Leona Payne's Story

Anastasia sighed as she stepped foot into the boarding school. It was the first day and already she was beginning to feel anxiety. It's not that she didn't want to be here, that was far from the problem. She just wasn't sure what path she would end up going down. Anastasia is supposed to be a royal, after all, she is Ariel and Prince Eric's daughter. So, who else was she supposed to be? She just wishes she could choose her own path and become who she wants to be. Not someone her so called "destiny" is making her out to be. Because of this, she was going to be herself no matter the costs. Deep down she was a rebel at heart, but in reality she is nothing more than a royal.

Anastasia stepped into the office and grabbed her schedule and rooming papers before looking down at it. At that point, she noticed that she was going to be rooming with two other royals. Of course she felt that was going to be an interesting time. Sharing a room with people she didn't even know and having to deal with each other day in and day out. She read over the names, Julia Black and Victoria Carter.

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Mason rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the limo parked outside of the boarding school. This was definitely somewhere he didn't want to be. But at least he was going to have his own room. At this point, he hoped that no one else would end up rooming with him, but he wasn't going to hold his breath. Knowing his luck, in the middle of the year another guy would show up needing a room. He pulled his bags out from the limo and began carrying his things through the campus, beginning to look for his dormitory. As he glanced around the campus, he could see a lot of other students, some he knew about, some he never even seen or heard about. This was definitely going to be a great adventure, one that he would most likely end up hating for the rest of his life. Honestly, if it were up to him, he wouldn't even be here. He knew the path he was supposed to go down. He's supposed to irritate the three little pigs and little red for the rest of his life. What was there that needed to be learned in a stupid boarding school?

Leona dropped her backpack by her feet just inside the school gate, then stretched her arms over her head and cricked her neck, sighing through her nose as she heard her joints pop. She chaffed at the school's insistance that she carry her bag herself. They had a point, she supposed; the other students might be a bit put off if there were a skeleton following her everywhere, and while she enjoyed the thought of her classmates fearing her, she was willing to concede that it might be better to keep a low profile, even if carrying her backpack everywhere made her shoulder ache.

See, mother, she thought to herself, leaning down the pick her bag up. I can show restraint. Look at me, following school policy. I'm almost respectable. Her mother had already seen fit to supply her with her course schedule and room assignment for the semester, so she already knew who she'd be dealing with for the next few months. This also meant she had a bit more free time on her hands, as she had no obligation to stop by the office. She assumed she would eventually have to report somewhere for something, but in the meantime she was free to do as she liked.

Leona considered how best to entertain herself for the time being as she moved away from the gate. She could try flirting with some of the younger students. That was usually worth her time; even if nothing came of it, it was usually still worthwhile just to see the look on their faces. Pranks were another good way to spend her time; she had a spell for creating a heatless flame which she could try using on someone's pants. That would be worth a laugh. She sighed quietly in exasperation. There were too many choices, all so attractive, it was really too difficult to decide on just one.

Anastasia sighed as she finally found her dormitory. She opened the door, finding a girl with dark hair and tanned skin in the room. "Hello," she stated as she pulled her bags into the room and closed the door behind her. She glanced back and forth between the two beds that were left and chose the one by the window. She always enjoyed looking outside when she had the time to do it. She sat her things down on the bed and began to unpack. "I'm Anastasia Rivers," she introduced as she opened her bag and began placing her clothes in the drawers.

Of course she knew she would most likely have a hard time here at the school because there were just so many people that she didn't seem to get along with very well because of how different she was from her parents, but in any case she chose to start the year off by being nice to everyone unless they treated her like shit. If they treated her badly, then she'd do the same to them. Anastasia lives by the saying, "Give respect to earn it."

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Once Mason arrived to his dormitory, he opened the door and dropped his bags on the ground before returning back outside. He would just unpack later when he feels like doing so. But for right now he was going to go check out the other students, something that would entertain him very well. He glanced around as he noticed that some activities were going on around campus. Some clubs trying to get new members, teachers talking, students talking and messing with each other. Maybe this place wasn't going to be so bad after all, he thought to himself. Mason began walking between the stands for the clubs, looking for anything that he might join. Of course he wasn't too fond of joining any sort of club, but if it was going to give him something to do, he mind as well.

Leona waked through campus, assessing each new student she saw for their value in regards to her potential methods of entertainment. That one was too young, made it too uncomfortable for flirting. This one looked like a teacher's pet, would probably snitch if she tried anything. Too ugly. Too boring. No. No. No. No, no, no, no. Damn it.

