Issue 1 Downtime

Vivienne sat on her bare bed looking over the contents of a "Freshman Orientaion" packet that has been discarded the day before. Her door was open and the main door was too as her focus was on the map of the campus. "Library...Library..."

((open))

Ronnie knocked on the doorframe to Vivienne's room, taking a break from her own unpacking.

"Heya roomie. You, uh... need to borrow some bedsheets?"

"I...would not know what to do with them." She was dress in one of her few gowns, Theresa's borrowed items where draped over various furnishings "drying", the water slowly moving from the clothing and into a shallow basin on the floor. Veronica would notice how bare Vivienne's room was in general.

Veronica gave the young woman a confused look. "You... oh! You mean your folks never taught you how to make your bed? Ha, lucky." She left before Vivienne had a chance to respond and could be heard rummaging around in the other room. She eventually returned with a handful of folded bedlinens. "Here, I'll teach ya how, it's pretty easy. You can just borrow these until you find your own set."

She dropped the linen onto the bare bed and began picking through it for what she needed. "My name's Veronica, bytheway. But most folks call me Ronnie. That watershow you've got goin' is a pretty neat trick."

"The clothing is borrowed, I am attempting to keep it as pristine as possible and to avoid needing to borrow others." She stood and gathered up her papers and placing them on the desk before returning to Ronnie's side to watch. "My mother taught me...but I have never seen bed linens such as these before."

Ronnie pursed her lips a little bit, adding things up. There was hardly anything in the room, and her clothing was all borrowed? She knew that not every student was as lucky as herself as far as their family lives were concerned, this seemed like a delicate situation. "They're nothing special. Actually I can get a different colour if you don't like this one."

She started by laying out the mattress pad, hooking the straps around the corners of the mattress. "Well, if you can't avoid that, I can always lend you some of mine, so long as you don't mind vintage stuff. I'm kinda hard on my clothes so I mostly get my stuff from thrift shops, then I don't feel so bad when I ruin another top." By the time she'd done the second corner it was fairly obvious how the thing worked.

"Vintage?" She picked up the flat sheet, recognizing it then noticing the pre-made corners of the fitted sheet and the mattress pad Ronnie was working with. "I see, so they do not become undone while one sleeps. How clever!"

"It's a nice and trendy way of saying 'used'. Some folks get a bit skeeved out at the idea of wearing used clothes." Ronnie smiled and took one of the opposite corners of the fitted sheet, helping to stretch it out over the bed.

"Well, it helps stop 'em from coming undone, but if you're a wiggler like me you might still wake up trapped in a ball of sheets."

Vivienne mimicked Ronnie and actually helped. "None of my linens have these...corners. I suppose I will find out if I too am a "wiggler"." She stepped away and opened the armore taking out a thick blanket and shaking it out. Inside the armore are four sets of clothing in varying shades of blues and grays, three nearly identical to the one she was wearing, the forth made of what appeared to be silk.

Ronnie took the time to flatten out and straighten the sheets, making sure that they were nice and smooth to help ensure they'd be comfortable. "Whoo, that looks like it'd keep you nice and warm." She leaned to a side a bit, snooping. "You prefer dresses, huh?"

"Mother said mortal England's weather changed and would become cold." She layed the blanket out on the bed, it was pretty with intricate knot designs and dated looking but still "new". "All women wear gowns, breeches are for men. I have learned that it is not the same here and in truth, I have found "pants", while better suited for a wider range of movement, are still most...embarrassing and strange feeling."

Veronica just stared at Vivienne as she spoke, her brow becoming furrowed.

"... are you playin' some kinda joke on me right now? ' cause yer soundin' like that blonde guy with the sledgehammer from the Avengers, the one from Assguard."

"Odd, that is the second time I have been compared to Thor Odinson. Though I have never personally met him, I believe I am beginning to see the connection people are making." She managed a smile. "I am not Asgardian, I am Avalonian."

Ronnie's expression was one of disbelief, the girl staring at Vivienne with eyes widened.

"... are you bein' serious right now? 'cause I've seen some crazy stuff since I started here and I'm not totally prepared to think that yer lying to me."

"I speak the truth." She moved to her desk and brought over a small wooden chest. She unlocked it with a key that had been hidden in her sleeve and brought out a gold coin and handed it to Veronica.

Veronica took the coin and peered at it intently, examining the ancient designs for some time.

