forum Alfea College for Fairies [Elemental Fairies] (Closed)

Started December 03, 2022 by @emilyevewrites group

tune

Mila nodded at the redhead's comment, though she wasn't entirely convinced. “Ok. That looked pretty painful.” she hummed, more to herself than anyone. “Anyway, you're new here, right? Do you need any help?” she offered.

The air fairy jumped a little, barely holding the instinctive magic at her fingertips. “Headmistress Dowling.” she answered. “Yes. Yes, I have been practicing.” she nodded with enthusiasm before stepping to the side so the other woman could deal with the redhead, Penelope.

(Changing around my responses a bit… ;))

A glint of pride flashed through Farah's eyes as she nodded her approval, and a warm, genuine smile decorated her features. "Very good. I look forward to seeing the results of your dedication in the Stone Circle tomorrow with the rest of the second years. And Penelope. How are you settling in at Alfea?”

She frowned as a thin cut appeared on Penelope’s forehead, presumably where she ran into the corner of the building. “Do you mind?” Headmistress Dowling asked, reaching up and pressing her thumb over the slight cut.

Her eyes changed from their natural warm brown to silver-blue as she tapped into her own fire magic and healing abilities, using moxibustion to seal the wound before withdrawing her hand. Her eyes then returned to normal while she offered another kind smile.

“That’s better, now isn’t it?” she asked, a hint of amusement in her tone and expression.

Oh god. Now the damn headmistress of the school was getting involved. Honestly, could Penny even be surprised at this point? Of course her reputation preceded her in this situation, and her looking like a fool would only fuel rumors of her being a stupid delinquent.

Clearly the blonde and the headmistress were familiar with each other, which was interesting. Though Penny supposed it made sense that the headmistress would know her students. She didn't appreciate how the girl had clearly moved out of the way for the headmistress to deal with her. That was a tactic she was familiar with from her past schooling, where people who had previously been nothing but nice to her were all too quick to step aside and let Penny take the blame for whatever had gone wrong. Sure, sometimes it was her fault–accidentally–but that didn't make it less predictable now.

However, the headmistress was surprisingly…nice. She blinked as the woman healed her cut, already feeling the slight swelling of her forehead go down with the touch. It felt weird, but not bad. She stood in awe for a few moments before realizing that had been her cue to speak. Right.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," she responded, bemused. She put her hand up to feel what had previously been the wound, trying not to look too impressed. "And I've been settling here just fine." While this was obviously a lie, she could wait until the headmistress left her alone with the blonde, Mila, again before she had to argue with the girl about it. That was, if she cared enough to contest it, which likely she wouldn't, leaving Penny to her own devices to act as imbecilic as she pleased. Of course, she did want the help, but she also hated accepting it. Well, one step at a time, she supposed. First she had to get the headmistress off her back. It would do no good to have the woman worried about her when Penny clearly had a reputation for being a troublemaker already. More scrutiny was the last thing she needed.

“You’re welcome,” Ms. Dowling replied, studying Penelope’s reaction to her magic. She saw the subdued awe and surprise in the girl’s eyes though the rest of her face attempted to mask it. But even if she hadn’t seen it, Farah’s empathetic abilities still managed to detect it. It was a blessing at times and a curse during others, but she had learned to control it over years of study and practice.

But there was something else Penelope felt that was more difficult for Farah to pinpoint. Worry? No, it was more complex than that. Anxiety? No. Farah knew well what anxiety felt like, and this wasn’t it either. She finally settled on a more accurate mix of feelings swirling inside Penny: apprehension, restlessness, and determination. All good things when channeled properly.

“I’m happy to hear things are going well,” she added. “Alfea’s graduates have ruled realms and led armies. They’ve forged powerful relics and rediscovered long-lost magic. They shaped the Otherworld. If you succeed here, you will too.”

Her eyes softened slightly. “If you need anything, my office is on the second floor of Fairy Hall’s left wing. I’d be happy to help with any questions or concerns you nave have during your first few days. If you have any difficulties finding me, my assistant, Callum, may be able to help. And my name is Headmistress Dowling. Welcome to Alfea.”

