Being a final-former stuck at school on Grumble Break would annoy some people. However, Laureline...had nothing better to do at home. Her father had sent her a letter last week explaining there was no point coming home, as he and her mother were running off to some foreign country again. As usual. No one would be home except the servants and Tippy, her brother's experiment of a whice. Stupid thing was always screaming, screaming, screaming, filling the house with it. She couldn't figure out for a second why Charlie had even wanted the bird, especially since she only saw him when they were home at the same time (this was rare), but he got it largely because he wanted it. They weren't supposed to make noise, of course, but Tippy liked to be different. Curse that clocking bird.

As such, she had gone to the library for the day, to see what she could find to read. Last night's festivities had gone rather badly--she'd tried to have fun, but it was simply impossible without ingesting far too much alcohol. Not that some of the students didn't take that route. She'd heard from some girls with rooms near hers that Athrym Bruthgrave had gotten absolutely plastered (she'd looked this up in her fourth edition Anaxas Common Dictionary and found that it meant having imbibed too many alcoholic drinks) and yelled at Professor Moore rather rudely. The topic she wasn't sure about--the girls had trailed off into whispers, but it was something about a maybe, or whatever a Dabie was--she'd have to look up 'Dabie' later. Or maybe she was cheating on that Siordanti boy, the one who'd brailed two years ago, with some boy named Dabie. Who knew? Laur had never gotten drunk, and had vowed, especially after last night, to never do it. One lost their senses that way.

She had found there were no good books to be found at the moment that she cared to read, and so pulled out her level-two Perceptive Magic grimoire to read some of the technical steps and tips. After a few seconds, she was rather absorbed and would probably be very unpleasant if interrupted, despite her efforts to change her ways and make friends. Old habits died hard.

Stephanie was bored. All of her friends were off with their families having fun, and she was stuck here because her parents were on vacation. She couldn't really blame them ... dealing with their only daughter nearly starving herself to death must have been hard on them ... but she really wished they had picked a better time. She usually hung about the Aeterna during her breaks, but Vienda was too far to go on her own, especially considering they always gave the servants at their Vienda estate time off when they went away and she had no idea how to take care of herself.

After lunch (which she had, surprisingly, eaten quite well), she found herself in the library, once again searching for books that would help her learn the hows and whys of magic. She had promised herself she would spend most of the break studying, since there was a lot she needed to learn in order to make up all those months she had missed. Magic wasn't exactly boring, but she couldn't really get excited about it like some of her classmates did. Singing was exciting. Opera was exciting. Acting was exciting. Magic was just hard work. She had the feeling there was something fundamental bout the process of magic she was missing, and if she figured out what it was and how to do it, then she could find magic exciting.

She found a few books that she thought might help her .... one was up on a high shelf and she had to pull over a chair and stand on it to get it down. It was wedged so tightly between its neighbors, she had to pull on it rather hard. She hoped it would be worth the effort. Book in hand, she jumped off the seat, and dragged the chair over to the table where she had found it.

There was a dark-haired girl sitting there now, engrossed in a level-two grimoire. She must be really good,Stephanie thought. Maybe she can give me a few pointers. The little blonde found it easy to make friends, and had no problem walking up to strangers and striking up a conversation. She wasn't really accustomed to dealing with older students, but the two boys from last night, Angus and Dawin, had been really kind to her. Not all of them were like that snotty bitch who had insulted her here in the library the day she'd arrived.

The other two books she had picked out were already sitting on the edge of the table. She placed the third one on top of it. “Hi,” she said to the older girl, hoping she was not so engrossed in her grimoire that she was not aware of what was going on around her. “I'm Stephanie. Do you mind if I join you?”

Horace had been writing a letter to his father since the early morning. I kept writing and erasing. He had no idea what to write. He had gotten the letter from his dad on the twenty eighth of Bethas. He had no idea what to write. He was ecstatic about being Hoxian. He was infatuated with there culture. He always wondered how a whole society could be so emotionless at times.

He went to the library to get some books out on Hox. He loved the people but still didn't know that much about the nation itself. He knew his father was going to flaunt the letter he was sent to the Hoxian cousin. His father always flaunted Horace's knowledge. His father must have thought he knew everything about Hox.

