A Tail of Two Dragons by Astrodragon

Sunday 20th November, Lunch, Crystal Hall

A meeting for evaluation of her flying already, they are doing things fast with Thulia. Morgana and Thulia going to tag along, I mean, what can go wrong during a flying evaluation? And Tanya going as well, uh oh, I spoke too soon, didn't I.

Sunday 20th November, late afternoon, Flight Training Area

The leader of the school fight club has an interesting look. Thanagila seems like a fun sort already. Ouch, bra shopping for Thulia, will be...fun. Cool flight course, now that is what I like to see at a super school. Advanced course and against Tanya, why do I feel a crash in the future? Okay, the way Thanagila explains it, it doesn't seem that hard.

Thulia, overconfident, never. Flying since she was 8, Morgana doesn't think she will get too overconfident. Dang, Thulia takes it seriously even for the first run. A bit unusual how she is flying on the course, that is par for the course with Thulia.

Faster than any of them in a straight line, not as maneuverable as Thanagilia, but still good, dang. Local flight approval, takes up to a week, that long, rats. Can only fly on Green Flag days due to her wings, shoot. Ack, flight class to be able to fly off campus, so much work to use something natural to her species. Aerobatics with Tanya, how maneuverable is she compared to Tanya I wonder.

Just how many g's was she pulling on the tighter parts? Oh boy, I should have seen this coming, already conspiring about how to get her on the team.

Monday 21st November, London

Master Olrun dealing with Nephandus again. Still trying to find out what happened to Morgana and found out what has happened to her, and narrowing things down, is not good. Ah, it sounds like they have only investigated the schools and such overseas so far, and not Whateley yet, which is probably because Nephandus is saving that as a last resort, knowing how dangerous going after a student there would be.

Trace her path in America, a bad idea with Whateley involved. What AEGIS did to the little branch of your organization will seem trivial compared to what Whateley will do if you mess with one of their students or their family.

Nephandus left unsaid the personal worry which was keeping the investigation much more concealed than would normally have been necessary. There was a certain school in the area of concern used to house and educate mutants, and no matter how it upset Olrun, he and his father had NO intention of doing anything that might upset Whateley or invite the sort of retaliation they employed.

Yeah, he is a former student there and knows how bad it would be to dare cross Whateley and everyone connected to the school.

A few weeks, good, more staling so Morgana has more time to be ready for these idiots along with her friends and the school.

Almost there, and after all, what sort of a problem would it be to recover the asset from a school or even a research facility?

Boy, Orlun is like a child dealing with adult matters and doesn't even know it yet.

Monday 21st November, Magic 101 Theory class

Any student who doesn't be quiet and pay attention when a teacher like Ms. Grimes signals to is arrogant or foolish at best. Geez, Grimes, don't take such pleasure out of the students being afraid of the Combat Finals. Teamed up by random choice, yeah, right. Heh, I wonder how many teachers have to remind their students that Combat Finals isn't an action movie set. So many don't seem to listen anyway.

Toison's question is a good one, and I'm glad Grimes gave the answer everyone needs to hear. And good advice on the magic spells to prepare and use for the Combat Finals, some players in D&D could learn from this as well.

Hehehe, I love Morgana and Bianca's playful teasing of each other. Bianca has the right idea, work smarter, not harder, and don't risk your life for what is just a test. No pairing up roommates, ah, good to see that rule in place.

Bianca finished it for her. “Are about as random as a stacked card deck.”

“Yep.”

Beware the sadistic teachers and staff when they get an idea to teach the troublemaker students a lesson.

Practicing and preparing for the Combat Finals, oh boy, way to such the fun out of learning magic. Good reminder to them about no spells that can maim or kill, there are always some psychos even among the spellcasters who will try to slip such things into their Combat Finals. Oh, non-permanent injuries are allowed, a lot of students end up in Doyle after a match each year. Though I hope we don't have any psychos like in Gen 1 this time.

Monday 21st November, 10 a.m. Outside the English for Dummies classroom.

Poor Thulia, is so nervous for her first class at a new school. M3 not helping with their tales of all the classes at Whateley.

It was just a class, what was the worst that could happen?

Thulia, never tempt fate like this. Donut greets her, the nicest guy at Whateley. A chocolate-covered coffee donut, he has just made a friend for life.

