Aurelia the Rebellious

10: Preparation and Purple Dragons

When we got home and I was in my room, the realization hit me smack in the face. I got up from my chair, which caused me to bang my foot into my desk. Ouch! I clutched my foot, hissing in pain. There are other things to worry about, Aurelia! I winced as I rushedly hobbled down the stairs to find Aunt Mara washing the dishes in her kitchen.

"You know I don't even know how to create anything on command. how am I going to go against Lurid Academy?" I yelled with my eyes wide, I was panicking. "Am I allowed to

"Hey, slow down. Calm yourself," Aunt Mara said in a soothing voice. "Let me cast a spell, boop," Aunt Mara lifted one of her soapy hands, then proceeded to tap my nose. "On the day after today make sure Aurelia knows what she needs and finds a way to keep failure away." A decent enough rhyme. I wiped the bubble foam from my nose.

"And how is that supposed to help me?" I asked, unsure.

"I can't boost your magic, that's not possible." Aunt Mara looked at me calmly. I didn't know how she could be so calm when I was so stressed. "But I can make sure that you have good luck and wisdom. Which is what everyone needs, yet what almost everyone lacks. Now go to your room and try your best to prepare. Lurid Academy has no magic limits, the same way Revenrie doesn't have any. The founder of Revenrie Academy and the founder of Lurid Academy were friends that cast the same spell. This way, your magic doesn't make you any more tired. Now all you have to worry about is skill."

"Thank you," I bowed my head and rushed up the stairs back to my room. I entered my room, began to think, and plan.

When we were in the western courtyard, Adriel knew we were partners but he didn't say anything. He just stood there, looking at the list in shock. We didn't have enough time to train because 5 minutes after Aunt Mara posted up the list it was time to leave and go home. We were the most unprepared out of everybody else. Aunt Mara even mentioned that teamwork and practice would be one of the things that could prepare us for facing off against Lurid Academy.

Ugh, so much for advantages. But it's not like I wasn't to blame. We both wasted time by being in denial. Well, Adriel was in denial, I was furious.

I sat in my chair by my desk, staring at my hands in wonder. How can I possibly get this to work? It'd be just like someone handing me a machine I've never seen before and asking me to operate it. I tried to think of what I wanted.

What if I wanted a knife? That seemed basic enough and a knife would be pretty handy in battle. Though I would need to work on more complex objects later. I tried to close my eyes and get something to manifest out of nowhere but nothing happened. I was doomed. I tried everything, I even skipped out on dinner, but that didn't stop Chance from bringing up a plate for me. I read as many books as possible on combat, we learned the basics yesterday at school thanks to Coach Coby. Books and combat practice were the only things I could rely on for now. I put the book I was reading down one hour later, and went to sleep. Rest was good too.

"Aurelia!" Aunt Mara yelled in urgency, "Come on! 15 more minutes and we're off to school!"

I woke up, opened my eyes fast, and jumped out of bed. I rushed to change my clothes, I picked up the outfit I had laid out last night. I rushed to brush my hair, I looked for the nearest comb I could find and started to brush as fast I could. I reached for my backpack, which was lying against the wall near my door. And I rushed down the stairs to eat breakfast. By the time I arrived to find Aunt Mara standing with Mari, my cousins were gone.

"Come on!" Aunt Mara said with a smirk, I climbed onto Mari. "I was joking, school starts late because it's our first tournament of the year. You won't have any classes, just talking and preparation if you feel like you need to. Plus, the ride to Seycha's pretty long, even through giant Cheetah." Aunt Mara finished talking.