AA: Libertine Liberation

This is a tale set at Azimuth Academy - a school for magic and the like inspired by (among other things) Hogwarts, the Unseen University, and I.O.U. These stories can be read in any order, really, but they do follow on from each other, so the order they're published in would probably work best.

This story follows on from the events of Study Break.

Given some aspects of the setting, I want to make very clear that anyone engaged in adult behaviour is at least eighteen years of age... if not massively more.

-[::]-

The sound of babbling, chattering voices seemed to fill the air, echoing off of the tastefully decorated walls of the hallway as what could best be described as a horde emerged from the dining hall. Most of the crowd seemed to be teenaged at most, though it was sometimes hard to tell -- dwarves, for example, tended to look grizzled from the moment they hit puberty. Here and there, however, older figures wove their way through the swarm boiling toward the exit, some in smart, businesslike attire, but most of them wore the same pale grey student uniform as the younger ones.

As they emerged into the bright sunlight outside the building, two of the older students peeled away from the mob, aiming themselves across the grass of the Academy's central quadrangle. With an almost audible sigh of relief, the taller of the two young women shot a mild scowl over her shoulder at the younglings as they scattered to wherever their morning classes were today.

"Stop glaring at them, Tori. You were that age not that long ago."

With an aloof flick of her long blonde hair, Tori gave her colleague a sidelong look that carried more than a little disagreement.

"Kel, I was never that young. I swear to whatever gods may be listening that some of those little squirts aren't even potty trained yet."

The fact that she managed to say that with such a totally straight face had Kel chuckling. The pale, short-haired changeling took a definite pleasure in needling her room-mate, even given how downright easy it was to do sometimes.

"Whatever," Tori continued, blue eyes sparkling with humour as well, "breakfast is done, and I have no need to deal with small people any more until dinner."

"What about -- oh, that's right, you're helping set up that big presentation thing for this afternoon." Kel frowned for a second. "Which reminds me, how the hells did you manage to wrangle that sort of cushy number, anyway? As I recall, Professor Tegan is interested in other men, and you're not that good at talking people into giving you what you want."

That got her another dismissive look from Tori, but the corners of the blonde's lips twitched in a barely suppressed smile as she ran a hand over the fabric of her dress, smoothing out a couple of mostly-imaginary wrinkles. This was hardly the first time they'd visited this general topic, and both of them knew full well it was unlikely to be the last. Especially given what came out of her mouth after she'd taken a moment to check there were no young ears nearby.

"You're hardly in a position to criticise, you slut. Or do I need to remind you of how you managed to dodge getting into shit for what happened last week?"

The only answer she got to that was a laugh, then Kel nodded toward the clock mounted on the Academy's main tower. Tori followed her look, then muttered a curse.

"I'll see you later," the changeling chuckled, "I've got some translating to do, and you have a nice easy day of bossing people around."

Rolling her eyes at her room-mate's almost wistful tone, Tori gave her a sympathetic -- or near enough -- pat on the shoulder and started walking. What was on her plate for the day wasn't going to be that simple, but being asked to help the Head of Applied Archaeology set up and present the fruits of his latest field work wasn't something she was going to turn her nose up at even if it had looked like being hard work.

Especially since the alternative was another session of listening to her study advisor drone on about how he thought she should be directing her studies.

Yeah, right. He's refused to stick his head out of his lab in nearly thirty years, and the only damned reason he works with us mere students at all is because the conditions of his tenure say he has to.

Still, she did have to admit that when he managed to accidentally let some useful advice slip, it was very good advice. Shame it didn't happen more often...

With a polite smile for the young man who held the door open for her, she stepped inside the ornate building that housed the Azimuth Academy's main library -- one of at least four pretty impressive collections that she'd found so far -- then paused to make sure she had her bearings. Nobody had ever given her a properly illuminating explanation as to why it was so damned easy to get lost in this building, but it happened to everyone.

