[43.2] First Field Trip

The next day, I arrived at my afternoon class with Zephyr following behind me. Ever since I was forced to teach these children, Zephyr would start to attend the class just so he could play around with them.

Surprisingly, the children seemed to really look forward to playing with him as well.

Angie ran over to him with a bright smile, "What should we play again today? Demons versus the Holy Light?"

Willis let out a groan, "I don't like that game. It involves too much running."

Daniel nodded in agreement, "The demons never win anyway which totally sucks!"

Angie pushed back her blondish-white hair as she glared at him, "Well duh! That's how history says it happened!"

Zephyr nodded with a toothy smirk, "They may have won, but demons are much better than those pompous bastards."

Willis looked around at them, "So what should we play?"

The psychotic little boy laughed menacingly from behind a tree, "Maybe we should play necromancers."

Angie rolled her eyes, "Billy. Stop pretending to be scary. It's not working."

"Aww…" He walked out of his hiding spot mumbling to himself, "But I got a new book I want to try out…"

I grinned ear to ear and put my arms around the children, "Oh no. We aren't doing any games today."

Willis groaned, "Please don't tell me we have to do yoga again."

My eyebrow twitched in frustration, "Oi. Yoga is good for your mind and body. Don't hate on it."

Daniel pursed his lips, "But it's boring."

Willis added in a small voice, "And the food I had for lunch is giving me gas… I won't be able to hold it in."

"...Ew" I pinched my brow and shook my head, "We aren't doing yoga. We are going to do something much more fun."

Angie stared at me critically, "Will it really be fun? Your version of fun is usually boring."

I felt annoyed but held back my anger, "Yes, Angie. It will be fun. We will be going on a field trip today."

She tilted her head in confusion, "What's that?"

"It means we will leave the school to get experience in the real world. I'm going to take you somewhere in town."

Willis lit up, "Are we going to visit a candy shop!?"

I paused, "Um… No."

He deflated, "Aww…"

Billy jumped up and down, "Oh! A cemetery?"

I just stared at him silently, "..."

Eventually, he stopped jumping up and down when he realized that wasn't the case. He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue, "Lame."

Daniel looked at me cautiously, "Wait… Are you allowed to take us out of school?"

I waved my hand, "Eh. I'm the Headmaster's daughter. I don't have to worry about those silly rules."

Angie pursed her lips, "This is exactly why my brother doesn't like you."

My face twitched again, "You know. You and your brother are exactly alike."

She lit up, "Really?"

I nodded, "Yeah. You both are great at annoying me."

Her smile turned immediately to a frown.

Willis spoke up, "So where are we going?"

I started pushing them toward town, "It's going to be a surprise! Now come on. Walk quietly. We don't want to get caught…"

Daniel shook his head, "...So you're not allowed to let us leave."

I kept pushing him, "I'm teaching you a valuable lesson today."

Angie asked, "What's that?"

I gave her a look, "It's how to not be a party pooper."

The kids: "..."

Once we were out of the Academy, I summoned my ice chunk and flew them all to the art museum. I ignored their screams as I flew through the sky. The children all clung to Zephyr who looked just as frightened as they were.

I gently slowed the ice chunk to a stop and lowered it to the ground. Zephyr and the children climbed off quickly. Angie looked at me and shouted, "Were you TRYING to kill us!?"

"Nah. If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead."

Angie looked at me incredulously, "Why would you say that to a child!? You're horrible with children!"

I nodded and ushered them inside, "I am terrible with children. That's why you should be extra careful around me."

After I led them all inside, I was greeted by Cyrus, Felix, and Caldwell.

Cyrus glanced at the children, "You actually brought them here? What are you hoping to achieve? They can't pay."

"We have to inspire the new generation." I added nostalgically, "Plus, it was quite common for school trips to visit the art museum. I gave a lot of tours to children in my time."

Felix looked at me apprehensively, "A-Are you sure this is a good idea? A lot of this art and sculptures are very ancient and expensive. I don't think it's safe to have around children."

I nodded confidently, "It's fine. My magic circles are specifically designed for thieves and children."

Billy sprinted over to a painting, "WHOA! Look at THAT!"

