Helena Kingsley's Story

'So it begins.'

Professor Oren Kovalenko, an angular figure with dark hair and a long blue coat, watched the numerous new students filing in, passing through the front office and signing off on forms with a sceptical eye. Well, one eye was on the throngs of their new intake, the other was on her phone where she was busy informing any staff members that were not already aware that the first large bus had pulled up and the place was beginning to fill up.

And she didn't expect a group of young mages to maintain any standard of behaviour for very long.

Especially not ones that were more often than not rich, privileged, sheltered, and had never been taught how to properly behave.

Speaking of that-

Norwegian shouting from the entranceway. Oh christ.
From where she was standing Oren could make out three figures at least a head taller than most of the people filtering around them. A woman in he late thirties with long, grey-flecked ginger hair and a crimson coat on, and a hulking man with a beard you could lose a family pet in, both hugging and saying their goodbyes to a third figure. Younger, but still with nearly a foot of height on the Professor, with a mop of red-orange hair and a voice with a strong nordic accent that was carrying over near enough everyone else's together.

Norrevinters.
No mistaking those.

With one deft movement Miss Kovalenko stepped back into the shadow of one of the hall's pillars, and melted into the darkness without a word.

Somebody else could handle Ren's spawn and the ginger storm. She'd see to making sure no-one had started killing each other in the dining hall.

As it was some students had started eating, or introducing themselves. Oren materialized out from behind the door, quite alarming several students who'd been lines up there, and proceeded to check over the status of things.




Over to one side of the cafeteria, on an otherwise yet unoccupied table, a small figure was slumped over the the surface, next to what was now the degenerated milky sludge of a bowl of cereal left uneaten beyond its time, and something that long ago ceased to be a hot drink.

Her long, rather untidy-looking red hair was spread across the table like seaweed, and she was wearing a blue sweater lined with knitted purple cat faces, the phrase 'Have a Mice Day' inset into the back and front. It was at least two sizes too big and luridly coloured enough that the student was clashing with the furnishings.

Professor K came to a halt behind the student, regarding the girl with her look of pitiless reptilian distaste before finally speaking up.

"Are we boring you already, Kingsley?"

The redhead awoke with a start, knocking her bowl astray with one hand and splattering the fortified mud across the surface.

The Professor remained perfectly stationary whilst one of her charges scrambled, blinking, to try and both stem the flow of milk from the upturned bowl, and address her at the same time.

"Oh..no! No Professor! I was just um...is it breakfast time?"
Apparently only just realising how many others had entered the cafeteria, the student known as 'Kingsley' looked over to the table across, giving a rather sheepish smile.

Kovalenko's expression however was her usual weary mask of disapproval.
"Well Kingsley that is what everyone else is doing, if you would like to try and catch up with the timetable, I think it would probably be beneficial for you. And please try and avoid wasting food in the future."

"Y-yes Professor..." the girl hastily responded, pale cheek reddening a little as the watched the aquamancer turn and walk off down the row.
"...so that's the year off to a good start..."

Jesse sat in the back of the bus as it chugged up to the school. Her peers were chatting in front of her, but she mostly kept to herself. Some had animals with them in cages, some of which looked intently in her direction. She tried not to draw attention to it though. She knew these people would be like every other person she had encountered. She would most certainly be ostracized if they knew about animals' affinity towards her.

She was the last one off the bus, purposefully of course. She took in the surroundings. The school was definitely unique. She read the sign: Marchand School of Sorcery. Was she in the wrong place? She knew the school was called Marchand, but the only place she had heard of sorcery was in storybooks. Everyone was filing into the cafeteria, though, so if she was to ask someone about it, she would have to go there. She took a deep breath, and followed her fellow students into the building. She looked around. Many places had already been taken. There seemed to be a nice place in the corner away from most people, except one girl who seemed confused. She supposed one person was better than being surrounded by them, so she went over to that table and quietly sat down.

She took some pancakes awkwardly, before saying, sheepishly, "Hi, I'm Jesse," and extending out a hand.

Tessa grinned at Desdemona motioning her to join the now growing table of girls. "Sure you are welcome to sit here we were just making introductions!" The excitement was reaching full force as she continued. "Oh where are my manners! I'm Tessa Botrelle member of the French Defender Line."

She fidgeted in the seat as she waited for customary pause. Tradition be dammed she just wanted to talk to everyone. It wasn't like she needed to be introduced to half the people in the room. Most of the magical world knew these kids and bloodlines, but she doubted they knew her bloodline. Or at least the bloodline that officially claimed her anyways.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see a blind girl, probably from the Dressler's known for their horrible eye problems. The creepy familiar playing seeing eye dog cemented that assumption. However the boy sitting next to her was a mystery, probably some minor foreign bloodline like her own.

Oh pause time was over, she needed to focus. "It is very nice to meet you both! Are you excited for the upcoming school year?"

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Jason sat up straight at his solo table his eyes scanning the room taking time to study each of his fellow students. As he watched Helena sleep through half of breakfast and wearing that horrendous sweater he frowned. Making sure to catch the other student's eyes and give her a disapproving gaze.

As he stood up cleaning up his small mess from breakfast he glanced out the door. The Norwegian giants were hard to miss as was the super close collision between the Noriventers and Sterlings that had just been avoided.

Deciding that leaving right now was not the best idea as he had no authority over the older individuals involved currently, he instead surveyed his fellow students. Trying to figure out which ones were the most disciplined out of the bunch. With a frown he found no one up to his admittedly high but fair standards.

So it was time to fall back onto plan B, keep Larke playboy Sterling away from the girls.

Putting on his best smile he waiting planning on motioning the other boy over once he walked through the door.

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Derrick's phone buzzed as he worked, putting up the finishing touches on the boy's dorm. Each door with a beautiful fabric embroidered with each inhabitant's family crest, denoting the residents who lived inside the various rooms. Tracking down each bloodline's crest had been a challenge but Derrick had been able to do it. Barely making it in time judging by the buzzing of his phone.

With a sigh he stopped admiring his work and turned to look at his phone. After doing a double take he whistled putting his phone back and deciding he would pretend to not have seen it, after all the amount he wanted to be in the middle of a blood feud was 0 out of 10.

