14-years into life, Blaze didn't expect to attend high school in… someplace other than a proper high school.
San Diego, California. It is a peaceful Sunday near the end of August, almost the end of summer break. Families are preparing for the start of the new school term, buying new supplies and clothes for their children. All except for one Blaze Kowalski, who is currently in debate with his father who….
"Alright sonny, you gotta take me seriously here." His father speaks, voice low. After a deep breath, he continues, "I am a wizard. And so are you."
At the seriousness of his voice, Blaze blinks not once, but twice. He then shakes his head in disappointment. His father had called him downstairs, sat him alone in the round kitchen table in the middle of the night just to declare himself a wizard. Out of everything else, a wizard.
Not even a fairy or an elf, but a wizard who poops out "magic" from a god damn stick.
"Dad," Blaze sighs. "I'm honestly too old for-"
His father interrupts him with a pair of giant hands perched on his son's shoulders. Eye-to-eye they meet, and suddenly the father's pupils blaze into shades of orange. Horrified, Blaze suddenly jerks backwards- almost falling off his chair.
Still unconvinced, he raises his voice, "Color lenses? What was that for?"
"Ha-ha. color lenses my ass. It's fire magic, son." His father chuckles and proceeds to summon an elf-like creature that lights his son's hair on fire. With a snap of fingers, the creature disappears and so does the fire.
Well, Blaze was wrong about the stick part.
Mouth agape, he staggers further away from his father who then laughs and pats his son on the back as if nothing had happened. "You'll get used to it," he simply says. Within a second's notice, Blaze is sent to his room to pack his bag for Ravenwood.
"Ravenwood? Such a convincing name," he murmurs.
"Oh, it's genuine alright!" The dad roars from the living room. After a roll of eyes, Blaze takes a last look at his belongings, finally zips his bag, and heads back downstairs to meet a poorly drawn series of shapes. His father takes out a small bag of powder and sprays, and the shapes glow in a light blue. "Come on," he says, "what are you waiting for?"
'Waiting for my dream to end,' Blaze muses, and steps onto the magic "circle".
And no, he didn't expect to fall immediately afterwards.
-.-.-.-.-
-.-.-.-.-
The 2nd floor of the Headmaster's Tower resides a small office, where the president of the Ravenwood Student Council usually resides. Said president is posing in front of a mirror, checking his well-brushed indigo hair, decently done makeup, detective-themed outfit, and a cute little skirt. After posing again, he nods in approval and strides to his desk to pick up a detective hat which he perches on top of his head, hiding his bear ears. He has finished preparing for his favorite event- Comic Con.
It is currently past midnight in Wizard City, where all of the students are obliged to return to their dorms or castles. The president takes a look around, and starts tip-toeing down to the first floor when he hears a loud crash. He quickly turns over to see the source, which he finds is Gamma's room.
Scowling, he stomps to the door and slams it open. Only to find a small, frightened kid staring back.
'How annoying, it's a kid again,' he thinks. The president shoots a glare to shoo the intruder off, but the latter doesn't seem to get the signal. As an alternative, he yells.
"Kid, what are you doing here? Office hours are closed!"
The brunette child with the hoodie and a backpack stammers, before murmuring, "Uh… "
"Speak up, kid. I aint got all day."
"… I'm new here…"
"A new student?" The president asks. After getting a nod in reply, he pauses for a long moment.
He then turns to the staircase with a more surprised, confused expression and hollers, "Autumn! We have a new student over 'ere!"
Immediately after, a figure rapidly stomps down the stairs with a document in hand. "New student?" she shrieks, "Where?"
The president easily picks up Blaze and hands him over to this 'Autumn'- a small, lilac-haired wizard. Her hair is pompously up with a curly ponytail, and her bangs are put back with a pin, revealing an adorable face with glistening amethyst eyes and thin magenta lips. A storm badge is placed on her right chest.
Said Autumn snapped her fingers in front of Blaze, waking him up from his moment of scrutiny. Looking back, the intimidating cosplayer was gone and the new student was left with Autumn, who was smiling brightly at him.
