Fantasy The Owl House - Statice and Oak

[Skyrte]

Episode 1 - Big First Day​

---

Hexside, Bonesborough

Welcome to Hexside, School of Magic and Demonics!
Where our student safety and wellbeing is our top priority.
Here at Hexside, we are devoted to providing the very best for our students.
From our state of the art classrooms, to our award-winning cafeteria.
Every student has the ability and support to reach their full potential here!
Hexside, where the magic of friendship... is no longer taught here due to budget constraints.

​

---

Etheldreda Sano
Bonesborough ( Edric Blight )​

"Audrea!"
Audrey lethargically opened her eyes and reached for her scroll on the nightstand next to her bed. The scroll floated up and unraveled and a screen appeared on the scroll, displaying the time. It was far too early for Audrey and she groaned, pulling up her blankets up closer to her head. Right below the clock on the scroll was a reminder though, HEXSIDE FIRST DAY. She sighed, and slowly snaked her way to the edge of her bed, savoring every bit of the warmth and comfort of her bed before moving the blankets aside and sitting up. She spent a moment to untangle any knots in her hair with her fingers, looking around her sparsely decorated bedroom. There was a desk, lights, a window with a view of the neighborhood, a bookshelf with a few assorted knick knacks, but most of her things were still in boxes. They'd only just moved in barely a week ago, and most of her time was spent helping her parents set up the clinic downstairs. Once she finished with her hair, she stretched and grabbed the glass bottle of water on her nightstand, taking a long sip. She spent another moment just sitting there, still, trying to shake off the sleepiness, before fully standing up and leaving her room to go to the restroom.

Once she had gone through her morning routines, she emerged refreshed, dressed in her new Hexside uniform, with pink sleeves and pants signifying that she was in the Abomination Track, complete with a large cuff bracelet made of abomination goo tightly wrapped over her right wrist.
"Ah! Good morning little Audrea," Her father, Deron, said. He was unpacking a box full of books on the dinner table, "First day at Hexside, exciting isn't it?"
Audrey gave a strained smile and made noncommittal noises before settling on, "Yeah?"
"It's nothing like Glandus, you'll like it there, just give it a chance." Her father said, "You'll do great."
Audrey gave him another smile, a genuine one this time, and she grabbed her messenger bag, already full of her books and tools. She waved bye to her dad and went downstairs.

The stairs to the first floor lead directly to the pharmacy section of the clinic, a well stocked room with a workbench, cauldron, and rows upon rows of herbs and ingredients used for potion making. Her mother was already down here standing by a hot cauldron, grinding a root for a potion.
"Hey Mom." Audrey greeted.
Astra turned around, "Aw come here," she said, putting her mortar and pestle onto the workbench, she quickly walked over to Audrey and wrapped her in a hug, "Accepted into Hexside, I'm so proud!"
"Mom! They only needed like three spells!" Audrey said, trying to wiggle out of her mothers bear hug. After a few moments, Astra finally let Audrey go and placed her hands on her daughters shoulders.
"And one of your spells, not even Principal Bump could break." Astra clarified.
"Well, that was..." Audrey started, "Master Liberi always said you had to have absolute control over your clay."
"I'm glad learning from that vagrant taught you something good."
Audrey kept her mouth shut, her mother never had that high of an opinion of Liberi, thinking he was a homeless, wandering, strange nobody. But her mother never saw how Liberi taught her how to defend herself, only saw that learning from Liberi got her into considerably more fights, and considerably more trouble.
"Now, don't be late, and don't beat anyone up." Astra said, "Unless they're really asking for it, I suppose."
Audrey just nodded, and her mother gave her another quick hug before Audrey left to walk to Hexside.

Hexside was a bit... weird, in her mind. She was supposed to be born in this city, supposed to attend Hexside for her childhood classes, but instead she was born in Latissa. Orientation certainly made her feel welcome enough, and the few other students she met during orientation were amicable. There was a hope that her next few years would be peaceful and uneventful, but Audrey wasn't too sure of even that. After meeting Liberi, Glandus had it's own little charms. There were constant challenges, and sometimes Audrey even wanted a fight to happen between her and another student. Those were opportunities to push her to her limits, to test her newfound skills in athletics and abomination magic. It was exciting, and there wasn't much like the rush of adrenaline she got when a fight was started. She was even able to practice her healing magic on herself. But here, at Hexside, that hope of peace and tranquil learning her parents held onto, meant that Audrey wouldn't have any more of that heart hammering, adrenaline pumping, action. And in that week of peace since moving to Bonesborough, she already kind of missed that need of being careful when walking through the streets of Latissa, or the halls of Glandus, to try and catch any other Glandus students trying to ambush her.

Before long, she reached the grounds of Hexside at the outskirts of Bonesborough. The massive school, surrounded by trees and hills, made quite a grand impression. Students were already lounging with their friends outside, or walking into the halls of the academy through the large wooden double doors. Off to the side, on the grass, several students were throwing around a grudgby ball, and Audrey watched as the ball bounced back and forth between the players, each one using their own magic to send it back. After a moment, she wondered what exactly her schedule was, and reached down to the messenger bag resting at her side, unclasping the latch.
"Look ou-!"
Audrey was lightning fast, pulling her hand out of her bag, her abomination clay bracelet morphing as she looked up to the sky. With an intense look of focus, she stepped forward with her left foot, readying a swing with her newly formed abomination bat, and a split second later, just as the grudgby ball was about to hit her, she struck it with the bat, sending it flying back to the practicing grudgby players. Some of them were shocked, another cheered, and the one who shouted 'look out', shouted again, "Your papers!"
Audrey looked at the witch in confusion before noticing that she had ripped out all the loose papers and notebooks in her bag when she formed her bat and pulled her hand out it. "Oh!" She exclaimed, clearly surprised. The bat quickly flowed away, returning to under her right sleeve to become a bracelet again, as she scrambled to grab all the papers and notebooks scattered on the ground and in the air.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
(Suburbs of Bonesborough)

Thomas had been sleeping peacefully in his nice comfortable bed. In dreamland he had not a worry in the world. But soon the boy was taken out of his comfortable sleeping state as his alarm clock screamed at him loudly. The young 15 year old blonde groaned as he rolled over in his bed, slapping his alarm clock on the head shutting the thing up. He exhaled loudly as he slowly rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, waking himself up. Today was the day: today was Thomas' first day of school at Hexside. While his father Andrew had attended St. Epiderm in his youth, Thomas' mother Bella attended high school and he would be following in her footsteps.

He had already put in the work to get there to Hexside. After passing the entrance exam with flying colors, he had been accepted into Hexside. Both him and his parents expected nothing less since the boy was a good student, but of course it was still a necessary step and hurdle he needed to cross in order to actually make it to the school of magic in the first place. Now Thomas was officially a student of Hexside. All he had to do was show up. Today would be the first of many school days at Hexside. He knew he had to make his parents proud and follow in their footsteps, so he told himself to be extra careful not to get into any trouble, especially on the first few days of school. He was a good kid, certainly the rule follower type, so he wasn't expecting to be on the wrong side of an authority figure at all during his time at Hexside. But now the boy had to focus on waking up and getting ready for this all important first day at the magical academy.

