After his recent return to Shokushu Seraph had spent most of his time in his garden, content to practice restraint in his pursuit of students after his banishment, and he had limited his attention to his pet, Ryu, at least for the most part. Instead he had found another past-time, a new source of entertainment. He had refined the spells and magic that made his ‘garden’ alive, and soon elementals had started to appear amongst it. Their forms were usually warped versions of the animals one would expect to find in a garden, and much like the flowers that they thrived and lived off they had a deep implanted lust.

The garden itself was fairly peaceful however, as Seraph had cast some, admittedly weak, wards around it. No-one without any training in magic would even realise it was there, although someone with mana sight could no doubt find the seal that was the door. Of course it would have to take a very curious, very stupid, or very very unlucky student to stand in the runes in question when they had their mana sight active, the necessary key to teleport one into the garden.

Curiosity, bad luck or stupidity, it was hard to tell what had led Pia to this place. Perhaps all, perhaps simply the pull of magic on her soul.

It was Saturday, and just too nice for Pia to let herself stay cooped up indoors. She wanted to go outside, just move around a bit, and she wanted to walk and think for a bit. She had been feeling bored and listless for a while, going outside would do her good.

Pia did know that wandering by oneself in the woods around here was a bad idea. That was why she had been following only paved paths, paths she knew where used by joggers and bicyclist. Thus, she felt fairly safe, and probably would have been too, had she not passed a couple of girls. One of them was talking enthusiastically about some 'weird hieroglyph-like scribbly bits' she had found a small distance from where they where.

Pia being Pia, she could hardly turn down an opportunity like this, the relationship between cats and curiosity being what it was. Thus was it that she now was right in the centre of the runes, furiously copying them down in her little notepad. Figuring out that the 'hieroglyphs' were actually runes of power took her less than a minute. Figuring out what they were for, now this was a different matter.

After she had copied them down for future reference, Pia put the notebook down into her little bag. There was one last thing to do. Breathing deeply, she concentrated on trying to activate her mana vision. It took a few seconds, Pia being something less than a magical powerhouse.

The runes were surprisingly simple, and yet at the same time layered with complexity. There were in fact four different runes, the lines layered on top of each other, flowing freely into the next rune. For all the simplicity of the runes themselves, it was masterfully done. Seraph had cast it without a second thought, but his knowledge of magic was leagues beyond what most individuals ever achieved in their lifetime.

As Pia's mana sight flickered on she would see a golden light pulsing out from her, flowing along the runes in a smooth, almost beautiful, sort of way. It would take nearly ten seconds for that gold light to completly trace the lines of the runes, but unless she moved out of them before it finished they would activate, and the curious student would suddenly find herself inside Seraph's garden.

"Whoha!"

Pia called out in surprise. She had been almost mesmerised by the golden light, spreading out from her, illuminating the intricate patters of runes and sigils. She did not quite realize their function, but she could almost glean some meaning from them.

She did not realize the effect had kicked in before it happened. She jumped up, her light, pastel and red skirt bouncing with her as she stood up, almost revealing soft pink panties. Her chest heaved a little too, caught underneath her tight, softly coloured top. She was not actually wearing a bra for once. Sometimes skipping underwear in order to feel more erotic was something she had learned from Kanoe.

She whirled around. Unexpected magic was something bad, she had learned. As she turned, she scanned the landscape.

"It is beautiful..", she whispered, watching the blossoming garden.

Unexpected magic was indeed quite bad, especially for cute students with more curiosity then sense. And even more so when Seraph was the one who had created the magic. However the fallen angel himself was in meditation in the heart of the garden, and hadn't thought it worthwhile to place wards to alert him to any guests that arrived, leaving Pia unsupervised.

The blonde student, both academic and in magic, would find herself standing on a path surrounded by flowers as far as the eye could see. Almost as if there were miles and miles of flowers, with paths breaking up the vibrant display of colour. If her mana sight was still on she would see each flower shone brightly with magic, a single spell contained inside each. For some this could become a spell-book of sorts, and if Pia touched any flower she would activate the spell inside it. She was in the outer section of the garden, and as a result the flowers here would be all harmless to her. Frivolous displays meant to amuse and entertain.

Of course even without mana sight on Pia should be able to work out this place was rich in mana. She would feel it flowing across her skin, sending tingles of power through her body and soul, and a slowly growing sense of arousal as her own natural energies flickered into life, fed by the immense amount of power available, and slowly building into flames of desire.

In the seconds after she had been transported into the garden, Pia's face went from mild fear, to surprise, and then guarded delight.

She could not help but smile as she watched the abundance of flowers. It felt so alive, and that some strong power resided her was beyond doubt. She should worry, she knew, but it felt so good. The place made her want to run barefoot across the landscape with a flimsy dress clinging to her shape, maybe hand in hand with another girl.. or more than one girl.

