2024-01-24 17:41:00No one protests lan looks like he wants nothing more than to return to bed, but even he probably knows better than to make a teacher mad on the first day Those students get remembered, and I doubt anyone wants to stick out right away. Especially with the rule about warnings.
"I am Marissa Lockwood" the teacher says, offering a slight smile, a look of pride crossing her face, and I will be your Levitation teacher. You will be expected to have it down within the first three months. Those that don't are simply not meant to fly. It is not an ability everyone possesses"
She taps her desk once, causing it to float up into the air, along with everything on it. Even though we've been here for two days already, we're still a bit surprised to see magic being used so openly.
"One of you has managed to pull off a highly ranked teleportation spell, and subsequently got the best score when it comes to control. There is little doubt this student was meant to fly. We will now test it with him."
On boy. So much for blending in
"Hotaru Zen, please come to the front of the class."
I obey, keeping my head down. I really hate being the centre of attention. It's part of the conditions that carne with the toe ring I'm wearing. There's no better way to make me stop throwing myself at strangers than making me hate when they look at me
I'm a bit intimidated by the teacher's height, but she doesn't look as stern up close as she does from afar, so that's something. The gazes of the other students aren't helping, though. I feel like I'm about to faint. Is it getting hotter in here? Crap, I'm already sweating
These stupid uniforms aren't helping. Why do they have to be so fancy? Vests? Really? It's not that cold in here. And who wears bow ties anymore?
"Everyone who can learn will do so at their own time" the teacher continues. Do I even call her Mrs Lockwood? Are they married? "You are the one we have the highest hopes for, Hotaru. Close your eyes and do as I say."
I obey, perfectly happy not to have to look at all the curious, yet judgmental faces before me
"Magic feeds on emotion and belief. Certain types of magic require you to drawn on certain emotions. Levitation comes from feelings of freedom. Go to your past, Hotaru, and envision a time when you felt truly free. Maybe you ran through a field of grass as a child. Maybe you climbed somewhere high and let the wind blow through your hair. Take one moment any moment that might represent freedom to you and repeat it inside your head until you get that feeling again."
Freedom? Well, that's an easy one for me. It also requires me to go to a darker place, though. Well, I suppose it didn't start off dark. It was great at first, which is why I kept doing it.
His name was Charlie, and we were both fifteen. Up to that point, my parents had never allowed me to go out or anything. I was to remain inside all day and study. Study, study, study. No playtime, no free time, no relationships, no friends
Charlie was a neighbour's nephew. I met him the day he moved in. Started off as idle chit-chat, and he eventually started asking me to hang out. I can still remember the rush I felt as I kept sneaking out to meet him.
But my first true act of rebellion was when we went to his room the first night. That was the first big rule I ever broke. After that, disobeying my parents became easy, I'd already done the worst thing imaginable, so why bother holding
back?
I kept sneaking out and meeting him for half a year. I let my grades drop, spent more time outside than at home, and regularly lied to or even straight up refused to obey my parents. That was freedom.
"I will put something on you now," Marissa Lockwood says. "Don't open your eyes yet. This is a special balm witches
use for flying. Without it, no amount of feeling will matter. Otherwise we'd all go flying the moment we felt free."
I feel her dab something under each of my eyes something very unspecific. I can't catch any smell from it, and it doesn't have a particularly strong feeling, either.
"This is just the base of the balm," the teacher continues. "Each of you will have your own. If you know how to make
them from the heart, you are destined to fly. We shall now test it with you"
I open my eyes, and walk over to one of the cabinets on the side of the room. in the first one, I see nothing of
importance some candles, a few vials of something, and a fake skull
From the second one, I take a red feather, seemingly having belonged to a parrot. I also take something in a perfume like bottle something black that smells like detergent.
Am I really just winging this? This seems insane. I have no idea why I picked those two things. My hands just reached on their own
The third one is a vial of something green, which I sprinkle over my cheeks using the dropper. Next I spray myself with
the black perfume. I take the feather and crush it in my fist, and when I open it, red powder has taken its place.
