"Diesel!" Cecil smiled and reached toward her pet with both hands. The little creature leapt off Xander's shoulder and scampered across the floor to the girl, chattering loudly, as he always did when he wanted food. Xander stood in the doorway to her room and frowned. How could she look so happy at a time like this? They'd dressed her in the same green robes all the theurgists were wearing. They contrasted sharply against the dark grey ones they'd given him to wear. He tugged at the unfamiliar fabric. It was soft and slid against his skin, very different from the raspy cotton he'd worn in Marleybone. Silvia sat next to his sister with a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on in Alexander." Silvia motioned to him. Xander didn't move. Everything about this still felt too foreign, too uncomfortable, too green. What was he even supposed to say to his sister? Kyra, who stood behind him, gave him a helpful nudge. Commander Hunter had already left on her insistence that he get some rest before he fell over on the job.

Reluctantly, Xander shuffled into the room.

"Cecil." He said in a kind of greeting.

Cecil's smile faltered a little when she looked up at him.

"Xander." She replied, clutching Diesel in her arms, "Miss Silvia says we're going to be wizards now."

"Yeah." It was all he'd ever dreamed of. Yet now that they we're there, he wasn't sure what he'd even wanted in the first place.

"I was just telling your sister that we should go for a walk around the school grounds. It would be good for you both to get some exercise and see your new home." Silvia said. When Xander didn't respond at first, Kyra put a hand on his shoulder again. Xander flinched at the contact, he was starting to wish that people would stop trying to comfort him.

"I think that sounds like an excellent idea." Kyra said.

"Do we get to see the giant tree?" Cecil piped up suddenly. Despite her usual enthusiastic candor, Xander noticed her eyes were red. She'd definitely been crying.

"I heard there's a tree, big as a whole town. And he can even talk and stuff."

Silvia smiled, "Bartleby, yes. He's quite hard to miss around here. Although he doesn't speak much these days. You traveled through him when you first came here, you know. I suppose you don't remember."

"All the students are on break at the moment, but with any luck we might run into some of the professors." Kyra said, helping Cecil to her feet.

The sun was high overhead when they left the infirmary. Light filtered down through a network of branches and leaves that blanketed the sky above them, connecting to a tree just out of sight beyond the buildings. Both children craned their necks and stared in awe. The buildings themselves were partly made of stone, but all of them were entwined in a patchwork of vines and trees. Flowers lined the moss-covered cobblestone pathways in a rainbow of color. On the other side of the path, a tawny deer chewed contentedly on a patch of tulips.

"This is the Theurgy section of campus. Did I ever mention I was the head professor?" Silvia surveyed the green expanse proudly.

"You're in charge of all this?" Cecil asked, her mouth still agape. A silvery blue butterfly flittered in front of her. Diesel leapt from her shoulder and snatched in out of the air with a satisfying crunch.

"Hey!" She cried, scooping him up, one blue wing still sticking out of his mouth.

"I suppose you could say that, although with so many life wizards in one place, the magic tends to take on a life of its own." Silvia knelt down to caress a wilting tulip bulb. In response, it perked up and flushed with new color.

"You'll find that every school is defined by its own element." Kyra added. Then she sneezed.

"I was never particularly good at life magic." She sniffed.

"My uncle Julian says that's okay, He was never too good at any magic." Cecil said. Then she paused and became very quiet, as if she'd just remembered he was gone.

"Used to say." Xander muttered under his breath. He hadn't forgotten. He dug his heel into the ground, and the grass under his feet wilted and died.

Cecil's lower lip started to tremble, Kyra took her by the hand.

"Come on, there's so much more to see."

The balance school was right next to the life campus. It was much smaller by comparison, only a few buildings. The plants and foliage that surrounded them in the life school quickly petered out into grass and a few meticulously placed shrubs. The stone buildings were still magnificent, with tall spindly towers that looked like they might have collapsed had it not been for the aid of magic, but the stone they were built from was a plain grey, rather uninspired by any particular element.

"Because balance pulls its magic from all the different schools, the students take their classes all over the academy." Kyra explained, "They gather here occasionally for their core classes."

"Is that why the buildings don't have any specific character to them?" Xander asked. Cecil stifled a yawn. They did look rather boring in contrast to the vibrant living garden that was the life school.

"Yes, sorcerers are what we call 'elemental generalists.' They don't specialize in any element in particular, but they do have a much wider range of skills." Silvia said.

"Aye, we may not be as flashy, but don't count us out just yet." A voice behind them made the group jump. They turned around to see a well-dressed biped dog approach them. A pair of pointed Doberman ears poked out from the brim of his top hat. Both his appearance and accent marked him as a Marleybonian. Kyra seemed to recognize him.

"Arthur!" She exclaimed "I thought I might find you here."

"Jolly good to see you again Kyra, I thought you'd still be in Krokotopia." Arthur clasped her by the shoulder like an old friend.

"I was called back on urgent business."

"And it seems they've turned you into a tour guide as well." Arthur tipped his to the Dawn children, "Arthur Wethersfield, adjunct balance professor, at your service."

