Miskatonic University: The Raven Coven Sorority (Private with theJozza)

[GreaterGood]

Isabelle Aristera sat alone in the admissions office of Miskatonic University, a strange school in New England. She'd never expected she might make her way to such an esteemed private university, on a full scholarship no less. Frankly, she found it almost suspicious. It was almost as though they actively sought her out.

Isabelle never had the best grades, though it was mostly due to her frequent "incidents" that often ended up getting her suspended. Desks set on fire, shrieks loud enough to deafen one unfortunate classmate, random floods in the restrooms she used, and destroyed classrooms from some sort of inexplicable force. Naturally, she was blamed for all of it, despite it totally not being her fault! But... she never had any explanation that could satisfy the vice principal or her tired, ever-patient mother. It lead to her deciding to be rebellious of her own volition, since everyone would get on her case anyway, her only friends seeming to be other outcasts and her mother. They all got into art schools, nothing as prestigious as Miskatonic.

It made the black-haired girl feel even more lonely in the faculty office, knowing none of her friends was here. As much as Isabelle's mother insisted a blank slate was just what she needed... it made her feel a little bit cold inside. She shuddered and shivered, bony white teeth clacking behind her black lipstick coated mouth, shutting her heavily shadowed eyes, and wiggling her most distinctive and peculiar trait: a pair of large, pointy ears.

[theJozza]

As she sits there, the door opens and two women walk in. The first is a thin lady with pitch black and perfectly straight hair. She has glasses and is dressed in a pantsuit that is just as dark and pristine as her hair. Her demeanor is strict, but she doesn't look rigid or even uptight, just orderly and confident.

The other woman is a bit shorter, but also appears more heavy set, with thick arms, legs, and a very...buxom chest. That being said, her body doesn't appear to have fat, looking quite muscular Her hair is long, silver, and fairly unkempt. She is wearing an auburn brown dress, and has a large bag slung over her shoulder. It's too big to be considered a purse, but doesn't look like a traditional handbag either.

Despite the differences between the two women, there are a few similarities as well. First, they both have fairly pale skin and the same colored eyes, namely bright green. So bright them seem to almost glow at times. Second, despite looking a bit older the two absolutely exude energy, though it seems a bit more subtle coming from the woman in black. Finally, and perhaps most signficant to Isabelle, both of these women also have pointed ears.

The black haired woman walks up to Isabelle, gives a faint smile, and extends her hand.

"Good day to you Miss Aristera," she says. "My name is Professor Vivian Shade, I'm the head of the Esoteric Paganism department here at Miskatonic University, as well as the one who awarded you your scholarship. This is my sister and fellow professor, Ellen," she pauses to turn and gesture at the silver hair woman.

Ellen gives an enormous smile to Isabelle, even waving her hand a little.

"So delighted to meet you, dearie," She says, her voice so soft it's almost a coo. "I can already tell you'll fit right in!"

"Yes, yes, sister I'm sure she will," Vivian nods, almost rolling her eyes a bit. "But let us not forget there are important things to discuss first," she turns back to Isabelle. "Specifically, there are a few details we need to go over regarding finalizing your scholarship. Also, I believe it is time that you, my dear, were given some long overdue answers about yourself," she says, and as if to send the message home gives her own ears a wiggle.

[GreaterGood]

Isabelle looked at the two of them quizzically the moment they passed by the window on the door. She felt a strong sense of... belonging as they entered the room. Though all three of them dressed differently, what with Isabelle's black crop-top, hoodie, skirt, and boots, they seemed to share in common a sort of eccentricity in not only their dress but also their general demeanor. It was like the three of them knew of something others didn't, something that made them different.


"Hey," Isabelle said with an awkward, forced smile, "Yeah, I was, uhhh... wondering about that. I was pretty sure anywhere like this place would be, like, suuuuuuuper not into someone like me going here. For a while I thought you'd misread something. You know about all that stuff I-"

She held up her hands and curled her fingers, her painted-black nails waving in the air as she mimed sarcastic quotes.


"-'did' when I was in cla-"

That was when Isabelle stopped for a moment as her eyes darted towards Vivian's ears, moving of their own volition. She'd only known a couple of people who could do that too, but that alone wasn't what stuck out to her. They pointed in almost the exact same, elf-like way as hers did. She did say something about getting answers about herself, right?


"Hold on," Isabelle said, raising an eyebrow, "Are the answers... about that?"

[theJozza]

"As a matter of fact they are," Vivan replies with a smirk. "Moreover, they're also about the, as you so put it, 'stuff', you did in your previous schools. To be perfectly blunt, my dear, those incidents are how we found you and why we wanted to bring you hear."

