Chapter 55.4

After a tense moment of silence, Amara cleared her throat and muttered, “We’re, um… LARPers?”Dean Halsen stared daggers at Amara from behind his glasses. “We have a LARP club, Miss Lamour, and I know for a fact they don’t count you among their members. I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t waste my time; I’d much prefer we treat each other like adults.”

“With all due respect, Dean Halsen,” Vee said, hoping to smooth things over and clarify a few points. “You seem awfully calm for someone who’s recently discovered that magic and monsters exist. How are we to explain ourselves when we don’t fully understand your side of all this? For all we know, you’re threatening to blackmail us with this footage.”

“Ordinarily I would accuse you of being paranoid, but based on my knowledge of what you’ve all been through the last few months… I can’t in good conscience say that your assumption is unreasonable.” The Dean pushed away from his desk, then rose to his feet and walked over to the large ornate cabinet in the corner. “Before I begin, I’d very much like to meet everyone I’m talking to. Miss Belmont, would you be so kind as to show yourself?”

“S-sorry, Mr. Dean, Sir,” Chloé said as she manifested above the empty seat placed out for her.. “I didn’t mean to offend you, or anything.”

“It’s lovely to meet you too, Miss Belmont. I know I said this already, but I’m very happy to see you find so much success with that charity thing of yours. You’re doing a lot of good, and I hope you’re proud of yourself.” The Dean smiled at Chloé, a kind warmth spreading through his face, before he unlocked the cabinet and pulled a large book from it. “How much do you all know about the history of Aurelius University?”

After quickly glancing amongst themselves, Amara spoke up first. “Not too much, honestly. Probably just the basics they tell everyone at orientation and the tours.”

“That’s good! That means at least some of our secrets have stayed private,” Dean Halsen said, walking back to the desk. “I really should start by clarifying that you’re not in trouble. Well, not from me, at least. There’s a lot of trouble out in the world, and I’m sure a lot more to come in the future but… Aw, heck, I’m rambling again. What I’m trying to say is I’m on your side. I just need to explain a few things first.”

Vee’s grip on Amara’s hand slackened somewhat, and the girls smiled at each other before the Dean continued speaking.

“I’ll try to be brief, though I admit that’s not exactly my strong suit,” he began. “To start with, I know about all the magic circles. I know the campus is one massive soft spot, and I know that magic and monsters are real. Centuries ago, the soft spot was sealed by a small collection of witches who sought to prevent other planes from having too much influence on our own world. This was no small feat, but their work was impeccable given what knowledge of magic mankind had at the time. Now, after they put these seals into place—”

“We’ve been calling it a Planar Gate, actually,” Tessa said, casually interrupting the Dean.

“Oh, that’s not a bad name, actually,” the Dean muttered. “So, they constructed this Planar Gate thing, but they struggled with what should happen next. With such a potent planar soft spot, there would inevitably be people and creatures with ill intent that wanted to shatter the Gate for their own personal gain. How were they supposed to shield the Gate from such nefariousness? Well, they decided to start a university.”

“The school was built of the soft spot?!” Chloé asked incredulously.

The Dean slowly nodded. “It was the only thing that made sense. The seals weren’t in a single spot, they were spread over a wide area, as you all have no doubt seen for yourself. A single building to encompass the entire Gate would be foolish, so they needed multiple. They also needed a reason for the buildings to exist, and a way to ensure the longevity of whatever they built. If they’d decided to simply build a town, or a series of shops or something, they would run the risk of capitalism swooping in and undoing their work to build, I don’t know, another bank.”

“That… makes a lot of sense, actually,” Vee muttered. “By building a university campus, they create a shroud of tradition and academic integrity that could persist through multiple generations.”

“Exactly,” the Dean said. “However, not all of them were interested in serving at the university. Many of them preferred studying magic to more traditional learning, and decided to leave for other pursuits. The one that stayed wound up becoming the first Dean of the college: Arthur Lysander.”

“That’s the statue guy in Lysander Hall!” Chloé said, still excited. “Oh, shit, and that’s why it’s called Lysander Hall. Huh.”

“Correct you are, Miss Belmont. He did his best to obfuscate the presence of the Gate here at Aurelius University, and when he started growing older, he explained to his successor the secret of the University. That process has been happening behind the scenes for hundreds of years, and continues to this day. When I took the job, I did so with full knowledge that I was working to preserve the health of this plane just as much as I was working to serve the many students that pass through these halls. However, in recent years, my job proved far more stressful than I anticipated. I trust you’re familiar with Sebastian Wellington, former member of the Board of Directors? If memory serves, you once trashed my office attempting to stop him from stealing a book of Enochian Texts.”

