Guys I’ve been working on something for forever and the first like actual kinda chapter of it is finally like polished, so imma post it:

Elezandra turned, expecting the party to continue on around her, but when she saw everyone frozen, she forgot the drink in her hand, the red plastic slipping from her grip but never falling to the grass, as the woman looked up and met the fourteen-year-old girl’s eyes, then did something very unexpected. She smiled. “Well, hello, dear.”

“Who the fuck are you?” The woman didn’t seem at all shocked or bothered by Elezandra’s vulgarity. “My name is Fairy Godmother. Surely you have heard of me, dear Elezandra.”

The woman stepped closer as the girl balked. “This has to be a prank,” She glanced around the backyard. “Ha ha, everyone, very funny, joke’s over.” The woman who claimed to be Ms. Bibbity Boppity Boo herself had finally reached her, taking a seat on a lawn chair as she paused for a moment before glancing up at Elezandra. “Dear, this isn’t a joke. They are frozen in time. Only a Wanderling would still be able to move, or even see me.”

“What’s a Wanderling?” The look the woman gave her implied that it would be a long and convoluted answer, so Elezandra rephrased: “Are you a Wanderling?”, to which she got a nod.

“I am the headmistress for the Royal Academy for Wanderlings. Most all of my students call me FG.” Elezandra just nodded, the phrasing this “FG” used striking her as odd, but she couldn’t quite figure out why, which wasn’t helping the strange woman’s impression. Fairy Godmother had continued to speak, but Elezandra had mostly tuned her out.

“So… why are you here?” Elezandra interjected, which clearly interrupted the other woman’s tirade, if her sourly pinched face was anything to go by. “Well, dear,” she began, “I’m here to bring you home.” Elezandra shook her head reflexively.

“No way. I am home. I go to school here, my friends are here, this is home.” Despite her objections, Fairy Godmother leaned over and tucked some of Elezandra’s hair behind her ear, revealing the slight point to it. “Th-that’s from my mom giving birth to me. I got stuck and it made my ears weird.” Elezandra’s voice sounded like she might be trying to convince herself rather than the stranger sitting in front of her; Fairy Godmother picked up on her distress, and changed her tone.

“Dear… I think we both know the truth, even if you may not believe it yet. I’ll make you a deal. You come with me and if you hate it, I’ll take you right back here, to this moment, and you can pretend it never happened, that it was all a strange dream, what have you.” Elezandra’s face pinched a little as she was loath to admit she didn’t hate the proposal outright.

“...No one will think I’ve gone missing, or been kidnapped or anything, it’ll be like I was never gone?” Fairy Godmother nodded, slipping the wand from the bun at the back of her head and murmuring something under her breath, and a doorway of odd light rose from the ground. Elezandra looked around, at her best friend, Quinn, who was stuck midair over the pool with her body tucked for a cannonball, her house, her home, then into the anomaly that shouldn’t be physically possible, and she felt an undeniable pull from inside her towards this rift.

Fairy Godmother offered her her hand, which Elezandra anxiously took. “Now, it’s going to feel a bit odd, but I need you to stay by me no matter what, are we clear?” Despite her usual reflex of questioning authority, Elezandra found herself just nodding and gripping the woman’s hand tighter. “Good.”

Elezandra cautiously stepped through the odd sheet of unshining light, and it seemed that she was forewarned properly; it felt extremely odd, like direction nor time existed any longer. She looked off to the side, or what she assumed was her side, when she felt a pull, deeper than her gut as if it were coming from her very soul, towards this gorgeous pulsing orb in the distance. She took a step, and was about to take another when she felt a grip on her hand tighten, followed by a disembodied voice, “Remember… follow.”

However long or short the journey was later, Elezandra’s jaw dropped as she looked around. It looked nothing like home, but felt much more innately comfortable. The blue sparkle became Fairy Godmother once more, only she appeared different. Her ears reminded Elezandra of butterfly wings, and the woman’s ecru skin had become a matte magenta. Elezandra looked at her body, which looked relatively the same, except her skin changed color too, to a lovely rich orchid purple. “You’re alright,” Fairy Godmother soothed before Elezandra could completely freak out. “Don’t fret. If you go back, you’ll look the same as you did before.” While that was reassuring, it was still unsettling, Elezandra thought.

