Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kipperlilly Copperkettle had a plan. 

That was something that could be said about her in any situation, but today’s plan was special. Well, one of today’s plans. She wasn’t talking about her plans to dress for maximum social appeal, or their plans to secretly audit sophomore year Rogue classes behind the teacher’s back to become the star student twice as fast, or their plans to get ice cream with Lucy (and Ruben, sadly) after such an amazing first day at school. No, today’s extra special plan was going to change the course of history. Today she was going to choose the party that she would lead into infamy. She had already gone into the school records to find which new students would be the perfect fit for her scheme.

Lucy Frostblade was a given for the Cleric. She was the most skilled and devoted Cleric Kipperlilly knew (with that transfer student Buddy Dawn as a backup choice in case Lucy didn’t pick her…). The Rogue, and obvious leader, of the party would of course be Kipperlilly themself! Sadly, where Lucy went, her ‘best friend’ Ruben Hopclap followed, so he’d have to be the party’s bard (maybe she could convince Lucy to drop him by the end of the year when he proved how weak he was. Maybe she could replace him with that bard Quincy? Or get rid of bards altogether. But do they choose a Druid for more healing or a Warlock for charisma?).

Next would be Oisin Hakinvar, the Wizard. A skilled and bright-eyed mage in his own right, sure, but more importantly he was loaded. His dead great-great-something grandma was an ancient Blue Dragon with quite the penchant for hoarding magic items and gemstones. With most of those inherited from the family, the party would never want for gold, magic items, or spell components again! Next was the Fighter, Ivy Embra. An archer wouldn’t quite have been her first choice, but there would be another meat wall to take hits for them, so it wasn’t a deal breaker. Ivy’s skills didn’t really matter, her homeland did. Ivy wasn’t from Solace, in fact, she just moved about 5 months ago. Ivy was born and raised in the one place Kipperlilly couldn’t understand or calculate, Leviathan. Her father was a first mate on some ship called the Crescent Moon and her mother was some wealthy Swamps of Ruin heiress turned Leviathan businesswoman, and they were both bound to have ins and owed favors everywhere.  Plus…maybe Ivy could get her the autograph of Cathilda The Black! Fabian Seacaster, and his dad Bill Seacaster, would probably be more helpful for connection and a better asset on the field, but Kipperlilly refused to let someone like him try to take her leadership. So, Ivy it is!

They had damage, money, connections, utility, healing, support, magic, and Kipperlilly’s genius. All they needed was someone to be the meat shield. Kipperlilly had chosen Gorgug Thistlespring. He looks like he could take a beating, and it seems he was adopted, so he’ll be desperate for connection and happy to throw himself in the way of his newfound beloved friends. Her choice of Barbarian wasn’t any more complicated than that. She’d have her party, seal their friendship with a high five, and her page in Legend Lore would have its t’s crossed and i’s dotted. Maybe with a few minor, Ruben-based adjustments down the line. No one gets everything right the first time! Not even her!

Her bag was packed, her clothes starched, her mary-janes perfectly polished, and her hair pulled back in its usual tight pigtails. It’s all been like this for the past hour while they waited for their parents to wake up and drive them to school already. Prep time is nice, but there’s only so many times you can reread a wall of post-it note plans before you give up and admit there isn’t a single flaw to fix!

Eventually, she hears her parents stirring. Riverhopper and Fairbutton Copperkettle, a real estate agent and a clerk, not terribly exciting. Unlike Ruben with stupid Micheal and Adam Hopclap, SHE was a first-generation adventurer. Instead of being handed everything by her adventurer parents, Kipperlilly actually worked for this opportunity, unlike certain bards. It was mind-boggling that such a bumbling idiot could succeed in a world where she scrapped by. It was insane that someone so aggravatingly useless was Lucy’s best friend when Kipperlilly had proven her worth over and over again! It was madness that sh-

Shit. She punched another hole in the wall…hopefully her mother and father didn’t hear that. Anyways, where was she? Oh yeah, Ruben’s an annoying little bitch. No matter. She dusts off her hand, rearranges her macrame tapestry to cover the wall’s new…blemish, and carries on downstairs to greet her parents. Hopefully, her dad’s laziness didn’t make her late for being early to being early for school, like it always does. Of course, it did. Riverhopper Copperkettle made her only 15 minutes early to school, absolutely ruining her plans to map out the school grounds.

And that made Kipperlilly angry.

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Ruben Hopclap couldn’t find his freaking puka shells.

 He was late for school and he couldn’t find his freaking puka shells! He was late and was gonna miss forming a party and Kipperlilly is going to be like “I told you we were cooler than him blah blah blah blah” and then Lucy is going to leave and then he’ll die!

Ok, maybe it wasn’t that serious, but his freaking puka shell necklace was gone and it was stressing him out, ok?! Oh, wait, it’s on the nightstand. Crisis averted! Ruben slipped it on and looked at the floor-length mirror in his room. His hair was in its usual freeform afro, and he was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt, a green unbuttoned overshirt, sandals, and of course, his trusty cargo shorts. Over his shoulder was strapped a cedar ukulele with rosewood flower designs. He’s worn this look every day for the past three years. It looks good, what can he say?

He’s not questioning his identity at all.

He goes to text the group chat that he’s gonna be late because his parents didn’t wake him up, but then he sees a text. It’s from his papa.

Papa: Sorry, honey, but we got called out to fight a Black Dragon in the Swamps of Ruin last night, but we’ll be back in a week or two, ok? Henry will drive you to school, feel free to invite your friends over, and have a great first week at school! Love you! Your dad says so too but he’s driving.

Oh. That’s why he wasn’t woken up. He quickly texts the group chat.

Ruben: hey guys! sorry gonna be late today couldnt find my freaking puka shells and dads didn’t wake me up so I slept in

Lucy: It’s ok, Ruby!

Kipperlilly: Seriously, Ruben? On the first day?

Ugh, Kipperlilly was such a freaking b-word! But for some reason, she was Lucy’s best friend instead of him, so he had to deal with her. She was totally planning to kick him out of their soon-to-be party the moment she got the chance!

Whatever. He ran downstairs to eat breakfast with his uncle, Henry. Henry Hopclap was four cups of coffee and zero hours of sleep into his newest automaton. Some project for Hudol’s artificing course, which he had started two weeks before. His shirt was covered in oil and without Micheal to yell at him, he was working on the project on the dining table.

