Mila stood up with the rest of the second-year students when Headmistress Dowling ended the demonstration, quickly making sure that she wasn't forgetting anything. Though she stood up straighter as her teacher approached her and Nissa. “Yes, ma’am.”
Nissa tilted her head a bit, wondering what Headmistress Dowling wanted. We can't be in trouble, can we? They'd only been there for a few hours, so Nissa didn't think there was anything they'd done to get into trouble already.
The headmistress smiled warmly to put their minds at rest before speaking. "Both of you demonstrated an immense amount of improvement from the last term. Your control has increased greatly, and with it, your power. If you don't mind, I'd like to restart private sessions with the two of you. The lessons will be more advanced than what we will cover in class, and I'd also like to see how you both fare with expanding into different elements of magic. You both have shown me that you are willing to put in work to control your magic. As always, you don't have to come, but after what I've seen today, I believe you both will greatly benefit."
Mila smiled gently, blushing again, at the praise. She had practiced all summer to improve. But the offer of restarting private lessons made her heart leap. “Oh, yes, please. I would love to.” she beamed, nodding enthusiastically.
"Wow, uh…" Nissa began, a bit surprised by the offer. "That sounds great! I'd love that." She smiled, already excited at the prospect of learning different elements of magic.
Headmistress Dowling nodded. She fancied the girls' enthusiasm and replied with a bit of her own. "Wonderful. If we started tomorrow, would that be too soon for the both of you? I know that it can take a few days to get readjusted to Alfea after the summer break, so if you would like to wait…?" She trailed off her question and tilted her head expectantly for an answer.
Mila’s smile grew. “I… I wouldn't mind starting tomorrow, if that's alright with you, Headmistress.” she admitted, brushing down her hair. “I think I still know my way around well enough and I got most of my things already unpacked yesterday.”
"Yeah, tomorrow's perfect." Nissa agreed, her smile widening. Her thoughts briefly turned to the different elements, wondering which one she'd learn to control.
"Brilliant," Headmistress Dowling replied. "Then I will see you both after your last class. I believe you end the day tomorrow with Professor Harvey, am I correct?" Farah thought she remembered Ben saying something about teaching a class in the greenhouse, but she couldn't quite recall if it was with the second years or not.
“Yes, ma’am. That's correct.” Mila nodded. “At the greenhouse.” she added, though she felt a little silly because obviously the Headmistress would know where all the teachers would have their classes. “I… I'm looking forward to starting and… Am I right in thinking that our lessons will be in your office again?”
"As am I," Headmistress Dowling replied kindly. "Indeed. And you both know where that is." Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Farah slipped the device out and glanced down to check the notification. It was a message from Saúl. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she read it, then her eyes widened. Quickly, Farah caught herself and regained control over her emotions as she turned her attention back to the two girls. "Ladies, I'm afraid something urgent has come up. If you'll excuse me, I will see you both tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am." Nissa said, shooting Mila a confused glance. Urgent? A part of her brain told her it wasn't her business, but she couldn't help being curious. Still, she didn't say anything, having a feeling that Dowling wouldn't answer.
“Yes, ma’am. See you tomorrow.” Mila nodded, sharing Nissa’s concern and giving her roommate a brief shrug. She knew that Headmistress Dowling had other responsibilities besides helping two fairies with former control issues. “Good luck.” she smiled though she was sure some nervousness showed.
Headmistress Dowling easily forced a smile to her features. Inside her pocket, her fingers were gripping her phone so tightly that blood pulled from her knuckles and turned them white. She realized how tightly she was holding onto it and briefly was afraid she might break the fragile device before she released her grip and clasped her hands in behind her back.
"Thank you, girls." Dowling noticed the microexpressions the pair exchanged and decided in an instant it was best if they knew nothing for now. "Everything is alright, there's nothing to worry about," she assured them, although she wasn't even sure about that herself. "You best be getting back to the school now."
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you again.” Mila smiled, though she was still a little concerned for her mentor. It may have sounded a bit silly, considering that the older woman was a graduate of Alfea college and one of the most powerful fairies that she knew. Surely, she would be alright… “Come on, Nissa. Headmistress Dowling is right. We have to get going.”
"Right." Nissa glanced at Dowling before turning away. She had a bad feeling about that text, and she could tell that Mila felt the same way.
Headmistress Dowling watched the girls go, and once they were a considerable distance away, she allowed herself to feel the edge of panic that had appeared when she’d first read Saúl’s text. She pulled out her phone and read the message again to be sure. No, she thought as the words processed for the second time in her mind. No, it can’t be.
As soon as Mila and Nissa were out of sight, Farah pivoted on her heel and headed as quickly as she could to the edge of the Barrier. The closer she got, the more her heart began to race. She reached where Barrier's edge met the forest, and she left safety behind her. The Barrier glowed blue around her as she pushed through it, but it didn't deter her in the slightest. She wove through the trees in the forest until she was able to see two familiar figures in the distance.
"Farah!" Saúl called when he saw her, and Ben turned to look at her as well.
Farah quickly hurried toward them. "Saúl. Ben," she addressed the men as she grew closer. "Please tell me this is a joke."
