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Chapter 7

Viola took a seat at the front row. Karma hadn’t given her much choice in any of their classes so far that day, insisting on the front row. The fox familiar had done a good job of keeping her from getting lost for the most part, a few times they’d wandered down the wrong hall only to have to ask for directions back to the right place.

Her first class was History and Laws of Fidonia. She’d been a little insulted that everyone in the class was significantly younger than her by about four years, but she supposed it made sense. All this was new to her, but everyone her age had been going to school at Naessaria since they were ten or eleven and anyone who grew up in the isolated country, already knew the laws, or most of them.

Professor Allannia taught that course, an elf with no wrinkle or blemish in her skin and pure white hair. Viola thought she was older, but couldn't begin to try to put an age to her timeless face; the way she held herself, spoke, the look in her deep green eyes all gave her an inkling of how long this woman might have lived.

Professor Allannia reminded Viola of one of the gentle old ladies who weren’t afraid of anyone or anything and could cause even the toughest ruffian to bow in apology with just a look. She wasn’t frail by any means and had an open, accepting smile and Viola found that she already liked her as a teacher. She spoke with authority on the subject, as if she’d been there for certain events or at least knew them like she had been. She also knew enough about the human world that she could reference current events that Viola could relate to with ease.

Her next class was a little disappointing. Spells and Potions was taught by Professor Frewin Crowe. Crowe was a tall gangly witch with a dull nasally monotone voice which she thought she could hear the hint of a french accent in. His crow familiar, Mugin, sat on his perch over the blackboard. Viola glanced between the two of them as the lecture on the proper procedure in the potion’s lab droned on, she noticed that Professor Crowe’s beady black eyes and oversized nose made him look like a crow as well.

The thought that maybe witches took on an appearance close to that of their familiar as they aged hit her, curiously she tapped her nose, glancing down at Karma by her feet. Karma’s response to which was a peeling laugher ringing inside her head and a comment about how the red hair was all the two would likely share.

Viola was still sulking with her teasing familiar when she’d taken her seat beside Dani in the Astrology and Dreams course. She hadn’t been able to help but notice how full the classroom was for a course she assumed as meant for witches. Most of the other students were chattering female students with the exception of a male here and there.

Viola turned to Dani, “Why are there so many more girls in here--?”

Dani gave her an amused smile, “They think the professor is cute. He’s one of the most popular here. With the girls because he’s attractive and with the guys because he’s easy to understand and laid back.”

Viola frowned at that, “Who is it? Is he actually cute?”

Dani laughed, “You don’t remember the name from your class schedule?” When Viola shook her head and went to look at the paper, Dani quickly snatched it from her hand, “It’s better if you wait to see who it is.”

Viola was about to argue with Dani on that point when someone slid into the bench behind the girls. She glanced over her should to see Bion grinning at them in that friendly way of his.

“Hey Viola, so how were your classes so far?” he asked curiously.

She shrugged, “They’ve been okay so far. My teachers have been a fascinating elf and a boring crow--”

Bion laughed, “So you’ve met old Crowe then. He’s not so bad but you just have to get used to him.”

She was glad to know that he knew who she meant. She wondered how he knew the siren and big guy from earlier but when she opened her mouth to ask, someone took a seat beside him and she couldn’t help but turn her attention to the new face.

Bion glanced between the newcomer and Viola before gesturing to each of them, “Viola, this is Castien, he’s a friend of mine. Castien, this is Viola.”

Castien was definitely taller than she was (though, that wasn’t saying much, especially here) with chestnut brown hair, gray eyes, and pointed ears. He nodded to her with a small smile. “Nice to meet you, Viola,” he said curtly before turning his attention to the front of the room, not even bothering to wait for her response.

She blinked up at him, confused, until she heard her name, “Vi, eyes forward, please.”

Recognizing the voice, she spun around to face her brother. Cedar stood at the front of the class behind the desk with Hugo perched on his shoulder. She stared at him in shock for a moment before turning to Dani who was busy snickering, “You’re kidding!! Cedar is the one all the girls think is so hot?? Ew!”

Dani laughed, fangs flashing, and shrugged, “I thought you knew but when I realized you didn’t, I couldn’t tell you!”

Cedar ignored his sister as he turned to write on the board, “Today we’ll be discussing dreams and how they work as messages to our conscious selves.” He looked at Viola pointedly with a smug smile.

She frowned up at him, “How can dreams be messages when they don’t mean anything?” she asked suddenly.

He stood in front of her desk and shrugged, “Do I really need to answer that, Vi?”

