Page 35 of Facade

Heath had called his sister the minute he arrived at home on Tuesday. Nadine agreed with him that the tournament was the most likely place for the culprit to have found the students. However, she didn’t have any helpful suggestions on how to prevent them from being targeted.

They decided to hold a strategy session at her house on Saturday. Hopefully, one of them would have more information to work with by then, or at least ideas of how to defend the students.

The town would be flooded with spectators, family members of the entrants, scouts, and professors from other colleges. Hundreds of people flocked to these events, just to watch the competitions. Many would camp outside of town rather than staying at hotels.

It would be impossible to vet everyone. Just thinking about it was enough to give him nightmares.

Heath was sitting in his office on Friday, immersed in thoughts of the upcoming tournament, when there was a knock on his door. He didn’t have any appointments until later in the day, so this was unexpected.

“Come in,” he said distractedly.

The door opened, revealing a senior caster. Heath remembered him from his days as a dorm monitor, but didn’t have him in any of his classes.

Casey Blackburn attended Mars because of their stellar academic rating, and the prestige a degree from this institution offered. He had never struggled to control his magic.

“I apologize for barging in unannounced, Professor,” Casey said, looking hesitant. “Do you have a couple of minutes?”

“Of course, Casey. Come in and sit down,” Heath said, waving a hand toward the chairs in front of his desk. He was curious to learn what had prompted this unscheduled visit. “What can I do for you?”

Casey sat down, but fidgeted restlessly, crossing and uncrossing his ankles. He was a picture of awkwardness. After clearing his throat, he spoke, “I’m not sure you can do anything, but I trust you. I didn’t know who else to approach with this.”

Now Heath was really curious. Casey was distracting Heath from his worries about the tournament, but that was probably a good thing.

“Whatever this is about, I promise to help if possible,” Heath said, meaning it. Something was obviously bothering Casey. He would help if he could.

“I have a class on artistic theory in Fine Arts with a senior elemental that I have become friends with,” Casey said. “On Wednesday morning, Trent and I were walking across the quad when the fish fountain shot water at Mr. Voudrie, the powered monitor. All the water was sucked up from the basin, and poured onto his head. It didn’t hit anyone else. I cast a protection spell on Mr. Voudrie’s messenger bag. Otherwise, his electronics might have been destroyed. Trent used his air to dry Mr. Voudrie’s clothes, to prevent him from being late to class.”

So, Jace was right that Mitch had progressed from verbal insults, and was attacking Clark. Heath didn’t know who else it could possibly be. He wasn’t sure, however, why Casey was reporting this to him.

Helping Clark Voudrie had been kind. Casey Blackburn was at the top of his class, with a bright future ahead of him. He was also clearly a good person, who felt that the assault should be documented.

But this was an elemental issue that they, as casters, had no recourse to fix. Heath could lodge a complaint on Casey’s behalf if the attack had been directed at him. But it hadn’t.

Most of the power to resolve this problem was in Clark Voudrie’s hands. It didn’t sound as though he was exercising it. At least Heath hadn’t heard anything about this until now.

“You think this was a targeted elemental assault, and I agree with you,” Heath said. “I sympathize, but don’t have any authority over elementals, and to my knowledge, Mr. Voudrie hasn’t reported the incident.”

“Yeah, but I came to you because I know that when you hear all of it, you’ll try,” Casey said. “Mr. Voudrie should report this, but if he does, the wrong person will be blamed for it. I don’t think he would want that to happen.”

“No, he wouldn’t, and neither do I,” Heath said. He didn’t know Clark at all, but couldn’t imagine that the powered monitor would want anyone punished for an act they hadn’t committed. “Ok, tell me everything.”

“All the elementals know that Mr. Pierce has it out for Mr. Voudrie,” Casey said. “He isn’t quiet about it. Mr. Pierce thinks he was passed over for a teaching position he applied for that was unfairly handed to Mr. Voudrie. The embarrassment of being shown up by a brand new monitor in the first drill, and hearing Mr. Voudrie commended for it, solidified Mr. Pierce’s hatred.

“Most of the elementals have no respect for their monitor. It’s obvious to them that Mr. Voudrie earned, and deserves, his positions,” Casey continued. “Mr. Pierce disagrees, and seems to think the students owe him loyalty simply because they share the classification of elementals. He has gone on more than one tirade about betrayal and solidarity, glaring at students he suspects of not being on his side. Pierce shouts things like ‘Elementals should stick together’, and ‘Powered people are not superior to us’. I know this from talks Trent and I have had, commiserating over being stuck with the worst monitors on campus.

“There’s a sophomore who still has trouble controlling his water at times. He was overheard commenting that they would be much better off with a monitor like Mr. Voudrie, and that the powered students are lucky to have him. Mr. Pierce has been insinuating that this student has been playing pranks, and has no discipline.”

Mitch must have talked a good game and looked great on paper to get hired at Mars. Heath knew that the Dean, Assistant Dean, and department heads had to be disappointed in Mitchel Pierce.

But what Casey reported was far worse than Heath had expected. He wondered if there was any proof of those claims. Elementals would have to be willing to give statements to justify a disciplinary measure against the dorm monitor.

“That student was on the quad at the time of the incident with the fountain, and your friend thinks Mr. Pierce is framing the sophomore for it,” Heath guessed. “If Mr. Voudrie was late to class due to needing to change clothes, he could lose respect, which would satisfy Mitchel Pierce.

“Additionally, Pierce would delight in causing Voudrie the hardship of needing to replace his electronics, which constitutes destruction of property. Blaming the sophomore for it might solve two of his problems without him getting in trouble over it.”

“Exactly,” Casey said. “Mr. Pierce was also there, though, hiding in a rose arbor just around the curve past the fountain. To my knowledge, no one else saw him. I know that, because I did a spell meant to reveal the perpetrator. Trent is willing to take this to one of the elemental professors, but if he does, Mr. Pierce will make his life unbearable. I offered to discuss it with you first.”

“You did the right thing, Casey,” Heath said. “I can’t make any promises, but I will bring this to the attention of Armando Garcia.”