Revolution: Inverse

Sallete rushes to the robot she had just downed, grabbed its head and pulled out unceremoniously. Copper wires and tubes dangled bellow it, and the engineer blew into the hole under the head, to get the dust off. Meanwhile, the Engine Sword in her right hand slowly went to a stop, and she rested it on her shoulder.

-Sweet, at least I got one back. I could work harder on their identification matrix...or just figure something new to do with this laser cannon!

"Whew," Angie sighed, stretching her arms into the air, her hands curled into fists. She saw something out of the corner of her eye though, and quickly went towards it. A chunk of raw ore was sitting there, easily identifiable as iron. She picked it up and pocketed, thinking of smelting it later. She could turn it into something useful, if she ever got the chance.

Angie pocketed the iron, still thinking of smelting it later. She wanted to find Karmen first and see what he was up to. Plus, some fresh air might be nice. "Sally, Nessa, I'm going to go take a little breather," Angie told her friends, beaming at them. "You can handle clean-up by yourselves, can't you? Great!" With that, Angie skipped out of there, not even bothering to leave her work gloves behind.

Outside, Angie could finally catch her breath and really make an effort to stretch her cramped muscles. It didn't take her long for her to find Karmen, he was outside as well and...covered in something strange. Then again, Angie was still covered in soot. He was sitting on a bench, so she sneaked around behind him and, when she was close enough, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his.

"Found you!" Angie said, giggling a little bit. "Hows my favorite bird-brain doing?"

Jacqueline's eyes widened, and she reached out toward Dirge's palm, "I love you so much, Surge! I don't know what I would do without your help." She shook her hand violently, clasping it with both of her phosphorus-coated palms. With another quick quote of awkward and stuttered appreciation, Jacqueline readjusted herself and stood, "I better get going, I wouldn't want to be late!"

Just as she had uprooted herself from Dirge's body, an alarming ring echoed throughout the institution. Despite its particularly obnoxious volume, it quickly had become a sound the students had accustomed themselves to listening to. However, no matter how many times the announcement bell rang, it sent a piercing chill of startling proportions down Jacqueline's back every time. One boiling pot of strange liquids tossed askew and across the young botanist's carpet later, Jacqueline had finally calmed herself after yet another befuddled and oddly prideful apology.

After the normal dawntime jingle, which resounded throughout each courtyard, dormitory, and commons at exactly eight-o'clock in the morning, Headmaster Kaestner's ancient voice plagued the speaker system:

"The following students are excuse-" Hack, cough, wheeze, "excused from their morning classes: Jacqueline Candolle, Sallete Deschain, Karmen Harrows, Vanessa Ragnvaldsson, Angie Turner, and Tethys Winterfellow." Cough, sneeze, spit, "These students must, if they would please, report to my office in order to receive further instruction."

"Oh." Jacqueline stared blankly at the wall as the odd mixture of liquid began to seep between her toes and stain her anklet an odd, crimson-reddish color. She paid particularly little attention to the filth surrounding her and turned back to Dirge, holding her by the pelvis once more. "Did you hear that, Dirge! They must have upgraded the Cantus Detection Drones to the latest edition I helped develop in my Cantus Manipulation class! Not once have they detected my Cantus use so quickly! It's revolutionary! EXEMPLARY, even! Well done, sir Kaestner!"

She clapped, in a sort of playful-pretendedness that had always plagued the young botanist's actions ever since she had been born.

Dirge remained silent, her right eye twitching ever so slightly as she heard her name being called. When she applied to the school she insisted they call her by her nickname, and yet she was still called by her actual name. It irked her to no end. But upon feeling Jacqueline's hands wrap around her pelvis again, her twitching stopped and she calmly removed her friend's arms from around her. She did not say a word, and merely nodded in response to her friend's enthusiastic chatter.

She ignored the smeared chemicals on her cloak, but did shed it as she headed for the door, revealing a very pretty blue dress. "We should go, Jackie, best to be punctual." she stated as she walked out the door, leaving it wide open for her friend to follow.

