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Xard was peacefully eating his dinner alone when the front door opened. He didn’t pay it much mind, but found it weird that it was Phon who entered through it. Normally, she teleported everywhere, so her using doors like that was definitely unusual. She was probably distracted since she was talking on the phone, muttering responses every so often. By the sound of it, she was talking to a client, and getting the details of a job from them.

During the phone conversation, she started staring directly at Xard. A gleeful smirk crept across her face, almost as if she was holding in laughter as her eyes burned holes in him. After she hung up the call, she covered her eyes.

Drim and Kada appeared next to her. Drim was holding a book, clearly having been reading. Kada was sprawled out on the floor, blissfully napping. Phon kicked her awake. Before Kada could complain, Phon whispered something into her ear, and then into Drim’s. Now that they were all on the same page, they all glanced at Xard, snickering to themselves.

Xard was getting pissed off by this, and angrily blurted, “What the zjik is going on?!”

◆◆◆

Kleff Brand felt a bit of melancholy when he arrived at school. He was sad that his high school life was ending, but felt excited to start a new chapter. There were two days left, so he was going to get the most out of them. Exams were over for seniors, but due to the Board of Education’s policies, they still needed to hold two more days of school to hit the minimum attendance criteria.

As Kleff climbed the stairs to the senior’s floor, he noticed the students of the other grades acting a bit more anxious than usual. Their exams were this week, so it was understandable. The senior floor, however, was a bit less crowded than normal. There were around 20% less students than usual by his estimation. Most likely, students with remaining sick days, who didn’t feel the need to attend these last two days, were opting to skip them entirely.

Those who were attending mostly seemed to be there solely to spend these last two days with their friends, since such opportunities would become more scarce in the future. That’s what the conversations he’d overheard had told him, anyways. Kleff had no such sentiment, and didn’t want to waste these last two days on such frivolities. The teachers had heavily implied that these would be light days where the classes weren’t taken seriously. Kleff planned to take advantage of this and use the time to try and get one-on-one interactions with the teachers and get them to fill in any gaps in his knowledge before he graduated.

Well, that had been his plan. Yesterday, every student’s family received a notice. The vast majority of the school’s staff had come down with an illness all at the same time. It seemed that they all contracted it at their year-end party which was held that weekend. Therefore, all of those that were sick needed to be replaced with substitutes. Kleff’s heart sank a little as he peered into each classroom as he walked by. None of them had a teacher so far.

He expected a few to be missing, but this many was discouraging. Now, he was starting to wonder if these next two days really would be a waste. It was also stated in the notice that the staff should be better sometime in the middle of the week, but that would be too late for Kleff. Apparently, they debated on delaying school altogether until they were better, but he understood their reasoning as to why they didn’t. The lowerclassmen needed to take their exams, and almost no seniors would come if they had to wait.

His mood perked up a bit when he saw Ms. Jaimess leaving their homeroom class, and he rushed to greet her. “Good morning Ms. Jaimess, I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

“Oh, good morning Kleff,” she greeted him back.

“Did you manage to avoid the sickness entirely then?” he asked her.

“Uh yes, I unfortunately was unable to attend the party,” she responded. “Well, I guess I should say fortunately in this case, though that may be a bit mean given what happened to my colleagues. I had a wedding to attend, so I couldn’t make it.”

“Well, I’m still glad you’re here,” Kleff assured her. “I look forward to our last two days together.”

“Oh, about that,” Ms. Jaimess frowned. “I’m afraid I won’t be in charge of your homeroom for them. Since we had to bring in so many substitutes, we had to redistribute everyone. Because of the exams, anyone with a proctor’s license will be overseeing the lower grades. I’m sad to say that we’re stretched too thin, so those few without will be in charge of the senior classes.”

“Well, who exactly are we getting then?” Kleff wondered disparagingly. “If they don’t even have their licenses…” A proctor’s license was required to become a teacher, and was required to become a substitute in the country of Domister. That meant whoever they were getting weren’t actually official teachers in any capacity. Perhaps it was volunteering college students that were majoring in education degrees. That would make the most sense because they could get credit for it. While it wasn’t ideal, it still wouldn’t be the worst scenario for Kleff because he could inquire about college life from them.

