Midterms are keeping students busy this week, which means Melody invites a special guest onto her show, a.k.a. the only person willing to forego studying for her sake. (Guess who?)

Melody

Hello Manticores! My name is Melody Martin and it’s already that time of the quarter: midterms. It’s possible no one’s listening to this channel because everyone is frantically studying for their tests, and I’m doing nothing more than talking to empty air, but just in case, here I am, nobly forgoing my own studying to keep you updated on the school. Also known as procrastinating, but that’s a less kind way of describing it.

I’m not really sure how I’ll do on some of my midterms, to be honest. I’m most worried about Math 3 and the Biology of Magical Creatures. I expect to do badly in Math 3 simply because numbers make even less sense to me than magic, but in my Biology class, my main concern is the type of test we’ll have. We’re supposed to dissect an imp. Moral implications aside, I’ve never dissected anything ever, so I’m afraid I’ll be too grossed out to continue. I have done well on my written tests in that class, though, so hopefully I’ll have enough knowledge to pass.

The other midterm that frightens me is the one for my mentor period. As you know, the mentor period is designed to help you shape and control your personal powers. Thus, the midterm involves demonstrating your power so the instructor can judge your progress. I have sung with her a few times over the past few weeks, and she’s still alive, so that’s a good sign. But I’m still uncomfortable with singing and I hope she doesn’t make me do anything more intensive, like sing in front of a group. I don’t know if I’d be able to avoid a catastrophe.

Aside from midterms, not much has been happening at the school recently. I suppose students are too busy studying to make any mischief. Even our petition against the potion ban has ceased circulating for the time being because the people in charge of distributing it don’t have the time right now, and I can’t blame them.

Oh, good, there are people in the chatroom right now. That means we can have our question session today. Our first question comes from Margarita Appleton, who asks the very relevant question, “how do I find a study group?”

To be honest, I personally haven’t participated in any study groups, because I’m more of a solo learner. Being around people distracts me, because I start talking and…well, you can probably guess from what you’ve heard on my show. I can go on forever. But I have heard suggestions for finding study groups from my instructors and other students.

The easiest way to find a study group is to join one via your online portal. Right now you’re accessing the chatroom by going to the Social tab, then clicking the School Chat link. Well, if you want to join a study group, you just need to go to the Academic tab, then click the Study Group link.

And…oh, shoot. It looks like Margarita just left the chat. I meant for her to follow those instructions later, not immediately. Well, hopefully she’s still listening, because there’s a catch: the online study groups are only available for certain classes. Also, some only meet online through chatrooms like this one, while others arrange to meet in person.

If your class doesn’t have an online study group available, your best bet is to find other students in the classroom to meet with. This can be a nerve-wracking experience for some people, but there are few other options. Your best bet is to find other people who stare at the white board with a dazed, confused look on their face and see if you can help each other learn the material.

Margarita still hasn’t returned to the chatroom, so I’ll get to the next question. Caja Bissette is wondering what incubi are like. I assume she’s asking because Nate, my boyfriend, is part-incubus.

Incubi are commonly viewed as scoundrels because their reputation is to forcefully enter women’s dreams and impregnate them. And I agree that’s pretty awful. Nate isn’t like that, though. Because he’s only part-incubus, he can contain his desire to invade people’s dreams. He only does it with consent. It can come in handy, actually…

*nervous laugh* I suppose I’m getting too personal here. I normally would avoid such personal questions, but there’s a reason I chose to answer this one: Nate is my guest on the show today. Yes, finally. A lot of people have been requesting he come on, so now you finally get the chance. Also, he was the only person I could find who wasn’t busy studying. So, hi, Nate.

NATE

Good day, Melody.

MELODY

Really? Are you Principal Ravenstone now?

NATE

Sorry, just thought I’d have some fun.

MELODY

It’s fine. We don’t really have a serious topic to discuss anyway. We’re just passing time until midterms are over.

NATE

I can think of a good way to pass time…

MELODY

Not here! I have a radio program to run.

NATE

Fine, fine. What do you want to talk about, then?

MELODY

Well…a lot of people have been wondering how we met. After all, I ignorantly had both feet in the human realm before I met you. It was by mere coincidence you found me.

NATE

I wouldn’t go that far. I found you because of your beautiful singing, remember? It was positively enchanting.

MELODY

Yeah…enchanting’s probably a more accurate word than beautiful.

