This chapter has been updated to fix previous errors. I mostly used this chapter for therapy when I wrote it. This is just a reflection of my past, my life doesn't suck. I found out about my anxiety later then Emily did, so the stuff in this story never happened to me. Emily's life doesn't suck that much either, she's just not a huge fan of reality, the one where everyone mocks her, but she'd be okay with a reality where she could help people. Also, this may focus on Emily although it's Genevieve's POV. To rationalize, this is a reaction from the last chapter. Genevieve questions Emily's decisions that would normally stress a person, and is trying to figure out what that says about her character. At this point in my life, people were still trying to understand me as well, coming up short with answers, and thus maybe getting a little jealous. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you guys will like this chapter. Enjoy!
[First Person, Genevieve]
I certainly did not expect what happened to Emily. Instead of getting a settled secondary school, Em goes on and gets an apprenticeship with all of the teachers. If I knew that was a possibility, I probably would have asked as well. I digress though, what happened: happened, I can't change that. To be fair, I didn't even like every school.
If you're wondering what happened on Unicorn way, turns out Rattlebones was not properly evicted yet. Delia has her tower back, but Rattlebones is confined to her basement for the time being, so he won't cause any more trouble. The death students are working on a way to keep him in the afterlife properly, and un-animate his corpse so he can rest in peace, and also us. The only problems left are the skeletons and ghosts; they're still not gone.
In other news, Boris published Emily's version of what happened to her since coming here; and for some reason she's getting more sympathy, maybe it's because the story mentions her life before wizard city, with the anxiety disorder, the sensitivity, and the harassment. It gives her humble beginnings and makes her more honorable in a sense. In my story, I make it sound like life is my own joy ride. I just mentioned how I'm struggling with my studies, not sure if I could be a good hero, and only sticking around because magic is cool and Emily wants to be here. My story makes me sound more like a depressed whiner. Emily should have had her story published first.
Anyways, it was now the beginning of October. I had a few things on my mind: 1, the new schedules, and 2, Oh my gosh, Emily is going to embarrass me this month. Emily is terrified of Halloween; she is more afraid of 'realistic horror' as she puts it. Decorations terrify her, which I completely don't understand. She says she knows they're fake, it's just she's afraid of the nightmares they can give her. I really don't understand that (if she knows they're fake, she shouldn't be afraid of them).
I got off topic; so where was I? Right: new schedules. There's not much to tell for me; I have storm school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and on Tuesday and Thursday I have Fire school. Emily's classes are difficult to talk about.
The first week of October in storm school we focused on what made Diviners-Diviners, skillsets that could be developed and a history of past Diviners and their achievements. This mostly detailed inventors and how their storm magic 'sparked' new ideas. Out of these people were some I recognized from earth.
In my secondary school, we focused on introductions, history, and basic magic of the school. We were tapping into our inner spark, which was easy for me because I was a storm student. Emily's first two other schools that week were dueling with Diego and Balance. They skipped introductions and history for her and just focused on teaching her basic magic from the school.
"Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Wool of Bat, and Tongue of Dog," said Emily to herself after class that Thursday.
"What are you saying?" I asked.
"The mantra of the Balance school," she explained.
"We haven't even covered that in the Fire school yet," I said. In her excitement, she went on to explain what the Balance school was about.
Apparently, sorcery is not just another name for spell casters. Sorcerers call on the order of the universe, bending rules to their whim. Now that sounds OP. Kind of makes me wish I took Balance instead.
Balance, Emily told me, is harmony and finding equality in all things. I could've figured that out on my own. Annoyed with me, she informed me that balance draws on the elements from all the other schools, playing around with energies to fill in the gaps of what others lack and need to be gained. Emily explained that most Sorcerers are broad-minded. They take everything under consideration, and know that there are always many answers to every question. Now these sorcerers sound like beings of great wisdom. I've been told before I'm a wise kid. Now I'm really wishing I chose balance. To cheer me up Emily pointed out there is a drawback with that way of thinking. Sorcerers seem very impassive, indecisive, and are never willing to embrace a side or position.
Emily now understood how to properly cast balance spells, instead of just relying on her wand. Apparently the secret is in Transmutation, blending the forces of the other schools to create balance. I didn't get it when she told me, but apparently balance magic is not exactly inherent, nor from outside sources. Instead, it combines the internal and external elements. It seemed very unique and powerful. I was interested, but I felt that would be the case with every school she discussed with me.
"You don't seem to have anything in a classroom until the end of next week," I mentioned to her that Saturday.
"They're going easy on me," she explained. "They're trying to ease me into it."
That was when my wand received a message. I gave it a wave and answered; it was the headmaster.
"Girls, oh good you are together; there is a matter of importance I must speak to you about. Come see me in my office." The message disappeared.
"Wonder what that was about," I questioned.
"Maybe another part of the city is endangered and we have to look into it," said Emily.
"Maybe," I said nervously. "We should still go see what it's about." So we headed over to the headmaster's office. When we got there, the headmaster was alone.
"Girls, come in," he said.
"What is it, headmaster?" asked Emily.
"Girls, are either of you missing your family at all?" That was an odd question.
"Um…yeah, I guess," I said.
"It's not like we don't miss them," said Emily. "It's just…we're having fun here, and learning so much."
"That's good to hear," said Ambrose. "Of course that doesn't change the fact that your mother just wrote me a letter and sent it to me."
"What!" we exclaimed.
"How could she even do that?" said Emily. "We're in a different realm."
"It seems love can cross boundaries," said Ambrose. "In her letter she is asking whether you will be coming home for thanksgiving or not."
"I thought that here, thanksgiving wasn't until November," I said. I remembered this because my hair was still pink.
"It is," said Gamma who had just flown in the room. "The holiday for the school is not until November. Of course, you two are from a special world. We could work something out so you can still have your holiday with your family." We looked at each other.
"I would like to have thanksgiving with Mom, Dad and Adam," said Emily.
"Alright," said Ambrose. "You two can have a week off starting next Sunday, but you will have to remain here while everyone else is taking their holiday in November; it might help you catch up on school work." We looked at each other again; my sister and I nodded at each other.
"We'll be okay with that," I said.
