Where is the worst place to be in a love triangle? For that matter, where is the best? That's a more complicated question than it seems. You see, there are numerous kinds of love triangle, as the "direction of love" can flow in multiple ways. It can go one way, it can go the other, it can go both ways at once. Imagine every single combination among those three for all three lines in that triangle, and you get to see that the answer can't possibly be easy.
Well, that's where your mistake would come in. Because there was one place in a love triangle that was the worst place to be no matter which permutation you were dealing with. Not on any of the points, but rather, caught in the middle of all three.
Which was where Annalise was sitting at this very moment. To her mounting horror, she had been summoned by an idiot in a love triangle where the two other points were aimed squarely at him. An idiot who either didn't realise these two very pretty girls were into him, or had realised and had decided it would be safer to not tip the scales one way or the other.
To summarise her current mood: Aaaaaaaaaargh!
"So since I'm stuck here, I might as well ask some questions" Annalise said, desperate to keep the topic of conversation off the boy they were both interested in. Actually, do you know what that wasn't a bad idea anyay. She sipped on her tea while the other two stared polite daggers at each other. Note that polite daggers are the most poisonous type.
Ugg she had seen this back in Japan too! Never any boy interested in her, nooo.. But two smug little brats who would be catty over some guy. It seemed <b>some</b> things never changed.
"Oh, that's a good idea!" said the least masculine boy that Annalise had ever laid eyes on, and also her... Summoner? Ugh! "See? This is a chance to see how she thinks! This might be a clue to her specialisation."
First rule of this conversation: Do Not Ask How He Attracted The Attention Of These Two Girls. The capitals are important. Nay, essential! They convey the importance of these rules. So, let's see, what should she ask...?
"Tell me about this magic bullshit you've got going on around here," Annalise said. "There's got to be rules, right? That's how magic always works."
“Ah, well first you have to align your own ME Wavelength to the Spiritual Tone of the surrounding Ether. Then once you have isolated an ST you need to…” Oh god this made no sense. The pointy eared girl was using words that Annalise didn’t know even existed, even in the magically translated Frengerman these people spoke. "Then, of course, once you've fromaged your own Ether to…”
"Fromaged -" Annalise interrupted. "Did you just verb the French word for cheese?"
"French?" Elinca blinked. "Oh, I suppose from context that is the name of a language where you are from?"
"Look at you, patting yourself on the back for picking up context clues," Luisenne said, patting Elinca on the back in the most sarcastic way that Annalise had seen anyone perform such an action. "Before long you'll be passing those intelligence tests without having to beg your ancestors for the cheat sheet!"
"Hmph! Well, anyway," Elinca sniffed. "As I was saying, once you've fromaged- err, to use a less technical term perhaps something like… gathered? Combined? Too simplified though… gathered your own Ether...
"Not simplified enough for my tastes," Luisenne said. "Honestly now, you do realise you're talking to someone who comes from a far off and isolated land that has no experience with real magic." That wasn't a question, Annalise noted. "You're throwing her in the deep end when she doesn't know how to swim."
"Well, how's she supposed to learn anything -" Elinca began, but was interrupted by a finger over her mouth from Luisenne that, for some reason, completely shut her up.
“When you were a child did your parents teach you to read by dropping in the entirety of the Elvish Canon on your lap, or did they give you a picture book.”
Elinca mumbled "Picture book," sheepishly. The finger was retracted.
"To keep it simple then," Luisenne sighed. “My dear Annalise, magic is a spellcaster calling upon the power of nature, spirits, and elementals to take a concept in their mind and manifest it within reality. What concepts a spellcaster finds easiest to perform and how they do so depends on their specialties and the type of magic they use.”
“R-right!” Neville, “We mentioned earlier, there’s Witchcraft, and Sorcery.” Which, for some reason Annalise didn’t understand, seemed to be mostly divided by gender. With the current girly boy sitting next to her an exception to this rule. “Witchcraft calls upon the power of nature and living things. While Sorcery calls upon the power of the stars, moon, and spirits of other worlds.”
“Other worlds?”
“The Afterlife, the Fairy Kingdom, and the Demon Realm.” Luisenne said. “A Sorcerer can call forth power from entities that exist in those realms. Though Demonology is <b>highly</b> illegal if not being done for the purpose of banishing demons…”
There were a lot of questions Annalise wanted to ask about that. But she decided it was best not to get into the Religious Implications of the Afterlife and Hell existing and people able to call them up for favors. Besides, if what they said is accurate none of them knew much about that half of magic. It was the boys club, somehow.
“So that’s the basics of magic, they’re divided into a few broad categories but that’s mostly for convenience sake.. If you have enough creativity, power, and will you can produce any effect you desire no matter your specialty.” Luisenne finished.
"That's way too simplified, at least 90% of it isn't even right.." Elinca grumbled.
"It's right enough that she won't make any innocent mistakes that might get Neville into trouble," Luisenne corrected. "Ohoho! Really now Elinca, you elves can be <i>such</i> perfectionists about the strangest things."
"Nothing strange about being perfect where magic is involved," Elinca sniffed. "Isn't that right, Neville?"
"Ah, I suppose..." Neville said, tilting her - tilting his head and smiling like a yamato nadeshiko. "That is just like you, to be so concerned with my safety. You've always been like that ever since we were little."