She eventually found herself in an area where the school's clubs had set up recruitment booths. The place was somewhat crowded, with teachers yammering to each other while students screwed around and clubs called to passers-by. The set-up was so perfect it was nearly erotic. Now she just needed to find where to start. She examined each club stand she passed, judging their ability to serve her purposes. Some bored-looking guy passed on her left, but she ignored him.

She found what she needed not a minute later. The Origami Club. She could've squealed with joy, but refrained from doing so. She hid herself in a small group of students not far away ("Hi! I'm Sarah. Yeah, I'm totally interested in woodcarving!"), keeping her eye on her target. This was gonna be beautiful.

Leona locked one eye on the Origami Club's stand, a cat-like smile curling her lips. She whispered two short incantations, and what happened next (in her humble opinion) was worthy of an award. The air was filled with the soft fluttering of wings as a hundred paper cranes took to the sky, each one bathed in a heatless purple flame. The magical fire wouldn't spread, of course, but Leona felt it should be enough to scare the shit out of those in the area. She retreated back the way she came, wanting to find a good place to survey the chaos she had unleashed.

As Anastasia began to unpack her things, she couldn't help but get this strange feeling that someone was standing just outside the door. She sighed and finally just stopped in her tracks and made her way to the door. She slowly opened it up, finding that there was a petite blonde standing before her. "Um, may I help you?" she questioned in a polite, yet curious tone to figure out why she had just been standing there in the first place. There was no denying how weird this was, but she wasn't going to be mean to the girl about it, there was no reason to. It just seemed...odd.

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Mason couldn't help but notice a blonde that walked by him, he turned on his heels and watched as she smiled huge, evilly as if she were going to do something entertaining. Though just as he thought, she had. He smirked as he watched the origami cranes take off to the sky with the intoxicating purple flame that burned from each one. The sight was very impressive, something that he had never seen before in his life. Though he couldn't help but to laugh as he heard the chaos that was going on because of the magical origamis burning with such delight.

The male crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed as he watched the cranes for a couple more seconds. He finally just looked away and began looking around for the blonde, the one who cast that spell in the first place. Finally, he managed to see her maneuvering through the crowd, he followed after her.

Leona took up position by the school's wall, leaning against it with arms crossed as she surveyed her handiwork. People running, screaming, watching the cranes in awe...

Wait, watching the cranes in awe? people should be panicking. Why wasn't anyone panicking? This was not what she wanted. People should be afraid of the fire, not fascinated by it, what the hell. She pushed off from the wall and entwined her fingers in her hair, clenching and unclenching her left hand in frustration. Maybe... maybe change the fire, make it burn? Or enchant the cranes to dive towards people? There must be some way to salvage this, she knew there must be.

In her mental flailing, she nearly missed the boy who had followed her, and it took her mind a moment to register he was even there at all. The bored-looking guy, she thought. She almost failed to recognize him, given she'd only seen him for the span of a couple seconds, but sure enough, there he was.

"What?" she demanded, dropping her hands to her sides. "I'm busy."

Anastasia smiled after hearing her words and welcome her inside. "I'm Anastasia," she stated as she closed the door behind them. She made her way back over to her things and began to continue unpacking. "I hope you don't mind the last bed," she stated looking over towards the empty bed closest to the closet. She sat down on her bed and began to go through her photos, setting a couple of her with her parents, Ariel and Prince Eric, on her desk and hanging a few other photos on the wall.

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The male just smirked and glanced to the cranes then back at her before speaking, "Maybe if you changed the cranes into daggers instead, it might give the effect you were wanting." The male crossed his arms and leaned against the wall as he propped his left foot against it, as he awaited an answer from the blonde female. Mason couldn't seem to understand why he was so fascinated by her, but he was. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but he just couldn't place a finger on it. Instead of worrying about it he just pushed it aside, it wasn't relevant anyways.

Leona shifted her weight onto one foot and put her hand on her hip. "And exactly what effect is it that you think I'm going for?" she asked, the hint of a smile touching her lips. She was intruigued; she didn't know whether to dismiss this boy or humor his insight. "I was just trying to avoid the commotion." She gestured toward the club stands, flicking her eyes up at the burning paper cranes.

She didn't think herself in danger of being exposed by this boy. He seemed more amused by what she'd done than anything, and his attitude suggested he wasn't likely to rat her out to anyone.

Anastasia smiled and nodded her head, "Alright, well I'm headed out to the activities fair. I'll see you guys later," she stated to Julia and Victoria before making her way out of the room, closing the door behind her. At that point, she wondered if there was a pool or any sort of body of water around for her to swim in. Every morning she enjoyed swimming around, enjoying the part of her that was mermaid. If not then she would just have to deal with it and find something else to do in the morning.

