Well, no surprise Dad had been pretty incensed about what had happened. Even though it was self defense, thank you internet and viral videos, he still grounded me for a week. Which was more a symbolic thing really, since I didn't have much else to do at the moment. On the one hand, I didn't have any issues legally, on the other I had embarrassed the Empire in a big way, which almost certainly spelled trouble for me. All of which combined for harsher lessons with Jeanne, and Dad when my aunt couldn't make it for whatever reason. It was weird, but I actually really enjoyed it.

That said, I was pretty damn sure God was laughing at me. Somewhere out there He was watching the sitcom He'd made my life and having a cosmic gigglefest. Or She. Probably a She. I think Jeanne might have mentioned something about that a while ago... And I went and got sidetracked, again. Where was I? On yeah, God turning my life into entertainment.

I mean, I was only joking about the church thing! Honest!

I only had myself to blame, I guess. When Dad had told me that I was going to get out of Winslow I was, well, ecstatic would probably be understating things. I think I might have literally bounced off a wall at some point. I'd thought it meant that he and Aunt Jeanne managed to get me into Clarendon or even possibly Arcadia. I hadn't put much thought into the "old friend" my Aunt had mentioned or the other strings she would have had to have pulled to get my transfer pushed through so quickly. I mean, Arcadia had everything a school could possibly have.

A girl can dream, right?

Instead this morning Aunt Jeanne had given me a dress bag and told me to get changed into my new uniform before we met with her friend at my new school. Which was most assuredly not Arcadia, or Clarendon for that matter. So now we were sitting on rather uncomfortable chairs inside the front office while we waited for Immaculata's Headmaster to finish with their current appointment. I let my eyes and attention wander while I waited.

The cramped lobby was covered in religious iconography. Not just Christian objects either, to my surprise as I looked closer at the shelves, but there was some Buddhist and Hindu statues as well some Islamic art, going by the Arabic looking symbols on it. I think there were even some Greek and Norse stuff too. A discreet cough from the secretary snapped my hand back from a stone stele with some interesting looking etchings on it.

I bit my lip and nervously picked at my skirt, which was part of what was making me so nervous. The uniform was alright, but it had been a long time since I'd worn anything that didn't reach my ankles. Despite everything my mother had said, I hadn't really taken it to heart when she'd tell me how beautiful I was. How could I be compared to her? When she wanted to, she could outdo any celebrity or model, and Emma had pounced on that insecurity constantly. Just another secret I probably should have kept to myself.

I jumped as Aunt Jeanne put her hand on my shoulder. The secretary gave me a slightly bemused look with a raised eyebrow as she gestured towards the office door. "The Headmistrss will see you now," she repeated for my benefit.

The woman behind the desk intimidated me almost more than Aunt Jeanne's training had. She was as tall as Jeanne, but with far broader shoulders and much, much more substantial muscles. I'm pretty sure her arms were thicker than my thighs. Her close cropped hair and the jagged scar across her cheekbone didn't help make her look any less out of place behind the desk.

"Jeanne," she said with a bare hint of warmth as she stepped around the desk and grabbed my Aunt's arm. "It's been too long. I apologize for making you wait, but I was in the middle of rather important business call."

"Alicia." Jeanne sounded forcedly solemn. "I trust you've been keeping busy?"

Alicia laughed and she looked a decade younger. Her laugh was't the more delicate or light sounding thing I or Jeanne made, but more like guffaws of some of Dad's dockworker friends. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. That can wait for later and a few stiff drinks though. So, this is Taylor then?"

Aunt Jeanne tilted her towards the Headmistress. Taking her cue I extended my hand. "Taylor Hebert. It's nice to meet you."

"Alicia Dominica. You, however, will address me as Headmistress soon enough." She took my hand and gave it a squeeze. Her eyebrows rose when I squeezed back, although it was about as effective as trying to squeeze a brick. She held my hand for another moment before she let go and turned to give my Aunt a curious look.

"She takes after my sister in more than just looks," Jeanne said with an enigmatic smirk and a twinkle in her eye.

"I see. She won't be as much of a, troublemaker, as you tend to be, will she?"

"Hardly." Jeanne gave me a look as stated at her with a raised eyebrow. "Although, she does seem to have picked up the unfortunate tendency to attract trouble to her."

The Headmistress sighed and shook her head. "Of course she does. I swear, you and your family have to be the most danger prone people I've ever met." She turned her head and gave me a sidelong glance. "Jeanne ever tell you about the time she interrupted my camping trip fighting with a raging Garuda? I'd planned that vacation for months and the she and that damn bird come through and scatter my kit every which way."

Jeanne snorted. "And who's fault was it for setting up camp on the top of that column on the middle of China in the first place? Because nothing says vacation like climbing several hundred meters of sheer stone to sleep on a space a foot wide. Is there something she could do while we discuss her attendance?"

"I think I have an idea." The Headmistress reached over to the intercom on her desk and pressed a button. "Justine, could you call Miss Sinclair to my office, I have a task for her."

"Right away," the secretary responded quickly. For the next few minutes I sat at the edge of the conversation between my aunt and the Headmistress as they caught each other up on their lives.

The door suddenly burst open, making me jump to my feet, as a blonde blur threw itself to the ground in prostration. "I didn't have anything to do with Mr. Housemann's car being turned upside down and filled with processed cheese, I swear!"

