"Did you hear? Someone snuck out of the dorms last night!" Delilah whispered.
"Why are you being so quiet?" Amelia asked, "Everyone's heard."
"Really? How does everyone know if it happened just last night?" Stella tilted her head.
"Apparently they picked up some traces of a student's magic near the East Forest. The professors can't tell who it is yet," Delilah replied. "They're trying to figure it out."
"If they're caught, they might have to spend the night in the Detention Chamber," Amelia added.
"Oh, that sounds like fun." Stella cringed.
Oh, boy. Oooh, boy. That is the last thing I need.
"Who do you think it was?"
"Luca, probably."
"Or maybe the white haired girl or Joel? They're always together."
"What do you think will happen if they don't confess?" Stella tilted her head.
"Dunno," Amelia shrugged, "but the professors will find out sooner or later, and the person who did it will have a more severe punishment."
Oof... Okay, I need to think of a way out of this...
The girls grabbed their lunches and sat down at one of the tables. Stella was finally able to get the girls to move on to another topic by asking about Amelia's progress with Terrance. Amelia immediately grew shy and giggly, and Delilah began laughing.
"So you plan to run away from him, too? You plan to leave him broken, like you did to me?"
"I did not! I couldn't trust you! You almost kil-!"
"And so you fixed him?! Tell me, when he looks in the mirror, does he feel relief?! Joy at being alive?! Tell me, does our dear little brother still feel human?! Because I know I don't!"
"How can yo-?!"
"Sister, sweet Little Star! Do you feel human?! Do you feel whole?!"
"Shut up!"
We're human... We're still human... We're not monsters, and we did nothing wrong...
Amelia snapped at Delilah, who only laughed more.
He did wrong, not me... I... I didn't do anything wrong...
Amelia said something that made Delilah blush. She cackled as the younger girl turned into a flustered mess.
I tried to save them! I did what I could to save the family I still had!
The two girls stopped what they were doing and stared at her.
Why am I in the wrong? I did what I had to! I didn't know what the consequences were!
They started talking to her, but Stella couldn't hear them.
I'm not the bad guy!
"Stella!" Luca was staring at her, looking worried.
Amelia and Delilah were peering over his shoulders. Stella stared at them, wondering when the boy had shown up. Amelia pushed Luca out of the way and handed her her handkerchief. Stella stared at it, confused.
"You look like you're about to cry," she quietly explained.
"O-Oh?" Stella drew back, then laughed. "Ah, I feel like an idiot! We have to do that Timidis Wardrobe thing today, and I'm just scared. I had a nightmare last night that I got stuck in it, and I couldn't get out. I guess I was just remembering. I'm all good now, sorry for making you guys worry!"
"Oh, I don't blame you. That thing was horrible," Amelia sighed, resting her hand on her arm, "Oh! I mean, it's really not that bad once you're done with it, but it's the build up that's really terrifying."
"Awesome," Stella groaned.
"Timidis Wardrobe?" Deliilah echoed.
Amelia turned and explained what it was. As she was looking back, Luca raised an eyebrow.
"You can fool them, but you can't fool me," he told her.
He knows. He knows. He kno- No, he doesn't know about Sansone. He probably only knows that I was the one who snuck out. He can't know why, or how, or any other details, which... which isn't necessarily a good thing. Now he's going to be really curious. I can't say I went to meet Yukiya, because then he'll be wondering I'm upset and questioning him about it. What do I do?
"It's alright," he said quietly, "You look upset, so just this once, I won't dig too deep. But," he began, his face growing serious, "if it's someone bothering you, you really should tell me."
"Oh? Do I have another knight in shining armor?" Stella chuckled.
"Nah, my armor's a little rusted."
"Armor is still armor, Luca."
He smiled at her, patted her arm, and walked off. As she was watching the boy walk off, a sudden hand poked her cheek. Stella jumped and stared at Delilah.
"We asked you question earlier," she pouted, "we wanted to know how things are going with you and Yukiya."
"Uh, I'm not sure..." she admitted, "I'll let you guys know when I do."
I still don't know how he's going to take it when I tell him everything...
"How about you and your mysterious crush?" she asked.
"I-I already told Amelia!"
"I didn't hear."
"And I want to hear it again!" Amelia added.
"Jerks!" the younger girl hissed, "Fine. I said that I ran into he-them the other day. I dropped my papers and they helped me pick them all up."
"How sweet," Stella said with a smile.
"Apparently, they know her name, too," Amelia told her.
"She's almost at the same level as you."
"Hey, I'm trying to date him, alright?"
The girls began laughing as they ate.
...
...
Stella hurried into the classroom and sat down in her seat. Yukiya was already sitting in his seat, with the wolf laying down by his feet. She offered him a smile, and when he looked at her, his face softened. There was a tug of guilt in the girl's heart when she saw the bags under his eyes. Pushing away the feeling, she pressed her finger to her lips and winked. Yukiya stared at her, not taking the hint.
