5eedless

[5eedless]

Meta Mage Manor

Jordan Cole Clausen is an aspiring Magus just beginning his education at the Bellafonte Academy of Magic, the most prestigious school for any newcomer to the fantastical side of the world. Of course, coming from a home where the sciences were all that truly mattered, JC is going to have a difficult time adjusting to his new role as an up-and-coming Magus. Can this young boy uncover his own desires and the mysteries of his fellow students? Or will he succumb to the weight of other … pressures …?

CHAPTERS: 2/?

WORD COUNT: 5.6K

GENRES: Slice of Life, Mystery, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance

CHAPTER 2

Jordan woke the next morning in a bed much too comfortable to be his own. He hated comfortable beds - they always made it so hard to get up in the morning. After all, why would he ever want to open his eyes and do things when he could just lie there forever and forget the world existed? Logic and motivational thought had no place in a comfortable bed, so his two greatest motivators softly flew out of the window …

Still, Jordan somehow managed to coerce his legs into propelling him off of the dangerously soft cushions belonging to his new guardian. It was strange to think of her that way, especially since both of his parents were still very much alive and well, but they couldn’t exactly move to the Academy with him. Not that they weren’t allowed to, of course. In fact, the school offered reasonable rent to families that wished to stay in close proximity to their children and had plenty of jobs available for assisting the school itself.

No, the reasons that Emily and Sean Clausen were not able to join their son in the grand cityscape that housed the Academy of Magic  were the same reasons that Jordan had received so many pitious stares as he had talked about his choice of major: technology simply had no place in the magical world. Both of his parents had careers that required mechanical assistance (or in the case of his father, assisting the mechanical assistance) and there was very little of that to be found in this Magicentric settlement. The trains on which they had arrived were one exception to this, but those were mostly a diplomatic agreement between Magi and ordinary people, so as to assist in those with Magical potential adjusting to a new world.

The precise reason why the Academy didn’t use modern technology was rather difficult to discern. Perhaps it was the fact that magic, once learned, could perform any action a machine could with less cost and more efficiency. Perhaps it was the fact that most Magi simply didn’t understand machinery, both in concept and technical knowledge. Perhaps it was the thought that if one wanted to invest time in technology, they could easily become a scientist or inventor instead of trying to force Magic to coincide with it in some form.

Of course, that wasn’t to say that Enchantment wasn’t a school of magic that was taught regularly. Many Magi learned to enchant objects with spells or to make them move on their own. These spells, however, were very easy to learn without investing long-term attention in the school of Enchantment itself. To turn Enchantment into your school of focus, therefore, was considered a waste of time and talent.

And that was the long-winded explanation for why Jordan stood in the middle of a rather large bedroom in a very large house completely on his own, ruminating on the prejudice he would be forced to overcome in the next four years of his education. He had never been surrounded by such lavish adornments in his life. Never had magical floating crystals shined light into his room from just inches below the ceiling. Never had his wallpaper and carpet and bedspread  all changed to whatever color he chose. Never had he owned a wallet so full of allowance money he couldn’t even begin to think of how and where to spend it all. And he had never, ever felt so alone in his life.

Jordan began walking down the winding staircase that led to the living room. The stairs in this house were very confusing to him; he had seen Ms. Bellafonte run up them to her own room to grab her things the moment they’d gotten through the front door last night, and yet Jordan did not see any other rooms on his way down to the living room. He assumed it was something to do with pocket dimensions or space manipulation, after all Ms. Bellafonte was an Archmage and a powerful one at that.

The more Jordan thought about Ms. Bellafonte, the less sense she seemed to make. For one thing, despite his being chosen as her apprentice, last night had been the very first time the two of them had ever met. For another, despite all of these amazing stories people kept telling about her, she seemed far too young and far too … lackadaisical to have played a role in any of them, let alone the leading one. Yet, she demonstrated clear magical talent just in the home she lived in, so there must be some truth to it all …

Jordan recalled vividly the conversation he’d had with the Spokesman, when he was told that not only did he have the magical talent to be a student at Bellafonte’s, but that the Headmistress herself had handpicked him to be her apprentice. He had not been told anything about the Headmistress, or why she had chosen him, only that if he would wish it he could live in her home during his educational years. And really, who would refuse the chance to experience the lifestyle of someone so well renowned and respected?