“What’s your project for Henry,” Ruben asked about it over the eggs and coffee.

“Huh? Oh, this? It’s for a partner project with one of the necromancy students, Ao Bing Hakinvar. A drone that’s supposed to be able to tell when something has been resurrected before. Weird ask, but I guess it’s something to do with how the bodies reanimate or something…” he replies, barely looking up.

“Oh, neat! Can I see?”

“Not now, Ruben, I’m busy.”

He waved Ruben off and went back to work. He was used to this kind of dismissal when Henry was busy. They were always in a really weird position. Henry was technically Ruben’s uncle but they were closer in age than Henry was to Micheal. It almost felt like he was Ruben’s eight years older brother. He didn’t think Henry saw it that way though. Ruben went back to his food. Henry always tried so hard to be distant for absolutely no freaking reason! 

And that made Ruben angry.

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Mary Ann Skuttle woke up. 

She got out of bed. Put on a gray hoodie and jeans. Grabbed her Quokki Pet and her strawberry. Walked downstairs. Ate breakfast. It was nice.

“Hey, kiddo! You excited for your first day of high school?” Her dad said as he walked in. Dan Skuttle. A kobold. He makes benches. He’s a cool dad.

“Yeah,” she replied, not looking up from her Quokki. Her dad gave her a nice smile in response. He got her. He didn’t make her talk more than she wanted. He was cool.

A few minutes later they were in the car, heading to Aguefort. Where she would get ignored. Or forced to talk more than she wanted. Because teachers and teenagers sucked.

And that made Mary Ann angry.

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Oisin Hakinvar was fucking tired of his older brother.

How Ao Bing Hakinvar continually managed to get more annoying every day was perhaps his only accomplishment of any real value, though not one particularly valued by their parents. They were just trying to share a nice breakfast but he had to make some stupid comment about one of his projects and the mood was soured.

No one likes necromancy except necromancers themselves. It’s disgusting, dark, strange, and certainly not something to talk about while eating. But of course, Ao was never particularly great at reading the room.

“I’ve been working on a project with one of the artificer students at Hudol! I was thinking, well, we both were, that it’d be really interesting to make something that could scan for revivify’s and necromancy. Like, if it had been used on someone before because it can affect certain rituals. You see, some rituals ask for maidens or virgins, and that doesn’t mean sex it actually means…” Ao Bing rambled. His grating voice was nearly as poisonous as his green scales. Oisin stopped listening to him, but he kept going. Oisin was more focused on the disgusted scowls on their parents' faces. Necromancy…unlike his brother, Oisin chose a proper domain for a dragon. Conjuration, to command armies (not of the dead) to do his bidding, as a proper dragon should. His parents were…a little disappointed he didn’t choose evocation or enchantment, but conjuration was still very respectable!

By now, his parents had set down their forks. His father, Bai Long Ma, a white dragonborn, coughed into his hand, pointedly looking at Ao Bing to quiet him. It didn’t work, and Ao continued to chatter until their mother stood up. Maeve Hakinvar, the definition of the word ‘matriarch’. Tall, intimidating, an electric shade of cobalt, and you could practically feel the air buzz with the power and control she exuded (quite literally, she was a powerful enchanter).

“And that’s why it wouldn’t work in a lichdom ritual! And then one thing led to another and Henry and I were partnered up for…this…project…” he trailed off as their mother stood. She did not raise her voice, or slam her hands on the table, or snarl, or anything of the sort. She simply stood, looked down at him, and spoke calmly.

“If you simply must keep disappointing me, can you do so outside of meals, dear? You know I hate losing my appetite.” Then she walked away, claws tapping on the marble floor as their father chased after her. Kobold servants quickly took away the couple’s unfinished meals, and Oisin pushed his towards them, losing his appetite in turn. He turned to his brother.

“Well? Are you proud of yourself?” he asked, scaled brow cocked condescendingly.

“…I just wanted to share my work with her. Well, it’s alright. Do you want to hear the rest in the car, ‘Sin?”

It was like nails on a chalkboard. Ao continued to use that demeaning, childish nickname just to piss him off. Oisin just got up and went to leave, and as Ao went to follow him, he cast Grease. He heard Ao Bing slip and fall at the spell, but annoyingly, he also heard him giggle at it. Like it was a game! He was always acting like they were friends.

And that made Oisin angry.

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Ivy Embra was annoyed.

Not a particularly unique situation for her, but it was especially true now. She was just trying to pack her backpack for school when her mother barged into her room once again, trying to get her to switch weapons like it wasn’t the first bloody day of school! She couldn’t just change now! But noooooo, Iris Embra was so insistent that her daughter take up the rapier too because Ivy had to be a fucking clone of her mum.

Ivy liked the longbow. It felt good. It was something she was good at. Something that was her’s, not mum's or dad’s. Whatever, who cares if Mum was going to keep nagging at her for the rest of high school? Ivy just finished packing her bag, picked up her bag and quiver, and pushed past her mother into the hall. Her mother scoffed at the disrespect, said something Ivy didn’t bother hearing, and walked off.

When Ivy got to the foyer, she was met with a much more welcome sight. Garthy O’Brien, her mother’s valet. Amongst a wood elf family, and primarily human and gnomish staff of the mansion, a half-orc like Garthy stood out. They wore boots, loose pants, and a swashbuckler’s blouse that showed off their various silver tattoos. They smiled kindly at Ivy as she entered.

“I like your skirt, lovie. Red’s a good color on you,” they complimented. Garthy always knew just what she needed to hear. Ivy pushed her hair behind her shoulders with a grin.

“Thanks, Garthy. Are you driving me today or is Spaulding?”

“I am, lovie.”

Ivy smiled at that. Spaulding was nice, but Garthy was Garthy. She walked to the garage with them, tossing her backpack into the passenger seat and hopping in. As they drove towards the school and Garthy made light conversation, she looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. She really did look so much like her mother.

And that made Ivy angry.

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Lucy Frostblade was angry.

This was a very rare occurrence for her, but her cousin had been missing for 2 and a half months and there still wasn’t news! She thought Hargis was going to teach her the ropes of Aguefort, but now she’s going in blind, and…she just missed him a lot. And it isn’t like there hasn’t been time to find him! Freshmen have been going missing for almost a year and neither the police nor any of the missing kid’s parties have found anything! It almost feels like they weren’t trying.