With a hum he continued to work making sure informative signs were posted about the dorm. Ones taking about CPR, Poison Controls Number, a school schedule complete with a map, and of course instructions on how to put out fires were littered about the hallway.

As he looked over his handwork Derrick realized he had forgotten two things, the instructions on how to use the laundry machine and microwave. With a shake of his head at his own negligence he went to the teachers lounge hoping to print out the signs before anyone noticed. Or blew up the microwave and flooded the laundry room.

Helena, cheeks still reddened from the scathing she'd just received from Professor K, she was further shamed by the intense stare of disapproval she was getting from one of the male students. The young mage dropped back into her seat, clasping her stone cold mug and hoping the stony glare would draw away.

As she was doing so, the girl realized she was being addressed.

Helena glanced up to see another student had taken a seat at the table, a girl, and she fortunately did not appear to have fallen victim to the cereal spill.

"Oh. Hi. I'm Helena. Helena Kingsley." she responded after a bit too long a pause, before extending her hand out to tentatively shake back. Her hand, almost wholly absorbed by the sleeve of the lurid cat sweater, had a blue bandage wrapped round the palm, and seemed to have nail varnish on only half the fingers.

Helena was clearly a student with her life together.

----

The older woman in the scandinavian group turned upon hearing the somewhat familiar voice of Maeve (now Professor) Byrne.

Despite being well aware of the woman's status there, Hilda Norrevinter's expression didn't completely manage to hide her surprise at seeing this, particularly with the choice of wardrobe adopted for the occasion.

Fortunately the surprise was enough to stop the family's progress and prevent the collision with the Sterling boy who had just materialized.

"Maeve Byrne. It's certainly been a while." the woman responded, deciding that she was going to continue the trend of not mentioning their reasons for knowing one another.

"Yes, this is little Kora...not quite so little any more."

She gestured with one hand to the teenage girl stood next to her. The young woman was tall, very much so, squarer features than her aunt, her hair red and wavy and all over the place. A pewter mjolir hung around her neck, nicked and tarnished from age and wear. Her father's. Also slung around her neck were a set of headphones out of which someone appeared to be scream-growling in Norwegian. Something about Suttungr being dead.

For all her aunt's eagerness to keep up appearances to some degree, having muttered a 'Hello', Kora herself was shifting around impatiently and fidgetting with her pendant, apparently relatively disinterested in ingratiating herself with one of her prospective professors ahead of time.

Well, unlike certain bloodlines the Norrevinter had never put a lot of stock into charm and charisma.

"Erik and I have been handling the training up until now." Hilda added, realizing her charge was not planning to add anything constructive.
"I doubt combat class is going to be a problem... there's an awful lot of her father there."

Hilda paused somewhat, the two older members exchanging a bit of a glance over something left unsaid. Absent friends and all.

What happened to your hand?

Jesse asked, staring at the blue bandage as she took the girl's hand and shook it. Her sweater was a bit too bright in color for her tastes, but she loved cats, and the pun on the front and back was cute. However, the girl still seemed disoriented in general. Her hair was unkempt and her nail polish was rubbing off, and she was looking sheepishly off to the side where a boy was staring intently at her disapprovingly.

What the heck is up with him?

she asked, staring and pointing at the obviously disapproving boy. While Helena looked confused and it was obviously a cause of concern for her, there was no reason to be condescending about it. She hated it when people judged.

The tall, red-haired teenager started paying a little more attention to the proceedings when the prospect of combat class came up, and suddenly became rather more animated when addressed by Maeve.

"Can't wait for the combat." she stated with a grin that made it quite clear she'd inherited everything about the Norrevinter attitude to fighting that was stereotyped.

" Are we gonna use any swords? Uncle Erik got me a zweihander and I can take the head off a reindeer in one swing. " she beamed with pride, before getting a look from her uncle, pausing for a moment, then revising her statement.
"The reindeer was already dead and hung from a yew tree. By its feet. For the Vanir."

This was apparently enough to make decapitating ungulates with swords see acceptable to the rest of the family.

Hilda interjected.
"It's going to be her first extended stay away from Vollr so...it's going to be quite the learning experience."

It certainly was in that sense. The Norrevinter's island of Vollr, somewhere between the coast of Norway and Svalbard had been practically stuck in pre-christian Europe. A place where animal sacrifice, aesir worship and mead brewing were commonplace. (Though the last one might have been something to do with the Sterlings' trade embargo with Vollr for the past few centuries.)

Moving to another country was always likely to be a culture shop. Moving from an island of pagan norsemen wherin you were raised as practically a princess of your own tiny kingdom it was, perhaps, likely to be a little bit more of a stark contrast. As the two elders started handing over her things and saying their goodbyes it was increasingly clear that not a lot had changed between generations.




----

"My hand?" Helena asked, glancing over at it.
"Oh...was putting on nail varnish and got sorta distracted. Heh. It happens."

The young woman was quite blase about the bandage. Then again, she was hardly the first when blood magic was a fairly common practice among secondary crafts.

"Oh, it's fine...Professor Kove..Kova...Professor K just told me off for sleeping in the cafeteria so...probably something to do with that." she explained, in regards to the reaction to Jason. It was, at least better than being stared down by the Aquamancy head. The hungarian woman's glare could probably turn small animals to stone.

Helena smiled and rose to her feet, deciding she should probably make some effort to replace her cereal before it was completely depleted, and before she inadvertently attracted the ire of anyone else.

The scent of perfume was stifling.

It filled the truck like water, clinging to every surface, every student. It burrowed itself into Esperanza’s skin, nestled in her hair, and made her eyes sting. Some kids up front had made a game of spraying each other with the stuff about two hours into the trip, and at this point, Espie could no longer pinpoint exactly what it was supposed to smell like. Something with flowers, no doubt, possibly roses- but it didn’t matter. It was strong, and she had long rolled down her window to let some of the stuff out. The air outside was better, anyway. It was rain and dirt and dead things, and, accompanied by the blur of orange passing by, made the ride much more magical.

