The hallways of the school were completely empty and silent. Everyone was reunited in the classroom to welcome a famous lady arriving on the island. The classroom was packed. Both teachers and students were sitting at the desks. So much so that there were even a couple of people standing, and there weren’t enough seats available to fit everyone. The empty hallways were wrapped in a cold, otherworldly aura. An old lady walked through them, wearing incredibly complex and expensive robes. The fabric of her clothes was purple-colored, with little crystals inserted in her sleeves. The interior part of the fabric was obsidian-colored and had runes scripted in silver threads. She wore a silver tiara, with purple crystals, and a staff that styled the same colors. Most of the students hadn’t even seen clothes like that in their whole lives. The sound of her heels slowly became louder, indicating her approach to the classroom.

Leaf was completely still in her seat, looking at her desk with nervousness, and then whispered to her sisters.

-Hear that? That’s lady Carmine…-

Berry gasped.

-Ooooh… Lady Carmine… Who’s she?-

Thorn was tense and surprised. The aura of expectation gleaned over her.

-She’s quite an important person outside and inside the island. Dad has some business with her.-

The old lady finally entered the room, standing in front of the room.

-A moment of silence.-

She said in a low tone, but still a threatening one. Either they kept silent or their heads would roll.

-Oooh… She looks like a butterfly!-

Berry whispered, immediately interrupted by Leaf.

-She does not! She’s just dressed like a royal lady.-

But Thorn didn’t let them finish and quickly intervened.

-Girls, shhh!

Leaf covered Berry’s mouth with both of her hands. Thorn straightened her stance and paid all her attention to the old lady.

-Good morning students, fellow educators… I’m Lady Carmine, the moon Matriarch. If you wish to refer to me, you can do so as Lady Carmine or as your grace. Now that introductions are out of the way, I want to be quick and clear. I will make sure every single one of you is able to bring out the witch or wizard inside you. Even if you are useless, can’t control your magic energy, or can’t even cast the most basic spell. Once I am done with all of you… You will be on the road for excellence.-

The old lady maliciously smiled at everyone, with her eyes closed. It was a scheming, malevolent smile. One that was the stuff nightmares were made of. Thorn immediately frowned. She didn’t like that smile at all, and the old lady gave her very bad vibes. Regardless, she convinced herself that this was just her brain playing with her, and put her emotions aside.

Leaf slowly took her hands off of Berry’s face. She however, immediately lifted her hand in the air and slightly tilted her head to the side with curiosity.

-Are you a butterfly?-

Chilling air flew through the room. Everyone looked in Berry's direction. Some faces were full of indignation, some others fearful of the girl’s misfortune. Thorn’s face was full of scolding intent. Leaf’s was terrified. Berry gulped, feeling endangered but maintaining her smile. Silence persisted for some seconds, that felt much longer than what they were, until finally it was broken by the Moon Matriarch responding.

-No, my dear. I'm no butterfly, nor fairy either. I am the educator that will make sure that you and the rest of your classmates bloom like a beautiful phlox.-

Her smile turned into a much calmer and understanding one.

Thorn and Leaf sighed in relief as Berry lowered her hand.

-T-That could’ve been a close one…-

Leaf whispered, as Aerin replied.

-That was scary.-

The old lady walked from side to side to the classroom, her heels making a tapping noise everytime they clashed against the floor.

-Now, I will continue answering questions.-

Miss Mildred crossed her legs, just as Mister Torke did the same with his arms. They didn’t have questions, they just stared at her beneath their masks.

-Oh, ooh, me me! Choose me!-

Skull King said, as he lifted his arm in the air, excitedly.

-Yes, Mister Skull King?-

She replied.

-Are we still going to have that advanced necromancy seminar for teachers at the end of the day?-

She subtly frowned, as her tone of voice moved to a less understanding but understandable anger.

-You imbecile. Students were not supposed to know about advanced necromancy until they were ready.-

Skull King scratched the top of his skull, in confusion.

-But- But- Then why did I put all those fliers all around the school…?-

Some students smirked, holding in their laughs, noticing the relation between that and the classroom being full to the brim.

-Well, students. I shall give you your first lesson. In this case, I’ll teach you how to deal with an imbecile.-

Mildred looked at him smugly, while Torke shook his head in disappointment.