But it was the first day. She shouldn’t be upset right now. Hargis wasn’t getting any less missing the longer she doomscrolled news articles about the kidnappings and procrastinated on getting ready. And so, she quickly responded to Ruby’s incoming text, turned off her crystal, and dragged herself out of bed.

In for four, out for eight. In for four, out of eight,

Once she had slipped on one of her sweater dresses and grabbed her morningstar and backpack (prepacked last night on Lilly’s advice), she knelt at the altar in her room for a quick prayer. It depicted a woman kneeling in the snow and crying, snow flurries swirling around her like an embrace. Ruvina, goddess of winter and sorrow. Lucy’s family used to worship her generations ago, and Lucy couldn’t help but be drawn in hearing of her primary precept, ‘The winds are cold, and we were made to warm each other’. Hearing that defined who Lucy grew up to be. It was one of the only things that made Lucy feel warm.

Speaking of things that made her feel warm, her two best friends, Lilly and Ruby. Ruby’s dad used to be in an adventuring party with one of Lucy’s moms, so they had been friends since they were babies. They knew each other better than anyone and had been there in each other's hardest moments. Lilly, though…Lilly she chose. She saw her crying alone in 6th grade and decided to comfort her, like Ruvina would. And it led her to become friends with the brightest and most beautiful person Lucy has ever known. Her two best friends in the world. It was too bad they never got along.

By the time Lucy was done praying, one of her moms was knocking on the door to call her for breakfast. They were having pancakes to celebrate the first day of school. Her moms, Nandi and Tavena Frostblade, a chef and a former adventurer turned restaurant owner. They lived about their restaurant, the only one in Elmville made for taller races like orcs, bugbears, and of course, giantkin, like them. Lucy wasn’t quite like her family though. Her moms, and likewise, her two little siblings Emiel and Liana, were all giantkin. Lucy, however, was born a genasi. Somehow, some way, the element of frost connected to her. Nandi always said Ruvina had blessed her. Lucy wasn’t so sure.

After breakfast and dropping her siblings at Oakshield, Lucy checked her crystal again. Instead of seeing some sudden breakthrough that Hargis had been found, instead, she saw the groupchat with Ruby and Lilly had devolved into arguments. It always did. For some reason, her two best friends in the world always had to fight.

And that made Lucy sad.

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This was very very bad. Kipperlilly had finished mapping out what she could in the little time their dad’s laziness had given them and had gone to meet Lucy at the front of the school when she saw Gorgug Thistlespring getting a detention slip! How was she supposed to convince him to join the party if he was in detention! No, no, this was not in the plan! Why didn’t she plan for this? There should be contingencies for everything! Stupid! Stupid!

She saw Lucy stepping out of her car. Lucy’s icy skin shone in the morning light, contrasted by her dark, beautifully braided hair. She was wearing a woolen sweater dress which, as Kipperlilly learned as she ran up and hugged her, was just as soft as it looked. Kipperlilly had to stand on the other girl’s combat boots in order to bury their face in her waist.

“LUCY! Lucy, I’m so sorry! Our Barbarian just got detention and now we have to find a new one, and I didn’t plan any backups! I’ve messed it all up!” Kipperlilly rambled into Lucy’s waist. They felt a freezing cold hand on her jawline tilt their head up, to make eye contact with Lucy.

“Hey, Lilly, deep breaths. It’s ok! I didn’t even know we had a Barbarian,” Lucy said. She was so wise. Kipperlilly took a deep breath.

“...I planned a party for us and Ruben. People I thought we would work well off of. One of them just got detention, which means he won’t be available for Day Of Fellowship after school and won’t be able to sign up for our party. Maybe I could get Zelda Donovan instead? But she’s being privately tutored and requested not to have a party…” She had taken a step back from Lucy and was pacing back and forth as she brainstormed. Then she felt a wintery chill washed over her, as Lucy cast Guidance on them with a soft, kind smile. With the spell’s direction, Kipperlilly had an idea. “A lot of the Barbarian students try out for bloodrush, right? Maybe I can observe tryouts and invite one of the students there!

“That’s a really good idea, Lilly. You’re so clever,” Lucy said, smile growing wider. Kipperlilly had impressed her! Ha! Take that Ruben! Oh…speak of a devil and they shall appear.

“Hey Luce! Kipperlilly. What’re we talking about?” Ruben said as he strolled up, lazily. As if he wasn’t late and the bell hadn’t already rung. Oh gods! The bell had already rung!

“Our future party, now shut up or we’re gonna miss Principal Aguefort’s speech!” Kipperlilly shouted as she grabbed Lucy’s hand and started dragging her to the auditorium. She didn’t get far before she felt Lucy catch up, picking up both her and Ruben.

“Sorry, Lilly, longer legs,” Lucy responded to the indignant huff Kipperlilly had let out. Ruben looked all too pleased, though whether that was his usual annoying positivity or Kipperlilly being embarrassed in front of their peers was unclear. Eventually, they reached the auditorium and were set down, heading inside to see a red dragonborn in a suit and tie on stage, beginning his speech. 

"Students one and all, welcome to another exciting year at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy. I am Vice Principal Goldenhoard, here with some announcements on your first day. Everyone should have received your locker assignments in the mail, make sure to go and put your things away for your first busy class day. Bells are five minutes between classes, and hall passes are ensorcelled, so no funny business,” Kipperlilly’s eye twitched at that. That would make her plans just that bit harder. Oh well, a challenge can be nice sometimes!

“I've been told that lunch lady Doreen has made a fine creamed corn and tuna surprise! Surprising indeed what mysteries await in that dish. Also, during your time here, any matters of curriculum can be brought to the Principal, Mr. Arthur Aguefort. Matters of discipline will be brought to me, your Vice Principal, and Ole' Hawthorne, my paddle friend and cleaver of heinies. Don't worry, we use corporal punishment aplenty here at Aguefort, ha ha ha ha! Welcome, welcome, new class of heroes!" said the vice principal in a boisterous voice. She quietly grinned at his last comment. Good, if someone is going to break the rules without the skill the avoid getting caught, they deserve whatever the vice principal could give them. After a bit of nervous clapping from the room, the man stepped back, allowing an ancient-looking human man in a purple suit to step up. Principal Arthur Aguefort began his speech.

