-Victoria-
I woke up the next day when my body was good and ready. And by that I mean, I was hungry. I rolled out of bed and pulled on my new white uniform. The skirt, tie, and shoes were thankfully black but the button-up and cloak were bright white. In a sea of red and blue, I was gonna stick out like a sore thumb.
Following the same path the headmaster took, I managed to climb my way out of my dungeon and into a long hall. I wondered for quite a while but couldn't manage to find anyone. All the doors I tried were locked. I thought maybe I was early until I looked outside and saw the sun high in the sky. I wasn't early, but where was everyone? The sound of a door closing broke through the quiet. I moved towards the direction of the sound, hoping to find someone.
Coming around a corner at the end of the hall, I was met with a heavier-set boy in a red uniform. He was holding his arm close to his chest, and it seemed to be rather badly burned. He had tears in his eyes.
"Excuse me," I said, startling him, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." He said, wiping his face with his good hand, "Just an accident in class."
"What class was it?" I asked, attempting to lighten the mood, "How to tame dragons?"
"History." He replied, crestfallen.
"How to get burns like that in history?" I asked, perplexed.
"Well, some of the other students kept sending stinging spells at me," He explained, "So I tried to send one back, but I'm not very good with my magic, so it backfired, causing this burn."
"What is this place? High-school?" I joked.
"Pretty much." He replied, "We've gone to school together for so many years. New building, same bullies."
"I haven't gone to school with you." I pointed out.
"Oh!" He exclaimed, finally looking up, "You're the one they found in the human realm. The one with no kingdom."
"That's me." I offered a smile.
"The professors have been looking for you all morning." He said.
"Well, no one gave me a schedule or told me what time to be here." I shrugged, "There's not even a clock in my room."
"The headmaster should've given it to you when you arrived." He looked confused.
"I don't think the headmaster likes me very much." I sighed.
"The headmaster doesn't like a lot of people." He confessed, wincing from the pain in his hand.
"You should probably go get that arm looked at." I winced at the pain he must be in, "I'll come with you since I have no clue where I am or where I'm supposed to be."
"I think you're supposed to be in the class I was in, but you're already super late so you might as well come along to healer." He started to walk down the hall, "I'll even give you a tour since lunch is after this class. I'm Ani by the way."
"Victoria." I smiled as I followed him down the hall.
We walked down hall after hall. He explained how most of the rooms in this area were classrooms and professors' offices. I joked saying I would need a map. Ani guided me into a central area with high ceilings and a massive stone fountain in the center. I once again made a joke saying how the place reminded me of Hogwarts, but he just tilted his head in confusion. I promised I'd explain another day. Finally, we arrived in the hospital area where we were greeted by two healers, Ibelle and Resim. They were very nice and immediately treated Ani's burns. I noticed that with the magic there wasn't any incantations or spells. Just light and energy flowing. As we were leaving, I asked Ani about.
"Magic is about intention," He explained, "And directing the energy inside us. Everyone in Evania has the energy and some can harness it. Those who can't harness their energy live much like those in the human realm would I'd imagine."
Magic is intention and directing energy? I guess that makes sense, I thought to myself. We continued exploring, showing me the library, rec areas, gym, even a pool. He even pointed out the student housing assuming that was where I was staying.
"Actually my room isn't over there," I corrected, "It's actually down. Like way down. Probably under the classroom area."
"Down?" He was confused. "Like in the dungeons?"
"Yup." I nodded.
"Why would your rooms be in the dungeons?" He was even more confused.
"You'd have to ask the headmaster." I shrugged.
"Oh definitely not," Ani's hands flew up in defense, "But I could ask Professor Zekora. She'd know. We'll go see her during lunch."
I nodded in agreement just as a light bell was heard throughout the hall. Ani directed me up the stairs and into a massive dining hall decked out in blue on the left side and red on the right. Around the edge on both sides, there was a buffet-style set up with a variety of food and beverages. Towards the back, in a rather secluded area, I noticed a table with a white table cloth on it. That must be where I'm expected to sit.
"Hey, Ani," I asked while we gathered some food, "Do we have to sit at tables with our colors?"
"It's not a rule," He answered, "It just sort of works out that way. We share very few classes with Aivorians and most are during our fourth year. We just never really mingle."
That statement kinda shocked me. I know the school was created to foster peace. You'd think it would be easier if the students actually got to know each other. Ani led me to a red table out of the way and close to the door. As more students entered, I was pulling curious looks, most likely due to my white uniform. Princess Ustrea walked by with a gaggle of girls all giggling without a care in the world. She noticed me. Our eyes locked and hers narrowed in a glare as she stopped to stare. The surrounding girls stopped, confused, before she whispered something to them. All their eyes turned to me. They seemed to come to an agreement before moving on.