Everything was astonishingly peaceful outside with the warm morning sun and the air free of chemical taint. It was an extreme juxtaposition to the mess Karmen had just escaped from. The noxious stench surely clung to him, but maybe with time the wind would cleanse him of his putrid blight. His absent mind was roused by the sudden sensation of someone hugging his neck from behind, a dirty cheek touching his own. There was only one person who approached him in that matter, and that somewhat put his mind at ease. "Hey Angie," Karmen said lightly, a subtle smile forming on his face. "I'm surprised you can take the wreak of these chemicals. Guess you're used to it by now?" It was probably true with how many times he had gotten entangled in Jacqueline's messes. He didn't have too many chemistry courses to take since his primary focus was biology, and even more specifically, ornithology. As such, he didn't always smell as terrible as he probably did now. He felt like he needed to air out more, but that turned out to be an impossibility as soon as the morning announcements resounded across the campus, trailed by the ancient headmaster belting out his name, and even worse, Jacqueline's. He required their presence in his office. It was surprising that Angie had to go as well, but then again, she had told him of many disturbances coming from the engineering department.

"You had a story to tell me? Looks like I'll be hearing about it through the headmaster, eh? Better not keep the old guy waiting," Karmen said with a yawn, gently prying himself away from Angie so that he could stand up and brush himself off. The dark aura that surrounded him in battle had faded, and no traces of birds could be found on his person save for the artificial feathery quality of his robes. Tilting his head in the direction of the administration building, Karmen walked off along the sidewalk expecting that Angie would be on board. Only trouble could be possibly waiting for them in the headmaster's office. This was turning out to be a horrible, yet somehow typical morning. Shouldn't be that way, Karmen thought with a mental sigh, continuing on his way.

"Actually, I think I've got soot in my nose, so I can't smell much of anything," Angie replied easily. She was nearly interrupted by the bells and the headmaster calling for her and Karmen, as well as the others Angie just left and two more people that Angie didn't recognize. "Sally was just messing around with her creations again, and they got out of hand." Angie said as Karmen stood to leave. She walked alongside him, her eyes twinkling up at him mischievously. Karmen was a head and a half taller than she was, but Angie was used to craning her neck to look at him, so it didn't bother her.

"You had a story for me too, didn't you?" Angie surmised, looking at Karmen's clothing. They were both a mess, but she didn't care about that. Being dirty is just a sign of hard working students. "As for myself, I have a souvenir," Angie said, grinning and taking out the steel plated glove she made. "I know it's not really your style, but I thought it was pretty cool." Angie handed it over to Karmen so he could take a look at her creation. It wasn't far to the headmaster's office, but they could at least exchange a few words. Angie enjoyed showing off too.

"Yeah, I did have a story," Karmen said, grimacing a bit at recollecting what had happened not too long ago back in the dormitories. The unceremonious rousing from slumber. The morning workout. Tentacle paradise. "That one girl I told you about? The psychopath that lives across the hall from me? Well, she created another abomination this morning that I had to deal with," he stated, displeasure towards the aforementioned psychopath lacing his tone. "Her name's Jacqueline. She got called along with Tethys, another chick that got wrapped up in Jacqueline's nonsense. I guess she hangs around the science dorms often or something. She picked the wrong morning to be strolling down my hall," Karmen said flippantly, waving his hand loosely in the air, his story concluded. He listened to Angie relating her own--more messes in the engineering department as he had surmised.

"Hmm..." Karmen mused as he took the steel plated glove that Angie had offered to him. She was quite crafty. When it came to making things out of metal, she was somewhat of a prodigy--an invaluable asset to the school's engineering labs even if she was only a student. There was great potential lying within her. He felt a smile creep on his face as he stopped his intent scrutiny of the glove. "This is rather impressive," he finally said, the administration building getting closer and closer as they walked along. "I'm not surprised, though. You forget that I know what you're capable of, heh heh," he teased, patting her on the shoulder gently.

Angie giggled a little, taking back the glove and putting it in one of her larger pockets. She would stick it in her room as a trophy later. "Well, for my adventure time, Sally, that's Sallete Deschain, built three big robots in her dorm. I don't know when the administration is going to learn to keep an eye on her. She said that the robots were meant to assist us, but they ended up tearing the place apart and attacking everyone," Angie explained, leaving out the bit about the lasers. Angie didn't want to give Karmen cause to worry about her, the robots didn't end up using the lasers to attack anyway.

"If you think I'm so talented, then maybe I'll make something for you sometime," Angie said, her smile growing. She knew how much Karmen loved his birds, and there were countless ways that Angie could help him. She could make all sorts of things to keep the birds safe and protected. "Think of it as an early birthday present. Do you think you need anything in particular?" Angie liked making things for Karmen, and he probably knew that. Sometimes bird care gets expensive, so Angie wanted to help in any way she could. Since her abilities allowed her to draw material from the ground, she didn't need to waste any of the school's materials, and she didn't need to buy any. Her raw talent allowed her to make whatever she wished.

