Chapter 26 — A Deal And A New Friend?

Ria turned enough to see a severe-faced woman in academy colors. The woman’s gaze went to the greenish stains and ashes on the floor, to Desi, and finally to Ria and seemed to soften a bit as she saw Ria’s condition. “Oberford’s Stenchtastic Sludge of Permanent Staining, is it?”

The woman stepped inside and closed the door. With a flourish of her wand, a spell formed and magic sealed the door in place.

“Were you involved in this bullying, Desi?”

Desi shook her head. “I was curious about the target, so I pretended to be one of them then helped Ria out when the opportunity presented itself, Instructor Lisabethe.”

“And the pulse of dangerous magic that came from this room?”

“Ria was upset and lost control of her magic, I think,” Desi offered.

Instructor Lisabethe frowned. “I’m sure she was. But, as you well know, pranks and bullying are no excuse for injuring other students or damaging academy property.”

“They used lightning on my familiar!” Ria objected, and the woman’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

Desi nodded confirmation. “It’s true. One of the girls did attack Ria’s familiar with a lightning spell.”

With there not being a familiar present in the room, the instructor asked the obvious question, “Where is your familiar now?”

Ria borrowed Ranger’s sight only to pale as she realized he was standing over an unmoving cloaked girl who was covered with sludge. Ranger proudly informed her that he had pounced the girl, shook off the goo, and snarled and chomped his teeth until she fainted. Ah… there was no way she could tell the instructor about that...

Ranger suddenly bounded to a hiding place just as a flaming bird swooped down, squawking in dismay at the girl’s state but not daring to get too close to the sludge. When Ranger’s butt wiggled as he prepared to pounce the bird too, Ria stopped him and, after assuring him that she was fine now, gave him his instructions. Ranger took off, dodged a spell, and leapt over an approaching cloaked girl before leaving the girl in the dust. He had really become impressive!

“He’s okay. I’m sending him to Researcher Shadwich,” Ria reported.

“Do either of you know the identity of the girl who attacked him?”

Ria didn’t. Desi apparently didn’t, either. Volunteering what she did know wasn’t likely to prove helpful either. Even in the case that Ophesia and Nielle had ordered the attack, there was nothing to be gained by calling them out—especially if Phaelys ended up agreeing to be her escort.

The woman let out a long sigh then made a jar appear and handed it to the third-year girl. “Desi, help her with the ointment. I have a class to teach.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Desi replied, standing a little straighter at the assigned responsibility.

Instructor Lisabethe paused at the door as she released the sealing magic. “I’ll seal the door for a short while after I go. Don’t dally. We don’t want this to turn into more of an incident than it already is. I also expect both of you to remember that vengeful acts are not looked on favorably by the academy.”

When the door closed behind the instructor, the glow from sealing magic returned.

“Your familiar got a good look at the girl leading the group, didn’t he?” Desi asked as she opened the jar.

A pleasant floral scent began to replace the foulness still in the air.

Ria nodded and held out her hands to receive the ointment. “Yeah, she was one of the girls that were sitting with Ophesia and Nielle Vesali. I don’t know her name.”

“You sure know how to pick your enemies,” Desi commented with a wry smile as she started dabbing on small dollops of the pale substance from the fancy jar.

The ointment’s magic quickly returned the stained skin to its normal shade, leaving it feeling soft, lustrous, and clean. Ria began to have a suspicion about the true origins of Oberford’s sludge. “The same workshop that makes the ointment also makes a beauty cream, don’t they?”

Desi laughed. “Sure does. So, since we have a bit of time, I’m rather interested in this foreign girl I’ve heard about who boldly demanded to be accompanied by Phaelys Versali during her debut. You wouldn’t happen to know anything interesting about her, would you?”

Ria rolled her eyes. While thankful for the girl’s help, Ria wasn’t sure she wanted her situation becoming popular gossip, nevermind whatever other secrets the third-year was planning to extract, and she certainly wasn’t keen on any of that becoming public or privately available information without getting anything in return.

“What can you offer me in exchange?” Ria asked, continuing to rub in the dollops as Desi moved on to other stained areas.

“I could investigate the girls involved in bullying you and their friends and submit embarrassing stories about them,” the third-year offered with a sly grin and a wink.

That… actually might not be a bad idea. Ria couldn’t let the attack go unanswered, but acting directly was too risky. Even if they had mysterious accidents or something, it would be obvious that she had been involved. On the other hand, if it became clear that she wasn’t without connections and that attacking her came with social costs, her adversaries would surely be less likely to take the risk.

