Magical (A Quest of Vacations, or Starsigns, or Something Else)

You didn't really have to think about it, when deciding where you would sit. Sugar and Sorbet are the only other students you know, and you might as well stick with them for as long as you can. The salamander from before is also sitting at your table, as well as the puppet that joined in the Realm of Light. There are five spots at the table, just enough for all of you.

"So, what's a salamander doing at a school of magic?" The puppet voices the question you're sure is on everyone's mind.

"I have the Starsign of Gren." The Wood Planet? Well, it is supposedly the original home of the salamanders... Even if they're meant to be a magicless race. "But nobody outside the nest believed I could really do anything with it, and the ones inside..." He trails off, and you firmly resolve to not ask. "Oh, my name's Chai Leafgreen, by the way."

"I'm Merlot. Just Merlot, we don't really do the whole... last names thing in Oturan. Great-grandfather forgets everyone's names a lot as it is..." They sigh loudly, as if this has been a big problem for them in the past. "What about the rest of you?"

Well, no reason not to answer them. "I'm Rye Seabreeze."

"Sugar Ronsanu." She gestures to her sister. "And that's Sorbet. We're twins, if you hadn't noticed, but we have different types of magic." You haven't heard enough about wizard twins to know if that sort of thing's unusual or not, but you guess you can't blame her for clarifying. Aside from their eyes and clothes, they're perfectly identical.

"It's nice to meet you," The girl in blue adds, reaching for a sandwich. "Still, I think we should be eating now... it's not like any of us got lunch today."

That is the best idea you've heard all evening. Sandwiches themselves are a new experience for you- Uncle Al insisted on a certain minimum of effort in his meals- but you think you like them. Or maybe it's just that it's the most you've gotten to eat all day.

None of you are entirely sure what you're supposed to do with the packaging, but you end up agreeing to just leave it in the middle of the table and let whoever's paid to clean this up deal with it, at least until one of you can figure out where some kind of garbage bin is.

Other than that, none of you feel much need to talk with each other, and the meal proceeds near silently from there, aside from a group of humans who are still animatedly discussing their magic in between bites of their sandwiches.

Despite the different subject matter, it's still a similar level of noise to family dinners at home. It's nice to know that some things haven't quite changed yet.

---

Living quarters for the staff and students take up the entirety of the top floor accessible. You aren't sure exactly what number floor it is, but it's higher up than you've ever been before.

Your new room is small, with just enough room for a bed, a dresser, and a desk that sits right beneath the window, giving you a nice view right over the school grounds, all the way to the nearby town. It's really dark right now, but you can still tell you'll be able to see right to the town in the morning because of all the lights in the distance.

The darkness of night is more than a little disconcerting to you, but there is a lantern on your desk with a fresh candle, so you figure you can just light it each night until you get used to it. When lit, it casts the entire room in a warm glow.

The flickering shadows are still a bit unnerving, but you still manage to fall asleep, and you think that's the important part.

---

When you wake up, the school grounds are shrouded in a light mist, hiding the town from your view. It's still a nice sight, even a bit reminiscent of home. Vision obscured by water vapor is not an unusual thing, living around hot springs. Even if you can't control the mists the same way you control the springs themselves. For fog, you'd need the assistance of Wind Spirits.

...Huh. You just got an idea for a project you could do with Sugar later, if she's interested.

There's a knock on your door, and an unfamiliar woman's voice informs you that breakfast will be served in half an hour, that you should return to the cafeteria by then, and that if you don't remember where it is, you could always ask a returning student.

Of course, that would only be helpful advice if you knew which of the people here were returning students, but you think you've got a good idea of where it is. And if you're wrong... well, you'd just have to follow the sounds of activity and you're bound to get somewhere eventually.

Thankfully, your first guess is right. You'd hate to spend the entire day wandering lost around the academy.

---

Breakfast is plain oatmeal with a selection of things to mix in. Sugar fills her bowl with her namesake, while Sorbet sticks to sprinkling in a few assorted fruits.