"I'm gonna be honest... I'm not from England so I dunno what this means."

"It is French." She took the coin back. "It is one of the few things my mother was able to gave me in an attempt to prepare me for this world. She said they were the most common and widely accepted coin of the time. My dresses and that coin are shockingly modern and distastefully mortal where I am from."

"So... time doesn't work the same way there that it does here? I'm sorry if that's a dumb question, but I know nothin' about Avalon other than it was part of the King Arthur stories." Ronnie plopped her behind onto the freshly-made bed.

"Apparently and yes. My mother aided the Merlin and his mortal King. Those actions did not win her many allies back home." She re-locked the box and tucked it back into a drawer of her desk.

"Aaand King Arthur died about... fifteen-hundred years ago, I think. That's..." Ronnie tried to put thinks into perspective. "Entire civilizations have risen and fallen during that time. Well, here at least."

"It would appear so. When I am no longer suspect of being a potential threat to the younger students, I plan to spend as much time as I can in the school's library. I can no longer afford to be so ill prepared for this world."

"History classes might help too." Veronica mused. "Like, starting with the middle-ages and then working your way up. I could give a general breakdown I guess, but it'd be skipping a ton of details."

She shifted slightly in her seat. "So, the people back where you're from... they don't care for us 'mortals' all that much, huh? Is it 'cause we're cutting down too many trees or something?"

"In part, yes, but it is more then just a few trees or dried up rivers. Nature untouched provides power and moves the magic that sustains the very existence of some. As the belief in the old ways died so did many of us. Some of us only exist because one of you believes we do. The Christian faith, while not harmful in itself, changed some of us. Many of the first leaders were most convinced we were evil...a so some became what they were believed to be. The Fey became their "demons" and "angels". Being so easily changed by beings so changeable was most unacceptable to many. Some became angry and lashed out for past wrongs that no mortal remembered, some went mad, some just hid away." She sat beside Veronica and idlely turned the key around in her hands. "My mother and her sisters are guardians of the water passageways between this world and mine. They are among the few more changeable of fey, she in particular."

Ronnie kicked her legs a bit, her feet dangling further from the floor than Vivienne's did.

"As selfish as we can be, I'm sure if we knew what was happening we wouldn't have been so... destructive, or influential I guess. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I don't really understand how any of that is possible, but I'm sorry all the same."

"Some cared, but only so far as their own lifetime. We live so much longer and remember, while a father may hold to the old ways his son or daughter are not bound to those promises. Things changed so fast and we did not, we could not keep up, did not wish to in the end. We closed the pathways and locked ourselves away, but now I have come and I will learn. Knowledge is power as well."

"Well, at least you can take your time when it comes to your studies. From what yer sayin' it sounds like an entire lifetime can past here and it be just a blink of an eye in Avalon. That should give you plenty of time to take breaks and have some fun. Study too much without actually experiencing life here and you won't learn a thing."

Ronnie thought for a moment. "I can't really apologize for how quickly we move though. Not just 'cause it's wobbly time stuff I don't understand. It's 'cause we're mortals. Most of us are lucky if we live to be seventy or eighty years old, which is nothin' by yer standards. Because we know we don't have much time and that the same fate awaits us all, we do as much as we can to make a difference in the world, however we can, with our families or makin' big discoveries or forgin' empires or whatever. Because we don't wanna be forgotten after we're gone. I guess if yer livin' for eons there's really no rush to do much of anything."

"If I were able to move back and forth between the realms I would be able to take my time, but I am not fully fey, while I am here I age just as you do. I have much to do and not as much time as I once thought I had."

"Oh. So I guess you understand all-too-well how we, ah, 'mortals' feel." Ronnie gave Vivienne a little nudge, trying to give a cheerful smile.

"Lemme know if there's anything I can do to help."

Vivienne smiled. "If it is not an inconvenience, I would like if you would look over my list. Any suggestions would be most helpful if you see that I am lacking anything." She stood and pulled out a very thick and rough sheet of "paper" and handed it to Veronica. On it was what appeared to be a shopping list of sorts. Items listed included "modern quills" and "modern parchment" along with itemized clothing listed, she needed EVERYTHING, top to bottom.

"It's the least I could do." Ronnie glanced over the list, the corners of her mouth turning up at some of the wording of the document.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." She insisted before she got up, heading back out into the common area and into her room to return a few moments later. She landed on the edge of the bed and bounced a few times before settling, taking a disposable pen out from behind her ear.

