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TheGreaterShade — A Chance Meeting, A Long Time Ago
#dueling #spiral #sylvia #malistaire #wizard101 #wizardcity #malistairedrake #cubancracker62 #sylviadrake #gammaowl #duelmasterdiego #fightscene #originalcharacter #originalcharacters #au_crossover
Published: 2019-10-25 02:02:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 1091; Favourites: 40; Downloads: 0
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*A long time ago*Fala and Roman were out for a walk before the evening curfew inevitably forced the two friends back to their dormitories. It was a sunny afternoon in Wizard City, a light breeze lingered in the warm spring air as students and residents alike lounged contently throughout the city commons. The city was alive with buzz and chatter as it began to emerge from its long winter’s rest, welcoming the change in weather as well as the changing of the seasons, and the hope of seeing the warmer months ahead.
“-So, how’s your end of the science project for the fair going Fala?” Roman asked.
“Just fine, with any luck we’ll have a bunch of miniature snow elementals yet.”
“Awesome. I can’t wait to wipe that smug grin of Nolan Stormgate’s face when we win that trophy!”
“Me too. Have you seen Marcus at all today? I need to ask him something.”
Roman grinned, “Speaking of.”
“Hey guys!” The young conjurer said as he approached, “How are the elementals doing?”
“Quite well.” Said Fala proudly, “Speaking of which did you manage to find that book on elemental growth and biology?”
Marcus rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah- About that, Professor Sylvia kinda has it checked out, don’t know why though… Unfortunately, that’s the only copy the library has… so…”
“No big deal, let’s just go and ask to borrow it from her.”
With that the young trio made their way swiftly to the Life School, striding inside with the expectation of a warm greeting, but instead finding nothing but a slightly hollowed atmosphere and a certain Gamma Owl perched upon the Life Professor’s desk. Despite his attention resting in the large tome at his feet, the Headmaster’s longtime companion maintained a careful watch over the afternoon’s silent study hall.
“Good afternoon, Fala, Marcus, Roman.” The stately owl said gesturing with a wing.
“Good afternoon Gamma, you wouldn’t by chance know where Professor Sylvia is, would you?” Marcus asked formally, the owl finally looking up from his book.
“I’m afraid she’s not here right now.”
“She’s not?” Fala asked, the owl shook his head.
“I’m sorry but she left in quite a hurry for the Dueling Arena, if you go there now you might catch her.”
“The Arena? What would she be doing there?” Marcus mused.
“Well I don’t know; her reasons are her own. You’ll have to ask her yourselves.” the old owl said escorting the trio to the door, “Now off with you, whooo!”
Roman sighed as the door was promptly shut behind them, “Well… I guess we’re going to the Arena… Race you!”
***
“Come on guy’s hurry up! It’s almost curfew!” Roman said rushing ahead as Fala and Marcus trailed behind.
“Slow down guys!” Marcus called stopping to catch his breath.
The sky bathed in the deep eventide of the sunset as the city streetlamps flickered to life. Upon opening the massive doors of the Arena, the three were greeted by the familiar sight of the Duelmaster.
“Hello my young friends.” Diego greeted warmly, “What are you three doing here so late? The Arena is closed for student sparring this evening-”
Marcus finally caught up, “We’re looking for Professor Sylvia.”
“Gamma said she might be here.” Fala finished.
“Ah, indeed she is. She’s eh… -a bit busy as the moment.”
“We just need to ask her if we can borrow something.” Roman added. “It’ll be quick.”
“Ah yes, let- let me see if she has a moment…”
The door closed, there was a moment of silence before several unintelligible shouts came from the other side. A few minutes passed before Diego greeted them once more.
“The Professor, using her exact words, is ‘a bit preoccupied.’ But if you do not mind waiting, she will be with you when she can.” The Duelmaster said.
“We can wait.” Fala said as Roman and Marcus nodded in agreement.
“In that case, please allow me-”
With a flourish of his great red cape the valencian pulled back the door so the trio could pass.
“Thanks Diego!”
“You’re most welcome.”
