April Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

April Event and Intro Log Plants Off The Path Green grass and radiant flower gardens bracket all the major walks on campus, and fragrant scents fill the air all around. Note the key words "major walks" there. Move off the common paths and onto 'shortcuts' or less frequented areas of the vast campus and things are quite different. Here, the plants grow just as experience with this chaotic and often dangerous school would lead you to expect. Broad-leafed stalks stretch upwards, petals unfolding to reveal long jets of fire instead of a sensible stamen. Bushes have large toothy mouths, and viciously swallow anyone who comes near (though they are still just bushes, and the victims end up on the their other side just a few scratches worse for wear). A tree grows quills instead of needles; another sprouts paper airplanes instead of leaves. An extremely aggressive pitcher-plant wanders the pathways, mugging students at knifepoint. It's a jungle out there. Bullies, Of Course Surely a Magicademy, with many students already adults and with such an emphasis on learning and control, wouldn't have those who used their magic for such petty ends as making others suffer? Uh-huh. A pack of bullies with more spell experience than wisdom has banded together to take delight in the suffering of others. They overtly pick on the small, the meek, and those with less magical skill; they torment the larger, the bold, and the powerful in secret. Worse, they are the clever sorts of bullies, who go out of their way not to get caught and not to do anything that can't be played off or explained away. Maybe you attracted their attention by looking weak enough to pick on. Or strong enough to need to be taken down a notch. Or weird enough that you were the Other and thus lesser. Or pretty/handsome enough that you needed to look less attractive so they would look more so. They are pretty good at justifying picking on anyone, really. Are they pestering you by magical tripping or property destruction? Playing keep-away with your class books? Better be careful how you respond; their fathers might hear about it. Wind At The Docks (aka The Prompt Where You Don't Get Mugged) The winds of spring bring something of a dark pastime to Anastara -- dockwatching. Aware that a sudden blast of air can rip across the island at a moment's notice, crowds gather at the docks with the air of those expecting spectacle. All too often, they are rewarded -- in the wake of a sudden wind, airships list violently, or bump into each other, or desperately pull sails and power up their flotation cores to avoid a worse collision. Curses fly through the air, and sometimes even spells. With luck, the audience might even see a pair of vessels engage in an all-out air duel, as two captains driven by pride or vengeance refuse to back down. Now, to their credit, the assembled people aren't heartless. If a ship truly looks to be in trouble, or if it's smashed to the ground or into a dock, the people of Anastara don't hesitate to help those on board to safety or ensure that they don't go down with their ship. But mostly it's watching the chaos. It IS quite a show... Research On the Sundered With the arrival of the Sundered come those wizards engaged in research on their presence here, now set to investigate what brought them here and how to get them home. All newly-arrived Sundered students are asked to meet with representatives of the research team, to introduce themselves and relate what they will of their homes. In addition, the team requests samples of blood, hair, and skin -- carefully magically collected, and the researchers will sign in the presence of the Sundered a Glyphed contract that forbids them from using the samples for a purpose they know will be harmful. (They quite understand your reasons to be suspicious of this collection! And they will not compel anyone who refuses even given these conditions.) This month, the team has developed a Sundering Glyph designed to detect any influence of the magic on you. Painted on your arm, it will shine with a bright light when a Sundering effect attempts to influence you. They explain that they believe the Sundered are still subject to either the spell that brought them here or new ones, because they have detected remnants of Sundering magic in the wake of students who have mysteriously disappeared. They ask only that you report back when it lights up. Problem: when the Glyph erupts, either because of the Glyph itself or the spell it has detected... those who bear it find themselves no longer where they started. Perhaps they find themselves in a classroom late at night. Or the wrong dormitory. Or in the Great Hall in their nightshirt. Or for the utterly lowbrow amongst you, a restroom occupied by the wrong gender. Whatever the case: sorry. Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Have fun! A Special Note If you thread out one or more scenes based on the confusion from "Research on the Sundered", respond to the comment on this post with a link to that thread. The results of this will be revealed next month! (It is some sort of regain this month!)

