"Books away it's time for a POP QUIZ!"
Madeira busted open the door to her own classroom, a whirling dervish of expensive silk and wicked smiles. Her class of six alumni, ranging in age from mid-thirties to nearly sixty, including Aldgare Dusk himself, exchanged looks with each other at their desks. Nobody had bothered to bring books in the first place. Madeira taught Spiritism the same way she had learned: brutally, where perfection was required and cuts and bruises and the occasional possession fueled dissociative episode were all part of the process. Theory and academics was for lesser magics.
"If I may, Miss Craven", Aldgare addressed her politely as she dumped her bag of supplies out on her. "What will we be tested on?"
Madeira paused in the middle of madly sorting through everything she had. She hadn't gotten that far yet. Her fiancé had taught her the meaning of the phrase pop quiz not five chimes ago and she had been so enamored by the concept that she was uprooting her entire lesson plan to accommodate it. She had no idea what she was doing.
Thankfully her powers of bullshyke were unrivalled.
"Everything", she purred, as she separated her darts from her beads from her nails. She set aside a jar of soulmist. "This is a field test of everything you have learned up to this point. We are going to measure you against an unscripted event."
"An event? What kind?" Bisset, the one woman in the class, raised her hand.
"The new kind", Madeira answered immediately, her wheels turning. "I have a new friend I want to introduce you to. You've never met, so you will not know her skills, power or tactics. It'll be a surprise!" She cheered delightedly to the room of adults resigned to their fate today as spiritual punching bags.
Too excited to do it properly, Madeira bit her lip and spat upon her desk, where she traced the blood and saliva into a lopsided sixteen-point star and slammed her hand down on top. "Alice!", she called.
Their was a crackle of energy as the ghost was teleported from wherever she might have been to the top floor of the Dusk Tower. The temperature in the room wavered and then dropped by several degrees.
"I apologize for the sudden interruption", Madeira smiled apologetically to the ghost. "You're in the Dusk Tower, and this is my class." she swept a hand over the lot of them, who dutifully rose to greet her. But Aldgare was the only one to slip out of his desk to approach. He bowed his head respectfully.
"A pleasure, Miss Alice. I'm Aldgare Dusk. A spirit is always a welcome addition to our classes. We're very glad you came."
It seemed he was the only one. The rest of the class was eyeing the ghost up like she was a potentially dangerous animal who had dropped into their midst. Madeira had a track record of bring some very violent and/or unstable ghosts to class.
"We would like your help", Madeira explained. "We're going to play a game. A free-for-all, if you will. If they manage to restrain you, they pass their test. If you best them, either through evasion or overpowering, then I've got several liters of soulmist with your name on it." she purred. "The rules are only that we must stay within this room. What do you say, want to play?"
Madeira busted open the door to her own classroom, a whirling dervish of expensive silk and wicked smiles. Her class of six alumni, ranging in age from mid-thirties to nearly sixty, including Aldgare Dusk himself, exchanged looks with each other at their desks. Nobody had bothered to bring books in the first place. Madeira taught Spiritism the same way she had learned: brutally, where perfection was required and cuts and bruises and the occasional possession fueled dissociative episode were all part of the process. Theory and academics was for lesser magics.
"If I may, Miss Craven", Aldgare addressed her politely as she dumped her bag of supplies out on her. "What will we be tested on?"
Madeira paused in the middle of madly sorting through everything she had. She hadn't gotten that far yet. Her fiancé had taught her the meaning of the phrase pop quiz not five chimes ago and she had been so enamored by the concept that she was uprooting her entire lesson plan to accommodate it. She had no idea what she was doing.
Thankfully her powers of bullshyke were unrivalled.
"Everything", she purred, as she separated her darts from her beads from her nails. She set aside a jar of soulmist. "This is a field test of everything you have learned up to this point. We are going to measure you against an unscripted event."
"An event? What kind?" Bisset, the one woman in the class, raised her hand.
"The new kind", Madeira answered immediately, her wheels turning. "I have a new friend I want to introduce you to. You've never met, so you will not know her skills, power or tactics. It'll be a surprise!" She cheered delightedly to the room of adults resigned to their fate today as spiritual punching bags.
Too excited to do it properly, Madeira bit her lip and spat upon her desk, where she traced the blood and saliva into a lopsided sixteen-point star and slammed her hand down on top. "Alice!", she called.
Their was a crackle of energy as the ghost was teleported from wherever she might have been to the top floor of the Dusk Tower. The temperature in the room wavered and then dropped by several degrees.
"I apologize for the sudden interruption", Madeira smiled apologetically to the ghost. "You're in the Dusk Tower, and this is my class." she swept a hand over the lot of them, who dutifully rose to greet her. But Aldgare was the only one to slip out of his desk to approach. He bowed his head respectfully.
"A pleasure, Miss Alice. I'm Aldgare Dusk. A spirit is always a welcome addition to our classes. We're very glad you came."
It seemed he was the only one. The rest of the class was eyeing the ghost up like she was a potentially dangerous animal who had dropped into their midst. Madeira had a track record of bring some very violent and/or unstable ghosts to class.
"We would like your help", Madeira explained. "We're going to play a game. A free-for-all, if you will. If they manage to restrain you, they pass their test. If you best them, either through evasion or overpowering, then I've got several liters of soulmist with your name on it." she purred. "The rules are only that we must stay within this room. What do you say, want to play?"