Since it seems like you guys want it so badly, here's the first special chapter of Palladium's POV! Next one will be the second chapter which will cover the rest of where we're at in the story right now.

I hope you guys like it, because I wrote it for you XD I never planned to actually have it in my story. You owe me! XDD I'm kidding, it was fun to write :D

Enjoy :)

Special Chapter 1: Palladium's Thoughts

It's a new year. I'm excited to meet all of the new students coming in this year. I have to admit that I'm a bit nervous too. I look again through the student profiles that Headmistress Faragonda gave me. Most of the names are familiar. One profile in particular always catches my eye, though, every time I flip through them. Onyx. Headmistress Faragonda told us that we'd have a "special" student this year. An Ankelon. Never thought I'd be ever teaching one. They're usually up there, judging us without getting too involved. It seems like this one is actually a victim of that judging. I was told that she was a Dark Ankelon and that she needed to be purged into low-level Light magic. Apparently, those are the exact words that Anakoni, Infinite Castle's headmaster, said to Headmistress Faragonda when he asked to enrol Onyx. That poor kid must've been treated really unfairly back there. It could actually be a good thing for her to get out of there and come here.

The students should be arriving any hour now. I leave my office and join Professor DuFour who's observing from the window the students who are coming into the school.

"They all look so promising. They remind me of when I was still their age."

I nod at what she says.

"A new generation, a new hope."

Professor Wizgiz then joins us, transformed into one of his usual weird creatures. This causes Professor DuFour to faint.

"Professor Wizgiz you should refrain from scaring her like that."

I say jokingly to him. It's not the first time, really. She always falls for the same trick. When she regains her consciousness, we all go out and join Headmistress Faragonda and Griselda to greet the new students.

Headmistress Faragonda gives her usual speech to them, while Griselda warns them about not to do.

"Alright girls, go find your rooms and get to know your roommates. I'll see you all later."

Faragonda says to them. She then stops a girl with long black hair, very pale skin, and black eyes.

"And you must be Onyx, right?"

So that's Onyx? She does emanate a considerable amount of Dark magic. Strangely enough, though, it's not an aggressive aura.

"Yes, that's me."

She says to Faragonda, not daring to look her in the eyes. She does seem like she's… broken. How badly was she treated?

"Anakoni told me that you were… special."

"I'm sure he didn't use such kind words…"

As I thought. She must've been verbally abused quite often for what she is.

"Oh, it doesn't matter what he said. What matters is that you're here now. Follow me to my office, I'll brief you through how things work around here."

She follows us to Faragonda's office.

When we do, Headmistress Faragonda invites her to sit down across from her desk. She introduces all of us to her. I clear my throat when it's my turn to introduce myself to her.

"My name is Palladium. I teach fairies how to tune in with nature. I also teach Potionology, as well as casting charms. If you need any extra help in those areas, don't hesitate to come find me. I'd be glad to help."

"Nice to meet you."

She doesn't look me in the eyes either. I don't even think she's aware of it herself.

It's the first Potionology class that I'm giving this semester. It turns out to be the new students' class. I explain the curriculum to my students, who can't seem to concentrate very well on what I'm saying. At this point, I'm kind of used to it. There are a few that are actually listening to me. One of them is Onyx. She seems genuinely interested in what I'm saying. Now comes the practice part. I give them an easy assignment and monitor how they're doing. I just hope there won't be any explosions… Especially that Stella is in my class too.

Thankfully, no explosions occurred this time. However, not a lot of people actually succeeded the assignment. The only person who did it perfectly was Onyx. She looked like a natural.

Now I need to get to the Infirmary, since I'm on healing duty for the rest of the day. A bunch of fairies come to me, faking to be sick. I know very well they're faking it, but I just don't have the heart to turn them away.

After I finished up with the last fairy in the Infirmary, I sigh in exhaustion and sit back in the chair. Administering healing spells is quite draining. I just hope I'll have some time to rest before the next one…

As I am thinking that, I hear the door suddenly sliding open. Who is it this time…?

"Professor Palladium! We have an injured student here!"

It's Stella! And Onyx is with her? Her arms are bleeding a lot!

"Oh my, what happened here? Come sit down on this bed, Onyx. You can go back to class, Stella."

Stella leaves and I sit Onyx on one of the beds. I then sit in front of her on my chair and examine her arms.

"Let's see now… We have to get these glass shards out first. If you don't mind…"

I take her arm and hover my other hand on top of her wounds. The glass shards then all come out and go onto a metal plate on a nearby table. What could've caused this?

"Mind telling me how this happened?"

"It's a bit embarrassing, to be honest…"

She avoids my gaze.

"You can tell me. This might sting a bit."

I start wiping the blood with a cotton ball that's dabbed in alcohol. She doesn't even wince. She's the type to just keep it all in, isn't she…

"In Professor Wizgiz's class, we had a Metamorphosimbiosis exercise."

She starts telling me. Maybe she did want to get it off her chest.

"The one where you change your hair colour?"

"How did you know?"

"Haha, well he always starts off with that one."

She smiles. It's a shy smile. She looks so much better when she smiles.

"Yeah, instead of changing my hair colour, I ended up shattering the mirror instead."

"Is that what usually happens when you use your magic?"

"That's right… I've never been able to cause anything else but destruction."

I close up her wounds with my magic, then I let go of her arm.

"Destruction is just destruction. It's how you use it that defines whether it's good or bad. As far as I know, you're a very hardworking and honest person, Onyx."