Still, now that he was here it was hard to believe the same woman that had rushed him into the door, grabbed a separate set of robes from her room, said “Your room’s upstairs, I’ll be out late, have a good night!” and rushed out the door again was the great and powerful Elizabeth Bellafonte. For all he knew, she could have just not returned last night at all, for she was not in the living room when he reached the bottom of the stairs.

The living room was actually fairly normal - there were no electronics of course, but every other amenity common to a normal household was there. A very soft-looking sofa and just as comfortable recliner were placed around a small wooden table in the center of the room. Both the sofa and recliner were floral patterned, and the table had those little swirls at the bottom of each of its legs to make it seem more ornate. There was a fireplace in front of both of these, the chimney of which the stairs curled around as it rose through the ceiling. The only other thing of note in the room was a shelving unit layered with various card and board games, probably put there specifically for Jordan’s time living here.

It took Jordan a second after getting down the stairs to notice the smell emanating from the kitchen - it was like someone had layered cheese onto melting plastic to mask the acrid odor and failed miserably. Jordan poked his head through the kitchen door to see if there was a fire and found that he was half-right: there was a fire, but it was in the stove. Natural heating sources were probably much easier to control thanks to magic, and since the residents of the city didn’t use electricity the next reasonable step would be to-

“Oh! Good morning; didn’t know you were awake!”

Jordan was snapped out of his technical analysis by the familiar voice of Elizabeth Bellafonte, whom the former had only just realized was operating the stove. He immediately realized two other things: 1. That he had forgotten to change into proper robes when he woke up and as such was still wearing his fluffy blue pajamas with green stars on them, and 2. That the illustrious Ms. Bellafonte was currently standing in a kitchen, wearing a slim-fitting apron and cooking his breakfast. Jordan’s brain went from full logical deduction to puberty-induced emotional overload in the span of a millisecond.

Despite this, Jordan managed a stammered “G-good morning …” from his safe place behind the kitchen door. He could just barely see Ms. Bellafonte’s slim form, which meant that she could barely see his bright red face at all. Jordan wondered if it would be best for him to run upstairs and get dressed before coming in to speak with her … though even if he did, he still wasn’t sure what they would talk about.

Ms. Bellafonte rolled her eyes and casually waved her hand, opening the door and sending Jordan stumbling into the kitchen without getting anywhere near him. She looked him up and down and chuckled as his face got ever closer to looking like a ruby. “So that’s what you were so worried about.” Elizabeth smiled softly at Jordan, the usual casual lilt to her voice. “For a second there, I thought you’d just gotten excited over seeing me in an apron.”

Jordan shook his head vehemently. “O-of course not! I … I didn’t even know if you were back from last night, I had no idea that you’d be-”

As Jordan tried to stammer a denial, Ms. Bellafonte waved her hand dismissively. “Calm down little guy, it was just a tease. Have a seat, breakfast will be ready soon.”

Jordan huffed a little and went to take a seat at the table. The kitchen and dining room were both fairly close to normal, minus the difference in appliances. There were more floating crystals to act as a light source and alongside the aforementioned traditional fire stove there was a sink-like fixture involving another floating crystal - this one blue, likely enchanted with a spell to create water at will. The kitchen was very comforting to Jordan; it reminded him that at heart even Magi were just people who happened to have extraordinary powers.

Speaking of extraordinary, watching Ms. Bellafonte cook was quite the spectacle. There were no pans involved, or any instruments of any kind really. She merely waved her hands as various bits of eggs and bacon and sausage all danced inside the roaring fire. Jordan wondered vaguely where all the smoke was going, before immediately dismissing the question in his mind. Surely there was a spell to get rid of smoke. Surely there was a spell for everything.

“And there we are!” Ms. Bellafonte flicked her wrist and sent two plates to float along gently onto the table, with cutlery and napkins following to rest neatly beside each. Withdrawing the food from the roaring fire, she laid it all to rest upon the plates as well … with everything scattered and jumbled together. Perhaps it was the difficulty that came with moving smaller, more numerous pieces without putting them into groups that caused Jordan’s plate to be the home of such a disorganized mess. Perhaps Ms. Bellafonte was simply lazy.

“... thank you very much.” Jordan managed to remember his manners despite feeling rather upset with his caretaker at the moment. He hoped she didn’t ask him why he was upset, for it was rather difficult to pinpoint a specific reason. He didn’t actually mind the messy food that much, not really. He didn’t even mind the teasing about his nervousness. He was just trying to find some way to get out his frustrations over … what, exactly?

