The day after Candlemass has perplexed Francisco with the fact that a lot of destruction took place, evidently while he was fast asleep, and everyone has their own theories about it, but no one has any definite answers. However, it seems more interesting at the moment to pay a call to a chaos mage who has expressed some interest in him…

Thinking such, Francisco set out early in the morning and proceeded directly to Haskalah's office… or tried to do so. The instructions given to Francisco seemed overly complicated, and having followed them, he noticed at one point that he had visited what looked like the same place three times. After some repeated direction-seeking from acolytes however, he has finally arrived at Haskalah's door… only to find the eminent Khatta nowhere about.

The kitsune, having knocked once already, tries the door again. (She did say office hours,) Francisco thinks. (Maybe it's the morning coffee break time or something)

No answer.

A young Skreek comes along after some time and looks at the kitsune standing outside Haskalah's door. He seems to be one of the apprentices… all of whom look much, much younger than Francisco.

Francisco frowns a little at the door. Hearing the Skreek come up behind him, he turns around and asks, "Er, excuse me? You wouldn't perhaps know where the mage Haskalah might be at this time?"

"Haskalah? Oh! She's with all the other senior mages now," the young rat replies. Amazing the difference a few years make in one's appearance. What appears cute now will someday be sinister and sleazy when the boy is grown. "They're in Life Sphere, down that way, to the left, up the stairs to the third floor, to the right, past the Cervani gargoyle and go right into the hall just after it, then take door number three… You can't miss it! Everyone's talking about it."

"Oh? Can anyone go then?" Francisco asks. "With the 'senior mages' there as you say, it sounds like they're doing something important."

The Skreek shrugs. "You asked."

(Smart alec,) thinks Francisco. "Yeah, I suppose I did. Do you know when they'll be done? I could wait here."

"Sorry, I got no idea, Mister Nohbakim," the Skreek says. He glances over at a beam of light and adds, "Gotta run! See you!"

The apprentice hurries down the hall, perhaps to get to a class.

Francisco hmphs at the Nohbakim comment, and for now leans against the wall to wait Haskalah's return.

Time passes. Slowly. The sunbeam inches across the floor.

The kitsune's posture against the wall slumps with the passing of time, however long it might have been. (Perhaps I should find this place Haskalah's in – I might get some idea of how long she might be,) he muses.

Like magic, all the doors in the nearby halls bang open and apprentices swarm both ways, pressing Francisco back against the wall momentarily. Some are polite enough to say "hithere'scusemeMrNohbakim" and some just press by in a chin-high surge of people.

Francisco blinks, and watches the commotion of people. "Did classes just end or something?" he asks himself.

The commotion lasts a few minutes longer, and then all the students swarm into rooms again. Doors shut and the hall is quiet again.

The kitsune imagines his guess was pretty close to accurate. He leans back against the wall for a little longer, just in case whatever Haskalah is involved in with this Life Sphere finished at this time as well.

The sunbeam creeps across the floor again, much like a small beetle might scurry.

This time, the kitsune decides he will seek out this room, and heads off in the way the young Skreek indicated.

The directions were off by a little bit… Namely, after a while of being totally lost, Francisco is forced to seek directions again, and this time winds up in the Life Sphere department. A journeyman Korv kaws and points Francisco down to the laboratories where everyone seems to be gathered.

There's enough of a crowd that Francisco would have to press through them to get into the working space. A metallic odor that smells somewhat like ozone fills the air.

Francisco continues down corridor, and on approaching the crowd, asks someone at random what's going on?

"They're doing an examination! They found one of the Babelite ships and now all the mages around want to know how it works," an excited young Khatta with jellicle fur replies. "They've been running tests all morning. Where have you been?"

"Babelite ships?" asks the Kitsune. "They some of the things that made rather a bit of mess?"

Francisco adds, "And I've been waiting at Haskalah's office. Someone told me that she was here?"

The Khatta nods. "That's what I'm told. I didn't see it myself."

"Neither did I," the Kitsune comments. "My attention was kinda elsewhere during whatever happened."

