Loop Two - Chapter Twenty-Five - Margaret of Helskor

Team Svalinn stepped out of Professor Ploof’s classroom with about the same amount of energy that Amber would expect to see in a horde of brainless zombies.

“I wanna die,” Cassy grumbled.

“That was… not fun,” Jade agreed. “Next time, we should just let the school blow up.”

“Let’s not advocate for terrorism just because it means we don’t need to report to a superior,” Morgan said. “Besides, this was the rough part, I imagine the rewards come after.”

That perked Cassy up, and even Amber found herself paying more attention. “Rewards?” Cassy asked.

“It probably won’t be too much, but we did just save a school building, and possibly many lives. It would be ridiculous of the school not to reward us, somehow,” Morgan said. “Though… I don’t know what form it might take. More credits to spend, maybe?”

“That would be nice, but I want something a little meatier than just more cash on hand. C’mon, you shouldn’t have to save the school from exploding just to get what someone rich could beg off their daddy,” Cassy said.

Morgan shrugged. “I’m sure the headmaster will think of something. I remember last year a second-year team got a lot of attention because they saved some people from Norumbega from some sort of attack. They were on a patrol, so it was basically their job, but they did go above and beyond and he made a big fuss about it.”

“I’m not sure if I want that kind of attention,” Amber said.

“What? Come on, who doesn’t want to be treated like a hero?” Cassy said. “We’ll be able to strut around, get like, special attention, get all the bitches.”

Amber gave her a look. “Do you want all the bitches?”

Cassy glanced away, her cheeks pinking a little. “Maybe one or two of ‘em,” she said.

They paused just outside of the school building, and Morgan glanced up to the sky. “It’s not too late to get some training in,” she said. “It won’t be much more than an hour, but that’s better than nothing? We could run through something easy. Maybe transformations?”

“To get them down faster?” Cassy asked.

“Exactly. No offence, Cassy, but your transformation sequence takes a quarter of a minute, and it’s not exactly viable in the middle of a fight. Or we could spend all of your mana again and again. I’ve heard that it’s an excellent way to force your reserves to grow larger, though it is rather… I won’t say painful, but it does feel like cramps.”

“You’ve done it?” Jade asked.

“Last year, yes,” Morgan said. “They have these poorly enchanted rocks that use up all of your mana to create light. For exactly that reason, actually.”

“Maybe normal training, then that at the very end,” Jade said.

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Cassy grumped, but she notably didn’t say no.

Amber shifted her back to work out a kink. “Well, I’ll be heading to the library in the meantime. But I’ll try not to take too long?”

“Oh, you won’t be with us?” Cassy asked. Her voice was pitched strangely, as if she was upset but didn’t want to show up.

She’s acting strangely.

“Nah, I want to check out the library. It won’t take too long, I don’t think. I don’t even know if I’ll find anything.”

They started heading towards the far end of the academy, and soon enough Morgan pointed down a side road that Amber had never been down. “That’s where the library is. It’s hard to miss.”

“Thanks,” Amber said. “Text me once your training’s done? I’ll run over and join you for some food… I’m actually a little peckish already.”

Morgan reached into the pockets of her pants, then pulled out a granola bar and underhanded it to Amber.

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

She watched her team go, with Cassy teasing Morgan about being the team’s mom. Shaking her head, she ripped the top off the bar and chewed on it while looking for the library.

As Morgan had said, it wasn’t hard to find. There were a couple of older, gothic-style buildings nestled in close to each other, then in their midst was the library. It was a lot bigger, with two floors and very tall wrought-iron windows that looked into a main floor that was filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves.

The entrance area was a little more modern though, and Amber suspected that it had been renovated within the last few years. It still had that new-ness look to it as she pushed through the door and stepped across a grate.

The library wasn’t wide open like any she’d seen before, except for the very opening where a dozen desks were laid out and where a few sofas were placed for comfort.

There was a desk to one side, but it was unmanned at the moment, so Amber ambled in and glanced around. It dawned on her then that there were a lot of books in the library and she had no idea how to find any that might tell her about the Black Magi, if there even were any.

Taking a deep breath, Amber started looking for help. Maybe there’s a librarian here? Or an index or something. That would be helpful.

