#mahamari jade

[save-the-spiral]

OC pronouns masterpost

In no particular order here’s my ocs & their pronouns, with added Neopronoun DLC bc they deserve it <3 Some I had to make up bc i couldn’t find them so they might not be grammatically correct?

Elissa Silvertusk: She/Her

Kestrel RainbowWeaver: She/Her, Ge/Gem/Gemself, Fawn/Fawnself

Castian RuneClaw: She/Her, He/Him, It/Its (There are specific dragonspyre drake community pronouns in their language that don’t translate to common well)

Jen Sirisopa: They/Them

Emrys Pyre: He/Him (is just generally Queer)

Mahamari Jade: She/Her

Quyen Jade: He/Him

Irisi: She/Her, They/Them (mostly just identifies as lesbian and not w/ gender)

Morelle RavenHunter: She/Her (trans & is uncomfortable with anything But she/her, even they/them feels misgendering)

Morae RavenHunter: She/Her, They/Them, Ne/Nym/Nir/Nymself,Ey/Em/Eir/Eirself, Hy/Hys/Hyself (Collects pronouns & gender is basically ‘girl??’ but autistically)

Ianthe RavenHunter: She/Her, He/Him (Bigender)

Leo NightSide: He/Him, They/Them , Xe/Xem/Xir/Xirs/Xemself, Voi/Void/Voidself

Noah Dreamtamer: He/Him, Rune/Runes/Runeself (only Haley gets to know his Secret Neopronouns)

Haley Raintamer: She/Her

Ursae: She/Her (but doesn’t know what a pronoun is and doesn’t care)

Fledge: Any (She/He/They) (Gender: is a Child)

Darling Alexander Dove: He/Him (Gender: pretty & murderous)

Tytonidae: He/Him, It/Its

Darcy Rhode: She/Her (Gender: also pretty & murderous)

Zenobia Ire: Any (with feminine terms like daughter, girl, etc)

Vitale Florus: He/Him (couldn’t find a good floral pronoun he would like :( it would be Pretentious though)

Susannah Judas: He/Him, Fox/Foxs/Foxself

[save-the-spiral]

Wiztober Day Six: Worlds

Welcome to day six of Wiztober2020. This is the first arc of my main timeline regarding the majority of my Wizard101 ocs. Set in order of when they happened, and some worlds were switched around. Content Warnings for war, school expulsion, sickness mention, torture mention, starvation mention, general colonization attempts (Marleybone @ Krokotopia), gangs mention (Marleybone), attempted murder, and murder (Malistaire).

(link to prompt list)

Grizzleheim’s civil war of ravens, bears, and wolves was resolved decades before the first great threat to the Spiral. Phuong Jade, a recently expelled life wizard from Ravenwood Academy (where she had attended under the name of Morelle Jade), had also been exiled from Wizard City. With limited Spiral Door Keys at her disposal, she ended up in the trading world of Grizzleheim. She was willing to settle, to wait until her girlfriend graduated Ravenwood Academy and came to find her. But upon living in Northguard for only a month, she realized the war between groups would not end until every group aside from one was wiped out. So she dug deeper, taking small quests and using her life magic as well as what little Shadow she had secretly learned and got expelled for. She dug deep and found the root of corruption in the few individual ravens that caused this very war, and she brought them to justice. After this, she stood before the leaders of the bears, ravens, and wolves, and was given the title RavenHunter, a name she would eventually give to her girlfriend, as Morae came to Grizzleheim not long after, and proposed as soon as they met after two long year of being apart.

Mooshu’s lands were revitalized and its emperor healed by two children of a healer, who had grown up in a small village and were some of the few wizards willing and able to stand up and fight. Mahamari ‘Mari’ Jade, a twelve year old theurgist, and her older brother Emrys Jade, a thaumaturge of thirteen, adventured out and began healing a sick world in search of a cure for a sick ruler. Right before they reached the Ancient Burial Grounds of Mooshu, the siblings fought, Emrys’ need for control in order to feel safe and Mari’s endless anger and ability to push her brother’s buttons making them clash horribly. Mari returned home, and not hours later Emrys was attacked and kidnapped by vengeful spirits who claimed to be restoring their lost honor. After weeks of torture and starvation, he was rescued by his sister Mari and their father Quyen Jade. The family worked together to finish the quest, and the emperor was saved. As a gift they were given priceless swords, and a key to Dragonspyre, more of a tradition than anything else. It took a full year for Emrys to physically recover, however.

Krokotopia had one protege of Alhazred who was able to fix the problems created by the Marleybonians that had destroyed ancient tombs and desecrated old homes of the dead. Irisi, at thirteen years of age, was the only one able to stand up to them, unwavering as she insisted they leave the pyramids and instead camp in the Oasis, receiving the undeserved hospitality of the manders. Irisi methodically set each pyramid to rights, carefully preserving what was left, and sending the undead back to their rest with her magic, utilizing balance to restore the equilibrium between life and death. She was brilliant, though learned of her own intense fear of ghosts, how their whispers and haunting only reminded her of how little life her adoptive father, the aged krok Alhazred, would have left. She powered through until she reached the Tomb of Storms. While on her way to defeat Krokopatra and ensure the safety of the Krokonomicon, she came face to face with her namesake. The first human queen of Krokotopia was now a memory of what she once was, a ghost bearing the name and withered face of the first Irisi, but nothing else. It was the hardest battle of the entire adventure, and after that Irisi secured the Krokonomicon with ease from Krokopatra. The Marleybonians left, and Alhazred had the Krokonomicon destroyed, but not until he was able to transcribe the text in a place where it could not be stolen, the only people alive who knew of its location being him and his daughter.

Wizard City was cleared of its monstrous invasion by four students of Ravenwood Academy who had fallen behind in their studies, whether by simple procrastination or by other extenuating circumstances. Noah Dreamtamer and his twin Haley Raintamer were one half of this group. Ianthe RavenHunter and their partner Leo Nightside were the other. They split the streets between them, uncomfortable with the other pair of students. Noah and Haley relished in being able to find a practical use for the skills they were being taught, and found it a much easier way to understand their magic. Ianthe and Leo were quiet, intent on mastering the use of their spells, and explore Wizard City outside of their home in Nightside. The four of them gathered again for the intense final battles, realizing that they worked best as a team, and became awkward friends, both pairs still distant in their mistrust of outsiders, yet still they had forged a bond.

Wysteria held its tournament, unaffected by the threat an ex-professor from another world could wield. Outstanding wizards from many schools were called to join, but those we follow in this world are from Ravenwood Academy and Krokotopia’s small school, run only by Alhazred and his few mander students. Mari Jade was invited to join, as now she had been attending Ravenwood since she was thirteen, and now was fifteen, the top of her class, though quiet and easily pushed around by her peers. Irisi was also invited, as the best of Alhazred’s students, now fifteen, two years after her eventful cleansing of her world. This was the first time Irisi had seen fellow humans, as well as those who were not a krok, mander, or dog. Irisi was starstruck by visiting a new, much larger world for the first time, though many there treated her as a rarity, a foolish stranger who did not know the basics of common life. Mari was different, as were some other kind souls. But Mari was far different. Irisi saw her and felt the quiet, joyful thrill of realizing a flower was blooming, as so few did in her home world. Both were inclined to shyness around strangers, and so rarely spoke, even when they were framed as a pair, and sent to find the true culprit so they were not punished. The subtle brushes of their arms, the few times they had to grasp each others hands for stability, the times when they would tend to the others wound, wrapping bandages and brushing fingertips over heated skin in order to check for breaks and bruises. They would spend extended moments staring into each other’s eyes, Mari’s a dark brown of rich earth and endless potential, and Irisi’s an amber that whispered of gold and bronze, of sunlight. They found the Spiral Cup, and then were able to compete in the final battle of the tournament, against each other. Irisi won, bringing glory and recognition to her small and easily dismissed home world, and was able to publicly speak of how she had to save Krokotopia from the ignorance of Marleybonians who saw the place people lived as nothing more than a museum exhibit to be made. 

Marleybone had no problems on the surface, and made a perfect world for Irisi and Mari’s first date. They had spent a year apart, sending letters across worlds to each other, as they both had studies to attend to. Slowly, over their year of letters to each other, they shared their lives, their hardships, and fell in love with a girl a world away. After this date, Irisi would begin living in Wizard City, assisting Arthur Whethersfield (who happened to be practically a brother to the her) in teaching balance magic, and hopefully beginning to set up a proper school building. Before that, they were to meet in Marleybone, and walk the streets at night, simply talking withe their hands intertwined, until they were to have a picnic at night, lit only by small balls of magic and the moon. It was not to be. Their moonlit walk in a park was interrupted by a cat on the run, who stumbled into them and pleaded for their help. Out of duty, Irisi agreed, and they assisted Baxter in running from a gang he had gotten on the wrong side of. This was how they ended up running across the rooftops of Marleybone, breathless and laughing as they ran from gang members to assist a very unlucky cat. It was after helping Baxter that he gave them information, having been told of Irisi’s Krokotopian origin. He told them of how there was still an exhibit on what little the Marleybonian had stolen from Krokotopia before Irisi intervened, and then he was gone, into the safety of his house. Mari seemed even more furious than her date, and they both entered the museum later with their magic flaring in bronze and brilliant green. Then, of course, they were informed by a rather terrified museum curator that the infamous Meowiarty had already stolen everything from the exhibit. They ran across rooftops yet again, this time chasing a mastermind to make him face justice. In this race, Meowiarty taunted them, claiming he now had the Krokonomicon. Irisi, enraged, told him that the Krokonomicon had been destroyed by her and her father’s hands, as she had explained clearly in her public speech only a year before. They had to chase Meowiarty to the top of Big Ben, fighting his cronies along the way,  and at the top, that was when Meowiarty grinned, and told them that he had already known Irisi was one of the only people alive who knew of the contents of the Krokonomicon, and that this had been a long con to bring her here, to this moment. They were both knocked unconscious, and Meowiarty’s ally, Malistaire Drake, who needed the Krokonomicon to wake the Dragon Titan, kidnapped Irisi. Mari woke to an empty room at the top of Big Ben, and a deep rage was unleashed from inside her.

