Ripa Lautus

The girl across the reservoir is incredibly beautiful. She has pale skin and long, slender limbs. Long, jagged hair cascades down her back in a rich blue. Her round eyes are of the same color; her face as tranquil as the waters she approaches. Her ears are pierced, silver rings hanging from them. She stands with poise and grace. She wears the military-like uniform of the Magic Institute, though improperly. The black jacket is much longer than it ought to be, reaching below her waist, and she leaves it unbuttoned, keeping much of her torso—her stomach and the top of her chest—exposed. Beneath her jacket, she wears a short, dark blue shirt and a long black skirt. Gracia notices her first, though Libarius is the first to move.

When the girl notices the ones across the reservoir, she strikes a fierce expression, that she does not let soften. Libarius reaches her quickly and begins to pace around her. She snaps at him quickly.

“What are you doing, bastard?” By this point, Gracia has rounded the reservoir as to be within earshot. Libarius sighs.

“So you’re not the one casting this spell. How irritating, that our work remains unfinished. However, you yourself are quite lovely. Girl, become mine.” The girl seems to be preparing some kind of strike as Gracia calls out.

“L-Libarius!? No, y-you can’t!” Gracia is just a bit red in the face as Libarius appears before her startlingly quick.

“You hardly have the standing to deny me my research subjects any longer.” Gracia finds herself feeling relieved.

“Ah! So it was just your research… No, you can’t study her either!” Librarius starts twisting his cane around in his grip.

“So you really will continue to stand in my way, Gracia.” As Libarius speaks Gracia’s name, the girl has a flash of recognition. The next moment, the girl springs into action and shields Gracia from Libarius with her body, something daintier in her voice as she speaks.

“Stay away from Lady Gracia, you pervert!” Libarius continues talking as though she’s not there, though she’s tall enough to block Gracia entirely.

“And I am not so callous a man that my research ought to warrant such trepidation from you; to waste such a wonderful specimen would be far too great a loss.” Gracia, however, cannot ignore the strange girl who’s taken to defending her.

“Who are you? I mean, I know you’re a student, but how do you know who I am?” The girl is shocked, withering away and turning to ash.

“Lady Gracia…” Callidus seizes the opportunity.

“She’s Ripa Lautus. And if she were able to be a good little girl, you would’ve known her by now.” He smirks as he mocks her, and Ripa tries her best to look fierce but can’t quite muster it.

“Shut up, Callidus. Stop pretending you’re better than me.”

“Huh? Pretending? Well, if you went back to being a little princess like you’re supposed to, then you might be the second strongest, but…”

“Keep acting like this and you’ll get disowned, you weakling.”

“Get disowned and I’ll be all the better for it, and I’d still never lose to you.”

There’s a surge of magic power as the surface of reservoir water begins to ripple. The water rises up and begins to crash towards Callidus. Watching the spell unfold, both Callidus and Gracia begin to cast a spell. However, the water stops in the air above Ripa and begins to be pulled back into the pool, Libarius having cast a spell before any counter was needed. Libarius sighs.

“Utterly dull. Utterly dull, all of you. I can’t understand how you so routinely squander everything, as though you have no knowledge of anything. Truly what wouldn’t be wasted upon your feeble minds.”

Callidus and Ripa turn with a unified purpose. Before any more fighting can occur, Cura, realizing that she has become by necessity a mediator, begins to step forward. However, they all feel something wrong and stop. First Libarius, then Gracia, then their students, then Cura. Libarius smiles wildly as he notices it. The four of them bunched together, everyone but Cura, begin to sink into the grass. The dirt turns to mud. Libarius accepts this fate happily, but even as the others struggle against it, they find themselves unable to break free. If they try to pull their legs out of the mud, it simply sticks to them with more force and drags their limbs back inside. Within the mud they find themselves not quite able to cast a spell properly, as though something siphons away the power just as the spell is cast. As Cura begins to approach once more to help the four of them, Libarius begins to give orders.

“Cura, stay back, your help is unneeded and unnecessary. Move to higher ground, off the dirt, and keep watch. A mage ought to appear hunting you down soon enough. Do not engage until I return.” Cura runs off, looking back at them over her shoulder, and does as Libarius says. “Callidus, hold onto that girl and don’t let her out of your sight. I would like her here after the mage is dealt with and the time comes to purify the water, and as such will not abide her running away on her own.”

Gracia makes a guess at how Libarius assumes this spell to work, and trusts in his judgement. She grabs hold of Libarius’s sleeve.

“Gracia, release me.”

“I won’t. You already figured everything out, so I won’t let you go until you tell me.”

“How dull. I have half a mind to return to our fight now, Gracia.” Ripa, struggling against Callidus’s grip, snaps at Libarius.

“I won’t let you! If you want to hurt Lady Gracia, you’ll have to get through me first!” Libarius looks at her with his cold eyes.

“Don’t interfere, girl. This is a matter far beyond your meager strength.” Ripa shies back right away.

The four of them sink into the mud quickly. Soon enough, Cura watching from within the branches of trees, they are submerged entirely. Then the earth returns to normal, the grass appearing as though nothing had happened, leaving no evidence of the spell cast.