Legacy 205: Mystery at Magic School

Part 3

Xxx

At Magic School, Payton followed her uncle Leo down the hallway to her first class of the day. She had to pretend to be a new transfer student named Payton Cooper. It was important to keep her connection to the Halliwell family, as well as her premonition power, a secret so she could blend in without raising suspicions. If one of the students was truly responsible, she needed to find a clue or get a premonition by becoming one of them.

"Alright, this is it." Leo said. "The advanced class has the most gifted and talented students in the school. If a student is truly capable of wielding such powerful magic, he or she has to be in this class."

"Alright, I think I can do this." Payton said nervously. "Just act natural."

"Your first class is with Miss Forbes." Leo noted. "She is a professor of both Potions and Botany. Right now she is teaching advanced potion making."

"Anything you can tell me about the students?" Payton asked. "Is there anyone you suspect?"

"In terms of magical potential, they're all capable, but I can't imagine any of them having a motive." Leo admitted. "Get to know them and see what you can find."

"Alright." Payton said.

Leo nodded and knocked on the door, after which they entered the classroom. The professor, a kind-looking woman in her early thirties with long brown hair, was standing by a cauldron near her desk. Behind her was an entire wall filled with many potted plants and flowers.

"Dawn, sorry for interrupting." Leo said. "But I have a last-minute transfer student joining your class."

"That's very last minute indeed." The professor replied. "But anyone is welcome, of course. Where did she transfer from?"

"She attended Newcastle College in England due to her father working there as a diplomat." Leo said as he handed her a file. "They recently moved back to the US."

"Alright, welcome." The professor said. "Please introduce yourself."

Payton nodded and stepped forward. Six other teenagers were staring at her from their seats. Knowing that she needed to keep an eye on all of them, Payton instantly connected them to the stereotypical teens present in every movie she had ever seen. The first seemed like the rebellious cool girl with wavy blond hair. The second was a carbon copy of every poplar girl in her own school, with long brown hair and perfect olive skin. The third was the typical geek, somewhat short and with messy brown hair. The fourth was the jock of the group, tall and handsome with caramel skin and black hair. The fifth was the perfect uptight student and also a blond. The last student drew her attention the most. The loner, somewhat withdrawn and mysterious, with bright blue eyes that stared at her intensely.

"Uh hi, my name is Payton Cooper." Payton said hesitantly. "Like headmaster Wyatt said, we just moved back to England. It's nice to meet all you."

"Alright then, I'll leave you here to get settled and meet your new classmates." Leo noted. "Good luck, Miss Cooper."

"Thank you, un… headmaster." Payton quickly replied.

Leo nodded and gave her a discreet wink before leaving the classroom.

"Welcome Payton." The professor said. "I'm Professor Forbes, but I prefer to just be called Dawn. It wasn't that long ago that I was a student here myself. Let me introduce you to the rest of the class and then we can continue with this potion."

Dawn introduced the other students one by one, the rebel was Lexie, the popular girl Maddison, the geek was Harry, the jock Zev, the uptight one was Kinsley and the loner was Liam. After the introduction round, Payton was assigned a seat and ended up sitting next to the loner with the piercing blue eyes. She smiled at him and he half-smiled back her.

"Alright, let's back to this potion, shall we?" Dawn noted. "Payton, so you can catch up, we're brewing an animal transformation potion and we just added beetle toes. So who can tell me what ingredient we add next?"

Immediately, Kinsley's hand raised her hand to answer the question, while the rest remained quiet. Maddison whispered something to Zev and he sniffled. Judging by the way they were sitting together and touching, it was obvious they were dating.

"Come on guys, let's not have Kinsley give all the answers for a change, huh?" Dawn remarked. "Payton, do you want to give it a try?"

"Well…" Payton replied, thinking back to her lessons her aunt Piper had given her as a child. "If I remember correct, the next ingredient is toadflax?"

"Excellent." Dawn said. "And can you point them out on the wall behind me?"

"I remember it being yellow, but I'm not sure." Payton replied.

"Let me show you." Dawn said.

Dawn walked over to the wall of potted plants and flowers and picked up a pot with yellow flowers, though it had withered a little. The young professor waved her hand over the flowers and emitted a soft green glow, after which the flowers instantly rejuvenated and doubled in size.

