Where There's Smoke There's Fire

Sunday evening, 23rd October, Bianca and Morgana's room

None of them got detention for what happened, good. Laura and Morgana have no idea where they were going, at least the supervillain and his goons didn't either, Cherry Bomb's smoke bomb worked well. Lost in Berlin, what is the number of times that has happened to Whateley students now?

Laura managed not to go into her devisor trance at the plaintive question. "A couple of them had helmets with visors. Tracking aids, maybe thermal imaging. The smoke wouldn't help us against those."

So that is how they kept tracking them even with the smoke cloud, was wondering about that.

Two of the goons actually followed them through all that chaos, they are earning their pay. Dragon form Morgana carrying and shielding Laura from the goon's fire, and a good thing too. A dozen heavy-caliber rounds, 6 hitting Morgana in the back, and it is going to leave bruising, yikes, they brought out the heavy artillery. *facepalms* Laura is right, these goons are idiots. Saying they won't hurt them after opening fire with something like that one them.

A range of a few meters, Laura needs to improve that gun's range at least a little. Protection spell for Laura to carry, no idea how strong or how long it will last, oh boy. And Morgana reminds us how strong she is, that one goon is going to be feeling that when he wakes up later. Ouch, tossing him at his buddy, then his buddy getting hit by Laura with the neuraliser, they better hope word doesn't spread of this or they will be taunted for ages.

Yeow, I heard the one goon's ribs breaking in my mind. Morgana and Laura are a dangerous pair. So here is where Bianca and Tinker were fighting the big boss, I wondered when Morgana and Laura showed up. Flash blind the goons watching his back with magic, nice. Visor with flash protection on one of the goons, rats. Morgana is one of the most brutal fighters since Eldritch in Gen 1 imo, at least she isn't using lethal force on the human foes. Laura is wise, never annoy the tank while combat is still in progress.

"You know, that Boss did say loudly it was all just an accident."

Both Morgana and Bianca rolled their eyes at that. "Oh come on, Laura! Worst Acting Ever!"

Laura needs to raise her Insight skill some more, or so it seems. Morgana has very sound reasoning on why it is Bianca who was the target of the attack, sometimes you forget she worked with computers before her transformation and probably learned more than a bit about working towards logical conclusions. And that last part of her reasoning is scary, I can see why the British heroes used lethal force on them.

This time Bianca gave her friend her most severe look. "WE are going to do nothing about it, as you put it. Security knows about it all, so we just keep quiet and keep a low profile. The last thing we need is for whoever it was to widen the targets they are interested in."

Bianca has a very good point, they might target any allies she has to eliminate their help or make an example out of them, very bad.

Morgana held up her notepad, now filled with comments, ideas, and a lot of crossed-out suggestions.

When they make objectives, they go all out. Low-profile, more long-ranged attack options, and better protection, they should probably add telling the headmaster they know it was a hit put out on Bianca and see what he can dig up with his contacts. Hehe, Morgana, suggesting Bianca carry a gun and Bianca's response, those two.

Communications and options to get away easier or faster, boy, their budget for all this is going to be huge.

Bianca jerked. "The Whateley WHAT!?" Laura just gave the dragongirl a slightly annoyed look. "And where did you find out about that? It's supposed to be a Workshop secret!"

Morgana just grinned. "Most of the guys in the Workshop are as good at keeping secrets as wet tissue paper is at stopping bullets. And it's not hard to get them to tell me things."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's those deep breathing exercises, isn't it?" to which her friend just grinned even wider.

Bwahaha, Morgana using her feminine wiles to get secrets out of boys. The Whateley Weapons Faire, glad to see it is still going strong.

Monday 24th October, Magic Theory Class

Smokey sleeping on Morgana's book, cute, though so cat-like in not wanting to move off it when she needs it.

Bianca nudged me. "See, he's just like you at night. Including the snoring!"

But all dragons snore in their sleep. =P Mid-term exams and I love how the practical part of the exams are being done, so sensible. Oh good, the 3 bullies are not so confident, I hope they learn something from this. Methods of divination, is that a good idea to give to freshmen in their first term of school, so easily abused.

Monday 24th October, afternoon after class, Grime's office

Grimes is doing a follow on what happened to all of them Sunday, I wonder why.

"But you both used magic, so I want to go over what you did, and why, and then see what can be done to do things better if something similar happens in the future."

Oh no, homework resulting from a trip to Boston, and they thought they got off completely because of no detention.

So far, all the emphasis on our teaching had been that magic was a tool, not something to fight with - despite all the stories we'd read on magical superfights and such - but I was starting to think we just hadn't got that far in our classes yet. Personally, I could have gone without being one of the class overachievers in that part of the curriculum, and I was pretty sure Bianca would agree.

It is a Whateley tradition, nearly every magic-trained student who goes off-campus has had one or more incidents of having to use magic in combat if I recall correctly.

Good analysis of their own weaknesses from Bianca and Morgana, life and death fight sure makes you think hard about those things.

Grimes regarded us both thoughtfully. "Both correct, although there are a few more points. Both of you could use a better, active protection spell. Neither of you is invulnerable, especially you Bianca, and the best offensive spell in the world is useless if someone shoots you first. Second, you both need more things to do at a distance. Bianca, while your inbuilt spells are quick and easy to use, if someone knows about them they only have a limited number of things to negate. You should think about some ranged spells that are different from them. Also, spells that allow you to escape, or at worst buy you some time. It's not all about taking out your opponents."

The voice of experience, I wonder how many incidents have happened on campus over the years Grimes has had to help stop or stop by herself. And just like that their budget for their new needs just skyrocketed, ouch.

"No, I don't expect you to have it all done and worked out in a few days! This is something you should look at as a long term study. I'd like you both to look at the options I've suggested, and come back next week with a list of what you think will work. I will discuss them with you, and also see how the more difficult parts can be done incrementally."