That name also sounded familiar to Karmen. Sallete. She was supposed to be the engineering equivalent of Jacqueline, only more eccentric instead of psychopathic. Therefore, it came to no surprise that she was the source of Angie's troubles, though the girl didn't seem too particularly bothered by the nonsense that went on in her department. Karmen figured it was a good thing; she didn't need the stress on top of classes and all. He gladly allowed her to take back her trophy; he had examined the craftsmanship enough, anyway, not that he could have a professional opinion on it. At the mention of a gift, he gave her an amused smile, placing a hand on his chin and rubbing it in thought. His birthday was pretty far away, and he didn't want for too much...except when it came to his experimentation. That was mainly what he spent his free time on when he wasn't reading questionable material or hanging out with friends and the like. If Angie was planning on making him something, she probably had said experiments in mind.

"I am lacking a communal cage for my subjects," Karmen stated nonchalantly, knowing what Angie would mean by 'subjects.' "I hate keeping them separated; my subjects are quite social. It would be nice to have a large place for them to interact, not to mention it would greatly improve my research, you know?" he explained, thinking about all the observations he'd be able to take note of. He was a pretty laid back, easygoing fellow who liked to do as he pleased, but he was fairly devoted to his research and major. He was at least respected in that regard by his professors. "It has to be large enough for me to put small trees and such in it," he mentioned. "And durable, but I know that won't be a problem for you, right?" he laughed.

Sallete sat on the ground and started examining the laser cannon. She had to be sure the thing wasn't damaged, or she would need to pay another visit to her "source".

-You know, Nessa, you have to chill a little bit. These guys were barely any trouble, they were designed to assemble, not to fight, after all. Not to mention, stress is bad for your sk-OOOOOOH, NOW I GET IT!

The engineer jumped straight into standing position. She was always that energetic. Many people wondered if Sallete was hyperactive or something, but no medic found any evidence of it whatsoever, even though it WOULD explain her short attention spam.

-I forgot one conector. I decided to leave it for last so, you know, the cannons didn't go off on my face if I got some voltage wrong, but I must have forgotten to plug it after all. Lucky us, uh?

She started giggling at nothing, when the headmaster's call interrupted her smile. It was usual for her to get sent there. Actually it had become routine, and she was actually rather fond of the guy by now. The engineer grabbed Vanessa with her free hand and dashed to the office, dragging her behind. Her looks didn't tell, but Sallete was absurdly strong. Most people also believed she had some kind of mechanism on her sword to make it lighter, or at least easier to lift. She didn't, that was all raw muscular strengh. Sallete usually blamed her eating habbits for this. The medics she frequently had to visit blamed a ridiculously fast methabolism for pretty much everything about her.

-Ok, let's go, you sexy tuna can! We can't leave the Headmaster waiting! Forward ho!

Angie couldn't help but grin when Karmen started talking about his birds. She loved being useful to someone, and Karmen always seemed to need something. Even if he didn't, he would find something. That made Angie happy. "Yeah," Angie said with a nod, already picturing the communal cage that Karmen wanted. Large enough to put small trees in and durable enough to withstand some amount of force. She wasn't worried about the birds breaking the cage, but if she wasn't careful about the weight and material of the cage, it would tear itself apart if it wasn't durable enough.

"I can definitely do that. There's plenty of iron beneath the campus," Angie said. Her ability allowed her to know about the rock and metal beneath the surface for some distance. She couldn't find small things easily, but there were big pockets of iron sitting around. She could smelt the iron into steel and use that as material. "Since it's a big cage, it'll take me a bit longer than usual to make it. But I think I can get it done in a few days, a week at the most." Angie was very happy, so she grinned even more at Karmen.

The administrative building was in front of them now, so their walk-and-talk was coming to an end. Normally the men held the door open for the women, but Angie and Karmen have been friends for years, those rules didn't apply. Angie reached for the door and pulled it open, waiting for Karmen to head inside before she did herself.

