Professor Gemstone and the nightly reunion! part 2 (5)

"Hey professor! We have a question!"

It was, once again, Alan who asked.

Ezera ended his brushing motions, paused, then put the brush back on the dressing table. He turned on his seat with an indulging look on his face.

"What is it?"

Alan looked around to see his classmates' expressions. Some of them nodded, encouraging him. He nodded too.

"Okay," he said, preparing his next words, "Hypotethically, if some of us wanted to go back to our own World, do you think they would let us?"

An interesting first question. Ezera noted the 'some of us' with knowing sympathy before standing up, walking toward them but not yet intruding in their little circle.

"Let's say that's your intention. If it were, you would speak to me and I would speak to the Queen. Do not worry, kids, I'd fight for you if she or any one of her council men refused, you're still too young to be forced to do anything. Now let's say I convinced them. Then, I would have to tell you that it is currently impossible to reverse the spell that brought us here."

He was met with bright, big scared eyes.

"Really?"

"Are you sure?"

He waited for the explosion of indignation to pass before gesturing for them to calm down.

"Yes. However, it is not out of the realm of possibilities that they can figure it out somehow, if we force their hand enough and give them enough time to come up with new researches and spells. I don't doubt that this Grace of theirs, just like any other activity in our World, necessits some research and study, like science. In the mean time, I'd like to ask you what you'd want to do if that was the case."

They all fell completely silent, pondering.

"We have options?" asked Ming with worried but hopeful eyes.

Ezera smiled at him.

"You do. Not a lot, but a few. It might change by the time you turn eighteen, but for now as you're under my responsibility, you'll have to content yourself with just a few of those possibilities."

"And which are they?" asked Alexandra, fumbling just a bit closer.

Ezera held one finger up.

"First option: you consent to them training you for now."

Yuga frowned.

"That brings us to the damn main point, doesn't it? Can we even trust them?"

"You don't need to," Ezera said.

Ashera, "...!"

Yuga, "...!"

Leo, "...!"

Lina, "...!"

"Huh?"

Ilun frowned.

"What does that mean?" he murmured, Sandra nodding timidly behind him.

Ezera didn't waste more time watching their reactions.

"Just because you follow them around does not mean you trust them. Let's say they were your new teacher and you had to listen to everything they said, would you?" He knew the answer was a resounding no, "But they're not your teachers, those people are perfect strangers and you are quite in your right not to trust them or not to listen to them, they have no authority on you. It might seem so, as they hold positions of power, but you are not their subjects."

He started to pace, slowly, around them.

"Remember your history classes on medieval ages? Say a traveler pass by a king's land. The traveler has to follow the king's laws, or the king would have the right to bring him behind the bars, or execute him. It's only courtesy, 'When in Rome,' you know? However, the king can't enslave the traveler to his orders as lightly as he would his own people, for fear of the traveler's true soverain for instance. Of course, here we do not have our State with us, but I do represent you and them. If they ignore me, you can take it as the sign to run for your life."

He was glad that this made them laugh, even if it wasn't quite the point.

"Applied to this situation, it means that you can follow their orders, of course, see how they train you, discover how they treat you, and what they expect from you. But you are under no obligation to accept anything they demand of you. I'm the adult responsible of you, and if they ignored me by asking you directly, that would once again be a big 'NO' sign, do you understand? In any case, that means you can refuse anything they say. If you find yourself in the middle of a contract- written or oral, for that matter, retire yourself from the structure immediately. If after a few days you decide that this training is not trustworthy, you can retire too, it shouldn't be a problem. Unless threatened by a gun to your temple, you always have a choice. I'm in charge of the diplomacy if you have any sort of trouble."

He paused, giving them time to process his lecture.

Tentatively, one of them – Saemi – raised her hand.

"So... If I understand correctly, it means that... We can listen to them, but we should still keep a clear mind? Like in text analysis in History? And we can do what they say, as long as it doesn't sound..."

"Fishy?" Alexandra offered, Saemi nodded.

Lina, with her always grave face, frowned.

"Understandable. But if that's our first option, what are the others?"

She gathered the general assent of her classmates, even though they had all been a bit mollified.

Ezera held out a second finger.

"Your second option is this: you resume class with me."

Most of them perked up.

Except Yuga and Helene groaned. Then glared at each other. Ezera repressed a laugh.

"You're going to ask: 'But Professor Gemstone, where are we going to have class?' Don't worry, I checked with the Queen, she can give us the necessary installments if need be. It won't be hard to organize part-time classes at least."

He stopped smiling and turned to face them fully.

"I mention this option because I want it to be clear for you that, while thrusted in a foreign situation, you still have the choice to lead a normal life. I'll make sure you do. You trust me?"

He waited.

He felt somewhat anxious.

Ashera, Lucas, Shuna.

Alan, Leo, Lina.

Alexandra, Helene, Saemi.

Suzuka, Sandra and Ilun.

Izack, Shanon, Hiro.

And Kai and Hymei.

They trusted him, right? Did they trust him?

They looked at each other, uncertain. After a few seconds, or perhaps a small eternity, they turned to him with either nods or reluctant smiles.

He smiled too. Of course they did.

Yuga, though, looked away defiantly. Ernst looked at him with impassive eyes, unyielding as well.

Ming also looked away, unsure.

Ezera did them a favor and didn't confront them.

He raised a third finger.

"Third option," he went on with an exagerated smile, "we can just skip all that thinking and directly go to the escaping step: let's flee together to another kingdom as travelers. Live the rebellion !"