How dense can you possibly be?! Ugh!
"I wonder what you were like when you were little..."
Uh oh. Annalise hadn't meant to say that out loud. She knew it was a mistake the moment she'd heard it escape her own lips, even before the darkness descended over their little tea party. She picked up her cup and daintily sipped from it, which was difficult from the way her hand was shaking. Dare she look up? Dare she see what was in front of her at this very moment?
She dared. Then she regretted. Because Elinca and Lusienne had little sparks of almost magic floating around them as they smiled brilliantly.
"Why yes, Elinca why don't you tell us all about Neville when he was little," Lusienne said.
"Because you'd wind up perving out over someone far, far too young, that's why," Elinca replied.
"Ohohoho! I see, I see, you'd say that sort of thing because you've done so yourself," Lusienne cackled behind the back of her hand. "That's why you're trying to hoard those precious memories, right?"
"Elves don't have a habit of hoarding things, Princess!!" Elinca snapped back."We are protectors by nature, but we don't own things. Or people."
"Yet you try so hard to keep Neville from my warm, tender embrace!" Lusienne teased.
"So about local politics!" Annalise interrupted. "I mean, I wouldn't want to accidentally offend the wrong person with my otherworldly sensibilities, right? Right?!"
Oh dear was that dark cloud getting darker all of a sudden? Oh crap, politics seemed like a surefire way to change the topic, but she'd forgotten the cardinal rule of talking about politics: It never ends well.
“Oh yeah, let’s talk about the outdated political system that runs this country.” Elinca said.
“One would think an elf wouldn’t call something “outdated.” Lusienne said. "My family runs the nation you are in. I am a Princess, after all." She took a sip, “Granted, I am fourth in the line of succession so I imagine I stay merely a Princess for my entire life.
"So you keep reminding us," Elinca quipped. "There is a Senate that's supposed to keep this lot in check in case they inbreed too much, but when your family is full of so many stupidly powerful magic users that kind of check amounts to two things: Diddly and squat."
"The elf is complaining of inherited magical potential? My, my. The taste of hypocrisy might ruin my tea."
"Is there any question that would cause them to not fight?" Annalise asked Neville.
"If I knew that, I'd ask it all the time," Neville replied, still smiling like a yamato nadeshiko, to the point that Annalise caught herself thinking that whoever landed Neville would be the luckiest husband in the world. “Alas, I have yet to learn a magic spell that can do that.”
"Spoiled brat!"
"Arrogant tree hugger!"
Oh dear, that looked like magic they were throwing out there at each other. Elinca's magic was forming into nasty looking fireballs, by which Annalise meant nasty looking even <i>for</i> fireballs. She was pretty sure she could see a few evil looking angry faces in them. Meanwhile, Lusienne was just smiling sweetly and politely. While the sound of <b>thunder</b> began rumbling from outside. Somehow Annalise could tell that every rumble was caused by each minute twitch of the Princess’s smile.
Crap, crap, crap! Think of a safe topic! Not politics, not Neville, probably not magic either. What else was there to talk about? Local gossip? <B>Are you fucking mad they would burn the school to the ground</b>, think, think, a safe topic a safe topic -
Oh! Of course!
"So, if I’ve been summoned as a familiar what exactly is it that I'm meant to be able to do?"
Ah! She'd done it! She'd found a question that worked like the magic spell Neville had apparently been looking for! It stopped them fighting! The thunder stopped, the fireballs sort of foofed out of existence... Oh, how relaxing things suddenly felt.
“Well I still don’t think you’re one.” Elinca said, “Since you’re a human and all. <b>But</b> if hypothetically you are one…”
"It's impossible to say," Lusienne finished. “Familiars are meant to compliment a spellcaster’s innate magical abilities. They are, quite literally, our other halves.” She held up her hand and the brightly colored feathered dragon rose up behind her. “Dragons are deeply tied to the elements of this world. A Rainbow Dragon is a creature of the rain, a long standing symbol authority and wisdom. It matches my own specialty of Storms, amplifying it..”
"Never heard of a human familiar before," Elinca said, then frowned. "No way to know what one would be capable of - not that I buy you are one, of course."
The two of them went into deep thought for a moment, before slowly turning towards one another. There was a weird sort of tingle in their eyes. Mirth. Amusement. Curiosity. Suddenly, Annalise felt in even more danger than when she was watching them about to hurl the very fucking elements at each other, and she did not like this one little bit.
“If I recall, the magical properties of humans are that we are like lenses to ether?” Lusienne said.
“Right… the question is how does that work for a familiar? Familiars <b>already</b> are like that as a whole, with their own innate properties coloring the output...” Elinca continued.
"You know, it might be worth our time finding this out once and for all," Lusienne said. "For Neville's sake. Of course."
"Right," Elinca nodded. "It wouldn't be safe if the two tried to cast a spell together and it wound up twisted beyond their control."
Uh oh. Why did she suddenly feel like a lab rat about to go into its first maze?
- Word gets out about the weird familiar.
- Annalies is the subject of many, many tests.
- While the two girls head to do some research, Annalise and Neville are pulled in to be informed about how the school is handling our protagonist’s current situation.
- Meanwhile, turns out there's a villain to this tale. Let's check in on them.
- Something else
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