“I’m afraid I don’t know,” Ms. Jaimess clarified. “The principal didn’t inform us, but it was quite clear that he was scrambling to find people when I talked to him yesterday. I really wish he had let me assist him, he sounded so sick and tired on the phone. Oh, I need to be on my way, Kleff. If I don’t see you again before the graduation ceremony, I’ll give you my congratulations now.” She then rushed to the stairs and vanished out of sight.

Kleff entered his homeroom while mulling over several thoughts. Their replacement wasn’t there yet, but that was to be expected. They were most likely being briefed by whoever was in charge. Now he was wondering who was in charge since the principal was absent as well. Perhaps he was teleconferencing to speak to the substitutes. The classroom was soon filled, and more students from his class arrived than he anticipated. This was likely Jordi’s doing. She was a social butterfly and everyone wanted to spend time with her.

As expected, everyone was chattering loudly, and Kleff was already starting to get annoyed. Since substitutes were going to be in charge for probably all of his classes, they would most likely be relegated to self-study. Due to the nature of his classmates, though, he could be assured none of them would actually study and would just talk the entire time. Kleff didn’t want his own progress hampered as a result, so perhaps he would be able to get permission to go to the library for each class if the substitutes themselves proved not to be useful educators.

Finally, the bell rang, and Kleff tensed a little as everyone’s eyes wandered to the door. Even though most of his classmates weren’t going to take these two days seriously, it was clear that everyone was curious as to who they’d be getting. The door opened a minute later, and everyone’s jaws dropped. Likely the last person they were expecting walked through the door. Just as surprising, the first thing their new teacher said was a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Alright, let’s get this over with. Everyone take your seats, I’ll now be taking attendance.” Kleff’s former classmate, and now wanted criminal, Xard Randex was standing at the front of the classroom with their attendance book in hand.

Kleff leapt out of his seat, his body acting of its own volition. He then shouted at Xard without holding back. “What are you doing here?! You’re not supposed to be our substitute, right?! Is this some kind of sick joke?!”

Xard then let out another large sigh, “Look, Kleff, I don’t want me to be here either. I was forced to be in charge of this class by a devil of a woman. Now, if you’ll just relax and cooperate, I’ll be out of your hair that much sooner.”

“No, that is unacceptable,” Kleff slammed his hands down on his desk. “Do you understand what you’ve done? You murdered one of our classmates, disrupted our lives, and defiled the sanctity of place by shedding blood here because of your own personal agenda. Now you come back as if none of it happened?! I won’t stand for it! I’m calling the police!” Kleff pulled out his phone and started dialing, but before he could finish, it was blasted out of his hand.

He looked up to find Xard pointing at him, and Kleff had to assume his Fiend powers were responsible. “Man, you always were such a stick in the mud, Kleff,” Xard grumbled. “Sorry about your phone, looks like I accidentally broke it, but if you called the police, then you’d just be causing trouble for you and everyone else. You understand that, right? They’re not a threat to us, but you’d be ruining your precious last days of school. We’re not here to mess with or harm you all, and we even have permission to be here. The principal called and requested us specifically.”

Kleff couldn’t believe his ears. He had always thought of the principal as a rational and wise man. It was a bit difficult for Kleff to accept last time why he’d hired the Drazahs, but understood when it was proven how dangerous Mr. Valker was. However, this was something he couldn’t comprehend. Criminals in charge of students; the idea was laughable. Clearly, something else had to be going on, and Kleff was going to get to the bottom of it. So, for the first time in his entire high school career, Kleff broke a rule.

He stormed out of the classroom without permission and stomped down the hallway. Kleff planned to contact the principal, but his own phone was broken now. It was actually the second time the Fiends were responsible for the loss of his cellphone, since during their last visit, Phon Drazah never returned the one she took. He didn’t know the principal's number offhand, but imagined there had to be a way to contact him from his office.

Kleff barged into the principal’s office without a second thought, his racing mind allowing for a lack of decorum. However, he did not expect someone to be there as well, and flinched when he saw her. “I’ve been waiting for you, Kleff,” Phon Drazah smirked as she looked up at him. Her feet were propped up on the desk as she lay slumped in the principal’s chair, giving off an air that she didn’t have a care in the world, and utterly lacked respect for the room she was in.

“What, you planned out that I would get upset, get my phone broken, and come storming in here?” Kleff questioned, unsure if he had fallen into some trap.

“Uhh, no, I just saw you coming with my special eyes,” Phon corrected him. “What can I do for you?”