Dragonspyre was the known home world of Malistaire Drake, and the resting place of the Dragon Titan that would destroy the Spiral to bring one woman back to life. Mari knew this, and was intent on going there, but she couldn’t do it alone and risk Irisi’s life like that. She returned to Wizard City, single-minded to the point of roughly shoving a bully she frequently avoided, making many students shocked to the point of finally noticing little Mari Jade, sixteen and five foot two, the long hair she had when entering Marleybone now cut short, as her braid had gotten caught in some iron fences during their chase and was swiftly cut by her own hand. She entered the ice school without hesitation, finding the nearest ice wizard near her age and demanding for her brother, who now went by Emrys Pyre. Emrys, age seventeen, was a closed off, easily annoyed prodigy. He had only three friends, and adamantly refused having any friendships at all. He always regretted the years long distance between him and his sister, even when they went to the same school, but he was ashamed of his own weakness and trauma after Mooshu, and hadn’t held a proper conversation with her since. Until now. His friends, lead by little Genevieve, had freaked out upon learning that he had a sister asking for him, and dragged him out into the main classroom of the ice school to properly see her again. Mari, covered in dirt and blood and missing a majority of her hair after her ordeal in Marleybone, told him in simple words that they were going to go rescue her girlfriend from the ex-professor of death, who had kidnapped her and likely brought her to Dragonspyre. At this deluge of information, Emrys insisted she rest for a day before insisting they go on a quest to murder a man. Mari allowed it, but while she stayed in the dorm of Castian and Jen, his friends, she ended up spending most of the night restless, and so the two took it upon themselves to assist her in a style transformation. That morning she met her brother over breakfast with half of her head shaved, a leather jacket, and a new appreciation for some of Jen’s favorite American and British bands from Earth, all of them punk and/or rock. Emrys just sighed, and was convinced by his sister to use their Dragonspyre Keys, given to them by the emperor of Mooshu years ago. They went, just the two of them, and with their skill and knowledge in magic, they spent only days going through Dragonspyre to reach Malistaire. Mari was fueled only by rage, her magic manifesting in a mass of writhing vines she could stand atop of and use as a method of transportation. Emrys, ever analytical and cold in order to cut off his emotions and cope with his trauma alone, was silent and expressionless as they cut down draconian soldiers (who looked so much like his draconian friend, Castian) and the ghosts of dead warriors. The siblings never spoke, they simply fought and defeated and repeated over and over, resting only when one of them collapsed. They reached the Great Spyre, and using Mari’s climbing vines and Emrys’ spikes of ice, they scaled it. The pair battle Malistaire’s small army of the undead and evil creatures who would gleefully see the Spiral rendered into nothing but stardust. The two of them faced Malistaire finally, but Mari only had eyes for Irisi, who was injured and barely conscious, her face a mask of agony as she was held by Malistaire’s hand over a river of everflowing lava. Using the siblings as a distraction, Irisi managed to push away Malistaire, though she herself fell in a heap by the deadly river. Mari and Emrys battled Malistaire, both far more powerful than the man expected. Emrys summoned creatures of immense strength, as well as creating shields for himself and his sister to save them from the necromancer’s draining attacks. It was Mari that struck the final blow, the sharpened and rage filled centaur she summoned firing a volley of thorned arrows, piercing Malistaire’s chest and killing the man before he hit the ground. They saved Irisi, as well as the Spiral, though Mari secretly, guiltily, thought that Irisi was more important, and knew she was no better than the man she killed.

The first arc was completed then, the first threat to the Spiral destroyed. Vines covered Malistaire’s body and bloomed at Mari’s first sigh of relief upon finding her love alive. The rage and need for vengeance spilled from Mari alongside her tears, and that magic sunk deep into Dragonspyre, life magic infecting and infesting into the deep core of the world.

Mari and Emrys walked into Ravenwood after that, Irisi on a conjured stretcher behind them, and they never returned to Dragonspyre, far more occupied with the trials to come.

They would never know that within years, the life magic Mari left in Dragonspyre would manifest itself and flourish. The corpses of the world’s dead would become the heart of a forest. The deep chamber of magma that fueled the volcano would cool, soothed by lullabies of life magic, fragments of the Song of Creation, and the skies would clear, no more smoke and fire to pollute it. Dragonspyre would become a green, flowering thing, a place of nature instead of a ravaged husk, now an overcome ruin. And water, finally water, would rule. The Dragon Titan would sleep under a blanket of moss, roots clinging to the small spaces between scales, and life would make a home of what once would destroy everything.

[save-the-spiral]

Wiztober Day Eight: Mystery

Welcome to day eight of Wiztober. Just fluffy sibling antics. Content warnings for just jokes about murder if that counts.

(link to prompt list)

Mari groaned, shifting in the desk chair and letting herself flop dramatically over one of the chair’s arms, upside down as she stared at her brother. “This is awful. Inhumane.”

Emrys didn’t even glance up from the textbook he was reading. “It’s a group project.” He was sitting on his bed across the room from Mari.

“Exactly! I don’t have some nice wizards to adopt me like you did! Everyone either hates me or is scared of me in the life school.” Mari sat up, glad to finally have something to distract her from the pages of work on the desk in front of her.

“Jen and Castian didn’t ‘adopt’ me. I just tolerate them.” Emrys cracked his knuckles and sighed, setting his book aside.

“Yeah, sure.” Mari snorted. “Maybe I should just hang around people and insist I’m not their friend for three years. That worked for you.”

“Shut up.”

“No.”

Emrys sighed again, this one dramatic and pointed, and wiped his glasses on the hem of his t-shirt. “Just complain to Wu, she adores you.”

Mari groaned again, kicking her feet for a moment. “Already did that.”

Emrys made a face then, one that caused Mari to instantly break into giggles. Then Emrys actually spoke. “Just group up with the idiots and do all the work yourself, worked for me for those first few months.”

“Some of us aren’t tryhards, Emmy.” Mari rolled her eyes and began making a paper airplane out of a parchment scrap.

“Bribe them with candy? I don’t know Mari, Irisi’s the one who does good with groups.” Emrys carded a hand through his sky blue hair, exasperated.

“But Irisi’s busy and I’m not about to infringe on our date time to complain about school work.” Mari frowned, trying to fold the paper properly. “I think the candy idea has merit, to be fair.”

“Really.” Emrys deadpanned. “They’ll smell your desperation a mile away, Mari.”

“Nah, us life wizards are too soft and cuddly, we aren’t all cold and emotionless like you ice wizards.” Mari gestured towards herself, and then Emrys.

Mari was currently wearing a leather jacket with dozens of pins, ripped jeans, combat boots with a dangerous amount of heel, and a t-shirt that had a black and white mummified Hello Kitty on it. Emrys was in a plain tee and pajama pants with snowflakes on them.

“Whatever, from the stories you told me, they’re like piranhas.” Emrys rolled over to lie on his back in bed, resting his head on his pillows.

“I’m going to bring candy, it’s foolproof. Everyone likes candy.” Mari threw the paper airplane towards Emrys, the point of it poking his cheek.

Emrys threw the plane back without looking, a wave of his hand causing a cold breeze to guide it to hit Mari square in the forehead. “What next, conversation starters? Gonna chat about the weather?”

“Maybe I will.” Mari threw the plane back harder, pouting.

Emrys caught the plane without looking. “Oh hello fellow students, I’m Mahamari Jade, here’s some lollipops I stole from a nail salon, did you know that mystery flavors of this brand are just the factories not cleaning their machines before changing the flavors? Isn’t that just fascinating?!” He laughed as he finished impersonating her rather badly.

Mari laughed too. “Shut the fuck up, Mister ‘I have noooo friends only three people I would kill for if they asked.”

Emrys huffed, refolding the paper airplane into a bird without even sitting up. “They’d kill for me as well, to be fair.”

Mari giggled, sending a breeze of life magic that animated the paper bird to flap its wings. “Fair enough.”

[save-the-spiral]

Wiztober Day Nineteen: Transformation

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

(link to prompt list)

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

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

But it hadn’t been fun, not really.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“‘Kay.” Mari slurred tiredly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That one.” Was all she said.

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

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

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

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

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

Then on the other side they were shining and radiant.

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

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

[save-the-spiral]

Emrys, 54

(link to prompt)

Warnings for child endangerment, threats and malicious harm to children, the undead/spirits, sibling arguments, slight suicidal ideation, unreliable child narrator.

We finally learn what happened to Emrys, referenced (here) and (here), and it is only part of that hardship.

54. your breath coming out in clouds in the cold

Emrys and his little sister Mari are saving the world.

They are young- too young, their father would say later, but that’s not now- and they are some of the few wizards in Mooshu who can help. The small academy of magic was cut off the same time the Emperor fell ill under mysterious circumstances, and there is no one else.

Emrys takes the lead, and Mari trails along. She is only a year or so younger, but still her hands feel so small, and Emrys cannot help but think of when she was even smaller, when he was first adopted by their father and he saw this pudgy toddler ambling around on unsteady legs. He had never really interacted with any other child before her, but still he tried his best, guiding her and helping her walk, his own gait still unsteady even though he was four.

Now they crossed their home world, and she had a different unbalance to her, but he shared it as well. A fear of leaving their home, their little farming village, their father’s garden. But to succumb to that would be to lose their larger world, would let everything fall into the hands of warlords without the Emperor to keep them in check, and even as young as he is, Emrys understands this. Mari does not, but he explains it slower for her, after they already begin the journey, and she knows now too. To lose Mooshu would be to lose their home on a large scale.

They both carried wands from their father’s small collection. He was a life wizard, but had cut his education short and come to Mooshu. Emrys knew his father is not telling the whole truth, but he let it slide, and accepted a wand with the mark of Wizard City on its hilt. Mari was eager, carrying a collection of their father’s old cards, mixed with the ones they had bought in the capital of Mooshu when they answered the call for wizards.

They are the only hope. They camped out under the stars, hiding in the thick bamboo forest. They accepted rooms in the inns of grateful villages. They tried and cure a sickened land and people on their quest to cure the Emperor himself.

There is a village empty of life, but not of people. Emrys stood before a spirit who didn’t know they have passed, and he and Mari do what they can to bring a ghost town their peace.

But, Emrys knew, it was not enough. It would never be enough. And now he was paying the price for his pride. He had argued with Mari, over something small at first, but the stress combined with their young age meant it resulted in a full blown screaming match, and then he had sent her home.

