles to fling it into a nearby trash bin. Pinching your brow a little you focus and grow a new hand from some spare flesh you have laying around. “New hand!” You exclaim. “Never held before.” You wiggle it at Abigail and she grabs it to see if it’s hurt, which is silly. If you made a mistake you’d just grow another.
Then Abigail wraps you in a surprise hug and you hum in happy victory. You must be doing a really good job as a Familiar to be getting surprise hugs.
“Let’s clean your dress up as best we can before the assembly,” Abigail says when she lets you go.
“I have new ones I can change into,” you tell her. Still, she drags you into a ladies room and insists on wiping all the blood and extra fingers off. She doesn’t even let you nibble on them before tossing them away.
Five minutes later you and Abigail are all freshened up and walking into a big room with lots of chairs and a stage at the far end. A few people with the flat hats of professors are on the stage, as well as a man with a hat that looks like a sideways boat with lots of tassels on it. His robes are really pretty, with lots of little stars sown in and a bunch of different layers.
He looks like a cake.
“That’s the headmaster,” Abigail says when she sees where you’re looking. She pulls you into one of the rearmost rows of seats and sits next to a girl with hair that’s just a shade away from pink who’s petting a white thing on her lap. “I heard that he was a warlock before becoming headmaster.”
“He was,” the girl next to Abigail says. “Warlock of the first rank for nearly ten years. He has an impressive academic pedigree too.” She smiles. “Ah, sorry. My name is Maddie. This is Cutebee.” She lifts her cat, revealing that it has beady red eyes and big floppy ears.
“Oh, hi Maddie,” Abigail says. You can feel the shyness trying to cling to her. “Ah, I’m Abigail, this is Dreamer, and it’s a pleasure to meet you and… Cutebee.”
“My brother named him,” the girl says as she hugs the cat thing closer. It’s still eyeing you.
You decide that you don’t trust this cat and will eat it as soon as you can.
There’s a sudden influx of students and you need to get up from your uncomfortable chair to let some pass. By the time the rush is over the hall is filled with Familiars making unFamiliar noises and a sea of pointed hats that bob and wobble along with their owner’s heads.
The headmaster walks to the centre of the stage and reaches a hand into his robes. He comes out with a pinch of dust and a thing that looks like a stopwatch. With quick, sure gestures, he does something magical, then spreads the dust in the air in a magic circle, the grains hanging there immobile until he channels through them.
He clears his throat and his voice is loud and clear across the entire room.
“I am not one for speeches,” he declares. “Welcome to Five Peaks Magical Academy. You will learn magic and science and the finer arts here. If you fail to learn you will be rejected. Learn well and you shall pass. Surpass our expectations and you will be richly rewarded with opportunities that you would never find elsewhere. Fail to behave and you will meet with harsh punishments. That is all.”
He spins on his heel and walks to the side of the platform, arms crossed before his chest as a second, much nicer looking professor steps up where he was. She has a flat-topped hat like the others, but it’s tipped way back to show off her soft features. “Hello everyone, I’m Professor Clearwater, I will be teaching your very first class this year, Magical Preparations and Rituals, which will begin in approximately two hours. Until that time you are encouraged to explore the Academy grounds and partake in some lunch. If you find yourself lost, ask a member of staff or a senior for direction. Maps are provided at the back as well. Failing to attend would be hugely disappointing.” She smiled. “Before I let you go, I want to wish you all a wonderful time in our school.”
Chapter Ten
“Um.”
She frets a bit to the left, then a bit more to the right. “Ah.”
Watching Abigail move around nervously is kind of funny, in the same way as watching a tentacle having a hard time opening a jar is amusing for a few moments. It quickly stops being funny when Abigail turns big, brown eyes onto you and practically begs for help.
“What’s wrong?” you ask.
Just to make sure you take a look around the cafeteria. It’s a rather large room, with rows and rows of rectangular tables all surrounded by chairs. Students with all sorts of hats are sitting and eating, though most put their headgear aside for the meal. The air is filled with enticing smells from different foods, but mostly from the line at the far end where people are getting meals from a serving place and walking away with trays full of food.
“Ah, nothing’s wrong,” Abigail lies before taking another bite of her bread.
Lunch for you and Abigail is bread with some cheese and a bit of juice in a glass bottle. All kept fresh and cool in the vacuum of space around your bigger body.
“It’s just that,” she says after she finishes chewing. “I kind of wanted to make friends today.” With a gesture, she points to all the students and you notice that, for the most part, they’re all in groups of two or three, talking and laughing and getting to know each other. Familiars of all sorts are moving around, though most weren’t allowed into the room to begin with.
You, of course, refused to wait in the Familiar babysitting area. You took one look at the room filled with hay and cushions and all sorts of potential snacks and decided that you wouldn’t step foot in there unless you were really hungry.
“Oh,” you say. “We can make you some friends.” You pat-pat Abigail’s hand to make her feel better.
“Make, or make,” she asks.
It takes you a while to understand what she means by that. “Abigail! I’m too young to be a mommy yet.”