She thought back to the last couple of days and her strange dream. He had a point but she wouldn’t admit that to him. Cedar went on with his lesson as Viola sulked to herself, “A lot of the time, dreams are just your imagination going into overdrive while you sleep. But other times, when the dream seems too real, too lucid, or reoccurs, it generally means that your mind is trying to tell you something. For example, say you dream that you’re forced to choose a path through a lightning storm, the path that dream you instinctively chose is either the correct path for you, or where your heart really longed for.”

As the lesson went on, Viola found that Dani was right, her brother was really easy to listen to and understand. He was comfortable teaching and knew his stuff. She was even shocked to realize that she was taking notes along with the rest of the class. As he went on about dreams, he elaborated on what sort of things to look for when it came to dreams with hidden meanings. Like how it related to someone’s current reality, or how they relived something traumatic, or even how something seems like it may happen.

She thought back to her dream and how she’d been forced to choose between Chloe or her family. Viola couldn’t remember what her actual choice had been, but since she now had magic, she guessed she’d chosen her family in the storm, rather than Chloe.

While she understood that she couldn’t risk harming innocent people with magic she couldn’t control, she still hated that she couldn’t talk to her best friend about everything that had changed. Her power awakening inevitably brought Viola closer to her family, just by the simple fact that now she understood more about their little quirks that no other family ever seemed to have.

Her pen tapped on the desk as she rested her chin in her hand, letting her mind wander. Was the dream a personal choice that Viola had made with her power, or had it been her power and body’s way of telling her this was how things had to be? Or maybe it was as Cedar explained in his lecture, a premonition of a situation that might come to pass one day.

She was jerked out of her train of thought when she felt something suddenly slither across her lap and coil around her waist, climbing slowly to her shoulder. Her whole body tensed as she stared forward, too terrified to move.

A snake popped it’s head over her shoulder and turned to face her, flicking its tongue out. You sssmell nice. You’re a witch, aren’t you? The snake said in her mind. A familiar from what she could tell. The voice was undoubtedly female and soft spoken, a little bubbly.

“I am, where’s your witch?” she asked, glancing around at the other students around them.

He’s over there. She said, turning her head over Viola’s shoulder to look further down the row from her where a young man sat. He had almost platinum blonde hair and a healthy tanned complexion. My name is Delphi. What’sss yourss, friend? She asked.

“Viola, and this is Karma,” she said gesturing to the fox who sniffed curiously at the snake. She couldn’t believe she was actually having a conversation with a snake.

Delphi was a smoke colored snake, a hint of purple in her scales. She was actually rather cute for a snake and she was surprisingly friendly; she wasn’t at all as intimidating as the one she’d run into the night she’d discovered her magic. Viola didn’t know enough about snakes to be able to tell the species but she imagined she was a type of constrictor but nowhere as large as the terrifying one she’d run into before.

She hummed quietly, flickering her tongue again, My charge’ss name iss Xenosss. I think the two of you should be friendssss.

Viola eyed the snake before glancing over at the male witch again and then back to the snake, “Why do I get the feeling that you’re up to something?” she whispered.

Delphi blinked at her but remained silent. She felt someone slide down the bench seat next to her. When she looked up she realized it was Xenos, he gave her a sheepish grin, “I see Delphi is welcoming the new girl. Sorry about her, she doesn’t understand boundaries, you’re lucky she didn’t crawl under your shirt though, she likes doing that.”

She nodded, looking up at his violet eyes, “It’s fine, she was just introducing the two of you.”

He glanced between Viola and the two familiars, “Right, well as you’ve already heard then, I’m Xenos.”

“Viola Silva.”

He looked at her for a moment then looked up at Cedar and back, “Silva? Like--” he paused again and pointed to the teacher at the front of he room.

Viola laughed, “I wish I could say no relation but unfortunately, he’s my big brother.”

Xenos laughed, “And your teacher?? That’s not going to be fun for you!”

A shadow fell over the two of them, forcing them to look up at the form above them. Cedar stood in front of their desk with his arms crossed, “Are you two finished or would you like to share your conversation with the class?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

Viola gave him a grin, shrugging, “Just making introductions. You wanted me to make new friends, right?”

He frowned at her, “Yes but not while I’m teaching.” He eyed Delphi and Xenos and sighed, “Delphi, I asked you not to disturb the other students during class.”

Delphi stuck her tongue out and Viola heard a giggle as she disentangled herself from around her and slipped under Xenos’ sleeve and up to peek out of his collar. Xenos gave Cedar a grin and shrug as he went to slide back down to his space.

