Mu Lin led me away from the table after we finished our tea. The walk toward the main courtyard was relatively quiet, mostly chatter from the girls around the halls going to and from classes, but occasionally I saw Mu Lin’s ears twitch and angle about, as if focusing in on a conversation here and there. As we reached the center of the main courtyard, she began to slow down and then stopped in the large intersection. I saw her take a breath and turn to face me. Her face was a mask that betrayed no emotion, but I could almost see her mind at work behind her eyes.

“So, before we get too far along, I’m going to clear the air here. Each of us on the disciplinary committee has seen and familiarized ourselves with your file, call it required reading if you will, so we know all about your little slip up back west. I don’t know how you convinced Fianna that you’ve turned over a new leaf, and quite frankly I don’t care. I had all but put money down that you did what you did because the prissy bitch deserved it, and with your actions this morning, I’m feeling all the more inclined to keep an eye on you. You’ve got spunk, and I’m not one to turn down help from people like you, but I need your word that you’re not going to abuse your power when you take over. Look me in the eyes and vow to me that law and order will come above all else when you take over.” Mu Lin spoke softly but sternly, a complete one-eighty from how she acted minutes ago.

I gazed at her eyes, the fire behind them roaring to life, and I took a breath.

“I vow, to the Earth and the sky, upon fire and ice, in light and in dark, I shall enforce justice at this school should I be granted power over the student body. I swear upon my honor and dignity that I will seek not the answers I want to hear, but the answers I need to hear to make a sound judgement. Though I be of fae blood, trickery shall not be tolerated during my reign.” I spoke aloud, making sure my eyes were kept focused on Mu Lin’s. This seemed enough to satisfy the little green dragon.

“Good. Now, let’s go stop those girls trying to hook a cherry bomb under a toilet seat in the west wing. Last thing I want is some demihume with a burnt cooch crying home to their mothers.” She said and began to dash off.

It took me a second to process what she had just said, but my body instinctively had started running after her, so it wasn’t like I was going to lose track of where she was headed. It then dawned on me that the west wing had four bathrooms, and none of them were even close to one another. I hoped Mu Lin knew which one she was headed for, but scanned the crowds for any unsavoury characters none the less. 

Mu Lin moved through the crowded halls like a fish through water, and every time I thought she was going to crash into a student or a wall or decoration, she seemed to vanish and reappear further along the corridor than I could believe.

Now, the issue with looking for suspicious characters in a crowd is, you’re bound to find one or two who fit the bill but are innocent, but then you also sometimes find someone who your instinct says you need to follow because they’re up to no good. This seems to always happen right when you’re deep in some other task, and that’s what happened while I was chasing my new mentor. I saw someone slip off into a side hallway and I my gut felt like it had been punched with a premonition. I peeled off and started following at a distance the girl I had gotten the negative feeling from.

I focused on a few things my dad had tried to reinforce when I was younger; to blend into a crowd is to become everybody and nobody at the same time. Hanging back, and making myself look like everyone else on their way to classes, I was able to trail the girl down another few hallways before the crowds thinned enough that I couldn’t blend anymore.

The girl in question was gaunt, pale, and looked almost undead. The shocking white hair and milky eyes suggested she wasn’t a creature of daylight, and her hunched posture made her seem all the more unsettling. I slowed my pace and moved along the wall when I saw her take a corner ahead of me. Inching my way along until I was just about even with the edge, I could just make out a pair of voices.

“I hope those idiots can keep Lillian’s flunkies busy while the others get the hornets nests into the pumpkins for tomorrows festivities. I do so hope that you’re here to bring me good news?” Came the first voice, it sounded rather hoity-toity.

“I saw the little one dashing down the halls in an effort to find one of the two improvised explosives set in the restrooms. I don’t know where the others are.” Came a second voice, it was scratchy and rough like they were sick. I made a mental note that she was probably the one I had followed.

“Good, then off we go.” The hoity-toity voice said, and the sound of shoes with a heel on stone was heard moving away from me.

I immediately opened a call to Mu Lin and Fianna.

“Ladies, we’ve got a situation! I just overheard some girls talking about some wasps nests in pumpkins and a second IED in the bathrooms. Please advise?”

Fianna began issuing orders to people I couldn’t see, I assumed it was Ame and Lillian though, and then thanked me before disconnecting.

Mu Lin on the other hand looked absolutely furious. “I’m already on my way to one of the toilets here, and with four in this wing alone it’ll be a miracle for someone not to get hurt. This is way more exciting than I’d hoped for your first day, but I guess it will have to do. Since I only heard about the one in the west, I’m going to have you search the central segment of the school. If it were me, I’d have one on the far end and one in the dead center to maximize damage. Ring me if you find something.”

I ended the call and dashed off to the central building. All the while, I was plotting out the restrooms I knew about in that building and tried to figure out which one would be the most damaging should something go off. And then it hit me, causing me to stumble a moment, it had to be the one nearest to the café. It had the most foot traffic, it was almost dead center of the building, and if the explosion caused a rupture in the pipes… I didn’t even want to think on it.

I went from a jog to a dead sprint when I caught my balance, and I had to keep on my toes to prevent myself from running into the other students. I was almost there when my crystal went off; looking, I saw it was Mu Lin, so I answered in voice only mode.

