Lilly Vatalini Bedford
Lilly perched herself on a branch in the Old Forest near the school. As she watched first years pile into the school, she wondered how many of them were magic users. According to Robert, the number of them were dwindling. She wasn't going to complain. It just made her that much more unique.
But if Mages weren't going extinct, that meant the Council was going around killing newborn mages. It wasn't Lilly's concern though, and it never would be.
Lilly had spent her summer exploring, continuing on the homeless life she lead as a child. Some things had happened and she had begun to consider leaving the school and never returning. But she couldn't bring herself too. Lilly still couldn't fly straight up to the school anymore either. Liam, her 'father', had still been inhabiting his daughter as though she was a free vessel. The nonstop activity due to Liam's living in her had given her a more rugged look filled with fatigue. But Lilly was much, much stronger.
"OZ," she said in a very commanding voice. Her shadow waivered, extended, then formed into her familiar.
"Yes, Master."
"When does class start?"
"In approximately ... three ... two ... one." The bell echoed though the school and beyond just enough for any normal human to pick up on. Lilly herself had no problem picking up the middle C note that blasted out of the speakerphones. Students scrambled from the halls to their classes. "We should be leaving now, sir." OZ had referred to Liam more than Lilly, mainly because he was in the control room most the time now.
"I suppose you are right," Lilly responded, dropping out of the tree and tucking in her shadow wings. It was a good 20 foot drop, but it didn't phase Lilly in the slightest. She had filled out a little more over the summer, starting to really take the form of a Shadow Mage. Lilly was slightly taller and a lot more like a woman. Her red hair was even longer than before and her eyes had remained the same piercing black as before.
Lilly looked much older, but occasionally, a ping of childlike excitement would run though her veins.
"OZ ... Do you want to race?" OZ smiled at his Master. He gave a quick nod as they counted down simultaneously from five. "Go!"
The two took off, phasing through walls and flying up stairwells towards their destination. Lilly was in the lead, so it was her who phased through the door and flapped her wings in a way that made papers fly everywhere. She smirked at a glaring Robert and touched the ground lightly.
"Ah ... Miss Bedford. Always making an entrance I see." Lilly strolled to her seat. Seeing that it was empty, the story of the cursed seat must have remained over the summer. "Anyways ... onto the introductions. First years first then so on and so forth."