Part 8: Mary's Getting Testy

Sorry for the delay, but between my academic projects and the release of the Only War beta, I haven't had much time to work on MD. In compensation, an extra long fanfic update! Hope you like !

Chapter 6: Mary's Getting Testy



I sit down at my table, and practically tear the envelope up, gripped by a sudden bout of homesickness I had almost managed to put behind me. I plan to skim through the envelope, get the most salient parts, and then call Ellen and Virginia over to celebrate. With all the money I have in my pocket, I think I'll splurge a little, treat everyone to ice cream or something.

Turns out, I needn't have bothered.


I turn the letter this way and that. I wonder if someone cast a spell on the letter as a prank, but I cannot sense any magic on it. I even sniff it, hoping to catch the faintest hint of orange juice- Dad was always fond of dumb tricks like that, but no luck. This letter really is all they wrote.



Before I got here, I had no idea about what was possible- or more precisely, I had an idea, and it was completely wrong. E=mc², 1+2=3, Obama wasn't a secret Kenyan, that kind of thing. Even that brief bit of magic when I was thirteen, that was just a simple trick. Then I came here, and all of that changed (well, maybe not the Obama thing). An endless world of possibilities had opened up before me! I'd trapped light and sonic energies with just a little effort! I was friends with all kinds of people, including a half demon! One of my roommates knows a half-fairy, and the other is probably singing karaoke with the music of the spheres.

And they don't even ask about all this?

I shake my head, and take a deep breath as I clench close my eyes. Maybe- maybe they don't want to bother me? In case I'm busy? Or maybe they figure on me making the first move- after all, I'm not exactly in a normal boarding school. Well, not normal in my case, anyway.

Even so, as I look down at the letter, I can barely bring myself to draft a response. I know it's selfish, but I couldn't bring myself to write anything, try as I might.

The door bursts open, and Virginia bounds inside and throws her arms around me from behind. "Mall time!"

I look at Virginia, and I give her that strange grimace-grin you give when you're trying to apologetic. "I, ah- I think I'll stay back this weekend, sorry," I say lamely. "Got a lot of homework and such, you know. Don't want Grabby to get all, uh, grabby."

"Oh no you don't!" Virginia laughs as she grabs my by my shoulder. "All work and no play makes Mary a dull girl! You're coming with me to the mall!"

"No she won't!" Ellen says from behind us, and we both turn to her. "Yeah, you heard me!"



So Ellen's soft on the outside, crunchy on the inside. Who knew?

"Whoa, hey, come on now, I'm just saying Mary should get out more," Virginia replies. "You know, go out, have fun, and be happy!"

"You can't force someone to be happy," Ellen points out. "You can only make them pretend, and sometimes that will only make things worse."

I involuntarily gulp. Did Ellen really see that? I mean, I had my back to her- how did she...?

"All right, all right, I'm sorry, both of you," Virginia says sheepishly. "It's just that there's a new ice cream shop opening up today, and I thought we could go together."

I shrug; Virginia does look a little disappointed. "If that's right, it'd be really crowded- and a new store doesn't mean the food will be good."

"Point taken," Virginia replies. "All right, here's the deal- I'll go there by myself, and test the waters out, so to speak. If the food's good, then you two come with me next Saturday, all right?"

Me and Ellen share a look, then we turn back to Virginia and nod. For her part, our third roomie gives us the thumbs up, and like before, we bump thumbs-up before she goes on her merry way. Once she's sure Virginia's out of earshot, Ellen closes the door softly, and turns to me.

"So, Mary," she says, "what's wrong?"

"How did you tell?" I sigh in resignation. "I didn't know I was so obvious you could see it from behind me."

"To tell the truth," Ellen shrugged as she sat down on her bed across from me, "you were hiding it pretty well. But I... I know how it feels and looks, all right?" she finishes, with a slight trace of finality.