Comments

[woo_oo]

[She quietly takes it, examining it, then holds it the way Lena did.

Moment of silence.]

... This is such a cool wand! You got a really neat one! Does it have extra power or...

[Wait.]

... Wait. We've been here for months. Why would you hide a wand?

[outofyourshadow]

[Another pause, and she carefully takes the wand back from Webby.]

It...isn't like a regular wand. The only thing it can really do is...give people bad luck.

[woo_oo]

... Seriously?

[She frowns, concerned.]

... But how are you supposed to do all the other spells? Do you have a spare wand? Or is that the only one you have?

[It just seems like a big disadvantage.]

[outofyourshadow]

Yeah, I have another wand. [She retrieves the other one, looking very much like a regular wand.] This is the wand they gave us when we first started here.

[She holds up the curved one.]

I found this one while trying to make my way to the airship to get here.

[woo_oo]

[She sighs in relief.]

That's good... But.

[You knew the but was coming.]

That still doesn't explain why you hid this from me! Why didn't you want me to know? I thought we weren't going to have anymore secrets between us!

['We', she says, as if she too kept secrets, and they both knew damn well she hadn't.]

[outofyourshadow]

[Right. There it is.]

I...wanted to figure out more about it first. To see if it was dangerous.

[woo_oo]

And what if it was? You could've gotten hurt, and I was just supposed to... wait until it was too late?

Lena, this isn't how friendship goes! We're supposed to work together!

[It's been A While since she's ever felt this angry.]

Why don't you trust me?

[outofyourshadow]

If it was dangerous, I would've gotten rid of it. I'm still not convinced it isn't.

[That last question was definitely the worst of it, though, and part of her wished she hadn't brought this up in the first.]

It's not that I don't trust you, Webby. I just didn't want you to get hurt.

[She holds up a hand.]

And yes, I know, that sounds super lame, and I still should have told you. I get it. But I told you, I'm doing my best. I'm still learning.

[woo_oo]

Well, here's your latest lesson - this still hurts!

[Hmph! She crosses her arms, stewing a bit. Uncomfortable silence passes as she looks away, and her voice softens.]

... Sometimes when I wake up... I get scared that... all of this has just been a dream, and I'll go to the amphitheater, and... you're not there. Losing you was... the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

... I don't want it to happen again.

[outofyourshadow]

[She winces, fully expecting - and deserving - the anger. But what Webby says after that is even worse.]

...I'm sorry, Webby. To be honest...It still might.

[She drew her knees to her chest, her eyes still look on the ground.]

I don't...really know what's going on with the magic here...how it brought me back when I felt myself disappear. And if I can just blink back into existence like that...what's stopping me from just...blinking right back out again?

[It was part of why the nights were so hard, why she hated going to sleep sometimes. Because even worse than the nightmares were those nights where it felt like she just...stopped existing for a while.]

[woo_oo]

No!

[It comes out without thinking, and she suddenly throws herself at Lena, clinging had, as if physically trying to prevent her from 'blinking out'.]

You can't! You won't! You're here, they have to keep you here!

[She's not sure if she's making sense, who the hell is 'they', but now she's just so deep in fear it's hard to think straight.]

I won't let it happen! I don't care if you keep a million secrets from me, I'm not losing you again!

[Well okay, she WOULD care if Lena kept a million secrets from her, but that's beside the point, kinda.]

[outofyourshadow]

...Webby...

[She wants to believe. More than anything, she wants to think that she could stay...could exist here.

...but...]

Look at how many people have disappeared already.

[She hates this. She doesn't want to be talking about this. Especially not with Webby, because she doesn't want Webby to think about these things either.

But...wouldn't it hurt more if they don't talk about it, and it happened anyway?]

[woo_oo]

No! No no no no!

