[Episode 4] The Worth of a Soul

[Straken]

“Ma apologies, sir, but Laoise been hecklin’ me all day ta let her in,” Ruarc said as tried to settle the issue. “Gettin’ cold out after all, and she hasn’t wanted ta stay home after the whole ‘gettin abducted situation.”

That said, Ruarc reclined back in his seat and put his legs up on the chair of the desk in front of him. He was still very much in a good mood and settled in as he took comfort in feeling Laoise sitting on his shoulder again.

[Gwathdraug]

Riley gave the new girl – Venezia? – a friendly grin as she walked by nervously to her desk. Then with speed that made her juggling seem like a side trick every single school supply that had been absconded from Miller's desk leapt out of the air and onto the top of now unoccupied desk top – at some point Riley had stood up and turned around so her back was to Miller and she could watch Emilia.

The stage magician looked down at the pile of – then Miller started counting or, maybe he had been counting for a while already? Riley simply craned her head over her shoulder and frowned at the teacher for breaking her concentration.

“Huh? Oh, ah, just shhh for a bit while I fix this?” Was all the explanation the younger girl gave Miller before turning back to the desktop.

Miller couldn't see much around the girl's back but Riley was clearly moving her hands around at a quick pace as things moved around the table and clicked against its surface with a rich, clear and all together satisfying sound.

“Aha!” Riley shouted as for the pièce de résistance the stage magician pulled Miller's stapler from somewhere amidst her cloak and placed it carefully at an angle.

Swiveling around the desk Riley smiled like an imp at Miller and gave him a cheery thumbs-up. The desk she had just been sitting on was now filled with all the supplies from his desk arranged in their original position and even marked – written on the desk itself with a marker that wasn't permanent, probably – for which drawer they needed to be placed back in.

“There we go!” Riley said in a voice filled with confidence as she nodded decisively at the teacher. “Oh, but, weell. You're probably going to need to eat all the muffins first. So, good luck?”

Then seemingly without out another thought Riley was pouncing in front of Emilia's desk one hand extended in greeting and the other working below it placing things on the desk – first a small pile of Breakfast Bear Breakfast Bars, then a large and old book that seemed to have seen better days well over a century ago, and finally a deck of worn but cared for cards.

“Righty, righty. What's got your attention here? Food, that's all assorted flavours I got there so I'm sure there is something you'd like. Or-” Riley motioned towards the aging book that had been pulled from about her person. “You got an interest in biology? Always fun to talk about that when things get dull!” With a shrug Riley moved as quickly on to the next object just as fast as she had presented the rest. “Maybe you'd like to have fun with a little bit of magic? I know some people love that stuff.”

If that was enough to overwhelm the other girl not once during the whole spiel had Riley looked away from Emilia's eyes and nor had there been a single twitch in the stage magician's smile.

[Luca]

"Fair enough fair enough, and before I forget," He said, looking at everyone assembled in general, "Detention is not a class. You are not supposed to attend detention regularly, because it's supposed to be a punishment. During which, you can work on assignments, but no juggl-uh?" In the moment that he'd turned his attention from Ruarc to Venezia then back to Riley, she'd disappeared.

He turned back around to find that she'd put on a magic show just for him. The teacher buried his face in his palm and mumbled before replying, "Please, no magic tricks. Riley, I am warning you to treat me with a little more respect, as I'll have none of that during detention." He was aware that mages were homeschooled, and tended to have a more holistic view of things, treating teachers as equals rather than authority figures. He strode over to where Riley was standing and grabbed her, then moved her back to her desk, and sat her down. "Now, sit down and stay still, no magic tricks, breakfast bars, playing cards or eldritch manuscripts."

From the other's point of view, Mr. Miller's strength was very obvious, as he'd only grabbed Riley by the cloak and sat her down with one arm as though she was weightless. Clearly there was something unnaturally strong about the teacher.