With that, Farah offered a parting smile before striding back across the grounds to speak with Specialist Headmaster Silva on the other side of the courtyard.

While Penny still had a distaste for authority figures, stemming from a long time ago with her first authority figures abusing their power, she had to admit that the headmistress seemed decent. She couldn't actually think of a reason to dislike the woman, seeing as she had admitted Penny with her less than exemplary track record and been kind to her upon the first meeting. However, Penny knew all too well that this friendly face could be hiding a dark side that Headmistress Dowling had yet to show. She seemed genuine, but Penny figured it was probably a matter of time until she showed just how power hungry she was. Most authority figures seemed to follow that pattern–even if they weren't actively abusing their power, the thought of someone taking it away caused them to do things they otherwise would not. She didn't want to see Dowling's breaking point.

Despite her runaway train of thought, Penny did appreciate the offer, and tucked it away to think about in the future should she require use of it. With her stubbornness, the chances of her reaching out and asking for help were low, but it was good to know she had options. As the woman left, giving a smile to the girls, Penny gave a small, half-hearted wave as a goodbye. Might not hurt to at least act like she intended to try here, though she knew once she was alone in her room she would be very much trying to do well.

Now it was just her and the girl apparently named Mila. Penny really didn't know what would happen next, but she guessed it would likely be some variation of either Mila excusing herself and leaving to go do something better than try to talk to a temperamental first year, or Mila trying to help and Penny stubbornly refusing despite her obvious need of it. There were patterns to this sort of thing in Penny's world. Speaking of the blonde girl, though, Penny realized that she'd never actually answered her questions from earlier. She didn't particularly savor the idea of being judged by yet another person, but she figured it would streamline whichever of the two choices Mila made to just answer the questions now instead of waiting for the blonde to say something.

"To answer your questions from earlier," she began, crossing her arms, "yes I am new here, and no, I don't need help. I can figure out what I'm doing on my own, thanks." This was clearly untrue, but few people tried to argue with Penny's mule-like stubbornness, and those who did quickly grew tired of her, so she figured the same would likely apply here. Time to see what sort of a person this Mila chick was.

Mila watched the interaction from the side, not interfering. But she smiled a little as the Headmistress healed and assured Penelope. It was always interesting to see Ms. Dowling use her magic just because she had such a range of abilities… Mila wanted to learn everything she could from the more experienced fairy.

“Ok. If you're sure.” she nodded, respecting her decision. “Do you know where you're supposed to go? I know my way around pretty well.” she offered again.

Unsurprisingly, the blonde was friendly, but not overly insistent. She seemed like a nice person, at least, though Penny wasn't always the best judge of character, always watching the negatives she was sure would be coming. At any rate, she was still offering Penny help. Perhaps it wouldn't be too much of an imposition if Penny just asked for directions. That would take a few seconds of each of their time and then hopefully Mila would just forget about this interaction. Hopefully anyone who had seen that embarrassment would, though Penny doubted Headmistress Dowling was wont to do that anytime soon. Ah well. She did have things she needed to do today, so she might as well speed this along and just accept directions, since that was barely anything. Then she would say a simple thank you and be on her way, not really indebted to the near stranger still standing near her.

She frowned slightly as she was considering this before responding, though it barely took long, since she hated the thought of keeping this girl from her future activities, especially after everything that had just transpired. "Well, I guess if you could give me directions it would be helpful," she sighed. She did incinerate her own map, after all, and google maps wasn't doing her any favors currently. She looked at the other girl as if in challenge, eyes studying her under the winged eyeliner that Penny had so carefully applied this morning. Thankfully she had improved a lot in that area, so at least one thing wouldn't be embarrassing today. Her makeup looked pretty good, if she did say so herself.

She tried not to glance in the direction the headmistress had gone to see if she was still watching. Of course she wasn't. But it always seemed as if the adults' eyes were on her. It was probably just the anxiety talking. At any rate, she needed to focus on what her companion said next, otherwise she'd still be in the unfortunate situation of not knowing jack shit about the layout of this place. If she could just get to her dorm room from here, she should be fine.

