V5 Incline 17: Nin

Frihdeicalkbr walks around me, his rapid pace filling the room. He seems almost choosy about it, each stop and turn putting him front of the armed guards. Their trigger fingers too close to their weapons. All around me.

"Sir, what do we do?" a guard behind me asks, the circumstances just enough to keep me alive.

"Head of Oddity House, will you be taking this 'Nin' into your care?" the lead guard asks, his composure fine and steady. Only the slightest amount of pressure needed to pull the trigger.

My eyes bounce between him and Frihdeicalkbr. My one hope for staying alive pondering so obviously. No smile at all, he simply looks at me, considering his options with thoughtful strokes of the chin. The air is so tense his stubble is disturbing it. His eyes are completely on me, intensely so.

"...And what if I don't?" he dares to ask, making my eyes widen with watering edges.

But...

The lead guard holds on his answer, putting some thought into it, "Nin- It. It will be killed off here. And now!"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE!?" Rose screams, her magic flaring up to the best of its ability. Everything about her is on edge, and she's only one grab away from having a conduit for all of this view-disturbing power.

"I'll take her too," Frihdeicalkbr goes, his cool, calm tone slashing right through the anger everyone else has. He points a finger at me and Rose, and we stare back at him. I shake without pause, unable to move. He steps closer, easing my mask and hat back up and I snap them back on, unable to hide my shame as I watch the barrels go down.

They're all going down...

Seems like my life is in the hands of this man, for the moment. Whatever it is worth, I am glad it is. I do not need to run away... I don't have to hide again...

But...

There's no way this will end up well. I'm an osibindah, and now everyone knows. The soldiers will discuss it, the reports will spread the word of what I am. Osibindah, osibindah, osibindah.

Osibindah!

Frihdeicalkbr gestures for us to follow, the doors practically slamming open on our way out. I linger behind the man who just got me out of that imminent execution. Uncertainty keeps me moving, and it speeds me up. I walk alongside him, slightly off and away.

"S-So... Uh... T-Th-Thank you for your help?" I struggle to get out as my chitters rattle about the hallway. An odd sound for anyone who we happen to come across on the way out.

"Don't. Don't thank me. I won't be having you think I did this out of the kindness of my heart," he clarifies, his words not cutting as deep as they might otherwise. Pure, cold pragmatism. It leaves me with a dangerous amount of curiosity... What reason could he have to want me alive? If he has plans to kill me later down the line, then it seems so... Irrational.

But does cruelty require such logic and sense...?

"Then why did you do it...?" I ask, not sure at all.

"Because you are an osibindah. The first one like you at all. The first one ever to be documented with your level of docility and compliance and intelligence, and I plan on seeing what makes you tick. You are a unique case perfectly suited for what Oddity House is here for," he explains, his curiosity seemingly just being that.

"If you think you can experiment on me, you have another thing coming..." I warn quite pathetically... As if my threat has any weight when he's literally the only reason I'm still alive. He knows this quite well, and that unamused expression coming my way only highlights it.

Guns are so much better than just turning myself over to this man's care just to be cut open...

"Experiment? Well, yes. What else would I do with you? But not in the usual way. You are, admittedly, far too valuable to just cut open or put through a maze. You're no rodent in a social study. So, instead, I will make you a student... Clearly you need the education, but that is beside the point." he answers, his focus going elsewhere as he looks around me.

My aura, my out-of-control aura...

Though I doubt he's doing it for clarification, I can hear the gears of his mind turn. He's gesturing away at the magic flowing out of me, at what's lingering around me. The same magic that is still getting tugged at by something in the direction of Thrurstradtur. Though... It would be nice if we can get rid of these cuff things already.

"So if you got me out of that situation because you are curious about me, then why did you let Rose-sweerui come too?" I ask, and he stops, spinning around on his heels to stare down the black-eyed woman. His smile comes back, and it grows as Rose keeps herself between me and him while also relying on me to protect her, in turn.

"Because I get to test just how strong an aelenvari's love is," he downright chirps as that intense stare of his unnerves the usually confident woman. She slithers away, hiding behind my cloak while fiddling away at the cuffs.

Her head pops out to face mine as well as she can, her expression almost pleading. Is she worried that she's going to lose interest in me? Is she worried about the guns at our back and front and all around? She hasn't said anything directly, and... I can't be bothered by it right now.

Whatever it is she's worrying about, we're safe for the time being. So it can't be that. Otherwise, I only see her as a friend, a good one, if overbearing at times. But a friend either way.

A situation like this, though, I hope she stays as my friend throughout it. It's times like these that friends are made for. To be there for you in the harshest of moments. To be there for you when you need them the most...

"So we are heading to your academy, then?" I ask, minding the last set of doors as we find ourselves outside. Under a daytime sky that doesn't quite have the same beauty as it did earlier this morning. It all seems so fleeting now.

"The Suhurlodst Academy of Arcane Learning and Understanding, yes. But, I would like to know who it is you were going to see there before what happened, happened. Both for my own personal reasons and as what I am as the Head of Oddity House," he explains, a question somewhat hiding in his words as we come to a stop outside of a modest vehicle.