I dab it over my cheeks as well, then walk back to the front of the class. The teacher looks genuinely impressed, which is good for my nerves right now.
Am I really about to fly? It's actually going to happen?
"You don't have enough power to do it for long," Mrs Lockwood tells me, "but we'll work on that later. Go on. Do it."
My body moves on its own, my knees bending slightly as I get into a semi-crouch, I lightly jump into the air.. and stay there
It's like you imagine a zero-gravity space to be when you see it in movies. My body is slowly moving through the air, as if through water. I try to paddle forward, but remain in place.
"With your heart," the teacher says. Does she mean my head? How do I even move with my heart?
I look down at lan, and find myself floating over to him. Once I'm right above his desk, I come crashing down, the gravity returning fully. I hear him groan as we both hit the ground, his desk shattering from my weight.
Hasty footsteps come over to us, and then several people are helping us to our feet. Nothing of mine hurts that bad, I think, aside from my pride. lan is bleeding from his nose, though, the teacher pressing a handkerchief against it.
"Short, but well done," she says, looking at me. "Excellent start, Hotaru. The rest of you do the same, one at a time, start from the first desk by the window, then moving down from there. All those who fail to get a single ingredient are not meant to fly, and will be dropping this class immediately after. Hotaru, as you've already proven yourself, you go with him to the nurse's office"
lan starts walking forward, but as he's forced to hold his head high, keeps bumping into the tables. I grab him by the forearm gently and start steering him through the crowded classroom. The moment we're outside, I allow myself to breathe again
"Can't believe you made me miss the first class," lan grumbles at me, his voice nasal thanks to the injury. "This is like
starting a game without a walkthrough. Thanks, man"
Feeling myself turning red, I reply, "I figured the spell would land me back on the floor, not just end abruptly. Sorry
about that"
"You ever done it before?"
"Flying? No, never. I didn't even know it was possible" But it's an extremely useful thing to know how to do, and I intend to make full use of it. "What about you?"
"Hate it. I don't think I'm up for it"
"How come?"
"Feelings of freedom? Letting your heart guide you? Nah, not for me, man. I'm way too cynical for that BS, Just not
programmed that way."
I take a glance at his bracelet and see the side profile of a wolf or coyote there. I still have no idea what those are.
supposed to be, but everyone except me seems to have gotten a cool one. Why a damn rooster?
"I have no idea where we're going." I confess, taking out my map. "I don't think I ever saw a nurse's office on this
thing"
"It's outside," the redhead replies, "in a small hut in the courtyard"
Ah, yeah. I see it now. If one didn't know to check there, they'd never find it. Seems like they should make the
Important locations stand out on this thing. Maybe underline them or something.
"Mind if I ask something?"
lan looks down at me, slightly lowering his head, hanky still on his face "Go for it."
"What are the pendants about?
He glances at his own for a moment, then looks back at me. "Most everyone's got a different one, I think. A few aret he same, though. Mac tells me he and that girlfriend of yours both have dog paws.
Yep. Called that one. "She's not my girlfriend"
"Just a friend?"
"I guess. I don't really know her that well." Or anyone else here. I doubt I'll come to call any of then friends before the first year ends. Usually takes me a long time to properly open up.
"So you won't mind if Mac asks her out?”
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The Witch's Revenge Chapter 9
I would mind immensely, but not for the reasons you think. "Like I said, I barely know her.""But you like Mac, though, right?"I try to play it cool, but can't help teising up for a moment. Tragically, that's all fan needs to grin at me."I'm not blind. I know what he looks like. Tall, blonde, square-chinned. I'm used to almost everyone checking him out. His charm stat is off the charts.""Sounds like you've done a lot of ogling yourself"He shrugs, completely unbothered by the intended jab. "He's just Mac. It'd be like crushing on my brother.""I don't know what you're into."That one manages to take him off guard, causing him to sputter for a moment. "Damn. Thought you were the shy type, too.""I'm not." I'm really, really not. I don't like large crowds or being the centre of attention, but I am absolutely not shy.