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Emilia had been staring inquisitively at Ruarc and... Leasha? She cocked her head and her gazed seemed to drift through the Druid, as if parsing some distant script through fog. What she saw was his name, first in his native scripture and later in English characters. She did the same for Laoise, now content with comprehending on an instinctual level their names. That was when Riley flung herself across the room to Emilia's desk! Death's daughter was about to respond- and dare she say, it was a witty repartee!- but Miller was quick to scold the young magician and seat her far from fellow scholastic inmates. His display of strength went unnoticed, her powers of observation overwhelmed by everything else, and a million other distracting thoughts.

So many, many questions. She raised her hand again. "Sir, so... What exactly do I do in detention?" As she brought her hand back down, it settled on a Frooty Nut Breakfast Bear Breakfast Bar. She studied the imprinted images and characters like an anthropologist studies the designs of a vase from Pompeii. "And... Can I eat in detention class?" She'd already forgotten Mr. Miller's corrective statements, still viewing this as an additional punitive class.

[Luca]

"Emilia, detention is not a class, but yes, you can eat during detention." Mr. Miller moved back behind his desk and sat down, "If you have any homework or study, you can do that as well. Take the time to get things done. You cannot, however, juggle."

[Kai]

The door swung open forcefully at this point, announcing the arrival of one Kagami Miyuki. She did not seem to be amused, and was panting as if she had been running. Just loud enough to hear, she mumbled "So much for being the Headmaster's little sister, can't even get out of detention..." She paused and looked at who was Present. "Why am I even in detention anyway!" She asked, rather angrily. It looked almost as if she were about to burst, as if she were steaming from the collar, ready to explode in some sort of fit of rage. Somehow, however, she kept herself from doing so. Her school bag thudded down on one of the desks- The force appeared to be enough to smash the piece of furniture, but as school desks were made to take abuse, it simply bounced a few inches off the floor before settling back down, a bit of dust seeming to be the only result of her fury. The Japanese girl huffed and sat down in her chair, sulking after this.

********************************

Through the door left open by the fury of the former entrant to the detention classroom, a second girl with long raven hair entered, much more amicably. This one, holding herself regally, and sporting an unopened parasol over her shoulder, nearly glided into the room, her feet making no noise and poise and posture remained unbroken by her stride. "Now, now, we can't have you going off like this, Miss Kagami" Kokoro Raiko chided, soothingly, illiciting a glare from the other girl. Raiko merely chuckled softly, swooping over to a seat nearer Ruarc. She set her bag down gently, and gracefully sat down at her own chosen desk, giving Ruarc and Laiose a wave and a smile.

[Straken]

Ruarc looked over to the door as Miyuki thundered inside. The young Japanese girl obviously had more negative opinions about detention than Ruarc had. To the Irish lad who had grown up with home school lessons from his parents, being sent to sit down for an hour was a vacation; his usual punishment was being sent to do some form of manual labor. Even now, the only thing being stuck in school kept him from doing was either yard work which he was caught up on already, or reading in his cottage. So doing said reading in a classroom was not much a setback.

What disappointment he did feel was dispelled once Raiko entered the room after Miyuki. After returning her smile and wave, the Irishman blushed slightly before saying, “Evenin’, Raiko.”
Laoise on the other hand turned her head in the opposite direction in a bird’s version of giving the cold shoulder. After a few moments more the dove hopped off of Ruarc’s shoulder and flew around the room a bit as she looked for a new place to sit, and two circles later she settled down on Riley’s desk; seeing as she did not know Emilia, and Miyuki was already moody.

”Oh come on, Laoise. Stop throwing fits,” Ruarc said to his familiar through their mental link.
”I am not throwing a fit!” Laoise snapped back at the druid. ”I just don’t like her, that’s all.”

[Gwathdraug]

As Miller had pulled Riley away from Emilia and insisted she do something along the lines of “homework” and certainly not juggling despite the fact that the stage magician had in no way any homework to do the young girl instead places her head down against the table and contented herself with just listening to her fingers tap against the surface. The only response Miyuki's absurd entrance got from the magician was a slight snicker and a muttered comment about “drama” and “aren't I supposed to be the one?”.

