Azsuna: The Academy's Secret
Lyra, Trixie, and Azuregos quickly made their way back to where Prince Farondis, and his formally loyal subject Thaldrys, had been left standing and facing each other, though as they approached them, however, the trio noticed that a group of spirits had arrived and were calling their prince all sorts of names. Apparently all of them believed that their prince was some sort of murderer that had killed them all for defying their Queen, which was certainly true from all of the books they had been able to find, but at the same time the spirits were wrong. If they had sided with the Legion they would have either been killed as well or turned into demons to further the destruction of Azeroth, which meant that either way they cut it the spirits would have been killed either way.
While they waited, mostly for the spirits to leave, Trixie took it upon herself to head over to the living elves that they had talked to earlier and told them the news, leaving Lyra to keep an eyes on the prince. The two siblings seemed happy with the news that Trixie and her friends had gathered the items they needed, so much so that the sister told the story about Queen Azshara and the betrayal of Prince Farondis... while at the same time blasting her brother with fireballs in the process, which only seemed to stagger him for a few seconds. Once the siblings had settled down, and started working with what trixie had brought them, Trixie bowed out and returned to Lyra and Azuregos.
Lyra stood there for a few more moments, patiently waiting for the spirits to leave the prince alone, before the small group of spirits actually departed and she was allowed to approach him, though she did notice that his mood immediately lifted once he noticed that she was in front of him.
"Ah, Lyra, what news do you bring?" Prince Farondis asked, while at the same time ignoring the glare that Thaldrys was sending his way, because he wanted to hear what Lyra was going to tell him.
"Athissa, the leader of the naga forces that have been attacking Nar'thalas, has been forced to retreat," Lyra replied, noticing that Trixie and Azuregos were happy to hear this news, especially since they had been occupied with attacking the naga forces around the ruins, "though as she fled she proclaimed that her forces would find the Tidestone and that it belonged to their leader."
"She spoke of the Tidestone?" Prince Farondis said, as if he was actually surprised that the naga would know about the existence of the artifact, before he smiled for a second, "That sea witch must not realize how close she truly is to finding it. We should move quickly now... we are close to your prize, and the naga are circling in."
"Indeed." Trixie said, knowing that the time had come for them to move quickly, so they could secure the artifact before the naga found where its resting place, "So, where to next?"
"The echoes of Nar’thalas still haunt me, and I cannot bear the pain of this accursed town any longer." Prince Farondis commented, referring to the spirits that were constantly calling him names and distracting him from their task, though he also seemed glad to have them as allies, "I may still be able to get you closer to the Tidestone... however, we will need to skirt around the edge of town. Follow me."
Prince Farondis brought them over to the building that was on the left of them, after they walked across the bridge that brought them to Nar'thalas, and carefully took them down the staircase that was in the building. When they reached the lowered level of the building they were attacked by another angry spirit, though this one was intent on harming them, to which the prince obliterated the spirit with a swift wave of his hand and a burst of arcane energy. They then followed the prince outside the building and continued down the path that he was following, where he blasted apart the spirits and the murlocs that chose to attack them.
Lyra was still surprised that the spirit of Prince Farondis had this much power left inside his body, but she was glad that he was still on their side... though before she could say anything they reached another bridge and Prince Farondis stopped, allowing the group to stare up at the large building that was in front of him.
"Here, the Nar’thalas Academy. This is where it all happened." Prince Farondis told them, looking up at the large building and remembering something from the past, before he shook his head and focused on them again, "This sunken structure, on the other side of this bridge, was once called Nar’thalas Academy: the center of magical studies in all of Azeroth during the time when I was alive. You should have seen her in her full splendor. The Tidestone should be locked up somewhere inside it's halls. I dare not enter the building, but you, my friends, you may enter with my blessing."
"Actually, I think that this is something that one of us should tackle alone," Trixie commented, causing Lyra and Azuregos to look over at her for a moment, as if she had lost her mind, to which she beckoned to the naga that were still attacking the ruins, "Athissa is still out there and she said that she was going to return with some more forces, so someone has to make sure that her army is stalled long enough forus to secure the Tidestone... and besides, I know the most about magic, so it makes sense for me to go in there."
"The part about knowing the most about magic is debatable," Azuregos said, though at the same time he laid a hand on Trixie's shoulder, "but if you want to go in there, and find the Tidestone on your own, then I won't stop you... besides, I'm eager to show the naga the fury of a dragon."