Thomas hopped out of his bed and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a bit of a mess from sleeping. He always woke up with some pretty bad bed head hair. The boy took a comb and aggressively attempted to tame his wild hair. Eventually after combing it for a bit, his hair looked presentable enough. He sighed, giving himself one last look in the mirror. He stared at his reflection for a few seconds. The young boy who stood before him in the reflection was now an official student at Hexside. The dream had come true. The young blonde slipped on his fancy new Hexside robes. Thomas turned around getting a look at himself in his new school uniform in the mirror from a few different angles, admiring himself a bit. If this didn't confirm to Thomas that this was all real, he didn't know what else would. His stared down at his light blue sleeves, denoting his status as an illusions coven student. Both of Thomas' parents, Andrew and Bella Vlasic, had studied illusions magic all of their lives. Naturally, the boy grew up around two witches constantly using and practicing illusion magic. From a young age, being raised by two illusionist witches, Thomas picked up on the art of illusions. He certainly wished to make his parents proud and follow in their footsteps.

Once Thomas had gotten ready and slipped on his official Hexside illusion coven student uniform, he looked at himself one last time in the mirror. He figured his hair looked fine, so he took a deep breath and exited his room, making his way downstairs to the kitchen where he heard his parents stirring about. Thomas slowly went down the stairs, feeling a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Admittedly, he was a bit nervous to start his first day of Hexside. He wore an anxious look on his face as he entered the kitchen where his two parents were.
"Oh my little baby!" Bella his mother said, practically swooning over her little boy, "Oh! Look at you all dressed up in your illusions coven uniform!" she said.
Thomas' father was browsing his scroll sitting down at the table. He looked up briefly and nodded at his son, shooting him a little proud grin. Thomas felt his heart sink for some reason. He really hoped he wouldn't be letting his parents down today.
"Oh Andy, look at our little boy! Isn't he just so handsome in that uniform?" Bella said loudly, "Our little guy has been officially accepted into Hexside!" she said joyfully.
His father nodded, "That's our little boy, following in our footsteps!" he said, "He's going to train to become a great little illusionist, isn't that right Tom?" Andrew asked.
Thomas felt his cheeks go warm and red as he blushed at his mothers little compliments but felt the pit of his stomach sink as his father seemed to already be setting those high expectations on him that he so dread. The young blonde haired boy just gave his father a few nods of his head.
"Excellent," said Andrew, looking back down at his scroll and returning to reading whatever he was reading.
"So Tommy, are you excited for your first official day as a student at Hexside?" Bella asked. "Oh I can hardly even look at you you're so cute!" his mother said practically jumping up and down and dying from the apparent adorableness of seeing her young son in an official Hexside uniform.
Thomas simply shrugged, causing his mother to frown for the first time this morning. She swiftly walked over to Thomas and put her arms around him lovingly. "Aww my baby... what's wrong? Nervous?" his mother asked.
Thomas wasn't about to admit to his mother that he was nervous! Nonsense! Like his father said, he was going to Hexside to train to become a great illusionist one day.
"No mom, I'm fine...." the young boy replied to his mother.
Bella smiled, "Ok good. Your father and I are so proud of you Tommy, isn't that right Andrew?" his mother said, looking over to his father who seemed preoccupied.
"Mhm, yea," replied his father, seemingly disinterested.
Thomas' mother frowned, "Oh you know how he gets with his work...."
Thomas just gulped nervously, trying to shove his nervous thoughts about starting his first day of school out of his mind.
"Well my little illusionist!" said Thomas' mother with a smile as she squeezed his cheeks, causing him to blush. He was embarrassed that she still treated him like a little kid sometimes. "We wouldn't want you being late for your first day of school! Go on and make us proud son, and know that we love you very VERY much!" she said, blowing a kiss to Thomas.
Thomas cracked a smile for his mother, "Thanks mom, love you too...." he replied softly to his mother. Bella smiled a loving smile back at her only son, the pride and joy of her life.

Luckily Thomas knew the walk wouldn't be too long. Hexside was on the outskirts of Bonesborough and he lived in the suburbs just outside of the city. It was a nice area to grow up and nearly everyone from the suburbs where he lived attended Hexside- granted they got accepted into the magical academy. He took a deep breath, his head filling with all sorts of nervous thoughts as he walked along to school. He looked down at his torso. His Hexside school uniform seemed to be in tip top shape, so at least he knew he'd look presentable to his teachers and classmates. He felt a ball of anxiety form and sink itself in the pit of his stomach. Why was he so nervous for his first day?

Eventually the boy reached the Hexside school grounds on the outskirts of Bonesborough. He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows with shock and awe as he took in the sights and looked at the large school building. This was where he would be spending the next few years of his life training and honing his magical abilities and skills. He felt his heart rate increase as he nervously approached the school building. Outside, it seemed that there were already students lounging and talking, some laughing and having a good time. How could anyone be having a good time? It was the first day of school, and Thomas' first day at Hexside ever. He looked around, taking in the sights. This was the very school his mother Bella, who was a master of illusions, had graduated from. Would he ever be able to make her and his father proud and follow in their footsteps? He gulped nervously once more, dreading his first class.

Thomas was a very shy, quiet, timid, and reserved boy. Another thing he feared about Hexside was having to talk to new people and meet and make new friends. He was pretty awful at that and often preferred to keep to himself. He made sure to tell himself to keep his head down and keep a low profile. He didn't need to talk to anyone today. He just had to go about his day and finish all of his classes. Besides, he had no time for friends. He needed to get good grades to both impress and keep his parents happy. Thomas took one more deep breath, feeling his backpack straps on his shoulders as he prepared to enter the school building for the first time.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey was surprisingly, having a bit of fun, and let herself get carried away. The notebooks were easy to grab, having just fallen onto the floor but the loose papers, her schedule, sheets of blank paper, notecards, and orientation sheets, were all being scattered by the wind. She used telekinesis spells, her bracelet turned into a whip, and for some she caught when they fell to the ground, or fluttered down from being carried by the wind. After a moment she spotted the last sheet being carried quite a ways away towards the entrance of Hexside. So she ran at it.

Her focus was solely on the paper, it was like a challenge to her, and this was the final thing she had to do to clear it. Once she got close, she noted that there was a student between her and the final sheet. She didn't pay too much mind about that student, instead she drew a spell circle in the air and a small pillar of abomination goo formed to the right of the student, barely a foot tall. A second taller pillar rose from the ground just ahead of the first one, and Audrey hopped onto the first pillar, placing her left hand on the students shoulder, using him as a point of stability rather harshly. She then leapt off, landing onto the second pillar with both feet, and finally she jumped from the second pillar into the air to snatch that errant sheet out of the sky. She landed gracefully with a smile on her face, stuffing the last sheet into her bag by her side.
"Whew! What a morning, haven't moved like that since Azalea ambushed me in the restrooms." She said to herself. Then she froze.

Wait a minute. She thought to herself, remembering the student she used as a springboard to jump up to the final sheet. At Glandus, she would have heard a fireball at the tips of the other students fingers by now, but this was Hexside. Nobody here fought each other over petty things like that, right? If anything, Audrey decided she was in the wrong, having used his shoulder without his permission, or even warning. She turned around on her heels with an apologetic look on her face, and she quickly approached the other student, patting down their arms as if to get rid of any dirt, noticing the colors of their uniform.
"Sorry! I got caught up with trying to catch my things." She explained, "Illusions huh, I always thought that was cool." A compliment never hurt anyone, and it was better that she didn't make any enemies right on the first day of school.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic
​

Thomas was walking about the school grounds, certainly minding his own business. Or so he thought. As the boy walked along, keeping his head and eyes straight and facing forward, he felt a violent shove as a girl suddenly hopped onto a pillar of abomination goo. "Great..." he thought to himself in his head, frowning, "getting bullied already? I just got here!" Thomas turned to look at the student who had just seemingly shoved him out of the way like he wasn't there or was some sort of an object. He was stunned and confused as everything had happened so fast. Thomas was still trying to process the events that had just taken place, wondering why in the world he was promptly pushed aside by this student, who seemed to be a girl wearing an abominations track uniform upon further examination.

