FSE

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A small, lone hut in the middle of a great forest pulses with energy. New magic is being performed here, a middle-aged couple hard at work. They knew the dangers of what they were doing; creating magic is difficult and strenuous, but creating dark magic has the added risk of going violently wrong. Many have simply vanished over the millennia doing just that; Harlan Preachett, Morganna the Black, even a semi-recent case in northern Ireland Dr. Felicia Marker.

The couple smiled at each other over their runic circle, an animal was taking shape, their shared familiar. Summoning a familiar is dangerous enough, but summoning one that is shared between two masters is far more so. The idea was that it would gain twice the intelligence, to be more than a common familiar. A fly buzzed in an open window, landed near the circle and crawled in.

The pulse of magical discharge could be felt a continent away.

A lone figure stands at the edge of the crater, what remains of the hut. Magical energy sparks and bursts around him, fires flared up by the great explosion that forced trees to be uprooted and thrown hundreds of meters. The figure surveys the damage to the surrounding environment, before strolling down the scorched embankment. A crying baby can be heard over the roar of the flames and crackle of magic. He stops in the centre of the crater, kneeling down and moving large planks. The crying is louder here, more desperate. He removes a fifth plank, and reveals a baby... thing. She's the size of a newborn, covered in soft white fur that is currently marred by mud, blood from a few cuts, and ash. Her ears are atop her muzzled head, a little pink nose at the tip of her muzzle, and she has a tail that protrudes from her spine. She has stripes, a pale grey colour that run from just below her shoulder blades to the middle of her tail, which ends in a dipstick discoloration. The human kneels and gently picks her up, before gently brushing her off and cooing her, trying to quieten her as he pulled his robes from his shoulders and wrapped her in them. He clicked his fingers, and the pair vanished.

Despite the beautiful starry night, rain falls heavily and extinguishes the flames.

"What is it you wanted me to see?" Matthew Anderson grumbles, following his boss through his home. Matthew wasn't human, at least, not technically. He'd been merged with his familiar in an unfortunate magical accident during his final year at school. Now he was part Tasmanian wolf, complete with a striped tail, pointed ears and snout, and he was covered in a gentle tan fur. He'd been roused from sleep, and as he and Melissa -who was just like Matthew-, had been rather undressed at the time of the Headmaster's intrusion, he was not very pleased. Greywell opened a door and led Matthew into a bedroom.

The walls were pink, and there were toys and things all about for infants and toddlers to amuse themselves with for hours. He led Matthew to a crib in a corner and showed him the contents. Matthew turned the girl over, inspecting her, before wrapping her up in the blankets and strolling back out. Greywell blinked at this, and followed with a confused expression.

When they reached the family room, well away from the girl, Matthew snapped and grabbed Greywell by his robes, slamming him against the wall.

"What the hell did you do?!"

Greywell hesitated, and Matthew lifted him physically from the floor. He was a great deal stronger than any human had a right to be, a side-effect of the accidental merging. Matthew began growling.

"There was a huge pulse of magic." Greywell said. "I went to the source and found her buried beneath rubble in the middle of a crater. I picked her up, cleaned her and healed her wounds, and have brought her here, I didn't think it safe for her to be left there; if the Enforcers got to her, they might have simply used her as an experiment!"

Matthew relented and let Greywell go. Greywell, with his short silver hair and well trimmed beard, brushed himself off. "I need you to go and investigate before school on Monday."

"Why me?" Matthew growled.

"Because I also want you to try and erase any evidence of her existence." Greywell replied solemnly. "I'd like her past to be...

Our Little Secret."

Over a dozen years have passed, and the girl, now adopted by Greywell, has grown into an energetic, four foot nine fourteen year old. Ashley didn't have many friends at school, a side-effect of being different from everyone else. Her hair was long and silver, tied back behind her head and curled into a spiral. She didn't know why her hair held this curious shape, but she expected that her father had something to do with it. It was the first day of school, and he'd teleported them to his school; the Australian University of Magical Studies. It was her first day of magical training, and she had selected to be tutored in Holy magics. She'd been through more than her fair share of bullying in the past, and she knew all too well the pain that could result, so she wanted to be ready.

