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Group Precipitation

by FanOfMostEverything

Chapter 328: Is It "Viceroy"?, by ArtieStroke and FoME

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(ArtieStroke)

Jace sighed, keying open the door to the principal’s office, two cups of coffee steaming in his hands. Telekinesis was useful like that, though his doctor would probably have words with him about his caffeine intake.

The principal’s office was dark, the first strange thing the vice principal of Ravnica High noticed about the room. If nothing else, Niv-Mizzet was here almost more often than Jace himself.

A lamp clicked on, and the chair behind the desk swiveled around, revealing a slight figure of an earth aspect that definitely was not Principal Niv-Mizzet.

Ral? Get out of that chair, what are you doing?” Jace said, quickly setting his coffees down and frowning at the grinning figure of the school’s guidance counselor. Ral Zarek ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair, shaking his head.

“Jace, Jace, Jace. Didn’t you hear the news from the big man himself?”

Jace’s frown deepened as he took a sip from his first cup of coffee. “What are you on about?”

“Niv’s taking his vacation days, so someone had to be appointed as acting principal.”

There was a moment of silence, hanging thick in the air like the Simic’s latest taffy experiment.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“But I’m the vice principal!”

Ral laughed, kicking his feet up onto the desk and snagging one of Jace’s coffees.

“Well, yeah! Someone still has to keep the school actually running!”

Jace blinked, the admonishment he was about to deal to the coffee thief cut short as he thought about it.

Ral wasn’t incorrect. It wasn't like Jace’s job would change much at all. If anything, Ral was the type of person that seemed to pay attention to people instead of just projects; he had come a long way from some of their ill-conceived experiments back in college.

But it was that very experience Jace had with the man that kept him suspicious.

“I thought you were gunning for that Physics position opening up when Professor Melek retires next year?”

“Eh,” Ral shrugged, and Jace finally had the notion to telekinetically remove his feet from the top of the desk. “When Niv Mizzet says ‘run the school’ you say ‘how many miles’ and then thank him for the privilege.”

Jace sighed. “Yeah, that tracks.”

“Aaaanywho.” Ral jumped out of the chair, briskly walking past the vice principal and clapping him on the shoulder. “I’ve got some principaling to do. Your daily paperwork’s on your desk; have fun, buddy.”

And then he was out the door, faster than Jace could shout, “You’re paying for that coffee, Zarek!”

Jace huffed, taking another swing of the fresh brew. Ral was right; someone had to actually run this school.

(FoME)

Fuchsia blinked. Out of all the stories Wallflower had told her of Ravinca High, this one was easily in the top five in terms of sheer what-the-actual-crap. (Of course, given Fuchsia's Trixie-adjacent life, only brought it into the top twenty such experiences over her entire life.) "So... your principal steps out almost totally unannounced and no one even notices?"

"Apparently, Vice Principal Beleren is the one who actually takes care of all of the administrative stuff."

"Then what does your principal actually do?"

Wallflower shrugged. "From what I've heard, vaguely sinister stuff that you need an IQ of at least three hundred to fully follow. You know, like pulling me out of Canterlot High. He's probably off making deals with shadowy powers or constructing a doomsday device or something."

"And he's a high school principal," Fuchsia deadpanned.

"Hey, you have Mr. Discord," said Wallflower. "And according to the rumors I've heard, Principal Celestia's a literal superhero."

Fuchsia took a few moments to process that. "I can't tell if the world's craziness snuck up on me, or if I just don't notice because it still doesn't compare to Trixie."

"A little of both?"

"Sounds about right."

Next Chapter: Shadowed Reflections, by FoME Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 34 Minutes
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