Thursday 1 September 2005, Luna Nova
"After all that walking, the years arrived when I started studying in Luna Nova, there I learnt about everythingthat happened while I was away from the Cavendish mansion, after working to get the basics I was able tolive a decent year at The Last Wednesday Society, until the infamous day arrived, it was quite easy topersuade Holbrook to let me into Luna Nova, the money spoke loudly, as Finnelan and Badcock were verymuch against it, but soon one changed when they saw the amount of money I'd got, then the momentarrived, I'm already packing my bags, I take the Ley line and arrive in Luna Nova to study.
It's today, I start my journey here at Luna Nova, I've been so looking forward to it, it's my first year here at Luna Nova free from everything and everyone, I can't wait to see what I'm going to have here, I arrive to line up, still wearing my casual clothes, I'm listening to Headmistress Miranda Holbrook's speech, alongside other freshmen too.
"Here we are, starting another year here at Luna Nova, another journey is about to begin, since we have many new students who are coming from abroad, starting to study here, they have really gone a long way, my congratulations to these brave girls who have studied hard to come here, they will certainly bring a lot to our magic academy, in addition to being prepared to be very prestigious, it is not just anyone who comes here to Luna Nova to study, so let's admire these new students, who will be your future classmates and also teammates" said the director.
I'm just observing, there are lots of students, they're all different types, they're from different teams, you can tell from their uniforms, which one am I going to end up with, I can't wait to see, it's going to be like in those witch series I used to watch, I'm going to form my trio and we're going to get up to a lot of mischief around the school, cause a lot of trouble, then go on lots of adventures, I'm sure of it.
[...]
I arrive at the boardroom and finally receive my sashes, since I've bought the uniform, I'm on the beige team it seems, it hasn't even been mentioned who I'm going to be a colleague of, but it's good to know, at the bottom of the boardroom window, I notice that there's a glow, like a very distant flicker, but I just shrug, which before leaving I receive some orders.
"You've been lucky here Chariot Du Nord, Holbrook was very good to let you study here, but you should know that you should behave yourself, we haven't forgotten the outrage you committed four years ago, we're always on the lookout for every stupid thing you think of doing, here we follow the rules of the academy to the letter, any mistake you make will be the worst, be aware of that" Finnelan said.
"Calm down Anne, there's no need to get tough with the girl, she knows what she's done, she's fifteen now, she's grown up and matured, there's no need to pick on her, now go Chariot, find your team, make yourself at home in Luna Nova" said Mrs Holbrook.
"Thank you very much, I'll feel very much at home, it's been my dream since childhood, ever since I went to school here, I was very enchanted, my mums always talked about here and how it was the place where they met" I say happily.
"Oh good, I hope they're happy today, it'll make them proud when they graduate from here, remember to follow the rules, have a nice day Miss Du Nord" said the headmistress and I left the room.
Wow, I feel like I'm back in the magical years of my childhood here, it's like a dream come true, after so much hardship I'm here, I Chariot have become a student at Luna Nova, I can't believe it, it's so different that I'm a little ill-at-ease, ahhhh, it's like a dream.
I walk along the corridors, all bouncy and happy, I wave to the girls, but I don't see any of them waving back to me, what the hell, a girl with glasses and lilac hair waved back, but she's all shy, how strange, well it must be her thing, at least one of them waved to me.
I arrive in the corridor of my room, beige staff, it's exactly this way, I open the door, I see there's no one there, I don't think my colleagues have shown up yet, but I'm going to take advantage of it, luckily they didn't take my things and search them, I remember they warned me that this place is very anti-technology and it's always good to hide everything, that's why I left my mobile phone well hidden, I leave my bags in a corner and I see, they've taken the bed, apparently there's only the top bunk left
"Welcome to Luna Nova my daughter" That voice... I have the impression that I've heard that voice before, I turn around and there's just Mum Laura sitting at the window.
"Mum! What?" I say all emotional and shocked.
"I was watching you from afar, from the boardroom window, I knew this was your team, who knew, a very random one really, the colour beige, but still enjoy it, it's your new... Woah, how emotional, I missed you too" Mum said to me as I cried on her shoulder, half bent over.
Mum Laura came to see me, she's here in Luna Nova, she came to see me, after all this time, she's here... She hasn't forgotten me, all these years, now I can be by her side, how wonderful, it's the best moment of my life, she's here, after so long, Mum, I can't help myself, I'm soaking her clothes, who soon comes to wipe away my tears and I was crying too.
