Lord of Azure Flame: Chapter 7: Injury, Exhaustion, Renewal

[Snowy_One]

TISME HQ

It had been a long days night, and the secretary of TISME had been working like a dog. Despite that it had barely been a day since the headmaster had left, she felt as if she had been working for eight days a week for a whole month! Sitting upon her desk was a pile of papers high enough for the poor woman to be capable of passing for a taxman in the event the delirium of sleep deprivation ever passed enough for her to stop seeing every student who entered into the office as having kaleidoscope eyes and diamonds in the sky hovering beside them. In fact, as she got up to look out from her office down into the courtyard below, she could have sworn that she saw a octopus in the school garden. Yet as the rays of sunlight streamed through the window, the illusions she thought she saw seemed to dispel themselves away.

"Here comes the sun." she commented offhandedly before stretching her arms out far apart as she possibly could, a massive yawn coming forth from her mouth before she turned about to return to her desk. "Goddess damn that headmaster! I mean, really! Work always piles up when I'm by myself! So irresponsible! Ah well..." she mumbled to herself before yanking down a paper from ontop of the pile.

"Lets see... Notice of successful admission... Eyisma... staff mage... Nothing new." she mumbled to herself. She hated these damned things. Every time a new student was admitted into the academy, it was required that a record be made of their successful admission. Every time that one of the notices came through to the headmaster, the headmaster was required to enter it in to the record room. Normally at least. The secretary was VERY attuned to what the headmaster wanted whenever one of these situations came up. Namely, for her to head down and file it herself. It had to be done, and the secretary was not going to risk the job over such a small detail. So with a sigh, she got up and left the office.

The moment she stepped outside, the spectacle that was TISME greeted her with all of it's majesty. Nine floors; each circular to leave a massive space in the center of the institute vacant, flowed out for what seemed to be well over forty yards on each side, and for good reason. Within the massive center of the academy sat a massive building within the main building of TISME! A building that hovered through the air, suspended by magic and aglow with mystical runes, and from which the chatter of the many people whom dormed within the institute flowed out into the main hall. Yet she didn't look up. As she descended down from the ninth, administrative floor, she didn't even bat a eyelash as she passed into the eighth floor, containing thousands of experiments across eight hallways; each in the cardinal directions. Not as she passed by the experimental water tomes, not as she passed by hallways designated to hold people delving into manipulating the arcane, bending time, experimenting with warp staves and seeking to make versions capable of warping entire armies.

She passed by the seventh floor, filled with people researching ancient artifacts of draconic, demonic, and spirit origin. Artifacts filled with ancient curses, and artifacts containing knowledge about the very origin of the world... and things even older than that! Then the sixth and fifth, each filled with scientists, teachers, and powerful mages seeking to grow in strength, then the final four, filled with classrooms, libraries, study halls, and everything of import to teaching students until, at last, she had entered the basements and headed to the records.

"Let's see." she mused to herself as she passed by records of mystical beings, dragons, historical records, and other extra ordinary things until she reached the student records. "Staff mage... E section... Female *yawn*. E... E.... Ey.... Eyi... Ah!"

Two seconds later, the records read Eya, Eynima, Eyisma, Esphyr, Ezra, Ezra. Her task complete, she returned to her office before suddenly stopping by the main entrance, seeking to take a step outside for a breath of fresh air.

---

Middle of no-where... Maybe

"No! NONONO!"

The Headmaster screamed in rage as the ground beneath was pummeled three times in quick succession. Despite immense magical power, sleep was still a necessity for a living being... And in the time it took to rest up, that thread of magic had completely vanished away! Now, the headmaster was alone with no leads what so ever. Well... Not true... Taking a deep breath, the headmaster calmed down, gathering the mind, soothing it over. "Okay... Calm down... If whatever that was has plauged the world before, then it's been recorded. If it's been recorded, it's in our records possibly. If it's there, I still have a chance. I think... Hmmm... Still..." a calm and gentle wind started to blow throughout the forest. A moment later, three furrows, arranged in a certain pattern, marking the spot where the trail had gone cold.

About half a hour later, the headmaster had shot back towards the capitol, back to where home was, and was nearing the walls and about to pass over them to return home.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Balcerzak

[Inactive Account]

"All right, the words for entry," Arrin was muttering under his breath, trying to remember. The gates were without knockers or bells... there was some spell that did it...

