Author's Note:
If you haven't yet, I recommend you read the other parts of this series. I intend for this to be something like a seven chapter story. (I like it when stories have beginnings and endings, rather than Days of our Lives style.) Please Vote and leave any helpful comments, also known as Story Fuel! Enjoy!
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Headmaster Askelpios cranked up the Victrola and set the needle down. A lovely string concerto began to play. Just because the presence of supernatural Minions precluded the use of electronics was no reason to live like savages. He turned to the gathered assembly of Masters. "I fear this year's crop of Ascended magicians is even more problematic than the last. My new Apprentice Timur, he leaves much to be desired." He sipped his cognac as he allowed Gregor to speak. "I could have told you that when I had him. In fact, I did. Not even a real Russian. The light just does not shine brightly in him. This succubus he drew in, she's quite powerful. What did he end up naming her?"
The old English Headmaster swirled his glass before answering with disdain. "Kitten. Yes, Kitten. He's entirely too focused on her sexuality. I keep trying to instruct him to keep his wits about him."
"He may need to be Divested," said the little Shaman. Bellahrim harrumphed in disapproval. "It's a little too soon to be speaking of that! I'm sure we should let the Headmaster have a chance at tutoring this young Sorcerer about how the world works. In any event, the succubus is not really the one you want to see cut away, is she?"
"As always, your perception is well founded, Oracle," intoned the Headmaster. She waved off his flattery with her thick fingered hand, rings on all fingers. "I don't need to be a Seer to know that old Deer Shaman wants her Totem dead."
"It's chased away my Giselle!" Gregor cried, whirling on the Oracle. "She's run off to the far side of the island in terror! I can hardly reason with her! She spends day and night in the rocks back there, nervous and spooked. It's affecting my own powers."
Kaori, the only other woman in the room of Masters, had to jump in at that point. "If I was a steppe antelope Totem, I would also want to hide from a Dragon totem. But that is more Giselle's problem, not the American's."
"Ah, but it's all of our problems, don't you see?" Asklepios pointed at them with his glass. "It is obvious that this 'Dragon Totem' is a fraud. There is no such thing. Totems are always expressions of the natural world. It is axiomatic."
Bellahrim's eyes twinkled. "Are you saying there is no such thing as dragons? Because many say the same thing about magic. Can you prove there aren't dragons out there?"
"I can certainly prove that we have never had a 'Dragon Totem' here at the Abbey. It is unnatural. A usurper worming its way into our institution."
Kaori shrugged as she sipped her tea. "Paracelcus had a Unicorn, disguised as a white horse. Merlin had a Dragon."
"Merlin? MERLIN?" Gregor was growing even more agitated. "Are you saying this little slip of a girl, this American, is the next Merlin?"
"She is quite talented. As her first mentor, I saw her master the Twelve in less than a year. Something more in line with our head Sorcerer here. But fine," the Oracle said, spreading her hands in surrender. "Fine. She's no Merlin. But did I not forsee she would be a powerful magician? Did I not forsee greatness?"
Asklepios scoffed. "You saw greatness in Connor as well. Tell me, how is your new Oracle doing?"
"He's just fine, thank you. His Spirit is a delightful chap, a Lutheran monk killed during the Reformation. Seems to be a Spirit of moderate power. Connor is exactly where he should be for a newly Ascended Oracle.
Kaori counted off the students on her petite fingers. "So, a perfectly average Oracle, no slight intended. A below average Sorcerer who may or may not be able to handle his demon, and an above average Shaman who, by all accounts, has kept her Totem under control quite well, yes?"
"That beast attacked my Larrida! With intent to kill!"
"Because YOU attacked HIM," the little Asian wizard admonished. "Cause and Effect, Headmaster. You're lucky he didn't melt you down as well. Besides, where was the real harm? Your succubus regenerated within a day. No worse for wear."
Gregor was beside himself. "I stand with the Headmaster. That beast is a danger and must be Divested and destroyed!"
"And I stand opposed," Said Bellahrim, with iron in her words. "As Kaori just said, Cassie is the strongest of the three new students. And she brings a new, wonderous source of magic to our table. And you would destroy it, just because you do not understand it? Gentlemen, we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing students anymore. Magic is fading as technology blooms."
"That is also axiomatic," Asklepios acknowledged glumly.
"The times when these halls were filled to bursting with dozens of students? Gone. Not since when that damned Victrola was new. Each decade, fewer and fewer magicians, with weaker powers. We need her. We need new magic. So here it is. You want to destroy it, or send it away. I want to embrace it, to study it. Let's leave out the fact that destroying the dragon would not be a trivial thing. Why destroy it when you can use it?"
Kaori cocked an eyebrow. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? Better to have the American and her dragon here, than out in the world. Let us study our potential enemy for weaknesses before we blindly strike."
The Headmaster took another sip. "Wizard, your words sound... more rational than her unbridled optimism, I grant you. But I still feel letting this beast go unchecked is a mistake. What say the rest of you?"
In the end, the other three Masters in attendance were conservative old men, They favored a wait and see strategy. It was decided that Cassiopeia Kosa and her new black Dragon should be allowed to train at the Abbey, where they could be monitored.
