AN:A fun project that has been rolling around in my head for awhile. I've seen some fans be pretty vocal about how little content there is for the named witches of Luna Nova and I thought I'd help by adding some. I don't know how many chapters this will be, and they almost certainly won't all be as long as this first one. I'm also not really sure how frequently I'll update this as it took me quite awhile to finish this one. Regardless, I hope you enjoy and look forward to more!
Sarah Bernhardt had never wanted to stand out. All throughout her life, both at school and outside it, she was perfectly fine with letting others take center stage. It wasn't due to any lack of motivation or belief in her personal abilities, she just didn't like having people's attention. Having eyes on you, having people expect things outta you, the very thought of it made her skin crawl. That's just how she was, how she had always been and Sarah was happy with that.
She just had one problem. A problem that made her attempts to stay out of the center of attention quite difficult. Sarah Bernhardt was tall, quite tall in fact for a girl her age. And for whatever god forsaken reason, people tended to gravitate their attention towards the tall. People like to say that when they pick someone out from a crowd, it's at random. But for her, and for other tall people she imagined, it was never random. She always got picked out. Everything from brain dead tourists asking for directions to teachers looking for the answers to their questions; it always ended up at her feet to deal with. It was like people saw her as some kind of lighthouse, standing out amongst the crowd ready to offer them guidance for whatever asinine problem they had. She didn't want to be anyone's damn lighthouse! If Sarah had her way, the only "house," she would be was a standard, boring townhouse crammed side by side with a dozen others like it.
Admittedly her height hadn't been too much of an issue back in her middle school, as there were plenty of boys just hitting their growth spurts shooting up like weeds that Sarah could expertly take cover behind. Unfortunately for Sarah, it was a different story in highschool. Luna Nova was an all girls school. Girls, who on a statistical average, were a good deal shorter than the 187 centimeters of nervous teenager that made up Sarah Bernhardt. Needless to say it was quite easy to spot the red head among the crowded halls of the school and made it all the more likely that she would go back to being everyone's lighthouse.
As she sat in magical history, Sarah could only hope against hope that this wouldn't ring true today. History had never been one of her favorite subjects so when Elfriede had invited her to join her in a trip to Blytonbury, Sarah may or may not have blown off her reading for class the next day. What harm could it do? A lot, apparently as upon walking into class today the professor informed the young witches that they would spend the period discussing the readings. It didn't take long for Sarah to realize the nightmare scenario she had made for herself. The professor would call on her, everyone in the class would turn to stare at her, and they would continue to stare as she desperately tried to half-ass her way through some kind of answer. She was royally screwed.
As she sat in her seat, all Sarah could do was watch the clock as it slowly ticked towards her freedom. A mere 5 minutes stood between her and possible annihilation at the hands of embarrassment.
"Come on come on," Sarah whispered, bouncing her leg impatiently. Gaëlle was sitting next to her and turned to shoot her an annoyed look.
"Do you mind?" the German girl asked curtly.
"Sorry," the redhead said quietly, with a sheepish chuckle. Gaëlle merely rolled her eyes and turned back to face their professor.
"Bitch," Sarah thought to herself once the other girl's attention was back on their teacher.
She really wished that she could have had this class with either Elfriede or Chloé. Not only would either of her teammates make for far better company than Gaëlle, but at least if they were here she could bum some notes off of them. Maybe if she focused in a bit on the professor's lecture, she could scrape up a half decent answer by rephrasing what was just said.
"Of course in this era, magical warfare between covens was still devastating to their populations, as the advent of settling disputes through ritual combat had yet to go into practice," the professor said. "In fact, as you read in the journal passages I assigned you, it was a madam Raiya Denn that would come to have this idea."
Sarah felt her skin start to crawl at the direct mention of the assigned reading. The old hag was seconds away from popping a question, she just knew it. Maybe she would get lucky. Maybe she wouldn't be called on.
"Now, who can tell me the basic rules she would propose for these instances of ritual combat?"
Afterall, there were plenty of other students in the class, and she was seated near the back. Who called on people in the back? Nobody right? That's what students in the front were for.
"Let's see. How about…"
Time seemed to stop for Sarah as her professor made eye contact with her. The curse of the tall rang true.
"That's it. I'm dead," the redhead thought to herself, her heart dropping in her chest.
Then, all of a sudden a hand rose up confidently in the front row, breaking Sarah's line of eye contact and drawing her professor's attention away from her. Diana Cavendish had come to her rescue like an angel, a beautiful, know-it-all angel.
"Ah yes, Diana," the professor said, gesturing to the young Cavendish.
