Fantasy PHANTASMA: SCHOOL OF THE STRANGE

[CSA]

"Uh huh," muttered Lily, "Pretty cool."


Lily just wanted a single ordinary teacher. If this guy wanted to make a real impression, he would have lumbered into the room with a paper lunch bag and told them to read the text's introduction. That would have been truly surprising.


Lily opened up her notebook, and started writing. She decided to just go with whatever came to mind.


Once upon a time there was a princess who was, like, totally beautiful you wouldn't even believe. She was kind and smart and perfect and everyone loved her and never wanted to do bad things to her. She had so many friends and everyone wanted to play with her all the time, but she also had a dark secret; she liked flowers too much.


Every night, after being super popular and beloved by everybody ect ect she would lie awake in bed and think about flowers. Beautiful flowers, seducing her with their soft whispers and tender bodies. Those supple, beckoning leaves. Their engrossing pink petals. She knew that nobody would understand her intense, throbbing passion for gardening, and so she kept it a complete secret.


Things went perfect for her for a while, being as flawless as she was, but then some bitches who were totally jealous of how awesome the princess was found her gardening catalogs and told everyone. The beautiful princess was ashamed and embarrassed, and fled the kingdom in tears.


Without its princess, the entire kingdom suffered and died. Especially the jealous bitches. The princess, however, recovered from her humiliation and lived happily ever after in her beautiful garden.


The end.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie took out her pencil as she began writing.


There was a man who never attended confession.


This made him ripe for a horrible possession.


He cared not for the village, but only his sinful pleasures.


But then the moon grew full,


And horror filled events would soon unfold.


Now a mangy, shaggy clawed beast,


The sinful man began to feast.


He ate all young and old,


From the very meek to the very bold.


The blood stained night eventually ended.


The sinner realized now where his soul headed.


He ran far and wide to the the town square.


And told the authorities of the carnage, the death he wrought.


So they placed him on the chopping block.


And with the swing of the blade,


His head flew clean off.


Then the local Necromancer raised their dead, so that the unliving villagers could still tend the land.


Susie put her pencil down as she finished writing.


Achim glanced at Anya, "Excellent." He walked down through the isles collecting the papers of students who finished, "Now then this was just a simple example of what sort of things you will be doing in class. I'd say it was a simple exercise." 
Achim returned back to his desk and sat back down, "Now then, I will go over your various creations." Junkyard continued snoring next to Achim's desk. He shuffled the papers into place, so that they'd line up properly, or as best as they could. He picked out a random assignment and began reading. "Next class, we shall be going over poetry as a literary format, and the various rules assigned to different types of poetry." He said, glancing towards the class. "Any questions and concerns you have about the class?"

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Will rhyming be very hard?" Anya asked, her ears twitching in curiosity.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim chuckled a bit. "Rhyming could be hard. But relax, do not be zealously on guard. Or rhyming may be child's play. If you had been affected by the Muses that day. At least that is what stories are told by the wandering bard. But as for rhyming, you'll find your way."

 

[CSA]

Lily just stared blankly ahead as their teacher collected the papers. Class was surprisingly normal despite Achim's entrance, and while Lily appreciated that, the dissonance was a little unnerving.


That said, it seemed pretty straightforward so Lily didn't have any questions. She turned to a blank page in her notebook and began drawing magical girls in frilly dresses, cringing when the teacher rhymed while answering a question about rhyming.


"That is so cheesy I could make a fondue."

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Any other questions?" Achim asked. He continued browsing through the papers, "Would anyone like to have their writing read out to the class? This is purely optional of course, but an opportunity I will extend."

 

[Rancealot]

Helada raised her hand. She wanted everyone to know of her older brother's greatness the way she did.


"I wish for mine. To be read."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"I wanna have mine read too!" Anya raised her hand.


"And Lily's! I bet we're the best writers."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim nodded at Helada as he went through the papers. He glanced towards Anya, "I will read yours after I finish reading..." He flicked through the papers until he took out the haiku the armor gave him, "Helada's paper. As for Lily, well if she wants her paper read out loud, I will also read hers out-loud."


Achim coughed as he held out Helada's haiku. "Now then, the haiku that Helada wrote."


"My armor is cold


Big brother was the greatest


I want a body."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Helada, you're cold? Oh no!" Anya cried. The catgirl reached over to the side, and gave the suit of armor the warmest hug she could manage.


"You should have said something earlier. I'll help to warm you up." she said.

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Or she could be using it as a figure of speech, and not actually be physically cold." Achim stated. He went through papers, as he glanced at Anya, "Now then, you wanted your paper read out-loud as well?"

 

[Rancealot]

"Still cold. But the thought counts." Helada coldly stated.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"You can read mine. I hope everyone likes it." Anya said, squeezing Helada tighter.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim nodded, as he pulled out Anya's paper. "And now for Anya's Story." Achim paused for a moment, before reading it.


"Once upon a time, there was a proud knight who loved his daughter very much. He went on tons of adventures all the time, and they were the coolest thing ever. One time, he rode across the desert to do important knight stuff. He rode a flying dinosaur and fought a bunch of foreigners and witches and other bad guys on the way. His sword could shoot lasers, and those lasers were powered by his battle spirit. He married an angel and they had a beautiful daughter they loved very much and they lived happily ever after together forever. The end."


Achim glanced at the class, "Anyone else want their writing read out loud?"

 

[CSA]

Lily listened to the stories of the other students as she drew, but stopped after the teacher finished Helada's haiku to pat her on the back. Poor thing was socially awkward and a brocon. And cold. And wanted to be more than just a suit of armor.


"There, there," said Lily, giving the girl an understanding look before turning back to her magical girls.


