More than Appearances

by KidatHeart5

The University of Clerval

Lavenza 1862

20 years had passed since beloved Alabaster died, but Eliza and her daughters always kept him close to their hearts. Shortly after Al had passed on, Eliza commissioned for a piece of his gem to be placed inside pieces of jewelry made for each girl. Eliza put her piece of Al’s gem in a see-through necklace, Garnet had a bracelet holding her piece, Teardrop had a ring that displayed her piece, and Juno got a brooch showcasing her piece on her chest. The rest of Alabaster’s gem was displayed in a glass case along with his shattered blade. Garnet despised the blade because it had killed her father, but she eventually moved past it and learned to accept circumstances as it happened.

It took a while for the family to live without Alabaster, but they found it easier to cope with his absence by remembering him and doing great deeds of heroism. Honoring Alabaster’s memory was what set Eliza and the girls on the path of becoming defenders of the people. They became skilled warriors and merciful guardians of the poor and innocent. They soon became famous and on-call many times. To alleviate the burden fame had on the Geneves, Eliza took it upon herself to teach other magic-users to fight for the people.

One night, the Geneves held a ball at their manor. After much dancing and celebrating, Eliza called the crowd’s attention to her and her daughters.

She said, “Thank you, one and all, for coming tonight. As you probably know, my daughters and I have been sent a letter from the University of Clerval.” After the guests clapped for them, Eliza continued, “The staff wants my daughters to attend their distinguished school while I will teach a class in the art of witchcraft. It is a high honor for us all and we hope to make the best of our time at the university.” She then joked, “That is, if no monster out there needs busting.”

This elicited laughter from the crowd.

“Even though I hope that is not the case, my daughters and I will be on-call whenever needed. After all, it is our mission to protect and serve the people. Now I hope I can serve the university with the best of my abilities. Thank you.”

There was clapping once more.

---

The day after the ball, Eliza and the girls packed their bags and left in a carriage. The women were all aflutter and nervous about what the semester would bring.

Juno said in excitement, “I can’t wait to see what the curriculum is!”

Teardrop asked, “Do you think they have astronomy? History? Experimental science?”

Garnet said, “It’s a university, Teardrop. Experimental science is restricted to laboratories and such.”

Eliza said, “Still, it never hurts to know what science can solve that magic can’t.”

The eldest sister scoffed, “Yeah, like magic can’t solve everything.”

“It doesn’t, you know. Only few people can bring dead people back to life and feelings brought on by magic spells are no replacement for genuine feelings.”

Teardrop asked, “Mom, what can science do that magic can’t?”

Eliza suggested, “For those without magic, it helps explain even simple phenomenon like floating objects and chemical reactions. I, for one, think that new scientific discoveries could help improve and enhance magic. It might even explain the mechanics of a magic curse and if there were simple properties that could reverse such spells in case certain conditions of an individual curse aren’t met.”

The girls sat in silence until Juno pointed out, “She does have a point.”

Garnet said as she put her chin on her hand, “All right, you got me hooked.”

Teardrop said as she showed off her ring, “After all, Dad was kind of a mix of both science and magic.”

“Sure wish we could’ve brought his books along.”

Eliza offered, “I’ll have them mailed to the university by the end of the week.”

Juno asked, “So, by the way, what are you going to be teaching in your witchcraft class?”

“Oh, just the basics and, of course, the new developments. I’m always open to new ideas.”

Garnet smirked, “Is that why you fell for Dad?”

“Well, I was more unsettled by your dad when I first met him. Eventually, his tales of his culture and the technology they possessed intrigued me and made me interested in melding magic and science together. I would like to learn more about science in my spare time.”

Teardrop suggested, “Well, maybe we can take some science courses. That way, everything’s up-to-date and simplified for everyone to read.”

Garnet asked skeptically, “’Everyone’?”

Teardrop added sheepishly, “Virtually.”

---

Soon, they arrived in the city of Clerval, a metropolis of commerce and education. The carriage took the Geneves to a row of cottages reserved for students and teachers living on-campus. After the bags were unloaded and carried by aides, Mrs. Brach arrived to show the ladies around.

