July Event Log

[magicademymods]

July Event Log A Reading Rainbow Though the publication is ordinarily drier than dry toast Modified to be drier than dried toast, this quarter's issue of Thaumaturgy Today is all the rage around campus. The reason: a series of advances in motile spells! Easier and more powerful than those found in your standard book of spells (any grade), these spells achieve their power by specificity. One spell for lifting fruit, one for lifting laundry, one for lifting books, the list goes on. Though Professor Loshakle is deep at work writing a blistering reply criticizing every nuance of these spells, outside of his wrathful gaze the spells flourish as people practice them on everything they can. Copies of the issue are easy to get your hands on, if you want to give these new spells a whirl. On the other hand, your stuff or you yourself might fall victim to the spells of other students, whether by mistake or cruel jest. And woe betide those not human -- since no spell explains how to lift an anthropomorphic duck or a robot, for example, enterprising students are particularly eager to come up with one on their own, and there's only one way to test such things... It's Raw, You Donkey! There was an incident. Mistakes were made. Rice balls were detonated. Puddings were animated and sent on rampages. A cheesebread was found lodged in Makerion Keep, sunk to a depth of three feet in the walls. Whatever happened, and no one seems to have details... the Great Hall is closed and no food is being served. So... what're you going to eat? Several pop-up stands have emerged, as enterprising students try to cash in, but that costs money and who knows how the quality is. Headmaster Birony keeps showing up with pies, having made several savory ones that taste really good, actually, but can you really live on pie alone? (And do you really trust Headmaster Birony?) Some students have taken to the ultimate last resort: cooking. As it happens, the skills of the chef and of the aspiring mage are not exclusive in principle, but generally learning the one means little time to devote to the other. Faced with an oven or a grill, can you muster up the capability to make something edible? Or will you burn the water and turn bread back into grain, and thus have no choice but to avail yourself of pricey booth cooking or Cam-pies? Of course, the Great Hall will PROBABLY be open again soon, you might be able to last until then... The Defense Association In light of certain recent activities, like horrible monster attacks, Professors Trammel and Kith have teamed up to provide self-defense lessons to students who so desire. Purely optional, this extra class at the end of the school day promises study in shields, wards, basic attack spells, and mobility spells (because sometimes the best thing is to run like heck). Needless to say, these classes are quite the adventure! Students find themselves in dueling circles quite frequently, expected to carefully deflect each other's spells. Hopefully you've got the knack of it; the practice spells they have taught you don't cause any harm, but they sting like the dickens! Research on the Sundered Conflict. Conflict seems to be key. As near as the researchers can tell, all the Sundered lead lives that are simply not ordinary, and their experiments in conflict from last month produced results they didn't expect (as you all have learned) but that are most promising. Professor King herself has taken the lead on this experiment, and she warns anyone who volunteers that it is likely to be very dangerous, and they will be taking this very slow. They are, she explains, going to try to bridge the gap between you and the world you came from. A SMALL bridge, a proof of concept, no portal home and celebrations yet. But they hope it will work, and be the first step towards getting you back where you belong. If you agree, they get to work. Any student who undergoes this process immediately regains a power of their choice. It does not have to be on their application, and you do not have to provide proof during AC. It's here now. Only if you do not have a power to regain, you may regain an item instead. The price? For the next three days, you will be haunted by visions of your greatest enemy, your most hated foe, or the person you least wish to see in the world. Perhaps you hear their laughter in the darkness of your room at night. Perhaps you see a fellow student as them. Perhaps they are taunting you from just behind your shoulder... Whatever form it takes, for three days, you will be at their mercy. Or the mercy of your own mind's imagining them. Or perhaps a combination of the two. Who can say...?

Comments

Lea OTA

[hotheadwarmheart]

It's Raw, You Donkey!

It wasn't something that was widely known, but Lea was actually a pretty good cook. And with the school kitchen temporarily down for the count, he decided to make use of his skills. He managed to cobble together a simple stand selling various kinds of grilled skewers, as they were- in his mind- the perfect summer food for a busy student or teacher; they were fairly quick and easy to make, they were relatively inexpensive, they were extremely portable, and they could provide a decent variety.