Overall, she was much less abrasive than he anticipated. If memory served, she was more the type to just do what she wanted and wouldn’t even consider the needs of others. It was beyond strange that she was offering any kind of assistance, unless it was meant to be rhetorical. “Well, for starters, you can explain to me what you and your gang are doing here,” Kleff demanded.

“Wow, calling us a gang is a bit harsh isn’t it?” Phon rebutted. “We’re more like a band of mercenaries… No wait, that implies we’re only hired muscle, but we do so many other things too… Hmm, maybe independent contractors? Nah, that makes us sound boring. Let’s see, we do favors for money… Nope, nope, that sounds way too wrong. You know what, I’m just going to go with organization, that’s what we are.”

“Anyways, why we’re here,” Phon got back on track. “It’s simple really, we were asked to be here. The principal couldn’t find anyone else to fill the remaining vacancies so he came to us, begging.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Kleff refuted. “Sure there are a lot of sick teachers, but the city possibly couldn’t have run out of replacements, right?”

“It did,” Phon declared. “You seem to be under the impression that only regular teachers were at this communal disease-factory called a party. That’s not true at all. You forget that it takes many people besides just teachers to run a school. All of the school’s normal substitutes were there as well, and thus got sick. There were also the janitorial, administrative, security, and cafeteria teams along with several of their spouses. Of all the employees of this school, both permanent and contracted, only six weren’t affected.”

“Only six?!” Kleff was stunned by how low the number was.

“Yes, so even with every available substitute within a 50 lage radius called in, there were still too many vacancies,” Phon informed him. “Thus, the principal was left with a dilemma. He had too many slots to fill, and only a single afternoon to fill them. Yes, this only happened yesterday evening, and we had to spend most of last night flying to get here on time.”

“Luckily for you humans, us Fiends can do the job of many. You definitely don’t need to worry about security with us here, and food and janitorial is completely covered by one of our group. The administrative system is well maintained, and can be essentially automated for these few days. Of course, there still needs to be a physical person. That’s why I’m here, to deal with whiny babies like you. It has nothing to do with the others thinking I’d be terrible at teaching and wanting me to stay as far away from a classroom as possible. Anyways, when you think about it, it would be the easiest choice for your principal given our proven track record of working with him.”

Kleff clenched his fists. This was insanity, but there was some truth to her words. However, he just couldn’t bring himself to understand the rationality of it. Surely there had to have been a better solution, or at the very least some other reason the principal would have summoned them. He wouldn’t be able to accept it without hearing the entire truth. “Now run along then,” Phon tried to shoo him away. “If you don’t get out of my office and back to class in the next minute, I’ll give you detention.”

Kleff’s heart panicked at the mere mention of that word, and he could feel himself start to sweat. It was probably an irrational reaction, but it was something he had dedicated himself to avoiding. Did she actually have the power to do that? “Well, you don’t seem to be budging, so I guess I’ll make it a suspension instead,” Phon threatened. “Wouldn’t that be something? You go through all of high school as a model student, only to get suspended on your last two days, blemishing that perfect record of yours.”

This was a full blown panic attack waiting to happen, and Kleff needed to leave as soon as possible. He left the room as abruptly as he entered, not able to take her taunting whether it was real or not. Kleff had already been accepted into the college of his dreams, partially due to his unblemished record. He didn’t think getting in trouble now would affect that, but he was absolutely not willing to take that risk.

When he got back to the senior’s floor, the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom. By the time he got back to his classroom to retrieve his belongings, Xard had left along with the rest of the students. During the walk to his first class, he started to desperately rationalize the situation to himself. These people lead very different lives to the one I know. Perhaps they can indeed provide some genuine insight I wouldn’t get from a normal day of studying.

The odds were also low that they would be his teachers for all of his classes. Whether he’d actually admit it to himself or not, Kleff kept up with the FFH pretty regularly. Whenever he saw an article or news report on Xard, he felt a strange obligation to read and research it. This usually led to a rabbit hole of reading through the group's other exploits while angry at himself the entire time for getting so distracted from studying.

Because of this, though, he knew that there were currently only eight members of their group, and Kleff had eight classes. Phon Drazah wasn’t going to be a teacher, so that meant there would be at least one class where he wouldn’t be involved with them. On top of that, there were several classes beyond the ones he took and multiple teachers for some of the subjects, lowering the odds even further. As he thought about it, he was starting to understand why they’d run out of proper substitutes.