The teacher then read Anya's story, which was probably the sweetest thing she'd ever heard. Anya probably had a really nice home life with caring parents and friends and all that stuff, which was a world that Lily never really imagined she belonged to. She didn't like how those thoughts made her feel, however, so she invested herself more into the magical girls.


Mr. Achim asked some sort of question that Lily didn't really hear, so she just replied with a short "Uh huh, sure."

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Alright, so we have another volunteer." Achim searched for Lily's paper, and pulled it out from the stack. "And here is Lily's story." He proceeded to read it out loud.


"Once upon a time there was a princess who was, like, totally beautiful you wouldn't even believe. She was kind and smart and perfect and everyone loved her and never wanted to do bad things to her. She had so many friends and everyone wanted to play with her all the time, but she also had a dark secret; she liked flowers too much.


Every night, after being super popular and beloved by everybody ect ect she would lie awake in bed and think about flowers. Beautiful flowers, seducing her with their soft whispers and tender bodies. Those supple, beckoning leaves. Their engrossing pink petals. She knew that nobody would understand her intense, throbbing passion for gardening, and so she kept it a complete secret.


Things went perfect for her for a while, being as flawless as she was, but then some bitches who were totally jealous of how awesome the princess was found her gardening catalogs and told everyone. The beautiful princess was ashamed and embarrassed, and fled the kingdom in tears.


Without its princess, the entire kingdom suffered and died. Especially the jealous bitches. The princess, however, recovered from her humiliation and lived happily ever after in her beautiful garden."


Junkyard woke up at the word bitch, and panted at Achim. He stared at her, and patted Junkyard on the head. "Oh, no, not referring to you girl. It was what she wrote."


----------------------------


Meanwhile Susie, in the back was idly tapping her pencil against the desk. Hmm, what spe-... She was stopped in her train of thought as Achim read Lily's story outloud. Oh! OH DEAR... I er, hope she er, is okay w-with this. Susie's face grew red, as moved forward over her desk, as she glanced towards Lily.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"That was a really pretty story, Lily." Anya said.


"I wish I was a princess. I would play with flowers all the time." she smiled, still hugging Helada tightly.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Achim continued petting his canine companion for a few more moments. "Sit." Junkyard sat down and glanced forward at the class. He then began to focus on organizing the papers back into a proper pile.

 

[CSA]

"Wait what."





Lily looked up from her magnificent art when the teacher began reciting her story. Was that what she just agreed to? That wasn't good. In fact, it was very embarrassing. Lily started blushing a little and looked down at her desk- it was too late to do anything now.


When he finished, she received compliments from Anya and some of the other classmates that liked her. She was thankful for once that the idiots all heard without listening, but decided to do a little damage control just in case anyone in class was neither an idiot nor a child.


"Y-yeah, I thought your story was nice too Anya. If I was a princess, I would also play with flowers all the time. Not that I'm obsessed with flowers, but like... I am a flower so it makes total sense that I would like them. Too bad I'm not a princess, but I mean, who is? The princess in my story is I guess, but I'm not her."


Lily laughed a little and looked around the class to make certain everything was fine. It all was, of course, until her eyes locked on Susie who was blushing and leaning forward in her desk to get a better look at her.


"She knows something," thought Lily, her eyes narrowing at the necromancer.

 

[MechaGhoul]

As Lily's eyes locked upon her, Susie immediately moved back, and tried to avoid any further eye contact from Lily. Cela est mauvais. O-oh dear... this is awkward. Oh er, uhm... what do I do? Susie idly messed with her notebook, as she was in thought about the situation.


"Hm, well, does anyone else want their project to be read?" Achim asked of the class.  
Junkyard barked a few times. Achim glanced at Junkyard, "Hush girl." He finished organizing the papers together. "Hnm, well students, next class we will be delving into poetry. You are all dismissed from class, unless you have any further questions you want to ask me. I hope you have a good rest of the day, remember to study."


The generic students, began shuffling out of their seats, and collecting their various school materials, and began to leave the classroom.


Achim took the first paper that was on his desk, one belonging to a Margaret Gorski. He began reading the paper silently.


'Dad said "No! You will BE KILL BY DEMONS" ', after reading this line, Achim began rubbing his temple as he reached under his desk. Oh it'll be hard reaching this one, but you can do it. However, that line... I need my whiskey. Just a precaution.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Okay, I guess it's time to go." Anya began to pull away, then stopped herself. She couldn't just leave Helada like this, cold and unhugged.


"Don't worry, Helada, I have a plan!" she said, suddenly looking very determined. She swung her legs around across Helada's lap, and pressed close to the cold, icy metal she'd yet to warm with her toasty body. "If you carry me, I can hug you for longer!"

 

[Rancealot]

"This is true. But is it truly your wish to hug me? Is this a friend thing?" Helada asked. Hugging wasn't anywhere in her three step process of making friends. This was something new. What if this was this generation's method of fighting or war? Was this Bullying?


"Are you bullying me?"

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie grabbed her notebook, and placed her pencil back in her pants pockets. She glanced around the classroom for a bit, before heading out.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"What? Don't be silly; I'm not bullying you." Anya said, smiling.


"This is a friend thing, because we're friends. Of course we're friends, Helada." the catgirl elaborated, rubbing her cheek against the suit of armor.


"I hope this makes you feel warm soon."

 

[CSA]

Lily waited until class was over and Susie was making her way out the door to get up and leave. She had to know what she knew. Had to plumb the depths of her understanding. Thoroughly.





Lily followed silently behind her for a few steps before speaking up.


"Hey, Susie. Fun class, huh?"


Lily had to handle the subject gently, or else Susie might become frightened and bolt.