“I don’t want further trouble with Ophesia and Nielle,” Ria stipulated.

“Sure. I’d rather avoid those risks myself, if you don’t mind.” Desi gave a big companionable grin. “So, we got a deal?”

Ria made a noncommittal hum and checked in the mirror to make sure all the stains were gone. “I’m considering it. Do you know anything about the missing floor in the Tower of Dreams?”

“Oh, is that old mystery something you’re interested in?” The older girl seemed honestly surprised and amused.

Ria nodded and reached over to her magic pouch to retrieve a set of clean clothes and her indoor shoes—a pair that she didn’t really wear much even though they were nicely made.

Desi shrugged. “Sure, I’ve got some info I can share on that.”

Really? Ria paused for a moment. The exchange really didn’t seem like a bad deal at all. There was just one assurance she needed to keep Hulle from getting mad at her. She resumed getting dressed as she firmed up her thoughts.

“Okay, all that and a promise to keep secret that I’m a wild talent until after the Summer Games, and I’ll answer your questions until you’re satisfied you’ve gotten enough in exchange,” Ria proposed then, when her new third-year friend still seemed receptive, added, “There are things I won’t talk about, but I won’t lie either.”

“Alright, I can work with that. But in the future, if you have some juicy info, you have to come to me first,” Desi amended with a genuine smile and held out her arm to clasp.

After they clasped arms, a smile formed on Ria’s lips. “Thanks, Desi. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.”

“Judging by your first week, I have no doubt.” The older girl chuckled and motioned to Ria’s hair. “Do you have a comb?”

Ria confirmed that she did.

“So, about the missing floor,” Desi began as she started working the ointment into Ria’s hair. “It’s spatial magic obviously. But what most people don’t know is that the tower’s elevator has spatial transitions between every floor, so it’s not as if just knowing that tells you which floor to start your search at. Some enthusiastic students even tried to hang different colored flags from the windows on each floor but the enchantment scrambled them all up so they didn’t match the right floors when seen from outside. Supposedly, one group actually managed to reach the missing floor only to discover that it was empty.”

At first Ria was disappointed, thinking that the Inquisitors had already cleared out the Moon Elves’ garden, then considered that maybe the Inquisitors also didn’t find anything. The Moon Elves were known for their illusions, after all; maybe there was a chance that the garden was still hidden?

“Okay, your turn,” Desi announced and started her questions with, “So, tell me, why do you want Phaelys for your escort?”

Ah! Ria was already regretting her promise to tell the truth. “Don’t laugh, okay?”

The older girl laughed. “Ooh, if you say something like that, I’m even more curious!”

Ria grumbled, but a deal was a deal, and she explained about Iselyn and Faris, and what she had been thinking at the time.

By the time the story of her classroom encounter with Phaelys was finished to Desi’s satisfaction, Ria couldn’t help feeling that the covered grin Desi was trying to suppress was even worse than if the girl had fallen over laughing. Ugh.

The followup question was about how Ria became involved with House Novidus. She didn’t get far into her answer before one of her communication stones pulsed. Ria held up a hand to her senior in a ‘one moment’ gesture and made the stone appear in her other hand, activating the connection.

“Ria! Where are you?” Keira demanded through the stone. “Class has already started!”

“Some things happened...” Ria lamely offered.

“Because of course they did,” Keira groaned. “Are you okay? Do you need me to come? You didn’t get another official warning, did you?”

A glance at her third-year interrogator confirmed a curious eyebrow raise, and Ria could only grumble a curse in her mind at Keira’s uncanny ability to reveal things better kept hidden.

“I’m okay. ...and I don’t think I’ll get another warning,” Ria hedged and looked over to confirm that the sealing magic had faded from the door. “I’ll be there soon. Can you take notes for me?”

“I had to step out of class to contact you. Iselyn’s already taking notes,” Keira reported. “Don’t take too long.”

After depowering the communication stone, Ria gave Desi a sheepish look. “Mind if I answer the questions on the way there?”

The third-year girl’s eyes were laughing. “You’re just asking that so I’ll escort you to class, aren’t you?”

“I’ll answer an extra question?” Ria tried with a cringe.

“Alright, Alright. I was just teasing you,” Desi assured and motioned toward the obscuring cloak. “Do your camouflage spell, and let’s get going.”

“Thanks.”

Once they were back to the stairway landing, Desi peeked out a nearby window to check for a possible ambush and asked with a practiced nonchalance, “So, what’s this about an official warning?”

Ria could only groan. Of course, that would be the extra question.