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Two girls are moving their hands through the air and speaking together in perfect parallel.
Two girls are looking expectantly at a circle of red chalk on their floor.
Two girls have done something exceptionally stupid.
Isabella in Elcenia
"Uh, I think you're confused," says the blonde.
"Why would we know that, you didn't tell us your name before," says her friend.
"Why would we know that, you didn't tell us your name before," says her friend.
kaolinandbone
Isabella pinches the bridge of her nose. "How are you certain that this spell of yours -which I do not trust to do what it said on the scroll- actually moved me here rather than duplicating me."
She eyes the blonde one over her fingers. "Also, confused? How?"
She eyes the blonde one over her fingers. "Also, confused? How?"
"It's a summoning spell," says the blonde. "It couldn't duplicate you, that would be really different. And we summoned you from another world, so you shouldn't be expecting wizardry to work like what you're used to."
kaolinandbone
Isabella's train of thought rudely details for the second time in as many minutes.
"So... Wait, I'm in a completely different universe? This is not Ulvenwald, you are not students of a Collegia Tower, and I am in an entirely different universe. Well, that would explain why none of your magic or language is familiar..."
She takes off her floppy hat, runs her fingers through her hair, and puts it back, then lets out a heavy breath.
"Do you have an encyclopedia or something similar that I could look at?"
"So... Wait, I'm in a completely different universe? This is not Ulvenwald, you are not students of a Collegia Tower, and I am in an entirely different universe. Well, that would explain why none of your magic or language is familiar..."
She takes off her floppy hat, runs her fingers through her hair, and puts it back, then lets out a heavy breath.
"Do you have an encyclopedia or something similar that I could look at?"
"We can't get anything into the ward with you without a lot of hassle that would take longer than just waiting for Nemaar and then reversing the -" The blonde stops midsentence.
"The spell," finishes the other.
"Oh no," says the blonde, "oh no -"
"The spell," finishes the other.
"Oh no," says the blonde, "oh no -"
kaolinandbone
Isabella makes a little 'get on with it' circle with one hand. "Yes, yes, you screwed up, why am I not surprised. How? Also, I can see outside of the circle, you would just need to turn a few pages for me."
The girls ignore her. "Oh no oh no -"
"What is it, Korulen -"
"You can't co-cast a reversal!"
The younger girl freezes. "But - oh - but - but -"
"What is it, Korulen -"
"You can't co-cast a reversal!"
The younger girl freezes. "But - oh - but - but -"
"We could send her," suggests the younger girl.
"She's not Elcenian, it wouldn't work. We don't know breaks, maybe someone can break it, but I have to tell my mom -"
"Don't, don't, I'll be expelled -"
"I have to!"
"She's not Elcenian, it wouldn't work. We don't know breaks, maybe someone can break it, but I have to tell my mom -"
"Don't, don't, I'll be expelled -"
"I have to!"
"We aren't supposed to summon anyone," says Korulen, "and we screwed it up, I have to tell my mom -"
"Don't -"
"We can't send her we can't unsummon her we can't keep her in our room forever!"
"Don't -"
"We can't send her we can't unsummon her we can't keep her in our room forever!"
kaolinandbone
"So let me out! I have some magic myself: if I can find the right location it's possible I might be able to send myself back."
"Oh no we can't let you out absolutely not," says Korulen. "I have to tell my mom and she can check you out but we can't."
kaolinandbone
"...and you are obeying this rule when you were so eager to break all those other ones, because...?"
kaolinandbone
"Yes, you need to be kept safe from the fourteen-year-old girl who just wants to go home. Clearly I am a massive threat to your entire universe."
She puts a gentle push into her voice- just enough to make herself a bit more persuasive. Assuming it carries past the wards. Assuming the wards don't decide to flare and blare alarm sirens or something. She's getting tired enough of these two incompetents that it's worth the risk.
She puts a gentle push into her voice- just enough to make herself a bit more persuasive. Assuming it carries past the wards. Assuming the wards don't decide to flare and blare alarm sirens or something. She's getting tired enough of these two incompetents that it's worth the risk.
Korulen's roommate does not react.
Korulen opens her eyes.
The door opens to reveal a young woman with green hair.
"I'm sorry, Mom," whispers Korulen.
(They don't look much alike. And Korulen looks too old to be this woman's daughter.)
Korulen opens her eyes.