"These are two of our newest students, Alexander and Cecilia Dawn." Silvia introduced them. Cecil gave a little smile and a wave. Xander said a quiet hello.

"Dawn? As in the Marleybone Dawns?" Arthur knelt down to regard the two children,

"Doesn't surprise me at all that the newest generation of Dawns has found their way here."

"Are you from Marleybone too?" Cecil asked. His accent was the first that sounded familiar. Everyone else in Wizard city talked funny.

"Whelped and raised, although I spend most of my time in the deserts of Krokotopia these days. Worked alongside Kyra here on more than one occasion. She's a good one to have around when you're in a bind." Arthur said. Then he paused for a moment, looking at the girl.

"You're a new student, eh? How old are you, pup?"

"Ten." Cecil still clung to Kyra's hand.

"Ten!" Arthur exclaimed "I don't think Ravenwood has ever accepted a student so young. You must be one special girl."

"She's something of an early bloomer, we're expecting great things from the both of them." Silvia explained quickly.

"I'll say." Arthur said, straightening up, "Well, enjoy your tour, I must be off. So many things to do before term begins, you know."

As they left the balance school, they came to the main path that led out of the academy. They had been through it once already when they arrived, but Cecil was unconscious, and Xander had been in such a shock. All he could really recall was the ground beneath his shuffling feet. A magnificent stone wall surrounded the boarder of the academy, with towers and windows several stories high. Silvia explained that those towers housed dormitories for all of the children. A large iron gate admitted entry into the academy, wide enough for at least ten people to walk shoulder to shoulder. But that wasn't the most interesting landmark on the main path.

Down the other way, where the path led to the center of the academy, the two children were finally faced with the source of the great network of tree branches that covered the school. To say that the tree was huge was an understatement. A hundred people could link hands and still not be close to wrapping around the trunk. He dwarfed every building in the school easily, even the roots that protruded from the ground towered over the schools inhabitants. But the strangest part of the tree was the great humanoid face on the side of the trunk. It looked surprisingly kind and grandfatherly, despite being made from gnarled bark. With the slowness of one that was accustomed to the ages passing by like moments, he opened his two great eyes. They were clear and bright like a blue sky, but seemed to carry a very old wisdom. As his eyes cast downward towards the group, it almost seemed like he looked through them, rather than at them.

"He's magnificent, isn't he?" Kyra grinned as the children stared in awe.

"Will he say anything?" Cecil asked.

"Oh, probably not, I studied here for years and he never made a peep. Keeps the mystery going that way, I think. Some wizards worship him." Kyra said. She didn't seem to worship him, but instead regarded him with a friendly familiarity.

"If he has something to say, he usually says it to Headmaster Ambrose. He's only spoken directly to me once." Silvia added, making it a point not to mention what the tree had actually said to her.

"I think he's looking at us." Xander said, staring up at the enormous blue eyes.

Cecil stared at the great tree intently. She took a step to the right. The great eyes moved a tiny fraction. She stepped to the left. Again they moved. It wasn't looking at Kyra, or Silvia, or even Xander. It was looking at her. Above them, Bartleby's leaves rustled and moved of their own accord, letting in a little beam of light to illuminate her. Its great eyes squinted, as if it was getting a better look at her.

We meet again, old friend.

"What?" Cecil startled. Diesel, who was wrapped around her neck, chirped as he felt her tense. It was that voice again. The one in her head. The one that made promises. Kyra, Silvia, and Xander all turned to look at her. She blushed when she remembered she was the only one who could hear the voice.

"Nothing." She said "I was just talking to myself." The voice had gone quiet again, but she thought she could still feel a faint buzzing in the back of her head.

"Well, he seems to like you, Cecil." Kyra said, gesturing to the beam of light.

"Uh huh." Cecil said quickly, it was all starting to make her nervous "Can we go see the rest of the school now?"

Xander watched his sister closely as they moved on. She was never the type to talk to herself. She'd always been more likely to talk to other people, loudly. There was something different about her.

"What is this magnificent creature!?"

The storm school was next. They hadn't meant to spend much time there, as it was rather cold and damp. The air seemed to hum with electricity, and soon the children's hair stood up from the static. A network of streams and ponds wove in between the buildings, and several water wheels were attached to the sides of buildings. A foggy cloud cover hid the tops of the buildings, which were built from a deep purplish stone. The occasional spattering of rain showered down, despite the fact that outside the storm school it was a clear and sunny day. Everyone was thoroughly wet by the time they made their way through the schools center. Xander was miserable, and folded his arms tightly, shivering in the dampness. Cecil didn't mind it as much, and enjoyed splashing through the puddles as they went by.

Before they could leave, they happened upon a diminutive biped frog. Cecil had seen others like him in Marleybone, although they were usually working in slums, not practicing magic. He made up for his small size with a vibrantly purple suit and top hat, and exuberant personality, which he directed towards Diesel, who crouched near one the streams, looking at the tiny minnows that flitted under the surface of the water. Diesel squeaked in protest as the frog hoisted him over his head, despite the fact that the creature must have weighed half as much as he did.

"I haven't seen one of these since I left Marleybone! Why, the poor creature is missing a wing, how terrible!"

