Fandom High

Satyr in the Storm

The ceiling had a rather rough paint job, Ace noticed. It appeared to have been quickly done, without much care.
Ace laid upside down on her floor, staring up at the ceiling with her legs propped up on her bed. She had already finished fixing her wings, and without a tall enough building to jump off of, there was no reason to test them. She had no interest in reading Renee's book, and equally little interest in studying for the exams. Not that it would matter anyway. Stuck out in the middle of nowhere with her relatives, she didn't expect to take the exams anytime soon.
Ace sighed and stood up, then walked downstairs. She was about to head into the kitchen when the front door opened and Renee stepped in. She tossed her school bag across the room and grinned at her cousin. "Me and Kess are going to the movies. Wanna come?"
Ace raised one eyebrow. "It's like noon."
"So?"
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Meh. Got bored."
Ace shrugged. "Fine by me." She smirked and headed out the door side by side with Renee. "So what movie are we going to?"
"Days of Future Past."
"Aw hells yeah!" Ace said, pumping her fist into the air.
Renee rolled her eyes and gestures to Ace as the two reached a blonde, short-haired girl. "Kess, this is my cousin Ace. "Ace, this is Kess. She just shadowed at our school."
The two girls nodded a greeting to each other. Ace didn't pay much mind to the girl; she knew she wouldn't likely be seeing her again.
•••
The movie had been fantastic. Of course, Ace wouldn't expect any less from a Marvel movie. She and Renee were walking home along the streets of Cherry Grove; Kess's grandfather had picked her up from the theater.
As they walked, Renee talked on and on about the movie while Ace just listened. She tended to do that; whenever she was really focused on something, she would just go quiet. Today's subject was the owl prank from the previous night.
After a while, Ace felt a raindrop on her nose and stopped. Around her, more raindrops started to fall until it was lightly drizzling. Storm clouds brewed dark grey up above and the ocean nearby churned madly. Ace and Renee exchanged nervous glances as the rain around them began to come down harder. Suddenly, Renee broke into a sprint towards the woods nearby. "C'mon, I know a shortcut!" She called behind her. Ace didn't hesitate in booking it after her.
The two sped through the woods as the storm intensified. Lightning lashed across the sky, thunder booming through every inch of the forest as rain started to pound all around them.
"Well that escalated quickly!" Ace shouted ahead to Renee over the roar of the storm. She dimly heard Renee laugh ahead of her, but she didn't respond. As the two bolted through the woods, Renee started to get further and further ahead, due to the fact she was far faster than her younger cousin. Trouble was, the brunette was the only one who knew the way home. "Hey, wait up!" Ace shouted.
Renee clearly didn't hear her, so Ace groaned and quickened her own pace. She finally reached a spot a few feet behind her cousin, when all of a sudden, Renee pushed a branch forwards out of her way. Before Ace could try to duck or dodge out of its way, the branch smacked her hard in the face. She cried out and reeled back, stumbling and falling on her backside sending water splashing up off the ground and soaking her even more than she already was.
Ace scrambled to her feet as she felt a sting on her cheek where the branch hit, but Renee had already disappeared through the trees. "Renee!" Ace ran a few steps forward, but realized it was futile. She couldn't remember which was she was going. The trees had been whizzing past in a blur so she didn't have any landmarks to spot out, and when she fell, she was totally set off on which way she'd been going. She was lost in the middle of a storm. Ace's eyes widened as the reality of her situation struck her.
She ran a few steps forward, turned and tried a different way. She shook her head and tried again, and again, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out which way was right. "R-Renee!" Ace's shout was almost immediately drowned our by the storm so even she could barely hear it, let alone her cousin.
A hair's breadth from panic, she spun around to try and run in another direction, but froze immediately. She hadn't noticed it there before... Had it always been there? Ace could've been certain it wasn't there before, and yet... There it was. There, in front of her, was a man-sized statue of some sort of crying angel.
Ace cocked her head to one side in confusion. Suddenly, lightning flashed overhead and she flinched at the ear shattering thunder that ensued immediately after. As soon as the light faded, Ace screamed and scrambled back.
The statue had somehow gotten directly in front of her - and it had moved. Its claws were now raised and its sharp teeth bared, it's cold, empty eyes staring at her. Ace stared at it in shock and fear and took a step back. Suddenly, she felt someone with rough hands grab her wrist. "Don't blink. Don't move. Don't look away." An old male voice, accented like an englishman's, ordered.
Ace froze, her eyes wide. "Wh-Why?" She asked. "Who's there?"
"I'm Greene, your satyr." The voice replied. "Now just hold on. And don't look away from a statue!"
Ace did as she was told as she heard someone rifling through a bag or something behind her. Finally, he set something down beside her a and said, "There we go. You can look now." As soon as he'd spoken, Ace spun around. Her eyes once again grew wide.
The man before her had to be around sixty or seventy. He had brown hair going grey and a short beard to match. He had kind green eyes and wore a tree-green collared shirt and... His legs were those of a goat's.