Mila smiled warmly at the other, waiting patiently for her to make her decision. She was familiar with being sized up but she didn't have anything she felt she needed to hide so she didn't mind the way that Penelope was looking at her. Not really at least.

“Sure. Where you headed? Dorm? Or looking for something else?” she asked, willing to either give directions or act as a guide if Penelope would prefer.

The girl still seemed friendly, which was a good sign. There were some people who would act nice up until you actually needed their help, then they would conjure up an excuse to leave if you took too long or asked for something too complicated. This girl didn't seem to be that sort of person.

Penny wondered if she should introduce herself, since it seemed odd to be accepting help from a girl whose name she only knew by chance. If not the headmistress's interruption, this blonde girl wouldn't be Mila, she would just be someone dubbed Blonde Chick to Penny. Besides, if this Mila girl did end up calling her Penelope, Penny would have to correct her anyway. She didn't hate the name Penelope, per se, but it didn't feel like a name that was hers. Penny was her name, and it was the only accurate way to talk to her. But if she did introduce herself, she would be setting herself up for this girl to think they were friends, and while Penny supposed a friend wouldn't be the worst thing, she doubted that was what this happenstance of a connection was. Might as well take that chance. She didn't want this girl to think of her as someone named Penelope when that name felt like oversized and awkward.

"My dorm," she responded, reaching back into her pocket for her phone as she spoke. She pulled up to her notes app to where she'd written down the dorm name. She recited it back to Mila, looking up after she did so. "Know where that is? Oh, and my name's Penny, by the way. Please don't call me Penelope."

Mila smiled, trying not to laugh since she didn't want to offend Penny. “Of course, I know where that is. I’m in the same dorm.” she nodded. “Alright. My name is Mila but people also call me Mia.” she introduced herself even though Headmistress Dowling already gave away her name. “Come on. The dorm is this way.”

The same dorm, huh? Did she mean like the same building, or were the two of them roommates? Based on the smile she was boasting, Penny guessed the latter. Hmm…roommates. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. On one hand, it was one less awkward introduction to make, but on the other hand, Mila–no, Mia–had witnessed her make a fool of herself so she was already starting on the wrong foot with proving that she wasn't some sort of troublemaker or idiot. Ah well. She couldn't exactly control the other girl's thoughts about her, so if Mia did think badly of her, Penny supposed she'd just have to live with it. She had plenty of time to change Mia's mind about that, anyway, she supposed. No time like the present to start acting like a normal person who was in control of her powers and not a delinquent. Honestly, Penny doubted Mia knew much about her past yet, so this might not be the worst thing. At least she wouldn't have to room with someone who looked at her with contempt.

At any rate, she simply nodded, forgetting that she was meant to object to anything more involved than a simple direction of which way to walk to get there. She brushed her hair out of her face again, the fringes next to her bangs always seeming to get in the way. Perhaps it was time she trimmed her bangs again. She had ended up trailing after Mia like a lost puppy, which, while improved from crashing head-first into the wall, was not exactly the best impression either. Why was she so caught up in first impressions anyway? Well, she knew the answer to that. She didn't want this school to be anything like her last one, and for that to happen, she'd have to be trying not to do something stupid constantly. How exhausting. Still, it was better than being labelled a delinquent and kicked out. Why did school always have to be so complicated? Penny liked the learning part, but god, sometimes the people were the absolute worst. Especially the teachers.

Her mind managed to circle back around to Mia's statement. Weren't normal people meant to make conversation now, anyway? Probably. Penny had been fairly chatty as a kid, and had a circle of friends throughout elementary and middle school before everything went to shit. Maybe she could go back to her old ways here. So, she decided to give voice to her earlier question, even though it was probably a dumb one. At least it might keep the conversation going?