The Jellicle Khatta responds, "Oh, I was pulling an all-nighter for one of Dean Malthus's examinations. He's so infuriating! He seems to think that we have nothing better to do than… " She shakes her head. "Anyway, are you in the Sphere of Mind too? I've never seen you here before, and I'm sure I'd have heard about a Nohbakim student here. You know, we hear a lot of things… "

She seems cute but a bit distracted.

"I'm not in any Sphere yet," replies the five-tailed fox. "That's why I was here to see Haskalah. She asked me to come see her."

"Well! She's in there, I think. Everyone's scared of her, so they'd never stop her from going anywhere she wanted to, and I think she's taken an interest in the happenings," the Khatta says. "So are you applying to the Collegia then? You look a little old for it, if you ask me!"

Francisco grins at the Khatta. "Think of me as being a mature student," he says.

"But anyway," the fox continues, "are they showing any signs of being finished or taking a break soon?"

The Khatta shrugs. "I've only been here a half hour myself, but so far it looks like there hasn't been much for Dean Malthus to do. Why don't you go in and ask her yourself?"

"Perhaps I might," says the Kitsune, and looks for the door in.

The double doors leading into the laboratory are wide open. There is a small amount of circulation as students who realize they're late for class migrate out, allowing Francisco to push through the crowd, between two larger Cervanis, and come face to face with…

A giant bug.

Francisco quickly puts a paw over his muzzle, trying his best to hold down his breakfast. He succeeds, but not quietly.

The top of the bug's head has been removed to reveal… Not brains, but some sort of cockpit inside, populated with tiny chitinous controls. There might have been an Eeee in it once but now an empty seat can be seen through the shattered eyes. Other magicians are busily arguing with each other over the details of its anatomy, or tracing diagrams upon the floor. The metallic odor competes with the stink of various chemicals.

An elderly Khatta, tortoiseshell-colored, looks up from her argument with a tall, black Naga. "Ah! The unfortunate shopkeeper whose stall was overrun by a swarm of miniature Rughrats," she says. "So what brings you here? Curious about what makes the Plaguebringers tick?"

Haskalah suggests, "Perhaps you're looking for something to keep off the little pests." She winks.

Francisco looks up at the Khatta looking at him, still with a paw over his muzzle, and with his other paw points to himself in a "Me?" type gesture, and shakes his head in the answer to the second question.

Haskalah murmurs to Dean Malthus, "Well, I think we can be safely sure that… " Her voice falls below Francisco's ability to hear, but Dean Malthus shrugs and nods. The Khatta makes her way over to Francisco where the students are barely restrained by a red cordon from the examination area. "Not interested in bugs then, lit'un?"

The kitsune shake-shakes his head in a "definitely not!" meaning way.

Thinking that he can cope for the moment, Francisco removes his paw from his mouth. "You said for me to come to see you in office hours?" he asks, and promptly puts his paw back over his muzzle again and tries not to balk at the bug stench.

Haskalah nods. "Oh yes! Well, I suppose that I can take a little break from supervising my fellow professors and learned colleagues. They're wise in their own ways, but each of them is so sure he has the key to all the Plaguebringer's secrets… " She rolls her eyes and laughs, then parts the wave of students in a way that seems nearly magical to Francisco. "Follow me, I'm sure you'll feel better after a cup of tea, hmm?"

Francisco follows on after the Khatta, nodding – paw still over mouth.

Some time later finds them both back in her office; not surprisingly, Haskalah is well familiar with the shortcuts to be found through the maze-like interior of the Collegia Esoterica. Haskalah pours Francisco some mint tea, and serves herself up some as well.

The elderly Khatta mage says nothing at this time, however, simply waits for Francisco to begin.

By this time as well, Francisco has recovered well enough to breathe normally again. Watching Haskalah remain silent, he takes the hint. "You said in the Bazaar that you felt a little responsible for, oh, what was his name? Fenster? For him being party to the destruction of my stall through a spell."

"And that you think that I might have some potential?" Francisco finishes.

Haskalah smiles feyly. "Ah! You do have some memory then. Yes, the dear boy's name is Fenter. And he was apparently working on a spell to attract business to a shop… Unfortunately, he didn't restrict the parameters of his spell enough. Still, spells that backfire like that aren't usually quite so impressive in their denouements."

