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

Started December 03, 2022 by @emilyevewrites group

tune

Mila watched the progression of students as Ms. Dowling called them. You didn't have to be a mind fairy to see how nervous some were but when Ms. Dowling made eye contact with her, she smiled back and stood as she confidently approached the vessel. Though the young blonde had to let out a calming breath before reaching out to the vessel. She could feel the hair on her arms start to stand… But she still placed her hands on the edge once she was close enough, her eyes glowing pale blue, doing her best not to be nervous and remember the main part of her lessons from last year.

It took just a brief moment as a rumble of thunder echoed, either above her or from the vessel before it lit up with a bolt of magic lightning. Though Mila kept it contained within the pot.

A few students flinched at the thunder then again as the lightning struck, but the headmistress didn’t move — unfazed.

“Air," Farah declared after Mila presented her ability. "Speed, temperature, sound. Its power, and electrical properties.”

Remembering how little control Mila had over her abilities last year, Dowling remained ready to step in, just in case things went south, but she allowed the girl the chance to redeem herself in front of her peers after the chaos that had occurred last year. After a moment, she spoke again, the pride evident in her voice.

"Lovely work, Mila." Her naturally stoic features broke into a small smile as she nodded for Mila to sit back down.

Mila smiled back, blushing softly as she stepped away from the vessel, her eyes reverting to their normal blue-green shade. “Thank you.” she said softly, almost whispering, before she walked calmly back to her seat.

With Mila done, Headmistress Dowling continued her leisurely stroll around the vessel as her eyes scanned the remaining students. Some looked frightened and nervous, and others looked much more confident and calm. Farah couldn't have some terrified student losing control of their magic and making a scene on the first day of classes, and in the Stone Circle no less.

Though Penelope was new and a first year, Farah could feel her decisiveness and determination. Those feelings would help the girl perform well, Farah hoped. If not, she had another solution in the back of her mind.

“Penelope," she selected Mila’s roommate to perform next. "Are you ready?"

Penny blinked, not expecting her name to be called. For a moment she simply sat there, looking like a deer in headlights before swallowing and standing. "Yeah, sure." She followed the examples of the others before her, and walked towards the vessel, nervous but hiding it with a practiced air of indifference. However, a current of determination ran through her, making her want to do well not just to not stupid, but also to prove that she could. She placed her hands on the vessel, copying Mia's stance. Her mouth was a resolute line as she braced herself for what would come next.

Her eyes changed into a fiery red as her power roared out of her. One moment there was nothing but air surrounding her, and the next, bright flames appeared, growing in size until Penny was standing in the midst of a small inferno. See? She was powerful, and in control of things. But of course, the universe decided to punish her for the brief moment of hubris. Soon enough, the inferno grew, raging as if in a wind before Penny's eyes widened and she yanked her hands away from the vessel before the inferno could engulf any of the other students, her eyes going back to their normal brown. Thankfully, she was unharmed, but unfortunately, her clothes were not so lucky. She frowned, sat that a really cute outfit had just been wasted. And her headphones! Shit, she was going to have to waste some money to get those replaced.

She walked back to her seat, feigning confidence, and sat down next to Mia. She hoped the other girl wouldn't say anything. Penny guessed that she would just have to change after this class. But for now, she'd pretend that it didn't bother her and sit with her singed clothing. Now what was Headmistress Dowling going to have to say about that display of idiocy? God, Penny really needed this school to get control over her powers.

The headmistress's eyes keenly observed the flaming spectacle. "Fire," she declared, circling around so she stood in front of Penelope. "Combustion, heat, temperature. Dangerous when wild, powerful when controlled."

She watched with observant eyes as the flames blazed within the Vessel and around Penny. She continued to stay where she was, keeping her eyes on the growing flames. As soon as the girl pushed past the limit of her control, Farah could feel it. She took a swift step closer, and her eyes glowed as she called a wind of her own to extinguish the flames.

Ms. Dowling took a deep inhale and lifted her chin slightly as she watched Penny turn and walk back to her seat. She could feel the mixed emotions swirling around her in the aftermath of the fire fairy's display – fear, worry, amazement, and judgment. As a mind fairy and an empath, the headmistress picked up on it all.