"Then it's settled; you two can enjoy the rest of your weekend and be prepared to head home next week."
The next week in school, we learned how we could apply storm magic to everyday situations, such as putting out flames, filling cups with water, getting lights or machines to work with a spark, or even to move objects with strong winds. Professor Balestrom also mentioned how it might be useful in gardening.
People from my class found out what was going on with us.
"So you're going to have next week off," a boy from my school asked me after class one day (I'm no good with names).
"Yeah, we celebrate Thanksgiving earlier where we come from," I explained.
"So what are you going to do during our holiday?" asked a girl also from my school. "Are you going home again?"
"No," I said. "As much as I'd love a second holiday, we agreed it would be better if we stayed in Ravenwood during that time."
"You'll be here all alone," commented another boy.
"Yeah, it'd be a good time to catch up on school work."
"Wait," commented another girl. "What about the city? Who will defend it when you're gone?"
"I'm pretty sure it can be handled for at least a week," I reassured them.
"Well, we don't have to worry about our street," said another boy.
"We have a street?" I asked.
"You really need to get around Genevieve," said the first boy I talked to. "Triton Avenue: The go-to spot for Diviners and the Performers of storm magic."
"Yeah," said the third boy, "I heard that Susie Gryphonbane and her brother Artur are looking into any problem that might arouse there."
"Susie and Artur?"
"Seriously Genevieve, do you keep your head in the books?" said the first girl I talked to. "Susie and Artur Gryphonbane: they are in a higher class than us but are both well-known storm students, right up there with Boris."
"Oh really," I said. "Then it's a good thing I don't have to worry, because I don't know when the headmaster will let us help out."
As for the secondary school for that week Madame Falmea focused on teaching us about fire magic in different worlds, streets and creatures. I guess these teachings were rather helpful; I know they were for Emily, for that week she was taught by the schools of Life and Death. Now Emily understood the basics of her healing spell and how song interweaves with life, and she also had extensive detail of creatures of the undead, both sets of information she shared with me.
From both classes, Emily learned two mantras: "As we have been Created, so we must Create," as well as, "Timor mortis conturbat me" or (The Fear of Death Confounds Me). Two conflicting philosophies, death was about ending and closure while life was about spirit, the force of awareness and existence.
Life is about embracing the power of all that lives and striving to perpetuate its life force. Death is about accepting that all things pass eventually and time cannot be held back forever; necromancers face this fact without fear as they understand it about everything. Necromancers make the most of their time, but some try to cheat death with undeath.
"They try to live forever, escape death, but it's not really life they're creating," said Emily.
"Do you think that Malistere wants to become immortal?" I asked.
"Who can say?" said Emily. "It's very possible."
Life is about constant growth and movement. Theurgists are simple people who simply enjoy the life they are living, positive enthusiastic people who seek to appreciate the simple pleasures. Of course this makes them flighty or frivolous in dire circumstances.
"It seems death students are more serious than life students," I commented.
"It would seem that way," said Emily. The more I heard about life the more against it I was. Of course I was a negative person. Still, I needed to understand it for healing myself.
Life magic is channeled through song, to breathe life and spirit into vessels. Life magic isn't about the summoning of creatures, or coercing or beseeching them to your will. Life magic instead is focused on creating something new through the Song of Creation, whatever that was. Emily told me that scholars of life magic believed it channels the tapestry of music from which the spiral was created. It is when a wizard echoes portions of the great symphony that a wizard can make life where none existed before.
"Wait a minute…so the spiral was made with a song?"
"Apparently so," said Emily. "It was also hard for me to believe."
"Well that throws your theory out the window, Em."
"What theory?"
"That Storm and Fire, (our magic) makes life."
"It does though…unconventionally."
"It is mainly through music though."
"My theory still stands."
The song for our pixie spell is as follows: "Come little pixie, come little friend, lend me a hand and help me to me to mend." This was useful information.
On another note, life is the remover of chaos from the world, creating order to sustain life. Emily was told to study the magic she would need peace and discipline. It's something my sister would have to work on. Something else for her to improve is her fear over things that are dead. Emily said Necromancers use Whispers to cast their spells; it strengthens their will and draws out the power of courage to channel their own fears out of themselves and at their opponents. This shut down my retorts of her being a scaredy-cat, with her saying 'Being a Necromancer is being afraid.'
"What do you think Malistere fears?" I asked.
"I don't know," is all she could tell me.
Like how Fire and Storm make Life, it seemed Storm and Ice made Death, because the cold energy of death comes from the two forces.
"Just great," I said. "I'm the doomy gloomy one; of course my school is related to death."
"You're also related to life," said Emily. "I don't think you have a dark path ahead of you. I think you have potential for both light and darkness."
"As you are related to both creation and destruction…like Bartleby said?"
"Nothing is set in stone," said Emily. "I'd like to believe we're good people though."
The last Friday of the week, since the teachers knew that we were leaving, they decided to fill us in on what we'd be missing. In our main schools we were going to focus on careers. We thought we could get a pass on this because we were going to be too preoccupied with saving the city. We had a compromise; we could get a pass from the project due that week, we would just have to tell them what career we were considering after looking over each one and instead of presenting why, just explain it to them. Other than that, our secondary teachers informed us what we would be going over.
Madame Falmea explained that we would be going over the magic keys again, this time for a different magic. We were going to be identifying what helped us with that field, what area of our personality we could focus on to help us, and what made us different from others who might try it. Secondly, we would be learning our first big spell. It seemed easy enough for me; just find the spark in my personality that worked with Pyromancy, it was Em who had it rough. She was encouraged to find the key of her personality to help her with all schools. Em was going to be swamped.
She reassured me that if she focused on that part during the week, while also reading up on what the Ice school was about, and then learned the ice spell she was supposed to learn the week when she got back…she would be able to handle it. I reminded her we were also supposed to looking over careers. She told me she would divide her time.
That Saturday we didn't have much to pack since everything was given to us. We were however returned the clothes we had in the beginning of September so we wouldn't look too weird coming back. The voice that woke us up in the morning said it was going to miss us when we were away. So we gathered up our books, headed to the headmaster's office, and he sent us back home through the portal.