Oh thank you, Grimes, all of that at once would make their bank accounts cry for mercy.

Tuesday 25th October, Lunchtime, Tia's Car

Morgana fawning over Tia's car like that, if she doesn't join the Gearheads and get her own car somehow I will be surprised. A complicated spell slip to change the color of Tia's car, now this will be interesting to watch. A rich, dark scarlet, now that is much better than the pink it was. So just an illusion and the spell slip is needed to keep it working, a nice workaround by Tia on her contract with Playboy that got her the car. A fast ride in the car is Morgana's fee, Morgana can be such a goof and we love her for it.

Tuesday 25th October, 7 pm, Doyle medical centre

Teaming up with Dawn for the class on healing, nice.

Apparently, these classes were to learn the practical aspects of the training - the book learning we were expected to do on our own, and Dawn had told me they just did short tests every few weeks to check we'd been keeping up.

Good class, I'd be surprised if a lot of Wiz-type students who can learn healing spells didn't take the class. A cell-grown arm kept alive on life support for the students to practice on, practical. Limbs and organs as well, no wonder Doyle Medical Centre is one of, if not the top medical center in the nation. Practice surgical heals, no wonder they use these instead of letting them practice on patients, eep.

Tuesday 25th October, early evening, Faculty meeting room

The band competition and Cally wants some of her friends as support, after what she has been through she deserves it. And there is the issue, Bianca and Morgana are two of the friends Cally wants to come as support.

"OK. We're still making enquiries as to what the real aim of the attack was. We've debriefed the students, and they think that Bianca was the real target. While I don't want to make a decision until we get the results of our investigation, our initial feeling is that they are correct. So the question is, should we allow Bianca out again so soon?"

James Tyson is right, but it would still hurt Cally for Bianca not to be there for her. I wish they could do something to make Scorn back off.

" I don't think it's a real risk, as long as we take some sensible precautions. While keeping her here would protect her, she has to go out sooner or later. And I'm still concerned that the fact she was going on a shopping trip may have leaked from the school, either accidentally or with malice. Mr. August did ask us about this earlier, so I've put together a plan of action. First, we have Bianca let her friends and acquaintances know that unhappily she isn't going. That way, no one is likely to start putting a plan together. The bus leaves on Friday, after classes. We slip her on with the other kids under an illusion spell - with the normal confusion, it's not likely to be spotted. Then we have her seen on Campus that evening and at breakfast on Saturday."

Magic makes some plans so much easier to pull off. And such a good plan too, let's hope nothing trips it up.

Mr. August grinned. "Well, as this meeting is nominally to discuss an Arts trip, I did invite the Imp to attend. But she seems to have been delayed. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind us suggesting her."

That deadpan remark brought a wave of smiles and chuckles rippling around the table.

I'm sure Imp won't mind, especially if it means she gets to cut loose against some creeps trying to kill a kid.

This is what happens when you are late for faculty meetings, Imp. You get roped into stuff.

Robert looked more serious this time. "Actually, given that there are a couple of students going who've been the target of an external attack, you would be an excellent choice of a chaperone. If anyone is foolish enough to target a group of Whateley students, your special skills would offer a high chance of spotting it and nipping it in the bud."

"Damn. OK, tell me what the situation is and what I'm in for." She turned to Mr. August. "And don't think after the last band trip you looked after I won't bring my better earplugs along!"

Mr. August's band trips must get very loud, I would have sound-canceling headphones if I didn't think they would leave me vulnerable in this situation.

Wednesday 26th October, evening, London

Nephandus reporting to Master Olrun, still trying to learn about the project that happened on the island involving the cult, Thulia, and Morgana. Nephandus has figured out what happened, though conjecture on what happened to the boy for now.

Olrun sat considering this for some minutes. "While this theory does seem to cover the pertinent points, it is very much conjecture at this point. Can you prove it?"

Nephandus looked at the man. "Not directly - at least not yet. As you say, it is built on a synthesis of the available, limited, facts. However, it is the only solution we have that seems to explain all that appears to have gone on."

"We need a way of confirming these suppositions."

Nephandus, you endanger a Whateley student with this and you will be breaking the accords.

"We agree, and we've made some suggestions for operations to do so. If, as we suspect, the demoness has a working link to Fire, obviously we'll need to recover her and persuade her to work for your Cult. In order to do this - and, incidentally, confirm our suppositions - we first need to find her."

Yup, right on the path to breaking the Whateley accords, Nephandus better hope he makes it out of this alive. Acquisition, you are talking about a living being, you still pure scum it seems, Nephandus. And his plans to "acquire" her, I want to see Nephandus burn right now. I hope Master Orlon and Nephandus both have to deal with the wrath of breaking the Whateley accords if they aren't smart enough to leave her alone once they find out where she is.

Wednesday 26th October, evening, Venus clubroom

Ugh, the fact there is a GSD calendar and the Venus Inc. girls are going to most likely choose those with noticeable GSD but who are attractive or "exotic" looking annoys me. *starts to see red as they talk about Tia* Someone hold me back, I want to strangle Materielle for talking about Tia that way. Smurf related while talking about Laura..*tries to reach through the computer screen, time, and reality itself to strangle Materielle*

Trash Panda, that isn't her codename! Dawn-Renee as potential, I wouldn't go there, her boyfriend might not like it. LimeLight, go see a counselor right now, you need your head examined for suggesting Ratel.

"Sadly we don't have many GSD-exemplars this year who also have decent bodies, but we do have a few more to consider.

You all disgust me, I know it is to fund the school, but talking about your fellow students like this is sickening to me.

Now talking about Morgana that way, planning to exploit her for skimpier outfits, I can't take them much more. Oh god, they are using the Furies from Gen 1 as inspiration for the theme of this calendar, this won't go well. They are planning to recruit or have as potentials all the nice GSD girls on campus, their friends are going to make Venus Inc. regret this idea, or at least I'm hoping they will.