She winked again.
"Is your eye okay?"
Oh, gods...
"Please don't tell anyone about last night," she whispered, her eyes begging, "I'm scared of getting in trouble!"
"Oh, okay."
With that, he turned back to facing the window. Stella felt a bit caught off guard. It seemed almost as though he were trying to avoid facing at her. She leaned forward to ask what was wrong. When she did, his nose curled for a split second before he could stop it. A wave of hurt fell over her, and Stella leaned back.
"S-Sorry," she apologized feeling embarrassed.
I don't stink, do I? I took a bath last night, and even after running outside at night, I shouldn't have gotten anywhere near dirty enough to stink!
Yukiya saw her reaction and his eyes widened.
"N-No, it's not..." he began, then stopped to think, "You... that person... It's them, not you..."
"It's fine," she replied.
"Stel-"
"Hello, Stella," a voice suddenly greeted her.
Turning around, she found Elias standing by her desk.
"Hey!" She grinned at him.
"Are you ready for the Wardrobe?"
"Not in the slightest! You?"
He lightly coughed before responding.
"I don't think this is something anyone can prepare for."
"At least we can go home right after," another girl broke into the conversation.
"Oh, we can?" Stella's eyes widened.
"Yes," Elias confirmed, "it's like when we take an exam."
"Cool."
The trio continued their conversation as they waited for the bell to ring. No one in the room wanted to discuss what they thought they would see, and most tried to avoid talking about the Wardrobe altogether.
...
...
"Tomorrow the first group of students will go," Professor Schuyler explained, "This will include Miss Abdulla, Mr. Alberness, Mr. Babajide, Mr. Baggenns, Mr. Cadwallader, Miss Cantrell, Miss Carlevaro, Miss Denman, Mr. Fenn , Miss Garnett, and Mr. Goldstein."
The students whose names were called wore uncomfortable expressions. Elias tried to keep his face calm, but there was obvious fear in his amethyst eyes. As the eleven chosen students were silently panicking, the rest of the class let out small sighs of relief.
"Now, as I mentioned yesterday, the ministry has sent us a pair of knights. The Wardrobe will be brought in tomorrow, but they're here to answer any questions you may have."
With that, the professor walked over to his desk. Taking his place at the front of the classroom were two people in bright white uniforms. One was a young woman with blue tattoos spread across her nearly bald head. She had some blonde hair poking out of the front of her hat. Stella figured she had a mohawk. The other knight was a young man. A very handsome young man. Some of the girls began giggling and blushing, and they only grew more excited when he gave them a charming smile. He lifted his hat to run his hand through his burgundy hair before he began.
"My name is Vincent Knight." He smiled at the class.
"And I'm Anna Belathane," the woman added.
"I'm sure you're all worried about the Timidis Wardrobe. I'd like to tell you all not to worry, but it's no joke," Vincent started. "Even if you understand that what you're seeing is an illusion, you're still going to be terrified. That's just human nature."
"When you recite the spell 'O' great power, grant me courage in face of fear, Audux Magia!', your worse nightmare turns into a sweet dream. What you fear most becomes what desire most. It's actually helped many people overcome their fears and phobias. However, if you can't recite the spell... don't worry." Anna smiled at the class. "It's pretty much impossible to think straight when you're in panic mode. If you aren't able to cast the spell yourself, after around fifty minutes minutes, we'll get you out ourselves. Once that's all done, you can go back to your dorms. You won't need to attend any classes. Depending on how fare during the night, you might be able to get an excused absence from a few morning classes. If you're not going through the Wardrobe tomorrow, you don't need to show up to this class. If you are going tomorrow, then you won't need to come to class the day after."
"Any questions?" Vincent asked, looking around.
A girl with pale blue hair raised her hand. When the knights nodded, she spoke.
"Is it just your, um, greatest fear?" she asked, "What if you fear a lot of different things?"
"Um... Anna?" Vincent grinned at his partner.
The female knight sighed at him before turning back to the girl with a smile.
"You might see some of them, but the Wardrobe will focus on your greatest fear. If it manages to pick up on smaller fears while it's searching for your greatest, then it might sprinkle them in throughout the illusion," she explained, "kind of like the most horrifying sundae in creation."
Some of the students chuckled at her joke, but most just gulped and shifted in their seats. Luca, at first glance, seemed unfazed, but there was a subtle stiffness to his normally relaxed face. He'd already been forced to face the East Forest's illusions.
"Why do we have to do this?" one boy asked, "And why can some people be excused, but not others?"
