Welcome

[Izzy Dockett]

Izzy smiled, and flicked her torch on and off. She was feeling adventurous and had decided to explore the grounds. Big buildings like this tended to have lots of lovely nooks and crannies, often with some sort of interesting creature living in them.

At St Ethel's prep school, shortly before she left, Izzy had found a child's finger bone in the back stacks of the library, behind "Lady Chatterley's Lovers" (the sequel). It had caused quite a stir. Who would have thought that the librarian was an axe murderer? Ah well. That sort of thing certainly kept life interesting.

Needless to say she was rather excited about exploring this particular school. Perhaps she'd find some sort of secret cult, sacrificing aardvarks to their God, Vorgor. Or something. Izzy shrugged, and headed towards a door that had steam seeping underneath it. She ignored the "Do not enter. Highly dangerous. Turn around. Go away. Fine. Come in then. See if I care. You'll probably die, but hey, I warned you." sign, and pushed it open.

”The boiler room?” Izzy murmered. She had always thought such rooms were dark, clammy dungeons with lots of red and whirring. This one wasn’t. Sure, it was a little steamy, but the pipes were neatly aligned on one wall and the main boiler sat off on its own in the corner. The rest of the room seemed to have been used as storage. Izzy’s eyes lit up and she rushed happily to the nearest box. Izzy was a good student, not eavesdropping or one to gossip, but given the chance to root around in dusty boxes and she was happily at home. And this time she appeared to have hit a jackpot: it was full of books. But what on earth were they doing down here, and not in the library? Izzy sat down on a three-legged chair that was propped up on a biscuit tin and scratched her chin in wonder. And right there, at eye-level, was a hastily scrawled label. Drawn in thick black marker on the side of the box, Izzy read, “Banned Books.”

She couldn’t have been happier. It was quite a find, after all, and the added danger of being caught reading illegal books was really contributing to her good mood. She reached in and pulled out the first book. It was too dusty to read its title, but Izzy opened it anyway and started to read it.

[Jack Faolin]

Jack stood behind the young girl as she read the banned book, wondering what had brought her down to the boiler room. He had been retrieving some of his secret hiden stash of Saki when she had randomly wondered in. He had often been down into the boiler, for obvious reasons, but he'd never really given much attention to the dusty boxes in the room, they weren't a very suitable hiding place and he had much craftier ways of hiding his booze.

He had been standing at the wall, or what looked like a wall (it was in actual fact a special technique his Sennin had tought him to conceal precious items, and what could be more precious than this?), when the girl had wondered in. He quickly concealed himself so as not to be found out and also to see what she planned on doing in the strange room.

Deciding to make his presence known, Jack created a draught that opened the door, while Izzy looked up he removed the book from her hand, ever so sneakily. And then, in his loudest, most authoritive, Irish voice, he shouted "Miss Docket, are you aware that this room is out of bounds?!"

[Izzy Dockett]

Izzy did not see him when she entered the room. She did not see him when she sat down. She did not hear him as he snuck up behind her. If she had, she probably would not have screamed as loudly as she did when Jack Faolin snatched "The Thesaurus of Dirty Colloquial Terms" out of her hands and screamed in her ear.

"Miss Docket, are you aware that this room is out of bounds?!"

Izzy's heart stopped. Later, doctors would comment that it was a miracle of science, how it had started itself up again. Well, they might have, if she had been to see any. Actually, Izzy didn't really notice. She was too busy trying to stop the ringing in her ears. Pain. Agony. Ohhh.

"I'm sorry, um," she stammered, opening her eyes. They had been shut with fear and pain. She nearly screamed again - Jack Faolin. Her Elemental magic professor, and notably the second most attractive male in the school. Well, Vance Derric was all right to look at, but he was just too... Mainstream. As far as looks go. Izzy was more into the tousled moody art student look.

But Faolin's bad boy look was definitely working for him. She had to admit it. Izzy shook her head, both to try clear the ringing and to get the dodgy thoughts out of her mind. Back on track. He was shouting at her. What on earth for?

