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save-the-spiral · 4 years

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Wiztober Day Two: Shield

Welcome to day two of Wiztober2020. Content warnings for graphic violence, monsters, blood, knives, frostbite, mentions of violent limb removal, death mention. note that the hydra mentioned is not a mythical hydra, but an in-canon three headed hydra, without the head regeneration.

(link to prompt list)

Emrys’ mouth was open just slightly, showing a hint of teeth, exhaling a breath of air that became pale blue fog in the cold of the early morning. His chapped lips cracked painfully as he yawned, his visible breaths sparkling with snowflakes of gathering ice magic.

The crunch of fresh snow under his boots was a constant rhythm, only accompanied by his breathing and the soft susurration of his cloak brushing against the ground and what little plant life managed to live here, disturbing the short grass and frost flowers, causing some of the reagent’s petals to fall down in his wake.

In Emrys’ opinion, the conjurers given extra credit for creating this illusory arena were too good at their jobs, because it was unbearably cold for an early October day.

As one of the best students in the ice school, Emrys had been given the special opportunity to demonstrate his abilities, and unfortunately enough, two of the three people Emrys could actually tolerate being around were also top students, and blackmailed him into joining them.

Maybe promises of hot chocolate didn’t count as blackmail.

Emrys knew that everyone in the ice school, as well as many with ice secondaries or those with nothing better to do, would be watching him, Jen, and Castian. They had been split from each other, and were supposed to find each other, as well as the construct standing in for a powerful enemy, and defeat said enemy as a team.

The towering evergreens were all dusted in powdery snow, the slightest movement causing a layer of the snow to pile onto the forest floor. Even the cutting winter winds caused some of the lighter branches to creak and buckle, letting forth a deluge of yet more snow. Emrys did not bother to hide his tracks or the indications of his passage, knowing that Castian was a much better tracker by virtue of her instincts as a draconian.

They had been given no time to prepare beforehand for being separated, so as the humans on the team, both he and Jen would have to rely on their weaker senses and hope they stumbled across another. And that there were no secret monsters or constructs in the forest they could stumble across.

Emrys sighed, though it descended into a yawn against his will. He had gotten maybe two hours of sleep the night before, left tossing and turning in his dorm. At first it had been nightmares, a companion to every night that he had become accustomed to. Then it had fallen into contemplating if his younger, estranged sister Mari also had nightmares, and then he was thinking about how he could approach Mari, how he could just talk to her for once, and then he just kept thinking through increasingly unlikely scenarios of how he could reunite with his sister, or be rejected by her.

Emrys’ gloved hand tightened around his wand, a simple knife from his home world, Mooshu, that Castian had enchanted using her family’s exclusive and secretive talent. The blade itself glowed with runes from an ancient Mooshu dialect that Castian had spent weeks inscribing onto the metal without damaging the integrity of the weapon, while still making it a viable wand and imbuing it with magic.

There was a sharp crack as Emrys stepped on a fallen branch, and he startled, glancing around quickly and reabsorbing his surroundings. The trees had become fewer, though the remaining evergreens were even larger than those before, looming darkly and obscuring large portions of the overcast sky.

He just sighed tiredly once he realized nothing was amiss. He did not want to know what those watching him thought about how he shambled through the forest for twenty minutes and almost got a heart attack over a broken twig. Emrys really appreciated his standoffish and downright mean reputation now, because people would have to be brave enough to approach him in order to tease him over his paranoia.

Then the silent forest was ripped apart by a shocked, frightened scream, high pitched and hissing, definitely belonging to Castian.

Emrys turned towards the sound and broke into a sprint, easily weaving around trees. The forest sped by quickly, and within a minute of running Emrys saw the flashes of bright magical light. He heard Jen cry out in pain as he broke through the treeline to the clearing.

There was no battle array. There was just an expanse of white snow, and no magical lines or controlled turns to the duel.

That was not how this was supposed to go.

Emrys gasped, the choked noise catching in his throat, because he had been promised that there was no way for any of them to get actually injured, and this was not that. Without a battle array anything goes, the only limits being ones magical prowess and their mana. This also allowed for physical attacks, something Castian and Jen had never encountered.