◆◆◆

Kleff felt uneasy since bad luck immediately found him, failing the odds on the very first class. Nathym Cyper, the Enigmatic Engineer, was waiting in the classroom as the substitute for his shop class. Kleff tried to calm down, rationalizing again. Nathym wasn’t as high profile as the rest of them, having almost no misdeeds on his record. Word had it that he was one of the brightest minds in the technological landscape, or rather his alias was, so it was possible he’d excel at teaching a class like this.

Normally, Kleff dreaded shop class. He was forced to pick two electives for his senior year, and unfortunately Kleff was the victim of bad planning on his part. There were only so many electives, and none could be repeated from year to year. He had been too ambitious, taking the ones he wanted most as a freshman, thus leaving him with less desirable choices each following year. By the time he got to be a senior, none of them piqued his interest, and he was forced to pick the ones that he’d convinced himself would be the most useful in life.

In the end, he’d gone with shop and home-ec, since they were at least practical skills. He chose them over choices like drama and choir which he saw no viable use for. However, the teacher for his shop class had been less than motivated himself, not willing to teach them anything too difficult. They spent most of their lessons wood-carving, making it Kleff’s least favorite class by a wide margin.

Surprisingly, the class was in less of an uproar than Kleff expected. Most of the students didn’t seem too surprised to see a Fiend in front of them. However, there were a select few with their eyes bulging out of their skulls, staring at Nathym. Kleff guessed that because Nathym was one of the lesser known Fiends, most people probably thought he was a normal substitute with a weird choice in hair dye. The Enigmatic Engineer was a well known name in the scientific community, and was even in their textbooks, but very few knew his actual name.

“Good morning, everyone, I’m Nathym Cyper, your substitute for the day,” Nathym addressed the class. “Let’s just get this out of the way. Yes, I’m a Fiend, yes, I have a supernatural ability, and the murder I committed was accidental. None of that is really important, though. What is important is that I’ve heard that this class has been neglected, and I aim to do my best to make up for it in the little bit of time we have today.”

All eyes were on Nathym now, everyone engaged for one reason or another: either enthralled by the fact that he was a Fiend or curious as to what he was going to teach them. Nathym went and grabbed a tub from the several that were lining the various walls, which Kleff somehow hadn’t noticed until now. After returning to the head desk, Nathym dumped the contents onto it. There was an old toaster which didn’t exactly look functional, a vastly outdated landline phone, and a few other knick-knacks that looked like junk from someone’s garage.

“See, I made a trip to some thrift stores this morning, and cleaned them out of their old electronics,” Nathym informed the class. “This is the kind of stuff you’d find buried somewhere in your house that your parents never got around to throwing out.” Nathym started dismantling several of the items as he talked, stripping the parts out of them. “To most people, these things are garbage with no use. Which, compared to today's technology, they really are. However, that’s just because people see them for what they are, not what they’re made of. If you combine several old things, you can make something new, something useful.”

It happened too fast. Someone watching his hands the entire time without blinking still wouldn’t have been able to keep up. One moment there was a pile of scrap, the next there was a completed product. It was a box, roughly half the size of the original toaster, with a few switches and knobs on it. “This is a generator,” Nathym explained what he’d made. “I’m sure many of you have them in your homes, but most of them are dreadfully inefficient. This little thing which I made from spare parts can give you a couple hours of power from just a few ounces of gasoline. Now then, everyone grab a tub. You’re all going to make your own.”

A minute passed before everyone realized he was serious, and tubs were passed around the room. Nathym projected pre-written instructions on the board at the front of the room. They were well written and surprisingly easy to follow. Instead of letting the students work on their own like most teachers would, Nathym walked around the entire time, providing assistance and giving different variations of the same instructions to help people understand.

By the end of the class period, every single person managed to finish their generator entirely with their own hands. Kleff was honestly stunned. Nathym was an extraordinary teacher, one of the best he’d seen. His hands-on approach felt more like a friend looking out for you rather than someone lecturing to a sea of different minds. It really put Fiends in a different light for Kleff and was making him reevaluate many of his perspectives. He was also starting to reconsider his future path. Being a civil servant was his goal for as long as he could remember, but now engineering was starting to look rather attractive.