Vanessa watched Angie run off after saying she wanted to take a breather outside. Then Sallete exclaimed that she managed to recover one of the laser parts, which she would end up building into something else. Curses, she should have reloaded immediately afterward and fired another round into that robot just to destroy those parts. Ah well, she had to clean up this whole mess, most likely by herself since Angie had left and she was sure Sallete would also leave now that she's recovered that precious part of hers.

She was about to remove the mechanical armor from her body when the headmaster's voice ringed though the school, calling for her, her friends, and some others to report to his office. She let out another sigh, it probably had something to do with Sallete's creations, again. Despite letting out yet another sigh, Vanessa couldn't help let a slight smile form on her face when she spoke to her then grabbed her by her hand and dragged her toward the office. She really was strong, despite her looks, being able to pull her around while she was still in her combat suit. "I'm not quite sure about that tuna can part, but alright." Vanessa replied as she picked up her own pace to match Sallete's.

Jacqueline turned toward Dirge and nodded cheerfully, reminiscing over the last time she had seen her mother: punctuality -- that was the word, that single, important word Mrs. Candolle had murmured into Jacqueline's ear so many times. If you could be punctual, then you could be successful, and then you could turn the entire world into your own greenhouse, filled with each and every seed, and every exotic plant and technicolor berry known to mankind. "You're right, Dirge. Punctuality is important!" She repeated after the patient violinist, treading out her doorway with an eccentric skip in her step.

The young botanist had never truly glanced over her shoulder to see if Dirge had followed, but that was because she didn't feel obliged to. Dirge had always been there for her, and certainly that hadn't changed since the moment they met nearly three years ago. The walk to the administrative building was long, yet it felt manageable to Jacqueline, as she had always enjoyed the melodic hum of the dragonflies gently hovering over the courtyard ponds and buzzing through each individual blade of grass. Aside from these natural tunes, the stroll had been particularly soundless, but certainly that hadn't bothered Dirge, as Jacqueline had assumed the melodic hums and whispers of the insects had pleased her ears as well.

Jacqueline, steadily trotting left-foot-to-right-foot as she approached the brass-iron doorway of the daunting administrative building, launched herself toward the leftmost entrance with the same ten-milliliter dose of eccentricity she had left her dormitory with. Turning back to Dirge, who was certainly following along, enjoying each dose of nature with every breath and blink, Jacqueline coaxed: "Let's get going! Punctuality is key!"


Hack, wheeze, cough. "Welcome, welcome, my studious pupils of the Ravynfel Institution of Wallen," Kaestner glared at the motley crew of students with his piercing eyes, gently examining each of them with utmost precision, "I hadn't expected anything different from you two, Miss Candolle, Miss Deschain." He spoke indifferently, almost unsurprised by the chaos the students had caused, "Though I'm particularly curious," Cough, snort, wheeze, "as to why you would ever drag honor students such as Miss Winterfellow and Mister Harrow into your uncouth shenanigans. Their Cantus studies are especially crucial in regards to the further industrialization of our society."

"They aren't uncouth, and they aren't exactly shenanigans!" Jacqueline retorted, entering past the doorway and approaching headmaster Kaestner's desk, tracking in the strange liquid that had adhered to her foot as she left her dormitory. Though Kaestner appeared unsettled by Jacqueline's actions, he could not stop her from continuing: "My studies naturally lead to dangerous outcomes as a result of the volatility of the chemicals I work with, you can't-"

Cough, wheeze, "I'm afraid people are not plants, Miss Candolle." Kaestner interrupted, cracking his bony, almost rotting fingers against his scraggly beard, yet continuing to maintain his unbreakable gaze through his brass-lined glasses, "Dragging people into your convoluted experiments is dangerous and" Hack, snort, "inhumane. You cannot continue to endanger other students with your recklessness. Keep your experiments within the range of biochemistry, and outside the boundaries of human experimentation and Cantus manipulation. Should we have any other issues, the disciplinary committee will be ordered to seal your Cantus under immediate notice. Are we clear, Miss Candolle?"

After a long, disproving glare, Jacqueline nodded and hesitantly murmured, "We're clear." Turning back toward Dirge, Karmen, and the other troublesome students whom she had never met, she could hear Kaestner's shriveled and uninspiring voice resonate once more:

"The rest of you: are we clear?" The elderly headmaster made a pathetic attempt at hiding the globule of saliva and snot that had spurted from his facial orifices after an embarrassingly obnoxious sneeze in a measly handkerchief, "I won't place any of this on your permanent records, as you're all quite potent students. Though, I cannot let you off so freely." He swept the snotted handkerchief into the leftmost drawer of his desk, "Return to my office with numerous instances of community credit by the fourth twilight of the winter season. The exact number of credits is relative to how apologetic you feel toward the community that your chaos has steamrolled over."