Cedar frowned a bit but turned to take the podium again, to pick back up on his lecture.

~~~

As the class ended, Viola stood with Dani, Bion, and Castien. She was surprised when Xenos walked up to them too. So far they were the first people to actually speak to her other than Dani though Castien was kind of distant, seemingly more interested in observing her than actually speaking.

Xenos grinned at Viola, “Sorry to get you into trouble earlier. It’s nice meeting you though, maybe we can be friends. I can share some of my magic knowledge with you if you like.” He glanced to the door and then shrugged, “Anyway, I’ve got a training session with Professor Alps now, so I gotta go.”

Viola watched him walk off just as Cedar stood in front of her, he smiled to the other three around her, “Sorry, everyone, Viola has training now too. So I’ll have to borrow her for a bit. You should get to class too.”

Dani smiled, “Mind if I tag along? I have a free period right now.”

Bion quickly followed that up with, “Me too! Can Castien and I go too?”

Castien was surprised for a moment and frowned at Bion but looked up at Cedar with a shrug, “Yeah, I guess if it’s okay with you, I’d like to watch too.”

Cedar ran his fingers through his hair like he always did when he was caught, sighing, “Alright, but the three of you better stay behind the barrier.”

The three of them nodded their heads in agreement as Cedar gestured for Viola to follow him.

“Where are we going?” she asked. Karma jumped from the desk onto Viola’s shoulders before nestling halfway into her pack.

Probably to a field so you don’t blow the school! Hugo squawked as he flew over their heads out the door. Viola glared at his retreating feathers.

“For new witches, there’s a field surrounded with a barrier that we use to train their power. That way you don’t run the risk of harming another student,” Castien said, over Viola’s shoulder.

Dani stepped up beside her, glancing back at Castien and Bion, “What about the training rooms? Those have magic barriers too, don’t they?”

“They do but the magic put into them isn’t as strong as the ones on the field. The field was originally meant for duels between witches. Remember, they can go all out there,” Bion explained. “Your power is still kinda unhinged, until you know what triggers it and how to control it, it's safer for all of us is you practice there.”

Viola glanced over her shoulder at the half demon boy, “How do you know that??”

He shrugged with a lazy grin, “I can sense the amount of power a person has by their aura. And you, Viola, are a force to reckon with. But knowing your family line, it’s probably a given. When you got angry with Gideon this morning, I thought I was going to be fried by association.”

Cedar frowned at his sister then, “You used your power on another student?”

“No! I didn’t do anything! He just made me mad with what he was saying about Dani and I wanted to hit him!” She protested.

She wanted to punch him in his teeth but her power wanted to punch a hole through his chest. Karma chimed in.

Cedar sighed, “Viola, the headmaster was just telling you to watch your temper!”

“I was watching it! I didn’t do anything! No one was zapped!!” She argued.

“Zapped, electricity?” Castien asked.

Bion laughed, “Yeah! Vi is a bug zapper!”

“Don’t encourage her, guys,” Cedar admonished.

Viola sighed and followed them silently beside Dani. She noticed that Bion and Castien both seemed to respect Cedar as a teacher and that they were comfortable talking to him. She could hear Bion asking Cedar question after question about the topics from their class or Castien adding his point on the topics here and there as they walked.

Dani leaned over, whispering to Viola, “It’s kinda weird that Castien is tagging along with us. He’s usually kind of a loner.”

She shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, maybe he’s just interested in seeing the new girl embarrass herself?” she suggested.

Dani shook her head, “He’s not cruel like Gideon or Victor. He’s one of the elite but he never likes showing off.”

“Then maybe he’s bored and wants to make friends?” she asked, shrugging. She hadn’t been paying close attention to their surroundings so when they were suddenly in an open field surrounded trees and buildings, she was taken aback. Looking back toward the castle school, Viola was startled to see the distance they’d traveled in such a short time. She was so distracted she hadn’t noticed when the others had stopped walking and ended up running into her brother’s back with an ‘oomph’.

Frowning up at him, “I’m starting to think you do this on purpose, Cedar.”

He laughed, “Nonsense. Now come on. The rest of you stay back here.” He stepped forward and the air shimmered around him, rippled and then it was still, it was like looking through cellophane. She couldn’t see it until someone touched it.

Hesitantly she followed him, sticking her arm out in front of her until she felt the air thicken around her fingers and shimmer like it had with Cedar. She could feel the magic tingling against her skin as she walked through it. Once on the other side, the air felt normal but there was still something strange to it. It was like she could sense the power coming in around her, making the hair on the back of her neck stand.

“Why does it feel so weird in here?” she asked as she walked up to the center of the field with Cedar.

He glanced around for a moment, “It’s the magic. Magic as an essence flows and instead of being able to flow freely, the magic coming from the barrier source is trapped in here. That’s why this one is so much stronger, it’s constantly fueled by us and by the excess.” He pointed far out into the field to a row of three hay dummies with targets on their chests, “You’ll be starting here. I want you to aim for the center one only.”