A short girl with various objects orbiting her head, who might this be? Ms Barnes, most of the class doesn't bite, okay, then which ones do would be my response? Crud, Humorless is in her class and glaring at her, please don't let him start something with Thulia.

11 am, Dojo, BMA class

Thulia, female top nudity is looked down on in America, a stupid culture that needs to change, and would get a lot more males after you than you like if you exposed them. Fighting in her human form and more concerned about learning to not damage people unnecessarily, sounds similar to another student. All those stares and talk about Thulia, thrown into the deep end of high school society seems like an understatement.

Ms. Grimes's office, 2 p.m.

Ms. Grimes wishes to see Thulia and ask about the study program she was asked to read and annotate, curious. Ah, to help set up formal lessons on subjects Thulia wishes to learn about, or needs to learn about. Magic silver disk so Morgana's aura will recognize her clothes as a part of her and be protected from fire, no more burning off her clothes, woohoo. And teach Morgana how to make them herself later, she going to have her whole wardrobe outfitted with them in time. Full costume malfunction during the Combat Finals would be a full reveal in more ways than one.

Monday 21st November, late afternoon, Magic workroom, Bianca and Morgana.

Morgana polishing a crystal rod for a wand. Quartz, so it isn't for a fire spell, keep them guessing, Morgana. A hollow silver rod combined with quartz crystal, ice magic, smart move, no one will see that coming from Morgana. The fast casting of spells is a necessity for the Combat Finals or real combat.

"Surely the Combat Finals aren't that dangerous? I mean, it's a school exercise!"

Bianca, I thought you would have learned by now nothing is normal at Whateley. Good advice from Wyatt, or is that not The Bear she is talking about. It is always best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

A book about the sort of injuries you can get in combat, yikes, I hope some of the more gruesome ones don't have pictures. A gun is a good weapon for the Combat Finals, plus it fits in the preparing you for real-world scenarios part. Morgana has stuff from Cherry Bomb, I almost pity her opponent in her CF. Aww, Bianca, don't underestimate yourself. Besides, surrendering and running away aren't always options in the real world and your opponent might not give you them, especially if it is an Ultraviolent or someone with a grudge against you. Tia, the master of running away, should give special lessons to the Survival class on it.

Monday 21st November, late afternoon, Thulia's Magic workroom.

Whateley Academy School Store, is your one-stop shopping location for nearly anything. Aww, so that is why she didn't have the silver disks ready by the time she came to Whateley. Ah, magnification goggles are used by jewelers, watchmakers, and others who do delicate work. An hour to prepare all of those, the old-fashioned way would have taken her several hours I bet.

Monday 21st November, evening, Poe cottage, Flower's room.

Aww, still so shy about seeing girls like that despite being one now, Morgana has a lot to adjust to. Asking Flower about the hot tub party, if she can bring Thulia and it is no problem. Oh boy, Thulia is going to be getting stared at a lot there, I hope she can handle it. No personal interaction beyond what you can do in the halls of Poe, good.

Ah, yes, the dress Thulia wore. Any sexier and I think we would have seen steam coming out of Morgana's ears. How, how did Flower say that phrase without even a slight twitch of her lips as if she was holding back a grin? Oh, now she breaks down giggling, silly girl.

Tuesday 22nd November, Mid-evening, Bianca and Morgana's room, Poe cottage.

Cleaning up first before going in the hot tub, is tradition. A deep massage of the neck and shoulders from Morgana, good thing no one else is in there right now.

“Not really. Just a lot of new things, new people, new stuff to learn. A lot of people and stuff, it’s a bit overwhelming. Sometimes I get worried at the sheer amount of it all.”

Aww, a bit of an introvert, I bet, all that would get to you. Seesh, any more steamy and the water would vaporize before it can hit their scales.

Heh, the lesbians and a few bi girls wanting to ask them about their relationship, it is like their own soap opera. Oh, she doesn't like being looked at that way by people she has no interest in that way. Time for Flower to lead them to one of Poe's biggest secrets.

