HPDBC 102 – The Prank
102 – The Prank
“A really funny idea?” asked Elise.
“We’re going to prank Freddy,” said the king.
“It’s going to be hilarious,” said the jester.
Elise glanced between them, trying to see if they were just messing with her. Honestly, she had no idea. They both looked incredibly serious. She glanced at Irylax, who was sniffing her own armpit and making a foul face.
“I don’t know…” said Elise.
“It will be really funny,” said the king.
“Please?” said the Jester.
Elise didn’t know how to respond. She had been preparing herself for a more serious topic, so being asked to be an accomplice in whatever “prank” they were planning had completely blindsided her. She didn’t really have anything too against a light and simple prank on Freddy. Actually, it sounded pretty interesting. He always seemed so calm and in control, so she thought it would be interesting to see how he reacted.
“...What kind of prank?”
“Freddy is going to be coming here in about…” the king trailed off as he pulled out a pocket watch.
“Three minutes,” finished the jester. “To talk to you about something.”
“He said something about a mission that he mentioned to you before.”
“I remember that,” said Elise. “He didn’t tell me any details though.”
“Well, he’s coming to tell you the details,” said the jester.
“But, we’re mad at him,” said the king.
“Very mad,” agreed the jester. “He ruined our prank.”
“We were going to prank you during the audience,” explained the king. “But then Irylax showed up and ruined it. And it’s all because of Freddy.”
“I bet he knew that she would show up when we were trying to do that,” said the jester. “He’s always so good at ruining a good time.”
“So we’re going to waste his time.”
“We’re going to tell him you went out.”
“Make him
“Try it. Just think about getting older or younger and you will.”
Elise concentrated, and a few seconds later, she was a child. Her dress, unfortunately, stayed the same size, so she was suddenly swimming in it, but she took a moment to look at her now much shorter arms and stubby fingers before aging herself back to an adult. Then, she went a bit further until her hands started to wrinkle and her back started to hunch.
“Very good,” said Oberon as she returned to her usual age. “You can also make minor changes to your form, like your hair and the length of your nails. You can make yourself thinner or fatter, more or less muscular, or paler or tanner, and you can give yourself calluses and scars and things like that. You will always have the same base form, but you can change the more ephemeral aspects to suit your needs.
“Need some food? Transform into a very thin child. Need to intimidate? Age up a bit and put on some muscle and scars. Pretending to be lost in the wilderness? Long hair and nails and maybe a bit of a tan, depending on where you are. Posing as a wealthy hedonist? Put on some weight and make yourself pale. You are not locked to your default transformation.”
As he spoke, Elise tested out each one of his suggestions in turn. The dress almost burst when she tried putting on weight, and she was shocked at how tan she was able to make her skin. She shortened her hair until she was bald, then lengthened it until she felt like Rapunzel, then returned it to it’s normal semi-long state. She ballooned up like a body builder, then dropped so much muscle mass she looked almost skeletal.
“Lucky,” muttered Oberon as she changed.
“What?” she asked.
“You aetherborns are lucky,” he said. “What you just did would have drained an ordinary lesser changeling.”
“Oh.”
“Which brings us to lesson four! Never show off how much aether you have. It will only invite trouble. Try to keep your use to a minimum when there are others watching.”
“You’ve said ‘aetherborn’ a couple times now,” said Elise. “Is that the official name for what I am?”
“Semi-official,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not sure there is an ‘official’ term since most people don’t even know that aether exists, but that’s what we use here, at least.”
“I see.”
“Now, lesson 5: {Fairy Dust}. This one is less intuitive, but you can actually use {Fairy Dust} without having {Fey Wings} active. The description is still technically correct in that you release it from your wings, but you can sort of siphon it out of your wings into other body parts, even if the wings aren’t active. It’s nowhere near as effective as directly doing it from your wings, but if you just need a touch of {Fairy Dust} while in disguise, you can get it if you try.”
Elise tried to retrieve a bit, but couldn’t figure out how to do that. The skill was refusing to activate, and she had the urge to use {Fey Wings}, but that went against what Oberon had described.
“It’s easier to start siphoning it to your arms while the wings are active, but you can work on that later,” said Oberon. “If we wait for you to master everything right now, we’ll never get to 100 lessons. Now lesson six: {Fey Wi-”
He stopped talking and looked toward the door.
“Shit.”
The door flew open and Freddy walked in with a triumphant smile on his face.
“I knew it,” said Freddy.
“How did you find out?” whined Oberon.