"Wow, you're as big as your mum Bernadette, you've grown a lot in all these years, you're so beautiful, I'm proud of my girl, I've waited years for this, your mum too, we've got lots of things to tell you yet, oh and your roommates, I paid them to go for a walk and let me stay here with my girl" Mum said, hugging me and even kissing my forehead.
"Mum... You have no idea what I've had to do to get here and also Daryl's evil deeds" I tell her.
"I have a pretty good idea, Laura, what's the idea of going through the window, I haven't done that for years" said another voice that came through the window, it was Mum Bernadette, and I got very emotional and hugged her.
"I think it was worth coming through the window, it's our girl's day, we weren't going to miss out by not being there, we didn't know if you were already here when you turned 15, but here in Luna Nova we're even happy to see that you made it" said Mum Laura.
"You really are my size... Even a bit taller, you've grown a lot in all these years, until then you were the size of Mum Laura, now you're all grown up, all beautiful" said Mum Cavendish.
"Well, I know that this is all very beautiful and exciting, but we have to talk about some things that you can already imagine, let's sit down, we have to talk about important matters" said Mum McLaren and I nodded in agreement.
Mum Laura makes some pouffes appear out of key rings she had in her pocket and throws them on the floor, just what I needed, my back will thank her, I throw myself on one of them, feeling relieved, after all that work, I see that my mums are smiling a bit and they come over to me with a camera in their hand where I take a photo with them, it's our first reunion in years, seeing them like this is wonderful, they're still the same as they were five years ago, it's incredible.
"So Chariot, as you can imagine, it's been five years and as we said, when we were 30 we would have our first biological daughter, and indeed she has, you have a sister, her name is Diana, she came from Bernadette, she's very grown up now, At three years old she's already very clever, but it's not just Diana, we also have Hellene, who is the youngest, she's two years old, she's also very clever and playful, our girls will love to meet you one day" said the red-haired mum.
"We've missed you so much all these years, we always think about what you must have gone through, after all, you stayed with that man who is your father, he must have put you through a lot, we even heard about the news, the Cookie witch, you really tried everything to get in here, didn't you? We're very proud of your bravery" said the cabbage-haired mum.
"It was an idiotic act on my part, they found out and I had to stop doing anything, otherwise I could have my application for Luna Nova cancelled, so I just decided to stop... Even so, I managed to find a way to get money for Luna Nova" I tell them.
"Hmpf, Anne Finnelan intimidated you I knew it, there's nothing wrong with what you did Laura, it doesn't go against any magical law, it just goes against the norm, but there's no prohibition that you can perform magic to impress mundanes, it's even normal, remember not to let yourself be carried away by what others want you to do, always be the same Chariot as always, that girl full of spirit in your heart, but tell us how it all went over the years" I'm sure I will, I'm very happy, I just won't talk about it with Daryl, I don't know if they already know or not.
[...]
"The whole thing came as a surprise to me, I hadn't imagined that the mums would visit me that day, it wasmy first day at Luna Nova and there they were showing up to support me, they never failed to remember me,which took away a lot of the thoughts I had a bit because of Daryl, but luckily it all ended well, I could see
that they were both still thinking about me, I told them everything I'd been through all these years and thereaction couldn't have been any different."
I think that's all I went through in those five years, I even ended up getting a hug, I told them everything that happened, they even cried a bit, but unfortunately it wasn't easy, I like to remember those years as a time when I had a chance of getting some way to pursue my dreams and now I'm realising one of them, my life is only going to get better now.
"You've been a warrior, you've been legendary in everything, I'm very proud to see that my girl can do all this on her own, it just shows that you haven't let anything get to you, that you still have in your head what I told you about not giving up on your dreams" said Mum Laura, cuddling me.
"Your father is a horrible man, it's lucky that you've broken free of his chains, now things will get better for you, we're sure, we'll always be here, don't forget that we're your mums too" said Mum Bernadette holding my hand and I'll never forget that.
"Well, your story of overcoming is incredible and marvellous, but you need to know about what happened in our story, it's not so beautiful and marvellous, but it's the pure truth, which unfortunately isn't that beautiful and marvellous thing you see out there... The reality is worse than you think, we've barely been able to enjoy our daughters properly" Did she kill them both? Did she do it? If she really did it, I don't care anymore, I'll put my hand up to signal.
