#thenarratorisnarrating

“To be honest,” Kal started, “I don’t know how to really feel about any of this. How am I supposed to believe in something that I’m just being told is mysterious and mystical?” Well, I can agree it is quite a change. I wasn’t totally a believer myself for quite some time, so I’m on her side.

“I guess it’s easier because I was able to tap into some of it before I even came here,” Ardis thought aloud. “I’ve always been used to going with the flow, so magic was just exciting.” Ardis was watching Jules cut, not sure where or what to do. Kal handed him some lettuce.

“Rip this apart, just enough for a salad,” Kal ordered, “I get where you’re coming from, but it just hasn’t sunk in for me yet.”

“Fair enough,” Jules nodded, “But...can I ask, what’s the Second Circle class like?”

Kal took a moment to find a word for what her first class had been like. “A lot of theory,” she said. “After we got through talking about the Guardians and familiars, it was mostly just concept-wise what it meant to be attuned to creation or destruction.”

“That sounds fun,” Jules hummed, “I like the Fifth Circle though, I find it accurate that I’m a ‘Voice Witch’.” She paused her cutting of vegetables to put air quotes around her title.

“Really?”

“Yeah! I like to sing,” Jules grinned. “It’s fun, though I wonder if the magic has anything to do with it now.” Carefully now, Jules. If you’re keeping your semi-popular internet musician identity a secret, then you shouldn’t give up too much!

“That’s pretty cool though,” Ardis pointed out, “I just dance, not really related to nature or anything.”

“They did mention that Second Circle people tend to be creative,” Kal recalled, “I do art, so I guess it’s accurate.”

“Wow, are we a suite of artists?” Jules laughed, “You think Mary does anything?” No.

“I don’t think so, based off our few interactions,” Kal shrugged, she was in the middle of stirring noodles. It’s quite important to not overcook your noodles. I couldn’t count the number of times I’ve forgotten that I had noodles cooking.

Oh, wait. Oh, dear. I’ll be right back.

Alright, no noodles cooking. Shall we continue?

“Anyways, so, Juli you said your Guardian was Fye?” Kal questioned, trying to return to the topic she had accidentally moved away from.

“Yep!” Jules bounced on her heels, “Exciting! What about you two?”

“Ravere?” Kal recalled with a slight frown.

“Sair,” Ardis answered a moment later.

There was a silence. Rather than an uncomfortable one, it was one made by teenagers that were all awkward in their own right and anxious enough about living together in a very new place. It had only been a few days, but those days were filled by quite a lot of new information. I don’t blame them for being overwhelmed, I was, once upon a long long time ago.

“Are the noodles ready?” Jules suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

“Oh, yeah!” Kal nodded, jumping back into action, “Just need to put them in bowls. Should we make a plate for Mary?”

“That would be considered nice,” Jules said, though it wasn’t really an answer. The trio started placing things on the small, pre-provided table in the little area that could be called a kitchen and dining room.

Quiet chatter was there to finally replace the silence. Talk of majors and classes. Discussion of familiars and wondering when they could appear. None of them knew about magic very deeply, which made it quite stressful.

They all seemed to forget about their wonderful room advisor Tatti, who as a third-year and resident of the Nevermore knew quite a lot about what familiars were.

“Familiars are cool,” Jules said, “Not only cool but helpful! We’re in a whole new world, it’ll be cool to have someone there to be, like, a companion.”

“You have a point,” Kal nodded, “I mean, it wouldn’t be bad. Just when my professor described it, she made it seem a little...scary? The idea of having someone just able to talk to you in your head?”

“Telepathy, I wonder if Mind Witches can do that….” Ardis murmured, looking down as he thought. Ardis was quite interested in learning about more than just his circle. A very good trait to have. However, the moment he realized that he had spoken aloud, he jumped. “Uh, yeah. I don’t know, I guess I just find it all too interesting to be worried?” Poor Ardis, always fretting over what he says.

Kal snickered, a smile on her face. “I like you, Ardis.” She paused before panic overtook her face. “I mean, I mean, I like how you think!” Kal corrected, “I like how you think, not like you, but I mean I like you but not like like you….” she trailed off, seemingly realizing how unnecessarily flustered she had gotten. “Ignore me, really.” Then there’s Kal, fumbling rather than fretting.

Ardis shook his head, “Don’t worry, I like you too!”

“You guys are cool!” Jules said with a level of confidence that while frequent was much more than what she had shown so far. “We’ve only really just met but I think we’re all gonna get along wonderfully!”

“I wonder if we can do that with the fourth musketeer,” Kal mumbled under her breath, eyeing the door to Mary Sue’s room.

“On that note, we should explore the forest outside our dorm!”

“No!” Ardis and Kal both answered at the same time. Oh, I’ve heard that simultaneously answering things is a sure sign of friendship! Or at least, that’s what that friendship-making book that Cavallo bought me. I’m not quite sure if she intended to mock me or thought I’d appreciate it. Regardless, I added it to my collection of “books about people interaction” for later use in my work.

Jules pouted, “Why not?”

“It’s clearly dangerous,” Kal said.

“Tatti told us not to go in there!” Ardis added.

“It’s dark.”

“We definitely aren’t equipped to deal with anything that could be in there!”

“It’s gonna be really dark.”

“Yeah! It’ll be dark!” Ardis nodded fervently. Clearly, the two weren’t interested in what risks and danger could lie in the admittedly mysterious and frequently deadly forest. I often went in there myself. I wonder if my hidden hideaway spot is still there.

I would check if I still could. However, it’s quite an adventure!

“It could be fun…,” Kal said suddenly.

Jules’s eyes lit up. This was her chance!

