Chapter 54: Interlude 12 – End of an Era

=::= Melanie's PoV =::=

"How are you not melting?" I asked my girlfriend as we headed towards Miss Hawthorne's room. "And what are you gonna do come August when it's thirty-five or forty degrees outside? Tell me you're not gonna keep dressing like that."

"It's a skill," was all Marissa had to say in response.

It was late June, the last Wednesday of the school year, and the summer weather had already arrived. We'd pretty much sweated through exams last week, this week was all about getting our results and running out the clock till summer break.

And speaking of summer, as much as I loved my leather jacket it was so warm I could barely stand to wear the thing. Instead I was getting by with a short-sleeve flannel shirt over a white tee. Even my leather combat boots were too warm. Fortunately I snagged a pair of surplus jungle combat boots online, they had breathable canvas uppers so they weren't too toasty.

Meanwhile my girlfriend seemed to have even more clothes on now than she did back in the winter. She was really leaning hard into her Touhou lifestyle, and the Kirisame cosplay she wore every day was pretty much complete.

She wore ankle boots, layered black skirts and a frilly white maid's apron. A frilly white blouse and black vest on top rounded it out, and of course her enormous witch hat topped it off. She wasn't wearing that at the moment, it was still banned from school. She had it hiding in her locker though, so she could put it on as soon as we left the property. About the only thing missing was a flying broom.

And she'd been growing out her blonde hair as long as I'd known her, it was finally long enough now that she could style it like her Touhou idol.

By that point we'd reached the classroom where the rest of Club Luna was waiting. We both greeted everyone else as we entered, then Marissa asked me "Gimme a hand with the candles ok?"

All the little tea lights were already set up around the room, but they weren't lit yet. I wasn't anywhere near as good with fire magic as my girlfriend, but I could manage to light a few candles. And I figured she meant it as practise for me anyways.

Brooke and Paige were sitting in their usual spots towards the front of the circle, Cass and Kaylee were off towards the back corner. And as Marissa moved past them Cassandra joked, "Careful with that magic. One wrong move and you might accidentally unleash the chaos goddess."

My girlfriend rolled her eyes as she continued lighting candles, she responded "Y'all could always sit in the middle of the circle so you weren't too close to the action, y'know?"

At the same time Kaylee gave her girlfriend a glare, then grumbled quietly "Don't joke about that sort of thing Cass. It's not funny."

I kept quiet, but I couldn't help watching the petite brunette. She'd changed over the last couple weeks. Not in any huge dramatic way, but it probably wasn't any big surprise. Like nearly dying then finding out she basically had a magical time-bomb inside her that could go off any moment would be enough to mess up anyone. Except she wasn't really messed up. If anything she got more brave. She finally grew a backbone, like me and Marissa talked about that one time.

She wasn't brash and cocky like my girlfriend, and I doubted she ever would be. But she wasn't the shy timid soft-spoken girl who tried to keep out of sight anymore. I was kind of glad for that too. Like I could imagine it going the other way, especially considering her friends and family all knew magic and could accidentally kill her at any time. It'd be easy to think the shy timid Cass would completely shut down and never leave her bedroom. Instead she just accepted it and now she was cracking jokes about it.

Another difference was Cass didn't have her big hoodie on anymore. Though that might have been from the heat as much as anything else. Instead she was wearing dark green leggings and a long navy tunic-top that doubled as a short casual dress.

When we had all the candles lit me and Marissa sat at the back as well, near Cass and Kaylee. Then Paige went around and raised the circle. Cassandra shifted her chair a little so she wouldn't accidentally bump into the invisible barrier if she stretched or leaned back or whatever.

Finally Brooke stood up to start the meeting.

"So here we are," she said in a sort of sad voice. "End of the school year, last official club meeting before we break for the holidays. And my last meeting as part of the club, and as the club leader. It's been a wild year, and obviously a lot has happened since our last meeting."

There were a few quiet nodds around the room, and a few folks looked sad. Not like we'd never see Brooke again, but I figured it was that whole 'end of an era' thing. At least for Paige and Kaylee, and maybe Marissa. They all knew Brooke longer than me and Cass did.

"I won't bother reviewing everything," the tall blonde continued. "For one thing there's way too much, and we were all there for it anyways. I do have a question for Cass though. Any news on your situation?"