"Why should you learn combative magic?" Anna replied, "We want you to be able to defend yourselves if you need to. And as for the excused students, they may have genetic medical conditions that may put them more at risk than others. As an alternative, they'll be put through a similar but more mild test. They'll be put into a magically-induced sleep state where two professors and a knight or two are monitoring their condition and influencing what they see. If things seem to get too dangerous for the student, the dream is carefully influenced to be more peaceful and they are woken up as soon as they safely can."
Stella bit her lip, wishing she could ask Mr. Amicus to sign her a waver. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized she didn't want four people looking into her head.
The students asked a few more questions, until it seemed the class knew all that they needed. For the rest of the period, the two knights shared some of their odd work experiences. It was evident that most of the girls in the class were too busy checking out Vincent to pay attention to Anna's stories. It was too bad; Anna seemed to get all the exciting jobs.
...
...
"So, what are they serving for lunch today?" Stella asked.
"I think it's pork sandwiches today," Luca replied.
Elias seemed to be deep in thought about something, and Yukiya was quiet as usual. Stella noted how the blue haired boy was walking close enough for their hands to occasionally brush up against one another. She doubted it was on purpose; She knew Yukiya pretty well.
"I hope it doesn't have paprika in it," the girl sighed.
"Hm? Why's that?" Elias tilted his head.
"I'm allergic."
"Really, now?" Luca raised an eyebrow. "How bad is it?"
"It's not like it'll kill me," she replied, "but I get dizzy and I start wheezing. It's weird, because I can eat normal peppers."
"Huh. Well, I have a minor pollen allergy, but the nurse has potions that help with it." Luca offered a smile.
"Good to know."
"Elias?" Yukiya stopped and looked back at the blonde.
At his question, Stella and Luca stopped and turned. Elias was staring at something across the schoolyard, his face rapidly turning red. Stella drew back, then followed his gaze. Vincent, the knight from class, was laughing with a girl who seemed to be around their age. Her short copper hair bounced with every movement she made, and her silver eyes seemed full of mirth. The pair almost looked like siblings.
Stella looked back at the young Goldstein.
"I see," she purred.
"S-See what?!" Elias snapped, whipping his head to face her.
"How interesting," Luca added, slinging his arm around the younger boy's neck.
"W-What's interesting?!" he squeaked, quickly stepping away.
"What a pretty girl," Stella observed.
"What a cute face," Luca agreed.
"S-Shut up!" Elias all but shouted.
Vincent and the girl heard them and glanced their way.
"So loud," Yukiya mumbled.
The girl seemed to make eye contact with Elias, who went completely stiff with his face redder than Stella thought possible. The girl looked confused for a moment before she waved. Elias simply stood there with a panicked look on his face. Stella lightly coughed. Elias jumped and then nodded in greeting. Stella, Luca, and Yukiya watched in silence as the blonde began awkwardly walking towards the Dining Hall. After a few moments, the trio followed behind him.
"So, Anastasia?" Luca questioned.
"L-Leave me alone!"
...
...
I wonder if this will work...
Stella took a deep breath. She seemed to be taking quite a few risks as of late. She wasn't rather fond of it.
I came here to learn, not to deal with drama!
The students had all gone home, so the halls were empty. She approached the room, growing more anxious with every step. As she raised her hand to knock on the door, she heard voices from the inside.
"Conrad," a familiar voice laughed, "I didn't know you could cook!"
"I hardly call making soup cooking," the man grumbled.
"Well, thank you either way," Professor Hart replied.
After a few moments, Stella heard coughing. Professor Schuyler asked the woman something, which made her laugh.
"Uh, w-what kind is this again?"
Professor Schuyler listed off some herbs. Stella cringed.
Those are good for fatigue, but they're disgusting together!
Her mother had made it for her an her brother when they weren't feeling well. Most of the time, Sansone would toss it out of the window while Stella would distract their mother.
"T-Thanks," Professor Hart said, obviously holding back a gag, "I'll finish this up later."
Believing it to be as good a chance as any, Stella knocked on the door.
"Come in," the woman called.
Stella took a deep breath and walked in the door. Professor Hart was sitting on her desk with a thermos and spoon sitting next to her. Professor Schyuler was standing next to her, though he seemed to be a touch closer than normal coworkers would be. Stella stared at them both, wondering if she had interrupted something. The man lightly coughed.
"I'll be taking my leave then," he stated, and started walking out.
"Alright. Thanks again, Schuyler!" The woman flashed him a kind smile.
He stopped only to give her a light nod. When he was gone, Professor Hart turned to her.
"Hey, Stella. Is everything alright?"
Here we go...
Stella started sniffling and made her eyes look watery. The woman stood up, looking concerned.
"Stella, what's wrong?" she asked.
"I-I was the one who snuck out last night! I'm so, so sorry!"
Professor Hart looked surprised for a moment. Then she sighed.
"Oh, I see." She nodded. "Don't be upset, now," she soothed, "It's good that you came and told one of us."