I don’t need you. I never have. I can do this myself.

When he said it to her, watching her face twist with an anger, watching her storm off, he felt a rush of cold. He had assumed it was his magic reacting to his elevated emotional state, and continued on, not knowing their screaming had caught the attention of something cruel, envious of the living, enraged by the ignorant cruelty of a child with so much life to live, who was throwing it away by questing alone in dangerous times.

The chill was a constant, now, but Emrys felt distant to it, assuming it was his magic, assuming the cold would never harm an ice wizard. He slept alone for the first time that night, and he rested easily, emotionally exhausted, sprawled on soft grass, shielded from the wind by a stone ruin that may have been a wall at one point but was now only a few feet of a tripping hazard.

Emrys was awakened by a chilling pain around his neck as he gasped desperately for air, voice cracking as he tried to scream, but he soon fell back into darkness as he was lifted off his feet, far shorter than whatever had assaulted him.

It was cold, and that previous reassurance was nothing but the knowledge that he was still held captive now. The spirits of past honorable warriors were anything but, now shades of themselves, ensnared by their own potential for cruelty, remembering how easily others broke their code of honor, how few consequences there were for those who were not caught. So they sought vengeance on something alive. They took their pound of flesh from a child, and that child tried to act with dignity and honor, further enraging his captors.

Emrys curled up into himself, backed into one of the shallow corners of the octagonal room he was trapped in. He rested on his side, his back as flat against the wall as he could manage, the cold seeping into the thin layer of robes, deep into his skin, calming the inflammation of an aggravated wound. Dried blood made his clothing stiff, and Emrys idly scratched his thumbnail against the hem of his long sleeves, lying on his side. His left arm was going numb as he let his weight rest on it, cheek against the soft skin of his inner forearm, eyes shut tight. 

He curled further into himself, trying to become small. Aching and wounded, his body protested the pain, straining as he tried so desperately to become smaller, to not be. He wanted nothing more than to disappear, not into anywhere, to simply become unnoticeable, to become dust or air, insignificant, without thought or fear or pain.

Yet Emrys did not succeed, and eventually passed out from a combination of stress and fear and exhaustion, and his shallow breaths were cold puffs of white with thin swirls of ice magic, and his chapped lips became a shade bluer.

[save-the-spiral]

fellow wiz/tma fan here: if your wizards were in the TMA universe, what fears do you think they would serve?

(link to entities page on The Magnus Archives Wiki, comprised ENTIRELY of spoilers.)

This is completely incomprehensible unless you listen to like an entire like three seasons of podcast. Luckily, I have, because I’m HYPERFIXATING bitches. 

This is my full list of current OCs (aside from wicked beau wright, who is SO undeveloped I dont even KNOW), not all are developed, feel free to ask about them. I have a google doc to keep track or I FORGET. if anyone wants me to do npcs hit me up, im already planning one for the eleven w101 schools and 5 p101 classes.

ALSO I TURNED AROUND AT ONE POINT AND THOUGHT THE LAMP BEHIND ME WAS AN EYE. SO IM DOING GREAT. (ALSO HAD TO TURN A LIGHT ON AFTER A BIT)

WIZARD101

Irisi- The End. Her fear of ghosts, the undead, and the inevitability of death ruled her for a time. She had to overcome it, venture deep into previously resting tombs, entangle with mummies, wraiths, banshees, and simple ghosts. She found a fondness in learning their stories, and she watches her aging adoptive father, Alhazred, and wonders when he will turn into something that simply stops, or if he will linger, and they will chat.

Mahamari Jade- The Buried. Her life magic is nurtured by the earth, and that was a quick fall into allowing herself to be buried alive, to choke on the mud and clay. She had a fear of being confined into one role, and broke free. But now the rock and dirt fuel her magic, the worms nurture it, and she finds a detached peace in returning to the earth from whence she came.

Emrys Pyre- The Lonely. He has self isolated ever since his first great trauma, believing if he had not been a fool, had not dragged his younger sister along, he could have prevailed on his own. It is his deepest failing, and the Forsaken has hooked him deeply in his belief that he alone can survive.

Quyen Jade (Serpentine King)- The Hunt. While others prefer a more active chase in the hunt, there is an aspect of waiting. Not all predators can spend their days racing after the next meal. Lions sleep for most of their day, after all. Snakes as well, feasting only when necessary. When Quyen finds the necessary moment, and strikes, he never hesitates, and the venom and blood call to him.

Morelle RavenHunter- The Hunt. When slighted by the Ravens of Grizzleheim, she began to hunt them down, to prove a point. It is how she gained that name, Raven Hunter. She gave that name to her wife and child, as well.

Morae RavenHunter- The Slaughter. She is not an active avatar, one touched but not guided. Her chronic pain, caused by a sudden attack fueled only by bigotry and ignorance, haunts her. That, as well as her own organs waging war, causing pain, lead to a fear of that pain, a fear of sudden attacks. 

Ianthe RavenHunter- The Corruption. His magic has always taken well to fungus, to mushrooms that feed on decay. At first her fascination with pretty, bio-luminescent mushrooms drew her in, but how quickly we fall once we get a taste.

Leo Nightside- The End. For all he loves animals, finds them good companions, he is a necromancer. His respect for death only extends as far as he is willing to bend the rules. 

Noah DreamTamer- The Stranger. He has redefined himself so often he forgets who he was, doesn’t want to know the person he was born as. He loses people. He doesn’t remember her voice, how tall she was. He has to become someone he is not to continue on, and not simply stop in place and never move again, not even to breathe.

Haley RainTamer- The Vast. Her fear of heights is unrivaled, ever since a bad broomstick accident where she broke her wrist at age 10 or so. One day the sky will claim her, and until then, she will look up, practicing the magic of the storms that she allows herself to believe rule it.

Fledge- The Desolation. They are so angry, stolen from their home. They are willing to inflict that pain on any who stand in their way, to take short cuts, to technically get the job done to ‘save the spiral’. They find a certain dark joy in how the professors and students of Ravenwood Academy despair when they hear of the fight taking place outside of their own world.

Ursae- The Vast. Not the sky, but the sea. She is a mermaid, of Celestia. Not many know of the deep trenches, the branching and convoluted caves under the sea, the endless darkness. She survives there, and stares back out of the endless depths.

Kestrel RainbowWeaver- The Eye. She sits idly by, content in her passive inaction. She was locked away in a time vault in Dragonspyre, and escaped. Her current events became history books and scrolls. So now, she smiles vacantly from her blacksmithing shop, and asks for idle gossip, and learns about Wizard City.

Elissa Silvertusk- The Web. Taken in, pulled by her own lack of initiative. Her life changed from where it was before, being pulled and puppeted by her mother’s vindictive whims, until now she lives in the web’s embrace, following orders, content to allow someone else to do the worrying, and let herself be dragged along.

PIRATE101

Darling Alexander Dove- The Flesh. He has no concept of the sanctity of sentient bodies. He holds no respect. Of course, he derives no entertainment when his victims are dead, unable to struggle, unable to dance alongside him in a macabre display of skills and how prettily a blade can cut into skin, fur, feathers, and then deep into the muscle, the bone, the flesh itself. It takes a long time to recognize what has gripped him. 

Darcy ‘Rusty’ Rhode- The Stranger. She becomes who you expect. She is docile, dumb, ditsy. She giggles at what you say even when it is not funny. Her eyes glint with excitement at the simplest of things, cooing over you. She is just another dumb broad, a woman who flips her long hair and drawls out things, bats her eyes. She becomes someone you do not know when she strikes, kicking you down and then again, pulling out a pistol and winking as if it is a joke you were both in on when she fires right between your eyes.

Zenobia Ire- The Vast. She lost her parents to the storm. She grew up having a connection to it, fearing it, but the way the thunder in those vicious Grizzleheim storms would thrum through her body like knuckles rapping against the tight skin of a drum, it calls to her.

Carlyle Nightngale- The Spiral. He lies, of course. Easily. He is a man of science, but nonetheless, no one can know in this Pirating side of the Spiral. So he tells tall tales of witchdoctors, the same thing every one of these ‘hoodoo practictioners’ claim, even if it’s all a ruse so they all can practice their own spirituality or science in peace. He never tells people what he is doing, simply smiling until they think they are in on what doesn’t exist.

Vitale Florus- The Lonely. He has been consumed by his on insecurities, but even before that, he was one of the few humans alone in a sea of automatons. All he was raised by was cold machinery. So he sits, alone, and tends to a secret garden he knows would be destroyed if he let anyone know. It is easier to not speak to anyone else.

[save-the-spiral]

Hey there~ sorry if you've already answered that, but do you have pics/refs/whatever of your wizard(s) online?

YEAH! I’ve got some who i haven’t made them for, even in picrews or just looking for models or whatever. Gonna put a readmore here because im just gonna add a lot of pictures. Most picrew things I’ve done are in the ocs101 discord. 

I didn’t do all of my ocs (left out at least 5-10, including underdeveloped ones). I got bored and I’m gonna go watch a chill gay streamer on twitch now.

Irisi (her tag) balance wizard, lesbian, my first oc!

Noah Dreamtamer (his tag) myth wizard, trans, a twin, probably one of the ocs im meanest to.

Haley Raintamer (her tag) Storm wizard, Noah’s twin, and This is the best reference I’ve got aside from people’s art of her, none of which is in color i think?

Mahamari (Mari) Jade (her tag) life wizard, gay disaster. Gave her anger issues because I too, am Angy.

Emrys Pyre (his tag) Ice Wizard Gifted Kid. Mari’s older brother too.

Darcy (Rusty) Rhode. I’m getting bored of answering this, so here’s my pirate101 oc who’s a disaster gay in a gang of criminals/vigilantes in Cool Ranch. I just love her someone look at her. She has red wings and acts like a ditzy frontman but Will Stab A Bitch.

[save-the-spiral]

How would your ocs react to self-quarantine? Any ocs and any amount of ocs, I don't know them that well.

first off, all my ocs ARE quarantined. because they’re not idiots and understand responsibility for the public’s good!!! I have some vague plans for other ocs as well, they’re not mentioned. This is all the ocs I can remember right now. Hope I’m not forgetting any, I probably am though.