"You're going to make yourself sick with that," She warns her sister, who doesn't particularly seem to care so long as her food is sweet. Uncle Al would have conniptions if he saw her meal. "...Also, maybe leave some for everyone else."

"Sorry, I just... never saw so much in one place before." She returns the brown sugar to the center of the table, and you happily take a spoonful. Just enough to make sure your food actually tastes like something.

Once you're done eating, a pair of teachers stand in the middle of the room and call for your attention. "Good morning, everyone," The male of the duo greets you all. He sounds incredibly tired, like the people who don't realize that just because the sun is always up in the Light Realm doesn't mean time isn't actually passing. "My name is Mustard, and this is my sister, Ketchup. We will be in charge of keeping you occupied today, as you ended up coming in quite some time before term starts, and we don't know how much we can trust all of you yet."

His sister groans. "You weren't supposed to say that last part," She reminds him, before speaking up. "Permanent residents who have been here at least one year will retain all the freedom they originally had- particularly because treating Mokka like a new student would be ridiculous- but I'm sure the rest of you could benefit from the time to settle in. There will be two activities today. One with me in the library, and another outside with my brother. I can't promise either will be entirely what you expect, even if you've been through this before. Once you are done with whatever remains of your food, please gather around whoever you will be joining."

With that, the two of them separate, and the cafeteria begins to spit into groups. Of the students you know, Sorbet and Merlot wander over to Ketchup, while Mustard is joined by Sugar and Chai.

At least you'll be with friends no matter where you are.


[ ] Go with Ketchup.

[ ] Go with Mustard.

The library, it turns out, covers an entire third of the second floor. The flooring is checkered turquoise and gold, while the wallpaper is white patterned with dark green vines. The shelves covering the place appear to be constructed out of some shiny white stone, and the windows are framed by deep purple curtains.

Honestly, it sort of hurts your eyes to look at, particularly when you add in the varied colors and shades of the books lining the shelves, covering the chairs lying around, and even sitting in piles underneath the window.

"Yes, I'm aware that whoever designed this place had no artistic sensibilities whatsoever," Ketchup sighs. "When term begins, you could start a student petition to have it renovated, but Biscotti insists on keeping the tiles. And changing everything else to match them would be expensive."

"I think it looked better back when we were students-ppi." It's the vox man from yesterday, carrying a large stack of sticker pages. They look freshly-printed, which means they were probably purchased from the ratfolk. "Do you know where I should put these?"

"Just leave them on the chair for now. Everyone, in case you haven't been previously introduced, this is Professor Pistachio Maplewood. He graduated from Will-O-Wisp Academy at the same time that my brother and I did, and has since been lecturing at various magical schools. We are very lucky that he agreed to come back and teach here."

Professor Maplewood seems to blush under his fur, though he hides it really well. "I wouldn't say I'm that amazing. I'm sure there are a lot of people that could do a better job-ppi."

Your supervisor gives an odd smile at that, before turning back to face the rest of you. "So. The librarian is currently out on vacation, and won't be back for another three days. Normally, this would mean the library is closed, but some of the permanent residents are in the middle of a very important research project, and we believe in giving them all of the possible opportunities to succeed. Thankfully, I know enough about the filing system to fill in for a short time, but a large shipment of new books just came in and I don't have the time to sort through all of them."

Ketchup picks up the sticker sheets and passes them around the room. "Day stickers go on books about healing, Machinery stickers go on history books. Books on animals get Beast stickers, books on insects get Insect stickers, books on monsters get both. Books about another planet get stickers of the Starsign for that planet. I don't think we received any other kinds of books, but if you find any, come to me and I'll see if we can't figure out how to label them."

So you're being used as a free filing system, more or less. You suppose that, if you wanted a particularly interesting activity, you could always have followed Mustard outside. And it's a different sort of work than you're used to.

Of course, the best part is, since you can't always tell what kind of book something is by the title, you have a good reason to read the first few pages. It could even give you ideas on things to read later, once you're allowed to roam the school freely.

Ketchup doesn't seem to have a problem with talking as you work, but you decide, for the moment, not to risk it. You've got a box of history books to label.