The old hidden hot tub retreat, a secret passed from generation to generation of Posies since it was first built. It is closer to being a hot spring than a hot tub, when the students do a legacy project they do it right. The hottest end of the tub, nice. Question barrage time, I hope Thulia doesn't freak out. Nice cover story, just enough of the truth to pass without a lot of details. Oof, at least the girls backed off some when they saw Thulia's discomfort.

Wednesday 23rd November, Shutterfly's room, after lunch

Yay! Shutterfly has Morgana's mask ready, eye protection and flash protection are something most people overlook until they need it the first time. Two pairs of sunglasses, so one for her and one for Thulia I'm guessing.

Wednesday 23rd November, Outside Kane Hall, early afternoon

A new MID and Jeanne's reaction has me curious as to the extent of information on the MID that can't be seen by the holder.

"It's quite simple. The card has quite a lot of data about you in the memory card on it, and a lot of the Commonwealth governments don't trust the American MCO to use it properly. There have been incidents."

"Incidents?" Morgana was starting to get more than a bit worried, given her personal history.

"Bad ones. Where some data was misrepresented, which caused the holder a problem. Anyway, we now use the ones issued by our own governments." You’re a Brit, aren’t you?

Okay, a very good reason for new MIDs, I wouldn't trust anything made by the MCO either.

2 levels of data you don't see! Okay, the MIDs just became a lot scarier, especially with the part about misrepresented data. And the system for them is very sensible to keep it out of the hands of the MCO and others who will use such data for nefarious purposes.

"Yeah. The first one is low-security stuff, things that people like the police or people like airlines can read with a reader. The second one is a lot more secure, it's for stuff you need a special reader and security clearance for."

I don't like the idea of the MCO having data only they and select others can access about those with MIDs.

"Yeah, but it’s pretty good and we have to keep redoing the cracking. In any case, really serious info is only referenced on it, so they can look it up on a secure system. It's not perfect, but it's about as good as reasonably practical. In any case, all you have to do is go through what's on the card and the first encrypted section and verify it's OK. The US kids have to go through a full interview, they don’t premake the cards."

Darn it, no wonder the story involving Eldritch and the others getting their MIDs seemed so painful. The US MCO pushing their luck again, darn, everyone against them should have done everything they could to get them shut down for good when they had the chance. Hhm, would the Order have told Thulia if it was a serious problem, or are they keeping her in the dark about certain things related to her mission?

Wednesday 23rd November, Crystal Hall, early evening

Morgana going over to talk to Caro after she has finished eating.

“It’s about the ring. I know you made a second blank but didn’t enchant it, and when I told the story to Thulia – and she stopped laughing – she told me that if you want she can probably explain what went wrong, and how you could make it properly the next time?”

Of course Thulia would know what went wrong, they should have contacted her before doing anything involving Morgana's blood. Ooo, I hope this works out and Caro can get the ring she wants this time. Morgana is right, too many prying ears in the Crystal Hall to have any kind of private conversation.

A solo lab being simpler to fireproof, yeah, that would be a very good reason for Thulia to have one. A small pile of magic tomes, how many does she have that are only available on the Plane of Fire? Restricted 'stamp' on a few of them, yeah, Thulia is a frosh at Whateley, but years of experience in magic. I knew that question was coming, still fun to see how complicated things can get at Whateley.

Recounting the tale of the 'One Ring', oof, Caro really should open up to someone about it so she can work through everything that happened. A couple of errors when adding the dragonblood at that point, huh? Oh, crud. All those things needed to use the dragonblood properly to enchant the ring, including a source of power beyond the dragonblood. Eep, no tying the power draw to Morgana, or Thulia will be very angry.

Boy, enchanting a small object like a ring and the use of dragonblood is far more complex than previously expected. No wonder it went as badly as it did before.

“Well, the blood issue can be worked around. What you need to do is filter and purify the blood to extract the active parts of it you want for the spell. That should get rid of all those inconvenient side effects.”

I'm thinking at this point Caro is going to need Thulia's help if she wants to make her ring before the Combat Finals.

Fire resistance, extra strength, and toughness are good choices for parts of a dragon's power to chose. A limited holdout no one is expecting, take what you can get, Caro. When doing any type of enchanting involving body parts or fluids from a living being, always do it from inside a magic circle. She is lucky, it could have drawn in something much worse. Ring attempt, take 2 is underway.

