They had just finished making and enchanting all the multipurpose wands when the wards on the room suddenly deactivated, and Headmistress Peach walked in with confident strides, followed by the mountain of a man that was her Werewolf Familiar.
"Well, there's a surprise. I had forgotten that the staff might not all be witches, but to think that you would find five Magi among them." Peach began, and the ladies all began to panic.
Peach held up her hands in a placating gesture. "Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone, and I'm sure that Wolfe's idea seems like a good one, but there are still too many people here who hold a grudge. Even with all that I've seen, I must admit that the thought of a free Magi, unbound by the Demon curse, makes me nervous.
I'm sure you all know the feeling, even if you're a bit numb from shock right now and still thinking of yourselves as some variant of witches. Like Wolfe, some of the more powerful Professors can feel the flow of mana in an area, and they'll catch onto you right away if you follow through using those wands to do your daily chores.
I don't know how they'll respond, but it could well bring a hardcore Inquisitor here with a blood testing kit which would put even more people in danger. Many of our Witches here are part Fae, and the Inquisition has a binding spell for them as well. It is a single task binding to force them into an agreement to do a task for the Inquisitors.
That would likely lead to more spies for the rebels in our midst, and I can't take that risk.
I keep them out of here as much as I can, and they don't bother about it too much since they'd have to answer to the Coven Leader, but right now, the Academy is in a tight spot with our support for her, and the power she gained from a Demon.
So, I have a proposal. You should leave with Wolfe. We will tell the others that you have an additional blockage, and that's why your aura wouldn't activate. There are others who didn't get an aura, but he only called you five, so it's plausible as an excuse.
If you leave with Wolfe Noxus, then he can shelter you in the Fae Forest along with his witches and all the mutants. If you want to work, they've got plenty, and they'll only need more people as they get established and realize how much there is to a city."
Headmistress Peach paused and looked around the room, while the girls looked shocked as it really sunk in that they weren't an alternate form of Witches, but Magi. Actual Magi, like the ones that destroyed the world.
I certainly don't think of a teenage girl in a housekeeping uniform looking for better ways to clean rooms. But when you put it that way, I have to wonder, if they knew, how many people raised in the Fortress City would see us as people without the Familiar Bond enslaving us?
Wolfe is safe because he's the Familiar of Cassie and Ella. Familiars are safe. They don't attack people. We've all known that all our lives. But Magi are the boogeymen hiding among the people, the defeated evil just waiting to destroy the world.
Even Demons are safer than that because they're limited by the curse, and that means that they're predictably evil, not overwhelmingly powerful."
She was rambling, and she knew it, but it was what they were taught their whole lives.
Wolfe somewhat agreed that the Witches would share that opinion. To them, he was a Demon first and foremost, so when he went looking for Magi relics, they treated it as more a matter of curiosity about the supposedly dead species, not a real threat.
"So, we should just pack up everything and go live in the woods?" One of the girls asked, with fear clear in her voice.
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm Wolfe chuckled. "Did you think that nearly a dozen Rank Two witches would be living in squalor? We've built both an underground complex and an above-ground magical city, surrounded by a living wall of trees in the middle of a Fae Forest that keeps enemies away.
After spending a night here, I can say that the beds at home are indefinitely more comfortable as well."
Peach frowned at the reference. She had totally forgotten about asking him to improve her bed here at the Academy, but there was a bit of time since he hadn't left yet.
"Well, if it's not a bad place to stay, I guess it's the best option that we have, right? I mean, we could stay here and not use magic, so nobody would ever know, but now that I know I can, I don't think I'll be able to resist the temptation forever." One of the girls sighed.
The kitchen worker looked around in satisfaction. "I guess we're in agreement then. How long do we have to pack up our gear?"
"Well, it's getting later in the day, so let's go have dinner. Then you can pack and have a solid night's sleep. Going back will take some time without a vehicle, so you will need the sleep." Wolfe agreed.
If he thought about it, Wolfe was sure that he could get transport here in the morning so that they wouldn't have to walk across half of Morgana Coven and Sylvan to get to the edge of the Frozen Wastes. He just needed to consider what would be appropriate.
Before he left, he would have to do whatever it was that Peach was looking so eager about, but after that, he could call the Forest to ask them to send something to pick everyone up.
"We can send you with the patrol if you like. They'll be going to the border with Sylvan, and that's over halfway home." Peach offered.
That was better than nothing, and then he wouldn't have to risk giving away any of the Den's secrets. The section of Sylvan between Morgana and the border of the Frozen Wastes was nearly uninhabited right now after all the damage that the villages had taken during the war.