She had been handed her schedule and knew where to go, and now she and her classmates, some of whom laughed at her appearance as if she were a joke, were waiting for their teacher to arrive.

"He'll arrive in style." Her father had warned. "All of the teachers like to show their prowess."

She was expecting an explosion of magic, or for the teacher to appear in a burst of smoke, using teleportation.

A marker rose from the teacher's desk and uncapped itself, writing on the whiteboard.

'Matthew "Beacon" Anderson.'

The second door of the room, which led deeper into the university, opened and a heavily robed figure walked in. He moved slowly, not letting the robes part and show his figure, and stood in the middle of the room.

"I am Mr. Matthew Anderson." He said. "Awarded paladin, recipient of the Commendation of the Sage, and the reason why no student in this school is to attempt to summon a familiar without myself and the Headmaster present." He reached up and gripped the hood of his robe, starting to pull it off. "And I am your teacher."

He whipped his robe from his head, hurling it towards the students. The fabric vanished, bursting into black smoke which quickly vanished. The students stared at him flabbergasted, all except Ashley, whose eyes widened and gasped.

"Now;" Matthew began, "I would like to call out the register before lesson begins, please respond when I call out your names."

He held out his hand and the name register levitated to his hand. Holding it up, he leaned against the whiteboard and called out names. He eventually got 'round to Ashley.

"Ashley Greywell? I saw your father, I trust you're here?"

She gulped and nodded. "H-here, sir."

Matthew dropped his gaze on her, and she shrunk in her chair, thinking he was judging her, but he only shrugged.

"I hope you make your father proud, young missy." He said, before calling out the last few names.

She was a little confused at his calm demeanour with her. Most new teachers would ask questions, wonder what she was, but he treated her like any other student, even though her father owned the school.

Matthew eventually finished calling out the register and idly threw the list back onto his desk.

"Alright," he began, "welcome to your first lesson. You are here because you have selected to specialise in holy magics. This particular field of magic is centred on healing wounds and curing illnesses, and there is much to teach. If you pay attention and focus, we can teach you to repair broken bones, regenerate limbs, and even recover someone from the brink of death. This year we'll be focusing on simple healing, cuts, bruises, abrasions and broken bones. This school has at its disposal animals which we will be able to test our magic on; they have been given special magical treatment to ensure that they feel no pain." He stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders. "First a demonstration."

He held out a hand and a fireball emerged in the air above his gloved palm. "Magic, as you should all know, is easy to manipulate, but dangerous to the unwary. Right now, this firebolt is not even a class one; it couldn't do much more damage to you than give you a welt like a mosquito bite." The fireball grew in his hand, and he stretched out his arm as it grew to about the size of his head. "This is class seven. The more magic I feed into the spell, the more powerful it becomes, do you understand?"

His class registered their approval. Ashley nodded and shied away from the fire, frightened. Matthew glanced at her.

"Ashley, are you alright?" He asked. "You appear more frightened than the other students."

She shook her head a little. "I-I have pyrophobia s-sir." She squeaked.

Matthew regarded this. "Ah." He said. "I apologise, I do not mean to frighten you." He looked about the class. "And I would also like to note that we will not harm you. No harm can come of the students of my class; this has been a noted fact for over fifteen years. At least, no harm unless you do it to yourselves." The fireball in his hand shrank a little and started to pulse colours, wobbling dangerously. "If you lose control of a spell, the amount of magic poured in is directly proportional to the amount of damage it can inflict." The fireball burst with a snap, burning his palm. A white glow shone over his hand and the burn healed itself. "The Holy school of magic is, if anything, a rather safe schooling of magic. If you mess up, the magic generally will only over heal a wound, or simply rebound and do the damage you are attempting to repair to you." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the whiteboard again. "We have trained in the holy schooling since we were in our final years of this school, and we will be on standby for emergency purposes should anything go awry."