"So, that makes us roommates then, huh?" she commented, sticking her hands in her pockets. She had a slow, languid gait with surprisingly long strides for her short legs. As the two girls walked, Penny was also trying to take in the scenery. She couldn't help but be a bit awed at being here in person. Applying to Alfea had been a long shot, and now she was finally here, the place she'd dreamed of being when she was younger. It was surreal.

Honestly, Mila wasn't sure if they would actually be sharing a room or not, but she wouldn't mind if that was the case. It was nice already knowing someone beforehand. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” she nodded with a brief shrug. “I haven't been to the dorm yet so I don't know.”

“So, you're a fire fairy, right?” she asked, running her fingers through her blonde bob. “I’m an air fairy but I’m better at the electrical aspects of it so far.” she admitted with a bit of a shy smile.

Oh, so she hadn't been to the dorm yet either. That was weirdly comforting, since she seemed more knowledgable about the school and campus–and faculty, considering how she spoke with the headmistress. It was almost nice to know that she barely knew much about their rooming situation either. Maybe they weren't quite as different as Penny had first thought. Perhaps they could even be friends. It would be nice to have someone on her side for once. A friend could be just what she needed.

As Mia continued talking, Penny grew more certain that maybe this bond could turn into a friendship. At her guess of Penny being a fire fairy, she couldn't help but smirk a little. With her fashion sense, she did like to get dressed up for every occasion, and her recent hair color was definitely the color of fire itself. In that spirit, she'd decided to match her pants and her lipstick as well, resulting in an overwhelmingly fiery appearance. The goal had been to show off her new hair color, though the resulting effect of her powers being quite obvious wasn't a bad side effect.

"What gave it away?" she asked with a small chuckle. Soon after though her face fell a little when she remembered her little incident earlier. She'd burned her own map to ashes in public, after all. Now that she thought about it, that was probably the real reason that Mia had guessed her powers correctly. Right. Classic Penny blunder. "Oh, wait. It was the whole thing with the map, wasn't it? Guess you could say I'm in need of some serious training."

And that was true. Penny was aware that she didn't always have the best grasp of her powers, which had led to some unfortunate situations, some of which were far worse than just burning her map. She knew she was powerful, but man did that mean she'd need to work to get that under control. Best she learn more about that before she set fire to something else.

Mila blushed a little and gave a brief nod. “Yeah… That was kind of a good hint. But I wouldn't worry about it. That was minor.” she assured, knowing a much more embarrassing moment. “My first year, I was so nervous that during orientation, I caused a static burst that made everyone’s hair stand on end.” she admitted with a shy chuckle.

Penny blinked, a bit taken aback by this information. Maybe she and Mia were perfect roommates, seeing as she had done at least one extremely embarrassing thing. Or maybe that made them the worst combination possible. If her thing was electricity and Penny's was fire, how did that bode for them together? Those two elements sure seemed to cause a lot of damage on their own, and they wouldn't do anything to help one another. Maybe Penny should have been assigned to room with a calm water fairy to contrast both her powers and personality, though that would be infinitely more boring and probably irritating. It unnerved Penny when people were too slow to show any emotion besides an ongoing façade of calmness. She was no mind fairy, so she could not get any sort of read on those type of people. Mia seemed a bit more easy to understand.

"Really?" she asked, giving a small chuckle. Mia's anecdote did put things in perspective. "I mean, I've done some pretty major damage too. I was just hoping for a new start or whatever here." She didn't want to go into details, but she had one vivid memory of almost burning down the school gym because some little dickhead thought it would be a good idea to really piss her off. That was the beginning of the end for her social life and reputation. But thinking about it now wouldn't do much good. Now was her fresh start, right? Sure, she'd fucked up in front of several people, but Mia's comment made her realize that her blunder could have been much worse. She still had time to salvage things before they spun out of control again. She could not get kicked out of the only school that might really be able to help her get control of powers, and maybe get even stronger. She would not waste this chance, and Penny was going to do everything she could to ensure that she was able to graduate from Alfea.

Yeah, having a friend–especially one who was a little older and wiser than her–would do her some serious good. Penny was ready to face any challenges this school had to offer, and she was going to start with her mess of a social life. She would befriend this girl, and then go from there. She could figure the rest out later.

