Guardians of Magic

X. Enchanted

The bedside clock ticked quarter passed nine, and Brianna will surely be late for school if she didn’t keep her ass moving. Grabbing her school bag resting on the bed, she made her way to the hallway heading to the Palace’s main entrance. She was already down the grand staircase when she noticed the door of the music room open. Because curiosity is getting the best out of her, she peaks inside. Someone’s playing the piano.

She slowly opened the door and leaned her head inside to watch, she saw the Empress—looking lost in her own world. Her eyes are close and her face is peaceful. Brianna heaved a sigh. Empress Veronica is the picture of a perfect mother.

The music stop and Empress Veronica hastily open her eyes. Maybe she already felt that someone is looking at her. She turned sideways, and Brianna at first thought that she might turn mad, but when her eyes landed on her, the Empress smiled and approached her slowly.

“Going to school?” she asked tenderly. Brianna nodded. “Alright, be careful.” She kissed her at the cheek and leads her outside where Dahlia is already waiting. After bidding goodbyes, they immediately made their way to the academy.

This is the good thing about their practical exam, Brianna mussed. They will only held classes two days a week and the rest of the days are intended for practicing their magic. First step of this exam is getting to know your hybrid.

To be a better Guardian, you need to be a better observant. You will not only observe their physical capacity but also how they act emotionally, how they behave on different circumstances. In time, it will be easier for an apprentice to identify the hybrids power and concentrate on how to deal with it.

Brianna felt lucky with Alden. He isn’t hard to monitor and observe because he willingly conveys his real mind-set. He’s honest, brutally. And a one hell clever vampire. You just need to be careful, not letting him get into you because most of the time, Alden spells TROUBLE. She should know, besides, she has a lot of things to work with him.

At this point, the only connection they have is their ability to read each other’s mind. It’s a two-way connection and they can only extend it by reading other people’s mind near them. There was even a day that Brianna did try to explore other must-be-hidden abilities but after almost breaking her brain in half, she surrendered.

“ALERE TANTUM!”

Brianna was pulled back from her reverie. Yuki, Abigail’s witch hybrid is trying a new spell and her latest attempt ended badly. Brianna never cares much with this practice but seeing the result of Yuki’s new experiment almost made her laugh, and roll on the ground.

Abigail was unknowingly sitting on a bench under a mushroom. It is not an actual mushroom, but a resting place for an apprentice, that copies the shape of that specie.  It has a working table and a bench is circled in it.  Abigail had her back on them and her attention was obviously caught by God-knows-what book she grabbed from the library. She froze when her surroundings changed all of a sudden.

“I’m sorry.” Yuki apologized. Her face looks surprised but apparently unapologetic.

No!, Brianna thought. Yuki’s not sorry for what she did, rather, she regrets causing minimal damage.

Abigail slowly turned to face them and Brianna did her best not to laugh. When the victim’s eyes finally landed on their steady position, her face obviously in pain, Brianna could no longer get a hold of herself and she burst on laughter. Her voice echoes on the silent forest causing wild, fearful birds flew to different direction.

“The hell?” Abigail said between gritted teeth. Her hair was brushed upwards in a stiff, ugly manner and it is smoking like someone had intentionally put a fire on it. Her once doll-like face was now covered in ash-grey. She is the exact example of a person who suffered electric shock. “Fix this!” she ordered to her hybrid.