"What?" Annie looked at the teacher, taking in her intricate clothes.
lissa noticed Annie’s stare and scoffed.
"Oh honey, have you never seen a teacher at Bondspire before?"
Unlike Annie, Jaster wasn’t surprised by lissa’s outfit. In the ga, Bondspire teachers always wore crazy clothing—sotis it made him laugh while playing.
But sothing felt different. He didn’t rember Spiritual Essence Studies being taught by her.
Jaster rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
I’m sure her na was lissa. But I don’t rember her looking like this...
He glanced at her again. She smiled back.
"It’s so nice to et you again, Jaster. Here, have a seat—you and your classmate!"
Annie and Jaster exchanged glances, then nodded.
They both sat at the tea table while lissa poured hot tea into Jaster’s cup.
Annie noticed lissa’s cat glaring at her, its blue eyes sharp and unblinking.
"Oh, don’t mind her. She’s my spirit animal, here to accompany ." lissa patted the Persian cat, which let out a low ow.
That’s also weird. I don’t rember lissa having a cat as her spirit animal...
Jaster lifted the cup and sniffed the tea. The familiar fragrant aroma hit his nose imdiately. He grinned at lissa.
"Knew it. You put Eidolon Blossom petals in the tea to make it pungent."
lissa took a sip without answering.
"owrrr..." The cat kept glaring at Annie. She turned to Jaster.
"What’s an Eidolon Blossom?"
Jaster pointed at the pink flowers blooming around them.
"A special flower that only blooms according to the level of spiritual essence in the area. It’s native to Elgregreas since they have a strong spiritual essence in the air there."
For a mont, lissa looked surprised that Jaster knew all this.
She set down her cup and smiled. "You seem to know a lot about this subject."
"Of course. And since I figured out your thod of luring us here, I deserve extra credit."
lissa chuckled at the boy’s confidence. She patted his white hair.
"Of course... I’ll give you both extra credit." She glanced at Annie, then back at Jaster. "Also, it seems one of your friends is getting close."
They heard rustling in the maze. A mont later, Reza and Karina tumbled out, landing on the grass.
"HAH! I ca first!" Reza shouted.
"Hell no, I was here first!" Karina shouted back.
They wrestled on the ground until lissa coughed. Both froze, looking up at her.
Reza’s eyes went wide. Then he burst out laughing.
"Uhhh... why is there a cosplayer here?" Karina pointed at lissa, completely oblivious that this was their teacher.
lissa’s eye twitched. She fought to keep her smile.
She patted Coco’s head. "Coco, you know what to do, right?" Coco nodded and padded toward Reza.
Reza wiped away his laughter tears and spotted the white cat.
"Oh, hi kitty! You’re so—"
"OWWWWW!" Coco launched at Reza, claws out.
"WHAT THE—HELP! THIS CAT IS CRAZY!!!"
"OMG REZA!"
Karina tried to pull the cat off, but Coco dug its claws into Reza’s uniform, scratching and hissing wildly.
lissa did nothing. She simply sipped her tea, enjoying the show.
"Hey! You can’t do that!" Annie scolded.
lissa raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"Why not?! You’re crazy!" Annie shot up and marched toward the chaos.
She grabbed Karina’s shoulder. "Karina, let handle this."
Karina blinked, surprised, then nodded and stepped back.
Annie’s chest began to glow cyan. She raised her fist at the cat.
"Let go of my classmate... or else!" She glared at the cat with pure intensity.
Coco’s pupils dilated. It purred softly, released Reza, and scurried back to lissa’s arms.
Reza’s uniform was shredded. His face was scratched and bleeding.
Karina’s expression hardened. She marched up to lissa.
"You better pay for the damage you did to my friend!"
lissa remained unfazed, sipping her tea. "Here, take this drink. I’m sure it will rehydrate your friend."
Karina’s gaze sharpened. She slapped the teacup away and turned.
"We’re not participating in your class anymore. Give us an F if you want." She gently helped Reza to his feet.
"You okay, buddy?" she asked softly.
"Yeah... just get to the nurse."
They walked toward the maze, disappearing into the hedges.
Annie watched them go, her expression softening.
Then she turned back to lissa.
"Teacher," she said evenly, "with all due respect, what you just did violates the academy code."
lissa’s smile faltered. She frowned. "Watch your tone. Just sit back. You don’t need to join your friends."
Annie didn’t move one bit. Instead she stand her ground.
"Section 12 of the Student Protection Code," she continued, voice steady.
"Faculty mbers are prohibited from using physical force against students unless it’s for imdiate safety."
Her eyes burned with quiet fire.
"My classmate posed no threat. This wasn’t discipline. It was retaliation. If you do this again to any of my classmates, you’ll be seeing in court."
She turned and followed Karina and Reza into the maze.
The hedge rustled as Annie disappeared from view. Silence settled over the tea table, broken only by Coco’s soft purring and the distant chirp of garden birds.
Jaster sat alone with lissa, stunned by the whole scenario that just occurred.
He’d never seen a student fight back against a teacher like that.
lissa sighed heavily and looked at him.
"Guess she doesn’t want that extra credit. It seems your classmates have told the others what happened. You’re the only one here now. What do you choose, Jaster?"
Behind his stoic face, Jaster’s mind raced.
If I stay with lissa, I could earn more credit. It could help secure the vice president spot for Elaine’s campaign... but...
Jaster’s fists clenched under the table.
Every instinct scread at him to follow them, to be the friend they’d been to him. But Elaine’s campaign needed every advantage.
He thought about his friends. How kind they’d been when he was discharged. How they’d thrown him a party. How they’d welcod him.
And now one of them was hurt because of this teacher.
Jaster think for a while, than finally ca to a conclusion.
"I... I’ll stay..."
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