And it seemed that the conjurers had done too well at their job again, creating something far too smart.

The large ice hydra would have been a balanced enemy to face, inside of a battle array. But outside of one, it allowed for three spells to be cast simultaneously, and the hydra itself had fangs, frost breath, and a tail spiked with icicles. And it was currently trying its best to murder Jen and Castian.

Jen was running across the clearing towards Castian, who was just yards from the treeline. Their robes tattered and covered in pine needles, several gashes scored across their chest, blood droplets trailing behind them. Castian was hunched over, one of her wide sapphire colored wings frozen in a thick sheet of ice as she hissed in pain, the result of a frost breath attack.

“Cover her.” Emrys barked to Jen, who only gave a sharp nod as Emrys passed them. As he left them behind he heard the metallic clang and following chimes of an expertly cast ice shield.

The hydra was in front of him, all three heads weaving back and forth in a mesmerizing dance, the casting symbol of the ice school dripping and solidifying into existence from the middle head’s fangs. Emrys skid to a stop as a snow serpent struck into existence, jaw unhinged, but he simply ducked, turning into a roll before continuing to run towards the Hydra.

The left and right heads of the beast attempted to pincer at him from both sides, but he used his left hand to brandish a tower shield card, which transformed into the shield itself, heavy metal causing his arm to shake. He slashed out to the right with his wand, the knife’s blade flashing bright with a frostbite spell.

The fact that they no longer had to follow the rules of battle did not only apply to the enemy, after all.

Emrys’ left arm was jarred by the hydra’s attack, going numb as the shield dispelled and the hydra head reeled back from its failed headbutt. His attack at the right head struck true, his knife sinking into the soft tissue around the beast’s nostrils, the spell resounding up the neck of the hydra, a full force of magic without a battle array to restrain it into overtime attacks.

The frost crept quickly as if under a timelapse, turning sky blue scales darker and darker until Emrys dislodged his wand and caused the head to shatter into ice. Emrys found himself grinning, a satisfied light entering his eyes upon seeing the hydra’s body back up, both remaining heads twisting and dazed, looking for their third companion and only finding shards of scales and ice littering the snow.

Emrys backed up as well to give himself more time to cast a more complex spell. He slipped the proper spell card into his left sleeve, panting as he gathered the magic necessary to cast such a spell without a pip system to assist him. He watched as both heads cast in unison, appearing to pool their power for one spell as a wyvern burrowed out from the snow, pulling itself from the ground. It swayed for a moment, and Emrys could only stare as it opened its mouth and let out a piercing screech, sharp shards of ice and freezing wind buffeted him backwards.

Emrys cast his spell as the wyvern disappeared, the card falling out of his sleeve and levitating midair, unearthly chimes of a bell ringing through the clearing, the overcast skies seeming to open and allow one of their number to answer his call. The snow angel on its steed gently cantered towards Emrys, awaiting his orders as the Hydra advanced. Forgoing words, he simply leaped onto the back of the snow angel’s steed, pointing towards the hydra’s leftmost head with his knife, the blade a blinding ray of silver in the light emanating from the spell creature.

The wind rushed through Emrys’ hair and he gritted his teeth as they fell into a racing gallop, the pegasus underneath them neighing loudly, the sound echoing as if from an entire herd. The snow angel attacked the head, crushing its skull.

It was then that Jen cried out again, and Emrys directed the creature to turn and use the last of its power to reach his allies as fast as magically possible. His mind raced, calculating how this could happen, and realized how stupid he had been.

The hydra hadn’t used both heads to cast one measly wyvern. The other head had been casting a colossus behind Emrys, attacking Jen and Castian, who were immobile, easy targets. The creature shattered Jen’s shield easily, and from how they had a hand pressed to their chest, it had aggravated their already bleeding wounds, likely affecting their ribs as well.

Emrys heard the pounding footsteps of the now one headed hydra giving chase, his heart thudding in his chest so hard it almost ached. The snow angel dissolved back into magic when he was yards away from his allies, and Emrys stumbled forward, choking back a distressed scream upon seeing how severe the creeping frost on Castian’s wing had gotten, now ensnaring up to their neck and across their other wing, while Jen was still gasping raggedly for air.