Walking along the end of the rows, Amber paused at each one and poked her head in. There were a surprising number of newer books close to the entrance. The section for romance was frequented a lot, it seemed, as were fantasy and sci-fi. It was only further in that she noticed the more serious works.

Figured that magicals are just as distracted by romance and action as anyone else, she thought as she spun around and started to make her way back.

Just then, someone stepped out of one of the rows and Amber put on the brakes not to bump into them.

They squeaked and stopped too, and for a moment neither of them moved.

Then Amber chuckled. “Sorry,” she said, voice kept at the kind of low volume she thought would be alright in a library.

“It’s okay?” the girl ahead of her said.

Amber looked at her, then recognition dawned. This was one of the Helksor girls. The team Evelyn was on and one of the teams they’d gone on a helicopter ride with in her last loop.

“You’re… Margaret, right?” Amber asked.

The girl reached up and adjusted her frames. “Um, yes?” she asked.

Amber paused. “You’re not sure?” she said with a bit of a chuckle.

Margaret’s cheeks flamed. “I’m sure,” she said. “You’re Amber Green, from team Svalinn!”

“Uh, yeah,” Amber said. I kinda want to know how she knows, but then that might make things awkward when she asks the same in return. “Hey, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“I’m not bothered,” Margaret said quickly. “Can, uh, can I help you?”

Amber shrugged. “Do you know the library well?”

“I do,” was the instant reply.

“Oh, uh, in that case, yeah, maybe you could help me, if you have the time.”

Margaret tucked the book she had under one arm—a romance novel, Amber thought—and nodded. “Sure. What are you looking for? Something to read? I can recommend stuff.”

“I, no, not quite. I’m looking for information more than anything. I, gosh, I haven’t read for fun in a while.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Margaret said. “What kind of information?”

Amber hesitated, then shrugged and just spilled everything. If she acts too suspiciously, then I can rewind this whole conversation back. “So, there’s this group that gathers in Norumbega that I’m curious about. They’re all mages, I think? Uh, they’re called the Black Magi, and I’m trying to learn more about them.”

“Oh, that’s interesting,” Margaret said. “I haven’t really been to Norumbega, not since we arrived here. Maybe the anthropology section?”

“Eh, that’ll be something written from an outsider’s perspective, right? I’m looking for stuff more… I don’t know, maybe tied to the kinds of magic they use?”

Margaret bobbed her head up and down in a nod. “I know then. Here, follow me.”

The shorter girl darted off, almost running before she seemed to realise where she was and she slowed down. Amber noted her adjusting her uniform as she went. Is she nervous? I’m getting the impression that she isn’t great socially.

Margaret brought her up the stairs, and Amber discovered that the second floor’s ceiling was much lower, and the shelves much more tame than the floor-to-ceiling ones below. There were also several rooms and alcoves along the sides, with desks and chairs within and what seemed like different subjects tucked away in their own niches.

“Here,” Margaret said as she paused before one section. The wall to one side was covered in cubby holes with scrolls of all things, and there was a printer sitting right next to them with instructions taped to the side.

The far wall was more normal, with more books on shelves and a few large indexes chained to a desk. “What’s all this?”

“These are the rituals that normal students have access to,” she said.

“There are some we can’t access?” Amber asked.

“The very, very dangerous ones, I guess,” Margaret said.

“And the less dangerous ones are fine?” Amber asked.

The shy girl didn’t look at Amber as she replied. “Well, we’re magical girls, we’re kind of, um, dangerous already.”

“Ah, yeah, fair point.” Amber walked over to the index and opened it up on a random page. She found a long set of notes about a specific ritual designed to improve the cutting power of a cleaver-like knife, but also to prevent it from being able to cut bones. The index didn’t contain the ritual, just who invented it, where to find it, and a few details about it. “Oh, I see,” Amber said as she tapped one line. “This one was invented by someone in Horai… Hoorey? Uh, in Japan by the fish monger’s guild. So the others…” She flipped a few pages. “Yeah, they all have their origins written down. Nice.”

“I think one of the indexes splits the rituals up according to who created it,” Margaret said. “Um, it’s very niche, but there’s supposed to be a few thousand ritual-makers in the world, and they all like to show off to each other, so they keep track for, uh, kudos, I guess.”

“Right, that makes a lot of sense,” Amber said. “If you can’t rely on anything else, then rely on humanity’s need to one up each other.”

***