0theacademy0 | Welcome New Students of The Academy of Aetheric Studies

Thea - a short woman with her auburn hair back in a tight braid - sits at the lunch table with the students, joining in their chatter. A small serving of jelly, deep blue while also sparkling inside like a cluster of stars, reflected in the eyes of the dazzled children. Puffing out her chest, she proudly proclaims that that dish had been her idea. As the potion teacher, she could teach people how to make many such wondrous things, as long as they study hard!

But taking a moment to excuse herself after the end of the lunch and the continuation of the orientation, Thea could be found in the corridor, her shoulders slumped and looking utterly defeated as she groans aloud. The burned and frayed edges of her robe trail behind her.

Edited 2025-06-22 09:30 (UTC)

In the courtyard, the students were ushered down a road lined with booths on either side. At the booths, many clubs, teams, and student organizations had displays to advertise to the students and entire them to join. The crafts club displayed all sorts of clothing for mages to wear on their days outside class that their members had sewn, with some pieces coming together in mid-air like flowers blooming before everyone's eyes. The program for studying abroad displayed images of foreign lands in floating orbs. At the Magus Pugna booth stood Seren.

Tall and lean, his height would be intimidating enough; his blank gaze did nothing to help this. Still, he knew he couldn't leave his team to deal with this, no matter how much this wasn't his forte. He had become something of a celebrity at Aether Academy; if he wasn't there trying to recruit others, it'd be an all-too-conspicuous absence. They could not demonstrate in front of the students in such a crowded area, so his mere presence would be enough to attract anyone interested in the art of how mages battle.

Noticing someone approach, Seren picks up a pamphlet before he looks towards the other person, to find... not a new student?

One booth at this assembly did not simply settle for being a booth. This display appears to be more of an elaborate parade float, like a tiered cake reaching towards the sky. Dancers and musicians - all dressed as sea creatures - performed with exuberance on each level, the oil paintings of an ocean's wave coursing across the sides of the float. Bubbles appear in the air from seemingly nowhere, all rising upwards to frame the figure at the very top.

In a shimmering dress that shines and glitters in the light like scales, Elle descended the stairs of the float towards an awed crowd, before snapping the fan in front of her face and revealing her confident - or perhaps smug - smile.

"Good day, my dears. I am Eleanor de Chaumont, but you may call me Elle."

Not only did new students come to see, but even faculty couldn't help but turn their heads to watch the show. Whatever they may think of Elle, they couldn't deny she puts her all into a show...

Tristan, who was always a difficult man to get motivated if it didn't suit his very specific whims of that given moment, was diligently making his way down the hall towards the teachers' lounge. His every step carried an elegance that those who knew him would say betrayed his true nature and was a trap to the unsuspecting. And yes, this elegant gait was cut abruptly short as he did an abrupt stop and turned around to attempt to run away from the potions professor, who was singed and sighing.

"Nope."

"Wait!"

Thea springs back up, immediately breaking into a sprint after the man, defying any sense of momentum with how quickly she had shifted into his chase. The solution to this problem clicked in her mind the very instant that Tristan had made his presence known, even if it was that very moment he started moving away from her.

"Tristan! Come back!"

She knows that he knows what she was thinking, and she knows what he must think about that. It won't stop her from trying anyway!

"I'm busy," he was not.

He picked up his pace while still keeping it within a somewhat respectable gait for a teacher in a school.

It reeked of trouble and time consuming details... he didn't want to know.

"It won't take that long! I promise!"

Thea knew very well that her promise is one she couldn't keep, much like many others she's said that, but the words spill out in her desperation. Fortunately, there weren't many other students yet here in this hall to see their Potions teacher in such disarray.

"Please! I'll owe you my life! Anything you need!"

A big favor in turn for something that supposedly won't take too long....

"I don't want your life!" But he did slow down with a sigh to finally turn back with a glance.

"What do you need?"

The speed at which her short legs had been carrying her finally caught up to Thea as she came to a stop, hands on her knees as she took deep, wheezing breaths for a moment.

As soon as she recovered, she sprang up once more with a serious expression.

"Lend me your syllabus for this course from when you taught it."

“…” At first impression the silence was cold, maybe intimidating, but then it went on a beat longer, his eyes shifted away as if he were a young boy avoiding letting on he had broken a rule or misbehaved. He started to uncomfortably shift as the request hung further in the awkward silence.

…

He couldn’t admit it.

He can’t admit it!

