Post by Lady Hammer on May 16, 2007 20:09:02 GMT -5
XI. The Petty Mage Contract
The overcast sky of October 22nd gleamed down on one of the most prestigious mage colleges in the Northern Siopenne region -- the Battle Mages Academy. A rusty bell bore the 9 a.m. mark, and students in navy blue and brown attire filtered out of their classrooms, some with wands, some with staves, and some with nothing more than an armload of books. A young woman was among these book-bearing students, her armload larger and rattier than most others, and her face quite distraught. Tables in the courtyard full of older students suddenly took notice to her and laughed.
“Hey Petty Mage!” they called to her, beckoning with grand waves and hooting like owls. She could smell their incompetence, a smell much like that of a dead reptile, wafting in her direction.
“My name is Adia,” she snarled, making a point by stomping her feet.
“Don’t stomp too hard, Petty Mage! The soles of your boots are thin as it is!”
“What do you want?” Adia asked, ignoring their laughter at her barks. “I have things to do!”
“Like what? Pretend you have scrolls?” one of the men at the table said to her. Adia put her hands on her hips.
“I know one spell, actually!” she said matter-of-factly with her nose in the air. Despite that, they laughed even more.
“Really? What spell is that?”
She was about to open her mouth when she suddenly realized her glory was in danger. With pride, she turned away.
“Hah! Like I would tell you! That would ruin the element of surprise when I decide to beat the crap outta you for humiliating me all the time!” There was a fit of giggles and chuckles from the men at the table before the one in charge of their group stood up, scooting the old chair full of malaise away from him. His height towered above hers.
“Petty Mage, we want to make you a dare!”
Adia scoffed at once.
“Why would I care?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that her conscious contained a small spark of interest. It was a constant mistake. This group of men, with a small handful of women, were the most famous social house in the entire school: Delta Confession, and Adia was always looking for a way in. Then, the man pulled out a map and rolled it out over the table, the others of Delta Confession moving out of the way. The map was of Vaskio’s neighboring town, Theshol. Raising her eyebrow, Adia folded her arms.
“What’s this?”
“This,” the man started, “is obviously the town of Theshol. The yellow X’s are the town’s famous towers, which I’m sure you’ve heard of, right Petty Mage?” Adia stuck up her nose once more.
“Of course. I know them inside out.” This wasn’t true. Then, the man went on to point out the X’s circled in purple.
“These are towers that the people of our house have already explored. We dare you to go into one that hasn’t been looked at yet!” Adia wanted to laugh at the simplicity. What did they take her for? A coward?
“That’s it?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“That’s it.”
Her cloud blue eyes scanned the maps for the uncircled X’s. Unfortunately, they were very few in number. The two towers in the middle of town were already explored, as were the ones closest to the Vaskio - Theshol river. Left was the Owl Tower, the Boar Tower, the Rat Tower, and one way out in the outskirts. That’s the one she decided to search. There was no way the Delta Confession could ignore that act of bravery. She had heard the horrible stories about it, knowing that they must’ve all been just myths, and a wave of confidence rushed through her as she slammed her fist over the map.
“I want the Lich Tower,” she said. Naturally, they all laughed.
“Yeah right. You’re kidding.”
“Bull shit I’m kidding. I’m going through that tower!” That was when they stopped and stared at her, trying to find and fathom her in the new light of her courage. Adia, the woman with the short, dirty brown hair, and the old brown dress. The one with the navy blue sleeves that were coming apart at the seams. The one that was supposed to be slender and slimming, but only made her bust look enormous. Adia, the woman with no magic talent. The lead man pulled out a purple marker and gave it to her.
“Come back alive, place your mark on the map, and you’re in.”
That was what Adia liked to hear, and she was off at once for Theshol with a map of her own. It became clear to her, however, how little she actually had to live for once she set foot in the town. The witch-town was so full of joy and peace that it made her feel uncomfortable, even moreso when she set foot in the measly Road Block Forest. It was a shame.
“Forest, you and I are a lot alike,” she mumbled, taking slow steps, gripping onto the straps of her leather backpack. “We both have the potential and capacity to be much greater than we actually are, but,” she looked around at the slight disturbances in the thin scattering of trees, “Fate just decided to hand those to someone else.”
Her anger grew as she followed footsteps, it becoming apparent that the spokesman for Delta Confession had thrown her for a loop when he got her thinking she was doing something brave and never before done.
“That rat already sent someone here! I shoulda gone into the Rat Tower and told him that I found his statue in there…” Nevertheless, she continued.
