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Iris Meloni

Words are more valuable than money. Piracy continues Ignorance. I despise the ignorant.

0 · 348 views · located in Earth, Alternate Universe, year 1847

a character in “1847”, as played by Goddessiris11

Description

Iris Meloni Physical Description:
Height: 5’7” (she always feels short)
Weight: 112 IB
Age: 14 (At Start of Roleplay)
Birthday: September 15th
Hair: Red, corkscrew curls, always pulled back out of face
Eyes: Charcoal Gray, hints of gold in the iris
Skin: Extremely, almost unhealthily, pale. Freckles stand out starkly against the pallor
Facial features: Full bottom lip, thinner upper lip; stubborn chin, equally stubborn nose; thick eyebrows; high cheekbones
Body: Rather thin; few “curves”; long fingers, chipped nail polish; entire countenance is just very elongated
Clothing (Casual)/Adornments: Warm thick sweaters, turtlenecks, thick breeches and thick skirts in the winter; light shirt/short-sleeved shirts, light skirts and breeches in school, calf-length skirts and breeches away from school in the summer; Dragonfly Earrings in Ears, silver locket around neck.
Personality:
Reclusive; Book-obsessed; Rather snooty. Believes her intelligence actually makes her better than many others, although she will still try to help them. She enjoys sitting under a tree reading in the warmer months. No friends.
Strengths/Special talents:
Her mind is her greatest asset. She aces anything mental. While not in the best shape, Iris is good at winning fights because she has amazing knowledge of human anatomy (She is not good at fighting, just winning fights).
Major(s): Sciences (Sapphire), Potions (Silver), Spells (Tanzanite), Foreign/Magical Languages (Platinum), History(Medical) (Obsidian)
Minor(s): Swordfighting/Other Physical or Lethal Classes (Orange). If you can inflict and injury, you can heal it. Diplomacy (It can't hurt) (Midnight Blue)
Ambition: To be a Doctor
Tools:
Her leather satchel, filled with all of her encyclopedias and textbooks, her wand, and various potions ingredients in something similar to an artist’s case.
A pocket knife
Mace
History:
Raised by her Mother, Visits Father on Weekends every other week. Parents separated by divorce. Had one friend, but they stopped liking her when she ended up in a different House. Iris is now isolated.

So begins...

Iris Meloni's Story

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Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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1847 was the start. Years after, I still look back, and I remember the year it all started, even if not the day. 1847 was the catalyst, and it wasn't the changes in laws, the fires and deaths, or the beginning of the collapse of the Government and time itself I remember the best. No. I remember the stupid jokes made by my class. I remember the anger at the world I felt. I remember the fervent "love" so many seemed to fall to that year. I remember the isolation. I remember the end of that isolation. I remember the laughter and joy. I remember the books, the stories, and the puzzle that slowly came together, piece by piece. 1847 was the year our world learned we were part of something bigger. It was the year I learned I was part of something bigger. I will never forget 1847
September 1st, 1847
School started late this year. The rain had made the school inaccessible for weeks, so the students couldn't start education. To the joy of many. Fools. Apparently Disgust is my favorite color.
August 1st came just a month ago, ushering in 1847. Bringing hopes, dreams, wishes. 1847 is special for me as well. It is the year my mother is apparently getting remarried. To a government man, meaning an increase in revenue. Meaning a move to a different house. Meaning I will be kicked out of the house a month after the wedding. Because Mother's Husband wants to start a "new life" no staples of "the previous marriage" involved. Meaning, Fred was kicking me out.
Mother smiles at me in the mirror of the small aircraft she is using to get me to Georgina Samin School for Young Adults. I scowl back. Mother's face closes off, and she returns to driving. I scowl a bit more, and stare out the window.
The Small Craft stops, and I almost run out of the car into the grassy courtyard where people are hugging each other and catching up with friends. I grab my trunk which has wheels I installed. I then jet away in the boots I wear (not dress-code approved, but I haven't gotten in trouble yet) and wave to my mother before ignoring her. I jet over to a table with a Cappelle
sign. A girl named Alicia is manning it, she's a prefect for my house. I sign in, and ignore her attempts at communication with me, grab my dorm key, and jet into the school before walking so as to avoid getting into trouble. I take a deep breath, smelling the familiar scent of the magic-infused school...almost a citrus-minty smell. I'm finally home.

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Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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I turn around to say goodbye to my father once more.
“Goodbye. I’ll miss you.”
Silence. My father had already left without saying a word. If anybody saw me talking to thin air, my father would be right in saying that I would never make friends here.
Well, here I am, Georgina Samin School for Young Adults, a boarding school where I don’t know anybody. Any friends I spent time with to get away from my home life are gone now. All that is left at Georgina Samin School for Young Adults is unfamiliarity; I feel more like a child than ever now. I’ll have to start over and make some friends, which, with all of my problems, will be difficult. Taking a deep breath in, I search for a place with the name “Cappelle” somewhere around it. The girl at the Cappelle table flashes me a toothy grin.
“Hi there! What’s your name?”
“Tenexier Oeyar.”
I definitely am not matching her enthusiasm, maybe it’s the fact that I’m having a crisis about going to this new school, but I’m really not very excited.
“15 years old, so you’re a 5th year. You’ll be rooming with some boys from other houses soon, but for now, you’ll be in a dorm with Cappelle boys.”
She hands me some keys.
“Here are the keys for your dorm.”
I take a few steps towards the school before stopping myself.
“Um
 Where are the dorms?”
The prefect points to a stack of maps to the school and I take one off the top.
“Thank you.”
I make my way into the school. While I now know where I’m going, I still probably look like I’m lost. The first thing I notice is a head of bright red hair. She’s around the Cappelle dorms so maybe she’s also Cappelle? I decide to introduce myself, she seems nice.
“Hey. I’m Tenexier. I’m kind of confused. I don’t know anyone here and I know nothing about this school. Have you been here before?”
Maybe she can tell me a bit more about this place. I didn’t even know I was going to be forced to go here until a few days ago. My father signed me up to a boarding school without telling me. He wants me out of the way so he can do other things. Maybe he’ll leave the whole island and my home will be empty when I get back. It’s more likely than I’d like to believe.

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Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 1st, 1847: Iris Meloni
I look up from the book I am reading, "A Sunset Lost", (AN: NOT A REAL BOOK) a story about the loss of knowledge and light in the world, when I hear a male voice calling my name. I look up and see a boy who could only be called "pretty" and "delicate". He must be new here. No one who's been here long talks to me.
“Hey. I’m Tenexier. I’m kind of confused. I don’t know anyone here and I know nothing about this school. Have you been here before?” He looks at me expectantly and I stare back at him for a moment. He has chosen me to be his tour guide. It must be the red hair. Stupid genetics.
"Hey Kid. What do you need?" I reply to him, trying to give off an aura of go away.
"J-just the directions to the Cappelle boys dorm." He replies, looking slightly cowed. I smirk. I'm getting better. I give a rather large, and slightly irritated sigh, and the boy shrinks in on himself. Wow. This is kind of fun.
"I guess I can show you where you sleep. Just remember, I know where you sleep." Tenexier flinches slightly. I wasn't even threatening! I just wanted to see how he would react to my words with a certain cadence in my voice. Quite interesting. I will have to analyze the specimen further. "Come on, Ten. I'll show you the dorms. Hey, are you actually Ten?" That time, my voice is actually quite joking. Tenexier's spine straightens, however.
"Look, if you don't want to show me the dorm, and just wish to mock me, you can simple let me know now, and I will leave and no longer bother you." He scowls at me slightly, and I raise an eyebrow. So the kid can speak!
"No, no! It's fine kid!" I flash him a rare grin. "I was simply testing intimidation techniques. Did you know that 7 out of 10 times you can avoid conflict by appearing threatening enough? And the main way to make sure a patient sticks to their prescription is to intimidate them slightly. I just find it amusing, no harm!"
Ten studies me for a moment, and then nods. I start walking, and he follows.
(Your turn Gweny!)