Especially since Lea had had the foresight to talk to some of the temporarily out of work kitchen workers, who'd been willing to let him use ingredients from the school stores that might otherwise go to waste in the downtime for a small fee. Thus he was able to offer beef, chicken, and shrimp skewers, as well as vegetable ones and ones with meat and vegetables combined. There was even an option of a grilled fruit skewer, which made a decent breakfast or desert option.

The Defense Association

Now this was the kind of extracurricular activity that Lea could get behind. While he would much rather have his Keyblade to deflect spells, being able to do so without it was handy too. So there he was, standing in a circle with a number of other students, ready to try his hand at the local version of Reflect.

Research on the Sundered

It wasn't real. He had to keep reminding himself of that. None of the times he heard Master Xehanort's gravelly laugh, or seen Xemnas lurking around a corner. None of it was real. None of them could actually hurt anyone.

'Are you certain about that, boy?', came the gravelly voice of Master Xehanort. Lea forced himself to ignore it. To not respond. Just keep walking. It wasn't real.

'Even without your Keyblade, you still play at being a Guardian of Light?', came Xemnas' deep bass monotone. 'Do you truly believe there is anything you can do to stop what is destined to happen?'

"Shut up," Lea grumbled before silently cursing himself for responding.

Xemnas voice came again, though this time instead of being of vague origin, it sounded as though he were right behind Lea, and the other's familiar dark shadow seemed to fall over him. 'You cannot protect them,' the apparition said. 'Among the so call Guardians, you will never be more than an 'also ran'.'

"I said shut up!", Lea said, whirling around, ready to punch him... only to be confronted with the startled face of one of his fellow students. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "Sorry... I um..."

**************

It would all be worth it though. As at the end of the three days, he would wake up from restless dreams to find his Keyblade laying on the trunk at the foot of his bed.

it's raw

[woo_oo]

Something smells... amazing.

Webby followed her nose (er, beak?) all the way until she found Lea, practically drooling as her tummy began to grumble.

"Are you the source of that delicious smell?"

Re: it's raw

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea grinned at the duckling. "Hey there, Webby," he said. "And yep I am. 'Lea's Grilled Skewers', portability and great taste all in one. What can I get you?"

Re: it's raw

[woo_oo]

"Is 'all of them' an option?" She's really hungry, in case you hadn't noticed.

Re: it's raw

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea chuckled. "If you have the money, sure," he said. "I can give you one on the house though, since we're friends. Which would you like for that one?"

Raw

[holdyourhorns]

[Another customer willing to offer up their money for a decent lunch strolls up, a purple dragon (really) who peers at the prices before reaching into a saddlebag and standing up enough to put the money into Lea's easy reach.]

Two of the beef, please! Fresh and hot!

[Because maybe, the dragon thinks to himself, it'll get rid of an annoying tickle that's started up in his throat.]

Re: Raw

[hotheadwarmheart]

Coming right up!

[Lea quickly prepared two beef skewers and laid them on the grill before putting the money in the lockbox.]

Would you like them as is, or should I make them a bit spicy?

[holdyourhorns]

[The dragon seems to consider for a moment. Spicy dishes were always considered by the elders as a boon for a growing dragon's fire breath (even if it might not necessarily true), so he opens his mouth to answer and-

Accidentally sneezes not fire, but a few slices of bacon onto the grill.

... Wait. Bacon?!]

Uh. Sorry about that?

[hotheadwarmheart]

[OK, of all the weird magical effects he's seen here, spontaneous bacon generation via sneeze is a new one.]

Uh... it's OK. But I don't think sneeze-bacon is going on the menu any time soon. So unless you really want it, I'm gonna toss it.

[holdyourhorns]

[Spyro backs off from the grill, not about to keep digging his own hole on the matter. At this rate, the next ridiculous power will allow for Spyro to generate a meal with the includes every food group.]

No issue here. And here I thought that summoning ice cream from thin air would be the end of it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea nodded before carefully snagging the bacon from the grill and discarding it with the other food scraps.]

You don't do that by sneezing too, I hope?

[holdyourhorns]

[And then Spyro effortlessly demonstrates rather than answer, reaching(?) with one claw and in a literally magical sleight-of-hand, he's holding a blue ice cream by the stick. The blue it is would be a very familiar shade.]