Trixie chuckled as she glanced over at Lyra, who merely shook her head, indicating that she believed this to be a bad idea, before beckoning for her to enter the academy, meaning that she also believed that Trixie had the skills necessary to find and secure the Tidestone. Once the two of them were fine with her entering the building, alone, Trixie walked across the bridge and followed the stairs up to the entrance, where she found that part of the inside was actually broken... giving her a walkway that allowed to delve deeper into the academy. She then walked down to the lower level and immediately spotted the spirits of the dead mages still practicing their skills, as if they hadn't noticed that they were actually dead.
The spirits ignored her as she made her way around to the stairs, which allowed her to walk down to where another group of mages were practicing... though as she looked around she was stopped by one of the mages that reminded her of the instructors Khadgar had introduced her to back when she started training in Dalaran.
"A new student?" the male instructor asked, though when he noticed that Trixie had no idea what he was talking about, however, he seemed to sigh as he prepared to tell her something, "I am Thyrillion, the Academy Curator, and this is Andellis, the Librarian. Now stop right where you are standing. Look at you! You look like you just walked in off of the street. Where are your robes and hat? And don’t tell me you’ve entered the academy without your wand and spellbook. Freshmen. Pull yourself together, and maybe then I will consider letting you enter the academy."
"And a moment, if you please." Andellis said, causing Trixie to look over at her for a moment, wondering what else she needed to do next, "One problem with maintaining such a large arcane library is that the books often pick up an errant enchantment and start darting about on their own. These overmagicked books need to be destroyed before they cause any further damage. If you encounter any of these exasperating essays, please put them down. Quietly."
Trixie counted off the items she needed in her head as she walked away from the two elven mages, knowing that she needed to borrow a set of robes, a hat, a wand, and a spellbook, as well as take out a few enchanted tomes. Her luck turned for the better as she approached the two mages that were practicing on the same level as the two elves she had walked away from, where she found a bookcase that had a book sticking out of it. With the book in hand Trixie turned to the two mages that were practicing under their instructor's orders, where she watched as one of them had their hat knocked off a few seconds later. She waited for a few seconds and watched as the elf picked it back up, though a few seconds later it went flying off again, to which Trixie quickly collected it and moved on... while making sure to pull her own hood back and place the spirit wizard hat on her head.
She then walked back up the stairs and looked around for anything else she could borrow, where she ignited her magic and took out one of the floating spellbooks that Andellis told her to take out. Not a few seconds later she spotted a mage that had her back turned to Trixie, where she noticed a wand that was left out in the open, though as she claimed it she heard the mage mentioning that she must have been reading the same scroll for ten thousand years and still didn't understand any of it. She paused for a moment, where she noticed that Aluneth seemed to disappear thanks to the wand and spellbook, but she decided not to focus on that as she moved forward. As she searched for a robe that she could wear, for now anyway, she took out a second flying spellbook that was near her... to which she found a sleeping spirit, which could provide the robe she needed.
As she gently removed the robes from the spirit, all without waking the spirit in the process, she carefully pulled it on and found that she was now covered in the same aura that surrounded all of the spirits around her, making her look more like them... despite the fact that she was more dragon than any of them. She carefully erased one more flying spellbook before feeling that she had completed the tasks that the two elves had set her out on, to which she walked down the stairs and walked back up to where they were standing. When she stopped in front of the two elves, however, she decided to tell Andellis the news first, though she suspected that both of them would be quite pleased with her.
"Don’t worry about the scattered pages and spines, I will have my aides clean up." Andellis said, though she sounded pleased with what Trixie had done, almost as if she believed that Trixie was actually one of their students this time around, "Thank you. You may return to your studies."
"Still trying to get into the academy, I see." Thyrillion commented, noticing that Trixie had returned to where he and Andellis were standing, "Your hat and robes don’t match, but you still look better. I hardly recognize you. Now, what was it you wanted?"
"I'm looking for the Tidestone," Trixie said, knowing that just by saying which artifact she was after, and not mentioning which Titan it was supposed to have crafted by, the spirit was likely to know which one she was talking about.
"You’re here to see the Tidestone of Golganneth?" Thyrillion asked, though when Trixie nodded her head, indicating that she was here for that one artifact, the spirit started laughing at her, as if he found something funny, before calming down and staring at her, "No, only the academy’s Headmistress has the keys to that chamber, and she hasn’t opened the door in… oh, I’d say about ten thousand years. You’d best be off to class, now. Go on, then! Into the west wing with you!"