We appeared back in our room with a flash.
"Wow," said Emily. "It's been a while since we've seen this place, hasn't it." I wasn't listening; I was too busy looking around for my hair band.
"Hey Gen," said Emily.
"Yeah," I said looking around.
"Your hair changed again."
"What?!" I panicked looking at my hair. It was how I remembered it: mostly brown with hints of blonde and red.
"Hey," I said smiling. "My hair is back to normal."
"Not quite," said Em. She turned me to face the mirror in our room.
"Ah!" I exclaimed. My hair had pink streaks, and a patch around the bottom was still pink.
"Mom and Dad might pull me out of Ravenwood if they see this," I said.
"Just tell them it's a temporary die and your hair will be back to normal by next week," reasoned Emily.
"Yeah," I said, going back to looking around. "If I can find my hair band; where do you think Mom and Dad would put it?"
"I don't know," said Emily. "Somewhere in this room." As she said that, I found the hairband on my dresser.
"Yes!" I said. I picked it up and put my hair in a ponytail. "I am not losing sight of you at all this week."
"Okay," said Em, putting her books down on her bed. "So for the time being you have partially dyed hair and a coolly-coloured hairband to match."
"Right," I said. I then realized the important issue. "How do you think Mom and Dad are going to react to us already in the house?"
"I think memory magic is in play," said Emily. "Like before, it won't seem strange that we just appeared out of nowhere. For them, we probably arrived yesterday."
"Alright," I said. "Let's go see them."
Sure enough, our parents didn't react too much to seeing us at home. They gave us another welcome home, (just because they really missed us). They asked us if we liked being back at our house. Em was right; to them, we came home the day before. In answer to their question Emily said home felt alien after all this time.
They asked us how school was going, saying we didn't want to talk about it right after coming home. I told them it was hard at first, but we're getting the hang of things, and we were also involved in a lot of extracurricular activities. They said that was good, but then they brought up the serious topic.
"Are you liking school okay?" asked Dad.
"Are the other kids nice enough to you?" asked Mom.
"Everyone is really nice so far," I said.
"Emily, have you been having any…attacks while you were there." Emily got nervous.
"I've had a few," she said, pacing her breathing. "People helped me through it though."
"That's good," said Dad. "We missed you two so much."
"Your Daddy sure did miss you," said Mom. "Some nights his worry wouldn't even let him sleep."
"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't want you to worry over us."
"Are you kidding," said Dad. "I worry because I love ya, and don't want anything to happen to my two girls without me there to protect them." He would hate to know what was going on in our lives.
"Dad, we're fine," I said.
"It's just you're so far away," said Mom. "At least we have this week with you before Christmas. You know, you should visit the school while you're here, let them know what's going on in your life."
"What if I don't want to," said Emily.
"Now Emily," said Mom calmly.
"I don't want to go back there," She was starting to panic now. "Who knows what the other kids are going to do?" It was my job to calm her down.
"Emily, relax, no one is making you do anything. Even if you do decide to visit, I'll be with you. Besides, the kids can't do anything when you're just visiting."
"Okay," said Emily, calming herself down.
"I definitely wouldn't want to force you to do anything you wouldn't enjoy, Emily," said Mom. "It's just a thought."
Now school is a touchy subject for us, at least for Em. People seemed to leave me alone, and because of that I hated myself. It was stupid, hating myself because no one payed attention to me. Of course, being the most normal in my family left with me feeling neglected. At least Emily was picked on, I wanted remove myself from people's lives because I felt I wasn't good enough for them. Emily kept going to school every day even though there was hardly any love there for her, of course she had no choice, but still. Emily never fell into depression, she never refused to go to school, she never wanted to throw her life away; she got out of bed every day and went to class, even though she feared what the day would bring every morning. My sister is the bravest person I know.
I know for a fact, most of those kids in our class were jerks. I've heard things they've said when Emily wasn't around to hear it. Emily asks about it, but I can tell it pains her to know the kids were that mean. Most people hated the fact Emily was so sensitive. Whenever she had a problem, she would let people know by "acting like a toddler" as they put it. She would cry if she was scared or mad, and even sad. Emily was like that a lot at school.
She knew people hated it, so she would always run away to cry in private. She hated the fact that she sobbed a lot, and she also hated those kids for not understanding. I don't blame her. Even though her crying does get annoying sometimes, those kids are just mean. I know of divas (guys and girls alike) who want everyone to know what they are thinking. They hated her being picky about what they did. The noises they made; the habits they had, but most importantly their lack of respect; they hated how Emily showed obvious discomfort to who they were.
Emily was also smart, and everyone else may have been a little below that in the B or C range.
Emily was brutally honest in telling people their ideas were dumb. That didn't improve her popularity. It might have been another reason people hated her.
Was that any reason to comment on every flaw she had, telling her that she had no idea how to do things right, and that she was dumb and immature? That she was mean (okay, she was mean; we're all mean when we're young)? They threatened her, they made fun of her, they crushed her joy in the games she played and fantasies she had. Emily used threatening tones, but never uttered threats. Emily laughed when it was appropriate, but never made fun of people. She never budded in on the games and imaginings of others. She didn't deserve everyone treating her like scum.
One admirable thing is that they didn't really want her to die, no matter how much they muttered otherwise. One time I muttered something about suicide, and people thought it was about Emily. They begged me to save her. I knew if I told them the truth, they would go back to hating her in that moment, so I stayed silent. Life is cruel to throw us in with people like that.
Emily has Anxiety now and had it back then, just like me with my mild case of depression. It's in Emily's nature to be passionate (ala sensitive) and smart, just as it's in my nature to be independent. It's what makes our magic, so that's probably why this world wanted to get rid of it.
It's no wonder Emily didn't want to go back there: those kids scared her. If I was her, I wouldn't want to go back there either.
Thanksgiving was thanksgiving: we had turkey, potatoes, salad, rolls and pie. Emily uttered the thanks we had in food, home, family, and good schooling. For the rest of the week, we did our homework.
We looked over the careers for one day of the week. There were about eleven different careers for our field of magic. In the end, we settled on one we might enjoy for each of us. Emily decided that she might want to be a tamer of creatures belonging to fire magic.
