"All right," said the teacher.  "Class-- pay attention!  Phones down!  Class, I'd like everyone to say hello to our new student.  Would you care to introduce yourself?"

The eyes of the class were upon her.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Ruby and it's nice to meet you," Ruby said.

Yep, there were a lot of eyes on her... and something odd about some of them.   Or was that just hormones?

Perception and Insight, plz)

(OOC: Perception and Insight - Spellweaver rolled 12,23 using d20+11,d20+11)

There were the normal kinds of stares, the normal kinds of looks-- jealousy, lust, indifference, those were fine.

But one girl was looking at her, frowning.  A probing stare that suggested something akin to recognition, and that shouldn't be possible.  Should it?

That was odd. She seems to recognize me as a mage, not as a performer, Ruby thought.

She activated her magic sense.

(OOC: Perception check - Spellweaver rolled 31 using 1d20+11)

There was a magical presence in class, but... strange.  There were odd echoes, and it was very hard to pinpoint.

"Um, where will I be sitting?" Ruby asked the teacher.

"Over there," said the teacher-- right next to the student giving her the odd look.

"Thanks," Ruby said as she went to take her seat.

The student didn't seem that unusual-- a pretty blonde girl with pale skin in a green t-shirt-- but she did seem to tense up as Ruby took a seat.

"...Hello," she said.

"Hello. Is something wrong? You look kinda nervous," Ruby said.

"I can't imagine why," she started, but then laughed brightly as if to cover it.

"I suppose I'm intimidated by you," she said.  "I was popular, but everyone's going to be looking at you now, you know."

"Ah. So, you know who I am," Ruby said. "Could I ask that you don't spread that around?"

She looked... puzzled.

"I was talking about how you look," she said.  It didn't ring entirely true, but...

"Ah. Forget what I said then," Ruby said.

"Well, I'll keep your secrets, either way," she said.  "You can call me Aster."

"Nice to meet you, Aster," Ruby said.

"...so sometime, you should tell me what I ought to recognize you from," said Aster.

"I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later. Everyone else will," Ruby said.

"...but there's more we might have to talk about," said Aster.  "Clearly."

"That aura is all you?" Ruby asked.

"...I'm not sure," said Aster.  "I don't think so."

"You are into magic, right?" Ruby asked.

Aster gave her an odd look.

"...Not precisely," she said.  "Not 'Into.'"

"Oh? What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"I am of magic," said Aster, quietly.  "By nature."

"interesting. We'll have to talk in private later," Ruby said.

"I suppose we should, yes," said Aster.

"Can we meet back here? I don't know the school well," Ruby said.

"All right," said Aster.

And then the teacher cleared her throat; it was time for class to start, apparently.

Ruby turned to face the front and waited.

Class... was boring.  But there was whispering going on around her... was she going to try and listen to it?

Ruby decided to listen in.

Perception or Investigation

(OOC: Perception check - Spellweaver rolled 24 using 1d20+11)

...her stage name.  Someone was saying that looked so much like her...

That was disappointing. Nothing she could do about it and waited for class to be over with.

Soon enough, class ended.

Ruby waited for Astar before heading to the cafeteria.

"...you waited for me," said Aster.  "I'm surprised."

"Why? I don't know anyone else here," Ruby said.

"...I wasn't sure if you'd rather avoid me," said Aster.  "You know something about magic, after all."

"Why would I do that?" Ruby asked.

"...So you don't know what I am, then," said Aster.

"No," Ruby said.

"I'm tempted to not tell you, then," said Aster.  "...just so that you can get to know me, first.  But some people might call that being dishonest."

"Well, I'm going to have to insist now," Ruby said.

"Are you sure?" said Aster.  "You might get an answer that you don't like.  And I might not like seeing your response in your eyes..."

"What? Are you saying you're a demon then?" Ruby asked.

Aster shrugged.

"It's... complicated," she said.  "Answers you might not like."

"At this point though, it'll just be better to tell me," Ruby said.

"...well, it was nice while it lasted," said Aster.  "I'm three-quarters demon."

"Is that it?" Ruby asked.

"Isn't that plenty?" Aster asked.

"Well, unless I see you stealing souls or something I'm not going to care," Ruby said. "I've been in the magic world a long time."

Aster gave her a studied look.

"...that's not the kind of answer that I'm used to," she said.  "Have you been dealing with my kind before?"

"In a general sense. I've been taught magic since I could talk, basically," Ruby said.

"Not the same thing, though," said Aster.  "Not everyone deals with demons."

"I've read up on a lot of demons, had to exorcise a few and besides, you're not even a full blooded one," Ruby said.

"No, but most people note that I'm only a quarter human," said Aster.  "That's not exactly very human."

"Still human though. Do you want me to be upset with what you are?" Ruby asked.

"No!" said Aster.  "I just... wasn't expecting this.  It's confusing.  Humans who know about me and are still friendly are generally after something from me."

"There isn't much a demon could offer me," Ruby said. "I'm already rich, famous and a pretty good wizard on top. If I may boast a bit."

"That's fair," said Aster.  "...I don't do bargains like that anyway."

"What sort of deals do you make?" Ruby asked.

"I don't," said Aster.  "...well, I haven't, anyway.  I don't need to.  But if I make a deal with someone, I have to follow through, and they wind up having to, too.  Probably.  I haven't tested it."

"That's for the best," Ruby said.

"Sometimes, though, I get tempted," sighed Aster.  "Ironic, isn't it?"

"What kind of powers do you have?" Ruby asked.

"I can make things," said Aster.  "Not living things, though.  But... stuff."

"Ah. How many mages have you interacted with?" Ruby asked.