Lady Carmine extended her hand and flicked it. A purple light appeared on it, and started to glow more and more. As it grew, she threw it right at the center of Skull King's robe. It traveled very fast, and when it hit him, it produced a small flash. Skull King’s skeletal structure was quickly undone by it, as his bones were separated and they all fell to the floor, making their characteristic clicking noises. There were also a bunch of black pearls scattered around the floor. Apparently, he was wearing them as a necklace under his robe. Despite this, Skull King’s cranium showed a smile.

-She’s such a talented old lady… Would someone be so kind as to pick my head up and put it back on the desk?-

Thorn swallowed some saliva, very shaken by such a demonstration of power.

-Sure sir…-

She crouched to pick his cranium up, returning it to the desk.

Miss Mildred looked at the scene and held back her laughter.

Berry laughed, the situation was too funny not to do so. Leaf looked at her, sighing to release tension.

-Sometimes I envy your ability to be such an airhead.-

Lady Carmine started the lesson, separating each student in pairs of two. She gave each of the groups sheets of yellowed paper, and a small graphite. Berry was paired with Aerin. Leaf was paired with little Nilo. And finally Thorn was paired with someone new and mysterious, since they were wearing a red hood. She was feeling anxious, as she was separated from her sisters. The moon matriarch didn’t give them much time to introduce themselves to each other, as she clapped to catch her students’ and the rest of the teachers’ attention.

-Before we begin with today’s lesson, I want to ask the rest of the educators to leave the room. We’ll have plenty of time for your education, but today I must focus on the students. Now, go on.-

The teachers got up from their seats. Miss Mildred crouched to grab Skull King’s remains, to put them in her bag. After less than a minute, the teachers were gone, leaving only the students in the classroom.

-Alright students. Today all of you will take the first step from mediocrity into excellence. We will start with the most basic but at the same time the most commonly used type of magic-casting: Magic Circles. You can do it either by drawing with magic in the air, the most advanced way to do it; or by drawing it with a pen or any writing material on top of an item, and then touching it..-

She performed a basic example, moving her hand in a circle. The circle appeared in the air, made of bright particles. Afterward, she drew a star with her index finger inside of it, and poked against it. A bright projectile came out of the circle, going straight to the back of the classroom. It missed every person in the room, hitting against a training dummy, and stabbing right at its throat. Every student looked at the old lady with awe and admiration, even the teachers were amazed.

-Do not forget to imbue the magic circle with the right type of magic you want to use. That way you determine what affinity or element it will perform. Now try it.-

-Ohhh! Oh! Me first! I want to try first!-

Berry said with her in the air. Lady Carmine displayed a slight smile and responded.

-Let’s not rush perfection… We’ll go in turns. First, all of you take some time to draw your magic circles. I’ll let you know who goes first.-

Berry pouted, but quickly stopped as she understood that the series of events made sense. Thorn was frowning, she felt confused and didn’t finish understanding the explanation. She figured it would be a good idea to know her partner before continuing. She cleared her throat, to then look at them and extend an open hand.

-My name is Thorn. Yours?-

The figure took off her hoodie, revealing a smiling girl with long silver hair and bright sky blue eyes. She happily shook her hand and replied.

-I’m Ruby! Nice to meet you.-

She closed her eyes and displayed a very happy smile, which quickly changed to concern after opening her eyes back up and examining Thorn’s confused and lost expression.

-Do you happen to be a bit lost with the magic circles?-

Thorn laughed nervously, she didn’t like admitting her lack of knowledge.

-Yeah… A little bit. Do you mind trying first?

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The girl laughed it off.

-Oh, don’t worry. It’s not as hard once you get used to it. The important part… is your imagination!-

As she was speaking, she took the graphite and drew a perfect circle and star. Thorn looked at it, slowly nodding and taking her own piece of paper and graphite.

-Uh-huh. Okay, so…-

She tried drawing the circle, which was a little bit crooked, but very decent. Afterward, with all the concentration in the world, she started to draw the star. Edges first, then connecting the lines and finally completing the magic circle. It wasn’t the best, but it was a very good first attempt.

-Like this…?-

Ruby smiled.

-It looks alright. Although the order in which you drew it was a bit funny.

Thorn laughed a little.

-But efficient, wasn’t it?-

Meanwhile, Berry had already taken the sheet of paper and started doodling on it while Aerin observed. She didn’t put much thought into it, but managed to draw a clumsy star. Aerin looked at her drawing with a bit of fear and admiration.

-Why does your star has six points…?-

-I dunno! I just felt like it!-

The lines were crooked and inexact. But she didn’t mind this. Aerin however took a ruler out of her bag, and gave it to her.

-Please, please, please use this for your star… I- Uh… It… It will look prettier!-

Berry made a sad face.

