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

It doesn't take much for you to agree. After all, if what Bel was nervous about is you accidentally breaking any laws, there can't be anything to worry about if there's someone who can tell you when there's a question that shouldn't be answered.

Not that you're going to run into any of those. You might not even get to the subject you're planning to, it's not like you know enough about these people to know what buttons to push. But Nutmeg asked you to do it, and you agreed, so there's no backing out of it now.

Miss Madeleine is currently sitting in a comfortable-looking armchair, though you're pretty sure she wasn't there a minute ago. She wasn't anywhere within your range of senses a minute ago, and you're starting to wonder if she smuggled in one of Pizza's hats or something. Even with her being human, you highly doubt independent Warp Magic is one of her capabilities.

She's already Double Talented. You just don't think there's room for any other sort of incredibly rare magical ability.

But you're not going to ask how she got here. That would be rude, and being polite is probably the best way to get to the information you want, so long as she has it.

"Oh, Miss Madeleine. I was actually hoping to ask you something."

"If it's about the homeroom assignments, those are already set in stone." You wonder how many times she's had to say that. "If it's something else, though... go ahead."

She may be expecting you to ask about her talents. Or about things for the new school year, or even just why there's three more days before you're allowed to go outside again. Or about writing letters back, and maybe you should do that at some point, just so nobody forgets that you exist. And those are all things it would be nice to know about, but that's not why you're here.

"Well, I was wondering... what decides the classes that someone teaches?" You've heard she mostly talks about Starsigns nowadays, but in XOXEO, everyone in her homeroom was learning how to harness the power of the spirits. "I mean, there's no real reason for it, just..." You're curious, and it might help you get onto the topic of what you'd actually like to know. Or, rather, what you were asked to learn.

Still, the teacher's eyes brighten up, and you think you just may have asked the right question. That, or she's using magic for the effect. Given how she controls both light and darkness, you don't think it'll ever be possible to tell.

"I was wondering if anyone would ever ask that. You see, it's all to do with the students."

"The students?" Somehow, that's the last answer you'd expected.

"Yes. There's no reason to teach something that just goes over their heads, after all. And thanks to my... unique qualifications, my classes are able to be much more broad than most. So if a class is mostly voxes, I will mostly teach about the kinds of magic commonly available to voxes. Or if everyone has a Starsign, I will try to tailor my lesson plans around that. Once, my class was made up entirely of users of dark and light magic... That was enjoyable, when everyone wasn't trying to kill each other." You aren't sure whether or not she means that literally, and you're too scared to ask.

"So, if your class was made up entirely of those who can talk to spirits, that's what you would teach?" Like that one class, so long ago. The one that clearly has some sort of mystery to it, that has several members hanging around the school even now, with a secret that you're wondering if you can decode.

You probably can't. Not if they've been able to keep in hidden for eight hundred years without saying a word. But that's not going to stop you from trying.

Miss Madeleine nods. "That's exactly correct. In fact, during the school's early days, that's what my classes tended to look like. My Starsign was... much less well known, at the time."

That's... strange. After all, between having occasional conversations with things nobody else can see, and turning into a light purple beacon every night, you would have expected the latter to always be the most visible. But maybe she just never went out at night.

Funnily enough, none of the students from the year you're wondering about could talk to Light Spirits. But it's not like that was ever a common power, so you don't think much of it.

Maybe it's something one of the twins can do. It's not like the yearbook was at all helpful to you when it came to those two.



[ ] Continue on the topic of her Starsign.

[ ] Wonder why she doesn't make it known what spirits she talks to.

[ ] What does she do about Double Talented students like Mokka?

Still, aside from the obvious oddity when it comes to knowledge of her talents, everything Miss Madeleine has told you so far makes sense. You guess it would have to, if this is official school policy, but it's nice to know there's a reason behind everything that's happening. You'd almost thought you'd left logic behind at the hot springs.

"What about Double Talented students?" You continue, deciding against mentioning Mokka by name. You aren't sure if his decision to pursue further education is meant to be common knowledge yet or if he just planned to slip into class on the first day without really telling anyone.

It's hard to trust a person when you can't read emotions from their voice.

"Well, like everything else, that depends on the student." Miss Madeleine doesn't seem inclined to drop names, either. You wonder if anyone ever asked her about old classes before. "Some of them lean more towards one talent than another. A number of them do end up learning both at the same time, through afternoon classes if need be, but just as many choose to focus on the aspect of their powers that they have in common with their classmates, particularly if the class composition is skewed."