Then Laoise landed next to the girl's head and Riley immediately perked up. The girl stared a few moments at the bird and then narrowed her eyes and reached both hands under her cloak. The left one came out with a second pack of cards while the right held up a sheet of thick construction paper which – once the card deck had been set safely on the desk – both hands began to work and fold about.

“You.” Riley said as her eyes darted up from working with the paper and the girl nodded slightly towards the dove. “Me.” The stage magician's creation was now forming clearly into shape and seemed to be some kind of trough or cradle made from the sturdy paper – it looked quite stable and ready to stand on its own already. “Card game. Svoyi Koziri.” Riley added the last finishing touches and flares to the card holder and then set it down before the bird.

The stage magician's hands then pulled out the deck and began to remove cards systematically. “Thiry-two card game. We both choose two suits – one gets to be our trump.” All the necessary cards removed Riley placed the shortened deck in front of her. “Clubs and diamonds with clubs trumping for me.” The girl then pulled out two cards from the deck – the queen of hearts and ten of spades – and then motion for Laoise to pick on, clearly asking which suit the dove wished to have as her trump cards. “To play you either need to play a better card of the same suit or throw down a trump – they always win – winner is who ever runs out of cards first. Trick is you got ta' pick up the whole pile down on the table if you can't make play that follows those two rules.”

Riley gave Laoise a moment to absorb this, and then nodded and broke into a large smile. She clearly seemed to believe that the dove in front of her had grasped everything she had said and was now just mulling over whether or not it was worth it to play.

“You win I'll feed you whatever you want for a week – that includes my rare stock of breakfast bars.” Riley's smile almost slipped at that and the girl winced slightly before chipping up again immediately. “I win and you'll swipe me a couple of pounds of that jerky Ruarc is always hoarding.”

Flexing the cards and shuffling them needlessly Riley cocked her head in question at Laoise. “Deal?”

[Kalshion]

Just outside of the classroom, on a branch that overlooked it, Sakura laid there on her stomach and peered inside - enjoying what was going on. She wasn't wearing hte same outfit as the days before, instead she was wearing a school uniform and had a cute little blue hat on.

She smiled, her elbows on the branch and her face resting in the palms of her hand. "So this is what school-kids do?" she asked herself curiously, having never attended school before and only ever gotte an education from tutors, a tutor that she had abandoned just a few hours ago in order to have some fun of her own and get away from her abusive 'father', whom had given her a bit of a punishment for being out without telling him. She had a few scars on her face and arms, and although they did hurt right now, she ignored the pain - here - right now just being near a few other magical kids made her feel at ease.

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Death's daughter was overwhelmed. She had started out the day with little idea of what to expect. Over the course of several hours, she had come to understand some basic rules like the length of a class period, people are supposed to walk down the left side of the hall, the pride of organization, courtesy toward authority, and a good student is a quiet student.

Then she came to detention, and none of the rules applied! Ruarc was allowed to keep his pet bird in the room; Riley was quite literally all over the place, spawning various novelty items from her cape; another girl, Kagami, just stormed in and threw a fit out loud and in front of the teacher! The only one that seemed to play by the rules was the last arrival, Raiko.

I don't get it! Emilia screamed in her own mind. She had to distance herself from the madness. With a prim bow and quiet, "Excuse me," she gathered her things, snatched one breakfast bar, and took the very last seat in her row. She sat down, huffing silently. Emilia just wanted the day to end. She hadn't made any friends because she too afraid of saying something ignorant or stupid, and despite all her efforts to conform she still earned detention; now the little Immortal was surrounded by so much chaos in comparison to the school day's structure, she felt overwhelmed. By putting distance between herself and the rest, she hoped to find some peace and quiet so she could do this 'homework' without being made for a fool.