Esp had been awake for about thirty two hours flat, according to the phone Mama had given her before she left home. She had been so strung up with nervous energy and excitement, she hardly felt the urge to sleep anyway. Her hands were constantly occupied with the new gadget under her possession (she had changed the background at least five times before settling on a funny picture of a dog she found online), or with the sheets of paper cheerfully stating her admission to Marchand, or even with little things like a piece of string she found hanging off the sleeve of her blouse. When not keeping herself busy, her eyes had been glued to the windows of whatever transportation she had been on- the truck being no exception.

After travelling for so many hours at this point, one would think she would have grown bored of the journey, but Esperanza relished it. She devoured the scenery with her eyes.

The truck eventually rolled to a halt, far more smoother in its stoppage than its predecessor had ever been. Jumping to her feet (and stumbling for a moment or two from the lack of blood in her legs), Esp slipped out of the vehicle and went to gather her things.

Marchand was far more grand than anything that she had seen- with the exception of the family church, of course- but Esp found herself vaguely disappointed that there was none of the peppy music playing within the school, like the movies always had. Rolling her shoulders under the weight of her backpack, Esperanza followed the line of other students to the office, and checked herself in. She hardly noticed the secretary’s idle look, more preoccupied with the sheets pushed into her hands that anything.

The school was very large.

After being ushered out by the secretary (she hadn’t realized she had been standing there for long until she felt the hands on her shoulders), Esp found herself wandering to the cafeteria, unsure of where else to go. She saw no point in wandering- especially when none of the other students were- and, besides, now that some of the nervousness had worn off, she had realized just how hungry she was.

The first thing she noticed upon entering was just how many people were there. Gathered around tables, picking at their food, chatting. Esp stood in the doorway for a moment, hesitating, then braced herself and went to get breakfast- pancakes, since a lot of the other kids seemed to be getting them as well.

The amount of people meant that most of the tables were filled to the brim, she found. Which meant sitting with someone. Or some group. Her eyes roved across the tables, eventually settling on one with only two seated. Two was good. A good start. Esp nodded to herself, then went over, swerving past some of the other kids clustered around the cafeteria.

“Hello.” Esp gave a crooked, awkward smile at the two girls- one of them with bandages like her, although hers were a clean white and the girl's were blue- and balanced the tray more carefully on her fingertips. “Can I sit down?”

Her voice was quiet, and thick with her accent- words coming out somewhat clipped and clumsy. Nevertheless, she was intelligible, which was a start.
Things were going good so far, Esp decided.

Jesse didn't really see the problem with sleeping in the cafeteria. It was breakfast after all. While Helena got up to get some more cereal, she ate her pancakes and looked around the cafeteria. That boy, apparently named Jason, had turned his attention to someone else. He really seemed stuck up. Not that she was one to judge, but wow. He reminded her of Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter books. That's how arrogant he was. She turned her attention back to her pancakes.

All of the sudden there was gasping around the cafeteria. She looked up to see a boy getting up, painfully, with yogurt on his head. Next to him was a very smug-looking girl who had obviously done the deed. She saw people left and right jump to the boy's defense. Good, at least not everyone here was stuck-up. Through all the commotion, she learned the girl's name was Norrevinter. Strange name. But the girl didn't seem to care that no one thought well of what she was doing. She sat on his head. If Jason was Draco Malfoy, this chick was Pansy.

Maybe I should say something... Jesse thought. She wasn't one to get into fights. In fact, she avoided them as much as possible. But this girl was just being a bully at this point. Jesse got up from her seat to go find a teacher, or at the very least, a responsible adult. But as she did so, a boy stood up and did her job for her. The cafeteria was silent after his speech, looking at the Norrevinter girl, wondering how she would reply. Jesse, however, felt that the boy had hit the nail on the head, and started clapping.

Helena had stood stranded somewhere between the table and replacing her melted cereal as all hell broke loose in the cafeteria. Rather surprised by the sudden family feud breakout, the small student remained glued to the spot watching the chaos unfold...right up until the time Montana appeared...and admonished people for eating the food.

With that in mind Helena scuttled back to her seat without anything, whilst it was clearly plenty of people had already flouted it, and she supposed she could take Professor K's sarcastic jab as tacit permission...she'd still rather not attract any kind of admonishment on her first day.

By the time she'd scrambled back she realized someone else had appeared too, and clumsily extended a hand in greeting to Esper.
"Hi! I'm Helena. Kingsley... All the other seats are free. I mean. I think they are. I'd fallen asleep for a bit. Probably a bit awkward if people were eating breakfast round me. But. Probably not." she smiled wide, deciding that not eating any breakfast was no need to be negative.

She'd been a bit paranoid about being fat anyway.

Jesse looked a bit sheepish when Mr. Montana admonished everyone for eating. She assumed she had gotten there after the faculty said they could start eating. It was a little late for that, considering she had already mostly finished her pancakes. She supposed there was no harm in finishing them now.

She was so wrapped up in the commotion of the cafeteria, she didn't notice the new person sitting next to her, or that Helena had returned. She looked to her left, a little embarrassed that she had gotten in her own head again. The girl was pretty and had an accented voice. Jesse felt slightly intimidated, with her frizzy red hair, zero makeup, and hoodie that was three sizes too big and covered in various animal's fur. Nevertheless, she seemed nice enough, so she extended a hand.

"Hi, I'm Jesse. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. The first day is off to an exciting start, isn't it?" She said, as chipper as her quiet voice would let her. As she greeted the new person, a small, white mouse crawled up through the floorboards, up her leg and back, and rested on her shoulder. Jesse jumped in surprise, but quickly settled down after she realized what the weird feeling was.

"Hey, little guy," She said to the mouse, as she carefully took it off her shoulder and put it on the ground near her feet. She sat back up after doing so, a little too quickly, and hit her head on the table.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, and sat back up more carefully, rubbing the back of her head.

Kora couldn't help but feel that Tover was putting too much stake in the whole thing. It was not as if anyone whose opinion mattered didn't already know what to expect. Some people truly got wound up about some small things. Still, he seemed well-meaning enough, and it never hurt to have people on your side. Especially when some of the students were so touchy.

