forum 0x0 @emilyevewrites

Started January 17, 2023 by @IcarusFightsTheSun book

tune

"oh, um well. I'm from around." she says evasively, then when they walk through the barrier, and erie looked around in awe "what fancy ass person lives here? and do they need a roommate?"

Emaria frowned. "Around where? Vague shit isn't not going to cut it with me." But she cracked a small smile at the lizard's reaction to Alfea. "It's not a house," she explained as she kept walking, approaching the barrier. "It's a school. My mom's the headmistress. My dad's the headmaster."

She took a step through the barrier, and the blue shield accepted her back into the safety she despised. Emaria huffed a sigh and kept walking. "Come on."

"Well I'm from Rinco, you probably haven't heard of it. and what's it take to get into this school?" she says still eyeing the place "what, don't like your fancy school? try being raised in a war zone." she says feeling her discomfort.

Emaria eyed the lizard warily. "Yeah, no. Haven't heard of it." She looked amused at the question. "You have to be a fairy or a Specialist," she answered. Though she noted the discomfort – and felt it too. "It wouldn't be so bad if my parents weren't breathing down my neck and watching every decision I make. By the way, what did you say your name was?"

"well, my friends call me Eire, strangers call me Vox, my enemies and wanted posters call me caimen. so you get to choose how i see you." she says faintly amused "and do you mean Specialist?"

The fairy arched an eyebrow at the lizard's different aliases and was about to respond before a voice carried over the school's grounds and reached her ears.

"Emaria Dowling!"

She immediately winced and cursed in the same motion. "Shit…"

A middle-aged woman was storming across the grass. She had hair that was intricately styled into an elegant updo, and she wore a black dress with a long tan coat over it. Her naturally calm expression was narrowed into a glare. "Ben told me you skipped his class. I went to your suite, and your suitemates say you aren't there. I searched the whole building for you, and little do I find out you're off romping in the woods again! Outside the barrier, might I add. How many times must I tell you it's dangerous out there before you listen?! I-" The woman stopped speaking abruptly as she noted the figure beside her daughter. "Who is this?" she demanded sharply.

Emaria gave a labored sigh. "This is Erie," she introduced, shooting the lizard a brief smirk. "Uh… Erie, this is my mom. Farah Dowling… Alfea's headmistress."

Farah pressed her lips together and offered a polite smile. "Hello, Erie."

she raises an eyebrow at the use of her name 'eire'. but when she turns to the shouting women, she bows deeply with her crest half raised in respect "my name is general Carden, of the vleiken clan. your daughter saw and took pity on me. m'lady please do not punish her for my actions." she said in the fanciest ass voice possible without sound being rude.

she rises half way out of the bow and looks up at Farah, subconsciously waiting for the signal a higher up would use to release formality.

Farah's eyes tracked the lizard's bow with a confused and skeptical expression. Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. "Um… you don't have to bow," she remarked, glancing at Emaria who was covering her mouth to unconvincingly hide her laughter. "I'm not the queen."

Emaria bit her lip behind her hand and snickered. "Luna Dowling."

Farah cut her a brief smirk before fixing her glare again. "Ignore that. I'm still cross with you," she quipped.

she righted herself. lowering her frills and staring farah in the eyes taking that as her invitation "alright well i need someone to point in Alenroi's direction. then i can find my way from there. unless you guess you guys need a new student?" she says soundind a bit hopeful and dropping all formality. "and as long as answering questions, what the styx is a 'headmistress'."

(Okay, coolio)

Farah only frowned with confusion. "I beg your pardon?" she replied. "You need someone to point you in which direction? And I'm sorry, but from what I can tell, you're not a fairy. Do you possess any magical qualities?"

Emaria's eyes widened, and she took a step toward her mom. "Erie could be a Specialist," she suggested quickly. "Specialists don't necessarily have to be humans." She turned to look at the lizard-girl. "The headmistress is basically the one in charge of everything at a school. In my mom's case, Alfea."

Farah blinked, caught completely off-guard by the rapidly changing conversation. "Well… I suppose I could speak with Saul," she admitted, noting the rapier at Erie's side. "Are you trained with a blade?"

"umm well Alenroi? i just came from there not three days ago. can you at least tell me where chalka vrieton is, you know the next big city? im a-, yeah i was 2nd general, two ranks above my parents." she said the last part proudly, indicating her badge, 'i bet she's impressed now. everyone knows a rising general the best of the best' she thinks smugly, with a self important look on her face.

The fairies, both empaths and telepaths, picked up on Erie's general thought process. Emaria smirked and arched an eyebrow. "Wouldn't I love to be two ranks above my parents…"

Farah shot her daughter a brief look before turning her full attention to Erie. "That may be impressive where you come from, but I'm not so sure it means as much here. You are not in your world anymore. I don't know where you are from or how you got here, but you are in the Otherworld now. I'll only ask you once more. Are you trained with a blade?"

"of course it's impressive, and yeah me and my rapier have probably won more fights than you can count! and I'm only 17!" she says, deeply offended they didn't know this, 'have they been living under a rock, everyone knows how great that is! even the gnomes!' then she heard what she said, "w-wait! what do you mean 'other, world'?!"

Farah's eyes narrowed, and Emaria recognized the look as one that had been directed her way many times before. "Mom," she muttered. "Relax. She's new here."