The old lady told the Geneves, “Not much room, I’m afraid. How was your journey?”

Eliza responded, “It was fine, thank you. We made very good progress in the mountains.”

“Good. I am pleased.” When she saw her sheepdog licking Teardrop’s hands, she chuckled, “Putzi seems to like you.”

Teardrop smiled as she petted the dog, “I like her, too.”

Brach opened the door of one cottage and said, “This is your living space for the semester. I hope it’s to your liking.”

The Geneves gazed inside and found that despite its relatively small size, it was beautifully decorated with expensive cloths and delicate antiques. The girls loved every bit of it.

Eliza smiled, “It’s perfect.”

After they got settled in, Eliza and her daughters toured around the campus. Many people recognized them and asked for advice and autographs. Afterwards, Eliza met up with the dean of the university and saw the large lecture room she was going to be teaching in. She was quite amazed to learn that many people wanted to take her class. She and the girls used the next few days to prepare for the semester and acquaint themselves with fellow students and professors. When the semester finally started, masses of people flooded into Eliza’s lecture hall. She greeted every one of them until she saw a grim-faced man standing by the doorway.

She stared at him for a while until one of the students took notice and whispered to her, “That’s Professor Krempe. Don’t mind him.”

This gave Eliza a bit of confidence and she turned to her students, saying, “Good afternoon, class! I am Elizabeth Geneve, your instructor for this class. I am very honored to have the opportunity to teach the fine art of witchcraft and its techniques.”

Professor Krempe gave a cough as he muttered, “Not unlike science.”

Eliza gave him a glance that was a mixture of irritation and confusion and continued to the students, “I have studied magic for a long time and I would like to share my knowledge with you.” She then noticed two students talking to each other. She decided to test them by pointing the rod at them and asking, “You there. Is there anything you’d like to say?”

The other students turned to face the pair, a male and a female. The girl stood up and answered, “We apologize for any disrespect we caused you. It’s just that my friend and I were talking about the possibilities of blending science and magic together.”

Krempe huffed, “As if the two can be combined at all.”

Eliza suggested, “Well, there was alchemy in the medieval ages.”

He scoffed, “Alchemy can hardly be considered a science, nor can it be considered magic!” He turned to the girl student and asked, “What is your name?”

The student answered, “Justine, sir. Justine Waldman.”

Eliza smiled as she pointed her finger at Justine, “Ah…I knew you looked familiar.”

Justine nodded, “Yes, ma’am. I took your Lavenza Defenders classes and learned how to fight with my magic.”

Krempe then sarcastically said, “Oh-ho. A teacher’s pet.”

That just about did it for Eliza and she retorted to Krempe, “Professor, this room may belong to the university, but it does not give you the right to heckle my students. No matter where I teach, on or off the campus, I will not allow for my students to be undermined like this. Good day to you, sir.”

Stunned silence befell the room until Krempe harrumphed, “Well, I never!” He left the room in an irritated huff.

The students couldn’t believe Eliza had just told a professor off like that. Even Eliza couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t stand seeing others being disrespected in such a way or worse, but now she wondered if telling Krempe off was the right thing to do.

---

At the end of the day, word of Eliza’s rejoinder had spread across the campus. After class was over for the day, a secretary of Dean Schiller visited Eliza and told her to meet with her employer. When the time came, Eliza went to the dean’s office and knocked on the door.

A voice beckoned from the other side, “Enter.” When Eliza opened the door, Schiller gestured to a seat in front of the desk and said, “Have a seat.”

Eliza then sat down and said, “So, I guess I know what this is about.”

Schiller nodded, “Yes, the…riposte you gave Krempe early this afternoon. And I must say I couldn’t be more impressed by it.”

Eliza looked at him with surprise and asked, “What?”

“Professor Krempe’s not the easiest person to be around with at the university. He’s a very stubborn man who thinks everything should be a certain way. He’s very intelligent in scientific matters, but emotionally, he’s hardly knowledgeable.”

Eliza crossed her arms and said, “If he made a good impression today, I hardly saw it.”

“Well, thing is he’s a bit grumpy that you’re teaching in the classroom he usually teaches in.”

