Your Familiar || Klance Witch AU

III

Did Lance look good, or what? 

After lunch, the trio made their way back to the dorm until their class at sunset, relaxing and going over notes together. Lance loved this part of the day, just being able to relax with his friends, not a care in the world, enjoying the simple things in life. 

As it got closer to dusk, the trio started to get ready for their last two classes, Pidge and Hunk packing their bags and Lance changing his outfit. He made his way over to his closet, browsing through his clothes until he settled on an appropriate outfit. Every wielder was given a classic pointy hat and some sort of staff or wand, you know, for the signature witch look. And really, Lance knew how to pull it off in a fashionable style. 

He changed shirts to a light indigo short sleeve and a black jean jacket, he kept his pants from earlier on, but added some accessories. Lance slid on a double-banded gold bracelet on his right wrist, putting on a crystal necklace and a moon pendant choker. And of course, to complete the look, Lance put on his orange round rimless glasses with fire-colored lenses. 

So again: did Lance look good, or what? 

Once everyone had their bags packed and Lance finished changing, the three friends meandered back through the halls, passing peers and saying their greetings. The first class they had was on manipulation, manipulation of the five senses, manipulation of magic senses, and manipulation of any other senses that may be unique to other species. It was actually pretty cool, if not totally terrifying that people were capable of this and could trick you into doing things you normally wouldn't do. 

Like most of the magic classes, Manipulation was held outside on the training grounds further into the woods by the river. The sun slowly sunk over the river's horizon, turning the water into liquid fire and bathing the world in flames. 

The class was led by the instructor to a clearing in the trees along the riverbank, a circle made of logs and stumps with a fountain of glass and crystal in the center. And in the fountain; water and light. 

"Alright class, today, we're manipulating light. And depending on how far we get, we'll move on to fine-tuning our skills to manipulate vision," Professor Sanda announced as everyone got settled. Sanda was also the Admiral of the military, but she also taught this class. Once everyone was settled, Sanda stepped up the fountain and places her hands hovering just off the sides of the bowl sitting on top. 

The second she stilled enough to concentrate and steady herself, the reflected sunset in the water began to glow brighter. The light began to refract through the glass and crystals, becoming a rainbow of colors from the reflection of a sky aflame. 

The streams of light floated up and into the air, beautiful colors of varying brilliance weaved their way between the students, lighting up the clearing and casting long and dark shadows. 

"The first thing you'll be doing is manipulating the light already provided by using the glass and crystals in the bowl as a sort of refractor. Once you do that, infuse your magic into the light for you to control, and from there you will alter the color and brightness of the light." Sanda ordered. Really, any and everything that woman said was an order, probably a habit of being a militarian leader. "Griffin, you're up." 

James Griffin. Bit of a dick. 

One of the top students, hangs out with his best friend Nadia Rizavi and her familiar, Ina Leifsdottir, along with his own familiar, Ryan Kinkade. Comes from a rich family that helps fund the magical military, kind of a teacher's pet and all-around goody two shoes. He's the guy you're always jealous of his success but slap on a fake smile and clap along with everyone else anyway because that's what society dictates you to do; be happy for every and anyone's success whether they deserve it or not. 

He stepped up from his place and walked over to the bowl, Kinkade staying seated. A wielder's magic was as strong as the bond with their familiar was, and that only increased with proximity between the two. That's why familiars and their masters typically have a shared object; a magical item directly linked to their bond that they both constantly wear. Kinkade's animal form was a golden eagle, his and Griffin's shared objects being a bracelet on their right wrists that transferred to Kinkade's right leg when the familiar shifted forms. 

Usually, a master and their familiar had the same kind of shared object, take Griffin's and Kinkade's bracelets for example. But Pidge and Hunk were different (in more ways than one), where they had a shared object that was a different object for two of them. Really, a shared object is just two objects that can tap into a bond, but it's symbolic for the two objects to be the same thing. Yet for Hunk, his object was his yellow headband that moved to his neck when he shifted, whereas Pidge's was their glasses.

No surprise when Griffon pulled off the assignment practically perfectly, to which Lance certainly did not roll his eyes to Pidge and mutter under his breath "I could do that." Nope, definitely not.

"Rizavi, you're next." Then it was Plaxum, then Shay, then Allura, then Nyma, then- "McClain, you're up." Finally! It was Lance's time to shine. 

He stood up, making a show of brushing off his pants and sauntering over to the bowl with an oh-so-ever cocky grin on his face. After an exaggerated gesture of cracking his fingers and stretching his arms, sending a wink at Allura and widening his stance, Lance hovered his fingers just off the edge of the bowl. 

He closed his eyes, concentrating on the bit of magic he'd been preserving all day long, coaxing it out of him and bending it to his will. It was hard, it was always hard to do complex magic in front of a spectating audience while being carefully scrutinized by an authoritative figure in a small window of time and no aid. But he's managed to pull it all off up until then, and he can do it again.

Lance opened his eyes, staring at the light in the bowl and straining his energy until he was able to infuse his magic into the light. It was wobbly, like trying to balance on two legs of your chair as you lean back without falling, but it worked. 

Until it didn't.

As Lance altered the colors of the light, he noticed his control began to slip, the light turning shades of colors different than he willed. But he kept on going. 

It was time to alter the brightness, first almost losing the light entirely when he dimmed it before gaining sway over it once again. Lance tried to play it off as a cool, show-off trick, but his confidence was beginning to waver, his act falling short. All he had to do was make it a little brighter, then he'd be done. Simple. He'd make it bright and pass the assignment, piece-o-fucking-cake. 

Lance carefully brightened the light, trying to use some of the sun's fading rays as a boost. Bad idea Lance, bad idea. 

He couldn't control it anymore, the power of the light was using his magic and the sun as a power source, growing brighter and brighter. 

"That's enough, Mr. McClain," Sanda commanded, her voice far off as Lance fought for dominance over the magic. "McClain!" 

"I'm trying!" But there was nothing Lance could do as the light rapidly grew to be blazing, students shielding their eyes from the glow. In a glaring explosion, the light and magic erupted and dispersed in small sparks, students crying out at the sun-bright discharge of uncontrolled magic. 

Lance poked his face out from behind his forearm that shielded his own eyes, looking around to see his classmates do the same. He turned to Sanda, seeing her outraged expression and mouth twisting into a snarl before she spoke.

"Get out of my class."