Emrys turned then, to face the hydra, and found out that it had gained on him in the small distance he had run on foot. Out of reflex he raised an arm protectively over his face, and for a moment he felt nothing. Then the pain set in as the creature’s fangs sunk into his left arm, only the bones in his forearm keeping his entire limb from being torn clean through.

A scream rose in his throat but he merely grunted harshly, his mind bouncing between strategy and agony, trying to find any action to take in order to not become a chew toy. The sharp hissing of the hydra resonated through his bones, causing Emrys to shake as he recognized the sound that prefaced a frost breath attack, one that would turn him into a lifeless statue at this range.

He finally moved, raising his knife and hacking at the hydra until it let go, falling backwards as it died. Emrys fell to his knees as well, panting raggedly for just a second before turning to Jen and Castian. He let his wand fall blade first into the snow and reached out, checking Jen’s pulse and exhaling in another gust of pale blue mist as he found her faint heartbeat.

Castian hissed quietly, and they all knew that no on field treasure card could heal the frost now creeping up her jaw. Emrys just bowed his head in front of them, murmuring incoherent apologies. Castian leaned forward, bumping their foreheads together, and Emrys felt tears fall, burning against his skin.

The illusion fell apart then, and the three ice wizards were huddled in the middle of the Unicorn Way battle arena, the stands full of students, many of which were obviously distressed or entertained.

Emrys glanced around, chapped lips cracking again as they curled into a snarl, and as life students ran up to give medical care, he caught the eyes of the small team of myth students who had been running the illusion, had made a series of stupid mistakes that lead to Emrys and his friends being gravely injured.

The way they all ran in obvious fear was very, very gratifying.

#Writing #Wizard101 #wiztober2020 #wiztober #wizzy101 #wiz101 #w101 #my ocs #ocs #Emrys Pyre #Castian Runeclaw #Jen Sirisopa

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save-the-spiral · 4 years

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Emrys, lacuna?

lacuna: (n.) a blank or missing part

(link to ask prompt) (link to Emrys’ tag) (here’s a fic where these side ocs were mentioned Once and still are integral to Emrys’ story)

Content warnings: Bullying, violence, unprovoked/surprise assault, narrating character having PTSD symptoms (flashbacks, mild paranoia, and dissociation), said dissociation leading to a gap in memory, uncomfortable/strained sibling relationship.

Exiting the Spiral Door was disorienting for Emrys. The sudden step from stone to wood made him stumble, and likely would have set him off balance even if he hadn’t just exited a literal portal between worlds.

He glanced around quickly, lining up what information his father had given him with what he saw now. It appeared the Spiral Door of Wizard City was indeed inside a massive tree. Sunlight streamed in with no known source, tinged green with life magic, though the area was full of all kinds of magic, blending into one forceful, ancient reminder.

Emrys quickly looked at the adult standing before him.

“Welcome! Welcome, you two, we have heard so much about you, and are honored that you have accepted our invitation to join our school.” Merle Ambrose spoke warmly, smiling. Emrys couldn’t help but stare at the glass eye the man had, fixated on how it sparkled for a moment, before Emrys nodded in response.

“Thank you for the opportunity.” Mari spoke quietly.

They begun walking as Ambrose continued to speak, the two siblings trailing behind him as they walked up the carved ramps and through an open archway, out into a courtyard.

Emrys looked around again, knowing he was in Ravenwood proper now, but trying to catch every difference from his father’s description. There was an obvious difference, no casually studying or picnicking students around the grassy roots of Bartleby, but a collection of tents with tan-robed students flitting in and out of them. As they kept walking onto the circular cobblestone plaza, Emrys made note of the cracked stones usually depicting a mosaic of the death school’s symbol as well.

“Ah, this is where I’ll leave you two!” Ambrose finished his rambling, smiling again. “Miss Jade, meet the life professor, Moolinda Wu. She hails from Mooshu as well, and may assist you both in getting over any lingering cultural questions you both have as you adjust.”