“Welcome one and all to another exciting year here at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy, where we train the next generation of adventurers! What is an adventurer? One who goes on adventures? I say that an adventurer is a hero, and what is a hero? A hero is someone with the strength of heart, courage of spirit, and might of will to go to strange lands and enact violence on things there. We go to places where there are things that must be destroyed and we destroy them; wandering from town to town, getting into trouble, meeting in flop houses and taverns and getting into scrapes with the law, and otherwise getting into tomfoolery and shenanigans,” Kipperlilly was already liking this speech less and less. The man took a sip of his tea before continuing.

“A hero is a violent wanderer, who enacts their will bloodily and with strange magic upon the world. But! Does a hero truly stand alone? Haha, no! The strength of the hero is the strength of the party! And what is a party? A party is a group to embellish each other’s strengths and eradicate each other’s weakness. A party is composed of those who have sworn themselves to each other to make themselves greater than the sum of their parts. That is the meaning of party. And party is the meaning of hero,” he continued.

“Never forget that the greatest magic of all is friendship .” He took a sip of his tea again. “Mmm, delightful!”

As everyone clapped, Kipperlilly only had one thought. ‘This is going to be a long year’. And as usual, she was going to find herself proven right.

Chapter Text

Author's Note: Hey there! Sorry this chapter took so long. I was in a really bad place when the previous chapter was released and couldn't find the motivation to finish this. But thanks to my incredible friends, and even moreso, everyone who left such kind comments on the previous chapter, I have finally reached a place where I can write again without feeling sick. Thank you all.

Now, this chapter...to be honest, not that proud of it, but it is what it is. If I kept desperately trying to perfect it, it would never be finished, so I apologize for coming back with such a lackluster chapter. Still, I hope you enjoy it!

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‘Greetings, fellow students!’

No, no, that felt awkward and stilted, he’d never make friends like that!

‘Oh, hey, didn’t see you guys there!’

No, not that one either. Too casual. How abou-

Ruben let out a loud “OOF” as he crashed into someone’s legs. He took a step back, looking up to see a tall, blond human in a letterman jacket. After a beat of silence, Ruben’s social anxiety took over and he shouted, “WHAT’S UP PARTY PEOPLE? I’M IN THE HIZZ-OUSE….nope, it was wrong as soon as I said it…”

The blond man looked at him with a confused expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as a brunette woman leaned over his shoulder to look at Ruben. As her hair fell forward, Ruben could see slightly pointed ears. Half-elf, maybe?

“Oh my gods! You’re so cute! That was so weird, it was adorable!” The woman walked around the man and kneeled down to be at Ruben’s level. “Hi, I’m Penelope Everpetal, she/her, senior Sorcerer, and this is my boyfriend, Dayne Blade, Paladin!”

“Oh! Hi, I’m Ruben Hopclap, he/him! I’m in the business of making friends! Could you help me find my first class? I’m a little lost, and you see, I’m a freshman Bar-”

“Bard? Yeah, I could tell by the ukelele! Well, I’m not going to remember your name at all, but you’re just so cute,” she interrupted, booping him on the nose before standing and looking past Ruben at someone her couldn’t see. “Zayn, sweetie, can you show this cutie to the Bard wing? I would, but you know, me and Dayne are a bit busy right now.”

Ruben turned to look at this mysterious ‘Zayn’. Instead of the kind fellow student he was expecting, he was met with a horribly gaunt, rotting, twisted face sitting inches from his own. Ruben screamed and fell back into Penelope’s legs, hearing her cackle above him. Ruben could hear the other people in the hall laughing at him too. After another moment, the ghost in front of him untwisted itself, becoming a normal, if see-through and particularly goth, drow teenager.

“Oh my gods, Zayn, stop being a dick! That was super funny though, sorry Rugen,” Penelope tried to say through her giggles. Ruben tried to correct her mispronunciation, but was once again cut off, this time by Dayne.

“It’s Ruben, babe.”

“...I know, Dayne. Anyways, Zayn, take the kid. Oh! And cutie, don’t forget about me and Dayne helping you when you’re voting for Prom Queen and King!” Penelope said down to him.

“Oh, yeah, sure! I can tell my friend Lucy to vote too! And Kipperlilly.”

“Kipperlilly? What is she, like four different dogs?” Dayne asked with an amused quirk of his eyebrow. Ruben could practically feel Kipperlilly’s anger from half way across the school at that comment. Oh, he had to tell her that one. They’d stab him, but it would be worth it.

The drow-ghost finally spoke up. “Hey, kid. I’m Zayn Darkshadow, he/they/it. I’m a Wizard and a Rogue. You’re kinda skittish, aren’t you? Don’t worry, it’s cute. Come on, I’ll show you the instrumental Bard class.” Ruben waved a quick goodbye to Penelope and Dayne and ran as fast he could to catch up with rapidly floating away Zayn.

After a few minutes of walking with Zayn (well, floating in the ghost’s case), he made it to the door to his first class. He thanked Zayn, and walked in. The teacher was a very pretty winter-eladrin woman, who gave him a smile from her desk. Ruben looked at his future classmates, plus one weirdly empty seat.

“What’s up, homies? Look what the displacer beast dragged in!”

Nailed it.

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“Klippydily Potterpetal?”

“Present! Also, it’s pronounced Kipperlilly Copperkettle,” Kipperlilly said to the TA, some senior human Rogue. It’s not like she was expecting her name to be pronounced correctly when they saw a human standing at the desk, but the giggles from their peers still weren’t appreciated.

“Not going to remember that, anyways is there a Riz Gugak?” She began to tune the TA out, staring down at her Barbarian notes. Which student to pick…it needed to be someone big, with good constitution…by the time they looked back up, the teacher had already entered the room. In fact, she was floating in front of Kipperlilly’s desk.

Professor Eugenia Shadow, a halfling who died at the age of 120 over 500 years ago, was a ghost. The only member of Principal Arthur Aguefort’s adventuring party still known to be active, she was a terrifyingly effective Rogue, who’s family started the Society Of Shadows, the worlds greatest Rogue guild. She was Kipperlilly’s icon. And she was staring down at Kipperlilly expectantly, as was the entire class. Shit. Kipperlilly had just ruined any chance of being Professor Shadow’s favorite and now she was going to look like a slacker and it was all stupid Gorgug’s fault! No, they could fix this. They could fix this!

“Sorry, Professor Shadow, I was lost in thought thinking…um, about how best to break in and out of the school? What was the question?” Kipperlilly said. Hopefully that would show how dedicated she was, despite the slip-up.