She shrugged her shoulders as she slid her hands into her back pockets as she began looking around at the clubs that were offered at the school. She wanted to do something in music, she just wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to do. The only thing she was sure of was she didn't want anything to do with band, she didn't have the patience to learn how to play an instrument.

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Mason smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't, if I were wanting to freak out an entire campus of students, I would just go with something like the daggers," he stated before standing up straight and sliding his hands into his pockets as he began to walk away. He stopped and turned to her, "I'm Mason by the way," he introduced and turned back around and continued on his way.

As Mason walked, he noticed a male student who seemed to have showed up later than most of the other students. Of course he was never one to help anyone, but he figured he mind as well. He walked up to the male and spoke, "Hey man, you need help with anything?" he questioned a bit curious. But honestly, he wasn't even sure why he was going through with this. Mason was never this nice to anyone he didn't know.

Drucilla sighed as she glanced over at the male who was sitting in the vehicle with her. He was about her age and everything about him screamed royal. She couldn't believe she was stuck in a car for a couple hours with a royal of all people. With Dru not being able to handle the silence anymore she spoke up, "So, who are you, I mean, who are your parents?" she questioned, hoping that would break the silence a bit. "I'm Snow White's kid," he answered her before looking back out the window. At that moment her eyes widened, this was Snow White's son, the guy who was supposed to be her mortal enemy in their story.

Dru couldn't believe she was stuck in a musky, old vehicle with Bryson. This was the kid her mother was always telling her about. She kept to herself for the rest of the trip, hoping that he wouldn't say a single word to her after that. She didn't need him knowing who she was right now, that was far from the question.

"Finally, we're here," she mumbled to herself as she climbed out of the vehicle and looked around the campus, seeing a bunch of other students and flying paper cranes lit on fire...but not any fire, it was purple. She blinked a couple times and smirked. There was someone else around here a bit like her, she liked it.

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Bryson preferred to keep to himself through the entire trip to the school. Mainly because without having to ask he could tell who he was sharing the vehicle with, it was the Evil Queen's daughter. From the way she looked, there was no having to contemplate who she was, it was obvious to anyone with who could see. But once she started speaking to him, he cleared his throat and answered her, "I'm Snow White's kid," he stated to her before looking back out the window. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.

He sighed as he placed his headphones into his ears and listened to his music for the rest of the trip. He really didn't want to speak to this girl anymore, just a couple seconds speaking to her and he was tired of her. This was his mortal enemy? This is just great...

When they arrived to the school, he could see Drucilla's lips moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying, mainly because of his headphones. Though he honestly didn't care what she had to say. He climbed out of the vehicle and retrieved his bags from the trunk and glanced down at the papers in his hand, realizing that he was having a room to himself until further notice. He shrugged his shoulders and made his way through the campus with the bags in his hand.

It wasn't until a couple minutes he looked up and noticed there were paper cranes flying around. He just shook his head and continued walking. He really didn't want to be here, but obviously he had no other choice.

"I'm not sure if that's cool enough to leave on!" Leona called after him, grinning. Mason. Weird guy. Might be worth her time. 

Might be.

Leona turned and started toward the dormitories. She waved her hand dismissively as she walked away, releasing her enchantments, causing the paper cranes to drop to the ground, completely back to normal. She figured she may as well drop her bag off at her dorm, considering her shoulder had started to ache. Maybe she'd just levitate it everywhere once she'd settled in.

She climbed the stairs up to the second floor, taking note of the numbers of the rooms she passed, cross-checking them against the one on the form she'd summoned into her hand. She got a weird sensation from one door, as if sensing an enemy, but she shrugged it off and continued on. 

She found the room she had been assigned at the end of the hall, tucked away in a corner on the left. She swung the door open and stepped inside, a bit underwhelmed by the furnishings she found. She clicked her tongue before dropping her bag on the bed farthest from the hall entrance. She'd have to do something about this later, maybe increase the square footage while she was at it. This was not even remotely near the level of room she would consider sleeping in.

As Drucilla began walking through the campus with her bags hanging from her shoulders, she placed her palm out in front of her and started tossing a ball of fire up into the air and catching it, repeating the cycle. Fire had always seemed to be one of her favorite things to play with. Though as she made her way through the crowd, other students seemed to instantly back away from her. In a way she enjoyed that sense of fear that had of her without even speaking to her, it gave her a little control over the other students. She glanced down at the paper in her other hand and noticed that she had been given a room to share with a female named Leona. She rolled her eyes, having a feeling that this wouldn't work out very well, especially since she was never one to actually get along with others.