It felt odd walking into the empty arena lobby, the seats were empty, the sky had turned a brilliant red hue overhead, it was mostly quiet when a concussive blast boomed within the duel circle, the field becoming engulfed in thick white smoke.
“WICKED!” Roman shouted rushing for the railing.
The clashing of swords echoed within the cloud, casting off brilliant gold sparks as the wind began to carry off the smoke. There in the middle of the ring stood Sylvia Drake, clad in silver armor with green and blackened violet Dragonspyrian attire, the point of her sword resting in the loose dirt at her feet as her hands remained draped over the cross-guard.
Marcus’s jaw dropped, “No way! Professor Sylvia can wield a sword?!”
“I didn’t know she even owned a sword, let alone could lift one.” Roman said with a shrug, “Guess she’s stronger than she looks.”
“Hi Professor!” Fala shouted, to which the theurge smiled and kindly waved.
Seconds later a cloaked figure darted out of the drifting smoke, the professor deftly jumped back, as if sensing it her combatant’s movements the cloaked figure adjusted, deftly leaping behind her. Effortlessly the professor whirled around and dodged a flurry of swings from a long silver sword, before catching an overhead strike on her cross-guard. A shoving match began as the two interlocked blades were shakily forced left, right, and left again. Neither one backing down, both trying to claim the upper hand.
“Usque ad primum sanguis.” The cloaked one said slowly.
The professor nodded seeming unphased, “Usque ad primum sanguis. Nos incipere.”
“Uh- Marcus, translation please?” Fala said.
“It’s old Dragonspyrian.”
“You know the language?” Roman asked looking surprised.
“Bits and pieces, a lot of it was lost when Dragonspyre fell, the only way you’d learn it now is from someone who knows it-”
“Aren’t those people long dead?” Fala asked.
“Not quite.” A deep voice said as a long shadow fell over the three students.
At that moment Fala, Roman, and Marcus looked up to see none other than Malistaire Drake.
“Professor Drake!” Roman chimed nervously.
“Hello Roman.” The necromancy professor replied, a slight frown upon his face, “and what exactly would the three of you be doing out so late?”
Marcus’s skin when chalk white as he stuttered, “-I -I, We-”
“We’re waiting for Professor Sylvia to have a moment so we can ask to borrow a book.” Fala said quickly, stepping between her friends and the necromancer.
“-I see. Usque ad primum sanguis. To the first blood.”
“What?” Fala said.
“You wished to know what they were saying.” Malistaire turned his attention back to the duel, “In
Dragonspyre it was the way warriors initiated an informal duel in which they did not wish to cause their opponent harm.”
“Woah, that’s cool.” Marcus said. “Why don’t people do that more often?”
The necromancer’s gaze drifted to the ground, “It is as you said, Marcus, many things were lost when Dragonspyre fell. Some of those things are worth holding onto, others less so.”
A metallic shriek rang from the center of the field, as the cloaked figure tried to late to duck a blow to her face. A white scaled mask was sent flying into the air, the young woman rushed to grab it only to be stopped by the point of Sylvia’s sword pinning her in place. Moving quickly the young woman undid her cloak letting it fall and reveal the person underneath.
She was lean and lanky, adorned in simple dark clothes that contrasted her pale skin, her platinum blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail behind her head. Her grey green eyes flickered with the slightest rage as the professor retrieved her blade.
Fala began to speak, “Is that-”
“Avriel Vernal Dawnbringer, my wife’s apprentice.” The necromancer said with a slow proud nod.
“Custodiet caput tuum.” Professor Sylvia said sternly, taking up a defensive stance, “Focus.”
Avriel nodded, lowering her stance placing one hand behind her back as her professor closed the distance between them.
“What does that mean?” Roman asked, looking up at Professor Drake.
“To put it simply, she’s telling her to protect her head. The first rule of any fight: always mind your head.”
Marcus laughed nervously, “They’re not actually going to hurt each other, right?”
“Probably not, they’ve warded their blades so that the edges are magically blunted, but they can still break bones if they’re not careful.”
