[Safeholme] A Student Renewed

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

"Johann! Whatever you're trying to do, you need to do it now!"

"...Beachten Sie meine Beschwörung."

...HONK! confetti burst from the nose like a small bomb, and he could feel a small exchange of Mana...

"No. No, you're... too young! How can you know this!?"

...The ensuing silence was unsettling, but Johann couldn't remember how to move. He was transfixed by the swirling darkness within the bottle in his hand...

"I've never seen magic like that before, to bind a spirit so forcefully."

... That hand was followed by the form of a towering man, dressed in a ragged set of robes, draped over wide shoulders. It was the garb of someone who had not stepped out the bounds of wilderness for many years...

...he charged it, crushing the undead pup with a gout of wind that sent Johann's dog right into him. Sparking lines of primal magic tested an energy that kept the blow from being fatal to the both of them. The potency was enough to nearly split the boy in two...

Johann had relived the events in the woods every night and for great swathes of his waking hours. Many times he viewed it with elation at his successes, and many more times he viewed it with frustration at his defeats. Despite countless retellings in his mind, he couldn't shake that there was something he was missing. Something he could have done, or have learned beforehand.

Eventually, he realized, raw effort was a drop in the bucket compared to the ocean of experience Alexei wielded. And if he were honest, Johann had been avoiding much of his book. Many of the passages had read strangely, and made him uncomfortable. He didn't have time for that anymore. If he was going to truly develop himself into a hero one day- a true mage of legend- he had to start now.

RIIIIIING!

As the bell rang to end classes for the day, Johann watched the door across the halls. It opened. Out came Katerina, who exchanged waves and pleasantries; Vrey briefly appeared in the door before teleporting who knew where; Willow seemed distracted and didn't even see him, though he tried to say hi; Last was the one he'd been waiting for: Drysi Maelgwyn.

He stood, Abridged Necronomicon clutched to his chest. "Hey! Um, Drysi?

"Can you tttteach me to study?"

[Kokuten]

"Buh!"

The triclops jolted at her name, and, when Johann got her attention, he got the full brunt of Drysi's brilliant, alien stare, with none of the facial expression. She had spent the last few days wearing a COVID-era facemask in public.

"Teach you to study?" she seemed incredulous to the question.

Eyes like cut emeralds looked down at the book in his hands, considering it, considering its contents. The wheels turned in her mind, before she shook her head and waved a dismissive hand. "I can't help you. I've sworn off the black magic."

She tugged her mask down, flashing her newly sharp fangs at him, before letting it slap back over her mouth. "Hasn't done me a whole lot of good, nor will it do you any good, Beany."

And, with that, she started down the way.

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Johann jumped when she started to walk away, and hurried to catch up. "I'm not asssssking yyy--" He made another of his abrupt pauses to breathe and reset. "Not asking you," he forced out the word against its will, "To learn it. Help me sssstudy."

He bit his lower lip nervously. He'd thought through so many different ways of asking for Drysi's help, but strangely he'd never considered that she would say no. This was uncharted territory, and it was making him even more anxious than merely asking for her help. And how dare she accuse him of black magic! "And black magic is a llllazy and dismissive term. Every magic can bbbbe bad if you use it wrong."

[Kokuten]

Johann found Drysi round on him with a strange presence of mind she hadn't before. Her brows furrowed over eyes that stared back up at him under a hood of blonde curls.

"Tell me what you're going to do with your knowledge," asked Drysi in a hushed, hissing whisper, "Tell me what you're going to do and what will it cost if you do."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

The fierceness in Drysi summoned a matching heat in the necromancer. In a quiet, defensive voice, he answered, "I healed Katerina, I gave her mana so she could fight for us. I captured your gran before she could kill anyone." He swallowed, faltering slightly. "And I hurt those little wood critters." He took a deep breath, regaining his confidence. "And that's why I need your help. I need to be better. So I can help, and so I don't hurt anyone on accident again."

He glared at her for a moment before he realized what he was doing. His anger deflated in a flash with a sigh. She didn't want to help, why was he being so pushy? Johann had never been pushy before. "Sorry. I diddiddidn't mean to be, uh... mean. Sorry I asked."

He hurried past her, clutching his book tight. If no one was going to help, he was going to do this himself.

[Kokuten]

Drysi shrank begrudgingly as the events from the other night came up, but she didn't break her stare. Her fingers had begun to strangle the strap of her book satchel as she seemed to combat a wave of powerful emotion. With a stolid expression she listened patiently, watching him, as if waiting for some sign. She kept that focused gaze on him as he walked away, and for a moment it seemed Johann was free to pursue his own machinations

Then, following a series of hurried footsteps, came a hand that forcefully spun him around.

