Rachel learned from gossip that the day of the next Military Arts student’s tournament would be the last day of the week, one day from now. She had been mentally preparing herself for this since she completed the practical exam with Tina and Nathan. It helped that Tina and Nathan were great distractors, but the seriousness of the situation was getting to her. She had never experienced magic flowing through her body and she knew it wouldn’t be the same as when she had first arrived or when Reginald used a fake initiation to confirm his suspicions. Plus, she had to make sure she wore her cloak to hide her face. Rachel was extremely concerned about accidentally revealing to everyone that she was a fairy during the ceremony. But she had to do it.

First, she needed to see Reginald and confirm how he set up the tournament, and maybe with more information, her anxiety would be lessened. Tomorrow morning before her first class started was when she decided to see him. Hopefully, he wasn’t busy. Rachel went to bed early after packing all her things for her classes in her purse and checking on her cloak. She would wake up every few hours listening for the bell that signaled the time of day/night. Eventually, she heard the five bells that Military and Performance Arts students wake up to. She quickly washed, dressed, and gathered her things before leaving. Her roommate was surprised to see her awake at this hour but ignored her like it was any other morning.

Rachel was hungry enough to stop by the eatery for breakfast. Looking out the windows facing the field she noticed that no one was there yet, maybe she could catch Reginald in his office or a classroom instead of on the field. She grabbed some fruit to go and headed in the direction of the Military Arts section of the academy. The hallways and rooms there were empty, and Rachel didn’t know where Reginald’s office was. The only place it could have been was in the locker room where all the Military Arts students changed. She figured she could check quickly before the students arrived.

Rachel took one quick look around and noticed another door on the left side of the locker room. She knocked on it and heard someone say, “enter”.

She opened the door and saw a few chairs and Reginald sitting behind a desk. He was quite surprised to see her there.

“Hello, Rachel, I guess you heard about the tournament I set up for you?” Reginald said before standing up from his desk. He wanted to walk Rachel out of the locker room before any of the students arrived. “Come with me, we can talk in another room.”

“Okay,” Rachel replied. She followed Reginald out of the locker room to a nearby empty room.

After closing the door behind them and moving further into the room Reginald explained the tournament itinerary to Rachel, “As you have heard the tournament will be tomorrow. It will be at the same time the last tournament was held, since you were there it seemed like it would be a good time for you as well. Meet me outside of these rooms as soon as you can, and we’ll get your cloak on and you’ll walk out with me. The Military Arts students will be on the field already, so you shouldn’t be seen.”

“Sounds straight forward. Thank you again for helping me, I don’t know why you are helping me out, but if I could ever return the favor please let me know,” Rachel said contemplating whether it was safe for her to offer a favor in return. She trusted Reginald to a degree, but a man of his standing could get her to risk her life if he felt that it would be a just exchange.

“Let’s just see how the tournament goes before you start thanking me,” Reginald replied.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Rachel said acknowledging Reginald’s comment. She turned to leave peeking outside of the door to check for students before leaving. When she didn’t see anyone else, she nodded to Reginald and walked back to the eatery. It was still too early for her class, so she spent her extra time trying to read through the books she had with her. She couldn’t focus, after every sentence she read, her mind floated off into imagining what tomorrow was going to be like. Each scenario she thought of matched her feelings of anxiety, fear, and excitement. No matter how she felt this was something she had to do because she is a fairy. It was going to happen to her one way or another. At least she had the opportunity to learn about being a fairy on her own terms.

Rachel’s classes and meals whizzed by. Before she knew it, she was already in bed trying to mentally prepare herself for the ceremony. Rachel knew that she didn’t have to do anything regarding the officiation portion, she just needed to be close to the ceremony. Elanor said the magic would just flow into her. Thinking back to the academy’s welcome ceremony, Elanor congratulated the students on being accepted. Rachel wasn’t sure if what is said during the ceremony is under her control. It must be she thought. Does that mean that the only way for the record to be fulfilled is if the fairy willingly indicates it? Rachel now had more questions about the specifics of officiation by fairies that she needed answers to. Participating in a ceremony and officiating it successfully would answer some questions, but what about unsuccessful officiations. Those officiations are probably rare but just in case Rachel thought she should ask Reginald if he knew what happens during them.

Sleep eventually conquered Rachel’s racing thoughts and carried her momentarily quiet mind into the next day. Rachel awoke to her regular seven bell rings terrified to get out of bed. When she did finally pop out of bed and began to get ready, she decided to wear one of her new dresses from town, to blend in. Before she left her room, she triple-checked her cloak was packed among her other class materials. There was no turning back, she had to confront this unknown and conquer it. She skipped breakfast as she was too nervous to eat and then hoped her class would never end. But when it did, she quickly walked over to the meeting place Reginald had set, stopping by the eatery for something to quell her increasing hunger through the tournament.

The field was already surrounded by non-Military Arts students and teachers. Rachel told herself not to look at the crowd and to ignore it. She needed to find Reginald and get ready for the ceremony. Walking down the hallway to the rooms in the Military Arts section of the academy Rachel didn’t see Reginald. She checked the first few rooms, and they were empty. The last room had Military Arts students in it with Reginald standing at the front exciting them about the tournament. Either Rachel was early, or Reginald was late, regardless Rachel ducked into the nearest empty room, hiding from the rooms in case anyone were to pass by. She could hear the cheers and chants from the occupied room, at least they were excited Rachel thought.

Minutes passed before the students began to leave the occupied room. And when it was quiet that was when she opened the door to find Reginald waiting alone. She quickly exited the room she was in and caught Reginald’s attention.

“I guess I arrived a little early,” Rachel said trying to explain why she emerged from a room.

“Well, it was good of you to hide. You can put your cloak on in this room and I’ll check to make sure it covers your face. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to figure out how to cover it,” Reginald replied, sounding a little rushed.

Rachel stepped into the room that moments earlier contained students while pulling out her red cloak to put it on. There wasn’t much to the cloak it was mostly just an oversized red cloth, that hid Rachel’s clothes and even covered her feet. Rachel pulled the hood up over her head and looked at Reginald for his approval. The hood covered her eyes and nose only revealing a hint of her lips.

“Looks like I can’t see your face. You might want to tuck your hair in, too,” Reginald commented, giving his approval.

“Okay, so what’s next? Do I have to say something special, just after you commence the ceremony?” Rachel asked.

“You could say something like ‘May the best student win’, but you must say ‘Let the record for the tournament be officiated’. If you don’t say the last part, you’ll stay in your hologram form until I rescind the request for officiation of the ceremony,” Reginald explained.

“What happens if I stay in hologram form?” Rachel wondered for future reference.

“The magic flows through you the most to create that form and connect you to all the people that are there. Everyone that can hear your voice helps contribute to the record of the ceremony, the more people you connect to at a ceremony, the better the record. Once you shrink down to size the record is officiated, which means the magic stabilizes and transports the information from what you and everyone else sees through you to wherever the information is stored. But if you don’t shrink down, supposedly you can get hurt from the extended use of magic.”

“I understand. That answers some questions I had. I think I am ready when you are,” Rachel said, turning some of her fear into courage.

“Follow me outside. Don’t leave my side. Until we come back in and it's safe to remove your cloak.”

“Okay.”