Well, I can take a hint. I wish my parents did though, and tell Ellen as much. "It's just that- well, I'm an only child, so Mom and Dad kinda doted on me. They didn't spoil me," I clarify hastily, memories of my fifteenth birthday party exposing that statement as a filthy, filthy lie, "but we were close, so this..."

I hold up the letter. "I'm not sure what's going on," I finish with another sigh.

"Must be nice to be close to your parents," Ellen replies. What was that in her voice? Sadness? Regret? "But like you said, they might be waiting for you to write first. You can kind of expect what goes on in a normal boarding school, but this is a magical school- you could be turning people into frogs. You might have turned yourself into a frog. Or you could be dating cute half-demon boys," she smirks.

"For the last time, we are not dating, and I am not blushing," I say as haughtily as I can.

Okay, Ellen, that laughter is not helping. It subsides though, and Ellen continues, "Well, maybe you should have something interesting to write them- so far, all you've done are pretty normal things. Sure, you can do a few magical tricks, but Initiation Week was really nothing very different from what regular Imitation Weeks are like, just with a little magic. Besides, it might sound like bullying."

"I'd say that was enough," I pout.

"Still," Ellen says, "maybe you should wait for next week to send a letter. Club signups are next week- maybe you can find something interesting there?"

"Maybe," I admit. "Thanks, Ellen."

She gives me a an enchanting smile- she should really smile like that more. "Like you said, 'Ellen Middleton and Mary Sue against the world', right?"

I can't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, I guess so," I say as we bump thumbs up again.

"Anyway, why don't you take a walk?" she suggests. "It would help you to relax a bit, and I don't think you'd be able to get any studying done like this."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," I say. "Make sure nobody steals the room while I'm away, all right?"

Ellen salutes. "No guarantees, ma'am."

Just in case you think I'm going a little overboard with the *~fanfictions~*, I assure you that this scene is kind of necessary in order to link a few other scenes as well. Please bear with the for a bit, if it's not too much trouble.

Gameplay-wise, you can't actually get this scene this early, and I'm not actually going to experience it in my playthrough, but I thought it'd be a great scene to include here.



Thoughts of fall make me wonder- what do witches and wizards do on Halloween? Maybe I'll ask Damien next I see him.



Speak of the devil, ha- wait, doesn't he have detention? "Hey Damien," I say, waving at him. "Grabby got sick of you already? Want to go somewhere, celebrate your release or jailbreak, tick whichever's applicable?"

He looks at me oddly, as if he's just noticed my presence. "Why?"

Oookay, not the expected response. "To be friendly? Because we're bored?"



And with that, he pushes past me and walks off.

"Told you he was bad news," someone says from behind me.

I turn around and see- "Virginia? What are you doing here? I thought you went off for ice cream?"

She snorts. "That was the plan, yeah, but turns out practically the whole Academy heard of the new place and hogged all the vans. I swear I saw Grabby in one of them."

I nod. "That explains Damien getting off early- guess Grabby's got a weakness after all," I add, adding a mental note to The List.

"And you've got a weakness too, one for bad blue boys it looks like," Virginia scowls.

"Not dating," I say automatically.

"Good, 'cos I was talking to William- he missed out on the ice cream too- 'cos I thought about what you said the other day, and I wanted to get the full scoop."

Guess she's still thinking about the ice cream



"He gets girls' hopes up, then right at the magical moment when they fall in love with him, he breaks their heart and throws the pieces back into their faces," she says, then synchronizes a "Not dating!" with me. Ignoring my own scowl, she continues, "The point is, he's a jerk; best forget you ever knew him."

"Yeah, but William's not exactly an unbiased source," I reply, and Virginia throws her hands up in the air.

"Well, don't take it from me- I'm just your roomie, after all," she replies. "Ask William yourself, he can explain it better than I can."

Maybe I will, at that.



In any case, my walk ended up with my mind being even more full of questions. I have to admit though, it sort of excited me. It was like what happened when I saw a way to convert my 'Light' spell to 'Silence'- I could sense some kind of underlying principle here, and the thought of pursuing that principle to the end really excited me. Curiosity might have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back- and I was curious as all get out.