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Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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"Hey, Kid. What do you need?" She flashes me an intimidating look.
Maybe I shouldn't have asked her. She seemed like she was happier with the book. I'm nervous, without even thinking, I start fiddling with my earring. I have to continue talking to her. She seems really impatient.
"J-Just the directions to the Cappelle boys dorm." I stutter. She's starting to scare me. Not in the way that I was scared of monsters under my bed as a kid. No, that was foolish. I'm afraid of people. A monster has never actually come out from under my bed and hurt anyone. However, people hurt people. This girl doesn't seem to want to hurt me. In fact, she seems amused by my cowardace. My father always did say people would take advantage of how weak I am. I wouldn't say she's taking advantage of anything. She just seems to think it's hilarious. That doesn't stop me from being wary, though.
"I guess I can show you where you sleep. Just remember, I know where you sleep." I flinch at the sudden change in tone. The redhead stares at me intensely. I bite my bottom lip in anticipation of her commenting on my appearance. What will it be this time? Prettyboy? Are you sure you're a boy? You look like a twig?
"Come on, Ten. I'll show you the dorms. Hey, are you actually ten?"
I was close.
"Look, if you don't want to show me the dorm, and just wish to mock me, you can simply let me know, and I will leave and no longer bother you."
This is getting ridiculous. I can take a lot of teasing, but honestly she's acting like I'm some sort of creature from another planet that she's studying. Maybe this is what Cappelle is all about.
"No, no! It's fine kid!" She grins almost creepily. I couldn't tell she was capable of smiling from the way she acted at first. "I was simply testing intimidation techniques. Did you know that 7 out of 10 times you can avoid conflict by appearing threatening enough? And the main way ot make sure a patient sticks to their perscription is to intimidate them slightly? I just find it amusing, no harm!"
Is this a Cappelle thing? Studying people and stating random facts? I really don't belong here, I'm not very smart. I can't come up with random facts like this. I can't study people. I have no idea what she's trying to do or what she's gaining from this. However, avoiding conflict would be useful. Maybe I should try intimidation? Except I can't. I'm practically the least intimidating person ever.
She doesn't seem to dislike me though. I thought she might lose interest in me by now. I'll follow her, she seems to know what she's doing. Or at leats she knows how to look like she knows what she's doing. When she walks away, I find myself following her.
"I'm actually 15, by the way. And what's your name?"
I can only handle so much mystery. I can't be the only one giving information about myself and she won't be the only one giving nicknames here.

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Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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"I'm actually 15, by the way. And what's your name?"
15? Eesh. I'm his height! But...there are short boys out there. I guess that he must get as annoyed with his height as I do with my hair color. And then my brain catches up with the last of his statement. My name? What will that give him? What possible way could he take advantage of me with the name Iris? Is there anything he could get from this? He could use my name in magical rituals to destroy me...or gather Intel on me...or mock my name...but can he do anything bad? I think not. So after a moment of Deliberation I look at him and say, "Iris. My name is Iris. Nice to meet you."
"Oh. Iris. Was that so hard?" he asks, looking like he's thinking hard.
"Well, yes." I say matter of factually. "You could use my name in any amount of magical rituals, use my name to gather Intel on me so you can determine all my weaknesses, or you could mock my name. Quite frankly, however, I don't think you are able to do any of those things in the next 5 minutes and so I shall trust you with my name for a short amount of time." Ten stares at me like I'm insane.
"Are you paranoid? Is all of Cappelle like you?" I pause.
"Yes...I suppose I am paranoid. And is all of Cappelle like me...? No." My fingers brush against my 5 pins. "I am a bit unusual."
"You have 5 pins? I thought you could only have 3!" Ten sounds confused. I look at him and see his black X. He's Undeclared.
"Yes...generally that is the case. I applied for more pins. 5 Majors, 2 Minors."
"Why?"
"I wish to be a doctor. Georgina Samin doesn't have a healing tract...I have to piece it together."
"But...but...you are a girl! Girls are hardly ever Doctors!" And then Ten turns bright red. Like he feels he's said to much.
"Yes...that is why I must be perfect. Why I must know every answer, Ace every test, win every fight. Without it, there will always be naysayers. Not all of Cappelle is like me. No one in Cappelle wants to be."
I turn around and keep walking until we reach the dorm door for boys.
"Here we are. See you Ten." And with that I walk away.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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She considers this question for a very long while. Apparently this is too much information to give away or something like that. She lifts her head up to look at me after a minute or so.
“Iris. My name is Iris. Nice to meet you.”
I would be disappointed that I can’t make up a nickname for this simple of a name, but I probably couldn’t come up with a very good one anyways.
“Oh. Iris. Was that so hard?” I feel the need to ask. She really had to consider that. I suppose I’m not really deserving of trust from anyone at this point.
“Well, yes.” She replies. I let her continue. “You could use my name in any amount of magic rituals, use my name to gather Intel on me so you can determine all my weaknesses, or you could mock my name. Quite frankly, however, I don’t think you are able to do any of those things in the next 5 minutes and so I shall trust you with my name for a short amount of time.”
It’s kind of funny how she thinks I can do all of this with the name Iris. Yes, now that I know the name of a type of flower I know everything I know everything I need to know to discover her weaknesses. It’s kind of scary at the same time though. Do people usually do these kinds of things that she needs to be so cautious?
“Are you paranoid? Is all of Cappelle like you?” I blurt out.
Iris is starting to make me think my father sent me to a school of crazy people who do demonic rituals as soon as they know a person’s name.
“Yes
 I suppose I am paranoid. And is all of Cappelle like me
? No.” She runs her long fingers over her various pins. “I’m a bit unusual.”
“You have 5 pins? I thought you could only have 3!” Another outburst from me.
She looks at me much like a wise adult looks at a naĂŻve child. Not in an angry way, just slightly amused.
“Yes
 generally that is the case. I applied for more pins. 5 Majors, 2 Minors.”
That’s a lot of work to put in. It kind of makes me feel like I’m not doing enough.
“Why?”
“I wish to be a doctor.” She replies almost immediately. “Georgina Samin doesn’t have a healing tract
 I have to piece it together.”
This strikes me as odd.
“But
 but
” I want to stop my train of thought right there. She raises an eyebrow, waiting for me to finish. “
 you are a girl! Girls are hardly ever doctors!”
I realize just how idiotic I really am. I grew up with my father. He told me things exactly like this. His ignorant views were passed onto my childish brain. This girl is much more intelligent and mature than I will likely ever be. Surprisingly enough, she isn’t angry. I can’t imagine why not.
“Yes
 that is why I must be perfect. Why I must know every answer, ace every test, win every fight. Without it, there will always be naysayers. Not all of Cappelle is like me. No one in Cappelle wants to be.”
The statement is quite surprising. When I think Cappelle, I think of someone just like her: Intelligent, hard-working, trying to be the best, and things like that. Almost the exact opposite of the kind of person I am. That was just a show of how ignorant I am. How am I supposed to fit in with people like her? Intelligent people like her.
“Here we are. See you Ten.”
I hadn’t even realized we reached the boys dorms.
“W-Wait! Iris, I still need to perform an evil magic ritual with your name! Come back!”
She had already left.
“Just kidding
” I mumble to thin air, again.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Ennis Harlow Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 8th, 1847

Perhaps it was a bit stupid, but I was rather hoping that my fervent begging to the Headmistress would have been acknowledged and I would have been allowed to room alone. But of course not. That would make my life easy. And on top of that, I am half a school away from the library. I hate the gods.

Maybe it is a bit foolish, but I am actually afraid of people. Rather than run away, I get very acerbic and rude. Perhaps that is why people hate me. It's because of my fear. It's also probably why my Mother is choosing Fred over me.

I've been looking after my mother since I was about 5. I'd find her shoes, keys, hairbrushes, etc. when she lost them. I reminded her of the time so she wouldn't forget to take me to school and go to work. I'd remind her to pay the taxes. In a way, it's a relief she found Fred. I don't know how she would have managed with me away at school without him. Three years ago, Fred came into Mother's life. And he saved us.

I tried my best, I really did, but I was 11. I was supposed to be focusing on not failing Algebra, not taking care of my mother! I taught myself how to pay the taxes, but like I said, math like that was hard when I was 9. We were slowly falling into bankruptcy. Mother works in a bar. That's how she met Fred. He had just caught his fiancée cheating on him. His solution was getting drunk.

I have no idea how things went from there, but a few weeks later and Fred was Mother's new boyfriend. Fred took over paying the taxes, helped Mother, and helped me in school. He became a dad to me. Which is why, at age 14, I was understandably thrilled when on August 3rd I was told Fred had proposed. Which is why I felt understandably betrayed when Fred said he didn't want me.

I'm walking down the stairs trying to get a late-night brownie. During certain times of the month, chocolate is the only thing that stops me from hating the gender I was born with. I am a few steps away from the kitchen door when I hear the voices, arguing. I never hear Fred and Mother fight. Ever. So I eavesdrop.