Skewed, like the class Mokka was a part of had been. Though you still aren't sure why it took him so long to go back and learn about Starsigns. You'd think he either wouldn't care at all, or he'd focus on learning as much as he could as soon as he could.

Still, you think that's more of a question for Nutmeg to ask. You're not getting involved in that yet.

So you just nod along with what the teacher says. "I... guess it would be hard to teach something that doesn't apply to most of the students." Which is a big part of why your class of choice is one that doesn't focus on Starsigns, even if it does make you wonder what Nutmeg's doing there. You assume she either had her reasons, or made a poor decision back when she arrived at the school.

Given what you've seen from her, both are very likely possibilities.

"Precisely. Though it is a shame I don't get to teach much about spirits anymore... Maybe I should put on a light show sometime." By the time you've managed to properly picture it, Miss Madeleine has already vanished from her chair.

...Seriously, how does she do that!?

---

"So, you didn't learn anything?" Nutmeg doesn't sound particularly upset. Maybe she knew it was a long shot and just wanted you out of the way for a bit.

Still, you wouldn't say there's nothing you learned. "Well... She's apparently not trying to keep how she's Double Talented a secret. I think it just happened." Which is sort of strange to think about. How does a whole planet just forget what a given person can do? "Also, she keeps appearing and disappearing and I have no idea how she does it."

"You and the rest of... everyone. I think the betting pool was at six-hundred-thousand bira last time I checked." That's... that's a lot of bira. You think that might actually be more than enough to pay for a student's entire education.

"Is it... really that important?"

Nutmeg shrugs. "I don't know. I guess she's been doing this for a while. The teachers are in on it, too- I think Sir Mustard and Miss Ketchup are the only ones who were here last term and not a part of it, and they say it's because they already know. But they still refuse to actually tell people." She sounds a lot more annoyed by this than you expected.

Though, on second thought, you aren't sure why you expected anything less. "Do you think they know?"

"It'd make as much sense as anything else they do. There's a reason people call them the school cryptids." She shakes her head. "Anyway, I talked to Mokka, and I think I found something a bit more useful."

"Really?" You guess it would make sense. It's probably easier for someone to remember former classmates than a particular set of former students, and easier to ask about them, no matter how famous they may or may not be.

"Apparently, that student with the sticker by her name can't actually use magic. She can talk to the Wind Spirits, but she can't use their powers. I'm not sure what she was doing in a magic school, but apparently she had the best grades in her class, so I guess things worked out pretty well." You aren't sure how much she believes it. You're pretty sure Will-O-Wisp students, in general, are supposed to have some kind of actual powers.

Not that people who can talk to spirits but not call upon them isn't a thing that happens. It's just that most of them don't go to school for magic, and they only live for a couple centuries at most. Versus this person, who...

"...I think I read about that," You remember. "She used to be a wizard, but then stopped being one for some reason. Maybe the principal just didn't feel like kicking her out of the school." As terrifying of a thought as that is.

Nutmeg, too, seems unnerved. "You can stop being a wizard?" She doesn't even bother keeping the horror out of her voice.

"That's what the book said. It was... something about Valencia Beach, but I'm not sure it ever happened to anyone else." You wish you could remember the title of the book you read, but it just... slipped out of mind.



[ ] ...Maybe you shouldn't be looking into this anymore.

[ ] ...Maybe you should try to find that book again.

It turns out, that finding books on a topic is simple. As long as a subject exists, and considered appropriate for students, there will be a selection secreted away somewhere in some corner of the library, overlooked by those that don't want to look past the horrible clash of colors that makes up this quiet room.

Finding a specific book, on the other hand... that's more difficult.

"Maybe someone else has come by and checked it out?" You suggest. You haven't felt the need to apply for a library card, not when you're living in this building and can come here to read whenever you want, but you know there's people who think differently.

You've been looking through sections on history and geography both, because those are both things you remember reading, but then, you never claimed to fully understand the shelving system. Particularly when a large portion of it seems to be arranged by weight.

You can sort of get why, it reduces the odds of some student or another dropping it on themself, but you just can't figure out how all of this is arrranged.

Nutmeg isn't offering you any help, either. "If that's the case, I suppose there's nothing we can do," She says, running her paws along the edge of titles that look familiar to you, but that you can't tell where they're from. "...Are you sure you'd recognize the title?"

Thinking about it? Not really. You've been doing a lot of reading, and the particulars of what a book is called never really stood out to you as much as whatever information is kept inside.