"Em," I said. "Animals freak you out."
"I could move past it," said Emily. "I'm getting better at controlling my fear. Also, fire magic allows a better resistance to fire, and besides, there are dragons!"
"Is this the main reason you chose this?"
"Maybe," said Em. "I have this theory that I'm not that afraid of magic creatures, especially dragons. It's my type of world."
"What if the dragon wanted to maim you or even kill you?"
"I could learn how to hold it off."
"If you insist," I said. I chose a simpler profession. Diviners were about power, so I thought maybe I could help Power mills function, with the side job of being an oracle because seeing the future was fun if not scary. There wasn't much argument there.
Next was finding out what part of my personality responded with Pyromancy. I am not my sister, but we were both smart. Emily told me that Pyromancy comes from emotion. I barely had that. Of course, Em says she likes it when I'm having a good time. I guess, when I'm thinking with my heart instead of my mind, then I can access it. So if I act on the impulsiveness of my diviner nature, the spark can create a flame.
Emily was harder. I decided to help her for the diviner part. She knew we were both educated, independent and creative, so Em, by my amazement, quickly discovered what made her attached to Divinity. Whenever she had a spark of an idea, whenever she thought with her mind instead of her heart, she could create a storm.
Next was ice, Emily found that an important aspect of the school was patience, and Ice students are strong, loyal, courageous and honest.
"You sure you're not an Ice student?" I asked.
"Well, I like the cold," said Emily.
"What do you think lets you do ice magic?" Emily thought about it.
"Keeping a cool head," she said.
"What?"
"I rarely do it," she said. "So, probably, when I am relaxed, I will be able to perform ice magic."
"That's something, what's next?"
Emily decided to do Life next. Life focused on appreciating and giving life, the music of the world, and life students are often social, charming, funny, and spiritual.
"That doesn't sound like you at all," I said.
"What," said Emily. "I'm funny, I like music, and I…appreciate life."
"You hesitated there, do you really?"
"Maybe," she said. "This is hard, but I know I can do this." She looked over her charts again.
"They say Life is Storm and Fire, the two of us combined."
"We already know this," I said.
"What if I'm not individually life," said Emily.
"What?"
"What if it's the spirits of both of us, working together," she said coming to an epiphany.
"You're losing me."
"I have a theory," she said. "I can do life magic, and it will probably be impressive when I do it."
"What is it?"
"It's you!"
"What?"
"You're my life."
"That's cheesy," I said half-heartedly.
"It works though," she said exuberated. "You're my music; without you I have no means to make life magic." I tried thinking it over.
"You're saying, your love for me; your care for other people, that is what allows you to do life magic?"
"It makes sense," she said. "It's appreciating life."
"Okay, you're done the Life school, what now?"
Emily decided to focus on Myth. Great, that school. It was surprisingly very easy for her to figure out. Myth was all about imagination, as was she, so when she focused her imagination, that would help with her magic in conjuring. Summoning was a main part of magic already; Myth was just a way to further develop it.
Next Emily focused on Death, which I was personally creeped out by. She says that Necromancers are solitary, brave, intelligent and driven. The school focuses on facing limits and fear unafraid.
"Bravery, I guess you would need it for that school," I said. "How do you think you can do Necromancy?"
"I don't know," said Emily. "They say the school focuses on bravery and intelligence. I was told I was both." I looked at the chart.
"They also say Death magic is a combo of Storm and Ice, does that help?"
"Maybe," she put a pencil to her temple. "Bravery, intelligence, Storm, Ice, and meeting limits without fear."
"Got anything?"
"Not yet," she said, slightly annoyed. "Let me think." We sat in silence for a little bit.
"Storm is thought, Ice is a cool head, bravery, fear, intelligence, meeting limits…I think I may have something."
"What?"
"It's just a theory," said Em. "It'd be hard for someone like me, with anxiety and all. I think I would be able to access Death magic if I just let go of my fear in times of peril."
"That's Ice," I said.
"No," said Emily. "This is different."
"How?" I asked.
"This is rationalizing my fear, applying logic for aid, when I transverse the depths of my subconscious. I do that sometimes, most recently actually, it's helping me get over my anxiety."
"Okay, that's done, what's next?"
Next she decided to focus on Balance.
"Isn't that just when you're balanced?"
"Sort of," said Emily. "It's using a bit of all elements."
"So no excess," I said.
"I think, sorcery, comes from being one with everything, so you're able to manipulate it."
"So where does it apply to you?"
"Mostly, I guess, when I'm in a high state of focus and understanding, when I can unlock wisdom."
"A state of mind?" I asked. "What about when that's not so easy?"
"I just have to focus hard."
"Focusing?"
"Yeah," she said. "Have my mind clear and my spirit flowing. Be relaxed and confident, and then I should be able to achieve it."
"You are barely like that," I said bluntly.
"I can be relaxed, focused and confident," she said. "That's what's important. I do it to calm myself down; I do it to balance myself."
"Okay, any other schools we're missing?"
"Just one," she said. "Dueling magic."
"What's that got to do with your personality, it's self-defense."
"It's still something I'm taking."
"It's a sub-class."
"I still need to know how I'm applying myself there."
"Fine, how do you access defensive magic?"
"I am pretty defensive."
"Good, you apply that need to defend people in your magic and you can use it."
"I believe it's more than that," she said.
"Can't we just say this and be done?"
"Not if I want a good grade."
"Fine, what else?"
"Well, you said it's like a need, right. Maybe it's more than just a need to defend people, maybe it's an emotion as well."
"Like what?"
"Selflessness, like you would take a bullet for someone."
"That's love, you're thinking about life magic," I said, aggravated.
"No, it's selflessness, it's not the same. You could want to take a bullet for someone you hate or don't even know."
"Fine, you have a point. The need to defend plus the feeling of selflessness that is what accesses your defense magic. Now are we done?"
"Yeah, I think we're done."
"Oh thank goodness," I said plopping on my bed. "I'm so tired from today."
"We have two days before we have to head back," said Emily.
"Yeah, we do," I said. "So what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"You're serious," I said not believing what we were just about to do.
"Yep," said my sister, that brave little solider, as we stood in front of the school.