Wednesday 23rd November 2016, The Ambrosius Academy, UK

Dr. Fairfax waiting for visitors and trying to impress them with fake artifacts and such, good grief. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce and their son, Malcolm. The headmaster of this school.

"Now, first of all, I want to explain what sort of schooling Malcolm will get here if we admit him. We are the oldest school of magic in England, and we have nearly 500 students at present. The majority of them are not wiz-class, and the curriculum is geared accordingly, with more of an emphasis towards theoretical studies. In addition to a comprehensive magical curriculum, we also offer the usual classes in subjects like English, Mathematics and a selection of the arts and sciences, so Malcolm will get a fully rounded education. Even if he decides not to become a mage after he graduates, he will have all the education he needs for a less magical career. After all, just being Wiz-class doesn’t necessarily mean he has a vocation for magic.”

Nice sales pitch, but I think it might fail to impress this time. Arrange things for him to practice casting spells, so they do have experience in that at least.

Reduced fees in exchange for Malcolm donating some essence each week, sounds good, but there has to be a catch. In no organized sports, the laws on mutants are sometimes ridiculous, with blanket coverage instead of based on the individual's mutant traits. All these sales pitches to get Malcolm to go to their school, I think there is something he isn't telling them about what happens to Wiz-based students at this school.

Thursday 24th November, evening, Biancas and Morgana's room

A family trip including shopping with Laura's family. Bring your CF uniform for Black Friday shopping, Morgana! Aww, separated during the holidays and Grimes won't let Thulia outfit Morgana. Well, Thulia has a packed holiday weekend. Aww. Morgana, if they don't approve of you then Thulia will probably level her family home in a fury.

Monday 28th November, late afternoon. One of the rooftops over the Campus

Hehe, a loophole in the Imp's rules, Morgana can't visit Thulia as she cleans the gargoyles but others can. Smart move to ask Tanya to come check on her, Morgana. Ah, yes, the brooding Batman impression while sitting on a gargoyle. And Tanya has to explain Batman to Thulia, I wonder what Thulia will think of the Dark Knight.

Thulia hasn't seen the movies, seesh, even a human who has lived their life on Earth can't see everything that was ever made. Aww, this punishment is crueler than I thought, keeping Thulia and Morgana apart like this for hours on end.

Monday 28th November, evening, Crystal Hall.

Punishment chores are always meant to be boring and a waste of time. A card is written in code on one of the rooftops, I wonder what this is. Bianca can read it, coordinates and directions to a point in the tunnels, and codes for a door lock, I thought so. Laura doesn't recognize it, go and take a look. Uh oh.

Laura leads them to the location, types in the passcode, and for a moment nothing happens. Then the door grinds open, stale air coming out, and the others push their way inside instead of being sensible about it. A dishwasher, and strange writing that Bianca can't read, nor is it magical according to Thulia. Weird, what is the symbol?

A meeting room, but it can't be the old Wondercute clubhouse, i just remembered the new Wondercute found the clues and discovered it already. Register it and take over the space for themselves, a clubhouse of their own, about time they got one.

Tuesday 29th November, Thulia and Nefertiti’s room, Dickinson

Why, oh why, did Thulia have to be roomed with her? Thulia hates rants and Nef is ranting about Cally brushing up against her in the shower. Ugh, the anger she has at Cally, the brainwashing done on her by that Amazon B was a doozy. Ooo, Thulia is trying to be reasonable and you get up in her face yelling like that, you are asking for it.

So she put an arm up, intending to push her away. Instead, the girl hit her.

Nef, too far, way too far.

Automatic reaction and Thulia flares her aura, burning Nef who acts like it is all Thulia's fault and she didn't attack Thulia first. Calling Thulia a monster, saying she should be in Hawthorne, Nef, you have become twisted since hooking up with the Amazons. Great, a talk with Mrs. Selkirk, I bet Nef didn't mention the yelling or the fact she hit Thulia first.

Doyle Medical Centre, administration area, early evening.

Good, keep her away from Thulia, Nef has become a menace. Switch her with Mouse, great, one problem with another and someone who is spying on M3. Move Thulia into Hawthorne and the Order would pull her from the school and call the experiment a failure. Even a few weeks there would get them upset enough to do this, Mrs. Selkirk.