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Weaknesses? Strategies? Yeah right as if he'd ever tell anyone what he'd been planning. Percy may have been his boyfriend, but he wasn't about to fall for any competitions’ tricks. All he did was stick his tongue out at Percy before he turned to the sheet before him. It seemed fairly straight forward so far. Name, School, Team, and Date of Birth. His birthday was a bit harder to pin down, given he was adopted after an incident with purifiers, but he wrote the one they'd celebrated for all his years. Physical age seemed like an odd phrase, then again how would Andy fill it out knowing now what he knew? He let out a frustrated sigh, seeing that this was a bit more complex than he'd originally cared to realize. The rest of it seemed fine, filling out each section as clearly as he could and trying not to leave anything out so that they couldn't disqualify him on technicalities.

”See ya” Was all Dorian said back as he continued to write. Focusing on his sheet as Percy gave him a kiss before leaving. He could hear Danni begin to ask him a question when he suddenly found the answer himself. Dorian chuckled at his antics, rolling his eyes. It was easy to forget that Avengers Academy was actually called The Margaret Carter Institute. Most students didn't bother with that name. ”In a minute D. Just makin’ sure I didn't forget somet'in’.” He said before finally getting up and making his way over to Danni and April. Hugging them both tightly before pulling away. ”’arry Simmons?” Dorian asked. ”I didn't t’ink uncle ‘arry would be able to make it from Canada. I t'ought ‘e was on tour t’at dirty liar.” He huffed, a hint of amusement beneath it all. It seemed like he was bringing his twin and her wife along too.

One of the lines seemed to clear up as he watched Andy leave her room. He waved over to her before looking back at April and Danni real quick. ”My time to shine! Don't take too long you two! I'll be right back.” Dorian said as he ran towards the examination room and entered inside. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, maybe a white sterile office with a chair that had crunchy white paper to sit on? He hated those. But this didn't seem too bad. Some odd equipment was out, some he recognized, others he didn't.

There were two physicians in the room - a cheerful older woman, with a bee pin on her lapel, and a calico cat, her tail wrapped around her waist.

“Ah, sit down, sit down - we’ll take your paperwork, sweetheart,” the older doctor insisted, gesturing for Dorian to take a seat - there was, indeed, crunchy white paper covering the surface, and a small shelf for his feet to be placed on. “I’m Doc Bee, and that’s High Priestess Mirabel, we’ll be doing a quick check-up and then you’ll be on your way.”

Mirabel’s eyes flickered over towards Dorian.

“Did you have any questions for us before we get started?” Bee then asked.

Dorian made his way over towards the seat, handing the paperwork to them as he passed by. He eyed the paper hesitantly, before deciding to just float. He hadn't used his telekinesis to fly before, mostly relying on his Astral powers to do so, but he didn't need to be stuck there right now. So he enveloped himself in his powers, lifting off the block that was placed before the seat and hovering gently over the paper before letting himself down so as to make as little sound as possible. He truly hated these things. ”Only one…Mirabel wouldn't happen to be related to Usagi would she?” The last thing Dorian needed was for this to be another trap.

Mirabel tilted her head at Dorian. “All of my siblings died in the flood, child.”

Bee grimaced, as much as she tried to force a smile. “Right! We’re going to start by taking your blood pressure,” she explained, as she grabbed the small device and approached Dorian, wrapping the cuff around his upper arm. “This might be uncomfortable for a moment,” she added sympathetically.

”For a moment? I think I just made it uncomfortable for the remainder…” Dorian muttered under his breath as Bee applied the machine to him.

“Why would it be uncomfortable?” Mirabel asked. “I didn’t say I liked my siblings.”

“Ooookaaaayyyyy then,” Bee breathed in through her teeth sharply. The blood pressure cuff tightened and tightened, until Dorian would be able to feel his blood pulsing in his arm - and then suddenly, the pressure released. Bee noted the value, and as she was writing, Mirabel grabbed the stethoscope with one paw.

“Can you breathe?” the cat asked, before pressing it to Dorian’s back, so as to listen to his lungs.

Dorian suddenly felt as if he messed up even trying to speak to or about Mirabel. He had no idea which Flood she meant, but had a sinking feeling she may have meant the biblical flood. It was almost enough to distract him from the growing pressure on his arm, mostly feeling it by the end just before all the pressure was released. ”Yeah, I breAthe” He answered, moments before the cold stethoscope pressed against his back. Why did they never warm these things?

