{Javir}
Javir lounged in the staff room, her feet propped up on a nearby chair.
She was nursing a steaming cup of tea. Across from her, her old friend and fellow professor, Miria, looked back at her looking annoyingly amused.
"So," Miria said, leaning back in her chair, "the prodigal daughter returns. Tell , Javir, did you miss the constant politicking and backstabbing, or was it the delightful aroma of teenage angst that lured you back?"
Javir snorted into her tea.
"Oh, you know . I just couldn't resist the thought of grading hundreds of papers and breaking up petty fights in the hallways."
[Is it too late to run away? Ah, I wish I could hug lisa right now, that little angel.]
"Ah, yes," Miria nodded. "The glamorous life of a Syux Academy professor. And here I thought you'd found greener pastures out in the fox forests."
"Muddier," Javir chuckled. "Still, the grass was a bit greener..."
"And yet, here you are, willingly walking back into the lionwolf's den. Why?"
"I told you why."
"You did but I don't believe you." She scoffed, shaking her head. "You ca back for a nim girl. I must say, Javir, your savior complex is reaching new heights."
"It's not a savior complex," Javir protested. "It's more of a... strategic investnt in the future."
"Ah, yes," Miria nodded slowly. "Because nothing says 'strategic investnt' like alienating half the faculty and most of the noble families in Syux."
Javir shrugged, her smile turning a touch lancholic.
"Maybe it's ti things changed around here, Miria. Maybe being uncomfortable from ti to ti isn't a bad thing."
"Still, it's a hell of a thing, to place all your hopes on a 9-year-old nim's shoulders."
"Well, she's already changed my fundantal understanding of reality. Until I t her, I thought nim couldn't use magic. Now, I know otherwise. Who knows? Maybe by this ti next year, we'll have a nim Headmaster and darians won't be on the cusp of war with Syux."
As Javir grinned back at her, Miria let out a bark of laughter.
"Yeah, that would be the day."
"Hey, a girl can dream," Javir chuckled, draining the last of her tea. As she set down her cup, her expression grew more serious. "In all honesty, though, I just hope lisa does well here. She's got potential, Miria. I'm serious. Real potential.
It'd be a sha to see any of it wasted because of... well, you know."
Miria's face softened slightly.
"Well, for what it's worth, I hope your little prodigy proves us all wrong too. Gods know this place could use a good shaking up."
"Thanks, Miria," Javir smiled, standing up as the bell rang, signaling the end of the break. "Now, if you'll excuse , I have a class full of budding pyromaniacs to wrangle. Wish luck."
"I'd rather wish for a fire extinguisher."
---
{lisa}
lisa stood in her now mostly empty classroom, her mind whirling with the day's lessons.
[Okay, let's go over so of this. Let's see... Syux wasn't always the tropolis it is now. It started as a refugee camp, apparently.]
According to the teacher, centuries ago, a cataclysmic event known as the "Essence Surge" ravaged the continent. This surge of wild magic transford vast swathes of land, warping reality itself.
Humans, fleeing from the chaos, established a camp in one of the few stable areas. This camp, literally just a regular encampnt, would slowly but surely grow into the city she was standing in now.
Naturally, there was very little about the kitsune, nim, or darians. That side of the historical equation was treated with the simple attitude of:
"Yeah, and they were there too."
[Figures. I do want to find out about them too, though.]
She was so lost in thought that she barely noticed Javir's arrival until the mage cleared her throat.
"Eldora to lisa. Ready to head ho?"
lisa shook her head. She looked over and not only saw Javir but also noticed Jaylin hovering awkwardly behind her.
"Oh, yeah. Um, quick question though. I need to give this gift from my village to soone here. Do you know a Professor Suthers?"
Javir raised a brow.
"Suthers? Ah, Balor asked you to et her, I'm guessing."
"Yep," lisa nodded.
"Well, Suthers hasn't been around for a while," Javir replied. "She went on so expedition into Rhaya and hasn't co back."
"Ohhh, when do you think she'll be back?"
Javir shrugged.