A kind cow in a kimono smiled gently and bowed in greeting before waving Mari over, who quickly joined her as they turned towards the life school.

“Professor Greyrose?” Emrys finally spoke, making eye contact with the remaining woman in the plaza who had been waiting for them.

“Oh, yes dear.” Her pale blue wings fluttered quickly, blurring slightly. “I’m sure we’ll do great work, Mister... Jade, I presume?” She clasped her hands.

“Pyre, actually.” Emrys said, face devoid of any emotion, evidently unwilling to explain.

The old woman made a clicking sound with her tongue, but Emrys didn’t notice it, simply shifting his bag on his shoulder and following her as she began to fly in the opposite direction of the life school.

Emrys hadn’t spoken to his little sister in months, even before they were separated by school divides within Ravenwood. He hadn’t spoken much, really, aside from what was necessary, and even then it was only to their father while he was recovering.

He didn’t know that the only time his sister heard his voice over those tense months of his recovery were during his nightmares, where he spoke plenty to make up for his silence in the daylit hours.

Once school started up, people in the ice school seemed confused by Emrys. It appeared that many students of Ravenwood either started learning magic there or came once they’ve finished learning magic, for refined lessons in specialty fields not found in their school. Being taught from books and a father who only knew life magic was not the typical route for other ice wizards. It wasn’t surprising, but it was unpleasant, to be the sole recipient of attention for something Emrys could not control.

It had quickly become evident that what little casting and battle experience Emrys had was made up for by his extensive reading. His father had been adamant that he not cast strenuous magic in his recovery, which only ended weeks ago, so while Emrys had complied, it did make him appear to be even more inept in that part of his studies.

He quickly grew in skill, but not before some of his peers decided his inability to cast was an obvious weakness to be preyed upon.

Emrys had a habit of quickly checking out the books he needed and then leaving the library as soon as possible. He didn’t like being out at night, or outside alone. It was unnerving, and he couldn’t help it but his hands would start trembling whenever he was out and about and realized there was no one in sight. So he avoided it.

Emrys was not the best at keeping to habits, though, and that was how he found himself out at night as he walked back to his dorms from the library, passing by the storm school and flinching as some of the ever present drizzle fell onto the back of his neck.

And then he flinched harder when a pair of hands pushed hard against his back, causing him to topple hard to the ground. It was as if Emrys blinked and suddenly he was on his hands and knees, his glasses on the ground in front of him and his pale blue hair falling in front of his eyes as he stared at the cobblestones.

There was a rushing sound in his ears, and he heard shouted words in time to the rumble of the storm school’s ambient thunder, and suddenly he was being kicked in the ribs and falling on his side.

He coughed, winded, and inhaled the cold air, feeling it scrape against the inside of his throat, and Emrys was gone. He was gone and alone, curled into fetal position and trying to slip out of the world quietly, with as little pain and fuss as possible. Still trying to face his fate with dignity, no matter how young and afraid he was.

Emrys was so cold, and he should be more resistant to a simple chill as an ice wizard, but he had always been too skinny for his age, and he never wore enough layers anyway because he was stubborn, he was so stubborn and afraid and that was why he was here in the first place, and-

“Pyre? You in there?” A dry, impatient voice startled Emrys, and he gasped, looking up.

He saw one of his classmates, Jen. They were a natural leader of most of the ice school’s students, and set up most of the study groups as well, the ones that Emrys had brushed them off about. All Emrys knew was that they were from Earth, Thailand, but Emrys never bothered much with learning about Earth aside from Vietnam, where his father grew up, as well as South Korea, where he spent the first four years of his life.

“Hmm?” Emrys managed to choke out a questioning sound as he glanced around the room he was in (he was in a room, no longer outside, and it was much warmer). There were two twin beds on either side of the door, and a small kitchenette, as well as two desks. He was seated in one of the two comfortable desk chairs, though it had been turned around to face the room.

“Oh good, he’s not like, dead.” The second occupant of the room spoke from where she was lounging on one of the beds, sipping at a mug.

Castian, one of the few drakes attending Ravenwood. All Emrys knew was that she was capable, but outgoing to the extent of being almost harassing.