"Mom said you didn't have to do this; I said you didn't have to do this."
"I don't want them thinking I was so scared I ran away. I fought monsters, this can't be too hard."
"Alright," I said, taking her hand. "But know I'm sticking with you. I've got your back."
"Thanks Gen." With a deep breath, we entered the school.
We entered the office, signing in because we were visitors.
"Girls," said the Secretary.
"Hello Ms. Fletcher," We said in Unison.
"When your parents said you were not coming this year, I got worried, I almost didn't believe it. Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine," I said. "We're just visiting our classmates in Ms. Mallory's and Mr. Pietre's class because we leave at the end of the week."
"Oh," said Ms. Fletcher. "Do you want me to page them, tell them you're coming?"
"Do we have to do both classes?" asked Emily.
"Our true class is separated, Em," I said. "It's best to do both."
"Okay," said Emily. "I guess we'll go to Ms. Mallory's first than Mr. Pietre's."
"Why Ms. Mallory first," I asked.
"Because I'm the one who wanted to do this and she was going to be my teacher before we made changes."
"Okay," I said. "Ms. Mallory's first."
"Okay," said Ms. Fletcher. "I'll page them both and tell them you're here to visit."
So she dialed the room number and informed Ms. Mallory we were here to visit. She then did the same for Mr. Pietre's room, saying we'd be going to Ms. Mallory's first. We were then on our way. I noticed that as we got closer to the rooms, Em's breathing got heavier. Not only was she made fun of here, but the kids who didn't know her found her strange and looked at her like she was a dead animal. Kids are so apathetic these days.
We made it to the door. Emily looked in. She groaned.
"Curt is in there," she said. "And by the looks of it, he has a new lackey."
Curt was a big time harasser when she was here. I was ready to get it done and over with so Emily didn't have to be there anymore.
"Maybe they're bored without you around," I reasoned.
"Great," said Emily dryly. "I love being thought of like that." I opened the door.
"Hey," I said. The class burst out with a bunch of "hey's" and "hello's". As much as we were picked on, we were popular for being the only set of girl twins in school.
"Ah girls it's nice to finally meet you," said who I assume was Ms. Mallory. "The class has said a lot about you." What they knew, I assumed, which wasn't a lot. "The whole class is dying to know, what's going on in your lives?"
"Well," I said. "We're going to a new school, and it is amazing."
"What's it like?" said a big girl in the back.
"It's magical," said Emily.
"What type of stuff are you learning there?" asked a kid named Tyler.
"The same stuff as you probably," continued Emily. "Science, Geography, History." That was half true.
"You get a week off in the middle of October, that's cool," said Curt.
"It's thanksgiving week, so we can see our family," I said.
"You don't live here?" said who I assumed was his lackey.
"No, the school is far away so we live there."
"We have a really cool dorm," said Emily. "It has a neat way of getting you up in the morning, and great uniforms and the food they deliver to the dorms tastes great; also everyone is really nice there." There was Emily, in her "My life is better because you're not in it" mode, that was the first time I heard it.
"They probably don't know you then," it was a quiet voice in the front, so the teacher couldn't hear. It belonged to a boy with a long face that I remembered had an attitude. I gave him a cold glare. Emily was pained by what he said, but then she straightened, leaned in, and said with a smile, "They know me better than anyone in this room does. You know why? They actually listened to what I had to say."
"I hope you have a happy life there then," he said mockingly. He then made a sound I never heard before. It was like a click of the tongue, but it echoed along the walls of his mouth. Emily cringed painfully and he grinned. He knew she didn't like those types of noises; he also liked to call her names. He was one of the meaner ones I wanted to punch in the face. Emily straightened, leaned back and said, "That wasn't very nice."
I continued the conversation.
"The city is nice too," I said. "Each street is represented by what the school mascots are"
"They're all based on an animal," said a slow diva girl named Victoria.
"Actually an Element," I said. "It's sweet."
"This Ravenwood you're going to," said this boy I didn't recognize. "It almost seems like a magic school, at least the name sounds like that." I got nervous, he realized it too. Emily however was starstruck.
"Well we all have magic inside of us," she said spacey.
"Of course it's not a magic school," I said. "That's ridiculous. It's just really far away so you can't visit."
"It is sad we don't get any visitors," said Emily.
"No visitors at all?" said a nice red-head, Tyler.
"No calls?" said a nice girl named Melissa.
"No letters or care packages?" said a nice girl named Regen.
"We do get letters," I said. "Of course nothing else."
"That's old fashioned," said this girl named Kaitlyn.
"Well that's what you are," said another lackey of Curt. The whole class laughed. I didn't know how that was insulting, so I just laughed too.
"We'll just go visit the other class now," I said.
"We hope to see some of you later," said Emily still spaced waving at the class, leaving them dumbstruck. When we left the room, Emily confided in me.
"Gen, I think I'm in love." I was dumbstruck.
"You just saw him, and who?"
"The red-headed freckled kid with the glasses and the squint." I didn't understand my sister's taste in boys. That kid was also a little pudgy, like average weight with no exercise. He wasn't that attractive.
"You don't know anything about him."
"I know some things; I'm a good judge of character, so I at least have a crush on him."
"Okay, what do you know?"
"He's smart, he's nice, and has an interest in fantasy," she smiled.
"So he's a winner then," I said sarcastically. From what he looked like to what she said he was like, he sounded as if our Mom and Dad had a baby. (Wait, he's not our brother).
"If only I didn't have to go back," said Emily, disregarding my last comment.
"You rather stay here," I said. To be fair, I was glad Em had something to distract her from the mean comments of the others. That kid, though I never met him, he was not being mean.
"No," said Emily quietly. "Let's just get the next class done."
Now I've met Mr. Pietre before; he's a friendly guy. He was happy to see us. Of course, Cullen was there. Cullen was not a nice kid. He was a bad influence for my sister when she was younger, and when they got older, he sided with the harassers. He personally didn't like Emily's honesty, but also like a jerk, he thinks it's hilarious how she cries a lot. He thinks I'm weird for being on her side.