He walked out and returned with a trolley full of books, strolling around the class and depositing one on each desk. He returned to the front of the class and stood by his desk, putting the trolley under the whiteboard.

"If you have any questions, now is the time to ask them."

Hands shot up like bullets.

"I'm guessing," he began, "that the majority of these questions are about me."

The sea of hands slowly shrank back down.

"In my final year of learning at this school, I attempted to summon my familiar, an animal companion that would be by my side until the day I died. During the ritual, something went wrong, and I was ripped from the corporeal plane, being trapped within a pocket of magic along with my to-be familiar. While in the dimensional bubble, our physical bodies were merged, fused together into one creature. Ashley's father, headmaster Greywell, pulled us from the rift at expense of his own wellbeing. Today we stand as the sole reason why no student is to attempt to summon a familiar of their own without myself and the headmaster present. That includes my own classes."

A curious hand lifted from the students.

"What do you mean by "we"?"

Matthew smiled, and closed his eyes.

"The teachers usually all do something flashy, it's my turn." He said. Light flashed around the room, and he shrank down to all fours. His clothing, save his pitch black jacket and tie, vanished from around him, his long hair becoming a mane around his head and neck, and a collar appeared around his neck. Zanobi opened his eyes.

"My name is Zanobi." He said with a slight squeak to his smaller voice. "I am Matthew's familiar. Though we both live in the same head, I am a separate being. When we are human shaped, I cannot talk through our mouth as I cannot figure out the vocal cords. Instead you will hear me converse through the air, manipulating the latent magic in the air." He sat down and scratched his ear with his hind leg before Matthew took control of their body back and dawdled to their desk. He hopped up onto the oak top and lay down, watching the class.

"Now, I believe that you should begin reading your grimoire; it details how your spells work and how to call off your casting should something go wrong." He smiled a toothy smile. "Most class periods are simply students reading from grimoires; now and then I'll throw in a random demonstration, or call you out of the class to assess how well you've learned. I advise you all to treat each other well, this is your class makeup for the next five years, and hating each other will make it much harder than it need be."

Eventually the first period ended and the school's classes broke for recess. Matthew let his students leave before slinking off through the school. Ashley, always a loner and with no friends of her own at this school, moved into the courtyards idly, eventually finding a table beneath a tree to sit at and eat her food and continue reading her grimoire. She liked books; they didn't hurt you on purpose. A paper cut now and then was just clumsiness on the reader's behalf. She felt the air around her shift, and looked up.

"This is our table, new kid."

Matthew was a few buildings away, watching the courtyard below him when he heard the familiar sounds of a panicked student. He stood up in his animal form and dawdled along the rooftop, figuring it was just another student with a difficult spell.

When he heard the scream, he broke into full-fledged running.

His figure zipped along the rooftops in a blur, leaping over courtyards hundreds of metres wide like they were but a hop

He leapt into the courtyard between the two final-year Geomancy students and their bullying target. They were astonished when an animal landed between them from the sky, but even more so when it changed into a teacher and crossed his arms.

"If you want her, you go through me."

A nearby tree uprooted, splitting down its middle at the trunk and thundered towards Matthew, its limbs twisting together into clubs.

Its first swing missed, and Matthew lifted his hand and caught the second, the concrete beneath his feet thudding heavily and cracking. He waved a hand and the tree became immobile before falling away heavily. A large rock, far too heavy for Matthew to catch, flew towards him at a startling speed, and he sidestepped it, slapping a palm to it as it went.

"Casso!"

The rock exploded, throwing gravel across the courtyard. Matthew stood tall, almost looming over the boys.

"If you want to play with dirt, I can play with dirt." He said.

Chains erupted from the ground, drawing iron from the soil and concrete, and wrapped around the students, pinning them. He cracked his neck uncomfortably.

"You two are to report to detention for not only harming a student but for engaging a teacher in combat outside of a sparring match." Matthew growled, leaning down. "She's but a first year and you came at her with your magical abilities. She's defenceless against such onslaughts. Your names are on the detention roster; now get out of my sight!"