The girl landed and started putting some papers that were discarded all across the ground into her bag. Thomas just stood there frozen like a statue in silence, quite confused. Thomas wasn't expecting to get pushed around this early by other students. Maybe Hexside would be a bad experience, maybe it was a mistake to show up to school today. But eventually, the student who had just used Thomas as springboard turned around. The look on her face was apologetic. Maybe she hadn't meant to use Thomas like that. The abominations coven student approached the boy, patting him down on his arms as she spoke. She seemed to look at his sleeves. All Thomas could do was just stand there in shock and confusion.

The young blonde haired boy stared back at the girl with wide eyes of confusion and surprise. He stood there frozen and speechless for a few seconds before he shook his head and closed his eyes briefly, clearing his throat and looking back at her. "Oh umm.... i- it's fine I guess..." replied Thomas softly. He rubbed the back of his neck as she complimented him out of the blue regarding his illusion coven track uniform. She must have guessed from the light blue sleeves he wore on his uniform that that denoted his status as an illusions student. "And uhh, thanks...." said Thomas softly, adding his gratitude for her little compliment. He was still shocked and confused, still trying to process the recent events, but at least he knew that the girl hadn't intentionally shoved him and that this wasn't an instance of bullying. He certainly didn't want to be picked on during his first day of Hexside. The boy wore a neutral expression with a hint of surprise, still a bit discombobulated from being used as a springboard and due to processing the female student's apology and subsequent compliment in his head.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

The other student seemed to be stunned into silence, which worried Audrey. Was he having a flashback? A panic attack? Anxiety attack? If she accidentally pushed around a kid with trauma she would absolutely never hear the end of it from her parents, and she imagined that Principal Bump wouldn't be too happy either. It hadn't even been a full hour since her mother told her not to beat anyone up, and even though triggering someone's trauma wasn't in the words exactly, the implication was not to get into trouble. Her head ran several trains of thought on how to make this better. Shaking him to snap him out of it? Help him find a focus object? A distraction? Find something to make it up to him? And then he cleared his throat and spoke.
"Oh umm.... i- it's fine I guess... And uhh, thanks..." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh thank the Titan." Audrey said, letting go of a breath she wasn't aware she was holding, "I'll make it up to you, on the way here I saw a nice cafe, they have fried orbs, and tea if coffee isn't your thing. My treat?" She gave him a reassuring smile while she leaned on one leg and rested one hand on her hip. He was just shy, which was relieving. She was shy once, a lot like he was, and she wondered if this shy boy had any hidden talents, like if he was particularly gifted in illusions. She could turn this accident into an opportunity to make an ally, and an Illusionist ally would certainly be a powerful one, not only if anyone messed with her but for skipping classes. Audrey wanted to figure out a way to sneak over to the Healing classes, and with the Hexside Guards being able to literally sniff out trouble, that would be a difficult task. "I'm Audrea by the way." She introduced herself, offering a hand to shake.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic​

Thomas was still trying to digest all that had just happened in the past few minutes. It became clear to him that the girl had no ill-intent. At least that eliminated him getting bullied this early already on his first day of Hexside. The boy was about to go on his merry way and in his mind, never see the female again when suddenly she offered to make it up to him. His eyes widened as he looked her her. He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. He didn't need this random girl going through all that trouble. It was an accident after all, wasn't it?

"N- no don't worry, y- you don't need to do all that..." he told her. Her reassuring smile was a friendly one that made him feel a little less uncomfortable. But the young blonde haired boy was undeniably shy so making friends and talking to people was certainly a challenge for him. He then noticed that she stuck a hand out in front of her, offering him a handshake as she introduced herself and finally revealed to him her name. It was Audrey. Thomas slowly brought his hand out from his sides where they were hanging idly and weakly grasped her hand.

"Thomas," he said, nodding and telling her his name as well. Who was this girl? The boy wondered if he'd ever see her again or if this was just a one time encounter.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

"N- no don't worry, y- you don't need to do all that..." He replied, and he assuredly took the handshake. "Thomas." He introduced himself. Audrey looked down at his hand and then back up to his eyes, and gave him another reassuring smile. She closed her hand around his with careful measured strength, and she gave him a gentle, but confident handshake. And that was that, now she was committed to try to be friends with him, as she implied with her offer of coffee. Master Liberi taught her that a Witches' Handshake was a serious thing, even without the use of magic to solidify the bond, it meant that a deal was struck, and once a deal was struck, it had to be followed through. Audrey let go of Thomas' hand and played with the strap of her messenger bag.

"I insist, Thomas." She said, "I've been meaning to try the fried orbs they make here anyways, you could tell me what you think of them. The ones at my last town were too greasy, I thought. Besides, fried orbs and a cup of tea is like, four snails in total? I'll meet you out here in front of the school before we go." She said, leaving no room for argument. "Oh!" She exclaimed, just remembering that she wanted to check her schedule. She opened her bag and fished out the paper, now a little crumpled. She looked at it for a split second before showing it to Thomas. "So, what's your schedule? I wonder if we have any classes together." Audrey's schedule was the first type, Schedule-A, which had her attend her coven track class in the morning, with her general classes in the afternoon. Schedule B had the opposite, with the general classes in the morning, and the coven track classes in the afternoon. Between the two schedules, everyone had the same lunch break, but the two schedules had different morning recesses. Which meant they could meet up during lunch for sure, and during some of her general classes, she could sneak out and listen in on Schedule B's healing track class. Once she figured out how to actually sneak out of a classroom, and avoid the trouble-sniffing hallway guards, and figure out how Hexside's detention room worked. Lots to do. Audrey thought to herself.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

Thomas felt his arm being shook much harder than he expected. Not that the girl's handshake was anything firm or violent, but the boy had weakly extended his arm just barely grasping on to her hand for a sorry excuse of a handshake. He watched on a bit nervously as she insisted on treating him to something. He really didn't want her to have to go through all of the trouble but it became clear to the young boy that she wasn't going to back down. Plus, part of him certainly wanted to avoid the social interaction. Sure, it was nice that this girl was trying to be friendly with Thomas on the first day, but he was a shy and timid individual. "I mean you really don't need to...." he said softly. He doubted she'd even hear it as they soon changed subject to their classes and schedules.

"Oh uhh..." Thomas said as he felt himself jolt out of his weird anxious and shy state. He slung his bag off of his shoulder and looked through it. Sure enough, there was his schedule. It was slightly crumpled from being stuffed against various different notebooks in his backpack. He took it out and read it. He had Schedule A. That meant he had his coven specific illusion coven classes in the morning and then after that, his general education classes. He held his schedule out towards Audrey for her to take a look for herself. "Dunno.... maybe," he said in regards to her statement about them possibly having any classes together.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey leaned in close to Thomas as she held up her schedule next to his. Her eyes darted between both for a few seconds. "Ah!" She said, pointing at the sheets, "History together with Professor Elwin Crowe, I heard he's an easygoing teacher. We have different Calculations classes... We have General Magics together with Professor Ursa Deamonne. And then tomorrow we have..." Audrey continued, noting that they had separate Languages class and Physical Education class, "Only General Magic together." The day after, the schedule went back to Calculations, General Magic, Social Studies/History, and the school year seemed to go back and forth. Audrey seemed pleased as she put away her schedule, "More than I expected honestly." She said. Two classes together today and one class together tomorrow meant that they'd see each other every school day, unless something went wrong and someone got hurt or sick, but more or less every day. Plenty of time for Audrey to get to know him. She checked her scroll for the time and a look of surprise flashed across her face, "Oh! We only have a few minutes to get to class. Come on!" She said, grabbing Thomas and turning him around to face the halls of Hexside, "See you at lunch!" Audrey said before waving and running into the school.