He then realized she was asking him to breathe, not if he had the capability to. Dorian sure as heck didn't know, maybe some mutants or other species didn't require air or breathing? But either way he took a deep breath in, held it, and then let it out slowly. He repeated this twice more, hoping that'd be enough for the cat.

“Good,” Mirabel affirmed. “I need to feel your abdomen next. Don’t worry, I’ll keep the claws sheathed.”

”Uh. Ok? What does t'at do? Or tell?” Dorian asked. He never understood some of the things doctors would do. It seemed strange.

“Oh!” Bee said chipperly, careful to interject before Mirabel could explain. “We’re assessing your organs - rough shape and size, if there’s any evidence of discomfort or pain. Is that okay, Dorian?”

Mirabel didn’t wait, of course, instead immediately setting to work, palpitating his abdomen like she was making biscuits.

”Oh. I didn't know you could just…feel t’at like t'at.” Dorian asked, though his mind was elsewhere. The idea of seeing the rough shape of his organs and if they were in good condition made him wonder if he could partially go ghost to make himself translucent on one side. Then they could truly see his organs, but the idea they might somehow spill out grossed him out.

“Yup! Isn’t the body cool?” Bee gushed. “You’d be surprised how much we can learn about a patient without having to use any fancy equipment - when I started training to be a doctor, most of what I had access to was salvaged equipment. But you make it work! Okay, just need to check your eyes, ears, and heart and then we’ll get onto the fun stuff!”

“Is this not fun? I’m having a great time,” Mirabel deadpanned, jumping away as Bee took over - shining a light into each of Dorian’s ears, having him follow one with his eyes, and then finally listening to his heart.

”Salvaged equipment? Where did you first start out if I can ask?” Dorian asked as he tried not to blink while the light was shining in his eyes. Following it the best he could but also trying not to look directly at it.

“Oh, I washed up on Madripoor after S-Day,” Bee explained offhandedly. “Doc Nemesis mentored me, showed me the ropes, but then he got back into crime - you know how it is, you’re always in recovery, it’s a process that never really ends. But great! Mirabel is the magic expert, so she’s going to do this next part - just a quick check for any sort of enchantments.”

The cat nodded, before pulling out an amulet from a small, ornate chest with her teeth. She tangled the chain up in her claws and batted at it, causing it to spin. She circled it three times around Dorian’s head, noting a faint green glow. “Someone tried to curse you - at the start of September,” she noted. “Piss poor spellwork, though.”

”Curse me? But…t’at's around my birt'day. Unless…” The stalker had gotten more aggressive that day. Saying something weird in a note that Dorian had blocked out. ”Right…I t'ink Aggie took care of it. But you mentioned washing up after S-Day. Does t'at mean, are you also from Genosha?”

Bee nodded once more. “Sure am! Your tell your pas that Bee says hello, okay?” she added with a wink. “I need to take a blood sample from you next - are you afraid of blood or needles, Dorian?”

“I hope you are,” Mirabel mused.

”I'm fine with it? Bloods part of the ‘ero gig and well. Needles are needles I guess? Wonder if any ‘eroes ‘ave a fear of needles?” Dorian thought out loud before realizing what Bee had said to him. ”You know my Pa's?”

“‘Course I do,” Bee answered. “Every Genoshan still alive knows your pas - and a good handful of the ones no longer with us, too.” She worked pretty quickly, drawing up just enough blood to sample in triplicate. Mirabel took the samples and ran them through a small device, and evidently there was nothing concerning in the readout, as Bee then grabbed the next piece of equipment in the room - it looked like a fancy, glorified radar gun, emblazoned with the blue and white of the Future Foundation.

“Almost done,” Bee added. “Just a quick scan and then it’s on to the truth test!”

Dorian groaned as he saw the logo of the next piece of equipment. ”Absolutely not’in’ fantastic about t’ose four. What's t’e scan do?”

“It’ll tell us if there’s any quantum or cosmic abnormalities,” Bee said succinctly.

“You can’t just throw around the term quantum, it’s a nonsense word,” Mirabel grumbled, licking her paws.