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 10
"We were told to draw on our emotions for this," she starts, not touching her food. "Anger is what most went with, as that's the way people usually feel when they wish to start a fight. Rather than that, I thought of something worth fighting for, and the attack came naturally""You used a spell?" Mac asks, speaking a bit too loudly for my comfort. "What kind?!" Looking at his eyes, then Diana's, you'd never guess they were the same color. Hers are cold and aloof, while his are full of life, unable to stop sparkling. Even she finds his enthusiasm charming, if her smile is anything to go by."It was a basic attack spell just a concentration of magic power. Mine was golden, and destroyed the target entirely."So she's officially dangerous now, In a fight, she beats everyone else here. No wonder they had the A-ranks start off with that. Probably expected them to pass on what they learned so us lesser ranks can do it without
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 11
A boy with glasses raises his hand, and the teacher points at him, not saying a word. "It's supposed to represent who you are most like in the animal kingdom, right?""Well, sort'a." Walking over to the board, she starts drawing some sort of circle on it. "Not every animal represents exactly what that animal is like. Dogs are energetic and friendly, but they're also loyal. A single one of these traits being pronounced in you could mean your spint animal was the dog"In other words, if two people were both dogs, they would not necessarily be exactly alike."Mine's a crow, by the way. You've already met Nen, that little kitty cat." He seems like the sort of cat you wouldn't want to give a bath to, to be exact. "Damon, the vice-dean? Wolf. Marissa's a dog. The two of them are hella similar, yet have different animals. So you see, it really can go any which way."Seems like random nonsense thus far.
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 12
All the students are staring at the smiling teacher with wide eyes. She looks like just an ordinary, happy-go-lucky woman, but she's got more power than a weapon of war. It's really hard not to be scared of her right now. Are all the teachers this strong? What about Damon and the dean theri? Are they even better?Erin raises her arms, and the blinds on the windows all fold down. Candle-like flames appear around the room next, only without the actual candles themselves, allowing us to faintly see."Time to see something fun. Would ya'll mind moving the desks to the side? I'll need the floor for this."Once we're done, she starts drawing a circle in the middle of the room, three separate chalks moving on their own to hasten it. I look at the circle on the board to see if it's the same one, but that one's already gone. Is that why they're single-use only? They vanish once used?Upon finishing, Erin moves out of the circle and looks around the room. "Now, this bit's very important, Do not
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 13
Each of us takes a seat in the front row, the room mostly dark, with only a few candles preventing total darkness from surrounding us"Sorry if this one's not gonna be fun at first. You really need to get the theory down before we do anything else. Otherwise, you'll end up hurting or killing yourselves."He hands us each a thick white book, then shoves his hands into the pockets of his coat and sits down on the floor."Go through the first chapter repeatedly until the hour is up. It's not long, but I need you to absolutely have it all down. Without the basics, you're gonna get in trouble when you try to cast"It's the most boring thing imaginable. All sorts of spells get named, but neither one described. Apparently, abstract magic is the sort of magic that simply does something. That's how the book puts it, at least. It's not about creating fire, or controlling water, or shooting lightning, It's about following the proper rules of each spell, then casting it to get the desired effect
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 14
HOTARUThe month comes to an end, and the changes in all us students are undeniable. As we stand here, in the school's lobby, I take a look around to scope out the competition.There are, of course, the ten A-ranks. Good control and good power comes naturally to all of them. Diana and Roger are the stand-outs from what I've seen, as they took studying seriously the most. It makes sense that not all of them are exemplary, as hitting the books is a big part of magical education. Having the power and skill to pull off a spell means nothing if you don't know how to enact it.This has led me to assume I am most certainly among the ten best students. All the other As are around my level, but I'm confident I could best most of them in most areas.Antoine, for one, is flopping. I've yet to hear him answer a question honestly. It's a bit hard to tell how poorly she's doing, since we never get homework or get graded, but he's sure to be moved down to B-rank right now.The standards of the ranks
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 15
