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Vivian has always been a rabid environmentalist. Learning about magic didn't change a thing; it just gave her another tool. She's had so many plans. Some of them worked. Some of them didn't. The failures, she learns from and moves on. Today is by far her most ambitious project. Today, she's trying a spell of her own invention: restoring extinct species to the world. And not just any species. She wants to bring back the powerful magic of ages past. She wants dragons and sphinxes.
She did her research. She's cobbled the spell together from six or seven different places, and joined it together with hypotheses and crossed fingers. She tested out the individual pieces as much as she can- there's a few newly-not-extinct beetles running around her hometown now- but finally it comes down to it. The spell has some weird preconditions and a hell of a lot of setup, but she's done. It's time. Reversing the damage done in the Great War. All in a day's work, right? That's the goal, anyway.
The spell goes flawlessly. The runes and the chanting and the various pieces take her three days, but if she can do it it's worth it. When she's finally done, she has to take a moment to collect herself, and then she looks at the circles she's drawn.
The circle to her right now holds a tiny sphinx. All paws and fluff and sprawl, it's utterly adorable and Vivian can't restrain an "Awwwww." She walks over and cuddles the new arrival. "You're just the cutest little sphinx, aren't you? Yes, you are, you are the cutest." She turns to the other circle. "And your sibling is-"
-not there.
Vivian blinks at the empty space. "...huh." She looks down at the fuzzball in her arms. "Well, you worked," she tells the girl. "Nothing's wrong with my spell. So the only other thing that could have gone wrong is..." She pauses to sort out her thoughts, not quite trusting herself, but she's double checked it twice. "...I guess there's dragons somewhere after all."
Ultimately, she decides that the dragons will have to wait. Given the whole medallion system- which she's mostly impressed by, but has some really glaring, obvious flaws with perfect hindsight- the dragons might not even know they exist. She could try to tweak the spell to create a new dragon even though they're not extinct, she could try to find existing dragons, she could-
-she has a baby to raise. An extraordinarily cute little girl who just so happens to come with paws, wings and a tail. And she will raise her without all the ridiculous cultural baggage that led to the first war, and teach her magic, and they'll help save the world from itself.
She finds them a house with a backyard and wards it so the mundanes will overlook it. She arranges to sell spells and charms to the local Avalon for an easy source of income. And she focuses on raising her daughter.
She names her Isabella.
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revivian
"Because if something does go wrong, I'll be there if you're hurt or unconscious or if it can be fixed but only so quickly, or... or... whatever."
revivian
"And when you have been casting spells for a decade, I will no longer be supervising."
revivian
Vivian will still be supervising.
The next day, as a wordless not-exactly-apology, she shows Isabella a list of spells she thinks she should work towards. It's not their full curriculum by any means, but the last spell listed is a magical lock for her diary.
In case Isabella was interested.
The next day, as a wordless not-exactly-apology, she shows Isabella a list of spells she thinks she should work towards. It's not their full curriculum by any means, but the last spell listed is a magical lock for her diary.
In case Isabella was interested.
shesepankh
Isabella seems to have decided that for now her strategy is to make insisting on magic supervision extremely time consuming.
revivian
Vivian will cooperate to a point. She had been aiming for the powerful magical species of the past; she can hardly complain when Isabella proves fascinated with magic. But this does not mean she plans to let her six year old run her life.
Classes other than magic will still occur. (Vivian leans heavily on published lesson plans; she's home schooling Isabella for reasons like 'she can add magic lessons' and 'she can give a less Western-focused view of history', not 'she is qualified to teach in any meaningful way'.) She continues to take Isabella to rallies and write angry letters to relevant politicians and create charms to sell in Avalon. None of these are particularly conducive to casting light spells.
On the other hand, Isabella is more than welcome to learn to make charms of her own. Is that a project she would be interested in?
Classes other than magic will still occur. (Vivian leans heavily on published lesson plans; she's home schooling Isabella for reasons like 'she can add magic lessons' and 'she can give a less Western-focused view of history', not 'she is qualified to teach in any meaningful way'.) She continues to take Isabella to rallies and write angry letters to relevant politicians and create charms to sell in Avalon. None of these are particularly conducive to casting light spells.
On the other hand, Isabella is more than welcome to learn to make charms of her own. Is that a project she would be interested in?
revivian
Magic lessons take a sharp veer to the practical. Vivian keeps Isabella's charms in a separate basket so they know whose are whose.
Then, when next she's heading to the Bay Avalon to sell her latest batch of charms, she invites Isabella along. It's her first trip since Isabella got her medallion, and Isabella helped make some of the charms, after all.