“It’s not nonsense, it’s science,” Bee corrected, before activating the device. She tilted her head from side to side, biting her lip as she considered this. “Honey… You didn’t mention you’re entangled.”

Quantum science was a little bit above Dorian's school grade. But he figured Bee knew what she was doing. Not that Mirabel seemed to give two tails about the science or potentially lack thereof. ”What do you mean entangled? I t'ought you said t'is was cosmic and quantum stuff?” He asked. While he'd heard of the terms Quantum Entanglement and Cosmic Entanglement, he never really understood what it all meant.

“It’s a little above my paygrade, the exact specifics of it,” Bee admitted. “I don’t fully understand everything about how it works, how it happens - but what entanglement means is that some pieces of you, they’re part of someone else. And some pieces of them, they’re part of you. Did you… not know you were entangled? Nothing strange happened - you couldn’t suddenly access powers that weren’t yours?”

Dorian shrugged. Wondering who he could possibly be entangled with, or even how it would've happened. ”Not t’at I know of? If so I ‘avent noticed it. Does it say…who?”

“Oh, that’s interesting - it looks like you’re entangled with another student - another competitor, which is… unfortunate. Hmm. Do you know a Percy Novikoff?”

Dorians face went bright pink as blush shot across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose. ”T'at's. Uh, t'at's my boyfriend. We were on t'e same team till a shake up ‘appened due to losing a coach to villainy. I-...” He closed his mouth, not wanting to know how they even became entangled. Or what this meant for them or the competition.

“Ah, so you were entangled,” Mirabel observed with a slight laugh. “I suppose you’ll have to beg your boyfriend to leave the competition - or perhaps you’ll fall on the sword for him.”

“Mirabel,” Bee coughed. “But… She is right. You won’t both be allowed to compete. Even with a low entanglement value of five percent, the fact that you are on different teams… You could try to make an appeal, but…” Her voice faltered, as she saw a message flash across her screen. “Oh! Good news, Dorian. Percy has elected to withdraw.”

Dorian's face journey was about as telling as The Hobbit. Between embarrassment from what Mirabel had said, to the idea that he'd have to withdraw for Percy's sake or vice versa, to the immediate disappointment about what Bee was telling him as if he had just received grave news (which he basically had), and now he was being told Percy elected to withdraw? Dorian was so torn, both glad he could continue his dream and upset that they hadn't even had a conversation about, but also an odd mix of love for his boyfriend who likely knew how much this meant to him and chose to dive. He was speechless. Well aside from a single word that burst out of his mouth. ”What?!”

“Yep!” Bee said cheerfully. “Now we can do the last part of the exam - this is the Tome of Izneth - or, well… It’s a Tome of Izneth, I think there’s about twenty copies,” she added, before taking out the small ancient book, and she held it out to Dorian. “If you could put your hand on this, we have a few questions we have to ask.”

“I dare you to try lying,” Mirabel baited, batting her tail from side to side. “Please.”

Dorian felt almost empty, as if he was having an out of body experience, which was weird given his powers. He placed his hand upon the tome, but it was almost as if going through the motions. His mind focused on wanting to speak to Percy.

“What is your name?” Mirabel hissed.

”Dorian Stephen Gray”

”Who are you?”

”T’e son of Professor Maximillian Gray and Ben Gray, but a Student at Margaret Carter Institute.”

“Finally, a normal answer to that one…” Mirabel scoffed, before continuing with the final question. ”Do you want to compete in the Contest of Champions?”

”More t'an anyt’in’ in t'e world. Not just compete, I wanna win mon amie.”

Mirabel then gave Bee a nod, as the physician placed the tome away. “Great - you’re all done, sweetheart! Best of luck out there!”

”T'anks! Be sure to root for me in t'e stands. For now…I got to go talk to Percy.” Dorian remarked as he made his way to the door.

“Yes, talk,” Mirabel murmured. “I’m sure that’s what you’ll be doing.”

Dorians ears burned, turning a faint shade of pink at the tips as he rushed out of the examination room, texting Percy. ”We need to talk, where are you?”

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Sabine paused for a moment, checking her phone. Neither Leah nor April had responded. Surely, April had seen the messages. She expected her to be freaking out right now and coming to find Leah (and by extension herself) to talk about it. And then Sabine's thoughts ran to the extreme. No, he wouldn't attack in broad daylight, right? They were surrounded by people, heroes and civilians alike. It would be stupid.