She nodded in understanding, “Oh.”

“He doesn’t think very highly of women. He grew up in what you might call a male-dominated environment. Not much of a female influence on him. Just remember: if he gives you any grief whatsoever, ignore it unless it’s something truly disgraceful.”

“And you’re telling me this why?”

“Well, you look like the sort of person to be open around.”

“Except Krempe. Okay, he was more open about his views than his gentility. I’ve yet to meet a person who’s withdrawn around me.”

“I must say, Miss Geneve, you really know how to stand up to a person like Krempe. I’m surprised to hear such a thing about a newly-hired teacher.”

“I confess, I have clairvoyance. I saw parts of the incident before it happened, so I knew what to expect.”

“Oh. Did it take you a lot of thought to come up with what you were going to say?”

“Well, no. I just said things that felt right to me.”

Schiller chuckled, “Always the heartfelt hero, huh?”

Eliza smiled, “Yep.”

---

Over the course of several weeks, Eliza grew more confident in teaching her fellow students. In fact, two in particular were excelling her class. Not surprisingly, Justine was one of them. However, the other – Kenneth Frankenstein – had no magical abilities, yet he was hard at work and absorbing the information Eliza offered. One might wonder if Ken was related to the well-known Victor Frankenstein, who was rumored to have created a hideous creature from bits of corpses. The Frankenstein story was made known by an author friend of Captain Walton’s sister. One night, Eliza invited Justine and Kenneth to her cottage while her daughters were out on the town with the campus friends they made during the semester.

Justine said as Eliza got some tea ready, “Thanks for inviting us over, Ms. Geneve. It’s such a huge honor.”

Eliza smiled, “The pleasure is all mine, Justine.”

Kenneth said, “So, Ms. Geneve, what’s it like being a witch of your prowess?”

Eliza answered as she brought the tea to her guests, “Well, part of my magic’s hereditary, but for the most part, I had to hone my gifts so I’d do something worthwhile.”

“I bet crimefighting must take a lot of practice and extraordinary abilities.”

“Well, it’s not easy, but I was inspired by Alabaster and his need to defend the people.”

Justine asked in amazement, “You were friends with Alabaster?”

“Yes.” She then smirked as she showed her necklace, “Why do you think I have a piece of his gem in my necklace?”

Ken breathed, “Wow. You two must’ve been really close.”

Eliza said, “You could say that. When he came to Lavenza, my family and I were the only ones compassionate towards him. Naturally, we became fast friends and I helped him on his adventures sometimes.”

Justine smiled, “Lucky.”

“After he passed on, I decided to honor his memory by practicing his styles of fighting and eventually finding my own technique to protect the people from any threats. Al is also the reason why I think science and magic can be blended, because he was a combination himself.”

The two students looked at her with gaped expressions. Kenneth said, “No way. You’re kidding, right?”

Justine exclaimed, “I thought he was pure magic!”

Eliza shook her head, “Nope. Where he came from, science and magic existed as one. People had special gems that made them who they were and they could use their stones to pull stuff out at will.”

“Like when Alabaster pulled his blade out from the gem on his knee!”

“Exactly!”

Kenneth asked, “Ms. Geneve, do you have any more information about where Alabaster came from?”

Eliza had prepared an answer for that sort of question, however dishonest it might’ve been. She only did it to protect others from the Diamonds in case the superior Gems somehow found their way to this dimension.”No, I don’t, unfortunately. Alabaster only told me so much because he wanted to keep me safe from any threats from his birthplace.”

The students looked disappointed, but Justine asked, “But haven’t you always wanted to know how science and magic could be combined like in the case of Alabaster?”

Eliza answered, “Believe me, I do. Even I don’t know how exactly it was possible for Alabaster. I’m planning to learn about science once my teaching is finished. I think that combined with my knack for witchcraft, I could make the impossible happen.”

Kenneth said, “That’s what we want, too. We want to make history as the first two people who combined magic and science together as one.”

Eliza chuckled, “You remind me of Victor Frankenstein. By the way, are you related to him?”

“He was the brother of my great-grandfather, Ernest Frankenstein.”