Nah, but all I ever get is a single flavor out of it. Since when was ice cream with salt on it a thing?

Sundered

[twilightskey]

"Woah!"

Unfortunately, that person that Lea almost punched was, in fact, Roxas. He had to back up a couple of steps, hands up in defense as he anticipated a punch that never landed. When Lea tried to calm down, Roxas looked at him warily.

"...It's fine. Are you alright?"

Re: Sundered

[hotheadwarmheart]

Seeing that it's Roxas, Lea is very, very glad he caught himself before he threw that punch. He sighed. "Honestly? Not really," he said. "But I can't say I didn't expect it."

"It's that thing they're doing this time for the Sundered research," he explained. "Whatever it is they did, I've been hearing and seeing Xemnas and Master Xehanort everywhere. I keep reminding myself that they're not real and that it's all in my head thanks to whatever the researchers did, but sometimes..." He trailed off, leaving the obvious conclusion unstated.

[twilightskey]

He's glad that Axel wasn't really trying to attack him, but when Roxas hears why Axel is affected the way he is, a frown settles on his face.

"You signed up for it, too?" He asked, realization touching his voice. "It's okay. I know how you feel. I've been hearing things too."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea nodded. "I was kinda on the fence at first, but Isa convinced me," he said. "I just hope it's worth it in the end, cause if it's not, I'm going to have... words with those researchers." Some of them likely unrepeatable in company by the sound of it.

"You holding up alright, under the circumstances?", he asked.

[twilightskey]

"Yeah. I don't blame you." Given he'd spent time hearing voices and jumping at shadows, he shares the sentiment with Axel.

"I guess so... though, I almost attacked a couple people because I thought they were... well, someone else."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Nice to know I'm not the only one," Lea said with a sigh. "Man, these three days can't go fast enough; I haven't even felt like having ice cream since this started. I mean, it's probably not a good idea to be up on the clock tower while we're seeing things, but still..." Still, if Lea didn't feel like getting a sea-salt ice cream fix, you knew things were rough.

[twilightskey]

"Really?" Roxas looks at Lea with a disbelieving look. "If it's making you not want ice cream, it must be bothering you."

He pauses, shifting on his feet for a moment. "You wanna talk about it?"

Re: Lea OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

Research

Xion had been running, trying to figure out how to lead Xemnas away from people, to keep him from seeing Axel and Roxas, and for other reasons, Saïx. But he seemed to keep getting ahead of her, cutting off her choices. So she was where she didn't want to be... and she saw... "Axel..." she whispered. No. "No." She skidded to a stop to stand protectively behind Axel. Which means that he was whirling towards the air over the back of her hood. Good thing he's so tall and she's such a shrimp. But she was focusing on her own version of Xemnas who was laughing at her for thinking she could protect anyone without her Keyblade, so she missed that Axel was in the same situation....

Re: Lea OTA

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea was relieved to see that even if he hadn't pulled back, he likely wouldn't have hit Xion. But he was still concerned, especially given how frightened she looked and the way she was standing protectively in front of him. "Xion?", he asked. "Are you alright?"

Re: Lea OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

"I'll hold him off," she said, knowing he'd never leave her to face Xemnas alone. Not normally. But... "Warn the others." Protecting Roxas and Saïx - though she still had issues there - would be enough to get him to safety? Right? She didn't buy it for a second, but she had to try.

Re: Lea OTA

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Hold who off?", Lea said, looking at the empty air she was apparently protecting him from. "What are you-? Oh..."

Upon realizing what's going on, Lea moved to stand between Xion and her vision. "Listen to me, Xion," he said. "What you're seeing? It's not real. Xemnas or whoever you're seeing isn't actually here. It's just your mind playing tricks on you thanks to whatever those researchers did."

Re: Lea OTA

[nobodys_puppet]

She tried to move so that she was between them again. "And if you're wrong? Is it really worth the risk?" she asked, still ready to defend. Without magic or Keyblade.

Re: Lea OTA

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Xion, you're trying to protect me from thin air," Lea said. "Trust me, there's nothing there. I've been seeing and hearing things too, but not even Xemnas can be two places at once. It's just an illusion."