Fantasy PHANTASMA: SCHOOL OF THE STRANGE

[MechaGhoul]

Her ears twitched as she heard Lily. Susie turned around to face her, "O-oh, yes it was a fun class." Susie paused for a moment. Quel sujet de discussion qui va se passer ici? Susie remained silent for a bit, "So... er uhm..." she started up. Okay, er, uhm... What do I do!? Do I... talk about it? OR do I let her bring it up, if she brings it up? She thought to herself.

 

[CSA]

Lily just let Susie talk, hoping she'd let something slip, but the girl didn't seem great with people. It was obvious that Lily would have to throw her a bone.


"You know, I didn't even mean for my story to be read aloud. I wasn't really paying attention at the time," said Lily, a pleasant smile on her face, "It was a little embarrassing."


Lily blushed slightly and shifted in place.


"But what's done is done, right? How did you find it, Susie? My story, I mean."

 

[Rancealot]

"Well. It isn't so far. Keep trying." Helada wanted to tell her it was impossible, but she just kept trying.


"You are a friend? I see. I shall hug back." Helada slowly started to to squeeze tighter and tighter, as she had no sense of touch.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"See, that's the spiri- ack!" Anya gasped.


"Helada, you're hugging just-*urk*, a tad too tight." the catgirl squeaked.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Well, er uhm, at least I didn't have to bring it up. Susie also blushed, "Well... you certainly wrote about the delicate subject of gardening. I can understand, erm, being nervous about having that read out loud." She scratched the back of her head, with her free hand. She paused and idly played with the lower ends of it. "Er ahem. I uhm, did enjoy the story though." Susie continued idly messing with her hair, before quickly stopping.

 

[Rancealot]

"Too tight. That is bad?" Helada asked. She was pretty sure Anya gave it her all in her hugs, so why was Helada's hugs too much?


Hugging sure is hard.


"Reducing tightness." Helada said as she slowly lessened her grasp.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

Anya sucked in a refreshing breath of air.


"You can't just hug people too tight. You gotta have just the right tightness." Anya explained. "Hugging is kinda hard."

 

[CSA]

Lily kept up her smile as Susie spoke. It seems that Lily had imagined right- she did know. Lily wasn't too worried about Susie blabbing, but she still had to make certain everything would be fine.


"Oh, I'm so glad you liked it Susie," said Lily, getting close enough to the Elf so that only she would be hearing Lily's next words and staring directly into her eyes.


"I don't think anybody else really gets it," whispered Lily, "But... I'm a little frightened, Susie. I'm not ready for anyone to find out. You're going to keep it a secret, right?"


Lily's eyes began misting up like she was about to start crying.

 

[MechaGhoul]

"Vous avez ma parole. Er uhm, oh, y-you have my word." Susie whispered back to Lily. Er uhm, with this happening to her, I uhm... Susie reached over with her free hand, gingerly reaching over to place it on Lily's shoulder. "Er uhm... it'll be a-alright." Then, upon realizing what she did, would immediately retract her hand back, and took several steps back to secure her personal space. "S-s-sorry about that!" Susie began blushing.

 

[CSA]

Looking at Susie stuttering and blushing furiously, Lily was completely certain that she was telling the truth. The Alraune didn't have to worry for now it seemed, and as a matter of fact it felt surprisingly good that someone knew about it.


Actually, this whole situation went much better than expected. Lily wiped the forming tears from the corners of her eyes.


"No, it's fine. I really liked it. Even though you're scared of physical contact, you tried to comfort me. It was really nice."

 

[MechaGhoul]

"W-well, I'm uh, glad that you did." Susie said. She scratched the back of her head, "I uhm, just wanted to be sure you were... doing okay." Susie stopped scratching the back of her head, as she returned her hand back to her side.

 

[CSA]

"Actually, Susie," said Lily, approaching the Elf once again, "I think it's sort of nice that someone knows. Thank you."


Lily looked fondly at Susie for a couple of seconds before continuing.


"Ah... was that it for the day? If so, we should head back to our room soon. Anya seemed to have attached herself to Helada, and I'm kind of curious about how that turned out."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie took a few steps backwards. "Hn possibly, it very might be." She blinked a few times before speaking again, "Huh. W-well, hopefully both parties are happy with it."

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Oh, we should catch up with the others, before we're late for class!" Anya said, patting her friend's cold breastplate.


"If you carry me, I'll hug you while we go. Maybe I can even give you a few pointers." she smiled.

 

[Rancealot]

"Pointers. Very helpful. Will be appreciated." Helada stated. She carried Anya as she walked across the halls as one would carry a princess.


"Searching for others. Can these be called friends as well?" She asked.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"Of course they're our friends." Anya explained, cuddling against the breastplate. "We like them, and they like us, so they're our friends. That's how friends work."

 

[MechaGhoul]

Hm, for day classes anyway. However, I am sure Wizardry, will be a fine night time class. At least it is probably a night class anyway. Or is Wizardry even taught today? So many questions... Well I just hope it isn't the standard methods of spell-casting and manipulation. Susie glanced up, and pondered on the subject matter, and moved onto a different train of thought. Hopefully, they have some more unique spells at the disposal for teaching. Then again, a wizard must guard the knowledge carefully, so I shouldn't expect any truly fun lessons to start with.


Susie stopped her pondering and glanced back at Lily. "Y-yes, it probably would be a good idea to head back."