"The community service board can be found at the Redd Monument at the center of Wallen, but I'm sure such intelligent and well-brought students already knew that." His knuckles rolled over the desk, cracking and creaking, as he sneezed and cleared his throat, "That is all. Community service. And then you will be free to continue with your studies. You have four days."

"Scuse me," Angie said, once the headmaster was done. She had her hand raised just a little bit, and was frowning at the old man. She listened to his speech, and had her own thoughts about this Jacqueline person, but she wanted to know something. Angie lowered her hand and said, "I don't understand why all of us have to do community service. Vanessa and I were trying to help clean up the mess Sallete made in the engineering department." Whenever Angie was in front one of the professors or the headmaster, she didn't use nicknames to refer to her friends. Just so that everyone could stay consistent. "And I know for a fact that Karmen was only trying to clean up the mess that one made," Angie continued, pointing to the weird girl with the plant fetish that Karmen told her about. "As he does every time she screws something up. Likewise with Vanessa and me, we're always cleaning up Sallete's messes."

"I just don't understand why you're punishing all of us," Angie finished, crossing her arms over her chest. This was unfair, and the headmaster knew it. Why should Karmen and Angie take the fall for someone else's mistakes? It shouldn't be that way. Not in the slightest.

With his crackling knuckles and loosening joints, Kaestner rested his sleepy chin onto his palm, turning his ancient eyes over to the young engineer who posed particularly valid claims, "Upon entering the Ravynfel Institute in order to further your knowledge of the Cantus and its infinite uses and potential discoveries, I believe you had been briefed over the consequences that came with the inappropriate usage of your Cantus and its limitless energy."

Kaestner could see the young engineer's eyes burn with an upset flame that only rekindled itself with an even brighter energy after each word spoken, "Do not misunderstand me, Miss Turner. Your Cantus manipulation skills are exemplary, and your intellectual evaluation scores checked in at the powder-blue hue. Your prowess is much appreciated at the Ravynfel Institution, though you," He cleared his throat of gunk, and proceeded to swipe another filthy handkerchief into the same drawer as the last, "have yet to learn the true responsibility that comes with the gift of the Cantus."

"Inappropriate usage of the Cantus can be briefly summarized as 'using your Cantus without administrative permission'." Kaestner's eyes narrowed, "Rather than relying on our secure defensive mechanisms that come paired with administrative permission, you chose to deal with the problem yourself. You manipulated unauthorized Cantus in an offensive fashion." He sighed rigidly, and proceeded in a perceptively understanding tone, "The great gods have gifted us with the celestial beasts which fuel our Cantus, and we must not use this precious gift in a destructive fashion. Cantus is for the creation and extensive development of society. It is for the betterment of humanity, not for its destruction."

Karmen maintained a rather stoic demeanor while the headmaster coughed and sneezed and continued on with some speech pointing out the frequent chaos induced by Sallete and Jacqueline's experiments. It was about time that some action was being taken. Karmen shot a curious glance towards Sallete, the apparent source behind most of Angie's stories regarding the hijinks taking place in the engineering department. She certainly did seem rather...restless, so to speak. There was just something about her, but Karmen wasn't going to be bothered about the details. He almost grimaced at the mention of his honors--it was common knowledge that he was an A student, but he didn't particularly care to have it spoken aloud. He wanted to close his eyes and cover his ears, for the sounds the old headmaster was eliciting were disgusting, not to mention the pure sight of the fellow was almost sickening. The meeting ended on a terse note: he was being punished for helping out. Come again?

Angie was quick to rise to his defense along with her own, not to mention Dirge's and....who he guessed had to be Vanessa, another member of the engineering department. After Angie had voiced her own opinion on the matter, Karmen decided to interject with his own. "Yes, I'm afraid I don't see the point in punishing those who saved you the trouble of having to deal with that nonsense," he stated, not afraid to express his distaste regarding the situation. His studies were important, and although he didn't mind occasional voluntary public service, receiving it as unjust punishment was not something he was going to put up with. "It might be wise to think twice about this because the next time tentacle freak unleashes another abomination, I won't be stepping in to clean it up if this is what I get for doing so."