To his right, Horace saw what looked like a final former. She looked very deep in thought about the grimoire she was reading. Horace saw an obviously younger student interrupt the students reading. He laughed to himself.

"I think she might be to involved in that book to notice you." Horace said to the young girl. He was amused, he wondered if he acted that way when he was her age, he probably did.

"Huhwhatwherewhen?"

Laur had been rather engrossed in her grimoire, head bent down particularly close because she'd forgotten her reading glasses, clock it, but she wasn't so concentrated that she couldn't recognize her outer surroundings as not being swirling within her imagination of the mona.

"I am certainly aware of my surroundings, thank you very much. Umm, hello...Stephanie, was it? I suppose you can join me if you wish. Are those on magic? Which type?"

She wanted to be a teacher someday, and if this girl needed help, then, darn it, she'd provide it. That was friendly, right? She considered a smile, but then thought against it. The last test in the mirror had gone from 'serial killer' to simple 'child molester,' but that still registered as creepy. Maybe next time she'd only get a reading of 'opportunistic mugger.' In fact, maybe by graduation she could smile completely normally. In the meantime, though, stoic expression it was.

Stephanie smiled at the boy, thinking that the girl had been a bit harsh to him. Then again, she doubted she would have been too happy if someone walked over and dicussed her as if she didn't exist. She might have done the same thing.

Putting it out of her mind, the young blonde plopped into a chair. “Oh, these are just basic magic books,” she said. “I'm hoping one of them might tell me what I'm doing wrong. I don't have any trouble memorizing spells and casting them. I'm really good at the memorizing part. It's just that my spells work only about half the time. Sometimes I think the mona hate me, but the problem probably has more to do with me rather than them. I must be doing something wrong. I just don't know what.”

Realizing she was talking too much, which wasn't unusual for her but tended to annoy other people, she blushed and looked from one student to the other. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bore you with my problems. But if either of you can help me a bit ...” her face lit up in anticipation. “ .... I would be very grateful. I missed a lot of class while I was sick and I desperately need to make up what I missed.”

Her gaze went to the girl's book again. She didn't like talking about herself near as much as she liked learning about other people. “Perceptive magic. Is that what you are specializing in? You must be really good to be studying level two spells." She turned to the tall boy beside her. “Have you decided which type of magic you are going to devote most of your time to?”

Horace was confused. The light blonde student had started talking to him out of nowhere. He really wanted to finish his letter but he also loved making new acquaintances, he chose to make acquaintances.

"I have decided to major in Static. Ever since I became a student I was better in Static then anything else." Horace loved static, with a passion. "I have figured out why I am so good at Static. My father has sent me a letter telling me that we have Hoxian blood in us. I believe that the Hoxians are the most adept at Static." Horace said, gesturing to his letter.

"Yes, I am specializing in Perceptive Magic. I'm not quite sure if I remember how to handle the basic principles, but I'll help you look over the books if you'd like. Maybe you could help her with the Static parts if there are any? I haven't touched on that type of magic since fifth form, I think."

She took one of the books from the girl's stack and opened it.

"Can you point out anything specific you're having trouble with? It may also be your relationship with the mona, which is something you'd have to fix yourself, but I'd like to see if there's anything we can do now."

Stephanie's face brightened. Yes! She'd found somebody who could actually help her with magic! “You know, I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong. I know in the past I had self-confidence issues. That probably did affect my spellcasting, because the mona aren't likely to pay any attention to someone who thinks they aren't worth listening to. But all that is over ... mostly. I guess what I need to do is refamiliarize myself with the fundamentals of casting a spell, and then maybe I can figure out what I'm doing wrong.”

She paused a moment, thinking. “Oh, and I also have problems with deciding what spell works on what. Like I tried to cast 'Grow' on a rock once. I thought a rock was alive because it was part of nature, but it's not.” And I tried to cast 'Satiety' on a ghost but it wasn't alive either.

The girl shrugged. “My initiation score was quite high. There is no reason I should find it so difficult. I should be one of the best spellcasters in my class. But I'm not.” She plopped her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands, looking hopefully at the older girl with big blue eyes. “So ... do you think you can help me?”

Horace had decided to forget about the letter for a day or two, he would work on it in Vienda. He liked helping other students. There was really no point in having all his knowledge if he wasn't going to share it.

