Guest Speaker
Blue Guard AU chapter 11
Summary: Hexside has a special guest speaker. And little kids know too much.
Word count: 4.2k
Warnings: Implication of kidnapping, lost children, Belos exists.
A/N: Been a while since I updated this, huh? I just kinda forgot to update when I finished chapters so now I've got some ready to go soonish.
I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Happy Halloween!
Blue Guard AU Masterpost
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Luz hopped off Owlbert and waved goodbye to Eda and King.
"See ya after school kid!" Eda shouted down to her as she flew off.
"Bye Eda! Bye King!" Luz waved after them.
She walked up the school steps to where Willow, Gus and Amity were waiting for her.
"Morning Batata!" Amity greeted her with a peck on the cheek.
"Morning." She gave her a kiss back.
"Did you end up fixing Skara's leg?" Luz asked as they walked inside.
"Yep, Amity showed me how to do it and what tools I need, so I'll be able to fix it if it ever breaks on the field. I'm gonna show the rest of the team too." Willow told her.
"That's great." She said.
Willow nodded in agreement.
Everything was going normal.
"Looks like it's going to be a chill day." Luz commented.
I could use one of those. She thought. She was tired from staying up so late, and she didn't want any adventures. A nice, calm, normal day sounded great.
"Well actually, there is something going on today." Gus said.
Luz fixed him with a death stare.
"Continue." She said.
The threatening stare didn't put him off.
"The school is being visited by Carlyne Nazik! Isn't that exciting?!" Gus exclaimed.
Carlyne Nazik! She was there when Philip… she'll know I was there!
"Uh, who is she?" Luz asked.
All she really knew was that Carlyne Nazik was an old demon and involved with Belos's rise, and had some connection to the Clawthorne Clan. Most of it wasn't too positive in her opinion, despite how kind she may have been.
"She's only the coolest being on the Isles! I heard she's almost five hundred! Can you believe that?!" Gus shouted.
Luz glanced at Willow, she was looking at Gus with a sweet smile. A big sibling kind of smile.
"She's a biologist, demonologist, historian, politician, she's a master of magic and old knowledge, she's one of the most important figures on the Boiling Isles. She really is very impressive." Willow explained.
"Huh, sounds like she knows a lot." Luz commented.
"She knows too much." Amity grunted.
"What's the problem?" Luz shot her girlfriend a concerned look.
"She used to come by for prosthetic measurements, she had a custom one, she'd always talk about my dad's past relationships and my parents' school days. She does not have a filter." Amity explained.
"Oh boy." Luz said.
"She's coming today to check out the Hexside students and, I heard she was here to check you out too, Luz! We can share facts about humans! She went to the human realm way back when so I bet she's interested in what's going on there! She's also got this apprentice, I think, they're a rare demon type and I think they are coming too!" Gus said in a high pitched excited voice.
"Me?" Luz stopped in her tracks, oblivious to Gus's excitement.
"It makes sense, she's a biologist, you're a rare species. I heard that she once beat up a hydra because it interfered with her research on a type of flower." Amity said, nudging her a bit.
"This day is gonna be so great! I hope she comes by my class! Bye guys!" Gus squealed as he ran off to his class.
"What's his deal?" Luz asked Willow.
"Gus really looks up to Carlyne, he's always wanted to be just like her, it's part of what kick started his interest in humans, he wanted to bring more information about them." Willow said.
"Oh. That's sweet." Luz said.
"Yeah, I hope she lives up to his expectations." Amity agreed.
"Oh I'm sure she will." Willow nodded.
XXX
Miss Nazik let herself fall off her Palisman to the ground where she absolutely nailed the landing. Argi giggled, her mentor was so funny sometimes.
"Excellent landing Ma'am!" Argi said as she landed next to the towering demon.
"Thank you, Silver. Open the case and let's get this over with." She instructed.
Argi opened the case she'd brought along with them and pulled out the sleeve. It was an easy, practiced routine at this point.
"Arm." She said.
Miss Nazik extended her arm, Argi fit the sleeve onto the nub and pulled it up right. She got the prosthetic attachment on and finally, placed the abomination-oracle powered prosthetic into place. It buzzed as it connected with Nazik and whirled into life. Nazik groaned and flexed the false wrist.