“Yes! Adventure!” She insisted, “We’re at college. Magical college! What’s the harm in taking a few risks here and there?”

“We haven’t even been here a week and you want to go into the dark and mysterious and scary woods?” Ardis questioned.

“She has a point,” Kal shrugged, “Even if I’m not totally on board when has adventure hurt anyone?” There was a glint in her eyes, one that signaled a sort of flip of a switch. From a more logical rational Kalavathi to the Kal that wanted to do much more than sit in a classroom quietly for another four years. The dark might not be enough to discourage her now.

It was at this point, that Ardis may have given up on any type of peace in his college life. I’m rather surprised he didn’t sense this danger earlier. Maybe he didn’t realize that Kal would join Jules on the side of “reckless adventure”, certainly anyone that didn’t know about her life as Razz would assume that she was a very rational person.

Kal herself knew she was being a touch irrational. She had read enough adventures to know that going into that forest would likely not be a walk in a park, yet she found herself compelled to do it anyways.

It was a small act of rebellion, considering her ‘secret identity; as Razz.

Ardis leaned back in his chair. “Adventure tends to go wrong,” he pointed out, “If we’re going to do something that dangerous, can we at least wait until we know a bit more about magic? Like, when we know some more ‘here’s how to not die’ stuff?”

“Boring, but fine,” Jules grinned. Ardis, you can’t just give in like that! He needs to try a little harder, I would say. Maybe that will be his character development? However, as of now, Ardis just sighed and smiled weakly.

Possibly dangerous adventure just wasn’t his forte. He was much better at low-risk things, like wearing a green hoodie and a face mask with a lime on it to go dance-offs and show off.

Yes, really. Ardis thinks he’s boring. We have quite the interesting cast of people before us. Let’s see how long they last without uncovering themselves as the identities they work so hard to keep hidden.

Moving on, as we often do, the trio finished up, cleaning their dishes before heading off into their own rooms.

You have to have some ‘me time’ after all, especially at college!

Jules was in her Fifth Circle Magic class again that morning, when those odd people in the corner approached her. She had greeted them during the first class, to no response. She had greeted them every one of them before every one of the few classes that they had had together, yet every attempt resulted in no response. Not the type to give up, she had greeted them again before heading to her desk.

Now, shockingly, the four people stood before her. None of them spoke, rather simply handing over folded slips of paper before walking off back to where they sat.

The first one warned her to read them alone, or at least not let others read what they contained. Jules, being less rational than her roommates or friends, quickly planned to read the notes the moment she was out of class.

Before that, those aforementioned friends arrived. Asha Ocean, Melissa Nguyen, and Ásvaldr Lykke. Yes, she made friends that quickly. I’m quite proud.

“Hey, Jules!” Asha waved, “What was that?” She pointed at the group leaving. “Did they talk to you?” Asha was an Energy witch, with eyes bright enough to prove it. She insists the shine is natural, but we all know she uses a spell to do so. Don’t tell her I told you that, however! I quite like her visits and would quite prefer them to continue peacefully.

Jules paused, “Kind of, they just looked at me, I think I’ve gained their approval?”

Ásvaldr snickered, “I feel like that’s probably the most magical thing that could happen here.” Ásvaldr, a good kid, if a bit of a trickster type. He often tells me about his escapades, doing things that he certainly shouldn’t be able to do. “Trust me, I’ve grown up in magic, and mysterious people talking to you is the first sign of danger.”

“You think everything is dangerous,” Melissa scolded, “But you insist on doing it anyways!”

“Danger is fun! It’s adventure!” Ásvaldr argued, “Right Jules?” He waved in the direction he had heard her voice in.

Jules could only grin. “Absolutely! My roommate thinks it’s a bad idea to go explore the woods near our dorm.”

Ásvaldr’s expression dropped, “Wait, you live in the dorm by the West Evenfall forest, don’t you?”

“I think so? Unless there are more forests by dorms,” her light tone contrasted the seriousness of Ásvaldr as he continued to speak.

“Haven’t you heard the story of Dean Ailan Creek?” Ah, yes, Ailan. The ‘k’ in his last name is silent, he used to hate it when people called him “Creek”. He was very particular about it. My name is often said wrong, I never made a big fuss like he did.

“Ásvaldr, she’s a Initus, remember?” Melissa said. I never quite got behind the use of “Initus” to refer to new students of magic but that’s Western Arcane Theory for you. Evenfall has their preferences and I have one as well.

“Right, right,” Ásvaldr nodded, “So, I guess we get to be the ones to tell you the story about the last Dean of Evenfall.”

“This is before Dean Kair, she took over after him,” Asha helpfully supplied.

“It’s a very dramatic story, with mystery and intrigue!” Ásvaldr started, only to be interrupted immediately by Melissa.

“The Dean went after a girl who had gotten lost and he never returned. The girl that was missing did, however. She said she never saw him.”

“Lis! That was my story!” Ásvaldr pouted, “Move so I can punch your shoulder.” The three, if I can remember correctly, are childhood friends, all born into Everless and magic, which makes this class quite easier for all of them, it would seem.

Jules giggled as she watched the two friends bicker. She wasn’t quite fazed by the fact that someone might have passed away or disappeared into the forest.

Or, rather, she was too committed to the idea to give it up just yet. She wasn’t going in alone after all.

“While the Dean did disappear a few years ago, it’s not necessarily dangerous, other than rumors and apparent scandals,” Asha offered reassuringly. “I wouldn’t personally recommend it, though.”

“So, you’re saying I could?” Jules asked.

“Not ex—” “Thanks, Asha!”

Unfortunately, it was at this moment that the professor entered the room.

Jules was not only frequently confident, but also frequently stubborn.