"Alright. We will be leaving in name order so please listen closely and stay in your batches." Cried the principal as students groaned and sighed in dissatisfaction.
The whole academy was in the main square as the principal read names in alphabetical order. He kept on glancing my way, same with other teachers and I couldn't help but wonder why.
"Do you think we will be able to find each other?" Jane asked as she eyed the principal.
"I don't know. It might be tricky. Old beard over there is always intent on separating the three of us. I wonder why." Terus chipped in as I looked at my friends. I understand that they are worried but I also could find them anywhere.
"Don't bother. Whether or not we go in the same batch, I will still able to find you." I reassured them. I looked at the principal who seemed to be up to no good and I didn't like it.
"Jane Anna Podgiest." He called out and Jane departed from us.
Unlike her, me and Terus were closer to each other so the spacing between us won't be so bad.
"See you guys on the other side." Jane said as she moved to where the other J's were standing.
Me and Terus watched as the light from the transportation spell flashed as they disappeared from the academy grounds.
"That will soon be you. I hope Jane reached in one piece." Terus said as he trembled and I wondered if he had a trauma with transportation spells.
Soon enough, my name was called up and I could hear boo's in the crowd.
"Ravenna Hera Majestica." The principal called out slowly and the boo's intensified.
As always, I ignored it and calmly walked up to the spell site.
"Just another tramp in our school. I hope she disappears!" I heard someone say and I couldn't help but shrug. I could make them all disappear but that would be a hassle.
'Make him disappear. Kill them all. Show them what true power is!' Whispered a voice and I shivered.
Ever since the pagoda incident, negative thoughts are whispered into my ear whenever I think of anything negative. I could feel the power in me churning and getting ready to spill out making me sweat as I tried to reign it in.
The runes and symbols on the floor flashed as my head began to swim and I could faintly hear Terus calling out to me in the distance while some mocked me.
"I hope you are safe on the trip. There's no telling what could happen." Said a slimy voice as the spell was completed and I disappeared.
*
Sounds of trotting and the ground shaking woke me and the sight I saw was devastating.
"It has begun." I whispered as my ears rang and I could barely register what was happening.
Someone ran past me while another bumped into me making me tumble back to the ground.
"Raven! Raven!"
Someone called out to me and it was no louder than a whisper. I turned to the voice and realized that it was Jane calling out to me and she was scared and crying.
"Ravenna!" she shouted and I felt my hearing return.
"Jane, oh my goodness! Are you ok? What is going on?" I asked her frantically.
"Raven, I don't know what is going on. The moment we arrived, we were bombarded with something and the whole group dispersed leaving me alone. I was hiding up in a tree when my bracelet turned bluish gold and I had to come and find you." She explained as tears flowed down her face and I gave a hug.
"Don't worry. We will be fine. Let's look for Terus and find where to hide." I told her as we started to wade throw the different battles going on around us.
This was why I didn't want to come to Adele academy after dusk. The academy was never quiet after dark and it was worse than a battlefield. Here, the weak are destroyed while the strong reign as kings and queens. Many had lost their lives to this deadly tradition of the academy and what made it more twisted was the fact that the professors were fine with it!
As I helped the shaken Jane maneuver through the mess, our bracelets both turned to a shade of red and another color. Mine was half and half of purple and Red while Jane's was red and bluish gold.
"Terus is close by!" Jane shouts with excitement even though her face is still tear-stricken.
"Let's find him."
We searched for his shadow all around and where we found him was a little surprising though expected. He was fighting a third year student from Adele and he was winning.
"We probably shouldn't interfere." Jane said and I couldn't agree more. Terus was a fight junkie and interfering with his fights was out of the question.
As we watched him fight, another Adele academy student tried to attack him from behind and I sent him flying with a fire ball spell.
"Don't interfere if you want to live." Said a voice and I trembled. It was a voice that I knew all too well.
The person stepped out of the shadows and immediately attacked Terus making him to fall down and groan in pain.
"Terus!" Jane shouted and the person who had been fighting turned his attention to us.
"Oh, would you look at that. Aidan, isn't that your little sister?" he asked with a chuckle and I stiffened up.
"Do you him, Raven?" Jane asked and I could only shake like a leaf in the autumn wind.
"Oh, little sister. I didn't know I had one, Derek." Aidan answered and I felt the betrayal cut really deep.
"Then don't mind me. I am just going to have fun with two beauties from that trashy academy." Derek said and I felt Jane shake as well. This was not good at all.