Several hours later, after the Coven track class.

Audrey left the classroom tired, Professor Ailey Serphent was an old witch who asked quite a bit out of her students. Today was just appraising where everyone was, and Audrey discovered that she was top of her class in Abomination control, but bottom of her class in terms of Abomination command. Which was... it wasn't a surprise to Audrey. What was a surprise was how much more difficult higher quality Abomination goo was to work with. Her own clay that she created was of decent quality, on the upper end of the class. But in the words of her professor, a 'ten percent increase in quality would feel like a hundred percent increase in difficulty', and she was absolutely right. The clay was stronger, but working it into shapes was much more difficult, and maintaining those shapes proved to be a challenge even for her. What was strange though, was that the bracelet of goo that Audrey wore, the one made of clay that Master Liberi made for her, was of a top quality clay, despite its strange composition. Professor Serphent even asked if she could study her bracelet sometime, and Audrey agreed. She was curious too, and wondered if she could recreate it. She walked to the cafeteria, mulling over these thoughts.

---

Cafeteria, Hexside
Oh my gosh I haven't eaten real food in so long please give me some.

​

Audrey looked at the lunch line in mild surprise. Hexside was said to have an award winning cafeteria but she didn't actually believe it. There were fresh fruits, sandwiches, vegetables, soup, meatloaf, premade lunch boxes, pastas. There was even a large variety of drinks. Bottles and boxes of juice, teas, water and more. Audrey looked past the selection of food into the large kitchen and saw a single man stirring a pot, accompanied by over a half dozen abomination golems, all serving food, preparing more sandwiches and lunchboxes, all working in perfect synchronization. It was actually quite amazing to watch. But she was hungry, and she guessed that the chef would be here every day, so she had plenty of time to watch over the year. She took her time choosing examining each option carefully, eventually she picked up an apple, a sandwich, a cup of water and a bowl of soup. Now holding her tray of food, she turned around and looked for some familiar faces in the crowded cafeteria.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

The boy held out his schedule and let Audrey take a gander at it for a little bit so they could see and compare which classes they shared together. He nodded as she explained a little about what she had heard of some of their professor and pointed out which classes they had together. He was surprised at the amount they shared, it was certainly a lot more than he was expecting. He had been silent as she explained all of the professors to him and told him what classes they shared. "Oh- uhh, th- that's pretty cool," he said to the girl, cracking a little smile. Maybe he had just made a new friend. He assumed if they really were now friends, at least he had one person to talk to in this big intimidating school. What an odd way they had met though....

Thomas' eyebrows raised as he widened his eyes, "Oh! Right!" he said, realizing they didn't have too much time to linger around and talk and that classes would soon be starting. He felt himself being grabbed and turned in the direction of the hallways, his eyes widening with surprise, certainly not expecting to be touched. Thomas' first class of the day was his coven specific class: his illusions coven class. Thomas turned back to Audrey and gave her a small wave and a weak smile. "See you at lunch!" said the girl. "Cya!" Thomas called back. He guessed he would be sitting with her at lunch then. At least he had someone to sit with so he wouldn't be the loser or loner kid sitting all alone at lunch. Maybe this new friendship would be so bad. Audrey seemed pretty nice. They had just met in an odd way but it seemed clear to Thomas that she wanted to make up for accidentally shoving him earlier. Thomas walked along to find his first classroom.

-Several hours later after classes....-

Thomas left his last classroom, already feeling burnt out. For being the first day, the boy couldn't help but feel exhausted. His head was filled with too much knowledge and he felt like he was going to collapse. He closed his eyes and shook his head, sighing as he left his classroom and made his way towards the cafeteria. He felt his stomach growling with hunger. He put a hand on his stomach, as if that would calm down the gurgling. Of course it wouldn't, but the boy certainly knew he wanted to get something in his belly at lunch.

The young blonde haired witch entered the Hexside cafeteria. There were a couple of things that Thomas could chose from to eat. He knew he was certainly in a sandwich mood. The boy hopped onto the lunch line and waited behind the other students. He waited silently and patiently until it was finally his turn to get some food. He was definitely starving by now. Classes worked him up quite the appetite. Thomas took a sandwich and a juice box and placed it onto his tray. He left the little serving area and stared out into the dining hall. His eyes widened as he looked and scanned around the room for a place to sit. He wondered if that girl from earlier was here and if she had found a seat. She did say he'd see him at lunch, so he assumed she might want him to sit with her.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey spotted a few of the abomination track students and they spotted her as well, one of them waved her over. The small crowd of abomination students were eating, chatting, some were practicing with small blobs of abomination goo. Audrey did one final look around before heading over and she spotted Thomas looking over the cafeteria. So she snuck over to him, weaving past students carefully. Once she was beside him, she spoke up. “Hey! Were you looking for me?” She teased, she bumped her arm into his gently, more like a tap, “You look tired. Come on, some of the Abomination witches saved spots for us.” She said, in a much more sympathetic tone.

She lead the way through the cafeteria full of students to the spot where the abomination coven had claimed. They saw Thomas approaching, but didn’t seem to pay him much mind. “How was your first day with your coven track?" She asked, once she sat down near the group of abomination students, she formed a knife with her bracelet and began to effortlessly slice the apple into separate pieces. While taking her time to cut, she continued to speak, "Mine was pretty packed, did you know there was something like two dozen ways to make abomination goo?" She said, gesturing with her purple knife in mild annoyance, "And the quality of the ingredients affects how hard it is to work with? You’d think something like learning recipes would be a potions thing but, I guess the abomination witches need to do the same thing." She said with a mild tone of defeatism. She then sliced her sandwich into two and wiped down the blade with a napkin before morphing the clay into a rectangle surrounding her tray on the table. Audrey then leaned on the table with an elbow, resting her head on one hand. She looked at Thomas paying attention, but occasionally glancing away to the left and right, idly stirring her bowl of eyeball soup with her spoon.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