"You love Iris!" I hear Mother's voice clearly.
"I do." Replies Fred's gravelly voice.
"Then what is wrong with keeping her?"
"Rue-"
"Don't 'Rue' me! You're asking me to hand my daughter over to that man! He doesn't care about her all that much! He regrets marrying me! He regrets Iris being born! Do you think I want her living in that environment?"
"Rue-"
"No! She needs to be in a loving environment-"
"Rue-"
"And if you think I'm going to give up my only daughter, you've got another thing coming-"
"Rue!" Fred finally snaps, and Mother stops.
"What?"
"She's already in that environment."
"What do you mean?" Mother sound genuinely shocked.
"You haven't been taking care of her. She's been taking care of you."
My Mother stays silent.
"When I first met her, I saw it. A burning resentment. You resent her. She traps you to your old husband. She's everything he is, everything you aren't. Responsible, obsessive, over-achieving, bad with people, sarcastic. You resent your daughter, and though she doesn't realize it yet, she resents you. And staples of your previous marriage will make you miserable. I just want us to have a happy life together. Please?" Fred is now begging. Mother is silent.
"He's not going to be happy."
" Your Ex will just have to deal with it." Mother sighs.
"Fine."
"I love you."
"I love you too." And to the sound of a rather heated kiss, I run back up the stairs.


I shake my head slightly to clear the memory, and wipe at the tears forming in my eyes. I'm better off alone. I'll just have to avoid getting to know my roommates. I jet up to the door of my new dorm, trunk in hand. I open the door and am about to walk in when I hear voices. I lean in to listen...

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Mikah Bolton Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Ennis Harlow Character Portrait: Etios Naelthi Character Portrait: Dabir Akinyemi
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Azima:
"I think that pretty well, actually." The person of undecidable gender with the teal hair whips around. "Ah.....Azima?" I nod. "Ennis?" "Yup. "
"So, uh, if you aren't sleeping here where you about to sleep tonight?"
"I don't fucking know." Ennis ran a hand through their hair. "I might just build a fort in the goddamn courtyard, you know?"
My face lights up. "Are you serious?"
"I wasn't intending to be, but it isn't a bad idea once it comes down to it."
"No but I love stuff like that! I could help you," I offer. Ennis smiles. "Really? Thanks! You don't think I'm weird or anything?"
I shrug. "Doesn't matter to me. The other girls will probably help you if you-"
"I'll help." We both whip around to see a tall red-head in the doorway. It seems like she’s been listening to us the whole time.
Ennis nods. “Hey, you’re cute. What’s your name?”
The girl takes a long time to respond, long enough that it gets awkward enough that Ennis and I just start laughing hysterically at the silence. The girl narrows her eyes, turns around, and walks out without a word. ((Lizzy if you wanted to help you can come back I just thought under those circumstances Iris would probably leave)) “Okay, well she’s out then I guess,” I say. “Man, what was her problem? Like she has to think about what her own name is each time.” We laugh again. Then Ennis says, “Okay, but seriously, sweetie, do you know anyone else who could help us?”
“Ye- hold up, did you just call me “sweetie”?”
“Yeah, boo, I did.” They raise their eyebrows, waiting for a response.
“Uh, I don’t know how to feel but okay,” I say.

Micah:
This was his first year going to the school, since he had crashed on 1847 last summer. He knew Azima, but that was it from his year so he thought he would go over and say hey before putting his stuff down in the dorm. He was wearing his set of 2015 clothes. He knew people were staring at him but that was the point. He found the girl’s dorm Azima was in and opened the door, expecting to see her in there. Instead there was a tall redhead girl in the process of taking off her shirt. “EXCUSE YOU! WHY ARE YOU IN HERE?! “ She yelled, pulling her shirt down. “Hey, it’s the middle of the day, da fuck you changing for? You cute by the way. Anyway you know where Azima at?”
The girl stared at him. “What are your pants made of?” She asked. “Da fuck you mean? How is I suppsed to know what my pants made out of? Where’s Azima boo?”
“Don’t call me boo. And she is also changing, since we are getting into our uniforms to go to class. Unlike you, who clearly,” she gave a pointed look to his clothes, “Doesn’t care about making a good impression on the first day. Which is really all important if you want the teacher to like you.”
“Eyyy, Mikah, how do you like our school?” Azima walked out from another part of the dorm, wearing only a corset and slip. “Cover yourself please,” Iris asked, another pointed look at Mikah. “It doesn’t matter, he’s looking anyway,” She said . “Class is about to start Mikah. Go away.”
“Damn Azima you is fine in that,” Mikah said, ducking out of the way of her hand as she tried to slap him.
“Goa way Mikah let me change,” She said, laughing.
“Aight bye,” he said, stepping out. He went back to the dorm, where he was greeted by a tall Asian boy and a very short white boy, who looked like Mikah could just push him and he’d fall over. The tall boy spoke, sounding really serious, like dorm greeting was a life or death kind of activity. “Etios. Who are you?”
“Mikah. You know the one from the future? You should have heard of me. Where you been boi?”
“It is impossible to travel from one time bubble to another,” etios said, his eyes containing suspicion.
“No it’s not, Azima said it wasn’t,” A dark-skinned boy spoke up from one of the bunk beds. “Eyy, you must be Azima’s little cousin!” He said. The boy nodded. “I’m Dabir, spelled D-A B-E-E-R.”
“Shit for real?”
“No duh, it’s with an I. I tell people its an EE though.”
“Kay, cool, I feel that. Ok well let me put my stuff here. Damn, I don’t wanna go to class. Why we gotta go on the first day tho?”
“It would be advised to take your studies more seriously, Mikah,” Etios said cooly.
“Okay no one cares what you think Lord Emo Gay. Also Da Beer have you seen this dumb uniform? I aint wearing it. See what they say.”
“Like uh, Lord Emo Gay said you should probably take more interest in your classes Mikah,” Dabir said.
“Okay whatever . Hey you,” he said, turning to Tenexier. “What year you in, first or something?”
“um, actually, fifth, like you,” he said quietly. “In fact, I think we have a class together
math four?”
Mikah checked his schedule. “Yep, okay, let’s go then,” he said. “There any fine girls in this year?”
“Er, I don’t know what you mean by “fine”,” Ten responded. “They’re all fine, I think
”
“Okay nevermind you know what. Let’s just go to class okay. Where is it?”

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 8th, 1847
I am not the most modest girl out there, truly I'm not. I do prefer leggings to skirts. But what on earth did Azima think she was doing? A rather inappropriate boy, with poor grammar and something against explaining textiles, walks into our rooms, stares as I start to pull my shirt off, and then proceeds to admire Azima while she is in nothing more than a shift? What isn't wrong with this situation. I shudder slightly. And this is why I avoid people.

I straighten my skirts, pull my over shirt lower, and pull my corset more firmly over my breasts. I make sure all my pins are pinned perfectly, and then I grab my hairbrush. As soon as I undo my hair from the loose bun I had it in before, it comes tumbling down my shoulders in a messy and rather annoying way. I hate my hair, with it's thick (heavy) corkscrew curls and awful red color. Scowling slightly, I brush my hair furiously, not even wincing at the numerous knots that the brush gets caught in. I've tried cutting my hair before, but it just grows back to my waist every time. Azima comes out of the area where she was changing, thankfully fully dressed this time, and she doesn't even seem slightly embarrassed. When she sees my fight with my hair, she stops and stares.
"You have pretty hair." She says after staring at my fight with my hair for a while.
"It's bloody impossible to deal with." I reply.
"Why don't you cut it then?" She asks, grinning as if it should be obvious. As if she somehow has come up with a solution that I missed. I frown at her, feeling slightly offended.
"I can't. My hair grows back impossibly fast every time. The only solution is pulling it back." And with that I start the process of braiding various sections of my hair, pinning them into place, and then twisting them up into a complicated bun. Azima watches, and then breaks in.
"Here." she says, shoving something under my nose. The 3 inch long bobby pin I'm about to shove in my hair is pulled from my hand, and something round, elastic, and cover in cloth is put in my hand again. Dropping my hands so I can examine this odd elastic, I groan as my hair falls apart.
"What is this?" I ask, irritation seeping into my voice.
"Micah calls them 'hair elastics' or 'ponytail holders'. Says the girls back in 2015 use them all the time. Brought some back for me. I don't actually think he traveled time bubbles but...these are amazing. So he could be telling the truth."
I examine these 'hair elastics'. "I see. How do I use them?"
"Here" says Azima, and she grabs one and starts brushing my hair into a simple queue. A Man's hairstyle. She then wraps the hair hanging down from the queue around the base of the hair elastic, and fastens this hair with another elastic. I look in the mirror and gape. There, on my head, is a perfect bun. I need these elastics. They could save so much time! I could have more time for reading!
"Azima," I say quietly.
"Yes?" She says with a grin and a raised eyebrow.
"May I have some of these?"
"Sure. What colors?" i look down and see there are as many colored pony tails as there are colors in the world. Most are far to flashy but...
"Blue, Black, and Brown." The colors I wear every day. Azima nods.
"Here you go." she begins to walk away.
"Azima?" I call hesitantly. She turns around expectantly.
"Thank you." And Azima and I share a smile. A Human interaction that is almost...pleasant.