Not so much with the Botrelle girl though, it appeared, who seemed pretty unconcerned about her trip.
"Yup. I'm sure. It was nothing personal, I'm sure you're great and all." Kora responded to Tessa, maintaining the good natured tone, though her newfound diplomacy was tested when the sister of the previous girl showed up. Still, she was doing a better job than her sibling at keeping things civil.
"Apology accepted. Sterling isn't concerned because this is how things are, and it's probably a good idea to.."

She trailed off momentarily upon catching the exchange or Sterling passing the napkin, and Tessa's blushing. Her gaze moved over to Larke.
"Really? There is something wrong with you."

----


At the end of the corridor leading from the cafeteria, the shadows cast into the alcove there began to ripple and warp for a brief moment, before Professor Kovalenko appeared. A few wisps of dark, inscrutable matter seemed to evaporate off the surface of her coat and coil round her boots as she stepped out, in time to pause in front of the retreating Jasper and give her a look of stony disapproval.
"Miss Monroe I'm not aware of anybody giving you permission to leave the cafeteria. Professor Lovette is going to be arriving soon to deliver some very important announcements and I wouldn't like him to have to repeat them all purely for your sake, so I'd appreciate if you returned to your seat. "

Her dark grey eyes swept up as she caught someone else about to exit.
"The same goes for you too Mr Coleman. Return to your seat. I don't want to be spending all my time acting as sheepdog for every student tantrum that takes place this year. So let's start as we mean to go on."
She made her way to the entrance as a brisk pace, pausing for a moment to shoot Cyrus and Dinah a look sufficient to cause the two to scramble inside and to the nearest available seat (the furthest distance away from each other that they could find at short notice).

From there she walked over to the figure of Montana, coming to a stop next to the man.

"They don't seem to be listening." the woman remarked, noting that his short speech hadn't made more than a few students set their food down and wait for some form of permission."Seems we're going to need to teach this the hard way."
Oren swiftly lifted one slender, gloved hand into the air and snapped out her fingers to their full extent.

A wave of frosty air burst out from the woman like a blast from the arctic wind, and within moments all the food and drink the students had been enjoying was frozen completely solid. Fruit juice sat inert and fixed to its glass, pieces of toast were left as hard and unyielding as paving slabs.

Satisfied she'd gotten people's attention, Professor Kovalenko spoke up, her tone singular and unwavering.

"I beleive Mr Montana was speaking to all.
In the future I'd highly recommend listening to what he has to say.
This is the first lesson you are going to learn here.
I'm sure that a lot of you are used to people doing what you say at home, or being able to talk your way out of having to listen. That isn't the way things are going to work here.
Each of us on staff has been appointed by the Council of the Eight Powers to train you in the arts of magic, and as we're acting on their behalf, nobody is above the rules here. "

Her icy gaze lingered for a moment on both the ginger giantess and her silver-tongued nemesis, pretty certain today's incident was neither the last, nor the worst trouble those two would cause.
"Failure to listen to us, any of us, is going to result in immediate consequences.
Please keep this in mind the next time you choose to disregard what is being said to you.

Norrevinter, Sterling, consider this you first and your only warning to keep your fighting to combat class. Next time anyone tries something I'll assume they enjoy battle so much that they'll jump at the chance to spend their free time cleaning the combat equipment. "
Norrevinter might have been the instigator in this case, though if Sterling hadn't done anything to deserve being tackled yet, he probably would have in the first few days, so Oren saw nothing unfair about applying it to both sides of their ridiculous fight.

It was a few minutes that Esperanza stood there.

A few, rather awkward minutes, spent fidgeting, shuffling, and wondering if she ended up accidentally offending the girl at the table somehow- the other, redheaded one had gotten up to get more food- and was now on the receiving end of some kind of silent treatment. Her fingers tapped lightly against the plastic of the tray, and, making up her mind, Esp stepped a few feet away from the table and began to eat without a seat. She had become increasingly aware of how hungry the trip had left her, and there weren’t many tables left open that she could go sit at anyway. Esp brought a few strips of bacon to her mouth and bit, enjoying the crunch and the taste of grease on her tongue.

The bacon was cleared from the plate within a matter of moments, as was the slice of toast that had been tucked absently beside it. Esp took her time with the eggs, however- they had gone a tad rubbery at this point, but they were delicious. Esp liked eggs. She poked the yolk around some, but before she could scoop the resulting goo onto her fork, a loud scream sounded out further down the cafeteria. Blinking with surprise, she jerked her head up just in time to see some redheaded girl tackling some boy.

A very tall redhead.

Excitement fluttered within her chest. Quickly, Esp passed the tray to one hand, then fumbled in her pocket for her phone. She fumbled a bit more in typing in the password, switching on the video, then, triumphantly, lifting the device up to record the conflict. Her parents had told her all about the Sterling-Norrevinter feud, but- to be actually witnessing it here and now? Incredible.

The situation only got even more fascinating as the minutes ticked by, distracting her completely from the remnants of her breakfast. Norrevinter-Girl poured a bunch of juice and yogurt on Sterling-Boy, and Sterling-Boy was still talking to Stranger Girls like nothing was going on. Three more boys came up as well- one with a very angry face, another with whitish hair, and another that looked a bit like a sad puppy. Sad Puppy didn’t stay for long, however- only running up to give Sterling-Boy some water before running back to his seat. Then, finally, White Hair gave a long speech to Norrevinter Girl, which led to the other girl that Esp thought she had offended clapping. Esp didn’t quite understand who White Hair was, or why he had went up to talk to Norrevinter like that (especially since she had heard Norrevinters liked to fight people they got especially mad with), but she appreciated it anyway. It was just like the movies she had seen before embarking on her trip to Marchand- where the main boy character stood on a table and gave a speech about friendship or football or getting first place in a big tournament.

Mostly a tournament, really.

Esp kept recording.

Soon after that, a teacher who looked a bit like a cowboy walked in, and said something about how they weren’t supposed to eat, which left Esperanza a bit confused. Before she could ask the Cowboy Man any questions, she heard someone speak to her. Turning, Esp found that the redheaded girl (the one that wasn’t Norrevinter) had returned. Eagerly, Esperanza stuffed her phone back into her pocket, and grabbed the girl’s hand with her now-freed left.