“So… where are we?” Elezandra looked around, admiring the prominence of jewel tones in the foliage that were unheard of in her home. Fairy Godmother smiled at her wondrous expression and opened her arms wide with a flourish.

“Welcome, my child, to Alisride.” Elezandra repeated the name under her breath, something familiar about it in a deja vu sense. “Come, I want to show you around. I believe you’ll quite like the village.” Elezandra shrugged and trotted after her.

The village was, to Elezandra, a typical storybook village; half-timbered houses, worn grassy streets, the only real differences were in the smaller details. For example, the bread was a rich green color rather than the brown she was used to, and eggs came in yellow or orange for the shell and white for the yolk, as she discovered when she witnessed a street vendor make an omelet. The smells, which usually would’ve quickly triggered a migraine in Elezandra’s experience, didn’t do more than make her mouth water.

The most striking difference, to her, was how diverse the townspeople seemed to be, but not in the way she was used to. She saw a few humans, but the range of skin tones was breathtaking. The range was reminiscent of a galaxy’s ombre, from cool indigos so deep they may as well have been black to warm lilacs so light she was reminded of her friend Sadie’s Irish skin given a tinge of color even after what felt like a billion layers of sunscreen at the beach.

Her eye also caught a few different people who seemed to be half-human, half-creature of some kind, from the traditional werewolf with canine ears atop the head and a tail, all the way to something as obscure as what seemed to be a shoebill, based on the beak shape on one person’s face. Elezandra was snapped out of her reverie when Fairy Godmother placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the castle in the middle of it all, where, what appeared to Elezandra, a were-bunny man with lilac skin and copper hair greeted them, or rather, he greeted Fairy Godmother.

“Godmother. Is this her?” His accent sounded a juxtaposing mix of Scottish and Australian to her, and when Fairy Godmother nodded, he bent to be more eye level with her. “Hullo, I’m Foxtail. This is probably all pretty odd to you, huh.” Elezandra nodded, fascinated by the ashy gray bunny ears atop his head, which he shyly folded back and down, only enthralling the girl more.

“What are you…?” She asked breathlessly, which got a chuckle out of both Foxtail and Fairy Godmother.

“Well, for starters, I’m a Wanderling. But I’m Cuniculan, which based on what I know of your culture, equates to half bunny, half human. Pleased to meet you, miss..?” He smiled and held out a hand for her. Elezandra was half surprised to not see two buck teeth.

“E-Elezandra,” She responded after a minute, “Elezandra Fox,” She took his hand and shook it, smiling politely.

“Nice to meet you, Miss Fox.” He stood straight again. “Please, feel free to explore th’castle, I have a feeling that you’ll find it all quite fascinating. I have matters I must discuss with Lady Godmother.” Elezandra didn’t immediately take off to explore, not entirely wishing to be separated from the two people she was aware spoke English, but when they swapped into a language she couldn’t follow anyway, she took the opportunity, slipped away, and began to wander through the enormous castle. She wandered along, marveling like a tourist at a cathedral, admiring the intricacies that would’ve been required to build such a marvelous structure. Elezandra soon realized that a castle this size likely had a library to match, and had an itch to go find out.

“Excuse me,” Elezandra attempted to stop a woman with obsidian skin and asked about a library, but just got an odd look and shrugged off. Elezandra tried a few more times to no avail, so she resolved to find her self appointed destination on her own. It didn’t hurt that on the way, she got to see much more of the architecture that would be impossible back home, and she stopped to think about it: could she really leave it all behind, as fascinating as this place was? She stepped to the side of the hall to think more, where she weighed pros and cons until she was thinking in circles, so Elezandra decided to put it aside for the moment and go find the library as she originally intended.

When she eventually found it, the massive library was as impressive as it was foreign. She walked up to what she assumed to be the circulation or help desk and waited for the woman with plum skin and striking sapphire hair to come to her. She picked up a book while she did, and was actually able to read multiple pages without struggling or having to reread anything. The woman behind the desk eventually came over to her with a small smile, picked up a crystal, and gestured for Elezandra to speak. “Uhm.. Hello? I’m new in town, I just-” The woman cut her off with a finger to her lips, waited for the crystal to apparently do something, and then the librarian attached it to a chain around her throat like a pendant.