“Yeah… Talk about embarrassing.” Mila laughed, shaking her head. “Ms. Dowling had to take me aside and teach me a few things to keep from doing that again. I think you might have overheard something about me practicing over the summer.” she pointed out, shrugging a little. “She's a great teacher. Probably the best. And she knows so much about all the different elemental magic.” she gushed.

Oh, so that was why the two of them seemed so familiar. It certainly made sense. Wait a second, did that mean that the headmistress put the two screwups in the same room so she could watch over them?? Well, maybe not. It was a bit quick to lump Mia in with herself, after all. She might have only made the one mistake. Still, it was awfully suspicious that she needed extra practice when Penny knew that would most likely be the case with herself, too. Interesting. For now, though, all she could do was speculate. Well, that and see if Mia really was a troublemaker–whether on purpose or not–to discover whether that was why they had been grouped together. Mia genuinely did seem like a nice person, though she was gushing about how great Headmistress Dowling was. It could mean that the headmistress really was an amazing person and fairy–though she had no doubts about the latter–but it could also mean that the headmistress had set her up to it. Hmm…

Penny settled on trying to keep with the flow of the conversation. She didn't want Mia to think she was suspicious of her at all, of course. If she were right it might ruin things, but if she were wrong and Mia caught on to Penny's thoughts, she might be dashing her chances of friendship, or at least making it more difficult to become friends.

"Yeah, from what I've heard, she's super powerful," Penny agreed. "It makes sense that she'd also be a good teacher. Were you able to keep your powers under control after that, then? I really might be able to use that sort of help."

“Well, mostly under control. I still have a lot to learn. It's only my second year at Alfea.” Mila reminded. “But I'm definitely better than I was before.” she added confidently. She was very grateful to Ms. Dowling for all the extra training and how much she'd improved. The last thing she wanted to do was let her teacher down. “I bet she could help you too if you want.”

Okay, so maybe Penny's theories were a bit ridiculous. She believed Mia. Besides, it was totally possible for them both to be thrown together out of chance and not for any specific reason. In fact, it might be benevolent, with Headmistress Dowling hoping that Mia could give Penny some guidance and help, being her senior. This might not be so bad after all. She really just had to calm down and stop being irrational; it was honestly pretty tiring. Not everything was going to go wrong. She just needed to be a bit more logical.

"I would appreciate some extra help," Penny admitted. "My powers are cool and all, but they have caused some…trouble in the past. Maybe I can ask her about it later."

She wondered how much longer until they were there. Sure, they hadn't been walking for very long at all, only long enough to have part of a conversation, but Penny wasn't exactly known for her patience. She continued to look around at the scenery and take in the campus. It was a beautiful day, and Penny really did enjoy the sunshine. Perhaps due to her fire abilities, she loved warm weather and could tolerate quite a bit of heat.

Mila smiled back at Penny, glad that she was willing to give their teacher a chance. “Oh, trust me, I think we've all been there.” she chuckled. “Some just have an easier time hiding that fact.” she shrugged. She had always been a bit of an optimist. Not to say that things didn't get her down but she did try to see the metaphorical glass as half full. “Come on. Our dorm is just ahead.”

This Mia girl was really cheerful. Penny wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she supposed as she got to know her roommate better she would decide. She wasn't used to seeing the bright side of things, being definitely more of a pessimist than an optimist herself. This really would be an interesting combination. Hopefully she and Mia would continue to get along, because having a roommate she hated would really suck.

She looked in front of them, ready to see the dorm and finally get settled down. She was planning on decorating her room so that it would be more to her style, not liking being in an empty–and therefore, boring–place to spend her time. Because in all honesty, she did spend a lot of her time in her room. Maybe she could try getting out more this year, though, since she did want this to be a new start. That could mean for her tendency to waste all of her time painting or playing video games could be ameliorated. Of course, she wouldn't quit either of those things altogether, but maybe she could have a social life? Eh, she would have to talk to other people for that to happen, so she would see later.

