Disclaimer: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride off into the sunset.
Dedication: To Chibi, for helping in the brainstorming process, and to all the lovely reviewers we had for the last fic.
Passing the Torch
Chapter 2: Enter In
At the front steps of the famed Cloud Tower School of Witchcraft, all the incoming freshmen and transfer students gathered in a great mass to hear the rules explained to them. All watched excitedly as a woman with electric-green hair and bright amber-colored eyes stepped out of the front doors behind Professor Grimm, the balding head of discipline. "Good morning, my dears." She smiled broadly. "Today is the first day of the rest of your education in dark magic and its proper applications. Some of you are attending a boarding school for the first time, and some of you have come here from another establishment, but nonetheless, I am thrilled to welcome you all. I am Headmistress Arianrhod, and expect you all to lend me your full cooperation this semester. Orientation is in an hour, so I suggest you go find your rooms in a quick and orderly manner."
With that, the sea of students flowed in through the large double doors and began to climb stairs and comb hallways in search of their rooms. Miranda Giovanni was no exception. After a minute or so of walking through the dorms, she finally found a suite with her name on the door. However, hers wasn't the only one.
"Hmm. I wonder who Fiona, Raven, and Amber are?" The brunette witch mused, entering into the room. Not long after, a black-haired girl appeared in the doorway.
The new girl looked around at the décor, and said, "Welcome to the Bat cave, and here's my dorm! Nice of Ry to warn me about the lack of light."
Mira blinked a moment, and then decided to speak. "Um, which one are you?" She asked, indicating the list on the door. The new witch looked at her.
"I'm Raven Iacono from Melody. Who are you?" She asked, and then added. "Don't worry, I won't bite or anything." Her bags dropped onto the bed closest to the window.
"Miranda Giovanni of Geos." She said.
"Nice to meet ya." Raven smirked. "Hey, do you play an instrument?"
"No, sadly." The brunette sighed. "I wish I'd have been able to learn."
Raven snapped her fingers in annoyance. "Dang it! I wanted to start a band this year!"
"Yes, Mom, I'm here now." A girl with long brown hair and grassy green eyes stated as she walked in, her mobile phone held up next to her ear.
"Why don't you ask her about your band?" Mira asked, jerking a thumb at the new girl.
"Yes, Mom, I'm in a nice room with the other first years. No, I wasn't offered a spot in a coven trying to take over the world." The brunette sighed. "Please, stop asking me questions like that! Austin kept reminding me on the way over here. It's like Adon is the only one who trusts me anymore!"
"I would, but it seems she's had her share of concerts for the moment." Raven stated.
Mira nodded. "Point taken."
"I'll call you after Orientation, and then I'll check in with the twins. G'bye." The green-eyed freshman hung up the phone with an agitated groan.
"Dang, someone's on a leash." The raven-haired Music witch whistled. The new girl sighed.
"Sorry, my mom's over-protective. I'm Fiona from Linphea."
"Hi! I'm Miranda from Geos! Nice to meet you!" Mira smiled brightly.
"Raven from Melody." Raven said.
"Well, it's nice to meet both of you." Fiona nodded, but her eyes lingered on Raven.
Raven studied Fiona as well. "I think I know you…Isn't your mom a fairy?"
At that point, another girl entered the room. This one possessed short orangey-blond hair and golden brown eyes. She muttered under her breath the entire time. "Can't believe she just up and left! Did she think I would be okay with it? And now I'm moved into the freshmen dorms!" The door slammed behind her before she threw her possessions onto a bed.
"Another new face! Nice to meet you!" Raven plastered on a bright smile and waved excitedly at the new girl.
"Yes, my mom is a fairy, and I believe yours was as well." Fiona answered Raven's question. "What about you, Miranda?"
The golden-haired newcomer glared at Raven. "Oh, don't even play perky with me! Bad enough I got re-assigned rooms and my crazy twin ditched me!"
Mira shook her head at Fiona. "No, my mom was a witch. Actually, I'm pretty sure all of mom's relatives are witches. No fairies to be found."
"My aunt was the first witch in ours." Fiona smirked. "Mom almost went into pre-term labor when she found out about it."
"Who exactly are you calling perky?" Raven glared at the other girl.