While she tried to remember exactly what the man had screamed in her ear, she also wondered two things:

1. Why was Faolin down here anyway?
2. Why was there a bottle of some sort of drink hidden behind the boiler?

Realising that Faolin probably had as much to hide as she did, if not more, Izzy calmed down a little and tried to defend herself, saying the brilliant, "You mean this isn't the archives room?"

All right, so it wasn't that convincing. Izzy could see that. The ringing finally died down a little, and she smiled her best "I'm innocent, don't hurt me" smile. "Sorry, Professor Faolin," she said sweetly. Deciding to tell the truth, for once, she added, "I was exploring. Um. I didn't know there were out of bounds areas in the school, besides the obvious of course." Having explained why she was in the room, the only thing left was the issue of the banned books.

"Doesn't it seem a waste that books are stuffed into boxes and hidden in a small room in the basement rather than out in the open where people can read them?" she asked.

"Surely books shouldn't be banned just because they disagree with society's ideals or the majority's (rather suspect) beliefs? It's just such a tragedy that all these great books are 'lost'." Izzy picked one up and showed Professor Faolin the title: "Donald Duck and his Missing Trousers - a theological comparison of the stigma surrounding contemporary media."

"Wouldn't this be an eye-opening book for someone to read, rather than avoid?" Izzy continued, on a bit of a roll, "And I'm sure there are some students here, however few, who are intelligent enough to judge for themselves the reliability of such works." Professor Moriarty would have been proud. Izzy was pretty proud herself, but she realised she might have gotten a little carried away.

It was too late to back-track, so she decided to change the subject instead, saying with a mischievous glint in her eye, "So, what brings you down here anyway, Sir?"

[Jack Faolin]

Jack had only snuck up on her for fun, and the reaction he got was somehow not worth it. The girl was very quick to defend her case though.

"Surely books shouldn't be banned just because they disagree with society's ideals or the majority's (rather suspect) beliefs? It's just such a tragedy that all these great books are 'lost'." Izzy picked one up and showed Professor Faolin the title: "Donald Duck and his Missing Trousers - a theological comparison of the stigma surrounding contemporary media."

"Wouldn't this be an eye-opening book for someone to read, rather than avoid?" Izzy continued, on a bit of a roll, "And I'm sure there are some students here, however few, who are intelligent enough to judge for themselves the reliability of such works." Professor Moriarty would have been proud. Izzy was pretty proud herself, but she realised she might have gotten a little carried away.

"Aye," the professor agreed "it would most certainly be most interesting, but the fact that it clearly states "BANNED BOOKS" on the box probably means that they are "BANNED" for a reason. If you would like, you could bring them up to my class and be allowed to read them under supervision. It'd be a terrible thing for these books to get out among the students, the last thing this academy needs is a Donald Duck supporting, trouserless revolution."

Jack grinned at his last comment, imagining what a "trouserless revolution" would be like, especially with girls like Izzy around.

It was too late to back-track, so she decided to change the subject instead, saying with a mischievous glint in her eye, "So, what brings you down here anyway, Sir?"

"Well, why do you think?" Jack questioned, as if she'd know, "I just came down to retrieve some of my secret saki stash, and I'd be willing to pay to make sure it stays a secret." He held out his bottle of saki while saying this, knowing that she had already layed eyes on it.

[Izzy Dockett]

"Aye," the professor agreed "it would most certainly be most interesting, but the fact that it clearly states "BANNED BOOKS" on the box probably means that they are "BANNED" for a reason."


Izzy went blank - she'd definitely messed up there. While she tried desperately to come up with some sort of excuse (dyslexia perhaps) she said, very articulately, "Well, I, er..."

Luckily, before she could embarrass herself Professor Faolin continued, " If you would like, you could bring them up to my class and be allowed to read them under supervision." Was he being serious? Wow. Izzy was amazed.

"Really? Are you sure? That would be great! But," Izzy paused, not entirely how to point it out to a teacher: "Wouldn't that be breaking some sort of rule...?" Although Izzy was somewhat of a rebel, she was a bit wary of blatantly breaking rules, especially with teachers right there in front of her, taking part even. Perhaps he had something up his leather sleeve...

It'd be a terrible thing for these books to get out among the students, the last thing this academy needs is a Donald Duck supporting, trouserless revolution."