Diana stood and cleared her throat before answering, "In order for one coven to be declared a total victor over the other, 5 of their chosen witches must face and defeat the other coven's chosen by duel."
"Very good miss Cavendish," their professor said, obviously quite pleased.
Before their teacher could say much else however, the bell to end class rang.
"Well that's all the time we have for today girls," the old witch said. "We'll pick up this discussion on Monday."
Sarah was pretty sure she had never been more relieved in her entire life. She had been saved from her impending death by embarrassment. Thank the Ancient Nine for Diana Cavendish and her need to answer every single question. It was seconds before Sarah had gathered up her things and made a beeline for the door. Talk about dodging a bullet. It was a good thing it was Friday, because after that stressful class, Sarah wanted to do nothing more but crash into her bed.
Being tall came with plenty of more issues than just attracting attention. Aside from the difficulty that came with finding clothes that fit her, Sarah noticed over the years that people had always treated her...differently. It wasn't in a malicious way or anything of that matter, but more in a way that felt inconsiderate. Whether it was children staring up at her like she was some kind of exotic animal, classmates that seemingly only talked to her when they need to reach a tall shelf, or even her brothers making jokes about how she dwarfed all her friends, It made Sarah feel like an "other." Like she didn't belong. She had always hated it, hated how it felt, but never really was able to speak up about it. The most she could get out was an awkward chuckle or a quiet attempt to change the subject. It was her least favorite thing that came packaged with her height and after the day she had, it was the last thing she needed. Thankfully, there was little chance of encountering the problem once she was back in the safety of her dorm.
If there was one thing Luna Nova was known for, it certainly wasn't the niceness of it's dorm rooms. Sarah had heard that some teams got fancier ones, no doubt chosen through a mix of nepotism and whomever's family donated the most money, but the one her team called home was nothing special. Still, after the emotional ordeal she had just gone through, the old, small, cramped room might as well have been heaven. Throwing open the creaky wooden door, Sarah trudged into the dorm room, face planting dramatically onto her bed. The redhead let out a contented sigh as she felt herself sink into her mattress. She definitely felt like taking a well deserved nap. A nap that she was so focused on taking that Sarah had failed to notice that she was not alone in the room.
Chloé turned to watch as her teammate noisily entered the room, and chuckled a bit at her dramatic display.
"Well hello to you too Sarah. Did you just get back from history class or war? Because you're reaction would lead most people to guess the later."
Sarah groaned at her friend's teasing, turning her head to face her.
"Trust me, it might as well have been," Sarah said, a shudder ran through her body at the memory of the unpleasant class.
Her teammate merely rolled her eyes and turned back to face her desk. Sarah quirked an eyebrow as she watched her friend return to her work. The other witch began muttering to herself, carefully measuring what appeared to be a swatch of cardboard before making a mark. Sarah couldn't help but be intrigued, her earlier exhaustion quickly replaced by curiosity.
"Cholé, whatcha working on?"
The burnette witch turned back to face her teammate with a smug smile.
"Something very important that only I can do," She said with an air of bravado bringing a hand to her chest.
"This isn't another one of your schemes to like, overthrow Diana as the school idol is it?" Sarah asked tiredly.
Chloé practically fell out of her chair at her response, the wind clearly knocked out her sails.
"No! It's not one of my 'schemes,' as you call it," Chloé responded. "If you must know, I'm helping the theatre club design stage elements for their end of the year performance."
Sarah stared at her friend unphased.
"...And?" she asked, knowing there was more than Chloé was letting on.
The other girl fidgeted a bit in her seat. "And, I might have offered to do it because Diana had turned them down…"
"And there it is," Sarah said with a flourish, turning onto her back.
Chloé gave her an annoyed huff.
"You just don't understand the opportunity at hand here Sarah! The snobbish Diana Cavendish, apparently too good for her thespian peers, turning them down in their time of need. They reel in despair only for me to swoop in and offer my assistance, wowing them with my sets! It's perfect!"
Anyone else might have described Chloé as having a hopeful twinkle in her eye, but knowing her friend Sarah would call it more of a sinister glint.
"Diana was probably just busy Chloé. She's always getting asked to do things," Sarah said.
"Oh what? Are you part of her fanclub now?"
"No! I just think you should try and be a bit nicer to her," Sarah said hopefully. "Sure she can kinda come off as a teacher's pet, but she's pretty...nice. Besides, she totally saved my ass in class today."
"Language," the other girl said curtly.
"Sorry, she totally saved my 'butt' in class today. Happy?"
Sarah couldn't currently see her teammate's face, but she could tell she was unamused.
