Michael had had some bad Fridays in his life, but they mostly were about being dumped or coming down with the flu when he was supposed to go out with his friends. Being locked in an unexplored area of a possible death zone was definitely new for him.

At least the company was nice.

“We are so screwed, Erea!” Laen snapped. “Why couldn’t you just clean things for a day, like any other normal student?”

Not.

“Don’t blame this on me! How was I supposed to know those things could come together?”

“By paying attention in Class! Because this is a magical academy, not your personal battle grounds.”

“Don’t take your frustration out on me, half-horse!”

“Oh, half-horse. That’s original. Tell me, pointy, what’s it like to be old as fuck and still know nothing about the very monsters you’re supposed to be fighting?”

Alex stepped in before Erea reached for her wand, trying to calm down spirits, and Michael used the opportunity to check on Bob.

“You ok, there, big guy?”

“I am. I am sorry for not sharing the Spell during our last session.” He whispered. “I thought it of no value before actually learning it.”

“Bob, don’t worry about that. I was asking if you are alright. That was an absolutely massive punch. But, yes, pretty nice Spell.”

“Thank you. I am alright, thank you. My arm hurts a little, but not enough for a potion. And yes, it is a Spell taught to me by the Martials. They told me it is quite weak, usually, but given my size, even a weak personal augmentation Spell could prove powerful.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Michael laughed.

He motioned to the doors.

“Think we need to ward these? Not that I know how.”

“No. That thing can’t follow us. And should help come, we would not want to obstruct their passage.”

“About that… Hey, Alex! Think you can send for help? There is nothing blocking us this time, right?”

Their team leader turned to him, after managing to calm down the two.

“Already did. First thing I did after seeing those doors closed was to send a |Message| Spell. I felt it go through, so help should be coming sooner or later.”

“Got it. So, this is what the fourth floor looks like, huh?”

He hadn’t had a chance to give the space around them a good look. It looked… nice. Expensive, but in a sort of tacky way. The room they were in looked like a semi-circular antechamber, twenty feet across, but with a balcony on the left side of the doors. It was nicely decorated, baroque, yet everything seemed to have been made out of a reddish, slightly glowing marble. Given that there were no other light fixtures, Michael thought the ambient light must have been provided by the marble too.

Or it was, you know, magic.

“Part of it, yeah. The academy has already explored large chunks of the fourth floor. It even has classrooms in it, for normal study.” Alex said. “But there’s a lot of it that hasn’t been unlocked yet. This… looks like one of those places.”

“Should we be expecting danger?” Bob asked.

“Oh, yeah.” Alex laughed. “That’s why we will not be exploring. We will stay here and wait for help.”

“Can’t I just peek inside one of those rooms?” Erea asked.

There were three entrances on the other side of the double doors. One had a similar pitch-dark Spell over it, obstructing the view, and Michael thought that led to another corridor. But on either side of that entrance was a normal door, wood and metal. Well-kept too. Michael had to admit he was curious as well.

“No. No peeking, no nothing. We are not leaving this chamber.”

“No leaving the chamber, got it.” Michael said. “But can I go over to the balcony? I’ve never seen Gnosis from outside.”

Alex looked more tired than irritated by the constant questions, so Michael pressed him.

“It’s technically not outside the room.”

“No, just outside the academy.” Laen muttered, making Alex snort.

“Fine. But no more excitement, alright? Please.”

“Got it, Alex.”

He didn’t get to make two steps before being interrupted.

“I want to see it too.” Erea said and started to walk after him.

He guessed, by the sudden silence of the others, that him missing a step had been quite visible.

He reached the balcony, Erea in tow, and distracted himself with the surrounding view. He had to say this for Gnosis, it was really hard not to see the magic in it. The balcony must have been enchanted, because after walking outside, he couldn’t see the rest of the castle. It looked to him like he was standing on a floating platform, with only half of it having rails. He couldn’t see any part of the castle.

He turned, looking at it all. It was still a beautiful view, seeing as how he could see the ocean, the island and the sky. He supposed to some it might have been plain, but it all looked like he had just walked off a map in a game and saw the layer beneath what normal players saw. It had a pull of its own.

Which was made even more intense by the elf resting on the marble rail, pointedly trying to make it seem like she didn’t want to talk to him.

This might be speciest, but how is she so lacking in subtlety?

“Are you ok?”

“…’ok’?”

“It means-“

“I know what it means. I know your weird lingo, I was just trying to make a joke.”

“Right.”

She stood up, rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Look. I… might have overreacted.”

“Might?” Michael asked, disbelievingly.

“This is already hard for me, don’t push me!” she said, before forcefully calming herself down.

It really looked like someone with an anger problem being continually forced to self-evaluate. Like some of the more temperate jocks he had had to deal with in high-school, who actually wanted to make something of themselves. It would have been a little funny, if he hadn’t noticed how embarrassed she was.

“What you and Sinestra do is not of my concern.” She said, as if reciting a poem.

“Uh… what?”

“You are your own person. And I am too.”

“Erea, you got this-“

“Let me finish! I had no right to intervene in your relationship and only have myself to-“

“You really got things the wrong-“

“Would you shut up?!” she snapped. “I almost had it and I even burned the paper I wrote this on three times! Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually say it?”

“No… I don’t.” Michael cautiously said. “But-“

“But nothing! I finally like someone in forever and, oh, let me tell you pretty boy, for an elf forever means forever! And then, that slimy gorgon walks in with her boobs hanging loose for all to see and just- just snatches him away and I’m supposed to be calm? Me?! I can barely be calm when someone looks at me wrong, alright? I mean- yes, I shouldn’t have punched you, and yes, it wasn’t your fault, but… argh, why her? Huh? Why Sinestra? She’s old! And yeah, I’m old too, but she’s old even for a gorgon! Just- just WHY?”