Thomas jumped a bit, startled from Audrey's sudden presence. Her touch was soft and gentle, but Thomas was on edge. His eyes were wide as he looked to his side to see Audrey. At least it was a familiar face, he thought. He said nothing but nodded as she spoke. However, something she said caught his attention and caused his heart rate to increase and him to become quite nervous. "Come on, some of the Abomination witches saved spots for us." To any normal kid, this would probably be a welcomed motion. The prospect of a seat to sit in for the first day and a group of students to be around would be optimal on the first day in an unfamiliar environment at a new school. But not for Thomas. Many anxious thoughts were racing through his mind at the thought of sitting with other students, especially students from the Abomination coven. He was an illusionist, clearly denoted by the blue sleeves of his Hexside uniform. Would they like him? Would they accept him? Was there even coven competition? Did members of other covens and tracks look down upon others who took a different path than them? These were just some of the many thoughts racing through Thomas' mind. But he couldn't bail out on the girl who seemed to be trying to be his new friend. So, Thomas went along with Audrey to the table where they supposedly had saved seats with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The young witch boy looked visibly nervous as he sat down at the table with Audrey. The other Abominations students seemed to pay Thomas no particular mind, which he guessed was good and better than anything bad happening. The boy listened as the girl told him about her Abominations class and went on about the different ways and ingredients used to make Abomination goo. "My classes were fine," he finally said softly, shortly after she was done talking. "They were fine," he repeated quietly, not having much else to say. He wasn't really lying- they WERE going fine, but there was no denying he was nervous about becoming a student and scared to start training in the art of illusions. He couldn't help but feel immense pressure from his parents, particularly his father, that he had to be the best illusionist in his class. Sure, both of his parents were loving and understanding, particularly his mother, but that didn't stop the boy from having apprehensions regarding his illusion coven track classes. He was nervous he'd fall short of expectations and fall flat on his face, failing miserably. It was quite the pessimistic view, but it was one Thomas held nevertheless. The boy wondered if anyone else was having these same feelings. Surely he was in the minority, he thought, no one's parents were both masters of illusions and had a son that they expected to follow suite. Thomas tried to shove his nervous thoughts out of his head and picked up his sandwich and took a first bite into it.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey's smile faltered at Thomas' statement. She knew that phrase. It wasn't lost on the others too, Bevan, a student she befriended during her Abominations class, who was sitting across the table from her, gave her a worried glance, and Audrey returned his glance. She had been quite the social butterfly these last few hours, during Abominations, Bevan needed help with his control. So Audrey went and helped him, and he showed that he had great command over golems. Another student needed help commanding golems, so she paired Bevan up with them. After helping several others in her class, over the span of the first day, the whole class knew her as someone who was reliable and helpful. But it seemed like Thomas here wouldn't be as easy as her Abominations class to get to open up, she didn't know any other Illusions students, she wouldn't get to spend hours with him, and he might be dealing with more problems than just first day jitters. She caught herself before she squinted in speculation, and instead she gave him an understanding look.
"If your classes went fine, then I bet you're doing better than easily half of everyone else here." She reassured, "Heck, if you had even a single clue during class then I bet you're doing better than a lot of others here." She stopped stirring her soup and brought up the bowl with both hands to sip out of it, now resting both of her elbows on the table. She noted that Thomas didn't seem to like talking about school. She looked down at her soup, speaking in a quieter voice, "And if anyone's messing with you, let me know. I'm in your corner Thomas, I can help."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

He put his sandwich down. Maybe his classes weren't going as "fine" as he had thought or would have liked to have thought. Admittedly, he didn't have much of a clue what he was doing, but what made him the most nervous is that he felt he was struggling in his coven specific illusions classes. It was only the first day and Thomas felt as if he were lost in that class already. The whole thing demoralized him and he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach once more. Suddenly, Thomas no longer felt like he had an appetite and his hunger seemed to disappear. He felt a ball of anxiety and stress form at the pit of his stomach and no longer felt that he wanted to eat anymore.

Thomas sighed, frowning, "I don't really have a clue what's going on in my illusions classes to be honest...." he admitted, soft enough where really only Audrey could hear him. He didn't need the rest of the students at the table knowing that he was struggling in his coven specific classes. Surely, they'd laugh at him, judge him, or make fun of him. He looked at her as she spoke to him. "And if anyone's messing with you, let me know. I'm in your corner Thomas, I can help." the girl said. Could she tell that he was nervous? Could she tell he was uncomfortable sitting among this unfamiliar group of Abomination coven students? Thomas stared down at his barely half-eaten sandwich with its one bite in it and frowned. He looked back at Audrey, "Th- thanks, but you don't have to do that... I'm fine...." he said to her quietly, somewhat lying. Yes, there was no one messing with him that she'd need to step in and stop, but he probably wasn't what most people would consider "fine." He was feeling very overwhelmed by his daunting classes. But Thomas did not want to admit to anyone, or anyone else besides this new girl, that he was already struggling in his classes this early. He had to remain strong. He was a smart kid after all, wasn't he? He definitely knew he wouldn't be telling his parents about his blunders today in his illusions classes. He would simply put on a fabricated smile and nod his head, telling his parents he did exceptionally well in all of his classes today. He HATED to lie but he knew he couldn't admit that he wasn't already at the top of his class and the early "golden boy/student" in his class. But the boy wondered, how was he supposed to get the high marks and grades that his parents expected from him if he couldn't even get a basic grasp on the first day of his illusions class?

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey gave Thomas a nod after looking at him for a moment, "Okay." She said in a similarly quiet voice, "And you'll get it, Illusions class. Maybe tomorrow, or next week, or next month. It might even take a year." She added. From a practical point of view, she was doing this to gain allies, not just friends. She wanted to make a network of people she could use for help, for information, and if push came to shove, for muscle. Practically, Thomas was proving to be more trouble than he was worth... but there was something about him. He reminded Audrey of herself, and that she could've been like him, if not out of the blue Liberi didn't catch a cold and end up in her parents' clinic. It seemed like the Titan itself dropped Liberi onto her lap, putting the opportunity to get stronger, to get more confident, right into her hands. All she did was close her fingers. She said a few sentences and nodded yes, and she gained a new mentor. One who not only learned at an academy, but one who had traveled the length and width of the Titan, who had fought for his life against monstrous creatures, wild witches, criminals, and had even gotten into a few tussles against the Emperor's Coven themselves. He taught her not only Abominations magic, he taught her how to fight, how to survive, how to win. And with that came a confidence and sureness that she would have never discovered on her own.

Her hands tightened around her bowl of soup, and her eyebrows narrowed as she looked down at the soup.
"...'The way to walk from one hand of the Titan to the other, is to just put one foot in front of the other, and keep going.'" She quoted, her eyes flicking back up to Thomas, "My mentor told me that. When things get tough, you shouldn't focus at where you need to go, sometimes it's so far you can't even see it. So you focus on where you are, and you make sure you keep going. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, and the next time you look up, you'll be amazed at how much progress you've made. I know you'll start to understand things, I believe in you." She encouraged. Maybe... she could do for him, what Liberi did for her.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

"Years?!" Thomas thought to himself in his head. His eyes widened at her words as he gulped nervously. Sure, she was trying to comfort him and it was a good effort with good intentions, but the thought of taking years to merely master only the basics of illusions was enough to make Thomas dreadful. "Y- yea.... right," he said softly to the girl, feeling that ever so present sinking feeling. Thomas was admittedly a bit impatient in terms of learning. He wanted to master illusions as soon as possible. He preferably didn't want to take years to master illusions at only just the basic level. His father had mastered illusions and excelled in the track from a pretty early age and so had Thomas' mother. The boy wanted to follow in their footsteps and nothing less. How embarrassing would it be to fall short and not become a top illusions student like his parents were when they were in school and his age? He needed to carry on the legacy after all, didn't he? He remembered his father's words from this morning: "He's going to train to become a great little illusionist, isn't that right Tom?" Thomas replayed those words in his head over and over again and even thought back to the countless times even before he had been accepted into Hexside that his father expressed desires for his son to follow in his footsteps. Heck, even when Thomas was a young little boy growing up around two excellent illusionists, his mother and father would always tell the little guy that one day he was going to grow up and join the illusions coven, training to become a great illusionist just like them. It was clear to Thomas from a very early age that his parents had hoped for him to become a top illusions coven student just like they had been in their schooling days and beyond. The young blonde haired witch looked down at his tray and his barely eaten sandwich and frowned.