"If your just going to lay there defending my rival the least you can do is help me out. There's something I need your specific help with," Chloé said as Sarah heard her rustling with a bunch materials at her desk.
Sarah sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Which is?" Without even looking over her shoulder, Chloé tossed her what looked like a brown smock.
"Put that on for me, and stand by the door," the brunette witch said.
"Uh, okay."
Sarah did as she was told, slipping the smock over her head and moving to stand in front of their door.
"Now what?" She asked Chloé as the girl walked over to her.
"Take this and hold it above your head for me," Chloé instructed, Handing Sarah a green piece of cardboard.
The read head did just that as her friend took a step back, appearing to be deep in thought. Chloé once again began to mutter to herself as she eyed Sarah up and down.
"Uh, Chloé? What exactly is this helping you do?"
The brunette witch was seemingly shaken from her thoughts at her friends question. "Hmm? What did you say Sarah?"
"I was kinda wondering what this has to do with you designing play sets," Sarah asked.
"Oh! Well, I was having difficulty designing the forest scene," Chloé explained matter-of-factly. "For whatever reason I couldn't visualize how tall I wanted the trees to be."
Sarah immediately felt a pit start to form in her stomach. No. It couldn't be, not now, not from one of her two best friends.
"Chloé...," Sarah began, slowly lowering the cardboard she was holding. "Why did you ask for my help with this?"
Chloé blinked back at her friend, confused at the question. "Well I would have asked Elfriede, but it's just that she's similar in height to me and you're so, so…"
"What? I'm. What?" Sarah asked through gritted teeth.
Sarah could tell her friend was taken aback by the anger that was starting to leak into her voice, and she was right there with her. What was coming over her? For some reason Sarah couldn't stop her ire from rising. She needed to calm down. She was just overthinking it right? Chloé just wanted her help because she was here, nothing more.
"Well, it's just that trees are well, typically high up and you're uh, fairly tall?"
What happened next came in a blur. Sarah could barely register what she was doing until she had already torn off the smock and thrown both it and the green cardboard at her friend. A small voice in the back of her head spoke up, hoping that Chloé wasn't hurt at all, but it was drowned out by the much louder, angry and hurt one that was currently in control. Sarah felt like her head was swimming, She needed fresh air. Almost instinctively, the red haired witch grabbed her gym clothes from her side of the room, and made to storm out the door.
"W-wait! Sarah! Where are you going?" Chloé asked, concern lacing her voice.
Even as mad as she was, Sarah couldn't help but feel bad about that. Still, she couldn't bring herself to face her friend just yet. The peach team leader let grabbed the door knob and angrily threw open the door.
"I'm going for a run," was all she said before slamming the door shut behind her.
Ever since she was a little girl, Sarah had enjoyed running. She had been on some kind of track or cross country team practically her whole life. If Luna Nova had one, she would have joined in a heartbeat. There was just something about the rhythmic motion of putting one foot in front of the other, of feeling your heartbeat and every breath that Sarah just couldn't get enough of. If she was ever feeling down or troubled, a good run was her number one way to clear her head.
Thankfully, despite the school's lack of any meaningful sport clubs, Luna Nova did have a fairly nice track. It was well maintained, out of the way of most of the other hustle and bustle of the school, and better yet, surrounded by the field that was mostly used for broom practice. That meant that even when there where other students or occupants around, they would be spending their time up in the air and out of Sarah's way. Sarah liked the area so much that she had started a routine of going for a morning run before classes whenever she could.
It was probably the most comforting place on campus for the French teen, aside from her dorm room. With how she had just exited said room however, the track was definitely her current number one. Unfortunately for Sarah however, she might have cleared her head a little too well and a little too quickly. She had barely started her third lap when she had started to feel quite guilty about her outburst. Replaying the incident in her head, all Sarah could see was Chloé's hurt and confused expression.
While she had continued for a good few more laps, the memory eventually drove the redhead to slowly come to a stop, stretching her arms over her head and taking a deep breath as she did so. Yes, it was true that Chloé had singled her out for a task solely because of her height. That was pretty much the number one thing that got under Sarah's skin, and after the stressful class she just got out of, she just couldn't handle hiding her anger. The thing was that Chloé had absolutely no way of knowing this. Sarah had never really told either of her teammates about how much that bothered her. She struggled telling anyone about it, Even her family. Chloé didn't know about her history class either, as Sarah never elaborated on the events that occurred. Hell if she was being honest with herself, that whole fiasco was entirely her fault. If she had just done the damn readings then she would have been able to answer professor grandma's stupid questions.
