AN: B - Well hey thereee ^^ So, me and thy lovely Firestorm have decided to alternate between chapters. I'll be doing the even ones, and Firestorm le odd ones. That's how it'll be for the most part at least. We might just sorta merge up on some chapters like we did with chap 1 xD Now, should we reply to some reviews, and is there anything you'd like to add Firestorm? :3
F: Why, yes. Yes there is x) Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and here are le responses:
NightSkyWolves: *evil laughter* It's actually a fairly dangerous mix, me and Firestorm, as we are both mad geniuses of darkness… x) Indeed. xD Thank you for saying we're among your favorites though :) And your continued support is mucho appreciated! :D
Ammaarah01: Thank you! :)
Lewascan2: Good thing you read Firestorm's AN; our awkward title capitalization would probably turn anyone away xP Anyways, thank you for the praiseful-ness :3
Well, that's bout it. ENJOY! :D
-Heat Shadowsword-
The next morning Cyrus had gotten me up early to prepare for school. He came in at the break of dawn, laid out my Novice's clothes on the chair, placed my wand on the desk and left. Simple as that. I was sort of used to it though; he'd done the same exact thing in pre-magic school. This time, though, I heard a soft sizzling and the strong scent of bacon hung in the air. He's actually making breakfast! Knowing this was probably a once-in-a-lifetime thing I quickly got dressed and grabbed my wand before running downstairs towards the kitchen, the smell of the bacon becoming stronger and more delectable with every step.
My adoptive father was in the kitchen, bacon sizzling in one pan and pancakes in another. Even though it was extremely odd seeing him behind the stove with a spatula in hand and an apron on, I couldn't help but smile. He had never made breakfast for me before. If anything it was me making him something to eat before he left for work. Cyrus glanced over and gave me a small smile. The first day of school's really that important, huh?
"Good morning, Heat." He greeted, his tone much lighter than usual.
"Good morning, Cyrus." I smiled as I returned his greeting. Waking up to a happy Cyrus was almost too good to be true. For a moment I contemplated on whether or not this was all just a dream, that a cooking-Cyrus was just part of my imagination, but I knew that wasn't the case. This was all real. I never remembered my dreams anyways, not unless they were nightmares. I shivered and shoved the thought away. Cyrus was in a good mood for once, and I wasn't about to let a couple of old nightmares ruin it for me.
He handed me a plate, and I relaxed as I realized I had to serve myself. Cyrus might've been kind enough to make breakfast for me on my first day attending Ravenwood, but he'd never serve me. I grabbed a fork and plopped two well-sized blueberry pancakes on my plate, took three pieces of bacon (which looked absolutely scrumptious) and got myself a glass of juice. I sat myself at the table with a content sigh. Today was going to be a good day. A few moments later Cyrus seated himself in front of me.
"Are you excited for your first day?" He asked, taking a small bite of bacon. I nodded.
"I'm gonna leave a bit earlier than I planned. Rosie wants to see when I have my classes so she can meet up with me during passing period and lunch." Cyrus raised an eyebrow.
"I'm surprised Ambrose is even letting her into the school. She's the biggest troublemaker I've ever seen; I hope she's not taking any of my classes." I chuckled and finished off my last piece of bacon (the other two I had scarfed down when he wasn't looking). Cyrus hated my best friend and whenever we wanted to stay the night together it was always at her house, never his.
"I don't think she is. Her main school is Divination, and unless she wanted to make your life miserable she wouldn't be taking Conjuration. She says there's too much reading involved, and Ivan freaks her out."
"Poor Halston," Cyrus muttered. "I don't think he's gonna have the best round of students this year." I smirked and didn't respond, finishing up my breakfast and placing my plate on the counter. As I washed my hands I glanced over at the clock. School started at seven, so it would be another full hour until I actually had to get to class. Cyrus glanced at me. "You're welcome to help me finish setting up my class if you have nothing better to do."
"Alright; Rosie isn't meeting me until it's 6:30 anyways." I shrugged. Helping him set up class often involved lining history books in alphabetical order - which was incredibly boring - but it was better than sitting around waiting for Rosie to wake up. I grabbed my wand and began to head out, only to be stopped by Cyrus's hand resting on my shoulder. I glanced up at him, surprised. He looked at me through the corner of his eye.
"Do something about that hair."
-H-
After brushing my hair out and pulling it up with my favorite blue ribbon Cyrus and I made our way over to the Myth school, where I was left sorting through history books of varying size and putting them on different shelves depending on their ranking number and class, all of which had to be in alphabetical order. A very slow, boring half hour passed, and after placing the final book on the shelf I told him I was going out to meet Rosie. He nodded in acknowledgement and I walked out of the classroom.