Kleff was rather sad when the bell rang, since he felt he could watch Nathym teach forever and wanted to learn more from him. They were allowed to keep their generators, and it would likely turn into a cherished item that Kleff would view as one of his best memories of high school. His whole attitude for the day had changed, and now instead of dreading the next class, he was rather looking forward to it, excited to see what the next Fiend could teach him. Even if they weren’t as good as Nathym, he was still intrigued by what they’d be bringing to the table.

His mood plummeted back into an anxious depression when he reached his language art’s class. There was just a normal substitute with the normal expression of not wanting to be there. The sub put on a movie, and the class proceeded like any other normal day when the teacher was absent. Kleff spent the period studying, occasionally taking out his generator to examine it again.

◆◆◆

Brought down by the waste of time that was his language arts class, Kleff didn’t have high hopes for the next one. He took back his earlier thought of shop class being his least favorite, since the next period was gym. While he understood the benefits of getting students to exercise, he didn’t understand the point of grading it. Gym was the hardest class for him to get good grades in since he wasn’t naturally athletic. Thankfully, there was a slight curve based on effort, and he was able to bring up his grade by the accompanying nutrition tests.

Kada Susten was his teacher for gym class, and Kleff honestly didn’t know how to feel. He was feeling more excited than he wanted to admit for having another Fiend as a teacher, but heard rumors about the last time she was there. The last time they’d infiltrated, it was a day when he didn’t have gym, so he didn’t get to experience the oddity of a class that the other students were put through.

Something seemed different about her usual appearance from pictures he’d seen, though. She was wearing a military jacket that was tied up above her navel, and was wearing a stand issue military cap. ‘Wearing’ probably wasn’t the right way to describe it, it was more just sitting on her abundance of hair. “Listen up, worms!” Kada barked at the students as she paced back and forth in front of them. They were all standing on the school’s track which wrapped around the zoneball field.

“It has been brought to my attention that your school does not have a swimming program. This is unacceptable! Swimming is a vital skill that’s useful for everyone. You never know when you’re working in an office, and then bam! You’re suddenly teleported to the middle of the sea! Drowning can attack you at any moment, so you need to always be prepared! Even a Fiend can be killed by not knowing how to swim. So, by the end of this class I’ll make sure you’re all strong swimmers!”

One of the students raised their hand and pointed out, “Umm, but miss, we don’t have a pool.”

“Oh, don’t you?!” Kada turned around and jumped into the middle of the field. She sunk down into it with a splash that got some of the students wet. Once she emerged, she smirked at them and yelled. “See, this is why everyone needs to improve their swimming. In this world we live in, you never know when the ground you’ve always known to be solid will turn into a pool!” She then climbed out of the pool, and was somehow completely dry.

“Now, I know you all don’t have swimsuits, and that’s fine,” Kada assured them. “I can’t have expected you all to have pre-cognitively read my mind about what was going to happen today and have brought one. Hell, if one of you had come prepared we’d have different issues! Ignore my rambling. The point is your gym clothes will be just fine for this. You don’t have to worry about a change of clothes or being wet for the rest of the day either. Now, what are you all waiting for? Get to it!”

A few of the students didn’t even hesitate, jumping right into the pool as soon as they were given permission. Most, though, were hesitant, dipping their feet in the water to test it out. Kleff was among this group, but found he adapted to the strange ground-liquid rather quickly. It was warmer than he expected, but guessed it was just the same temperature that the dirt would be.

Like with Nathym, Kada turned out to be a much better teacher than Kleff expected. If people already knew how to swim well, she’d just have them swim a few laps then allow them to play around. For those who didn’t know how, she was personally instructing them, helping them build their confidence and work on their form. Kleff knew how to swim and had finished his laps, so he was just floating near the edge of the pool. His wandering eyes eventually landed on a girl who was sitting on the track.

She was staring at Kada nervously, but would shift her eyes anytime Kada looked anywhere near her direction. Finally, Kada noticed, and hopped out of the pool to go confront her. “So, why aren’t you in the water?” She crouched down and asked the girl.

“I, uhh… Open water has always scared me…” the girl shyly admitted.

“Oh, that’s okay sweetie, it’s nothing to be ashamed about,” Kada consoled her. She then lifted the girl up and hugged her. “It’s alright to be afraid, there was a time when even I was afraid of deep water. You don’t have to get in if you don’t want to.” The girl seemed completely relaxed and relieved by this, but Kleff couldn’t help but notice a slightly devilish smirk on Kada’s face. Perhaps she’d been spending too much time with Phon Drazah.