That said though, my mind had cleared up a bit, and I returned to my room for a short study session with Ellen, and reinvigorated as I was by the questions in my mind, I ended the week a little smarter than I was before.




And here we see what REALLY happened during the week, as well as our Spellbook. As you can see, Mary doesn't have a large repertoire of spells yet, but she does have a good base to start with, especially if you're a minmaxing sperglord like yours truly. From this point on, I'll try to show these 'end of week' screens when there's something really interesting to show.

On Monday morning, I'm heading off to class right from breakfast, when I hear what must be the first cavalry charge of the 21st century. As I turn around, it seems I am half-right.

"Phew! I caught up with you!" she says, relieved.

"What's up?" I ask.



"Sure," I say. "What sport are we doing?"

"Pfeh!" Virginia says, waving my question off. "Does it matter? We can decide on that once we're done! You up?" When I nod, she practically double-somersaults right there. "Great! Signups are in the gym, Wednesday, right after class! And best of all, if we're both doing it, Ellen will HAVE to stop studying a little and join us! I swear, that girl needs to get out more!"

"Remember what she said about forcing people, Virginia," I warn.

"I am! Trust me, it's fun to exercise with friends! She'll honestly want to, you'll see!" Virginia winks. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got classes!" she laughs, and jogs away.

Well, guess that's my cue. Today, Grabby's teaching illusionary arts, about how the colours of the things we see is actually the spectrum or spectra of light they repel, with white objects repelling all light, and black objects absorbing most of it. While it's a while yet before we can create illusions of our own, a skilled wizard would be able to dispel illusions simply by magically 'scanning' the local area for light disturbances, and unravelling the spell there. Interestingly enough, wizards never managed to figure out just why a reversed Light spell dispelled illusions until mortal scientists made that discovery themselves.

"You cannot 'sense' an illusion," he says in response to a question, as he rummages around in a bag he brought to the class. "A wizard's regular senses are what everyone has, mortal or magical. Nonhuman beings of course have magical senses, but sight is one of the easiest senses to fool, regardless of species."

He takes out an apple from his bag and holds it up. "Miss Sue," he says, and I jump in my seat. "It seems you have some competition for my affections," he grins, "and one of them left me a gift. However, it has crossed my mind that this might also be some form of revenge. Perhaps an illusion of an apple above a knife, perhaps? Since it seems that you are the only one to have... 'mastered' the arts of light manipulation in this class, much to the shame of your classmates and the credit of the garden's slugs, you could dispel the illusion upon this apple?"

Well, if he wants a challenge, he's got one. I extend my magical senses, and I could indeed see the light distortions around the apple. I stretch out a hand, and recite the mnemonic I'd made up to help me memorize the mental gymnastics needed to cast the Light spell (turns out that's what all the hand gestures and 'magic words' are- the Roy G. Bivs of the magical world), but in reverse. It is certainly harder than Light- I have to substitute the magic sphere around the light that covered and disguised the apple, then unravel the illusion within my own sphere.

It is hard, to say the least. The light spell that made up the illusion is way more complex than the torch I make when I practice Light- if my Light spell is a ball of yarn, this is trying to unravel a Persian carpet. A few bright sparks show where I screw up a little and tear where I should've unraveled. But even through the sweat and minor throbbing headaches, I still unravel the spell. In a puff of heat haze, the illusion disappears- to reveal another apple beneath it.

"Congratulations, Miss Sue," he says as he looks straight into my incredulous eyes- and takes a bite, the crunch echoing through the classroom. "It seems that my fears were unfounded. Now, I'd offer you this apple as a reward fro your skill, but I fear your jealousy at being replaced as my paramour would render the apple's sweet, sweet taste too bitter to stomach. You may sit down now, and mourn however you wish, though I request you keep any histrionics to yourself until class is over."

