The Magic Inside

Stars

"As you all know," Professor Nova paced the rooftop, "There are so many different kinds of magic out there. There is basic magic, elemental magic, some magicians can change form, and of course many others. Astronomy is merely one of them, and by far, the least magical of them all," she turned to face us with a smirk, "At least, in most people's eyes. In reality, it's far more magical than it might seem. The stars are a key to understanding our universe. I'm not talking about fortune-telling or anything like that," she added, laughing, "I guess it's just hard to explain," she turned and gazed at the sky, leaning on the wall, "All 5 years that I've worked as Astronomy professor here, I still haven't found a way to explain it. It comes to those who understand, it never does for some. It's a science, but it's also magic. Is this possible? I guess. Or maybe it's not," she turned back to us, smiling, "Enough of my rambling. Shall we get started?"

Most of us were excited for our first real class with Professor Nova. For the first couple of weeks, she had told us to sit and look at the sky, and we could come and go as we please. I always stayed for a while, a good 30 minutes, which was more than most of the other students, except one quiet girl with hair as black as the night and eyes as blue as day. I didn't know her name, but I hoped I would find out. Professor Nova told us to split into groups for our partners. She explained that they would be who we worked with in this class for the rest of the year. Scorch and Jade picked each other instantly, each casting a sorry gaze in my direction. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Cocoa was still too young to be in this class, so I had to pick someone I didn't know or didn't like. Oh joy.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, "Amber, is it?"

I turned around, and there stood the girl. She stared at me with her intense blue eyes, and I smiled, "Yeah! You wanna be partners?"

"Sure!" she smiled, "I'm Nebula. It's great to meet you!"

"It's great to meet you, too," I shook her hand, "By the way, you look a lot like-"

"Adalene? Yeah. She's my sister," she blushed, embarrassed, "But I'm not like her at all. I'm not a natural leader, outgoing, brave, or any of that."

"Well," I laughed, "You seem pretty cool to me!"

"Thanks," she smiled and blushed some more. She was right, she wasn't very outgoing.

"Alright class," Professor Nova said, "I want you to work as a team to draw your favorite constellation. Each team must agree on it. Now, get to work," she gestured to the 11 tables all around the rooftop, one for each team. Nebula and I sat down at one farther away from the group.

"So," she started, "What's your favorite constellation?"

"Orion," I said, pointing, "That one right there. I love his story."

"That's mine, too," she smiled, "So, I guess we can get to work."

"Yeah," I replied with a smile. We worked on it for the entire hour and thirty minutes, and we were both extremely proud of it when we were done. We both helped draw it, and we made sure it was proportional. I colored it and added stars in the background, and Nebula put a charm on it to make it sparkle. We proudly turned it in to Professor Nova, who congratulated us on our hard work. Then, we walked back to the dorms together, talking and having a good time.

Nebula laughed, "Well, I suppose it's time to go," we stood outside her dorm door, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I waved, "Seeya."

"Seeya," Nebula disappeared into her dorm room.

I walked the rest of the way to my room alone and in silence.

-------------------------------------------------------

"So her name is Nebula?" Scorch asked as we all sat around the room, each of us on our bunk beds. Cocoa and I sat next to each other on one side of the room, and Scorch sat on the other side. Jade came with a couple of hot chocolates and gave us each one, "She seems strange."

"She's cool," I nodded, taking a small sip of my drink, "We both have the same favorite constellation. Orion."

"That's nice," Cocoa took a huge drink from the mug, then gasped as it burned her tongue.

"Well yeah, dummy, it just came off the stove," Jade laughed as she took a sip of her own drink.

"I'm not a dummy!" Cocoa pouted.

"Really?" Jade asked, messing with her sister, "I never would've known."

"Oh, come here, you!" Cocoa jumped on her sister(luckily she had put down the hot chocolate), throwing play punches.

"Stop being such siblings," Scorch pulled them apart, holding each by the back of their shirts, "Besides. You know we don't fight like that."

"Are you suggesting what I think you are?" Jade asked, a smirk on her face as she pushed Scorch away.

"Oh yeah," Scorch answered with a smirk on her face.

"What?" I asked. Why was I always the clueless one?

"A Venebellum," Cocoa answered.

"A what?" I asked.

"It comes from the Latin words veneficia- sorcery- and bellum-battle," Jade explained, "Basically, it's an organized fight between two magicians that settles an argument and makes sure no one gets seriously hurt at the same time. If you know about duels in the Revolutionary War, it's a lot like that."

"So," I thought for a minute.  She acted like I'd ever paid attention in history class, "Count to ten and fire?"

"Yep," she replied, "But there are rules, too. No killing blows, nothing that can potentially maim a person, you know, stuff like that."

"Oh," I took a small sip of my hot chocolate, "That's cool."

"That's not fair," Cocoa whined, "You're better at magic than me!"

"And you're better at throwing a punch," Jade shrugged, "Do you really want to go there?"

Cocoa sighed, "Never mind."  

Jade laughed, followed by Scorch and I. Cocoa gave a small smile, then bust out laughing. After a while, we all decided it was getting late. We settled into bed, and I drifted off into the warm embrace of sleep.