…

“I…” sweat was starting to form on his brow as he considered his options. In the end he lowered his head and pushed up his glasses as if to hide his face, and softly answered. “Never finished making it…”

Thea pays no mind at all to the chill around them as Tristan contemplates his answer. She is pleading for her life! What shame would she have in pleading for such a favor? It may be trouble for him, but a world of pain awaits her if she doesn't get help, so she isn't going to let something like that bother her!

She still almost expects a no, readying herself to plead some more, but the answer she hears is much more shocking.

If Thea had been winded before, that answer nearly knocked her over. She stares, slack-mouthed, suspecting that the exertion had affected her hearing somehow.

"I-I'm sorry... what?!"

"I started it... before the beginning of the term, but then... it was the first day of class, and... it sort of... well, I had a page... it's a bit late to really finish it at that point, isn't it? It felt like such a bother so... I just didn't. It was easier to just sort of give different assignments based on ability anyway than try and stick to a specific plan for everyone," And his true nature was being revealed. Despite having a notorious reputation with the students, who found his general seeming apathy and non-interest as cold and uncaring, the attitude of a strict, unloving teacher, the truth was almost worse; he was lazy and got bored easily and wasn't much of a morning person.

"When in doubt, tell them to read the book and practice self-study, if they don't focus, make vague, unrealistic threats like... 'If none of you pass the next test, you will find true difficulty in this life, which may end up being very short...' If you do it right, everyone should be quiet and orderly.

"Though, if not, you can always just enchant them, I guess...." no, teachers should not be enchanting the students. Did he sometimes do it to make his life easier? Yes. But he had been a problem child since he first set foot into these halls as a student himself. Not malicious, but definitely the sort who would rather attempt to fix his own screw ups after they happen then prevent the issue in the first place with a little more planning.

Thea still looks incredulous, staring off a bit to the side while taking this all in. All this time, she had been putting together her own curriculum for the course! She had done it dutifully and responsibly! Her only error was not keeping it somewhere completely safe. And someone who looks so put together is actually winging it?!

"I can't do something like that! Besides being wrong, it'd easily be traced back to me!"

More accurately, the moment they even start to question her, she'd probably spill everything about what she did. She also lacks the presence that Tristan has; that would lead to her students also questioning things. She isn't the teacher that gets respect like the others. Not that her students disrespect her, but they often treat her like an older sister or an informal mentor rather than someone with gravitas like Tristan. Clearly, that's all made of thin air!

Thea sighs, almost doubled over in defeat.

"Is this... how you're teaching your class right now?"

There's no way it can be the case. Simply impossible.

"I choose the daily topics properly," though it was still an at his whim sort of endeavor.

"What happened to your syllabus anyway? Did you lose it?" he couldn't imagine she just hadn't finished it yet with her reaction.

Thea can only reflect on the unfairness of it all. How did some just manage to channel that kind of aura?

"A-Ah, well... last year, do you remember when Rowan was giving away those dragon eggs?"

Now it was Thea's turn to cast her glance aside, looking guilty.

"I do, no one would let me have one," he volunteered right away to get one, and everyone around him instantly said no. It was so unfair!

"Do you have a loose baby dragon running around burning your things?"

"N-N-- well, I might still be in the process of training Ruby..."

After all, dragons took quite some time to reach maturity. It's not like she wasn't trying! But babies will be babies, after all.

"She was only playing around. But... yes, I only looked away for a moment and the curriculum I prepared was on fire."

Thea could leave out the part where the potion she used to try and put out the flames turned even the ashes into tiny particles that couldn't be seen.

"Perhaps Ruby should live outside...." Wouldn't it be a problem later?

Either way, he had a good idea of what happened. At this point, he really couldn't just walk away, could he? He really wasn't. With a sigh, he shook his head and raised his hand.

"Take me to where it happened."

"That's the spirit, Seren!" Reiya isn't tall enough to clap him on the shoulder properly, but she does pat him on the arm. "Make sure you don't waste 'em on the older students too much though. We didn't make that many."

She was one of the more notable members of Magus Pugna, for better or for worse. Reiya had joined for more practice when it came to controlling large-scale magic spells, and had accordingly induced heavy injuries on more than a couple of her club mates. Though she'd made significant improvement after a year, her reputation was still notorious enough that she was quietly discouraged from participating in manning the club booth at the event despite her enthusiastic volunteering.

Seren is one of the few people she could fight without much worry, talented enough that even with her lack of control he's able to handle her.

"Have you seen my little sister come by? Looks like me but smaller, hair to about here," she gestured at around her shoulders, "probably talks a mile a minute if she's not staring at your face all tongue-tied? I told her to check out the club but no idea if she listened."