“Sorry, hon, what were you saying? These older polyglot crystals can take forever to identify uncommon languages.” That had Elezandra’s rapt attention immediately, and the librarian was happy to feed a young curious mind when asked about it. “Oh, this?” She lifted the citrine orange gem pendant for Elezandra to inspect more closely. “Yes, we get many visitors who don’t speak Rectis, and it was easier to invent polyglot crystals than keep a staff of translators.” Elezandra noticed that the woman’s mouth wasn't exactly lining up with what was being said, like watching a news clip of a testimony from a non-English speaking person.

The library was where she spent most of the day, listening, learning, reading, learning some more, the librarian, Emmalyn, was happy to oblige. Elezandra quickly learned that most of the visitors the lonely scholar received were cadets from the Academy on the west wing of the castle, and most of those cadets evidently did not have very many manners in the wee hours when they came to actually get their studies done.

“So, Miss, uhm..” Elezandra nervously tucked her hair behind her ear as she revealed the tapered cartilage. “..Odd question, but do you know why my ears are like this?”

The librarian gasped as her eyes lit up, the woman clearly restrained her instinct to begin to poke and prod. “Oh my Gods, an Elfish…” Elezandra had seen a similar reaction in her friend Will when he saw that Elezandra had managed to track down a signed first edition of a comic for the boy’s birthday earlier that year.

“Pardon, what? An Elf fish?”

“No, no, dear,” The librarian laughed good naturedly, “You’re an Elfish person. It’s an offshoot of the Elven races, we haven’t seen records of them in.. only the Watchers know how long. Follow me, follow me, I’ll take you into our archives,” Emmalyn happily popped up from the chair she’d taken to sit and chat with Elezandra in, “You know, the Elfish have such a gorgeous language. I’ve never met any personally,” The librarian walked off as she kept talking, waving for Elezandra to follow, “but I’ve read that they’re meant to be born with an innate understanding of the Elfish language.” Emmalyn fell quiet as she quickly moved various crystals and tapped various symbols on a table to bring what she needed to her.

Emmalyn brushed dust off of a tome that looked older than the castle they were standing in, and pointed to the symbols at the top of the cover. Usually, even a fraction of that dust would’ve left Elezandra wheezing for air and clutching for her inhaler, but she hadn’t even felt a tickle, pleasantly surprised.

“Can you read this?” Emmalyn continued, “We were given it by the last known Elfish person in Alisride in his will, but we don’t have enough records of their innate language to reliably decode it.”

“Uh, yeah, I think so..” Elezandra squinted and tried to focus, startling slightly as the sounds came to her mouth from somewhere inside she didn't recognize. “Rael, Vaes, Vaelreth..? I-it means essence, memory, and.. love, I think? It feels more complicated than that, though…” Emmalyn lit up, and Elezandra couldn’t help but feel like a dog who just spoke English and was about to be dragged off to some lab for experiments.

“Hon, how long will you be in town?” Emmalyn’s voice plainly revealed her enthusiasm, but she was trying to tone it down. Not with much effect, but she was trying. “I’d love to have you around, you’re such a lovely young lady and, I’ll admit, a bit of a scholarly goldmine for little ol’ me.” The question gave Elezandra pause, as she was reminded of the choice she had to make.

“..I’m not sure.” Elezandra murmured after a minute. “I’ve been gone a while, though, I should probably get back.” Emmalyn nodded and guided her back to the circulation desk, where Elezandra found Fairy Godmother patiently waiting for her. Emmalyn quickly took her leave, leaving the pair alone.

“Well, dear, it seems you had an interesting day. Have you given your decision any more consideration?” Fairy Godmother said as she marked her page and placed the book down.

Elezandra nodded, trying to gather her resolve and in doing so, made a mental pro/con list. Her biggest hang up would be her parents. She knew they had struggled for years and spent tens of thousands before getting spontaneously pregnant as a last try; she would never be able to make a decision of this magnitude if she knew it would hurt them.

“Would I get to say goodbye to them?” Elezandra’s voice was soft, like she already knew that she’d only get to say goodbye for herself, and the way Fairy Godmother’s face softened only confirmed it. “I assume they wouldn't be left to just wonder about me either.” Fairy Godmother shook her head.