Well, almost everyone. One of the Cryptozoology department's star students had never had any problem, but he was a minotaur, and that was probably a good enough excuse as far as he was concerned. Not that it was of any help to anyone else, of course... especially since he had started charging to guide people around.

Okay, fourth floor, third corridor... assuming the bastard thing hasn't moved. Again.

As it turned out, she managed to get where she was going with only two wrong turns, which she suspected was an all-time record, and finding the right door was exceptionally easy thanks to the fact that there was seven feet of vaguely humanoid rock standing outside it.

Looking up at the rough-hewn face, Tori gave the golem a nod and waited to see if there was any response forthcoming. After a second or so, there was, the baleful green glow of it's gaze shifting down to meet hers. For another long moment, that was all the reaction there was, until it stepped aside with a delicate grace that never ceased to surprise her at least a little.

"Thank you."

The animated rock said nothing, naturally enough, instead simply settling in to do absolutely nothing at all until called upon again. With a ghost of a smile, Tori pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Ah, Miss Spelling!"

It was fairly common knowledge that Professor Tegan had served in the army before bumbling his way into academia, and the rumour that he'd been a drill instructor was very easy to believe when he didn't keep his voice down. Tori wasn't so sure about that, however, since whilst his standard level of volume was a mild bellow, it was far too good-natured to be coming out of someone who'd done that sort of job -- even if he did look like a mountain bear stuffed into a suit.

The stout, bearded professor came over from the crate he'd been rummaging in, taking her hand and giving it a hearty shake. Luckily, he was quite aware of how strong he was, and she escaped having her knuckles squashed.

"Come in, come in," he said cheerily, waving her into the room, "You've met my assistants, I'm sure."

The assistants in question were a pair of very nice looking young men, who gave her waves of welcome. Very nice looking young men, she couldn't help noticing, with the sort of deep tan and healthy glow that came from spending large amounts of time outdoors being athletic.

Unfortunately, Kel was right about the Professor's tastes, and it was no secret that he chose his helpers with care. Which was a shame, in some ways... but in others, really not so much. Knowing that the three men in the room had no interest in her was going to make it a lot easier to keep her mind on the job. Especially when it came to the dark-haired one, with the really nice-

Concentrate, dammit. And not on his ass.

"I assume the porters know one of their heavy lifters is outside," she asked, dragging herself back into focus. "It could prove a little awkward if they come around wanting it back, after all."

"Of course, of course," Professor Tegan replied with an airy wave. "And their reputation is vastly exaggerated."

"Professor, three first-years decided to play a prank with the toilets four months ago. The porters still have them on sewer cleanup, and only the Arch-Dean herself managed to convince them to relent enough to let said students use more appropriate tools than their own toothbrushes."

The Professor seemed to think about that for a moment, his assistants looking a bit nervous in the background, then shrugged. "Builds character."

Which was pretty much precisely the sort of thing she'd have expected him to say. Hiding a smile, she followed as he waved her over toward the crates he and his assistants had been unpacking, genuinely curious to see what they contained. A six month expedition to the desert ruins of Alpetha was not going to have come back empty-handed, after all. Not given the level of magic woven through that civilisation's society -- before it had suffered a rather unfortunate outbreak of divine disfavour.

Which might, in hindsight, also account for why there'd been remarkably few self-proclaimed God Emperors in the world over the two thousand years or so since Alpetha had gotten a thorough smiting.

None of which, of course, was anything at all to do with why Tori was here. She watched as the Professor reached into a crate, lifting out a wrapped bundle with surprising delicacy. When he turned toward the nearby table and frowned at the lack of clear space on it's surface, she stepped in and lifted some of the papers that littered the tabletop out of the way. With a grunt of acknowledgement for her help, the professor set the package down and started peeling away the paper wrapping.

"I think you might like this one," he said amiably. "Third dynasty, I believe, from one of the temples they kept putting up in honour of their bloody cats."

Tori chuckled at his tone, shaking her head at the thought that someone so immersed in ancient history could be so dismissive of what he studied. Except, of course, he wasn't, and they both knew it. Any comment she might have made was headed off, however, when the paper fell away to reveal an exquisitely formed statuette, its feline subject rendered in almost lifelike detail and the sunlight from the window shining off the dull gold surface.