"Hello Professor Balestrom." Silvia said dryly.

"His name is Diesel, I saved him. He can't fly around anymore so I feed him and stuff." Cecil said proudly, not mentioning that she was partly the reason for his amputation in the first place.

Professor Balestrom examined Diesel's good wing with a tiny webbed hand.

"Well we can't have that can we? We must construct him a new one!" he cried, bouncing excitedly on his spindly legs.

"You can do that?" Cecil asked, her eyes sparkling in amazement.

"Of course I can!" He said, dropping Diesel with a squeak, and tipping his hat towards the girl.

"I am Halston Balestrom, Master Inventor! With creativity and a little bit of magic, there is nothing I can't do!" Diesel flattened his ears and skittered away from the frog and up Cecil's leg, tucking himself under her hair.

"Unless it's file a proper patent." Xander heard Silvia whisper to Kyra, who snickered.

"You and your fine beast should stop by my laboratory. We'll see if we can't harness the power of flight!"

"Perhaps another time." Silvia said, grabbing the star-struck Cecil by the shoulders and steering her away.

Other schools past by in a blur. The ice school was freezing, and they left soon after the icy air left everyone's already wet clothes stiff and frost covered. Fortunately the searing heat of the fire school warmed them quickly. Strange, hidden creatures stirred within the myth school, and Xander could have sworn he saw eyes watching him from within every bush. Finally, they came to the school that Xander was most interested in: the death school.

It was quieter there, muted. Somehow darker although the sky was clear overhead. The foliage that grew was tough and thorny, and seemed to compete with one another for space. Vines wrapped around tree trunks, slowly strangling and overtaking them in a silent battle years in the making. The birds that sang in the trees of the others schools fell silent here, save one obnoxious crow that cawed at them from a nearby spire. Some might have found it unsettling, but to a necromancer, the quiet was peaceful. Xander already found it easier to think, and the voices that always seemed to hang on the edge of his thoughts became clearer. Cecil felt it as well, and the consciousness that had spoken earlier bubbled to the surface of her mind.

Do you feel it? Our power is strongest here.

Go away! Cecil thought hard at the presence, willing it away.

"I'd forgotten how nice it was to be here. You can really hear yourself think in a place like this." Said Kyra, taking a deep breath of the cool, still air.

"We'll probably find my husband in his classroom." Silvia said, starting down one jagged pathway with the confidence of one who had walked it many times before. Her brilliant red hair looked rather out of place against the grey backdrop.

"Husband?" Xander inquired. Julian once said that theurgists and necromancers rarely got along. Something about an old girlfriend.

"Malistaire, head professor of the death school. Don't look so surprised." Silvia grinned, coming to stop at the dark oak door of one of the classrooms.

The door creaked open ominously. The group stepped inside, and the children blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the darkness.

Before the children could even get their bearings, a bolt of dark energy was fired in their direction by someone across the room. They barely had time to flinch before Kyra, quick as a flash, drew her wand and blocked the oncoming attack, dispelling the energy into a shower of sparks.

"Nice try professor, but you'll never hit me." Kyra grinned, twirling her wand around her fingers before tucking it back into its sheath.

"It was worth a try, your reflexes certainly haven't waned." The stranger across the room commented. He was a rather fierce looking man, the tallest one in the room by far, with long, angular features and jet black hair braided back behind his ears.

"Hello Silvia." He added, the sharp corners of his face softening a little.

"Malistaire, that was very rude! You can't be firing spells at untrained children." Silvia Chastised. But she couldn't have been too angry, because she walked up and pecked him on the cheek.

"I wasn't aiming for them." He retorted pathetically, "and the shields would have protected them anyway."

"I don't want to hear it. These are the two I told you about, Alexander and Cecilia." Silvia said. Malistaire turned to regard the children solemnly.

"I heard about your uncle. He was a good man, and I knew him well. I'm so sorry."

Neither of the children responded. Not that there was really anything to say. Cecil started to tear up again, and Kyra patted her shoulder. In the calm quiet of the darkened classroom, Xander felt the full brunt of his exhaustion. He sat down in one of the many desk chairs that lined the room, suddenly barely able to keep his eyes open.

"I talked with Ambrose." Silvia continued, "The children will be staying with us for the next few weeks until the start of term."

"What? They're not putting them in the dorms?" Malistaire sounded surprised.

"Well, we're not sticking two children in the dormitories all by themselves for so long! You and I have plenty of space, Mal, don't be so reclusive. It will be good for you."

"If you're sure about this." Malistaire said uncertainly.

"Of course I am, dear." Silvia turned back to the children.

"What do you think? Would you two like to stay with me for a while?"

Cecil sniffed and nodded. Xander didn't respond, he was already asleep.

Authors Notes: I'm aware there is no actual balance school in Ravenwood. But given that the school is designed much larger in my story than it is in the game (Population 2000 or so, I've got the logistics worked out in my notes somewhere) It would be pretty stupid if a couple hundred students had to have classes out on the sidewalks. So boom, there's a balance school in Ravenwood. The glorious power of being the author.