Wednesday 26th October, evening, Morgana and Bianca's room

Morgana working that hard and researching on a magical shield for her costume, bet it will come in handy on the band trip this weekend. Nice details on how magical protection spells work, very informative. Do I even want to ask how much the permanent one cost for time and material cost if Bianca winced at seeing the price?

Good for 3 or 4 fights, I hope that estimate is right for their sake. Morgana is working all the details of this out herself and says it will be fun, she is one of those kids who just love to figure out how everything works if they can, isn't she. I wonder what Bianca's coat will look like when finished.

Thursday 27th October, morning, Magic Theory

Everyone in Morgana's group is not worried about the written part of the mid-term, except AJ some. Glad most of them worked and studied hard, learning what was taught in class.

"Well, if they make you take stuff again, AJ, don't worry, I'll look after Smokey."

That just got me a dirty look from AJ and a rather hopeful one from Smokey.

Uh oh, I think a young dragon might have a bit of a crush on Morgana. Celebrating Samhain in the Wiccan tradition, curious how that ritual is done. Aww, Thulia has duties on Samhain so no hanging out with Morgana.

Thursday 27th October, 4 pm, after Magic Practical class

All that stuff to get ready for the trip tomorrow, I hope it can be a quiet one for once.

"Well, mainly what is unusual with your blood is that because of the way your body collects essence, in particular fire essence, your blood can be considered magically active. While this is not an entirely accurate statement, when using it we can consider you a magical creature."

I tried not to squeak. "Magical creature? Me?!"

She gave me a reassuring smile - well, as reassuring as one could be for a lady channelling Morticia Adam's appearance. "It's not quite like that, Morgana. It's not like you are enchanted, or anything like that. It's just that this particular characteristic is normal in magical creatures, so the effects of your blood are more similar to theirs than to a baseline human."

Oh boy, that complicates using her blood for magic a lot. So Morgana has a lot more reading and experimenting to do now, which will be fun for her.

Thursday 27th October, evening, Band Practice room

Oof, having to keep the secret about Whateley and not reveal their advanced technology by making sure their band gear doesn't have any. Aww, but the toys in the lab are just such fun for the gadgeteers and devisors to work with. *holds sides from laughing too much at Laura and Morgana teasing each other*

Checking Bianca for hickeys, haha, Morgana. Morgana is going as Maleficent for the Halloween dance, cool. Bianca as a vampire of some sort, simple but a classic.

Friday 28th October, Breakfast at Crystal Hall

Appointment with Dr. Bellows, you might want to eat a little more than that even, Morgana. Erica has gone brunette with very pale skin, her mother will pay for forcing her to have to change her appearance just not to be associated with her. Goth look and Erica doesn't like having to wear it.

You know, Erica, at least the new look should make some of your classes easier."

Erica looked at me with a puzzled frown. "How will it help that?"

I grinned even wider. "Well, you aren't a dumb blond anymore, are you?"

That got me a breakfast roll bounced off my head, but the snickers from the rest of the group made it worthwhile.

Ooo, you better watch it, Morgana, making dumb blond jokes around Whateley is like kicking a hornets' nest. And the cover story for Cally has been established. *starts to hear Mission Impossible theme*

Friday 28th October, Lunchtime, Dr. Bellow's Office

High-calorie energy bars for energizers, at least they don't taste like cardboard from the sounds of it. Lingering nightmares from the demon, darn, should have known removing it wouldn't be the end of the problems it caused. At least they are less frequent now.

"You don't think you're trying to do too much?"

I shook my head firmly. "No, Doc, I'm fine."

No, I've seen this kind of behavior before. Working as much as possible on more and more things to keep you distracted from something that is bothering you. Morgana, you need to ease back before you burn yourself out.

"I realise that Doc, I'm not ignoring that. Just that it was" - I searched around for an appropriate phrase - "the sort of threat that you see all the time on TV. Sorry, it's a bit hard to explain really."

Desensitized to real threats because of TV and other entertainment, not a good thing.

Dr. Bellows is concerned the attack on Sunday is a traumatic incident for Morgana from the way he is wording things. And I hope she can stop having the nightmares eventually, if not sooner.

Secondly, I am worried about the amount of time she is spending on her studies. I think she is concentrating so hard on them to distract herself from her mental problems. While this is hardly unsurprising in her circumstances, and concentrating on work is better than a number of the alternatives, we need to make sure she doesn’t end up doing nothing but work. She needs social interaction, especially as both the events causing her problems involved isolation.

In other words, her friends need to drag her out of her dorm room/workshop area and force her to have more fun with them. =D Great, worried about her relationship with Thulia, I hope Grimes doesn't overreact to something Morgana is fine with.

Friday 28th October, afternoon, Caitlin's workshop

With access to Thulia's blood such an amulet would be no issue for Caitlin to create, even without her blood she could probably create such an amulet given more time. They are still annoying each other on purpose 10 years later, good grief.

"Not odd in the sense of dangerous, odd in the sense of, well odd."

"Caitlin, we're dealing with an amulet to keep a demon in check at Whateley. I think I need to know exactly how it's odd? Will it affect its operation in any way?"

Caitlin walked over to the amulet, picking it up and giving it a look. "It's nothing that will affect the way it works. The spell is targeted and tasked for Thulia, since I used her blood to attune it to her, the limitations it imposes will work perfectly. That isn't the issue. What I found while I was making it, though, is - well, I'm pretty sure Thulia isn't a demon. Or to be more exact, not entirely a demon."

Aha, I knew there was something unusual about Thulia.