She just couldn't help it. No matter what slight grounds she had to justify her actions, there was an avalanche of more reasons to tell her she fucked up. Sarah felt like a bit of a jackass. With a heavy sigh, Sarah made her way off the track and over to a nearby bench. With all the grace of a dying bird she plunked down onto the wooden seat.
"Wow, you were running for awhile," came a sudden voice directly to her left
"GAAHH!" Sarah shouted with a start, jumping to the end of bench and clutching a hand to her chest.
The redheaded girl turned to see just who the voice was and found another student, one with long black hair and a teal team sash tied around her waist.
"Oh, your...Verochka, right?" Sarah asked, her heartbeat slowing down now that she realized she wasn't about to be murdered.
"That's right," the Russian girl said, a bit of pride in her voice. "And you're Sarah. Sarah Bernhardt."
"Yeah, I uh, I am," Sarah responded.
Verochka gave her a small smile before returning her attention forward, starting out over the field. With not much else to say, Sarah did the same. An awkward silence fell between the two witches. Sarah didn't know much about Verochka, let alone ever really talk to her. The French girl was pretty sure they shared at least one class together, but for the life of her she couldn't remember which one. All she knew about the teal team girl was that she was a pretty reserved person. Any other knowledge she had about the girl came from some rather unfortunate sources.
Whether Verochka knew it or not she was the center of some pretty rude gossip, mostly perpetuated by Teresa and her two ugly toadies, Alma and Julietta. According to them, Verochka was obsessed with combining magic with her own style of mixed martial arts to make some kind of super style. It honestly sounded pretty badass to Sarah, but Teresa and the others liked to make fun of Verochka for it behind her back. They made her out to be a nutcase. They also tended to make fun of the Russian girl's forehead, which Sarah thought was pretty ballys considering the three of them looked like trolls with hair. Sarah chanced a quick glance to her left and examined Verochka for herself. Teresa was just jealous, as Verochka was far from ugly in her opinion. In fact, the light of the setting evening sun actually gave the Russian girl a rather striking profile.
"Huh...She's actually kinda pretty...," Sarah thought to herself. "Pretty and really...tall?"
Sarah had no idea she how she hadn't noticed before. Sure she didn't see Verochka very often but just looking at her now, even sitting down, it was obvious that the other had quite the height. Hell Sarah was pretty sure she was even taller than herself. Sarah couldn't help but find this revelation comforting. She wasn't alone in the sea of shrimpy witches that made up her peers! The main reason that Sarah never talked about her height related insecurities was because she felt like no one around her would understand. Verochka however, just might!
Admittedly it felt a tad embarrassing to be so ready to unload her emotional turmoil on what was essentially a stranger, but the promise of talking with someone who truly understood her plight was just too tempting. Sarah nodded to herself, resolved to try. Figuring that the silence between the two witches had gone on long enough, Sarah decided to try and say something.
"You scared the hell out of me, you know?" Sarah said, realizing too late that she sounded a tad too annoyed.
"Smooth Bernhardt, smooth."
"Apologies," Verochka replied without missing a beat. "I was practicing a way to mask my emotions and presence. Seems I succeeded."
"Oh. Is that for your, magic martial arts thing?" Sarah asked.
Verochka's face seemed to light up at the question. "So you've heard! I'm not quite ready to start taking on any disciples but I'm glad word has gotten around so easily."
Sarah couldn't help but smile at the taller girl's enthusiasm. It almost reminded her of Akko, in a way. It nearly helped to lift her out of her crummy mood.
"Why were you doing all that running?"
Annnnd her mood was back full force. Sarah sighed leaning her chin on her right hand.
"I've been having a pretty shitty day. Running helps clear my head. Makes me feel better."
"I see," Verochka said contemplatively. "It must have been pretty bad then, if you were running for so long huh?"
"Where you watching me that whole time!?" Sarah asked incredulously. She had to fight back a bit of embarrassment that was welling up in her.
Verochka seemed to notice her apparent discomfort. "I didn't mean to, really!" The Russian girl said waving her hands in front of her. "I was only gonna sit here for a few minutes but I guess I just got caught up in watching how you move. You're a very graceful runner."
No amount of fighting could keep Sarah from blushing slightly at that.
"Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"Without a doubt," Verochka replied with a nod. "You're long legs and tall frame makes it look like you're gliding. It's very breathtaking."
"You don't think It makes me look lanky at all? Or weird?"
"Of course not!"