Ms. Bellafonte,  who was currently halfway through annihilating her own breakfast cerbobble, noticed that Jordan hadn’t started eating and swallowed hard before speaking. “Geez, I know it’s not the best cooking in the world, but you don’t have to look at it like it’s insulting your mother. Give it a shot, you’ll love it!” It was the word ‘mother’ that finally made Jordan realize - this woman had sent someone else to tell him he was a Magus. To tell him he was a Magus worthy of being her apprentice. She’d done all of this without ever meeting him once. She’d convinced him to leave his home, his family, all to pursue four years of magical expertise and a career befitting that knowledge. And after doing all of this without ever introducing herself, she was behaving as if everything was perfectly normal, as if he was the one who was acting strangely. It was infuriating.

“... Who are you?”

Elizabeth Bellafonte stared at her apprentice with great bemusement. “Umm … Elizabeth? Headmaster of Bellafonte’s? Your master? Greatest chef this side of-”

“Can you cut that out!?”

Jordan’s outburst didn’t seem to really faze Ms. Bellafonte, but he got some small pride from the fact that it at least wiped the smile off her face.

“You send someone else to invite me to be your apprentice, with no explanation, without even introducing yourself and then you just act like everything’s perfectly fine!? How do you even know me!? What makes you think you can be all buddy-buddy when we’ve only just met!? Just who the hell do you think you are!?” It probably wasn’t the best idea to yell at the Headmistress of the school he was attending, but at this moment Jordan didn’t care. He’d had enough of not being given straight answers or told exactly what was going on or how people were thinking. Maybe he should have just stayed at home - things were less confusing there, everything was direct. No one tried to confuse him with conflicting information and interaction.

For her part, Elizabeth Bellafonte sighed and set down her cutlery before turning in her seat to look Jordan in the eyes. He saw his own cyan colored eyes reflected in the pupils of her bright green ones. Jordan braced himself mentally to be yelled at in turn, or to be talked down to, or threatened or something bad, something terrible to be rained down from this all-powerful and greatly influential woman before him.

“I’m sorry.”

Elizabeth took hold of Jordan’s hands while he was distracted by the unexpected apology that came from her lips.

“I know that this has all been a very fast, difficult change for you. I sure as hell didn’t do anything to make it easier … but know that everything I did, I did to protect you and your family.”

A moment of silence fell between the two of them before Jordan remembered himself and jerked his hands out of Elizabeth’s grasp. “What do you mean? Protect us from what?”

Elizabeth rested her hands in her lap before speaking again. “Magi can sometimes be … unsavory towards the non-magical. If word got out that I had picked my apprentice from a non-magical family, you’d be facing severe discrimination from the rest of the magical world.”

“I’m already getting lots of death glares …” Jordan recalled the events of the introduction ceremony with great embarrassment and pain. Eddy had surely felt completely betrayed after finding out the truth. “I might have lost my only real chance at a friend because of it …”

“You mean the boy you were talking to? Don’t worry about it!” Elizabeth smiled at Jordan, causing all the dark corners in the room to light up. “He seems like the kind of person who doesn’t care about status, and I’m a pretty good judge of character. But anyway, back to the point:”

“There’s a difference between people looking at you funny and what practiced Magicians will do to you.” Elizabeth put her serious face back on and leaned forward in her seat a little. “We’re talking about people with mastery over all elements, people that can bend space and time to their whims. These people think that they’re Gods, and to be honest they’re half-right. If they want something, they take it. If they don’t like something, they break it.”

“But there are laws!” Jordan blurted out. “The Circle of Magi has laws in place to prevent any Magus from harming non-magical peop-”

“I said ‘Magician.’” Elizabeth cut him off. “Not ‘Magus’. The Magi in North America won’t try anything, not with my word backing you and the Circle of Magi breathing down their necks. But the various kinds of Magicians around the world, who all back different schools - some of whom consider themselves to be rivals to the Academy - aren’t as worried. The Magical laws in some of those countries are more lax, have more loopholes. And our own Magical law prevents me from interfering with normal people’s lives directly in any manner, including giving them protection.”

“But-” Elizabeth continued. “Even that law has loopholes. I can offer protection to any charge I’ve taken under my wing, as well as any family they currently reside with, be they magical or non-magical. Since that’s only after you become my apprentice, though, I had to keep everything very hush-hush about your apprenticeship. At least until you were safely in the Academy.”

Jordan took a moment to absorb all of this information before speaking once more. “So Mom and Dad, are they …?”