---

"Miss Ketchup was right when she said it wouldn't be the same as last year," You hear while trying to tear a Puffoon sticker out of your fur. So far, the sticker seems to be winning.

"What did you do last year, then?" Merlot's somewhat more familiar voice asks.

The speaker, a vox girl with chocolate-brown fur and a fluffy tail, adds another book to the top of her pile. "Last year was a small research project... though I guess not having the normal librarian would get in the way of that. Pass me a Love sticker, would you? I think this is a romance novel." You're curious as to how she'd know how to label romance novels without asking, but you're also just as curious as to how she would only think it was one.

Either way, you don't know her, so you decide against asking any of your questions. Maybe if you actually get to know her.

Sorbet wanders over to you with a small stack of her own. "Do you have any Beast stickers left? I already used all of mine."

You have exactly three Beast stickers remaining. "I think we're starting to run out of stickers in general." At least, for the kinds you're actually meant to be using. And it's only two hours in.

Still, the book piles are dwindling, too, so you suppose it's just a question of what runs out first. And what you're supposed to do after that. Answers do not appear to be forthcoming.

Some of the other students seem to be settling into conversation as you successfully excise the Puffoon sticker from your fur and place it on the book. Hopefully it clings on there just as much as it clung to your fur. You don't have a lot of experience with stickers, they're rare.

But either way, you are almost out of stickers, and almost out of books. So what are you going to do when you run out?


[ ] Seek out Miss Ketchup and Professor Maplewood for further instruction.

[ ] Talk with some of your fellow students.
-[ ] Merlot and the vox girl.
-[ ] Sorbet.
-[ ] The purple mole creature.
-[ ] A pair of humans that you remember having a loud discussion yesterday evening.

[ ] Maybe you could read some of those books you were labeling...

[ ] Explore the library.

Well, you suppose these books are sorted just about as well as you'll ever be able to manage. The covers are in all sorts of colors, from pale blue to hot pink to a black darker than the school hallways at night. They all clash horribly with each other.

They clash horribly with the floor, too, but everything clashes horribly with the floor here, so maybe you're just better off turning off your ability to register color entirely.

Or pretending that the floor, and the various brightly-colored books, don't actually exist. You think you can manage that effect by blocking them out with words on a page. Deciding that testing it out would be better for your eyes than a number of other options, you reach for the nearest book.

The Mystery of Valencia Beach... That sounds more like a fiction title than an actual history book, you think. Not that you'd know for sure. You learned how to read off of hot spring schedules, letters between family members, and whatever books guests forgot in their rooms and never came back for. You simply haven't had the chance to sit around and compare book titles.

Still, it was left right there in reach, and you don't have anything better to do, so... might as well flip through it.

Who knows? You might even learn something.

---

Will-O-Wisp Academy was founded in the year X0X0X by the wizard Biscotti, a man whose prior history is a complete unknown. From the very beginning, the school's doors were open to all who could afford tuition, and a few who couldn't. It was a promise of a bright future for aspiring young wizards, so long as they could complete their education.

It goes without saying that not all of them could. While any child could enter, that does not mean that all of them would have the drive to succeed, the requisite talent, or parents who wouldn't simply pull them out of school for one reason or another.

These unfinished educations, in the time that this book is written, generally do have some sort of explainable source. But when the school was founded, things were different.

Children were going missing without a trace.

Sometimes, there was warning that a student was planning to run away. But a lot of the time, the young wizard in question would be there one day, and gone the next. Most of the time, this would coincide with the school camping trip. These trips started just five years after the school's opening, and for the next decade, there would be at least one mysterious disappearance.

Some of those students have reappeared in the time since the initial incident, but none of them have ever said a word about the time they were gone. The circumstances behind their vanishing remains a mystery.

---

Valencia Beach was first discovered in the year LX0L by a crew of magicless pirates sailing an unnamed ship. They hid their plunder there, and centuries later, their descendants traveled to the beach in order to dig it up, but never returned. Bones have been discovered in a hidden cave that match that timeframe, and bear marks of a nonmagical struggle.