Greene rolled his eyes at her shocked expression. "Well you're clearly not a Percy Jackson Major." He said. "I assume you're Annie Brandhoff?"
Ace nodded numbly. She glanced back at the unmoving statue in awe. "How...?"
"Mirror." Greene patted the top of the five-foot mirror he'd somehow brought with him. "You see, the Weeping Angels can't look at anyone - not even themselves. If they do, they literally turn to stone. That's why it stopped when you looked at it and got closer when you flinched. So, I put down this mirror, and now it'll be staring at itself, locked that way, for as long as the mirror's here.
Although confused, Ace nodded. "But... How'd you bring the mirror?"
The old satyr chuckled. "I got my satchel here charmed by one of the Potter Major boys. I got tons of room now. I could fit a cow in here. Not that I've tried or anything..." Ace just stared at him with a lost expression as he rambled on and on. "Cool thing is, all the Who Majors love that charm. I remember one girl had her closet charmed so she could call it bigger on the inside. Clever one, she is. Wasn't even a Who Major if memory serves... Usually doesn't though. There was also this one time a Potter Major had this BRILLIANT idea to charm a Sherlock Major's fridge, so he-"
"Wait wait, slow down!" Ace interrupted. "Satyr? Majors? WHAT are you talking about?!"
"Didn't you get your letter?" Greene asked.
Ace blinked in confusion, taken back by the question. "Well... Yeah, but - that was just a prank!" She stared at the satyr with wide eyes. "W-Wasn't it...?"
Greene grinned and shook his head. "You, Annie Brandhoff, have been accepted into Fandom High for your display of trust in your fangirl-y abilities."
"Wait, this is all very Harry Potter-ish." Ace said.
"Well, yes." Greene answered mildly. "That's one of the fandoms."
"But if it is, doesn't that mean there's a starting day or something? Like September first?"
"Nope." Greene said with a shrug. "The school goes year round so they simply send out every day to retrieve teens like you who've been accepted in. I'll explain everything later, just meet me at the Mariemont Train Station tomorrow at noon. And pack as if you were going to a summer camp or a boarding school."
Ace blinked in surprise. "Wait, even if I do go to the train station, where will we meet?"
"You'll know." Greene winked and gave her a final smile. "I will be seeing you again, Annie Brandoff." Then he tossed his bag out in front of him and leapt inside even though it should have been much too small for him. Despite this, he disappeared within the bag and a second later, the bag itself disappeared with a small pop.
Ace's eyes widened as she'd stared at the place the bag had been in shock. "What on earth...?" She inspected the area surrounding the place the bag had disappeared, but she found no clue as to where it was gone. The only thing she could think it could be - however improbable - was magic.
"Ace!" She heard a voice call her name distantly over the sound of the storm and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw a turquoise shape heading towards her through the woods.
"Ace!" Renee shouted agitatedly as she pushed her way into sight through the leaves. "Stop wandering off, you'll get lost! Hurry, mom and dad are probably getting worried!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming..." Ace replied distractedly as she ran after her cousin. As the two headed through the woods, Ace couldn't stop thinking.
What if the strange goat man had been telling the truth? What if there really was a school for fandoms? What if she really could go to a place where creating a pair of real, working Falcon wings was normal? She shook her head. It couldn't be... There was no place where Ace Brandoff could ever be normal. She sighed and continued to trudge through the now drizzling rain falling above her head and the sludgy mud beneath her feet.
It seemed like ages had passed before Ace and Renee finally made it home. As Renee had predicted, Uncle Greg and Aunt Carol had been rather worried. But at that point, both girls just wanted to go to bed. So each showered, changed into dry clothes, and settled into bed.
Renee didn't read that night. She turned off the light and went straight to sleep. But, on the other side of the room, Ace laid awake, checking her feed on Tumblr. She wasn't scrolling long before she saw a picture of the Mariemont Train Station on her dash posted by a Hunger Games fanart blog called Cherri-Natural.
Ace immediately stopped scrolling and looked at the description. All thoughts of a coincidence were dashed as she read it.
'See you tomorrow, Falcon girl. '
Ace thought for a moment in stunned silence. She already knew it couldn't be a goat - Greene or whoever. He was too old for Tumblr. Which had to mean there was another person in on this. And one who somehow knew about her Falcon stunt. Maybe this fandom school really was real...
Ace made up her mind and switched to her message app.
'Can I ask a favor?' She texted her uncle. She knew he'd still be awake. He stayed up late every night watching war movies in the basement with his camo-print build-a-bear Aunt Carol had made him when they were still dating. He named Little Chief. It didn't take him long to text back.
'Sure thing, my dear. What's up?'
Ace considered replying with 'Never mind'. Even if this 'Fandom High' was real, she had seen the Weeping Angel or whatever. It could have killed her, or worse. What else was out there? She could easily never come home again.
Then she reconsidered.
She was Ace Brandhoff! She had jumped off a building, for god's sakes! Who was she to shy away from adventure? She took a deep breath and typed a reply.
'Can you drive me to the train station tomorrow?'