Undaunted

Chapter 7: Sibling Surprises

After my morning classes I run into Ezra on the way to lunch by accident.

"Oh!" I exclaim and bend down to help him pick up his papers, "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Ezra says before he finally looks up at me, "Oh, Philomena."

"Hi," I smile awkwardly at him and he chuckles.

"You're strange," He says as we both stand up and he adjusts his papers in his arms.

"What?" I ask, taken by surprise.

"You're strange," He repeats.

"I don't follow...did I do something, or?"

"No," He says and shakes his head, "Your magic is a pretty color."

"What are you--"

"I'll see you around, Philomena," He says and waves before walking away.

"Well that was weird..." I mutter.

"Ezra can see people's magic around them as if the magic were an aura," Antheia says as she sticks her head out of my bag.

"Oh," I say, "I guess that makes sense..."

"Yeah," Flinn cuts in, "Your magic is bound to be as pretty as you are!"

"Flinn," Antheia snaps.

"What? It's true," Flinn whines.

"Thanks," I chuckle and look around for Augustina, "I wonder where Augustina is..."

I wander around the halls until I come to the dining hall and I still can't find Augustina anywhere. However, I do spot Tempest, who waves me over to her. I take my familiars out of my bag and they transform into their half human forms before we go over to Tempest.

"Are they your familiars?" Tempest raises a brow.

"Yeah," I nod.

"Cool, the Miyette twins are okay in my book," Tempest nods.

"Do you usually eat alone, or?" I ask and Tempest shakes her head.

"No," She says with a slight smirk, "While I do scare several people at this academy, I usually have lunch with Solstice Luminous."

"Oh," I smile, "I know Solstice. She's in my Basic Wizardry101 class."

"You know Solstice? Strange. She usually doesn't approach new people, although she is quite popular for her looks -- but she's quiet. A bit strange, too..." Tempest says.

"How long have you two been friends?" Antheia asks.

"I've been friends with Solstice since I was five," Tempest says, "We grew up together. I'm probably the closest person that she has. I'm an only child, but Solstice had a brother who was one year older than us."

"Had?" I frown.

Tempest purses her lips and crosses her arms while looking at us with a conflicted expression.

"Sorry," Solstice's quiet voice appears behind me, "I didn't mean to be late."

"It's fine," Tempest says and Solstice looks at us.

"Oh," Solstice says and sits next to Tempest and faces us, "Hello."

"Hi," I smile at her and Flinn wiggles his eyebrows at her and smiles while Antheia smacks him upside the head.

Solstice's eyes drift over to slightly behind us and I glance to the side and notice that she's looking at Ryder, who is sitting at a lunch table eating while Ezra is standing in front of him with his hands resting on the table while he's talking to him. I raise a brow in slight curiosity and Solstice looks at me and blinks, but as she stares at me she's almost silently telling me to ask her the question that I'm wondering. Instead I don't and I shake my head. This place is full of mysteries.

***

After school I practice more magic in my dorm as I stand in the middle of the dorm itself. Antheia sits on my bed and holds the book facing me so that I can read the spells and Flinn sits next to Antheia and bounces a ball off of the wall and continues to throw and catch it. Antheia throws him several annoyed glances, but continues to hold the book.

"Okay," I say as I read the next spell, "A spell for summoning water. Fluxus Aquae!"

I end up summoning a shard of ice instead of water right as the door opens and the shard of ice goes flying at Ryder. Ryder's eyes widen in surprise and he ducks down and the shard of ice goes flying into the wall outside of the dorm.

"Oops..." I trail off and flush from embarrassment, "Sorry!"

"You really are trying to kill me, aren't you?"

"I said sorry!"

Ryder rolls his eyes and walks over to his bed and places his bookbag down.

"Well, if your magic doesn't kill me, your presence certain will," He sighs.

"Ooh!" I narrow my eyes at him and frown, "You're so cold!"

He pauses for a moment and turns to look at me.

"What?" I stare at him in confusion.

"Nobody--"

"Oh, little brother!" A male voice calls from the hallway just outside our dorm and Ryder's eyes widen slightly.

"Ryder?" I question.

"No..." He whispers.

The door creaks open and I find myself staring at a boy who looks similar to Ryder, except he has blue eyes and he doesn't have a scar, but they share several of the same features and the same hair color.

"Hello, little brother," The male in the doorway smirks.