Just before finding herself amongst the wrought iron gate surrounding the premises, Adia tripped on the old, rusted, shattered padlock sitting in the weeds, and when she had made contact, an image flashed through her mind for a white-hot second. A gunshot had shattered the lock. Doubts as solid as the tower itself suddenly invaded her mind, but she was almost drawn into the ominous setting beyond the gate, the cheerful sun doing nothing to break her away.
As she proceeded, more signs showed her the story of a previous trespasser, but the images in her mind weren’t of someone else in Delta Confession. There was something much darker going on. The large doors to the tower were broken from their hinges, and black weeds began to devour them as they lied defeated in the grass. Curiously, Adia ran her hand over them, and felt the impact from two others ramming the door down. They weren’t students at the Battle Mages Academy. Tentatively, she stepped into the tower.
Few chains hung from the ceiling, but more of them looked as if they had fallen and were rusting on the ground, and in the areas where the sunlight had reached past the doorway, the black veins pulsating on the walls and carpeting the floor had rotted and died. Peculiar. Suddenly, a chirping noise reached the petty mage’s ears. Turning around, she saw a small yellow chick hopping around her feet.
“What the…?”
She kneeled down and watched it hop around, and then skip over to the home it had made in a large crack in the large pillar dead center of the tower. It was untouched by the veins of Chaos.
“How is it something can live in a place so inhospitable?” she wondered, agape. Chaos infected nearly everything it touched - people of all races, most notably humans; animals; plants… the question was what didn’t it infect. Yet, this chick was hopefully and optimistically making itself a nest. This nest Adia thought to inspect. Mostly, the small bird had dragged dry leaves and hair into the crack, but there was something else peeking from it that didn’t fit in with the norm - which nothing else was doing, either. Much to the bird’s sad protesting, the woman pulled out a piece of paper that wasn’t stuffed in all the way, and once her eyes read its contents, she left with it immediately, dropping the chick another piece of scrap paper as a compromise.
It was evening by the time Adia made it back to Vaskio, despite the haste she made. There was a determination in her that she had never felt before, especially when she walked past the Battle Mages Academy. Scowling, she trudged beyond it, recognizing that it was just full of fools, anyway. She came to her destination soon enough, however. ARC.
She had always expected it to look bigger on the outside for all it was worth, but she ignored the thought quickly. Drawing in a deep breath, she knocked as loud as she could on the complex’s front door and waited.
There nice and short for you. lol.
The overcast sky of October 22nd gleamed down on one of the most prestigious mage colleges in the Northern Siopenne region -- the Battle Mages Academy. A rusty bell bore the 9 a.m. mark, and students in navy blue and brown attire filtered out of their classrooms, some with wands, some with staves, and some with nothing more than an armload of books. A young woman was among these book-bearing students, her armload larger and rattier than most others, and her face quite distraught. Tables in the courtyard full of older students suddenly took notice to her and laughed.
“Hey Petty Mage!” they called to her, beckoning with grand waves and hooting like owls. She could smell their incompetence, a smell much like that of a dead reptile, wafting in her direction.
“My name is Adia,” she snarled, making a point by stomping her feet.
“Don’t stomp too hard, Petty Mage! The soles of your boots are thin as it is!”
“What do you want?” Adia asked, ignoring their laughter at her barks. “I have things to do!”
“Like what? Pretend you have scrolls?” one of the men at the table said to her. Adia put her hands on her hips.
“I know one spell, actually!” she said matter-of-factly with her nose in the air. Despite that, they laughed even more.
“Really? What spell is that?”
She was about to open her mouth when she suddenly realized her glory was in danger. With pride, she turned away.
“Hah! Like I would tell you! That would ruin the element of surprise when I decide to beat the crap outta you for humiliating me all the time!” There was a fit of giggles and chuckles from the men at the table before the one in charge of their group stood up, scooting the old chair full of malaise away from him. His height towered above hers.
“Petty Mage, we want to make you a dare!”
Adia scoffed at once.
“Why would I care?” she asked, trying to hide the fact that her conscious contained a small spark of interest. It was a constant mistake. This group of men, with a small handful of women, were the most famous social house in the entire school: Delta Confession, and Adia was always looking for a way in. Then, the man pulled out a map and rolled it out over the table, the others of Delta Confession moving out of the way. The map was of Vaskio’s neighboring town, Theshol. Raising her eyebrow, Adia folded her arms.
“What’s this?”
“This,” the man started, “is obviously the town of Theshol. The yellow X’s are the town’s famous towers, which I’m sure you’ve heard of, right Petty Mage?” Adia stuck up her nose once more.
“Of course. I know them inside out.” This wasn’t true. Then, the man went on to point out the X’s circled in purple.