A deep sigh escaped Farah, and she shook her head. "It will do you good to respect those who are your senior," the older mind fairy shot back. "I don't care how many fights you and your rapier have won. That is of very little value to me." With that, Farah turned to Emaria, still frowning slightly. "I need to go speak with your father now. Please just figure out how she got here and explain to her where she is," Farah said shortly. "And don't say 'hell,'" she added right as Emaria opened her lips.

Once Farah was off and heading for the school again, Emaria began to follow at a slower pace. "So… this is the Otherworld," she said, gesturing around. "Or as I like to call it… hell."

'that wasn't even my fault, i was raised that way. i shouldn't have to be the one who has rewrite their entire culture. i bet the bird did it' she thinks angrly to her self "isn't hell what the humans call styx? because if so then i would have to agree. but a fancy 'hell' is sometimes better then one on the streets." she says following right behind her "and at least i get food. and by the way whats it like to go to school?"

Emaria felt Erie's anger and her general thought process. She reached a hand out and placed it on the lizardfolk's arm. "Um… I'm an empath, and my mom is too. So there's a pretty good chance that she can still feel your emotions even as she's walking away. Just a warning I learned the hard way.

"But I've never heard of the term 'styx' before," she continued. "I'd assume you're right though. I wouldn't know."

An odd look passed through Emaria's expression. It was a mixture of wistfulness, frustration, and fortitude. "I'm not so sure. Sometimes a fancy hell can be worse," she replied vaguely. "But yeah, the food's pretty good. Dinner Lady Doris makes some great mashed potatoes." She dodged the other question and walked a bit faster.

Erie raised an eyebrow at the first part "an… empath?" she says cautiously 'well then, guess i'll have to be careful'.
her expression and mood then quickly started spiraling like a tornado of emotions, "well the food sounds good. It's free right?" she said excitedly "but i might not get in though." she says a bit annoyed at the uncertainty "hey wait you avoided my question?" now suspicious, "also did you say im in another world now?" Erie said the last part quietly hoping Emaria would say no.

Emaria frowned at Erie's tone and general thoughts. "Yes," she murmured. "We're both empathetic, among other mental abilities. My mother can essentially control every other magic type to some degree, which is why she's the headmistress of Alfea and one of the most powerful fairies currently in the Otherworld.

"And the food is free," she confirmed with a small smile. "Um… you may be able to run through some Specialist exercises. My father might be more willing to admit you than my mother, mainly because he's the Specialist headmaster."

She hesitated another moment before continuing. "Uh, yes. You're in the Otherworld. The realm of Solaria, specifically. And going to school here is… prestigious. Among other things. Alfea's the best school in the Otherworld."

"best? best at teaching, or is it that thing where schools want super talented kids so they don't have to do any work?" she says, tearing up a little, "but if i just have to do some random 'Specialist' exercises, then i'll get in no problem." her voice started wavering a bit so she stopped talking, 'i'm not supposed to be crying right now, i can't make my emotions obvious. wait she's an empath, well that embarrassing' she thinks awkwardly, "sorry it's just kind of a lot." she says after a bit.

Emaria pursed her lips slightly in thought. "Both. It's for very talented fairies and Specialists, but my parents are also very talented teachers. So's Ben. He's the botany professor. Alchemy, chemistry, potion crafting… shit like that. That's all Ben. He practically lives in the greenhouse. And yeah, I guess. My dad trained me for Specialist stuff, so we could spar if you want to, but I was admitted as a fairy because… duh. My mom. Anyway, it's mostly swordplay and dummy spars. I think my dad's adding some kind of running or fitness test soon… but yeah. Other than that, no problem."

She looked over at Erie and winked, but just then she noted the lizard's tears. "Hey, it's okay. I mean, I'm sure I'd be way out of my element if I just suddenly world-hopped without knowing it. Though that would be kind of difficult. To change between worlds from here, you need to use a gateway ring. My mom has one. So does Queen Luna." Emaria couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "She's kind of a bitch though, so I wouldn't count on her help."

"i guess. but there's no point in being sad right now, because being sad over something so trivial is just dumb." erie says defiantly. wiping the tears from her eyes "i can literally do anything, it's technically a blank slate. I'm not even a criminal anymore." she said, at first getting a bit excited at the idea, but then her mood started to shift,

"actually, no. i'm not even sad, i'm just really pissed that i worked my ass off for twelve years to rise through the ranks. to become the perfect warrior, and i lost it all because of a drinking contest and bird!" at that moment she very much felt like punching something, especially if that something had feathers and a beak.

Emaria frowned. "Finding yourself in a completely new world isn't trivial. It's damn confusing and fucks with your head. It's not dumb to let yourself be confused and sad and just plain disoriented for a bit. And if it's any consolation, I've kind of been there."

She listened to the lizard's words, thinking them over. "Well, I guess that's all right. But I'm sure Mom will find away to send you home if that's what you want. And being the 'perfect warrior' is kind of subjective, isn't it? You can still try out to be a Specialist here. You didn't really lose that."

(hey so sry for disappearing, are u still interested?)
she chuckles, any sadness was completely forgotten "heh, i might actually be better off here. even if i don't understand your odd customs, at least my cousins aren't trying to arrest me." said erie with an amused smile. "so, is there maybe a place i could stay in the meantime. and what exactly does a 'Specialist' do anyhow?"