I just stared at the other teen, stunned and more than a little bit confused. Finally, the blonde seemed to register the awkward silence and stood up. She stared at me and Aunt Jeanne with something vaguely approaching awe.

"Whoa," she muttered as I twitched,"it's like some kinda giant convention in here. "

Alicia coughed pointedly. "Mr. Housemann's car is not why I called you here, although we will be discussing that later." She gave the blonde a withering glare. "This is Jeanne D'Orleans, and her niece Taylor. Taylor will be attending shortly and I would appreciate it if you would give her a tour of the grounds."

"Sure thing Boss Lady!" The blonde gave a sketchy salute and beckoned me to follow her as she left the room. I gave Jeanne a look and she shrugged her shoulders at me. I looked at the door skeptically. What the hell was I getting myself into now?

I caught up with my guide in the hall outside of the office. She was leaning against a wall with a book in her hands that she bookmarked and pocketed as I approached. We just stood there looking at each other for a bit while I tried to figure out what to say.

"So," I started finally, "processed cheese?" It must have been the right thing because her face lit up with a wide grin.

"Heh, yeah. A couple of the seniors did it. "

"That's..." I bit my lip.

"Horrible, right?" She raised an eyebrow. "Not really. Trust me, have one class with Mr. Housemann and you'll be ready to flip tables and sock him one. I swear he'll rue day he met me," she suddenly spun around and shook her fist at the ceiling. "I swear it! The dude's more old fashioned than my parents sometimes, and that's saying something!"

I blinked as she whirled back around with her grin back on her face. "Oh yeah, forgot to introduce ourselves proper-like. " She stuck out one hand while the other scratched the back of her neck. "Boss Lady's always getting on my case about proper etiquette and stuff. Liz Sinclair, but you knew half that."

I took her hand tentatively and gave a single pump before letting go. "Taylor Hebert. Uh, it's nice to meet you?"

"I hope it is!" She laughed and I felt myself grinning with her. I had to admit, her good mood was kind of infectious. As she started to lead us down the hallway she gave me a sidelong glance. "So, what are you?"

"I, what?"

"Diplomat's kid? Your folks some kinda corporate bigwigs? Ooh, I know, I bet your dad's some kind of super spy, like James Bond!"

"A spy? My dad?" I giggled at the image of my dad awkwardly dressed in a tuxedo at a some high class party. "No. Definitely not."

"You one of Boss Lady's relatives then?" She gave me another sidelong glance. "It would explain why you're so tall."

"Nope," I said, then paused. "At least, I don't think so."

"Well, it has to be something, cuz I've seen the wait list to get in, and your name wasn't anywhere on it."

I shrugged. "My aunt is friends with the Headmistress and that's about all I know."

"Eh, whatever." Liz looked a bit upset but a moment later her grin was back. "So, back on topic, the school has three buildings, and unless you're taking only half the proper number of classes, you'll be moving between them during the day.

"Gotta get some exercise somehow I guess." Liz punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"Good one, but don't be saying that near the Boss Lady. Anyway, right now we're in the oldest, which means drafty rooms and crappy toilets." She paused and gave me a lopsided grin. "Pun totally intended by the way. All the Arts stuff goes on here."

She pushed open a pair of doors and I clutched my arms close to my chest as the chill morning air blew across my legs. Liz seemed completely immune to the cold as she pointed to a rather austere building to our left. "The North building there is all the science and shop classes, so if you hear something explode, it's probably one of the seniors messing up." She turned and pointed to the building opposite, in both location and style. "The South building has the English, History, Social Studies, etcetera, etcetera. It's the second oldest, which means that it was built after the Second World War."

"What about that one?" I jerked my head towards a smaller building off on the side of the school grounds.

Liz followed my gaze before rolling her eyes. "Oh yeah, there's also a church. You don't have to go if you don't want to, but they do have mass in the mornings."

"I'm, uh, I'm not the religious type." Dad was nominally Christian, and Mom had certainly never approved of organised religion. Which kinda made sense now, given the whole Witch thing. The same Witch thing I now had to deal with.

I frowned. I hadn't actually stopped and really considered the consequences of the deal I'd made with Madama Butterfly. On the one hand, it had confirmed that there was an afterlife, and probably a God, on the other hand, I'd damned myself to an eternity of torment and suffering. Ugh, it was too damn early in the morning to deal with existential crises like this.

"Good to see its not to your tastes, cuz it sure doesn't fit mine," Liz said cheerily, unaware of my train of thought. "Honestly, I find it a total bore, yaknow?"

"Right." Change of topic, change of topic. Think! "So what does Mr. Housemann teach, so I can, well, avoid him?" Better than nothing, I suppose.

"Economics and politics, and trust me, he's a way better economy teacher than politics one."

"Thanks for the warning." I gave her a nod, which she returned with a strained solemness that quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"No problem," Liz said when she recovered her breath. "Everybody's still in class, so why don't we grab something to snack on til they let out and I can introduce you to my friends?"

"Sure," I shrugged, smiling a little as Liz led the way back inside and into the blessed warmth. Whoever decided on skirts being proper attire for February was out of their freaking mind. I put my complaints out of mind fairly quickly though. The sheer energy Liz had was almost overwhelming as she pointed out various statues and parts of school, launching into abridged and no doubt highly editorialized stories about them. More than a few had me outright laughing.

Maybe God wasn't that bad after all. I still wasn't going to church though.