"Before you say anything I have to tell you something else, two years ago, I was picked up by Daryl, she took me to the Cavendish mansion, she wanted to show me how you were doing and she did her usual manipulation, saying that I was being replaced by my sisters, but without a doubt something that she threatened me with, including death, was saying that it would be my last vision of you being happy, since she was going to do something horrible, I can't believe she did that..." I say a little sheepishly.
"No, they're very much alive, but they're not together, nor are we technically, terrible things have happened in that time, I knew you were there, I saw a red blur in the middle of the forest, I even thought you'd managed to escape and you were hurt by us, it's consumed me all these years, it's a bit of a relief to know that you're not hurt by us" why would I be? They're my mums, so dear to me, the most special people in my life.
"What happened was a curse that's happening to Laura, she even gave up Claiomh Solais in the name of finding a cure for the curse, and we're chasing it, it's been almost two years since it happened, it was right at the end of 2003, we were enjoying another day when Daryl told us everything..." What curse? I'm really more worried than ever.
"Yes, it was a horrible curse, she put it on me and Diana, if we get too close to each other, we could die, we have balls of a metal called enatite inside our stomachs, if we get close these magic balls move inside and go faster as we get closer, to the point where they try to escape from the stomach and this could pierce the whole body inside, as it goes in a curved route, as we don't want to risk it, we had to force ourselves apart, just now? Just when our marriage could be legalised..." That's horrible, Daryl is crueler than I thought, she's a horrible woman.
"I stayed in Edinburgh with Diana, she's still there and doing very well, but I'm very afraid of what Daryl might do, my sister has proved to be the danger she is and there's nothing we can do about it... We've even tried to put together a dossier to incriminate her, but there's still a long way to go. Anyway, we're still seeing each other as a couple, Laura and I get together when we can, but our daughters don't see each other and Diana isn't even seeing her mum Laura" I hate this Daryl, how many more lives is she going to ruin because of this?
"I stayed in Dublin, there at least I know how safe Hellene can be, but things weren't magical either, I lost my sister, I gained another daughter without wanting to, ugh, remembering that makes me a bit..." says my mum Laura, who gets a little tearful.
"I still can't believe that bitch Chelsea did that to you, your sister was the one I always saw as a sister too, since Daryl is a monster, what she did to you is worse than anything my sister did, even so I'm not going to blame it on Holly, the girl needs a mum more than anything" Aunt Chelsea's dead? I remember her, when we travelled to Ireland.
"What do you mean? Aunt Chelsea..." I'm really confused.
"Oh those were cursed times... I was caught by my aunt Chelsea without wanting to, thinking it was all a bad dream, when I realised I was pregnant again, she wanted a daughter too, in the end she was arrested, and
in jail people aren't very welcoming to people like my sister... I still haven't got over it, I don't know if I'm traumatised by my sister's act, or if I'm traumatised because she died... That little girl I had reminds me of all this, but I try to avoid thinking about it, she's my daughter too... I need to keep this weight off my mind... Sometimes I wonder if I should have listened to my mum and aborted her, but after Chelsea's death I didn't want to... There was a piece of my sister there and I couldn't..." That's awful, Aunt Chelsea was the nicest person in the world, how could she do something like that, I remember how nice she was to me, giving me presents, treating me with affection.
"I'm still disgusted by everything, Laura had a huge attachment to Chelsea and even I did, but their bond was greater, for Chelsea it seemed like a much greater bond, ugh... We'd rather not talk about this episode, but anyway, now it's good to know that you're okay Chariot, our darling daughter is studying at the same witchcraft academy as us" said Mum Bernadette.
"I'll be right back, I'm just going to get my emotions out a bit, I've remembered a few things here" said Mum Laura and I could see that she was very shaken by everything that had happened, she even went to the bathroom.
It all got pretty heavy, I stayed in Mum Cavendish's arms, remembering when I was younger, which then Mum McLaren comes back, until pretty quickly it's the same, we even go to look at the sky, reflecting everything, I think it's too much information for my head, apparently I have three sisters, Daryl cursed my mothers, forced them to stay away from each other, what a cruel woman, and there's this Aunt Chelsea thing, it's all very horrible, there's no situation like that that's less worse.
When things calm down, they even set up a television, that's interesting, which I didn't realise they could do, using their magic, they had a keyring left on the table, which I took out my SphereGame that I got from Professor Layla, put it next to it and so we switched on the video game to liven things up.