Not long after the princess came in, Prince Azax came in with a rowdy group of guys. His eyes found mine immediately. A wave of safety and peace came over me. A silent message passed between us. He asked if I was ok and I must have portrayed that I was cause he carried on with his friends into the heart of the blue section. Finally, in a flurry of chaos, a girl with short black hair and a red uniform skidded into the hall. It had to be one of Ani's friends cause he immediately stood, waving her over.
"Annamorith, I'd like you to meet our newest student, Victoria," Ani introduced me with a wave of his hand, "Victoria, this is Annamorith, my best friend since childhood."
"Oh my god, you're the new student that all the teachers have been looking for!" She exclaimed, talking a mile a minute, "They called you in every one of our morning classes and the rumor is that they've also been calling your name in the Aivorian classes, which makes no sense cause you're supposed to be in our classes. I mean unless you did something to really anger the headmaster cause then he might schedule you to be in both just so it's impossible to make all your classes, and you'll be easier to get into trouble."
"Annamorith!" Ani admonished, stopping the train of thought, "First breathe. Second, that is very rude."
"She's right though," I respond, "I did piss off the headmaster."
"See, I was right." She smiled wide, "I'm always right with these sorts of things."
"Just go get some food." Ani shook his head, laughing.
"I'm assuming she doesn't have an off switch," I laughed.
"That she does not," He agreed, "But we love her anyway."
I chuckled, digging into the food in front of me. I had the feeling someone was coming up behind me but made the mistake of assuming it was Annamorith returning. Suddenly, I was drenched in some sort of chocolate beverage and various chocolate-based foods, definitely including pudding. My white uniform was now brown. Ani leaped out of his chair but quickly fell into a bow, meaning only two could've have done this and a quick turn of my head showed that the prince was still in the blue section. Although he was standing up, looking concerned and angry.
"Pardon me," Princess Ustrea said, "I didn't see you there."
I just continued to sit there, not even looking at her. That seemed to piss her off.
"Have you forgotten your manners already?" She sneered down at me.
Reluctantly, I stood, food and drink dripping everywhere. I gave a bow at the waist, mimicking what I had just seen Ani do.
"It's too bad you've made friends with someone so useless in magic," She laughed, "They could've helped you clean off. Now you'll be stuck like that for the rest of the day."
"I could go change," I replied quietly, causing her to glare. "Your highness."
"And be late for more classes?" She chuckled, "I'm sure the headmaster would be thrilled."
With that she walked off, back into the center of the red section. Ani tried his best to clean me off, not willing to use his magic in fear of hurting me or himself. When Annamorith finally returned, she even tried to help but ended up only making it worse since she just made more food appear on me. A professor approached the three of us.
"You must be our wayward student." The professor addressed me, "Come, the headmaster wishes to see you."
"Professor Ubaris, can you clean her off first?" Ani asked.
"If she cannot clean herself, then she'll need to wait," Professor Ubaris said.
"But that's not fair," Annamorith exclaimed.
"Unfortunately, this is how it is, Ms. Victoria follow me." The professor began to just walk away. I gave an apologetic look to my new friends before following.
Professor Ubaris led me up many stairs until we stood outside the headmaster's office. I was hit with the feeling that I would be making that climb a lot. The professor knocked on the door. I heard come in. I entered to find a rather smug looking headmaster.
"Victoria, what terrible impression you've made on your first day." He chided me, "First you miss all your morning classes and now you've dripped a mess all over the school."
"I wasn't allowed to change before coming here." I replied, a little offended, "Also, you never me a schedule of my classes."
"Of course I did," He now looked offended, "You must've misplaced it."
"Can't misplace something you never got." I sassed under my breathe.
"Watch it, young lady," a stern look came over his face, "You're already in enough trouble. Take this new copy of your schedule and get yourself cleaned up. Don't want to late for your next class."
"My next class is in 20 minutes." I said, "It'll take me half that time to get to my room. Not to mention I'm meant to be in two classes at once."
"You'll just have to figure something out." He said waving me out, "Off you go."
I left the office concerned. How would I manage? I bumped into Ani and Annamorith.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"We followed you up." Ani said, "We overheard what the headmaster was saying."
"It's so messed up what he's trying to do." Annamorith added, "But we know someone who'll help."
"Who?" I asked.
"Only the best professor in the whole school." Annamorith smiled.
"Time to meet Professor Zekora."