“Hello, Helena!” She said brightly, forgetting the proper lapse in conversation that came with introductions in her excitement. “It is nice to meet you- thank you very much for letting me sit. There are not many chairs left.” Esperanza’s mouth widened in a misshapen, almost goofy grin, and, releasing her grip, quickly placed the tray upon the table before sitting down herself. “Your sweater is nice,” she added as an afterthought. “It is very fluffy.”

Jesse’s sudden introduction made her blink a bit with surprise, pause, before lighting up and giving the Terramancer’s hand a few brief pumps. So Esperanza hadn’t said anything wrong- she just hadn’t been noticed until then. She accepted this easily, and began to toy with the bandages sloppily arranged around her forearms. “I am Esperanza Ciervo,” she said again. “It is nice to meet you, Jesse.” Her finger dug into the gauze, loosening it a tad.

“And it is very exciting. I did not expect so much tackling and yelling and…” Esp’s hands drifted up, making odd, fluttering gestures in the air. “Talking. It is all very new. Does this happen all the time at schools?”

She hoped it did. If it was, then she would have a lot to share with her family once she returned.

Before Esp got her answer, however, she spotted a mouse clamber up onto Jesse’s shoulder. She had just enough time to wrinkle her nose before the other girl accidentally bumped her head on the table’s side. Alarmed, Esp stumbled out of her chair, taking the few steps needed to reach Jesse.

“Are you okay?” She asked. “You hit your head very hard.”

Esperanza didn’t quite grasp the idea of being too obvious yet.

When a second teacher walked in, Esp only gave a brief glance in the woman’s direction before returning her focus to the (somewhat) injured girl in front of her. However, when a suddenly blast of cold air hit the back of her neck, she was prompted to look over, not quite seeing the frozen breakfast yet. She spoke of a “Mr. Montana,” going on to bring up the Council of the Eight Powers, and that they all needed to pay better attention. Esp indeed paid attention to all of this, but she did do her best to divide her gaze between the nameless teacher and Jesse.

As long as she listened, it would be fine.

Tessa bounced in her seat as Tover left, happy that the only guy at their table had gone off. As she highly doubted that he would care about talking about cute boys, well unless he was gay. Shaking her head to get that particular thought out of her head she turn to those gathered at the table. "Yeah sure I can tell you the story, it's a pretty great one that has intrigue and suspense. Oh and Maria is a pretty middle name too! Oh and guess whose number I got thanks to Kora." She let out a small squee before proceeding. "Yep, everyone's favorite playboy Larke hottie Sterling. I thought it would take me a few days to get it, not a few hours this is so exciting."

She was about to say more but was caught off guard by the icy blast. With a shiver at the sudden cold she looked down to see her hard fought for milk frozen to a popsicle. "Noooo my milk, but why! This is no fair if they didn't want us to eat food then they wouldn't have put it out." I mean sure she had ignored Montana but he was making zero sense. As she poked at her milk with a fork a frown was on her face.

"Yeah Desi, Professor Kovalenko froze all the things because Professor Montana was making zero sense so no one listened to him." Pausing mid rant she turned to look at her companion with mild curiosity. "Who are you texting anyways, it's been non stop since stuff started happening?"

The conversation between Tover and Mitch floated towards their table as Tessa leaned back to hear it better. Filing away the information for later to make sure she didn't make the same mistake Tessa turned towards the blind girl and summon. "Oh welcome back Tov, girl talk went well but my milk was a causality of the frost." Turning her head to look at Mitch she offered the other a smile, even if the girl couldn't see. Time to make some polite conversation. "Heya I'm Tessa, it is nice to meet you and your summon! Is that the thing that they mistook for an alien in Roswell or was that another summon?"

She was about to say more but said summon was making its way across the table and had its greedy eyes set on her frozen milk. Reacting in a flash Tessa grabbed the milk, holding up out of what she hoped was the summon's reach. "No! This is mine, I had to fight hard for this milk! Frozen or not I am going to drink it, lick it, or turn it into ice-cream so you can't have it."

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Jason's eyes narrowed as Drake barely replied or reacted and instead just up and left. Clearly the boy was a stubborn child and needed to learn things the hard way. Since he obviously didn't want to listen to advice from his more experienced peers. With a shake of the head Jason stood up, if Drake didn't care about it then he wouldn't either. Now onto his next fish to fry.

Walking over Hel, Jesse, and Espie's table with a look of disapproval on his face. "Hello ladies, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. Oh and before I start my name is Jason Avalon." Stressing the word Avalon because surely the three would know what that meant. He soon turned to looking at each for a brief moment as if decided on what fish to fry before his eyes settled on Jesse. You see I was curious as to why I noticed a mouse on your shoulder, is it your pet? Or is this cafetria in need of some traps, after all mice carry quite a few diseases.

He looked at Hel next, she was the easiest to deal with after all. It only took a few words to get her to change behavior. "Are you okay? I noticed you are wearing a sweater that must be awfully hot in this heat."

Last but not least his eyes fell on Espie as he put on his best fake smile. "Excuse me were you recording that in video on your phone? If so would it be possible if I could see what you have on film?" After all the moment she handed him the phone he planned on deleting the video, after all no one in the outside world needed to see that little squabble.

The neat, decisive click of heels against tile was hardly something to bat an eye at, nor was the appearance of another figure in the cafeteria’s doorway, surveying the situation with little visible surprise. In the face of the other teachers’ fairly notable appearances, Professor Lovette’s was fairly...well, mundane as he strode in, joining the small assembly his coworkers had formed within the lunchroom.

That is, if one was unable to determine the teacher’s gender, and didn't come to the appropriate realization that the combined Pyromancy/Theory had decided to go to work today in a freshly ironed business dress and lipstick.

As he crossed the last few steps to reach his fellow professors, a slight, easy smile touched his lips, and he began to eye the students more fully from this new position. “Now, let’s not go scaring them off right from the get-go.” Madison’s voice did little to help discern his sex- mellow and soft, much like the instructor himself. “It is their first day, after all, and they might not recognize their teachers immediately.”