Right?

Sabine exited the medical exam room and began making her way back to the center, hoping to meet up with Leah. She looked around at unfamiliar faces, those she would be facing and, hopefully, beating out in this competition. Her heart might be in it, but her mind was everywhere else.

She took a few steps forward and felt the hairs on her arms stand up. A coarse chill ran through her veins. It felt as if someone had latched on to her, her every moment tracked. Sabine spun around to face behind her, nearly colliding with another person who gave her the stink eye as she continued towards her own destination. Was that shadow moving? Did she see something in the corner of her eye.

Sabine felt her chest constrict and her breathing felt labored, but she took some deep breaths anyway. She moved back, keeping an eye out for unfamiliar movements, those that someone hiding their presence would try to shadow. She glanced back and forth, sure she saw something.

Was Leah's dad following her? Was it someone else?

Sabine stopped. What was she doing? There were plenty of people here. Some that wanted her to fail. That had to be it. She was getting into her own head. She needed to find Leah. They could then inform Vision and have some safety measures set up. Sabine turned back and kept walking.

Unbeknownst to her, a figure peered around the corner, watching the young woman walk away.

---

Sabine shook off the uncomfortable feeling as she finally made it to the central hub. She saw a familiar poof of hair before she saw the figure attached. Leah seemed to be deep in thought. She had to be going through it. Challenged by her own father in a place she should feel safe.

Sabine gently ran forward and wrapped Leah in a side-hug. "All done. How are you feeling?" Sabine knew the answer. Her own anxieties felt like they were flying off of her body, but she needed to put on a brave face. Leah had enough to worry about. "Any sign of April? She didn't respond to your message."

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As Diana looked around the hallway there were a few other students still waiting for the examinations to start, she had finished with hers which was good she didn't have to worry about doing anything else. Other than having to wait here until they were allowed to go back to their hotel room. Diana thought about going to talk with Percy to try and mend things between her Dorian and Percy, she really hated not talking to her younger brother. But she didn't want to do it in front of complete strangers really either and make a scene, she noticed Andy making her way over to Vision.

She made her way over towards Andy, and started to hear her asking about what happened to Lady Nimue as she looked between the two of them for a moment before turning to look at Andy. She didn't know Andy all that well but the girl seemed to be pretty nice as she stepped into the conversation. "Lady Nimue is in Otherworld at the moment dealing with what happened to Ser Nemo." Diana said, she was pretty sure that they were told about what happened to him.

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Madalyne looked at Agatha for a moment seeing the vacant stare in her eyes and calling her Mackenzie which wasn't her name at all and she asked about how her family and how her father was. Something was wrong since the last time she saw Agatha before she left to become a teacher here in this school. "It's me Madalyne Crane from the Margret Carter Institute?" Madalyne said hoping that it'll jog her memory or something.

"You were my mentor and a teacher at that school before you ended up transferring over here at the start of the year." She told her tt could be a number of things, maybe it was some sort of magic that messed with her mind. Or maybe it was due to her old age as well to, Madalyne didn't really know at all really.

“WoOoOoOoOoOoOoW! Someone’s got too much contest on t’e brain ta stay wit’ us apparently. Disrespectful.” Danni laughed as Dorian shot his way to the examination room. He didn’t expect anything less. Honestly, Dee had been the most intense about it out of the three of them so Danni had already prepared himself for the tunnel vision he’d get. Dee got the same way during video game competitions and all that nonsense. Danni gasped at April’s idea, very excited but as he watched the door shut firmly behind each person.

“I don’t t’ink t’at’s an option, Princess. And I kinda don’t wanna try, ya know? Like, we got t’is far and we get ta do it toget’er, so I don’t wanna get disqualified ‘cause we did somet’in’ we didn’t know about.” Danni explained, leaning forward so Amélie leaned forward to sniff at April and then abruptly shot back as he realized what she was going for - her hair! “Amélie, no no. We don’t chew ‘air, silly dragon.” Danni chided half-heartedly, giggling at the displeased puff of smoke. He gave April a kiss on the cheek and untangled them.