"That's kinda sad." Mira's face fell. "Why would she be upset about something like that?"
"You!" The short-haired girl hissed at Raven. "You're practically oozing fake perkiness! It's annoying."
"It was more a shock than anything." Fiona shrugged. "She's kinda over it now. Actually, my aunt helped me get in here."
"So is your attitude, Ms. Twin-less." Raven huffed.
"Good aunt." Mira nodded in approval.
"Yes, she is." Fiona grinned.
"You really wanna start something, girl?" The witch dressed in red asked in a low voice.
"Not really, but if you're asking…."
"Hey! Would you two just shut up!" Mira shouted. "Fiona and I are trying to have a conversation here!
Fiona nodded. "Exactly, have some consideration for others." Just then, an older witch with long deep purple hair and blue-violet eyes poked her head in the door.
"Anything the matter in here, ladies?" She asked, sending a glare at the witch who seemed so bent on starting a fight.
"Nope. Everything's organic." Raven replied.
It was now Mira's turn to glare. "Don't be rude!"
The golden-eyed girl glared back at the woman. "I don't need a babysitter, Amy!"
"Funny, because I could hear your screeching from down the hall." Amy returned. "Just keep it down in here and no fights."
"If you think she's bad, just wait 'til my warden gets here." Raven snorted.
"Warden?" Mira muttered, more to herself than anyone present.
"Is everything okay in there, Amy?" A woman with bright red/magenta hair and yellow-hazel eyes asked as she walked up. Her gaze landed on Raven. "I told Mom and Dad that you'd behave yourself here."
"Speak of the devil." The violet-eyed freshman rolled her eyes.
"Don't be silly. The devil has horns and a tail." The amber-eyed girl across from her mocked.
"Amber…" Amy warned as Raven yet again opened her mouth.
"Don't let her fool you. Ryder files her horns down and got her tail docked."
"Raven, seriously, do you want me to give Dad a bad report on your first day?" Ryder asked.
"Why are you talking back to the teachers?" Mira asked frantically, looking between the girls and their older siblings. "Do you want detention?"
"She's no teacher!" Raven snorted. "She's just my sister."
"Raven," Ryder glared, "between the hours of 8 A.M. and 4 P.M., I am, in fact, your teacher, and you shall treat me as such. Am I clear?"
"I get that." Fiona stated.
"Whatever." Raven rolled her eyes yet again.
"I'm your dorm guardian, so please try to keep the mischief to a minimum." Amy put in.
"What?" Amber shot her sister a questioning look. "You're not even a teacher! Why should I listen to you?"
"She has a point." Raven nodded.
"Amy is going to be Professor Atropa's teaching assistant for Botany this year." Ryder stated.
"She got you there." Fiona pointed out.
"Oh, hell no!" Amber exclaimed.
"Language!" her violet-haired sister admonished.
"Bloody hell?" The Music witch offered, earning yet another glare from her half-sister.
"Raven, that means you too."
"Keep it up, and you two will get detention for a week and be unable to leave campus. Got it?" The older Elfman sister stated.
"Yes ma'am." Fiona nodded as Mira chimed in with "Of course!"
"So not fair!" Amber groaned.
Raven simply shrugged. "As long as I have my music, you can lock me in the dungeon."
"Don't tempt me." Ryder glared.
Amy exited while singing in falsetto "Be careful what you wish for!" Ryder followed, lamenting over having to keep track of her younger sister.
"Well that was interesting." Fiona said as Amber's cellular began to chirp.
"Good or bad?" Mira asked as the elder witch in the room checked her recent texts.
"It's my cousin Miriam." She said. "She's saying that she and her crew from RF are going to Mad Cow later and wants to know if my suitemates and I are in."
"Mad Cow?" Mira raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"A locally famous burger joint." Fiona said. "My older brothers rave about it every time they're home."
"Sounds like fun. I'm in…even if I have to put up with her." Raven glared at Amber, who ignored her in favor of Miranda.
"I…I guess it can't be that bad." Miranda shrugged. "Okay, I'm going too."
"Ok." Amber started texting again. "I'll let Miri know how many of us to expect."
As it happened, Amy and Ryder were on their way to the staff meeting.