The headmaster was quick to give his response: an excuse, it sounded like. Then it was confirmed. If he wanted to deal with Jacqueline's terrors, then it seemed as though he'd be getting a lot more sleep. In his mind he figured that things would turn around quite quickly, but in the meantime, he would have work to do along with the others. The only thing he worried about was whether or not they would have to do it together. After this particular debacle, he didn't want to be anywhere Jacqueline, or Sallete for that matter if though he didn't know her well. He didn't really care to. He wanted to go somewhere and take a nap or something. This day had been destined to be derailed from the moment he had been roused from his slumber thanks to the typical raucous from across the hall. The only good thing coming out of this was that maybe, just maybe, Jacqueline would learn her lesson and NO ONE would have to deal with her bullshit.

Angie couldn't help but sight and shake her head at the headmaster. "With all due respect, sir, I understand all of this. But I'm not sure that you understand. When Sallete makes those giant robots or mechanical spiders that can shoot lasers from their head, not only is the engineering department in danger, but the whole school would be taken down before the defense drones activate to take care of it." Angie scratched the back of her head, already becoming exhausted from all the talking. The headmaster talked about the defense mechanisms the school already had in place, but Angie knew that those weren't at all effective. The whole engineering department would have to be destroyed before they started doing something useful.

"Can't you at least have me make better security drones instead of community service?" Angie asked, rubbing her temples. "Then at least Vanessa and I will have some help when we're cleaning up Sallete's mess. Besides, those old machines need to be upgraded anyway."

"I understand you may find my techniques to be particularly irrational," The headmaster wheezed the words straight out of his nostrils, complete with another handkerchief, another drawer, and some more spit, "but these techniques are more than just mine. They've been the Ravynfel techniques since even I had enrolled here so long ago. We exist to train students who are capable of manipulating the Cantus for the betterment of society, and in order to do so, we must treat each student equally in order to ensure the occurrence of the fewest amount of psychological anomalies as possible."

He glanced upward, yet his eyes met the desk once more as he continued his sickly coughs, "Six names, six Cantus mantras, and six intellectual evaluation hues were registered across this morning's Cantus Detection Drones, and in order to maintain consistency with the Canthan system, we must punish the students accordingly."

Cough, hack, wheeze, "The system must be upheld, and the system declares that punishment must be ruled over those who illicitly use their Cantus in offensive methods. The community service is a static punishment, and that is final."

Angie didn't stop frowning. She didn't like how the headmaster went through with this, punishing all of them. She should have been rewarded for protecting the damn place. Next time maybe she'll let the robots destroy the engineering department and the useless security drones before cleaning up. Besides, she handled the situation on her own initiative and backbone, something that the majority of students here didn't have in the first place.

"Fine," Angie sighed, turning around and grabbing Karmen's hand. "Let's go Karmen. The sooner we get this over with, the better." Angie wanted to lead Karmen out, but she didn't like dragging him. If he didn't leave, then she would stay, but if he walked out the door, she would be right beside him. Angie didn't even want to look at Sally, or even introduce herself to Karmen's other friend...Tethys was her name, right?

Angie finally looked over at Sally, "I hope you know this is your fault. Quit it with the giant robots already."

"Nah, I'm with you, Angie," Karmen said, rising from his seat as his friend took his arm. He wasn't in a particularly good mood after all this, but he figured community service wouldn't be that bad. It could have been worse. There was one thing for sure though; he wouldn't be sleeping in his dorm room for a while until he was sure Jacqueline wouldn't be meddling in her studies, creating more abominations against the very will of the headmaster. Then it would all be on her head and he would have nothing to do with it. The headmaster brought this upon himself. He halted long enough for Angie to unleash her cross words upon Sallete, and in that instance, he decided to spare a gaze towards Dirge, his eyes somewhat apologetic in nature, though he wasn't the one that needed to be sorry that she got caught in this mess. It was Jacqueline's fault.

Karmen let Angie accompany him out of the headmaster's office. She was right about one thing and that was that the sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could get back to their normal routine. "I have some respect for that old fart, but he's spouting bull shit," Karmen remarked angrily as he walked alongside his friend once again, this time with a different destination in mind. "You know what they say about the old; they're always stuck in their ways. We should have expected an outcome like this." He shrugged his shoulders, wondering where he should sleep for the next week or so.