September 8th, 1847. Classes
After that brief interaction with Azima, I grabbed my leather satchel and tucked my wand inside my bun. I began walking to class a quickly as possible. And about halfway there, I cheated and jetted to my first class.
Honors Intermediate Potions. Heaven. In potions I usually get a partner who's more than happy to let me do all the work. I am alone, I get the job done, I learn, and I'm closer to being a doctor. Heaven. I pick a desk towards to front of the class, in the middle of the classroom. The perfect position for learning. I carefully pull out my leather-bound notebook for potions, my pen and some ink for my pen. I straighten them all out on my desk perfectly, and then pull out my potions text and a runic dictionary for some of more complicated incantations. And then I start to read and make annotations in my book.

Professor Simone walks in, and she smiles at all of us, pure joy radiating off of her. "Welcome back to class everyone! I was so proud of all of the people who decided to come back this year and learn even more about the beauty of potions. As today is the first day, we will be covering-" suddenly she trails off. I follow her gaze to where a person has just walked in. Technically not late, as Professor Simone always starts class early, but still. Bad manners.
"Sorry." The girl says, shrinking in on herself slightly as if trying escape the piercing gazes settles on her. "My dorm assignment was changed last-minute, and I had to sort that out with the Headmistress."
"No problem Ms. Anasova," Professor Simone says with a smile, "Just take an open seat." And smiles reassuringly. I quickly start to sharpen the metal nub of my pen so that I am prepared to take notes.

I only look up when this...Anasova girl sits next to me. She is tiny. Like, 5 feet tall tiny. And she has on a hat. A hat! It's technically against the school dress code to wear any adornments on our heads. Who does this girl think she is? But what can you expect of a Minerette? At least her uniform is impeccable. After a quick glance over, I grit my teeth slightly at the fact that someone has taken a seat next to me and turn back to the teacher.
"Well," says Simone, "Like I was saying, as it is the first day, we will be covering safety procedures and plant types..."
((AN: I will write more later, I have a pounding headache. For the record, a queue is the original turn for pony-tail.))

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Mikah Bolton Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Etios Naelthi Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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Etios:
Spellcasting. This never was one of my strengths. Focusing so much on physical strength and fighting skill, my parents didn’t bother to drill magic into my head quite as much. Not that I am bad at magic. I’m simply outclassed by some more magically talented students. The image of a certain blond haired student flashes across my mind. Tenexier. Now, that is a magically talented student. Quite talented indeed

Oh right. I was going to spellcasting class. There, a few students are already seated. Of them I recognize very few. And of the few, I know the names of exactly 2, Mikah and Tenexier. I suppose I will have a lot of classes with them since they are around my age. I decide on sitting around them since very few seats are left and I’d prefer not to sit next to any people I don’t recognize at all.
“Hi, Etios.” Tenexier greets as we all wait for the actual class to start.
I give him a smirk as a greeting. That should be enough acknowledgement.
“You do that a lot.” He remarks.
“What?”
“Smirk. You look like you’re trying to seduce me or something.” He says it innocently enough, but it causes me to stop and look around at the rest of the class. Most of the students aren’t really paying attention, but I notice and few gazes in our direction and start to feel slightly defensive. I also notice Mikah, he is having a conversation with some girl and she seems very uncomfortable. Finally class starts and the teacher is actually ready to teach.
A short lecture about different kinds of magic ensues. I quickly jot down in my notes: magic with staff is defensive, magic with wand is offensive, mental magic is used in high pressure situations and for precise magic. She calls us up to try doing the classic swish and flick maneuver with a wand. The whole class of mostly unfamiliar people receives one wand per person. Magic requires a much gentler approach, I’ve noticed. Not as much going for the kill and more careful movements. A snicker comes from Mikah’s general area. His voice is so ridiculous and recognizable.
“Etios. Stop being so gay!” He imitates the swish and flick maneuver in a very flamboyant manner.
Hilarious.
“Yes, Mikah. In fact, I have quite the gay crush on you. A boy from the future? That definitely piques my interest.” I flash him one of those smirks Tenexier mentioned.
I hope he doesn’t think I’m serious. I wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t detect my obvious sarcasm. I hear Tenexier’s quiet chuckles from the seat next to me.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 8th, 1847: Potions Class

"You're absolutely sure I can't have a room to myself? I'll take anywhere. Please." This is the tail end of an argument I've been having with the headmistress for the past ten minutes.
"I'm sorry, but you know the rules. I've pushed it far enough with your hat." The headmistress is a friend of my grandmothers, and she knows about my, um, situation. "Have you talked to the other girls in your dorm?" I shrug, because there is no way that I'm telling her I haven't even been in the mixed dorms yet. I'e been sleeping in the common room, and nobody questions it. Minerettes are known to be eccentric. "You should at least try it. If you can come up with a valid reason, I might be able to do something." She smiles, and points to the clock. "Now go to class. First impressions." I walk into the rapidly clearing hallway, and half run to my honors potions class. I ought to be in advanced, but they only take sixth years and up. I pull open the door, and the professor has apparently started teaching before first bell. She trails off of her statement.
"Sorry." I says, shrinking in on myself. Everyone has started staring at me. "My dorm assignment was changed last-minute, and I had to sort that out with the Headmistress."
"No problem Ms. Anasova," Professor Simone says with a smile, "Just take an open seat." And smiles reassuringly. Professor Simone is definitely one of my favorite teachers, but she teaches directly from the book for about a week at the beginning of the year. I generally end up reading the book cover to cover during that time, so I don't really pay much attention to the lecture itself. I look around quickly, and see a seat next to a disapproving looking redhead. Looks like she'll be too focused on taking notes to pay any attention to me, which is always nice.
She only looks up when I sit down next to her, and looks at me critically. She stops at my hat, and her eyes narrow a tiny bit. She grits her teeth and goes back to taking notes in tiny, textbook perfect handwriting.
"Well," says Simone, "Like I was saying, as it is the first day, we will be covering safety procedures and plant types..." I stop paying attention to some extent, and just start reading the textbook. Occasionally I look at the redhead's notes, and she is copying precisely what I'm reading in the book. The incantations the professor is giving us (just the generic potion mix, detailed stuff comes later in the year) are all in horribly garbled elvish. Most people don't understand that human grammar doesn't precisely apply to magical languages, which are much more wild and much less strict rules. I hate the way they teach magical languages, and i'm forced to learn this whole mess and the unlearn it every year. As the girl next to me copies down yet another horrible mishmash of grammar, I finally can't take it anymore. I scoot towards her a bit, and whisper.
"You are doing that wrong." She looks at me in annoyance.
"What do you want? I'm trying to listen to the lecture."
"That's not the way grammar works. You say that word for word over a potion and there's a chance it will blow up. Also, it sounds awful." She glares at me.
"How do you know? This is what all the books have said."
"Well then the books are wrong." She glares at me for a second, and goes back to copying down the plant names and associated incantations. I sigh, and start to write out the sample potion incantations that will almost certainly be assigned at the end of class in my own slightly sloppy cursive. She looks over again, and glares at my handwriting. This is going to be a long year.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 8th, 1847: Potions
I glare at the hand writing of this Anasova girl. Messy cursive but...she's writing down the incantations differently. What if she's right? I know books are often wrong. What if the way I'm doing it's wrong? I'll never become a Doctor!