"All right, everyone, settle down." Headmistress Arianrhod, the lime-haired woman voted into the office of Cloud Tower headmaster after Griffin retired, banged a small wooden gavel onto her desk. Before her were all the teachers and teaching assistants for the following year. Some were new faces; some had been teaching long enough to see their former students start teaching. Regardless, all were gathered for the start-of-term faculty meeting. "I hereby call this meeting to order!" She stated. "Now, I see that no one backed out without a valid excuse, so we can get right down to business.
Amethyst leaned forward and whispered in Ryder's ear. "So having screaming cats for sisters wasn't a valid excuse?"
Ryder glanced back and offered a shrug of her own. "I guess not."
Amy sighed. "What a shame."
"First, we shall start with introductions, and then move on to business." Arianrhod stated, earning a few groans.
Ryder was one of the group. She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "This will take a while."
"I should have brought a snack for this." Amy muttered.
"I think I've got a package of crackers in my purse, if you're interested." Ryder offered.
A cream-haired woman in her late twenties glared back at the pair. "Is there something you two would like to share with the rest of us?" She asked, her aqua eyes looking over the group.
Ryder covered quickly by offering an innocent smile. "I was merely explaining to Miss Elfman the usual meeting procedures. Is there something wrong with that?"
"Nothing at all, dear." A graying, brown-haired man smiled back. Mr. Farley was one of the oldest and most beloved teachers working at Cloud tower. "Arianrhod, let's get started."
"Yes, I shall go first." The woman nodded. "As all of you should know, I am Arianrhod Brindley, the headmistress of this fine school. I'm originally from Isis, and have been at this fine school for over a decade; first as a teacher, but eventually as headmistress." She scanned the room for the next volunteer.
She didn't have to look far, as Farley stood up. "I'm Alexander Farley, the Levitation instructor." The elder man smiled genially. "I've been here so long that some of my students' children are now faculty members."
The woman who'd earlier called out Ryder and Amy took her cue to stand, blushing at Farley's comment. "My name is Cordelia Moonstone, and I've been in or around Cloud Tower since I was a child. My mother was once the Magical History teacher, a position now afforded to Mr. Brickman from Hestia." She smiled at the man in question, who nodded at her introduction. "I've been teaching Charms and Hexes for seven years."
Ryder stood up as soon as Moonstone sat down. "I'm Ryder Iacono from Melody, and I've just moved up from assisting Miss Moonstone in Charms to running the Incantations class. A few of you may remember me as a student."
Mr. Farley beamed. "One of the best fliers in your freshman class." He remembered fondly. She blushed.
"Thank you for saying so."
"Circe Sohma from Metastiasis." A woman with long dark hair and strong Asian features stated. "I teach Transformations."
A severe looking man with dark hair stood next. "Charles Grimm from Cosmosia. I've been the head of discipline here for three years."
"And I am Professor Craig Cadwallader from Polaris, the potions and advanced magical spells teacher." A man with blondish-brown hair spoke up.
"Corrigan Prissinger of Zenith." A girl with wavy ash brown hair and aqua green eyes stated. "I'll be Cadwallader's new assistant."
"Belladonna Atropa of Delora, the Herbology instructor." A woman in her thirties stated. "I'm looking forward to having an assistant this year."
"And that would be me." Amy stated. "Amethyst Elfman, the new teacher's assistant for Herbology."
"Excuse me," Moonstone spoke up, "Belladonna is it really wise to ask Miss Elfman to help? Her powers aren't at all plant based."
"No, they aren't, but I was one of the highest-scoring Herbology students in this school." Amy replied coolly.
"Miss Moonstone, I have made my decision and stand by it." The headmistress stated. "Now, is there any new business?"
"The Inter-school dance, I believe." Mr. Farley stated. The lime-haired witch nodded.
"Yes. This will be the third time our school has been invited. I suppose we'll have to make the prerequisite warnings again."
"And let's not forget about the gifts." Professor Atropa added. "We need to decide what our school will give in return."
"And since we don't want another outbreak of magically-induced food poisoning, I suggest we keep our resident pranksters in check." Farley added, earning a few shudders from the other faculty members.
"Thankfully most of those troublemakers graduated this spring." Amy sighed with relief. "I'd hate to deal with that mess again."
"Amen!" Ryder exclaimed. "That was a nightmare to clean up and smooth over."
