‘Bye!’ Anthea waved when the aircraft flew right up into the sky, causing her various bracelets to tinkle as they bumped into one another.
‘Bye, Al!’ My voice barely even made it over the sound of the roaring engine, even while I was shaping my hands like an amplifier. I just continued waving in the air ‘till they were out of sight.
When the ship had fully sunken behind the endless rows of trees in front of us, my hand sought Anthea’s. She took it and squeezed it reassuringly. ‘Nervous?’
My voice broke a little as I said ‘More than I care to admit.’, but I was able to keep it somewhat steady. She didn’t answer, just half smiled at me, a gesture that had a vague familiarity to it though I didn’t exactly know why.
Without exchanging another word, we advanced in the direction of the Academy. Anthea took the lead. She had studied there before - so she guided us through the forest without problem. I myself was, to say the least, enchanted by the glittering of the trees in the forest and the presence of more magical energy than I had ever felt - and we hadn’t even reached the Academy itself yet.
✿
It was about a fifteen minute walk from the clearing in the forest we had landed on, which wasn’t all that long, but with that unbearable bumping in my chest I’d rather have been there a little sooner. I really thought I was going to faint for a good second.
It turned out to be all worth the wait. In front of us, the Academy towered like nothing I had ever seen. I had to clutch Anthea’s hand even tighter to take it all in. The castle was magically sparkling in the softest blue tone I had ever laid eyes on, causing the violet accents to stand out and create a pleasant harmony of colour. I was entranced by the humongous windows, the passages between the towers, the huge stairs and that oddly placed clock right between the two pillars surrounding the front gate. But the real eye catcher was the opening around the entrance, shaped like a pair of traditional fairy wings. It was - magical.
‘Name?’
I shook my head, suddenly pulled back to reality. ‘Excuse me?’
A severe looking lady, hair tied in a bun, was looking at me from over her glasses. ‘Your name? I don’t suppose I’ll find you under “Miss Daydreaming”, will I now?’
Anthea stepped in for me. ‘Frostthorn, professor. Anthea Frostthorn, I’m here to resume my Path.’
‘Frostthorn, you say?’ She examined Anthea. ‘Ah, yes, Astra’s daughter, I remember you, she’s told me you’d be arriving again soon. Examplorary student, your mother, if I remember correctly she and her friend got through classes just fine together. Inseparable, the two of them. If you’re anything like her, I’m sure you’ll make it to be a great fairy.’
She then seemed to notice I was still there. ‘And who might you be?’
I startled. ‘M-m-me?’
The professor rolled her eyes. ‘Who else, would you think?’
Anthea placed her hands on my shoulders when she noticed how I shrunk because of the remark. ‘This is my cousin.’
‘Eh- Eh...’ I took a deep breath. ‘Ehrynn Frostthorn.’
The lady lost grip of her writing feather. It fluttered down almost elegantly. For a moment, she just stared at me with terror written all over her face, like I was some kind of ghost or an anomaly that was not supposed to occur. She let out a sigh in an attempt to regain herself, blinking rapidly, looking about anywhere but at me. ‘Excuse me, you can go ahead now.’ She waved us away.
Anthea just shrugged and continued walking while I was nailed to the ground. It took me a while to get myself loose and catch up with her. ‘What was that all about? Who was that? Why was she staring at me like that?’
She had opened her mouth and was just about to answer my flood of questions, when a voice called out over the school sight: “Attention to all first year’s students, you are hereby requested to gather ‘round the stairs in the Main Hall for your Initiation at 10 o’clock sharp.”
Anthea wrapped her hand around mine. ‘Come on, we should go ahead. I’ll answer your questions on the way there.’
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