“OKay, okay, okay. We do t’is quick and t’en after, we can…” Danni trailed off as he watched Mads interacting with the one and only Aggie! He started vibrating and quickly clapped his hands over his mouth before he could scream. “Princess, Princess, Princess! It’s Prof. Aggie! I ‘ave ta introduce ‘er ta ‘er granddaughter! Right, like it would be rude not ta, right? Omg, omg, omg. Amélie, you’re gunna meet Mamie Aggie! Aren’t you excited?!” He whispered between his hands, afraid he’d scare her off if he made it too obvious he was going for her. He decided to interpret the demanding chittering from above him as a yes. He grabbed April by the shoulders, stared her in the eyes seriously, and reached up to block Amélie as she leaned towards April’s hair. “Super top mission. Get in, get out, tackle Aggie. Got it? One, two, three - break!” Danni tucked Amélie in his arms and scrambled towards a door, certainly not putting a little fire beneath his heels to get there that much faster. He ducked under the arm of someone he didn’t know, turned on the threshold, stuck his tongue out at them, and slammed the door, all while Amélie huffed and wiggle in excitement at the sudden burst of speed. Amélie would be all worked up when she met Mamie Aggie but how didn’t love a playful dragon?

“Okay, docs, I’m all yours! ‘It me wit’ every’in’ ya got!” Danni beamed as he hopped up on the obvious seat. Amélie tumbled out of his arms, bouncing off his lap but immediately protesting as she stepped on the crunchy and scampered back into his lap. She then tapped the paper on the seat aggressively, flinching and growing at offending material, and Danni cooed at her soothingly. He looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat, and offered a megawatt smile in apology.

“Don’t worry, my whittle baby isn’t participating. Pa didn’t t’ink about what people were ‘oldin’ again when ‘e portaled us. Really, ya should just be glad its just a dragon. Someone, not naming any names Dee, coulda been doin’ adult cuddles since t’at’s a t’in’ t’ey do now. Don’t you t’ink t’at’s kinda rude? Like, who just casually tells t’eir best friends “‘ey, we play ‘ide t’e cucumber under t’e sheets now, btws?” Like, I feel like I shoulda been wined and dined before t’ey dropped a tactical nuke in my lap. And everyone knows I ‘ave bad control! Why would you surprise me, t’e walkin’ fire bomb?! I can’t even remember t’e number of socks I’ve lost ‘cause Dee decided ta prank me and I got so spooked, I burned t’em right off my feet! Actually, I lost a lotta stuff like t’at. But I have a fireproof baby now, isn’t she cute! Look at t’is spot she like rubbed under ‘er chin and -” Clearly not going to stop, the examiner went about their business and occasionally interjected with muttered commands.

“Okay, stop.” The examiner demanded. Danni paused in his explanation of how She-Ra was the perfect life example that everyone should live by. “I just need you to put your hand on this book and answer the questions. Succinctly. Please.”

“I don’t know what a plant ‘as ta do wit’ t’is but jeez, alright.” Danni rolled his eyes as this book was offered and he placed his hand on it. The other one was busy keeping Amélie from also putting her teeth in the box.

“What is your name?”

“‘ow am I supposed ta put a succulent in t’at? Like, my ‘rents named me Daniel but I prefer Danni, ya know? The I is important. I was just tellin’ myself t’at I gotta get it-”

“Who are you?”

Danni stared at the interruption. “I just told you. Danni. Maybe if you’d listen, you’d remember t’at.” Danni snarked back, more than a little annoyed that he’d asked the same question twice.

“Do you want to compete in the Contest of Champions?”

“OMFG YES! I’ve been dreaming of it since I stepped foot in t’e school and now we get ta do it toget’er wit’ Dee and Princess! T’ey split us up ‘cause t’ey knew we were too dangerous and we’d upset t’eir favorite team by crushin’ t’em but t’en-” Danni blinked as he found himself talking to the exam room door. He blinked, exchanging a look and a shrug with Amélie, and turned on his heel, took in a deep breath, and screamed -

“MAMIE AGGIE!” As he flew across the room, hurtling towards her.