“No, dear, they wouldn’t. A team of specialists would go in and alter their memories, and they will be given a… replacement, as cold as that sounds.” Fairy Godmother gave her a soft, sad smile as she placed a hand over Elezandra’s. “They would not suffer any more than waking up from a very vivid dream.” Elezandra nodded, more to herself than anything.

“Could I be there? To say goodbye for myself?” Fairy Godmother nodded, granting the young girl one small request in the grand scheme of things didn’t seem like a horrible price to pay.

“Yes. We’ll leave at first light. I’ll take you to a temporary dorm for tonight, and we can discuss your formal admission to the Academy’s advanced programme another day.”

The next morning, right on schedule, Elezandra was led by the hand back through the odd portal, and just as promised, the scene was the exact same as when she left. The red plastic cup was still frozen in freefall, Quinn with her knees tucked to her chest stuck in the air over the pool, her parents watching from the back porch with her mom having a forkful of birthday cake halfway to her mouth. It was more emotional than Elezandra had anticipated as she began to go around and said her unilateral goodbyes, choosing to start with her mom and dad.

“Dad… mom,” Elezandra’s voice was unexpectedly choked, though she knew it would be a heartbreaking experience. “I know you can’t really hear me.. but I’m sorry. I just… I went to this wonderful world, and I could breathe, and I could read, and… they knew why my ears are like this, and-”

Elezandra had to stop because her throat was too tight. She blinked back tears and took a shaky deep breath before she could keep going. “I love you guys. And I’m really gonna miss you both. I just… I don’t want you to think I left you, because I know you’ve always wanted what was best for me, and this is what’s best for me. So… this is goodbye. You’ll still have a daughter, it just… won’t be me.” Elezandra hadn't expected saying goodbye to hit that hard as she hugged the frozen statues of her mother and father.

Elezandra turned and went around to her friends and said similar goodbyes, though none were less tearful. As she was watching the team that Fairy Godmother mentioned go around after her, she felt a wave of all encompassing numbness.

She wandered inside, unable to keep watching the surgical precision of being cut out of her own life. Elezandra went to her room, but felt out of place, as she remembered usually feeling, even in her own home. The advanced math and physics books crammed onto small, hidden away shelves that she’d stopped trying to explain to her parents and classmates years ago. The facetious collage of teenage magazines on the corkboard outside of her closet door compared to the collage of science camps and math olympiad blue ribbons taped on the inside.

Elezandra thought about how she felt in Alisride. In the village, in the library. She walked around without worrying about whether her ears were hidden, read without struggle, felt like she breathed and saw better than she ever had, like her body knew she belonged there.

“…but would it be worth it…?” She gazed out the window to the backyard, feeling like she’d tear in two before she made a decision.

“It’s not like they’ll know any different… they’ll still have a daughter,” she tried reasoning with herself, but then her eye caught on the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling. The ones she had begged her dad to put up because “it would look so cool”, and when she tried looking away to gather her resolve for her decision, muttering, “they’d want what’s best for me,” her eyes landed on the carefully folded quilt her mother had made her on her bed, an upcycling project of fabric from outfits from when she was brought home as an infant until she hit 10 years old. “…but is leaving best..?”

Elezandra hadn’t even realized she had sunk to her knees to cry on the floor until Fairy Godmother placed a hand on her shoulder, helped her to her feet, and brought her to the small family portrait her mother had always insisted was kept on Elezandra’s nightstand. “...Take it,” Fairy Godmother whispered softly. “Every Wanderling takes a relic from the stories they live in. It’s only fair you get to have one.” Elezandra nodded, feeling the unfamiliar pinch of emotions right behind her nose and in between her eyes for the umpteenth time in the last few hours.

Elezandra clutched the framed photo until one of the specialists gently reached for it. Elezandra nearly kicked the man, until he explained that the bag he would put it in was to keep it safe on the journey back to Alisride. Elezandra hadn't even realized how much she was trembling until Fairy Godmother placed a hand on her shoulder, whispering that it was time. She watched as her facsimile was fully put in place, and nodded to herself, trying to be absolutely confident that this is best for everyone as she stepped back through the odd light, taking minimal solace in the peace her soul took from being in a place where it didn’t have to strain to maintain itself.