“I’ve got the first one, it was a close call. They’ve got timers on these instead of pressure pads, so you’ll need to cut some wires. Don’t you Americans keep sharp things on you at all times?” Her voice crowed in my ear.

“I’ve got a pocket knife on me, shipped it to the US from Gangzhou. Cute little thing from one of those stores online, best eighty-nine cents I’ve ever spent.” I said back, slowing enough that I could speak and run at the same time.

“Finally someone with some spine. Lillian doesn’t like keeping one on her and Ame assumes that since she’s always near me she wont need one.” Mu Lin chuckled back.

“That’s lovely and all, but darlin’ I have a bomb to find and I’m going to bet not much time to find it.” I said and disconnected the call.

It was moments later I burst into the bathroom I had figured the bomb would be in and… I realized I had no idea where it might be hidden. I almost called Mu Lin back to ask where she found hers, but I had a feeling I’d not have time. So I took a breath, picked an unoccupied stall, and began searching. I opened the seat and the top of the water tank on the posh porcelain thrones, and I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I knew seconds mattered at this point, so I closed the lid and… there’s a footprint.

I immediately stepped on the top of the lid and looked into the vent. Glowing back at me with a green timer was a stink bomb, right behind the grating. It looked like the grate had been hastily reattached by someone with no construction history, so it wasn’t a big deal to pop the sucker back off and lower it to the ground.

I pulled the bomb out and set it on my lap as I sat on the top of the toilet to fish my flip knife from my bag. After thumbing the stud on the side open, I looked at the wires and giggled a little bit. See, dad had spent a little bit with an ordinance disposal group before getting hired on as a federal agent, and he had walked Emrys and I through how to both disarm explosive ordinance as well as rig the sucker to blow… you know, because emergencies. But the improvised explosive I held in my hand was so basic I felt bad for thinking it was a threat.

I cut the ignition wire from the egg timer and cleared it to zero before stuffing it hastily in my bag. I then cleaned my knife on the edge of my shirt, put it away, and got up… if only to lift the seat because adrenaline high wearing off means somebody needs to empty their bladder.

I called Mu Lin after I tidied myself up and asked where I was supposed to rendezvous with her to dispose of the now inert stink bomb.

“Meet me in the east wing, second floor. There’s a beaten up door with a sign that says ‘run,’ that’s where we have meetings and dispose of dangerous substances. Plus, it’ll be quiet enough for us to interrogate the prisoner I captured.” She said, panning her crystal to show me the face of an irritated… seal? Maybe she’s one of those… oh what are they… Selkies?

“Be there in a few minutes.” I said and disconnected. Man, I was starting to feel like a high school action movie star.

It took about ten minutes to locate the room in question, and another three for Mu Lin and her captive to arrive. I waved as she entered, and she grinned the most evil grin I’ve ever seen back at me… or maybe it was because she was a dragon that it seemed so scary. Either way, I felt an intense desire to flee the room, but quelled it as Mu Lin guided her “guest” into a chair.

“So, Lauren, I have a few questions for this little peach. But as a learning moment, I’ll let you ask the first question.” Mu Lin all but purred.

“Poorly rigged improvised explosives hidden in bathrooms, both very clever and truly repugnant;” I began, building momentum and trying to sound intimidating, “I can’t imagine what kind of person would do that, especially when they would have to deal with the results just as much as everyone else. So tell me, what was the plan here?”

The girl’s large brown eyes flicked between me and where she assumed Mu Lin sat. “I was just told to do it, I don’t know what the end goal was. I got half up front and was supposed to get the rest after the job was done. I can show you on my crystal, honest to the oceans and the waves.”

Mu Lin allowed the girl to lift her arm and activate her crystal. The girl pulled up a message with instructions, a meeting place, and the code to a small locker which housed the bag with the bombs. I noticed there was some sort of issue with the “From:” address, which I thought was super weird since these things were decades ahead of where people are right now technology-wise. Who could have hacked these things?

Mu Lin came about to the front of the girl, “I’m going to ask this once, and you had best speak truthfully or things will get ugly for you. Will you provide for me the names of the other students you met with or not?”

The girl looked terrified, I guess Mu Lin smiled again with that strange draconic presence.

“All I know, and I’m being honest here, was what I showed you. There was nobody at the locker, just the bag with the cherry bomb and my money. I didn’t meet anyone, I didn’t see anyone, and I didn’t plan to meet anyone.” The girl blubbered, her face becoming red as she cried.

“Mu Lin, I think this girl has no idea about the other bomb. But I also think we should keep surveillance on her as we wait for the mastermind to come forth.” I interjected, hoping to stem the tide of tears by confirming that I believed her story.

Mu Lin looked at me ponderously for a moment. “You may be on to something, Lauren, and I’d be only so delighted to set someone to watching this… creature for some time. But I think I’m going to ask a few more questions before I let her go. We have to make it look like we’re fearsome and crack down, even if we don’t do too much to those we capture. A few weeks helping the janitorial staff will suffice as her punishment.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, and Lauren, you may want to make your way to the tumbling room. You were going to meet Fianna there in about fifteen minutes anyway, so you might as well head over now. You wouldn’t want to keep Fianna waiting.” Mu Lin said, her tone once more cheery and somewhat unsettling.

I looked at the clock and saw Mu Lin was right, so I started booking it toward the tumbling room. Man, I didn’t think I was going to run this much, or have this much crazy excitement when I started here.