“I think I would’ve noticed if he up and died in our room, Cas.” Jen sighed, turning back to the kitchenette and grabbing a plain black mug with a constellation on it. “Here, some hot chocolate.”

“What?” Emrys looked between the two of them.

“Hot chocolate? Y’know, like... the powder and milk stuff? With little marshmallows? The good shit?” Castian began rambling, until she sat up fully, gesturing with her mug in hand, “Oh my god, do you really not-!?”

“I know what hot chocolate is!” Emrys snapped, grabbing the mug from Jen and setting it on the desk behind him.

“Glad to see you’re all grumpy again, can’t be too hurt.” Jen raised their eyebrow, before sitting in the desk chair opposite of Emrys and drinking from a mug with a bold check list on it. ‘Male’ and ‘Female’ were left unchecked, with ‘WIZARD’ in bright purple letters checked in a large red mark.

Emrys sighed, looking between the two roommates again. “...May I ask what happened?”

“Hmm?” Castian tilted her head like a confused puppy.

“You might have to be a bit more specific, bud.” Jen said.

Emrys rubbed at his temple. “What I mean is, I was pushed over on my way back from the library, and now... I’m here. That’s all I got, aside from a bit of pain and, apparently, some hot chocolate.”

Castian and Jen exchanged a look that Emrys couldn’t even begin to decipher, Jen shaking their head after a moment. Castian only nodded her head rapidly, her grin growing wider and wider, more of her sharp draconian teeth on display as she did so.

“No, Cas.” Jen finally said.

“Yes, Cas.” Castian responded, before she set her mug onto her bedside table and stood up, rummaging around the kitchenette for something.

“Care to explain? Like... explain anything?” Emrys said after a moment.

“Nope.“ Castian said plainly, turning around with a bright blue tin in her hands. “This, however, looks like a situation that calls for my special candy from back home. Here, have one.”

Her clawed hand grabbed Emrys’, the her blue scales surprisingly warm, and she dropped a wrapped candy in his hands.

“What.” Emrys stared at her, the same deadpan annoyance he had put on whenever she approached him before.

“First he doesn’t know what hot chocolate is, now he doesn’t know what candy is?” Castian turned, shaking her head at Jen. “Sad.”

“I know what-!” Emrys started.

“We'll teach you everything you need to know, little hatchling, don’t worry.” Castian grinned at him, obviously aware of how annoying she was being. “First, we’re gonna tell you the awesome tale of how I single-handedly saved your life from those ruffians that would dare attack a poor innocent child.”

“First off, I helped, second off, they were just some idiots who Greyrose is likely lecturing as we speak.” Jen interjected. “It’s only been like, twenty minutes since they knocked you down kid, you weren’t in any danger.”

“And don’t worry about the obvious life debt you owe me, either.” Castian grinned as Jen pushed her away, causing the draconian to flop dramatically onto her bed.

“Thanks.” Emrys muttered, standing up. “Anyway-”

“Nope.” Jen held up their hand and stopped him. “We are going to actually tell you what happened, Pyre, but first you have to finish the hot chocolate.”

“Really.” Emrys’ disbelieving tone as he stared at Jen bordered on incredulous.

“Really!” Castian grinned again, leaning against her gratuitous amount of pillows.

Jen sighed. “Drink your damn cocoa, kid.”

Emrys pouted, and drank his damn cocoa.

After that night, Jen and Castian managed to bother him even more. Jen said they were just doing their duties as a student leader and older student, but Castian insisted that she had ‘basically adopted him already’ and that they were friends.

When Emrys told her that he had already been adopted, and she’d have to fight his dad for the honor of worrying constantly about him, she sighed, and told Jen that they could cross ‘daddy issues’ off of the long list of what might be wrong with Emrys.

Emrys quickly left the room after that interaction.

He didn’t admit it, but they were friends. Jen was only two years older, but they were wise and responsible, and held the respect of their peers. Castian was fourteen like Emrys, bubbly and annoying, but outgoing and inventive, and could connect with basically anyone who wasn’t Emrys in one conversation.