I grit my teeth again and swallow my pride before turning to look at her. "What?" She asks, sounding exasperated.
"Teach me." I say quite frankly, and I wince as the blow to my pride hits.
"What?" Anasova repeats confused.
"Teach me," I reiterate. "Books are often wrong and something always felt off about the lessons, but I never thought that it would be as bad as you said. And...I need to be perfect, you have no idea how important it is." Anasova stares at me, and then sighs.
"I don't particularly want to teach you." And then she turns away. And for half a moment I feel disappointment, so strong it is crushing. I touch my braided hair self consciously and calm down. It doesn't matter much. I'll just teach myself. I will succeed. I will be a doctor, and no one in the world will be able to stop me. I'm going to be the best.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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September 8th, 1847: Potions Class

After a good ten minutes of being surreptitiously glared at by "I know everything in the universe" and feeling like an idiot for even bringing it up (good job Keely! Say that you speak elvish better than the people who write the textbooks! That can't be a bad idea!), the girl next to me pokes me in the arm.
"What?" I ask, assuming that she just wants to insult my handwriting or something.
"Teach me." She says, and I narrowly avoid spilling on my paper.
"What?" I repeat. Is she joking?
"Teach me," she says again, a bit more forcefully. "Books are often wrong and something always felt off about the lessons, but I never thought that it would be as bad as you said. And...I need to be perfect, you have no idea how important it is." I stare at her, and then groan inwardly. I want to teach her, I really do, and it would be nice to have someone to talk to, but... She really was a jerk a few minutes ago and if I can't deal with being stared at for being late I definitely can't deal with this.
"I don't particularly want to teach you." I turn away, feeling the intense wave of disappointment washing over her.
"I wish I could help you," I say too quietly for anyone to hear. "Its just too much." She touches her hair, and I can feel her defenses go back up. She continues writing down the incorrect incantations, and I just rip the piece of paper out of my journal and stare at it for a few minutes. I can almost feel somebody looking at me, and I unconsciously pull my hat down farther on my head. When the bell rings for free period, I drop the incantations in front of her with "I'm sorry" written and underlined in the clearest handwriting I can do. I then hoot out of the classroom before she can say anything. I have free period next, so I should probably find out where my dorm actually is, and possibly dump my stuff there. unless I can find a reason to get my own room. Well, I can always hope.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Iris Meloni Character Portrait: Vrede BlĂłm
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September 8th, 1847
Sitting in the dorm room is very freeing. Although there is tension, there is also peace within the air. The whole building soothes and heals. The vibrations of magic sing like a song, powerful, but somehow soft...like the music from before we left the surface...Mozart.

A girl in my dorm is scowling furiously at a piece of paper with elvish writing on it, and cross referencing an Elvish-to-English dictionary. She is then writing in a rather thick leather notebook. She finally finishes, and then carefully uses her wand to stamp on the cover "Elvish-to-English Dictionary". With a slightly satisfied look on her face, the girl picks up the book and hugs it to herself. And so I ask "What have you made?"
"A book of the real Elvish language and the words in correspondence with English!"
"I see. But Elvish doesn't translate to English well.” I say this matter-of-factly. The girl looks exasperated.
“Does everyone but me know this?” she demands of me.
“No, just magical creatures like me.”
“You’re a magical creature? Fascinating! How much of your physical make-up is changed by your heritage? Are you bones sturdier, lighter? If you can control elements, how does your structure change? And-” Somewhere along the way my mouth drops to the floor. She wants to know about my bone structure ? And she’s not just being rude either. She asks with such fervor she obviously interested.
“Look, how about we dive into my medical history after I know the basics about you.”
“Basics?” The girl asks confused. She tucks a strand of hair that has fallen from her slowly unraveling braided bun behind her ear.
“Yes. Like
I don’t know
your name? And maybe favorite color, subject, and perhaps favorite form of magic?” please be telepathic for once, please let you favorite magic be telepathic.
“Oh.” She says, sounding unsure. “I don’t usually give away my name to someone I’ve just met.” I nod.
“Wise for someone without the protection from magical beings to keep your name safe. It’s okay, you needn’t tell me.” She bites her lip, and for a moment, I think the red-head won’t tell me. Then she clears her throat and says,
“Iris Meloni, my favorite color is orange, though I can’t wear it with my hair. I love potions, hate etiquette, and Mental magic is my favorite.” Yes!
“Vrede Blom, favorite color is green, I love music, hate magical languages because everything gets messed up, and love mental magic.” And we share a smile.
AN: Iris shares her name because Vrede told her she was a magical creature, highly personal information. She’s going to learn some languages from vrede, but Vrede’s not very good with Elvish, so Iris will still want Keely’s help. Ok :D

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Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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Cappelle Commons
On the way here, there was one hing in my mind: Vrede said all magical creatures know about the language class issues. And all the way here, I was repeating in my head none of your business, none of your business. Because it wasn't. Isn't.

I walk into the common room and breath a breath of relief. The air is slightly cool, to preserve the books along the walls. The ceiling is a cheerful blue with altocumulus clouds painted and enchanted to move across the ceiling. Occasionally another cloud appears, but as today is a beautiful day, the sky is peaceful. At night, the commons show a perfect replica of the night sky. There is a skylight in the middle of the ceiling, the main source of light. The bookshelves are all a coppery color, and the walls are various shades of blue with copper designs and metal copper hangings on the walls. There are some comfy chairs so we can curl up with a good book, and a few fireplaces only lit at night so you can do so in front of a fire. There are also desks and study tables. Over all, perfection. This is the one place I feel at home.

I walk to one of the study tables as there is not enough room at the single desks, and all of them are taken anyway. Plopping down, I pull my leather satchel off, and pull out my French-to-English dictionary just in case. As I begin doing my homework, I find myself absorbed in my work. I'm only interrupted when a chair pulls out across from me, and I barely hold back a frustrated groan. Almost no one bothers me, so it must be a firstie. Which means I'm about to get wrapped up in an explanation of why you need to use a dull knife on some potions ingredients and a sharp one on others. Beginners stuff.

But when i look up, it isn't the annoying firstie I was expecting. Rather, a ten year old kid. Tenexier, I believe he claims was his name, although Ten suits him much better. He is sitting there studying me, and I look up about to tell him to shove off. I never get the chance.
"Look, I know you don't like people, but I really need help with my assignment. It's for my magical languages class. Supposedly there's an inscription in every common room, and I'm supposed to decode the Cappelle one." He says this all very fast, almost nervously. I groan. Of course, I forgot they gave this assignment to all new students.
"Don't waste your time." I say frankly.
"What do you mean?"
"The inscription is over there. And it's not in any known language. Supposedly, each of the house founders and Georgina Samin left a message each somewhere in the castle for future students. No one knows where Georgina's is, but the founders have theirs in the commons. Anyway, the point of the assignment is to recognize that it's impossible to decode." Ten deflates slightly.
"Oh. That sucks." It's rather unfair, I agree, but it's how it is. "Well," he says hesitantly, "Will you show it to me?"
"Sure," I say with a slight eyeroll. "It's right over-" and I freeze. Because When I look at the inscription I see. One of the words...It's in correct Elvish mixed with French. Meaning...The wall can be decoded.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Setana Oeyar Character Portrait: Iris Meloni
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Setana:
"Oh! I didn't mean to be so late! I've only missed a day or so, right?" I pout.
"Setana Oeyar, is there a reason you're late?" The prefect asks, crossing his arms.
"I just had to help take care of my dear mother and say goodbye to her. Surely I can just make up what I missed." I offer. "Oh, and my last name is Vetrix. I'd prefer you note that down."
"Oeyar is written here. Is that not you?"
"It is, but I'd prefer my mother's maiden name. She's such a wonderful woman."
"All right. Here's the key to your dorm. Enjoy your stay." He hands me some keys and I carefully take them from his hands.
"Thank you, sir!" I smile, walking away from the Saelin prefect.
So, this year I hear my favorite brother was enrolled in this school. Why would that be? Doesn't his father know that I'm here? Why would his loving father want him to be enrolled in a school where little Ten will meet me? How interesting.
I despise my last name. Mother will not let me change because I cannot forget about them. She wants to fuel the rage within me even though I don't know the whole story. She won't tell me the whole story of why they separated or why we are so angry about it. All I know is that I may earn her love if I do as she says, for she is the only person I will obey.
The dorm is empty. Supposedly everyone is in free period right now. This year, I hear that students from different houses will dorm together, so I can only wonder who will be in this dorm. Everyone in this school seems to recognize me and talk about me for some reason or another. I don't remember people's names very often, they remember my name, though. Placing my stuff down, I wander the halls, searching for the Saelin common room.