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'And then John was a zombie.' ... That was how it ended. THAT IS HOW SHE ENDED IT!? Achim thought to himself, as he reached under his desk and pulled out a stainless steel flask. He glanced at the top for a moment, before quickly unscrewing it. The aroma of extremely, cheaply distilled spirits permeated his nose, as he took a quick swig from his flask. He swished the contents around in his mouth, enjoying the flavor of the liquor, before gulping it down in one quick efficient motion. He gripped onto his flask, as he took a second, and larger swig of alcohol. Achim glanced around, as he re-screwed the top on, and placed the flask back under his desk. Junkyard glanced at Achim, with her mouth wide open as she was panting excitedly at him.


That... I need to help the kid, but how do I reach this kid? Achim thought to himself as he held his head with his right hand. Wait! Achim smiled with enthusiasm, as he reached back under his desk, where he placed his flask. He reached under the flask, as he pulled out a worn copy of 'Alice in Wonderland'. He placed the book on his desk, as he checked the name on the paper, to insure he knew which student needed the proper guidance.


She is clearly naturally bent to ABSURDIST Fiction! So, if I show her the work of a REAL Absurdist Fiction Author, I can help hone her bent towards it, and make her a better writer! Achim glanced at Junkyard as he held the book in his hand, "We will go on another walk, after all, we do have a student to help out." Junkyard barked, excited about the news, and by news, mostly the word walk. Because, Junkyard did enjoy the daily strolls with Achim. And so Achim went to see if he could find Maggie, fairly quickly, as Junkyard followed.

 

[CSA]

"Well let's get going, then," said Lily enthusiastically. She raised an arm like she was about to pat Susie on the back before she remembered that the girl didn't care for touching. The Alraune awkwardly lowered her arm and started walking back to their room.


"She liked my story," thought Lily proudly, "And I was barely even trying. I must be a writing genius."





It wasn't too long before they ran into Anya and Helada, who actually appeared to be getting along quite well. Lily could only speculate on what events led to the armor carrying Anya around like a princess, but the kid was kind of charming. It didn't surprise Lily too much.


"Hey, do you two want to go back with us?"

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie just stared at Helada while she was carrying Anya. "H-huh." Susie again glanced at the pair. Huh, if only Anya had a cutlass, and the two of them were on an enemy airship... Still surprised how agile Mom was with the cutlass while still in the air, as Dad tossed her towards them... I really should call them soon. I hope they are doing okay. Susie coughed into her free hand, "Ah, er uh, excuse me. S-so pardon my i-i-intrusion, b-but I have to ask uhm... why?"

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"I wanna go with you!" Anya cried from her perch. "I think we got one more class."


The catgirl produced a slip of paper. "It says we got a class with... Mister Richard? He is teaching culty arts." she read.


Her ears flicked as she heard the elf ask why. "Why? I wanted to be carried, and I wanted to cuddle Helada. What other reasons do I need?"

 

[Rancealot]

"Yes. We should head to class. Must not be late." Helada said.


Hearing the elf, she merely stated."Why? It is a friendly action. I was told."


"I was also told we are friends. Shall I carry you as well? Can hold three. If one of you go inside of me." Helada of course meant the hole into the dark abyss known as the inside of her armor.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Culty Arts? The Society hosted in this location allows Male Magus within the ranks? And a Male Magus is the Eldest of the Occult Practitioners of the Society here? And it happens during the DAY of all times? I hope they can at least keep the magical knowledge secret... Perhaps the day is when they had the easiest time to initiate new members? Should I show up in a pair of my Coven Robes? Susie was pondering all of these thoughts as soon as Anya mentioned the cult part of the class. "W-well, before heading over to class, I should go pick up something from the room." Susie nodded, before glancing back at Helada, as she clenched onto her notebook a bit tighter, and waved her free hand side to side.


"Oh no, no, it's fine." Susie replied.

 

[CSA]

Another class? And Lily thought that she was done being bored for the day. She had shows to watch. Games to play. Stuff to read.


"This class had better be super fun," she thought, scuttling into Helada's arms beside Anya. It was a free ride, after all, and Helada was a girl so it was OK.


"Well I don't have anything I need, so I'll see you in class Susie," said Lily, giving the elf a parting wave.


"This is sort of fun," thought Lily aloud after getting settled.

 

[MechaGhoul]

Susie gave a quick nod towards Lily, "Alright. See you there." She quickly headed back to the dorm room. When she entered, she quickly opened the trunk.


"OH hey, your Mom called and there a-..." Susie paid little attention as she quickly grabbed a simple pair of black robes with an attached hood. "No time for idle chatter. They gather. Strangely early... And led by a Male Magician." She quickly put on her robe, and moved the hood up. "Huh, don't these things usually meet in secret? And why only the simple ones?" Susie moved the hood up as she glanced at Ferdie, "All they need to know, for the moment. I'm not sure whether or not it is a hive for a larger branch... However, I will learn soon enough." Ferdie glanced at Susie, "So, can I come then Dark Mistress?" Susie raised an eyebrow at Ferdie, "You haven't called me that in... quite sometime. However, you cannot, for this first gathering of the fellow occultists. After I gleam more information about this branch and their rules, I shall allow you to go, if they allow it." She strolled out, dressed now in more appropriate gear, plain black robes, and headed off to class.

 

[ComradeSenpai]

"It's really fun," Anya agreed, squirming a bit. She was excited to be snug, cuddled in between a pair of her friends.


"Well.... Shall we head to class, then?" she asked.