Trixie noticed that he was beckoning to the path on her left, so she let out a sigh and approached the door, which seemed to open by her touching it. With the door out of the way, for now anyway, she walked down the path that was in front of her and came to a room that had a decent number of mages practicing their skills, as well as a lone elf that was standing in front of what she assumed was the area that the Headmistress had to be in. Trixie smiled as she crossed the entirety of the room, because it seemed that everything was going her way at the moment... until the elf in front of the Headmistress' chamber stopped her in her tracks.
"Excuse me, is the Headmistress in?" Trixie asked, knowing that if she presented herself as a student the spirits might respond to her more, because if she tried to be something like an outsider she wouldn't get any answer.
"Yes, the Headmistress is in her study, but I can’t have you bothering her right now." the spirit responded, which made Trixie silently curse that the spirit actually believed that she was a student, because it appeared to be coming back and biting her already, "Classes are about to start."
"Very well then." Trixie said, letting out a sigh as she realized that she would have to play along in order to get at the Headmistress, though at the same time she had to wonder if they would teach her something she didn't know, "What is the lesson for today, um..."
"I am Instructor Nidriel," the spirit replied, sounding a little pleased that Trixie would bother to ask who she was, while also sounding a little disappointed that Trixie forgot her name, as if she was actually a student, "We’ll start with some wand work. You have your wand with you? Good. I’ve set up a number of targets around the hall. Use your wand to hit as many as you can. And no point blank shots! That’s cheating."
Trixie glanced down at the want she was carrying, which was actually Aluneth in disguise and happened to change forms based on what the spirits around her were saying, before she noticed some targets appearing around the room. She moved into the middle of the chamber and focused on the targets, to which she waved the wand and loosed a small blast that simply hit one target. She tried the same thing on three more targets and noticed that she hit them as well, to which she continued to wave the 'wand' around and continued to hit all of the targets that phased into existence, which also faded when she hit them.
She only stopped when Instructor Nidriel coughed and beckoned for her to stop, though seeing how there weren't any time keepers down here she had to guess a few minutes had passed at least... though she would know when she reunited with Lyra and Azuregos later.
"And… it looks like we’re out of time for today’s wand practice." Instructor Nidriel said, to which she made the motion to get Trixie out of the room, once again thinking that she was just another student, "Go on, then. Off to your next class!"
Trixie sighed as she backed away from the elf, because while she knew where the Headmistress was located, she couldn't get in unless someone let her into the area... though before she could think of a plan she noticed a spirit to her left shaking his head at her.
"Would you mind?" the spirit asked, though at the same time Trixie moved closer to him, because she was sure that he might be able to help her in some way, "I’m working on a very important paper, and it’s difficult to concentrate with you neophytes shooting everything in sight."
"Sorry, I was just trying to make an appointment so I could speak with the Headmistress." Trixie commented, though at the same time she tried her hardest to sound confused, though while she disliked this sort of thing she knew that she needed to trick the spirits into helping her.
"What’s this? A new, confused student, desperately trying to win the favor of the headmistress, wandering the halls without anything to do?" the spirit said, to which Trixie mentally moaned, because while her acting had gone downhill since she arrived in Azeroth, as she hadn't needed to use her skills at all over the last seven years, she knew she shouldn't have been able to pull that off at her current level, "Perfect! I need help with my research. I’m writing a paper on combat. Grab me some books from the shelf over there."
"Sure thing, um..." Trixie replied, though once more she acted like a confused and lost student, because if things were going to go her way she might as well get the spirit's name now... just in case they needed to come back here for something in the future.
"My name is Sythorne." the spirit replied, sounding happy to have someone like Trixie ask what his name was, once again making Trixie mentally moan at how bad her acting had gotten over the years, "Now then, I just read an interesting paper on the lowly kobold. Apparently, these creatures are more fierce than their visual affordance might suggest. Fetch me a secondary reference on kobolds. I’d like to verify this hypothesis."
Trixie looked at the shelves of books that Sythorne was beckoning to and sighed, because it appeared that some of the tomes were actually damaged beyond repair, though she started her search. It took her a few seconds to actually find the book, as it had been out in the open, and she returned it to the table that the spirit wanted her to put it on, to which she found that the picture on the book came to life as a worn looking version of a kobold appeared in the middle of the room. Seeing how she was going to have to fight the creature, to progress onward, Trixie used her magic to attack the drawing that had come to life, quickly obliterating it... which made sense considering that it was only a drawing and not an actual living creature.
"Fascinating." Sythorne said, to which Trixie watched him take some notes before he turned back to her, though she had the feeling that there were more books for her to look for, "Of course, a more pressing concern to our academy is the constant encroachment of the skrogs. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that our library suffers a scarcity of information on these creatures. Find me a book on skrogs. Anything will do."