-But… But… Awh… Okay.-

She sadly took the ruler and started modifying her star, as Aerin sighed in relief.

Leaf and Nilo were sitting together, in a bit of silence. Leaf was the first one to speak.

-You can go first if you want.-

Nilo replied, modulating his voice, sounding far more innocent and young than when he spoke with the teachers.

-Are you sure? I’ve never done this before…-

Leaf shook her head.

-Well… me neither, so… Yeah, go ahead. I’m more of a visual learner anyways, so it will help if I see how you do it.-

Nilo drew his circle. Putting in some good effort, but not too much. In the end, his magic circle looked decent.

-This better not blow up in my face…-

Leaf laughed nervously, to then quickly grab her notebook, to use it as a shield if necessary, but giving him a thumbs up regardless.

-I-It will go fine! I think…-

Lady Carmine clapped, indicating that drawing time was over.

-Enough. Now it's time to try casting.-

She looked around the room, with expectations running high. There was some tension in the air, as the students were nervous to know who was going to be the first tribute. Her eyes finally landed at the group made of Thorn and Ruby, as she pointed at them.

-You two. Show us how you cast your magic circle.-

Thorn was a bit nervous. Ruby noticed, so she grabbed her piece of paper and went first. She touched the circle with her palm, and a quick ball of fire came out. However, it quickly was divided by two. One half was a very bright white and the other was an intense red. Unfortunately, they lost force and almost extinguished, hitting the dummy with little impact.

Thorn was amazed by this.

-Wow… That was so cool…-

Berry even got up from her seat in excitement

-That looked pretty! How did you do that?!-

Lady Carmine however, looked at her with a doubtful expression.

-Hmmm… You have opposite affinities inside you. And, you accidentally mixed them. Execution was good. Seven and a half points.

Ruby replied with a bit of embarrassment.

-Thanks…-

Thorn felt some pity for her partner, and the older sister inside of her took over.

-You did great, and you’ll do even better next time.-

Ruby smiled at her, but their bonding was cut short by the moon matriarch’s demands.

-Next one, please. We have to move along.-

Thorn looked at her magic circle, feeling determined. She approached the circle with her fingers, closing her eyes from fear.

“Please work, please, work, please work.” She thought, as she touched the magic circle. A ball of fire came out. It was of a dark orange tone. It didn’t last too much, but it hit the dummy.

She opened one eye, doubtfully.

-Did I do good…?-

Leaf gave her a thumbs up from her seat.

-You did! That was awesome!-

Berry clapped, smiling too.

Lady Carmine examined Thorn for some seconds, to then speak.

-Is this your first time?-

Thorn got so spooked by this that she fixed her stance, sitting straight in the chair.

-Y-Yes, Lady Carmine!-

-Surprised reaction, quick answer and decent fire. That means honesty. You get full marks.-

Thorn smiled proudly, feeling amazing for her teacher’s encouragement, her eyes full of glee.

Berry was shaking with excitement in her seat, quickly getting up and looking at the moon matriarch.

-I WANT TO TRY TOO! PLEASE LADY CARMINE LET ME BE NEXT! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!-

She nodded, giving her permission.

-Very well. You may go.-

Berry now looked at her magic circle with determination.

-Alright! Here we go…!-

She quickly approached her palm to the magic circle. As soon as she touched it a burst of neon pink fire came out of the paper. It was very intense and strong, hitting the ceiling above them and scorching it, almost as if someone fired a flamethrower beneath the paper. Despite the intensity, it extinguished even quicker than Thorn’s spell.

-Awh… It extinguished too fast!-

Her fellow students were surprised by this display of raw magic power. Thorn looked at her with pride.

-You did great!-

Leaf gave her two thumbs up.

-Yup! Way to go, Berry!-

She looked right back at her sisters.

-Really…? I did…?-

She now looked right at Lady Carmine, waiting for her opinion. After thinking for a couple of seconds, she spoke.

-A six pointed star and a combustion spell… Reminds me of my own grandkids. Ten points as well.-

She laughed in arrogance, as Berry jumped in celebration.

-AW YESSS! YES! Wait a second- Is ten points good…?-

Leaf laughed.

-Yes, Berry. Ten points is a good score.-

-YAY!-

She jumped once more, to then return to her seat.

-Next one, please.-

-That would be me.-

Aerin got up, and repeated the process. The magic circle shot a blood red fireball, hitting the dummy. However, it was slower and smaller than the rest. It was decent, but average.