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She knew it was psychosomatic - well, hoped really - but as soon as their hands touched, Victoria felt a wave of discomfort crawl up her forearm, like maggots burrowing under the skin of her hand. Which was terrible, since now mr. Macleod apparently intended to lead her out by hand. She already hated this deal. She really should have just stayed put, or perhaps try her luck with finding her way out. But her stupid curiosity was going to be the end of her. Did she learn nothing from the whole Ed situation? Ten seconds before she sunk into the framework, she warned Ed against pulling a fast one. How’d that pan out?

Sucking in a breath, she complied for now, and took the hand he offered. No need to let him know just yet that she was not as blind as he believed.

Barty took a few steps forward, making sure that his blind companion was at least capable of following his pace. Once he was satisfied, he held out his free hand as if he was about to turn a knob on a door. Grasping at thin air, a black door frame appeared and sprawled out into what seemed to be nothingness. He pulled them through as he proceeded forward. Closing the door behind them before making his way through the darkness on a transparent pathway. ”Stay close. I'd hate to lose you in here.” He commented, though it was more in the way Mother Gothel spoke to Rapunzel's hair rather than Rapunzel. He didn't want to lose his favor in here. Not like he couldn't retrieve her if he cared to.

The sudden appearance of the doorway on her sensor did actually confuse Vicky somewhat, considering she right now saw the world as a sea of dots at various distances from her. Thus, she followed as Barty beckoned. Still, something felt off. As they stepped through, what Vicky saw was distinctly not a street outside. This guy was either a complete hoser or-

She stopped in her tracks as it clicked. If Barty was looking, he could see the emotions change several times from fury to relief, before setting on a small smile. Slowly raising her hands, Victoria gave him a slow clap. ”Ah. I see. Well played.” She only said that the effort of her favor had to be equal to his. Not that his effort had to be the minimum amount necessary. Barty could pad this up as much as he wanted to.

For a second the blonde thought she just sold herself to slavery, but when she thought about it… He could pad it up, sure. But the morality clause would only let him have her do things that she would have no problems doing anyway. So while it was an asinine, spiteful move, he only set her up to do bigger things she was okay with. ”I don’t think I ever felt quite this conflicted. That’s a new feeling, that does not happen too often nowadays. Thank you.” she said, actually sincere about it.

Barty felt a sudden tug as Victoria stopped still. Her hand sliding out of his as she began to clap. At first his instinct was to dash backwards, his hand going for his pocket and gripping a small figure within it. He expected a fight, as if this was some sort of ruse Victoria had concocted to get him alone and away from the school. But even in the Neverish he wasn't alone. As she spoke he focused on her words, but also her posture, emotions, every little detail he could to indicate where this was going. Centuries of persecution came up at once before finally he relaxed and settled down off haunches. She was cunning, she just realized what he'd done.

”That's sort of my specialty, Victoria. I show people new emotions they never knew they were capable of. Some even forgotten to time as humanity seemed to abandon them. But either way, you're stuck with me until I take you outside. The debt will be high but I'm sure your morality can take it.” Barty grinned. At least he wouldn't need to pretend anymore, good.

”You're not doing your effort to disassociate you from the devil any favors, by the way. Though that might be just me, considering the one witch I am somewhat acquainted with is half demon.” Victoria snorted, looking around. The place was a monochrome void, which seemed to have pathways of something barely visible running through it, and what she assumed to be spheres of… magic energy concentration? Beats me.

She stepped up by Barty’s side, a clear indication that she could navigate better in this space. ”If it incurs a price of another favor, or hell, if it’s too personal, don’t answer, but… You speak and act like you’ve seen more in life than a person of the age your appearance suggests. What’s your story?”

Barty began moving through the space alongside Victoria once more. Deciding whether or not he truly wished to divulge anything to this stranger. ”Quid pro Quo then. You answer my question and I'll answer yours. Besides it wouldn't do us to walk in silence the whole time so some conversation might not be so bad.” He replied, his tone even and collected as they made pace. ”What is with your aura?”

”Hm? What do you mean, aur-” then she looked at herself. She failed to notice it before in the swirling mess, but here where the magic seemed less saturated, she could see it. Or rather, couldn’t. Whatever magic permeated the space, it stopped and bent away from her.

”Oh. I’ve been loaned a talisman that creates an anti-magic field around me. These levels of magic are usually deadly to me otherwise. Hence, my lack of knowledge about it. I don’t feel like Marie Curieing my way through the subject. Which sucks. I wanted to start on it next year but I’m not sure I’ll be able.” she explained. ”Your turn.”

