A/N: I'm so excited to be writing again but it's been a long time so I'm a little rusty! You'll find that there's lots of my own OC's in this story. It's mainly a SxS fan fiction but I've written some characters that I'd like to have appear in this story. I hope you have fun reading!
Azrael Academy
Chapter One: The Eyes of Fire
It was one of those lazy weather days. That time of year when it was finally starting to get warm after long months of winter. The sun was bright and Sakura Kinomoto couldn't get enough of the feeling of the sun sinking into her skin. She sat on her balcony long enough to forget that it was the entrance examinations for potential students of Azrael Academy.
"Tsk! Sakura!"
She looked up to see her brother glaring down at her.
"You're late."
"I lost track of time. Thanks for waking me up!"
She ran out the door before he could let a snarky comment out and ran down to her bike.
"Just use magic to get there!"
Sakura groaned, "I'll just ride the bike, idiot!"
She didn't like to use magic for her own conveniences. She only liked to experiment but she never used the spells unless she needed to after mastering them. Uriel advised her to be careful of her intentions with the use of magic. It's easy to lose yourself in desire. It leaves you open to sin. She paid close attention to that. She paid close attention to all the guidance her angelic teachers offered her.
Sakura felt small standing in front of the elaborately designed gates of Azrael Academy. The gates were lined with gold and fine stone. The stones the gates were made of emanated strong spiritual power which meant that these gates were built with rare materials hardly sold in the public market. She almost felt sick thinking about how expensive those gates must have cost. Her family's lives might not even cover the cost of it.
An officer stood at the front of the gate. Sakura studied his vacant expression and knew that those empty eyes reflected the inside as well.
"Your name?"
"Sakura Kinomoto."
The way he looked at the clipboard reminded her of a vulture circling his prey. He scanned the names of the pages careful, stopped his finger on her name, and studied every letter. She wondered how long it took him to perfect this level of dominate behaviour. If she were anyone else she would have felt small. Instead, she giggled to herself thinking of how bored most people must be.
Walking up the path from the gates she noticed a small crowd of perfectly lined students proudly watching a man dressed in a black suit. She sighed, hoping for a more extravagant display but it looked a bit boring to her. She'd heard forbidden stories that involved magicians that were more flamboyant from the old couple next door to her. Here, everyone looked pretty bland. Aside from a few that were surrounded with light.
The man dressed in black looked sternly towards her, "You're late. What's your name, student?'
Sakura didn't feel intimidated. Not in the least. She simply sighed, "Sakura Kinomoto. Pleased to meet you, sorry about the lateness."
A meek man she hadn't noticed earlier slowly approached him and carefully whispered into his ear. He looked a bit like a giraffe about to be eaten by a lion. The suited man turned his head to face Sakura. She could tell that he was just sizing her up.
"To be a student here, you need to excel. In order to excel you must follow our rules. What makes you think you'll make it in here if you're entering examinations late?"
"Sir, I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'll be making it into this place."
"Neither am I. Have you learned all the elements?"
"I did a couple years ago, I guess."
"You guess?" He begins sternly walking towards her. To Sakura, he looks like a drill sergeant seeking his whipping boy.
He stepped a little too close for her comfort. She knew he was trying to intimidate her with this act that he constructed for himself. She was pretty talented at picking up on people's traits. She didn't like the feeling of his aura against hers. It felt arrogant to Sakura but she knew that if she pulled back she would lose this battle of dominance. She didn't want to appear submissive to someone who forced his power on others.
Sakura smiled, her voice sounding as sweet as a child's, "Well, I learned about the elementals when I was about eleven but I only use magic if I need too. I don't use magic recklessly. I retain information pretty well and have a large magical output so I figured I'd remember how to do it."
The suited man began to laugh at Sakura. To her, his laugh sounded conceited but it wasn't in her nature to care much about what other's thought. She knew it was important not to get too wrapped up in what other's thought about her. She could see the students whispering as they watched her exchange with the suited man. She actually wanted to lay low and slip passed the radar. Instead, she flipped all the focus on her.