The door opens to reveal a young woman with green hair.
"I'm sorry, Mom," whispers Korulen.
(They don't look much alike. And Korulen looks too old to be this woman's daughter.)
"I'm the school's headmaster's wife, and this one," she indicates Korulen, "is my daughter. They're correct that they cannot send you straight home; getting you out of the circle is another matter. May I have your consent for a minimally invasive scan of your mind to check that you aren't dangerous?"
kaolinandbone
Isabella bites her lip. "Nnnnn. I am opposed to having my mind read, in general. What specifically would you be looking at?" She blinks. "Oh, and I'm Isabella. Properly Lady Isabella, but my title is in another universe so I see no point in standing on formality."
"I can skip it, but if we can't confirm that you're at least relatively harmless, you need to stay behind your ward," the green-haired woman says. "I'd just be checking to see if you were inclined to harm anyone or break local laws in a way that would be more inconvenient to deal with than looking after you in the circle would be."
kaolinandbone
"Yes, I understand that that's the purpose of the check. I'm asking what specifically you would be looking at to determine that. Memories, personality traits? Does your spell report back a yes-no answer to you, or do you 'hear' my surface thoughts, or what? I care much more about you looking into my personal history than about you just skimming off the top of my brain."
"I won't be retrieving any of your episodic memory. This isn't a spell, it's a natural ability I have, and it's much more fine-grained than answers to binary questions. I won't see anything I'm not looking for."
kaolinandbone
Isabella eyes the green-haired woman speculatively. "Well, then. I suppose that I'm no worse off if you decide not to let me out because of what's in my mind than because I refuse to be tested. Go ahead, do the thing."
The thing doesn't feel like anything. After a moment Keo shoos the girls out of the room, telling them to go see the headmaster; they bolt.
Keo sits in one of their chairs. "Well," she says. "You aren't exactly poised to go on a rampage. But neither do you seem like a guaranteed placid law-abiding guest or a highly reliable keeper of promises to strangers, and you have some offworld abilities that are not within conventional law enforcement's usual repertoire. So there's three basic options for what you can do with the year or two it will take to get you home. One, you stay in the circle. This means somebody has to push food in for you several times a day and so on, but the girls are going to be assigned disciplinary details anyway. You could get books to read and music to listen to, we can move Korulen and Saasnil out of this room so you could have privacy, but there's no way to expand the size of the ward, so you wouldn't be able to move around much.
"Two, you get let out of the circle and you are of your own accord scrupulously well-behaved - we put together a list of all the particular problems you could cause, and periodically you tell somebody under lie detection that you haven't done any of those things, and if you have, we have a problem.
"Three, you get let out of the circle with a mental block installed, temporary until you go home, so that you can't do any of those things in the first place, which requires some work from me personally up front but makes it much less likely that I'll find myself needing to undo various... misunderstandings... months from now.
"I won't go for option three at all without your say-so, but if you can't convince me that option two is safe for my students, innocent bystanders, etcetera, then the fact that I might be the only person who could competently undo some of your misdemeanors starts making option one look attractive by comparison."
Keo sits in one of their chairs. "Well," she says. "You aren't exactly poised to go on a rampage. But neither do you seem like a guaranteed placid law-abiding guest or a highly reliable keeper of promises to strangers, and you have some offworld abilities that are not within conventional law enforcement's usual repertoire. So there's three basic options for what you can do with the year or two it will take to get you home. One, you stay in the circle. This means somebody has to push food in for you several times a day and so on, but the girls are going to be assigned disciplinary details anyway. You could get books to read and music to listen to, we can move Korulen and Saasnil out of this room so you could have privacy, but there's no way to expand the size of the ward, so you wouldn't be able to move around much.
"Two, you get let out of the circle and you are of your own accord scrupulously well-behaved - we put together a list of all the particular problems you could cause, and periodically you tell somebody under lie detection that you haven't done any of those things, and if you have, we have a problem.
"Three, you get let out of the circle with a mental block installed, temporary until you go home, so that you can't do any of those things in the first place, which requires some work from me personally up front but makes it much less likely that I'll find myself needing to undo various... misunderstandings... months from now.
"I won't go for option three at all without your say-so, but if you can't convince me that option two is safe for my students, innocent bystanders, etcetera, then the fact that I might be the only person who could competently undo some of your misdemeanors starts making option one look attractive by comparison."