"I'll never get used to it." She grumbled.
Miss Nazik's prosthetic was a rather bare bones design. It had the base skeletal structure, and nothing else, Nazik didn't cover the wires and innards with anything. She always said it was because she was above tricking herself.
"I guess we can go in now." Argi said.
Nazik's dead eye flicked over to her and she squinted. In an instant, Nutmeg scurried into position to act as Miss Nazik's eye. The Palisman curled into a circle, eyes in the middle, in a sort of monical look. The eyes glowed as a sign of the connection being made.
"Thank you Nutmeg." Carlyne gently patted her Palisman.
"Let's go in." She instructed.
Argi nodded and followed closely behind her mentor to the front steps.
The Hexside Principal, Hieronymus Bump, was waiting at the front doors to greet them. His eyes landed on her, they didn't linger very long, she tended to have that effect. The aging witch turned to Miss Nazik.
"Ah, the esteemed Carlyne Nazik, may I welcome you to Hexside School of Magic and Demonics." The principal made a sweeping gesture as the doors opened.
Nazik shot him an unimpressed look.
"You should know not to bother with a flashy show for me, Hieronymus." She scolded lightly.
"What can I say, it's fun." Mister Bump shrugged.
Nazik gave a soft sigh and bent down to be at eye level with the witch.
"You do have a way of making a witch feel quite small, Carly." Mister Bump commented.
"It's good to see you too, old man." Nazik rolled her eyes affectionately.
"Yes, it's been too long." Bump agreed.
Argi watched the interaction, wanting to be invisible for this more private moment between friends, but Nazik said no invisibility on this mission, and she wasn't about to disobey orders so soon.
She felt eyes on her and made eye contact with the principal.
"I see you've brought your, apprentice, with you." Bump observed.
Argi narrowed her eyes, she didn't like how he said that.
"I need to show her the job somehow, she'll be shadowing me and checking out your school on her own a bit." Nazik explained calmly.
"I see." Bump said, clearly examining her.
Argi instinctively moved her hand towards her sword, readied herself for attack. Nazik shot her a hard stare, she wasn't really mad is what it said.
"You've clearly taught her the warrior part of your job." Bump said.
"Yes, she is quick to assume ill intent, it's understandable, given Belos's assignments for her, but I assure she won't really be a problem outside of a little mischief." Nazik nudged her arm, Argi lowered her hand.
"My apologies, Mister Bump." She apologized.
He nodded, though his eyes were still on her sword.
"Maybe you should leave that." He suggested.
"That's a good idea." Nazik agreed.
Argi groaned and put the sword in her spacial pocket, she shot her mentor a 'happy now?' look, most of the effect being lost due to her helmet.
"Now that's settled, shall we begin?" Nazik prompted.
"Yes, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, our first stop is the kindergartners and younger classes, they are very excited to see you, Carly." Bump said, leading them in.
"I always enjoy the children." Nazik agreed.
XXX
Argi felt increasingly uncomfortable as more children stared at her. The kindergartners had been absolutely enthralled by Nazik's presence and most hadn't even noticed her, her hope had been that none would.
However, a select group of children had their sights on her and her alone. They kept looking at her, edging closer to see what she would do, then running back to their friends and excitedly squealing to them. It was odd. She wasn't doing anything.
One child in particular was giving her a lot of attention. The kid was sitting very close to her, kept edging closer. Something was off about them, the way they were staring made Argi feel very uncomfortable.
She had noted that the child was one of the older younger class students, and some sort of demon hybrid. They had features that didn't quite match.
They possessed two pairs of horns, that it looked like they often clashed in their growth patterns, but the dominant set was a lot like her own. They had a prominent nose, it was big and round, but it also had a feline quality to it.
They had wide eyes, with whites that were tinted green, something about the gaze was familiar. They also had wings, mostly like a bat's in structure, but the membrane was clear and insect-like, and they had a single long, thin tail that twitched slightly at the tip.
The child smiled and revealed a prominent pair of fangs… that grew… Palisde fangs… It was clear as day what the child was trying to say.
Argi stared at the child in shock. She didn't know how to respond to that. What was the purpose anyway?
The child got up and walked over to her, Argi was extremely thankful for her helmet.
"Need something?" She prompted.