Barty fully ignored her telling him it was his turn. The answer only provided more questions than anything. ”Who gave it to you?”

”Nope.” Victoria gave Barty a cheeky smile. ”I answered your question, I am owed a question now. Spill.”

Barty rolled his eyes. He needed to find a way to answer her question without actually answering it. At least, not until he knew exactly how she'd acquired that medallion. ”Then let me answer it this way. Witches have been persecuted over the centuries by those who would call themselves hunters. I'm sure you've no doubt heard of the Salem Witch Trials, but they extended far beyond just Salem. The last time I had seen an aura like yours, it was on a hunter who carried the lineage. There are those who still believe my kind don't deserve to live. So if I am to answer about my life, any aspect of it, I must first ensure the nature of how you acquired an artifact that mimics the aura of my people's enemy.”

That seemed to be a bit of a veiled answer, but it said enough. And it hit home. ”I… understand, though I am nowhere near that badly off. You could say I’ve been muzzled by people with power over me because of what I could do, not because of something I already did. I’m sorry if worse happened to you.” taking a moment thinking on how to answer Barty’s question without explicitly dropping mr. Gray’s name, she settled on: ”It was given to me by a wizard, I don’t think he would hold ill intentions for one of his fellows, although fair is fair, I just met them and don’t really know them. As for me… So long as you do not intentionally harm people, unless it is an unfortunate price that needs to be paid to protect great many more, I have no reason to object to your existence. However irritating it may feel on occasion.” she smirked, knowing full well she just gave away her moral framework. She figured he would learn of it sooner or later due to the favor anyway.

Barty watched her closely. He'd grown accustomed to reading people, finding tells. She seemed to be honest, although clearly withholding some of the information. Smart. There were no shortages of Witches, Wizards, and Sorcerer's alike in New Orleans. Having a whole school to teach it sort of made that all happen. Any one of them could have given her the amulet, but who? Why? She stated magic was deadly to her, but what sort of creature had adverse reactions to magic like that? If they weren't currently traversing this plane, Barty would've had half a mind to open his third eye fully to see what was wrong with her, but doing so here would only give him a headache. ”So long as there are those who think themselves above the others, there will always be persecution. That is the ugly truth of humanity. They fear what they cannot control and what they do not understand. Regardless, you won't find me harming people. As stated before I am an enchanter. I befuddle the mind, make you feel things that aren't there, hear things that aren't real, I choose what is reality and project it onto another so that only they may see it. I could drive someone mad if I cared to, but harm them? Not in my wheelhouse. Leave that to the Evocers and their incessant use of flames around all top precious books.”

Barty didn't meet Victoria's gaze. His mind was off in the distance at something she had said. ”Worse has happened to me, not all of my existence has been good. I've lost my family, my sister…good witches were burned before my very eyes by the lineage of hunters that roam this earth. They take without asking, without remorse…So if what you wish is to know what it sounds like to hear a woman scream as her flesh is melted or the way hair smells as it's being charred away and floats downwind…I do not think my story is one to tell…for now.”

That checked out, she heard enough. From what she could tell, Batry wasn’t bullshitting her either. Well, this time. ”I mean, mental health is still health, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and trust you are not going around, turning people insane for fun.”

She was quiet for the next few paces, before taking a pen and post-it block from her pocket and writing her phone number on it. ”And I am afraid you’re right about humans. While it’s not my primary mission… If you ever feel hunted, yell. I may not be skilled in handling magic, but as far as I know, it’s not magic users that do the hunting, and those I can deal with. Well. No favors owed.” she said as she handed over the note.

Barty took the note, pocketing it next to her token. He decided not to comment on the idea of turning people mad for fun. If it was a hunter of course he would. They deserved it. But there was always the risk of madness when he used his magic. One never knows exactly how they're target may react. Paranoia could settle in without his wanting to, or perhaps it could trigger an episode he didn't know they would have. That was the danger of messing with someone's mind. But if he was doing so, typically they deserved it. He flashed her a smile, not a friendly one, but one of snarky recognition. ”My dear, I always feel hunted. But I appreciate the sentiment. Also, you may want to hold on, our first stop is going to be a doozy.” Barty said as another door appeared from thin air.