-Good execution. Decent power. And unique affinity. Eight and a half points.-

Aerin would sigh of relief and return to her seat.

Lady Carmine looked at the students, to finally land on Leaf and Nilo, to the point at them. Nilo quickly got up and repeated the same process as the rest of the students. When he did this, however, his eyes glowed for a couple of seconds. The spell was casted perfectly, and a very quick ball of intense pink fire was shot to hit the dummy. It was a bigger ball than the students before him.

-Good speed. And something else. If you had told me a few years ago that men could be really good at magic I would’ve laughed. But alas, I have to be objective. This is another ten.-

She sighed a little disappointed.

Nilo returned to his seat, sighing in relief.

–Next one.-

The moon matriarch said, looking directly at Thorn.-

-Let’s finish with your group before I move on to the ones in the front.-

Her eyes were full of expectations. This only made Leaf more anxious.

-O-Okay… just let me… Make some small adjustments…-

She said while erasing the circle, to then draw another. It was almost perfect. Then, she used a ruler to make the lines of the star millimetrically perfect. “What am I doing?” she thought “It was already perfect!”

Lady Carmine would raise an eyebrow, curious about the delay.

Nilo felt his partner’s anxiety, and then whispered at her.

-Try not to think too much about the form. It’s more about how you picture it in your mind.-

-Huuuuh…-

“Alright, screw it. Just go!” She thought, before closing her eyes and putting her hand against the paper.

A very thin cloud of smoke came out of the circle, and it quickly extinguished before even getting close to the dummy. Leaf slowly opened her eyes, knowing because of the silence that something was wrong.

-S-So… how did I do…?-

Thorn laughed nervously.

-You… uh… you did good!-

Berry didn’t even know what to say, she just looked at her sister while awkwardly smiling.

The moon matriarch looked at Leaf with a bit of compassion, as she sat next to her.

-It seems that the spell didn’t work as expected my dear.-

She put her hand on Leaf’s shoulder.

-I do feel the potential of magic inside of you. So, practice. If you need more advice you can work with your classmates here, or look for me on my free time.-

She would stick her hand inside of her robe, to take out a lot of yellowed paper and leave it above the desk.

-I want all of you here to succeed. If I were to get angry and give you a bad grade it would make me a bad teacher. Let’s postpone your grade until next class.-

Before getting up, she grabbed Leaf’s hand under the desk, and left something on it. It felt warm to the touch.

-And if you need a little crutch, try with this crystal. Just as a practice tool. After all, witches are supposed to get their magic energy from within, not from these trinkets.-

She whispered to Leaf so only she could hear her.

-Thank you…-

Leaf looked at the crystal, feeling frustrated. It was bright and warm. One could tell there was a lot of magic energy stored inside of it

“I suck… It can’t be.” She thought, before storing the crystal in her bag.

The class continued with the demonstrations until it concluded. Leaf’s attempt was the worst one by far. Before it was time to go, Lady Carmine told them a final announcement.

-I forgot to mention, please get along with the partners you were assigned today. You two will be working together for the rest of the semester. That's all. You are dismissed.-

Thorn looked at Ruby, smiling at her.

-It was a pleasure working with you.-

She smiled back at her.

-Same here! I hope we get along fine all through the semester.-

Thorn took a slight bow to Ruby, a sign of appreciation and thanks.

Berry looked at Aerin and lifted up her hand in the air.

-We already get along, friendo!-

Aerin smiled, giving her a high five.

-Of course we do.-

Leaf on the other hand, was staring at the floor. She was incredibly disappointed in herself. Her intrusive thoughts and anxieties were filling her head. Nilo didn’t quite know what to say to cheer her up, but he tried anyway.

-It was… nice working with you. Your technique was pretty good… You drew a better circle than most of the students.-

Leaf shook her head.

-Thank you for trying to be nice… But I know I sucked…-

She adjusted her mushroom hat, looking back to the front.

-But I’m not gonna give up.-

Nilo nodded, and then got up to leave the classroom.

Berry excitedly got up from her seat, standing at the door to the classroom.

-Thooorn! Leaf! Let’s go! School’s over! And it’s the weekend! Come on! Up, up!-

Her radiant energy was uplifting as always. Thorn smiled.

-Coming!-

But instead of going straight to the door, she approached Leaf’s seat.

-Hey… Everything all right?-

Leaf breathed in.

-Yeah. I’m okay. Let’s go.-

She got up from her seat and approached the door. Thorn looked at her, full of worry, but also got up and followed her. It was going to be a tense way back home