Is this a safe space to celebrate getting 4 of the 5 cards from this banner? 😅 🙈

UPDATE

Okay so Sylus’s birthday event started today. And I went to use the free 10 pulls. Jaw drops bc I hear the noise. I click thru. I see Caleb’s animation pop up and sigh, but am grateful, I’ve been wanting to rank up his colonel myth. Continue to click thru, and Sylus’s animation pops up. Jaw drops *harder*. Whadya know, his birthday 5* pops up. I saved like 5 wishes for both the banner and the rerun, I had made peace with the fact I might not get either. I decide “what the heck” and use my 5 wishes on the rerun and you WON’T believe it. I’m on my 5th wish, completely okay with having to grind to get it, and I hear *the noise*. I think “..no way” and then Sylus’s animation pops up! I didn’t manage to screen record the second one, I was too shocked.

@pearherapple (you’re the only LADS friend I can think of)

Chapter 1

Cadet Durlap watched with a pinched face as Fairy Godmother, someone who is, for all practical purposes, her mother, returned from an undisclosed expedition into the Beyond with a girl not much younger than she was. According to Fairy Godmother, this girl was the All-Knowing, the wanderling to rule all wanderlings. 

The All-Knowing’s soulsenses are meant to be out of this world, literally and figuratively, since most wanderlings, even those trained from birth, rarely have any ability to control the expressions of their souls; when they do, it’s normally only to retract them to make them harder to detect. The All-Knowing, according to the prophecy, will be able to use theirs to grate against others, or maybe even scalp them from one’s body, if the more extreme stories are to be believed.

She had read and heard the stories growing up, everyone did. Cadet Durlap was an oddity herself, since she was born into an area more subject to the Beyond’s influence than most sectors of physical reality; she cannot sense her own soul as a separate thing from herself, let alone the expressions of those around her. It makes her somewhat of a social buffoon, unable to read the cues most others get from the instinctive and reflexive responses of others. 

Luckily, it means no one can really read her soul expressions and thus, her inner emotions beyond her facial expressions and body language. Cadet Durlap had thought “reading the room” was a figure of speech, but apparently it’s possible beyond body language and physical facial expressions.

The girl Fairy Godmother had brought seemed no different than the other cadets that attended through scholarship or village funding, at least to Cadet Durlap. Then again, she often relied on the visible reactions of others to figure out what to make of things.

Cadet Durlap watched disdainfully as this new girl was paraded through the halls. It was very looked down upon to refer to cadets by their first names, as that was usually the first step of trust and intimacy between bondmates, who often discovered they were each other’s soulmates.

She did her best to ignore the girl, Cadet Fox as she was called, even though it was a bit annoying how well she took to magic and the new social circumstances she found herself in. Cadet Durlap did not like that her new fellow cadet seemed to have no respect for the new social hierarchy she was surrounded by, talking to social elites and social dregs alike.

The actual problem began when Cadet Fox was sent on a mission and Cadet Durlap decided to go investigate something on her own, supposedly decently far from where Cadet Fox was meant to be operating, but no one told Cadet Fox that the other girl was even in the field.

As Cadet Durlap was trying to fiddle with a magic device that she was somewhat hotwiring to not give away her position to the attendants back at the castle, she was both murmuring to herself and momentarily unaware of her surroundings as it was fairly delicate wire work. Cadet Fox either didn’t seem to notice her absent attention, or did and didn’t care, and was able to sneak up on her. 

“What the heck are you doing?” The sudden voice other than her own murmurings startled Cadet Durlap and she jumped, shouting a curse when this secret-from-the-adults mission was meant to be covert. Once she mentally chastised herself for likely blowing any meaningful cover they had, she wheeled around to ask what Cadet Fox was doing anywhere near her, still whispering just in case. Cadet Fox ignored her question. “The bigger question is why are you here, on my mission?” Cadet Fox finally took a moment to assess who she was looking at and rolled her eyes a little. “Oh. You’re Fairy Godmother’s prized Wanderling.”

Cadet Durlap, who was a bit sensitive about having people not refer to Fairy Godmother as her mother, bit back, “No, I’m not, she’s my mother.”

“Adopted. Now, why’re you intruding on my mission?” Cadet Durlap didn’t appreciate being brushed off, and as such rolled her eyes, asking why she had to tell her anything, which was responded to with, “Because it’s my mission? You have no right to be here.”