I had to keep a straight face for Cullen, but I was really happy to see Mr. Pietre. Mr. Pietre actually greeted us at the door. We couldn't help but smile seeing him. We entered the class, and said we were just visiting because we were leaving at the end of the week. Immediately, the class asked us where we've been.
"Ravenwood," I said.
"Sounds like a magic school," said Cullen. Dang it, why did the school have to sound magical?
"It's not," I said flatly. "That would be ridiculous."
"What's it like?" asked Jensen, a popular girl I was definitely not friends with.
"It's magical," said Emily.
"With no magic," I added.
"What do you learn there?" asked a boy I didn't know.
"Lots of stuff," I said. "Science, psychology, math, chemistry, writing, and the list goes on."
"Sounds advanced," said another Emily.
"It is at first," said Emily. "Of course, you get used to it over time."
"It's a bit boring without you guys here," said a boy twin named Ted.
"Yeah, things used to be a lot more interesting in school," said his twin, Blake. I didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment. Still, these twins are usually nice, so I'd have to say compliment.
"Thanks," I said. Emily stayed silent.
"We are enjoying ourselves a lot in the new school," she said quietly. I believe that's all she could say.
I'm not sure if Emily missed the school, I certainly didn't. Of course, maybe there was a reason Emily went to school every day despite the horrors that awaited her there. Maybe she liked the feeling of normalcy, or the teachers, or maybe she liked being amongst her peers despite them being cruel to her. Emily probably didn't want to leave these people; she just wanted to be friends with them. However, so far that was never going to happen. Emily is not going to change who she is, and our peers aren't trying to understand what she's going through. Emily needs to be separated from them, so she has a chance to be herself and be happy. Meanwhile, I'm one to keep a grudge longer than her. I don't like these people for how they treat her. Emily wants them to be nicer, I'd be okay if they all stop talking, and I don't care how.
I know that's cruel, but I care about Emily more than them.
Anyways, once we were done with the class Q&A, we decided to head home, saying we might visit again. I comforted Emily after we left.
"Are you okay? I mean, the class didn't do anything that mean in there."
"I'm okay," she said solemnly. "It's just, with what the twins said I…I knew…it was true; I just…wish things were different." Case in point.
"Hey," we heard someone say behind us. I turned my head. It was that boy Emily had said she had 'fallen in love with'.
"Hey," said Emily perking up.
"Are you guys leaving?" he asked.
"Yeah, we're done here," she continued. She was slightly smiling now, this was good.
"Where are you heading?" I asked him.
"Bathroom," he said.
"Shouldn't keep you," I said starting to leave.
"Are you okay?" he asked Emily. "I saw your sister comforting you. Did something go wrong?"
"It's nothing," said Emily. "It's just bad memories."
"Oh," he said. "The other kids didn't say much about you. All they said was you were weird, you spent a lot of time alone or with your sister, and you cried a lot."
"Oh," she said. "Of course they would say that." She was solemn again. It was time to go.
"Care to explain," he asked.
"Not in a few minutes," she chuckled. "I'll just tell you I have an anxiety disorder, that's why I cried, that's what the other kids never understood."
"Oh," he said. "I feel bad for you." Wow, she was right, he was nice.
"It's okay," she said. "It's what I have to live with. I just need…I don't know really. I guess it's someone who can understand. That's what Gen is for."
"I think it's not that hard to understand if people give it a try," he said. "I mean, I think I can come to grips with it."
"You don't know the half of it," she said smiling.
"Okay, we're at the boy's bathroom," I pointed out. "We should go Em."
"Okay," he said. "See ya; I really do hope to run into you again, you seem…interesting."
"You really don't know the half of that," she said, with a pleasant grin. As we started to walk away, she turned. "Wait, I didn't get your name." He turned to look at her.
"It's Colin." He entered the bathroom and we then proceeded to leave. Emily sure looked happy.
"My heart can't help but flutter," she said all giddy.
"I guess it's just what you needed," I said.
The day afterwards, Emily decided to look over the history and basics of the Ice school.
First she looked at the history of the Ice school. It was the same as the Storm and Fire schools, except it was from the Giants' perspective, the Titans of the Air. It didn't mention what drove them into the war, just that afterwards they went into stasis. The book than had the gall to say that since it was derived from giants Ice was more powerful than Storm or Fire; I found that hard to believe. Emily did too; she noted how Ice mainly focuses on defense, with little to offer in offense, as least in comparison to Fire and Storm. Fire could melt Ice, but Ice could harm Fire and Storm. Storm can only harm Fire, and Fire can only really harm Ice. Maybe Ice was more powerful than the two. It would be nice to know as I don't have a high defense.
Maybe Emily had a point in taking more than one Secondary School.
The school's mantra was "…with Persistence, Victory is assured." This was because the school is all about persistence, slow and steady progression and advancement, like glaciers sliding along mountains. To study Ice, Emily would need great patience and strength, but of course Thaumaturges who were like this usually become rigid and inflexible. To cast Ice magic, one needs to say Chants to bargain and plead with Ice creatures to serve them.
"As a Pyromancer, my main focus is to dominate, not bargain."
"Mine is to hypnotize," I said. I began to think. "My summons are dangerous, thus the need to hypnotize, while Pyromancers work on making their summons respect them and their strength."
"Ice would be different," said Emily. "Fire is civil, and controlled, Storm is dangerous and wild, what about Ice?"
"Maybe it's a mix," I suggested. "Fire is friendly; Storm is unfriendly; so what if Ice…is aloof, in between."
"So they won't respect my strength or work under threat because they are already strong. I need to play to their ego."
Ice did not sound like it was for me, but I might need it one day.
The weekend after that was pretty uneventful; I mean we did do dome stuff we haven't been able to do for weeks like play video games and watch a couple movies, other than that though, nothing to report. At the end of the week, we did wonder how we were going to get back.
"Last time we got a letter," I said "How are we going to activate the portal this time?"
"I don't know," said Emily. We sat around on our bed to think about it for a bit.
"Did you ever wonder what happened to our other acceptance letter?" Emily said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean we checked one last time and shared the portal. I think they gave us two in case one of us didn't want to go. The other one went unanswered though."
"You think we can use it to activate the portal?"
"If we can find it," said Emily. It was worth a shot; we looked around the room. I managed to find it under a stack of books.