I am the future, Grabiner. I am unstoppable. One day, I will make you see that. One day.



In our next class, we learn more about light manipulation, this time about how we can send our sight along light waves- but only to places we've been before. I'm far too busy thinking about all the dirt I could probably grab on Grabby if I could just- wait, I've been in his office! Hell yeah! I should be swimming in blackmail material!

On the other hand, do I want to see Grabby... 'compromised'?

"Mary?"

It would be cliche to say the mental images burn, and that I'd need some brain bleach.

"Um, Mary?"

I mean, one of the things I don't miss about the Internet are the dumb memes and catchphrases, like 'What is seen cannot be unseen' and the like.

"What's wrong?"

"I think she's catatonic."

But the thing about cliches is that they're the bread and butter of conversation- sometimes you cannot run away from them, just like I'd like to run away from certain thoughts.

"Leave her be- I suspect she tried to think of all the blackmail material she could get if she caught me in compromising situations in my office. Thankfully, I have more than enough- damnation, now you two are thinking of such things as well, aren't you? I do hope you three snap out of it before class tomorrow- or that it lasts until class, save everyone a lot of trouble."



Wednesday is Gym day; sure, Virginia said signups were after class, but I thought I'd exercise a bit, though instead of a few training routines, I find myself helping out the other students set up their booths and tables, most of which were being erected at the last minute. I didn't mind, personally- I came for exercise, and I got exercise, and it was a nice way to get to know the other students.

Something was nagging at my mind though- what had happened yesterday? I couldn't remember Tuesday for the life of me.



Soon, we pretty much had everything set up just in time for classes to let out. In the distance, I see Ellen and Virginia enter, and I go to greet them. "Hey guys!" I call out, waving so they could see me.

"Hey, Mary!" Virginia yells, waving back.



She then immediately grabs both our wrists and practically drags us off to her club's desk- incidentally, the one I'd just set up a minute before she came in. "Sign it, sign it, sign it!" she says.

"Okay, okay, let go of my wrist!" Ellen groans.

"Sorry!" Virginia says, as regretfully as a hyper chipmunk can manage.



Ellen sighs, and I wait until Virginia's out of earshot (easy, in this massive crowd) before I turn back to her.



"Huh?" Ellen asks, surprised, before frowning at me. "Are you saying I can't play?"

Ack! Abort! Abort! "W-what? No! It's just that after what you said about Virginia forcing other people and all, I- well, I just don't want her bullying you, that's it. You're already cleaning up after her, after all. I'm sorry."

Ellen fixes me with that frown for another second, then sighs. "No, I'm sorry."



"Nobody ever notices what I'm good at," she says, turning her gaze aside.

Well, we can't have Ellen sad now, can we?



"Besides, you're good at magic, and that's certainly something I've noticed," I add.

"Only the theory," she replies, signing her name on the form, then handing the pen to me. "I haven't really got the practical stuff down yet."

"Bah, you'll make it," I say. I'm sure I'm right- Ellen's been hitting the books like a nerdy Bruce Lee, and while I think I've got the edge in Blue Magic, she's a lot more well-rounded than I am.

"I hope so," she says. After I sign my name, she beckons me, and we look around the place, seeing what other clubs there are. My mind starts wandering (or wondering, rather)- do magical universities care about what clubs you were part of? Is there a Magical Honour Society?

Those thoughts are driven from my mind when I and Ellen see Donald, Virginia's younger brother, leap onstage, and sing in a surprisingly deep, rich voice.




And then he's accompanied by Jacob from Falcon Hall. I have to admit, this is the last place I'd expect to hear a 17th Century peddlar's call being sung- but hey, it's a magical school. Maybe things like this happen all the time?

The song is Brooms for Old Shoes by Thomas Ravenscroft. I only managed to find sample recordings- if anyone has a more complete link, please post it; it sounds wonderful



"Come one, come all!" Donald yells out. "Come this way to sign up for chorale!"