The child narrowed their eyes, eyes that were shaped like hers.
"Your horns are small." The child said.
"Excuse me?" Argi asked.
"Your horns are too small, they should be bigger and curved, they look like mine." They elaborated.
Argi took that to mean her horns looked like a young child's. Belos hadn't ever wanted her to grow them past a certain point. The child was grinning up at her.
"You are one of us." This time they spoke in Palis, the language she had known all her life but rarely spoke in.
Argi pretended not to understand what the kid had just said.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked.
"You know what I said. You are one of us. A child of Titans." They said.
Argi glared at them.
"If you are a lost child, you should come home. We are still looking
"I think you're a little confused kid, I've got a home already, and I don't know you." Argi gave the kid a gentle shove away from her.
"You are the one who is confused. It is not your fault, since you do not know. Your false home is built on lies. I can smell them. They are as rotten as he is. And while it is true that you do not know me, I know of you. We are told of all lost children in the hopes we will be able to help find them. we are good at finding, but you were hidden better it seems." They smiled, wide and fanged, at her.
"Alright, just who do you think I am if I am one of those lost children you keep speaking of?" Argi shot off.
She felt a little foolish for being so mad at a child. They giggled.
"You are the one who was lost in an attempt to help someone suffering great pain. You are the lost child, with eyes the color of the boiling blood from which we were first made, and the color of our gifts, perception and longevity."
"And what color is that?" Argi asked.
"You have our silver and gold in your eyes. silver is perception, gold is longevity. You have eyes of silver and gold within pools of blood blue. You have the eyes of our first. The eyes of The Protectors. I know you, lost child. I know you." They spoke with such certainty but there was no way this child had seen her face, much less her eyes. Someone must've told them.
"How in the Blue Moon did you know that?! Who told you?!" The Palis felt strangely natural on her tongue.
She hadn't spoken it in years, Belos hated it when she did as a child. He said it was a tongue of wild magic, and that the Titan would be angry with her for speaking it. She figured she would've forgotten it after so many years, yet out it came, spoken almost as naturally as the child in front of her. The kid smiled.
"So you do retain some knowledge of our culture. It is good to know you can still speak, instead of only understand. He could not take that from you." They said.
"Who are you?" She asked cautiously.
Nobody was paying any attention to them, and they were in a secluded area. If anyone did see it would be assumed as an odd demon child being drawn towards a fellow odd demon.
"I am Vesper. One of my mothers is Palisde, the other is a vampire. You know my mother's friend. They are looking forwards to meeting you again. They have told me much about you. I was excited to learn that The Turtle was coming here, because you would be with her, and I could talk to you. You are missed, lost child."
Missed. No one missed her, someone would've come if they had truly missed her, Vesper didn't know anything.
"If I was so missed, why didn't anyone come looking for me until now? If they wanted me, why wait until now to claim me? What was stopping them from getting me back? I doubt they care as much as you think, Vesper." She scoffed.
Vesper gave her a sad look and took her hand, squeezing it in between her small fingers.
"Please do not mistake their inability for us not caring. We have always wanted you, we want all lost ones to be found, and when we found you, there was nothing we could do. He would not give you up. And we were unable to approach him. I wish it had been different, you are a good sister." She spoke somberly.
"I hope you get to come home soon, I'd like to show you around. You can bring your tree sibling too. I think they would like to learn from us too." Vesper added sweetly.
That made her feel a bit better, she really couldn't be mad at a kid.
"Tree sibling? What do you mean? I don't have a tree sibling." She said.
Vesper gave a mischievous smile, their tail wagged around.
"I am not supposed to tell you, but I think you will find out soon. The Elders say stone hearts hum the most beautiful songs instead of beat. I do not think he knows yet either." Vesper told her.
"I have to go, I am leaving early today. It was nice to meet you and see you in person. Cin wishes you well with your upcoming change." Vesper gave her a hug around her legs and then ran off, waving at her.
Argi gave a small wave back, knowing she likely wouldn't sleep tonight either. She had too much information to process.
Her ears flicked as Miss Nazik approached her.
"Did you make a friend, Silver?" She asked.
"Yes, I think I did." Argi said.
"I didn't think you still knew Palis."
She hadn't switched back! Argi jolted and stared at her mentor's smug face in shock.