"Sure, I can help with Static, it is actually quite easy to learn, if know what to do. I am sure miss... oh, I seem to have not gotten your name." Horace said to the black haired student. "I am Horace Aquila of the Aquila family, the great musicians of Anaxas." Horace had started introducing himself with more of a pretentious attitude, it was a little bit out of character.

"Believe me, self-conscious does not affect your spellcasting. I was one of the most reclusive students I know, but I am still one of the smartest students you will ever meet."

Horace glanced back and forth to Stephanie and Laureline. He didn't know if he should embark on this adventure. He was going to to be Vienda soon.

I will just help her today and when i get back.

"I guess we can help. Do you have an idea of what you want to major? It is never too early to know."

Stephanie looked at Horace with more interest when he mentioned he was a musician. She didn't want to change the subject, but she would be sure to ask him about his musical talents later. She wondered if he was as devoted to music as she was.



“Oh, but you have lots of confidence, Horace. If you didn't, you wouldn't be able to tell us that you're smart. You wouldn't believe it yourself.” Like me. But I don't believe I'm smart because I'm really not.



“I ... I really don't know. I guess I need to have a good foundation in each discipline before I choose. And ... well ... because I find it so difficult, I just can't get excited about magic. It feels like a chore.”

She paused for a moment, her head tilted to the side. At the moment, I guess I like Physical Magic the best. I just like to move objects around. But Perceptive sounds interesting as well, and maybe more useful in my career. When I sing opera, I could use it to make the audience can feel what my character is feeling ...” She sent an inquisitive look Laureline's way. “Can it work that way, if I become as good as you are?”

"Hmmmm...I think it could, using level two Suggestion. Depends. If I try that spell anytime soon, I'll see if it can be done."

((SFSR, finals week and my brain is barely working))

“Oh, please let me know,” Stephanie said, her eyes bright with interest. “I would really love to choose a specialty that will help me when I perform. I suppose Physical Magic could be useful as well, but maybe not as much. And I suppose it depends on what I discover I'm good at. I have had success with some healing spells, but I really don't like healing that much.” The young girl shuddered. “I'm afraid someone might throw up on me and ruin my clothes. So do either of know what you want to spend the rest of your life doing? Are you going to devote your life to studying magic or something else?”

She stopped speaking and took a deep breath. Sometimes she talked so much, she forgot to breathe. “As for my own problem with magic,” she looked from Laureline to Horace and back again. “Do you think maybe you could watch me cast a spell and see if you can figure out what I am doing wrong? I don't know if we're supposed to cast in the library, but we're on break, so who cares?” Stephanie didn't mind breaking a few rules, especially when she had her mind set on something. “Just pick something easy and I'll try it.”

"Why don't we go out to the Cloister first? I don't want anything to go badly in the Library, if it does."

((sidethreading! just a mo'.))

Horace was surprised. He had never met a student that was so confused about their focus. By her age only a few people had no idea what they wanted to major in. Horace had known he was going to pick Static ever since he was twelve. He had fallen in love with it after a demonstration that left him awe struck.

"I basically have two options, musician or professor. I was raised to follow in my father's footsteps but Static brings me as much joy as my violin. If I become a professor I will never have to leave Brunnhold. If I become a Musician I can see the whole world like my father. It is a dilemma of epic proportions." Horace gave the girls a wink. "I am probably going to be a professor of Static or Music. If that answers your question?"

"I am going to remain in the library to finish my letter. If you want to contact me for help, Stephanie, just send me a letter through SAIMS. I will be back on the tenth." Horace gave the two ladies a smile and returned to his letter.

Stephanie shrugged. “You're right. That would probably be best.”

Listening to Horace, she found herself a bit envious. He knew exactly what he wanted to do in life. So did she, up to a point. She was going to be the greatest soprano Vita would ever know. She had no idea about her focus in magic, though. Even most of her form-mates knew already. Perhaps it was because she wasn't good at it, or because she didn't find it all that intriguing. She wanted to get excited about magic, the way Horace was, and she didn't know how.



Stephanie stood up and gathered up the books she had chosen. “It was nice to meet you, and I hope we do get a chance to practice magic together.”

She turned to Laureline and smiled. “So let's go to the Cloister."