"I don't know about you, but it's got my attention!" Ellen says excitedly. "Come on, let's go!"

We walk up to Donald's booth; he and Jacob must've just arrived too, I didn't see them during the booth setup. "Hello, ladies! Here to sign up for- wait," he says, squinting at us. "I know you two."



"I can't do both?" Ellen challenged.

"Well, if you want to sign up for both, you can. but if we schedule the same things at the same time, you're gonna have to choose."

"That's a bit rude," I say, but Ellen just laughs.



This is Titanic to Carpathia, the iceberg has shattered. I repeat, the iceberg has shattered! It's a miracle! "You do?" I ask, surprised. "You never mentioned her."

"We're- we're very different people," Ellen admits.



"Lemme guess," Donald says, grinning. "She's spoiled rotten and gets away with everything, even if she started it."

"You don't know the half of it!" Ellen giggles.

"Ha! I knew it!" Donald exults. "See? Little sisters are a menace!"





Putting it all here because it's true. As the oldest of four, I can sympathize

"Anyway, it's cool if you want to sign up for chorale," Donald says.

"I do, but if it gets in the way of my schoolwork, I'd have to cancel," Ellen says.

"Only if you quit Urchin's stuff first," Donald grins. Judging from Ellen's nod, I can say that this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or one in which Virginia is driven nuts. Meh.

"How about you?" Donald asks, and I immediately shake my head. Me, sing in front of people? No, I don't think the school would be able to take the lawsuits.

Fun CommissarMega Fact: I once auditioned for Malaysian Idol's first season. I got third- worst singer, and the bloody bastards in charge of the show actually broadcast my cacophony. I didn't go outside for a month.

The next day, I'm lying in bed, studying, and thinking about what Grabby's been teaching us- light wave manipulation, and I slap myself in the head. I'd been trying to figure out how to create a proper illusion, and one of my ideas had something to do about bending light- so what if I can bend all the light away from a place? It's not like light's water- put some curtains between me and a window, and poof! Lights out. The same principles I used to make a sphere of light could also make a sphere of darkness!



As I ponder the ramifications though, Virginia comes into the room and sticks something up on the wall. "What's that?" I ask.



"And this," she says, pointing at the paper she stuck up on the wall, "is our members list! Even if Liz refuses to join because I said bounders isn't a real sport," she pouts. "It's mostly Wolves and Horses, but I kinda expected that."

"Well, congratulations!" I say.

"Don't congratulate me yet," Virginia sighs, looking at the sheet. "See that? Guest starring from Toad Hall: Balthasar! Yeah, he signed up too."



"You don't like Toads?" I ask.



"Sounds like he gave as good as he got," I mumble.

"What's that?" Virginia asks.

"I hope you gave as good as you got."

"Darn right I did!" Virginia laughs. "I kicked his butt for being mean to those poor toads- I don't think they liked my bed!"

"Sounds like your house was a regular warzone," I venture.



"I thought all brothers did that," I say. "Sorry, only child."

"No, not all brothers- William would never do anything like that," Virginia says.

"Lucky you," I reply.



I'm hit by a horrible suspi- no, no! It's not like that! Nopenopenopenopenope I'm just tired, it's been a long day, I need to take another after-class walk and clear my mind.

Yes, that's how the conversation goes and ends. Maybe I'm just too mired in my *~animes~*, but... yeah

As I'm walking around, I notice someone throwing a ball up in the air, and catching- wait...



He's 'holding' it just a few inches from his wand, and with a flick of his wrist, he send it flying back up, and then suspends it in the air as it comes down. "Oh, hey there... Mary, right?" he asks as he sees me approach. "What bring you out here?"

"Nothing!" I reply hastily. "Nothing at all, just thought I'd clear my mind, hard day's study and all that. What are you doing?"

"Control exercise," he says. "Honestly, it's something to do while I complete my patrol duties."

"Is it hard?" I ask.