"How-"
"Silver, I'm old, granted, I'm not not Palisde old, but old for most, I've learned a few languages. And don't believe everything your uncle says, he's full of shit sometimes." Miss Nazik said.
"Really?" Argi asked.
"You know from experience that he doesn't always have the best ideas." She reminded.
Argi glanced at the floor, she was right. Belos made mistakes, more than she felt was right to admit.
"Now come along, I've heard there's an illusion student who is very excited for this, we shouldn't keep them waiting much longer." Nazik said, leading her towards the aforementioned class.
XXX
The welcoming display in the Illusion classroom was certainly impressive.
The school's top Illusion student had put it all together and done most of the organization work by himself. He'd wanted it to be perfect.
Argi wasn't surprised to see Augustus, Gus, Porter as the secret mastermind responsible for the grand display. She knew he was a big fan of Miss Nazik.
She didn't want to ruin the moment, so she slightly broke Nazik's request. She cloaked herself to match the wall, since she was camouflaging and mimicking, she wasn't technically invisible. Miss Nazik would probably find it funny.
She stayed hidden for most of Nazik's visit to this class, until she went to the teacher to ask for the student who had cast the welcoming illusion.
Gus Porter nervously approached her towering form, and she knelt down to be at eye level with the twelve year old.
"This was quite the impressive display." Nazik congratulated him.
His face lit up from the praise.
"I hear you are quite good at illusions, I talked to one of your classmates, he seems to think very highly of you. He told me all about a very impressive stunt you pulled at some old graveyard. And here I was thinking Steve just lost his map." Nazik told him.
Gus's face fell, excitement replaced by anxiety.
"You know where it is?" He whispered.
"Course I do, I helped make some of those statues. Several of them were my friends, you know." She gave him a reassuring pat and he relaxed.
"I also hear you have a passion for human knowledge, is that correct?" She prompted.
"Yes ma'am, I mean, yes Miss!" Gus said enthusiastically.
"Nazik is just fine, witchling." Nazik chuckled.
"Gus is quite the illusionist, ma'am, some of his other teachers say he could take the Coven Head's place before graduating." The teacher informed Nazik.
"Well he's certainly a lot more pleasant than Gray, and easier to work with." Nazik paused and cupped a hand over her mouth.
"Between you and me, Gray is an arrogant, pretentious, asshole and a pain up the ass to work with." She whispered to the boy.
Gus almost laughed, then covered his mouth.
"It's fine, everyone but Gray knows it." Nazik told him.
Argi stayed put in her place against the wall as Nazik continued talking with Gus. It shifted in topic from illusions to humans, and then while she spoke with other students.
She decided to wait just outside the class, so there was less a chance of someone running into her disguised form. She heard Nazik's farewell to the students, and pulled out her map to find the quickest route to their next destination. Nazik reached the door, and gave her a side eye.
She was stopped before she could say anything. It was Gus.
"Excuse me, Miss Nazik, but I heard you had an apprentice and that they would be here, but I didn't see anyone, I was wondering if something happened to them." Gus explained himself quickly.
Nazik glanced at her, she was hidden just out of Gus's sight.
"It seems my apprentice might have gotten a little overwhelmed in your classroom, and she decided to disappear." Nazik said.
She reached out and lightly dragged Argi in front of her. Gus's face fell with shock when he saw and recognized her.
"You?! You are Carlyne Nazik's apprentice?" Gus exclaimed.
Argi wanted to crawl into a hole and die, she nodded instead.
"Oh, did you make a friend on some mission?" Nazik prompted her.
"Well, you know the incident with the other Guard yesterday? He was one of the ones who got… mixed up in it." She admitted.
"Mixed up? The Golden Guard tried to force me into a coven!" Gus exclaimed.
"He did? Why would he do that? I left instructions not to get any new recruits." Nazik said with a frown.
"Eh, something with Darius and- look I don't really know. I don't ask questions, I just go with him." Argi stated.
Nazik released her, and spoke to Gus again. He hadn't been expecting her, that was certain. At least the younger boy's idea of her mentor had lived up to expectations.
"Come, we've got other classes to visit, it was a pleasure to meet you, Gus." Nazik said, waving goodbye to him.