Though, surprisingly, she didn't address it – the emotions of the other fairies around her or Penny's catastrophic performance with the Vessel. Farah moved swiftly through the next few students – another female air fairy, male water fairy, a female light fairy, a male mind fairy, another female fire fairy, and finally, a male light fairy.

Once they had all performed, Ms. Dowling stepped back into the center of the circle to draw the students' attention.

"Well done to you all. While some fared better than others, I must remind you that it is only the first day. For those who didn't do as well as they liked, you just need a clear mind. Distraction can cause magic to be erratic. And for those who improved from last year…" She paused briefly. "You continue to come to class every day. You focus, you learn, you grow. Eventually, greater progress will come. You are all dismissed.”

As her students began to pack up, Farah took the moment to approach Penelope and Mila. "Ladies. May I speak to you both for a moment before you leave?"

“Are you ok?” Mila whispered when Penny sat back down. A few of the other students tried to be subtle as they moved away from the burnt smell but Mila didn't. Using her electrical abilities, she was familiar with the smell so it didn't bother her.

But she still made sure to pay attention to the rest of the ceremony, taking notes when necessary. Though it seemed like the rest of the procession went by quickly. She had just started gathering her papers when Ms. Dowling had walked up to them. “Yes, Headmistress.” she answered politely with a nodd, only having a possible reasoning for why she wanted to speak with them.

When Mia had spoken to her, Penny glanced briefly at her roommate. Her only answer was a muffled "fine" muttered under her breath and a slight nod of her head. She didn't really want to get into it with Mia right now, and tried to pay attention for the rest of the lesson. She watched the others show off their powers as well, a bit amazed at what some of them could do but generally trying to put off an air of the opposite. Sure, they mostly had more control than she did, but that wasn't anything to gawk at, she decided.

As the headmistress approached, Penny tried not to make a face. She didn't want to be reprimanded right now, but at least this wasn't happening in front of the whole class. Either way, she figured this must be about her little display. Though since the headmistress had included Mia, maybe it was about something else? Penny doubted that. She waited to hear how she needed to control her powers or something similar, a speech she'd heard a dozen times before from a few different people. All she could hope was that the lecture she was about to receive would include some way to actually help her control the wildfire that was her powers so she could put that knowledge to use. And not something vague, like the "just imagine your happy place" sort of bullshit that she'd heard before.

She decided that she had no choice but to accept as well. "Yes ma'am," she added, glancing at her shoes.

The headmistress smiled warmly to hopefully put the girls' minds at rest before speaking. Her eyes settled on the older fairy first. "Mila, you've demonstrated an immense amount of improvement from the last term. Your control has increased greatly, and with it, your power. You did very well today."

She paused and transitioned to the redhead. "Penelope, I can feel your drive and decisiveness fueling your fire magic. Though it wasn't as controlled as I would have hoped for today, there is greater progress to come, as I said. I believe that with the right teaching and channeling, you can become truly powerful."

She carried on fluidly, aware that all of the other students had by now left the stone circle and were making their way back up the hill to Alfea. "If you don't mind, I'd like to begin 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 fare with expanding into different elements of magic. Mila, you have shown me that you are willing to put in work to control your magic. And Penelope, I truly don't think it will take as much work as you seem to want it to take. Just a bit of guidance in the correct direction."

Headmistress Dowling eyed them both and concluded her brief lecture. "As always, you don't have to come, but after what I've seen today, I believe you both will greatly benefit."

(wow! Great pictures! 🤩 And so much information!)

Mila blushed, lowering her head at the praise. “Thank you, Headmistress.” she said, sincerely grateful before the teacher began speaking to her roommate.

Her jaw dropped at the offer and her hair started to rise from the residual static. “I… I would be honored to attend, Headmistress.” she managed to answer respectfully as she nodded. What more could she say? She was truly amazed by such an offer and, personally, thought that turning it down would be extremely foolish. But she wasn't going to answer for Penny. Nor was she going to pressure her to join if she genuinely didn't want to.