Sarah gave shot Verochka a smile and a quiet 'thank you,' before turning back to face the field. So far, talking with the teal team witch had done nothing but improve her mood. With each passing moment Sarah felt more certain that Verochka would be able to help her with her dilemma. Still, the peach team leader found it difficult to approach the subject.
"Say, Verochka," Sarah started. "Do you ever feel...weird, about your height?"
Sarah chanced a glance at the other girl who seemed to be contemplating her question.
"Hmmm...weird how?" Verochka asked.
"I don't know, like, the fact that you stand out in crowds...that people look at you different…"
Sarah gripped the fabric of her gym shorts. Part of her wanted to stop talking before she embarrassed herself but a much larger part was egging her on to continue.
"Being this tall has only ever made me feel out of place, like an outsider. I guess I was just wondering if you've ever felt the same way."
Sarah turned to look at the other Russian to find her with a hand to her chin, thinking deeply. A small moment of silence returned between the two girls. It was Verochka this time however that broke it.
"Well I've definitely get what you mean about standing out and there's always been people who look at me funny...but I can't say that's ever made me feel weird."
"Really?" Sarah asked. "Not even a little?"
"Nope."
"Huh, guess it's just me then," Sarah said sadly.
"Is that what made your day so...crummy?" Verochka asked.
Despite her mood, Sarah couldn't help but smile at Verochka's choice in words. The other girl was obviously trying not to repeat what Sarah herself had said. The staunch avoidance of the curse word added a bit of an innocent air to Verochka.
"Yeah that's what made my day 'crummy'. My teammate singled me out to help her with something because I'm tall and I snapped at her for it," Sarah explained.
A beat of silence passed between the two witches before Sarah let out a sad chuckle.
"Guess you think I'm being over dramatic, huh?"
To the redhead's surprise, Verochka shook her head.
"Of course not. If being singled out because of your height is something that makes you feel bad, you have every right to be upset about it."
Sarah blinked at the other girl in surprise. She had been hoping that Verochka would understand her on some level, but was shocked that the Russian girl actually was.
"I guess my only question is why she did that," Verochka asked.
"Uh, come again?"
"Your teammate. She's your friend right? Why would she do something that upsets you like that?"
And that's just the thing wasn't it? Sarah had no doubt in her mind that if Chloé had even an inkling of her insecurities the brunette witch would have never asked her to be a tree model like that. Too bad Chloé had no way of knowing.
"Ah, that's because...she doesn't know it bothers me. I've never told her." Sarah responded, somewhat embarrassed. "I haven't really been able to talk to anyone about this kinda stuff. You're the first one."
Sarah turned to the Russian girl to shoot her a small smile.
"I don't really know why, but I guess I felt like you'd be the first person to understand."
"Because I'm also tall?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"And that made me more reliable to talk about this with than your teammates?"
Sarah froze for a bit as what Verochka said really sank in. She had known Chloé and Elfriede for how long now? How many close calls, ridiculous assignments, and crazy magical happenstances had the three of them have been through together? Yet here she was, trusting a witch she had shared a total of one meaningful conversation with, more than her two best friends, with her deepest emotions. All because Verochka stood a few heads taller than them. Just how goddamn stupid was she going to act today? The reality of the whole situation was so absurd to her Sarah couldn't help but start laughing. She could tell Verochka was startled and probably really confused but she didn't care.
As her fit of laughter faded, Sarah wiped a tear from her eyes and took a deep breath.
"I, I think I've been acting like a goddamn moron Verochka...and I think I owe Chloé an explanation. Probably an apology too," Sarah said.
Verochka was either really good at rolling with the punches or hid her confusion quite well as she just nodded her head in encouragement.
"Sounds like a plan. I guarantee, they'll understand the way you feel. Anyone who actually cares about you will."
Sarah stood, stretching her arms over her head tiredly.
"Then I guess I better get to that."
Verochka stood up next to her.
"And I should get back to my room. I've got homework I gotta finish." The Russian girl made to walk away, but stopped when she heard Sarah speak.
"Hey Verochka, thanks."
The teal team witch blinked at her somewhat blankly. "I didn't really do anything, well except for scare you earlier."
"Yeah...but talking with you, I don't know just kinda made everything swirling around in my head make sense. So, thanks."
Verochka smiled. "In that case, your welcome."
And with that, Verochka turned back towards Luna Nova and began to walk to her room. Sarah stood on the track for a bit longer as the sun continued to sink in the sky. She was still a bit nervous about trying to explain her long held issues with her height to her roommates, but she was ready. Taking a deep breath, Sarah began her own walk back to the castle. Strangely enough, she was looking forward to class on Monday, and figuring out which one she shared with a certain tall Russian witch.