“However, it is my responsibility as your teacher to help you overcome your fears,” Kada suddenly declared. “You don’t have to get in the water yourself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be forced.” The girl started to tremble as Kada whirled her around towards the direction of the pool. “The best way to overcome fear is to jump right in, quite literally in this case. Learn by doing!” Kada shoved the girl backwards, sending her plummeting into the water.

Kleff, and a few others watching the scene, started to panic, wondering if they needed to help her or not. To be safe, Kleff started swimming in her direction. He noticed that she’d been under for quite a while, and was getting even more worried, wondering why Kada was just watching the water. For every other student, she’d been kind and patient, yet this was just cruel. The surface of the water finally broke and the girl’s head emerged.

She was surprisingly calm despite the attempted drowning, in fact she looked rather happy and pleased with herself. “Wah?! I’m doing it, I’m swimming!” the girl splashed around cheerfully. Kada stared on proudly as the girl swam off, like a mother watching her child walk for the first time. This calmed Kleff as well, since he had been preparing to give Kada an earful for putting a student in danger. Now, he wondered if she somehow knew this is how it would turn out, or if it just luckily worked out that way.

The rest of the class passed without incident, and most students seemed sad to get out of the pool when the time to leave drew close. Once everyone was out, any remaining wetness slid off of their bodies and back into the pool which completely resolidified. This was probably the most enjoyable and mentally taxing gym class Kleff had been subjected to in a while, and it left him starving.

◆◆◆

Seniors ate lunch last out of all the students, and they all hungrily walked towards the cafeteria. It seemed more students than usual brought their lunch, since it was likely none would be served due to the staff illnesses. However, there was a rather pleasant smell wafting from the cafeteria that made everyone’s stomachs growl in unison.

Kleff was stunned when he entered the cafeteria, wondering if he’d accidentally been swept away and was somehow in a lavish restaurant. It was a far cry from the usual cafeteria he knew. There were cloths over the tables, all lined with fancy place settings. At every seat there was a full course meal already waiting, including a soup, salad, appetizer, entree, and desert. Not only that, each meal was different, with a card next to it indicating what it was as well as any allergy warnings.

It was clear that this took an exorbitant amount of work, yet there wasn’t a single kitchen staff member to be found. It didn’t take long for the cafeteria to be abuzz. Students rushed to claim their seats, and even though Kleff was among the first to arrive, he found himself with few places left to sit. He looked over a few empty spots that were close to each other, and eventually decided on a meal. While he didn’t know anyone sitting at that table, they were all too absorbed in eating to talk anyways.

Kleff had chosen something he’d never heard of before, wanting a new experience, but it also just smelled amazing. He took a single bite of everything, and the next thing he knew, tears were streaming down his face. Food had never been this delicious before. Kleff had grown up in a middle-class family. While they usually ate modestly, they’d splurge on occasion, so he thought he knew what fine-dining and delicacies were. How wrong he’d been, and he was starting to wonder if he’d ever be able to enjoy his usual foods again as he ravishly devoured the glorious meal in front of him.

At first he felt sad when he finished eating every bite, but then he noticed how content he was. The meal had perfectly filled him up so that he was entirely satisfied, but not feeling bloated from overeating. As he sat back to let his food settle, he noticed an unusual calm in the cafeteria. Very few people were talking, most in the same blissful state he was. Everyone’s home-brought meals were left untouched, but everyone’s plates were practically licked clean. There were a few salads left uneaten from those who didn’t partake, and a few deserts were being shared among friends, but otherwise, everyone had fully eaten their portions.

◆◆◆

Kleff had a bit more pep in his step as he walked towards his final class of the day. At first, he thought he wanted to nap after eating such a large meal, but he had mistaken the calmness in his head for tiredness. He was far more relaxed now. The matters that had been worrying him all day didn’t seem quite as important or strenuous. In fact, he actually had far more energy now than he was used to, and felt he could tackle anything that was thrown at him. It truly had been a splendous meal, one that was making him reconsider his life goals again, weighing the idea of becoming a chef. However, the meal almost came plunging out of his body the moment he stepped into his next class.