It took Trixie a whole minute to find the book in question, to which she summoned a drawing version of the sea giants that were currently roaming the area around the academy, keeping the enemies of the naga away from the building, to the best of their ability anyway. This time she studied how the drawing moved, and how it attacked, before she started blasting holes in it, eventually allowing it to crumble like the one before it.
"Lastly, I’d like to brush up on dragons. Blue dragons, to be precise." Sythorne spoke up, though it was at this point that Trixie was glad for the spirit illusion the borrowed clothing she was wearing was giving her at the moment, because it prevented the spirit from seeing that she was half dragon, "We are currently on good terms with our northerly neighbors, but should our friendship wither, it can’t hurt to know how they fight."
This time Trixie found the book in question within a few seconds, though when she summoned the drawing she noticed that it was an image of Senegos, and she had recently seen him fight in order to protect his home. The drawing of Senegos was the only one to hit her while they fought, as it managed to smack her with its tail, but she was still the stronger fighter thanks to the fact that the drawing was more brittle than she was. It took her a whole minute to defeat the drawing of the powerful blue dragon, though when that was gone she turned to the spirit and wondered if there was more for her to fight, or if she was free to try something else to reach the Headmistress.
"Research can be grueling work. My hand is beginning to tire from taking so many notes." Sythorne commented, rubbing his hand in question for a few seconds, though Trixie knew that, as a spirit, such a thing wasn't possible and that he was only reliving what had happened before his death, "I think it’s time we took a break."
"Still aching to get into the Headmistress’ study, eh?" Instructor Nidriel asked, noticing that Trixie had finished with Sythorne and hadn't gotten any closer to entering the Headmistress' study, though it appeared that she might have the solution that Trixie was looking for, "I suppose I can let you in… as long as you prove that you’ve been studying. Proper rune formation is essential when it comes to spellcasting. If you can draw a rune, you can cast a spell. I will provide outlines for you. You can simply use your feet to trace the runes. Now, trace me an arcane rune, a fire rune, and a frost rune... and make sure to trace the fifth circle in the frost rune, as almost everyone forgets that one."
Trixie smiled, as one of the first things that Khadgar had taught her was how to trace runes, with magic instead of walking around and using her feet to trace them, but she knew that she had this lesson done before it even started. The arcane rune was three circles that were touching each other, forming a triangle, and Trixie smiled as the outline appeared on the floor in front of her. She easily traced the rune with her steps, though once that was done the outline disappeared and the outline of the fire rune appeared in its place, which happened to be four circles connected on one point and getting smaller as you drew closer to the center. The final rune, the frost rune, was five circles that were connected together, forming a five pointed star of sorts, though she remembered to draw the fifth circle and completed the rune.
With the lesson complete, just like she knew it would be, Trixie turned back to the instructor and smiled, because she was one step closer to the Tidestone at long last.
"Exemplary work, young Trixie. With runes like these, you’ll be graduating in no time." Instructor Nidriel said, sounding pleased with Trixie's progress, though she grew serious a few seconds later, "I can see you’re anxious to see the Headmistress and am worried that you might consider stopping your studies in order to visit her, so I have come to a conclusion. Headmistress Azuremoon can be found up ahead, though I doubt she will enjoy being interrupted."
Trixie smiled as the arcane wall came down and allowed her to enter the Headmistress' 'study', though the spirit in question merely waved a hand as Trixie entered the area, throwing the wall back up almost immediately after Instructor Nidriel brought it down.
"Yes, yes, what is it?" Headmistress Azuremoon asked, though she sounded impatient, as if she was pissed off about something and might take her anger out on Trixie, "If this is about the evocation final, then the answer is no, you may not take it again."
"Actually, I came to ask if you could lead me to the Tidestone of Golganneth." Trixie said, once more falling back on trying to be nice to the spirits and come across as a friend, but this time she suspected that this wasn't going to work.
"You what!?" Headmistress Azuremoon exclaimed, which meant that Trixie was wrong to have asked her to lead her to where the artifact was resting, "You ARE aware that the Tidestone Chamber is under quarantine, and has been so since the very day of Prince Farondis’ betrayal, correct?"
"One of the instructors may have mentioned that…" Trixie lied, hoping to salvage this somehow, because she really didn't want to get into a fight with the spirit at the moment.
"And you are ALSO aware that infringement upon said quarantine carries punishments as severe as death or even detention, correct?" Headmistress Azuremoon asked, though her tone told Trixie that she might have overstayed her welcome this time.
