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

"You... haven't answered the question. Why do you have a key?" You know there's probably a reason that she brought you all here, but this is a bit more interesting.

Raspberry holds up the object in question, and it dissolves into a nearby blank canvas, leaving nothing but a painting. "What key?"

"...You... do realize we should probably lock the door behind us, right?" Caramel ventures, sounding a lot more nervous than he did less than a minute ago. "People will notice we were here."

"Or they'll think the staff member that was here last forgot to lock it." You think she sounds a bit too sure of that, particularly when standing in front of a painting that is probably the actual key's perfect match. "They don't know every single thing that I can do."

You'd be a lot more reassured by that if she hadn't displayed her ability to paint actual objects to your entire classroom.

"I'm... pretty sure we were meant to be discussing something else," Nutmeg points out, apparently unperturbed by the risk of somebody finding out you were here. "Something about personal research?"

"Oh! Right!" Raspberry sits down on the table. "So, I was looking into things, and it turns out there's very little recorded history about the summer of XOXEO, as well as the years XOXOX, and XOXOL apart from records of students and the academy's construction. It hasn't been officially banned- it just doesn't exist."

If you were discussing magicless history, this wouldn't be as much of a concern. If it doesn't involve wizards, the magicless don't always take care to leave traces of what they were doing at a given point in time, never mind that those gifted with magic do not exist as their personal historians. But to wizards, this wasn't all that long ago, comparatively speaking. That entire years could be just... missing from the histories.

"That sounds a lot like the fall of the Espresso civilization," Nutmeg comments. "That came up last year in my history class. Everything up until that point was well documented, and then an entire fifteen years of Erd history is just... blank."

This gives you pause. "Really? And the robots haven't said anything?"

"If they still have knowledge of that time, they aren't telling anyone. And a majority of the surviving models that old were salvaged and repaired after the fact. We decided it would be in poor taste to ask Mokka about it." Yes, it probably would be.

"Still, I'm not sure you've made the right comparison," Caramel says. "There's still some stuff documented from these years, and a new school isn't exactly the disappearance of an entire civilization."

"It does get her point across, though," Raspberry replies. "Something important happens, nobody knows about it, and we don't even have the excuse of the information being illegal to explain why. And when it's a point well within living memory..."

"...There's clearly something wrong," He finishes, seeming to have well and truly gotten the point. "I just don't know what'll happen if we start looking into it."

---

Nothing interesting happens for the next few days, and then Sir Mustard announces a group assignment. ...Well, sort of.

"I'm not going to tell you what it is yet. I'll wait for you to pick out your groups first. Bel Pepper and Nutmeg Boulderfall are still assigned to the same group as each other until they can prove that they are capable of coexistence. Other than that, you are all free to join whatever group you would like. Groups of four this time."

There is some scrambling around the classroom, but not all that much. You have to give it a bit of thought, but eventually you make a decision.


[ ] Work with Paprika, Caramel, and Raspberry.

[ ] Work with Bel, Nutmeg, and whoever else ends up with you.

While there are some people shuffling around to different desks, it doesn't take much thinking for you to decide that you'd really rather not move at the moment. Among other things, you only know five of your classmates, and two of them are... a lot, particularly when taken as a unit. And the other three are sitting around you.

Raspberry turns around. "So, does anyone else want to just... not move?" You nod along.

"I think it'd be nice to work together." You glance back at the two other people you know. "Caramel, Paprika? Do you want to work with us?"

"That sounds nice," Paprika agrees, turning to face Caramel. "You're Caramel, right? It's good to finally be talking to you."

"...Likewise." He sounds sort of confused about this whole thing, but then, he was sort of roped into this without any sort of second thought.

Decision made, you settle down in your seat and wait for the rest of the classroom to do the same.

---

The classroom's final layout isn't drastically different from how it was previously, which is probably explained by how a majority of the class is made up of returning students who already know who they work well with. There's still a number of shifts, but you don't think it looks all that different, from where you're sitting.

...Then again, you haven't had all that long to take in what the place used to look like, so there might be a few things you've missed.