Cassandra shrugged, "My parents are still working on the problem, and Nina's still helping. She's still staying with us too, she's kind of moved into the guest room."

Paige asked, "You and your moms are ok having her stay with you?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's kind of like having a sister, maybe? Me and my folks all like her, and we all kinda feel sorry for her. And anyways like I said she's helping them try and figure out all the stuff Socha did, so it's more convenient having her stay with us than off hiding in Europe or wherever she's been lately."

Nobody had any questions about that so Brooke responded, "Thanks Cass. I hope your folks figure things out so you don't have that threat hanging over your head anymore. And I'm sure you'd like to be able to use magic again. I can't imagine what it'd be like having that taken away, after working so hard to learn it."

The small brunette shrugged again, she actually didn't look that upset about it. Though maybe she figured her moms were close to solving the problem. Or maybe she really didn't care that much about magic, it was hard to tell with her.

Kaylee looked like she was going to say something, when we were all surprised by a knock at the classroom door.

"Ah," Brooke said. "We have a guest who wanted to speak with us this afternoon."

A moment later the door opened and Miss Hawthorne stepped in. Instantly the mood in the room dropped several notches, and Cass's expression got a bit darker.

May stepped through the circle and moved to stand at the front of the class, she could obviously tell there was a lot of wariness and distrust in the air. She didn't bother with fake smiles or forced cheerfulness, she just got to the point.

"Thank you Brooke, and good afternoon everyone. What I'm about to say will come as a shock to all of you, and I apologize for that."

Me and Marissa exchanged a look, I wondered for a moment if she was about to tell us the truth about who and what she was, or why she kept it a secret. Except that's not where she was going at all, and she was right. Her announcement was a shock.

"As of today I'm officially disbanding Club Luna," Miss Hawthorne announced. "I've been sponsoring this club for... Well, more years than I care to admit. But the time has come to let it go. Further, I will not be returning to school next September. I've decided to take a sabbatical and will be leaving teaching for a while. For at least one year, maybe more."

For the next minute or so the entire room was silent, as all six of us stared at the teacher. Brooke Paige and Kaylee all looked shocked, with wide eyes and everything. Marissa looked surprised, but she was frowning. And Cassandra just looked bored, like she didn't really care what the teacher had to say. As for me, I was probably more like my girlfriend. Surprised but disappointed.

At long last Brooke spoke up and broke the silence, "You can't actually do that."

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May started to respond but the tall blonde talked over her, "You aren't a part of this club, and you don't run it. Club Luna is made up by the members, that's us girls who actually participate in it. You're our sponsor, and you've guided us and helped us, but you don't run it and you can't shut it down. At most you can stop supporting us and take away our meeting place."

"Well said Brooke. I stand corrected," Miss Hawthorne responded in a calm voice. "Of course the six of you are free to continue meeting wherever you like, free to continue what you're doing. But I will be leaving, and without my sponsorship and protection you'll have to be a lot more careful going forward."

Brooke nodded once, "We'll keep that in mind."

"Miss Hawthorne?" Kaylee finally found her voice, "Will you at least tell us why? Why you're leaving, why you're abandoning us?"

The teacher hesitated, like she needed a few moments to figure out how to answer that. Then she took a deep breath, and finally sighed. She glanced briefly at Cassandra, then her attention returned to Kaylee once more.

"I'm sure you can imagine that recent events have played a part in my decision," she explained. "My carelessness resulted in serious injuries to one of my students. That alone was a significant blow to my confidence, along with my reputation here. Beyond that, I recently came to understand that certain actions and behaviours on my part have been, shall we say, of questionable morality. Those events along with other recent revelations have led me to make this decision. I need time to reassess the path I'm following, and I cannot do that here."

My girlfriend spoke up next, "So you're taking a year off, then you'll be back?"

May shook her head, "My sabbatical will be at least one year Marissa. Perhaps I'll return after that, or perhaps it will take me longer to make a decision. I may never return here at all, I simply cannot say. Those are decisions I will make during my time away."

Everyone was quiet again for a few moments, till Miss Hawthorne asked "Are there any more questions you have for me?"

Paige spoke up, "At our last club meeting you said you were going to handle the situation with the enchanted plushies in that vending machine. Did you?"