NATE

*sigh* Why can’t it be both? You can stop feeling guilty about what happened, you know. I’m fine now.

MELODY

I just hate thinking that you only like me because my singing forced you to. I still don’t fully understand my powers and that could be part of it.

NATE

You’re overthinking things. Yes, I first met you because I heard your singing, but that’s not why I like you so much. I like you because of who you are, every part of it. I like that you enjoy reading comic books, I like that you’re passionate about the school, I like that you collect flowers and press them in a little book. I like everything about you. It’s not just your singing.

MELODY

That’s….wow. Umm…thank you. I feel like I should return the favor, but I also think our listeners might be getting confused. We can talk more later. Want to continue the story for now?

NATE

Sure. Basically, dear listeners, I met Melody at a bus stop of all places. I hadn’t intended to take the bus, but I heard her singing, and it drew me toward her.

MELODY

Neither of us ended up taking that bus. I actually ended up passing out right on the bus shelter’s bench. Not related to Nate. I’d just been having some medical issues and that was another symptom.

NATE

I freaked out, of course, and took her to the hospital. Being a random guy, I thought it would be best for me to leave. But then I entered her dreams.

MELODY

To clarify, the dreams don’t have to be sexual for him to see them.

NATE

Good point. The dream I saw was anything but. All I felt was your fear. You were dreaming about being in a hospital and it frightened you. I didn’t want you to wake up alone in the place that scared you, so I stayed until you woke up.

MELODY

I’d been to the hospital many times at this point and had undergone loads of tests that never helped diagnose my issue. Now I know what the problem was: my magic side was starting to awaken. You see, when you first start to grow, your magic side is latent and your human side is in full control. That’s why most of us didn’t develop our powers until later in life. When those powers start to develop, your human side consider the magic side a threat and attacks it, essentially. And your magic side fights back. The existence of your body in two realms is in constant turmoil and this causes your body to react. It’s kind of like chemotherapy, where your body starts to attack its own cells and that makes you sick, but is obviously less potent.

For most of you, the maturation process probably wasn’t bad enough to hospitalize you. You may have even thought it was just a flu. But for me, it had dire effects. I passed out, I vomited, I lost control of my motor functions for a few hours once…it was awful. But what was more awful was going to the hospital and having the doctors poke me with needles and make me go into those damned small machines to see what was wrong. And they never found anything wrong, because my condition wasn’t anything a human could see. So being in the hospital for me was a futile gesture that only caused pain.

NATE

It’s crazy to think how much you know about this stuff now. You knew nothing when we first met.

MELODY

My biology class was a big help in that regard. I’m so relieved to finally understand what was wrong with me. But, back then, it was a nightmare.

NATE

Literally so, from what I saw.

MELODY

Exactly. So when I woke up and Nate explained why he was there, he accidentally let it slip that he’d seen my dream. From then on, he had no choice but to tell me about the magic realm.

NATE

She didn’t give me one.

MELODY

In my defense, you wanted me to know. You wanted someone to talk with about the magic realm.

NATE

That’s true. I only had my father at that point, and he was an ass. A prime example of why incubus are so hated. I probably have dozens of half-siblings I don’t even know…

MELODY

But now…well, I suppose I shouldn’t say something so personal on air.

NATE

No, its okay. He’s been imprisoned by the magic realm’s officials, and for good reason. He’s created a bunch of half-incubus and half-succubus children and that can be dangerous. I’ve vowed to never use my powers improperly, but not all incubi and succubi are that way. He couldn’t keep creating them unchecked. Not to mention all the poor women he left behind, alone and without support…I don’t think I’ll ever know who my mother is because he doesn’t bother to remember where his children come from. He and I found each other by chance.

MELODY

Thank you for being so open. I know it’s difficult to do. Hopefully people won’t judge you by your species now.

NATE

Hopefully not. But if they do, I don’t really care. You’re the only person whose opinion I care about…and I suppose my instructors’ too.

MELODY

That’s important. Nate wants to study the relationship between the magic realm and the human realm so he can help keep the peace between them when he’s older. That requires a lot of dedication and learning.

NATE

Definitely. Keeping that in mind, I should probably get back to studying soon.

MELODY

Don’t worry, same here. To everyone who is listening: thank you for hearing our story. I appreciate everyone who tunes into this channel week after week, especially while midterms are taking place. I wish you all the best of luck on your tests and, until next time, good night Manticores.