Return of the Runebound Professor

Alexandra was having a bad day. Perhaps that was just being melodramatic. All things considered, it definitely could have been a worse day. She was alive. That hadn’t been a certainty during the previous night.

Her soul had been shredded to the point where it had been one strong gust from blowing away. Now it was nearly fixed. She could still feel the hairline fractures slowly sealing over as the last of the damage faded, but the damage was minimal enough that it could be ignored.

Surviving having made a Fragment of Self should have been a pretty good reason to have a great day. She’d been very much planning on one.

Unfortunately, Noah had seen fit to conscript her.

“I have a question.” Sticky’s hand raised high into the air. She sat amidst a semicircle of demons and humans alike, all of whom were staring at Alexandra with enough intensity to bore holes into her head. They were drinking in every single word she said, and Alexandra hated every single second of it.

“Yes?” Alexandra asked wearily.

Sticky scratched her nose with her free hand. “I don’t get it.”

“That,” Alexandra said, “is not a question.”

“Oh. I don’t get it?”

It wasn’t that she was mad or annoyed at the questions — even though this was something around the 500th one she’d gotten in the past ten minutes. She didn’t mind trying to help out. Helping was fun. It was like practicing. At least, that’s what she’d managed to convince herself of after Noah had told her she’d be teaching.

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

Helping was only fun when she actually knew the answers. Everyone here was staring at her like she was some form of saint. They all expected her to know what she was doing, but the fact of the matter was she simply didn’t.

Sure, she understood enough of her pattern to do it herself. But finding out how to translate that knowledge into something someone else could use… the more she tried to explain, the less she realized she actually truly knew.

“I think it’s the part where I have to be one thing,” Sticky said, lowering her hand and frowning. “I like food. I also like dancing. And singing. And playing. How do I choose just one of those things to be my pattern if it’s got to represent me as a complete whole? I don’t just want to be one thing.”

Alexandra hesitated.

Shit. That’s a good point. I don’t want to be one thing either, do I? No, that’s not what patterns are. They don’t constrain you. It’s an application of something that we find really important, right? More like a motivation for life… or something.

It took a supreme force of will for Alexandra to keep her eye from twitching at that thought.

Or something. What am I supposed to do, say that? It’s completely uninspirational! Anyone who heard it would probably keel over and give up on the spot. I’m a horrible teacher. Why is Noah making me do this? Is he a sadist?

She sent him a desperate look. Noah just grinned.

Sadist bastard. I’ll get him for this.

“Uh… a pattern doesn’t have to be the only thing you do,” Alexandra stammered, realizing she’d taken far too long to respond to Sticky’s question. “I mean, it should be very important, but it can be a dream too. A goal you have for yourself. Something that motivates you, maybe? It’s not an exact science. But I don’t think you should look at a pattern like an emotion that demons need to consume. It’s more like an overarching theme for your life.”

Is that right? That seems right. I think that’s right. It sounds good. Actually, now that I think about it, it sounds pretty accurate. Why didn’t I think of that before it was leaving my mouth?

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“I see,” Sticky said with a frown. She scratched her chin. “What do you think my pattern is?”

“I can’t answer that question for you,” Alexandra said, thankful for an easy question. “Only you can. It’s not something that can be forced. You need to really think about what you want in life and what motivates you. And honestly, it’s a good thing you can’t force it. When I managed to create my Fragment of Self, I shattered my soul in the process. Imagine what would happen if everyone made one close together.”

“That would be ill-advised,” Noah said, finally stepping up to speak for the first time since the class had started. “If anyone feels like they’re getting their pattern to the point where it seems likely it’ll manifest a Fragment of Self, I’d request that you let me know so I can properly prepare. We do not want two people doing it at the same time.”

“Definitely not,” Alexandra agreed with a grimace. “I wouldn’t be worried about suddenly stumbling into a Fragment of Self, though. You should keep practicing as hard as you can for now. It caught me by surprise, but looking back, there was a definite feeling I had that I was getting really in-tune with my pattern. Once you get there, let me know. Then we can take things slower and we can try to focus on approaching the Fragment carefully.”