"A couple," said Aster.  "It didn't go well."

"Well, you seem like a good person, so no reason for me to distrust you," Ruby said.

"Thank you," said Aster.  "Seriously, thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for that," Ruby said. "Most mages aren't too fond of me either. Being a mere 'entertainer' and all."

"Hey, it's a living," said Aster.  "And it's a thing that a lot of magicians used to do, didn't they?"

"I'm a stage magician as well as actual magic magician," Ruby said.

"Well, pay's probably better than a lot of things you could be doing, I guess," said Aster.

"I do also sing and dance," Ruby said.

"And you cast spells?" said Aster.  "Very versatile."

Ruby shrugged.

"My dad was training me since I could walk and talk."

"Still impressive," said Aster.  "Do you use real magic in your act?"

"I try not too. It feels kind of cheaty," Ruby said.

"That really seems like it's making it harder on yourself than necessary," said Aster.

Ruby shrugs.

"I see it more like doing your own stunts in a movie."

"That's very principled of you, then," said Aster.

"It's more that they're paying to see me, I had better be able to give them what they want to see," Ruby said.

"Isn't magic what they want to see, though?" Aster asked.

"Yes, but normal people don't believe magic actually exists," Ruby said.

"I think a few of them do," said Aster.  "And they want to."

"It can also be pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. I think it's better to keep it secret," Ruby said.

"Well... you're probably right, too," said Aster.  "I certainly keep my nature a secret..."

"It's nice having someone I can talk to about at least one aspect of my life," Ruby said.

"Cool," said Aster.  "...want to hang out later?"

"Sure, sounds cool," Ruby said.

"Cool," said Aster.

...And then was classwork, and lunch.

Ruby went looking for Aster.

"Hey, Ruby," said Aster.  She'd apparently been waiting for her.

"How're you doing?" Ruby asked.

"Not too bad," said Ruby.  And then her head turned, and she looked out over at nothing in particular.

"...but I think there's a portal to hell opening somewhere nearby," she continued.

"We'd better deal with that first then," Elizabeth said.

"Yeah," said Aster.  She looked around, and then pointed.

"That way.  Downtown."

"Does this happen often around here?" Ruby asked as she headed that way.

"First I've heard about it," said Aster.

Ahead, a plume of red and yellow glowing smoke was stretching up into the sky.

Ruby snapped her fingers to change into her "hero form" as she approached it.

"Nice trick!" said Aster.  They were just around the corner now; people were screaming and fleeing whatever it was.

"It keeps the 'normals' from recognizing me while I do real magic," Ruby said. "And it seems we're going the right way."

Indeed they were-- for around the corner, a pillar of fire was splitting in two, and spreading apart, leaving a fiery gateway between them that opened to a scene of utter blackness.

"There we go," Ruby said. "An odd place for one to appear."

"The big question is why?" Aster said.  "Someone did this on purpose, on this side of the gate."

Several pairs of eyes and horns were emerging through the gateway.

"Hi, welcome to the mortal realm," Ruby said. "I'm going to suggest you go back in before you get hurt."

The demons, unconcerned about her words, laughed evilly as they emerged.

(OOC: Initiative Roll - Spellweaver rolled 21 using 1d20+5)

Go

Ruby snapped her fingers and a huge spray of gem stones shout out at the demons.

(OOC: Cone Area Effect Damage Toughness DC 27)

The demons were forced back, but one dodged to the side, and lashed at Ruby with a fiery whip!

A hit, Toughness DC 25

(OOC: Toughness Roll - Spellweaver rolled 19 using 1d20+15. Gonna reroll that, Spellweaver rolled 17 using 1d20+15.)

The whip bounced off Ruby's mystic shield.

"You should have gone back in when you had the chance!"

A quick chant later, she fired a bolt of mystic energy at the demon.

(OOC: Mystic Bolt attack roll - Spellweaver rolled 11 using 1d20+10. MERP)

The demon dodged, laughing, and lashed fire at Ruby's head again-- but missed.

Annoyed, Ruby cast her gem spray again.

(OOC: Toughness DC 27)

The demon was pushed back-- and out of the corner of her eye, Ruby could see Aster doing something, clearly magical, causing strange hell-runes to appear in the air around her.  The gate was starting to close.

"Thanks for the help," Ruby said.

"...I could use a hand," said Aster.  "My magic isn't good at closing gates like this!"

"Sure thing," Ruby said, conjuring some chalk and drawing some symbols on the ground to help with the closing ritual.

Make some kind of Expertise check for magic

(OOC: Expertise: Magic roll -Spellweaver rolled 22)

The hellgate was closing, but struggling to stay open all the while-- something on the other side was still trying to push through!

Ruby gritted her teeth and tried forcing it closed.

(OOC: Expertise: Magic roll - Spellweaver rolled 11 using 1d20+10. Luck reroll. Spellweaver rolled 30 using 1d20+10.)

The gate slammed shut and vanished!

Aster gave a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad that ended quickly," Ruby said.

"Yeah," said Aster.  "The problem is that we don't know why it happened.  I'm sure that someone on this side of the gate opened it, though."

"That's what I'm thinking. One sec," Ruby said and then began to focus on trying to detect trace magics in the air that could lead to the perpetrator,

(OOC: Detect Magic roll - Spellweaver rolled 31 using 1d20+11)

It was a distinctive trace, but what it showed was that this had somehow been a spell set up in advance, and set to activate when, most likely, the caster was nowhere nearby.

"That's annoying. It was clearly someone with a measure of skill," Ruby said.

"Well, unskilled demonologists are still a menace," said Aster.  "So... it could be worse.'

"What mages do you know of in the city?" Ruby asked.