Cautiously, she took a few steps down the path. Being transported to somewhere she did not know could e trouble, so she was cautious. Scanning the area with her mana sight, she noticed that some kind of magic seemed to be attached to the flowers.
She knelt down, looking at one more closely.
"What do we have here, then.."

She did not want to trigger any effects she did not know, but her curiosity got the better of her. She reached out, letting her fingers move as close to the flowers she could without actually touching it, studying it closely to see if it reacted.

If Pia had her mana sight on she would see magic everywhere, the air itself was thick with it, feeling like a lover's gentle caress across the pretty blonde students sensitive skin. Every breath felt like it sent a shiver of delight running through the student's blood and lungs, the mana so thick in the air that she could almost taste it.

As Pia reached towards the flower it turned, and instead of facing away from the student it rotated and stretched towards her. Inside this particular flower was a butterfly, a beautiful tiny thing with rainbow hued wings. Of course Pia would only see that if she took the risk and leant forward that extra inch, giving into her curiosity at just what the spells here did.

"Ohhh! Aren't you a pretty one!", Pia giggled. The magic in the air made her light headed. For someone with even a inkling of magic sensitivity, being in such a place was pretty intoxicating. It was akin to soaking up sun on a beautiful sunny day, to swim in an azure lake, sipping the most delicious wine.. Nah. Metaphors failed her. It felt good, and very invigorating.

Now, Pia was not stupid. She knew that likely, someone or something else might be around. It was unlikely that a place like this would be entirely unnoticed, and the beings most likely to find it here could be less than pleasant. But she did let her warning bells chime unheeded a little while longer. Something big and bad had yet failed to reveal itself, after all. Besides, she was supposed to be a witch in training, and she would not be worth the title if she abandoned the chance to learn more about the magic that resided in this place.

And being here felt good. So very good..

Pia extended her finger towards the butterfly, one millimetre at a time. The lack of animal life here, most insects even, was kind of disconcerting. The sight of the pretty little insect delighted her, probably even more so with the flow of mana affecting her.
"I wont hurt you, little friend. Do you want to sit on my finger?", she whispered softly.

The butterfly's rainbow hued wings fluttered as Pia reached, slowly, towards it. It flew into the air, spinning around Pia a few times till she stopped moving, before finally landing on her finger, resting and ever so gently flapping it's wings as it remained motionless. As it did Pia would feel something flowing into her finger, her skin and soul tingling as the mana of the butterfly mingled with her own, an invisible dance that would awaken the pretty blonde student's own magical abilities. The process was slow, and it was unlikely that Pia would notice it.

After a few seconds the butterfly took off again, flying in tight rings around Pia, and then flying away from the student down a path. It would move a few meters before stopping, turning on the spot and looking to see if the student was following it. If she was it would continue along, if not it would fly back and try to capture a strand of her hair to gently tug on, wanting to try and get Pia to follow it deeper into the garden.

Pia took a few steps after the butterfly. She really felt like running after it, giggling and laughing like she would had she been a young girl. She felt so carefree, so heady from the mana.

But she stopped suddenly, casting about with her eyes. After all, this was Shokushu. She had only ventured out because she was certain she would not walk too far from where the other girls were, and she had only gone here to take at look at the strange site. Would it be wise to venture any deeper?

Hesitantly, she halfway turned to were she had come from. Part of her wanted to go exploring. Part wanted to take the safe route back.

She took a hesitant little step back, but then the butterfly took hold of her hair. Pia\s eyes widened in wonder. "Well, aren't you persistent, little friend?", she laughed. It seemed to want her to follow it.
That in itself was a hint that something might be wrong, but on the other hand..

This place was highly magical. She did not get a particularly threatening feel from it, and discovering it's nature might actually benefit her later. If it was worth taking the risk of simply walking out of her dorm room, certainly learning more about magic would be worth one more risk. Besides, this was not spell magic, this was magic that seemed to be embedded in the land.
"Okay! I am coming!" she said, following the butterfly.

The butterfly fluttered back and forth, doing a quick loop, seemingly in excitement that Pia was following it before it continued to lead you deeper and deeper into the garden. Unknown to Pia she was quickly leaving the 'safe' area of the garden, and moving towards the more potent, and 'dangerous' middle ring. The butterfly looked harmless and friendly, but it was just as twisted and warped as Seraph himself was. It knew that it itself could do little to affect a student ... but it also knew where it could find spells that could.