Now that everyone's settled down, Sir Mustard prepares to speak again.

"Okay, so I'm going to assume that none of you have done anything to knowingly create any disasters that I haven't already planned for. Our first group task for the year is going to involve interactions between different types of magic. While there are many well-known magical interactions, such as Earth magic soaking up Water, different kinds of magic can all complement each other well... or maybe explode. Magical combinations are dangerous and the more volatile arrangements should not be experimented with without proper safety gear."

You think you've figured out what the closet in the back of the room is for... even if you can't imagine it holding that much safety gear.

"Still, smaller interactions should be safe for you to observe, so long as you don't leap straight into mixing fire and lightning, or anything along those capacities. Even then, I think this was only approved because none of you can use Machinery magic..." This project is sounding more and more ominous by the second, and you haven't even received a due date. Or proper instructions. "...Anyway, I'm getting off-topic. Your goal, for this project, should be to explore how your powers interact with those of three others, write a short essay about it, and to present one of those interactions with a groupmate of your choice. For safety reasons, I would recommend reading about potential interactions first, or at least doing your practical work around someone capable of casting healing spells. Let's not overload the infirmary at the start of the year this time."

You are not at all assured that this thing is going to be safe. Then again, maybe that's the whole point.

"...Suddenly, I'm really glad I'm not with Bel and Nutmeg..." Caramel sighs. "They'll blow something up for sure. At least our talents are all non-volatile." Okay, yes, nothing is going to explode in your face unless you do something really stupid.

Paprika nods. "We could probably go right into this, even!" She sounds incredibly excited at the thought, even as Zulian tries to wriggle away from the desk.

...Really, you should probably help her try to get a tank for him, or something.


[ ] Jump straight into work.

[ ] Maybe visit the library first...

"...I think going to the library might be a better idea," You venture, shrinking a little under everyone's gazes. "I mean... I know paint dissolves in water, and stuff, but sound's a lot harder to explain how to mess with it, and I don't even know where to start with Paprika." Besides, while you're really interested in theoretical study of magic, you haven't gotten much chance to put it into practice. It's just less important than knowing all that you can.

Caramel nods. "There's probably some examples of cooperation between Sound and Beauty mages, but I can't recall any off the top of my head. But at least the presentation parts will be easy enough to do, so long as you and Raspberry work together while Paprika and I work out... worm charming, or something."

"That... I think that might work," Paprika muses, not quite catching anyone's eye. "So... that means we'll be going to the library after class, right? ...I've never been there before. I'm not sure where it is."

"I'll show you!" Raspberry volunteers, almost standing up in her seat, before the books beneath her start wobbling and she abruptly sits down again.

Well, you guess you know what you're doing after lunch today.

---

As much as Paprika wanted to hurry to the library right after class, Caramel and Raspberry make the excellent point that it would be a good idea to get lunch first. The four of you sit together, leaving space for if Bel or Nutmeg want to get away from their group, but they appear to be getting along well enough for the time being.

At the very least, there has been no need for adult intervention so far, and you're desperately hoping the trend continues.

"Is there anything in particular I'll need to know when we go to the library?" Paprika asks. You think she's keeping Zulian in her pouch for the moment, though you still aren't sure that's the best idea.

Caramel shrugs. "Couldn't tell you even if there were. The last librarian didn't have anything like that, but I'm sure you've heard we've got a new one. But there wasn't anything when Miss Ketchup was covering for him, so I don't think you need to worry."

"...Well, you might not want to bring in any gummy worms," Raspberry corrects. "With how connected he is to the Beauty Spirits, there might be a few around, and you wouldn't want to offend them."

"Right. No offending spirits." She pauses, before asking. "Do you happen to know why the last librarian left?"

"Well... I have a theory," Caramel finally says, glancing around the room. "Dunno if it's correct, and it's really not detailed, but..."



[ ] Urge Caramel to share his theory.

[ ] Point out that it really doesn't matter.

[ ] ...Maybe you should add the weirdness involving the new librarian as well?