Abigail was chewing through another bite of bread, but her eating skills aren’t what you thought they were because she chokes on it mid-bite.
“Anyway, I meant finding you some mortals to keep you company. It’s important that you learn how to boss around your lessers now while you’re still young.” You nod at your own wise words.
“Uh-huh,” Abigail agrees.
“So, what kind of friends are you looking for?” you ask before looking into the crowd. There are lots of mortals here. You might be able to find one that fits all of Abigail and your criteria.
“What kind of friend?” Abigail wonders. “Someone nice. That’s important. I don’t care about their class or riches. I’d like them to be close to my age and it would be nice if they shared some of my hobbies.”
“Hobbies?” You didn’t know that she had hobbies other than napping with you, and patting your head, and sometimes sleeping with Daphne.
“I like reading, and learning new things and spending time with Daphne. I suppose those aren’t really the best hobbies, but they’re mine. Oh, and a friend would have to want to graduate from the Academy, like I want to. Shared dreams are important.”
You’re eagerly nodding as she speaks. Sharing dreams is the most important. Or one of the most important. You would know, dreams are yours. “Is that all?”
“I, I guess?” Abigail says. “I don’t really have much experience with friends, other than Daphne, and you.”
You nod. It’s okay, Abigail will have lots of friends and lots of time to make experiences with them, you’ll make sure of it.
That’s why you stand up from your chair, climb onto it, then onto the table where you and Abigail ate her lunch. You clear your throat and ignore Abigail’s pleas for you to come down. Unfortunately, only a few people are looking your way. This small body of yours isn’t attention grabbing.
“Hey!” you call out across the room.
A few more people look your way, but they ignore you really quickly.
“W-what are you doing, Dreamer?”
You huff and with some tentacles, grab all the sounds in the room. It goes really quiet and people start looking around to find where their noise went, but the joke’s on them because you have it all. “Hey!” you say and throw all the noise into the word. This time it’s super loud, even if you let go of the sound while speaking. “I need your attention now.”
Just about everyone is staring at you from your place on the table. “This is Abigail,” you say as you point down towards Abigail. Her face is very red, and she looks a little faint, but she smiles and waves so she must be okay. “Abigail is my Summoner and she’s the best. She wants to make friends. So, if you’re close to her age, nice, like reading, learning, spending time with rich people and patting cute things on the head, then please come here and make a line so that I can decide if you’re good enough for her.”
Abigail has both hands pressed over her face and is making weird noises when you hop off the edge of the table.
“What’s wrong?” you ask her.
She just shakes her head. “Nothing Dreamer, nothing at all,” she lies.
You’re kind of hurt that she would keep the truth from you. It’s not very nice to do that, especially after you went through all that trouble to make her friends.
“I think we should go to class now,” Abigail says. She’s packing up your lunches as she speaks.
“What? But the mortals haven’t even started forming a line yet!”
The class Abigail leads you to is a few corridors down from the cafeteria, which Abigail seems to think is a good thing, even if that means missing out on the opportunity to make friends.
Still, if she wants to be all dutiful and get to Professor Clearwater’s class early, then that’s fine by you.
You’re the first ones there except for the professor. The woman looks up as you enter and gestures at all of the desks laid out in neat rows with a pen. “Pick any seat,” she says before returning to her work. The professor’s desk is the biggest and neatest one, but you’re pretty sure that ‘any seat’ doesn’t include the one she’s sitting at.
Abigail pulls you to a desk at the far back and plops you down on the seat nearest the wall before taking the one next to you. It’s not the nicest place. From where you are no one in class will be able to see you.
“Just, ah, please be quiet during class, okay Dreamer?” Abigail asks. She smiles wobbly at you and places her hand on your head. “Please?”
Well, if she’s going to ask like that. “Okay, I can do that,” you agree.
You grip the edges of your seat and begin kicking out your legs in time with the music in your head while hoping that it won’t take too long for class to start.
Fortunately, a distraction happens!
A girl walks into the class, bundle of books under one arm and pen tucked over her ear. She scans the room until her bright green eyes lock onto Abigail and you, then turns to walk your way. “Is this seat taken?” she asks as she gestures at the chair next to Abigail.
Your summoner looks at all of the other empty seats, then up to the still-smiling girl. “Uh, no, it isn’t,” Abigail says.
“Brilliant. I’m Pembrooke, Charlotte Pembrooke.” She runs her fingers through thick blond hair, then settles down next to Abigail and extends a hand to her. “I heard what your Familiar said in the lunchroom.”
“Oh no,” Abigail says.
Charlotte’s smile doesn’t change at all. “I thought it was a wonderful approach. I was never one for beating around the bush. If you want something, ask for it. And if that thing is friends, then why not ask for those too.”
You nod. This Charlotte girl is very wise.
“It was mortifying,” Abigail says.
“Perhaps, but it worked,” Charlotte says. “I’ll be your friend if you’ll have me. Or at least… hmm, let’s call it a probationary friendship until we see if we get along.”
