"1, 2, 3, 4…" Mitchell counted as he continued with his pushups with Nami seated cross-legged on his back. He wore his combat top, and a headband to soak up the sweat. Everything else below his abdomen was standard Rosemary uniform, consisting of grey pants and black grasshoppers. The three of them were outside, in the men's bathroom of the sports field next to the Senior Building. Moe didn't know what to make of the sight before him, only looking at the two in confusion.
"So, let's get the introductions out of the way." Nami said, clapping her hands together.
"Could have started with that before you had me doing push-ups." Mitchell groaned. Nami slammed her fist on the back of his skull, which nearly made him not complete a rep of his push-ups.
"Last I checked, chairs don't speak." She scolded.
"Mohammed, this is Mitchell, my designated servant. Mitchell, this is my friend Mohammed." She said plainly, not missing the smile that crept on Mohammed's face.
"Oh wow Nami, that is less demeaning than a chair. I'm so honored." Nami slammed her fist at the back of his neck again.
"You shall not speak until I declare you a human. Understood!?" Mitchell groaned and went back to his push-ups.
"And why is he doing push-ups?" Moe finally asked.
"This chair of mine roped me in a plot to get a one up on Bastien, in exchange for his soul that is." Nami's answer only bred more questions as his look of confusion deepened. "I offered to be her fledgling… In exchange for her denying Brian a match… Now she's in charge of all my training… and it only ends once I beat her--- ow!" Nami hit him on the same spot again.
"I never knew I invested in a talking chair. Maybe I should muzzle you until you start behaving." Mitchell just groaned rebelliously and continued his set of push-ups.
"I called this meeting to discuss our approach against this puppeteer working behind the scenes." Nami explained.
"So far, we know that after the events of the party, Bastien and Tiffany started dating, Duncan has been quiet and not attending the Combat Club and Maze has been absent ever since. I'm assuming our suspect knows a lot about these 4 as I've witnessed them possess Bastien. They might know some things about us too as they're aiming to use our past against us. So far, none of us have been possessed, but that could change if we are not careful."
"Is that why you have us cooped up in this place?" Moe asked.
"I expected it to be one of the least used bathrooms in the entire school. The smell of Marijuana and the lack of maintenance confirms this." Nami explained, looking at the crudely drawn penises on one of the bathroom stalls.
"There was a new bathroom… made close by this one… so it gets used less and less…" Mitchell explained through strained breaths. Nami could feel him shaking as each rep became harder.
"Rumor has it… that… this bathroom… is due… for demo… lition… Ahhh!" He collapsed as he hit his final rep.
"Well, that was fun while it lasted." Nami said, disappointedly climbing off him. "Before I explain my plan, do you guys have any questions for me?" Moe raised his hand at Nami's request.
"So how do we counter this Mage's spell, I remember you saying that you knew quite a bit about it." Moe asked, watching Mitchell struggle to pick himself up.
"Yeah, as a fighter I can only fight what I see… so what's the plan?" Mitchell asked as he splashed water on his face.
"My uncle is a professor in Mage and Myst studies, he taught me that there are only two ways a Mage can control another person." Nami brought out an old notebook of hers and flipped through the pages. "The first is Hypnosis. Out of the two, hypnosis is the easiest to spot. The Mage doing the technique will stay relatively close to their subjects, their subject's movements might seem erratic and spontaneous if this is the case." Mitchell walked back to the two and peekeased over at Nami's notes.
"Who writes like this?" Mitchell's face visibly scowled at the untidy handwriting he saw before him.
"Shut up Mitchell, I was literally 5 when I wrote this." Nami retorted.
"I can read it just fine." Moe said.
"Can we stop talking about my handwriting and get to the matter at hand!" Nami whispered out her frustration. The two guys chuckled a little which Nami didn't take too kindly to.
"Alright, fine, I'll stop." Mitchell said. Nami puffed out a breath of air in response but continued shortly after.
"Possession is similar, but a lot more difficult to spot. The only way to tell if someone is possessed is by the color of their eyes. The eyes tend to adopt a dull shade of grey when someone is possessed as that shows that their soul isn't present."
"Is that the only way to tell if someone is possessed?" Mohammed asked.
"Yep, their actions seem to stay normal, and they can pretty much perform the same tasks they usually do without looking suspicious. A skilled Mage can make hypnosis seem like a possession at times, but that's rather uncommon, even among True Mages." Nami finished.
"I've dealt with a Mage able to use hypnosis and possession at my previous school. The consequence of falling victim to possession is that the Mage responsible has full access to all your memories and experiences, making it significantly easier for them to get you again." Mitchell looked at Nami curiously.
"So, you know how to deal with hypnosis I take it?" Mitchell asked.
"I know how to deal with both, since Hypnosis and possession require similar conditions to take place." Nami answered.
"A trigger." She said, half expecting them to get what she meant. "In order to get hypnotized, there must be a personal trigger the subject responds to. In most cases the hypnotist instills a built-in trigger that surrounds a certain emotion and sometimes the trigger is physical. That does require the subject and hypnotist to have previously interacted. In the very few cases where they don't interact, the hypnotist just locks on a certain emotion and rides with that without any need for interaction, but that also depends on the skill the Mage possesses..."
