A. Poison in the Blood

A.3. New School Troubles

Trixie ran a brush through her brown hair as she skimmed through the headlines on her tablet.

Mermaid corpse found near Misty falls

Herbs&Potions robbed

Faery murdered in alley near Mage's tower

There must be a connection. All the murders happened the same way, a poison called Silent Death. Trixie was still scratching her head over the robberies, though.

Trixie sighed, turning off her tablet. She would figure it out in the morning. She headed for her bathroom.

"Miss Mystic?" Alatar, her fathers assistant called from the door.

"You really can just call me Trixie." She smiled reassuringly. Her dad insisted on professional relations between them and the staff, but she thought it was unnecessary to be so formal.

"Of course... Trixie." He cleared his throat. "Your father would like to see you in his study. If you don't mind, miss Trixie."

She followed Alatar to her father's study. He was signing some documents when he noticed them. "My violet, I've been meaning to talk to you." He smiled.

Trixie took a seat. "About?"

He dismissed Alatar then laced his fingers together. "Well there has been an increase in crime."

"Has there?" She asked as if she was not just scrolling through a bunch of articles on it.

"Yes there has. You know of the break in at my head factory, which lead to the death of...." He trailed off.

Mom

Trixie ran her fingers through her hair. It was lighter since she cut it. It was an old tradition to cut your hair short after losing someone close to you.

"So I realized if they're targeting my factories then they could target the manor as well." He handed Trixie a pamphlet. Scatterstar Acadamy was written on it in bold letters.

"I'm worried about your safety, so I'm sending you there. It has great security, qualified teachers and-"

"But dadda that's not necessary. I'm safe here, you only hire the most qualified bodyguards after all."

She couldn't go to school, the classes would interfere with her Powerine work. Not that she could tell her father that.

"This isn't up for discussion. You're going, that's it."

"The Powerines would probably solve the crimes in the next we-"

"The Powerines are nuicenses who keep putting civilians in danger!" He snapped.

Trixie kept quiet as her dad blinked away some tears. A knot formed in her stomach. She could see his aura. He was definitively thinking of how Blythe Mystic died; caught in the crossfire between a Powerine and the burgler who robbed the factory.

Little did he know, the Powerine was his wife.

Trixie wanted to tell him so badly the truth of what happened, but she had a feeling he would ban her from taking her mother's role as the Powerine of emotion if he knew her true identity.

He took a breath. "You're going to that school. End. Of. Discussion."

.....

"Here we are mademoiselle Mystic," the chauffeur announced as they stopped infront of Scatterstar Acadamy.

For the last week Trixie desperately tried to talk her father out of the decision. The night before she was finally forced to pack her bags.

She yawned. I can't believe it takes two hours to drive across town.

She climbed out of the limo and shouldered her bags.

"Need some help?" the chauffeur offered.

"I'm good, you really don't have to." Trixie smiled.

"They look quite heavy."

Trixie's turquoise eyes turned light red.

"As you wish," he said nervously. "Good luck on your first day." The chauffeur climbed into the car.

Trixie's eyes turned back turquoise "Drive safe and happy birthday."

The chauffeur looked surprised then blushed. "Thank you miss," he said flustered.

Trixie decided she's going to need a GPS to navigate the school. It took an hour for her to find Professor Jaderoot's office. It was a bit embarrassing, she found the astronomy tower, the assembly hall and a portal to the dæmon realm (which she was sure was illegal to open in the first place) before she found the office, right next to the entrance hall.

Trixie had to facepalm at her own idiocy.

"Morning, you must be Trixie Mystic." The professor sat behind a desk typing something on a digital screen.

"Yes I am, Professor."

Jaderoot shuffled through some papers. "Bellatrix Ames Mystic, 15, third year. Field of magic: Enchantment. Rank: Witch." She handed Trixie a envelope. "That contains your class schedule, room key and student ID. Don't lose them."

"Thanks."

Trixie headed toward her dorm room. The students in the hall clustered together, trying to hide their converstions from Trixie's passing ears.

"Isn't that Marvolo Mystic's daughter?"

"Since when does she go here."

"I heard she was sent here because she's a troublemaker."

"I heard she slept with an arachnne against her father's wishes."

Trixie rolled her eyes, she's heard all the stories before. The arachnne one particularly annoyed her, her and Cleon's relationship was completely hands off and her father was very supportive. They anyway broke up a month ago.

She bumped into another student. She caught the pile of books they were carrying when it almost collapsed on her, easily holding them up despite the added weight her own bags.

The student quickly took the pile from her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see where I was going." They steadied the books and walked on. Trixie could only make out a flash of blond.

Trixie reached her room. She was very curious about it, apparently the rooms decorate themselves when you open them.

She took a breath and turned the key. The inside was bathed in bright, pink magical energy. The light faded.

She took in her surroundings. A vanity and closet was on either side of the door. Across from the entrance was a glass door leading to a small balcony. A bed stood against the left wall with a poster of magically changing images above it. On the right was her desk with square selves above it.

It was much smaller then her room at the manor. Yet somehow cosy. She felt like she could actually relax here, unlike at home, where the atmosphere was always heavy.

Trixie dropped her bags and went outside to admire the skyline of Scatterstar city. She could even see Mage's tower from here. A tall white tower that held a large levitating crystal in it's center.

She cleared her thoughts and breathed in the cool air.

Her phone vibrated to tell her of a new crime:

Cockatrice poacher in Treetop.

She sighed. She needed to find her way out of this school. These crimes aren't gonna stop themselves.