As Thomas was wrapped up in his stressful thoughts, he looked up and over at Audrey who had begun speaking again. She was looking down at her soup, saying something, it seemed like a quote to him, one that he wasn't familiar with though. Soon the girl looked up at Thomas and spoke, confidently and encouragingly. As she spoke, Thomas' eyebrows raised and his eyes widened, almost glistening with hope as she gave him her strangely wise words of encouragement for only being a 15-16 year old first year student. She finished with, "I know you'll start to understand things, I believe in you." Thomas eyes were wide, a shimmer within his chocolate brown orbs. He felt his cheeks become slightly warm as the young boy blushed slightly at her inspiring and hope-filling words, his cheeks tinted a slight shade of bright red. He looked back at Audrey for a few moments, both digesting and processing her words, flattered at her encouragement and faith in him. "She believes in me?" he asked himself in his head, "But why me? What does she see in me? We just met?" Thomas wondered. For all he knew, from the outside he seemed like a hopeless case: a shy student who barely talked and one who couldn't even get a basic grasp of anything going on in the first day of his coven specific class. Thomas swallowed, feeling a little lump in his throat form. "T- thank you Audrey, r- really... thank you...." the boy said softly, his eyes glistening with a tiny bit of hope, but certainly with surprise and flattery. He wondered if her words could ever be true. Maybe she was right, maybe one day he'd understand everything and one day he'd actually be good at what he strived to master: illusions. He still wondered why this girl had such encouraging and awe-inspiring words for him. He guessed that he had made a new friend- or at least he thought he could consider this girl his new friend at this point now.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey saw Thomas' expression change, and she smiled at him. It seemed like those were the words he needed to hear. It just so happened to be the same words she needed to hear too, all those years ago... Wait a second, he called her Audrey. She introduced herself as Audrea. She gave Thomas a small smirk, "Are we on a nickname basis already?" She asked innocently, "And, anytime, Thom." She said, giving him a quick wink before taking a long sip of her soup. This wouldn't be a short process, after all, it took weeks for her to find tangible results from constant training and encouragement, with a master of Abominations. But this was a start, and that was good. After her soup, she glanced down to Thomas' lunch tray, "Are you going to finish that?" She asked, pointing at his sandwich with a finger. Audrey probably could eat two sandwiches, and a bowl of soup, but she wasn't serious about the question. It was a subtle reminder to him about food, at least, as subtle as a direct question could be. Their chat had already taken a chunk out of their lunch break, and it probably wouldn't be long until they had to get to their History class together. She wanted to make sure he wasn't starving by missing lunch. Performing magic on an empty stomach, while possible, truly was awful. Audrey knew that for a fact, since she did it for training under Master Liberi.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

"And, anytime, Thom," the girl said to him. His eyes widened. Only his father used that nickname: "Tom." Occasionally his mother would use it, but she usually just called him "Tommy," which he hated. But the nickname "Thom" had always carried bad feelings. It was usually what his father Andrew called him in an attempt to almost mock him. It wasn't a nickname Thomas was fond of when called it by his father. But there was something about the way that Audrey had used the nickname just then. It didn't carry any secret nor ill intent, it seemed genuine, like a friend calling a friend a nickname. Of course he was over-thinking such a simple thing, but her calling him "Thom" made the young witch boy smile a bit. A small smile came to his face as he looked back at Audrey, still a bit weirdly stunned by not only her inspiring words from before but now the calling of him by a friendly nickname.

In fact, the boy hadn't even known that he had called her by "Audrey." Maybe he had misheard her name during their original meeting, but he was unaware that he was even using a nickname. He blushed a bit, "Oh umm I- I guess so," he replied nervously, hoping she didn't mind too much the little slip and him unknowingly calling her by a nickname. Thomas made a note to himself to pay attention more to people so he didn't make this awkward slip up again. "S- sorry," he added softly, frowning. He would kick himself in his head for not remembering her name was Audrea and calling her a stupid nickname like "Audrey on only their first day of meeting. But he didn't think on it too much as the girl looked over to his unfinished sandwich and asked if he was going to have the rest of that.

"Oh umm, y- yea you can have it," the boy told her. Sure, he was pretty hungry before lunch, but now he felt a ball of anxiety in the pit of his stomach and had lost all of his appetite. His mother always told him he should never go hungry or perform any sort of magic on an empty stomach, but he didn't care about her silly words of advice now. Besides, she had told him that when he was just a little witchlet. He was 15 now, surely he could handle it.Thomas just sighed as he pushed his feelings of hunger away and slid his tray over to Audrea.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey smiled at him, as she took his tray closer to hers. "It's fine Thom, I prefer Audrey over," she took a deep breath, "Etheldreda. That makes me sound like I'm ancient. Maybe I'll go by Etheldreda if I'm like, 200 years old, and some master of some kind of obscure art. I'd make people who want to learn from me climb The Knee or wander through the forests of the Forearms to find me." She grinned at herself. She placed a palm on the abomination goo surrounding her tray, and when she lifted it, a knife was formed. She looked at Thomas' food and paused, looking at it before cutting it. She cut the ham sandwich diagonally, leaving one piece with Thomas' bite. She noted that it had plenty of vegetables. Lettuce, tomatoes, some onions, with cheese. She didn't say anything, but she preferred her vegetables separate from her sandwiches. Her own was a toasted sandwich with several layers of sliced poultry, with a peppered cheese, and slightly spicy sauce. It was a heavier, meatier sandwich than the more refreshing ham one. Still though, she took both halves of the ham sandwich, putting them both on her own sandwich halves. She set aside the half of the ham sandwich with the bite in it, and half of her own spicy sandwich. Then she got to finishing her soup, rather quickly, and starting on the rest of her food.

Before long, the bell screamed and rang, making Audrey jump in her seat. "I'll never get used to that." She complained. She had just finished her two sandwich halves, and was just about to start on her apple. Instead she drew a spell circle in the air over her tray and the abomination goo surrounding her tray coalesced into a small box to the right of the tray. She wrapped the rest of the sandwiches in napkins and placed them into the box before closing the lid and placing the box in her messenger bag. She then grabbed her apple slices and popped one into her mouth, holding it between her teeth. She looked to Thomas, "Co'e on, history right?"

---

History Class, Hexside
​

There were already several students sitting inside the classroom, some were flipping through their textbooks, some were chatting amongst themselves. Professor Elwin Crowe himself was an older witch with white streaks through his short hair. He had his back turned, and he was writing something on the chalkboard. Audrey found them some seats at the back of the classroom, she took out her textbook, dropping it onto the table with an audible thump, and glared at it. The textbook, in large blocky letters, said The Savage Ages. Audrey looked at the book in confusion, opening it, and flipping through the first few pages in silent contemplation. She scratched her head in uncertainty, and made a worried look at the professors back. She was supposed to have gone over a general overview of the history of The Boiling Isles at Glandis, but... she skipped all those classes, and she hoped that wouldn't come back to bite her here.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

Thomas tilted his head in confusion and raised an eyebrow. "Ethel-what-now?" the boy asked. He had never heard a name like that ever in his life before. Her oddly specific analogy further confused the boy, as he looked at her like she had 7 heads, which wouldn't be too far off from some of the things that you would see on the Boiling Isles, but when he had met her she certainly had one head, so seven would be weird. Thomas thought of his own name. It was boring, casual, it certainly didn't make him stand out. He was just an average kid with an average name. He wondered if that was a bad thing, or if it just made him lame.

He shook his head and closed his eyes, trying not to think too long on his negative thoughts as he often did. The boy watched as she careful cut her food, including the sandwich that was once his. He had gladly offered it to the girl of course, but this mean he'd be going the rest of the day with an empty stomach. He again thought of what his mother would say, nagging him on the importance of eating. Thomas was a small kid and he didn't eat too much and sometimes, even getting him to eat was a hassle. Of course now that he was older, it was easier to get him to eat, but as a young boy it was certainly a challenge for his two parents. He looked over and down at the food, staring at it and frowning as Audrea made some cuts. Luckily, he wasn't feeling hungry- at least for now. He felt a nervous sinking feeling at the bottom of his stomach that was certainly making him lose any and all appetite.

