ANASTASIAThe maid is beginning to irk me. The fool is incapable of dusting anything off without dropping it. The earrings we gave her are the only reason I haven't fired her aiready. If she can't offer good services, at least she can offer her energy. Shouldn't be long before her Soul Seed shows itself.I wish there were a quicker method. The Heralds are hunting for us relentlessly, always sending one of them to search. the globe. The Master is keeping us hidden from them, but that simply means wasting his power on things other than his revival, slowing things down even further.I enter Doctor Crowley's lab, the scanner set to recognize my eyes. Once inside, I walk over to the large glass wall, through which the Doctor is currently looking. "You called, sir?""It's about to happen""What is, sir?"A man is inside the other room, in the nude, strapped to the operating table. He keeps twitching around, his eyes flickering with a strange, red light. Every few seconds, a rune appears on
He just gives me a wink, saying nothing. Alright. Keep your secrets."Dreamcatches are typically used to protect children" Diana continues, shooting lan a quick dirty look. "These would be woven in a slightly different pattern. The dream bubbles would have to go through them, where they'd remains until we burned the catcher and saw the dreams inside the smoke. That's the only method described here."If she knows that, she must have gone through the entire damn book. How? How can a person read so fast? She has to be using magic for it. If so, she better share.Antoine's fingers gently, reach for my lower back, giving me a pinch. I reach over to his face, flicking his nose harshly enough to make him wince. His response is to shove his fingers under my ribs, forcing me to squirrn back as I try to get away. This only results in my elbow hitting Maya in the back."Ow. Watch it, man. That hurt.""Sorry""Are you children quite done?" Crossing her arms, Diana starts to fume "Honestly. How ca
HOTARUPotions aren't really a class I remember all that much about, for whatever reason. Quinn is the teacher, and seems to be looking kind of stiff whenever our eyes meet. Why do I not remember this?I seem to remember the potions well enough, I just don't remember learning how to make any of them. What gives? It's a class we only take once a week, so it should be pretty memorableSeeing that one of the pages of my book has had its comer folded, so I turn toward it. 'Memoria Damnum: How to Delete Someone's Memories.I guess that explains it.With Mac no longer interested, Maya is the only other person who bothered to take it, and this is the one class she excels at. Doesn't take much magic control to make a potion work, so I guess it makes sense she'd put all her energy into this.it's the last class of the day, so we're all free to meet up once it's over. Other than Diana, I'm the first to arrive at the library, Maya probably heading off to meet with Erik first to try and steal eve
IAN"We don't have time for this." Maria approaches, and I can tell what she's going to do by the look in her eyes. Too late to stop her, I can only watch as her palm harshly connects with Hotaru's cheek, nearly knocking him back to the ground. "Wake the hell up."He looks at her, his face turning red, more clarity in his eyes. "Tll curse you into being bald." It's a genuine spell we've learned. Makes one wonder what sort of witch was bored enough to invent such a thing.We throw the dreamcatches into the fire, a large burst of white smoke rising from it, making us all pull back a little.The image that forma inside is nothing like the ones we saw in the bubbles. Instead, what we see is a woman- maybe a man with the same colors as Choronzon, only different features. They're wearing a black centurion-like armor, with absolutely no cloth attached to it, meaning no pants, cape or anything. The armor has jagged shoulder. pads and no sleeves, showing off a pair of thin, pale arms. They hav
HOTARUOnce again, Quinn is the teacher sent to chaperone us on the field trip. The buses drop us off in New Sunshire, many miles away from regular Sunshire, all the way on one of Scotland's shores. Don't ask me to tell you if it's the east or the west, though. Maybe north and south? Scotland does touch the sea on all sides, right?"I can't believe you brought that," I mutter to Mac, who has a small plant in his lap. "You're gonna break it.""There's a burner moth somewhere in our room, and it keeps messing with my plants. Puffing out his chest as though he were personally challenged, he gets a serious look in his eye, which is not something you often see on Mac. "I'm not letting it have this one.""Why's that one special?"The blonde giant shrugs, looking down at his plant, a tender smile on his face. "It just is. Got the seed from the last one, so this'll be my first time going through multiple generations."I thought that was a regular thing to do, honestly. Well, I never did claim
"A spell gone wrong brought me here, I tell her, turning my palms upwards in a show of pacifism. I mean you no harm, I only wish to leave"The woman hisses, pointing one finger at me. "Then leave." From all around her, a whirlwind of petals comes flying toward me. I sense no true power within, so I let the spell hit me. The next moment, I'm in the middle of the rest, rushing through the trees. Then I'm above the ocean, one with the wind. Then I'm being pushed through a stone archway on a remote island.I get flung through it, and emerge back in New Sunshire. Well, that was a trip.Looking around, I see the others have realized what this is all about, too. With everyone going in and out of houses, the doorways are unable to fully close, letting some of the power of those inside them leak out. Perfect.I follow the stench of scented candles and expensive perfume, letting it guide me through an archway leading into a garden overcome by weed. I protect my body before stepping through, jus
ZENStarting a new school year is always nerve-wrecking. That goes double when you're about to enrol into an academy for witches.Yes, boys can be witches, too. Heaven forbid you should call yourself a wizard, They're a different thing entirely, and usually take offense to being compared to us.At least the world is starting to accept us. The more civilized places are a-ok with witches, but there's still some places where it isn't exactly seen as a good thing.The Hollow Night has been quiet for a long time, thankfully, so maybe this is the year they finally lift the immigration ban.Unlike most other kids, I don't get dropped off by my parents. They couldn't afford to drive all the way here, halfway across the world, so I'm forced to rely on what little knowledge of magic a person can get outside of school.Standing in the park in the middle of the night is scary, especially with the poor lightning of this area. That was one of the necessities, though, as I wait for the full moon's r
The chubby girl's family turns to look at me when they hear that, her mother walking over to me."They let you come here alone?" Ah, English, Good. She's got an accent I can't place, but thankfully it's easy to understand. "Where are you from, boy? You look like you are from the Western States."It's my eyes tilted downward at the outer corners. Makes me look like I'm always sad. It's a common trait back home. After the Migration Prohibition Act two centuries ago, several common traits popped up all over the world. We have our eyes, the Easter States have slightly pointed ears, Albinians all have purple eyes, and so on. This family all have brown hair and big, brown eyes. It's probably also a common trait, but I have no idea where from."Yeah," I reply, my voice almost giving out. "I came alone"She looks puzzled, but leaves it be, retreating back to her family. Just then, the gates open, as silent as the first time, allowing us to enter.I'm surprised by how massive the courtyard is.