"Check out a SphereGame, my girl has really gained some interesting things in that time, by the way, we also have to mention that there's someone else around here in Luna Nova who will be interesting to get to know" Oh can help me a lot with that.
"Can you still play enough Chariot?" Mum Laura asks and I nod.
"Not like before, since most of the time I spent alone, but enough that I think I can say I can still hold myself together, but not at Mum Laura's addict level" I say laughing.
"Ah, I'm still very focused these years on the games I play with April, but in my spare time I play and it's also a way of testing some creations, well let's see how much our girl has improved over the years, by the way April's adopted daughter also studies here" April adopted a daughter? I didn't know that.
"And Megan? I know she was very much alive even after the incident that happened between her and Scarlet, but what made April adopt yet another daughter?" I'm even more confused.
"Croix Meridies, that's her name, she's a year ahead of you, she joined us last year, from what she told me she's one of the prodigy students, but nobody talks to her, there's no point in being one of the best if nobody likes her around here, it would be good for you to get to know her, she's a nice girl, she has some really good ideas about changing the world, she's even perfected devices like these generators we use to play games, it was April who invented them, but Croix made the more compact and improved version" That's incredible.
"But why did she adopt a girl older than me? Was it an impulse to do the same as you?" I'm confused.
"It was a great coincidence really, April was looking to adopt a girl like her, you know April was born very differently from us, she wanted to help a girl like that to have a safe home, like she always had, to help like she couldn't help and that's when the same year you were in France, she turned up, it was a terrible coincidence, you could have met well before, you would have got on very well" Woah, so this Croix sounds very interesting.
"She's just very introverted too, isn't she, I think that makes it difficult to get to know her, but well at least you can get to know her little by little, I was also quite introverted and that didn't stop me from getting to know your mum" said mum Bernadette and I even blush a little at that, it's not that big a deal, I don't think I'd have any feelings like that for the girl, I don't think so anyway.
[...]
"I found out about everything that happened to you, and I'm still shocked to this day, Daryl's cruelty knows nobounds and you'll find out that it really doesn't, but anyway, that was the day I heard about Croix for the first
time, at first I just thought she was really interesting, but curiously neither of them told me what Croix lookedlike, which confused me a lot, I'd have to figure out the girl's appearance on my own, which wasn't such abad thing, especially as I was already quite happy with what was happening, I was really happy that mydream was finally coming true".
Wow, this brought back wonderful memories, sitting here in front of the television playing with my mums, even though they're very good players, it seems that even though I'm getting older and more trained, I'm still behind them, but I loved it, it's the most magical time I've spent with them, I hope I can see my mums more often like this.
We finish a game of Ronaldo Kart and well, Mum Laura just dominated all the races, even with luck on our side, she always seems to do everything she can to win, I don't know where she gets all that technique from.
"Seriously Laura, you could play more gently, there's no reason to humiliate like that" said Mum Berrnadette.
"Ahhhh it was fun, but we have to go, the journey home is going to be long, but before we go don't forget to take our numbers, we're going to our houses, when you want to talk to us just call" said Mum McLaren leaving her number with me and I went to write it down on my V3.
"We loved spending time with you, daughter, we'll come again, see you" said Mum Cavendish.
"Me too mums, it's wonderful to see you again, today has been the best day of my life in years" I say happily.
"You can always count on us, now there's no more of that silly restriction, we'll make sure we're very present" said the red-haired mum.
The two of them hug me and kiss me on the forehead, I feel so full of heart, I honestly didn't expect all this, it's a huge amount of attention, goodbye mums, I hope to see you soon, I'll love spending time in Luna Nova seeing you more often, you can be sure, well now I have a room all to myself, this is wonderful, I have to meet this Croix girl soon too, she must be nice, if she's Aunt April's daughter, she's certainly someone very nice.
I hear noises at the doors, and I see some girls coming in, one with green eyes and long hair, the other blonde with short hair, they must be my colleagues, which I'm keen to introduce.
"Hello, I'm Chariot Du Nord, your roommate!" I say to them.
"Oh so you're Chariot, apparently we didn't have much luck, you're our roommate and what's this around here? Did you know it's forbidden here?" Said the dark-haired girl.
"And what do you do in your spare time? You're not going to say you don't feel like playing a bit of a game" I say to both of them.
"How did you manage to connect it with magic? There's no electricity in Luna Nova" said the blonde.
"It wasn't me who did it, it was my mums who came to visit me, they brought me this television and this generator, nice isn't it?" I tell them.