I turn away, cautiously eyeing the guards across the ground and the building's roof. Though the technology is different, I can tell the difference is moot. Those are the actions of reaching for a radio. The spread of orders and the avalanche of them no doubt coming on through.

I shake my head, trying to find some ironic comfort in the idea of Vapooliar. Perhaps mentioning her directly is a good idea? Maybe... Maybe I should just stick to and mention Einervaene and Baltanthan alone. At least so we can get back together for the moment.

Yeah, that's probably best for now...

"I am not sure if she has got there yet, but it is a young woman and man by the names of Einervaene and Baltanthan." I answer, sticking to the two I travelled here with.

"A West Jhermonikra name and a North Eusorochii one? Well, Eusorochii and Jhermonikra, as you gave me her name first, not his." Frihdeicalkbr goes, his knowledge of the land already so clearly ahead of my own.

"Uh, yeah." I say, minding his ramblings about getting the facts right with so little care to the tone of our situation. So casual and unminding despite us having a whole line of guns pointed at us. A growing number at that.

"Hm, can't say any Eusorochii have arrived at or joined Oddity House recently. So, I guess we are heading to the Plateau Gate to see if they are there," he adds on, moving around his machine to get inside of it.

I take a step back, eyeing the machine as he reverses out of his parking spot. It seems to be a car, for the most part, but all of these blatantly magical aspects make me unsure. A car in purpose is not the same as being one in design. Like how I'm a mortal... But not a human...

His head pops out, gesturing us in as he tosses a rope over to us. I eye the rope, and Rose-sweerui steps out as I let the bag down. We set it on top of the car-thing, securing our belongings to the best of our ability, and we get inside the vehicle. Its conditions otherwise cramped for me, whereas they're more than spacious for Rose-sweerui.

We speed off, the force shooting through me in such an awkward manner, "So what is Oddity House?"

I guess with this privacy, I can at least calm down even if I can't get comfortable. Well, I don't think that's true either. The air is buzzing with armed aircraft, each of them aimed right on this car. Lots of them, so many of them. I... I don't know how to feel about this. It's all happening because they see me as nothing more than a threat to hurt. I'm not an innately violent person or anything, even with the strength of my magic and...

They're stalking me as if I am, as if I'm nothing more than a common criminal purely because I'm unlucky enough to have come back alive as a... Gods above, dammit...

"It is one of four student divisions within the Suhurlodst Academy of Arcane Learning and Understanding. It is there for all non-human students and students not from the continent of Jherikra." Frihdeicalkbr answers, his words slower than my thoughts.

"Why would you have a segment for different species and foreigners?" I ask, the question probably seeming so stupid to him and even Rose.

"Because, for example, if you look at your aelenvari lover's legs, you will see her biology is adapted to handling magic differently. As such, we have a different set of facilities set up for them." Frihdeicalkbr answers quite professionally, his eyes locked on the road while mine can't even take him up on his suggestion.

"And the reason non-Jherikrans go with it?" I ask him, rolling that word, 'Jherikran,' in my mouth. It doesn't feel right, and the other two react appropriately to it. As if I've just spoken something truly insulting.

"Jhermonikra, my love." Rose-sweerui gently corrects, the overly formal wind-people no doubt looking for any excuse to shoot me. I nod as well as much as I can, trying my hardest to not think too much about it.

"Because if you come from another one of the five main continents, your magic will be different. As such, facilities that are not the norm, which we have the most of, will be best suited for you or them. More so if you are of mixed-race, even if those rules also apply to a learnt pureblooded Jhermonikra as well." he explains, the details coming so cleanly out of him.

"What happens if you are mixed-race?" I ask in a bid to keep my attention off of the aircraft shooting over us. Their thunderous engines lingering at the edges of our seats and ears.

"Your magic takes on both traits of the parent lines. For example, you probably won't ever meet her, but the lady in charge of the security of Thrurstradtur, yeah. She was born from an Errakurdic mother and a father from the lands of the Dark-Mountain. As such, she has a mixture of dark magic and fire magic at her disposal. It is quite interesting to see it as it is so contradictory." Frihdeicalkbr goes on about, his curiosity almost spilling out.

"I assume the contradiction is that fire is the most well-known source of light?" I go, already making a mistake again. Any gods-fearing man will immediately point to the sky above for the most well-known source of light. The Orbital-Halo.

"Correct," the man nods.

"I guess... I guess you are right about it being interesting, then." I mutter, trying to think of how such magic works as I unfortunately find my attention going to the road again. Towards the circling aircraft and their vulturous appetites for wanting shoot me.

"Was she ever a student at your rooted-flower?" Rose-sweerui asks.

"She was not, no. She's largely self-taught. Instructed otherwise by those at the school she went to, to learn how to use a sword." Frihdeicalkbr explains, his words almost venomous when he brings up the other school. Is he holding back the name of the school in order to belittle it because he couldn't satiate his curiosity...?