“Perfectly safe!” Elizabeth grinned cheerfully. “I made sure to send out a few defensive spells over each of them while I was out last night. Nobody’s getting to either of them, I promise.”

Jordan heaved a sigh of relief. This was a lot to take in, but at least he was finally getting answers, and it was especially good that Mom and Dad would be alright. He still had more questions, however, and he knew exactly which one he wanted to ask next: “Why me?”

“You mean, why did I pick you as my apprentice?” Elizabeth’s smiled remained on her face as Jordan nodded. Was all the light rising in the room when she smiled just the feeling he got, or was it some magical quirk like his eyes? She turned back towards her plate and picked up her fork and knife. “I’ll tell you while we eat; the breakfast’s getting cold!”

Jordan suddenly remembered just how hungry he actually was. Come to think of it, had he even gotten food at the banquet last night? He could hardly remember, but it didn’t really matter when he had a full plate in front of him. It was a passable meal, certainly not as good as Dad’s home-cooked sausage and Mom’s specialty eggs, but still enjoyable all the same. The most interesting part was the light charcoal scattered about from the flames, which added a strangely dry sweetness that made the meal more unique. Elizabeth continued her explanation as Jordan ate his fill, her own plate more or less cleaned out already.

“I don’t mean to sound creepy, but I’ve actually been watching you for a while now.” Jordan looked at his Master with a confused expression. “Not directly, obviously; I’m not a stalker! I used my crystal ball to keep an eye on all young individuals with magical potential that belonged to non-magic families. The non-magic part was the most important thing; I didn’t want to give special treatment to any existing magic families, and for that matter I always find people raised in magic to be spoiled as kids.”

Jordan nodded silently along. That made sense; if he was given everything he ever asked for with a wave of his parent’s fingers, he’d likely have been spoiled, too. This made Jordan realize something though, and he gave a hard swallow before speaking. “So you were watching all the others, too? Red and Eddy and Roger and … and …” Jordan struggled to remember the name of the girl in the glasses.

“Penny.” Elizabeth said. “Penny Parker. Yes, I was watching all of you. I won’t tell you anything about their personal lives, but I will say that out of everyone there, you seemed to be the most promising.”

Jordan looked down at his plate - now significantly cleaner, he surprised himself with how much he’d eaten so quickly - and pondered her words. “If I had known that, I would have looked at them closer … I mean, I don’t really see what you mean when you say I’m the most promising of the five of us. They’re all so passionate, and I’m just …”

“... Just a normal kid.”

Elizabeth finished Jordan’s sentence for him, with no effort at all. “But that’s what makes you so special. You aren’t trying to prove anything to anyone, and you aren’t trying to compete. The rest of them - they all have some desire to win, some want to be better than everyone around them. But you … you aren’t thinking about being better than anyone else. You just want to be the best you can be.”

Jordan looked at Ms. Bellafonte, his cheeks flaring up. Why did she have to make him so embarrassed? It certainly didn’t help when she put her hand on his head and ruffled his hair like she was doing now.

Jordan’s embarrassment seemed to amuse Ms. Bellafonte, who spoke with a more gentle, yet encouraging tone than before. “Don’t ever doubt yourself, JC. You’re exactly what I’ve been looking for.”

Jordan’s head jerked backwards a bit at the mention of his nickname. The motion surprised Elizabeth, who took a second to realize what had triggered her apprentice’s response. “Oh!” She exclaimed, her own cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. “I’m sorry! Force of habit … I saw your mom call you that so many times, I just …”

“No! It’s … fine.” Jordan smiled at Elizabeth, the color in his cheeks fading a bit. “Honestly, it feels better than my real name. ‘Jordan’ is so bland and generic … it’s such a common name. JC is at least a little unique.”

Elizabeth nodded, her smile returning once more as the world lit up like a stage. “Exactly! Plus, I think it suits you a lot more.”

The two of them talked for quite some time during breakfast, the tense air between them seemingly completely evaporating in the summer air. With no secrets held between them, the student and teacher could finally connect on some level, and they had so much fun doing so that neither of them noticed as the clock slowly ticked away to the start of the first day’s lessons …

Jordan’s legs were burning as he scrambled to get to his class on time. He’d spent way too much time getting ready, but thanks to Ms. Bellafonte making a portal for him he might still be able to avoid being late! The grand hallways of the Bellafonte Academy of Magic passed him by in a blur as he ran far faster than he could remember doing in his life. He had no way of knowing what the instructor would do if he was late to his first class, and he had no intention of finding out!!