"What the hell's that?" Kelas yelled as something sailed over the walls surrounding the academy, spooking the horses.

Arrin gave up, and simply knocked on the gate. A blast of magical energy threw him backwards. "Forgot about that," he observed to the sky, lying on his back in the middle of the group.

[Phoenix]

OOC: Arrin fall down

Irina looked up after Kelas did and was amazed!

Irina: Whoaa. Is that an angel?

Iso: I don't know.

Suddenly Ixion came into view and began approaching the group.

Ixion: Those guards are after the shapeshifter for the moment. Don't cause anymore trouble and it may actually stay that way.

Just then, a small hawk flew down and landed on his shoulder. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a small piece of meet. The bird quickly ate it when offered.

Stephanie: Where have you been, Ixion?!

Irina: Wait a second! Ixion! What is that?!

As she pointed, Ixion looked to the object flying over the walls.

Ixion: That ... is none of my concern.

Irina: You're no fun -_-

[Snowy_One]

As she stepped outside, a odd site greeted the secretary. At the gate was a group of several people, standing about, though one was lying down as if he had been knocked flat. "Excuse me." she offered, approaching. "Are you looking to get in? Here, let me help." she offered. Then, she quickly bent over to the side of the gate to touch a rune beside it. "We cast a thunder enchant at night to keep thieves away. There is a word that can be spoken in daylight hours though to open it. Namely 'please'. Anyways, how can I help you?"

[Inactive Account]

Arrin sat up, figuring he should probably try to start the formalities before someone else botched them and got everyone blasted. "I'm Arrin sa Adai, former apprentice of the late Ilony Haldensri," he explained. "My companions and I are seeking sanctuary on account of a... misunderstanding. We were also hoping to locate one of our missing friends, a TISME mage."

[Phoenix]

Iso quickly stepped forward!

Iso: Miss, have you seen Harold by any chance-

Ixion quickly grabbed Iso and yanked him back!

Ixion: (This mute must be something else -_- )

Not far from the group, a small purple cat lurked inside a dark alley. It was too obscure to be seen, from such a distance, but it could clearly see them. It's azure eyes never left them ....

Edited June 4, 2010 by Phoenix

[Kanami]

Kamilla pointed at the secretary "Why does that lady smell?" she said loud enough for the secretary, is she going to help us kill the Lord of Azure flame?" she asked no one in particular.

She twitched at the mention of "Sanctuary" she knew that word. She ruffled through her belongings and pulled out the battered tome she used and held it up "I have Sanctuary" she said proudly.

[Snowy_One]

"A misunderstanding... Wait... You're not that group that got caught in that magical fire, right?" asked the secretary. Meanwhile, far overhead and within the ninth level, the window in the office slid open as the headmaster slid back inside, pulling the cloak up and over to obscure any features before giving a quick shake to free the dew from the clouds.

[Inactive Account]

"What fire?" Arrin asked blithely. After all, she could be referring to some other fire...

[Ansem]

OOC: I am assuming Helios is still with them.

Helios snickered at the girls comment. It was nice that she finally shut up but did she have to make her so dumb. TISME Mage......... That women that was with us. Helios heard some rustling. He turned and saw a cat. It scurried of after Helios saw him. Helios turned away. There was something not right about that cat..........

[Snowy_One]

"The one you know about and I can't be bothered to bring up again. I am a busy woman after all. By the way, your companion who just commented on my scent is now a single-class student in advanced wind casting... and there is a test. Your class is in two hours. Anyways, you can come in for now. Not my problem. Headmasters problem."

[Balcerzak]

"Kamilla! Your manners!" Tessa rebuked the troublesome not-child before turning to apologize to the woman at the gate. "I'm terribly sorry, she's been quite a bit scrambled recently, and I haven't the foggiest idea why."

[Inactive Account]

As the woman's mind seemed to have wandered off, Arrin sighed with relief. "If I recall correctly, dorms and mess are off that way... headmaster's office is upstairs, but we should probably get some rest." He got up and walked through the gate.

Kelas passed through the gate, wary of everything. This was mages' territory... but supposedly safe. She'd take safe for now.