The chains vanished, and the two boys almost fell over themselves trying to get away from Matthew. He stood upright and sighed, turning to Ashley with his hands on his waist. He stepped over and helped her to sit at the chair she was at before.

"Don't move too much," he said calmly, putting a hand to her grazed shoulder. "Let me repair this damage."

Ashley felt a warm wave flow through her, and the pain went away. She watched a cut on her hand vanish before her very eyes. The feeling faded and she flexed her hand.

"T-thank you sir." She squeaked shyly.

"No problems." He said, standing her up and handing her her backpack. "Now, go find your friends."

"I... I don't have any." She mumbled.

"Let me guess;" Matthew started, "because of how you look?"

She nodded sadly.

Matthew sighed. "Look, Ashley; don't hide from others, be yourself and you'll be fine." He gave her a hopeful smile. "At lunch, try the Archives," he pointed to a large towering building further into the campus, "you'll find that quite a few of the... less social people tend to congregate there; they're very friendly."

"If you need any help at any time, give us a shout." Zanobi's voice rang out. "We're always available."

Ashley nodded, and Matthew smiled, shifting into his quadrupedal form.

"Lesson starts in five minutes; you might want to get back to the class." Zanobi said cheerfully, before they dashed off in a blur of movement.

She watched him go before smiling shyly.

Halfway through the second period, Matthew made the excuse of discussing something with another teacher to leave the room. Sinclaire, Greywell's large salamander familiar was in the room, and Matthew made sure to remind the class that Sinclaire would inform him of any misbehaviour. Matthew went to Greywell's class in the Paladin block, finding him idly watching his students read their grimoire while playing with Lucius. The bird was, again, being tormented with lunch; and he whined pitifully as Greywell lifted it just short of his snapping beak.

"Not getting much lunch again, eh Lucius?" Matthew chuckled. The Eagle considered him for a moment before returning his attention to the mouse.

"No." He grumbled. "I hate this game."

"Too bad I don't, hmm?" Greywell asked sarcastically. His class, half listening, chuckled.

"Sir, I hate to interrupt your class, but I'd like to talk with you about a private matter." Matthew said respectfully.

Greywell sighed and gave his Eagle the mouse, the bird snapping it down gratefully.

"Lucius, I need you to watch the class and ensure they don't get into trouble."

"Yes master."

Matthew and Greywell stepped into the outside corridor, closing the door behind them.

"What is it?" Greywell asked. "It'd better be important, you know what these kids are like when you leave them alone for ten minutes. They go about testing things, usually on each other."

Matthew nodded. "It's about Ashley." He said. Greywell sighed.

"This is important then."

"She got the crap beaten out of her at recess." Matthew informed. "Naturally I split up the fight and sent the guilty party packing with free tickets to detention, but..."

"But..?"

"She's a loner." Matthew said. For a split second, he could see the anger this inflicted on Greywell flicker in his face. "It's not an insult or attack on her personally, it's just an observation." Matthew said quickly, snuffing the anger. "She's got no friends, she was alone except for the two bullies; hell, none of the other students came to her aid. She needs a companion."

Greywell sighed. "I can't get her a pet." He said. "Lucius might attack a non-sentient animal."

"What about a sentient one?" Zanobi asked.

"I don't know what summoning her a familiar might do to her." Greywell replied. "Besides, she's too inexperienced to do it herself."

"She's going to the Archives at lunchtime." Matthew informed. "If we meet her there, I could work on summoning her a familiar myself later, when she's out of range of any repercussions."

"It's magic, Matt, not a gun!" Greywell snapped. "There is no maximum range!"

Matthew shook his head. "I can get Sinclaire to watch the kids for another session, it'll be fine."

"That's not the point!"

Matthew sighed. "Look, sir;" he started, "do you want her to be lonely for her entire schooling life?"

"No."

"Do you want her to shy away from people and remain a loner into her adulthood?"

"No!"

Matthew smiled. "Then trust me; like you trusted me the night you found her."