Madison turned, then, facing the crowd fully. “With that said, however, while the food was indeed intended for you, from what I gathered, the reason Professor Kovalenko performed this little exercise was because quite a few of you were not paying attention to Professor Montana, or choosing to ignore him. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for today and believe that you hadn’t heard or noticed him, but in the future, I expect everyone to pay full attention when any instructor speaks to them- regardless of whether or not they have a class with said teacher.”

He paused a moment, waiting for the last remaining heads to face him, then went on. “Here at Marchand, we will operate under a system of mutual respect. I understand that for many of you, this is a brand new experience, and you might already have begun to form differing opinions on us. However, as Professor Kovalenko pointed out, you will be staying here until the end of your semesters. It will make things much easier for all of us if you simply follow the rules put upon you, and stay reasonably polite throughout the year. In return, I’m sure that several of us will be much more agreeable.”

At the last word, another change in temperature swept through the cafeteria- unlike the frigid breeze which had announced the Aquamancy teacher, however, this one was pleasantly warm as it passed through the room. The glitter of ice that had coated the plates and bottles melted, the meals reheated- save for a pile of frozen stuffs scattered across the floor. Much easier to clean up than melted syrups and the like.

“Now, then. I would like to introduce myself as Professor Lovette- while I am the Pyromancy teacher, I also happen to teach Magical Theory, so you will be having me regardless of whatever magic you control. I ask that you all finish your meals as quickly as possible, tidy up, then grab your things and follow me to the library for an assembly. If you continue to have private conversations and stay here instead, keep in mind that I will not stand in the way of any punishments that might come as a result.”

He stood silently for a moment, assessing the crowd of students before him, before suddenly tapping away to one of the small alcoves within the cafeteria. Madison lingered there for a moment before leaving, walking to one of the tables instead of his previous spot in the center.

“Here.” Smiling gently, Madison propped a broom and dustpan against the table, allowing it to be grabbed by whoever wished to do so- seeing as the maker of the mess seemed a bit too rattled to hold the objects without dropping them. “Once you finish cleaning up, just put them back in the closet.” With that, he spun on his heel, and returned to his old position to wait.

As the Cryomancy-wielding Professor ceased her (slightly alarming) presentation, Dawn remained the picture of an attentive student- back straight, eyes focused, fingers wrapped around the edges of the table to keep from busying themselves with some other action. Quietly, however, she found herself noting just how...well, unique this bunch of teachers seemed. While she was in no real place to speak on the matter of public education- having been tutored at home ever since she could hold a pencil- she hadn’t been expecting for the teachers to freeze their food as a method of getting attention. Or make it seem like she had spilled milk all over the papers as a test. Or, in the case of the blue gloved stranger, speak in a vaguely cryptic manner.

But if they had truly been appointed by the Eight Powers, then as the professor had said, there was nothing to be done about it. Besides- if they had gotten their authority from such a high place, then they must have been chosen for a reason. So she sat silently and waited, then glanced back at her company once the dialogue was finished.

“So, Larke, huh?” She pressed her back against the chair, smiling slightly. Tessa’s excitement really was infectious. “He’s definitely cute. I, um, do agree with Desi, though- be careful with him, okay? He’s got a bit of a reputation of being a heartbreaker.”

As Tover returned, Mitch in tow, Dawn scooted her chair over a bit, making a bit more legroom for the new member of the table. “Well, I’d say we’ve fulfilled our minimum quota for feminine interactions for the day. We just need to have a few words about high heels and miniskirts later, and we’ll be set.” She said nothing of the short burst Mitch gave, acting as she hadn’t heard it. Instead, she returned the smile (although she doubted it would be seen) and waited for the others to introduce themselves.

“I’m Dawn,” she said simply. “It’s good to meet you and, ah...” Her eyes wandered over to the purple insect creature that had jumped onto the table. “Sorry, um. Does your summon have a name? I know some people don’t like giving them names, so I don’t want to, um, make assumptions or anything.”

She didn’t bother moving her plate out of the way when Apple trotted along, snapping up what was left of her food. It was mostly just a mess of frozen syrup and crumbs at this point, anyway, so it wasn’t too great a loss.

Shortly after Desi had explained who she was texting, she had risen, and began to ask some (very good, in her opinion) questions from the professors. The Cryomancing teacher gave her very blunt response, and before the exchange could continue, another teacher had entered- another woman, by her appearance and the way she held herself. This professor- who introduced herself as Lovette- was a bit more...gentle in how she explained things, and went on to request that everyone finished up and prepared to leave.

“Well,” Dawn turned to the rest of the group, “I’m guessing they won’t be asking us twice.” She gave a soft sigh, gave a mildly sheepish smile, and gathered up her things. She made sure to check the map before putting it away- the library was just across the hall, which wouldn’t be too hard to remember.

---

Upon seeing several of the students get to their feet, Madison beamed, pleased, and walked to the cafeteria’s entrance. “This way, everyone,” he chirped, casting a look over his shoulder to make sure nobody was planning on wandering off (unlikely, given the fact that most of them wouldn’t know where to go anyway, but still a possibility) before pressing forth.

To say that the library was a bit “large” would have been a severe understatement- while it was only one floor high, it certainly made good use of the space provided. Shelves lined the walls, appearing full to bursting with various novellas and tomes despite taking up most visible wall space. Even with just a passing glance, one could easily tell that the bookshelves managed to reach the ceiling- made accessible by a winding of stairs that extended to a sort of balcony of sorts, where one could both browse and look down at the people below as they did so. Beside the staircase itself were a pair of smaller shelves stacked with magazines and newspapers, respectively.

Positioned around the room so as to not get in the way of any visitors were a collection of small tables, desks, and chairs, which were clear of any and all objects or debris- save for the occasional desktop computers here and there, and a collection of papers clipped together on the receptionist’s table. Both floor and walls were composed of some sort of polished, rosy wood (walnut, perhaps), although the floor was also partially hidden as well by a wine red rug. Cone shaped lamps provided a warm light easy on the eyes, and the smell of paper and ink was fresh in the air.

Overall, it was rather welcoming.

“Here we are-” Professor Lovette was cut short by the sight of two certain other coworkers. He paused, face lighting up with something as warm as the library glow- albeit somewhat restrained. Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop the genuine smile that spread across his face.