"That's such a cool power." Harry noted.

"That's only because you can only create holograms and not something real." Zev remarked.

"Holograms can be useful." Harry said.

"And what can you do again, Zev?" Lexie remarked. "Besides shapeshift in your girlfriend's favorite actor? That's the only reason she liked you, you know."

"Jealous much?" Maddison replied.

"In your dreams." Lexie retorted. "You and the ken doll reserve each other."

"Guys, come on." Dawn noted. "We're in class and we have a new student with us. Let's try to make good impression."

"Yes, some of us actually came to learn something." Kinsley said.

"Why?" Zev asked. "Are you planning to turn a pig into a boyfriend so you finally can have someone?"

"That's the only way she'll get a date." Maddison added.

"The potion turns humans into animals, idiot." Kinsley countered. "Not the other way around."

"Alright, enough." Dawn said firmly. "Don't make me grow vines to break you guys up, not again. Getting back to the subject at hand. Kinsley is correct, the potion cannot be used to turn animals into humans. However, the effects of this potion can be reserved with a reversal potion."

As the professor continued talking about the potion, Payton kept an eye on the other students. So far, she had not uncovered anything useful, though she had learned that every school had the same petty drama going on. Harry and Kinsley seemed the most interested in class, while Maddison and Zev were only interested in each other and picking on others. Lexie seemed to have defended Harry, though Payton wasn't sure if she wanted to help him or just take shot at Maddison herself. The only who wasn't interacting with the class was mister blue eyes. Could he be the suspect she should be focusing on?

When the class ended about ten minutes later, Dawn asked Payton and Lexie to wait a moment, while the other students left the classroom for their next class.

"According to the file the headmaster gave me, you girls are going to be roommates." Dawn said. "So it only seems logical for you to give Payton the tour, Lexie."

"You do know what happened last time I had a roommate, right?" Lexie noted.

"I remember, and that wasn't your fault." Dawn said. "I'm sure you and Payton will get along great. I'm counting on you to do your best."

"I always do." Lexie replied.

The girls left the classroom and started walking down the hall. So Lexie had problems with her previous roommate, Payton noted to herself, which was something worth looking into.

"You're staring at me." Lexie noted.

"Sorry, still getting used to the new school." Payton quickly said. "Thanks for showing me around."

"No problem." Lexie said. "I think its Dawn's way of trying to get me to make new friends, I guess."

"She mentioned something about your last roommate?" Payton asked.

"Long story, I'd rather not get into it." Lexie replied. "Anyways, we'll only share a room on weekdays, on the weekends, almost everyone goes home."

"Almost everyone?" Payton asked.

"Some students stay even for the weekends." Lexie said. "Like Harry for example, his parents are never home and barely give him attention, so he just stays here fulltime."

"That must be difficult." Payton replied. "What about you? What's your family like?"

"We're pretty close." Lexie said. "Yours?"

"We're close as well." Payton admitted. "We've been through a lot."

"I get the feeling." Lexie replied. "I like being at Magic School so I can do my own stuff, but sometimes I miss having my little brother around."

"Your brother doesn't go here?" Payton asked.

"We were both given the choice between Magic school and regular school." Lexie said. "He chose regular school so he could stay with his friends and play football. I, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of friends."

"I didn't have a lot of friends in my old school either." Payton said. "I was pretty much invisible for a long time."

"I would have rather been invisible than what I went through." Lexie remarked.

Getting the feeling that Lexie preferred not to talk about it, Payton decided to change the subject, though she mentally added a note to her investigation that Lexie had a troubled past.

"So what do you think of the rest of the class?" Payton asked.

"Well, you've met them." Lexie replied. "Maddison and Zev are the worst, Kinsley is annoying and Harry is a geek, but he's alright."

"What about Liam?" Payton asked.

"Liam and I go way back." Lexie said. "Our parents are friends, so we grew up together, but we're not exactly close anymore."

"There is something mysterious about him, isn't there?" Payton asked.

"Why, because he's quiet?" Lexie asked with a frown. "Oh, wait, are you into him?"

"What, no!" Payton replied a little flustered. "That's not what I meant at all."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Lexie said with a smirk. "I don't really see the appeal, but then again, I've known him forever and he is definitely not my type."