Stella nodded.
I'm glad I chose her instead of Schuyler or Merkulova.
She hadn't forgotten how Merkulova hadn't let her help Yukiya when he was sick. She still hadn't quite forgiven him.
Oh, Yukiya. I'm sorry I can't tell you more today...
"You understand that we have to tell the Headmaster about this, right?"
Stella nodded.
"Alright, then. Let's get going." The professor gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder and started walking towards the door.
Stella quickly followed her into the hall. As they made their way to the Headmaster's office, the girl began to worry.
Amelia's going to be so mad at me, and students are going to talk about it. Oh, what if they drag Yukiya or the others into it? I don't want to hurt their reputations...
She it her lip and spoke to the professor.
"Um, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," the woman replied, turning to look at her.
"Could you... not tell anyone?" she asked, "I mean, the students. I don't want them to come up with any more rumors..."
Professor Hart furrowed her brow in thought.
"Well, I don't have a problem with that. I guess we could say that you were helping me with some papers for extra credit, and it got to be so late you slept in the nurse's office... Though that only works for one night. We don't know if you'll be there longer."
"I'll figure something out if I do," Stella said, then sighed, "Thank you Professor Hart."
"It's no problem, but Stella, these rules are in place for a reason. We want to keep you all safe. If you guys don't follow what we say, we can't protect you."
"I understand."
... But I've learned to take care of myself.
They were quiet for the rest of their walk. Soon enough, they arrived at Headmaster Randolph's door. They knocked and entered. The red haired woman was sitting at the desk, looking over papers.
"Hello," Professor Hart called, "it seems we can stop our search."
She... doesn't seem surprised to see her...
The woman lifted her head and gazed at them with dark gold eyes.
"Stella. Why am I not surprised," she said with a light sigh. "You can't follow the rules to save your life, can you?"
Stella smiled.
"Well, this time you'll need to go to the Detention Chamber, okay?" the woman stated, "We'll say... one night and half a day."
"Okay." Stella nodded, then furrowed her brow. "I'm not trying to be rude, but why am I being punished this time? I mean, I know I broke the rules, but..."
"You were by the East Forest. There was a darker presence just outside," she explained, "Do you want to tell me what you were doing there?"
It wasn't a question. It was a polite demand.
"I read in a book that there were these pretty glowing herbs that only bloomed at night. I wanted to see if I could get some. I saw them, but they were outside the fence. I didn't want to go back to the East Forest, so I started to turn around. I... I think I heard something out there, but if it came from the forest, I didn't want to stay there."
The woman nodded.
"Alright. Professor Hart, will you please escort Stella to the Detention Chamber?"
The professor nodded and opened the door for the girl. Stella glanced at the woman one last time before hurrying out the door. As they walked through the halls, Professor Hart promised to talk to the woman about keeping the situation quiet. Stella was grateful, but she remained quiet. She knew it would be a long night.
Through the passage, past the traps, and finally to a cell. It had a small window, and a neatly made bed. There was an old chamberstick with a small candle sitting on the small stool by the bed.
"Stella, may I see your wand?" the professor asked.
Without a word, Stella surrendered it to her. The woman held it up to the moonlight.
"It's very pretty," she told her, "is this... a snake coiled around it? What is its core?"
"A hair from a Nemean Lion."
"Ah, those are hard to get. If I remember correctly, it helps you with... protection spells, I believe."
Stella nodded. The woman offered her a smile.
"I'll take good care of it until you get it back tomorrow. I should be in my office all day."
"Yes, ma'am."
Stella opened the door and walked in. The professor didn't look happy as she locked the door.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Goodnight, Stella."
"Goodnight, professor."
Stella listened as the woman walked away. When she was gone, the girl walked over and laid on the bed. It was quiet, almost painfully so.
It wasn't this quiet last time...
A little girl, no older than nine, sat huddled in the corner of a large cell. She covered her mouth to muffle her crying, but the other prisoners still complained.
"Shut up already!" a gruff voice snarled, "Or I'll make you!"
"Leave the kid alone!" another voice growled back.
"Kid? That isn't a kid! She's a monster!"
"Oh, and you're so much better!"
"I'm not the one with evil running through my veins! I'd be doing everyone a favor by ending it's miserable life!"
The little girl retreated further into the corner. She wanted to beg them to stop, but she was scared the owner of the voice would act on his words if she did.
"Give it a rest, would you?" a third voice groaned, "She'll be dead before noon."
She wanted to scream, to shout. But that wouldn't change her fate.
She'd be killed at dawn.
The only thing she could do was to wait.
So sorry for the months of absence! I don't really have an excuse besides lack of motivation...
I hope this extra long update makes up for it... at least a little...
Thanks for reading, and please leave reviews and critiques!
Have a nice day/night!