The next day was Sarah's first day at Skytree Academy. Sarah was also excited about the Shining Rod she found yesterday. "It wasn't a dream after all," Sarah said excitedly as she hugged it. Sarah decided to keep it safe until she finds Chariot again. Sarah then attempted to cast some spells with the rod. However, the rod would not work. While Sarah was busy with the rod, Artemis asked Lilly why she came to Skytree. "I was forced to come here, but I did hear there were some exclusive plants here for potions." Lilly explained to Artemis as she began experimenting with the cockatrice poison. Sarah then got dressed for classes with her roommates. The uniform was a simple white and blue cloak. Sarah was excited to see what her classes would look like.
According to Artemis, their first classes were magic linguistics, chemistry[potion-making], and magic history. Sarah was not happy with learning magic though, because her classes were "boring" and not what she imagined. "How did Chariot learn all her cool magic spells in a place like this," Sarah asked herself as she ate lunch in the cafeteria after her classes ended for the day. Sarah was then interrupted by a black cat with a stuck-up voice and ruby-red eyes saying that Shining Chariot's magic was frowned upon and that she was a dissappointment. The cat was known as Alma Kingsley, a prestigious and famous mage. She arrived with 2 other mages who were her friends and roommates. "Since you're new I'll impart some friendly advice to you," Alma began, "no one here respects Chariot so stop thinking of her as a role-model." Sarah agitated then countered, "That's not true at all!" "Shining Chariot has fans all over the world," Sarah said to Alma, "her magic show was really popular. "I'll admit her show was incredibly popular for a time," Alma said with a bit of pride in her tone. Alma then finished by stating that her shows were cheap parlor tricks that were doomed to fail. "It's been 10 years since Chariot quit and disappeared into the shadows," Alma continued, "and it doesn't look like anyone seems to care about where she is now." Sarah then stood up and said to Alma that she cared. "Chariot showed me what I really wanted to be," Sarah said with a bit of anger in her voice. Sarah then said to Alma: "I have to find her so I can give her back the Shining Rod!" Alma and her friends were confused, but also interested at the same time when Sarah mentioned the Shining Rod. So after lunch, Sarah showed Alma the Shining Rod she found in the forest yesterday. Alma believed the rod to be fake, so Sarah decided to prove to Alma that the rod was real. Sarah decided to make a statue move with the Shining Rod in front of Alma and whole bunch of other students. Before she started she prayed to the rod saying, "Perform a miracle just like before."
Sarah attempted to make the statue move but nothing would happen. Then all of a sudden the statue began to move alarming Sarah in fear. After the spectacle was over, everyone was in awe of Alma, the one who cast the spell. "Real magic takes cultivating tradition and countless hours of studying," Alma said with pride, "it's not something that someone simply intrigued by a fad can ever hope to learn." Alma friends explained that her family is well known for their study in magic and that she was better than Chariot calling her a "dumb show magician." They then left with Sarah sticking her tongue out at them.
Later, Sarah took out her card collection in a field on campus and remembers the words Chariot said: "Just believe in yourself, that is your magic." "So it's been 10 years since Chariot disappeared," Sarah said to herself sadly, "I wonder what Chariot's doing now." Artemis and Lilly soon arrived and asked Sarah about her card collection. Sarah explained that before Chariot disappeared she was very popular Despite being popular, Chariot Cards were rare and hard to come to by. Sarah was able to get all but one card in the collection.
Meanwhile Alma and her friends arrived at Skytree's memorial tree which was dying. Alma got the idea to to use revitalization magic to revive the tree. Once the spell was finished, Alma friends left to inform the teachers who were struggling with the dying tree. Suddenly the tree's roots started to burst out of the ground. Meanwhile Sarah was playing some card matches with her friends when the roots of the tree burst out in front of them. The girls followed the roots to the greenhouse where Alma was in front of the tree. On the roots of the tree were pupi according to Lilly, but to Alma they were parasites. Alma attempted to destroy the creatures, until Sarah recongized the design on the cocoons. Sarah blocked an attack getting hit in the process shocking Alma. Sarah told the other girls that the cocoons were those of a magical butterfly. As Sarah quoted one of her cards, the rod began to glow again. Artemis suggested that she recite the spell on the card and Sarah did just that. Sarah said to the butterfly cocoons "Spread your wings and fly, give us all hope!" before casting the spell. The butterflies were saved and they healed the tree. Alma was impressed by what occured, but still disliked her due to love of Chariot.