Arcane. Necromancy. Environmental. Alchemy. Mysticism. Transmutation. Potions. Illusion. Enchantment. How in the world can I show them off all at the same time?
Start with a potion that gives way to an enchantment of some kind but what? Maybe instead of enchanting everyone in the room, I can enchant a book instead, one that is set on a beach and that can give away to the illusion that we’re not in the classroom but on the beach…
Out of my powers, I’ve barely touched anything with necromancy, and I wonder if giving off the illusion of raising something from the dead would be enough. No, because that’s not a true representation of the power. All right. Fine. I’ll bring along a small fish. No! The vial from the potion! I’ll transmute that into the fish. I’ll use the element of fire to kill the fish and bring it back from the dead. Hopefully.
That still leaves arcane, alchemy, and mysticism. Hmm. Okay, backtrack some. I’ll use mysticism to discover what location is someone’s favorite by reading their mind. It’ll mean that I’ll have to create the potion for the enchantment on the spot, though, and I don’t like that idea. Well, it can’t hurt that I already know that Oberon loves the beach. So I can ask him to think about his favorite location and proceed from there. A little cheating, maybe, but this is already complicated enough.
A simple enough way to mix in the arcane is to use both fire and an arcane blast to kill the fish. That would be way overkill, though. Maybe instead of fire, I can just use arcane magic to kill the fish, and from there, I can create a small storm, controlling the water for elemental. Alchemy has many degrees to it, including the perfection and purification of one’s body and soul but also the elements. If I can banish away the storm and purify the water, wouldn’t that work? I can even bring along bottles to have the purified water in so everyone can have some afterward. Yes. Yes, that might work. I’m exhausted just thinking all of this through, but coming up with this plan is only the beginning. The use of my powers, one right after the other, is going to be the most strenuous undertake I’ll undergo yet.
As much as I hate to, I have no choice but to skip Intro to Magic 101 each day and work on my potion. Once I have that perfect, I move onto making sure the enchantment on the book is strong enough to enthrall everyone in the class. Each step, I go over and over again, and yes, that does include killing and reviving a small fish. He swims in a small bowl on the nightstand at the bottom of my bunk, and he always swims right up to the glass in front of me when I approach. I guess he doesn’t mind if I kill him so long as I continue to bring him back. Silly fish.
I take every day of those two weeks working on my project, and I can’t wait for Mentor Le Rogue to announce my name. Finally, about halfway through the class, it’s my turn.
Gleefully, not allowing myself to overthink it and become nervous, I head to the front of the class with my potion, the fish I named Lazarus and his bowl, and the book. My gaze roves over the crowd, and I smile at Oberon.
“Please, Oberon, do not voice aloud your answer, but think of your favorite location.”
Oberon sits up straighter in his seat, proud as a peacock. He glances around at the class. He’s such a ham. I can’t help giggle as he makes a show of closing his eyes.
“Can you picture it?” I ask him.
He nods.
I close my eyes. Even though I know the answer, I do use my magic to read his mind. Only because I've attempted to do so repeatedly can I break through the slight cracks in his mental walls to see the beach, the blue sky, the hot sun, the white sand.
“Ah. I have just the thing.” I beam and glance at my classmates. “Don’t worry. You’ll see and be at Oberon’s favorite location soon enough.”
I hold up the book, the cover blank, and flip through the pages. Each one is blank. With a steady hand, I pour the potion onto the book. The now-enchanted book flips open, and the ceiling turns a bright blue, the sun shining down on us…
The desks disappearing, the floor turning into the ground and then into rocks that rise up and up and up…
Mountains. Somehow, my potion enchanted the book to produce an illusion of mountains instead of the beach.
Oberon lifts his eyebrows before schooling his features. “Mountains! All right!”
No. No, this can’t be. No. I perfected this. This can’t be happening!
“Mirella?” Mentor Le Rogue says disapprovingly.
Tears burn my eyes. Clearly, one of her three is mysticism. She knows Oberon thought about the beach, just as I know it.
I grip the vial, and I’m so angry and frustrated I could break it.
Only a slight vision stops me. I see a flash of blond almost white hair. When I concentrate harder, I spy dark lips. Black lipstick.
Valentina.
I lock gazes with the witch of a witch. You did this.
I slam the thought into her mind. Her smile falters a second. Try and prove it.
Even her thoughts are bitchy.
Ignoring Valentina, knowing that tattling would only cause a full-scale war to erupt between us, I turn to Mentor Le Rogue. “Forgive me. I’m ready to continue—”
“No, Mirella, I’m afraid you will be stopped there.” She waves her hand, and the illusion starts to disappear.
“But I’m not done,” I protest.
“Yes, you are. Take your seat. Medeia, your turn.”
I slink back to my seat, but I can’t even bring myself to pay attention even though Medeia always comes up with the best spells. No doubt she’ll ace this. Everyone else will, and I’ll fail, and can this day get any worse? I can’t believe Valentina sabotaged my project!