Tenexier:
"I-Iris? Are you okay?" I tap her shoulder, knocking her out of her daze.
"Yeah... I'm fine" She seems thoughtful about the wall inscriptions.
"Thanks. I'll just write about how they can't be decoded." I begin writitng for my assignment.
"Yeah."
"Oh by the way I wanted to ask you about something."
"Yeah." She's writing furiously in her notes and doesn't seem to be paying much attention.
"What do you think about Etios?" I ask her.
"Hm? I don't think I know anyone by that name."
"Oh. Well he is in Gierna and he's a really interesting person. It's just that I can't tell what he's thinking most of the time and he's just kind of a mystery for the most part. You seem to be good at analysing what people are like or figuring out the inner workings of their minds. I want to be able to do something like that and figure out what he is thinking."
I hope she can do something to help me. She doesn't seem that interested in what I have to say and she's so engrossed in that inscription that I have to ask.
"Did you find anything interesting about that inscription on the wall?"
She bites her lip and replies. "No. I'm just curious about what it has to say."
"But isn't it impossible to decode?" I press.
"...Yes. It is impossible to decode, but I'm still interested."
I sigh. I guess she really doesn't care much about what I have to say right now. That wall inscription is much more interesting. There has to be something more to it that I'm not getting. I start on my assignment about the inscription, hesitating to believe that it is impossible to decode.

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Character Portrait: Iris Meloni Character Portrait: Vrede BlĂłm
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Iris
"...Yes. It is impossible to decode, but I'm still interested."
Ten nods, but I'm inwardly groaning about my excuse. So I reach out for something better.
"In reality, nothing is unsolvable, meaning that the founders had their own way of communication. Meaning it may tell what happened to Minerette or whether or not Cappelle truly was half mermish. None of those things may appear...but it's nice to fantasize." I smile at him, and Ten smiles back. "So, tell me about the guy you like." Ten turns red.
"Err...well his name is Etios and..."
((AN: I think that's a good end. A promise of a friendship, and questions answered. Iris will help with Etios later, but I feel this finishes the scene Gwen)
Vrede
It's dark outside. And although the stars are brighter, the double new moon outside makes everything seem dark. The double new moon is rare, and when it occurs, the water-fae's powers are significantly reduced. It was this time 16 years ago that the fire-fae attacked the water-fae. The water-fae, however, weren't completely defenseless, and my father was injured. He fell, and fell, and fell to the ground. To a farm. Where he was found by a young (in comparison to him) girl. And although they both looked about 25, in reality, my father was nearly a thousand years old. About the equivalent of 25 for the fire-fae. And of course, this wasn't mentioned to my mother until after it was discovered she was expecting me. They were married two weeks later.

I don't particularly care for my parents' love story. It seems less like a love story and more like a pedo tale. But, they do love each other very much, and neither seems to blame me for bringing them together. I was the result of a fling, but am in a stable home. I was lucky. I sadly know many ways this could have played out.

On my fifth birthday, I was given a set of divining stones from my fae grandmother, and a set of tarot cards from my human grandmother. I am the only person I know who can read both accurately. Apparently, when I was blessed with the abilities to see what magic intended, I was blessed with the ability to see the future and the past. And what might have been.

At first it was little things. I saw when my rabbit was sick before it happened. I saw rituals to settle my fire ability being performed on me once I reached 13 (which, for the record, didn't work due to my half-human heritage). I saw my parent's wedding.

At first I thought they were dreams. and then they got worse

I began to see battles, people dying. I began to see numbers swirling around in impossible codes, I saw people hunting, I saw the world's foundations shaking as the island was forced from the land before, I saw the island rejoin the land. Every night the visions became stronger, and every night I was afraid to sleep. That's when I was given the stones and cards.

I was given the stones to help control my sight regarding the fae, and the cards to help control my sight regarding the humans. Together, I can see almost anything I ask to see. And if I don't ask to see something fairly regularly, I will be dragged into the dreams head-first. Magic gets impatient, and she seems to have decided to have used me to channel her messages. I used to hope that there are others out there with the same problem, but magic has assured me when I ask. There are those who use the stones like I do. Those who use the cards like I do. But no one who uses both like I do.

And that it what brings me here tonight. The night my parents met. It's when my readings are strongest. I waited until all my roommates were asleep. I then climbed into my bed, pulled tight the curtains, and cast wards to stop anyone from noticing what is happening. And so I begin the shuffle the deck. I begin to lay out the cards in a pattern that doesn't follow the usual patterns for readings. As I place them where they must go, my hands guided by magic, I infuse each card with my power, making them glow. When I have laid out 13 cards, I feel the need for the cards fade and I reach for the stones. I grab a handful and fling them out. Another handful and fling them out again. They float above each of the cards, the runes in them glowing. When I open my eyes, I know they are glowing a silvery shade of their natural color. And I look down at the cards and stones, and visions flash through my head. Walls, four of them with messages, and then a fifth, with a message only appearing as each of the other four are written on the wall.

And then I snap out of it. Sometimes, I think angrily, you can be really cryptic Magic.

((AN: I'm making 1847 have 2 moons b/c I can))

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Mikah Bolton Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Ennis Harlow Character Portrait: Etios Naelthi
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"Ennis!" I turn around, already out of the building and back into the courtyard.
"Who are you? What do you want?" It was that boy who ran into the middle of the clearing, right before I was about to kick that piece of shit Gierna in the face. Yeah, I'm still mad.
"My name's Etios. The blonde kid who was getting the life kicked out of him earlier? Who you saved?" I nod, still on guard, not entirely sure where this is going. "That was my boyfriend. Or, well, sort of. I don't think he knows I like him. I wanted to thank you. And the speech you made to the teacher-you surprised her enough to actually let go of the spell that was keeping you two in place. I also think that you shocked the entire hall into silence for a week, at least." The tall kid goes silent-he's obviously not used to talking so nicely for so long.
"You know, if we were being really cliche, this would be the bit where I said that I was just doing what anyone would do. But you know, this isn't something that anyone would do. So, thank you. But I've been in that kid's position before, and I know that what I would have given to have had someone to back me up."
There is a long and somewhat awkward pause. Then the tall kid-Etios-goes, "Before I make a complete asshole of myself-Pronouns?"
I can feel the grin spread across my face. "They/them. Would you believe that you're the first person to actually ask me that?"
"Honestly, yeah. But given the envi-"
Etios is inturrupted by the voice of a very angry teacher storming across the grounds. "Harlow! Naelthi! With me, now!"

Two weeks later...

After that incident, Fort Nope had become increasingly crowded with visitors, from Etios and his not-boyfriend (whose name is apparently Tenexier), Dabir, a dark-skinned boy around 13, and his cousin Azima, who I had met earlier in the year. Keely occasionally got a visitor named Iris, who she grudgingly helped with Elvish. However, the only people who actually took up residence in Fort Nope remained solely Keely and myself.
Keely and I stopped at the notice board in the dorm that we were supposed to be sleeping in every morning, and then took our separate ways to each class. We didn't really have any classes together, but sometimes I saw Etios when our classes were paired up for Lethal studies.
As cause of the fight, both Etios and I were put on probation for a week, and the Gierna girl for a month. We weren't allowed to actually participate in any of the Lethal classes, which I didn't mind too much.
"Hey... Ennis, look at this!" Keely dragged me over to the notice board. "There's a field trip coming up... I know you've been dying to get off-campus. Should we take a look?"
It turned out to be some sort of educational history trip, to tour where in the world the War had been fought. AKA, exactly my kind of thing. Each group of 10 or 11 students were randomly grouped with a teacher, and they got an airship to help learn to pilot on the way to the tour destinations.
Keely and I immediately put our names on the list.

Two days later...