Amara’s face turned bright red as she averted her gaze towards the carpet. “Y-yeah… that was us. Sorry.”

“What was that guy’s fucking problem, anyways?” Tessa asked.

“Unfortunately, he stumbled onto an inconvenient truth. Over the course of the last few years, the seals here on campus had slowly begun weakening. I have no idea if this was a natural occurrence or the result of extraplanar tampering, but it doesn’t really matter. He installed himself on the Board of Directors, and spent years slowly locking me out of different parts of my job. He had uncanny knowledge about the school, the Gate, and the many tools at my disposal to help keep an eye on everything. Because of this, I was completely blind to the truth of his aspirations. I was in the middle of trying to uncover the full scope of his conspiracy when the events of last semester transpired. Imagine my surprise, coming back from Thanksgiving Break to learn that he’d started a suicidal cult. That media frenzy was fun, let me tell you.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with all of that. I can’t imagine how stressful that must have been,” Vee said.

“Ah, well, it is what it is. It wasn’t even the first media frenzy we had last semester alone. Although, admittedly, I much preferred talking about football drama than cult politics.” Dean Halsen pulled his glasses off his face, setting them down on the desk with an exasperated sigh. “Can I ask what actually happened to Wellington and his cult? There’s too much magical interference to put cameras down in the chambers underneath campus, so I have no idea.”

“They’re all dead,” Tess said matter-of-factly. “Sold their souls to demons, surrendered their bodies and were cast into Hell because of it. Wellington himself got possessed by the head honcho, some big shot demon that likely orchestrated the whole plan, but Amara here kicked the shit out of him and sent him back to Hell just before I closed the portal.”

“Impressive work, ladies!” the Dean said with another warm smile. “No doubt Wellington was bound for such a fate no matter what, but at least now he’s out of my hair. Admittedly, I regret not finding time to talk with all of you earlier. The fallout from Wellington’s cult, and the sudden need to find a handful of faculty replacements, meant I simply had no time to reach out and confer with you all about the events. I then made the foolish mistake of thinking I could simply talk to you at the start of the new semester, and, well… I’m certainly impressed with how much trouble you managed to get into over Winter Break. Which is part of the reason I called you all in.”

“You want us to explain everything that happened?” Amara asked.

“In a minute, yes. To start with, honestly, I just wanted to introduce myself. Wellington was a huge problem, and as upset as I am that he tempted so many good people to his way of thinking, I’m glad he’s no longer lurking over my shoulder. I have all of you to thank for that, so… Thank you, truly. I can’t stress how thankful I am that you’ve kept so many people safe these last few months. I know we had a monster attack, and I think there was some witch drama too?”

“Wait, so, you just wanted to say hi?” Tessa asked, sounding somewhat annoyed. “That’s it?”

“Well, you’re right, that’s not the only thing I wanted,” the Dean admitted. “I also wanted to stress that, despite all the people you’ve helped, you’re quite terrible at keeping yourself hidden. Moving forward, for the good of everyone, we to start working together while the Gate remains open. I’ve regained a modicum of my influence since Wellington disappeared, and that’s how I gained access to all the video footage I showed you earlier. Oh, and by the way, that footage has all been scrubbed. There shouldn’t be any evidence of your magic in the University systems at this point.”

Vee allowed herself a moment to sigh in relief. “Thank you, Dean Halsen, that’s incredibly helpful of you.”

“From now on, I expect to be informed about magical goings-on around the campus. With my position, there’s a good chance I can offer small amounts of school resources to make your lives a little bit easier. So, moving forward, if there’s anything you think would help that I—”

“The AV Club!” Chloé blurted out.

“I’m sorry, did you say AV Club?” Dean Halsen asked, picking his glasses back up. “We haven’t had one of those in ages.”

“It’s a smokescreen,” Vee said. “Quite a few students were exposed to magic during the events of Winter Break, and we’ve set up a network to both lean on them for support while also providing community and mental health resources, courtesy of Tessa’s coven. It stands for the ‘Aurelius Vanguard.’”

“Oh, how clever!” the Dean said, chuckling to himself. “AV Club, I like that. How exactly can I help?”