"If you want to show off, try it with an egg- makes it more obvious when you miss," he grins.

"Can I try?" I ask. He throws me the ball, and for the next half-minute, fail miserably again and again. Turns out controlling a solid ball is very different from trying to manipulate ambient energies, but I definitely have a few ideas about how to do so, though I haven't really figured out the specifics yet, and this doesn't seem like the place. "Sorry, just can't manage it."



"You'd be better off practicing spells that are more your level," he says. I have to admit, I'm a little annoyed- just because I am a freshman doesn't meant I want to be treated like one!

Wait, that reminds me- "Actually, William..."



His face immediately falls. "Oh," he says simply, putting away the wand and the ball. "Did he- did he hurt you? Are you all right?"

"What?" I ask, surprised. "No, nothing like that!"



"Then all of a sudden, he wouldn't talk to me," I continue. "Like we were strangers. What's with that look?"

"You're worried about him?" William asks incredulously.

"He is my friend, William," I say.



"You're in his year, and Virginia said to ask you about him," I finish.

"I'm in his year, but he's not in my class or my Hall," William points out. "That said, if there's anything I do know about Damien, is that he doesn't like people asking questions."




"So he really doesn't have any friends?" I ask- seriously, that can't be,.

William shrugs. "I wouldn't know," he says. "Sure, he gets on well enough with people, but he doesn't really cause trouble with anyone, except the girls, and that's because he's flirty by nature."

"What do you mean, 'anymore'?" I ask.



Well, that was a lot more information than I thought I'd get. It does seem to indicate that Damien was (and might still be) a lot of trouble, but whether it was him being bullied, or him doing the bullying, I don't know, and I get the feeling William's said all he wants to on the subject. I thank him for his time, and complete my walk, lost in thought. Damien's hiding something, that much is obvious- but what?

The remaining week passes without more incident, as I'm far too lost in thought to consider much. That said, I can't say not when Virginia invites me and Ellen to the ice cream place that Saturday in celebration of her club's official, well, official-ness. That being said...




"You sure you don't want to split the bill?" Ellen asks for me, as I'm too busy trying to keep my sanity intact upon seeing the confectionery monstrosity in front of us. Insofar as I knew, the ice cream place wasn't supernatural in any way, so how could such a magnificent thing exist? Our world was a lot more magical than I thought.

"Nope!" Virginia says cheerfully. "It's my treat, like I said! Now, dig in!"



You get this scene by heading over to the food court and eating nothing; there's a chance Virginia will invite you over for ice cream. Don't eat anything beforehand, and you get this scene. Eat something, and you lose a point of Strong- it's that decadent.



Ellen giggles. "I always wondered where you got so much energy from," she says.

As "Mmmf mrrrgh!" would be undignified, I only nod in agreement as I shovel more ice cream down my gullet.

"Nope," Virginia replies. "I just like being on the go- staying still's not for me," she says. "It's why I started up the Sports Club- well among other things," she says. It's not until I'm lying in bed later that night, vowing entire kingdoms or Grabby's soul for an antacid, that I realize she seemed kinda sad when she said that. I turn over to Virginia, wondering if she's awake, when I see her looking straight at me.

"Uh, Virginia...?" I ask.

"Oh William..." she says, a wistful (or so I hope, dear God I hope it's wistful) look on her face.

"Y-yes, Virginia?" I ask, fearfully. I don't know what possessed me to say that, but first chance I get, I'm calling the Vatican before I start vomiting pea soup or something.



"...good?" I reply.

"Thank you," Virginia says tenderly, and goes back to sleep. For my part, I lie awake all night, my thoughts racing. When I do get to sleep, it's a fitful one, with Grabby and William competing for Virginia's affections, but it ends happily when Grabby gives them a poisoned apple and then goes to me to AAAAAAARGH

"Mary! Mary, are you all right?" Virginia says as she shakes me awake, the rays of the afternoon sun shining down upon me.

