đ¸ A Bit of Homework đ¸ (a Twisted Wonderland x OC commission)
Notes: I had a ton of fun writing this commission. I'm not actually into TWST, so the real challenge was the research and getting the character voices down. It was a lot of fun, really, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to write this commission!
âProfessor Crewel needs to stop giving us so many papers every week,â Grim whines, pulling out a few pieces of parchment with different diagrams messily sketched to vaguely resemble the appearance of what, Sat could assume, is the energy fluctuations of a standard spell. âMy paws will forever be stained black at this rate!â
Deuce sighs and comments without even looking up from the paper heâs painstakingly working on, âNow youâre just overdramatic. Your fur is already dark as it is.âÂ
âBut itâs so boring and doesnât even make any sense!â
Ace snorts. âGrim, youâre just terrible at Enigmics.â He lifts his completed paper with neatly drawn diagrams and numbers describing each one. âOnce you get the hang of it, itâs really easy.â
Grim scowls and Deuce grumbles under his breath, âEasy, he saysâŚâÂ
Deuce lifts his parchment and reads through the equations that he has already written down. If Sat were to crane her neck, she could see it from where sheâs sitting. Their homework should have been proof of the theoretical framework that allows for magical conduits like the pens that they were using. Instead, if Sat understood the homework correctly, Deuce completely forgot to consider the gemstone conduit, causing a disproportionate preference for blotting.Â
âYou forgot to account for the, uh, magestone,â Sat says, pointing at the point in which Deuceâs equations went wrong. âRight there. Itâs why youâre proving that conduits blot instead of behaving like a lightning rod.â
Ace leans over the table, sliding the paper to face him so that he can read Deuceâs work. It takes him a moment to read through the computations, but when heâs done, his eyebrows are high on his forehead, and his mouth is parted slightly in pleasant surprise. âSat is right, Deuce. You forgot to include it.âÂ
Deuceâs eyebrows furrow as he makes a move for his paper, frowning down at it, then at Sat. âHow did you figure that out, though?â He blinks, clears his throat awkwardly, and places the paper down, smoothing it over with his hand. âI mean, since youâre new to the school and all, how were you able to figure it out so quickly?â
Sat shrugs, pulling out her notes for classâitâs still written messily in some stray parchment, but she fully intends to rewrite it in her dorms. âI donât know. It just makes sense to me for some reason.âÂ
A lot of the magic taught in Night Raven was so similar to the magic she grew up learning at home with her family. From a young age, her mother taught her brother and her how magic works. Itâs similar to any other physical energy, like heat, and so could neither be created nor destroyed. It can be harnessed by those capable of wielding it. Sat had been one of the few people in her world capable of itâborn with the capacity and raised to make the most out of itâand luckily enough, all her knowledge and skills seemed to apply to her studies in Night Raven.
In her world, Sat had excelled at her Enigmics-equivalent lessons. Her mother was a leading expert in the field of magical technology (MagiTech, her memory supplies) that works similarly to magestones used in magical artifacts. Growing up, every lesson she had given them about magic was more technical than her schoolwork had been. Sat learned the relationship between mathematics and magic as soon as she learned her basic arithmetic. In comparison, their current lesson with Professor Crewel was childâs play, but Sat wasnât interested in boasting about it.Â
Instead, she explains the logical flow behind her understanding, âMagic to me is just another part of the living world that we study and collect knowledge on. If math explains the living world, then it similarly explains magic.â Sat pulls out her completed homework from her bag. It has neat, understandable rows of calculations and diagrams that she painstakingly drew with a ruler. âIt would be one thing if the math or diagrams explained something more abstract, but magic has a tangible and measurable result.â
Deuce frowns, his nose wrinkling as he lets the information sink in. âThatâs a really intuitive understanding of magic,â he finally says after a long moment, but his expression seems clearer now. âBut I think I understand what you mean.â
Ace eyes Sat carefully, his normally bright, mischievous eyes narrowed slightly despite his smile. âYouâre really familiar with the principles of magic, huh?â
Sat huffs, impatiently. âI already told you that I can do magic! How is this such a surprise?!âÂ
âItâs just hard to believe, okay? I need to see it to believe it.â
She crosses her arms over her chest, mouth twisting in annoyance. Sat knows she can use magic! She doesnât have to prove anything to anyone, but every single time she tries to harness it in a way sheâs familiar with, it doesnât seem to work. She theorizes that despite how similar the magic in this world is to the one at home, there are still substantial enough differences that her magic simply refuses to budge.
However, a small part of her, growing louder every day (which she stubbornly wants to not think about), is that her magic really is gone. Forever. Whatever happened to her that sent her here must have messed with her biology, or the gene that makes her capable of harnessing magic doesnât apply here!
Sat shifts, trying to hide her sudden discomfort with indignation. âSee it or not, I can do magic. How else would I even be here?â
âSure, you can, Sat,â Grim says sarcastically. âAnd pigs can fly.â
Deuce sighs, putting his paper down harder than necessary and quickly cutting their conversation short. âCan we please focus on our homework? Some of us are still trying to understand Professor Crewelâs lecture, and Iâd really like to ask Sat for help with it.â
Ace gasps, clearly offended. âWhy not me, Deuce?â
âWell, sheâs clearly nicer than you.â
Grim bursts into delighted laughter as Ace splutters in indignation because he could be nice. Sat watches, amused, but her hackles donât calm down immediately. She skims over her notes with pursed lips, hoping to find somethingâanythingâto clue her in on her predicament, but the basics of magical analysis canât help her here.
Sat sighs and pulls out fresh parchment to rewrite her notes with. Looks like sheâs still stuck, after all.
Commissions are still open, so feel free to commission me. :]