"Can you believe this?" I looked at the notice board, with Keely, Azima, Iris, and a couple other girls behind me. "We're all practically in the same group!"
The notice board reads:
Airship #42:
Keely Anasova
Ennis Harlow
Tenexier Oeyar
Dabir Akinyemi
Iris Meloni
Azima Jackson
Etios Naelthi
Vrede Blom
Aleress Medici
Setana Oeyar

I recognized everyone on the list except the three last names, but the last one had the same last name as Ten, so they were probably related.
"We need to go to hanger 16," Iris said from behind me, then pulled out a map. "It's not far, we'll meet up with everyone else soon. In other words, we've probably got about half an hour to get our bags the rest of the way packed before we're scheduled to leave. The trip is longer than I expected-look, we're gone a couple days."
"Good point, babe," I said, then Keely and I practically ran back to Fort Nope, and luckily we had started packing as soon as we had signed up. A couple minutes later, we stepped back outside and headed in the direction of hanger 16.
"Do you know who..." I fished the list of people on the airship back out of my pocket, "Vrede Blom is?"
A look passed over Keely's face that I couldn't quite catch. "Yeah. She saw my hair on the first day, and wasn't nearly as subtle about it as you were."
"Ouch." I whistled, low and under my breath. "I don't have to have a chat with her, do I? You're practically my best friend, Keely. I don't want to find out about this when things escalate out of control."
"No, it's fine!" she said hastily. "We're better now than we were. Her reaction was more along the lines of 'always nice to see another magical creature around'."
I can feel my eyebrows start to crawl towards my hairline. "Huh. Who would've guessed."
The rest of the walk over passed in silence, with the occasional eye-catch of some random person on the way. ("Hello, gorgeous." "Thank you? Who are you? Do I know you?")
I see Azima and Dabir waiting by the airship, their bags in hand.
"Everyone else is already calling bunks," Azima said. "I told Dabir that we were going to wait. He didn't have much of a choice in the matter."
A smiling teacher leaned out of one of the windows of the airship. "Azima, Keely, Ennis, and Dabir! Are those you four? We're waiting for you before we can leave, so hurry up!"
Keely snorted. "He's new, isn't he. Actually excited to be locked in a floating airship with 10 teenagers, can you imagine?"
I smiled crookedly, then made my way up into the ship.
As soon as everyone had stowed away their things, we were all told to meet in the main room of the airship.
"Now, guys, this is a very rare and special trip," said the teacher. "We don't do off-campus field trips often, so this is a first for me as well as all of you. My name is Professor Troiano, and I'll be taking role call. Iris?"
"Here."
"Keely?"
"Hi."
"Etios?"
"Here."
"Ennis?"
"That would be me, sunshine."
"Azima?"
"Yep."
"Tenexier?"
"Present."
"Aleress?"
"Here."
"Vrede?"
"Hello!"
"Setana?"
"Here!"
"Dabir?"
"What?"
"Alright, then, we're all here," finished Professor Troiano. "Now, this will be a four day trip, and with three days of touring and one day for the trip back. We'll be staying on the airship for as long as we're not actually touring the battle sights, so make yourselves at home. We're lifting off in-" he checked his watch, then jumped, "Now! I have to go get to the cockpit, excuse me!" and with that, he left. Wow, what a fabulous chaperon. Very responsible.
The group looked around at each other in amusement, but no one was talking.
"Well!" I said, deciding to go first. "My name's Ennis, since all of you clearly don't know me-"
My short introduction was cut off when Keely held up her hand. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a snicker."
"Yeah, Keely, that's because it was funny. But-"
"No, not from anyone standing here. From over there." She pointed to the stack of supplies in the corner. "Last I checked, pre-prepared food doesn't laugh."
"Ok, Mikah, we know it's you. Not funny, you're not supposed to be here. Get off," said Azima, addressing the barrels of food.
Who the hell is Mikah? I mouthed at Keely, and she shrugged. "Azima? Sweetheart? Everything ok?"
With that, one of the barrels rolled out towards the center of the room and stopped only when it ran into the brick wall that was Etios.
"Aight, so you're Ennis. Nice to have a name to go with that face, hon. How you doin'?" The kid that had evidently snuck on board
grinned up at me.
"Mikah, what the hell are you doing here? Get off the ship, we're about to take off!" Iris said, looking at Mikah like he was from another planet.
"It's simple, babe, really. I saw a hot chick, decided I wanted a piece of that action, and decided to follow. I ended up here, and everyone is hot. Hi, ladies!" He grinned at several blonde girls (Vrede, Aleress, and Setana?) and waggled his fingers.
"Does anyone here have any idea what this idiot is saying?" I asked under my breath, but evidently not quietly enough.
Mikah raised his eyebrows. "Babe, you're hot. But seeing as those are definitely the hum of some wack-ass starship engines, I'd say you'd better get a translator fast, because we're off the ground."
Shit. "Does anyone want to be the one to tell Professor Troiano that we picked up another passenger?"

3 days later...

"We need to take a pitstop soon," said Professor Troiano, glaring at Mikah "We're lower on fuel and food than we thought, given that we have one more person than expected. And one of the engines is starting to act up. I'm sure it's nothing, but if it gets any worse, I'll let you know." With that, he set off in hopes of finding what was wrong with the engine.
"Mikah, please get your fingers out of my hair if you would like to keep them," Aleress said calmly once the teacher was out of earshot.
"Damn, sweetheart, what's the problem? I wanted to play with it, is all..."
"Mikah," I call cheerfully, "Sweetheart is my nickname for everyone. Now do what she says or else she will hurt you, and I won't particularly care." Once the annoying boy had moved away, I made quick eye contact with Aleress, checking that she was alright.
We had bonded after one of my ear piercings had fallen out, and she magicked it out from down the side of the bed where it had hidden. Then I found out that she was also in Saelin, and we hit it off fairly well.
"Wait, hold up guys..." Iris said, looking at everyone in the room with concern. "Do you hear that? One of the engines has stopped..."
"How the hell do you know that?" Dabir asked, looking around.
"It's way quieter than it should be for a giant flying hunk of metal," said Vrede, looking around. "It sounds better this way, honestly."
"Kids!" Professor Troiano's voice crackles into the room, the spell working to throw his voice. "We have a situation-One of the engines has stopped working."
Told you, Iris mouthed, and Dabir stuck out his tongue.
"We're going to have to stop in the air-luckily we're right over one of the bigger islands, and there's a lake directly beneath us. So if we do have to make a controlled decent, we'll have a smoother landing. I'm getting on fixing this as soon as possible, so stay calm, please!" Professor Troiano's voice faded from the room.
"OH SWEET JESUS WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!"
"Mikah, shut u-"
An explosion rocked the ship, sending teenagers everywhere. I saw Etios grab Tenexier before the room filled with smoke.
"Is everyone alright?" I heard someone say, coughing.
"We've just had an engine explode, the Prof's probably dead, we're miles away from the school, NO, we're FINE!"
"Ok," said-Iris? Setana? "We know that Mikah's still alive. Joy. Anyone else? Damage report?"
I wave at the smoke in front of my face, and catch a glimpse neon blue hair to my left. "This is Ennis, I've got eyes on Keely. Sweetheart, you alright? Can you hear me? Keely!"
A small hand flips me off. "M'fine, Ennis. You're not my damn parent."
Azima's voice sounds through the smoke. "Dabir and Iris and Azima all alive."
"Etios and Ten over here. I've got Vrede as well."
"Setana and Vrede all uninjured," said the first voice.
"Great," I say, "Now, is anyone near a window? We need to get this out, and don't talk too much, we don't want to inhale the smoke!" I've already got the top of my uniform covering my mouth, and I think that I see Keely does as well.
About thirty seconds, fumbling, and someone banging what sounded like their shin into a table, the window's open, and the smoke starts to clear.
I see Iris standing next to the open window, then rush over to look out of it. The engine was completely gone, and we were only barely staying upright. The island below us was spinning slowly-no. We were.
I pull my head back in. "Guys, in case you haven't noticed, we're spinning. We still have two other engines going, but not enough fuel to make it back to school. I think-" I run over to the captain's chair, the one that Professor Troiano had called withing the first three minutes of the trip, and check on the wiring. "Yeah, communications are down. Does anyone magic enough to get a communications spell back to them?"
"I might," said Setana, "Not sure. Is this island inhabited? Maybe we can get supplies to fuel the ship?"
Keely joined me by the window. "This is Mermish territory. That lake below us? We could see if we could get things from them. But if anyone's attracted to girls, they've got to stay on the ship-you'll be no use to us."
"Well, damn." I can't go down there. The looks on Tenexier's, Dabir's, Mikah's, and Setana's faces say that they can't go either. "Ok, who wants to go beg expensive airship fuel off of mermaids?"

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Mikah Bolton Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Keely Rose Anasova Character Portrait: Ennis Harlow Character Portrait: Etios Naelthi
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Day Two Of Bargaining with Mermaids

As much as I love not being in school, the bargaining is not going well. The mermaids aren't thrilled with parting with either fuel or engine bits, I'm the only one of us that can speak mermish, and apparently Mikah and Dabir both left the ship, which is incredibly worrying. I've been spending my spare time trying to teach Azima and Iris at least some mermish, Etios is entirely uninterested and is spending most of his time talking to Tenexier via the spell that we set up on a couple of mirrors. Apparently they are really in love, like enough that I can pick up on the emotional stuff even from almost a quarter of a mile away. To be quite honest, I was really considering offering to sell Mikah to the mermaids, on the grounds that not only is he a huge rarity, he's enough of a pain in the ass that they would probably release him in a few days. I did not suggest this. I really wish that Ennis could have come down here with me, or Vrede at the very least, but one of them is attracted to girls and the other is half Katzkan, so that seemed like a really bad idea. The Mierma territory really is pretty, especially the underwater part, and I am really enjoying not having to wear the hat, but...