"So then. Let me ask you two questions then, dear shopkeeper. What is your name? And do you feel you have potential?" Haskalah says.

Francisco nods. "My name's Francisco," he says. "As for potential, I think I'm still up to it."

The Khatta looks curious. "What suggests to you that you have potential, dear Francisco?"

"Well, apart from what you told me," the Kitsune grins, "before coming to Sinai, I used magic a fair bit. My whole race, the Kitsune, are essentially magical."

This causes Haskalah's ears to raise. "Kit-soo-nah? So you are an Exile then. And in what way was your race magical?"

Francisco nods again. "Exile, yeah. Despite being mistaken for things like Zerdas or these Nohbakims, I'm just an 'exile'."

Francisco says, "As for my race, I… we lived out of the spirit realm in our world, and when we manifested in the physical world, could draw from that spiritual plane for magical purposes."

Haskalah raises her eyebrows. "How curious," she murmurs. "So you were insubstantial unless raised by a magician and given form and life?"

The kitsune shakes his head. "Fortunately for Kitsune, and also the Tanuki, we're not limited to that."

Haskalah sips her tea. "So you share your world with another race then?"

"Unfortunately," Francisco says. "None of us Kitsune have much love for the Tanuki."

Haskalah cackles. "So much for Professor Dezan's hypothesis! He postulated two races growing on the same world would have to learn to live with each other. Just look at Rephidim and tell me that again." She looks Francisco up and down, then stands up in the mass of pillows that cover the floor and pads over to circle him, as if measuring him in some way.

Francisco turns his head to follow the Khatta's movements around him. "Uh, that was just in our spiritual realm, mind you. In the physical world, we all had to share with the humans."

"Hmmf," Haskalah comments. "Fidgety. So tell me about your magic. What did you do with it?"

The Kitsune remembers his earlier conversation with Kelsey. "Mainly created illusions that would provoke the humans into a particular response. Most of the time, they'd work out some kind of meaning from it and call it a 'moral'," he says.

"Illusions then, hmm? Ahh yes. Very interesting. And how did you go about making these illusions?" Haskalah takes a small device that looks rather like a man-shaped clock of some kind, and begins holding it close to Francisco at several points.

"It's a little hard to explain," Francisco replies. "For Kitsune, it's more instinct, I would say. Just sort of… will it up."

Haskalah listens carefully to the multitude of tiny clickings that come from the device. "So, it's an innate ability? Not something you must master?"

Francisco nods, and says, "It's certainly an innate ability. But you do have to master it as well."

"And in what way do you master it?" The clickings that Haskalah is listening to seem subtly different, but Francisco's untrained ears can't define how.

"That's why I have five tails, in fact," Francisco adds. "It's a show of how much I know. A rank, kind of."

Haskalah chuckles. "Ah! I had assumed you were a Nohbakim at start. They used to look rather more like you do, though without so many tails, you see." Apparently finished with her examination, she sets the device back down and begins taking notes. "So how familiar are you with the way that Sinai magic works?"

"Not that much, really," Francisco says. "I know it doesn't work the same way as it did back home. I do know that it's used mainly as a catalyst for making things work. Oh, and a fair amount of chanting as well."

Francisco says, "This is from personal experience, I might add. A mage, Kelsey her name is, 'blew me up' once for a publicity stunt."

"Ah! Is that what happened?" Haskalah cackles again. "You seem doomed to an interesting life, lit'un. First blown up by fire magic, then wrecked by chaos magic. But if you seek greater touch with magic here then, so be it." She sets aside the notebook and holds her arm out for Francisco to take. "I'll take you down by one of the testing rooms."

The Exile steps forward a little and takes the offered arm. "Sure, alright."

The testing room is as boring as a room can be made, the walls plastered and cracking in numerous places to reveal white stone bricks behind them, a tiled floor supporting a table and a chair. Upon the table is a sheet of parchment with the instructions that Francisco is to follow.