(that is super helpful, thanks! :D)

Penny blinked, having expecting something more akin to being chewed out than being offered private lessons. But private lessons might she needed extra help, didn't she? Like she wasn't good enough to just take the regular classes like everyone else? But then she saw how Mia was acting like this extra help shit was some sort of special curtesy, an honor bestowed by the headmistress. Maybe it was such. After all, Headmistress Dowling seemed genuine, and unlike many teachers Penny had dealt with in the past, not condescending in the slightest. She was trying to offer them help, and god knew that Penny desperately needed it. Though according to the headmistress, it wouldn't be as much work as Penny assumed it would.

The headmistress did also mention the sessions would be more advanced, and usually if she had to take remedial classes, Penny knew that the topics covered were more basic than what was covered in class. So if this was truly more of an honor than a simplification of the courses, then Penny should take it, right? It would be a chance to get ahead and study with a fairy who was clearly in control of her abilities and knew what she was doing. Besides, Penny had taken much more embarrassing classes before, having had to take summer school at one point, so she supposed extra sessions that no one else knew about weren't that bad. She looked back at the headmistress, defiance still shining her eyes before she responded.

"Yeah, I'll go too," she said after a moment. "And you don't have to call me Penelope; I only hear that when I get in trouble. You can call me Penny. Uh…thanks."

“Alright. Penny.” Headmistress Dowling nodded. She fancied the Mila’s enthusiasm, and as for Penelope — Penny… She could both see and feel the air of defiance around her. Interesting.

"Wonderful,” she replied. “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. If you would like to wait, I understand. The sessions will take place in my office. Mila, I trust you can show Penny where that is.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Farah slipped the device out and glanced down briefly to check the notification. It was a message from Saúl. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she opened it, and as she read it, 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. Is that alright?”

Mila was admittedly relieved when Penny agreed to the lessons. It would be nice to have someone to talk with about them or figure things out together. “If Penny has no objections, tomorrow would be fine with me.” she nodded, trying to brush her hair back down. At least it was only her hair being affected. “Yes, I remember the way.” she affirmed when asked about leading Penny to Ms. Dowling’s office, though she had to admit she was a little concerned by her teacher’s reaction to whatever had come across her phone.

Penny just stood there with the others, watching the conversation unfold. She honestly didn't care when these lessons started, now that she had already agreed to them. Her main concern didn't have to do with how soon they started, but rather whether she was treated like a child or not. So far it seemed that things would be okay on that end.

"Yeah, sure, tomorrow's fine," Penny agreed, glancing at Mia's hair. So she was definitely excited about these extra sessions. Or nervous? Penny supposed she couldn't be entirely sure. She really did wonder what sort of message the headmistress had received in order for her to react to it. Of course, she had quickly smoothed over her emotions, but even the briefest reaction like that had Penny curious since Headmistress Dowling seemed so in control. She supposed she would likely have to just live in suspense.

Headmistress Dowling easily forced a smile to her features. Inside her pocket, however, 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, slipped her hand out of her pocket, and clasped her hands in behind her back.

"Thank you, girls." Dowling noticed the sudden feelings of worry or curiosity the pair felt 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. You wouldn't want to be late for your first class of the term with Professor Harvey."

Penny almost sighed at the thought of class. Right. She would really have to hurry if she wanted to change, and she was not showing up in singed clothing. She did have a backup outfit ready so if she could get to her room she could quickly change and get to class. She doubted she had any shot of making it on time, but at least she would try not to be too late.

"Okay, well then see ya," Penny said, in a way that was probably too casual to talk to one's headmistress. And with that, she hurried off to go change, not waiting for Mia. If not for her incident, she may have waited for the other girl, but she was determined to both not show up extremely late and not show up in her current outfit.

She was thankfully able to get to her dorm this time, and quickly changed before she headed off to class. Though that would be a bit more difficult with her navigation skills, and as she walked there, she worried that she'd get lost.

“Oh! Of course.” Mila nodded, remembering her schedule. “Thank you again, Headmistress.” she smiled before quickly following Penny. At least until her roommate headed toward the dorms and Mila continued on to her class.

She wasn't sure if their schedules were the same or not but she was already planning to save a seat for Penny, just in case.

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, then again because she still didn’t believe it. No, she thought as the words processed for the second time in her mind. No, it can’t be.