"Earth to Keely! Come in Keely!" Azima shakes my shoulder, effectively pulling me out of a trance. "I think they want to talk to you." Iris was quickly reading over the notes I gave her, Etios was still talking to Ten, and Azima was nervously shifting from foot to foot. She had been really freaked out when we got the news that Mikah and Dabir had essentially jumped ship, and had wanted to go looking for them immediately. That would have been a very bad idea. We had mainly been staying on the small island in the center of the lake, as the underwater breathing spells only lasted for a couple of hours, and none of them were horribly comfortable around the mermaids. Iris and I cast the spells that would keep us from drowning and we went back underwater.
Mierma cities are, by and large, some of the most beautiful ever. This is mainly because they are incredibly conceited and want their surroundings to be as beautiful as they are, but it doesn't change the fact that the beautifully carved stone and glass is very impressive. The streets were full of normal traffic (although a lot fishier) as we walked, or maybe swam, to the main trading area.

The mermaid that had been mainly negotiating with us smiled like we were very small children. "While this has been very amusing, we see no reason to give you the things that you want." I groaned. I won't lie and say that I expected anything else, it would have been nice to know this earlier so that we could figure out something else.
"Is there any way that I can convince you to change your mind?" I had very little hope at this point, but there was always a chance.
"No. You may leave." She then went back to talking to some other mermaids. I walked back to the group and flopped down on the ground.
"Stupid stupid fish people." Azima and Aleress groaned, and Etios relayed the info to the people still on the ship.
"Keely, sweetheart, is there anything we can do? We can't just stay here and we are getting really low on food." Ennis had stolen the mirror from Ten on their end.
"I guess we could steal it..." Aleress looked at me questioningly. I shrugged.
"Lets not steal expensive supplies from the crazy fish people, please? Etios, don't let them do it." Ten had apparently grabbed the mirror back, and looked beseechingly at Etios.
"We don't have many options left. Do you want to be stuck here?" Ten shook his head. "Okay then. Keely, whats the plan?" Eeryone looked at me, because I was the only one who knew anything about mermaids, and I squashed the urge to run for my life.
"Uh, we should probably go to somewhere that they can't hear us? But here's what we have to do..."

((Bold is mermish))

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Azima Jackson Character Portrait: Tenexier Oeyar Character Portrait: Etios Naelthi Character Portrait: Aleress Medici Character Portrait: Iris Meloni Character Portrait: Vrede BlĂłm
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Etios:
“Here’s what we have to do
” Keely began. “Azima and Etios will distract the mermaids while Iris, Aleress, and I will steal supplies from the mermaids.”
“That doesn’t sound like it’s going to work.” Azima raises an eyebrow.
“Do you have a better idea?” Keely retorts.
No response from anybody.
“Okay, if we all agree on this plan, then let’s start.” The redheaded Iris says.
Azima and I watch as the others hide and prepare to steal fuel from mermaids. Once they are all hidden from sight, I realize that we didn’t exactly plan how to distract these mermia.
“Just make some sort of noise.” Azima suggests to me.
At the count of three, we begin shouting at the mermaids. Most of the shouting is utter nonsense, but loud enough to cause confusion to spread throughout the group of mermaids.
Finally, the others return with as much ship supplies as they can carry.
“Let’s go now. The mermaids might get angry soon.” Aleress warns us.
The group of students manages to sneak out unharmed from mermaid territory, though it could’ve ended badly just as easily. I look down at the magical mirror, my only way of communicating with Tenexier. However, the person on the other side of the mirror is Vrede, whose features are contorted in a look of deep concern.
“Did something go wrong? Is everyone okay?” Tenexier is always holding the mirror. If he isn’t, then Ennis is speaking to Keely. My face is likely mirroring Vrede’s with concern. The others begin to notice.
“What’s going on?” Keely looks over at Vrede on the other side of the mirror.
“Pirates came onto the ship. They kidnapped Ennis and Tenexier. It’s just Setana and me now.” Vrede’s eyes dart around to her surroundings. “I don’t think they’re coming back anymore.”
“They took Tenexier
?” I stare at Vrede, waiting for her to tell me it’s not true.
“Ennis was kidnapped by pirates?” Keely’s hair turns black.
“We’re going to find them. Now.” I take the mirror and go back in the direction of the ship.
“Etios! We can’t just go on a destroyed ship with limited fuel and expect to find the pirates. We are going back to the school and preparing for this.” She looks up at me with passionate brown eyes. “And you’re not going alone. You think that you’re the only one who had someone you care about kidnapped?”
I look back at her. We seem to understand what the other is feeling. The shorter girl has tears forming in her eyes, something I wouldn’t expect to see from her ever.
After returning to the ship, I notice the emptiness immediately. The two blonde girls are the only people left on the ship now. Mikah and Dabir have been missing for two days and no one can find them. Now, Tenexier and Ennis were kidnapped by dangerous pirates.
“We are going back to the school now. Then, we steal an airship and go find Tenexier and Ennis.” I shift my gaze to the group of people now on the ship. “Who here knows how to fly an airship well?”
“I do pretty well in airship piloting class.” Azima raises her hand.
“I’m not in a good state of mind to be flying this airship. We need to go back to school.” I repeat.
The girl nods and goes to pilot the ship with the assistance of Iris. Once the ship is in the air, I notice Keely sitting on the floor of the ship with tears flowing out of her eyes. Standing away from the others on the airship, I take out the sword at my side. The one I had before was confiscated, but this one is one of my favorites. A sword that belonged to many family members before me, according to my father. Perhaps that isn’t even true. I have no way of knowing. I study the intricate designs covering the length of the weapon. Why does something meant for killing have to be made so beautifully?
“Hey, Etios.” A voice I recognize calls to me. So close to Tenexier’s voice and yet so far at the same time.
“Setana.” I don’t turn around to face her. My gaze is fixed on the sword in my hand.
“What’re you so worried about?”
“What isn’t there to be worried about?”
“I see. You’re worried about sweet little Ten, right? I’ve noticed. You’re quite taken with him aren’t you?” Her hands reach up to touch my hair, combing through it in an almost comforting way. Almost.
I stiffen at the contact and a soft chuckle escapes from Setana’s lips.
“I would be worried too. He’s so pathetic, any one of the pirates could very easily kill him and perhaps even take advantage of him while they’re at it
”
I whip around to face her and grab hold of her wrist. One hand has a tight grip on Setana’s wrist and the other is holding a sword out towards her, threatening her.
“Shut up, stupid girl.” I speak through clenched teeth. “I may end up doing something I’ll regret.”
Her eyes widen in actual fear. I’ve seen Setana at school for quite a few years and rarely does she actually fear anything. It is only then that I notice my reflection in her blue eyes. I look absolutely insane.
“Let go of me, Etios!”
I release my grip on her and she immediately returns to the rest of the group without looking back. I look down at the sword in my hands and return it to the sheath at my side. Damn it, what am I doing?
Qyvlin:
“So what’s your name, little boy?” I look down at Blondie in my arms.
Sage told me to keep watch of this prisoner. I figure this will be quite a boring job, so I might as well make conversation with him for now. The boy looks up at me with wide green eyes.
“I’m Qyvlin. Now tell me your name, please.”
He looks down and doesn’t respond.
“Answer me!” I pull his face up towards me. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
I stroke the bruise on the side of his face. The boy winces and responds.
“T-Tenexier
” His voice comes out as a whisper.
“Is that really your name?” I’ve started petting his fair hair.
“Yes
” He bites his lip. “Are you going to kill me?”
I let out a chuckle at this.
“Probably not. They won’t kill you if you’re worth something. If you are worthless to them, maybe you won’t be to me.” A smirk spreads across my face.
Taking his tiny hand in mine, I plant a light kiss on his hand.
“Yes, you’ll have some use to me.”
His breathing is becoming more labored as he begins to panic. Oh, this one is just too easy. I continue to run my hands through Tenexier’s hair. This may be more fun then I’d anticipated.