Izzy giggled, and tried so very hard not to picture it. Alas. She failed. Scarred somewhat by this mental picture, she relaxed a little. Professor Faolin didn't seem about to go tattle on her. He seemed quite friendly, really.

""Well, why do you think?" Jack questioned, as if she'd know, "I just came down to retrieve some of my secret saki stash, and I'd be willing to pay to make sure it stays a secret."

"Pay? How much?" Izzy asked slyly. He offered some to her, and she raised her eyebrows. "Wouldn't we get in a lot of trouble if we got caught down here with booze and bad books?" Despite her conscience screaming "No!" she reached for it anyway and took a swig, as if she was a drunken sailor, and had had it before. Izzy gasped.

"It burns!" she wailed, or at least tried to. It came out more as a loud "Ibburrrr"-ish whisper. Saki was rather potent stuff, it seemed.

[Vance Derric]

The basement was almost always quiet, exceptions being when the water heaters started up in the boiler room(which could actually get really, /really/ loud and annoying sometimes), when students - or teachers - were jumping around on the first floor, or when music was floating from the CD player in the side room. Vance's room, although there were still a few people who didn't think that anyone actually lived down here in the basement. After all, who would want to?

Then again, small windows tend to be a good thing when one is rather more flammable than the average member of the human race.

Today though, none of the usual noises were going in the basement. It was actually very quiet, surprising for a Saturday. Perhaps everyone had gone into town for the day, and that was why they weren't banging around upstairs.

Now, since it was such a lovely day, you would think that everyone would be out and about enjoying the sunshine. Well, for some of the teachers it was rather difficult to do that. Actually, only Vance. As such, he remained inside. He'd had quite enough enjoyment the night before when he'd nearly been chased down by the police while investigating a construction site(who really paid attention to those '"Do not enter" signs anyway?). The school proably would have had quite a problem on their hands if Vance had been a student, or been any less skilled at evading the local law enforcement. What was that, the third time this week he'd had to make a quick exit thanks to them?

But we're getting rather off topic. Vance's schedule, if it could be called such, was almost completely opposite to the rest of the school with the exception of his own classes. He wandered around either in the school or in town(sometimes leaving town entirely) by night, and slept through the day. That was precisely what he was doing now.

If anyone coming into the room had seen him then, they might have thought they had just discovered a murder scene or that Vance had died in his sleep. The blankets were bundled into a large lump against the wall, only a small corner draped over Vance's shoulder, and he didn't move at all. He didn't roll over in his sleep or twitch as some people tend to do, but most importantly he didn't breathe.

He probably would have slept all day and woken up around sunset if a nosy student and a certain booze-happy teacher hadn't decided to come down. Even their talking might not have woken him up, but no, they had to yell.

"Miss Docket, are you aware that this room is out of bounds?!"

At the first word, Vance's eyes shot open, and he was standing up by the time the question was finished, pressing the heel of his hands into his eyes to clear the slight blurriness that made everything around him seem almost two-dimensional. Vance had never been one to wake up slowly, and only seconds after he stood up, he was fully aware. For a couple seconds, Vance stood still, listening to the sounds of talking somewhere close by. He ran a hand through his touseled hair to smooth it down a little, trying to figure out precisely where the talking was coming from. Hang on a second, the voices didn't sound so close because they were drifting down through a vent. Someone was down here in the basement.

Well, now Vance really did have to check it out. No one ever came down here for more than a few seconds to grab a focus crystal or something. Vance pulled on the pair of black jeans he'd left lying on the floor last night, opened his "bedroom" door with a slight creak, and stepped out. It wasn't hard to tell where the voices were coming from, given that the boiler room door was open. The question was, what were they doing down here anyway? Conversing, obviously. But why down here? No one ever bothered to come down here. As Vance came closer to the boiler room door, he listened to the last bits of their conversation.

"Well, why do you think?" Jack questioned, as if she'd know, "I just came down to retrieve some of my secret saki stash, and I'd be willing to pay to make sure it stays a secret."

Vance raised an eyebrow at that. Well, that explained the alcohol smell that occasionally drifted around the basement.