"Professor…"

"Well, your arm is all better now. You should head back to class. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come see me. I believe our next class together is tomorrow. So, I'll see you then."

"Yes, sir."

She shouldn't feel bad about her magic. Whoever's been making her feel that way doesn't deserve any of her attention.

—

Today is the day of the annual Ball. The fairies have been working so hard all day to decorate and to get ready. They always get so excited when it involves the boys from Red Fountain.

As I watch the fairies levitating the objects around, I hear one of them shout.

"Watch out!"

I turn around to where the voice is coming and find Onyx with her hand up in a defensive way, shooting a black beam. It destroys everything in its way, even making a hole in the ceiling. She looks around in panic.

"What do we do now…"

"I knew it wasn't a good idea to have an Ankelon here…"

"Dark Ankelon? She's cursed for sure…"

"Why is she even here…"

The fairies' whispering is not helping. She seems to have heard them too, since she runs out the door.

"Onyx!"

I run after her. Even here… Even here there are people who make her feel bad about who she is. She doesn't deserve such treatment. Even though she's magically strong, she's actually very fragile. If someone doesn't reach out to, she might snap…

I turn around a corner and find her leaning her back on the wall, her head hanging low.

"There you are."

I stand in front of her. She lifts her head up, and, for the first time, our eyes meet for longer than a split second. She looks surprised to see me.

"Professor Palladium…!"

She then looks away.

"Don't be so harsh on yourself; it wasn't your fault."

She starts trying to control her breathing. She's on the verge of crying… It pains me to see her like that.

"I should've been more careful…"

I then put a hand on her shoulder, in a comforting way.

"Why don't we go back, Onyx?"

She shakes my head.

"They wouldn't want me to go back. No one would care if I never showed up, anyway."

"That's not true. I'm sure your friends would feel sad if you weren't there."

I'd be sad too.

"I'd do them more good if I just stayed in my room tonight."

"That's not true, Onyx."

She frowns.

"Let me go…! Please…"

Even though she's angry, she still contains it. I want her to open up… I want her to let her emotions flow freely. Tears start flowing down her cheeks.

"Onyx…"

I say softly. He then hands me a tissue. She doesn't take it. I'll just have to wipe them for her myself. When I do, her eyes widen a bit and more tears start flowing out.

"I can't keep up with all of it."

I say, a bit flustered. She chuckles and takes the tissue from my hand to wipe her tears.

"Do you want more time to calm down?"

"It's alright… I just don't know if I should go back."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'll stay with you the whole time. Unless it's inconvenient then of course I'll-"

"I'd like that…"

Sh-She'd like that! That's great! I mean, as her teacher, I should be able to make her feel better. When we get there, her friends run up to her. They tell her that they completely understand that it was all an accident. After that, they leave to go check on someone.

"See? I told you they cared."

Onyx giggles.

"Thank you, Professor Palladium."

"You can call me Palladium when we're not in class."

"Alright, Palladium."

Now that I look more closely at her, she looks stunning tonight. Her black dress really compliments her figure- No! What am I thinking?! Why am I having such impure thoughts?! She's my student! I can't think like that.

"A-Aren't you going to go talk to the Red Fountain boys? I'm sure you can find someone nice to dance with."

"I'm not too interested in that… Besides, I'm not the most social of people. I doubt any of them would want anyone but a fairy anyway."

"I'm sure many of them would be honoured to dance with a pretty lady like you."

For some reason, even though I'm encouraging her to go socialize, I just want her to stay here with me.

"I'm… pretty?"

I feel my face heat up.

"A-Anyway, if you don't want to dance with them, I don't mind dancing with you instead, that is if you don't mind dancing with your Professor, of course… You don't have to agree just because I'm your teacher! I'm just saying that if you want-"

"Sure, I'd be honoured."

Honoured? To dance with me? I gulp. For some reason, I feel really happy right now.

"W-Well, shall we?"

I take her hand and put my other around her waist. I can't stop trembling. Her waist fits perfectly in my hand. She looks into my eyes and smiles shyly for a bit. Her habit then comes back and she avoids my gaze. I'm actually relieved she did, because I might've ended up kissing her if she looked at me any longer… No! I can't! This would be a huge scandal! It's just… immoral to fall for a student!

The music stops after a bit and both me and Onyx stop dancing. We then break away from each other and smile while avoiding each other's eyes. One of the Red Fountain boys announces something about a present they prepared for the fairies. They then start distributing golden eggs, and a random guy gives Onyx one too. She looks curiously at the egg.

"You're going to open it?"

"Yeah, it's just a curious little thing."

She tries to open it. When she does, a bunch of golden butterflies made of light escape. The disappointed look on her face makes me laugh. All the other girls are so happy about it. She really is quite different. In a good way.

"You don't seem impressed."

"You read right through me."

She says while shyly smiling. The music starts again.

"One more round?"

She says to me. How can I ever refuse?

"My pleasure."

This time, I'm more sure of himself, since it seems like she actually does want to dance with me. She's not avoiding my eyes at all now. It takes all my willpower not to kiss her. She just looks so beautiful… For the whole dance we don't take our eyes off each other and it feels… magical.

So I was thinking of making these special chapters a thing. I'd write the story, and when I have enough content, I'll write a special chapter of Palladium's POV. Like I said, the next chapter will be the continuation of this POV which will cover the story up until now.

Tell me in the reviews what you think of this new format. Thanks for reading :)