Science was his final subject, and there was a note on the door of the classroom that said today’s lesson would be held in the lab room used for experiments. Kleff retched the moment he stepped inside, almost upheaving the delectable meal he’d just fawned over. He managed to keep it down, but the stench felt like it was penetrating his brain through his nose. It was so strong that his eyes were watering, making him have to feel his way around to get to his usual lab table.

After about a minute, his body started to adjust. While the smell wasn’t any better, Kleff was kind of getting used to it. Once he wiped his eyes, he started looking around for the teacher that caused this disastrous odor. However, what he found was his own breath being taken away, which was kind of nice since it was a break from the stench. Sitting on the desk at the front was a beauty, unlike any he’d ever seen in person. Granted, she probably wasn’t everyone’s type, but he was always told by his friends that he had weird tastes.

He wasn’t quite sure what it was about her that drew him. A big factor was likely the lab coat, since Kleff found nothing sexier than intelligence. He was also oddly entranced by her hair. It was slightly unkempt, but it seemed warm and fluffy, as if inviting him to caress and brush it for hours. Kleff was doing his best not to look at her body, but it was hard given how tight fitting her dress was. For anyone else, he would lecture them about wearing something so skimpy, but he supposed he could let it slide this time.

What he ultimately kept being drawn back to, though, was her eyes. They seemed tired, as if she hadn’t slept in days, yet they still had an ambitious spark to them. The rest of her face seemed gentle, but her eyes were unyielding. It seemed she noticed her staring at him, and she sent a soft smile his way. Kleff’s heart skipped a beat, and could feel his face start to heat up. It was almost assuredly a crush at first sight. He had never really understood the phrase ‘hot for teacher’ until now.

Once his mind was able to calm down, he tried to figure out who she was. Obviously, she was a Fiend. Her hair and eye color made no attempts at hiding that fact. It had been a while since he’d really dug into the FFH, not since the Common Cards. However, he had heard that one more had joined their ranks since. This meant that she was either the new member, The Royal, or The Witch, whose pictures had never been publicly released. He had to assume she was The Witch, since The Royal was said to be a male, though many contested that fact. Plus, she didn’t exactly give off a vibe of nobility.

Deciding he’d been distracted long enough, Kleff returned to his original goal of finding where the vile smell was coming from. Only now did he once again realize he’d missed a slew of tubs lining the walls. Before he had a chance to question them, the bell rang and class began. The few students who had been waiting in the hall to mentally prepare themselves, hesitantly entered the room and went to their tables. There were still some gagging, but it eventually calmed down.

Finally, the substitute hopped down from her desk to start the class, but only after breaking Kleff’s heart. The moment her feet hit the floor, she shrunk down to the size of a child. Perhaps this change in appearance had all been a ploy to distract the students from the smell, since it seemed to refocus all their thoughts and worries to wondering why they were being taught by a small girl. Her voice was also far more lifeless than Kleff previously imagined.

“Greetings. I am Ahvra, The Witch. I will be teaching you today,” she introduced herself unenthusiastically. “I have been asked this a lot today, so no, I am not a child. I am 24 years old. I’ve found it odd that you students seem more interested in my age than what I can teach you. Today, I will be teaching you the wonders of dissection!” Ahvra said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster while pulling a scalpel out of her lab coat. She brandished it towards the sky as if she’d just picked up something magical.

“From the smell, you all can tell there are many dead things in this room. I have procured several creatures normally used for dissection practice: worms, frogs, and pigs. I wanted to get cadavers for you all to truly experience the pinnacle of dissection, but apparently there are legal issues with procuring them on such short notice. I was also called a disrespectful monster for trying to buy them in bulk. So unfortunately, we’ll be stuck with animals, but they will still provide valuable experience.”

“Dissection is off-putting to most. This is a fact I’m well aware of. Therefore, I will provide an incentive to help spur motivation. My curse allows me some control over an individual's passage of time. This can provide different incentives depending on the person. I can make someone older or younger, or I can show you your future. I can also provide some healing if you have a physical ailment bothering you, but not a disease. I will invoke restrictions, though. Mostly, I will not age someone older or younger than one year if they want it to be permanent.”

There were several murmurs floating through the classroom as to whether the power she claimed was real. However, she had just shown them her own body going through a change in age, so Kleff had no reason to doubt her. It really was a staggering ability, one that would prove temptatious to many. “Now, I’ll explain how this contest works. Behind me on the board is a list of organs and a list of scores. Whoever brings me the most points worth of unique organs wins, and I will grant their desire. First, I will provide a demonstration on proper dissection techniques, then the competition will begin.”