Content Warning for alcohol mentions and implied nsfw (just the pirate ocs). Read more because it’s long and also if you don’t wanna read about quarantine.

Emrys, Mari, and Irisi: 

They live together in a small house, one of those floating castles, with one of those teleport swirls like in Triton Avenue, only it takes them outside of the general dorms at Ravenwood. They turned off their teleport station, though! 

Irisi, the only one who cooks, tries in vain to get Mari to learn how to make anything other than her favorite veggie wraps/sandwiches. Emrys ends up learning though, and is very good with the preciseness of baking!! He gets the finer details on decorating better than Irisi, who’s not the best with artistic touches, preferring practicality. 

Also Mari breaks out the cards and tries to hustle them at poker. She fails and ends up watching Emrys and Irisi pick up the game too quickly and become too good at it. 

Haley and Noah:

They have a small shared home, which I’ve kinda just Assumed is a castle plot like the in game wizards can get, on the outskirts of Wizard City. Neither of them are accomplished cooks, and they kinda end up just living on soup, stir fry, and the breakfast foods they actually can cook. 

Haley gets BORED. She probably ends up cleaning the house top to bottom and going through her projects (mostly attempts at making clockwork creatures) and probably finding about 15 tools she borrowed from the storm school and lost.

Noah is the type to seclude himself in his room, but he’d probably go to check on Haley and also work on his own runes projects or read in the same room she’s in.

Morelle, Morae, Ianthe, and Leo: 

Morelle is used to it, because she has a tendency to hide out anyway, cannot be seen in public in Wizard City. Now she just gets to relax a bit more at home and spend time with her wife Morae.

Morae has decided to continue making the more basic breads and such in her bakery, and has set up a system so their daughter Ianthe and her partner Leo can deliver them around Wizard City, so people can have food. They do have to shut down their bakery. Morae tries and fails to teach her wife how to make macarons (again). 

Leo turns out to be very good with macarons. Bonus points for future child-in-law, I suppose. 

Serpentine King/Quyen Jade:

In the canon main timeline, he’s probably revamping his garden’s design, and worrying over his children, because he’s in Mooshu far away.

In his origin timeline, where I had a completely wack kingdom au, by the end he and that timeline’s Mari would be probably live off by themselves in the middle of nowhere or in a completely different kingdom in hiding, along with that timeline’s Noah, Haley, and Emrys. They’d probably rehash old stories, a lot of SK’s stories about his late husband and his four other children that Mari grew up with.

Elissa Silvertusk:

She’s not developed enough, I don’t have much planned for her aside from relationships with NPCs. Probably in Khrysalis or Zafaria.

Fledge (in their own timeline):

Probably with their adoptive family, Iridian and Corry! Now without school to deal with, they’re a lot more stress free, because they’re used to being on their own now after their awful trauma. They probably spend time having to confront that though, because they’re not used to being so restless and ‘useless’. 

Ursae (Fledge’s timeline again):

As a mermaid she would have her own tank and probably just not surface. She has her own stock of crystals that contain information (like in Dragonspyre) and could go through those, but also, she has lil’ fish friends to interact with as well, and can sign with Fledge through glass.

Rust/Rusty (Pirate): 

Would be with her group, an all female/NB vigilante gang in Cool Ranch. They’d all stay at HQ, probably getting everyone’s Sad Backstories after a bunch of family bonding and card games and shit. Rusty would probably get a little tipsy in order to bear it. Also maybe having to go out just a few times to make sure people aren’t being jackasses and making necessities cost more. That’s more fun, because they’re threatening people lol. 

Darling Alexander Dove (Pirate):

Bonnie Anne Is In Hell! She Just Is!!! A bored Alexander is a very very dangerous one, and as his right hand man/first mate she’s got a LOT on her plate. He probably almost gets his crew to mutiny against him, or he ends up sleeping with a few who will have to be cut loose after this because they have unrequited love/lusts for their captain now lol. He DOES get shitfaced. Several times. He cannot wait to go to a pub again just to see new faces and not just his crew.

[save-the-spiral]

Can you use the random word generator to generate three words, then write a story about an OC of yours who could reasonably fit all three? If you do, thanks :)

Generated Words: Crouch, House, Share. (word generator)

Made a direct continuation of a zombie apocalypse drabble I wrote two years ago, oops! (link to that) I continued it and added on, fleshing out the world and adding in characters of mine >:3

Content warnings for blood, guns, zombies, apocalypse scenarios, implied child abuse, medical stuff mention, and I did accidentally write a tiny gross bit about how bad zombies smell, oops. 

"Thanks again." Haley said.

"No problem! My group tries to help out anyone we can find." Irisi, a tall, lithe woman with pale brown skin and many freckles, was standing confidently, rifle slung over her back, the strap bisecting her heavy trench coat and leather vest underneath. Small dark stains on the coat revealed how she hadn't always been up in a perch when fighting zombies.

"But still-!" Noah was still breathing heavily, eyes fixed on the woman. "You didn't have to, so thanks, really. I don't know what I'd do without Haley."

Haley blushed, turning to look at the horizon. "So, you've got a group?" She changed the subject.

Irisi perked up even more. "Yeah, my dad, my girlfriend, and her brother and dad. Our dads were doctors- a surgeon and family doctor. The rest of us know basic first aid too- that's how we help people, we know our ways around hospitals too, so we've got a stockpile of supplies."  

“Sounds like a good set up.” Noah said blankly. “Well, we should get going, we’re heading across the city-”

“No-!” Irisi cut him off, then awkwardly shuffled in place before talking again. “I mean, you can stay with us. We found this gated community, we cleared it all out- so you can come pick a house and stay.” 

Haley snorted now, mouth twisting into a scowl. “What’s the catch?” 

“Catch?” Irisi’s amber eyes caught the light of the sunset, and she squinted at Haley.

“Yeah. Catch.” Haley’s eyes flashed with anger as she stepped forward, Noah automatically moving behind her, unknowingly in sync. “Nothing in this world is free anymore, Irisi.” 

The unspoken knowledge that the world didn’t give a fuck about fairness made Noah want to sigh and just take a year long nap, but it wasn’t the time for that. Maybe later.

“I-” Irisi bit her lip, turning away. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. My group does our best to not hurt or take advantage of others unless provoked. We could meet outside of our base first, if that made you feel better? We wouldn’t have a home advantage or anything?” 

“Fine.” Haley relented, all gratitude gone now, taking her endless anger out on a stranger as opposed to her brother, the only person she cared about nowadays.

Noah stepped in, "There's a cleared out diner two streets away, with the most god awful gold and blue booths inside. We can meet there."

Irisi simply nodded, eyes darting to look at Haley with a new wariness, and ran off, hopping from roof to roof carefully.

"Stop acting like a bitch, Haley." Noah muttered sharply, hefting his golf club back over his shoulder and turning, looking down at the alleyway they had escaped from. The dozen zombies were now feasting on the one Irisi shot. His lip curled with disgust as the undead ripped open their fallen ally, the stench of rotten innards and whatever the zombie had stuffed inside itself now wafting upwards. 

The more recent ones smelled even worse in his opinion, but that's just the combination of fruits and vegetables and whatever processed crap people scavenged and rotted meat. 

"We'll have to get down to the diner, Noah." Haley finally said, her voice small and apologetic in a way that meant more than any 'sorry'. 

"Sure thing, Hales." The nickname was an indicator that everything is okay, so when Noah turned to look at his twin, her shoulders were relaxing slightly. 

Making their way through the streets in early spring was a dichotomy of soft white and pink petals and dried brown splashes of blood, both resting on the concrete and only one temporary. The wind whistled through bare limbs of trees and broken windows, it sent ash and flakes of rust off of the cars that had long been pushed aside to create a clear path down the main boulevard for anyone lucky enough to get a working vehicle. 

In their silence they walk down the middle of the street, cautious of zombies in those cars and in alleyways. In these cities there was a tendency to be so many things that used to be people, especially if they hadn’t been evacuated, and instead quarantined. It hadn't worked, because it could take weeks, even months, for the disease to set in and show any symptoms. So before they knew it an entire city could be dead people walking. 

Sure, they made a vaccine. It worked pretty well, considering the alternative was dying and then becoming a monster. There was too much panic, and no one wanted to trust it. They deluded themselves into thinking that they could play apocalypse as opposed to trusting science and logic.

Noah and Haley had been watching it happen, sitting side by side in matching dresses they hated, glued to a television that gave updates to their area, their little generator working overtime, cautious of the mandatory lights out that the quarantined areas enforced. They watched the live footage of a mob storming the lab producing the vaccine, they watched as researchers and interns and students ran out of the building as it caught fire.

They watched the last hope of humanity go up in smoke, both of them guilty because they had been vaccinated just weeks before, a bonus for their mother being a good soldier, keeping peace in their little city district.

Considering how everything played out in the end, the only thing you could get out of the twins about their mother that didn’t end in breaking things or panic attacks was the fact that she was a good soldier.

Even then it would set Noah on edge, teetering, and would make Haley clench her fists so hard her tendons become frayed piano strings.

Noah was brought back to reality with a subtle shift, Haley’s knuckles brushing against the hairs on his bicep when she pointed to their destination, likely knowing of Noah’s contemplative mood. Noah was a half step behind her, golf club over one shoulder and the other holding onto the one untorn strap of his backpack. With every step he was reminded of the pistol shoved into the back of his jeans, how it had been without ammunition for weeks.

Haley had a metal baseball bat held loosely in her left hand, adjusting her jean jacket and frowning as another waft of something rancid hit them. They shared a look with the same expression, wrinkled noses and a grimace, then a shared smile at the reminder that they are two sides of one coin, even if it is long out of rotation currency, left in the bottom of a junk drawer with useless keys and forgotten things. 

The glass door into the diner was completely broken, traces of old blood on the shards in front of the door and on what little remained in the frame. Long dead neon signs and ragged flyers caked in dirt both decorate the wide and grimy windows. 

The diner was empty, and Haley promptly flopped down in a booth, sending up a cloud of dust and all kinds of likely hazardous spores. With a cough she turned around, resting on her back and letting her head fall off of the edge. Her hair barely touched the filthy linoleum, and she shifted for a moment before closing her eyes, resting but unable to sleep and render herself vulnerable.