"With no practice it's not possible that you'd be able to conjure up enough to materialize it. Show me then."
"This was expected," Sakura sighs before she loosens her hold on her physical body. "Hephaestus, please guide me."
She could feel the heat overcoming her body, the sign of the warmth of fire building up. She visualized what she might do with the fire. One of her first thoughts was to set the man's dark hair ablaze. Sakura began to feel the burn in her hand. She had to place her concentration on part of her body and release it before it built up too much. The dangerous thing about magic was that learning it could get you killed if you didn't have proper guidance. Luckily, Sakura was guided by the angels and not the demons. They weren't all bad but demon's had a knack for deceit. Angels were more straightforward.
She released the fire into long streams of light surrounding her. The light began to surround the suited man, burning a tiny spot at the cuff of his sleeve. It was small enough that only he could see it, which made it clear to him that she did it intentionally.
"What's your specialty?"
"Healing."
"I see you. Your source?"
"The sun," she closed her eyes and spread out her arms. "The moon, our love and inner light."
"I've heard of you, girl. You already know that you'll be accepted. But, one thing," his eyes softened a little as he began to spoke. It made Sakura realize that she might have judged him too quickly. "You'll be eaten alive if you don't learn to expand your awareness of those around you. Now, head to the main office and get your package. But don't be late for the ceremony! We have high expectations for you, Sakura Kinomoto."
"Thank you," she didn't bother to acknowledge the students who glared at her but she didn't want to recognize the feeling that followed her as she walked into the large doors of the academy.
When Sakura arrived at the main office she saw a tall young man with a sword by his side standing by a woman in a fitted black dress with brilliant red hair. The woman looked a little insane, in Sakura's opinion, but she couldn't get her eyes off of the boy. His aura felt like the fire she materialized not too long ago. His aura was powerful enough for even her to feel a little intimidated by it but he didn't look very happy at all. Just proud and a little...
"Sad," Sakura whispered to herself.
The two looked in her direction after she let out the whisper. Syaoran made it obvious that he was glaring at her. Someone so powerful must have been able to sense the immense aura Sakura had. The woman in the white lab coat approached Sakura and held on to her arm. The woman's touch made Sakura's skin feel numb which was a bit unsettling to Sakura.
"Perfect timing! Now, I can kill two birds with one stone," she led Sakura next to Syaoran.
The fire only grew stronger as she approached Syaoran. It was luminous and powerful. But Sakura remembered the story of Icarus who flew too close to the sun.
"I'm Ruby Moon, I'll be one of your instructors," she seemed to have a menacing smile when she spoke to both Sakura and Syaoran. She turned to the desk behind her and handed the two different packages. Sakura's was a pink box with a golden Lion enclosed in a circle illustrated on the lid. She glanced over at Syaoran's and noticed that his was green with an alchemical circle imprinted on it. When she looked up she noticed Syaoran glaring down at her.
"What's all this fire here?" Ruby giggled to herself. "A budding rivalry, perhaps?"
"Rivalry? With him?" Sakura hadn't recognized anything like a rivalry between her and Syaoran. But she thought about how brilliant the fire around him was, and felt that she didn't want to get too close. "That's something he doesn't have to worry about."
Syaoran turned to face Sakura, pulling his face close to hers. She could feel the fire burning her face which made her want to pull farther away but she didn't like losing battles or seeming weak. Especially, to those who tried to dominate others.
They stared each other down, studying each other intently. To Sakura, Syaoran's fire was more than she had ever encountered before. It made her a little uncomfortable. His brown eyes held both determination and pride but deeper within she could see a sadness that penetrated him deeply. Her instinct was to reach for him, and remind him of the beauty that life held but she knew that it wasn't her that could do that for him.
"Watch your step," Syaoran's voice was strong and deep but you could tell he was still a boy. "You shouldn't shame those of the Li family."
He brushed passed her. Making it clear to her that he didn't like her very much.