“You should have told me where you sent her. I might have actually gone. But since I had to look for her myself, I asked around to see if anyone knew, and one of your Maid Changelings kindly told me exactly how she had brought Elise here just a few minutes before I arrived.”
“Hmm,” said Oberon. “But if I had told you where I sent her, you would have been even more suspicious.”
“True,” said Freddy, shrugging. “Anyway, Elise, I came here to speak with you. Do you remember at the last meeting how I told you about a mission that I wanted you to participate in?”
“I do,” said Elise.
“The mission is something that I think you’ll enjoy,” said Freddy. “As of today, Ostra is officially a public organization. This has caused a bit of uproar, but we’ve made some inroads in a few countries, including Jelor, and we’re starting to garner a slightly more positive reputation there.
“Right now, Firona is working with the current king of Jelor to create a program that would allow us monsters to begin integrating with human society. It’s been difficult, since any monster with sentience is powerful enough to be dangerous, meaning that they won’t let us roam around unrestricted, but we are about to finalize a plan for an experiment of sorts. Have you heard of Jelor University?”
“I have,” said Elise, feeling a little bit of excitement.
“Well, we’re working out a deal to allow a few of our members attend. Officially, I mean. We’ve already had a few go through the curriculum secretly. But regardless, this is a huge step. These attendees will be heavily monitored and guarded at all times, but they will be allowed to attend classes at the university and interact with the humanoids there.”
“And you want me to be one of them?”
Elise wasn’t sure how she felt about being publicly known as a monster.
“No,” he said. “I want you to be part of the secret members who will also be joining at the same time. We have the king on our side, but public sentiment is very much not in favor of allowing monsters so close to their children. Even with the heavy security measures being taken, we can’t rule out any kind of foul play. So, you and a few other changelings would be attending disguised as humans in order to keep an eye on things, and provide a bit of additional security for our own members.
“Most of the time, you wouldn’t need to do anything. In fact, your job would be to do nothing in regards to the official Ostra students, for the most part. Too much interaction would be highly suspicious. You would instead be devoting yourself to your studies and fully infiltrating as a normal student, and you would only be called upon in case of emergency.
“I thought it was an opportunity for you for a few reasons. You’re young, so I think that the education would be very useful. And, despite your age, you’re one of our more level-headed members, and you already do an excellent job of posing as a human. You’re skilled enough to be of assistance in case things go poorly, and while it may have hindered your growth, your disposition against killing will be incredibly helpful if things do go wrong and you need to take action.
“In short, you would be getting a free education, with the only condition being that, in case of an emergency, you would be called in to help. What do you say?”
Elise thought for a few seconds. Attending Jelor University wasn’t really on her radar until then, but she felt drawn to it. She had already decided she wanted to level up, but having only been in the world for a few months, attending a university for a little while would expand her horizons. Plus, as Oberon explained, having all her skills too low in level was bad. She couldn’t just run off to go hunting all the time. Spending time in school would let her level them up, giving her better evolution options down the line.
“This wouldn’t be starting immediately, of course,” Freddy continued. “You need time to evolve, and there will be plenty of politicking involved, so the official Ostra students likely won’t start for at least a year. I’d like your answer within a month at the latest though, so that we can start finalizing our preparations and making your false identity. But you are free to wait until that last moment if you’d like. You can spend some time training and growing here, and maybe reach your next evolution first so you can decide your path.”
Elise thought for a few more seconds, then shook her head.
“No need to wait,” she said. “I’ll do it.”
“Excellent! I’ll let Firona know so she can start preparing your identity.”
“Actually, I’d like to handle that,” said Oberon.
“You would?” asked Freddy.
“I have something fun in mind,” said Oberon. “And don’t worry about the timeline. Making people appear out of nowhere is my specialty. I’ll have her ready in time for sure.”
Freddy narrowed his eyes at Oberon, clearly not trusting the mischievous fey.
“What is this ‘something fun’ you’re planning?” asked Freddy.
“You’ll see,” said Oberon, smiling.
“I’m going to have Firona prepare an identity anyway,” said Freddy. “But if yours is suitable we’ll use it.”
“Fine with me,” replied Oberon. “I think you’ll like what I have in mind.”
“Well…” said Freddy. “That was quicker than I thought it would be. I’ll be staying here for a bit longer, but you were having a conversation, so I’ll get out of your way. I need to discuss something with Irylax anyways. Elise, I will see you later.”
“Bye.”
As he walked back out the room, Elise couldn’t hold back a small smile forming on her lips. School had never been a place she really enjoyed growing up… but how could she turn down an opportunity to attend magic school? It was a childhood dream come true!