They spent long nights studying together, Emrys insisting it was only because he wanted to use their kitchenette (that they only had because of the double dorm plus Jen having some boring older kid duties), but sometimes he would fall asleep on the pillows and blankets that fell off of Castian’s overflowing collection on her bed.

He would look so small, then. He didn’t realize he was comforted by just knowing other living people were in the room, that the sound of soft, relaxed breathing was something that lulled him to a secure sleep better than anything. It was then that Castian would send a look to Jen, an obvious ‘I told you so’ just in general.

They insisted on sitting near him in classes, Castian as advanced as Emrys so they both were moved up into Jen’s level of classes. It was unspoken, but Emrys would roll his eyes or mutter under his breath, and never told them to leave, preferring to exit the situation himself if he got overwhelmed or uncomfortable. He also never asked to skip levels in classes again, so he wouldn’t leave the other two behind.

About a year later, a young prodigy joined their level of classes. An eleven year old girl from Wizard City’s rather sizable orphanage who had just come into her magic, yet managed to be so skilled already that she was walking into a classroom of seventeen year olds (plus Emrys and Castian).

Genevieve Mayr had big, all black eyes, a black almost canine nose, whiskers, and small furry brown ears. “I’m told my parents were from Avalon, I’m part otter, and no, I don’t eat fish raw.” She giggled in her introduction, before practically skipping and sitting herself down near Emrys, which was usually a no-man’s-land aside from Jen and Castian.

And so, Emrys had a third person he only semi-jokingly referred to as a stalker. This one, however, can and will approach him even more than the previous two, the young girl not even pretending it was a consequence of classes or schedules lining up.

Emrys was slightly afraid that Genevieve had a crush on him for a bit, but he knew for a fact it was mostly idolization. The idolization was not made better when he helped fend off some of the very same idiots who tried to go after him about a year ago, only now he had grown taller and more experienced in practical battle magic.

Having three people to spend time around doesn’t help, sometimes.

He spends three years at Ravenwood before he actually talks to his sister again.

In those three years he still needs white noise to sleep, whether it’s opening his window to allow the faint sounds of the storm school to trickle in, or sleeping over in Jen and Castian’s dorm so he can hear someone alive and breathing like he used to, when he was questing with Mari or when they would sneak into each other’s rooms, or both sneaked into dad’s bed.

He would still look to his side or tilt his head as if to hear something when the opportunity for one of his and Mari’s endless inside jokes came up. He would still look at a flowering vine and remember how those were Mari’s favorites, especially purple morning glories that would invade and climb all over their garden back home, the ones she insisted on never weeding out.

Emrys would make a face in response to what Castian had said to annoy him this time or the obvious reminder Jen told him and they wouldn’t get it. They’d wait for him to respond, and he’d know that Mari would’ve understood him, would have made a face back and then stick out her tongue and call him an idiot.

Whenever Emrys felt protective of Genevieve, he would remember how awful of an older brother he was, and leave the worrying to Jen and Castian.

Sometimes he saw Mari, her head down and hair longer than she ever liked it. She spoke with a more obvious accent than he did now, because he spent so long talking to people who had less obvious Common accents that his own faded more and more. She wore plain green clothes and appeared to be blending in, falling into the crowd and getting lost.

Some days she would have a bruise or would look exhausted or would have that look that Emrys knew meant she was trying desperately not to cry, and he would want to run over to her, to just hug his sister and mutter to her Vietnamese, the language they grew up speaking, or the common Mooshu dialect, or the few phrases of Korean he remembered.

He wanted to find the words to say to her, but it was as if she was a stranger, in this world that would never feel like home, and she would never understand no matter what language he spoke.

It was all in his head. Any time, if he had approached her and asked how she was doing, she likely would have burst into tears and hugged him, just thankful to finally have someone who knew and understood her, who wouldn’t judge her.

But he didn’t. For three years they were on parallel lines, never intersecting, no one even knowing they were siblings, no one knowing they grew up together and that Emrys knew Mari was afraid of needles and Mari knew Emrys was awful at card games.

No one knew, not even Emrys’ three friends, who were not a replacement for Mari, and never would be, because they were never meant to be. He only had one sister, and she was right there, across the courtyard.