"Don't know. Is that all?"
[Huh. Oh well.]
lisa's eyes lowered to where Jaylin stood.
"Also, uh, if we're all leaving together, why didn't Jaylin co with us this morning?"
Javir proudly stood behind Jaylin (almost like she was going to push her forward) and squeezed her shoulders.
"Our little prodigy here has so extra training before regular classes start. Her tutor picks her up at the crack of dawn."
"Extra training?" lisa turned to Jaylin, curiosity piqued. "What kind of training?"
"Magical training."
That was all Javir said, probably because of the look Jaylin had on her face.
Jaylin shot her a look that could have frozen lava. A look that said: "the kind that's none of your business, nim."
[Alright then.]
"Co on," Javir said. "Let's get going."
A while later, they were once again getting on the carriage.
Their journey through the streets of Syux was uneventful until they hit an unexpected traffic jam.
Up ahead, a crowd had gathered sounding pretty angry.
"What's going on?" lisa asked, craning her neck to see.
Javir frowned, quickly moving to hop off the carriage.
"Looks like so kind of altercation. Stay in the carriage, both of you."
As Javir stepped out to investigate, lisa's gaze wandered over the crowd.
Suddenly, she locked eyes with a human man standing off to the side. He wasn't part of the commotion, but sothing about him made lisa's skin crawl.
Probably the fact that he was looking straight at her.
He was standing in an alley, leaning against the wall. A grey hood hid most of his face, and yet lisa could just barely see one, dark, blue eye looking back at her.
[... What a creep.]
"See sothing interesting?" Jaylin's voice cut through lisa's unease.
How long had she been staring for?
lisa tore her gaze away from the stranger.
"Just so guy weirding out. He was staring."
"Eh, that's not entirely uncommon." Before lisa could respond, Javir nodded up ahead. "Alright, crisis averted. Just a disagreent over so rchant prices that got out of hand. We should be moving again soon."
As the carriage started moving, lisa glanced back, but the strange man had vanished.
[Weird.]
"Everything okay?" Javir asked, noticing lisa's distraction.
lisa forced a smile.
"Yeah, just... Looking around."
And so, Day 1 of her new school life concluded without much trouble.
---
On her second day, walking alongside Javir, lisa strode into the academy grounds with her head held high and a spring in her step.
"You're pretty energetic this morning," Javir ruffled her hair. "Did you enjoy your classes that much yesterday?"
"I did," lisa smiled up at her. "Looking forward to more!"
"Attagirl."
As she made her way to her classroom, she couldn't help but notice a group of unfamiliar adults huddled with so teachers near the main office.
Their expressions were grim and their voices were low and urgent. Not a good combination, generally speaking.
[Doubt they're talking about what lunch they're gonna get. No matter, just keep that trouble away from please.]
Almost on cue, she was about to continue on her way when one of the adults glanced in her direction.
His eyes narrowed, and lisa felt a chill run down her spine.
In class, lisa tried to focus on the lesson (more history, more stuff about humanity), but her mind kept wandering back to those mysterious adults.
Suddenly, a flicker of movent caught her eye. She turned to see a shadow dart past the window.
lisa blinked.
[Am I in a horror movie now?]
Setting that aside, she tried to tell herself everything was fine and kept jotting down her teacher's words in her notebook.
When lunchti rolled around, lisa grabbed her tray and scanned the cafeteria for a seat. Wherever she went, the other kids would get up and move away, usually muttering sothing about how their parents told them to stay away from "that girl's kind".
That's when she spotted them again. The sa group of adults from earlier, now deep in conversation with so older students at a corner table.
[Can you please take these conversations away from ? I'm eating here.]
But, much to her displeasure, she overheard:
"... can't let it happen again..."
"... must be dealt with..."
"... agreed, for the good of all..."
lisa wanted to slam her head down on her sandwich.
[I just want to have a normal day at school. Is that too much to ask? I an, co on! Take your... world domination plots or whatever sowhere else! It's got nothing to do with !]
She did not know just how wrong she was about that.
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