“Hello, Professors Byrne, Schippers.” Then, to the latter, “It’s good to see you. I hope you didn’t have any trouble getting settled?”

And that was all that professionalism would allow for the time being.

Turning to face the gathering of children once more, Madison clapped his hands together, gathering any attention that might have gotten to roving around the new area. “Anyway. If you would all please take your seats- the assembly will be starting very soon.”

---

Dawn’s gaze had been among the crowd that had started to drift about, drinking in the environment with wide eyes. Just like the exterior of the building, the place held a certain class to it. The decorations were lovely, and while she wasn’t quite able to see the spines of the books surrounding them, that didn’t change the sheer number of the things lined up everywhere. She took little time in settling herself into one of the larger tables set up around the room, and, setting her bags beside her chair, waited for the teachers to begin.

And also continued her little perusal of the place, of course.

Jesse smiled at Esperanza, still rubbing her head, which was forming a huge bump.

Yeah I'm fine! This happens all the time.

A professor entered the room very sternly and gave a reprimanding speech on how everyone was eating before the professors said to. Well, they should have communicated that! She was just following what everyone else was doing. Then Professor Kovalenko froze all the food. Luckily, she had already finished eating, but she saw Esperanza's fruit juice turn to ice. She didn't hear the rest of the speech. How did she do that? Jesse was only 14, so she hadn't had advanced sciences yet, but either this was one big trick that defied the laws of physics as she knew them or she used magic. Magic????

She sat there stunned with her jaw dropped for a few minutes. Another professor started to speak, but she didn't hear much. She heard the words "pyromancy" and "magical theory". Did her parents send her to the right place? Are they sure they didn't mean a different Marchand? Then that professor did something that was equally as impressive as the first. She melted the food right back to its original state. The pancakes were steaming and she had kept the fruit juice to where it had ice cubes in it. Jesse was in a state of shock. She could not figure out how they had done that. She did hear though, that they were going to the library after they ate. She had to ask someone about this. She had to figure out which Marchand she was supposed to be at, because it definitely wasn't this one. Her parents would have told her if she was a "sorcerer", right?

It took a few minutes for her to come back to reality. She pinched herself. It hurt. No, this wasn't a dream.

She quickly stood up, still a little dizzy from when she hit her head.

I'll, um... see you guys later ok?

She ran out of the dining hall in the direction of the library, not waiting for a response.

She stopped after she was a ways out of the dining hall and stopped to catch her breath. Maybe she was hallucinating. She had to be. If she was, all the more reason to find an adult. She looked at her map to figure out where the library was in relation to where she was standing. It wasn't too far away, she had luckily ran in the right direction. She found the library about five minutes later, and went straight up to the professor who had melted the food. She seemed a little friendlier than Professor Kovalenko.

Um, Professor Lovette? I think I'm in the wrong place. The school looks like it's a school for sorcery, which apparently exists, since, you know, Professor Kovalenko froze all the food and you melted it back, but I don't think I'm a sorcerer. I mean, my parents were normal people and I went to normal grade school. They did tell me I was supposed to be at Marchand though, so I'm really confused. Is there some kind of sorcerer test or something? Why would my parents send me here if they didn't think I was one, or even know it existed? Am I crazy? Am I hallucinating this? Should I go to the hospital?

She said all of this very quickly, and while it started quietly, it got louder toward the end. She was definitely panicking at this point. Maybe it was just a magic trick, an illusion to trick them all, or a hallucination. She sure hoped so.

Dami smiled at his fellow teacher, rolling his eyes. ”Give me some credit, Derrick, I know not to favour Desdemona, and she knows it too. It won’t stop her from trying, though. And she might have a point about food waste, even if she could have said it better, and expressed her concerns more politely.”

The phone beeped off, and Dami slipped it into his pocket, walking and talking. ”But really, why? I know adults who are scared of Oren Kovalenko, with good reason, why does my daughter seem to think she could take her on? And they’ll already be intimidated if they have any sense.” he said breezily. ”Some of the mage world’s most well-known fighters are teaching, that isn’t a reputation to take lightly. Even if some children don’t seem to have put the pieces together just yet.”

Dami adjusted the fall of his cloak over his shoulders, the deep blue material glimmering as if with stars. Being a necromancer meant a lot of unexpected cold drafts; he’d learned to always dress for them instead of dealing with sudden goosebumps every time a relative popped in to say hello. ”I do think this will be good for them, though. The primaries are always well taught, but the secondaries are hard to know what to look for in a tutor. Though I’m not looking forward to dealing with different skill levels in necromancy either. Do you know the verdict on the power reading proposal?”.

During the planning for the school, one debated topic was as to whether or not the students should be put through some form of test to determine the size of their power wells. Dami had either missed the final decision or one hadn’t been made yet, and he didn’t know when he could next ask. However, he never did get his answer, as they entered the library then, and approached the rest of the staff. Dami took a moment to compose himself, then smiled as he went to join his colleagues. There was a stereotype about necromancers, one as ridiculous as the one about terramancers always wearing green or tricksters being compulsive liars. Being blond, bright-eyed, nearly always smiling and favouring rich blues or reds over black meant that Dami looked nothing like the image most people got when thinking “necromancer”. But that was of no importance compared to what the man could do when wielding his powers. Smiling brightly, he took his place, observing the future students.

And the plenty of ghosts mingling in the crowd. Ancestors had come out in full force today to see their descendants off to school.

The Ciervo family was not one to mingle with those of other magics. There was no purpose to it, in their eyes. They wouldn’t dare defile the sanctity of their “holy” blood with others, in fear of angering their god with such an act. They could provide for themselves well enough with the funding received by some of the more adventurous members of their own, and it was easy enough for them to find a few stray necromancers to bring into the fold to keep their numbers- or, if necessary, send out another handful of members to get themselves impregnated. Contact was minimal, and that suited the Ciervos nicely.

Nevertheless, Esperanza wasn’t one to snub obvious skill when she saw it. She watched, enraptured, as a pair of women effortlessly made a show of freezing and heating the meals strewn about the place, with as much strain as one would get from lifting their wrist. It was...and if…

There was no concern of her attention drifting away to somewhere else for long, really. The only time it did, it was when the mouse-girl, Jesse, affirmed that she really was fine. Esp thought that the girl still looked a bit pale and funny and somewhat sick, but as Jesse said she was okay, it was probably okay. Nodding a bit to herself, Esp leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands as she continued to watch.