[Maybe it's childish to react this way but - Webby IS a child.]

I don't care what happened to them, I will not let it happen to you! I'll focus all on my studying on it, I'll do anything and everything it takes to keep you here! You, you, you...

[Her voice breaks - and yep, tears, as she buries her face into Lena's shoulder.]

... You deserve to be happy... you deserve to exist.

[outofyourshadow]

[She pulls Webby close, just as much needing to be held as it was to hold her.

Because it's that last thought that always crosses her mind.]

...do I really though?

[woo_oo]

[She makes a muffled 'mm-hmm' sound, needing a moment to catch her breath and not break into sobs.]

... You do. I know you do. Don't say you don't.

[outofyourshadow]

[She hesitates, because she doesn't want to make Webby any more upset than she already is.]

...how can I? How can I exist...when I don't even know who - what existence this is?

[woo_oo]

[Another moment of silence, as Webby tries to think.

Eventually, she pulls back, wiping one of her cheeks dry.]

... What's your favorite color?

[outofyourshadow]

[There's a small pause at that; she has an idea of where this could be going, but then again, Webby has a way of surprising her.]

...Purple.

[woo_oo]

And did Magica tell you that it's your favorite color, or did you decide it because it you thought it would be make me trust you more...

... Or do you like it because you like it?

[outofyourshadow]

[The conversation is going where she thought it would, and she sighs softly.]

Webby...there has to be more to who I am than what my favorite color is.

[woo_oo]

Of course there is! But it's a starting point!

You've been "alive" for years and years and years! You can't tell me that every single second of that time was devoted to getting the dime. You found things you like, things you don't like, and you made yourself! Magica gave you a body... but you made your own heart.

[With that, she gently takes Lena's hand.]

That's the Lena I care about. And she likes purple.

[outofyourshadow]

[She looks at their hands for a moment, before sighing and glancing away.]

...That's...just it, Webbs. I thought I knew who I was. I spent years wanting nothing more than to be free from her. The reason I went along with her plan in the first place was because she promised to free me if I did.

I thought I knew myself, but... [She gently squeezed Webby's hand.] Being friends with you...changed everything.

[woo_oo]

... Maybe it didn't exactly change things. Maybe, instead... it brought something out in you that was already there.

[she lifts her hand, trying to touch lena's cheek and make her look at her.]

You were one of my first friends, but... I guess... I never realized I was one of your first friends too.

[outofyourshadow]

[Webby's touch does have her looking up, holding her gaze for a moment.]

I don't...I don't know what to think anymore, Webbs. I wasn't...I wasn't made for this. [She gestures at the space between them.] Even when I was trying to make my own identity, I never thought wanting or needing friends would factor into it. And if this was something that was already a part of me, all the more that I don't know who or what I am at all.

[With another sigh, she takes Webby's hand again, bringing it away from her face to hold in both of her own hands.]

And I'm not saying it's bad. Being friends with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm just...confused. Sometimes, I'm still not sure what I'm doing. And I'm trying, but...I still need to figure some things out.

...I want to do better. To be better. And sometimes, I'm gonna need your help. But there are times when I also need to do things on my own. So I can learn more about who I am...and who I want to be. And I just...I just need you to be patient with me, at times like that. [She hesitates, glancing away again.]

Can...Can you do that? Can you wait for me?

[woo_oo]

[Webby bites her lower lip. Unfortunately, this isn't some sappy half-hour TV special where everything wrong gets fixed in less than thirty minutes. She swallows, wishing she could do more, but unable to think of how.]

... We both know I'm not very patient.

[Poor attempt at a joke, judging by her weak smile.]

But... for you, I'll do my best. Just... be careful, okay? You're not alone anymore. You can come to me or Louie if you need help. Or just to talk. Or... whatever.

Don't think you have to do it alone just to prove yourself. I want you here... all of you, even the parts you're not sure about.

... No more secrets, though.

[She holds out her pinky finger.]

Promise?