"You're Blaze, right?" She asks and hands him a document. "Your father sent me your information. I just need you to confirm it."
'Blaze Kowalski: Blood type B, Age 14, Height 5'4"… Sorcerer (Natural)….' Blaze raises an eyebrow. "What's a sorcerer?"
"It's your main attribute! You're a balance wizard, associated with the power of equilibrium." Autumn pompously replies. "Might be confusing at first, but you'll get it soon. Anyways, is the information correct?"
"I guess so."
"Alrightie! Now that most things are done, I'll lead you to your dormitory. It's pretty late here, so we'll start the tour tomorrow!" The female wizard beams.
"Um, okay then. So do I meet you here tomorrow or-?"
"No, no. I'll send you a buddy who'll be waiting by your dormitory tomorrow morning. Possibly at 7. We don't have that many students of your grade, so he'll be pretty happy to see you."
"Anyways," Autumn grins, "Welcome to Ravenwood."
And the night howls.
-.-.-.-.-
-.-.-.-.-
It is 2 in the morning, the golden time when the Commons settles in silence. Crickets have stopped chirping. All the lights in the houses have faded out. Everyone had a productive day, and they seem to deserve some rest.
Near the headmaster's tower sits a banal building. A tall building exclusively made for the Ravenwood faculty and the student council. Due to regulations, all members of the student council are forbidden to enter at such times… except for one.
Autumn walks to and fro, walking in circles anxiously. A pile of crumbled papers and blobs of ink chaotically decorate her desk. She perks up when a knock is heard on the door.
"Come on in," She yells out. After a pause she adds, "Chase."
An indigo haired pyromancer with blazing eyes steps in. Height of 5'10" and a slightly buff build, Chase easily staggers over to Autumn, handing her a piece of bloodstained cloth. The pyromancer sorts out his unkempt hair as the diviner inspects the material, slightly trembling at the sight of blood.
"What is this?" She asks.
"Hey, no greetings?" The fire wizard theatrically pouts. "I came here straight from Marleybone and-"
"Hello, Chase." Autumn rolls her eyes. "How was the night patrol?" She asks monotonously.
"Wow, I feel so loved." The pyromancer mimics wiping a tear. "Anyways, it didn't go fine, thank you."
A moment of silence ensues.
"Wait, what?"
"You see, the stained cloth you're holding is from Alexandra MoonWeaver. You should know her, since she's a sorcerer from your brother's grade."
"Of course I do. What is she doing out there late at night? That's breaking the rules!" Autumn stammers, "… and I know she's not the one to do so."
"Yeah, about that." Chase retorts. "From looking at the state of blood, this wound is a day old. And not only this, Bones found a bloody amulet of hers, which reeks of cats. Which is strange, because-"
"-because it's impossible to be injured in magic-circle battles. That's why there technically shouldn't be any blood stains… And the O'learys aren't supposed to do anything to the wizards." The diviner interjects. "But that's strange; the system indicates that not only was she present in all of her classes today, but she also stayed in school during questing sessions. The system can't lie."
"Unless, something else checked in for her."
"That can't be possible, Chase."
The pyromancer uncomfortably whistles, "I don't know about that. Rebecca went straight to Wethersfield after the patrol. Hah, never seen her that serious before. Besides, Bones has been telling us about…"
"About what?" Autumn's voice goes higher a key, steadily showing her impatience. Surprised, Chase pauses and shrugs.
"Might tell you later. I don't think it's that important for you right now. I mean, you seem to have a lot going on in your head, missy."
"Not important? Chase, the security of a Ravenwood student is put into jeopardy!"
"I know, I know. Don't worry, you know us. We'll end it in our terms. Might have to put the kid in reset, though."
The diviner sighs. "Go ahead, I'll give you consent for that. Just…" Chase cocks an eyebrow. Autumn sits on her desk, taking out a document in her group of files. "There's a new student in Alexandra's grade. He happens to be the same attribute as her, so you have to be careful."
"…right."