Nami flipped the page to reveal more notes on possession.
"Can't you just tell us how to counter the Hypnosis or possession or whatever?" Mitchell asked, growing impatient with the lecture.
"Knowing how hypnosis and possession works will help us narrow down our suspects, Mitch." Nami retorted.
"It's Mitchell baby girl, and narrowing down our suspects won't matter if we can't fight against their control." Nami rolled her eyes at him and continued with her explanation, but right as she was about to get back at it the bell rang.
"Argh, you see what happens if you keep interrupting me, Mitchell?" Nami complained.
"Can't you shorten our little lesson?" He asked, getting a frustrated groan from Nami.
Just as Nami was about to answer him her ringtone went off and she scurried to shut it off. "Sweet ringtone." Mitchell teased, getting him an abrupt, "Shut up." From the panicked girl. A message was sent to the school's newsletter page, under the title Breaking News: Return of Rosemary's princess. All their attention was drawn to the live video, the thumbnail being an edited version of Maze looking shocked.
After a full week of silence, Mazekien had finally returned.
They scrolled further to try and see further news, but all was there was a live video. Once they pressed it, they heard lots of rumbling as the news club members tried to approach Mazekien. Despite the crowding she kept her perfect smile, looking undisturbed by it all.
Ms. Schmidt, can't you tell us where you've been all this time?
Ms. Mazekien, a full week went by without you stepping into the office. Should we worry for the school's reputation because of this absence.
Mazekien, is it true that you and Bastien broke up, or are you his main with Tiffany being the side?
Ms. Mazekien, are you aware Mr. Fry went absent the first day you were absent? Are those two events connected in any way?
"Mazekien, with what happened after the party are you confident that you will maintain your position as Head Girl?
Mazekien kept walking forward, her gaze not faltering for even a second. She made it to her homeroom which was where the cameras had to turn away. Nami's eyes went wide as she saw all of this.
Crap, I thought that girl would at least spend another week away from school. With her here the Puppeteer, might get more aggressive with their offense. Didn't even give me time to properly investigate. Nami balled her fists in frustration.
"Mohammed, let's exchange class schedules for today." Nami said erratically. Moe looked at her curiously as she had already pulled out her class schedule for the day.
"What about me?" Mitchell asked.
"Here's my number, text me when you're in class." Mitchell nodded and Moe left the two as he headed to his homeroom. Once that was done Mitchell was the next to leave as Nami stayed behind. Before he was out the door Nami pulled him back.
"Remember what we discussed." She said before pushing him out the door.
________________________________________________________________________________
Nami sat in homeroom, waiting for her teacher to make an appearance. Their homeroom teacher had been late for class for the past week and as much as it rose suspicion.
Just as she lost herself to her thoughts her phone vibrated as two messages from an unknown number.
[Are you gonna keep me waiting?]
[What are my next instructions?]
Nami smirked when she read those messages. Hook line and sinker. She thought as she typed her response.
[So you have been keeping tabs on me, that must be quiet exhausting.] She typed.
It took a minute for him to respond, but after a little bit of waiting the message came in.
[What gave it away?]
Nami chuckled eagerly as she typed.
[You told me that you have dirt on everyone on this school, and I figured that Mitchell was no exception. You've made this game of ours way too easy.] Additionally, how they requested their instructions wasn't the way they agreed upon a few days back. If Mitchell had let me finish my explanation on possession and hypnosis, he would have known that the memory transfer isn't instant. Mitchell's big mouth can be useful for some things. Nami began typing a second message as she scanned the class.
[If you've hypnotized him then I take it you're in this class. But, on the off chance that you possessed him then I have a few questions.]
Nami got an immediate response.
[Go on...] The message read.
[What is your end goal?] Nami typed.
[You've gotten rid of the big 4, so I'm guessing you want status, a position high enough to prevent you from being picked on?] She typed with her eyes watching her classmates. Her eyes locked with the Possessed/Hypnotized Mitchell, and he shot her a smile. She was too far to tell which one it was.
[You're not far off the mark, but I have to say that you are wrong in that regard.]
[In other news, I suggest you start saying your goodbyes to Mohammed, he won't be in this school for very long.] The messages read.
[It was a necessary sacrifice. If I prevent whatever you're planning than I'm completely fine with cutting losses.] She was bluffing of course. If they thought Mohammed was a non-factor, then they'd leave him alone.
The puppeteer began typing but went offline shortly after as the teacher entered the class. Crap. She thought to herself as she began making her way out.
"Ms. Nami, I know I'm late, but you still have to be here for me to register you." Nami hesitated as she tried to think up an excuse.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, but Ms. Nami has been waiting to be excused ever since homeroom started. Surely you can let her go for just a few minutes." Mitchell interjected, shooting Nami a smirk. The teacher sighed as she placed her heavy file of papers on her desk.
"Alright, but only for---" Nami didn't allow her to finish the sentence as she sped through the hallways.