"Alright, I'm just gonna change some of the wording of this, and recommend places to go, alright?" She asked as she began to write on the parchment, explaining as she wrote. "Alright, so we call modern parchment "paper". Basically if you're taking notes you're gonna either want what's called 'loose leaf', or some kind of note book or legal pad...." She gave a brief explanation of each, as well as pencils and pens, insisting that she ask for a biro as that was the local slang.

"You can get this stuff here on campus at the book store. Now, for clothes...." She tapped her pursed lips with her pen for a moment before she began writing down the names of places that she knew of.

"So, for funds, you were given a bunch of gold coins, right? I think you should talk to the headmistress or someone about those. They're not really legal tender anymore. But luckily for you, they're worth more than if they were. See, people pay a lot of money for old stuff in good condition, it's... one of the many weird things we mortals do. So we can sell your coins and get some modern money, and that's what you can buy this stuff with."

She thought for a moment before she began writing entirely new things onto the list. "I'm not gonna recommend you get a computer just yet, but using one at the library can be a big help in your studies. We'll... have to walk you through that, or find someone who can look up whatever it is you wanna know. What do you use to clean your hair with?" Ronnie changed subjects so quickly sometimes that it might have been a little difficult to keep track.

"Hmm? Oh, water and rose oil." Vivienne had been watching Veronica writing, softly saying the new words to herself and marveling at the "pen". Once her focus was redirected she moved her hand out towards the full and waiting water in the basin on the floor. The liquid moved and traveled along the floor, up her leg and hip and pooled in the palm of her hand before pulling into a small sphere that smelled of roses. "I have lye soap for washing, but I have yet to use it for my hair."

"Well keep using the rose oil for your hair then if you can get it. It won't be cheap, but at the very least we can try to find something similar. Honestly, modern shampoos are terrible for your hair and they take forever to ween yourself off of without looking all greasy, so it's better if you don't even start." Ronnie caught a glimpse of what was happening and stopped her writing, watching with a great deal of curiosity. She had seen mutant talents before, but this was still remarkable to her, perhaps because of the inherent beauty of the water itself.

"Well, you're quite talented, aren't you?"

"I should limit my use of it." She moved to the basin and placed the orb inside. "I no longer have Caledfwlch, I no longer have my direct connection to the water."

"What's a Caledwich?" Ronnie asked, butchering the word.

"My sword and a gift from my mother. It is a tool of great magic and a symbol of honor and purity." She pulled her legs up under her long skirt. "I drew it on a fellow student in a moment of fear. I broke my word to only use it in defense of myself and those who can not defend themselves. It is outside the "cafeteria"."

Ronnie's legs stopped kicking and were still, the girl putting her hand gently on Vivienne's shoulder. "What you know now, you didn't know then. If you drew your weapon, you felt that you were in danger and needed to defend yourself. There wasn't any malice or ill-will, and therefore the promise isn't broken." She pondered how to explain her viewpoint. "In law, there is a very important principle. It is that ignorance of the law is not a defense, but ignorant of the facts is a defense. You know that drawing your weapon on an innocent person is wrong, what you didn't know was that the person was innocent. At the time, for whatever reason, you legitimately believed yourself to be in danger, you were ignorant of the fact that your opponent was not a threat. Does that make any sense?

"... so, it's outside the cafeteria? Is it in a stone? If I pull it out, do I become the new King of England?"

"If you manage to survive with all your fingers and pull Caledfwlch free then how you use it would be up to you. If you desire to be Queen then it shall be." She smiled again. "Though not stone...water called in anger and fear. It was not a good day."

"Hmm." Ronnie looked at her hands and wiggled her fingers a bit. It probably wasn't worth it. "Hey, we all have rough days. Especially trying to fit in on our first day. And we're the ones who grew up in this place. Imagine how one of us would react if we were taken to Avalon?"

"It is highly recommended to never eat or drink anything of the land." She sighed. "It is most different and still, there is something very familiar about this place."

"Exactly. So if this are so similar, yet different, would I really be to blame if I screwed up on my first day there?" Ronnie gave Vivienne a reassuring smile. "You hold yourself to high standards, that's good, admirable even. But I think you're being a little too hard on yourself. So go get that sword back before someone loses a hand."