CHAPTER 4: THE MAGICAL CARRIAGE
They had been flying for what seemed like hours, and Mad had spent all that time trying to process how her life had completely turned upside down in just a few days. Skyler had tried to talk to her, but Elora had scolded him, saying that Mad probably wanted some time to adjust to everything. That was the first time Mad had actually liked Elora.
Skyler had obeyed his older sister, so Mad finally had time to digest everything. As that happened, she realized there were still a lot of unanswered questions about her father and her heritage. She knew his name was Herbe and that he was a powerful Fae, and her mom had said he had loved both of them, but she didn't know how her parents had met, what her father did for a living, where they lived before his death, or what powers her father had. Mad also didn't know the circumstances of his death and how her mom had married someone without knowing he was Fae. Why hadn't it occurred to her to ask those questions already?
Mad probably seemed really upset because Skyler finally broke the silence and asked if everything was good. Mad couldn't help but laugh half-heartedly at his choice of words as she said:
"Everything is good? I am being taken to a place I have never heard of prior to two days ago, where I will supposedly learn to deal with powers I don't even know if I have, by two strangers. And on top of all that, I find out my mom and my grandma, the only family I have ever known, lied to me my whole life about who I am and where I come from. So, no, I guess not everything is good, Skyler."
Skyler seemed to not know what to say for the very first time in his life, and Mad startled as Elora said, “You can ask us anything, Mad. I will do my best to help you adjust to our ways.”
At her words, Skyler gave Elora an incredulous look, as if he too couldn't believe she was being so nice. Mad decided then it was better to know some things before they arrived. She didn't want to ask them anything personal about her father, she decided she would write a letter to her mom as soon as she could. So for now, she would stick to everything else that seemed worthy of knowing.
“Okay, then,” said Mad. “First, I want to know about this school. You said they accept Fae and half-Fae when they turn 15 years old, right? What else?”
Elora and Skyler exchanged looks, and it was Elora who answered, again much to Mad's surprise:
“Well, the Nebulus School of Magic and Power is the only place in this continent where people like us can go to learn how to best deal with our powers. It’s not like human school, it doesn't offer regular lessons, like math or astronomy. Think of our school like a place that mimics the world and its challenges.”
Seeing how puzzled Mad’s face looked, Elora added:
“Humans need to learn things like how to grow crops and how to sword fight, right? So they learn that by studying the theory and then putting it into practice. We also do that, but the things we need to know are different, and a lot of them can’t be practiced in a regular environment. So the school creates challenges that allow its students to find out what kind of magic they possess and how to better train and grow it.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Okay, I think I am beginning to understand it, but what do you mean by challenges?” Mad asked, and this time Skyler answered:
“Well, there are actually five challenges that everyone will face at school, one for each type of magic element: water, ice, wind, lightning, and fire. They are all in the first semester, because after that, they will divide us according to our abilities into six groups, and the group you’re placed in will be the one you will train with for the other three semesters before graduation.”
“Six groups? But there are only five powers.” Mad questioned.
Skyler nodded before replying: “Yeah, there's a group for every power, and then a group for those who don't have elemental magic, just standard magic.”
“So it's only possible to have one kind of magic?” Mad asked, sounding a little disappointed.
“No, some people have only one kind of elemental magic, some have more, and some even have all six types of magic, but there's always one that's more prominent, so you will be allocated to the group where your magic is the strongest,” clarified Elora.
Mad perked up again at that. She really hoped she would have elemental magic, and she really wanted to have more than one type of power. She asked them, “what kind of powers do you have?”
Elora opened her mouth to answer, but Skyler was already saying:
“Well, I don't know what my powers are yet, but Elora’s are wind, lightning, and fire, and Vougan’s are water, ice, and lightning.”
Mad thought it was funny for them to have such different powers, since they were brother and sister, but it kind of made sense since they looked nothing alike. Mad wondered if Skyler would have a mix of their powers since he looked like Elora but had Vougan’s piercing blue eyes. As if she could guess where Mad’s thoughts had taken her, Elora said:
“The kind of power someone has is not hereditary, but the amount usually is. Some families, like ours and your father’s, are known to be powerful, but the kind of power is like a personality trait, it varies from individual to individual.”
“Oh, so I won’t have my father’s powers then,” said Mad, a little sad. She hadn't realized she was hoping for that until the possibility was taken away from her.
“Well, you're bound to have some of his powers, since he had all six of them,” Elora answered and Skyler gave her an incredulous look, he probably didn't know much about her father since he hadn't met him like his siblings had.
Wow, Mad thought. No wonder they had said her father was powerful if he had controlled all magic elementals but when she was about to ask more about this, Skyler put his head outside the carriage’s window and yelled against the wind:
“Look, Mad! We are almost there!”
At that, Mad looked outside and through the Pegasus's shining white wings she saw what lay ahead, and her breath caught. Mad didn't know what she had expected of Nebulus, but that certainly wasn't it. The city lay within the clouds, literally. There were thousands of fluffy white clouds with buildings on top of them that stretched in the horizon. As they flew closer, she could see the Fae walking or flying through the clouds, and her eyes couldn't believe it.
Mad felt herself laughing as she mimicked Skyler, also putting her head through the window, and they witnessed the carriage getting closer and closer to one of the biggest arrangements of clouds, where the Nebulus School of Magic and Power lay.