I struggled against the energy restraints on my wrists as Roux marched bad forth in front of us. Oka and Kalei were simirly tied up oher side of me. The chairs we were in were all ected, so we’d need a coordinated effort to do anything with them. I tried to see if there was anything in the dimly lit cavern I could use. All three of our bloodsabers were just out of rea a barrel.

  “Havihwarted by our enter in Litus Empirica,” Roux said. “I have been plotting my revenge.”

  “We pyed yame, Roux!” Oka said. “Doesn’t that t for anything?”

  “So, like as I warned,” Roux said, ign Oka.

  Razmus Marne cleared his throat behind her. His robe now had a pin on it that said “assistant teaches: that's me” on it.

  “What?” Roux asked. “I thought I was doing pretty good there.”

  “You threw a ‘like’ in there,” Razmus said. "And you got visibly flustered by flirl."

  “Aw, but,” Roux said. “I had the whole march down at least, right?”

  “Pretty good,” Razmus said. “But a true wizard wouldn’t have tripped a couple times on the barrel housing your enemies’ ons. But, I digress. tinue. Remember what you seek to gain from them.”

  “Right!” Roux said. She dramatically poi us. “Enemies of the Legion of Dark Kolrab! Prepare yourselves for my mighty spell, which will reveal the location of…oh, hey.”

  Roux turo Razmus and tugged on his robe. “Hey, teacher.”

  “Miss Roux,” Razmus said. “Why did you interrupt your speech?”

  “I thought of something I should say, and I wao like clear it with y—”

  “Did I not emphasize that you should not interrupt yourself during your speech?”

  “Right, but like—”

  “Because interruptions disrupt the flow of your abilities. And your spectacle and grandeur.”

  “But I was thinking we could, you know—”

  “Roux. Stop talking.”

  “Right, right.” Roux said. She spped her face a few times. “Should I start over from the top?”

  Kalei groaned. “Please don’t, the first oook like at least fifty-five mihat's like prestige TV episode runtime.”

  “How about pick it up from ‘Prepare yourselves…’” Razmus said.

  “OK, got it!” Roux said. She geed energy in her palms matg the ones around our wrists. “Prepare yourselves, for my mighty spell, which will reveal the location of something the Dark Legion of Kolrab has been tasked—”

  “Legion of Dark Kolrab.” Razmus corrected.

  “Right. The Legion of Dark Kolrab has been tasked—"

  “Start from ‘Prepare yourselves.”

  “Right right.” Roux said. She pointed again. “Prepare yourselves, for my mighty spell, which will reveal the location of something the Legion of Dark Kolrab has been tasked with…..seeking out!”

  Roux bsted the energy wave at our heads, which felt like just a gust of wind and looked like a burst of sparkly purple smoke. I instinctively coughed, but I don’t think I evehed it in. Roux pulled the gust back to herself, letting it swirl around her head as she pressed her fiips to her temples. After a few moments of humming, she stopped.

  “Hey, teacher?” Roux asked.

  “…yes?” Razmus asked.

  “Well, the thing was supposed to be in their minds, right?”

  “What thing?” I asked.

  “The thing!” Roux said. “And I’m not asking you, I’m asking teacher!”

  Razmus put a supportive hand on Roux’s shoulder. “Arielle, are you entirely sure you have gathered the correct students?”

  “It was in my premonition!” Roux said. “I’d never be able to not tell who these three are even in a premonition! They were in my premonition! These three right here!”

  “That’s true, I could scarcely fet the iion the girl on the right caused me when she sucker-punched me i.” Razmus said. Kalei grinned with pride.

  A door appeared on the side of a cavern in a glowing light. O solidified, it opened and Dr. Diast stepped out.

  “Alright, Marne, it up,” Diast said. “I got three students waiting at their memory trial doors and I’m sure these three have better things to do than this.”

  Razmus chuckled, then twiddled his fiowards Diast like he was casting a spell at her.

  “You’re just mad that I had the solution to your issue.” Razmus said.

  “Yes. Very.” Diast said.

  “Dr. Diast, you please make him let us go?” Kalei asked. “I’m so bored.”

  “I thought I told you three to py along,” Diast said.

  “Oka aa did,” Roux said. “Oka was more verbal, aa was more silent terror, but it did make me feel very wizard-like.”

  “Alright, well that’s close enough,” Diast said. “Roux, let em go already.”

  Roux looked back to Razmus, who nodded in a way that looked like he really didn't want to give approval. She waved her hands, and the energy binding us released. I had to roll my wrists immediately as soon as the energy restraints faded. I could still feel a weird tingly energy feeling on my skin and it made me anxious.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Diast said, tossing us each a gate rosin.

  “You haven’t taught us that energy hand thi,” Kalei said.

  “Because I dread the day you learn it.” Diast said. “Thanks for hum them.”

  “What was all this about, exactly?” I said, looking over to Roux and Razmus, who were quietly discussing something in a er of the cavern.

  “Well, Roux somehow qualified for a program called ‘wizard training,’” Diast said, barely hiding her ck of respect for whatever ‘wizard training’ was. “I think Marne’s wizard training is more supervilin tropes than anythiely resembling wizardry, but apparently the school board disagrees and has given him a few students to mentor this year. So you all get some extra credit points for this, at least.”

  “Were we supposed to have a thing?” Oka asked.

  “I have no idea.” Diast said. “The ‘wizard’ school of i teag is…not in my wheelhouse, to put it mildly.”

  “Is there really something Razmus do that you ’t?” I asked.

  Diast sighed. “So you know the issues I’ve been having with the memory trials because Wildfire Hearts screwed up the memory colleg/temple building part?”

  “Kinda,” I said. Dr. Diast had told us they messed something up when they were uploading our memory patterns to the void or something, and that’s why I had to e with to Oka and Kalei’s memory trials.

  “I was chatting with Caya about my issues with it, and unfortunately she decided that telling Razmus Marne would be a good idea because he has the necessary skills to fix it.”

  “And you’re fih that?” Oka asked.

  “It was either that or keep f you to watch all of these,” Diast said. “And we’re ing way too close to the deadlio start uemple levels of the void, so it was either have you guys do a favor for Marne, have us all get behind on our void work, or pay tayments of 599 to a guy I found online who might be even shadier than Marne.”

  “Is your wounded pride worth skipping out on having to make tayments of 599?” Kalei asked.

  “That’s something I’ll have to ask myself every night for a while,” Diast said.