“It still is your mission.” She mumbles to herself oh so maturely, “Even though it’s not that hard.” They continue to bicker back and forth until Cadet Fox realizes that they’ve lost their target, then blames her for that as well. “Wait a minute.. You aren’t meant to be here either, are you?” Cadet Durlap realizes; she may not be the sharpest tack, but determination helps. “Who knew that Ms. Unknown Prodigy was a rule breaker?”

“Rule breaker? Please. We all know you use your status to get out of trouble.” Cadet Fox shoots back, which makes her hackles rise and she mouths off as well before she can stop herself.

“Do not!” She pulls a bit of a face, irritated that this girl is so easily able to pull a rise out of her. “Since neither of us are supposed to be here, I have a proposal.”

“Why would I ever make a deal with you?” The question from the other cadet is fair enough, neither has any reason to trust the other wouldn’t sell them out the moment that it’d benefit them. Cadet Durlap didn’t really have any good reason as to why, and it sounds as such. “Whatever. Have fun wandering the forest since you lost our chance. Don’t interfere again.” As Cadet Fox walks off, she takes the chance to make a childish face at her back before realizing that she does, in fact, have no clue where she is, and therefore will be wandering the forest. Stupid wayfinding lessons.. Cadet Durlap grumbles mentally as she begins to pick her way home.

“Cadet Durlap,” the girl flinched as Fairy Godmother’s voice rang out over the din of the hallway, “Cadet Fox. My office. Now.” Cadet Durlap wrangled the urge to run from the verbal lashing she was sure she would get before hanging her head and heading to the Headmistress’s office in the tower twin to the Astronomy Tower. She caught a glimpse of the unique brown into navy blue hair of Cadet Fox obviating the fact that she was doing the same. 

Both girls trudged up the stairs, like prisoners to the gallows as Fairy Godmother came in, shutting the heavy wood door behind her. “Do you both know why you’re here?” Cadet Fox responds respectfully, with a carefully clipped “yes ma’am”, while Cadet Durlap murmurs a soft “yeah” in the presence of her mother figure. “Tell me then.” Her voice is final, like a judge trying to get a confession.

Cadet Fox, not one to easily lose her composure, responds first with her head held somewhat high, “Captured defectors escaped because we were arguing.” Cadet Durlap nods her confirmation, knowing that it was mostly her fault.

“That is what I was told, yes,” Fairy Godmother confirms before giving their sentencing, “For your punishments, you must work together on a mission of my choosing.” 

Cadet Durlap’s head snaps up, brow furrowed as she and Cadet Fox speak at the same time, “Wait, together?” Both girls are exasperated, this is one of the worst punishments that they could’ve come up with.

“Yes. Together. And if I get wind of either of you strong-arming the other, I will not hesitate to make this punishment permanent, is that understood?” Fairy Godmother’s tone makes it clear that the decision is not up for debate, but that doesn’t stop Cadet Durlap much.

“But mother-” her objection is quickly shut down by a sharp look and rebuff from Fairy Godmother. “No if’s, and’s, or but’s, missy. Now get to work.”

“Miss, if I may…” Cadet Fox speaks up, and Cadet Durlap realizes she has an almost Elvish accent, then realizes that Fairy Godmother isn’t shutting her down, looking for an explanation only to see her mother with a raised eyebrow, likely because Cadet Fox rarely speaks against the headmistress. “Is this really a wise decision?” Cadet Fox seems to almost brace to be shut down, but when she isn’t, she hesitantly continues, “We have both made significant errors on missions when we weren’t working together.. Besides you know my track record with partners..” 

Cadet Durlap’s curiosity is piqued, and not for the first time when it comes to the socially reclusive Cadet Fox as Fairy Godmother responds, her tone as calm as a pond. “Yes, I believe it is a good decision, and if I am incorrect I will atone. Yes, you both have made mistakes, but you both tend to learn from them. I think your heads put together, not in a horn lock, would create uniquely positive results, despite your differences.” 

Cadet Fox sighs, knowing to quit while she’s ahead. “Very well, headmistress, what mission did you have in mind?” 

Fairy Godmother’s smile is almost shark-like as she speaks. “I’m glad you asked. You’re going to work together to recapture the defects you both lost.” Cadet Durlap wants to pull her hair out, and a quick glance at Cadet Fox shows a similar exasperation, but she swallows it much better as she nods. 