"No! This is against the rules, if Professor Finnelan catches us with something like this in our room we'll pay the penalty together, so please take it out of here, I don't want to get screwed over because of you, by the way I'm Daniella Parker, but just call me by my surname, I haven't been intimate enough to be called by my first name, and please take these technological things out of here" What an annoying little girl, oh I had to, she's the one in the biggest bed.
"Wow, you don't have to be like that, we're roommates, it's okay to have a video game, don't you do anything in your spare time?" I ask her.
"Yes, we usually study, that's what we're here for, not to play video games, I'm a Parker, my family is the most prestigious in Wales, my parents even put me in a more humble team to show that I deserve a more deserving path, don't spoil my reputation please" Ugh, she's quite rude that.
"Oh don't worry about her, Parker's like that with everyone, she's actually bitter every day because she didn't end up on the blue team, she wanted to be there with all the luxury in the world, but hey, you're great, there's nothing wrong with leaving SphereGame, as long as you let me play too and since it's a democracy here we won two to one Parker, the video game and the TV will stay, you just have to know how to hide it" I liked the blonde, she's less worse than her friend.
"If I get in trouble, I'll kill you both" she said, reaching into her books, to which I just shrugged.
"She's just that boring, but if you ask me, she's not even that studious, she's probably reading Night Fall behind that history book, I'm not that silly, nice to meet you Chariot Du Nord, I'm Rebecca Leyland" She's nice, I shake her hand and even get a shock, which makes her laugh.
"Hey! That was a shock" I say confused.
"I like to play pranks, it's fun, but don't get angry, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to play a bit, tomorrow I'll introduce you to everyone here in Luna Nova, we all seem to be from different places, don't we, just by your accent I can tell you're French" I nodded.
"Oh don't tell me Chariot, Du Nord is from France, I thought she was German" she's always like that apparently.
"Of course, my dear sauerkraut, hahahaha, but no jokes, I'm from New Zealand, I've come a long way to study here, my family came from the other side of the world wanting me to study to be a witch, I didn't want to, this witch thing is a bit old-fashioned, you know, but whatever, if I don't study here my mum won't stop nagging me, I'm an only child, I really wanted to become a skateboarder" Magic isn't that old-fashioned, I'll defend it.
"I bet you don't want to be a witch either, I think my parents are probably laughing their arses off at the fact that I was unlucky enough to end up on the team of two idiots" She's still going to swallow those words.
"Magic isn't old-fashioned, it has nothing to do with it, magic is marvellous, it can enchant people, my mothers showed that, I showed that and I can show it again, I'm going to enchant the world with magic and show people real magic, everyone can be a witch, magic is for everyone and it's going to bring a lot of smiles" I say all inspired and I see the two girls start to laugh.
"Wow, Chariot, I didn't realise you wanted to be a comedian" said the blonde and I didn't make any jokes.
"You're the cookie witch, aren't you? I just remembered the photo that was in the LNT report, my girl, what a mico, seriously, that was too micoso, I can't believe I'm sharing a room with you, I really believe that it's an increasing challenge to become a prodigy here, now that I've finally been promoted to teach magic, I can start showing that I'm a Parker" she said all motivated.
"Is she the Cookie Witch? No fucking way! I've heard of you, what a mico Chariot, I'd sink my face just remembering that, you had to provoke the older witches not to do that clowning, but then you have the talent to be a clown witch, without hurting you of course, I imagine you must have matured after that" I honestly don't know what to say, I'm such a disgrace... I thought it was just something they said in France.
Apparently I don't have the best mates in the world, the blonde one is all right, but even so she seems to be a bit of a clown, when it comes to mocking she really gets into it with the other one who is quite ignorant, I think it's going to be difficult to make friends here, but it's Luna Nova, it's my dream, I'm sure I'll get on well.
"And so that was the first day in Luna Nova, it wasn't what I expected, full of magic, I was even expecting atriumphant entrance, but in the end I became a joke even among my classmates, apparently they had thatthought of thinking I was being a clown, well at least the day wasn't so bad because I saw my mums again,but that's how I arrived in Luna Nova, the true story, since in the book my friendship with Rebecca andDaniella is very romanticised, but in reality they were more like roommates, so much so that we didn't getvery close, they didn't like me for fear of embarrassing me a little, soon you'll find out how I met Croix, whichhelped to brighten up my time in Luna Nova".
See you, Luna Nova witches...