A popular theory is that the treasure hunters ended up killing each other over the treasure, but the cave itself held no traces of gold. Jewelry matching the description of the missing artifacts has appeared in markets in the Realm of Darkness, but nobody has been able to conclusively trace their origins.

The beach was rediscovered in the year 0L0XX by an expedition party led by the legendary wizard Gran Degree, though the cave was not found until several thousand years later, by a group of Will-O-Wisp students from the year that the student disappearances stopped. After rediscovery, the beach was turned into a vacation spot.

While there may have been occasional disappearances on the beach over its tenure as a tourist destination, it is the large number of student disappearances from Will-O-Wisp Academy that this book will be focusing on...

---

Miss Ketchup returns to the main area of the library half an hour later, almost tripping over the wall of books that Merlot, Sorbet, and the vox girl ended up constructing. "I see you've all been keeping busy." She doesn't say anything else, and you find yourself curling in on yourself in an attempt to escape that powerful purple gaze. "Are all of the books labeled?"

You nod, as does everyone else, because those books have been labeled for a while now. Aside from the book you were reading, you even bothered to alphabetize your stack just so you had something to do with your paws.

"I sorted mine by color!" A pink-haired human speaks up, probably in hopes of avoiding the teacher's disapproval.

"I see. I suppose it was too much to expect you to remain occupied all morning." She seems more resigned to this than anything, which you guess makes sense if she's been a teacher for a long time. You don't know how long she's worked here, but with how confident she is in what she's doing, it must have been for a while. "In that case, we have an hour left until lunch. Use this time to read, and to talk to each other quietly."

Oh, good. You can go back to your book.

---

One of the vanished students who made her way back into society found that, while her disappearing was an inconvenience, that did not stop her from reaching a high spot in society. Vanilla Nighthawk didn't disappear until the camping trip had ended, but spent three years without any trace of her showing up.

It was her younger brother, Ganache, who located her, along with the rest of his class. None of them have ever breathed a word of what happened, leaving that time in her life as a complete mystery.

When she reappeared, her powers over the Dark Spirits were even more powerful than they were before, and she eventually rose to the top of Kovomaka's Elite Mage Force. At the time of this writing, she is still the leader of the group, and is widely considered to be the most powerful wizard on the planet.

---

This book brings up a lot of questions. While the detailed events happened eight hundred years ago, that isn't all that long for a wizard. Only about a tenth of a lifespan. Less, even. The people that this book writes about, the ones that never came back... if they had, they'd still be alive today.

Still, you don't have much time to think about it, as Miss Ketchup urges you all downstairs for lunch. You know it's just going to be more sandwiches, you've heard other students complain that food before term starts is always just more of the same thing, but you don't mind all that much.

You're sure you'll be sick of sandwiches by the time there's more food available, but there's so many types, you think you'll be able to get by.

---

After lunch, the full group of new students is led to another room entirely. Soft green beanbag chairs dot a wooden floor, while the northernmost wall is made up of windows, leading a courtyard with a pond and a big tree.

There's also a pile of magic dolls in the corner for some reason. Probably to practice combat magic or something.

"This is one of the school's meditation rooms. Feel free to use it for its intended purpose, or talk to each other, or beat up some magic dolls, or take a nap. Just so long as you do it quietly. You may even wander through the courtyard outside, as long as you stay in sight of this room at all times."

All things considered, you think this is one of the better options for free time. Those beanbag chairs do look soft... even if it's a bit too early to be curling up for a nap.

So you're not going to fall asleep just yet. Instead, you'll...



[ ] Wander outside to the pond and see if there's any spirits you can talk to.

[ ] Talk with some of the other students.
-[ ] Chai and a felin boy.
-[ ] Merlot and the vox girl.
-[ ] Sorbet and Sugar.
-[ ] That group of humans is talking about magic again.

[ ] ...What's Mokka doing here?

[ ] You've never actually tried to meditate before...

[ ] You haven't fought anything with your magic before, but now's as good a time as any to learn. Have a practice fight with one of the magic dolls.