Then, when next she's heading to the Bay Avalon to sell her latest batch of charms, she invites Isabella along. It's her first trip since Isabella got her medallion, and Isabella helped make some of the charms, after all.
shesepankh
Isabella is very proud of this fact and will tell anyone who seems like they might listen. She is walking on her hind paws because she has never learned to get quite used to shoes (she will wear flipflops if she has to be all human, grudgingly; this is not a problem with Bay Area weather) and she has her wings and tail, but no other sphinxy parts.
revivian
Since Vivian can't fly and Isabella is still rather small for long flights, they must rely on the mundane human technology of the automobile. Isabella will have to hide her wings while they're driving in case someone looks into their car, but she may keep the paws and tail as long as she puts a jacket in her lap. And once they arrive in the Berkeley marina, she only needs to be full human long enough to reach the ferry.
It's a large Avalon, and a busy one, so the ferry line is crowded; the ferryman recognizes Vivian and nods her through, with a quick smile for the cute small child trailing her, but then promptly returns to his work as bouncer. There are plenty of people milling around on the deck, enough of whom know Vivian that Isabella will have plenty of people around to tell about her charms if she so desires.
Only one person is stupid enough to then object (out loud) to the idea of a young girl doing magic; Vivian drags him off to lecture him about daring to accuse her of poor parenting, in front of her daughter no less, when all her magic is carefully supervised and double checked and of the tiny and harmless variety. He does not appear to actually change his mind, but he is successfully intimidated into apologizing to both her and Isabella, which Vivian deems barely adequate.
She does not mention Isabella's early morning light spell adventure. It is none of his business.
And then, after some time puttering along the water, the ferry arrives at their destination: the Bay Avalon. The name is quite literal; the Avalon is in fact floating on the Bay, hidden by some impressive concealment spells that Vivian can only dream of learning.
"Welcome to Avalon, love," Vivian says with a smile. "Where to first?"
It's a large Avalon, and a busy one, so the ferry line is crowded; the ferryman recognizes Vivian and nods her through, with a quick smile for the cute small child trailing her, but then promptly returns to his work as bouncer. There are plenty of people milling around on the deck, enough of whom know Vivian that Isabella will have plenty of people around to tell about her charms if she so desires.
Only one person is stupid enough to then object (out loud) to the idea of a young girl doing magic; Vivian drags him off to lecture him about daring to accuse her of poor parenting, in front of her daughter no less, when all her magic is carefully supervised and double checked and of the tiny and harmless variety. He does not appear to actually change his mind, but he is successfully intimidated into apologizing to both her and Isabella, which Vivian deems barely adequate.
She does not mention Isabella's early morning light spell adventure. It is none of his business.
And then, after some time puttering along the water, the ferry arrives at their destination: the Bay Avalon. The name is quite literal; the Avalon is in fact floating on the Bay, hidden by some impressive concealment spells that Vivian can only dream of learning.
"Welcome to Avalon, love," Vivian says with a smile. "Where to first?"
shesepankh
Isabella has never been here before, so she scarcely knows; "everywhere" does not seem like the right sort of answer. Her tail lashes. "Can I fly, here?"
revivian
"Don't go above the church spire, all right? They don't really have a way to mark how high the spell goes. So if you stay low and where I can see you, you can fly."
shesepankh
Isabella identifies the church spire - then nods, and takes off. Whee! What is there to see here?
The Bay Avalon is, as Avalons go, pretty extensive. There's a shopping district, rather than just a street or a square, and a few visually distinct neighborhoods. There's even a tiny Chinatown. The other end of the island, rather than containing a marina, has a park that eventually blends into the beach; if they get close enough Isabella will be able to spot some of the water critters enjoying a dip.
Non-water creatures such as tiny sphinxes are not recommended to participate in the swimming. The bay is cold.
Non-water creatures such as tiny sphinxes are not recommended to participate in the swimming. The bay is cold.
shesepankh
Isabella does not attempt to swim. She inspects the lay of the land, then espies something that looks like a library and lands on it and from there glides to the ground in front of the entrance.
revivian
Vivian meets her in front. "Would you like to stay in the library for a bit?" she asks. "I can come with you if you want."
The front desk is currently staffed by an obviously bored teenager reading a comic book, in his gryphon midform. He doesn't look up when they walk in. "Children's books are around the corner in the back," he says automatically.
shesepankh
Bella squints at him, then decides he may be safely ignored. She wants magic books.
(Also, she whispers to her mommy, "Can I get sphinx books?")
(Also, she whispers to her mommy, "Can I get sphinx books?")
shesepankh
That won't be hard.
Bella goes from stack to stack and gets many many things.
Bella goes from stack to stack and gets many many things.
"Swipe yer library card," the gryphon boy tells her disinterestedly.
revivian
Vivian swipes hers instead and picks up one of the forms on the desk to apply for a library card. She has a suspicion Isabella will want it later. It goes into her bag next to the box full of charms.
"Ready to go sell some charms, love?"
"Ready to go sell some charms, love?"