The Second Halo of Ciazel,
The City of Nocelle,
Rubble Arena
Fastening the last of the crimson buttons sewed onto her shirt's cuffs, Val slipped on a midnight poncho and smiled at herself in the washroom mirrors. "All done."
Designated by the Ciazen Magocracy, all mages were gifted white button-ups and black bottoms, paired with a resistant cloak and weather-worn combat boots. Used in official gatherings like the closing ceremony of the Tripartite Trial, the uniforms were in the middle of formals and regimentals.
Hopefully, it would stay closer to the former.
Val's gaze traced the green sashed looped under her left arm and around her neck, the colour supposedly representing new beginnings, a resonance of sorts to the blooming Novices. The sentiment brought back the dilemma eating at the rear end of her mind.
Colours, it appeared, conveyed more than the human-proposed meanings. Ever since Collins' slip of the tongue, she'd paid closer attention to it, combing through her brain to see what she could find.
Be it past occurrences, like the umber-brown of Miss Peppers' gaze whenever she held back some form of anger, or the more recent ones, like the bright teal of the lightning in Thundertails, the hue was linked to the element exhibited. Brown for geo and teal for lightning. Neon blue for illusions and fuschia-pink for mind traps. 'Heavenly Hue, was it?'
It didn't make sense since, as Collins had said, she needed to be a part of it to perceive it. Wouldn't that make her a… mage? 'That doesn't add up though.' She wouldn't have spent ten grand and given herself a stressful week if she had been one prior, which leaves her with an unsolvable puzzle.
And if there was one thing she hated, it was a problem she couldn't solve.
"As much as I take appearances seriously," Caro's boots squelched on the sticky tiles as she moved for the door, tucking a tiny braid into the side of her fiery ponytail. "Our elemental awakening is waiting for us."
…
Val's head swung akin to a pendulum as she absorbed the stunning view spanning from the middle of Rubble Arena. A stadium made for tens of thousands circled all around her, tiered seats rising from the ground, up to the landing where she stood, and beyond. Lapis-blue enchantments twinkled on the amphitheatres as sunlight splashed on the seats through the arena's translucent cover.
Joining the steady stream of ebony-clad people, she travelled down the stone steps and through the rustic-wood archways, finding Williams sitting by his lonesome in one of the first rows.
"Where are the rest?" She took a seat beside him, rising right back up to marvel at the surprisingly warm seats. 'Curious.'
"Went to go find their own group of friends," he answered, shifting down one seat so Caro could sit.
Her lips curled downwards. "Didn't even get to say goodbye."
"Don't worry." Caro jiggled a sheet of paper and smiled. "I got their socials written down right here. We'll be able to stay in contact no problem."
"Write mine down as well," Williams said. "It's—."
"Ew," Caro interrupted. "I don't want it."
His expression froze. She burst into laughter and stretched a hand around Val to slap his shoulder. "Just kidding, what was it?"
"I'm not telling you."
"C'mooon," she drawled. "Like I said, I was only—"
An all-encompassing drone overtook the stadium. Transparent screens popped into existence above the stadium, hovering over the holes widening inside the sandy arena floor. Onyx pillars rose from the cavities, stopping to reveal slate spheres recognizable by any kid, any student, and any aspiring mage.
Val gaped, entranced by the swirls of millions of colours periodically churning in each sphere. "Aren't those…"
"Manifestation orbs?" Caro squeaked, excitement raising her pitch. "It is taking literally everything in me not to jump this fence and touch one of those things."
"You've waited years, I'm sure you can wait a couple of more minutes, Hayes."
Val's attention rose to the arena's roof, a floating object drawing nearer by the second. As it closed in, its appearance sharpened into a form she could make out. 'Wait, that's not an object, it's a—'
"By the saints, that's Fiona Rhodes!"
"You mean the Spatial Soldier?"
"The one and only, look, there she is!"
The ring of overhead IBR screens displayed Fiona clearly for each section of the crowd, clad in her military fatigues. She chuckled and adjusted her cap, her ice-blue eyes scanning the crowd. "Glad to see my time in the University Games is remembered."
Her words provoked a standing ovation and Val's head swerved to take in the sea of dark clothes cheering, bewildered.
"See," Caro gestured to the crowd. "Everyone knows who she is."
"Thanks, it wasn't like I could see that."
Caro grinned.
"I want you to focus on the amphitheatre you all are currently sitting on." Fiona swept a hand around the arena. "The stone seats, the sandy arena floor. Something this grand—something that took months to build—is an object of the past. No one comes to this place in droves anymore to watch mages battle tamed aether creatures.
"At the time, they couldn't have believed streaming would become a thing or have guessed the subsequent fall to insignificance that would follow. The same could be said for magic, the elemental arts, and you" —she gestured to the crowd "—who will soon dabble in the things unseen."
Rhodes twirled in the air to face the other side, the screen displaying her every action. "We only discovered elements to exist a mere two millennia ago and each year we find more. Fifty years before this very moment the Tripartite Trial you all just bested did not exist and none can say with confidence it will still be here in the five decades to come.
"As you can see," she said, "change is as ever-present as time and only one thing remains the same within it all." She laid a palm on her chest. "The rise and fall of your drive—your willpower. Will you be the one adapting to the constant shifts of life or will you bring about that change?
"Every spell cast, every incantation uttered alters reality a tad bit. Meaning as mages, we hold a power that makes a tiny increment of difference within our reality. That power is what we call magic and that is what you all will train to exhibit."
A smirk tugged at the corner of Fiona's lips. "Excited yet?"