I would probably never get over the beauty of Ravenwood. Bartleby towered over everything like a rooted guardian and the grass was a beautiful shade of emerald green, not to mention all the school trees were mystifying and beautiful. A warm breeze gently blew across my face, and I breathed in the fresh air. The always-warm air of Wizard City was a nice change from the cold, storm-ridden place of Avalon.
I slowly made my way down the path toward the Commons, admiring the beauty and taking my time to enjoy the fresh air. Arthur, who was unpacking a few things from his suitcases, saw me and waved a friendly hello.
"I hear you're going to be one of my students this year!" He called, a warm smile planted on his face. I smiled and nodded.
"Yes sir. Sorcery is my secondary school."
"Shame it's not your main. I've heard a lot of good things about you. Well, until I see you in class, cheerio!"
I waved a short goodbye and turned, only to bump into something. I flinched and took a few steps back to see my Necromancy professor and uncle Malistaire. Alex was at his side, glaring at me.
"Sorry, professor!" I squeaked in surprise, standing up straighter. "I didn't see you there!" My uncle slash professor just gave me a small smile.
"It'd be best for you to watch where you step, young Heat." He told me, nodding politely and moving on past me toward the Death school. Alex stayed there for a moment, glaring at me with steely gray eyes, before finally looking away and following her father. I realized I had been holding my breath and let out a long, deep sigh. I was sure that the girls glare wasn't nearly as intimidating as mine, but everything else about her was; anyone who grew up in Dragonspyre was scarier than me. I only assumed something bad had happened to her, or she was naturally like that, and shoved any remaining thoughts of her aside. Thinking about Alex wasn't going to change the fact she hated me.
I walked through the tunnel to the Commons and immediately spotted Rosie. My red-headed friend, who was garbed in dark purple and yellow Novice robes, was leaning against the lamppost, looking half-asleep. I called to her, and her aqua blue eyes shot open in surprise. She surged forward a bit, rubbed her eyes, and looked over at me, visibly relaxing.
"Don't scare me like that!" She snapped, running over to meet me. She was a good few inches taller than me, and while I still had a few years to catch up in height, I doubted I'd ever be as tall as her. She was always taller than me. Rosie cocked her head curiously. "What's wrong? Ya look like you've seen a ghost! Necromancy already scaring you?"
I sighed and shook my head. "No, I don't think death - or at least Necromancy - is scary at all. I ran into Malistaire and Alex. I don't think she likes me very much." To my surprise, Rosie only let out a little chuckle.
"Alex doesn't like anybody Heat." She commented, eyes twinkling mischievously. I didn't believe it. Sure, Alex was a bit disagreeable and aggressive, but she wasn't that bad, was she? I frowned and shook my head before changing the subject.
"I know Divination is your main school. What did you pick for secondary?"
"Life." Rosie shrugged. "Figured it'd be good. Rumor has it that natural Diviners are pretty defenseless, at least to a certain extent. Better to be safe than sorry, right? What'd you pick?"
"I picked Sorcery." I was still proud of my pre-magic school success and how I was permitted to join Sorcery, one of the toughest schools there is next to studying Astral magic. Rosie snorted.
"Didn't you want it for your main?"
"Yeah but I was chosen to go into Necromancy, which is fine. At least I can spend more time with my...'uncle'."
"Yeah, huh?" Rosie sniggered, her grin widening. "Get on his good side early on and you'll be the toughest Necromancer in the school. Watch out for Alex though; she'll probably be your biggest rival."
"Rival…?"
"Yeah, almost every wizard has their own personal rival, be it a friend or someone you absolutely hate!" I had never thought about that before, but now that Rosie had gotten it into my mind I realized she was right. Nearly every wizard had their own group of friends they went on journeys with, a rival to compete with, and some even had their own personal enemy. I forced back a shiver. The life of a wizard was tougher than I thought. Rosie waved a hand, and shaking my head to rid any remaining thoughts I followed her to the lamppost. "So, when're your classes?"
"Well…" I pulled out my half-sheet of paper. "Obviously I have Necromancy first, which starts at 7:00, then I have a one hour breakfast and then it's Sorcery."
"Ew, you got the morning classes?" Rosie wrinkled her nose in distaste. " I got the afternoon ones. Any other extra classes you're taking? Any third school or something?"
"I'm taking a Pre-Astral class, but other than that no. I have it when you have Divination if you've got the afternoon classes." Rosie nodded, pulling out her schedule and scanning over it. "What about you? Are you taking anything else besides Theurgy?"