"It's - well, it is hard to put into words, it was more the feelings I had when I made the amulet. If I'd just been making an amulet for a generic demon, I wouldn't have noticed anything. But for this one, I tied it into her blood, to make it more efficient and work better. So I got some - feedback, I guess - as I constructed it. Now it doesn't tell me anything definite about Thulia - not enough blood, and we agreed to use it in a specific way - but I did get impressions about the sort of thing she is. And while there is definitely some demon in there, there's a lot of other stuff as well. A lot of fire - well, that was hardly a surprise - but other things as well. Not enough for me to identify them, and it's all mixed up - the main thing I was concentrating on was the demon bit."

Okay, now I'm as curious as Caitlin, just what is Thulia? And Thulia is young for whatever she fully is, hhm, could she have agreed to the experiment so she could create someone else like herself and gotten more than she expected in the process?

"It's not that, it's Morgana. She's been applying herself to the Art diligently, and she's very smart. Give her motivation, and she'll find a way to summon Thulia outside the wards, and then where are we? That was one of my reasons for agreeing to the visit deal, at least then we know when she's here and that she's constrained. Morgana is quite sensible - for a teenager - and she'll follow reasonable and sensible rules. The second option is to let her come, with the amulet on, and keep a very careful eye on them."

Try to keep Morgana and Thulia apart would backfire in such a huge way. And now Caitlin has watch guard duty whenever Thulia visits, you brought all this up, Caitlin, you brought this on yourself.

Caitlin gave Grimes a huge shit-eating grin. "Ask her of course!"

Grimes blinked. "You " - Caitlin's grin got even wider - "It might work. At least, it won't hurt to try, and knowing more about her would help Morgana, seeing how she's connected to her, so it's an honest approach. Although I'm tempted to get you to ask her, just in case?"

"Just in case?"

"You're fireproof, remember?"

Just straight up asking Thulia what she is is considered cheating by Caitlin, she is still a goof even without the rest of the Outcast Corner around regularly.

Tia - Probably would be reluctant to participate, though pressure from Iron Bunny and the gearheads might convince her to take part. The later pushing for a garage pinnup pose with her spyder. Because auto porn.
Laura - The first person who mentions the words 'Smurf' or 'Na'vi' around her is going to be downgraded to 'test subject' in her mind. And possibly be subject to a case of Diedricks.
Dawn-Renee - I suspect Adam would have more than a few words about her participating. The resolution to that impasse might be for him to participate in the shoots with her.
Ratel - Contrary to their expectations, I could see her jumping in with both feet - particularly if she is able to take some private photos to tease Wilder with. Bring Wilder in, and you could do a 'Beauty and the Beast' photoshoot.
Avsel - No way, no how. I can't see her getting violent about it, but I do see her spirit having strong words for the member(s) who approach her.
Morgana - Inclined to decline, as she's trying to keep a low profile. Alternately, it gives the cult a lead on just where she is.

Given the machinations of Olrun and Nephandus, it feels like the incident in Berlin may turn out to have been a dress rehearsal for Morgana. I think the band outing that they've been gearing up for is a bit early for Olrun to make a play, but Morgana's next outing could be a horse of a different color. I'm looking forward to finding out what Morgana learns about using her blood as a reagent in her workings, as she's probably going to need all the oomph she can get. Getting to see the Imp in action is always fun.

I like to think that once Nephandus learns Morgana's at Whateley, he'd pass along the antidote of Halloween 2006, and warn them that the school is best left alone. Olrun on the other hand doesn't seem to be the sort who can be bothered with good advice.

On the topic of Halloween 2016, I could see things not at all going as planned. If for no other reason than TIN(2)CC seems to have made that particular date a plot device. Someone being summoned almost feels like a given. Because reasons. Thulia would do well to remember that her connection to Morgana works both ways.

Nice to hear that Morgana's group got decent grades out of their written tests, and the three troublemakers (probably) didn't. Even if I could almost see Chained Melody trying to convince Grimes that Bianca did some magic hocus pocus and switched their papers.
Morgana might not have a D or a G on her MID, she is at home in the labs. What is the process for technically inclined students who lack those ratings to get space in the labs anyways?
Bianca is discovering just why security folks in the IT field do red-team exercises.

One thing you need to remember if you have the code name Gravedigger is that if you dig too deeply, you could be digging your own grave. The level of confirmational bias in his analysis of Morgana is interesting. There's a reason the magic department sticks to paper records after all.

Shades and Beatdown are in for a rude awakening if they try to beat up Morgana. She probably won't start anything, but I can certainly see her finishing it. It's going to definitely take them a while to realize that the target(s) of their conquest aren't interested in them.

I wonder what Olrun's reaction will be when he learns the subject of his interest is at the big W. He might be smart enough to wait until she's back home, but he's probably got a W sized smackdown in his future.

Nice to see Morgana preparing a defensive holdout. At least she's starting to lean the unofficial Whatelely lesson of 'Prepare for what could happen. It probably will'. And her logic in the tuning is sound, even if she may just have to get another belt the following week.

When Morgana and Thulia discuss shopping, something tells me that Gravedigger is going to see the smoke to the fire he expects when they hit the store.

Interesting exposition about Laura's past - Our favorite not-a-smurf definitely needs a hug.

At least Bianca probably had her privacy spell running when the MMM were razing Morgana. Knowing Gravedigger, he'd probably take it at face value rather than the jesting that those who know Morgana were making.

The 'what am I going to wear' piece is amusing, even if I could see the conspirators roping Morgana into getting her ears pierced. Flip side of that depending on how her form shifting works, she might have implicit Imp level regeneration, making those holes go away, for better and worse.

Interesting info dump on Thulia's origins. It explains why she got along with her fellow student in born in fire as well as she did. And it is a shame about Ty West going missing. Perhaps Thulia will be part of the group that helps find him if the story goes there in a year or three.

