Millennium Academy - The Fractured Shadow - Novel I

Chapter 11 - Razz Martiez

Razz was confuzzled. Very, very, confuzzled. Befuddled. Flabbergasted. Bewildered. And several other synonyms.

"Emila, what's going on?" she demanded as Emila extracted herself from the library's clutches.

"Restricted section." she panted, "Vera. Book. Jezebel Ruby. I returned the book to its hiding spot but... I didn't look inside."

"Why?" Razz lamented. "Vera's been so secretive lately; it's only fair that we find something out."

"Because... I don't know. And Razz... we broke up."

"WHAT?!" Razz roared. Several Year Ones scooted subtly away. "What do you MEAN, "BROKE UP!? AFTER I FINALLY CONVINCED HER TO ASK YOU OUT?!"

"She was going to ask me...? No, never mind, that's irrelevant. She started pushing me away. Something about how I knew why she wasn't telling us...? And said I only wanted to interrogate her. She's so emotional and assumptive sometimes... and that's why I love her... but..." Emila choked out. "I don't know. Just... keep this a secret, please."

"Okay." Razz agreed, turning away. "But you have to make up with her. Eventually. I cannot STAND if our lunch table is never the same because of you two."

Emila smiled sadly, but didn't agree out loud. "Razz, don't you have your elemental ceremony today? Tomorrow's the dance, so I think so."

"Yeah. Oh, I hope I'm not an EarthWitch. I would never live it down!" Razz lamented. "You'll watch, right?"

"Of course! I don't know if Vera will, though." Emila's snakes chittered in agreement, swaying on her heart-shaped hairline.

Razz shrugged, "If she's a true friend, she'll come. I know it." but she looked a little unsure of herself.

"But what if she's not?" Razz heard Emila whisper. "What will you do then?" Razz didn't respond. The question was purely hypothetical. But even so, an answer she had not.

"Anyway... what kind of witch do you want to be?" Emila asked, breaking the tense silence.

"A FireWitch, hopefully. SkyWitch wouldn't be too bad though..." Razz said promptly. "But hl, no, don't make me a DeathWitch."

"Why - oh. Jezebel Ruby was one." Emila caught herself.

Razz nodded, "And I don't need any more bad press, trust. Especially after Veran disappeared."

At the mere mention of Veran's name, a volley of glares shot towards Razz, as if everyone in the school knew she dumped him and blamed her for his disappearance.

_***_

Razz took a deep breath and stepped in front of the curtain. The entire auditorium went silent. She was reluctantly dressed in a long, low-necked flowing black silk dress smattered with silver stars.

"Ahem. Razzberry Rarity Martiez please take your place at the Awakening circle." her spellcasting teacher, an old, owlish man instructed, grinding herbs and things in a mortar. He gestured to a circle of arranged seats, in which sat the other witches and warlocks of her year.

"Yes, sir." Razz croaked out.

"Good. Now," he poured the paste into nine cups and handed one out to each person on the stage. "Drink the mixture." he ordered with a confused frown, as if they should have known this. He poured the rest into an infinity sign of green sludge in the circle as they drank.

Suddenly the administrator began chanting hauntly words in a foreign language and the only thing Razz could see was black, silver words painted behind her eyelids. Nevermore. The only anchor to the real world was her chair. She opened her eyes. Upon her shoulder was a ghostly black bird, a raven, which cawed once its name.

"Nevermore," Razz gasped.

"Deathwitch!" shrieked a voice Razz could recongnize as the administrator's.

"Professor, I-"

"No, Razz. Please head to Mr. Withers' office. Please." he begged, turning away so that he didn't have to see her face.

Murmurs rose up in the crowd as Razz left her seat. Murmurs of dissent, of suspicion. Of the fact that all the others were normal, with familiars like phoenixes or Skyverns.

Still clothed in her night-like dress, Nevermore on her shoulder, she winced at the glares that burned even harder as she climbed the long, spiraling stairs to the 'lion's den.'

"Razz, Martinez, DeathWitch?" Mr. Withers' cool, gravely voice echoed around the dark office.

"...yes."

"If you were any other Witch, I could find you an elemental mentor," he explained. "But as Death magic is illegal, I would recommend you return to your everyday classes. But be warned - if I catch you using your magic in any way, shape or form - even bringing Nevermore to class - you will be forcibly removed from the school."

Expelled. The unspoken word lay between them like fog. "Am I clear?" Mr Withers snarled, shuffling a stack of papers on his messy desk.

"Yes sir." Razz replied in a low, dangerous voice. "Crystal."

"Thank you. Now I trust that there will be no more... disturbances?"

Razz nodded, finally mute. She swept from the room. Her bare arms were getting chilly in that room. She found Emila outside the door, probably much to close for the gorgon's liking. Her snakes were agitated.

"So?" Emila asked, twiddling her thumbs. "The lion's den?"

"You've been?"

"Yeah. Mr. Withers is the headmaster and all, but serpent's scales that man is scary! Anyway, you didn't tell me. How did it go?"

"He- he said if I brought Nevermore to class, I would be expelled. Even if I used my magic in any way. I have to suppress it."

"But-"

"I know, it might corrupt me. Kill me..."

She bit her lip. She'd heard stories of how witches and wizards alike had suppressed their magic during the Salem witch trials, and the piece of them that they hid, tried to separate, slowly drove them insane. You can't hide that big a part of you. Magic used to be feared, reviled, but now it ran amok, a beautiful part of Razz's world. Look at Edmonton now compared to the Edmonton of then. But the havoc it caused back then was nothing compared to the suspicion of the present.

"...But if I want to investigate Vera... and get to the bottom of this macabre rollercoaster, I have to be on my best behavior, or else Mr Withers will boot me out, faster than you can say Nevermore. Trust me, he's watching my every move. He's got eyes everywhere."

"That won't be too hard, Razz... we just have to fly under his radar. We can't be wandering around at night. At least you can't." A mischievous smile crossed her face.

"You..."

"Yeah. Me."

"But Vera..."

"To hell with Vera!" she snapped. "I cannot tolerate..." she broke down in tears.

"I can't believe I said that..." she sobbed as Razz bent down to comfort her.

"It'll be okay. Like you said - to hell with Vera." Razz was mostly saying it to cheer up Emila, but muffled among the soft whimpers and Emila's sobs, she could barely hear the soft footsteps fading away from them - and the clinking of copper trinkets in a pocket.