Thea's shoulders likely can't sink any lower, but she straightens up enough to turn around and walk back towards the living quarters for the academy.

Even after the school year, Thea spent most of her time on campus, seeing as she lives her and most of what she needed was provided. One exception to this would be her forays into the wilderness for potion ingredients. Otherwise, she often stayed nearby.

Thea's home is filled with different baubles and curios strewn upon various shelves, most particularly bottles, many of unique shapes and topped with colorful wax sealings. She had a particular interest in making the bottles match the potion in some sort of way, and she took great pride in her displays. What part of the living room that wasn't covered with potion components looked tidy enough, aside from some items strewn about the floor. However, she was not entirely to blame for that...

On opening her door, the aforementioned baby dragon - covered in shining red scales - looks up with vivid red eyes from a wooden ladle she had been chewing on. She lets go of it before Thea can start to reprimand her, and bounds towards the two at the door. Small wings sprout from the little dragon's back, not nearly enough to carry her weight.

Thea swoops down and gathers Ruby into her arms before standing again. She doesn't need Ruby also chewing anything of Tristan's. Ruby already starts to sniff at the newcomer.

"Behave, Ruby... ah, it happened right on my desk over there."

Seren looks down towards Reiya, his expression still impassive, but he does not tense or pull away from the contact.

"If her sister's that much like her, we might have our first ever death in the Magus Pugna team at Aether Academy. Isn't that exciting?"

"No, I don't think I have. Perhaps she's still making her way here."

There are some that had their minds made up and ready to go about which club they intended to join. Some such students made a beeline straight towards the Magus Pugna booth, and likely would have still gleefully taken the club pamphlet if Seren left them in a stack on the desk without even acknowledging them. But with so many clubs to choose from, many students shuffled in groups from booth to adjacent booth, weighing all their options.

"But I'm sure Coach is going to be excited to have two of you to deal with."

His words are heavy with sarcasm; while he didn't agree with the spirit's excitement, the very thought sounded like this could either be very good or very bad for the team. Could even he handle twice of Reiya's strength?

"Maybe she got intimidated by that face of yours!"

Reiya laughs at her own joke. She could mean that Seren is too serious-looking, or too handsome, but if she has one of the two in mind in particular she's not clarifying.

"I don't think she's as strong as me! Maybe. Probably! She doesn't like big spells as much as I do." Though there was probably a strong correlation between that and Reiya's tendency to cause significant trouble. When one grows up watching their older sister making a mess, it tends to make them not want to do the same. "She's still pretty tough though. She'd beat up the neighborhood bullies for me after our parents forbid me from using offensive magic on my own! I bet she'd have lots of fun if she joined."

There's something in her tone that makes it sound a bit too much like a story to be immediately believable, more like a deliberate exaggeration on something that's more inspired by true events than actually grounded in them.

He was about to comment on how this dragon needed 24-hour supervision, but decided perhaps he was the last person to give that sort of lecture. He wasn't completely oblivious to his own tendencies. Instead, he focused on the matter at hand.

"Do you still have the remnants of your paperwork?" if she did, it would be so much easier, if not... he sighed just thinking about it.

Seren doesn't react to the comment of his face. He took care of his upkeep well as to not let his parents or others worry, but anyone with the willpower to push past the expression of indifference and make their romantic intentions known were shut down.

He didn't need the spirit to comment on anyone he got close to that way...

While Seren is certainly learning more about their family dynamic, none of it comes off as much of a surprise, now that he knows. His expression softens at the thought of the two siblings defending each other. How nice it would be to have someone like that--the team is the closest thing he can experience to that, even if it's to further a goal.

"Aw, Seren. I could protect you too, if you'd just let me!"

"A smaller you but with more self-restraint. The championship is all but guaranteed this year."

The Aether Academy Cyclones have been close in past years, but even with a couple of standout players, the team's lack of cohesion often undercut their gains. Seren's distance from the others as well as Reiya's tendency to inflict serious injuries had often resulted in miscommunication, which often cost them in the last rounds of the tournament. But maybe someone who sounds like they lack such faults can help bridge the gap.

Thea looks mournfully at a very empty place on her desk. There might be a few corners that weren't touched by the potion that was haphazardly used to put out the fire, but they would hardly be useful to identify anything.

"That's as much of them as I could find..."

Ruby already tries to reach over and nip at whatever she can reach of Tristan, be it his hair or clothing.

Welcome New Students of The Academy of Aetheric Studies

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