The pair are soon dismissed, as classes will be resuming from their lunch break soon, and the two girls stiffly agree to meet in the library that night to try and figure out how to start.

“Alright. So, how’re we going to do this?” The blonde haired girl tiredly asks as she scrubs her face with one hand.

“Oh so now you’re going to help?” Cadet Fox frostily asks as she looks up from her book. “After what, 3 hours?”

“I have a hard time focusing, and I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to me.” She tries her best to keep a grip on her temper as Cadet Fox sighs, especially when it seems the other girl is going to drop it.

“Whatever. Look, this is the main base,” Cadet Fox points to a secluded point near the base of a mountain range, deep in the forest on the map spread on the table. “They are most likely back there. We just need a way in.” Cadet Durlap, genuinely confused and still a little snippy, points out what feels like an obvious flaw in the plan. “Why would they go there if they know we know where it is?”

Cadet Fox smirks cockily as she reveals what the other girl doesn’t know, “They don’t. As far as I am aware, I am the only person who knows, and I found it on my own.” Cadet Durlap is a mix of shocked and impressed as she speaks, “Wait, really?”, genuinely trying to set up a basis for a partnership, only to be shut down as the other girl responds, “Of course. There’s a reason they called me a prodigy. Now, either figure out something or stay out of my way.” 

Any impetus to actually try with the other girl that Cadet Durlap had developed was quickly quashed, but then Fairy Godmother’s threat from earlier rings in her ears. “Mother said this would be permanent if one of us bossed the other.” 

Cadet Fox rolls her eyes, “I’m just telling you to get to work or stay out of the way. You really consider that bossing, Fakling?” That last word poked a raw nerve as Cadet Durlap wasn’t a wanderling in the traditional sense of one’s soulsense giving a cadet a magicks specialty. Thus, she had taken to calling Cadet Durlap “Fakling”, a fake wanderling, when she really wanted to cut the other girl deep.

“What did you just call me?” Cadet Durlap asks quietly. It wasn’t the first time she had been mocked for her own origins, but it was the first time it was said so brazenly to her face, her direct connection to Fairy Godmother usually containing such comments to whispers and behind-the-back gossip. “You heard me. Get. To. Work.” Cadet Fox’s tone is chilly, and Cadet Durlap stands, her chair scraping loudly against the marble floor of the library, excusing herself as Cadet Fox murmurs with a scoff, “Can’t even handle the truth.”

Vaelreth: The Everlasting Story

Hey everyone! You may or may not know/remember, but I mentioned a possible story that I was debating on posting here back at the beginning of November.

I have been very busy trying to lay the groundwork because as I mentioned in this post, it is almost a decade in the making, and it wasn't written linearly nor consistently. I will be making a masterlist that will have links to what I think of as "typical" masterlist items, like chapters of the main story, blurbs/drabbles, character introductions, lore/worldbuilding that I am currently not sure will be expressly included in the main story.

Part of why I mentioned it in November and dropped off the face of the earth is because of a mix of IRL stuff and the fact that I have to literally invent a new language for parts of this story. The title, Vaelreth, is the spelled-out version of one of the characters in that language, but I won't get into all the details in this post. The reason I make this post now is because the first chapter will be uploaded tomorrow at 2pm CST. I'm gonna schedule it so I don't forget.

There will be multiple versions of the character introductions because I think the math works out that this story covers about 56 years (at least as we would've experienced them, there will be a post where I attempt to explain the time dilation and constriction stuff to the best of my understanding)

Full transparency: I am also a full-time college student that is trying to get a job. I will try my best to be consistent with at least one post of some kind (blurb, chapter, lore, etc.) a week. Feel free to put asks in my inbox, they should be open, or you can put questions in the comments! I love rambling about this story and am so excited to finally start sharing it with you all.

Possible New Story?

Hey guys, so I have been working on something for a couple months now, but it has technically been in the works for almost a decade. It's a story I have written chunks of on and off with a friend, and the main character is actually part of how I got the username that I use here and on most social media sites.

A lot of the world building is cobbled together from various impactful stories/series/media that I've taken in over the last however many years, and it all started with Aphmau's many Minecraft series.

Unfortunately, I am no longer very close with the friend since we have grown apart, but I wanted to get y'all's opinions on whether y'all would like to read the story as I finally turn it into a more traditional format.