“And the Headmaster is fine with them doing this?!”
The Death Professor shrugged, “If it gives Avriel an outlet for her aggression as well as an opportunity to learn about her culture, then yes, these activities have his approval.”
The fight continued, Avriel leapt back drawing a dagger from the back of her belt and chucked it, with graceful ease her professor knocked it clean out of the air, the crystalline knife hitting the ground with a gentle thud.
“It would seem you are out of tricks.” Professor Sylvia said plainly, regarding the knife before her student landed a successful body slam.
The professor fell backwards, dropping her blade as Avriel seized the opportunity to snatch it.
“Concede.” Avriel declared with her professor at sword point.
“Hmm… It would seem Avriel has won for once.” Malistaire said crossing his arms, a note of proud surprise in his voice.
“So, what’s the point of all this?” Marcus asked, “They just come here after school and duke it out to their hearts content?”
“The truth of the matter has less to do with my wife fighting her own apprentice and more to do with her teaching Avriel how to control herself.”
“What do you mean?” Roman asked softly.
“Avriel is powerful yes but lacks control. Her life has been difficult thus far, and in many cases that lack of control has served her well. But not here. Putting her up against other students in her class is too risky, but Sylvia is far from a pushover. In this place Sylvia can teach her, guide her, in controlling her abilities without the possibility of someone getting seriously hurt.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
The necromancer shrugged again, “More or less, I watch, I critique, and give my wife a break if she needs to sit down or wants to switch things up.”
The Life professor smiled, seizing a small handful of dirt as she stood. “We’ll see.” She said then flung the dirt into Avriel’s face. Swiftly she dipped back managing to kick both blades from her hands, catching them before they hit the ground. Before Avriel could react, the professor rested the cold silver steel sword at her apprentice’s throat.
“Sanguis trahitur.” The professor smiled warmly, handing the young woman’s sword back to her, “You still have much to learn. Now go home and get some rest. I do believe there’s dinner waiting for you.”
Avriel bowed her head respectfully as she left the ring, “Professor, Fala, Roman, Marcus.” She said as she walked off.
“You know our names?” The three asked simultaneously.
“I know the names of many people. Maybe we’ll meet again sometime, farewell.” Avriel answered turning back a moment before striding away.
Before long the young blonde woman was beyond the doors of the arena, walking off into the night.
“Such a strange thing she is.” Professor Sylvia said as if she had suddenly appeared behind everyone. “A rare oddity if I do say so myself, now what’s this about a book?”
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Comments: 13
I’ve always appreciated a writer’s ability of construct so much from simply words, and I loved the interaction you wrote between the characters. I think one thing that I really liked about this drabble was that it portrayed Sylvia as a competent, capable fighter, and that beyond healing, she possessed a past where she once commanded an army in Dragonspyre (at least according to the boxes event lore). I think one thing I’ve noticed is that Sylvia is often portrayed based on her relevance to Malistaire, or as a gentle healer. And while she is both important to Mali, and also a soft-hearted person, it is quick to forget that she has a lot going on her own terms.
Oooh and that was why Avriel was pushed into the interview by Sylvia. She’s her apprentice, that makes so much more sense now.
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Avriel is an innately curious but wary person, with a desire to understand that which she doesn't know. Her relationship to Sylvia comes partly out of sympathy and partly to make up for a mistake. Avriel's father is dead and her mother is not in the picture, she's was on her own for 5 years and was doing alright for herself. Until one day she encounters three people from whom she couldn't escape. From that point forward her whole understanding of life and her existence is turned upside down, as the Drakes effectively knocked her out and brought her back to Wizard City. Inadvertently she's then thrown into the deep end and expected to swim but doesn't and thus struggle's to thrive in her new surroundings. So Sylvia being who she is takes it upon herself to help Avriel adjust and teach her adult the culture she never got to know. Sylvia pushing her into that interview was more about trying to help her get acquainted with people and make friends.