Damon gives a single clap of his hands, making everyone go quiet for the fourth time. "Now, since there are so many teams, it will be impossible for you to do this two teams at a time. We will have five battles happen simultaneously, the opposing teams decided at random. Each teacher will oversee one battle."He nods toward the others Nen, Quinn, Erin, Ling and Marissa. It's Marissa who steps forward, dressed in the same outfit as always. Each battle will take place in an area we've prepared. Each area is different, but they are all very wide. You will need to find the opposing team first. You win by destroying these." She holds up some sort of armband, a small wooden plaque attached to it. "Each of you will wear this. Each of you will aim to destroy this, Knocking your opponent out is fine, The areas have been enchanted to prevent kill shots from being lethal, so anything goes."Of course it does, We're all way too inexperienced for them to further limit us. Yes, each of us probably
The Witch's Revenge Chapter 16
The front door to the post office breaks inward, a tall, blonde young man standing on the other side. Just like the rest of us, he's got his school uniform on, but he's already discarded the vest and tie."Hey, Hotaru. Sorry about this"Rather than aiming for Rosa or Yan, as predicted, he throws himself at me, aiming a punch at my head. Flames burst into life between us, cutting him off and forcing him to move back. It's not a lot of fire maybe enough to consume a watermelon whole but Mac happens to be wary of it.Maria starts throwing small, orb-shaped flames at him, with each one getting swatted away by lan's forearms. Not a single bum appears on him, however, the protective spell Borg already in place. True witches can use that one all the time, without even trying. With Mac, it definitely takes some focus, which he's free to do since he knows he can't go making flowers sprout in a place like this.I throw a basic projectile at him, the green light flying around his head. Since thi
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Chapter 63
"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
Chapter 61
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
Chapter 60
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
Chapter 59
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
Chapter 58
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
Chapter 57
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
Chapter 56
"Weren't the Old Ones human once?""That's correct""Then how can they be infinite?"The class starts murmuring and muttering, everything along the lines of agreeing with her. I was about to ask a similar question, so I'm glad she opened the topic up.Grey looks like he's uncomfortable talking about this, but still decides to answer. "The Old Ones, the Light and the Dark-they are all people. Not one of them is the same thing they started as. Caught in endless wars, they diminished one another to the point of humanity, an existence of the lowest layer, managed to steal their power and overtum them.The same applies to the Dark and the Light, then."What about the Light and the Dark?" Diana asks, neglecting to read my mind."That one is slightly different." Grey tums back toward the board, his back as full of white as one might expect, drawing a few chuckles. He erases the tip of the pyramid entirely. "The Dark and the Light started out with two names, same as the Older Ones. Yahweh and
Chapter 55
The news covered that? How? With what footage? There's no chance any chopper could have withstood the magic being sent around that place. An illusionary jungle was created for miles around it, too. Did they just use words?The lack of an image is very likely to have the common masses just as fearful as the students are.Quinn, shoulders slumped, sits down on her chair. "I think you deserve to know. Really, I do. It's just not that simple. There are things you can never know about him things you aren't physically able to know. I'm sorry you're scared, and I'm sorry some of you will have to leave, but my decision is final. I'm not saying another word."She tries to make us focus on more nonsense with our guardianshaving them manifest into our world and such- but I'm pretty sure the mood is too dead for anyone to focus.Levitation is a welcome relief, as always. We simply practice some of our moves. Now that Rosa is gone, only Diana and I are actually capable of flight.Roger is here, to
Chapter 54
"Count me in," Antoine adds with a small smile, directing it at me. "Promise you're gonna wear that to class?"I walk up to him, resting a hand on his chest. "I only put this one on to not make a big splash on the first day back. Wait til you see the other ones""Y'know, my mom's a model. If fashion is your thing, I can score some outfits for you."Oh, where have you been all my life?Well, this past week. Before that, I wasn't all that into fashion. All I cared about was looking good. That and glorious vengeance, of course, but that urge has been sated."One small problem, lan starts. "Rosa isn't here."Right. That might be a problem. "Any of you hear from her?" Since we went on a brave quest to save the world, I mean.Nobody offers a response, predictably. With no signal or internet, we don't exactly have a habit of exchanging phone info, since we never get to use it while we're here. Figures nobody bothered to get hers."We could talk to a teacher about it?" suggests Maya. "I don't