“These are towers that the people of our house have already explored. We dare you to go into one that hasn’t been looked at yet!” Adia wanted to laugh at the simplicity. What did they take her for? A coward?
“That’s it?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips.
“That’s it.”
Her cloud blue eyes scanned the maps for the uncircled X’s. Unfortunately, they were very few in number. The two towers in the middle of town were already explored, as were the ones closest to the Vaskio - Theshol river. Left was the Owl Tower, the Boar Tower, the Rat Tower, and one way out in the outskirts. That’s the one she decided to search. There was no way the Delta Confession could ignore that act of bravery. She had heard the horrible stories about it, knowing that they must’ve all been just myths, and a wave of confidence rushed through her as she slammed her fist over the map.
“I want the Lich Tower,” she said. Naturally, they all laughed.
“Yeah right. You’re kidding.”
“Bull shit I’m kidding. I’m going through that tower!” That was when they stopped and stared at her, trying to find and fathom her in the new light of her courage. Adia, the woman with the short, dirty brown hair, and the old brown dress. The one with the navy blue sleeves that were coming apart at the seams. The one that was supposed to be slender and slimming, but only made her bust look enormous. Adia, the woman with no magic talent. The lead man pulled out a purple marker and gave it to her.
“Come back alive, place your mark on the map, and you’re in.”
That was what Adia liked to hear, and she was off at once for Theshol with a map of her own. It became clear to her, however, how little she actually had to live for once she set foot in the town. The witch-town was so full of joy and peace that it made her feel uncomfortable, even moreso when she set foot in the measly Road Block Forest. It was a shame.
“Forest, you and I are a lot alike,” she mumbled, taking slow steps, gripping onto the straps of her leather backpack. “We both have the potential and capacity to be much greater than we actually are, but,” she looked around at the slight disturbances in the thin scattering of trees, “Fate just decided to hand those to someone else.”
Her anger grew as she followed footsteps, it becoming apparent that the spokesman for Delta Confession had thrown her for a loop when he got her thinking she was doing something brave and never before done.
“That rat already sent someone here! I shoulda gone into the Rat Tower and told him that I found his statue in there…” Nevertheless, she continued.
Just before finding herself amongst the wrought iron gate surrounding the premises, Adia tripped on the old, rusted, shattered padlock sitting in the weeds, and when she had made contact, an image flashed through her mind for a white-hot second. A gunshot had shattered the lock. Doubts as solid as the tower itself suddenly invaded her mind, but she was almost drawn into the ominous setting beyond the gate, the cheerful sun doing nothing to break her away.
As she proceeded, more signs showed her the story of a previous trespasser, but the images in her mind weren’t of someone else in Delta Confession. There was something much darker going on. The large doors to the tower were broken from their hinges, and black weeds began to devour them as they lied defeated in the grass. Curiously, Adia ran her hand over them, and felt the impact from two others ramming the door down. They weren’t students at the Battle Mages Academy. Tentatively, she stepped into the tower.
Few chains hung from the ceiling, but more of them looked as if they had fallen and were rusting on the ground, and in the areas where the sunlight had reached past the doorway, the black veins pulsating on the walls and carpeting the floor had rotted and died. Peculiar. Suddenly, a chirping noise reached the petty mage’s ears. Turning around, she saw a small yellow chick hopping around her feet.
“What the…?”
She kneeled down and watched it hop around, and then skip over to the home it had made in a large crack in the large pillar dead center of the tower. It was untouched by the veins of Chaos.
“How is it something can live in a place so inhospitable?” she wondered, agape. Chaos infected nearly everything it touched - people of all races, most notably humans; animals; plants… the question was what didn’t it infect. Yet, this chick was hopefully and optimistically making itself a nest. This nest Adia thought to inspect. Mostly, the small bird had dragged dry leaves and hair into the crack, but there was something else peeking from it that didn’t fit in with the norm - which nothing else was doing, either. Much to the bird’s sad protesting, the woman pulled out a piece of paper that wasn’t stuffed in all the way, and once her eyes read its contents, she left with it immediately, dropping the chick another piece of scrap paper as a compromise.
It was evening by the time Adia made it back to Vaskio, despite the haste she made. There was a determination in her that she had never felt before, especially when she walked past the Battle Mages Academy. Scowling, she trudged beyond it, recognizing that it was just full of fools, anyway. She came to her destination soon enough, however. ARC.
She had always expected it to look bigger on the outside for all it was worth, but she ignored the thought quickly. Drawing in a deep breath, she knocked as loud as she could on the complex’s front door and waited.
There nice and short for you. lol.