He bumped into Willis, pushing him into a display of an old sculpture. A blue box suddenly illuminated the display, protecting it from getting damaged.

Willis looked at it in surprise, "Whoa!"

The blue light disappeared.

He reached out to touch the sculpture, but another blue box appeared around the sculpture to prevent it from being touched.

His eyes lit up, "WHOA!"

Daniel looked at me curiously, "How'd you do that?!"

I gave him a wink, "I made a magic circle that will only recognize Felix and me as people who can move and touch it."

Billy started slapping the painting, but a blue box appeared and prevented him. He let out a shout, "WHOA! I can't touch it!!"

Daniel ran over, "I want to try!!!"

My face twitched as the children grew far too excited trying to trash the place but failing to do so.

Angie started screaming in pure excitement, "THIS IS SO COOL!"

She raised her arms, and in her excitement, an uncontrollable burst of fire rushed forward.

*Thump thump thump thump*

A bucket of water suddenly emerged from the ceiling and drenched her, along with her accidental fire.

I covered my racing heart and let out a big breath of anxious air.

Angie blinked in disbelief through her soaked hair, "Whaaa…"

Felix looked at the ceiling in shock, "What was that?"

I forced on a smile to cover my anxiety, "That's another safeguard I created. There's no way I'm going to allow a fire to destroy everything here. I've learned my lesson-"

Felix looked at the ceiling and walked around, "Incredible! You really did plan for everything!!"

As I watched him admire the ceiling tiles with imperceptible magic circles etched into them, I felt my throat start to stiffen.

Ugh. I can't breathe…

Cyrus suddenly appeared by my side and reached out to hold my hand.

I was startled by his sudden movement, but as I stared at his calm and affectionate gaze, I found that I was able to breathe again.

I looked away to try to hide my embarrassment, "I tried to plan for everything and made the building able to prevent any type of disaster from attributes."

Billy tapped his chin as he thought. Then a mischievous smile crossed his face. He pushed Daniel forcefully enough for him to fall onto the ground and hit his elbow.

Daniel burst into tears, screaming as he held his elbow. Suddenly a whirlwind started to appear, but it was quickly dispelled by a magic circle suddenly appearing on the ground.

Felix approached him in a panic to comfort him.

Then Billy turned his attention to Willis. His fingers twitched, itchy to shove another. He chuckled darkly, "Ready for a tickle?"

Willis took a step back with a pale expression, "S-Stay away from me!!!"

Billy didn't listen and lunged forward. He started tickling Willis's side which caused him to burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

A sudden lightning bolt hit the building, but as it did, it split apart and dispersed easily along the roof, never once damaging anything.

I let out a sigh, "I had all of you children in mind when I was designing the building."

Angie wow'd in admiration, "Nobody ever considers people like us."

Billy clicked his tongue, "Most people don't even let us inside."

I gave them a wink, "An establishment is only good if it allows everyone."

Felix motioned to the children, "Well now that we have that established, why don't you children go look around? We have lots of exhibits… Even ones you can interact with!"

The children cheered and ran off to look around and test more of the protective features.

Felix shouted after them, "If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!"

I watched as the children ran around having fun. Eventually, Felix and the children ended up in the interactive exhibit where they all painted their favorite exhibit and wrote a little note beside it. Even Zephyr followed along, painting with his hands to create another abstract piece that no one could figure out.

Felix took all of the finished paintings and hung them all up on the wall which made the children even happier.

I let out a sigh, "At least children enjoy our art museum… I don't understand why adults won't even come to give it a chance."

Angie heard me complain and spoke in a mature tone, "A lot of people still believe only demons can make art. Maybe you can appeal to them by offering a show."

I raised an eyebrow, "A show?"

She nodded and held out her hands, "That thing you do with your hands is fun to watch! That would bring people. Then maybe they will slowly accept art as being for everyone."

My eyes widened.

I picked her up with a cheer, "YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

She giggled as I held her in the air, "Duh!"

I held her as I looked at Felix, "Do you think we could turn the backyard into an outdoor theater? Then they would have to walk through our museum to get to it!"

Felix nodded quickly, "I will have them build it immediately! But do you think people will come?"

I gave him a wink, "Leave it to me. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's showing off."