"Not this year, but I'm gonna start practicing at the Arena. Practice means perfect after all." My best friend winked and stuck her tongue out. We both let out a chuckle. Rosie had always wanted to become a member of the Arena. We spent our weekends watching older wizards compete there, and Rosie would always whip out her notebook and take notes. Sometimes she'd even approach the winners and ask for tips. That was another one of our biggest differences. She loved to fight, but I didn't.
-H-
After I left Rosie to do whatever she was planning I made my way over to my first class. It was still ten minutes early, but there were already some students there. Two guys were sitting in the corner by a blackboard that had "Professor Malistaire" written on it, muttering quietly together, and other, less-social students dotted the rest of the room, each one keeping to themselves with wary glances. Alex was sitting alone close to the front, talking quietly with her father. For a moment I thought about taking a seat next to her since there weren't any empty ones, but Malistaire cast me a warning glance, and I knew he was telling me it would be a bad idea. I frowned. None of these kids looked to be the "friendly" type. Then again, it was Necromancy.
"Hey, you can come sit beside me if you'd like." Surprised, I glanced around the room, spotting a young boy with long black hair waving to me, a smile on his face. I smiled and politely took the seat beside him closest to the wall.
"Hi, my name's Malorn." He held out his hand, his smile broadening as I shook it.
"Hi there Malorn. My name's Heather, but everyone just calls me Heat."
"Nice to meet you, Heat. I think I've heard about you before. Lemme think…" Malorn leaned back in his chair, his hand stroking an imaginary beard as he thought, making me chuckle slightly. "You're one of the girls they saved from the storm a few years back, right? The one Cyrus adopted?" I nodded. "Wow. You're starting school a bit young, aren't you?"
"Yeah, but Cyrus insisted that I move out of pre-magic school and get into Ravenwood. Ambrose just so happened to agree with him." I shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed. People were going to notice the age difference, that was for certain. I thought Malorn would've had the same jealousy as Alex did, but his smile was still in place and there was a friendly glint in his eyes.
"You're so lucky to be on Cyrus's good side! You have no idea how many kids have tried to accomplish that. You get all the perks when the meanest teacher in the whole Spiral actually likes you."
I opened my mouth to respond, ready to defend my adoptive father - he wasn't that mean - but the sound of the final bell rang before I could. Malorn and I exchanged a glance, and the class grew eerily silent. Malistaire stood up from behind his desk, his arms folded behind his back as he addressed the class.
"Greetings, students." He began, his voice cool. "You have all been chosen to join the Death School, preferably known as Necromancy. As Novices, it is alright to feel scared by what many deem to be the darkest of all magics, but remember that you were chosen to be a part of this school. There has to be some type of redeeming quality about you that put you here." He paused and glanced around the room, as if examining us. "It's not so much you have to be aggressive or depressing to get into this school, but rather have a courage most people do not possess; the courage to face death without fear. Necromancy is the most solitary of schools..."
He continued on to describe Necromancy and how the first year will go, and throughout his speech I couldn't help but notice how much Cyrus and Malistaire were alike. I guess that's just how twins are. After about fifteen minutes or so his introduction to Necromancy ended, and he pulled out a small leather-bound book, beginning to call out names. I took the liberty to remember all of them, some standing out more than most. Malorn Ashthorn and Duncan Grimwater were apparently step brothers. Malistaire had asked how their dad was, who was apparently the author of most of the required Necromancy books. Alura Nightspear was the only student in the class who had Necromancy for her secondary school, Pyromancy being her main. I briefly remembered her being the strongest and most magically-adept student in pre-magic school, and how the only reason I was at the top of the class instead of her was because she wasn't fond of group projects and failed to participate in them. Then, of course, there was Alex. Her full name was Alexandra Firesong, and while I knew she had been adopted I was surprised to hear her name hadn't been legally changed to "Drake". Then again, my name was probably never going to change no matter how much I considered myself a part of the family.
"Now, as I said before Necromancy is more solitary than all the schools, but the life of a wizard is a dangerous one. It might just be simple studying for now, but when you're older you'll face your own challenges and understand what being a wizard is about. You will have to work with others in order to reach many of your goals no matter how much you may dislike the person you're working with. The first rule all wizards must learn is to never separate from your group during a quest. Many quests will be dangerous and deadly, especially to a lone wizard. For that reason, you will be assigned a partner for the duration of the year. If you are already seated next to someone, then that person will be your partner. As for the rest, mingle about for about five minutes. If one of you does not have a partner by then, I will assign one to you."
Malorn and I exchanged a glance, relief and excitement surging through us. I was glad I decided to sit next to him. He was both funny and kind, and that's always better than being paired with someone like Alura Nightspear. I thought the year would go by just fine, but then I remembered Alex and her hate towards me.
Well, if I do my best to avoid her, then nothing should happen between us. At least, I hope not.