Haskalah's last words to Francisco before leaving him in the chamber were that he was to do his best to carry out the simple cantrip shown… And that he would be monitored by one of the acolytes of the Sphere of Illusion. Once he is done with the testing of course, he is to come back to Haskalah's office and report to her what happened. Meanwhile, perhaps she can get some honest work done for a change.

The Kitsune sits on the chair, and looks over the parchment carefully.

The instructions begin thusly: Clear your mind of all thoughts. Envision a small bug. While doing so, recite these words… And printed after this are several lines of syllables, with instructions for both gestures to make, and thoughts to bear in mind.

A bored-looking not-quite-so-young Gallah mage in robes sits on another chair in the corner and waits.

Francisco bleghs at the instructions. (What is it with these people and bugs?) he wonders.

"Er, I don't suppose you have another of these that you don't have to think of bugs to do?" the Kitsune asks the Gallah mage, semi-hopefully.

"Hrr? What?" The Gallah looks down at the parchment. "Well, if you don't want to think about bugs, what do you want to think about?"

"Anything that isn't a bug?" suggests Francisco.

"Be a little more specific," the Gallah suggests boredly.

Francisco says, "Well, something like a candle, or small rock, or something?"

"All right then, picture a candle," the Gallah says. He takes out a small charcoal pencil, a length of some tightly packed carbon material with paper wrapped around to provide a handle, and scribbles in some different words for one of the lines.

The fox nods, and begins trying to clear his mind. He had to do similar before he got his second tail, so it's not a new thing for him to do.

The room seems unbearably quiet, so that even the Gallah's breathing is a noise.

Francisco concentrates on the candle in his mind, and does his best to blot out the breathing as well, until he reaches such a point where he's ready to recite the words on the paper.

The syllables on the parchment are not English. Translating them mentally by whatever strange system the Temple helmets used gives Francisco a sense of double-vision. Still, it seems that Francisco is ready to begin.

Francisco blinks a couple of times, trying to set his vision straight; he starts to say the words. Not fluently, though, but carefully – pausing occasionally to make sure he gets the pronunciation down right.

Nothing happens.

A closer examination shows that apparently Francisco was to think of certain concepts at the start of each line, and to hold them in mind. These the journeyman has edited slightly. Apparently it is not sufficient to just think of a candle; one must think of its shape, how it looks from every angle, not just from one viewpoint, how it catches the light… And somehow 'catch' magic and 'throw' it at the place where one wishes the candle to be seen.

"Say it again," the Gallah suggests. He's a vaguely collie-ish blend of canine features, wearing a plain linen blue robe.

The Kitsune frowns slightly at this, but tries not to get too discouraged. "It's okay to… " he starts, just before the Gallah answers him.

The Gallah nods. Evidently he's done this before, quite a few times.

Once again, then, Francisco pictures the candle in his mind, and tries again. This time, he's a little more confident with the words, and tries to visualize the candle in the indicated ways.

At the close of the cantrip, it feels like there's something in the air, something ozone-like. It reminds Francisco uncomfortably of the bug, except of course that it couldn't be anything like that… Could it? Still, nothing has happened.

"Again," the journeyman says.

Nodding, the Kitsune begins the cantrip again.

Throughout the ritual, of course, Francisco doesn't stop concentrating about the candle.

The air seems a little thicker at the conclusion of the second repetition, but still there's nothing. "Again," the Gallah says.

Francisco repeats the chant again, trying to give more detail to the candle in his mind. Oddly, it seems to be turning out much like the candle he was given during Candlemass. Short, ugly, and a dirty yellow color.

The air thickens again, becoming almost choking, but still… Nothing blooms on the tabletop.

"Again," the Gallah says.

The Kitsune, now getting more familiar with the words, repeats it again, this time closing his eyes while speaking them, also in a lot more sure tone of voice now.

It feels almost as if something were happening… But somehow, whatever it is, hovers just beyond the edge of Francisco's ability. Something has to be let go, somehow.

The journeyman says, "Again."

Francisco repeats the cantrip once more, again with a lot more confidence as he does so.