Jordan checked his map frantically as he ran, careful to make sure he didn’t miss the room he had to stop at, keeping a close eye on the numbers above the doors he passed. 112 … 113 … 114!! As Jordan leapt for the door handle to get inside, he felt something small but heavy crash into him on the way, making him slam hard into the door itself and eliciting from him a soft “Oof!” that seemed to echo in the empty hallway.

The good news was that he made it inside the classroom and he wasn’t even late. The bad news was that someone else seemed to have been cutting it just as close as he was. This ‘someone else’ was currently sprawled over his back as his face was pressed into the floor, and Jordan could hear the other students laughing at the two of them. Great, he thought to himself, another opportunity to draw attention to myself. Way to go, me.

“Sorry about that …” said the voice of the human weight that was lifting itself off of him. Whoever it was must be female, which made this whole incident several magnitudes worse. “Should’ve looked where I was going. You want any help?” She must have been offering her hand to help him up. Oh well, Jordan thought, I already drank the poison, I might as well lick the bowl.

Jordan flipped himself onto his back as he reached out for the girl’s hand. “Thanks …” he said, before registering who he was speaking to: standing above him was Red, the fire-haired ferocious female from the train ride here. Jordan’s cheeks burned a color somewhere between both of their hair’s shades and intensities. This day just keeps getting better, he ruminated.

Red, however, seemed blissfully unaware of Jordan’s reaction as she helped him to his feet with a friendly grin and a hearty “No problem!” before turning away to find her seat. Jordan looked after her for a second, watching her mane bounce behind her in a wild yet enticing pattern before remembering where he was and what he was doing. He scrambled to pick up the notebooks and pens he had been holding before looking around to find a seat.

Everyone in the room was staring at him … why did he have to make a fool of himself right out of the gate? Of course, the big declaration of his apprenticeship last night certainly didn’t help him blend in … Jordan was looking for someone, anyone, to give him solace from the accusatory stares. Thankfully, one such savior sat hidden within the crowd.

“You just can’t keep your hands off her, can ya tiger?” Eddy beamed up at Jordan as the latter passed by his seat, spitting out the teasing comment a little too loudly for Jordan’s liking.

“Shut up! It was an accident, and you know it!” For as irritated as Jordan was for the added attention, however, he was actually very happy to see Eddy again. There was a part of him that worried his only friend at the school would treat him differently after learning that he was apprenticed to the Headmistress, but he now realized just how foolish that had been. Eddy really wasn’t the kind of person to worry about stuff like that.

Eddy rolled his eyes, still grinning. “Sure, and I guess that your lustful eyes as she danced away, out of your reach was all an accident, too?” Eddy’s eyelashes fluttered as he laced his sentence with dramatic emphasis, as if composing a poem. Jordan was just putting a hand in his face and telling him exactly where to shove it when a door opened at the other end of the room.

“Ssssorry I’m late, ladiessss and gentlemen. I wasss caught up in a rather disstassteful encounter.”

Eddy, Jordan, and the entire room’s eyes turned to fall upon the creature that entered through the professor’s door and was now slithering toward the teaching podium. From the waist up, the creature had the body of a woman with blood red eyes and dark purple hair stretching all the way down her back. Her facial features hinted at the serpentine nature that was made material below her waist in the form of the body and tail of a real serpent. Her voice, while still close to Human, carried a natural lisp to it that completed the unnatural image.

“Do not be alarmed, my students. I may be a Lamia but I am not like the monsters you’ve read about in children’s tales.” The snake woman slithered across the floor and took her place at the podium before smiling gently at the crowd of now-seated students. “My name is Naga. You may address me with or without the ‘Professor’ title - whichever you prefer. Welcome to Epidromanssy.”

Jordan was transfixed by the strange nature of the person before him. The transition between Human and Snake in her form was so seamless, and the scales did nothing to detract from her physical attractiveness. Her voice was deeper than he’d imagined a Naga sounding, but the ever so slightly stronger ‘s’s in her speech did help him to accept the abnormality a little. This woman had slipped into her role quite well.

“Holy shit, dude! That chick’s a snake!” Eddy was frantically whispering into Jordan’s ear, making it difficult to listen to the teacher. “Why would they let a snake lady teach us how to use magic!? They must be out of their damn-”

“Don’t be rude, Eddy!” Jordan chided his new friend, which really wasn’t the best way to solidify their companionship, but he wasn’t showing much tact at all. “She’s the Epidromancy teacher. What do you think that means?”