Got to love Morgana corrupting Thulia with chocolate ice cream and devisor coffee. I can almost see Bruce shaking his head at Thulia bouncing off the walls when she gets home.

Interesting revelation that Thulia (and Morgana) have a 'true' dracoform. If Catlin had been present, I'm certain she'd relay that nugget back to Grimes. The measurements machine sounds like an improved version of the one at Cecilia's in Gen 1. Also, quite the handy gizmo.

I think Tanu would approve of the special outfits Laura is setting Thulia up with. Hopefully the necklace won't be a social faux-pax (in the direction of where that particular relationship seems to be going). I hadn't though much on the comment about wanting to be able to wing up in Born in Fire 4, but it makes sense. Also, another ability that Morgana has yet to unlock. I'm also wondering if Morgana might have gotten a Fey grade life extension.

Whateley in general, and the MMM are a lot to take in. Glad to see that Thulia is taking them in stride. And I appreciate Catlin giving the lovebirds a few minutes together.

All in all, a fun visit. Even if certain nameless parties are probably having interesting moments as unintended aftermath of bringing in a friend from another plane.

Monday 31st October, Magic Lab, second period.

Magic Lab mid-term, finally get to find out what it is. Morgana and Noelle with As, Bianca, and AJ with Bs, very good for their first mid-term. Workaholic when it comes to magic, are we sure some of this teasing isn't payback for past teasing of Bianca by Morgana. Work on a project in the workshop with Laura, danger, danger, Will Robinson.

Chained Melody and friends not happy, good, power doesn't equal knowledge. Practical exam, now this I want to see. Noelle needs a confidence boost, I bet she is great and doesn't realize it. Wards and spells against detection, please don't let Bianca's worries come true, Chained Melody is already a big enough pain to her as it is.

Monday 30th October, Gravedigger's Room, lunchtime

Ugh, if the school knew he has had information dug up on Morgana then Gravedigger would be in big trouble.

While digging deeply into a student's background was more difficult now than before the Calliope fiasco, it was still possible, it just required more care and less brute force. Having come to a good working relationship with one of the less ethical security guards had helped as well.

Please tell me Lt. Trout isn't still around, anyone but that guy. Idiot making assumptions about why her background has been buried so deeply. Even brushes off the PTSD as cover for her having a 'demon's temper', Gravedigger is a real piece of work.

And getting all this information on the first major burnout, the fact the school brought in Kayda to help, Gravedigger is looking at expulsion if he is found out at this rate. He seems to be ignoring anything that doesn't support his theories about Morgana at this point and just driving forward. He is going to go to the Goobers for help, kid, you need a psych exam for your obsession at this point.

Tuesday 1st November, after classes, the Quad.

Shades and Beatdown, these creeps need to have an eye kept on them by the school security at all times imo. Plans for Bianca, oh great. The stupid gifts from Shades, idiot can't tell Bianca wants none of that. *hits head on desk* This isn't how you get in good with any mob boss, especially not Bianca. She wouldn't want people who think this way in her ranks, or as her bodyguard.

Morons think Morgana is Bianca's minion, such poor intel and research. Ow, Shades made my head hurt with his plan. Romance Morgana because she is a girl and doesn't have a boyfriend, the whole plan is sexist and Shades needs a harsh lesson about underestimating girls.

Wednesday 2nd November, London

Great, Nephandus got Master Orlun all that information about the rescue and Morgana, this just keeps getting worse. The mercenaries who escaped the raid by A.E.G.I.S. don't have long to live, Master Orlun is a fool plotting to kill them before confirming they have gotten all intel out of them first. And a week until they possible know Morgana is at Whateley, by then I hope Master Orlun will realize trying to capture her would be foolhardy at best.

Wednesday 2nd Nov, evening, Magic Lab

A belt buckle with that look and she is going to enchant it, cool. Shield, after the fights they have been in it is a smart choice.

She was looking at the notes on the screen, frowning at diagrams and the lines of equations. "You've been using maths again, haven't you?"

I grinned. "Well, I had to work on it a bit because of the size." She made a 'so, go on' gesture, so I decided to give her the whole lecture.

"Well, I did some research. While these things are magic, not tech, they do have commonalities with things like batteries - after all, they are both storing energy. So, like a battery, a larger one can store more essence. And again, a high quality - and expensive! - one can store more. But I didn't want to spend a lot, especially if I got it wrong, so while it's a bit better than your coat, it won't hold as much essence."

She frowned. "So doesn't that mean it won't protect as well?"

I made a 'sorta yes, sorta no' gesture. "Well, as you can see from my notes" - she looked at the lines of equations, and made a face - "you can tune these things a bit. I did lower the protection a little from the level you're setting on your coat - I figured I could afford to take a bit more damage - but mainly the spell is tuned to run hot. Your coat should be able to be recharged quite a few times, this one won't. At the rate it will draw down essence while it's operating, it's only going to be good for a couple of uses, then I'll have to make a new one. It will basically have burnt out under the stress of such a high draw rate. The price to pay for it being small but relatively cheap."

Yikes, I understand her reasoning for doing it this way, but still.

I shook my head. "It's not to take me through multiple fights - I'll be working on a larger one on my costume to do that when I start to put it together - it's just in case I get ambushed like last week. So lasting one or two fights should be fine. And when Laura finally gets the bugs out of her PFG, its helpfull strength in depth."

Okay, that makes much more sense, a temp holdout until the better options are made. Less effective against things like cold attacks, why does this feel like foreshadowing?

Thursday afternoon, Magic Practical class (Ms. Grimes' Office)

Oh...the practical exam seems simple and straightforward.

"Now, first your exercises. You're doing quite well in these. Not as good as I'd hoped, but you've had to modify things after your recent incident, and you're adapting nicely. I think for these, just carry on as you've been doing, and I'll take a look at the end of the month."

After what Morgana has been through this is a relief to hear.