Information is valuable, but you'd never bothered to think that book titles can be valuable information as well. You'd never needed to, with the grand total of fifteen books scattered around the inn, none of them about the same subject and all of them with particularly distinctive covers. It's something you vow, at this moment, never to overlook again.

But you don't want to mention this to Nutmeg, and she doesn't force you to answer, and you resign yourself to returning to this library at another time.

---

A couple days before the proper start of term, the lockdown is lifted, to an extent. Several new faces appear, those who have acquired their own transportation here and wanted to spend the extra time with their families. You don't see any commuter students until the next day, which is less a school day and more a morning-long assembly/entrance ceremony/excuse for the principal to get up on stage. Probably to give the new commuters time to sign up for homerooms.

It all takes place on the lawn of the school, because there's nowhere else with enough room for all the students, and you can already tell that it's only even practical because of the intervention of Sound Spirits. Students sit all over the place, in the grass, a few lucky ones managing to acquire chairs from... somewhere.

There's some others that brought out blankets and such, for some reason. You guess they weren't kidding when they said it would take the whole morning.

Still once again, you need a place to sit. You decide to try and find space...


[ ] By the Ronsanu twins.

[ ] Near Raspberry and the others.

[ ] By Mokka.

[ ] On your own.

It doesn't take much looking through the crowd to spot two identical outfits in green and blue. You work your way over to them, noting that there's more people in the area than you would have thought possible to gather in one place. You've never seen anything like it before.

Currently, Sugar is leaning against the wall, while Sorbet is actually sitting out on the lawn. "Do you mind if I sit here?" You ask. They haven't really had a problem with you so far, but you also haven't made much effort to connect with them, and you'll all be in different classes. You don't even know them well enough to tell their voices apart, most of the time. You just differentiate them by clothes.

Sorbet shrugs. "Why not? Someone's going to, eventually." You guess you're not the only one wondering how so many people can fit on the same lawn, even if it's one as big as this.

You nod in thanks, and settle down on the grass, wincing a little as it prickles at you. It hasn't rained in a while, and it seems like the plants are trying to beg you to water them.

Not that you know how to do that. You wonder if Sorbet is dealing with the same thing right now.

A white sparkle catches your attention, as a golden-haired girl glowing with the Starsign of Day approaches. "Is there any room for one more?" She requests. "See, everyone keeps complaining that I'm hurting their eyes..." And, of course, these are the closest shadows.

"Really?" Sugar crosses her arms, looking very unimpressed. "Starsign glows aren't that bright. Unless you're trying to hide from monsters, in which case you might have a problem."

Sorbet grumbles something you don't quite catch, but that probably wasn't all that flattering. You decide not to touch that for the time being. "So, who are you, anyway? I'm Rye Seabreeze, and these are Sugar and Sorbet Ronsanu."

"Cocoa Daybreak." Cocoa sits down, leaning as much into the shadows as she can. "I'm going to be in Miss Madeleine's class." Sorbet glances over at her.

"Huh. Same as me."

---

A few minutes later, the announcements start, heralded by a blast of noise that's impossible to describe except that it certainly worked to get your attention. It's Principal Biscotti who's speaking, or so you've been told- you can't actually see him from here.

It starts, of course, with everyone being welcomed to the academy for the year, general hopes that as many of you as possible can succeed... all that stuff.

"Now, we have a few staffing changes this year," He continues, after a point where Cocoa has fallen asleep and Sugar seems to have taken to counting the blades of grass. "First of all, I am sorry to say that Mrs. Sammich has had to leave the employ of Will-O-Wisp Academy after an incident that occurred over break. I am not at liberty to discuss the details."

For whatever reason, the Sound Spirits seem to have decided to broadcast someone coughing loudly. It's over quickly, though, and the principal continues.

"She has been replaced by Cider Rainbow. In addition, Professor Pistachio Maplewood has agreed to come to the academy and lecture in the afternoons. The sign-up forms for afternoon classes will be available in two weeks, and you can pick them up at any faculty office. Afternoon classes themselves begin in a month, so be sure to sign up for the classes you want before then. Morning classes start tomorrow, and for any new students who need help finding their homerooms, maps will be available at the front entrance."

The rest of it seems to be advice for returning students, which would be more helpful if there was any chance of you remembering it over the course of the year, or of it not being mentioned again once it's relevant to you.

Still, you aren't sure anyone else is paying attention, either. Not in this area at least.


[ ] Talk to Sugar.

[ ] Talk to Sorbet.

[ ] Talk to Cocoa.

[ ] Maybe try and actually pay attention.