"Indeed, you poor thing," Ellen coos, walking up and laying a hand on Isabelle's shoulder. "Struggling so much for so many years. Such a shame we couldn't help you until now," she sighs and shakes her head.

"I admit it is regrettable, sister," Vivian nods. "But as we've discussed it is the way it must be. Besides, now is not the time to dwell on unfortunate mishaps in Isabelle's past, but focus on how we can help her future," Ellen turns back to her sister, grins, and nods. The silver haired woman then raises her hand and snaps her fingers. All of a sudden, two chairs across the room from them start to glow and float over to them, the sisters each sitting down in them. As they do this, Vivian snaps her fingers and a book in a case on the left wall also lights up and floats to her lap. "Now then since there is much for us to get through I will get the main point out of the way quickly, Isabelle. My sister and I are witches," she says with a grin. "And so are you."

[GreaterGood]

"Well, I mean," Isabelle giggled with a blush, "Better another two freaks than the government, am I right?"

It took Isabelle a moment to give a name to what she felt in that moment. A sense of ease at being around other people, as though she were comfortable in their presence. They weren't waiting to mock her, or berate her, or treat her like a freak. Was it camaraderie? Familiarity? Fellowship? Whatever it was, it felt pretty good.



That feeling, however, was swept right off of Isabelle's face as Vivian snapped her fingers. She scrambled backwards, her chair almost falling over before she just barely caught herself. Her mouth hung open, a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment pooling in her eyes, that bubbled over and burst into joy and wonder as she heard the last part.


"O-O-Ohhhhh my god..." Isabelle practically stammered, looking down at her hands, then back at the two of them, then back at her hands, and then finally towards Vivian, "Th-That shouldn't be possible. I-I-I mean, I won't say can't because, like, obviously everything that happens to me has no explanation and, like... you just- and the chairs- and the book-"

Isabelle's confused curiosity fired her brain off like a fireworks display.

"Is it because of the ears?" Isabelle asked, "Is everyone here a witch? Why didn't somebody tell me sooner?"

[theJozza]

"Whoa now sweetheart, it's okay," Ellen says standing up and holding out her hand which glows. There's a small flash of light in front of Isabelle's face, and she is cut off by something entering her mouth. Said something is a bright purple pacifier.

"Sister, we've talked about this," Vivian groans clutching her forehead and shaking her head. "Explanations first, then...you know..." She says twirling her hand vaguely, clearly not wanting to get into details about what Isabelle had in store.

"Well sorry, but what can I say it was reflexive," Ellen shrugs as she walks over to beside Isabelle and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Plus the poor dear is long overdue some comfort in all this."

"I suppose so," Vivian sighs, but then shrugs herself and raises her own han, which also glows. At this, the book she retrieved levitates up and starts to project images. Most are old drawings depicting witches in various magical scenes, as well as some being chased or captured by humans. "You see Isabelle, witches have existed in this land for centuries, but as I'm sure you're aware we have not always held the most...favorable image in the public eye. Especially in this region."

"Salem jerkwads," Ellen grumbles under her breath as Vivian continues.

"As such, a long time ago our ancestors came to the realization that the best way to ensure our survival would be through new efforts that combined subtly and assimilation," Vivian continues, the page turning and the images shifting to witches walking amongst humans. "One of these efforts was withholding magic training until all witches reached 18 years of age, in order to ensure all new witches had the maturity and mental fortitude to use their magic safely. This also made it easier for us to intermingle and, shall we say, mix with the human populations," she says, flipping to an image of a witch marrying a human. "However, over the centuries, there have been a few unpredictable downsides to these strategies, including what you yourself have experienced." Vivian says lowering her hand which causes the book to float down. "You see, Isabelle, the..."incidents" that have plagued you were all the result of your innate magical abilities being unstable and manifesting too soon. It's a very common occurrence among people your age of mixed human and witch heritages. More importantly, there's an easy solution, though that does bring us to those conditions I mentioned about your scholarship her," Vivian folds her hands and gestures to her sister, who reaches down and eases the pacifier from Isabelle's mouth, as she figured the young lady would probably like to talk now.

[GreaterGood]

"Mnnff," Isabelle tries to say, before suddenly noticing the rubber object in her mouth, "Mmmf?"


