Part II: More Magic, More Fantasies

Chapter 4- Eager Faces

The next day was probably the most exciting day of the week, for you had your highest-level-offered magic class. Even better, you'd be seeing everyone from your advanced magic class last year. You'd seen Spencer-Lynn yesterday, but today you got to see Lebreau, and Paine, and Chiara, and everyone else. You couldn't wait, as was shown by your waking up at 6:00 a.m.

It was so early you got a shower and washed your hair, even though you'd showered right before you went to bed. You even cooked an expansive breakfast, but then decided you didn't want it all and put the leftovers in Tupperware bowls for Mishaela whenever she woke up. It was still early, but you decided you'd head to school anyway. You left a sticky note for Mishaela so she wouldn't freak out about where you were. After all, you'd disappeared before.

By the time you reached the school grounds it was 7:15 a.m. and there were only a few people in the quad. You went straight inside and saw someone you didn't expect. "Snow?!" you asked.

He turned at the sound of your voice. "Hey, [name]!" he said happily. "I was hoping I got to see you! How's it going?"

"Great, it's going great!" You hugged the large man. "What are you doing here, Snow? You graduated!"

"Yeah. I tried to get into the police academy, but they wouldn't accept me. I guess Fang was right about my grades." He scratched his neck, chuckling uneasily. "I was on the verge of freaking out over what I was gonna do with my life now that I was out of school, when I got offered a job as the new combat teacher. Ms. Raines resigned." He opened his arms. "So, here I am!"

"That's a perfect fit for you," you said. "If there's one thing you know, Snow, it's weaponless combat. I'm kinda sad I can't take your class." You pouted.

"Yeah. But I'd definitely like to sit and talk with you some more, [name]." Snow smiled as he began to walk away. "See you around!"

"Bye!" you said, waving cheerfully.

Magic Mastery was in the same room that you'd taken Advanced Magic in. It also had the same teacher; or, at least, one of them: Lulu. You gave her a complacent nod before walking over to the girl that always got to class first. "Brecken!" you said.

She was mired in the pages of her comic book, but looked up when you'd said her name. Her face lit up. "[name]! It's so good to see you!" She stood, and held you at arm's length. "You look well. How have you been?"

"Oh, I've been pretty well," you confirmed. "And you?"

The smile on Brecken's face disappeared. "Well..." She sighed. "Ever since we found out that my mother wasn't dead after all, my father made me visit her. I don't know why he keeps trying. He knows she hates me."

Brecken's mother, Mary Anne, was a power-thirsty evil mastermind that had, at one point, kidnapped you and some of your friends to use your power to build a superweapon. A little while after scrapping her plan and defeating her, you'd found out she wasn't so dead after all. Most kids would be overjoyed to find out their mother was still alive; Brecken, not so much.

"But it wasn't all bad. My uncle Bartholomew had Riku and I come to Palumpolum to spend time with Hope, so the three of us could get to know each other better. It was really fun."

Riku Crescent and Hope Estheim were both maternal cousins of Brecken's, but she hadn't known either very well. (Until last year, she and Hope hadn't even known that Riku existed, much less that they were related.) Although they all had different last names and backgrounds, they shared many physical traits, such as their pale-colored hair and eyes that were some type of blue hue. Hope and Brecken were both short, and introverted. You didn't know Riku well enough to know if he was as introverted as they were.