Greywell sighed. "Alright Matthew," he relented, "but you're to be very careful, this is my daughter we're talking about!"

Matthew chuckled. "I'm always careful."

Second period soon ended, and Matthew rushed off over the rooftops as he had at recess to avoid suspicion. Ashley idly made her way to the Archive building, looking up at the huge, looming building shyly before pushing the door open and walking in. She was impressed at how quiet it was in here, and she walked further into the building. Matthew stepped over, followed by her father, and he knelt down to her.

"Welcome to the Archive building." He said. "This is where students and teachers alike go to find grimoires on new spells they've not learned, or textbooks on other subjects."

She hesitated. "Other subjects?"

"Uhh..." Matthew mumbled, looking to Greywell for support.

"We teach Sex Education at this school too, sweetie." Greywell said calmly. "Matthew will go through that lesson with your class in term three."

Matthew nodded. "Now, the students here are generally friendly, and they're always willing to hand out advice."

Ashley went to walk off before Matthew grabbed her arm. "Hold up a sec." He said, swiftly slashing a claw across her arm. She squeaked, but held still as he collected a few blood droplets in a vial and sealed it before healing her cut.

"What was that for?"

"You'll see." Matthew said, petting her head. "Go make some friends."

She collected her nerves and dawdled off into the building. Another first year noticed her and walked towards her, starting a quiet and polite conversation as they walked.

"She'll be fine." Zanobi said.

Lunch soon came to an end, and Matthew's students found themselves under the scrutiny of Sinclaire once more. Matthew was busy apparently, and all they were to do was read. Sinclaire had a field of magic in the room ready to give a pressure pulse to anyone who decided to misbehave, so the students dutifully read their grimoires.

Soon enough this session also came to a conclusion and the students all started to go home. Ashley, unsure of what to do, as her father was the headmaster and would probably be here for another hour or so, went to his office. She walked right in; the Headmaster's daughter rarely gets denied seeing her father.

"Ah, how did you think today went?" He asked conversationally while running a brush through her silvery hair.

"I..."

Her father chuckled. "You need not reply, hun; it was semi-rhetorical." He said. "What did you think of your teacher, Mr. Anderson?"

"He's... nice." She said. "Just... just like me..."

He hesitated a second. "Not exactly," he said, "but close. He told you about the incident in his final year?"

She nodded.

"He soon became a student in my own class after that." He said. "They went through rough times in the week before that. Students hunted him to force him to teach them a trick he learned, and then they hunted him simply because he was different." He sighed. "He almost died to the bullying twice in that week; and he was driven into such depression that he tried to starve himself to death."

She gave a squeak as the brush caught on a knot, and her father worked the knot out.

"I brought them back from the brink of death with but friendship." He said. "Remember that magic can do great things; but friendship can save lives."

He turned her around and poked her nose, using magic to make it beep cutely.

"Alright, I'll see you at home, okay?" He asked. She nodded. "Matthew Anderson might pop around in a little while, so expect him."

She nodded again, and he clicked his fingers. Luckily he'd been practising his magic since the day of her discovery, so he knew she'd appear in a comical location on purpose.

Matthew appeared in his own home with a pop. He held a wicker basket with a bundle in it in one arm, and he put his bag on the ground near the door. He was impressed to find Melissa here already, and she hurried up to him, giving him a peck on the cheek before giving him a concerned look.

"... What's up?" Matthew asked, before sniffing. "I don't smell smoke, so you didn't burn down our kitchen; it must be something else."

"Remember that case I told you about a few years ago, the couple that vanished leaving only a crater in their wake?"

"I remember telling you that I would go to West personally to close that case prematurely if it got too far." Matthew replied. "And that I would take Greywell with me."

She bit her lip. "We know about the girl." She said.

Matthew didn't change his demeanour. "And?"

"And I did what I had to do; I even told West what I knew about it, that Greywell was dealing with the problem himself."