My phone buzzes, and I wince. I’ve been so wrapped up in my project that I haven’t been emailing Valerie like I had been. I haven’t even checked my emails in forever. Figuring I can’t get in any more trouble than I’m already in, I sneak a glance at my phone. Valerie has sent me a ton of emails.
Hey, girl, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to email. They’ve been stricter than usual lately. I guess someone might’ve broken into the place or sneaked out… They won’t give us any details, but it’s kinda freaking us all out. They’re being so damn cagey, jumping at shadows…
Not emailing as often? She emailed almost every day! That’s just as often as before. Something isn’t adding up.
They canceled classes today, another email reads. Normally, I would be thrilled, but they’ve never done that before, and it just seems so odd that I can’t enjoy myself. Do you ever get a day off? I wish you were here so we could hang out.
Aw, poor Valerie. She’s really having a tough time with me being gone, and here I am, ignoring her. I’m a terrible friend.
Hey, you know how sometimes strange things happened around you?
Oh, boy do I know that. I shake my head and continue reading the third email.
I hate to bring it up, but… maybe it’s just this place, the orphanage and not you. The kids have been crying about nightmares. Nothing will console them, and ordinarily, so what? No big deal. All kids have nightmares, but there have been claw marks outside their windows and on the wall of the building. Like I said—strange.
Claw marks? What in the world? I quickly read the next email.
A fire today in the library. We managed to salvage the place, but seriously, what is going on? It’s like this place is haunted or something.
Claws and fire. I can’t think of anything—wait. A salamander. Lizards with an affinity for fire, but will their claws be strong enough to leave marks in stone? I’m not so sure about that, and I click on the next email.
I’m starting to get freaked out so much that I dreamed my bed caught on fire. It was so real! I couldn’t get out, and the flames kept getting closer, and I was going to be burned, feet first… Then I woke up, and I’d be damn, but I had a slight burn on one of my toes. I don’t know how that happened, but, Mirella, I’m scared, and you know I don’t scare easily.
She really doesn’t. Even when she’s gotten into trouble a hundred times before for swiping stuff, she doesn’t cower or beg or make excuses. She isn’t afraid of any kind of punishment.
I skip ahead to read the most recent email, the one she sent just a minute ago.
Mirella, I can’t tell you why I steal all the time. You’ve asked. The people here… I don’t know. Maybe it’s the rush. Maybe it’s because I can. Maybe it’s because I have no self-control. I don’t know, but what I want to steal right now, I can’t, and I really need it. I need peace of mind, Mirella.
Okay, something isn’t right. Not by a long shot. Peace Blossoms Orphanage isn’t the best of places, but the orphans living there deserve a lot better than to be living in fear. Something has to be going on there.
Once class finally ends, Mentor Le Rogue just stares at me. Head down, I walk down toward her, purposely slamming my shoulder into Valentina as I walk past her. Petty? Sure, but I don’t care. Right now, I’m not in the mood to put up with her crap.
“Mirella, I was under the impression that you took your classwork seriously,” the mentor murmurs.
“I do.”
She holds up a hand. “What is Oberon’s favorite destination?”
“The beach.”
“Why did you attempt to use a potion?”
“I know you think I have no aptitude for potions because the potion I created, my first ever potion, from scratch without a formulation, would have killed me. Maybe having a deadly potion would be a good thing under certain circumstances.”
Mentor Le Rogue just shakes her head. "You failed. You did not demonstrate any one of the three—"
“I read Oberon’s mind!”
“You and Oberon are friends,” she says.
I scowl. “I have not spoken with him for the two weeks—”
“That does not mean that the beach had not come up in conversation before.”
“Fine. You think I was playing you? Punish me. Go ahead. I wasn’t trying to cheat, and I have more power than you give me credit for, but go ahead. Underestimate me.”
“What went wrong then?” The mentor eyes me critically.
I say nothing.
“Very well. You failed, and until you can return to your studies with a proper attitude, until you are willing to learn and be taught, I think you need to take a few days off.”
“Expulsion?”
“A suspension. Five days.”
“No classes at all or only yours?”
“No classes,” she says firmly.
I want to argue, but I don’t. I merely nod, pivot, and flee. This punishment is actually a good thing. If Valentina only knew. But having time off from school gives me an opportunity I wouldn’t have otherwise. Now, I can go and investigate the strange happenings at the orphanage. Yes, if I’m caught leaving or returning to the academy, I might very well be expelled, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take. Valerie is freaked out. Hell, I’m freaked out for her. Those poor kids, what if they really did see something? I’m hoping there’s a rational explanation for all of this. Maybe a rabid animal made those claw marks, but the fire? There’s no fireplace at the pathetically small orphanage library. I guess it’s possible that one of the kids could’ve started it, whether by accident or on purpose. But I trust Valerie’s judgment when it comes to anything but material goods. She’s not a worrier, so something huge has to be going on.
And I’m going to get to the root of it.