But Drucilla just sighed and continued making her way through the campus until she finally came across the dormitory. She put the fire out and stepped into the building, walking through the halls, looking for her dorm. After about three minutes, she spotted the dorm tucked away in a corner. She sighed and slowly opened the door, hoping that her room mate wouldn't be there, but low and behold, that was exactly who she saw when she opened the door. Drucilla took a relaxing breath and stepped into the room, taking the free bed, keeping her words to herself.

It was the very first day of school, she wasn't in the mood to already make an enemy, so she figured silence would be the best thing to keep going on for that moment. After setting her bags down on the bed, she lifted her left hand and swished it to the side, closing the door and turned her attention back to her things as she began to unpack.

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Bryson finally gathered all of his bags as he noticed Drucilla walking off without another word to him. He followed behind her but soon went in another direction, towards the dormitories for the male royals. Thankfully he would have the dorm to himself. That was the only place he figured he would have his own space and privacy, a place to get away from the other idiotic students around here. He sighed as she stepped into the room and dropped all of his things onto the bed. He'd unpack later. Right now, all he wanted to do was head out and see what was going on on campus.

Bryson stepped out the room, closing the door behind him before making his way back outside onto the campus. He maneuvered his way through the crowd, checking out some of the activities that other students were trying to make him join. Most of them had no interest to him, he hoped he would be able to get into some sort of sport, he just didn't seem to be sure which one he wanted to be apart of.

Leona stared down at her bed, thinking on whether it would be better to finish refurnishing the dorm before unpacking. She was scratching her cheek just below the left eye with the side of her thumb when she heard the door close. Her eye twitched involuntarily; her roommate was apparently quite free with the magic, and the stink of it hung about her like a cloud.

"Drusilla," Leona stated, not turning around. "What do you think? Two bed, two bath, maybe a guest room and a study? And a proper kitchen, without saying. I'm not sure what they're pushing in the cafeteria could legally be called food." 

She turned to face the newcomer, placing her hands on her hips. She briefly wrinkled her nose as the smell hit her full-force. "Maybe three bedrooms," she added. "Get that cloud a room of its own."

Drucilla sighed after hearing the female speaking to her. She could tell something was on her mind, but once she found out what she was doing, she just smirked. The female thought for a moment, ignoring her last comment. "Two bed, two bath sounds good, along with the kitchen," she responded to her before turning her attention back to her things on her bed. Of course she thought that she wasn't being serious about changing the way their room was built, but if she was, she would be very happy about that. At least she would have her privacy in her own room.

Though she just couldn't seem to understand what she meant by the cloud, she couldn't see any sort of cloud anywhere in their room. But she just shrugged it off and sat down on her bed, beginning to set her pillows and blankets down in a pile upon it.

"Two bedrooms," Leona repeated to herself, rubbing her neck as she turned in place to take in the room. 

She wasn't entirely sure if her first attempt at this kind of magic would be a success, but damned if she'd let the new girl in on that. She considered the possibility of playing it safe, using magic circles and glyphs drawn on the floor and walls to help focus the spell. Of course that would mean putting off the spell, so she directed Dru to mark a few areas on the walls and ceilings where the glyphs and circles would be placed later.

Well, better to extend an olive branch than have one sprout from your face. She decided she'd draw up the necessary circles in her notebook before asking Dru to help draw them where they need be. In the meantime, the pain in her stomach was a sign she might perhaps put up with the school's food for the time being.

"Alrighty then. I'll get the boring prep crap outta the way later. I'm hungry. You hungry? Wanna take our chances with the cafeteria?" Might as well get some basic info about the girl she'd be living with for the rest of the school year. Who knows, maybe she might actually come to view her as more than a space saver at some point. She supposed it was nice having another spellwright at the school.

Drucilla magically made a piece of chalk appear and started drawing the lines around the room that she was told to do. She honestly wasn't sure how all of this was going to turn out, but she wouldn't mind finding out. Who knew, maybe she'd learn more about what she can and can't do with her magic even if she didn't help Leona with the construction.

She dropped the piece of chalk down on one of the desks and sighed once she was finished. After hearing Leona's offer about keeping her company during lunch, she took the opportunity. Besides, she needed to get to know her roommate. She would feel highly uncomfortable if she were to spend the rest of the year living with someone she didn't even know. If she came to end up not getting along with her, at least she would know her.