“Rule 1 of being a Rogue, don’t tell people your plans, especially not the person whose job it is to stop them,” the teacher said, as the class started to giggle. Kipperlilly’s ears turned bright red as she looked down in embarrassment. Godsdamnit! Professor Shadow continued. “Now the question was ‘How would you assassinate one of the school staff without getting caught?’ For example, Vice Principal Goldenhoard or Professor Runestaff? How would you kill someone vastly more experienced than you without leaving a trace that you were ever there?”

That was…a weird question to start the class off with, but it’s Aguefort, she supposes. After a moment of consideration, Kipperlilly answered. “Well, I suppose I would find Vice Principal Goldenhoard’s address from employment records, right? I would sneak in, wait until he was asleep, and slit his throat!” For a moment, she almost sees an excited grin on the teacher’s face. She answered right!

“Not at all, Miss Copperkettle! Not at all! Do we have any volunteers to answer? Yes, Mr Gukgak?” Kipperkilly’s face falls, and they turn to the other student. A goblin boy in…a detective costume?

“Well, I would wait until Goldenhoard was giving a speech to the school, hide, and shoot him. Too many people present to tell who did it, and everyone will be too busy witch hunting to look for me hidden in the rafters! That’s if I was doing it myself though, it would obviously be better to get someone else to do it and let them take the fall,” the boy said, with a toothy smile. Professor Shadow gave him a more serene smile, drifting over to his desk.

“Yes, exactly! The best place to hide is other people! Very good, Mr Gukgak!” said the ghost. Kipperlilly hates him already. What was his name? Riz? Fuck that guy. She wants to rip his stupid giant ears off.

After another hour of stupid fucking Riz Gukgak getting all the right answers, class was finally released. That was…a disaster. But it’s fine! There was always tomorrow! Ugh, she sounded like Ruben.

As they walked out the door, they were immediately knocked over by someone running into them. She felt something hard against her chest, like a hoof. Oh, it was. The person who had just tripped over her was a minotaur. Tall, dancer’s build, loose clothes. Looks like a bard. Ew.

“I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you with your things,” said the minotaur, and as they reached to gather Kipperlilly’s dropped things, she noticed a trans flag patch on this person’s sleeve. “Hi! I’m Mazey Phaedra, she/her, sophomore Bard! Oh, by the way, that’s kinda the way all of us introduce ourselves here. I’m part of the foreign exchange program, I’m my year’s exchange student from the Red Wastes. Oh, and I’m starting the GSA Club this year, if everything works out! What’s your name?”

As Mazey blabbered on, she performed what might have been the least subtle sleight of hand Kipperlilly had ever seen, very awkwardly trying to slip a piece of paper into one of Kipperlilly’s binders. That was…perfect! A plot hook for an adventure right off the bat! She’d have to see what it was when Mazey walked away.

“Hi! I’m Kipperlilly Copperkettle! She/they, freshman Rogue! Foreign exchange, that’s so exciting!” They said as they took back their stuff.

“Oh, yeah! Aguefort is kind of a big deal, so they get an exchange student every year from every country, your year’s from the Red Wastes is actually an old friend of mine,” and Kipperlilly was already tuning Mazey out, hands itching to look at whatever that paper was. After Mazey said something Kipperlilly didn’t catch and left, the halfling girl ran to the bathroom. Seeing it was empty, she opened the notebook.

The page was covered in runes, Draconic ones at that. That was perfect, her soon-to-be Wizard was a dragonborn! Even with how little they knew of Draconic, they couldn’t make out most of the words. The writing looked…shaky, at best. They could make out the word “heart” and what was either “steal” or “hermit crab”. Strange. They grabbed the page itself to look closer, but they felt suddenly sick. A few of the word’s ink spilled off the pages onto her hands. The lights flickered and the world spun. And then…

Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened. Fucking useless…

At least that’s what Kipperlilly thought. But of course, she didn’t see the ink slither up their arm and settle on her chest, drawing a target right over her heart.

————————————

Professor Badgood had told them all to finish the lecture by attempting to have a conversation with their gods. Problem was, there were only so many prayer rooms, and Cleric was kind of the mot populated class after Fighter and Wizard, so Lucy had been waiting her turn for…awhile now. It was ok though, other people needed it more. Lucy had been toying with the wool of her dress for awhile, waiting, when she noticed someone approach her. A decadently dressed high elf with long blonde hair walked up and gave a deep curtsy, before introducing herself.

“Hello! My name is Princess Naradriel of the House Orion, and over there is my buddy, Buddy! Haha! We are both clerics and part of the foreign exchange program, you see, and we wanted to make some friends, and I had seen you were sitting over here, so I introduced myself as Nara, you can call me Nara by the way, and now we’re here. Buddy and I have been friends for a long time, you see he’s from Sunpeak and he knows the high prince of Highcourt and I also know the high prince, and he introduced us, and now we’re friends! He would come introduce himself but he’s talking to the Chosen One of Helio! Once in a lifetime opportunity for a Helioan. Oh, yes, I forgot, he’s a Helioan Cleric. And I’m Galicaien! Who are you a Cleric of, new friend? Wait, did I ask for your name?”

Wow, that was a lot of words. But it’s cool someone’s trying so hard to be Lucy’s friend, she guesses. Especially a princess! After a moment to fiddle with her clothing again, she answers. “Oh, I’m Lucy Frostblade. She/her, Cleric of Ruvina…it’s nice to meet you, Nara. Um, your highness,” and she bows slightly.

“Oh, no! You don’t have to do that, Lucy! I am one of the common folk while I am here in Solace,” Nara said, with a pout. Before Lucy could apologize, they were joined by a a blonde human boy with a Helioic staff.

“Hey, y’all! What’re y’all talkin’ about?” He says, in a thick Highcourtisan accent.

“Hi, I’m Lucy…you must be Buddy? Nara was just mentioning you. It’s nice to meet you,” she awkwardly introduced herself.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Lucy! You wouldn’t happen to go to church would you? Because we’d be…” and Lucy didn’t really hear the rest over the bell. Oh…she didn’t get the chance to pray. That’s ok! She can just try to find a quiet place to quickly pray before her next class! She waves a shy goodbye and quietly mumbled out a goodbye to the two blondes, quickly making her way out and feeling a bit bad for not staying to listen.

