¤ Menagerie

Jaysen finally finished his food. Standing up, he stretched his lithe frame, feeling like a well-fed cat. Well, I am. Well-fed, at the very least. Maybe if I get a tail, and some claws or cats’ ears… This train of thought had terrifying potential, but fortunately for you, reader, it was interrupted by Elma entering the room to clear up the dishes.

Thanking the housekeeper politely, he turned to go up the stairs to their rooms, his pace quickening as his head spun with anticipation. All these adventures! It definitely was a change from the usual rhythm of training on monster mobs, which frankly was very boring at times. All work and no play makes Jaysen a dull coin. Or is it a dull knife? Ahh, something dull and monosyllabic.

Besides, it was interesting being with Silver. He did not deny the fact that he was powerfully attracted to this girl. And then, there was Aurora’s story. How come she to be the statue guarding the Entrance of Orbis Tower? What about the possible reward of seeing Her Frigidness’ face when she finds out what we are about to do? A mischievous grin appeared on his face. Nothing delighted him more than the idea of being able to thwart someone so high and mighty. And cold and icy…

‘Jaysen, if you don’t come in soon, I’ll start without you!’ Silver’s voice floated down the stairwell from the girls’ room, the note of impatience in it knocking his meandering thoughts off track.

‘Please, dear lady, have mercy!’ He called back and continued to hurry up the stairs, brought back to earth now. His stuff was still left unpacked over the place, and if he wasn’t careful, Silver might just do what she threatened and continue reading the journal without him. No way was she going to slacken her pace, now that she had the chance to complete her Project. And all the sooner I get to see Her Frigidness’ face!

Silver gathered the book up in her hands, cradling it gently. Now that there was a chance for the damaged pages to be mended, she took even more care in handling its fragile pages. She had tried to get rid some of the soot, but there was still enough of it to stain her fingers. Opening the book, she looked up at the expectant faces of Ida and Jaysen. ‘Ready now?’

They both nodded eagerly from their seats, Ida perched at the edge of her bed, and Jaysen lounging in a chair before the dresser. Silver looked back down at the slightly blackened pages, and started to read out loud slowly, squinting a little at times to try and make out some words that were smudged with soot…

The first few months at the Academy were uneventful, but thrilling all the same to my young self then. Never before in my life had I seen so many fairies and so many wonders in one place. Almost everything remotely academic was taught in the tower, and both magical and fighting arts were available for learning too. The vast knowledge accumulated over the centuries by fairy scholars were available to us, for King Kranz had truly spared no effort in attracting all the fairy teachers that he could find to run this Academy.

Just like at the village hunters’, Aurora advanced very quickly in her mage classes, despite the late discovery of her gift. I was so proud to be recognised as ‘that Artist friend of the Mage genius’, because I knew Aurora was truly gifted, and I would not even dream of being jealous of her. I was, in fact, so happy that I could wholly indulge in the arts I love for the first time in my life. There was no longer a need for me to split my time between training both my fighting skills and my art, and I was satisfied.

Yet there were others that would be envious of the shining star that I was so proud of. While the fairy teachers of the Academy were kind to mortals, there were still some fairies amongst the mixed student population that clearly wanted nothing to do with us. Aurora’s rapid progress brought her over the heads of many of the rich, spoiled fairy brats who were used to the idea of being the best, and they did not take kindly to the competition.

It did not help that there were rumours flying around the Academy about how Aurora resembled some fairy that went missing about a year ago…

The door to the dark basement creaked open to reveal a short figure standing at the doorway. There was a soft whisper, and the basement flared into light as the torches placed at holders along the corridor burst magically into flames. The light brought illuminated the many cages lining the walls of the vast room, each containing several creatures that were caged according to species.

Aurora walked into the light now, and was greeted by the uneasy whimpers and growls of the creatures alerted to this newcomer. A Fire Sentinel unfolded its body of animated stone threateningly to reveal its laser beam, but the magical force field around the cage that it shared with several other Sentinels kept it from attacking the girl.

Aurora continued down the rows of cages, passing cages of Jr Sentinels and Jr Pepes. On the far side of the room, there were also rows of tanks full of sea water, each containing the gently floating forms of sleeping Aquatic monsters like Scuba Pepes, Poopas, and various species of colourful exotic Flowerfish and Bubblefish.

All these monsters made up part of the Academy’s training menagerie, where they were bred and kept for the students to hone their magical and physical combat skills on. Some, like the Ice and Fire Sentinels, have been specially created from Jr. Sentinels by the fairy teachers, and were used for the lessons of mage students studying elemental resistance. Today, however, the mages were studying damage spells, and the monster required for the lesson was something less dangerous.

Finally, Aurora reached the cage she was looking for. Within a steel cage that had closely arranged bars, several large white puffs of fur floated, looking very much like oversized pompoms. At Aurora’s approach, the White Leatties floated over to the side of the cage, staring curiously at the girl with black beady eyes.

‘Hey, lil guys.’ Aurora set the small cage she was carrying down at her feet and stuck a finger through the narrow gaps between the bars. Immediately, the Leatties in the cage swarmed over to it, gathering to form a white fluffy clump that tickled her finger gently. Aurora giggled. She could feel a tingly sensation, as some of the braver Leatties started to nibble on the proffered finger.

One of them nipped a little too hard, making Aurora flinch. Withdrawing the finger now, Aurora picked up the small cage again. Releasing the catch of its gate, she held it near the door of the larger cage and slid open a small door in the enclosure. ‘Over here, lil guys.’ Aurora coaxed a handful of the Leatties. They hover inquisitively to the corners of the small cage, drifting above this new space.

Once there were about ten or so White Leatties in the cage, Aurora shut the enclosure’s door. The Leatties in the small cage continued to drift happily, their white fur rustling against the bars of the cage and each other, even as the gate swung shut on them.

Aurora was turning to go, when suddenly, the torches in her immediate vicinity spluttered and went out, plunging the area around her into darkness. The Leatties in the cage Aurora carried let out a frantic rustling, echoing the alarm in her thumping heart.

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*revives from the dead* I’m baaack. Slaying the twin monsters of homework, and school does take up too much time, imo. I think the transition into Salmer’s journal is quite bumpy this time, but ah. I can’t think of how to fix it…

I love Leatties. I call them my dustbunnies ^^! Methinks they ought to have a ‘<3 Leatties’ shirt in the cash shop. I’ll buy it!

I wouldn’t forget now: Peanut Butter and Nuts Cookies! Ooh, I can feel a sore throat coming up :X

[Edit] Corrected the ‘breed’-ing mistake. Thanks, Indescane.