"Do you have many hybrid users like her at Oddity House?" I ask him, minding the way the light mingles with the shade of the car interior.

"Unfortunately, no, most of them are at Exceptional House, somehow. I've no say in how that played out with how they're half-Jhermonikra. If you can't tell, I'm quite admittedly jealous. I have been rather jealous of it all... Their recent induction would never fall under my jurisdiction, though, and she's something amazing." he goes on about, sighing in despair as this unknown student crosses her mind.

Vapooliar...? Did she sign up for the school since coming here? If that's the only way to learn what we needed to learn way back when, then... I guess it should make it easier to find her, if she's just in this Exceptional House place.

My thoughts perk me up, though, with how stuck I am, I can barely express myself even with the cloak, mask and hat, "What sort of magic does she have?"

"Wind magic, nothing distinctly special. But what gets me is how much inspiration she seems to have taken from the Valkinvar. Who, did you know, actually used to actually call Suhurlodst their home? In fact, they built the Ringed-City we've been past a while now," he explains, his fact certainly something that's come across my mind.

A sigh parts my lips where my uncontrollable chittering hasn't. A smile comes to my lips, my mask hiding it as I'm otherwise happy with what I've heard. He's basically confirmed that Vapooliar is here. It's... It's almost divinely inspired with how much fortune there is to this detail.

"What is different about Exceptional House then?" I ask, my tone certainly improved from my previous questions.

"It is the section of Suhurlodst Academy of Arcane Learning and Understanding for native Jhermonikra students who did exceptionally well in the entrance exams. Exams the aforementioned student broke all the records in. Traditional House being where they go if they just pass it without issue or anything, well, pardon the pun, but, exceptional. Mechanical House if they are seeking a more engineering-based arcane education."

"Are there any other Houses?" I ask, taking in what I can to ease my focus on other... Things.

"None whatsoever. Though, admittedly, there have been talks of establishing a fifth by dividing mine into two... Take effort off of my plate be damned." Frihdeicalkbr growls, his fondness for his toys not extending to the idea of sharing them.

"One for foreigners and one for native non-humans...?" I tack onto, my guess seemingly the most obvious given the information I have for the time being.

"That would be correct. We've been getting a lot more non-Jhermonikra as of late, and Oddity House just isn't equipped for such diversity. Somehow, my bosses see it as more financial to split Oddity House then to just expand us in the way Traditional and Mechanical House already get without issue... Anyway... As originally, Oddity House was just a frequently updated measure to deal with any children from a minority of imported specialists and... Well, things have certainly changed over the centuries." Frihdeicalkbr waffles on over, his mutters and mumbles making it a bit hard to hear sometimes.

"And these entrance exams... Am I going to have to take them given the situation I am in? I didn't exactly get a choice in the matter." I say, my attention going off towards the pursuing aircraft as my frown becomes heavier and heavier.

"Yes, yes, you will still need to take the entrance exams." Frihdeicalkbr answers, the vehicle making a lengthy turn down another road. I can't tell, my view is so limited with my cramped neck.

"And... If I fail?" I can only dare to ask.

"You will be executed for your crimes." Frihdeicalkbr answers without a hint of empathetic emotion.

"WHAT!?" Rose-sweerui screams at the top of her lungs.

"How can climbing a mountain be a justifiable reason to execute me!?" I demand to know, illegal entry hardly striking me as a death sentence kind of deal.

"It isn't. It's just what will happen. Legal or not, they won't likely treat it as such, they'd just mark it down as monster hunting or pest control. You are what you are, after all. Which, in and of itself is a sham to the legal system of our associated Dual-Republic. But, you won't find any legal aid given what you are. Doubt there's any lawyer willing to get a reputation defending an osibindah, unique and irreplaceable as you are," he explains, his words somehow loosening me up enough to just...

Slide down my seat in pure despair.

"Great... Just great..." I can't help but whimper as my eyes water ever so slightly. A problem that only turns to something far worse.

"Chin up there, Nin. You have a very impressive reserve of magic, so I can't see you failing. You fit the goal of Oddity House to its most literal definition. You also more than have the power to pass where many Traditional Students have also passed just fine." Frihdeicalkbr insists, his words not doing much for me even with the clear message of it.

"What even is in this exam?" Rose-sweerui demands to know, her eyes no doubt glaring a fire into existence with their hatred and spite of the school's closest representative. Her hands move to my closest claw, affectionately clutching it as she silently reaffirms my self-belief.

"As long as you are not going to be doing any arcane-engineering, it will just be a test of your magical capabilities. Any spells you have begun to develop, and so on, alongside a few reading and writing exams to make sure you are properly learned enough. We understand that magic is quite unique as far as learning is concerned, so there's a lot of leniency where our reputation might not suggest." Frihdeicalkbr clarifies, but, even then...

"I see." I go, gulping in worry as the details go through my head. I can barely do the magic part of things... And I most certainly can't write or read Gods Speak or whatever wind-blessed descendent language we're speaking now! I'm not even properly speaking it! It's all Vadei's fault...!

Gods above...