As she walks to her next class, she comes across the library and quickly slips in. With a small wave to the librarian, an elderly, dark-skinned human woman, she makes her way to the back of the library and finds a small, silent corner. She whispers a soft spoken prayer to winter winds and warm embraces. As she loses herself in the whispers, she hears a smell “ehem” behind her. She turns to see the librarian.

“Oh! I’m sorry ma’am, was I being loud? I didn’t mean to,” apologizes Lucy. “My name is Lucy. What’s yours, ma’am?”

The librarian gives her a kind smile in return. “Oh, don’t worry, Lucy. You weren’t disruptive. My name is Mrs. Dimweather. I used to be a cleric when I went to this very school, so I understand the need to pray in the library. You were talking about Ruvina, were you not?”

Lucy perks up at that. At her look, Mrs Dimweather holds her hand up, making a dismissing gesture.

“No, I wasn’t a worshiper of her myself, but I was in a party with one of her paladins, and I always thought her philosophy was beautiful. However, I personally worshiped the goddess of knowledge, Cadavra. I just wanted to come over and show my appreciation for Her message.”

“Oh. Well, thank you ma’am! She’s really…it’s just nice to see someone show interest like that. Cadavra seems nice too!” Lucy responds, a small smile growing on her face.

“Well, if you ever wish to talk to someone about Ruvina or hear about other gods, feel free to come here during lunch or free period. You seem like a very nice young lady,” says Mrs. Dimweather, with a kind smile. “Now, you should run along to class now, because I believe you are soon-to-be late.”

“Oh! Thank you ma’am, I didn’t realize how long I was here,” she says, panickedly picking up her backpack and mace. As she runs to the door, she turns back to the librarian and smiles. “And I’d love to! Thank you, ma’am!” And Lucy leaves the library, happily thinking of returning during lunch with her friends.

————————————

“...and so, you and your partner shall perform this incredibly simple abjuration spell successful, or there is simply no hope for you in this track and you ought to speak Mr Gibbons,” finished Professor Runestaff. Despite the differences in the social structure, it seemed at least that the teachers here at Aguefort were no different than at Hudol Middle. Or at least the Wizardry teacher, he wasn’t sure about the others. Especially the Sorcery teacher. Why did they even need one of those?

“To avoid flagrant cheating, I will be assigning you randomly by way of the Extradimensional Icosagon!” Proclaimed the aging teacher. After a moment of strange silence (which Oisin presumes is her peering beyond the Veil), she started announcing partners. After a few names, she finally announces, “Oisin Hakinvar and Adaine Abernant!”

Oisin, having got up at the sound of his own name, looks around for whoever responds to the latter. A waved hand calls him over to one of the front seats. Adaine is a high elf girl in a Hudol uniform, and less (more) importantly, is very very pretty. Blonde hair that shines in the dancing lights, a nervous-yet-bright grin, and two silver moonlit eyes. All of which, Oisin was very normal about. He sat down beside her.

“Hi, I’m Oisin Hakinvar, conjuration specialist. What’s your name?” Oisin asked. Ok, pretty smooth, no fuckups yet…

“Adaine Abernant. Um…divination,” responded Adaine with a nervous chuckle. She had a lovely Fallinel accent.

“Oh. So neither of us is an abjuration specialist? That’ll make this interesting,” he laughed, hoping to alleviate the anxiety with a joke. Adaine’s faced soured a bit at the mention of abjuration.

“My older sister is an abjurationist. I think I’ve picked up a thing or two from her, but don’t let her find out I said that,” said Adaine with a roll of her eyes.

Oisin grinned. “Annoying older sibling? I know the pain. My brother is a necromancer at Hudol and he’s so frustrating about everything. I’d do anything to make sure he doesn’t find out I actually learned one or two things from his never ending monologues.”

Adaine laughed a bit and went to respond, but Professor Runestaff cut them off. Everyone quickly went to work on their arcane seals, including Adaine and Oisin. The smell of ink filled the room as ancient tombs (or rather, composition notebooks) were combed through and scrap paper was scribbled on with quills Professor Runestaff instead they use instead of pencils. Adaine seemed to scan through pages effortlessly, like she could see through them and absorb the information on the other side at the same time. Oisin, meanwhile, worked on weaving magic to form the base of the spell. Some weak abjuration/necromancy spell meant to keep rot out of wood for a bit longer.

By the time the two were done, the runes buzzed in air. Looking around, theirs looked…different from the rest of the class. Maybe they’d overcomplicated it? No! No, it was fine. Theirs was just…more impressive! Surely the teacher would think so!

The teacher clearly did not think so. Fuck. She gave their spell a judging and disappointed side eye. Eventually, after most of the class had successfully performed their spells, it was their turn. Having built most of the spell himself, Oisin allowed Adaine the moment in the spotlight to cast it. She reached and cast the runes forward…missing the block of wood and hitting Oisin’s right hand instead. His arm itched with a searing, burning pain, as it was shedding it’s skin six months earlier than it should have. Runes spiraled up his arms and embedded themselves in his scales with a searing enthusiasm. They looked like…tattoos?

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Mother was going to be so pissed that he had gotten tattoos without permission. He looked up from his arm at Adaine, who looked terrified at her mistake. He looked at Professor Runestaff for help, who just quirked an eyebrow with a stony frown in response. After a beat of silence (other than the whispering of the other students), Oisin spoke up.

“...can I go to the nurse?”

“No,” was the teacher’s monotone response. “In fact, students, does anyone know why the spell targetted Mr. Hakinvar and not the block?

A confused-looking elven kid raised their hand. “Because the girl has bad aim?”

“No! It was because these two made an incredibly obvious mistake in their spellcraft. They marked the spell of LIVING matter, instead of merely ORGANIC matter. Additionally, they overcomplicated this very simple spell, meaning it is likely much more intense than it need be,” she turned back from the class to address the two directly. “Perhaps you two should consider a future in Sorcery instead.”

Oisin went to retort, but was quickly distracted by Adaine. She looked red and puffy, like she might cry at any moment, and she was shaking like a leaf. He reached out to her, but she flinched back. He retracted his hand and sat down in silence for the rest of class, unable to comfort to Adaine before she ran off.

As Oisin was leaving the classroom, as halfling girl stepped out in front of him in some approximation of blocking his path (even though he could probably step over her if he tried). She reached into her vest pocket and pulled out…were those fucking notecards? As if he needed something else to give him a headache today.