"Well at least your real name isn't boring," the boy replied softly, "My name is just 'Thomas,' nothing special...." he said. But suddenly, the bell screamed loudly, startling both Audrea and Thomas. The boy felt himself jolt up, the hairs standing up on the back of his neck. He then realized it was only their odd school bell demon, and his posture relaxed and his breathing slowed. "Me neither," muttered Thomas, a bit annoyed at being put on edge by their school bell. He'd have to get used to that someday if he was going to be attending Hexside for years to come. His eyes widened as he looked at Audrea. "Co'e on, history right?" she asked. Thomas just silently nodded his head. Now they shared classes with each other since they had the schedule with their coven specific classes in the morning and general education classes in the afternoon. They would share the rest of their classes of the day together now. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have a new friend in these classes. Thomas assumed he could call this Audrea girl a "friend" now, as it seemed that had gotten pretty well acquainted.

The boy went along with Audrea to their next class: History. He entered the room nervously behind her and she seemed to have found them seats in the back of the classroom. Thomas came along with her and sat next to her at a desk located near the back of the room. Thomas gulped as he opened up his bag and found his big history textbook. He slowly took it out and gently set the large book down on the table. The cover read "The Savage Ages," a time period Thomas had only briefly heard and learned about in his lower levels of schooling. From what he could tell, it was an awful period of time where wild magic ran rampant and wild witches attempted to harm others through their uncontrolled use of wild magic. Of course luckily, the great Emperor Belos eventually put an end to the savage ages with the brilliant coven system, but that was about all Thomas knew. He sat sighed there and sighed, looking down at his big textbook and then up at the professor, waiting for the history class to start.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey continued to flip through the textbook, skimming the text, in some vain hope that she could catch up years of study in maybe about five minutes, even though she had no idea what she had to be looking for. It wasn't long before the classroom filled up and the professor turned around, having finished writing out a rough timeline of the boiling isles on the chalkboard. Professor Crowe took out a pocket watch, glancing at it, before drawing a blue spell circle. A wooden box floated out from under his desk and quickly covered the bell demon. And just a moment later, it screamed, ringing, as loud as it could. But the classroom could only hear a quiet muffled yell. Once the box floated away, the bell demon let out a discouraged 'aw'.

"Greetings class, I am Professor Crowe, I know history isn't the most interesting thing to most young witches, but I'll do my best to make it exciting." He smiled. He drew another spell circle, and an illusion of a wild witch appeared next to him suddenly. It was a massive figure, wrapped in animal furs, and armored with bones and leathers, and wielding a large two handed stone axe. The prehistoric wild witch roared, startling some of the students with his volume. "This here is a prehistoric wild witch warrior, his name is Slode, a Warlord of the Early Tribal Era. This year we'll be starting with prehistoric witch tribes, and the warlords that dominated the Boiling Isles during that period. So things would be more exciting, we'll also cover some mythology, such as the first Coven witches, before Emperor Belos appeared. In my opinion, everything before The Deadwardian Era is full of mystery, myth, legend and most importantly, lots of adventure and action." Professor Crowe chuckled, "So, some rules in my class, no scrolls in class, it messes with the lighting..." He continued.

Audrey was positively beaming with excitement, almost standing up from her seat to get a better look at the wild witch. "Do you see the giant horned skull pauldron over his left shoulder? He must have used that as a shield before getting close in a fight." She blurted out, her mind raced with possibilities. She remembered a shoulder tackle that she took to the face when she was sparring with Liberi. He'd launched himself at her with abomination platforms, and used abomination goo to form a shield over his shoulder. It was so fast that she blinked and found herself flat on her back when she opened her eyes. And then she learned how to do that move. She then looked at his axe. The stone axe wasn't mindlessly crafted, the stone axe head was angled downwards, and it occurred to her that it was shaped like a hook almost. She found herself with a devilish grin, "Slode knew how to fight. I can't believe I skipped out on history before."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

Thomas looked down at his big textbook, staring down at the cover. He briefly moved his eyes to the direction of Audrea's book which the girl was opening and skimming through. He looked back down at his book and sighed quietly. Thomas didn't mind history class too much, but something in his gut told him that this class might be a bit boring and difficult. His eyes focused back on to the front of the room as he watched the professor. The bell demon was silenced and the class had begun.

The boy listened to the professor give his opening statement. Thomas was expecting your run of the mill typical first day lecture that practically of his teachers had already given him for each class earlier in his day. But suddenly, this professor drew a spell circle and created an illusion of an ancient wild witch. Thomas' eyes widened as his mouth slightly opened with awe. A small but present open mouthed smile formed on Thomas' face as he watched the teacher form the illusion. "Woah," the boy thought to himself, "The professor's an illusionist too!" Thomas assumed their professor had taken the illusions coven track when they were in school judging by their ability to easily form an illusion with a simple spell circle.

Thomas looked over to his side and heard Audrey blurting out something. She seemed to be throughly impressed by the professor's illusion as well, as was the rest of the class. But Thomas was particularly interested in the professor's ability to so easily, so flawlessly, create an illusion. Thomas hoped that one day, he could do that, but he knew that day wasn't anytime soon, but that the day couldn't come soon enough. Audrey seemed more impressed than fearful though and even seemed to admire the image of the savage wild witch. Thomas certainly did not admire the witch illusion. Sure, the dude looked pretty cool, but Thomas thought of all the bad things that ancient wild witch must have done in his life. Thomas was grown up and raised to be fearful of wild witches and loyal to Emperor Belos and the coven system. His parents were certainly upperclass citizens that benefited from the emperor's reign and they themselves had been a member of the illusions coven. "What a savage time period to be alive," the boy thought to himself, thinking about all of the uncontrolled wild witch tribes that must have ran wild before Belos came to take control, "Good thing Belos put a stop to that wildness." he thought. Thomas was always taught the lies of the emperor, that Belos perfected magic with the introduction of the covens system. He certainly believed in the stigma that came with the mere thought of wild magic or a wild witch. It seemed that Audrey was infatuated with the idea of fighting with cool armor and garments like this Slode character. Thomas certainly was not and saw this character as a very dangerous person who he was glad wasn't around today.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey listened to the lecture intently, it was less like a lecture, and more like a tribal elder telling stories of old. Professor Crowe had even created an illusionary campfire on his desk, and from its smoke, he crafted maps, paintings, images of forests and plains. He spoke of the many hunter-gatherer cultures of the different tribes that rose up from the Titan, with a focus on Slode's tribe and the start of their exodus from the left knee to the right forearm, and how dangerous it was. Audrey in particular was interested in the depictions of pack hunter tactics, and she scrambled to sketch out what Professor Crowe described down onto paper. He spoke of ancient methods of travel and navigation, as this was in the ages before Palismen, and the tribes struggles. Audrey found herself almost frantically scribbling down notes at several points. To Audrey, it wasn't just interesting, it was a whole new world of strategy to her. It made her realize her plans while she was at Glandus were childish, though not surprising, as she was a child. The concepts that the witch beast hunters used, such as trapping, cornering, group feints, were amazing to Audrey. In the back of her mind all she could think about was how much less pain she would have experienced in Latissa if she knew and mastered strategies and plans like this.

