Chapter the First

The Ice Mage stepped daintily over a small clump of flowers growing by Namuko Academy. She had always enjoyed going for little walks like this, especially in early spring. All the new flowers made the grounds look absolutely gorgeous.

They would have been even more gorgeous with Haruka around, but because of Ritsuko's Rune Eyes, she too was able to grow lovely plants. She had done a great job of caring for the grounds thus far.

It was the start of a new year-a new season-a new beginning. Turiavita had been disbanded, the Mondenkind lesser witches now trained as Namuko Academy wizards, and the academy's greatest enemy, Ice Queen Dark Kikuchi Makoto, now dutifully served them as a loyal ally thanks to the efforts of the new Sun Mage, Takatsuki Yayoi.

Chihaya let out a loud, contented sigh. "It's been a while, Ohi-sama," she breathed. "We haven't been able to just sit together in a long time. You've been hidden behind some pretty dark clouds. I'm happy to see you."

She could almost hear the voice of the last Sun Mage, Hoshii Miki. singing her a cheerful song, blended with the voice of Mondenkind's own beloved Sun Warlock, Shingetsu Joseph. Both had been lost during the vicious Turiavita attack that had wiped out a third of the academy's inhabitants, most of them at the hands of the heartless Ice Witch, now named the Grand Witch of Turiavita (although she frequently insisted everyone refer to her as the Grand Sorceress or something that "doesn't make me sound like that b*tch of a Grand Witch that ruled before me. Things are gonna be different with me on the throne.")

Chihaya sighed and settled down on a grassy hill, watching the sun in the sky. She thought back the the first time she had come to the academy; she had been instantly welcomed and made as comfortable as possible. Everyone had been so kind to her, she had started to cry. Her brother had still been alive back then, and they played games and sang songs together constantly. Chihaya missed him like crazy.

"It's lonely to be a wizard," the bluenette mage murmured quietly.

"It can be, yes."

Chihaya jumped at the sound of the voice, but relaxed when she saw it was only Takane, the Shadow Mage. "Shijou-san, it's you. How are things? How is Hibiki?"

Takane took a seat in the grass beside Chihaya. "Hibiki is doing quite well. She has worked hard enough to reach the level a wizard her age should be at. We intend to keep working at it. 'Never' is not a part of Hibiki's vocabulary." The one-eyed mage looked over at Chihaya. "She wants to be a mage."

"She doesn't have to worry too much about it," Chihaya assured her friend. "I recently learned from Ryo that he has a friend who is also a wizard. She hasn't been trained and is known to be quite a mischievous magician, but with proper training she'll make an excellent mage one day."

Takane nodded slowly. "I only wish I could convince Hibiki that she is fine as she is," she sighed. "I want her to be happy more than anything."

"You're an exquisite teacher, Shijou-san," Chihaya promised. "You don't need to worry about a thing. Hibiki is lucky to be training under you."

"...this friend of Ryo's. She is a darkness wizard?"

"Yes, she is. She has a slightly demonic side to her and thus will have a good kick-start to her powers, but she doesn't have Rune Eyes and she isn't exactly a prodigy, so she may have some trouble. I trust you'll be patient with her."

"Of course. What is her name?"

Chihaya smiled slightly. "Sakurai Yumeko."

*.*.*.*

Yayoi kicked her feet while sitting on her bed, gazing at a photograph of her late teacher, Hoshii Miki. She was smiling, but from the tears tugging at her eyes, one could easily see she was upset.

Hidaka Ai was in her room with her, praticing what she'd just been taught. "Yayoi-san, are you alright?" she asked worriedly, glancing at her teacher.

Yayoi sniffled and wiped her eyes. "I'm fine," she promised. "I just miss Miki-san, that's all."

"I'm really sorry about all this," Ai said sincerely. She frowned slightly at her big ball of light when it refused to get any bigger. "Eri-chan and Ryo-chan told me about that attack. They were really scared. To think something like that happened right after they started practicing...! I'm really glad we're not in the war anymore."

"Me too," Yayoi agreed. "But it's really a good thing! If the war hadn't existed, I never would have met Dark Makoto-san, and then I wouldn't have made such an excellent friend!"

"I guess...plus, I wouldn't be here training under you!"

"Right! So even though it was a horrible time, we got some good things out of it too!"

"Uh-huh!" Ai laughed. "I'm glad I came here. I really love it. Hey, why isn't there an earth wizard from the academy?"

Yayoi blinked, slightly startled.

"'Cause, I met all the wizards the other day. There's me, the light wizard, Hibiki-chan the darkness wizard, Ryo-chan and Yukiho-chan, the air wizards, and then Eri-chan the water wizard, and Ami-chan and Mami-chan, the fire wizards. We're all native to the academy. But the only earth wizard is Dark Ritsuko-san, who's training under Ritsuko-san. And she's from Mondenkind. So where's the academy-native earth wizard?"

"Haruka-san was killed by Dark Chihaya-san sometime shortly after I joined the academy," Yayoi said quietly.

Ai was silent for a few minutes, her ball of light flickering in her moment of grief. "...I'm sorry," she muttered. "I didn't know."

"It's alright," Yayoi assured her. "We're managing without her. It was particularly hard on Chihaya-san, but she's been recovering."

"If it helps...no one else will ever die because of these people. Because of anything." Ai grinned. "Because I'm gonna protect them."

Yayoi grinned back and held out a hand. "Ai-chan, high touch!"

Ai obliged, laughing in glee. "This is our academy, Yayoi-san! So let's never let it fall!"

"Right!"

"Namuko Academy...FIGHT-O!"

(A/N: SEQUEL TIMMME~. Gosh I'm excited.

I want to make a super-quick point. Because of Yumeko's inroduction, which was very much like Yayoi's introduction in the first book what with the "She will be a wizard...this is her name...I talk like I belong in anime..." and stuff, you may think she's getting a major role.

She isn't.

Yumeko exists because Takane needs a wizard to replace her if she retires/dies. I will be checking in on her often, and here's a hint-she'll play a bigger role as the story progresses (so far, that's what I'm thinking)-but as of right now, her role is as big as Hibiki's or Yukiho's or Ritsuko's.
That is all.)