And it took until the Spiral was ending for them to speak again.

But until then, Emrys would sit, and wonder, and grieve the loss of someone who was breathing the same fresh Ravenwood air as him.

#ask #anon #anonymous #wizard101 #writing #wizzy101 #wiz101 #w101 #emrys pyre #Jen Sirisopa #Castian Runeclaw #Genevieve Mayr #ocs #my ocs

11 notes · View notes

save-the-spiral · 4 years

Text

Wiztober Day Nineteen: Transformation

Welcome to Day Nineteen of wiztober2020. Content warning for arguing, implied bullying, death mentions.

(link to prompt list)

Castian moved her fingers nervously, the slight rasp of her scales against one another a soft, soothing sound. She balled her hands into loose fists, thumbs slowly feeling the sides of her index fingers, her claws carefully out of the way.

She had been very, very excited at first. One of her best friends had a mysterious, long lost sister, so how could she not be ecstatic for her friend, as well as for the opportunity to watch something so dramatic.

But it hadn’t been fun, not really.

Castian had known of Mari Jade, but had never met the girl. Castian knew almost every student at Ravenwood, so to have not met Mari meant that she was a recluse to the highest degree. All the information Castian had about Mari was through the grapevine of school gossip that Castian played no small part in facilitating, and even that was sparse and, apparently, wrong.

Mari was supposedly intelligent, though not as skilled in practicals, and had a habit of barely even passing classes that relied purely on casting magic. She was a quiet doormat, easily pushed around by the more bullheaded or mean of the life school. She was also a teacher’s pet, on very friendly terms with Professor Wu, sometimes slipping up and calling her Moolinda in class, to her own embarrassment.

It was a pitiful amount of information, and Castian quickly learned that most of it was completely wrong.

The Mari that wreaked havoc through the ice school, barging in and demanding to see Emrys Pyre and not taking ‘no’ for an answer was not the meek theurgist that Ravenwood Academy knew her as. The ambient magic around her was sharp, thorny, and enraged, a dark green aura around her instead of the usual vibrant lime of average life wizards.

When she had found Emrys with the help of a very mischievous Genevieve (usually going by Eve, or Evie), a vital, if not very young member to their friend group, Mari had tackled the stoic and typically rude boy in a hug, and began violently sobbing into his shoulder.

And Emrys, instead of pushing her away or looking uncomfortable at the display of emotions, had simply soothed her, arms reaching around her thin shoulders and mouth moving fast. Castian, Eve, and Jen couldn’t understand the language, but it was fast and in a soft undertone, a constant stream of bouncing syllables as Emrys let this random girl cry all over him. Jen, the only one of them who knew any Earth languages, guessed that he had likely been speaking Vietnamese, though how a half Korean, half Japanese boy who was raised in Mooshu knew the language, none of them could know. Well, they could just ask, but doing so would likely anger Emrys, who was a deeply private person. Private enough to hide a whole sister from his best friends.

Emrys never faltered in his kind, if not protective hold on Mari. He guided her to the ice wizard dorms, and into Jen and Castian’s room instead of his own. There, he had sat down with her on the floor, not even noticing his three friends trailing along.

Finally, when Mari had calmed enough, anger flooding back in over any fear or sadness, the line of her jaw tight enough that Castian worried it might just snap like a rubber band, though she didn’t know much about human wizard physiology. Mari stared at Emrys with a deep anger, not at him, but simply too ingrained in her state of being so she could not stop sounding as if she were going to strike the next person who drew near.

“We need to go to Dragonspyre, and rescue my-” Mari stopped, seething, nostrils flaring. “And rescue someone. The old death professor, Malistaire, kidnapped her. He’s going to kill her, after using her to help destroy the Spiral.”

“Woah.” Eve whispered from the doorway, standing alongside Castian and Jen. She was just thirteen, due to turn fourteen in a month’s time, though she refused to act her age. Considering she was a prodigy, she usually got away with it.

Emrys shook his head, leaning back a bit, putting his weigh on his hand. “Right now? You wanna go storm an entire world right now?”