That should buy me some time to actually figure out what’s going on. The demons shouldn’t be anywhere close to making patterns that really represent themselves yet. As for Isabel and the other students… well, they’re a bit behind me. Not a lot. But enough that I can definitely buy myself a week to actually figure out what in the Damned Plains I’m doing. There’s no way any of them—

James’ hand rose into the air.

“Yes?” Alexandra asked, blinking away surprise. It was rare that James volunteered himself for anything. “Do you have a question?”

“No,” James said.

She stared at him. “Then… why is your hand in the air?”

“You said to come forward when your pattern feels like it’s close to finished. I’m pretty sure mine is there.” James let out a yawn and dropped his hand. “I’m pretty happy with it.”

You can’t be serious. Wait. Maybe this is a good thing. If he makes a Fragment of Self, then won’t he have to teach a class as well? That means I won’t have to do everything myself!

“You think your pattern is close to being completed? Do you know what it is?”

“What did you do to make it?” Vrith asked, studying James intently. “Why are you ahead of your other peers? Did you and Alexandra utilize some special technique?”

Yes, yes. Perfect! Ask him the questions!

“Dunno. Ask her,” James said through a shrug. “My pattern is nothing, so you can consider this as practicing. And I do it because my favorite thing in the world is doing nothing.”

Emily let out a sigh. “Don’t even bother trying to figure anything out from him. Every time I try, we just end up going to sleep in a meadow.”

Vrith examined them for a moment. “Has it helped?”

“Yes,” James said.

“No,” Emily said. She hesitated for a moment. “But it was very relaxing.”

“I’d charge for napping classes if I could be bothered,” James said. “But I can’t. If you want to go sleep in a field, do it. Don’t bother me about it. Anyway, that’s all. I’m going to bed now. Let me know if I have to do anything, professor. Just tell me tomorrow. I don’t want to do it right now.”

“Did you just call me professor?” Alexandra asked, her eye twitching.

“Wait,” Isabel said with a worried frown. “Shouldn’t you not do nothing? What if you accidentally form your rune?”

“Don’t worry. I won’t,” James said. “Not today, at least.”

“How do you know?” Todd asked. “Aren’t you technically always partaking in your pattern?”

“Well, you do have to put some magical energy into a pattern for it to manifest a rune,” Alexandra put in. “So it’s unlikely you’d manage to form one entirely by accident. I think it should be fine.”

“Ah. Good,” James said. “That sounds like it would be more effort than I feel like expending right now. Then I’ll be…”

He suddenly trailed off, the lazed expression clinging to his face tightening as his head tilted to the side.

Then his features twisted in horror.

James blurred, twisting out of the way and rolling to the side. The movement was faster than Alexandra had ever seen him move — so fast that she almost missed the start of the motion. That wasn’t something she’d thought he was capable of.

But, possibly more concerning than that was the blade of shadows that rose from the ground and passed through the air where James had been moments before. Darkness stretched out of the trail its passing left behind, rapidly forming into the shape of a man.

Alexandra’s hand shot to her sword and she lowered herself into a fighting stance, only pausing when she realized that the terror in James’ eyes wasn’t that of surprise. It looked more like…

Recognition.

“Shit,” James said. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”

A row of pointed teeth split the shadowy figure’s face, pulling apart into a wide, sharp-toothed smile. The darkness fell away from the man’s form, revealing a shark-faced man with dead eyes and bright orange hair. He wore a tattered robe with sharp, pointed lapels that rose up around his neck like a cone.

The man raised his hand to tip an imaginary hat, dropping his scythe in the process. He realized his mistake an instant later and stuck a foot out, somehow managing to kick the weapon back into the air and grabbing it before it could mistakenly cut anyone. The man lowered the scythe gingerly and cleared his throat before giving them another grin. “I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”