“Hi, I’m Kipperlilly Copperkettle, she/they, freshman, and a Rogue! I am forming an adventuring party and I believe you would be the best choice for our party Wizard. That was a very impressive bit of spellcraft back there! Now, I do-”

“What’s the real reason?” Oisin interrupted.

“...you and I are going to work well together, I think,” responded Whatsherface with a sly grin. “The real reason is resources. You’ve got a lot of them, I need a lot of them. We can work together like that. But I do genuinely think you’re an impressive caster.”

“That’s what I thought,” said Oisin. He was disinterested to say the least, but at least there was no beating around the bush. “Who else is in it?”

“Well, there’s our Cleric, Lucy. And our, ugh, bard Ruben. I intended to have Gorgug Thistlespring as our Barbarian but he’s preoccupied, so I’ll be going to Bloodrush tryouts to see if there are any good choices. And finally, hopefully, you and our Fighter, Ivy Embra.”

“Ivy’s here?” Oisin questioned. It had been awhile since they’d…maybe he’d hear her out.

Kipperlilly smirked like a cat with the mouse finally in it’s jaws. “Oh yes! Ivy is bound to say yes, so if you’re curious about that, feel free to visit us at after school in the library, alright? When everyone’s picking their parties in the field? Hope to see you there!” They said as she turned at skipped away. They were frustrating, but maybe worth it to see Ivy again.

He looked at his reflection in the window. The tattoos covering his right arm didn’t look half bad. Sure, the sickly, necrotic green energy didn’t compliment him much, but if he could transmute them….maybe he’d keep them. For academic purposes of course, have to see how long the spell would last and what it would do.

Mother probably wouldn’t mind that much.

————————————

Mary Ann was trying out for Bloodrush in third period. Coach Kleaver was loud. The other kids were mean. Kid named Dayne was mean when she knocked him on his ass. Kid named Ragh was nice and said hi to her. Kid named Corey was loud for no reason. She did good. Will probably be on the team. Kid named Max was trying to talk to her. It was annoying but he was nice to her so she let him stay.

“You were insane out there, dude! Like…wow. I don’t really watch a lot of Bloodrush even though my brother plays, but from what I’ve seen, you could go pro!” Max said. Why was he talking to her? Why was he so loud? She was about to say something but he noticed.

“Oh, shit dude. Am I making you uncomfortable? So sorry dude, I’ll back off,” Max said and walked away. Huh. People didn’t tend to notice her wants until she freaked out. That felt…nice. Weird.

She pulled out her Quokki. Then she got interrupted by another loud person. Halfling girl from the shadows.

“Hi, my name is Kipperlilly Copperkettle, she/they, freshman Rogue! I am forming a party and your performance out on the field was amazing. You’re a Barbarian, right? My party and I are meeting in the library if you’d like to join us,” said the weird perky girl. Mary Ann didn’t like how annoying they were, but it might be nice to have a party. Dad would be happy. Granma would be proud.

“Hi. ‘m Mary Ann. She. Barbarian. I’ll come,” and she walked away from the girl to play Quokki Pet in peace.

————————————

Why the fuck was there an angry Scottish middle schooler?

Ivy had been checking out Ranger class during her free period, and noticed some jock boys in the forest. Deciding to investigate she saw them just being…weird and homoerotic. The orc kid clearly had a crush on the blond human weirdo, and had it bad . Blondie,  meanwhile was fully flirting with Closet Case, which was very weird because Ivy’s gaydar was not going off and she never got it wrong. So couldn’t help but keep watching whatever-this-was. What, she was curious and it was good gossip! Plus, the Ranger teacher had encouraged investigation! What the hell was her name again? Sandy Lin Faith? Whatever, not important.

Anyways, Blondie ended up asking Closet Case out on a date to the abandoned skate park, which a totally non-suspicious place to have a date, and Closet Case tried to stutter out an agreement through his flustering which Ivy is not going to recount because it was gross and sappy, and then the two parted ways. Ivy decided to follow Blondie out of the forest, because clearly something was up, especially with how disgusted he looked.

He ended up sneaking off the campus of school, weird for what seemed to be the school’s golden boy, and into…an alleyway? Ok, what the fuck was up with Blondie? Ivy followed him, stealthing fairly successfully. And there she saw him…talking to a middle schooler? What the fuck?! Ok, that was. Weird. Ivy leaned in closer to hear their conversation.

The girl was wearing ragged clothes and seemed to be a wannabe skater, and more importantly, her thick Dwarven accent was making it very hard to follow their whispered conversation. Something about the skate park, “palim zest” and something called raug. Rahg? Whatever, spelling isn’t important.

After a while more of unintelligible talking, the girl skated away and the boy begin to leave for the school. Huh…he mentioned the skate park…oh shit, was he planning to prank Closet Case? That was fucked up…a little embarrassing for him that he has to get middle schoolers to help with that, though.

“That was super suspicious, right?” Ivy heard from behind her. Whirling around and drawing an arrow she saw…some stuck up halfling prep? Oh gods, Ivy could already feel the headache coming on.

““Hi, my name is Kipperlilly Copperkettle, she/they, freshman Rogue! I am forming a party and I would like to invite you onto it! We’re meeting in the librar-”

“Not interested,” Ivy interrupted, and immediately began to walk away. She could hear the prep sputtering with shock behind her and grinned.

“Oisin Hakinvar will be there!” Kettlechip Krispykreme shouted. Now that got Ivy’s attention. Oisin? Huh…

“...the library, you said?”

“Yep! Right after classes end! See you there!” Copperkiller Caterpillar said with a smirk, skipping away. Gods, what did Ivy just get into?

————————————

Ok. This was it. This was the moment the High Five Heroes was born. Gods, Kipperlilly picked such a good name for them. She sat at an empty table in the corner of the library, homework in front of them while they waited for everyone to arrive. After, like, an hour of waiting for the others (forty-two seconds, but who’s counting?), Kipperlilly heard something. She looked up, expecting to see Mary Ann, or Ivy, or better yet, Lucy, but instead she saw…a weird goth kid. A ghost, too, by the looks of it. She cleared their throat.

“Ehem? This table is taken, sorry. For my party?”

“Didn’t see their names on it,” they said. Kipperlilly’s eye twitched. Before she could respond, he pulled her binder over with a telekinetic flick of his transparent finger. He picked it up and floated away, holding it out of her reach. “Wow, this is…really pink! And all these little cat stickers.! What, did you decorate this in third grade or something?”