Noah sat on the table of that booth, between his twin and the door, and kept watch.

It only took half an hour until he saw people. A group crossed the empty street, Irisi at the lead and pointing towards Noah, who waved lazily and tapped on the table to get Haley up. With a short, stifled gasp, Haley sat up slowly, eyes narrowed. Noah made eye contact with her so she could gage the situation, and seeing his relaxed posture and only slight nervousness, she relaxed as well, hand reaching for her bat nonetheless. 

The hinges creaked as Irisi pushed open the door, holding it like a gentleman for her group. An older man with a wispy white beard and spotted skin the color of teak wood walked in first, back hunched slightly over his cane. Following him was a pale asian boy with blue hair, a turtleneck, and glasses, who stared at them accusingly and had a hand over a holstered gun at his hip. Then a friendlier face entered, the shorter and older asian man nodding at them, but quickly moving to ensure the oldest man got a stable seat. The last to enter was a very short girl dressed in a leather jacket and a sneer, combat boots crunching savagely against the broken glass on the floor. Her wavy hair was half shaved, the other side just reaching her chin and she watched them with a similar glare to the boy’s. However, she had no gun, just a well used wooden baseball bat and an array of knives in what could’ve once been a bandolier.

The fathers, the girlfriend, and the girlfriend’s brother. Charming. 

“Hi, Noah. Haley.” Irisi said, letting the door swing shut. 

“Hi.” Noah smiled weakly. “Nice to see you without the gang of zombies about to murder us.”

Irisi huffed, smiling. “Yeah.” She hopped to sit on a table across from them, so they could look each other in the eye. The older man, seated in the booth for the table, placed a hand on hers and smiled shakily. “Oh! So this is my dad, Alhazred.”

“Nice to meet you.” Haley muttered, nodding.

Irisi began pointing to the other three, who were seated at the bar by the window, facing the rest of them. She pointed to the short girl with dark skin. “That’s Mari, my girlfriend. She’s best with up close and personal stuff, and first aid on the field. That’s Emrys, her brother and our best with handguns- and generally being a badass.” The boy with blue hair gave a short wave, then turned back to the window to watch the street. “Then that’s Quyen, Emrys and Mari’s dad, and the best with big problems, generally makes sure the rest of us aren’t idiots.” 

“I’ve never done anything wrong in my life.” Mari deadpanned, an obvious lie if her brother’s derisive snort was anything to go by. 

“Yes dear.” Irisi smirked, then turned back to Haley and Noah. “You two seem capable, and you did grab what was probably the last pharmacy supplies in the city, so I’m thinking you guys staying a while is the least we can do if we split the meds.” 

Haley turned slightly, catching Noah’s eye. She was not on board at all. 

Noah raised his eyebrows, making it clear that two backpacks instead of one full of medicine was not worth it. Not when they could potentially have a place to go back to if they needed, and maybe extra necessities if they leave on good terms.

Haley rolled her eyes, and turned back to the ragtag family. “That’s fine. As long as we both look through it and make sure it’s fair. By the end it got chaotic and I sure as hell don’t need like, fifteen boxes of laxatives or whatever when the other bag is full of painkillers.” 

Noah huffed, smiling and amused at her dry tone. If Haley still weren’t shaken by their close call she would probably have argued and made a scene just for the hell of it.

Quyen nodded, a slight smile on his face. “That sounds more than fair.” 

Haley’s shoulders relaxed subtly, the tension in her clenched jaw gone, her hand on the table grabbing at the thick fabric of the hoodie Noah had tied around his waist. A faded pink thing with blood splatters and stains decorating it like a modern painting.

“Yeah. Fair.” Haley said quietly, unable to eye the strange adult with anything but distrust. 

Noah made the big move this time, moving a hand off of his golf club and setting it on Haley’s, gripping it loosely until she twisted her wrist to interlock their fingers comfortably. Undoubtedly, every person in the room noticed, but he didn’t have it in him to care.

This might be the first good group they had found since setting out on their own. They seem kind, reliable. 

A family. A good one. A real one. 

After all Noah and Haley had been through, they deserved that, at least.

“So when do we move in?” Noah asked, smiling. 

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Four: Freeze + Stitching

Welcome to day four of inktober!!! For backstory: this is a part of a longer and official timeline for all of my ocs aside from Fledge and Ursae. Warnings for surgery, stitches, graphic depictions of violence, fire, hospital-y stuff, death mention. I tried to depict a bit of what would happen after a major traumatic event.

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

Irisi’s girlfriend tells her that she slept for five days after surgery. That it’s understandable, the physical and mental trauma her body and mind went through would make anyone exhausted. But Irisi’s in Wizard City now, she’s safe and no one would dare try to hurt her with Mari watching over her.

Irisi makes eye contact with Emrys, Mari’s brother. The boy is a practical stranger but they exchange a look that only people used to dealing with Mari know, the acknowledgement that she’s unstoppable and they just have to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself. It’s not like Irisi can do much, her body as battered as it is. Even with magic she won’t be ready to start walking for weeks. 

They’re staying in the tents by Bartleby. Arthur and his balance students were helping heal her. Irisi stared at the linen roof of the tent a few days later, and tried to breath in the fresh air. Bright sunlight streamed in from the pinned back flaps of the tent, and she watched from her cot as students walked around. Some of them pointed at the tents, some even noticed her and pointed more. Other than that, it was just young wizards walking around from class to class, or to the library, or running around and goofing off.

Even if they knew what happened, they couldn’t understand the magnitude of it, and so they continued on with their lives.

Irisi’s calloused right hand- her only unbandaged limb- lightly tracing over the large injury at her throat. She could remember how it felt to hold loose flaps of skin together as blood poured out of her neck like a waterfall, warm and wet, making her fingers stick together as she desperately felt the blood rise up in her windpipe, and she choked on it-

The only thing that grounded her was the rough thread she felt now under her fingertips. Most of her wounds required stitches and other mundane techniques alongside healing magic. 

Irisi could handle the pain. She was a big girl, had saved her own world and fought to represent it later on. But what she couldn’t handle was the fucking cold.

It was so cold in Wizard City. 

In Dragonspyre it had been the kind of hot that made your lungs not work right, breathing in the smoke and the scent of sulfur, tasting ash on your tongue. She had been terrified, but she could handle it, especially after growing up in Krokotopia. 

But Dragonspyre’s climate doesn’t have anything on the fire of a Dragon Titan.

Irisi stared off into space, still thinking about it- about how every atom of her body was on fire, and it all melted back together in an approximation of her being, just an afterthought when she was collateral damage in the defeat of a grieving man. 

She startled when a warm knitted blanket rested on her shoulders. Whipping her head to the side, she stared at Emrys. The boy had his hands raised in the air, face open and a bit helpless. 

Irisi just nodded at him in thanks, and grabbed a book off of her bedside. He relaxed, and sat in the chair that Mari usually took by her bed.

Right now, she could just read. No more dwelling on what will certainly heal.

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Two: Mindless + Potions

Hi y’all! It’s still the second my time, so welcome to day two of Inktober! Decided to do an OC fic, about my character Emrys! Sort of a companion to this, so maybe read that before? Warnings for magical substance abuse, pain, self destructive tendencies, and one mention of suicide.

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

Emrys grimaced, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom and panting. Nightmares were awful, but the frantic unconscious movement would strain muscles that would never properly heal. Groaning, he splayed a hand against the thick rope-like scar on his bare chest, mentally preparing to get out of bed.

He glanced at the clock in his room. Four AM wasn’t that early of a wake up time for him. Emrys groaned again as he got up. One hand was rubbing lightly at his chest, trying to get that tight, painful sensation to stop, and the other was clutching desperately against the headboard of his bed.

The wind chimes on his balcony moved faintly, the crystals gleaming faintly in the moonlight. The October breeze was chilling, but Emrys never bothered to wear shirts to bed anyway. Even if he did get cold, he would never admit it, his pride as an ice wizard overtaking common sense.

He stumbled into his bathroom, hands automatically going to the medicine cabinet. The empty bottles of pain potions took a moment to recognize, before he sighed and closed it again, coming face to face with his reflection as the cabinet closed.

The boy in the mirror looked almost gaunt, a childish caricature. The smears of purple fingerpaint under the eyes, the deep empty black of the eyes, the messy impossible hair.

Emrys brushed his shaking fingers through his blue hair, staring back at that boy, and not quite recognizing him. With a shake of his head, he turned around and left, putting on his slippers for the walk downstairs.

Tiredly making his descent Emrys skipped the creaky third step of the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Pulling out ingredients and a cauldron were automatic tasks. The tools were all bright silver and the cauldron was a deep black, onyx embedded into the rigid handles. 

It was a gift from his father when he and Mari got their little cottage. It saw far more use than his father probably ever anticipated.

Emrys knew the recipe of the health potion by heart now, and couldn’t tell anyone how long it took because he typically brewed it in times like this, middle of the night affairs spent in exhausted trances. He stared down into the indigo mixture as he stirred like it had the answers to his problems, though he knew it certainly didn’t. 

Three years of taking potions to stop the pain, to get some sleep, to get through a damn day of school without getting distracted or short of breath. Chronic conditions weren’t meant to exist in the magical worlds. If a wizard didn’t get it all magically fixed immediately, they tended to not survive severe injury. 

Unfortunately for Emrys, he did survive. A twinge of pain at the repeated stirring motion reminded him, the aggravated injury making him clench his teeth.

The potion was now a bright violet, almost the proper shade. Emrys crushed lavender under a silver blade and dropped it into the cauldron, watching the potion lighten slowly. 

With a relieved sigh, Emrys blew on the flames under the cauldron, drawing on his inner magic to kill the fire. Standing back up, he stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. He’d just have to wait for it to cool now.

“You could’ve told me.”

Emrys startled, before turning around to look at his sister, Mari. 

She stood there in a green tank top and black sweatpants, leaning against the kitchen’s doorway. She was staring him down in a way that made Emrys very sure that he messed up.

“Tell you what?” Emrys asked, tone flat. He was too tired to act angry or guilty.