Angie also spared a glance towards the other girl Tethys. Angie didn't know her personally, but Karmen mentioned her once or twice before. She didn't say anything or give her a particular look, just glanced at her before leaving with Karmen. When the two of them were finally outside and Karmen started talking, Angie sighed again. "To be honest, I was hoping he'd overlook this whole deal. I can't be dealing with community service, I have an exam to prepare for." While Angie might not necessarily need to study for the exam to pass, she liked to get good marks on assignments, not just slide through. She was doing what she loved.

"He tells us we're great students," Angie started again, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation, "then says we have to do some community service because other people were shitting around! I swear, I'm not going to talk to Sally for a week." Angie was mad at Sally, sure, but she would probably cool down in a few hours, despite what she said. That's how Angie was, she couldn't stay focused on being angry. Never could.

"Karmen, you and I have got to find some better friends." Angie said, shaking her head. Karmen and Angie have been friends for many years, since childhood. They haven't had many fights, and they've always stuck together whenever they could. Maybe they could do their community service together as well. That might lessen the burden a little.

"I can't imagine you'd want to be near that Jacqueline person any more than is necessary," Angie said, after she had cooled down a little. "And I need a vacation." Angie's frown turned into a slight smile, a glint of her old mischievous air returning to her eyes, "Maybe we could elope together and wait out the storm instead?" Angie knew Karmen would probably decline. If they did something like that, then the headmaster would just seal their powers with the Cantus Mantra. Of course, he'd have to find them first.

Sallete entered the office, always dragging her huge Engine Sword behind her. She never ever let her weapon far from her body, and by now the headmaster was used to it and would let her take it into classes and offices, as long as she was careful not to rip anything to shreds. She did rip a few doors, floors and wardrobes before getting used to watch where she rested it, though.

The girl layed her weapon carefully behind a seat and sat, ready to get scolded, though she knew her mind would spend most of the speech on some faraway place. Barely she had taken her seat when two girls entered the room. She had by now forgotten the names that had been called, so she didn't know who they were, but was completely stunned by the pair. They were so different, and both so...adorable. Her eyes at first rested on the barefooted girl with the dress. She looked like a nymph from some child's story book, only a nymph with deliciously pungent chemical smell. Kind of reminded her of battery fluid. And those cute feet! Sallete was feeling light-headed now.

She spent the whole time on the office eyeing who she now knew to be "Miss Candole". Of course she TRIED to be subtle, but that was never his strong point. She could overhear something about comunity work and Cantus Mantra, but she was more than used to that part, and Nessa and Angie could debrief her on that part later. She technically had not used any cantus of her own, but she knew, given her special situation, that was irrelevant.

Her focus on "Miss Candole" was then completely shattered by Angie's passage.

"I hope you know this is your fault."

Sallete was used to Vanessa scolding her and getting mad for whatever she pulled off, the girl was very short-tempered, and never actually meant what she said, she was sure. Angie's words, however, were not usual, and they hit hard. Sallete was left stunned, speechless and gazing at nothing. With an empty expression she talked to no one.

-Bu...but they were not that big...wha...

She rushed up, coming back to her own.

-I-I'm sorry for the trouble, Kaestner. I will work on the credit, I promisse.

And ran out of the room, not waiting for an answer. Only stopping to take the Engine Sword with her, she darted across corridors, trying to catch up with Angie and her friend, all kinds of horrible and unlikely scenarios for consequences of Angie's anger going through her mind.

-ANGIE, WAIT UP! I'M SORRY, DON'T MOVE OUT OF THE DORM AND FORGET THAT YOU EVER KNEW ME, PLEASE! I'M SO SO SO SO SORRY!!

"Let me correct you on that: I never want to be around Jacqueline again," Karmen was quick to quip jokingly, granted he was definitely serious about what he was saying. Though it was inevitable since she lived across the hall, never again would he willingly or voluntarily interact with that psychopath, nor would he have reason to. His thought process was shattered by the mention of eloping, but that wasn't going to happen. "Sorry, but I think I'll stay here, get through this community service with you, and then get on with my life," he said gently, scratching the back of his head nervously. There wasn't any need to take such extreme measures, not to mention the eloping part. He wasn't exactly sure if he wanted Angie as a wife or something. He figured she was joking anyway, so he just let it play off as they continued along.

However, a loud shout permeated the area. "What the hell was that?" Karmen asked aloud, stopping in his tracks. Whoever it was had called out Angie's name which led him to believe that it was one of her fellow friends from the engineering department. That was one encounter he would rather avoid, but he stood his ground, waiting for Angie to react to it.