Kipperlilly’s face grew red, both with anger and embarrassment. That was her binder with the plot hook paper! “Fifth, actually. Now give it back, it has, um, important things!”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, have it back,” he said with false cheer, and threw it. The binder sailed through the air, right over her and into the book return. Kipperlilly scrambled after it, but couldn’t reach it as the conveyor belt took it away. Gods fucking damn it, now she’d have to ask the librarian to get it for them after the party meeting!

The ghost goth just laughed, leaning back in the air and giving a mocking wave goodbye as he phased through the floor, escaping Kipperlilly’s lunge. Kipperlilly raged in silence. Can’t one fucking thing go right today?!

So of course, because the gods hated her, Lucy and Ruben walked in to see Kipperlily clawing at the floor.

Ruben, that asshole started snickering immediately. Lucy tutted, chastising him silently and making towards Kipperlilly, holding out a hand to help them up.

“Are you ok, Lily?” Lucy asked in a voice as soft as freshly fallen snow. Kipperlilly was silent for a moment, then tore her gaze away from the face of the frost giant.

“Yeah, I’m fine. That asshole ghost just threw my binder in the book return and I…got overly dramatic about it. Like usual. It’s fine,” she responded.

Lucy gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I can ask Mrs. Dimweather to get it for you when she’s done with whatever she’s doing?”

“Thanks, Lucy. You always know just what to say,” Kipperlilly said. Out of the corner of her eye, they could see Ruben making gagging motions. Lucy nodded at Kipperlilly and walked away to do exactly what she had said.

She turned back to snap at Ruben for whatever he was doing, only to see Oisin standing beside the gnomish boy. They quickly brushed out any wrinkles in their skirt, composing themself for their meeting.

“Hello! Welcome, come sit down, I got us a table!” Kipperlilly ushered Oisin (and Ruben, sadly) to the table to sit down. “Welcome to the party, as I’ve said before, my name is Kipperlilly and I’m the party’s Rogue.”

Kipperlilly looked at Ruben expectantly who looked up from the ukulele strings he was plucking with a confused expression. “Huh? Oh! Sorry, I’m Ruben and I bet you can’t guess what my class is!”

Oisin huffed with mild annoyance. Good, she wouldn’t be alone in her frustration at Ruben’s…everything. “Oisin Hakinvar. Wizard, and according to Kipperlilly’s invite, the party wallet too.”

“Mary Ann,” said a voice from seemingly nowhere. All of them jumped at the sudden appearance of Mary Ann, who apparently had walked in and sat down without notice and started playing with some handheld game. 

“She’s our Barbarian!” Now Kipperlilly…wasn’t too happy about their choice in Barbarian, but by that point she had already asked like three others and they all said no and…it looks like they were stuck with this. At least she didn’t seem to talk much.

A tall elven girl walked in, scanning the library until she saw their small table to the side. She marched over, moving as if she owned the room, and sat down. She glanced towards Oisin, but neither said a word to each other.

“Alright,” she said, in a slight Fallinel accent despite not having any ancestry from there. She sneered slightly at the group. “This is it?”

Kipperlilly went to retort and was interrupted as she felt an ice cold hand on their shoulder. “Hey Lily! Mrs. Dimweather is getting your binder right now. Oh! Hi, everyone! Guess you all got here while I was gone…um, I’m Lucy. I’m a Cleric.”

“Ivy, Fighter,” the wood elf said, looking Lucy up and down with a small smile. Oh, hell no. She was looking at Lucy like she was piece of meat . How dare she?! No, they had to get a different fighter, maybe she could deal with Fabian after all, or maybe-

“Nice to meet you Ivy! And everyone else! I think…I think this is gonna be a good year. I like this party,” Lucy said, with an optimism not all too common for her. And Kipperlilly melted. She couldn’t ruin this for Lucy! Kipperlilly would just need to run interference for the rest of the year. Or just until Lucy realized they needed a new Fighter. And hopefully a new bard while they’re at it…

Everyone went around, reintroducing themselves, and Kipperlilly knew it was time. She reached a hand up and high fived all five of her party mates. “Hey, that can be our thing! High fives! The High Five Heroes!”

Lucy smiled at the name, but the others…Ruben started giggling , Oisin just looked confused, and Ivy, that asshole, looked like Kipperlilly had just insulted her entire lineage. Why were they reacting like that? It was a good name! It was the perfect name! Minmaxed for optimal enjoyment of the party! They had to like it, it was objectively wrong not to like it!

“That’s stupid. What are you, ten?” Ivy asked with a sneer. Kipperlilly huffed in anger standing up on their chair to get eye level with the sitting elf.

“It’s a perfectly good name! It’s cute and it’s a reference to our thing!”

“High fives can’t be our thing, everyone high fives,” Oisin butted in.

“That’s stupid! And no one asked you anyways!”

“I think we should put it to a vote. Isn’t democracy your thing, Kippy? Unless you’re afraid you’ll lose…” Ruben said, clearly finding devious joy in her suffering . Realizing it was three against one, Kipperlilly looked around for support, but Mary Ann wasn’t paying attention and Lucy was freezing up at the fighting. Fine, on her own. That was fine! It was fine! Everything going off the plan today was fine and they weren’t upset and it was fine. And because things were so fine, Kipperlilly was going to respond in a calm and normal manner.

But then they were cut off by a scream.

The building anger and tension in the group suddenly disappeared as they all turned. Mrs. Dimweather stumbled out of the book return room, screeching in agony, bones crackling and dislocating, inky lines carving through her skin. The lines looked familiar, and suddenly Kipperlily remembered. It was the handwriting from Mazey’s paper.

The book return itself begin the shudder and shake, and suddenly a dozen books flew out, taking to air, papers flapping like wings. Papers began to spill out of the open door, others joining them from around the library by snapping themselves out of book covers and flying out of drawers in the librarian’s desk. They began to layer over themselves, folding and piling until Kipperlilly recognized what they were forming. It was a car-sized dragon made of paper, like an origami creature enlarged and awakened. Ink blot pupils formed over it’s parchment eyes and they zeroed in on Kipperlilly. Or rather, unbeknownst to her, on the marking on their chest. Mrs. Dimweather neck snapped towards the group of horrified and confused teenagers with a sickening crack . She lifted a single knobby finger to her mouth

“Shhhhhhhhhh. Quiet in the library.”