The butterfly lead Pia down a path that led into a dead end, the path surrounded on three sides by a sweeping garden of multi-hued flowers. All of the flowers bent, turning towards Pia and stretching out desperately towards the pretty blonde student. None of them could reach her of course, and the butterfly quickly starting flying around Pia, moving briefly towards the flowers and then back at Pia, trying to settle on her hand, trying to communicate to her that it wanted her to touch the flowers. She wouldn't know that, unlike the flower she had touched earlier that had released the butterfly she had followed here, these flowers contained much larger insects. And one that not only had the same twisted and dark wants as the butterfly, but could actually do something about sating those wants.

Despite her misgivings, Pia actually enjoyed the trip through the garden. The butterfly danced prettily ahead of her, and she had to pick up the pace to follow it. Soon she was jogging, running with little skipping and bouncing steps, kind of when she was a kid, and it was the start of the summer holidays, and her family had gone to vacation to the southern coast.
Pia was giggling, her pigtails bouncing, her skirt moving up and down her thighs with each half jump, half step, sometimes flaring a little as a tiny wind caught it.

As the butterfly seemed to have arrived where they wanted to be, Pia halted. She leant forward, still smiling and laughing, leaning forward and resting with her hands on her legs. She had not been running carefree for so long, it was like just being able to move for the sheer enjoyment of it was a high in itself.
"So.. is this what you wanted to show me, butterfly?"

Pia looked around herself. This sure was a pretty place, off course, but that was surely not the only reason the butterfly led her here. She leant down to look at one of the blossoms. It was practically humming with power, the whole place was. She studied the blossom a little, counted the petals. She wanted to pick a few, maybe make herself a wreath or something?

"I wonder who owns this place. I wonder if I could take a flower home and study it. Maybe I could uproot it? See if I could make it thrive? Little butterfly.. Do you know if there are any seeds in this place?"

She felt silly talking to the butterfly, but why not? Lots of weird stuff happened here, and whenever something involved magic it just got weirder. It did seem to try to guide her, that was for sure.

"Little butterfly," Pia said. "Can you understand me? Can you fly up and down for yes, and back and forth for no?"

The butterfly fluttered around Pia after leading her to the flowers that it was 'related' to, moving up and down while it went around and around the pretty blonde student. It flew around as she asked if it knew about any seeds, pausing directly in front of her for a moment. The butterfly then flew back and forth, revealing that not only was it intelligent and perceptive, it also had a mischievous playful streak. It wouldn't know to go back and forth in response to your question if it didn't understand it, despite the fact that you said going back and forth proved it didn't understand.

Meanwhile the flower in question wafted in the breeze, subtly reaching for Pia, attracted to her own natural mana, a sweet scent coming from it. Nectar of the flower, much like what would be used for venus flytraps to attract insects, only this was designed to attract magic users. Trying to draw her in, to make her touch the flower and activate the spell inside it, releasing the incantation that was trapped inside the fake flora.

"Wait! Uh.. does that mean you do understand or.. Heh! You are just teasing me, aren't you?"

She should have guessed it would not be that easy. Never mind, this probably just meant the butterfly did not want to reveal it's hand. Probably, it just had a mischievous sense of humor, at least it brought a smile to Pia's face.
Still.. Pia had been subject to what passed as playful for a monster before, maybe this was a good idea to..

"Mmmmmm... what is that smell?"

Pia's nostrils were suddenly hit by the sweetest fragrance. It was like how the smell of coffee or roses or just about anything nice can trigger a pleasant memory or a pleasurable response. Except Pia did not quite know what this made her feel, except kind off.. She did not know.

What she did not yet understand was that the nectar reacted to her natural magical reserve, her mana, and made it stir and react, a subtle, yet powerful effect, and if Pia had realized it, she would doubtless have tried taking one home with her, to experiment with its effects.

"Ohhh.. this fragrance is quite.. quite heavy..", she said. "Oohhh... I feel so.. warm.. and tingly.."

Her nostrils flared as she breathed in the smell, and without even knowing it, she ran her hands sensually down her neck and her chest. "These flowers.. they smell so good.."

Without thinking, she extended a finger towards a flower, touching the petals, trying to gather some nectar on her fingernail.

The butterfly flew around in tight circles when Pia accused it of teasing her, and the pretty blonde student would get the impression it was laughing, despite how odd such a action was for the magical insect. It continued to flutter around Pia as she reached for the flower, it's wings flapping faster and the insect moving faster in excitement as she drew closer and closer ... until she touched it.

Instantly the flower bloomed to life, the magical petals unfurling and revealing another insect inside it. However this was much larger than the butterfly, a fact that became apparent as it's wings unfurled and it unrolled from the tight ball it had been 'sleeping' in. It seemed sluggish and slow, its wings, legs and body streching and flexing.

It seemed too focused in waking up and stretching to notice Pia, but that soon changed as the butterfly fluted back, moving so the blonde student was between it and the waking wasp. It glittered into the air, looking like some giant wasp, but emitting that enticing scent that had drawn Pia in to touch the flower in the first place.