"No, I was not aware of that." Trixie replied, though at the same time her hand inched close to her weapon, because she suspected that things were going to turn against her and that she needed to be prepared for whatever happened.
"You students have been warned countless times. I will have to make an example of you!" Headmistress Azuremoon said, rapidly turning on where Trixie was standing, though her actions told Trixie that this would come down to a fight between them, "No talking in class! You insolent… little… AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Trixie watched as the spirit was consumed by some sort of force, transforming her into a banshee that floated there for a few moments, which was followed by the creature attacking her. Trixie and the banshee knocked each other around with their magic, proving to Trixie that Headmistress Azuremoon was supposed to be the guardian of the Tidestone, before she started to gain the upper hand. It took Trixie a minute or two to overpower the banshee's attacks before she loosed one final burst of magic and blasted the creature apart, though all that was left behind was the key that she had been searching for the entire time.
With the key in hand, and a nod given to Instructor Nidriel, Trixie crossed the room and headed back up the stairs, as she needed to speak with the elf that had sent her down there... where she found Thyrillion standing in the same place that Trixie had left him in.
"Were you able to meet with the Headmistress?" Thyrillion asked, to which Trixie nodded and held up the key that she had grabbed, to which shock crossed the spirit's face, "She… she gave you her key? My word! I suppose you can go in, then. The shattered pieces of the Tidestone of Golganneth are contained within the academy’s eastern wing. Even as curator, I cannot attest to their condition, as I have not been in to inspect them in many millennia. Oh, and please do not touch anything while you are down there."
Trixie approached the door that had been on the right of where she had been standing earlier, to which the door opened the moment she approached it with the key in hand. She walked down the steps and carefully pulled off the borrowed clothing and weapons that she had collected, all in order to speak with the Headmistress and open the door to where the Tidestone was resting. When she entered the room she noticed a fair number of spirits, banshees like the former Headmistress, floating around the ceiling, completely ignoring Trixie and giving her the opportunity to see that the Tidestone had, indeed, been shattered. At the back of the room she noticed what appeared to be the core of the ancient artifact, while she spotted the five large fragments resting around the room... to which she sighed and started collecting the pieces.
When she had the five fragments of the Tidestone, and she was sure that there weren't any other ones hidden from her sight, she approached the core... where she spotted something coming up behind her, though she was too late to do anything to save herself, as she was frozen in a block of ice a few seconds later.
"How perfectly convenient," Athissa commented, though at the same time she and her commander slithered up to the block of ice, where she stared at her prisoner and the prize that she would be collecting, "the brainless blue dragon led us right to the Tidestone. Our Queen Beneath the Tides can reassemble the pieces. As for you... you will make an acceptable slave, once you are permanently bound to a mortal form and have your powers permanently blocked."
Despite being frozen, and unable to do anything to protect herself, Trixie already knew that the naga had made a big mistake... because Lyra and Azuregos were going to save her, and then they would tear apart their enemies and recover the completed Tidestone.
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Why do I feel the last half of this quote is a Harry potter reference?
So, do the Naga see Trixie as being a full Dragon, and not a hybrid?
8430580 Full-blooded dragons, in the WoW universe anyway, come in all different shapes and sizes... so Athissa noticed Trixie's dragon features and naturally assumed that she was a full-blooded dragon that had taken of a hybrid form.
8430623
So would any spells the Naga use to bind Trixie into a "mortal form" just lock her into being a hybrid, unable to transform into a full Dragon form? And would the spells they use to permanently block her powers have the same effect, or would they be only half as effective?
Wait, is Trixie warm or cold-blooded? She's an anthro half-pony half-dragon, so I feel this is a valid question.
8430658 Yes, the naga would try to bind Trixie to a mortal form, as it would be easier for them to haul around the body of an elf, for example, instead of a dragon... and I would say that any blocking spells the naga would use would be half effective.
As for the warm or cold blooded... honestly, I'm now sure how to even answer that. When I wrote the change into the story I never even thought about something like that... opps on my part I guess.
8430686
I guess her lower half is cold-blooded and her upper half is warm-blooded? Either way, she is going to be feeling VERY cold when she unfreezes.
8430706 Yeah, I guess it would be something like that. Though she won't be unfreezing the normal way, as according to what happens in the game Athissa and her brute shatter the ice block and knock out the person at the same time... thus allowing them to drag their 'prisoner' away. Still, she'll be feeling some of the effects when she wakes up.
8430720
So I guess extreme cold will just make her more sluggish movement wise.
8430746 In the part of the story we are in, that's about as bad as it is going to get for her.