"Unfortunately those seniors were replaced by overzealous freshmen, so we shall still need to be on our guards." Grimm stated.
"I believe this is a matter that should be discussed during Orientation." Cadwallader looked to the headmistress.
"What about punishments?" Moonstone blinked. "Shouldn't we discuss those while we're on the topic?"
"We will divide out punishments depending on the severity of the prank." Arianrhod stated. "Turning flowers into frogs hardly warrants anything above a weeks' worth of detention."
"Which reminds me, I need to hold off on teaching about hallucinogenic properties of plants until after the festivities." Atropa mused.
"Smart thinking." Nodded Grimm. "I'll stand guard by our gifts to ward off saboteurs."
"A wonderful idea." The headmistress stated. "Any others?"
"I'll get in touch with the instructors at Alfea and try to enlist their aid in keeping spells out of the food and punch." Farley offered. "That issue should be nipped in the bud."
"Should be easy enough." Ryder shrugged. "Headmistress Calinda is relatively laid back, but she can be quite tough when she needs to be. What I'm not sure about is their new head of discipline, and I do mean new."
"Yes, a Mr. Bloodstone." Grimm nodded. "He just started there this year, so not much is currently known about him. Not even his home realm."
"Very perplexing, yes, but I'm sure that Calinda must have had her reasons for hiring him." The lime-haired principal stated. "Although I dare say she's had a hard time digging through his background, if it's so secretive."
"Indeed." Farley exhaled. "Well, I suppose we must get in touch with him about this."
"Is it really necessary?" Cordelia asked. "Obviously she felt he could do his job. Why do we need to go snooping around about it?"
"I was referring to enlisting his aid in keeping the festivities as civil as possible." The elder teacher clarified. "The last thing this school needs is to be charged with snooping around the privileged information of another facility."
"And that's all the time we have for today." Arianrhod cut in. "Orientation starts in a few minutes. Is there any other new business?" No one said a word. "Then I hereby adjourn this meeting. Take your seats in the auditorium, everyone."
Miranda, Raven, Fiona, and Amber all crowded into the auditorium for the official Orientation address given by the headmistress. A hush fell over the murmuring students as the golden-eyed headmistress stepped up to the podium.
"This oughta be good." Amber stated.
"As you all know, today is the first day of the fall semester. Since many of your faces are new to me, I feel the need to lay down a few ground rules and make a few announcements."
"Here we go." Amber rolled her eyes, earning an inquisitive look from Mira.
"First, you are expressly banned from entering the Forbidden Forrest. Anyone caught sneaking around the woods will be suspended, and possibly expelled." As the headmistress spoke, Amber mouthed her exact words. "Second, you will be expected to treat any students visiting from other schools with the civility and decorum becoming an accomplished Cloud Tower Witch."
"Dude, you've got it nailed down." Raven whispered to the older witch, who shrugged.
"Sat through it all last year."
"Lastly, I will not tolerate fighting in or outside class unless it is an event organized by an instructor for a specific purpose. If you feel the need to match blows, take it off campus." Arianrhod stated, taking a deep breath. "Now, I feel it necessary to discuss the inter-school dance with you. As we have been invited this year, the prank contest is officially cancelled." Groans escaped the mouths of many students.
"There go our plans for this year." Leila pouted to her cousins. They were seated up on one of the highest rows, a traditional seating spot for seniors.
"Anyone caught trying to pull a prank at the dance will be met with punishment fitting the crime." Arianrhod continued. "Anyone caught in the act of tampering with the food or drinks will also meet swift punishment."
"This sucks." Lex frowned. "They're taking away all our fun!"
"We can find ways around it, dear cousin." Ronnie waved. "And rest assured we will do just that."
"Having said that, I expect all of you to be on your best behavior for this event." The headmistress looked at the crowd. "It's time for our schools to reduce this rivalry to pranks and academics, not personal injury."
"Well, that's unusual." Raven said as Amber snorted.
"Yeah, well don't let the warning fool you. Someone is going to start trouble. Happens every time."
Fiona shot the Fire witch a questioning gaze. "They'd risk expulsion over a prank?"
"It's not just about pranks." Amber stated. "Stick around long enough, and you'll figure that out."