“Don’t play stupid, you’re bad at it.” Mari walked across the kitchen and began looking through cupboards, grabbing ingredients. “You’ve been having nightmares. You’ve been taking potions, and not telling me- and I’m your fucking healer, I’m supposed to know that shit- and you’ve been sleeping maybe four hours a night.”

At Emrys’ confused look Mari snorted. “You’re not nearly as stealthy as you think you are, Emmy.”

Emrys sat down at the kitchen table, his chair turned to look out from the table. “It’s my business.”

Mari pulled a carton of eggs out of the fridge and whirled around to look at him. “What the hell does that mean? I think it’s my business if your health is so shitty you fall asleep in the library and almost collapse in a practice duel- yes, Jen told me, they were really worried.” 

Emrys frowned. “I can take care of-”

“No, Emrys!” Mari left the eggs on the counter and approached him, and Emrys noticed her eyes were full with tears. “No you can’t! You’re not okay! And I’m worried, Irisi’s worried, your friends are worried! You need to stop and relax for once, because you’re working yourself into the fucking ground and I’m not going to sit here and let you fucking kill yourself like this!” 

Emrys tried to speak, to say something biting and cruel enough that Mari would leave him alone, only to let out a strangled, hiccup-y sob. 

Mari pulled him into her arms, and they both sank onto the freezing tile floor. Emrys couldn’t remember the last time he cried- it must’ve been when he was still in Mooshu, years ago. 

Mari was crying now too. “Please-” She kept stuttering, before pulling back to look him in the eyes. “Please, let me take care of you. I can’t lose the brother I just got back.” 

Emrys nodded, before embracing her desperately, melting into her and letting her support him.

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Six: Husky + Trusty Steed

Hi welcome to Day Six! I had a bit of trouble bc I had to start over with a fresh idea. Warnings for basically gore, even with kids, bad endings, and kinda suspense. I’m too angry to do suspense right. The cut off is high up because I start in on the graphic stuff early and don’t stop. I don’t know what it is either.

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

Wizard City was cold now that it was devoid of life.

Bodies littered the streets, blood ran between the cobblestones. Brain matter and blood splattered all over the walls around the headmaster’s office and tower.

No animal was spared either. Pets and mounts alike were slaughtered, most trying to stay loyal to the bitter end, only to die as nothing more than another meat shield in front of the true target. 

Some of the bodies were so small, too. Little children with their chubby faces frozen in rigor mortis, tiny fingers reaching out for something the living will never know. The children were all huddled in the library, protected by the older students, only for those older wizards to act as nothing more than those pets and mounts had- just shields of flesh to be shattered. 

“Fuck.” 

Emrys' last word was low, almost a growl, his voice husky with disuse. It was all he could say when stepping out of the Spiral door, only to be confronted with piles of bodies inside a decaying Bartleby. He stepped forward, hearing both Irisi and Mari’s distressed sounds as they followed him out of the Spiral door. 

“Is- is everywhere like this?” Irisi found herself asking, moving quickly- “Oh no- Arthur, Noah, Haley-” She slammed the door to Ravenwood open, only to gag upon seeing more gore, practically tasting the blood its stench was so thick.

Mari followed, pushing past her girlfriend and making a beeline towards the Life classroom, only to look inside with a small horrified scream and slam the door. She leaned her back on it and shook her head, one hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes.

Emrys felt empty. Like he was staring off the edge of the world and only saw the void. Every new body he saw was just another pebble thrown off the edge, not making a single sound. He stopped when he saw his friends from the ice school, face down on their way towards the Commons. Their personalized backpacks only told him they had been in class when whatever happened struck.

Irisi looked pale, glancing back at Bartleby. “He’s asleep. All of the trees are. Arthur-” Tears ran down her face, and Mari came to her side to support her. “He’s gone.” 

Mari guided Irisi onward, and Emrys followed numbly. 

They toured the world, looking for a single survivor. No wizard, pet, or mount survived. No traces of monsters. No indications of a fight, just a terrified fleeing that ended in slaughter.

Mari and Irisi didn’t even notice when Emrys had stopped following them. When he had been detached, broken and staring at another body, an academic rival he would only say cruel things to, now dead and gone.

His sister and her girlfriend were turning down into Olde Town by the time Emrys saw it, and started running. His breath only came in ragged pants as he ran, turning back onto Colossus Boulevard and sprinting. Emrys had never been so scared in his entire life, he threw his backpack into the snow covered bushes and continued running, eyes wild with some deep animal fear.

He had gotten farther than most, at least. Far enough that Mari and Irisi never heard his dying scream of agony.

The couple was walking, silent and reassuring. They weren’t even noticing as they drifted apart, going from almost an embrace to simply interlocked arms, then held hands. Something was separating them and they could sense it, the magic too esoteric to even register in their bodies. 

Mari’s last words had been around the Commons, a simple, “We’ll find who did this and return the favor.”

Irisi’s had been when the three were together. By the time she had said ‘He’s gone’, the magic was already doing its work.

Now they held hands, walking past the Bazaar, down the sloped street. Their boots made the only sound, empty echoes. Mari didn’t even register that Irisi had continued down the sloped street, that their fingers were lightly brushing against each others’ as they split paths.

Irisi was staring off at familiar tan and maroon balance robes, at the group of wizards that were huddled together. She opened her mouth, automatically, trying to say a funerary custom from Krokotopia-

And began running, an unknown kind of horror racing through her brain, incomprehensible as she tripped, clawing her way back up and racing into Firecat Alley, glancing behind her to see it and running harder.

She started screaming when she realized she was alone, crying out in pain, hoping for her girlfriend to hear, though she was still walking absentmindedly through the beginnings of Triton Avenue.

It only hit Mari when she was entering the Haunted Cave of Triton Avenue. It built far more slower in her, as if toying with her, savoring this last prey, knowing she would stand her ground and fight instead of flee.

Mari’s hands glowed with vengeful life magic, the realization hitting her sooner than it expected. She even got a good hit in too- but blinded by tears, she was easily defeated.

And torn limb from limb, as it mused over the lesson to not play with its food anymore.

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Twenty: Tread + Sleeping In

Welcome to Inktober Day Twenty! This is basically just a sapphic love poem masquerading as prose. I did a tiny bit of research, if any of my lil hints of things were wrong please tell me. I have never traveled, T_T

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

Mari woke up to a soft kiss on her bare shoulder, loose t-shirt fabric bunched down her arm, her brown skin on display. Her confused mumble are muffled by her pillow. 

“Good morning sunshine.” Irisi’s teasing voice, Krokotopian accent thicker with sleepiness, was the siren song that truly woke Mari.

Rolling over in their huge shared sleeping bag, Mari kissed Irisi, missing a bit so it was only half her mouth, but they both huffed with amusement at Mari’s clumsiness. Irisi was already dressed for the day of hiking, her tank-top leaving freckled, toned arms bare and making Mari stare far too obviously.

“C’mon, Mari. I made breakfast already. We gotta get going if we don’t wanna miss the sunrise.”

Mari groaned, rolling over and flopping against her pillow pathetically. “Remind me why I let you drag me out in the middle of the Japanese wilderness?”

“Emrys wanted to go to all those museums to learn about his culture and you didn’t wanna stick around for when he looked for his biological dad, remember?”

“Oh. Yeah. He didn’t want us around either.” Mari got up, accepting her fate, and rummaged through her duffel bag for proper clothes. Camping in Japan was amazing, the spring blooms making every view gorgeous, every moment worth staying in forever. 

Their tour of Earth had started in America, where they had some connections, and they quickly got what they needed to forge passports and such to be able to get to where they wanted to go. They toured Europe, then traveled around northern Africa and lingered around Egypt, where Irisi was fascinated by such a similar culture to her own. Then it was India, where Mari wanted to stay forever, to really learn and exist where she came from, to be absorbed in the very ground there and become one with it. 

India was Mari’s favorite. She convinced them to stay for the whole winter, only leaving after Holi.

Now they were in Japan, and Emrys, her brother, was more closed off than ever, trying to understand the hurt that lead to him being left alone by his parents. Trying to understand what it actually is to be half Japanese, besides something he can idly mention when talking to close friends about Earth. Then they’d go to South Korea, Emrys’ other half, and he’d start all over again over there, except hopefully the reunion with his mother would be better.

In Mari’s opinion, his biological parents didn’t deserve to see what an amazing, intelligent man they missed out on raising. Irisi insisted that would be rude to say.

Mari looked into her backpack to find it full of the supplies they’d need today for their hike. She’d have to nag Irisi about getting more sleep later, her girlfriend had a habit of waking too early and not even trying to sleep again.

She grabbed Irisi’s jacket, and once she pushed out of the tents’ flaps, threw it at her girlfriend. 

“It’s not a desert here, you’ll catch your death.” Mari said tensely, trying not to snap with her own tiredness.

“Someone’s bright eyed and busy tailed.” Irisi muttered, snorting as she shrugged the jacket on in the pitch blackness of the morning.

Mari laughed, nudging Irisi with her hip as she pushed past her to look at their little food set up. “Tofu breakfast burrito? You spoil me.” 

Irisi kissed her on the cheek, passing by to grab her own bag. “Anything for you.” 

They worked together to pack up the tent and their chairs, all without any magic to aid them. When their contact got them to Earth, they were told to never use magic unless a life was on the line. Unfortunately, carrying their heavy camping gear up a mountain didn’t count.

It was still hard to see, and they had to use flashlights to navigate in the darkness. Mari sometimes was passively able to shift nature to their advantage, instinct over need causing it. Ambient magic seemed to pulse off of her as she got more and more into her element, reveling in the beauty around her, how it was all so alive, new and growing.

She and Irisi rarely talked on their hikes. It was almost meditative, and a kind of peace settled over Mari that she hadn’t felt in years. Not since her quiet youth of gardening in Mooshu, of always sunny days and no quests to save worlds.

Maybe Japan was her second favorite country.

They got to a flattened out seating area along the trail, not the top of the mountain, but near enough that the air felt thinner than usual. A campsite would be nearby, and they’d set up for the day, but for now, they’d rest on this little sanctuary within the sanctuary of Mount Takao. 

Lazy dawn light was beginning to show, pale and shy. Irisi grinned, almost throwing down her bags and going to sit closest to the ledge, back against one of the concrete foundations of the picnic tables. Mari sighed, but settled her stuff down next to Irisi’s, grabbing the bag for camping chairs and also their fluffiest blanket from Switzerland. 