As soon as Mila and Penelope were completely out of sight, Farah pivoted on her heel and headed as quickly as she could to the edge of the Barrier. With every step, the closer she got, the more her heart raced. It was terrifying.

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. His eyes turned green, and with his earth 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 lacerated 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, and the other men’s as well.

“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 at the sight of the mangled body.

“Maybe a wolf?” she suggested, wanting so badly to believe it, but the evidence was firmly 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. She knew what it meant. It could only mean one thing.

“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 corpse 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.

—

Though the schedule said Professor Ben Harvey, the woman at the front of the classroom was definitely not him. Professor Aimee LeRoy greeted the students with a warm smile.

“Hello, students! I’m sorry, but something urgent came up that Professor Harvey needed to see to. I’ll be here until he gets back, which should be shortly. In the meantime, he wanted me to pass out the list of materials needed for this term,” Professor LeRoy explained, passing out green sheets of paper to each student on her walk back through the desk rows set up in the greenhouse.

(We can skip to the next day before lessons, if you guys want to :))

(Perfect!)

The next afternoon, after a long day of teaching classes, Farah retreated back to her office for a brief minute of sanctuary. She was currently sitting at her desk, perusing a long document.

Saúl was out training the first-year Specialists. According to him, they were considerably failing at mastering the training regimen, so he was taking time to give them extra lessons in the basics of Specialist training. Farah was sure the students would be thrilled. Meanwhile, Ben was busy teaching a beginning alchemy class in the greenhouse for the first and second years.

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 headmistress sighed longingly. She was nearly finished, but the way Callum had organized this final report was making it impossible to interpret. Farah used her magic to open the door and called out to her secretary. "Callum!"

Callum jumped up from his desk and approached her. "Yes, Ms. Dowling?"

She beckoned him over, letting her annoyance show freely on her face. At least if she fired him, she could say he had it coming.

"What in the Otherworld is this?" she questioned, gesturing to the files before her.

As soon as she finished her question, the three clocks on Farah’s desk chimed in harmony, signaling the beginning of a new hour. Glancing at the clock in the middle, which showed the Solarian time, she knew Ben’s class would be letting out, and Mila and Penny would be arriving shortly for their first private training session. Their lesson was prepared, and Farah was subtly eager to see how the girls would fare.

As Callum bent over beside her, Farah began to point out the discrepancies she found. Callum hurried to correct them, and the headmistress shot another glance at the clock. Nearly time for their lesson, she thought to herself. Could they get here any faster?

–

“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 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 quickly finished her last notes and gathered her papers and books. Alchemy was an interesting class but she did like Mr. Harvey. He was a good teacher and a nice guy but some of the stuff he taught was… a little over her head at times.

“You ready for our private lesson?” she asked Penny as she stood up, ready to lead the way to Ms. Dowling’s office. Though she had to keep brushing her hair down as her power betrayed her own excitement.

Penny had accidentally zoned out, having started doodling on her notes and then concentrating so hard on making the little flowers into a full field that she forgot to finish up her notes until her roommate was standing right next to her. She blinked, reorienting herself with the world before quickly shoving her notes straight into her backpack without even shutting the notebook. Hopefully Mia hadn't noticed that, though Penny would probably have to ask to see her notes late anyway. She looked up at the blonde girl as she stood, swinging her backpack onto her back in one fluid motion. Unsurprisingly, she was among the last of the class to stand up.

"Yeah, guess so," she replied, tugging on her shirt. It was a nervous habit of hers to mess with her clothing or whatever was in her hands at the time, something that she figured Mia would soon learn. She released her grip on the shirt self-consciously, beginning to move towards the door. She assumed that Mia would be coming with her, seeing as they were going to the same place.

Man, for a lesson that she hadn't originally even wanted to take part in, Penny was getting anxious. She really did want to do well, despite what she would tell people. She often acted nonchalant, though for some reason she found herself wanting to impress the headmistress. Weird. She didn't usually care about her teachers' opinions beyond getting good marks.

Mila sighed, still smiling as she noticed Penny’s habit. “It’ll be ok. You don't have to be nervous.” she assured despite being a bit nervous herself. She trusted Ms. Dowling and had enough experience to base that trust on. “Come on. I can show you where Ms. Dowling’s office is.” she encouraged, eager to actually get started.