OOC: fix'd

Edited June 4, 2010 by Darth Lacuna

[Kanami]

Kamilla raised both hands in the air "I'm a wind mage now" she said proudly. She didn't know what a "test" was but she assumed it was some sort of reward. She was about to ask what a "test" was when Tessa intejected and told her to behave. Kamilla hesitated pinched her nose and approached the secretary still holding her nose, "Sorry Old lady, you don't smell..... much"

Kamilla frowned, "Becoming a wind mage was easy, the other wind mages must be stupid"

Edited June 4, 2010 by Kanami

[Snowy_One]

"No. You're not a wind mage. No more then knowing a politician makes you a king. And you fail the test, you take the entire class again. Understand? Though... I will lessen it to three failures for a hag like you. After all, your bedpan will start to make it difficult for others to focus."

[Kanami]

"You're a liar" Kamilla said pointing her finger accusingly at the secretary, "You said two hours, you don't know how to count" she said pouting. She paused and looked at the secretary, "What's a hag? Are you one too?"

[Balcerzak]

Tessa raised a hand to her forehead and massaged her temples. She offered a quick prayer of apology to the monks if she had ever been anything like Kamilla was currently. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible to manage," she muttered under her breath.

At Kamilla's quip about the average intelligence of a wind mage, Tessa caught herself turning in Helios's direction, curious if he'd heard. Unable to read his expression, she decided another introduction was in order. "I don't know about the wind mages here, but Helios there, with the green hair, is a wind mage that travels with us. Why don't you leave the nice lady alone and see if maybe he'll help study so you don't fail?"

[Snowy_One]

"Two hours before the class starts. I suggest you spend the time studying instead of complaining. There's a library down the north hall that has what you need. Toodles." said the secretary, a malicious grin on her face as she turned to leave the group and return to her pile of paperwork.

[Inactive Account]

"Come on, let's see if we can talk our way into a place to rest," Arrin asked the group, stifling a yawn, as the secretary hurried off. "Don't mind the 'test', they're all like that here... mad as hatters..." He stumbled off, Kelas following reluctantly.

[Kanami]

(Nice one Bal XD)

Kamilla looked at the secretary and then at Helios, then back and forward between the two, before she took another step towards the secretary "He smells even more" she said indicating the hole in Helios's garments which were soaked in blood (Lacuna's the only one that's changed I'm guessing). She looked at Helios again, and frowned, turning back to the secretary only to find her walking away.

"I don't want to be a wind mages anymore, they smell funny and they don't look very smart" she said staring carefully at Helios.

[Phoenix]

As the oddly colored cat scurried away, the hidden purple cat continued to watch the group at the gates ... unseen ....

The dark presence from before had vanished, and so Stephanie had somewhat calmed down. Ixion was inside his own head. He wasn't sure what he felt, but it was tremendous at the time. Now he was holding Iso back while the secretary argued with Kamilla. Something was off. The whole situation bothered him.

[-Cynthia-]

"They usually aren't." said Morgan curtly. "Anyway, let us go inside and strategize."

She offered her arm to Tessa. "Use me for support. Walking up stairs on that ankle without aid would be foolish."

[Inactive Account]

"I'll take Trevor to the stables," Arrin offered, seeing that Morgan was helping Tessa to walk. Fatigued as he was, he didn't notice Daranau's mutters of interest at something in the area.

Kelas remained in the saddle, not wanting to walk until she had to.

[Balcerzak]

Tessa swung down from Trevor, and grabbed the support that Morgan offered. "Thanks, it's good to have someone reliable like you to depend on."

She then looked around for someplace to stable the horses. Sis seemed impatient, though, so she decided she'd leave it to someone she trusted, "Kelas..." she started to ask if the nomad would look after her horse for her, but then remembered that she needed attention of her own. Changing her line of inquiry she followed up instead with, "...you need some help yourself, or are you alright? Oh, and Arrin, there has to be someplace to look after mounts here right? If it's not too much trouble, could I get you to look after Trevor for me?"

Apparently they'd had the same idea, as the mage has voiced the same line of thought at almost the same time.

Edit: (Added last line)

Edited June 4, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Inactive Account]

OOC:

Arrin carefully took Trevor's reins. The stallion was big, but seemed gentle enough; Kelas would help tell him what to do. "We'll meet you inside," he said, and headed for the stables. "There's an aerie for wyverns, too," he added, looking back to Irina.