"Wow."

The Professor nodded in agreement with her soft exclamation, then his bushy beard was split by a wide grin as he waved at the other crates and the few odds and ends that had already been unpacked. "And we've got plenty more to get ready for show and tell."

"To which our aching backs can testify," one of the assistants interjected, earning himself a sternly reproving look from the Professor -- a look that Tori judged to be about as sincere as a goblin insurance salesman.

"Now now, Lucas," he said chidingly, "you've barely done any hard work at all since we got home."

The dark-haired assistant, he of the exceptionally cute butt, rolled his eyes but otherwise chose not to comment. His fairer-maned colleague, the one the Professor had addressed, snorted in what sounded like a cynical little laugh, and pointed at the door.

"This from the man who found any number of excuses to let the golem do all the work of moving this stuff in here?"

"Of course, my dear boy. Proper supervision is critical in such endeavours, after all. Speaking of which..." He turned a touch more serious, running a thoughtful gaze over the contents of the room. "I think we've cleared enough space for the last few crates."

Lucas looked around as well before nodding in agreement. "You want me to see to it, or Thom?"

The other assistant looked around expectantly, but the professor shook his head. "Neither. Miss Spelling, would you be so kind as to keep an eye on these pair of delinquents whilst I see to this little task?"

Tori was tempted to smile at the combination of deadpan delivery from the Professor and the put-upon looks on his assistants' faces, but kept the impulse under control. Instead, she made something of a show of studying the two of them, then gave the Professor a regal nod.

"I believe I can keep them in line."

"Good. Shouldn't take more than an hour or so to get everything sorted out and on the way here. I'm sure you can all work out where to find me if anything needs my attention in the meantime."

The last part was delivered over his shoulder as he headed out of the door, and Tori could have sworn she felt the floor vibrate as the animated boulder in the hall started following him toward wherever he was going.

All joking aside, she took a breath to steady her nerves as she looked around at the fruits of the expedition on more time. He may have seemed rather cavalier about it all, but there was no denying that the Professor was putting a rather large amount of trust in her and his assistants. Simply trying to guess the value of what they were unpacking -- and not just in terms of money -- would have given her a headache...

"All right," she said after a few moments, making it clear she was deferring to the young men's greater expertise in such things. "Where do we start?"

-[::]-

As it turned out, Professor Tegan returned in a little less than the hour he'd predicted. By that time, Tori and the boys had gotten a pair of crates fully unpacked, their contents unwrapped, properly indexed, and set aside. He didn't stay for long, however, explaining that he'd only popped his head in to make sure all was well before turning his attention to various other professorial tasks that apparently demanded his attention.

The sunlight coming through the windows, mixed with the general warmth of the day and the amount of lifting and moving of things they were doing, had conspired to have an effect, though, and Tori was fairly sure she'd sensed at least a little hesitation on the Professor's part before he'd taken his leave again.

Not that she blamed him in the slightest. Thom and Lucas had taken the heavy lifting and such upon themselves, and approached it with the kind of casual vigour that was going to catch the eye of anyone interested in watching athletic young men at work. In fact, it had proven more than a little distracting, especially sleeves had been rolled up and shirts undone. So much so, in fact, that Tori was actually starting to become a little bit annoyed at the fact that there was no point whatsoever in trying to interest either -- or even possibly both -- of them in a little... break.

Still, at least she was getting plenty of material for when she was back in her dorm and able to put her imagination to work. She supposed they might have something to say about being used as fodder for naughty daydreams, but since she had no intention of telling them, what did it really matter?

To keep her mind off such things in the meanwhile, she was concentrating on the indexing side of things, making sure each relic and artefact was properly labelled, even if that did require frequent checks of the paperwork that listed the expedition's finds, and more than a few questions to the boys themselves. A case in point was the rather odd carving that she had on the table in front of her at that particular moment.