And with a rush, as the final word is spoken, suddenly Francisco's attention feels somehow distant, as if he were mentally balancing a pot on an outstretched hand. Except of course, he isn't stretching his hand out. This time the word 'Again' doesn't come from the journeyman.

The kitsune manages to draw together enough sense of mind to open his eyes just slightly.

For a moment, there's a somewhat blobby candle there, or a ghost of one, somehow crossed with a bug so that it appears that a short, ugly, fat yellow beetle were melting down, its antennae serving as the burnt wick. But the sight of the candle is enough of a drain on Francisco's concentration that it disappears entirely.

The journeyman hmms. "A little on the grotesque side, but you may have some talent there, Francisco."

Francisco rrs? and pulls himself together. "Grotesque?" he asks. "I didn't really see what it was. Something yellow and blobby, though."

"Well, hardly anyone has bug-shaped candles," the Gallah says. He grins evilly. "Or maybe I just didn't rewrite the cantrip enough. Anyway, I'll note this down on your form, and you can take it by the registrar and pay your application fee… Oh! You see Haskalah, first."

The fox's ears flatten a little. (Bug-shaped candle?) he wonders. "Uh, okay. Which way back to her office again?"

"That way, just past the fountain – no, wait, it's a pool today, they've changed the illusion," the journeyman says. "Then take the left when you get to the intersection, ignore the pit in the floor, it's just another illusion… No, I'd better lead you there myself. At least out of our department."

Francisco nods. "Sure," he says. "Lead on."

The journeyman blandly ignores a waterfall of stars as he takes the kitsune back to Haskalah's office…

"So! I'm to take it that you actually can work some magic," the tortoiseshell Khatta says, smiling. "How did you like it?"

Francisco smiles back. "I feel like I'm back with just a single-tail again. That's very similar to something I was asked to do back then," he replies.

Haskalah raises her eyebrows. "It could be worse," she says. "You could have had omnipotent powers and be unable to do so much as light a match, no matter how many times you chanted, so neh? Now, that was one cantrip. You'll be expected to memorize thousands of them, understand how to put them together into hundreds of minor spells, work those into a hundred rituals, and perhaps even be called upon to learn the major rituals. It'll be back-breaking work for four years, and when you graduate, you'll be in hock to the College for ten gold… Unless you have some sort of fortune and you were just working a stall for the fun of it?" The old chaos mage looks at Francisco keenly.

"By 'in hock to the College', is that what this mage I mentioned – Kelsey? – meant by working as an indentured mage?" Francisco asks.

"Yes, that's just so," the Khatta mage agrees. "You'd be working as a journeyman, half your earnings going to the College, and half for your own living expenses. Once you earned enough, of course, you'd be a full graduate and entitled to come back for more classes toward eventual master magery."

"And as for the stall," adds the Kitsune, "it wasn't just for the fun of it. But it had it's moments."

Haskalah cackles. "Right up to the last minute, is that it?"

Francisco grins. "Something like that."

"Well, then. You won't have any time to run a stall on the side," the Khatta continues. "And besides, it'd be too tempting to use a few cantrips for fun and profit, wouldn't it? The College has some strict policies on apprentices misusing their powers, believe you me, because it takes a dim view of damages incurred by a little student hooliganism. So in your spare time… what you have of it… you'll be working for me, sorting my scrolls, running the odd errands, and I'll pay you, oh, twenty shekels a day. That'll give you enough to live on and afford a place to stay. But I will expect you to work hard or there'll be an end to that arrangement."

The Kitsune nods, apparently content with this arrangement.

"All right. You start tomorrow," Haskalah says. "Here, five hundred shekels. Take care of registration and see your advisor in the morning tomorrow to arrange your classes."

Francisco nods. "Thank you," he says. "Er, I take it that I will find out who my 'advisor' is when I register?"

Haskalah beams. "Of course! You're studying Illusion, not Chaos."

Chuckling softly, Francisco nods again. He gives a small bow in polite farewell before taking his leave to sort out this registration.

Haskalah leans back in the pillows and looks after the five disappearing plumes. "A kit-soo-nah, hmm? Well, Dagh, let's see what you choose to make of this one. I'm sure it'll be interesting… "