Frowning, she turned to face the targets, “How do I even aim when I don’t know how to make the lightning come out?”

“Remember how it felt the last times you’ve used your power, focus on that feeling. Close your eyes if you need to,” he coached.

Nodding, she closed her eyes, focusing on when the will-o-wisp showed her the vision and how her body reacted then. She was scared but she couldn’t remember how the magic felt. She could only remember the lightning surging from her fingertips. She thought back to when Gideon had been egging her on. She felt warm and agitated. Viola decided to focus on that event, focus on how it felt to have her power just out of reach.

She felt a buzz run through her veins. The hair on her arms stood on end. She could hear the air crack and sizzle as electricity itched to escape.

Opening her eyes, she saw Karma sitting on the ground next to her, watching, focusing. She’d left the safety of Viola’s backpack sometime while her charge was calling to the electricity. The fox nodded very slightly and Viola raised a hand, pointing to the center target.

Blue light burst out from her fingertips. The lightning bent and split, hitting the ground and crawling until it hit all three of the targets, piercing them, only stopping about ten feet behind them.

Cedar whistled lowly, “And this is why you’re outside training.” He turned to Viola, “You’re not allowed to train in the rain, okay?” He pointed to the straw dummies again, “Now try that again.”

Viola stared, dumbfounded as she watched the singed holes in the targets and ground close up and were in pristine condition once again, “How did it do that??”

“A time reversal spell was placed on them to make it so anytime someone damaged them while practicing, they’d just fix themselves. Makes things easier on us if we don’t have to constantly replace them,” he explained as he pointed at them. “Now try again.”

She frowned at him for a moment but held her hand up to aim again, “Why are you teaching me anyway? Didn’t you say you have premonitions? What do you know about lightning?” she asked as she felt it build up and release toward the target. This time it was better contained and hit only the dummies but it still hit all three and missed the targets in their chests, burning holes through everything but.

Cedar watched the bolt flash through the air until it hit the dummies, then he shrugged, “I honestly don’t know. I’m just standing in until someone more qualified gets here to teach you. There’s no one else in this school with a power like yours so we have to look elsewhere for you.”

She turned to face him, resting her hands on her hips, “So you mean you don’t know what you’re doing? You’re just winging it?” she sighed. “I knew your good teaching earlier was all an act. My i***t big brother could never be as cool as everyone seems to think.”

He laughed, “I think you’re the only one who doesn’t like my teaching method, besides, you managed to consciously use your power so I think I did pretty good!” He turned to head back out of the barrier, “Let’s get back, you have more classes and I still have to teach.”

She nodded, following behind him. Karma padded up beside her, looking smug for a fox, I knew you had it in you all along.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I mean you’re very talented of course. She said before prancing forward and through the barrier where she waited beside Dani.

She watched her roommate and only friend curiously. Dani hadn’t noticed the fox settle in beside her. Her attention was focused on the two boys beside her who were having a very adamant discussion.

As she drew closer, their voices became clearer.

“Cast, think about it. Dani and Viola would make a good team!” Bion argued excitedly.

Castien sighed, “They would but that Viola isn’t ready for Intrepide. She doesn’t understand the way things work here yet and Dani already said she’s not interested. So did I. So drop it. Why do you care so much, anyway? You’re on Victor’s team.”

Bion grinned, “I’m only on Victor’s team because he’s the only one who asked me to join, but if you make a team with those two, I’d join you in a heartbeat!”

“Do you have any idea how insane you sound? An unknown as a teammate is ludicrous.”

The half demon boy shook his head, “No, it’s genius when it’s with you!”

Castien sighed and shook his head, “Why won’t you just give up?”

“Why won’t you just consider it?”

“I have considered it! It’s stupid. The entire thing is stupid,” Castien snapped.

Bion laughed, “Lighten up!”

Viola stepped through the barrier then with Cedar who quickly announced that he had to get going before class and ran off without a glance behind. Annoyed, she watched her brother for a moment before facing the boys again, “What’s going on? What’s the Intrepide?”

Castien’s eyes widened for a moment and he frowned, turning to Bion with an accusing glare. “I’m going to class,” he said, turning his back to them and walking back into the building.

Bion sighed and shrugged, “I guess it doesn’t matter.” He looked up at each of the girls and smiled sheepishly, “I better get going too.”

Viola frowned and turned to Dani, “What’s going on??”

She shook her head, giving her a small smile, “It’s nothing important. I’ll explain it to you later, I promise.”

Viola sighed and nodded, “Fine, then tell me later.” She turned to head back toward the building with her friend but with every step she took, it felt as if her body couldn’t keep up, feet unwilling to listen as they grew heavier and heavier. Panic began to rise and her mind grew sluggish, her vision blurred as she struggled to figure out what was happening. The ground suddenly came up to meet her and everything faded away.