Mary looked at the unconscious girl while scratching one of the braver puppies behind an ear. It had short, golden hair, and would probably grow into a beautiful labrador retriever given time. She never had her own dog, but they had one back in the orphanage. It was a mongrel, not anything fancy and expensive, but it was one of the friendliest creatures she had ever seen. She could spend hours petting the animal without a care in the world... ok, ignoring all the cares in the world. Still, maybe once her 'career' was over, she could join that old cerberus lady and walk the ministry hallways with her own guide dog...

It was just... so sad that the girl with a power to create such a beauty chose to abuse it for dark purposes. Mary had some ideas for how it was possible, but the image nauseated her too much to continue that thought. And those initial sparks at their combat meant - she was so glad the boys got her the talisman in time...

More of the puppies started to converge upon Mary, sniffing her and, in some cases, walking all over her. It was a well earned moment of joy.

Too bad it wasn't meant to last.

“Ok, we're done,” Mortimer said, leaving the dean's office building. “All signed up.”

“For a moment, I thought they'd give us more trouble,” Paolo added, holding the door for Rose, Adam and Aria, who turned out to be quite an enjoyer of the subtle artwork of the ground's texture. At the very least, she was by far more interested in it than in anyone's faces. “Thank Muchmighty for each precedence of the six-people party ever.”

“Wait, what's wrong with six-people parties?” Mary asked.

“It's not formally forbidden,” Adam said, “but the staff doesn't like it. The tradition is that parties consist of between two and five heroes. Still, the rules don't say anything about their numbers other than that one is not enough.”

“Most people wouldn't like to have their party frowned upon,” Mortimer shrugged. “But in our case, it's not like we're in a good relationship with Renate anyway.”

“What?” Adam asked. “You haven't said anything about that!”

“We had other issues at hand, wouldn't you agree?” Paolo asked. “Seriously. Muchmighty, have mercy over us these days...”

Aria still kept her bald head lowered, but Mary noticed that Rose was holding her hand, and it seemed to be helping a great deal. That poor kid had a golden heart. After all that she'd been through...

“Can we keep the puppies?” the smallest girl asked. “Stella never let us keep any of them.”

Mary looked at the unconscious girl still lying among the cuddly swarm. What was wrong with her?

Paolo winced. “I'm sorry, kids, but-”

“Actually, I think we can,” Mortimer said, drawing everyone's attention as he petted one of the little dogs. “Once we deliver Stella to the hospital, we will legally declare the skirmish finished, and claim the puppies as our spoils of war. I doubt Roy will be anywhere close to fight us over this, nor that he really would have much chance anyway.”

The hero then had to use all the battle training to maintain his balance, as two little human missiles tackled him at full velocity. Aria didn't join the hug, but even she looked the tiniest bit less miserable as she bent over and scratched an eager dachshund behind its ear.

Have you ever wondered how much work it takes to care for a puppy? Or maybe you have one and don't have to guess? Well, it is a lot, really. Especially with the really young ones, before they go through any training, but after they learn how to get into trouble. Who could blame them though, the freaking spiky sword obviously seemed way tastier than the meat Mary's party managed to requisition from the kitchen. And who can say that they never wondered from just how far they could jump without breaking their bones?

Well, it turned out that when you deal with not one, but two hundred eighty-two puppies, it doesn't get easier. Not. At. All.

“Grab the husky, he's going to jump next!” Mortimer yelled as he threw himself to the ground to catch a german shepherd.

Mary leapt to the other side and intercepted a grey fur missile heading head-first into the ground. Her face was soon wet from the rough tongue happily 'cleaning' her face.

Unfortunately, although the puppies generally tolerated Mortimer's 'eyes' floating higher in the air, most of them totally flipped out when they got too close, or Muchmighty forbid, in contact with one. Which meant that this time around, Mary's party leader ended up jumping around and landing on the sandy ground almost as much as she did. It was anyone's guess how the heck some of the puppies found their way to the dorm's roof. Still, it was quite a funny experience to watch the frustration painted all over Mortimer's face. And even if she was already growing tired herself, it was still essentially playing with a herd of puppies, so Mary counted that evening among the best she had of her time in the Academy.

Well, except the cleaning part. That definitely wasn't an experience she wanted to ever repeat. Mary really, really, really hoped that Paolo would find that cleaning spell before tomorrow. Or at least, that Adam would manage to repurpose some of his battle drones into that very noble, if not really pleasant tasks...

It happened when Mary was going for late supper. Her appetite was a bit damaged by her nose's opinion about the recent experiences, but her stomach was adamant - she was not skipping this meal, even if it would have to leave her belly, knock her out, and drag her next to the very plate itself. After a brief consideration, Mary's brain decided not to risk things getting violent and walked her out of the pen and toward the canteen. Well, even pen was a big word for the thing - it was basically a few long planks hammered together in a roughly rectangular shape, which they hastily erected to gain any control over the menagerie.

With a corner of her eye, Mary noticed something strange - like a pillar of light covered in black cracks. Its upper end was cut off abruptly around twenty feet in the air, while the lower part was obstructed by a few windowless buildings. It lasted only a fraction of a second, and Mary wasn't sure if she wasn't just seeing things. Well... technically, she was seeing things all the time, but... you're smart, you'll get it.

So, the heroine hesitated - investigating strange lights after dark wasn't the smartest thing she had ever done. But... she was dying anyway. Did she really need to be all that careful? Now?

Mary went into the alley.