"Listen here now, Beany," snarled Drysi, as she tugged him down to her level so they could be eye to eye, "I don't deal with denial well, even when it's what I want, so you better listen up."

She raised a finger, "One, you better have more conviction than that if you want to study with me."

Then another finger, with a sense that Drysi was building up into something volcanic, "Two, I would love to have said yes, but I'm still trying to work through my social anxiety and my issues from my shitty, brain-washing demon gram. And three..."

The iron grip on Johann's shirt loosened as Drysi's eyes began to mist over in a fierce, shuddering mood swing of fear and regret, "... if you do this alone, you're going to get hurt."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Johann whirled around and his emotions went with him: first, he was irritated; then, he saw who it was and was startled; then she spoke, and his heart softened.

When she finished, he realized he was bent in half. He straightened and tried to recover some dignity. With the most serious voice he could muster, he answered, "I am convicted. I was never more serious in my whole life." Some of that seriousness seemed to have come through, too, because was able to speak with just a single stutter. "But this is hard. I know I need help, but it's... Well, I asked you. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it. I need to be good at this, but..." He looked at his feet. "Reading is hard. Ssssso, please help me."

[Kokuten]

The little well of emotions that was Drysi flowed a bit as she wept. Her image of sadness seemed somewhat tainted by the angry stare. She smacked his arm, before bringing it back to wipe her face.

"That's for getting me all worked up. You didn't deserve that, but I'm not going to stop crying if I don't give myself a reason to be angry." Drysi spoke lucidly, despite her outburst. With a couple more swipes of her sleeve, she dried her face. "You and Willow are so alike, it's frustrating sometimes. If left on your own, you'll brute force your way through problems on your own in the stupidest way possible."

Her fingers clasped around his hand, and those eyes of her seemed to tense up in preparation for another insult, "I'm being difficult for a couple of reasons. I think so clearly since you sealed gran away, but my emotions and mood swings have gotten a lot worse. It's getting better, but slowly, and you're going to have to bear with me."

The gentle clasping became a little more firm, "I will help you."

She shook her head, correcting herself, "I want to help you, but I'm going to need some time. We're not going to do this the stupid way. Can you wait until tomorrow? I have runes with Mr. Flynn this afternoon, but tomorrow is texts."

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Johann was stoically silent-- mostly because he had no idea how to handle this new, freely emotional Drysi. Well, openly emotional people in general, but especially an emotional Drysi. She also gave him a lot to think about. He was like Willow? Certainly not. She was so brave and headstrong and confident and leaderlike.

And then she touched him. Not like a playful poke or a tease, but held his hand! Not like a girlfriend would, but she still was holding it! It sent a shiver through him, and froze his muscles all at once. He stared at the place they connected until...

"I will help you."

At this, he smiled, and briefly forgot she was still holding his hand! "I can wait." And he could. As long as there was a plan, and someone he could trust. Drysi was someone he could trust. They just needed a concrete plan. "Tomorrow! My room, after dinner?"

The next evening, Johann waited in his room anxiously. With the end of the day he was in his customary black hoodie and athletic shorts. He had pulled his desk into the middle of the room and borrowed the second desk's chair so they could sit across from one another. The Abridged Necronomicon sat in the center, closed.

He could do this because he lacked a roommate. Well, he lacked a traditional roommate. Chuffy was splayed on the extra bed, chest steadily rising and falling the way it used to when he was alive and in repose. Occasionally, he scrabbled around and made rough terrain of the bedsheets and comforter, then flopped his head around as if affronted that someone would disturb his resting place.

Johann was watching Chuffy while he remade his turban when there came a knock at the door. "Just a minute!" The young necromancer hastily crossed the room, opened the door with a smile, then froze. A silky touch tickled his cheek. Hands clapped against his half-made turban. "Nonononono," he muttered and retreated. Hands flew around his head to finish the job.

Nothing had been exposed but a few loose strands of hair. His scars and stitches were well concealed. He knew this, and yet those moments after Alexei's attack...

"Nononononono," he continued until it was finished.

[Kokuten]

At this point, it was worth mentioning that despite being younger that Drysi, Johann was nearly a head and a half taller, so when she threw her arms around him, her face was level at his chest. The bedraggled scribe was shaking, but she squeezed him tight.

"Thank you," said the girl quietly, "Thank you for saving me. Thank you for protecting us."

These words belonged to a voice that offered comfort in a trying time. Comfort that was won on that same night the students struggled for their lives.

That same voice, once soft and comforting, reverberated through the door after the knocks had upgraded into a set of loud, low smacks.

"OI. JOHANN," came the hoarse, Welsh tang of Drysi Maelgwyn, "you better not be asleep already!"