"Now, your spell work is very good. I know you've spent time adjusting your spells to work properly with your dragonform, and the ones you've done this for are working correctly. You still have quite a few to work on, but that's just a matter of time. It seems as if you're going to be using an air-drawn spell diagram as your preferred mode, am I correct?"

Now that sounds like a rare form of spellcasting to be comfortable with, how common are air-drawn spell diagrams for spellcasting in the Whateley Academy Universe?

Fortunately, Grimes didn't seem annoyed. "In retrospect, yes they were. And while some of what you did was quite sophisticated by first-year standards, you did them well and with the proper care and safety precautions. So I'll add those to your list of accomplishments."

Yay, credit where credit is due.

"Now, as for the rest of the term. I don't see much need for change, although hopefully you won't be doing so much additional work, so I would like to see more prepared spells and devices. You have a good eye for detail, I want to see how it helps you with these things. Apart from that, you're making good progress."

Now I have to wonder if there is a betting pool among mystic track students as to what someone will make.

Thursday 3rd Nov, late evening, Bianca and Morgana's room

Bianca and Janine making out in the dorm room and trying to make it look like they were studying, cute.

"Oh, hi girls! Studying?"

Both girls nodded furiously, and I managed to keep my face straight.

In Poe and yet still so shy about their relationship.

I shook my head at my roomie. "Bianca? You don't need to pretend to me about the two of you. Really you don't. Janine is a nice girl, the two of you look good together. And if you want any personal time together, just let me know and I'll stay away."

She just looked embarrassed again. Good grief, even I wasn't this bad about relationships. "Bianca? Look, I don't mind! Honestly."

Adorable how flustered Bianca is about all this, her first girlfriend must be rough for her.

Friday 4th November, evening, Morgana and Bianca's room.

Aww, any time you spend together is going to be a good time for Thulia, Morgana. Morgana, it won't matter which robe Thulia wears, she could wear a burlap sack and still have those idiotic comments sent her way.

She shook her head. "I'd rather not, it has some problems. It takes a lot of essence, especially in a crowd, and it has problems in a small group - everyone will see something different, and if they talk they'll realise that. And it gives me a terrible headache after. Especially when I'm running a translation spell as well."

Darn, I forgot the headache for a moment, otherwise, it would be funny to confuse the students. Oh well. Clothes shopping with Thulia and Morgana, why do I see a lot of boys and even some girls following them around in a daze. Rats, and there is no way to bribe Caitlin so they can have alone cuddle time.

Asking another girl to help out with clothes shopping why do I see shenanigans in the future? Laura, oh no, a shopping trip with her for girl clothes. *goes to find earplugs in case of loud explanations of joy*

Bwahaha, I just knew Laura would use this to tease Morgana, payback for all the past teasing. Laura going with them for clothes shopping, this is going to be fun. *eyes bug out in fear* When Laura gets angry she is scary, and I can see why with what her DNA donor put her through, treating the twins better, and other crud. Treating your child the way this man-child did to Laura sickens me.

She carried on almost as if she hadn't heard me. "My best friends in school ... were the girls. Because the jerks made sure I wasn't welcome playing with the guys." She looked miserably down at the floor. "I guess maybe they were right. I am ... was ... a sissy-boy."

Seriously, I would chew out these backward idiots for hurting Laura like this, she is sweet, caring, and kind. *eyes go red* How dare they manipulate others to isolate Laura like this, the twins are little monsters imo.

"Mom always took me shopping all the time – clothes, makeup stuff – you know, girl stuff. For her and Julie. And I spent a lot of time with Julie when she and her friends were doing their hair, starting to learn how to do makeup, and all that sort of thing. So I guess that's why I know that stuff."

I think I surprised her with my heartfelt sigh of relief. "That's just what I need." She looked puzzled, so I carried on. "Look, while I've been taking those act-like-a-real-girl classes they've been giving us changelings, and I sort of understand the stuff, I haven't internalised it. I want to get some nice stuff for my girlfriend, that she'll like and will look good on her, and I'm scared that if I do it alone, I'll make a complete mess of it! I need someone like you!"

I just wish society would stop with this gendered nonsense of what is male or what is female activities and interests. I'm glad Morgana and Laura are friends and there for each other.

Sunday 6th November, Crystal Hall, Breakfast

All these troubles due to worry Thulia might find her boring and not want to stay, good grief. She didn't eat all her food...anyone who doesn't know about her summoning Thulia today might be worried it is a sign of the apocalypse. How much does Thulia eat in her Earth form I wonder. Bianca teasing Morgana now, betting they are all trying to get her too distracted to be worried as she is. What is with the thought summoning requires sacrificing a goat?

Sunday 6th November, Bianca and Morgana's room, later that morning.

Worried about her outfit and look now for the date, call Laura, stat! Bianca, Laura, Erica, and Cally are all there to help, meep.

How did that saying go? 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help you'? I was starting to feel as if I understood it.

No, no, you are in a much more dire situation. In the hands of a bunch of teenage girls who want to make you look your best for a date.

Laura nodded. "What you wear won't affect the ritual you need to do, will it? Bianca told us about it."

"No, I can do it in pretty much anything."

"Good, then we can get creative!"

She should have tried to run for it while she still had the chance. Cally says she would look good in heels, nice to see Cally in a good mood. Accessories and more clothes to buy, Morgana won't hear the end of it from Laura and Cally if she doesn't.

I sighed with relief, before Bianca - yes, Bianca, I will remember this and plan my revenge! - pointed out I wasn't wearing makeup.

Planned revenge on Cally for the heels comment, and now Bianca for makeup, do I smell pranks in the future? Morgana wants a magical makeup transformation to do all this, you and every other female who has spent hours getting made up for a date.

Summoning Thulia, Magic Department Summoning area, Sunday afternoon.