The hour the students had with Crowe passed quickly, the bell screaming mid sentence. It seemed as though the Professor got carried away as well. The illusions faded away and Crowe lifted the box again to mute the bell. "Alright students we'll pick this back up next time, remember, homework is just a paragraph or two on your thoughts so far of the Savage Ages, due next class."
Audrey stacked her papers, "Whew. I wasn't expecting to jot down notes, especially for History class." She said, putting away her notes and her pens. She looked to Thomas, "So, how're we feeling? I didn't know History could be so cool." Audrey asked. They had their next class separately, and would only meet again for their last class of the day. She knew that Thomas had only had a single bite of food for lunch, and not only that, Thomas seemed pretty stressed earlier, no thanks to her own prodding.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:
​

Thomas listened to the lecture as well, sitting and hanging on to every word the professor said. His eyes were wide with interest, shimmering in the light of the campfire illusion, his mouth slightly ajar with awe as he listened on. History was certainly a subject Thomas enjoyed and found interesting. The boy occasionally stopped staring at the professor and listening to his every word so that he could jot a few notes down in his notebook. Once he had scribbled down some basic words and loosely stringed together incomplete sentences that he would understand later if he needed to study, he'd look right back up at the teacher and give him all of his attention, the same innocent wide eyed look of wonder. The look of a student who was genuinely interested and wanted to learn. The boy had been so focused intently on the lecture which of course, was really more set up like a story telling circle at a campfire, that he had completely forgotten about any sort of hunger from not eating much the previous lunch period. Although the very thought of these savage wild witch tribes and the great warrior Slode terrified the boy and made him certainly glad that Slode and those wild witch tribes were no longer around today, partly thanks to Emperor Belos.

History class was around an hour but by the end of it, it sure didn't seem like it was an hour. The time had passed surprisingly quickly and it left Thomas hungering for more, looking forward to the next class. The screaming bell demon startled Thomas a bit, jolting him as he was snapped out of his undivided attention which he was giving to Professor Crowe. Thomas nodded, making a mental note of their homework as the professor dismissed the class and gave them his last final few words. With that, the young blonde haired witch shut his notebook which he had been jotting notes down in and shoved it into his bag, gathering his textbook as well and putting it in his bag. Once the boy had finished putting everything away and his pens inside, he zipped the bag up and slung it on his back after getting up from his seat. Audrea struck up some conversation as they were putting away their things in their bags. He smiled softly and nodded, agreeing with Audrea. It seemed that she too had found history class quite interesting and had jotted down a ton of notes in her own notebook as well. He was a bit confused by her statement about not expecting to write notes down, especially for history class, but he decided not to press her on it. To Thomas, he thought that it was just normal to jot down notes for every class, especially a class such as history.

"Yea history was pretty cool," he replied with a little grin, certainly agreeing with her statement. He had always loved history. There was always something so interesting about it that always seemed to manage to capture the boy's attention. Thomas shrugged his shoulders and gave a little unsure look with his face to Audrea. "Eh, fine I guess. Not too bad. History class was really the only class I followed what was going on today." Thomas admitted, with a little frown. He also wanted to say "hungry," because now he was realizing his hunger due to not eating really anything in lunch just an hour ago. In fact, the boy really hadn't eaten all day and really didn't have anything in his system. He had been so stressed and focused on all of his classes that his anxiety caused him to lose all appetite, the repeated sinking feeling in his stomach all throughout the day proving to be a problem and diminish his hunger. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying not to think on his hunger too much. He felt his empty stomach crinkle slightly with hunger. "But yea, history was cool." Thomas added with another tiny smile. He sure wasn't too good at hiding stress. Next class he did not share with Audrea, but he would see her a bit later in the day for their last class of the day. This was it, this was the homestretch. Thomas was almost done with his first full day at Hexside. The boy sighed, only a whole year of this to go, he thought, frowning a bit. He was just looking forward to getting home and going to the safety and comfort of his own room and of course, so he could have an after school snack.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey gave him a little smile, he seemed more upbeat now, probably thanks to Professor Crowe, who seemed to think being a history teacher should be a lot like being a theater director. To the older witch's credit, it certainly captured the attention of the entire class.
"Yeah history was pretty cool," Thomas shrugged and his upbeat attitude wavered, and he seemed to try to pull his mind away from something, "Eh, fine I guess. Not too bad. History class was really the only class I followed what was going on today. But yeah, history was cool."
"Steps Thom, we're taking steps. And we'll take more tomorrow, and the day after. Nobody became a master overnight, they did it after a thousand steps." Audrey reassured, quoting her old mentor again. She recalled a lot of things that he said to her, that helped her when she felt powerless, weak, like no progress was being made, and she spared a thought to Master Liberi for a quick moment. Wondering where he was, how he was doing, if he had gone on any new adventures or retread old ones to discover new things. She then noticed the hustle and bustle of the students around her all moving chairs, packing up their things, chatting amongst themselves, and moving out of the classroom. Audrey looked around at them, then back at Thomas, giving him a smile. "We should get to our next classes," She said, getting up. She patted him on the shoulder, "Don't get too lonely without me." she said, then she turned and left the classroom, heading to her next one.

---

General Magics Class, Hexside

​

Just a little bit more than an hour later, students were piling into their next classes. Audrey found that her Magics class was close to her Calculations one, and she looked forward to the class. Calculations went over her head, and while simple things were easy enough to follow, as soon as more complex ideas were introduced, she got lost. Granted, all those classes she skipped in the past definitely didn't help. But in a practical class like Magics, that was where she excelled. As she approached the classroom, she heard a woosh of flame, and then a thunderous shout that rattled the locker demons in the hallway awake.
"YYYEEESSS!"

Audrey jumped at the shout, and she glanced at the locker demons, who all glanced at each other, then tried to go back to sleep. Audrey made a concerned face and walked to the classroom, poking her head in first. That must have been the professor shouting, who was on one knee, striking a strongman pose next to an oracle witch girl. Kneeling, he was still taller than the students who were standing up. Professor Ursa Varan was a massive witch wearing black pants, a black vest, and a white long sleeved shirt under the vest. With the appearance of a golden-armadillo lizard, tan scales for skin, small beady black eyes, a large mouth with rows of sharp teeth, a tail behind him, and appropriate to his pose, Professor Ursa was quite literally the most muscled witch Audrey had ever seen in her entire life. She balked at at him, looking in disbelief.
"IS THAT ANOTHER STUDENT I SEE? COME IN! I WAS JUST TEACHING YOUNG STARLA HOW TO THROW A FIREBALL!" Professor Ursa got up, standing easily twice Audrey's height. Audrey blinked at the professor and silently came in, it technically still wasn't time for class yet, but the lizard witch was teaching all the same. The classroom had been rearranged, with the tables in the shape of a U, with the opening facing the opposite wall of the chalkboard. She noted that the wall had more than a few scorch marks on it, and there were three training dummies placed in front of the scorched wall. She found a seat at an empty table by the windows and sat down, glancing around the classroom. She noted that there were students of every track here, even younger students who hadn't picked a track yet. Her view blocked by the professor.

"WHATS YOUR NAME, LITTLE WITCH?" Professor Ursa shouted, but Audrey began to think that this was just his normal speaking volume.
"Audrea." She replied.
"GOOD. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO THROW A FIREBALL?"
Audrey pointed a finger up and drew a spell circle with her index finger, and a small ball of fire erupted just above her finger tips, she let it hang for a moment, and then she flicked her finger towards one of the training dummies. The fireball darted from her fingertip to the forehead of the doll. She looked back up at Professor Ursa, whose lips were curled up, revealing sharp teeth. Audrey guessed it was a smile.
"PERFECT!" He boomed suddenly, Audrey jumped in her seat at the volume, "EXCELLENT CONTROL AND ACCURACY, WAS THAT ALL OF YOUR POWER THOUGH?"
Audrey shrugged, "You just asked for a fireball."
"HAH!" Professor Ursa laughed, "THAT I DID. YOU CAN HELP ME INSTRUCT FOR THE FIRE SECTION OF THIS CLASS."
"Huh?" She asked, confused, but the professor didn't seem to hear. Or he just ignored her, and walked to the other end of the classroom where he offered instruction to a student trying to conjure fire, but failing.