In the middle of one of the teacher’s talks, another person came up to the table- a boy, this time, with a very upset face. Like someone had kicked his puppy, Esp thought. It was not a good face. Frowning, she straightened up to better meet the boy’s eyes, shoulders squaring. She remained in that posture even as he- Jason- looked over at her and gave a smile.

“Yes,” she responded. “I did not know that schools were like in the movies, with fights and the speeches. And my mother wanted me to keep her…” a pause, brow furrowing as she struggled to think of the right word to use. “her...she wanted to know what was happening in the school so she would not be worried.” Esp fished in her pocket, and, producing her phone, switched it on and shoved it in front of Jason’s face- apparently not ready to part with it just yet.

Esp’s recording started a bit before Kora finished her charge, and ended as the ice Professor started her own speech, as she had thought it rude to film her teachers. Why this did not extend to her peers was unclear, but Esperanza was visibly proud of her newfound cinematography skills.

Once Professor Lovette announced that they were to move to the library, Esp immediately yanked the phone away from Jason, paused it, and stuffed it back into her pocket. “I can show you later,” she explained through her pocket-fumbling. “I do not want the teachers to be mad. It would not be good.” She offered a short wave with her free hand as she watched Jesse bolt out, then went to grab her bag and follow the rest of the crowd out.

The library wasn’t far, and much to her delight, there was plenty of room to sit at. She situated herself at a decently-sized table, and, recalling both of her old seating partners, placed a paper in two of the chairs. Esp wasn’t sure if they would want to sit with her, still, but if they did, they would have a seat anyway. She smiled at the thought, and, seeing Jesse talking to Professor Lovette (she couldn’t quite hear her from this distance), Esp gave another cheerful wave.

And then texted her sister to tell her that she had made some friends.

Jason turned away from the trio at the table he was helping correct to listen to the Professor Lovette. The warm sensation and kind yet stern demeanor was what he expected from Madison Lovette.

When the professor mentioned that breakfast was indeed over and they should moved to the library he turned back to the table with a sigh. Only to find Jesse gone and a phone shoved far to close to his face. Gritting his teeth he reached up to gently push the phone away only to find it yanked from him. "Thank you, but no need to show me later I was there. Thank you for showing me, I appreciate it. I just want to make sure you do not even up filming anything magic, as that would not be good." By the looks of it there was not a way to steal the phone and delete the video. So a reminder to not film magic acts was all he could really do.

Since Professor Lovette's announce meant he could not wait around for a response from horribly picked out ugly sweater girl he shurged and headed towards the library. After all he had all year to pick apart her outfits choices and lead her down a more profession clothing path.

As he approached the library he ran into another familiar face, Jasmine Sayge. This time the smile on his face was genuine the Sayge family was a reliable one, guarding the council for generations and Jasmine was no exception. The no-nonsense girl was always a pleasure to talk to when she was not busy training for her future position. "Jasmine I had no idea you were being sent to school here. Why this is starting to turn into a nice little next generation council gathering. All we are missing is Percival to stir up his own colorful brand of trouble and the gang is all here." As he talked Jason walked over to an empty table and pulled out two chairs. "Care to sit with me during orientation?"

Still keeping one eye on the teacher related theatrics, Dinah found herself being addressed by Sterling. It had been a bit of a toss-up as to whether he was going to respond or snub her entirely given the rather...colourful background. The young woman shook Larke’s hand and glanced him over as he spoke. Expensive clothes. Expensive shoes. Stuff that probably cost more than everything she owned combined. Including written-off car. Though that wasn’t exactly hers.

“Yup, that’s me. Dinah Fox. Di to most people. Haven’t sacrificed anyone to satan yet so I think we’re good.” she replied with a smirk, something that elicited a caustic look of disapproval from her brother. Cyrus was rather less accepting of the familial reputation than his younger sister, and didn’t really relish the fact that she was constantly joking about being the spawn of the she-devil.

Shortly after, in light of the rather… forceful demeanour of some of the teachers, Dinah had decided that it would be best to make herself a bit scarce. Lest she end up trapped behind in the dining hall and have her heart eaten by the Snow Queen back there.

She ended up falling into step a little behind Sterling, and a little way ahead of her brother, though her progress was interrupted somewhat as the monstrous form of the Norrevinter sprang in front, about a head taller than most of those present.

Kora, for one, was pretty eager to get down to things.

The norwegian student dropped into a chair somewhere at the front and took the point to examine a few of the assembled staff members. SHe knew so far as the pyromancy professor and the instructor for combat (two people she was keen to impress, and quite certain she would) though who was going to be running her secondaries was something Kora was less sure about. It was always good to know who you were dealing with.

Dinah had opted to give Kora a wide berth after seeing how she’d treated her rival earlier, and walked in a little after Sterling spoke.
“Yeah. Quite something.” she remarked in a pretty non-committal tone.
The place was most definitely impressive, in the sense that it was well above the standards of anywhere she was used to, though whether it was going to be her sort of place kind of remained to be seen. The staff looked like hardasses and the students looked to be the standard rich kids. It was going to be interesting one way or another.
“Should be fun if we survive the first day.”

One of the later people to arrive was Helena, who stepped in behind the main body of the students, albeit about brisk enough to avoid punishment. She'd not gone so far as to link the reserved seats near Esperanza as being much to do with her, and found herself standing around with a sort of 'rabbit in headlights' look that she often adopted when faced with the problems of the adolescent social minefield.

That was until a voice behind her sent her scuttling for a seat.

"Kingsley, do get a move on."

Professor K stood in the doorway, her arms folded, utilizing her unnerving capacity to appear out of nowhere.

"No-one cares where you sit. They won't have to tolerate you very long."

With the way clear, Oren strode up to the front and took her place next to Professor Byrne and the younger teacher. She knew the face well enough. Schippers. A Schippers, anyway.
"Year is off to a good start." Oren muttered under her breath.