A 5'3", athletic girl with a wild bob of black hair tumbles out wearing a midriff-bearing black tank-top with a spiky-looking pattern on it in green, a pair of tight denim shorts, and combat boots. She looks around curiously, green eyes bright.

A 5'8", curvaceous, mocha-skinned girl with glowing orange eyes and coalfire hair stands gracefully alongside her, wearing steel-grey yoga pants, elegant-looking flats, and a low-cut tie-front crop-top in a soft orange.

A slim, five-nothing girl with a gymnast's build bounces to her feet, hair half pink and half brown with a white streak. She wears sleek brown slacks in a shimmering athletic fabric, a pink button-down blouse, and tri-color ankle boots with a short heel.

A silver-eyed girl of 5'2" rolls out of the pile wearing a knee-length red skirt, a black bustier, a cream-colored blouse, a black choker, combat boots, and a red cloak.

And the remaining girl in the middle shifts

Through a few faces

Before settling into a 5'7" girl with modest curves and purple curls and eyes.

"Heeeeeyyy~, look at us."

"Yeah! I look like me!"

She tackles Hailey into Sable's lap and kisses her, then Sable. "Jade! Sable! I look like me!"

"You do, my little darling." She squeezes Hailey and Ruby both tightly, then opens her arms to the others. "Get in here you two.

Neo bounces into the cuddlepile as well, grinning wide.

And Maya wraps her arms around her loves tenderly, sighing warmly.

After several minutes of happy snuggling, Hailey rolls out of the pile to peer at the pedestal and book. "So let's see what this thing is and where we landed, girls."

The book has a fin along the spine, claws or fangs lining the edge of the cover, and a big eye on the front. The chest at the foot of the pedestal still has that faintly glowing latch, and there seems to be a note pinned to the top.

"Book looks decidedly ominous. Very 'monster book of monsters' vibes, minus the snapping and biting. Well, I haven't touched it yet, so it may yet try."

She pokes it.

Neo, meanwhile, leans over to peer at the note.

The book flexes its cover slightly but doesn't do any more than that.

To whom it may concern,

The fog came on faster than we expected. I've done the best I could with Mg. Rowan's notes.

This chest contains my wand, which if all goes well should allow you to wake the Mana Font and use the Student Summoner. Your top priority should be learning and enacting the ritual that pushes back the fog. The lock will open to one who can wield the wand, and the book will open to the wand's wielder. You will need students if you mean to survive.

Magister Aspen

Neo snaps her fingers to get Hailey's attention.

"Shit. So we landed in a mess with an ongoing threat, this 'fog', and we need the book and the wand to push it back and summon students, who presumably help us push it back. Okay. Well, given how well the powers seem to have worked out it stands to reason there's some hope we can get this handled, just on narrative grounds, but decisions to make girls."

"Right. Which of us tries the wand and book first?"

"You know my vote, darlings: Sable or Hailey."

Sable points at Hailey.

Hailey points at Sable.