“Oh… oh.” Abigail says. “Um, I mean, sure.”
Charlotte’s smile widens just a little. “Brilliant. So, probationary friend, what’s your name?”
“I’m being so impolite,” Abigail says before hiding her face in her hands again. “I’m sorry. I’m Abigail, Abigail Normal.”
You blink and spin to stare at Abigail. “Your name is Abigail Normal? Like what we are?”
Abigail gestures at you. “This is my Familiar, Dreamer.”
“Dreamer Normal!” you say.
Abigail smiles a little and pats you on the head. “I guess so,” she says.
“You’re very articulate, Dreamer,” Charlotte says. “There are few Familiars who can speak so clearly, though most can communicate to some degree. Abigail must be very proud of you.”
You decide that Charlotte is good friend material.
Professor Clearwater stands up at the front of the class and you notice that just about every seat is filled already. She moves to the large blackboard that takes up one wall and begins drawing circles, triangles and other shapes into it with quick swipes of her hand.
The class fills up just a little more and then a bell rings.
The professor turns to see her class and nods. “Greetings everyone. Before I begin, can everyone hear me clearly?” There’s a chorus of ‘yeses’ and lots of cone hats bobbing forwards and back. “Good. Then we shall begin this lesson the way most of your lessons start. By immediately getting to the meat.”
She gestures to the symbols and glyphs behind her.
“These are the basic circle forms used in the modern day, though there are many, many more. You’ll want to take notes from here on out.”
With that hint dropped, all the students that don’t have notebooks out already start scrounging around for one. Abigail of course has you, and you have Abigail’s stuff, so you poke a hole in the world under the desk and plop her notebook and pen onto your lap then tentacle them over.
“Good. This class will teach you the basic inscription forms that nearly all magical circles use, but more importantly it will teach you the steps needed to describe those forms. We will also touch on the history of ritualistic magic and how to prepare for different sorts of rituals. By mid year you will be tested on your ability to prepare different materials for inscription, how familiar you are with various forms and their uses, and how prepared you are to conduct a basic ritual.
“This is the class that will teach you how to prepare to do magic, not the one that will teach you the magic itself. If you think for a moment that this knowledge is not as important then I would direct you to the magical anomalies ward of the Inquisition.
“A misplaced grain of sand. Poorly diluted ink. A crack in a piece of wood. A catalyst that escapes its containment. The tiniest variable can change a simple spell into an undirected weapon, one that can and will take your head off your shoulders, age you prematurely, or liquify your bones.” The Professor stares across the room, her hands folded at the small of her back.
“Magic is the manipulation of the building blocks of reality in order to accomplish a task. Without care and precision the same blocks that allow humanity to stand head and shoulders above other creatures crumble. I intend to teach you how not to end your own lives.” She smiles wider. “Do try to pay attention.”
Chapter Eleven
Class ends when Professor Clearwater is interrupted by a loud ringing bell. The professor smiles as she turns away from a blackboard covered in notes and things. “I won’t be holding anyone back during our first day together. Go on, have a good evening!”
You help Abigail by stuffing her things away in one of your dresses and then push your chair back behind your desk.
“No homework tonight,” Charlotte says and she sounds disappointed. “Did you think of joining any clubs yet, Abigail?”
“Ah, not really,” your summoner says as she removes her silly hat and runs a hand through her hair. “Are there any good ones?”
“There are!” Charlotte says. “Though the most interesting ones, the Spell Creation Club and Adventurer’s Club both require that you be in your second year. Though I think you can join the latter if you have a group already.”
“Okay,” Abigail says. “What about clubs we can join?”
“I intend to join the athletics club,” Charlotte says. “A keen mind requires a keen body. And keeping in shape is just a good idea besides. There are others of course. We could pick up a pamphlet.”
“Sure, that would be nice,” Abigail says. “If we have no homework then I don’t really have any reason to go home early.”
“You live in Five Peaks?” Charlotte asks as the three of you move towards the door. “The city proper I mean. Off-campus.”
“I do. I have a small apartment.”
Charlotte’s eyebrows rise up to her hair. “You live alone?”
“With Dreamer,” Abigail says. “It’s right next to where I work.”
“Oh my, how independent,” Charlotte says. “I envy you a little. I stay in the school dorms here. It’s practical, but the price is exorbitant and there are so many rules.”
Abigail nods along as you move into the corridor. There’s a bit of a pause as you all wait to see who will pick which direction you walk in, but then Charlotte starts moving towards the front of the school with a confident step.
“It would be great fun if you were to join the same club. We could help each other out.”
“That does sound nice,” Abigail says. “But I’m not very athletic.”
“Hmm, unfortunate. There’s the library exploration club? That one doesn’t leave us much opportunity to talk though. Well, we’ll see if we can’t find something we both like.”
Abigail and Charlotte start talking about their hobbies, which Charlotte already knows since you’re such a good Familiar and announced it to everyone already. You’re walking down a fairly quiet corridor when something screams from behind you.