Argi trailed behind her mentor, she could feel Gus's eyes burning into her back.
"I am sorry, about what happened, I was trying to talk him out of it. Not that it makes any difference." She said without looking back.
She wasn't expecting any response.
"Thanks. I'll tell my friends." That really caught her off guard.
She turned, there was no malice in Gus's innocent smile. He waved and went back to his class.
These Hexside kids are weird.
XXX
The next class was a general class, so there were lots of students from different tracks in it. All eyes were on her mentor when she walked in, everyone knew who was visiting them.
Argi was starting to wish Miss Nazik had let her be invisible for this mission, she didn't like the looks she was getting from the students. She took her place behind Nazik and leaned against the wall. She willed herself to be neutral when she saw some of the Emerald Entrails here. It was the mixed track witch and the bard, Viney and Skara if she remembered correctly.
Stars, please don't let them recognize me.
She remembered her conversation over penstagram with Skara last night, and her cheeks burned from the wave of embarrassment she felt. I hope no one noticed that.
She saw movement, and to her dismay, she had been noticed. Skara was waving to her. She gave a very awkward little wave back. The witch smiled and returned to her conversation with her friend.
Her natural curiosity got the better of her and she found herself listening in on the conversation.
"I dunno Viney, I just… after yesterday when she saved me, hell she let me be on a team with her, even after all I helped Boscha do to her, I guess it was a bit of a wake up call, you know?" Skara was saying.
"And last night, I was talking with someone about it all, and now I realize just how much of a shitty person I've been. I'm surprised I even have any friends left from hanging with Boscha." Skara admitted.
Argi's ears burned. She had talked with Skara, she had just been looking for a distraction. She hadn't meant to make Skara feel bad, even if it was apparently good? she was honestly so confused.
"Who were you talking with?" Viney asked.
Skara cocked her head towards Argi, Argi really wished she was allowed to be invisible.
"Oh? I didn't think she was much of a talker." Viney mused.
Argi could see that smirk from across the Boiling Isles.
"Me neither, but she is. And she's a good listener. She's got surprisingly solid advice for someone raised like her." Skara said.
Did they know she could hear them? They had to know. There's no way they'd be saying anything like this otherwise. They were trying to distract her with their confusing words and make her job even harder!
Or maybe they were just being honest with each other. They had no reason to care if she heard them or not.
"How about you come with me for lunch? I'm eating with Willow and her friends, it'll be an Emerald Entrails lunch!" Viney suggested.
Skara smiled, then glanced over at another student, who was sitting alone in the back of the class with their hood up, her smile faltered.
"Thanks for the offer, but I've got some things to take care of." She said.
Skara got up and went to the lone student, who looked very nervous with her there.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Skara asked.
The student grunted and shrugged. Skara sat with them and offered them something. They looked startled, and took it carefully. Skara said something to them Argi didn't catch, the student almost smiled, and nodded.
Argi didn't know what any of that meant, but it looked like a good thing.
She waited for the rest of Miss Nazik's meet and greet, she had a final school wide presentation at the end of the day, and had said something about wanting to talk with a certain student about something privately.
Argi could check out the school on her own when Miss Nazik did that.
Maybe I'll go check out Hunter's new friends.
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Vesper is a new oc, and a cute little vampire/Palisde demigirl.
Boiling Isles Vampire lore!
There are two types of vampires, a more witch like vampire, so your typical vampire but with some small horns and more bat like ears than witch ears, and the more beast like vampire, which are still bipedal but have a lot more features of the bat creature both types of vampires can turn into, such as harrier bodies, bat like eyes and noses, and big bat wings and a tail.
They are very closely related species, the more witch-like have just barely diverged from the beast-like. Vampire is used interchangeably for both of them.
Neither type of vampire burns in sunlight, they are nocturnal and prefer to avoid the bright thing in the sky cause "ouch too much light in my eyes I'm leaving".
Vesper's mom is the beast-like, and Skara's O'pa is a witch-like Vampire. Yeah Dhampir Skara is a thing here, also in my other toh AU. I just think Dhampir/Half Vampire Skara is cool. Also amputee Skara happens in both. Cause I said so.
That was fun, I love world building.
I hope you all have a good day, whatever that is for you!
Happy Halloween!
VJS Out!
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