"If you say so," she responded in reference to some people hiding their mistakes easier. It honestly felt like some people just had a better handle on their powers than Penny, and she was going to prove that just because hers seemed unruly didn't mean that she couldn't control it. Then she'd be strong, and could work on getting stronger instead of merely not trying to be pulled under by her powers or unleash too much at once. "Is our dorm that building?" It looked nice, but then again, so did the rest of Alfea. This place was so fancy compared to the shitty public schools that Penny was used to.

As she walked across the courtyard, Farah was stopped by other students and asked a multitude of questions. She finally made her way over to Saúl, who was still wearing the same smug expression as earlier.

"Ms. Dowling, you're very popular," he teased.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "Mr. Silva, you may need to begin searching for other forms of employment."

Saúl grinned. "I'm just glad you could spare a moment of your busy day to chat with me."

This made Farah roll her eyes. "You were the one who wanted to talk to me."

"Was I?" He feigned thinking in a very exaggerated motion, which was so unlike him that it caused Farah's stoic composure to break into a genuine smile.

"You really are infuriating," she snapped, but the amused glint in her eyes gave her away.

Then, finally, after showing the final group of first years around, the pair made their way back to the headmistress' office.

Farah strode across the room, made her way around her desk, and sighed as she sat down. "That was exhausting."

"Is it just me or are the Type A personalities slowly becoming more common," the Specialist headmaster asked, shutting the door behind him as he entered. "That one fairy must've asked two dozen questions alone.”

“At least,” Farah agreed.

“And since when did fairies become such history nerds?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Farah asked quickly, arching an eyebrow, and Saúl shook his head.

"Nope. This is a trap."

Farah laughed quietly and picked another file up from the stack beside her. "Not a trap. Just… wondering where you were going."

"Ah. That definitely means it was a trap," Saúl retorted, approaching her desk.

Farah smiled and looked at him through her lashes before scanning the information in the file. "I have work to do, Saúl. And you should too."

“That's just my thoughts on it.” Mila admitted with a shrug as she opened the door to the dorm building. “Yeah. This is us. They should have room assignments right over there.” she informed pointing out a semi-crowded section of the building but not impossible to navigate. “I can't wait to unpack.” she commented casually as she waited for Penney to enter the building before letting the door close.

Penny nodded as Mia pointed that out, glancing toward the area that she mentioned. "Yeah, same here," she agreed with a relieved smile. "Thanks." With that word and a quick nod of recognition for Mia getting the door for her, Penny walked over to the more crowded section to try and find her room assignment. She had to navigate through people, some by themselves and others in small groups, but she didn't need to be too pushy to find the board that listed all of the room assignments and roommates. She stood in front of it for several moments, trying to find her name. There were quite a few people here, though luckily none that Penny recognized. Not knowing anyone here would make for an easier time with a brand new start. She hoped that would be the case, anyway. She would have hated to deal with people from her past here, especially when she was distracted trying to find her name on the list.

After what felt like an eternity–but was probably only a minute or two in actuality–she found her name. And next to her name, Mia's name. Or what she presumed was Mia's name, not knowing her surname. She looked at the board for a bit longer to double check that there were no other Milas on it. Yep, looked like Mia was stuck with her for the time being. She didn't mind that, since at least Mia seemed nice and understanding. Besides, it would be less new people she'd have to awkwardly introduce herself to.

Once she had written down the room number in her notes and taken a photo (one could never be too careful with a memory as bad as Penny's), she went back over to find Mia. "So it looks like we are roommates after all," she announced. "Guess you're stuck with me for good, huh?"

Mila had attempted to follow Penney up to the board but was constantly blocked by a group of new students who weren't aware of the disaster she had caused. Not that she wanted them to know about it. It was bad enough that the students in her grade and some upperclassmen were more likely to remember her for that.

“Really?” she asked happily when Penny returned and told her of the room assignment. “That's great. Thanks for checking for me. I couldn't even get close to the board this year.” she admitted before glancing at the picture. “Oh. I know where that room is.”