Moonlight Magic

Chapter 19

"So the students will return on Monday?"
"More like tomorrow," Anna replied through a mouthful of chicken.
It took us a bit of time but we made it to the mess hall just as Mrs Gilmore was leaving. After leaving us with some fried chicken, salad and wholewheat bread, she told us to clean up when we were done and left. The three of us were now alone in the massive and empty mess hall.
"Why?"
"Classes are back on on Monday. They come back around Sunday night to get ready."
I realised that Anna wasn't that bad. Even though she had been annoyed at first, she's actually friendly once you knew her. Chloe on the other hand was easier to get along with but I could tell she could be an airhead at times.
"So what happens to me?"
Anna raised an eyebrow. "Well, for starters what have you decided? Are you still against staying here?"
After checking out part of the school, it didn't seem that bad. To think what they showed me so far had not even been the third of the place. I didn't think I had much of a choice. If I wanted answers I'll have to stay. And my parents were still somewhere out there after me. I'm not the type of person to get sentimental over things that once was. Perhaps at first it shocked me and I did miss them but I'm more than certain that who they were now was who they were all along. They were just very good liars. Therefore, I didn't see the point of still believing they were good people. I felt their real intentions the day they attacked. So I'm not going to be that stupid girl that foolishly thinks that I can somehow get through to my parents and get back to the way it was before.
"I'll stay," I finally replied. "Cremlim's not that bad I suppose."
"I see," was all Anna said.
"Then you're gonna have to get your uniform, stationary and move in." Chloe bounced in her seat excitedly.
"There's uniform? At a boarding school?"
"Yes there is." I groaned inside. I've never had to wear uniform in my entire life.
"Don't worry. It's not so bad. Compared to other school uniform codes, Cremlim's is rather slack," Anna informed.
"We'll get it all sorted along with your books and stuff tonight before most of the students return. There's a student store that has all the stuff," Chloe said.
"Like after now?"
"Okay, at Cremlim, 'night' and 'day' are different. Everyone here is awake at night and run on a nighttime timetable."
"Why?!"
"Because magic works best when the sun disappears and the moon is out especially when there is a full moon when our powers are the most potent. However, a new moon is the exception. When the moon is hiding, magic diminishes more than during the day. It basically drains 'normal' magic and amplifies dark magic."
Dark magic. My parents.
"So I'll be starting classes on Monday.. night?"
The two of them nodded. "You'll probably have a small orientation and maybe attend some of the classes since we're not sure what classes you'll be eligible for." Anna had a blank face as she was deep in thought. "You know, it's strange that I still can't figure out what you are."
"Would you normally know straight away?"
"Not always. Not if the caster or fae is deliberately hiding their identity."
"How?"
"By looking at your aura," she said before taking another huge bite out of her drumstick. Boy, can she eat.
"My aura? What's that?"
Since Anna was still chewing, Chloe took over. "Everybody has an aura. How can I explain this. Um... it's like a colour smoke that surrounds the body. All magic users have the ability to 'see' it and be able to distinguish between the different races. Of course, normal people have auras too but their's aren't distinct just grey -unless they're dead then there's nothing. Supernaturals on the other hand have different coloured ones, depending on what you are."
"So, what colour is my aura now?"
Chloe squinted at me like Anna did before. "It's murky, like a dozen colours mixed together. I've never seen something like this before."
"What about you two?"
"I'm a sorceress so mine's purple. How intense the colour of an aura indicates how strong the individual is. And since Ivan's a sorcerer his is purple as well."
"The difference being that his purple is way darker than yours." Anna never tires of taking jabs at Chloe. "Witches and wizards have green auras," she supplied herself.
"You mentioned races before? And casters? Fae?"
"Okay, let me explain. You see, magic users are classified as two main groups. There are the casters and faeries. Each group is then separated into three levels for casters and four different types for fae. For casters, at the top level we have sorcerers and sorceresses like me. We can use very strong magic and don't need any kind of instrument to perform spells. Necromancers are also on the same tier as us. Like us, they do not need an instrument and are very strong too. They can however, summon, communicate and manipulate the undead. Their aura reflects their dark nature; black.
"On the second level, there's the wizards and witches like Anna here. They need wands in order to channel their power as they are not as strong as the level one users. Level two casters are however are advanced potion concocters so word of advice don't accept anything edible from a wizard or witch you've pissed off."
"Ivan's gonna receive a special gift from me soon," Anna smirked.
"Don't you think he'd know?" Chloe said.
"Witches are excellent concealer of spells that are in the form of potions."
"Still, I have a feeling he would know straight away." So Anna was the type to hold a grudge.
Steering the conversation back on track I said, "Okay, what about level three?"
"On level three are the mages. Ophilia belongs to this category. These casters wield staffs in order to utilise magic. They are weak power wise but are exceptional healers. Therefore, the nurses here on standby are all mages. Mages have blue auras and usually have calm personalities. And that's basically it for the casters," Chloe concluded.
"And the fae?"
"The fae don't have very distinct differences in terms of power between each class," Anna said. "Whereas casters are manipulators of magic where the power resides within, fae have a natural connection to the magic lines in the world. They are somewhat a part of the magic. There are four main classes: elves, imps, elemental sprites and pixies.
"Elves and imps are closely related. The same goes for sprites and pixies. Unlike casters who appear human in most cases, fae have unique features."
"What, like wings?"
"Not quite. Elves have slightly more pointed ears, imps have cat-slit pupils, sprites possess a tattoo like birth mark somewhere on them that corresponds to their elemental nature and pixies are generally short statured."
"I'm sure don't have any of those and I'm considerably tall at five five."
"But there are exceptions. If your parents are of different races, you might not display any of the features I've mentioned."
"You mean you'll have to confirm by gaging the aura."
"Yep and in faeries' case, elves exhibit orange auras, imps red, elemental sprites yellow and pixies pink or peach," Chloe added.
Basically, we still didn't know what I was. I pushed the remaining carrots around my plate and decided I was done. Anna was starting to get up with her plate in hand.
Chloe said, "We should go." It was subtle but I saw the quick glance she aimed at the cafeteria doors. Was someone supposed to be coming?
Midnight was gradually approaching and I was getting sleepy. Getting my internal clock messed up because of going on vampire hours was worse than jet lag.
The tour around the school had kept my mind occupied enough that I forgot about my hurting arm. There was still a dull pulsing ache I felt.
"Yeah.. Let's."