"Relax, Karmen," Angie said, giggling as she bumped her friend's elbow. "It's just a joke. I doubt we'd get very far if we ran away." Still, Angie couldn't deny she held just the slightest hope that Karmen would have said yes. She didn't want to elope in the first place, that was definitely a joke. There was something inside Angie that told her she wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life with Karmen though. She was completely comfortable around him, and was happy just being close by. It was a curse that the engineering department and the science department were on two different sides of campus. But that didn't stop them from seeing each other as often as they did.

When Angie heard the shouting though, she stopped and craned her ear towards it. It sounded like...someone yelling about being sorry? It was coming from the direction of the administration building too. Angie put Karmen's question in the back of her mind, she was curious too. Then she saw it, or rather, her. Sally, running at full throttle towards them.

Angie hesitated for only a second before grabbing Karmen's wrist. She looked up at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Run. We'll meet up later." And Angie bolted, running off to who knows where. Years of physical training made her fast, faster than Karmen, and probably faster than Sally. When she ran, there was no catching up. And while Angie had no idea where she might be going, she did know that she didn't want to deal with Sally's apologies right now. All she wanted to do was lose Sally, then head towards the Redd Monument.

That was that. Jacqueline had watched, her leafy dress planted firmly within the headmaster's fourth chair from the leftmost wall, and didn't say a single word throughout Angie's entire debate. That creeping feeling of guilt, which crawled quite similarly to the way Cosmo would crawl, seeped straight into the deepest valves of Jacqueline's heart. Those piercing words, spoken by not only the irate engineer, but also by her own next-door neighbor, were spoken with consonants so painful and vowels so sharp, sinking like a javelin straight into Jacqueline's stomach.

Begrudgingly, with not the slightest hint of motivation to arise from the oaken, brass-lined chair she had grown so comfortable in, the young, shunned botanist arose and made straight for the doorway, stopping only for a moment to let out a definitive cough that marked her departure from the headmaster's office. Before she could motion more than a step or three, Kaestner had called her back in with his hoarse, sickly voice.

"Is there something that I've forgotten?" Jacqueline masked her dejectedness with a gleeful visage and smiled at the headmaster, "If I dropped my Agathosma seeds on the floor, that would be trouble. I'm about to develop a salve capable of transforming that plant's calyx into an indestructible sheet of steel, and I wouldn't be able to do it without those seeds!" Jacqueline's final words were accented by a series of chuckles, which grew scarcer and scarcer as she realized that was not what the headmaster had called her in for.

Hack, cough, "Actually, you did not leave anything behind, Miss Candolle." He took a clean handkerchief and wiped his brass glasses with care, diverting his gaze from Jacqueline's general direction, "I would simply like to offer you a few words of encouragement; that is all." He smiled weakly, "I assume you hadn't met some of those people before? A few of them seemed rather irate for having never even greeted you with a 'hello'."

"I knew two of them, if that counts." Jacqueline scratched her nape with her phosphorus-glazed nails.

"Of course it does, but remember: first impressions are crucial to the success of your social life, Miss Candolle. You better not let them get away without attempting to make friends with them first." Hack, wheeze, spit, snot.

Jacqueline averted her eyes from the sickly man's odd collection of snot and spit he had gathered into a single handkerchief, "That's what my mother used to tell me. She was quite a persistent women, if my experiences with her count for anything." She smiled her typical, cheerful and whimsical grin, yet didn't really feel the typical pizazz that normally came with it.

"I had just glanced over the the Cantus Detection Drone's statistics," He quickly readjusted his gaze to his computer, and then back to Jacqueline, "And here it says your intellectual evaluation hue is pure white. It shows no sort of negative shade, not in the slightest, yet you are capable of causing such unrest? I find that hard to believe."

Jacqueline cringed at the mentioning of her intellectual evaluation hue, yet pursued the conversation with another chucklish grin, "My mother used to tell me something. I can't quite remember the details, but it taught me something the Canthan education system could never teach me." Kaestner's narrow eyes widened at the young girl's words, "What's the point if the entire world isn't my greenhouse?"

"The point is to make the world our greenhouse, Miss Candolle. Humanity's greenhouse."

"You could never fit the whole of humanity into a single greenhouse, Mister Kaestner."