It should be noted, whether Michael admitted it or not, that if that was intended to be an apology, then it was the poorest apology ever. In the entire history of apologies. Ever.

“I’m not dating Sinestra.” He simply said.

“Wh- what…?” she asked, breathing hard.

Oh wow, I was just a second away from being blasted off this balcony, wasn’t I?

“I’m not dating or sleeping or having any kind of intimate or romantic relationship with Professor Sinestra.”

“But- You-“

“Am not lying. Do you have that bell with you?”

“I don’t.” she said.

“Then you’ll just have to trust me. Look, here’s the truth. The reason I saw Sinestra naked is because Professor Narh teleported me and him to her personal chambers. And Sinestra seems to despise clothing of any type. I understood it to be a cultural factor, but she’s pretty libertine too, so there’s that. He saw her naked too. And it’s not like she was massively undressed as opposed to normal. She was just wearing minus one bandana.”

“But… why did you and Narh go to her room?”

“You know that he’s an Ascentionalist, right?” he asked and saw her nod. “Well, he needed help with an artifact and Regitris… kind of lent me to him. Faction politics, I don’t know. That artifact, as it turns out, was connected to Sinestra’s race. Gorgons. And it had a sort of time limit on it. That’s why Narh used a teleportation circle, even though I understood them to be pretty mana intensive. I can’t disclose more details because of a binding agreement and trust me, this is already more than I’ve said about it. But… yeah. I may not have explained it properly, but that’s it. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Not that, if he was being truly honest with himself, he actually regretted seeing the gorgon ‘au naturelle’, but Erea might have killed him if he had told her that.

“Then why did you go to her room again? The entire academy knows about it. And she’s been hinting about something more every time someone asks her what the deal is.”

“I know– …trust me, I know. She loves this game. I’ve told her to stop, but I haven’t found a way to force her. Nor do I really want to force her, since… well, the reason to your first question. I’m still going to her room because I’m getting private tutoring. It’s something I’ve managed to obtain for myself out of the whole artifact debacle.”

“Tutoring. So that’s how you got the Spell. She’s teaching you her racial Spells.”

That hit a little too close to the truth for comfort.

“Nope.” Michael laughed. “She was actually trying to teach me a different Spell. I just lucked into this one, because… desperation, I guess. But, Erea, that is the whole truth, minus the parts I can’t disclose. I’m really sorry that you believed something else. Especially with, uhm, with what you said.”

Not the most eloquent turn of phrase, but it was funny to see an elf turn red in the face. And not out of anger, this time.

“Sorry, too. For hitting you.” She stammered. “Look, I don’t do… talking much. Not like this. But, uh, about what I said. Would you… say the same?”

Don’t laugh, Michael. It doesn’t matter how funny the way she references the subject is, don’t laugh. She will shoot you.

“No.” he honestly said and saw her face drop. “Not yet, anyway. But I’d be lying if I were to say I wasn’t thinking along the same lines you were.”

“…right.”

“See, this is why the whole cloak and dagger thing sucks when talking about something.”

“I am so not cloak and dagger.” The elf said, her voice coming back to her.

“You are here. Look, I’ll say it if you won’t. I’m attracted to you too. But this is a whole new life for me. Classes, races, magic. I don’t know what I’m doing half the time, so… yeah. And no offense, you are a little intense.”

Crazy. The operational word here is crazy.

“None taken.” She sighed. “I know.”

“Then you also know why I’m not jumping into this blind. I am attracted to you, but if something is going to develop, it will be in time. Alright?”

“Aright.” She said.

He didn’t think she could look more morose, so he decided to come out with the whole truth.

“But yeah, I mean, everything considered, I really don’t see how you and me aren’t going to become a thing.” He said, before noticing her glance.

Oh great, she’s looking like a shark at me again.

“Good.” She smiled, and it was for real this time.

“So, not to change the subject too obviously, but you’re older than you look, right? Laen mentioned it and you did too, earlier.”

“Yeah.” She said, hesitating. “Elves age slower. And we spend more years at different ages than you do. So, we spend around three years for every year of infancy. Two years for every year after that until we look like we’re kids. I think it’s three years again for the age I look like right now… huh. Yeah, never remembered all those details.”

“Helpful.” Michael joked. “Then, how old are you?”

“Do you want me to hit you again?” she smiled, after a second.

“Got it.”

“Good. Now, let’s go get the others. They probably think I’ve killed you.”

“Wonder why.” Michael said and stepped through the open space of the balcony.

Before feeling himself tumble to his death.

“Oh, shi-“

“Got ‘ya!” Erea snapped, dragging him back up by the back of his robe.

It was incredible. Deadly, but incredible. Michael lay on his stomach and fumbled for the edge of the balcony. Where he knew the rest of Gnosis lay. But he only felt open air.

“I- I don’t get it. It’s empty? Are we really hovering on a platform in the middle of nowhere? A nowhere that looks exactly like Gnosis’s island?”

“Yeah. I wonder why they did that.” She said, shrugging.

“How could you be this calm?”

“I already sent out a |Message| Spell. It went through. We’ll be saved sooner or later.” She said, sitting down. “I’m going to take a nap.”

Michael watched her disbelievingly, feeling the urge to laugh like a madman again.

So glad I’ve had that long ass conversation before being stuck up here.