"Pay? How much?" Izzy asked slyly. He offered some to her, and she raised her eyebrows. "Wouldn't we get in a lot of trouble if we got caught down here with booze and bad books?" Despite her conscience screaming "No!" she reached for it anyway and took a swig, as if she was a drunken sailor, and had had it before. Izzy gasped.

"It burns!" she wailed, or at least tried to. It came out more as a loud "Ibburrrr"-ish whisper.

Vance caught the sound of a bottle being tipped, and then the gasp and rather shocked whisper. He chuckled slightly, but silently, and chose that moment to reveal himself to the two, stepping into the doorway as though he'd just come down the hallway without stopping. It was obvious that he'd been sleeping, what with his lack of a shirt or shoes, and his rather touseled hair, but he didn't appear disgruntled. More like lightly amused.

"Well, look what I found." Vance said, looking from the still breathless girl to the obviously older man. Jack Faolin. Jack was one of the few teachers in the school whose name Vance knew. Well, Vance couldn't say he was surprised to find Jack down here with a bottle.

"What're you two doing down here?" he asked. Obviously an overused question, it was more of an automatic one that a thought-out inquiry. Vance tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, refraining from leaning towards one side of the door or the other. It was funny how some people reacted to having their escape route blocked off, and he wanted to see if either of them would panic.

[Jack Faolin]

Jack could have kicked himself. He was so distracted by entertaining himself that he hadn't even heard Vance enter the room. Jack imagined this to be a highly amusing situation to walk into the middle of, and almost laughed at the thought of what he'd say if he was in Vance's place, but his fellow professor didn't seem suprised at all, infact it seemed like this was the kind of thing he expected from Jack Faolin, something that seldom bothered Jack anyway.

"Well, look what I found." Vance said, looking from the still breathless girl to the obviously older man.

"Indeed, and what a find it must be." was the only retort Jack could come up with on such short notice, so he said it.

"What're you two doing down here?" he asked. Obviously an overused question, it was more of an automatic one that a thought-out inquiry.

"Eh," Jack thought for a second, "I was just popping down to retrieve some stowed belongings, and I found this young lass down here doing the same, in general conversation I offered her a sample of some fine Japanese culture." he said this then pointed to the bottle of Saki in Izzy's hand.

Jack noticed that Vance had blocked off the exit, but he wasn't the type to run, besides, he would need to answer any of Vance's questions, this man could prove to be an ally in a battle and Jack wasn't the type to turn down a bit of possible future support. Jack stood his ground, ready for Vance's next question, not sure how the young student would react to the other professor's sudden appearance.

[Izzy Dockett]

"Well, look what I found."

Izzy froze. Was she dreaming? "Please let this be a very weird, surprisingly pleasant dream..." she muttered under her breath. For there, in the shadows, stood Vance Derric. Yes, every pubescant female in this school's dream had come true for Izzy - to be stuck in a small room with Faolin and Derric. Funnily enough, it wasn't quite as pleasant as she had pictured it. Perhaps it was the threatening way that Derric was leaning against the door, blocking her escape.

Stuck for words, and rightfully believing that a student's word over a teacher's, Izzy waited for Faolin to say something intelligent, and possibly give her an excuse for being there. He was probably in as much trouble as she was, and so she could only hope that he would stick by her.

"Indeed, and what a find it must be." was the only retort Jack could come up with on such short notice, so he said it.

Izzy restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Surely he could do better than that.

"What're you two doing down here?" he asked. Obviously an overused question, it was more of an automatic one that a thought-out inquiry.

"Eh," Jack thought for a second, "I was just popping down to retrieve some stowed belongings, and I found this young lass down here doing the same, in general conversation I offered her a sample of some fine Japanese culture." he said this then pointed to the bottle of Saki in Izzy's hand.


Brilliant. Izzy had to admire the man. "Erm, yeah, I was doing some research for that...history investigation. You know, the spread of civilisation in the eastern world. It's fascinating, really. They've found proof that the Chinese were trading with North America and Europe long before Colombus was old enough to wipe his own bottom. I thought that to understand the culture, I should sample it." Hmm. Perhaps she shouldn't talk. She was babbling. Although what she had said was mostly true... Except for the fact that her project was on the Vikings. Erm.