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Sylvia takes a lot of inferences to understand, I hate how people either portray her as a gentle healer like you said, or as a side character who just so happens to be there, or the worst one the rainbows and sunshine professor who's just happy ALL THE FRICKING TIME.
When I started writing stuff for her there were several things abou I had to establish.
Firstly, she and Malistaire are equals, their relationship was described by the game devs as harmoninous, a perfect cycle (life and death intertwined) so having them stand on equal footing power-wise makes sense. However I suspect Sylvia's a bit more forthright than Malistaire is in their relationship. Ambrose told us Malistaire loves power and the only thing he loves more than power is Sylvia, on top of this her monstrology page says Malistaire is clingy, so Sylvia is likely the more dominant in their relationship overall (does Malistaire have a problem with this, probably not, then again who knows)
Secondly, Sylvia is either afraid of nothing or at the very least not afraid of Malistaire. I say this is Malistaire is a person who's likely to play the intimidation card A LOT, so having a character who'd be so bold as to jump up on a table and look him in the eye and tell him he's wrong (not only that but with the power to back up that behavior) is a nice contrast. Having her be a coward or plain incompetent just doesn't make sense. If you look at her dialogue it's just so formally structured that she sounds to well-spoken to be incompetent. From her character model in the in the five boxes we're able to extrapolate that she at the very least owned a sword, having come from Dragonspyre she likely knew how to use it and quite well in my mind. If you ever bothered to look out the windows in the final room in the Avalon box, you'll notice that you're in Old Dragonspyre, meaning Malistaire, Cyrus, and Sylvia were around when the city fell, nobody survives something like that without knowing how to protect themselves reasonably well. I'd also like to imagine that nobody walks away from that without having some scars as well be they physical, emotional, or mental (did a story covering Sylvia's memories of the Titan's attack you might like it) a hint of tragedy in her character is also a nice touch. I'm merely wonder if she would ever have told her students, or have openly admitted her past if asked, in my mind she wouldn't seem like one to dwell upon it, whether that is because she has moved on or because it is painful to remember who knows, either is befitting of her really.
Thirdly, Sylvia is a leader or at the very least very charismatic, if in the five boxes she has the capacity to lead an entire army and conquer the entire Spiral then she would have to be able to lead and lead well, otherwise someone would have stabbed her in the back well before then. To me neither Malistaire or Cyrus really have this quality, this leads me to think that Malistaire was somewhat reliant on Sylvia for guidance in their marriage. Without Sylvia he had no one to guide him, no one to help him figure things out, no way of moving forward because he didn't really know how to, I think that's likely what drove him so far to bring her back, not so much the fact she was dead and gone, but the fact that he doesn't know how to exist without her, or he couldn't live without her.
Fourthly, Sylvia loves magic, so much so that not even a perilous future of death, war, and conquest would deter her from her studies, as well as to a point of wanting to teach. I can see her being a very clever and tactical opponent in a duel, using complex techniques to manipulate her opponents out of the gate then wanting for the right opportunity to strike. On the other hand I see Malistaire as less tactful and more brute force, because of necromancy's regenerative properties he can afford to miss out on some defense.
I definitely still think Sylvia is a kind and gentle person by nature, it takes a certain person to be a good teacher, and you have to be that if you want to teach kids. Do I think she was that way initially, no. I think her nature was exposed over time and through her relationship with her husband, I can see the younger version of Sylvia as a very intelligent, brash, fiery, thrill seeking personality that is very loyal to her country and would do anything for it. But over time and after witnessing the end of her world, I can see her as the person who ends up going on a journey in an effort to find herself and answer some big questions (what am I here for, what am I supposed to be, those kind of questions) a journey which eventually leads her to teaching magic at Ravenwood.
I could say more on the subject of her but that's the major pieces of it.
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YES! Her and Mali being equals is something that I really stand for. Mali doesn't seem like the kind of guy that is easy to impress, so Sylvia must have been one hell of a person when she was alive. And I like the point you made of Slyvia being fearless as well. It takes a lot of guts to approach someone like Mali, but at the same time, it takes a lot of patience and persistence to love someone like him. They operate like ying and yang, but both of them have to be formidable in their own rights in order to juxtapose each other, and the timid and frail Slyvia that gets painted a lot in fan lore just doesn't make sense. I mean, you can still be kind hearted by nature, but still fierce, and that is often forgotten.
