Curiosity

While most students lounged around and cast silly spells, a girl with pastel-blue eyes strode down the hallway of the dormitories. Her long black hair was pushed back with a white headband, and she wore a white dress that hid her neck and arms. Walking past students who whispered and pointed in awe— “That’s the girl who killed Gold with Mage Mildred!”—she knocked on the door Marianne had told her: Room 103.

A boy opened the door. The black-haired girl said something to him, and he disappeared into the room. After a moment, a white-haired boy with golden eyes ran to the door.

“Airi! You’re back!” Nestor looked up and down the hallway with sudden worry. “Are you supposed to be here? I thought only students—”

Airi shrugged. “No one stopped me.” She peered past him into the small dorm room, which looked nearly identical to Mildred’s bedroom, except for the bunk bed. “How's your magic coming along?”

“I've been working on my spell! Wanna see?” Nestor asked eagerly.

Airi studied him. He looked paler and thinner than the last time she had seen him, though his golden eyes still shone.

“I think you should give your mana some time to recover,” she said. “I came to ask if you want to go up to the city. Today’s your off day, isn’t it?”

It was a busy day in Magisbury. Dressed in plainclothes, Airi and Nestor tried to blend in with the crowd of nobles.

“Where are we going?” Nestor asked. They crossed a narrow bridge over a waterway teeming with paper boats.

“Marianne gave me some money for defeating Gold.” Airi’s pockets jangled with coins; she felt the reassuring coolness of the metal against her fingers. “I was thinking of buying something. Maybe brighten up Mildred’s room a little.”

As they passed a flower shop, a woman walked past, her arms wrapped around an enormous bouquet. Looking past her to the shop she’d just come from, Airi saw pink tulips in the shop window. They reminded her of someone she knew, someone who loved flowers yet didn’t dare step foot in the Sunroom.

“Nestor, let’s look inside that flower shop.”

Pushing open the heavy green door, Airi entered the shop, brushing aside a dried bouquet of foxgloves that tickled her face. As far as shops went in Magisbury, it was small, but utterly filled with flowers and leafy plants. Nobles clustered around the showiest blossoms, choosing the best ones for their hats and bouquets.

Airi’s eyes landed on a pot filled with small yellow flower buds. The flower buds looked vaguely familiar. “What’s this?” she asked the shopkeeper, pointing.

The man looked up from his newspaper, and a hawkish glint appeared in his eye. “Ah, young lady, you have a discerning eye. That’s our newest stock, the Curiosity—a rare, exotic flower. No doubt you’ve used Curiosity serum before, but this is the real deal.”

Airi looked at the flower buds. “They haven’t bloomed yet, though.”

“Ah, young lady!” The shopkeeper wagged a finger. “Watch and see.” He touched one of the buds with his index finger. Instantly, the tightly-closed bud unfurled into a small four-petaled flower. “Want to give it a try?”

Cautiously, Airi stretched her finger towards a flower bud. The moment her finger touched it, the flower opened.

“I wanna try!”

The shopkeeper laughed as Airi lifted Nestor up to the counter. “Hurry!” she groaned.

“Cool!” Nestor prodded the flower. “Whoa, what’s this?”

Airi set Nestor down, and he showed her his hand, which was coated in a sticky, clear nectar. As it seeped into his skin, it looked shinier than before.

“That’s Curiosity serum!” the shopkeeper said. “It’s found on the petals after the flower opens.”

“No way! I’ve never seen real Curiosity flowers before.”

“Ah, that’s because they’re incredibly rare. We’ve never stocked them before, so you two happened to come at just the right time. What do you say?”

Airi slid a coin across the counter. If there was one thing the mages had in abundance, it was money. “We’ll take it.”

Setting the small pot of yellow flowers onto Mildred’s desk, Airi turned it till it looked just right. At the very least, it added a splash of color to the room. She went to the door, eager to head to the Dining Room for lunch. At the last second, she snatched up a scrap of parchment.

Fixed your desk. No, not quite right. For you! Too corny. Airi blotted out the notes and crumpled them up, stuffing the blackened wads into her pockets.

In the end, when she left the room, the note read, ‘A little curiosity never hurts :)’

Airi ran into Henry in the hallway. He walked right past her, backtracked, and studied her with a quizzical expression.

“You’re Airi, aren’t you?”

“Uh... yeah.” Airi couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized by the dissonant halves of his face.

Unfortunately, Henry noticed. “What’s with that look? You’re wondering about my face, huh?” He held up a book with a small red figure in a green forest on the cover: Red Riding Hood. “Blame the others. No one would let me test out the disguise spell on them, so I tested it on myself.”

“And it... didn’t work.”

“Well, it worked eventually. That’s what matters.” Henry’s face lit with a sudden thought. “Oh, also—Marianne wants to see you.”

When Airi entered the office, Marianne’s hands were folded primly on her desk. She pushed an envelope towards Airi, who tore it open to find a piece of rose-scented parchment.

‘I, [Mage Hestia], hereby assign [Mage Calypso, Nestor, Airi] to [The Endless Sea], for the purpose of defeating [Charybdis].’

“Will you take this note to Wendolyn for me?” Marianne asked. “If I send her a parchment pigeon, she’ll just ignore it.”

Airi held the parchment, frowning. “Hold on. Nestor’s just a student. Why not Mildred?”

“I would, I would! But it’d be quite difficult to cast wind spells in a place that already has such strong winds,” Marianne said apologetically. “I’ve already arranged transportation, so don't worry about that. Carriages will be at the bottom of the palace steps at nine o’clock in the evening.”

“Nestor’s not ready to fight monsters.” Airi remembered how Nestor had frozen up when he’d seen those slimes.

“He’s becoming quite the mage.” Marianne caressed a flower, looked up to meet Airi’s eyes, and smiled. “He might even become our 7th first-class mage, if he’s able to pass the test.”

Airi’s heart leapt. “What test? A mana test, like The Naughty Little Kettle?”

Marianne giggled. “Hmm, not quite. That spell’s good for differentiating between second and third-class, but not second and first-class. A second-class mage with good mana control could evaporate all the water. We have two tests for first-class. First, you have to defeat a Calamity, a monster that’s—”

“I know what a Calamity is,” Airi interrupted. “What’s the second test?”

“Getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?” Marianne asked sweetly.

With grudging admiration, Airi realized what Marianne was planning. “Charybdis is a Calamity, isn't it?”

Marianne nodded.

“You're giving Nestor a chance to defeat a Calamity,” Airi guessed.

“Well, it would boost morale if we got a new first-class mage,” Marianne said. For a moment, her face took on a more calculating look. Then her usual smile reappeared. “Besides, first-class mages get their own rooms, and they can customize it however they like! I’m sure Nestor would like that.”

“And me? I'm not a water mage.”

Marianne’s eyes glittered with mirth. “His Majesty is eager to see what you can do, false mage. Don't disappoint him.”