"That's the pride of the elite families," Ruby sighed. "Let me give you some advice, Sakura. I know you're a lot like me. We come from the slums and learned about magic ourselves. We don't act like they do. If you don't expand your awareness a little, you're going to have a tough time at this school."
"Oh?" Sakura looked down at the package. She had never been given something so extravagant before. This school was supposed to be expensive but she was offered a full scholarship by the dean of Azrael Academy. She would have to live here now that she was accepted. Sakura wasn't looking forward to it. The aura of the school seemed serious and strict. It wasn't an environment she was used to. But her father was working all day, every day, just to support her. Sakura didn't enjoy the feeling of helplessness, and that was what she felt most when she watched her father. So, when receiving the letter of request to attend Azrael Academy she thought it might be her best option to give her family a better life.
"You'll breeze through these classes. I can tell. But I think your problem will be how you handle people. I know you've only been a citizen of the slums, and those hold their own demons that you have to protect yourself from. The elites, however, are a different game. Stay on your toes."
"Why are you telling me this? You don't really know me."
"I know more than you realize. Now, get going so I can relax before the examinations are over. All this work isn't good for my skin."
Sakura left the office, she felt very small, smaller than she had ever felt before because she was completely out of her element. The angels had told her that this would be the road she had to take. She knew she had to do it for herself and her family but she wasn't used to interacting with others after being shut in their complex for so long. As a child, she lived in a house with a beautiful yard where she could learn to develop her magic but after her mother passed, and her father lost his job, they were forced to move into the slums. Sakura was never rich but she enjoyed the simplicity of life. Besides, the angels guided her and that was all the friendship she needed. Living in the slums she realized that most people are just out for themselves. So, she checked out from reality and created her own world in her small room in the complex they lived in. Now that she was living at Azrael Academy her father could get a smaller apartment, maybe take a few more days off to relax.
Sakura could sense aggression around her and a ball of flames headed in her direction. She threw the box and quickly moved to the side while she envisioned herself with wings. She felt the energy moving through her body and manifested wings on her back to fly her forward.
"Athena, please guide me," she began to materialize a large pink staff as she felt the power and wisdom of the goddess Athena surround her. Sakura scanned the large halls, not being able to see anyone in view. Another ball of fire materialized in front of her.
"It's explosive!" Sakura groaned to herself. She raised her staff, waving around her fast enough to generate a shield of wind around her. The ball of fire exploded, the brightness of the light blinded her for a few seconds but she could feel her body being thrown out the window to the outside grounds of the school from the impact of the explosion. She wasn't worried about the destruction though. She figured the school could afford repairs.
She could see all the students staring at her and a tall figure standing at the entrance of the school. When her sight came back she could see his radiant fire. It was Syaoran. He stood there with a proud smirk on his face, one that she wanted to wipe right off.
She generated more energy in her wings and body, imagining herself being able to glide quickly towards Syaoran. She readied her staff, surrounding it with water, prepared to make her first blow. However, Syaoran was agile and quickly evaded her, reaching for his sword. She could see in his eyes that he was prepared to kill.
"You don't belong here, Sakura Kinomoto," Syaoran growled. Although he appeared very slender and reputable to others, Sakura thought that he looked like a ravenous dog. It was those blazing eyes that frightened her the most.
"I'm sure that's up to the admins here and not a spoiled brat like you!"
Usually, she wasn't like this but there was something about this boy that brought out the worst reactions in her. It made her feel sick to her stomach. The students and the suited man were watching Sakura and Syaoran, some not being able to hide their excitement.
"Duel me! We'll see if you're worthy!"
"I'll beat you down!" Sakura could feel her irritation building up. All she wanted was to glide through this school without any attention. It was beginning to seem like this wasn't going to happen.
The suited man had a wide grin on his face as he announced, "Alright! I'll allow it! Watch closely, potentials. Let this prepare you for your own examinations!"
Sakura sighed, it was looking like she couldn't avoid this.
"Alright, brat, show me what you've got!"