"I wish we could," Ben answered before motioning to something on the ground, concealed by a bush. With his magic, the greenery covering the object receded, giving the teachers a clear view of what it had been hiding. Farah slowly made her way around so she could see, and she gasped softly when she saw it.
The shepherd's corpse was bloody, having been sliced open in multiple places. Some of the blood had dried, indicating it had been at least a few hours since the attack. Along with the oozing red scratches that almost looked like claw-marks, bits of black char seemed to confirm something in Farah’s mind.
“It’s fresh,” Saúl remarked decidedly.
While the trio had seen plenty of dead bodies in their lifetime, the chill of seeing one never seemed to leave Farah. She shuddered. “Maybe a wolf?” she suggested, wanting so badly to believe it, but the evidence was against her.
Seeming to sense her hopeful doubt, Saúl contributed as well. “Or a bear. He could have gone out to protect his herd. Got surprised.” His eyes met Farah’s for an instant then darted down to the shepherd's body as if the excuse was plausible.
“I’m happy to continue the guessing game,” Ben remarked as he knelt down and scraped a bit of the blackened area from one of the wounds. “But this is char residue.”
Farah inhaled sharply, stiffened, and lifted her nose into the air. No, she thought again.
“How long since the last sighting?” Saúl asked, expectantly looking to Farah.
She didn’t return his gaze and instead kept her eyes locked on the char Ben had scraped up. While she did open her lips to answer, it was Ben who spoke first.
“About two decades,” he said, turning his attention back to the corpse.
“Sixteen years,” Farah cut in sharply. Her tone indicated absolute certainty. Neither of the men contradicted her. “Rosalind was relentless,” she quietly added.
“It could have been hiding in the mountains,” Saúl attempted to justify it. “Waiting—“
Before he could continue, Farah aggressively cut him off. “She killed all the Burned Ones.”
“We thought she did,” Ben came to Saúl’s defense, turning from the body again to face his colleagues and friends.
“Ben what we think is irrelevant.” Any soft side of Farah Dowling had temporarily vanished. At this moment, she was solely the Headmistress of Alfea, and her commanding presence forced both Saúl and Ben to respect her and her authority. “The Barrier’s doing its job.” Headmistress Dowling inhaled deeply and looked from the mangled body to Professor Harvey to Specialist Headmaster Silva. “Until we know something for sure, let’s get this cleaned up before gossip starts.”
With that, Farah turned and headed back to the school, exhaling a deep, worried sigh as she walked. This was bound to be her most eventful year as headmistress yet.
“Nissa… I don't know what that was about but let's keep it between us.” Mila suggested, quietly but somewhat firmly. “It’s really none of our business anyway and, I don't know about you, but I don't want to start any rumors.” she admitted.
"Me neither." Nissa agreed, shaking her head. "There's no point in gossiping about it. Besides, I'm sure Headmistress Dowling can handle whatever it is." She didn't say it out loud, but she had a feeling that the situation was worse than Dowling let on. "And you're right, it's not our business, but…" She continued. "I've got a bad feeling about this." That, and she couldn't help being curious.
Mila sighed a little and nodded. “You’re not alone in that." she said, agreeing with both points. That the Headmistress of the whole school could handle that situation but it didn't do much to soothe her anxiety… “Let’s… Let's hurry up and get to our class. On top of everything else, we don't need her to worry about us not doing well.” she said with a smile dry smile.
(Want to timeskip to their session the next day?)
(that sounds good to me, if it's ok with Dragongirl)
(Fine with me)
(Great, let’s do it)
The next afternoon, after a long day of teaching classes, Farah perused a long document while sitting at her desk. Saúl was out with the first-year Specialists who, according to him, were considerably failing at mastering the training regimen, and Ben was teaching an alchemy class in the greenhouse. The business of her friends meant Farah finally had uninterrupted time for herself to get her excess work done. She often considered teaching to be the easiest part of her job – handling out-of-control students tended to be a bit more exciting than hours of paperwork.
Still, it needed to be done, so there she was, relinquishing hours of her life away to filing and doing a job meant for her assistant. While Callum was a good man, from what Farah could tell, he did have his shortcomings, and one of them was the ability to keep well-organized and understandable records.
As her mind strayed to the potential task of hiring a new assistant for her office, the clocks on Farah’s desk chimed in harmony, signaling the beginning of a new hour. Checking the time, she knew Ben’s class would be letting out soon, and Mila and Nissa would be arriving shortly. Their lesson was prepared, and Farah was subtly eager to see how the girls would fare.
–
“Next class we will continue to learn uses for herbal supplements. Don’t lose your notes!”
Professor Harvey’s final words of caution were easily tuned out by the anxious second-year fairies waiting to be dismissed. As soon as he finished speaking, the students shot up from their desks and filed quickly out the door. The professor shook his head with a sigh and cleaned up his workspace to make way for a personal project the headmistress had requested after yesterday’s discovery.
Mila sighed a little as she finished her notes and quickly organized her papers into her folder before standing and following the crowd out. For only the second official day of school, there was already a lot to keep track of… But she didn't really mind. If anything, she was more focused on her and Nissa meeting Headmistress Dowling for their private lessons. And she didn't want to be late.