New Year - New Troubles

Euphy sat behind her metal desk in the middle of her office. On her desk was a stack of papers at least five inches tall, which were placed neatly in a metallic, mesh container that was labelled ‘IN’. Beside the container was another labelled ‘OUT’; however, this container remained completely empty. Her black, leather shoes up against the desk and back leaning down on the back of her office chair, Euphy sat reading a rather large textbook, the title of which was ‘The World of Electromagnetism’.



She giggles to herself as she turned a page, her eyes focuses on the text. Unexpectedly, a monotone voice came up over the intercom. “Ms. Lockeheart, are the papers I faxed you ready for filing?” The voice stated. Euphy jumped out of her chair out of shock. The textbook fell to the ground, revealing inside of it a copy of the latest edition of her favourite Japanese graphic novel series. Euphy scrambled to pick up the novel and hide it back in the textbook, which she put on her desk. After a deep breath, she pressed the button on the intercom. “Yes, they should be done very soon.” Euphy replied.



Euphy quickly sat back down in her chair and grabbed a handful of papers. She continued to ink her stamp and check-off all the papers that needed to be filed, one after the other. About five minutes later, having stamped about a tenth of the necessary documents, Euphy collapsed on her desk, her hair covering her face and her arms hanging beside her legs. “Ugh…..” She grumbled, as she lifted her head off of the desk. A piece of paper clung to her forehead. Euphy pulled it off and slapped it back in the pile. “I hate new semesters…”



It was the time of year where the most paperwork needed to be done in order to authorize the covert smuggling of illegal Malum across the borders, where they could enter the academy and harness their natural abilities for the greater good. Yet, Euphemia would probably leave all the documents till the last minute as she does every year, until Orianna comes and bails her out.

“Euphy!” Orianna moaned as she barged into the office, her hands in her pockets, and a bored look upon her face. “These newbies are gonna drive me absolutely insane!” The girl moaned as she collapsed into the chair sitting in the corner of Euphy’s office. “I mean, I didn’t think it was possible for a group of people to ask so many questions…” Her hands searched blindly along the Headmaster’s desk, until she found the fresh cup of coffee Euphy had poured for herself, and snatched it as her own.

“I mean really, some of the people here this year are complete an utter-“ She was cut off, by pouring the hot liquid down her throat, and then spewing it back into the cup. “yuck, black and boring, ew,” Looking at Euphy, who seemed to be thinking of some more ways to dodge doing the paperwork, “Orianna sighed as she unscrewed the cap to the sugar dispenser and began to pour it into what was once Euphy’s cup.

“Sooooooooooooooooooo,” She said, still pouring the sugar into her cup, “Got any work for me, do I get to lead in the hazing this year! I enjoy that oh so much,” Shortly after she finished talking the cup started to overflow and Orianna clumsily went about trying to clean up the mess. Where she finished whiping up the coffee and then drank a little of the coffee, twitching a bit because of the overload of sugar in it.

Printer knocked on the Headmaster's door loudly before peeking his head in. "Pardon, I didn't know if ya'll was in. I didn' see no one outside." He stepped inside and closed the door behind him with his foot. A wide grin split across his face, he nodded to the two girls in front of him. "So you wanted ta tell me sumthin'? Am I gonna be sum kinda leader of sumthin'?" He asked, scratching the back of his helmet. He had no idea what he should have been doing at the moment, and he wanted to get situated as quickly as possible. He hated feeling useless.

"Oh wait, I forgot ta introduce myself! Name's Printer!" He proclaimed, pointing to himself. "Anything ya need, jus' ask! So, ya'll got names?" The Texan asked, curious as to who he would have to report to in the future.

As the unexpected guest walked through the door, Euphy began to choke on her toffee. She slammed her hand on the desk in a vain attempt to dislodge it. Finally, she swallowed and caught her breath. “Ah, yes…” Euphy responded. “Felix Fledgling, we were just talking about you.” She put her finger to her upper lip and pondered for a moment. Note to self; have new lock installed on office door. “My name is Euphemia Lockeheart, the Headmaster of the Malum Sodality.” Euphy stated, pointing to herself. “And she is Orianna Mahuni.” She continued, while pointing at Orianna. “The Academy’s Secretary of Affairs (and resident coffee-thief).”



“We probably don’t need to go through with introductions though.” Euphy said. She crossed her arms on her desk. “If I recall we already contacted you on your headset.” She giggled, trying to seem as sincere as possible before moving on to the ‘business’ at hand. Shuffling through some papers again, Euphy came across a file and took a quick moment to skim over it. She looked back up at Printer and began to speak again. “According to our files, you are one of the finest sharpshooters in the district and we would like to offer you the opportunity of heading this year’s Stealth Force (having lost the previous leader in an embarrassing target-practice insistent).” Looking back down at the file, she leafed through the individual notes. “Now, there is a matter of a small deductable.” Euphy said quietly. “But, we’d be more than happy to knock that off the money we already owe you.” She attempted a smile, which turned out to be harder than she had first anticipated.

Printer felt his face turn red when Euphy said his real name aloud. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but shut it when she continued to talk about introductions and whatnot. He waited patiently for her to finish up her explanation, a frown tugged at his lips only for a second when she mentioned the other Stealth Force's leader.