Being the sensible one was exhausting. Mari now knew why she never bothered before.

“Mari! Come on!” Irisi yelled, disturbing some birds.

Mari set out the chairs, popping them into place and looking at Irisi. “Slouching against concrete isn’t good for your back.” 

Irisi snorted, but upon seeing the blanket she got in her maroon camping chair and wiggled in it to move closer, making silly grabby hands at the blanket Mari had. 

They leaned together, Irisi resting her head on Mari’s shoulder, now fully cuddled into their blanket. Pinks began to light up on the horizon, the canopy of trees below a mesh of greens with patches of pink from cherry blossoms. 

Mari was transfixed. The sunrise filled her with the same awe that hollowed out her chest like New Years fireworks, like joyful children painting each other every color possible in the streets of New Delhi, like the pyramids of Giza, like seeing Irisi for the first time.

It was amazing in a whole new definition, taking her perspective and twisting it artfully, a wire sculpture of geometry she couldn’t even understand, in a dimension beyond her own three.

It felt spiritual, and before this trip she had only idly considered those kinds of things.

Warm tears traced lines down her cheeks, nothing but two twin tree trunks, two blades of grass, two stems to alien flowers. Magic and something she couldn’t name swirled within her, soft and welcoming, like coming home again and again.

Mari wanted to travel forever. To find every one of these moments and crystallize them in her memory, make them something tangible and real. She wanted to bring them back to the magical side of the Spiral, shove them in wizards’ faces and ask why they thought magic was what made them worthy, when no magic could make this kind of moment.

Irisi was snoring softly on her shoulder, and the sun was continuing to rise, the pretty colors gone, leaving only beautiful blues. Mari rested her head against Irisi’s, knowing she’d probably have a crick in her neck later, but let herself fall endlessly into a soft warm sleep.

They’d sleep for a few more hours, lovely and delicate, whole and there as two people in love could be.

[save-the-spiral]

InkWizTober Day Fifteen: Legend + Oni

Welcome to day fifteen of inktober! I lowkey cried in class today so this is the mood we get to work with. Warnings for PTSD/flashbacks from the narrator.

(link to prompt lists) (link to inktober tag)

Mari had never been able to tell the story about what happened in Mooshu when she was alone questing alone, her brother in peril. At first it was simply because Emrys needed more attention than her when it was all over, her older brother traumatized and having to acclimate to almost everything in his life. 

Then they went to Wizard City and well, she was just so isolated in Ravenwood. No life wizard wanted to associate with someone at the bottom of the food chain like her, and she was too busy to find other people to befriend. After that was the tournament in Pigswick and, well, no friends there. Just a crush and eventual date.

Telling a story about some of the worst moments in your life is not exactly first date conversation worthy. 

Things just kept popping up, and here Mari was, now. 

Crying outside of Bartleby after a demonstration of fire magic, of the Hellephant spell, mind flashing between Mooshu and now, between the frightened twelve year old with singed hair and a panicking seventeen year old. 

The war oni was not kind to her, pitiful thing she used to be. 

It took only a minute before she felt a hoof gently rest on her shoulder, and she looked up with teary eyes and a snotty face to see Moolinda Wu. Mari immediately lunged upwards to hug the only mother figure in her life, sobbing into her delicate clothes and soft fur.

“Let us go have tea, in my quarters.” Moolinda murmured softly, supporting Mari who was already drained.

Mari only nodded, sniffling into her professor’s shoulder. They both sighed, the breeze picking up a bit outside of Bartleby, sending autumn leaves around Ravenwood’s courtyard. Courage swelled deep in Mari’s heart.

“I have a story to tell you, about back in Mooshu.” Mari said quietly, and in a half embrace they walked together towards Moolinda’s home.

[save-the-spiral]

Showtime

Guess who finally edited and formatted their fic for @spiralstudyhall‘s event!!!!! Decided to go with Mari, and the fact that she plays the violin, then added some magic in for flavor.

Content warnings, not many, just implied injury I guess.

Mari wasn’t the type to get nervous easily. She was made of tougher stuff than that, she had not cowered when confronted with saving her world, other worlds, and the entire Spiral. She had stared down a master of necromancy and dared to battle him, and didn’t falter when she was face to face with a Dragon Titan.

So the fact that she was nervous now was irritating at best, even though she knew it wasn’t unreasonable.

She sighed, turning again in the twisting, box-filled hallways backstage. The Cirque Du Wisp was new, something that people were excited about, especially the talent show. Quests, assignments, and even parties were delayed simply because of something interesting and new, a rare occurence on a magical floating world like Wizard City.

And while Mari would always prefer the vast and vibrant landscape of Mooshu, or even her girlfriend’s home world of Krokotopia, Wizard City had a certain charm to it. While Mooshu had many, many festivals and different events, she had never had the chance to compete in a talent show.

Mari cracked her knuckles, listening to each pop and trying to calm her nerves as she found where the odd charmed mannequins had guided her to, where she was supposed to sit calmly and wait until her name was announced as the strange ringmaster told her at auditions.

Their methods were strange, but terribly clever. Separate rips in magic and space allowed for dozens of rooms so the contestants wouldn’t interact before the show, making sure they didn’t know what they were up against and weren’t able to sabotage anyone. Not that Mari would.

Well, she would for certain people, but barring that, she would follow their rules.

With a shaky breath, she sat down on a plastic chair, careful of stray objects pulling at her coattails. While she would normally wear a sari, because they’re more fun and dramatic, she didn’t want to deal with others asking about it, and she’d have a harder time with her new boots.

Combat boots didn’t fit well with traditional indian attire, not when she could trip onstage.

So she bought a dark green, velvety conductor’s jacket in one of the many thrift stores in Wizard City, adjusted it a bit with magic, and she suddenly had a dramatic and showy outfit she could keep for any more events like this.

It felt like the room was deafened to the world outside. The gentle creak of old wood, most likely the floors and crates, was all she could hear. There wasn’t even a clock so Mari just sat there, staring at the instrument case on her lap.

She was tempted to pull it out and play, practice a few scales, maybe even her full routine- but she had no way of knowing when she’d be called up. It would just be her luck to be already in the middle of her song when she had to start it all over again, probably messing it up.

Mari wasn’t the most confident in her abilities. The only thing like this she had done before was at the Spiral Cup, a few years ago now. She hadn’t even won the dueling competition, even though she got to kick a teacher’s ass and also date a cute girl afterwards, which was as good as getting the trophy.

The attention and crowds weren’t something she was used to. She was invisible among the students of Ravenwood, another annoying theurgist who wouldn’t play by the rules. Even after saving the Spiral, she was just another name. Just as she intended. She didn’t do the best with people watching. Allies and friends, that was fine. But in Mooshu she and her family had lived a mostly isolated life in a small farming village, and that had made her the biggest social butterfly.

At least she wasn’t Emrys, who only made friends if they could tolerate him being an asshole for a few months and still not hate him.

Mari’s painted nails began to dig under the soft paper of old stickers on the case. They weren’t hers, and her old friend Lenora didn’t particularly care either, so at this point the old stickers of flowers and bugs were mostly just stress relievers for Mari to fidget with, a majority of them simply white silhouettes from age.

Lenora had given her the case and the instrument inside, insisting it counted toward her duties as a peer mentor. At the time it was mostly charity and pity. Professor Wu had pushed a fourteen year old Mari onto Lenora with no mercy, claiming that Mari needed a guide, especially because she hadn’t gone into music yet at her age, which was something many theurgists did before they even came to Ravenwood.

Feeling lonely, homesick, and out of her depth Mari listened to Lenora with rapt attention, even when the topics wandered from gossip and music to things they both were a bit more interested in, battle strategies and martial arts.

Mari had a lot of free time due to her lack of literally any friends, and Lenora just thought it was fun to let Mari follow her around like a lost puppy. It was like having a sister, something Mari had always wished for after her father adopted her brother.

Lenora was a fantastic big sister, and taught Mari a lot about being a life wizard, and being a musician, and being safe as a young woman questing in the Spiral. She taught her things that Mari’s father hadn’t had the time for, or had just forgotten.

When Mari was nervous about playing new pieces, Lenora had calmed her down, had been kind and patient with her in a way not many people were. Lenora made sure that Mari knew the facts about performing, much of her experience from old lessons and recitals she never wanted to go to.

“You don’t have to be the best, Mari. Just do your best. Know that whatever you did, as long as you didn’t purposefully mess up, it was your best. It might not be your best all the time, it may be an outlier. But knowing you’re doing your best is one of the ways we can let ourselves relax, let ourselves focus on what we’re doing, not what others are.”

With a last shaky breath, Mari let her fingers relax, eyes sliding closed as she relaxed, shoulders aching from how tense they had been. She was a badass. She wore combat boots and had tattoos and dyed hair. She was a badass hero who could play in front of her school and kick ass.

She could do this.

Mari let her eyes lazily open again, now much calmer. The room was still quiet, but another door was present, this one simply a doorway filled with darkness. She had been told it would lead her onto the stage, and would appear a few minutes beforehand to give her a warning. Her heartbeat was faster again as she realized what it meant. She’d be up next.

Sound was slowly filtering into the room, cheering, the dramatic voice of the ringmaster, strains of music as well. The act before her was drawing to a close, and she was almost up.

Standing, Mari brushed her jacket with an absentminded hand, making sure the collar was right and her black bowtie was in place. She hugged the case for a moment, almost as if it were a teddy bear. Adjusting her grip, she held it properly and straightened her spine, shoulders back, chin up, defiantly confident in the face of potential humiliation.

That was only if she messed up though. And she wouldn’t, not when she was doing her best.

“And up next! A young life wizard with her own original piece of music, alllllll the way from Mooshu! It’s Mahamari Jaaade!”

With a deep breath, Mari walked through the doorway, finding the glowing mark of tape that was right in the middle of the stage. The curtains were closed, but she knew the gaudy red and gold fabric would move aside in just a moment.

She kneeled for a moment, placing her case down right beside the mark, pulling out her instrument, fingers tracing reverently across the decadent whorls in the wood. She grabbed the instrument, standing and walking on shaky, bambi-like legs as she stood on her mark.

It was showtime.