"She's not a problem, Melissa, she's a teenage girl!" Matthew snapped. "She's one of my students! Why do you think Greywell asked me to teach holy magic for a change? It wasn't for practice, I'll tell you that much! She chose holy magic as her speciality, and I can tell you why, too! She's been outcast for her entire schooling career; she has no friends except her father's familiars! I had to save her from a beating from two final-years at recess; she went into holy magic to save herself from any more pain!"

Melissa blinked. "What?"

Matthew sighed. "All she's known is pain." He said. "She's terrified of fire, has been bullied all the way through school, and shies away from others' company." He looked Melissa into her eyes sincerely. "She's one step away from where I was."

"What do you mean was?"

"One step away from being suicidal." Zanobi informed. "All she has is her family."

Matthew blushed and looked away. "I want to spare her that pain." He said.

Melissa stared before grabbing his shoulders. "Then you may want to get Greywell to her now." She snapped.

"Why?"

"The Right Declarations know about her and her past!" She snapped.

Matthew's jaw dropped, and he grabbed Melissa's hand with his own. "You're coming with me, little Mrs Police!" He almost shouted. The pair vanished.

Ashley appeared in the den, sitting in the lap of a suit of armour. She carefully extracted herself from it and headed to the kitchen for an apple. She was used to being alone in the house, it was a large building; her own bedroom was big enough to have its own kitchenette. She opened the refrigerator and took out a large red apple, taking a bite of it as she let the door close. She stopped. There were about six men standing in the doorway she'd just come from. They were wearing uniform robes, the uniform of the Enforcers, and the police of the magical community.

"D-do you want my father? He's still at school..." She squeaked, frightened.

"You are guilty of attempting to create Dark magics." He held up a fireball, and she took a step back in fright. "We are here to enforce your punishment."

He hurled the fireball in her direction, and she leapt out of the way, running to the other door where another fireball burst against the wall.

"Run all you want missy, we will find you!"

She darted down a hallway to her bedroom, perceived safety. A floor tile lifted up and tripped her, making her tumble a little down the corridor. She rolled to her ass and looked the Enforcers in their faces.

"Judgment met." The speaker said, swinging a fireball directly at her.

She remembered screaming.

"Contego!"

The fireball exploded short of her, a glowing white barrier forming around her. The smoke cleared and Matthew was standing just in front of her.

"Attacking a child;" Matthew spat, "you sink to new lows every year, Right Dicks."

"I believe it's Right Declaration to you, Mr. Anderson." The speaker retorted coolly.

Matthew put his hands on his hips, a white mist forming around his form. "Nah," he sarcastically began, "it's dicks, because only dickheads would attack a child and think that it's justice!"

"You'll regret that, Mr. Anderson." The Speaker said, raising a fireball of considerable size.

"Are you challenging me?"

"Six against one." The speaker said. "Sounds fair to me."

Matthew sidestepped the fireball as it flew past and shook his head a little. "If you say so."

Another fireball pelted at him, and he slapped it out of the air, his hand showing no scorching. "As a group, you have challenged me." He said grimly. "As a Paladin, the Bearkiller, the Beacon; I accept."

The glowing white mist condensed, covering Matthew in armour. It shone like the sun, golden detailing on portions and little wings on his pauldrons. He caught another fireball, and moved forth as a glowing blur. An Enforcer was knocked off his feet, being thrown down the tile hall by the sheer force.

A female that featured the same appearance as Matthew slid to a stop next to Ashley.

"Ashley Greywell?" She asked, getting a nod. "I'm Melissa Anderson, Matthew's wife." She said. "I'm also an enforcer." Ashley shied away a little. "Don't worry; I'm on Matthew's side. These enforcers are breaking the law; they've no jurisdiction to be here. Your father will be here with my leader, Colonel West shortly." She looked over at Matthew slamming an enforcer into the ceiling. "After we've made these gentlemen more compliant anyway."

Ashley curled into a ball and started to quietly cry. Melissa, letting her maternal instincts kick in, hugged her close.