"I mean, I placed Summer as his buddy so I'm not that concerned about him. But you know, Chase, we haven't had a new high-school student in a year. He's valuable." After a pause, she adds, "Like any other student, of course."
"And you're worried we'll mess up?" The pyromancer huffs. "Aw come on, that's our whole purpose. To not mess up."
-.-.-.-.-
-.-.-.-.-
The morning shines brightly onto Blaze's minimalist dormitory. A bed, cabinet, light, clock, and a bathroom. Blaze seriously considers going shopping as soon as class ends. But hey, he has a buddy now, so he is not concerned.
The sorcerer turns to his clock. 6:30 AM. Thirty minutes until his new buddy arrives. While changing into the robes given to him, he wonders about the things he would do here. Although he had never believed in magic during his 14 years of life, he might as well give a chance for this…. School.
No, he's not excited like a five-year-old just because the word 'magic' is involved. No, he is not humming while brushing his teeth. He's also not frolicking around while getting his hat.
That's what he tells himself.
Ten minutes before the deadline, Blaze is all prim and proper, ready to start a new school day. Exactly at 7, someone knocks on his door. Trying to conceal his excitement, the balance wizard opens the door in a very 'suave' manner. In front of the door stands a lilac-haired wizard of similar purplish hue to the one he met the day before, crossing his arms and examining Blaze with the same amethyst eyes from yesterday. He wonders if they are siblings.
"Morning Blaze," The wizard hastily greets. "I'm Summer. Summer Nightsong, the vice president's only kin."
"The vice president as in…" Blaze tries to do an improvised mimicry of Autumn, attempting to mimic her jovial facial expressions. Summer looks unimpressed.
Well, at least he tried.
"Has anyone told you how much of an idiot you look like?" The wizard rolls his eyes. "And yes, it's her."
'Getting insulted at the first day of school. How nice,' Blaze tells himself. 'But hey, at least I'm right about the sibling part.'
Slightly irritated, Blaze retorts, "Anyways, kid. I hear you're my new buddy today." And boy, Summer did look pissed at that.
"First of all, I'm not a kid. From what I know, you and I are of same age!"
"I don't know, man. Anyways, how's the air there?" The balance wizard sniggers, looking down at his new 'buddy'.
"I would have electrocuted you, if you weren't my buddy. I can't believe my sister assigned me some no-good, blasphemous fool!"
"I can't hear you from that below!"
That earns a slap in the back from a red-faced Summer, who grabs Blaze's hand and starts storming off to Ravenwood's exit.
"Where are we going?" Blaze asks.
"To get your name, fool!" Summer yells back.
"My name is Blaze, you idiot!"
"Whatever, fool."
Simeon walks by to see the two novice wizards bickering around. He shakes his head, and enters the life classroom with seven, multi-colored envelops.
"Looks like they're getting along pretty well."
-.-.-.-.-
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Author's Note: Oh ho ho. So as you can see, the old ASGtR has been removed permanently. I put a lot of thought into this decision, since I initially had no general direction for this story. (I was planning to work on a 'main story', after all.) But as I started writing this, I realized that this story has a lot of potential.
And so here is a new ASGtR, a slightly modified version with a plot direction. This time, it'll be a long preclude to another story, which will serve as the main one.
As insinuated, A Student's Guide to Ravenwood takes place in a modern, futuristic setting. Centuries have passed since the 'heroes' saved the Spiral, and now Ravenwood is at peace, properly serving its purpose as a school. Traumatized by the mistakes of the past, Headmaster Ambrose and the Ravenwood Faculty have employed new policies to prevent repetition.
ASGtR offers context on how Ravenwood has changed, both outside and inside. But the story does have a main plot, which will be carried out by the main characters, such as Rebecca, Chase, and Autumn (Lauren and Kent afterwards). Blaze and Summer are deployed to elaborate on the contextual bit, being the actual "Guide" part of the story.
If you do want to get spoiled and have a look at the characters/backstories, here's my CharaHub: [charahub site address]/user/typictheurgist
Feedback is always appreciated!