And I really enjoyed reading this breakdown of her character, because it put into perspective a lot of nuances about her (and also Mali) that I didn't consider
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In addition to what I just said, I also like to believe Malistaire isn't incompetent even it comes to healing/providing first aid.
I think between the two of them, Mali and Syl both probably dabble a bit in each other's magic if only to attain a better understanding of their own. Contrast often aids in understanding, and sometimes to best way to learn is to teach, and what a better way to hone one's teaching skills than to teach another teacher?
Though why Sylvia might want to know necromancy is beyond me. Perhaps any use she might have for it is less for raising the dead and more so communing with spirits (as the life school does do that from time to time, though the spirits they seek are usually more nature based) or perhaps helping to release lost souls from their wanderings and help them cross over?
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I'm am glad someone agrees and wants to break the HORRIBLE stereotype Sylvia's character has fallen into. But attraction works both ways, if you want I have Mali's general breakdown, outside of what has already been said and prior tio his going insane. If not just skip this...
I like to think Malistaire is a bit of a hidden gentleman. He puts up a very intimidating and brusque exterior but beneath that he's actually a bit softer and more delicate than some people may think. I see him as not only as a great studious practitioner of the magical arts but also as a patron of the arts in general. A lover of classical music (because under his scratched out favorite things on the W101 site it says symphonies), literature, philosophy, (because of what he was doing in the five boxes) and maybe through astronomy onto the pile (just cause the site mentions that he likes moonlit walks). Based on all of that I think he's a person with a uniquely different but still beautiful view of life and the world, innate perspective that comes from his own life experiences and his understanding of necromancy something Sylvia love about him or at the very least find interesting.
The biggest obstacle in getting Sylvia and Malistaire together I find is giving them common ground. I hate that some people just by default write them as complete polar opposites and expect that fate alone will hold them together and that they actually love each other when they have nothing in common. Based upon the real life experiences of 99% of the human population I can say this practically never happens. In love it is fine to be different from your partner, even extremely different, but if you have nothing in common, nothing you can enjoy together, then are you really in love with said person? Common ground is essential to any romantic relationship, for Malistaire and Sylvia I could see music being a big bridge between them, as well as star gazing perhaps. Given Mali'a general like of music and how thuerges interact with it I think it would make sense for them
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Wow!! I really, really love this! This is such a good read!
I feel like you got the three of them down pretty well, and I especially like the little moments that show off Malistaire, Sylvia, and Avriel's characters :> I also like the little nod to Sylvia's five boxes outfit
Dude thank you so much for including them, and for the kind words ;v;
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I will say I'm hoping to get Avriel's character study out soon, it's been so long since I wrote one of those, going to have to scrape off some rust.
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You are most welcome, it's my pleasure to write about such lovely OC's such as your own. If you have any requests let me know and I'll see what I can do, this has been a most entertaining experience.
I might still make some tiny tweaks later on, there's a few inconsistencies in the text I want to work out, maybe stretch it a bit and push the word count up to 2000, but overall I am happy with this. It was very dialogue heavy but I don't think there was really a good way around it and it still reads fine with the breaks between the dialogue. I didn't do a lot of descriptors off the bat for Fala, Marcus, and Roman partly because people who are familiar with them would probably know what they look like, I might reprimand this at a later point. It tends to be a careful game of giving enough description without it becoming boring or starting to sound trashy. You know?
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Lol yeah, writing involves a lot of rewriting. Still fun to do, though
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Oof this is totally off topic, just watched the streams for the new lvl 130 dungeons and the wizard city underground, oof ITS SOOO GOOD! ITS TOO GOOD!
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Oh yeah, I'm definitely excited for the surprise Dragonspyre and Wizard City lore :>
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It's good, also kinda working some of it into Avriel's character. Hoping to have it up soon.
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