A pacifier? What is that doing there? That... certainly wasn't a typical way to quiet someone down. Maybe it's a witch cultural thing? She decided to ignore it for now, especially considering she isn't able to remove it. Attempts to spit it out simply cause it to stay in her mouth, as though she were sucking it. As she listens to Vivian's explanation, she starts to chew on the pacifier as a sort of stim. It moves first from her incisors to her canines, then finally to her molars. Since it's magical, it doesn't tear or even acquire any sort of damage or stress, especially not in the way real rubber would. It isn't a distraction, of course, her ears are as attentive as they've ever been. As cute, squishy chewing noises come from her mouth, her head nods and eyes convey that ever-present sense of wonder as they intently stare at Vivian.


Once the pacifier is removed, her mouth feels an odd vacuous emptiness. Isabelle isn't going to ask for it back, or anything... but it did feel kind of nice to have. Regardless, now is the time for questions, which she of course has quite a few of.


"Soooo, do guys become wizards?" Isabelle asks, "Or are they, like, also witches? How common is this? How come you guys noticed I was floundering and, like, didn't do anything until now? Do either of you know what the internet is, or are you guys, like, luddy-whatevers? Do you even need technology? Do I get to wear one of those stupid hats? I freakin' love those things..."

Though not all of her questions are necessarily... relevant to her situation, it's very clear that her imagination is running wild. One question does suddenly jump to the front of her mind, however, and she punctuates her interrogation by asking it.

"So... what are those conditions?"

[theJozza]

Ellen and Vivian listen to Isabelle's rambling. The former starting to giggle and smile even more as she watches her, while the latter does at least smirk a bit. At one point, Ellen motions as if she's going to put the pacifier back into Isabelle's mouth, but Vivian shakes her head and the other woman stops. Once Isabelle has finished her questions.

"All of what you want to know will be addressed in time, my dear," Vivian says calmly as she closes her book and folds her hands in front of her. "But to answer the most pressing of your questions, we noticed because we were looking. As I said, your case is not particularly unique among young people with magic in their blood, and let's say that we "keep our ears to the ground" for such particular incidents. As for why we haven't reached out to you until now, well I think my sister and myself when I say that we regret not being able to help you or other young witches sooner," Ellen sighs and nods in agreement, "but the fact is that withholding training until you reach this age is quite a necessity. Now for the main point," Vivian pauses and holds out her hand, which glows again as a sheet of paper appears. "In order for me to confirm your scholarship, you must first agree to major in my department and to become a member of the sorority supervised by my sister."

"We call it the Raven Coven," Ellen pipes in.

"I trust those are acceptable to you, Miss Isabelle?" Vivian asks. "Also, before you ask anymore questions, the final important issue we need to discuss relates to your magic, or rather your lack of control. For you see we actually have an immediate way to address that issue."[color="Silver"]

[GreaterGood]

Isabelle looks up at the sisters before looking back at the agreement. Then back at the two of them. Then at the papers. She scoots her chair up to the desk and sets the paper down in front of her, flipping through the pages free of care. She glances over a couple of words that were potentially concerning, but she assumed it was all just legalese. One thing did stand out to her, though.

"By agreeing to this document," It says, "The signer hereby forfeit autonomy to the signee (Rho Alpha Nu). The signee designated the signer's 'Fae-Parent' is-"

"Legally considered the signer's parent," Isabelle reads aloud, "And is allowed to do as they please, as they are considered to be acting in loco parentis..."

Isabelle looks back at them, raising an eyebrow.

"So... signing this legally makes me a kid?" Isabelle asks, "I mean... I'm sure you have a reason, but if I'm gonna sign this... don't I get to know why?"

[theJozza]

"Well that relates to that solution I was referring to," Vivian says straightening up in her chair. She's actually impressed by the young lady for taking the time to read through the contract like that. Honestly the majority of their new admissions just glance through or don't bother once they hear all the rest. Goes to show that as she'd suspected from her file, Isabelle had potential she just needed proper guidance. Guidance that Vivian and her sister, could provide. "You see, Isabelle, the magical energy inside a witch grows as they do, typically peaking when they enter adulthood. Surges and flare ups are common in that period, moreover you seem to possess a particularly strong amount of magic."

"I'll say," Ellen speaks up. "If half the reports we got on you are true you're one of the most powerful new candidates we've gotten in years."

"Indeed," Vivian says, now standing and walking over in front of Isabelle's chair. "However, your magical energy is still quite unstable, but we have a spell that can fix that. But, it carries a rather significant side effect. Namely complete, but temporary, incontinence." Vivian says bluntly. This was usually the part where their new arrivals would lose their composure so she starts to brace. Of course, this meant they were getting closer to Ellen's favorite part, and she slowly starts to smile and grip the handle on her bag.