"Let's hope it still works," I said. I checked the 'yes' box and the portal opened again.
"You ready," said Emily.
"Yeah," I said. "Let's get my hair back to normal." We went through the portal.
We appeared back in Gamma's room. My hairband fell out in the portal again.
"How's my hair look?" I asked Emily immediately. "Any pink spots?"
"No spots," said Em. I breathed a sigh of relief. "You do have pink streaks though." I took a look at some of my hair and saw the streaks.
"I can live with this," I said calmly.
"Were yoou girls in so much of a rush you activated the portal before we could have a chance?" said Gamma.
"Sorry," said Emily. "We weren't sure on how we were getting back."
"It took care of a few problems though, such as my hair and that other acceptance letter," I added.
"Well," said Ambrose. "How did you two like your vacation?"
"Good," I said.
"It was okay," said Emily. "We got our homework done at least."
"That's excellent," said Ambrose. "A little note for the future: next time you visit home, we'll be sending the portal to get you."
"Understood," we said at the same time.
"Well, here's your uniforms, spell books and wands, right where you left them."
"Once you're done changing, yoou should talk to your teachers about your homework," said Gamma.
"Okay," I said. So we changed, and just as we were to head out the door, Ambrose stopped us again.
"There is something you should know," he said. "Don't be alarmed by what you may see."
"Why?" said Emily. "Did something happen while we were gone?"
"Yes and no," he simply said. "When you walk out that door, don't panic." That made us nervous. We slowly opened the door and stepped out. What we saw was shocking.
There were ghosts everywhere! Something definitely happened alright. Luckily we had our wands on us. We ran forward to battle the ghosts.
"Girls wait!" cried Ambrose; we stopped.
"What is Headmaster?" I asked.
"These ghosts are not going to fight you."
"Then we'll just blast as many as we can," I said.
"No," said Ambrose. "What I mean is that these ghosts are friendly." We looked back at the ghosts.
"They don't look that friendly," said Emily.
"Oh, but they are. Let me explain: It happened the day after you left. You see, every year we try to get the city into the spirit of Halloween. We carve pumpkins, we have apple bobbing contests, wizards are able visit and duel creatures of the undead, and we even invite ghosts to roam the streets. It's always been so much fun. Of course, you've never been to the city during Halloween time, so I suspected that there would be a misunderstanding. If you had been here last week when we were getting everything organized, you wouldn't have been so panicked."
"Oh, Halloween," said Emily. "Yay," she added weakly.
"It shouldn't be so bad," I said. "Fighting the undead is your job."
"They still freak me out," said Em.
"You'll be fine. We understand now Headmaster."
We headed out into the street, and as presumed the ghosts didn't attack us; it did feel weird walking through them though. When we made it to the main area, what we saw there was even more shocking that Emily yelped. The thing turned to look at us with its fiery eyes.
"Why hello there young wizards," he said with a voice I could only expect from him. "Was it that Jack Hallow was a surprise unto your eyes? The girly here is pale and meek; the question here is 'where were you last week?'"
"We were visiting family on another world," I said, because Emily was still shaking.
"Being scared of Jack Hallow, that is such a pity, I'm guessing you two are new to this city."
"Yeah, it's our first year here," I said.
"I have a question," said Emily trembling. "What exactly are you?"
"What am I? That shouldn't be so hard? I am a scarecrow, a spirit of Halloween or a simple Field Guard."
"Okay, so you're a scarecrow," said Emily calming down a little. "But you also seem to be like ghost, but not any I've seen before. So what do they call your type of ghost?"
"Again I say it shouldn't be so hard, I am a scarecrow, or what they call a Field Guard."
"Em," I said. "I think the type of ghost he is, is called a Field Guard; remember Penny's list?"
"Oh right, we didn't know what that was at the time. Hey, maybe we can get some information from him."
"Great idea," I said. "So Jack, we're trying to help our friend with this project she's doing, and she needs information on Field Guards. We were wondering if you can answer some questions for us."
"Sorry young wizards, from me its help you cannot gain, for I am a special Guard, although that is a pain. Me, my brothers three, and family, stand apart from the rest, we are ones not to harm, and there I give no jest. As for these questions, for them to be answered such, go and find those answers yourself, for I can't help much."
"Dang," said Emily. "Hard way it is. Anyways, thanks for talking to us Jack."
"Anytime young wizards, you can come again, looking for Halloween fun, I can lend some time to spend." We then went through the Ravenwood tunnel to go talk to our teachers.
Walking up on our schools we say something else that was strange. Where there used to be a gaping chasm in the middle of it was a tower, floating on a piece of rubble. So instead of heading to the classrooms, we went to go find Malorn.
"Um, excuse me," said Emily once we found him by the chasm. "Malorn, what's with the towers?"
"Hey Emily," he said. "How was your week off?"
"Fine," she replied. "I did my homework too; now, what's with the towers?"
"Oh," he said. "Those three towers appear every year around Halloween and every year young wizards like you challenge them. The first tower is not very threatening. The second one is a more difficult, while the third is a real challenge. If you're vanquished any time before you defeat the tower master, you'll have to start all over again. Good luck!"
"Who said we were challenging it," I said exasperated. "We just got here!"
"Well, maybe if we're not busy this week we can challenge it," said Em. "It'd be good practice."
"Are you sure," I said. "Halloween freaks you out, remember?"
"Fighting them isn't as scary as walking by them."
"Alright," I said. "But first, let's deal with our homework."
After turning our homework and explaining our career choices to our teachers, Emily went to go learn her first Ice spell. That pretty much took up our day. For the last few hours, we decided to have some Halloween fun, because this was the last week to do it and we'd probably be busy every other day.
First thing we searched for were Jack-o-Lanterns, which were lined all around the commons. Next, from Jack's suggestion, we went searching for blue ghosts in the shopping district. After finding the blue ghosts, we went to go bobbing for apples in Golem's court. We didn't eat any; it was time for dinner at the dorm.
After having dinner in the dorm, we went to go catch the red ghosts in the commons and then went to go bobbing for apples in the shopping district. We didn't have any this time either, we were still full from candy and cake from dessert. Of course, he did offer one last bobbing spot for us which was in Ravenwood. It was here were Emily had apples and cider.