"Sure, I'll join you," she stated to her with a soft smile and slid her arms into her leather jacket. Even though it was hot outside, she still felt naked without her jacket. She wasn't sure what it was about the female's in her family, but every one of them has some sort of leather they wear everyday.

Leona stretched, feeling her joints crack and she stepped toward the door. "Cool," she sighed, dropping her arms. 

She pulled the door open, holding it so Drucilla could go through ahead of her. It wouldn't do to present herself in a servile position, but there's no harm in being polite. 

"So, I assume you've eaten school food before. I make a lot of talk, but I've never actually eaten it before. Is it really as bad as I've heard and proclaim it to be?" She fell in beside Dru once the other girl was through the door. "I'd just like to know whether I need to brace myself beforehand."

Bryson smiled after hearing her name, having a feeling that he recognized it from somewhere but he wasn't exactly sure where it was from. He followed her into the building and introduced himself as well, "I'm Bryson," he stated to her. "Who are your parents?" he questioned a bit curious. Of course he had a feeling this question was probably going to be asked to her and every other student at this school a lot throughout the year, but he wanted to know who she was related to. Just curiosity he supposed.

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Anastasia smiled after hearing him call her beautiful. Of course she wasn't the kind of person with a huge ego so she always believed she was never as pretty as people claimed her to be. "It's over that way," she stated as she pointed towards the left of them. "Though I wouldn't mind walking you to the office if you'd like the company," she added. Though she wasn't going to impose if he wanted to be alone. Anastasia noticed his facial expression change for a brief second but just left the situation alone. She didn't know Zeke well enough to be getting into his business the way she wanted to so she kept her mouth shut at that moment.

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Drucilla smiled politely over towards Leona when she allowed her to walk through the door first and waited for her to catch up with her before continuing on towards the cafeteria. After hearing her start talking about the school lunch, she just shrugged her arms. "I honestly have no clue. My mother never wanted me to attend any school to begin with but they forced her to enroll me here. She wanted to teach me everything I had to know herself," she explained. Though part of her was glad she was enrolled here. It gave her a chance to get to know other people and have a bit of freedom, the kind of freedom she didn't have back at home.

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Once Mason made it back to the activities fair, he noticed a girl who looked as if she were Native American in the center of the crowd. He couldn't but notice how beautiful she was. But he just kept his thoughts to himself about her. From the senses he was picking up from her she was a royal and he didn't want to have anything to do with one of those girls. They were just too good hearted for him, he couldn't take that. Just the thought of being as nice as royals are made him sick to his stomach.

He was walking by a DJ stand and decided that he mind as well signed up for it. His mother would want him to be involved with the school activities, so he mind as well do something he would enjoy. Mason signed his name on the signup sheet and returned his attention back to the brown eyed beauty. She was just breathtaking.

"Flying blind!" Leona laughed, giving a small fist pump. "That'll be fun," she added dryly.

Leona still didn't know her way around the school, so she opted to let Drucilla lead for the time being. Of course it probably wasn't her best plan, considering neither had attended a school before, but at least if they got lost Leona could claim it wasn't her fault. 

"So. New to the whole 'school' thing too, huh," Leona remarked, looking to fill the walk to the cafeteria with small talk rather than silence. "Looks like another thing we have in common. We're practically twinsies."

Dru chuckled a bit and shrugged her shoulders at Leona's words. "Yeah, I guess so," she stated as she suddenly stopped in the middle of the halls and looked down each of the hallways. She sighed and twirled her finger a bit, bringing up a small light that would show them the way to the cafeteria. "I'm not exactly sure where this place is, but this will show us," she stated to her acquaintance and started following after the floating light.

At first when Dru met Leona, she didn't think she would be able to get along with her at all, but so far she was surprised. From what she has been picking up, they did in fact have a lot of things in common. She just hoped that everything would continue to go as well as it has been. The last thing she needed was to have a rebel as an enemy. It was never good to be enemies with your own kind.

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After hearing his question she figured she mind as well get her feelings out about who she truly is, who she wants to be. She sighed before she began speaking, "Actually. My mother originally sent me here in order to fulfill my destiny, basically to go down the same exact path she did when she was my age, but that's not my plan. I want to find out who I truly am, make my own decisions. All my life I felt like I just wasn't fit to be a so called royal, there was more to me than that and I want to know what it is," she answered as she began to pull her hair back into a messy bun, feeling the summer heat beat down on her.

Anastasia was surprisingly finding it quite easy to talk to Zeke, which was strange because she never really talked to anyone before. He was the only one she was this open with, ever. Not even her own parents know this about her. He's the first person to know. "So um, how about you?" she questioned.