"I'm not into him, I don't even know him." Payton argued. "Besides I just broke up with someone so I'm not even ready to think about someone else."

"If you say so." Lexie replied.

Payton decided to remain quiet, as arguing would only add fuel to the fire. She was still trying to get over Sean and she was there to find a killer. She could not let herself get distracted. The only interest she had in Liam was purely professional.

As they were about to enter the next class room, a magical bell chimed through the school, calling everyone to the grand hall for an important announcement. Payton already knew what that announcement would be. It would be the perfect time to see how her fellow students reacted to the news of Miss Donovan. Hopefully, the killer would reveal themselves, before anyone else would get hurt.

Xxx

In the Heavens, Noah and Kyle followed Sandra through the temple until they found a secluded place they could rest and talk. Sandra had given Noah a white cloak so he could blend in, which he had thrown over his regular clothes. The sounds of battle sounded around them, as the Elders did their best to protect their Whitelighters. Noah still felt each death in his heart, but he tried to close himself off from the pain. He needed to stay focused and do whatever he could to help.

"Tell me what happened." Noah said. "How did the Darklighters get here and what is this Trinity you mentioned?"

"The Trinity is a secret that we have long kept, even from the newer Elders." Sandra replied. "Only the Elders that were present at the time know the truth."

"I've heard rumors before." Kyle said. "But I thought they were just that, rumors."

"I wish they were." Sandra admitted. "The story of the Trinity is a deeply sad one. It is the darkest chapter of our history and quite personal."

"What are they?" Noah asked. "Are they Darklighters?"

"Yes, but they did not start out as such." Sandra replied. "In fact, their deflection directly led to the birth of the Darklighter race. We are the creators of our own worst enemy."

"They used to be Elders?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, the Trinity are Elders that turned to the side of evil." Sandra replied. "Their names are Amun, Baldr and Selene. Each had a different reason for turning to the side of darkness and together, they became the first Darklighters."

"How it is possible that nobody knows this?" Noah asked.

"Perhaps it was a mistake to hide their existence." Sandra admitted. "But nobody wants to be confronted with their worst failure. We all carried that pain in secret."

"Where did they come from now?" Kyle asked. "And what is their goal?"

"Millennia ago, we battled and defeated the Trinity, but we could not vanquish or recycle them." Sandra explained. "Instead, we decided to imprison them in different planes of existence. The Underworld, the mortal world and..."

"The Heavens." Noah concluded as he remembered something. "The vault… There is something other than artifacts hidden there. It's a prison."

"Exactly." Sandra replied. "Selene was the first to be freed, as her prison was designed by the Morrigan. Her vanquish allowed Selene to finally escape. She then freed Amun and now they are here for Baldr."

"The Morrigan." Kyle repeated. "So all of this was set in motion when she was vanquished by the Halliwells."

"The cousins did the right thing, they had no idea of knowing." Noah countered angrily. "Morrigan deserved to be vanquished for what she did. The only ones responsible for all this are…"

"Us." Sandra finished his sentence. "The first generation of Elders."

"You should not have kept this secret." Noah said accusingly. "You've endangered all of us."

"Noah, calm down." Kyle replied.

"No, he is right." Sandra said. "We have called this upon ourselves, but we must band together to protect our Whitelighters and the greater good."

"You knew them personally." Noah said. "You said so yourself, so how do we stop them?"

"We cannot let them free Baldr." Sandra replied. "He is the most dangerous of the three."

"We need to get to the vault, there are weapons there that we can use." Noah said. "We can barricade ourselves in until help arrives."

Sandra and Kyle nodded and they started to move again. Suddenly they sensed a suffocating feeling filling the air, as if the air got thicker for a moment. The skies and clouds darkened around them, as if they were filled with shadows, turning the eternal day of the Heavens into night.

"What happened?" Kyle asked.

"Selene." Sandra noted. "I recognize her magic, she cast a spell. Try to orb, quickly."

Noah and Kyle both attempted to orb out, but something was blocking them. The same suffocating feeling surrounded them, keeping them in place. The spell that Selene had cast prevented them from teleporting, which meant that it was impossible to escape or get help. They were on their own.

Xxx