"Three times is a sign," she said.
After the apple bobbing, we went to search for Jack Hollow's brother Jack Straw on Unicorn Way. Apparently, all his four brothers are named Jack as well. He said something along the lines of his mother's head being Hollow. Once finding him, he instructed us to go find pumpkins on Unicorn Way. I didn't think that was wise, considering how the number of ghosts and skeletons went up. We went and found the pumpkins on the sidewalks, but we nearly got attacked a few times. We asked Ceren and Delia about it before we left, and they remarked on how it was Uncanny. They know it's not Rattlebones, they've already sent him over yonder. If things get any worse they may have to evacuate the street again.
We reported our findings to Jack Straw and then reported of our time to Jack Hallow back in the Commons. We still had an hour left before bed. Emily decided to give the towers a try with her new ice spell, so I had to accompany her. Problem was, even in that first tower, Emily was inexperienced with her new Ice spell and we couldn't defeat the Halloween Trickster. Emily reasoned she should probably work out the kinks of her new Ice spell, Ice beetle, before she used it in battle. The chant she used to cast it was saying, "Beetle of Ice, Lend me your strength," over and over until it appeared.
She spent the last half hour practicing before we decided to call it a night. Meanwhile, I took a shower and quick-fixed my hair.
The next day, classes continued as usual. On Monday, we went over laws of a magic in a society, how one would have their place and role to play, and how one can go against laws of magic and society; 'Basic Civics', basically. After yesterday and trying to get back into routine, as well as absorbing the new info today, we were pretty tired. We would have tried more Halloween activities, but after doing it once or three times, you don't feel like doing it again. So instead, Emily took a shower and then practiced her Ice spell, while I went over notes. I wish I had a new spell to use; when am I going to learn my first fire spell.
'Speak of the devil and he shall appear' it seems like. For my first Pyromancy class back, one of the main things we focused on was learning our first fire spell besides sparks, the Firecat. I liked this spell, it was very catty. All I had to do was memorize the incantation. It shouldn't have been that hard; it was just another verse but longer. I was dreading that maybe Emily was learning another spell in the Myth school, but apparently:
"I asked him 'Aren't I supposed to be taking a regime different than most students?' and he replied, 'this is different; most of the students are farther ahead than you. I need to keep lessons at your level.' I then told him I could handle the advanced lessons, and he just told me to not get a big head." She plopped onto her bed in frustration.
"Well, maybe this is a good thing," I said. "Maybe, this way you won't have to struggle to catch up."
"It's demeaning," she replied, picking her head up. "I'm not going to learn anything useful in myth for a while."
"What did you learn today?"
"I learned levitation in myth, and how to transfigure things."
"That's useful," I said.
"I'm at level one," she argued. "The most I can do is turn rocks into bugs or bread."
"Well, if we're ever stranded, we won't starve," I reasoned.
"Maybe," she said glumly.
After that night, I started working on my Fire spell, and Emily finally worked out the kinks of her Ice spell.
The next day, Wednesday, we were going over in class how one might abuse their power and how to use it without hurting anyone. We also looked at the history of how some wizards went bad with the abuse of power and how some were able to do great things without abuse. I can understand how our power could accidently hurt someone. Mine would if it were more accurate.
On Thursday, in my class, we learned how to be more in tune with our second school and how to resist it. We also learned an awesome spell, the Fire Elf, which did damage over time; another Incantation for me to learn in such a short amount of time. Meanwhile, Emily was in the storm class, and she was learning how to cast the Thunder snake. It felt nice that I was more advanced than her in that area.
On Friday, we were learning the origins of storm magic and what has persisted to present day. Everything was going normal, well as normal as it could get in that world. Of course, in the middle of the class, the Headmaster came in. Everyone 'ooed' and 'awed' at his arrival.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt your class, Professor Balestrom, but Genevieve needs to be excused; I'll explain the situation later."
"Of course, Headmaster," said Professor Balestrom. "Genevieve, you are free to leave."
"Thank you, Professor," said the Headmaster. As I got up from my seat, everyone questioned what was going on. Why would I need to be excused? Was something happening? Was one of the saviors needed? Some of them wanted to see me in action.
Once outside, the Headmaster and I headed toward the Fire school to retrieve Emily. Aww, and here I thought I was doing it alone. If you could not tell, that was sarcasm. The Headmaster nearly had the same conversation with Emily's teacher, Madame Falmea, as he did mine. I noticed Emily liked to sit at the front while I usually sat in the middle. She was obviously an eager beaver. When she left, the people in her class were discussing the same things as mine was.
Once outside, we started heading toward his office.
"What's going on, Headmaster?" asked Emily.
"Yeah," I said. "Why'd you pull us out of class?" Recalling on what Emily told me, the reason we weren't doing this whole 'savior' thing was because classes were important.
"The reason I pulled you two out of class is because the faculty and I can't put this off any longer," he said.
"Put what off any longer?" I asked.
"I think he wants us to take care of the dangers on the streets," replied Emily.
"Yes," he said turning to us. "Things are just growing too dangerous to handle them by ourselves."
"And you want us, two inexperienced wizards, to take care of it? I mean, what can we do, we're children," I questioned.
"I know what you are," said Ambrose. "I know how dangerous this is, and I know you haven't had much schooling. I also know that my spell directed me to those to rely on in dire need, and it directed me to you two. You've proven that spell was right when you took on Malistere's minions together."
"With your help," I stated.
"Yeah," said Emily. "Of course we also took on the undead of Unicorn Way and Rattlebones, and the Iron Golem together. Face it, Gen; together we're an unstoppable force."
"Maybe," I said.
"Gen, let's do what they brought us here for."
"You sure are brave Em, I'll give you that. I guess someone should be out there to have your back."
"Good," said Ambrose. "I should inform your teachers that you won't be attending classes so often, for you'll be too busy."
"Wait," I said. "Are you saying that instead of classes, we're going to be having an apprentice like training?"
"Basically, yes," he answered. I couldn't help but grin; Emily and I now had equal teachings.
That is that; Tell me what you think in reviews!