Mari’s face twisted with her anger. “If you’re not going to help me-!”

“No- no! I’ll help, Mari. Whatever you need.” Emrys’ voice was vulnerable, raw in a tone that usually meant a bad flashback, though not this time. “Just- we can’t run off with no plan, no preparation. I can’t-” His voice cracked. “I really can’t do this without at least a day to prepare, Mari. After that, we’ll do whatever we need to save this person and even save the Spiral if we must.”

Mari huffed out a breath. “A day? She could be dead! The Spiral could be gone, wiped out!”

“It will be anyway if you run off right now, Mari. Look at yourself. You’re running on fumes already- when is the last time you ate, or slept, or even drank some god damned water?” Emrys demanded harshly.

“I-” Mari’s voice cracked. “I don’t...” She seemed to almost sway from where she was sitting.

“A day, Mari.” Emrys murmured. “Just one day and then we can go save another world together, okay?”

“‘Kay.” Mari slurred tiredly.

“Cas, Jen, please take care of Mari while I get the supplies we’ll need? Genevieve, come with me.” Emrys kissed Mari’s forehead as she leaned against the side of Jen’s bed, and then he left, Eve excitedly following him.

Castian and Jen exchanged one look, and that was all they needed. Castian grabbed some of their many mugs, filling two with tap water, and then preparing to make hot cocoa. It would be a long night, and hot cocoa solved most problems, even if it wouldn’t solve this one.

Jen lifted the now sleeping Mari onto their own bed, covering her with a quilt. They hadn’t expected this, but they adapted easily, and this would turn out okay. It had to.

After Mari woke from her impromptu nap, she drank water, she ate, she even drank a bit of cocoa. She was silent, though sometimes if she stared off into space she would let out a dry, hoarse sob. This person who was kidnapped was very, very important to her.

Castian knew the best thing would be to distract her, fill her mind with other thoughts so she could rest, and then she could think as much as she wanted about whoever she wanted then. But not tonight.

It started with a haircut. Jen had suggested it, considering Mari’s hair was a mess, cut quickly and uneven. Mari told them that her braid had gotten caught on a fence, and she had no time. Jen began suggesting hairstyles, pulling out one of their magazines. Mari saw a picture of a beautiful girl in a leather jacket and ripped jeans, with half of her head shaved, staring moodily at the camera.

“That one.” Was all she said.

Jen had gone all out, and they turned it into a spa night, complete with nail (and claw) painting, and a bit of hair dye. Jen had even shaved a little complex design on the side of Mari’s head, vines curling and dyed green, a bit of magic involved to keep it in.

Mari finally smiled when looking in the mirror, though the bags under her eyes spoke of far deeper turmoil that a bit of pampering could not fix in a million years. Castian and Jen knew this, but still. It was fun, and Mari deserved fun before she went on a mission to likely kill a man.

They began picking out clothes, and that was when the real fun began. Mari was introduced to Jen’s rather broad taste in music, though she quickly honed in on the punk side, eyes wide and mouth almost twisting into a smile when she heard loud, almost chaotic sounds, and knew it was called music. After that, Mari spoke more. As usual with Castian, it turned to gossip.

And it was amazing. Castian hadn’t known how deep the life school really went with its sometimes harsh interpersonal relationships, but Mari was in it, and not at all phased by sharing these supposed life wizard only secrets. It was a whole new side to almost every life wizard, and Castian couldn’t get enough, almost overwhelming Mari with questions, both of them drawing out their anecdotes, dramatic pauses and all.

Mari was changing, and she’d need to be more and more prepared to change, because Castian knew that people who went on quests never came back quite the same. It reminded Castian of her cousins who were in the process of shedding their skins, draconian scales dulling, almost dead looking.

Then on the other side they were shining and radiant.

Maybe it reminded Castian of herself, a bit. Though she had never felt the loss and fear Mari had, not since she was very, very young.

Castian would always be willing to help out a friend in need though.

#wizard101 #wiztober2020 #wiztober #mahamari jade #writing #emrys pyre #castian runeclaw #jen sirisopa #genevieve Mayr #wizzy101 #wiz101 #w101 #ocs #my ocs

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