"About two weeks ago I noticed the plushies were all gone at work," I chimed in. "I don't know if they were sold out or if someone opened it up and emptied it. It's full of some other stuff now, there's no sign of those keychain plushies anymore."

May took a deep breath then answered, "I was able to determine those toys were being distributed through three such machines. In addition to the one here in town there was a similar machine in a grocery store in Toronto, and another located at a truck stop in Chatham. By the time I visited the three locations all had been emptied and the machines dispelled of any enchantments."

She sighed, "The enchanted toys are masked from scrying, so we have no way of knowing how many are out there in the hands of unsuspecting people. I was able to determine how many were actually used though, and what became of those who triggered the transformations."

"At the moment a total of fifteen people have been affected," she continued. "Ten of whom are trans, the remaining five cis. All are now demi-humans of assorted sub-species, including five cats, three rabbits, two each of cow, fox, and wolf, and finally one dog."

"And how many of them are unhappy with their situation?" Cassandra asked in a challenging tone. "How many wanted you to fix them or change them back?"

Miss Hawthorne stared at the petite brunette for a few seconds before replying, "None. Everyone, even the cis victims, expressed happiness and gratitude regarding their transformations."

"Then they're not victims, are they?" Cass responded, and it wasn't really a question.

"Agreed," I stated. "If they're happy and don't want to be changed back then they're not victims. And it's not a problem."

The teacher glanced at me then Cass, before finishing what she had to say on the topic. "I don't know who was behind this, but it seems like they've stopped. For now. I still have the two enchanted toys Kaylee brought me a few weeks ago, I've put them somewhere safe. Perhaps eventually the culprit will turn up some day, but for now I think that case is closed."

None of us said anything but we were all pretty sure that fae guy Brian was to blame. I figured after me and Marissa kicked his ass at the hospital and Nina moved in with Cass's family he probably packed up his toys and disappeared.

Nobody was willing to share that with Miss Hawthorne though. Partially because Cass's moms asked us to keep everything Nina told us to ourselves, and mostly because our teacher wasn't one for sharing information either. If she'd been more open and honest with the rest of us, maybe we'd have done the same for her.

After another long pause Brooke asked, "Miss Hawthorne you've been our liaison with the Council, but if you're stepping down as our sponsor and advisor can you tell us how to contact them directly?"

"No," May replied. "I haven't been your liaison, I've been your shield and protector. I've kept Club Luna and its activities hidden from the council. They would not approve of the club's existence or the work you do. I strongly suggest you're all a lot more cautious in the future, or you may well be visited again by people like Mrs. Reeves. Except instead of working alone they'll be acting with full council backing."

That left everyone looking shocked or worried again, and I was sure they were thinking the same thing as me. Every time we heard of the council I was sort of under the impression we were working with them, or for them. Or at least, we were doing the same sort of work as them and we had their approval.

"Hold on," Marissa stated. "We investigate supernatural sightings and try to protect people from that stuff. Why wouldn't the council approve of that? Isn't that what they do?"

Our teacher sighed and shook her head, "No. Their primary mandate is to keep the supernatural hidden and out of the public view. Protecting people may happen as a byproduct of that, but they'll just as soon use their power against the public in order to keep their secrets."

That wasn't good news, and it left the rest of us looking uneasy.

"And on that note I will take my leave," Miss Hawthorne stated. "Goodbye to all of you, I wish you all the best in your future endeavours."

Without waiting she turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

The rest of us were just sort of stunned, while Brooke sighed. "Well damn. That's not how I expected the meeting to go, and not the way I was hoping to wrap things up for the year."

After a pause she added, "I guess that's it then? We'll keep in touch on the group chat and plan a get-together next month. Until then, have a safe full moon tomorrow and enjoy the start of summer."

It seemed like a very anti-climactic ending to an intense and crazy six months. Or an intense and crazy year for the rest of them, but the six months I'd been involved were pretty wild. Paige dispelled her circle while Cass kept out of the way, then Marissa and I put out all the candles. We gathered up the tea lights and put them away, and finally the six of us filed out the door.

Everyone exchanged some quiet words, then Paige and Brooke went off together, Cass and Kaylee both headed out the school's back door, and Marissa and me set off for my place.

~ End of Book One ~