Morgana summons Thulia and the dress Thulia is wearing, sometimes more is more effective. The binding part of the summoning, and now we can get on with the date.

Caitlin, I know you don't trust Thulia's nature due to in part what she is, but ease up on the gaze for Morgana's sake. Here we go, asking Thulia about her full true nature. Caitlin is still as impatient as ever I see.

Grimes was looking at her companion with a 'you just had to blurt it all straight out, didn't you?' expression on her face, then coughed.

This is Caitlin, you should have been expecting this, Grimes.

A secret between just the 4 of them and bound by a magical oath, is huge.

"Although I may have omitted some things which could have been misunderstood. As the Artificer has surmised, my heritage is... mixed. The demon trait you noticed is from Tanau, my great-grandmother."

I opened my mouth to say something, but she smiled. "Yes, I know I referred to her as my Grandmother, but ever since I was young she complained that calling her Great-Grandmother made her feel far too old, and we settled on Grandmother. She was a succubus before she retired."

"Retired? How the hell does a demon retire!?"

Thulia turned to Caitlin with a smile. "She fell in love with a human. I'm given to understand it's an occupational hazard for her kind."

That explains the part-human nature of Thulia and that must mean her father is part human as well, dang.

Grimes looked at Caitlin's somewhat outraged face and smiled. "Caitlin, you of all people should recognise that someone can take their own path regardless of their origin!"

Caitlin opened her mouth, then closed it, looking thoughtful for once, as Thulia continued.

Thank you, Grimes.

"Obviously I have some human blood in my line as well, but for the rest - well, there is some fire spirit in the mix, but mainly I'm dragon."

Well that explains it and why she crafted her body for Earth to look the way it does. Morgana laughing at the reveal due to her codename.

"It's my name...when I had to choose a codename, everyone had kept referring to you as a demon, so I guess I assumed they knew what they were talking about. I didn't know any better then. But calling myself DemonsFyre seemed, well, remarkably stupid. But calling myself DragonsFyre seemed a good way of hiding that, and dragons are cool and amazing, I've always loved them. And now...I find my codename is accurate, not a ploy!"

Grimes was shaking her head, as much as saying 'teenagers!', while Caitlin was trying not to chuckle herself. Thulia still looked upset, so I gently took her head in my hands. "Thulia...darling...it doesn't matter to me what your heritage is - demon, human, dragon, whatever. I don't care. But...I think it's amazing you're a dragon. So thank you for telling me."

This is priceless and I love these two being together. Confessions of love gotten out, Thulia crying tears of joy, dang, got me tearing up here. Darn, I forgot Ty West was one of the trustees who went missing, such a lost opportunity.

"Nope. You're still getting an escort until we are sure Thulia understands Whateley. And to make sure she doesn't have access to ketchup!" That last had me doing my best to stifle a snort of laughter, as Thulia just looked completely lost. All I could do was whisper "I'll explain it later."

Caitlin, taking a heartfelt and emotional moment and ruining it with a well-timed reference.

Bullying in school for not being a pure breed dragon, figures even in other dimensions kids find a reason to pick on each other.

I blinked. "You watched anime as an information source?!"

She nodded cheerfully. "Oh yes! There was a lot of it..." then she saw the somewhat boggled expression on my face and looked worried herself. "was there something wrong with that?"

"Uh... not exactly wrong, darling, no. Just that it isn't terribly accurate, that's all." I didn't want to tell her the real reason for my hidden amusement, the idea that she was using anime as a sort of historical document source. Shades of Galaxy Quest!

She thought about that for a minute. "So we aren't likely to run into giant robots, or big explosions, and stuff?"

"Heh. Well, probably not. Although it's a bit more likely at Whateley than a normal High School."

Huh, now that I think about it watching anime would prepare you for some of the more out-there stuff at Whateley. Thulia is on to something.

Caitlin as an escort, they aren't getting away with anything. Bwahaha, Caitlin, you and subtle while being an escort don't mix. *faces turns red* Dang, Thulia, at least take her to her dorm room for that kind of talk first. Kissing like that and Caitlin coughing loudly to bring them out of it, these two are going to draw so much trouble at this rate. A walking tour of Whateley, let us hope some of the bigots don't mess with them.

Oh good, Caitlin scaring off the idiots just by being nearby. Introducing Thulia to ice cream, Morgana, noooo! Either she will hate it or become addicted to it. Chocolate ice cream no less, she is going to be addicted to it. Foreign student from a very remote country, just a slight bending of the truth.

Only imported coffee on the Plane of Fire, ouch. Devisor mocha.

"Where have you BEEN all my life?!"

What have you done, Morgana? If she finds out about the coffee in the workshop she will want to visit a lot more often.

Sunday Afternoon, Whateley Shopping Mall, Shopping

Shopping trip and Laura finally meets Thulia. Red flag day, aww, no blue Laura for Thulia to admire. That expression on Laura's face has me worried. Measurements of Thulia, how close to Morgana's are they? So the Whateley Academy store has incorporated the same tech that Cecilia Rogers has at her place, nice. Hey, a t-shirt and jeans don't mean you are a slob even if you are a girl.

Casual clothes, nice to see Morgana proven right. Hehe, that is one way to find out how Thulia dresses while working in her workshop, plus Morgana's reaction. Laura is going to have a lot of teasing ammo for later on after today.

Laura grinned, patting her on the arm. "You spotted that so quickly! I wanted to suggest a few outfits that you might like to surprise Morgana in. That dress is way hot - I wish I had the figure to wear it! - but I have a few ideas for outfits that would have the same effect, but not stand out quite so much." She cast an eye at Morgana's disappearing back. "And one or two things you might like to have her be the only one to see..."

Laura, you are going to have Morgana have steam coming out of her ears if you are thinking of the kind of outfits I think you are thinking of. Just that first outfit, Morgana is going to be dumbstruck upon seeing Thulia in it. I see Morgana looking like a boiled lobster much in the future.