Chloé floated lower to the floor, pretending to sit in the last remaining seat to be at eye level with the Dean. “Well, we can’t officially register as a club, or else random students would be able to sign up. However, if we’re not a club, we can’t technically reserve spaces, ask for funding, or anything else like that. Hypothetically, if there were a way to get us those privileges without outing us to the rest of the student population, it would really help us provide for all the students that are struggling to adjust to the knowledge that magic is real. Some of them—me included, if I’m being honest—almost died in the attack, and the more help we can provide the better.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, Miss Belmont. I’ll need a few days to poke at the paperwork, but I can keep you updated with the results. If this AV Club has meetings, I wouldn’t be against attending them, either. Perhaps my presence can help smooth things over with the other students.” Dean Halsen looked to the rest of the girls present. “Anything else?”

Vee cautiously raised her hand, both trying to get his attention while also not speaking out of turn. “Um, if it’s not too much to ask, Amara and I got stranded in Purgatory during the last week of school, and we both missed our finals. Is there any chance you could authorize us retaking those?”

Dean Halsen snapped his fingers, then immediately began rummaging through another drawer to his left. “I knew I was forgetting something! Give me just a second…” Soon enough, he found a small stack of paper and placed it in front of him. “I’ve actually been working on that, but it took a bit of convincing on my end. I needed to convince the right people that you both had genuine emergencies, which involved drafting up a few statements. If you and Miss Lamour have the time, I’d encourage you to read through these papers and sign them to verify their accuracy. That should smooth things over and get you back in that finals room.”

“Thank you, Dean Halsen! That’s incredible!” Doing her best to hide her excitement, Vee allowed herself a brief moment of quiet celebration as she squeezed Amara’s arm. After a quick breath to calm herself down, she spoke up again. “I was also hoping to ask why my Enochian Texts were in your office all those months ago, if that’s alright.”

“Ah, that’s right. I trust I don’t need to remind you all of the events at the Jade Palace on Halloween?” the Dean asked.

All four girls shook their heads.

“Good, good. Well, I’m always on the lookout for possible magical interference in and around campus, so I snuck out there to investigate the day after the building burned down. In particular, I thought it was strange that the fire managed to continue despite the impressive suppression system the Palace had been retrofitted with. I have a few small items that are enchanted to help me detect magic, and one of them led me to your angelic book. I immediately knew what it was, but at that point, I hadn’t yet discovered the four of you and your magical ties. So, to keep such a powerful item safe, I placed it under lock and key here in my office. I certainly wasn’t expecting Sebastian to break in, or for you all to confront him here, but I’m glad that book is back in your capable hands, Ms Bennett.”

Vee nodded slowly as she processed the Dean’s story. “That makes a lot of sense. I’m sorry for all the confusion, but I can’t stress how helpful it was that you kept that book safe. Not only for me, but for The Church as well.”

“I’m happy to help, Ms Bennett,” the Dean said with a slow, kindly smile. “Now, unless you have any other questions, I was hoping you could walk me through the events of the last few months. In exchange, I can give you a list of where all the security cameras on campus are.”

“I’ve actually already found most of them,” Amara admitted. “I can see electrical signals, and we’ve been trying to adjust our operations to avoid the camera’s line of sight. Based on the footage you showed us, most of our slip-ups were either from farther back or from times where we had no choice, like with the reaper attack.”

“Reapers?” the Dean asked. “Okay, seriously, I need to know what’s been going on at my school.”

Over the course of the next hour or so, the girls took turns explaining both the various magical problems the school faced as well as basic details about their own powers. They provided a list of all the different students who were part of the AV Club, and even learned a bit more about various pieces of history that proved to be relevant to the many magic circles scattered across campus.

Eventually, as the conversation started to grow more and more granular, the decision was made to break for the evening. They made sure to tell Dean Halsen the date and time of the upcoming AV Club meeting, then the girls left to go to the cafeteria. After a lazy meal, during which they all gossiped about how strange it was to meet the Dean on such casual terms, they bid each other farewell to turn in for the night.

Vee was predictably thrilled that she would be able to retake her final exams, though Amara seemed somewhat distraught over the idea. It wasn’t that she wanted to do poorly in her classes, but all the chaos in her life had made focusing on school difficult, and she was worried that her exams would prove more difficult than expected.

Thankfully, Vee loved studying, and was happy to volunteer her services to help Amara prepare.

They had no plans to start tonight, however, as both girls were exhausted. Returning home meant returning to the state of mind they’d been in prior to receiving the summons to the Dean’s office. Memories of Vee’s breakdown in Amara’s arms came rushing back, and Vee was forced to stop mid-conversation as she fought back the panic attack she’d suspended earlier.

Thankfully, Amara knew exactly what Vee needed. She drew a hot bath, provided a gentle massage as Vee leaned against her tail, and happily allowed Vee to distract herself with thoughts of exams and studying.

In the end, they fell asleep as they always did; in each other’s arms, prepared to tackle the future together.