'Should I just use my powers and end them swiftly? After all, no one will wonder what happened.' I thought as I felt my power churning again.
"You will not touch them." Terus said from where he was on the ground and I made a decision. Time to stop hiding.
"Ha-ha, who is going to stop me? You?" Derek asked as he kicked Terus in the gut and I saw red.
Immediately, I made another fireball and threw it at Derek before bringing Terus to us using a floatation spell.
"My, my, have you gotten stronger over the years." Aidan said with a smirk as he drew out what looked to be a wand.
This was the problem with white witches. They never trusted themselves enough to make spells using their bodies as mediums that they had to use wands unlike black witches who used anything necessary. Jane tended to Terus while I stood in between them and Aidan.
Aidan waved his wand preparing to cast a spell and I prepared to throw out a ball of light to distract his crew so that we could escape but the sound of the horn in the distance stopped the fight.
"Darn it!" Derek cursed while he stared at Jane. I moved in front of her to block his line of sight and he glared at me while Aidan chuckled.
"Don't worry, Derek. They are around. You will get her." He told him and I felt disgusted.
"And as for you, wait until Pecku learns of your arrival. Ha-ha, I look forward to school all of a sudden." He added as he turned to me.
He gave me a glance and departed with his friends while we took shaky breaths. I have never liked fighting with family.
*
"Welcome to Adele academy." Pecku said as he stood on a podium.
After our little meeting with Aidan, all of us were called to the academy gardens which made me realize that they had teleported us into the academy forest where the purge was going on. I don't know how most of us even survived it.
"As you all know, you are here to have your talents, gifts and magical capabilities tested and awakened so even if your powers have awakened, you still need to be tested." He tested as he looked around the grounds trying to find someone, me of course.
All the students from Adera were covered in grime as they sat in small hurdles away from those of the Adele academy. I looked all around us and realized that our group was the one with the cleanest people.
"That must be Pecku Hera. He is so handsome."
"I know, right? Look at that smile. He is perfection unlike some people." I heard people all around us whisper and paid them no mind because to some extent they were right.
Pecku was the perfect first born child of the Hera family set to inherit wealth and the duchy while I was the ugly duckling and the black sheep of the family.
"Are you ok?" Jane asked and I realized I had zoned out.
"I am fine." I told her with a smile and paid attention to this so called orientation. When I looked up, I realized that Pecku was staring in my direction and I just shrugged.
"Now, you sleeping arrangements will be decided by your professors and dinner will be sent to your rooms shortly. I hope you have a wonderful stay." Pecku said with a grin and I knew our stay would be anything but wonderful.
Our professors assigned us to our rooms in the guest wing of the academy which I wonder why they built as it took up a lot of space and was a common ground for bullying. I had been a victim once so I know what horrors lay in those dorms. As I walked to my shared space, I couldn't help but notice how people were giving me weird glances. Funniest thing was they were not meeting my eye. Not minding them, I continued on and realized that most people also had luggage. Couldn't they just use a minimizing spell?
Reaching the door, I was shocked to find that the room had Elena and her crew. Plus, there was a guy!
"Where do you think you are going?" Elena asked as I entered the room. I had rather be elsewhere than here.
"I am going to sleep as I have had a long night. Where else do you think I was going?" I asked her, sarcasm dripping from my voice. I was getting cranky as I had not had enough sleep for the past few days and having a weirdo come and disrupt it was not an option.
As I made my way to the bed, some dimwit dropped their bags onto it and I was starting to get pissed.
"This bed is taken. Go find your own." The dimwit said and I decided to say a few words.
"Look, go find your own sleeping quarters. We don't want cursed people here." Elena said and I decided to talk back.
"Witches, don't disturb me. Not today. I have had a rough evening and I would like to rest so either make room or get lost." I said and I was sure my eyes were glowing, frightening Elena and her crew.
Ignoring their frightened faces, I moved towards the bed and deposited their bags to the ground. As I prepared to lay down, Elena got her bags with a huff and left.
I closed my eyes and reveled in the silence until a knock at the door broke it all making me shoot my eyes open in irritation.
"Is this the room for the weirdos?" the person asked and from the voice, I realized that it was Terus.
"Hey, don't call us that!" Jane said from behind him as she smacked him.
"Mind if we crush here? We were kicked out of our rooms." Terus said a she rubbed his head where Jane had hit him and I laughed.
"You guys are always welcome to my crib." I said and Jane squealed.
"Sleepover!!"