I look at her a moment, then "AAAAAAARGH"

I don't get out of the room much that Sunday. On the upside, there's now a rumour that Horse Hall is haunted, so yay me, I guess?

And so it was that I awoke on Monday, hoping that things were going to get better. It certainly seemed that way- birdsong though the windows, Virginia didn't seem all that freaked out anymore and- okay, Ellen still looked freaked out, but for an entirely different reason, it seemed.



"See what you did, Ellen?" Virginia says reproachfully a minute or so later. I think she's giving an equally chastising look at Ellen- I couldn't tell, being under the sheets as I was.

"Sorry! She seemed all right!" Ellen squeals. "She had a whole day, I thought she'd recovered."

"I- I- I have," I say, peeking out from under the covers. "L-look, I'll be okay," I grin wanly.

"Man, that was one bad nightmare," Virginia replies with a grimace. "You sure you don't want to talk- okay, okay, you don't. Please don't cry! Uh anyway, you were asking, Ellen?"



"-and are you SURE you're all right, Mary? I really am sorry!" Ellen finishes.

"I'm f-fine, really," I say. "And R-really, I'd like to know about the exams t-too, Virginia."

Virginia shrugs. "I know as much as you do," she says. "I tried asking William, but he says if he tells me anything the tests wouldn't be fair."

"Well, yeah," Ellen says, "it would be wrong for him to tell you the answers, but maybe he mentioned something about it last year, before you came along. He can't have spent all his time at Iris!"

"Well, uhm, I guess he did," Virginia says sheepishly. "But I didn't really pay attention, sorry. I do know it involves casting spells solo- no duels, no essays or anything like that. Guess we'll find out during the week!"

I didn't find out anything about the test that week, but I did find out a few interesting things about Blue Magic, though that might have been more my paying attention to the lesson than who was teaching it. Grabby was teaching the class a few additional magical tricks and principles to improve their field-building for Light and Silence- but upon consulting my textbook, I realized that I could use that knowledge to bodge a Teleport spell together.



A few experiments in my room later that night confirmed this- the same principles that allowed me to carry light and sound energies in a magical field also let me transport them small distances. I tried the same trick, but this time with a textbook and some of my school materials. It took a little work, but work it did- I still wouldn't be able to do anything like catch a ball thrown at me (so no dice for a rematch between me and William), but given a little prep time, I think I could encase anything in a magic shell and transport it.

Anything... and maybe, anyone?



I mean, the principles seemed sound- sure there wasn't a lot of air inside such a small bubble, but a reasonably fit person would be able to hold his or her breath inside the bubble long enough- assuming they perceived it as a few moments or minutes. I mean, I'd read The Jaunt by Stephen King, I know about relativity (sortakinda), and I wasn't going to risk the first person I teleport going through a million years inside that bubble or something. That said, two tests with my watch, once with the stopwatch on, the next with it off, seemed to indicate that time passed as normal in the jump, so it was safe. Theoretically.

That's right, I'm here sweating my guts out in the gym just to work out a few kinks in my joints. Teleportation's perfectly safe. I think.

"Nice throw!" I hear from behind me.



And you thought Damien's hands were the height of deformity. Just look at those peepers

"Hey there, Kyo," I say, turning to him. "You up to shoot a few hoops too?"

He scratches the back of his head- oh my, is he blushing? "Actually, I want to ask you a question. See, I have a friend who likes this girl, only she's never paid attention to him."

Man, and here I thought this kind of situation came up in tween comedies or Dragon Age 2- mind you, there isn't really that much difference.



I sigh, and place my hand on his shoulder. "Kyo," I begin, "this is the way I see it..."



And so we come to the end of this particular chapter of Mary Sue's saga! what sage advice shall we dispense to this loverlorn Cyranoculus?

-Give her presents! If so, what kind of presents?
=Something cuddly
=Something clockwork

-Compliment her!

-Just be honest!

-Just be honest with me!

Voting ends 0000 GMT Friday!