It looked like it was made of some sort of pottery, but had felt a lot heavier than that... and the carvings on it where definitely not the sort of thing most folks would put on their cookware. Not disturbing, precisely, but definitely... odd. Flicking through the lists, she would have thought she'd be able to find it on them, given the fact it was so unlike any of the other items she'd been ticking off the manifest, but she simply could not track down any mention of it...

No, wait, here we go, she thought to herself as she ran a finger across the pages. Oh, wonderful. There are two of them... so which one is this one?

According to the list, the two carvings in question looked very much alike, with only the writings on them to quickly tell them apart. Apparently, one of them was engraved with a prayer of some sort, which the other was simply described as 'bearing an inscription'. Sadly, she lacked Kel's skill with languages, especially dead ones, and that meant that couldn't read the bloody things, and thus had no idea whatsoever which of the two this one was.

"Gentlemen," she said, beckoning to the others. "We seem to have something of a puzzle."

Lucas ambled over, leaving Thom to carry on with the crate they'd been rummaging in. Tori gestured to the carving and stepped back to give him room to take a closer look. She watched as he bent over a little to examine it, tapping a finger against her lightly upturned lips as she took advantage of the view he gave her.

"Okay, let me see..." Lucas murmured, running a finger of his own across the inscription. "Give me a moment, I'm pretty sure I can translate it."

She waited patiently, then frowned as he started sounding out what he was reading. There was... something, a sense of power building up inside the carving itself as Lucas spoke, and she was pretty sure that was not what was meant to be happening.

"Ah... I think, maybe, you should-"

That was as far as she got before Lucas reached the end of what he was reading. At which point, the power Tori had started to sense inside the carving flared -- with a result she really should have seen coming. With a shattering blast, the carving disintegrated, spraying bits of itself all over the room, and coincidentally sending Lucas himself flying backwards. Whether he meant to or not -- probably not -- he actually managed quite a graceful flip in the air before he came to a rather abrupt halt against the wall.

The air over the table seemed to twist in on itself until it actually split, tearing open to revel the kind of darkness that really, really hurt the eyes. Fortunately, perhaps, that didn't last very long. On the other hand, what replaced it probably wasn't any more comforting a sight.

<FREEDOM AT LAST! WHICH FOOL OF A MORTAL HAS RELEASED ME?>

The booming, powerful voice didn't bother with such trivialities as entering Tori and Thom's heads by way of their ears. Instead, the writhing mass of darkness and tentacles hovering over the table simply delivered its message into their skulls in a fairly impressive display of power. Thom and Tori shared a look, then simply pointed at the heap Lucas had landed in.

<EXCELLENT... NOW FOR A SUITABLE REW->

The voice cut off, and Tori was pretty sure that the whole overpowering aura emanating from the creature now had more than a little disappointment in it.

<Seriously? A guy? And an unconscious one, at that?>

All the force and menace had fallen away from the voice, leaving instead something that sounded rather like a petulant teeanger. Tori blinked, frowning as she processed what her senses were reporting to her, then took a closer look at the almost indescribable entity that had apparently just forced its way into reality.

<I mean, a guy's okay,> it continued, <but is it too much to ask that I could get a girl? Apparently, and thank you very little, Oh Great Powers Of the Cosmos for that one...>

"Oh, will you shut up and stop blithering."

Tori's tone was rather snappy when she she spoke, and both Thom and the entity looked at her in a certain amount of surprise. Or at least she was fairly sure that was what the thing was doing, given it's apparent lack of eyes and such.

<Excuse me? You would dare interrupt a being of such power as->

"Please," she interrupted with a dismissive little toss of her head. "You're a class four Otherworlder. Class five at most. That means that you 're limited to purely physical levels of threat, and not much of that, either."

"Um.... Miss? Is it a good idea to start taunting the demon?"

Thom sounded genuinely worried, and she couldn't really blame him. He was a field assistant, after all, and was highly unlikely to have benefited from some of the more unusual areas of schooling the Academy offered. She, on the other hand, had.