Wizard and Witches: Griffith Academy

Mysterious Figure

The sound of the school bell going off could be heard ringing across the school. Students rushed back to their class and chairs. And not long after, the teacher walked in. All seemed normal until another figure was seen walking right behind the teacher. The person was wearing a black cloak covering their whole body and head, with some symbol embedded on their left chest area. It looked like a fire with wings, with a shield as its background. The person also used a mask to hide his face—a Fox mask.

All of the students immediately went silent when they noticed the masked person. Some whispered with each other; others waited for the teacher’s explanation. And the few minutes they waited felt like an eternity.

Standing in front of the whiteboard, the teacher coughed before started speaking: “Good morning, everyone. Today, we have a special guest. This gentleman here... is from Griffith Academy. He is here to… uh, pick up new students for the academy.” 

A few gasps were heard as all of the students could feel their hearts dropped. Griffith Academy was an internationally known academy. Its location was a secret, but it was said to have an independent system, allowing it to run without relying on the world outside of the academy walls. 

It had dorms for the students, fields for sports, a whole stadium for sport and events, an intact natural forest, and even a little town and farm. They even had their own security agency named Protector of Griffith. All of the things above were already enough to separate Griffith Academy from all other academies. Still, there was one more thing that stood out the most.

Griffith Academy, along with other academies in the same group, was made for people with powers. Supernatural powers. They were called Mages, or to be precise, Wizards and Witches.

It was unclear when Mages actually first appeared. What was clear, however, was that the Mages and Humans didn’t go along pretty well. The history between the two groups had been nothing but b****y wars. Each group wanted the other dead, as countless wars waged between the two to eradicate the other. But after years passed by, both sides realized the pointlessness of their conflict. Wise leaders from each group then met up to make a peace deal. The result was that Humans were going to stay in their settlements, leaving most of nature to the hand of the Mages.

But some decades ago, the deal was renewed. Under tight supervision, Humans could fully explore forests and mountains, but they cannot exploit them for resources. In exchange, Mages could live in Human settlements, but they are mostly prohibited from using their power while there. Then, the existence of the Academies was revealed to the public. These were places for young Witches and Wizards to train their ability while learning how to live peacefully in Mage or Human settlements. 

This deal, however, had an unexpected side effect. Some people born from the marriage between a Human and a Mage were reported to also have power. Not only that, some even received power after they had an intimate relationship with their Mage partner. And a lot of the time, they only discover their power when put in a stressful situation. This new information baffled scientists and caused the creation of a new rule to regulate the Humans and Mages relationship.

Since it’s almost impossible to differentiate between Humans and Mages from looks alone, anyone in the classroom could be it.

The man with a black cloak shoved a piece of paper to the teacher. He opened it then read it out loud “Neo, Lisa, and Naomi. Congratulations, all of you have been chosen. The Protector will be escorting you to the academy.”

Everybody in the room was shocked by the announcement, excluding Neo, who casually stood with his backpack in hand and casually walked out like it was a typical Tuesday for him. The whole classroom stared at the remaining two girls in disbelief. Naomi and Lisa were also shocked, as their body was completely frozen.

“Naomi! Lisa! Do not keep the Protector waiting!” the teacher called them again, his voice shaking a bit either out of fear or anger.

The two hurriedly pack their stuff and rush out of the classroom. The man in the black robe bowed toward the teacher and the class before following the three. 

Outside, the two found Neo, but something was different about him. He was much taller and more prominent than before, and his hair color was much brighter. In addition, there was a small empty vial in his hand.

“As I said before, Fox, they are both Witches. And like many others, they are just as oblivious. But the signs are there. I saw it myself,” Neo suddenly spoke up as the man in a black robe approached the group.

“E-eh? Neo?” Naomi asked in surprise. She was confused as to what Neo was talking about and how he suddenly became taller.

“Ah, pardon me, Naomi. It is time to explain everything to you two. My name is not Neo, but Nova Lancet. I’m the leader of the Protector of Griffith Academy. I have been observing you and Lisa to make sure you two are Witches. And as I said before, you two are,” Nova said as he bowed gracefully like someone who was bowing down before a princess.

Nova and the mysterious man started walking, followed close by the two girls.

“Witches? You mean we have a superpower?” Naomi became more confused. Neither she nor Lisa had ever done anything spectacular like the people they saw on the news. Not to mention if Neo, or Nova, was the leader, it was unusual for him to do the surveying job himself. There should be others to do the work for him.

“Do you have proof? As far as we know, you could be lying,” Lisa stopped in her tracks, holding her hand up to force Naomi to stop.

Nova stopped and turned around.

“Ignoring the fact I just grew taller in an instant and the fact my companion here has the Griffith emblem on his coat, fine. Let’s entertain the idea,” Nova said, a bit annoyed.

“You two saw your power in action that night at Naomi’s house. Lisa, you saw nearby plants move without any external cause. While you, Naomi, you saw the water in the glasses stirred almost to the point of creating a whirlpool. As you might already know, one of the best ways to awaken someone’s power is to put them in danger or put them under pressure. That will trigger their power to naturally protect themselves whether they want it or not. The level of pressure varies; it doesn’t always have to be a near-death experience.”

After Nova finished explaining, he started walking again.

Even though Lisa still had some doubts, she was willing to follow him for the time being. She saw the plant move that night, and it had been bugging her mind ever since she couldn’t come up with any other explanation for it.

“Power could come in many forms. For example, I’m capable of manipulating light,” Nova lifted his right hand and created a mini ball of light on his palm. He turned it brighter and dimmer at a whim. “While Lisa can talk and command plants to do her bidding, Naomi, you could manipulate water to any form that you wished.”

“You two will be able to use it better after training. Griffith Academy is the best place for people like us to train and learn. And don’t worry about your old school and your parents. We have taken care of the papers, and we have told your parents as well. They agreed that this is the best course of action for you two, even if they needed some convincing and a reminder of the treaty. So all you need to do now is to pack your stuff and say goodbye to your parents,” Nova continued.

“Wait! Does that mean I can’t see them again?!” Naomi asked, worried she would never see her parents again.

“Of course you can, just not directly. You will have a special channel to contact your parents. However, for a direct meeting, you would need special permission. Now that you are a Mage, you can’t just walk into a human town anymore. But that’s a problem down the line. So we will face it when we face it. And… Alright, we are here. So go ahead, we will be waiting here.”

Without them realizing it, they were already in front of their houses. They didn’t feel like they had walked that far. But right now, that didn’t matter. Naomi left the group and walked into her home, finding her parents sitting on the sofa.

Naomi’s parents just arrived that morning. They were still tired from the trip. Naomi could see it from their teary eyes. Now they had to see their daughter go to a faraway new place where they couldn’t easily see her again.

The three shared a big hug. Naomi’s parents gave her some advice and made her promise to stay in contact with the handheld device they were given. Naomi was the youngest child, after all. She had a sister, but she was still working abroad. So her parents would be left alone with her going.

As much as it pained her to leave her parents, she had to go. And her parents knew that as well.

Finally, after saying goodbye and packing up, Naomi walked out to find Lisa already waiting with her suitcase. Her friend tried to hide it, but Naomi could see some tears came out of the corner of Lisa’s eyes. She was trying her best to not cry again.

“Alright. It’s time for us to go to your new home.”