"Listen sweetie," she began, "you remember earlier, when Matthew took your blood?" Ashley nodded. "Well, it was used in a ritualistic spell by my husband. He used it to attempt to summon something for you. It's with your father right now; we thought it too dangerous to bring it to a war zone." She stopped as Matthew slapped an Enforcer in the face hard enough to make him spin on the spot and fall down unconscious.

"Why did you both come..?" Ashley asked.

"Matthew came to be the brawn." Melissa said. She reached out and grabbed a fireball that was thrown their way magically, making it stop in midair and burst. "I came to be the protection."

Master Greywell stepped out of a nearby room, stopping next to Ashley and watching Matthew drag the only conscious Enforcer to them. Another man, slightly shorter than her father and pudgier stood next to him, waiting patiently. Matthew stopped close enough to growl to them.

"Victory." He said. "And I kept one awake for questioning, look."

West harrumphed, getting the defeated Enforcer's attention. "Young master Lambworth, explain yourself." He said. "It had better be the best explanation of your entire goddamned life."

The Enforcer grumbled. "There was sufficient evidence to prove that this creature is the result of dark magics!" He snapped. "She's dangerous!"

"No," Matthew growled, lifting the man up, "we're dangerous. And if you don't make your explanation as to why you attacked a young girl in her own home, after she's been deemed a non-threat by the Enforcer's own investigations, I'm going to prove it to you."

"I told you my reason; she's dangerous!"

"Not good enough!" Zanobi shouted.

Matthew swung the Enforcer up, slamming his head into the roof and knocking him out cold.

Matthew sighed and dropped the Enforcer. "Well, we got lots out of him."

Greywell knelt down and gently lifted Ashley to her feet.

"Honey, there's a reason I made Matthew your teacher." He said. "He's a penchant for finding trouble and stopping it just in time, are you unharmed?"

She nodded and threw her arms around her father, crying her eyes out as he tried to console her.

"Ashley, I'd like to talk about the night Greywell adopted you." Matthew mumbled. "It's about time you learned the truth."

She looked over at her teacher, waiting for him to continue.

"Roughly fourteen years ago, two married mages, names unrecorded, attempted to summon a shared familiar." He said. "Familiars are summoned by the individual who intends to keep it; it bonds to them through their DNA, and dies at the same time that the owner does. Melissa and I share the same affliction; we've been bonded to our familiar through magical mishap. The couple who were trying to summon a shared familiar were creating a new spell, a process which is dangerous enough with a normal spell, but what they were doing could have been disastrous. At some point during the ritual, something went wrong, and a complete backlash occurred. The couple were fused with their to-be familiar, a gender was chosen, and they were reverted to the age of an infant." He put a hand on her shoulder. "That infant was you."

She stared at him flabbergasted, unsure of what to say. Her father pulled her from the hug.

"Honey, I adopted you that night, and you've been my daughter ever since." He said. "Knowing your past now... Do you hate me for it?"

Ashley looked at him, the only father she'd ever known, distantly. She smiled.

"You're my father." She said. "Where I came from doesn't matter, I belong with you. I want to grow up with you and become a healer at a hospital of some sort."

Greywell smiled.

"Thank you, sweetie." He said, pulling her into another hug. "Now, we have told you that familiars are bound to the DNA of someone who summons them, yes?" She nodded. "Well, your teacher has noticed that you were particularly lonely, so he's been working on a new spell." He handed her a small fuzzy bundle, a young female dog who regarded her momentarily. "Say hello to Siria."

"Siria is your familiar, Ashley." Matthew said. "She was difficult to summon, and I had to cancel the spell twice, but I finally managed to get her here. She's a lifelong companion, treat her well." He rubbed her head, making her ears wobble back and forth. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Matthew took Melissa's hand and clicked his fingers, making the pair vanish with a pop.

"I'll issue suitable punishment to these men." West said. "If you could send us to the Headquarters, Greywell?"

Greywell nodded and clicked his fingers, his teleportation magic whisking the Enforcers away.

"Honey, are you alright?" He asked earnestly.

Ashley nodded. "I've little to be upset about, have I?" She replied.

Greywell smiled and hugged her. "That's my girl."