The class watched Ahvra skillfully dissect all three animals. Soon, their organs were displayed neatly in front of them. There were a few retches from the students at first, but that subsided pretty quickly. When Ahvra cut, it didn’t seem quite as disgusting as Kleff expected. Perhaps it was her experience dissecting, but she made it look very clinical and orderly; a proper scientific experiment rather than a viscous mess.

Her display seemed to ease a lot of the tension in the class, and the motivation to try it was probably the highest of any students on the continent. Some of them even rushed to begin when the competition started, aiming for the prize. Ahvra mostly sat on her desk, observing the class as they worked. If someone was about to make a mistake, she’d call out to them. For those really struggling, Ahvra would go over to them and nudge them along. She’d have to turn into her more beautiful form, from Kleff’s perspective, in order to assist them because the table’s were too high otherwise.

When the class ended, a veritable mountain of organs was laid out before Ahvra. It was easy to tell the winner, since she had almost double the amount of anyone else. However, Ahvra didn’t seem too pleased and pointed at her. “You did not gather all of these yourself. I saw the whole thing, you took the organs from the others at your table. You’re disqualified.”

The girl who’d cheated was immediately brought to tears. Kleff understood her desperation. While he wasn’t so tactless as to stare at it, she had a large scar. It started at the base of her chin, running down her neck, vanishing down her shirt. Kleff didn’t know how far it extended beyond then, and didn’t know how it came to exist. It was likely a story she didn’t enjoy sharing. Some teachers would let her wear a scarf to cover it, but others weren’t as kind.

“Please, forgive her!” Another girl rushed to the crying student’s side and bowed to Ahvra. “We’re the ones who forced her to do it. She wanted to earn it on her own, but everyone else seemed so determined that we just couldn’t let her efforts go to waste. She’s our friend, and we wanted to help her.”

“I see…” Ahvra responded, her tone unwavering despite the touching scene. “I am moved by your plight. I will help her. Tell me girl, when did you get that scar?”

The crying girl wiped her tears, and answered between sniffles. “Uhh, umm, when I was still pretty young. About eight years ago now.”

“Very well, come and kneel before me,” Ahvra instructed. The girl did as she asked, then Ahvra placed her hand on the girl’s head. “This may be a weird sensation, but it will last only a moment. I would ask that everyone else turn away, the process will likely shift her clothes and may leave her exposed.” When the girl’s friends heard that, they all gathered around her, shielding her from sight, and glared at all the boys until they turned around. Kleff turned as well, but couldn’t help trying to peek out of the corner of his eye. He wasn’t interested in seeing the girl’s naked body, but rather the ordeal she’d go through.

Ahvra’s eyed rippled for a moment. Then, the girl suddenly reverted into a child. By Kleff’s estimate, she had to be around six or seven, and guessed Ahvra had to revert her body to an age before she got the scar. There wasn’t enough time to see if the child had the scar or not before she was turned back to her normal age. Kleff immediately glanced away because the girl’s clothes had in fact come mostly undone. Once he was given the all clear, he gazed in awe at her along with everyone else.

It was immediately noticeable that her hair was slightly longer, and the style was a bit different; likely a side effect of the transformation. Magically, though, her scar had entirely vanished. The skin was pristine and undamaged, and the girl and her friends were all touching it ecstatically. Only Kleff seemed to notice Ahvra slumping off the table, clearly exhausted as she went to find an energy drink to chug.

The final bell for the day rang, and everyone headed out of class, eagerly recounting the events of the day. Kleff felt a little guilty about leaving Ahvra with that mess to clean, especially with how tired she looked. She had simply waved him away when he offered to help. He really wanted to spend more time with her after seeing that selfless act, though he subconsciously might have had other reasons, so it felt a bit crushing when he was so immediately rejected, falling flat without even having a chance.

It had been a taxing day for Kleff, and he desperately needed to go home and wind down. He had experienced just about every emotion possible on the spectrum, and there was still another day to go. The Fiends lived in a vastly different world from the one he knew, and he felt he understood Xard a little better by getting to know them. Maybe now he could let go of some of that anger towards Xard. However, there was still a problem, and Kleff spent the walk home trying to discern why he was even angry at Xard to begin with.

 

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