"Don'cha worry bout a thing!" He said, tapping his earpiece. "I'll try my best ta be a good leader, and if ya need anythin', you know how ta reach me!" He couldn't help but grin when he heard Euphy recognize him for his renown marksmanship. He lowered his hand and took a step towards Euphy's desk. He reached his arm over the stack of papers on her desk and shook her hand, "Lemme tell ya, it's a pleasure ta finally meet cha face ta face!" He glanced back at Orianna, "Nice ta meet ya'll too." He said shaking her hand as well. "I hope I'm allowed ta be in here..." He craned his head back and looked around the room in awe before looking back at the headmaster. "Oh! Now wait, what are these 'deductibles' yer shootin' off about?" He asked in a stern tone.

Orianna looked up her coffee, and did her best to muster a smile and a small wave at the tall Texan, who surprisingly took her off guard and caught her in a strong handshake. She was examing the man who was going to be working next to her for the next few years. Since she was not only the secretary, but was also the leader of the Strike Force. She was lost in her own thoughts we she heard Euphy start to ramble off about a bunch of money concerns. Orianna sat back down in her chair, taking a sip of the super sugary coffee, and then looked at Printer:.

“Well you see here, Printer,” Orianna said, “The good ol’ Headmaster Euphy here is a bit of a cheapskate, and will probably never pay you back the money she owes you, so she makes up these little “deductibles” and stuff,” The raven haired girl stood up, reached for a napkin and proceeded to whip of her coffee cup, she went up and stood next to Printer before he could have a chance to walk away.

“It seems like you and I are gonna be seeing a lot more of each other,” She smiled, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I’m the leader of the Strike Force, so if you got any issues with things that require a lot of force, feel free to contact me.” And after that she lost almost all interest in the subject at hand, and went over to put some more sugar in her coffee.

(Sorry, I had no idea what to write at all XP)

Printer's grin slid off his face as he listened to Orianna ramble about how he was never going to get payed any time soon. "Oh..." He glanced over to Euphy, who was still sitting behind her desk. He felt his mood deflate a bit and grimaced. He guess he couldn't blame Euphy though. I reckon, Euphy and Orianna have their hands full with more important things. He exhaled softly before straightening his back again. He looked at the headmaster through his blue-tinted visor. "Ma'am, don't worry bout it. I'm sure my folks back home are pullin' along jus' fine!" He said louder, his trademark grin returning to his face.

He lightly patted the side of his leg, wondering what to do with himself now. "Soooo, I guess I should go introduce myself to the newbies. I'd been fixin' to do that earlier...but I figured I shoulda' came to ya'll first." He backed up towards the door and placed his hand on the knob. "Soo...Printer out?" He turned the knob and opened the door to leave.

As Orianna spoke those unutterable words, Euphy stood up and glared at her angrily. “Anna…!” She stated in an irritated tone as she rolled up her sleeves. She was not one to allow anyone to call her cheap, regardless of whether or not it may be true (and it is). Halfway to the coffee machine in the corner of the office, Euphy swung her leg under Orianna’s causing her to fall flat onto the floor. The cup of coffee crashed onto the ground in front of Orianna, its contents flowing everywhere. Euphy heatedly smashed her foot down on Orianna’s head, keeping her from getting up, and continued to stamp her face further into the linoleum tiles. “I’ll teach you to call me a cheapskate, thief!” She shouted with every stomp.



This was the traditional relationship between Orianna and Euphy. She would make a rowdy statement, Orianna would reply with a snide remark, and she would follow by beating the living daylights out of her. It was truly a bond of close friends (if not for the large health insurance policy set out by Euphy).



“Wait a minute…” Euphy stopped. “How long have we had that coffee machine there?” She pondered with her index finger on her upper lip. Finally, she stepped off of Orianna’s head and shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Well, back to the matter at hand.” She thought to herself. Euphy sat back down in her office chair and went through a couple of files before looking back and Printer and letting out a calm smile. “Don’t worry about Ma and Pa back home. We’ll be sure to compensate you for the work you do on your duties.” She said cheerfully.



“I’m sure Orianna and I will have your first assignment ready in a few hours, so feel free to greet the other members. Right Anna?” She looked over at the bludgeoned woman forcibly infused with the floor.

“What the hell!” Orianna moaned as she picked herself off the floor, these beatings by Euphy were starting to wear on her nerves and body. “Why I oughta…” she grumbled to herself as she went and began to pick up the files now lying messily over the floor. “I just got done organizing all of these too!” Tucking a lose piece of hair behind her ear, the girl stood up, wiping the blood off the corner of her mouth.

“You owe me a new cup of coffee! Do you know how long it took me to get the coffee to the right amount of sweetness,” She totally ignored the fact that she took the coffee from Euphy in the first place. “And what the hell! Were already assigning them a mission, I haven’t even finished this weeks financial report!”

Even though she was only in her twenties, her hair was slightly graying, due to Euphy’s laziness with never filling out paper work, and instead sitting there at a desk reading some of those stupid comics she absolutely despised. She was tired all the time, and now she had to go and organize another financial report and some more paperwork for the mission she just promised. “Next time you assign a mission so willy-nilly, I will personally kick your ass into next week!” Orianna hissed.

Euphy was probably one of her best friends, but sometimes, a very small amount, she wanted to kill the god-damn woman. “And next time you waste the budget on comic books—don’t expect me to not speak up,” She stuck her tongue out at the woman, and then went over to Euphy’s filling cabinet to see if they had an missions on file that was good enough for such newbies.