A necklace for Thulia.

A very lovely dragon, in gold with scarlet gemstones for eyes, on a substantial chain.

Very nice. An automatic gift-wrapping machine, I want one!

Thulia looked thoughtful. "Well, I get what you say about being cold" - she looked down at her chest for a moment - "but I never get cold. And my body provides enough support I don't need to worry about sag."

Laura bravely resisted the urge to facepalm, giving me a 'come on, help me out here!' look.

I sighed. "OK. Thulia, I get what you mean about the support bras, you don't need one. But some of the pretty ones, they are more for show, and a few of them did look really good on you."

No need for bras, don't let any of the other girls at Whateley overhear you say that, Thulia. Darn, red flag day ruined the possibility of seeing Thulia in her 'dragon form' in outfits.

I retained my self-control enough to stop actually drooling, at least.

Thulia in underwear, Morgana has more self-control than she realizes to do that.

Laura looked innocent. "Well, she puts up with you, so she must be crazy; I suppose after that Whateley doesn't seem too bad!"

"HEY!!"

Laura, the same could be said of you, my dear.

Dang, Morgana got out of clothes shopping for herself, sneaky. Finally, the reason why Morgana doesn't have wings like Thulia in her 'dragon form'.

"Let me see. Laura, Morgana isn't a copy of me as such, I used my DNA and other things to save her life when her manifestation was threatening to enter a burnout. That's why we look like we're related, but not identical. The wings..." - She paused as she obviously struggled to put something into simple words - "They are part of the body template, Morgana will be able to manifest them. But right now, after the issues she'd had, it affected how her energy channels developed, and recently there was a lot of damage I needed to heal. So when she's OK, I will be showing her how to use and develop her energies properly, and then she will be able to channel it to manifest her wings and some other changes. They do require her to channel more energy inside her, and more accurately and efficiently as well, so some preparation and practice will be needed." She turned to me looking rather apologetic.

Makes perfect sense to me, I can't imagine how much energy it will take to manifest wings.

Thulia has never been watched like this, boy, the guys and girls of the Plane of Fire must be half-blind to ignore her.

Bianca smiled back and moved back to give us some room. "Of course you aren't." Then she saw Laura behind us, her head just visible over a stack of boxes. "You've been busy shopping, haven't you?"

I grinned. "Just a bit. I'm afraid Laura is a bad influence on Thulia!"

Laura, you know you are going to get Morgana back 10x over later on.

I smirked a bit and Bianca had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Well, I do have problems with people trying to spy on me, so I like to take precautions."

"Ah, I see. Yes, with so many people around it must be a problem for you."

So many people, wait, we never did find out how many other students were at the school at the same time as Thulia, did we?

She looked at us both, thinking, then bit her lip slightly. "I'm afraid it's a lot more people than I'm used to. Your world is much more heavily populated than mine is, I'm just not used to such crowds as I've seen here."

Just how much smaller is the population where she is from compared to Earth?

Teasing about the other protecting them, Morgana and Thulia as so cute together. Oh my, never get suggestive with Thulia, she will take it a step further.

Dinner time, Crystal Hall

Morgana having to make sure no one makes a move on Thulia, this is the risk she took bringing her to Whateley, hormone high. The Sunday dinner crowd is huge to her, it is starting to sound like the Plane of Fire's population is less than 100 million at the least.

Okay, based on Thulia's comments it is confirmed, that Crystal Hall is one of, if not the best eating place in at least 2 dimensions. 11 people at their table including Thulia, I hope she isn't overwhelmed right now.

That brought a few chuckles from the group. "Thulia, looking the way you do in that amazing dress, I'm surprised we don't have a queue of boys - and some girls - queuing up to get a better look at you!"

Erica smiled as she commented, hopefully turning it into more of a joke. Thulia still looked a bit worried, slipping a bit closer to me. "Oh dear. I'm just not used to getting so much attention from so many people!"

Uh oh, now I'm hoping that mysterious organization in the Plane of Fire doesn't plan for Thulia to go to Whateley as a student to keep her safe, each day the crowds alone would leave her stressed out.

Tavi being Tavi again, him in a little reporter's outfit, we need artwork of Tavi! Ack, Tavi, no.

"I'm sorry, he does seem to have some of the aspects of a familiar. I've never seen a hardlight hologram before..."

Interesting, Tavi has some aspects of a familiar.

A.J. is at the table and curious about Thulia.

Smokey was looking at her with big eyes, head cocked to one side but obviously not understanding what she was saying.

Aww, Thulia thinks Smokey is a real dragon and tries to talk to him in her native tongue. Scritching must not end until the entity being scritched indicates it otherwise they will be annoyed.

Aww, now the fun has to come to an end, at least it was a good day with no troubles. 2 weeks between visits, that is torture at their age. Trouble magnet for Thulia, you are both trouble magnets and need to get used to it.

So we carried on walking, close together, and I ignored the semi-whispered comment from behind me of 'aww, aren't they just so cute and adorable together!'. Laura, I know where your Lab lives.

Oh, be nice to Laura, we all think you are adorable together.

Caitlin gives them 10 minutes alone while she goes to chat with Mrs. Horton, she is an old softy at heart. Just cuddling and making out, at least they had this time together. Though based on the state of Morgana's shirt it was more than normal making out.

Mystic Arts Building, late evening.

Morgana giving Thulia her gift now to remember today. Thulia loves the necklace and Morgana gets to put it on her, Thulia calls Morgana 'my love'. And Morgana gets ready to open the portal to send Thulia back. A cliffhanger right then, why do I suspect Thulia is either not going back just yet due to outside interference or Gravedigger has been following them and is going to attack thinking the portal proves that Thulia is a demon and thus Morgana is too?