The curtains parted to reveal the night sky, brilliant as always, the crowd swathed in darkness. A spotlight on her, only her. It was dead silent, and for a moment Mari wasn’t sure if it was because of her panic, a spell, or adrenaline.

She tucked the violin under her chin, raised the bow slowly. There were murmurs in the crowd, and she ignored them.

Mari began to play. She started slow- always slow, she appreciated the build up- and it was quiet, even though the magical amplification was applied to the stage. She played the notes precisely, as if it were her duty, as if it were simply all she knew. It was about something unattainable, missing a home she never had.

The crowd’s murmurs picked up again at the realization of her skill, but she played on, hearing faint shushing that made her lips quirk slightly. Her gaze was intense as she played though, and didn’t allow anything to distract her.

The song became more playful. And with that, Mari began to move. She wasn’t necessarily dancing, but it was fluid with the tempo, it changed with every note as it should. Gentle green magic began fluttering around her fingers, like hope in the heart of an orphan just adopted, and then the magic began to move, curling alongside the tattooed vines on her arm, then up to her shoulder, resting for a moment in a brief pause in the music, resting in the dip of her collarbone.

Mari found herself grinning slightly, reminiscing on a young Emrys, the excitable children they used to be, the ignition for her spell. The magic leaped off of her shoulder, wobbling midair as a sphere, and fell. It splashed onto the wooden floor of the stage like a teardrop, every little speck that flew outwards becoming birds, the small creatures a translucent, glowing mint green. The pool in the middle remained, just a few feet away from Mari’s boots.

The birds flew around the crowd, dipping and diving so close that the faint screams of some wizards could be heard. Mari’s grin devolved into a smirk as the notes became more jumpy, unsure. More vines of magic grew up both of her arms.

The birds flew back home, to the nest. As they flew above the stage in a flock, they combined into two beings, both falling onto the stage gracefully. One was a sleek leopard, mischievous, low to the ground. The other was almost the same creature, but instead of a vibrant green, it was an almost blue cyan, and fluffier, immediately pouncing on its companion playfully.

The leopards ran together, almost blurring into one creature. They were silent, but their movements were to Mari’s music, to her now happy and adventurous playing. She was still now, no longer restlessly pacing like a wildcat in a cage. The leopards chased and played around the stage, having no companion but each other, beginning to circle tighter and tighter around Mari, who stood on the mark she had started on, next to her case.

When they were almost close enough that Mari could feel the heat of the magic, she knew it was time. With a sharp, startling note, the snow leopard stumbled, falling into the puddle of magic Mari had left in the beginning, disappearing.

The lights went dark, as did most of Mari’s magic, aside from the now almost lime green of the leopard, the one that represented Mari. The creature looked frantically around, pacing and snarling to the now discordant tunes, swiping at nothing with the random jumps and changes in her music.

Quicker and quicker Mari played, her fingers twitching and movements perfectly small, the music hauntingly fast, a track in an old school thriller movie, the chase of the monster and the victim. On and on the leopard searched, until she moved slower and slower, shuddering to a halt, until finally she collapsed.

But still Mari played quickly, trying to convey how terrifying it all was, to become helpless, exhausted, unable to save anyone even as they grew closer and closer to being lost forever. The useless search, the way it ripped at a wizard inside, the millions of tricks they can pull out of their hat but unable to find one that’ll bring him home.

Sometimes they just have to help themselves, as cruel as it is. It’s the only way.

The music was slowing slightly, now more regular, a fast heartbeat thudding. The puddle of magic the snow leopard had been swallowed by appeared again, and Mari could hear the audible gasps as the cyan paw of the creature appeared, and the snow leopard began clawing his way out, a permanent snarl embedded on that ferocious face. His ragged claws left deep furroughs of magic in the floor, glowing and not affecting the stage. He pulled himself out of hell, swiping at anything, and if he could have harmed Mari, she would be dead before she could scream.

The snow leopard began limping away, and Mari’s music finally settled. The tones became lonely again as the search began anew, now the snow leopard looking for the leopard. He was in a daze, limping heavily, leaving a trail of bright magic behind, the blood stains never fading.

Then, he found her, curled up and asleep, as if afraid of waking up alone again. Mari’s playing became quieter and quieter as the snow leopard neared, almost as if in disbelief. He finally just settled, licking the leopard’s cheek once so the fur stuck out funnily, and fell asleep, so they rested side by side, back to back.

With one final note, Mari drew the bow away from the violin, raising it as high in the air as one would a wand after a victorious battle. She held the violin away from her, by the neck of the instrument.

The magic went dark, only glowing now on the tattoo of her right arm. A spotlight lit on her, only her.

And the crowd screamed.

Mari grinned, taking a dramatic bow, her heart pounding as she stood there, a wave of roaring cheers and clapping crashing over her.

Seems like doing her best was a pretty good idea.

[save-the-spiral]

Day Five- Chicken

Day five of inktober !!!!!! slightly rushed intro because right now I have 20 minutes to edit and post this until it’s tomorrow, but anyway, Mari stuff, chicken is a hard prompt, this is getting rough, moolinda is hard to write, hope you enjoy.  Warnings for bullying/teasing, and implied neglect from a school authority.

(link to prompt list) (link to inktober tag)

“Hello class.” The serene, calming voice of Professor Moolinda Wu woke Mari from her doze, causing her to lift her head from folded arms and smile slightly,  leaning back in her wooden chair.

Professor Wu nodded to Mari as she passed to stand in front of her desk. “Good morning, students. Now that fall is upon us, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to show that life can still flourish, even when change comes.” 

Some of the other advanced students sat a little straighter in their seats, sensing a challenge.

“We will be raising animals.” Wu continued, tilting her head.

An older student raised his hand, his glasses slipping a bit on his face from the sudden movement. “Do you mean non-magical animals?” 

Professor Wu nodded, smiling. “Of course. Now, I’d like to introduce you all to our project for the next twenty-one days or so.” 

Knowing she wouldn’t say any more, the room erupted into muttered and whispered conversations, all of them curious. The advanced theurgist classes never did the same thing each year under Professor Wu’s teaching, so it’d be something new, which some of them obviously weren’t comfortable with.

Professor Wu approached Mari, settling a hoof on the desk near her tattooed hand. “Miss Jade, would you accompany me in bringing in our materials?” 

“Sure.” Mari said quietly, shutting the notebook on her desk and standing up, trailing behind her professor. Her black combat boots clunked against the wooden floor of the classroom, various bracelets jingling around her wrist as she tugged on her green cloak, almost tempted to bring the hood up over her head, especially when she heard more than one whisper of ‘teacher’s pet’ followed by snickers.

Subtly showing the classroom her middle finger behind her back, Mari made sure to close the door behind her when exiting into the main courtyard of Ravenwood. 

“Ma’am, what is this project?” She asked, jogging a bit to catch up with the professor. 

“Just a little refresher on life’s beginning, my child.” Moolinda gestured vaguely before tapping a hoof on top of Mari’s head and smiling. “And you are far too excellent of a wizard to call me ma’am, Mahamari.” 

“As if I’d let everyone know I really am a teacher’s pet.” Mari muttered, causing Professor Wu to laugh quietly.

They crossed the courtyard and into the small green in front of Bartleby. Moolinda waved at the balance wizards and their professor, who was trying to explain something, shuffling spell cards repeatedly in his paws. 

When they entered Bartleby, the cavernous hollow of his trunk illuminated with magic, twinkling little fireflies of light. Mari stopped for a moment, relishing in the beauty of it and trying to push back memories of darker times spent in this same place.

“’Bout time you showed up, Moolinda. I was worried I’d have to hatch these things myself if you took any longer.” 

“Mari, I’d like you to meet a former student of mine.” Moolinda gently pushed Mari forward as someone stepped out of the shadows.

The person looked Mari up and down, as if she could see every secret Mari held in her scars, or her tattoos. Mari looked at her in turn. The woman was asian, a few inches taller than Mari, and had long black hair. She held an intricately engraved scythe at her side, and was wearing black and green robes. 

“I was her first student, actually.” The woman smirked. “Needed a tutor when Ambrose expelled me from Ravenwood.” 

Mari grinned. This lady was fun. “Must be a helluva story to tell.” She said playfully.

“Maybe another time.” The woman replied. “My name is Morelle Ravenhunter, kid. I take it you’re Mari Jade? And before you ask any questions, I talk to Moolinda about her students.” 

Mari looked at her professor, smiling up at her, and turning back to Morelle. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Moolinda tapped her hooves together, tilting her head. “This is excellent. Now, Morelle, I believe I should bring my package back to my classroom before they find a way to burn it down.” She said calmly. 

Morelle snorted, turning back and picking up a box surrounded in complex sigils glowing a faint orange. “Here you go. Twenty chicken eggs, fertilized and ready to hatch in twenty-one days or so. Got ‘em from a farmer in the U.S., she said they’re all Rhode Island Reds.”

“Thank you Morelle!” Moolinda exclaimed, tapping her hooves together once again. “Now, because they’re non-magical, we can’t use too much magic on the eggs or their container, so you’ll have to carry it, Mari.” 

“Sure thing.” Mari said, walking forward and holding her arms out, letting Morelle place the box in her arms so she didn’t risk dropping it. 

“You two be careful now, okay?” Morelle said, moving towards the Spiral door. 

Moolinda began to leave, and Mari started to follow. 

“And Mari?” 

“Hmm?” Mari made a confused sound and turned around.

“Don’t trust the headmaster. Ever.” She said, her eyes serious and her mouth set in a thin line. Her hands were clenched into fists, until she seemed to realize how tense she was and relaxed. “Just some advice, theurgist to theurgist, y’know? He’s not a good man. Won’t shy away from letting kids get hurt just to keep his school running. Got that?” 

Mari nodded solemnly, before turning and walking out of Bartleby’s hollow, out into the sunlight that glared into her eyes. She winced, and when her vision finally cleared, she was watching the balance students at their class again. 

The students looked exhausted, with rings around their eyes. A few of them were working on crammed parchment, as if they didn’t have enough. She peeked around the side of the tree and saw a small group of tents, a few sleeping bag settled around.

She had heard the jokes at the expense of the sorcerers and their lack of classroom, but they didn’t have dorms either? 

Just what was really happening at her school?