“Oh, wow! That’s amazing!”

“Yeah. I’m hoping to take up Victor’s work someday and combine magic with science to make it better than before.”

Eliza smirked, “Is that why you’re taking my class?”

“Yes.”

Justine touched Ken’s hand as she said, “Reading about Frankenstein’s exploits made me interested in what science could do. There are advances in medicine, new research involving biology, and so much more. Ken and I are exchanging information of our expertise and we hope to combine it into something extraordinary.”

Eliza said, “I just hope that if you’re reviving Frankenstein’s work, you won’t use corpses.”

Ken shook his head, “Oh, nothing like that. Human corpses, that is. No, we’re thinking of using bits of animals so it’d have fur to cover up any scars it’ll have. We’ll keep it in the lab to hide it from the rest of the world.”

Justine turned to Ken and asked, “Wait, I thought we were giving it human intelligence.”

“And that’s where your magic will come in. We’ll give it enough smarts to make it the first anthropomorphic being in the world.”

Eliza remarked, “Wow. Sounds like you have a lot of plans.”

Ken said, “Yeah. Oh! Have you read The Man That Was Used Up?”

“By Edgar Allan Poe? Yes.”

Justine said, “You see, we want to create a person with material limbs instead of actual limbs. Since stitching a person together would be too gruesome and the result would be less than pleasant, we could make a man out of guts and artificial limbs.”

Ken said, “Since wood is not really hardy in certain situations, we’re thinking about using metal for the limbs instead.”

Eliza said, “I hear metal is very heavy.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll work out something.”

“Well, then, what can I do except wish you both good luck on this endeavor?”

Justine smiled, “Thanks. I’m sure we’ll need it.”

---

After weeks of experimenting and testing in the warehouse they set up their work in, Justine and Kenneth knew they weren’t getting anywhere with their efforts to create life in a different way.

Justine groaned in exasperation, “That’s it, I quit! We’ve tried everything! Your great-great uncle’s findings, crystal divination, the latest research by witches and scientists! Nothing! Just plain nothing!”

Ken tried to calm her, “We’ll find something else that’ll work, Justine. Something that will be easy to combine both science and magic. Don’t give up yet.”

Justine sighed, “Ken, you make it sound so simple. But it’s impossible. Why were we foolish enough to believe that it could actually work?”

“Hey, I’m not willing to give up yet. We’re going to find a way to create a chimera and a metal man even if it takes us a million years.”

“But…”

Ken put his hand on his beloved’s shoulder and said, “Listen…” He then began to sing, “I know you’re scared…and I know what you’ve been through…Look in my eyes…Can you see I’m frightened, too? So let’s take one step at a time…I won’t give up…That’s one thing I swear to you, miss…For it’s said by the wise, ‘Keep your eyes on the prize’…And I’ve got my eyes on this…

“It’s hard to trust…when you’ve been misunderstood…but starting now…we’ll be treated like we should…So let’s take this ride till it’s through…I won’t give up…That’s one thing I swear will be true…Justine, don’t give in…We’re stronger than they ever knew…When we make life…making history’s what we’ll do…for it’s said by the wise, ‘Keep your eyes on the prize’…And I’ve got eyes on this…”

When he handed her a wrench, Justine nodded and set to work with him. After a long day of failed experiments and disappointment, Ken saw Justine was losing hope again. He comforted her by singing, “Let’s not give up…That’s one thing I swear will be true…for it’s said by the wise, ‘Keep your eyes on the prize…And I’ll keep my eyes…on you…” He then kissed her on the lips to make her feel better. Justine was pleasantly surprised by the kiss and wanted another one when the door suddenly knocked.

Ken asked, “Yes?”

The door opened to reveal a messenger, who said, “Kenneth Frankenstein and Justine Waldman, Dean Schiller has requested your presence in his office immediately.”

Author's Note:

The song Ken sings is “I’ve Got My Eyes on You” from Princess Jasmine’s segment in Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams.

Comments

[Tracelander]

Lol! I laughed so hard when I read I've got My Eyes on you. Not exactly what I was expecting for a Frankenstein story but good nevertheless!