“She could be giving me tips on where to find the G-spot and I’d still be freaked out, ‘cause she’s a fucking snake!”

Eddy was practically shaking with terror, and Jordan couldn’t think of what was worrying him so much. However, as he tried to talk some sense into his now cowering companion, and an idea occurred to Jordan. No way … was Eddy really …?

“Well, it would seem we have a student or two not paying attention.” Jordan heard the voice next to him and actually jumped in his seat a little. That was nothing compared to Eddy, however, who jumped right out of his chair and fell on the floor, holding his arms in front of him and shaking in terror. This earned him a few snickers from the other students, which was a lot less than Jordan had been expecting.

The teacher herself seemed to be the only one behaving normally, ironically enough. She looked at Eddy with slight amusement mixed with pity. “Please, calm down young one. I will not bring any harm onto you. Particularly since most of the spells in my class are completely harmless.”

The snake woman slithered away back to her podium and placed her hands upon it before addressing the class once more. “Just to be certain we all heard my introduction speech, my name is Naga. I am the Epidromancy professor at this school, and let me make this clear: I was not born a Lamia. I chose this life, and it was through the powers of Epidromancy that I made my choice.”

“In this class, you too will learn how to redesign the human body - not necessarily in the way that I did. You can choose to transform yourself into a magical creature of your choosing, or you can simply change the color of your skin and eyes. You can choose to make yourself stronger or smarter, or bigger or smaller, or even change your physical gender. The body becomes clay with Epidromancy - mold it to your preference.”

Professor Naga slithered around the classroom, snapping her fingers and brandishing some forms that mere seconds before had not been there.

“These” Naga indicated one of the forms “are copies of your syllabus. Among other things, they contain a list of general concepts that can be learned from my class. For your first year, you may choose one of these concepts to learn so that you might control it through magic. Then, if you wish to return to my class next year, you will have the option to learn some of the other concepts as well-”

“Wait!” Jordan rose his hand, unable to control himself. “So we aren’t going to cover everything? I thought the first year was supposed to be an introductory course in all the schools of magic!”

“It is …” Naga let the ‘s’ hang a little farther than her usual lisp as she passed Jordan’s desk and bent forward to speak to him personally. Eddy still had not returned to his seat, and scurried another foot away from the two of them. Even Jordan had to admit that this close proximity to someone of greater power was plenty intimidating.

“You seem not to have been well informed. Odd, considering who you are apprenticed to, but I suppose that’s irrelevant.” Naga lifted herself away from Jordan and spoke once more to the class as she handed Jordan a handout for himself and one for Eddy. “For those of you who are not aware, this course is only introductory. However, magic is a highly complex thing - there are no precise spells that we can teach you. Only the bare concepts.”

“That does not mean that we will have no practical lessons - quite the contrary, much of our in-class time will be spent perfecting the applications of what you have studied on your own. You will find that much of our school’s schedule consists of homework, projects, and plenty of office hours for students. However, most spells you must obtain a license to cast unsupervised, hence the purpose for class hours. Things might be different next year, but for now you can expect the classes themselves to be short and to the point.”

Jordan had no idea they would be doing so much at home - he guessed that was why choosing where to board was so important. A proper study environment would be essential for the years to come, and he was suddenly even more grateful for his apprenticeship to Miss Bellafonte. As Jordan began reading through his handout, he noticed Eddy still cowering on the floor and casually tossed the slip of paper to him, which surprisingly almost hit the mark, managing to land on the latter’s foot.

Jordan then turned his attention to the handout itself. The first page contained safety guidelines which, unsurprisingly, there seemed to be a lot of. Most magic could go horribly wrong, but Jordan could only imagine how catastrophic Epidromancy could be on the caster if any mistakes were made. Still, despite how important all of that was, he couldn’t resist skipping to the page detailing their concepts of choice.

There were nine concepts in total, and each one seemed more difficult than the last. Appropriately, the first three held the word (Recommended) next to them, which Jordan assumed meant there would either be discussions in class on these topics or at the very least that they were easier to understand. Change Appearance, Healing, and Change Physical Attributes certainly seemed to be easier to grasp conceptually than Reshape, Alter Size and Monsterify. Jordan was surprised to see some of the options listed - he wondered how Genderbend differed from Change Appearance and Reshape, or how Alter Mental Attributes and Alter Age even worked on a mental level.

Jordan was starting to get excited. Everything about magic was so interesting!

[5eedless]

Meta Mage Manor

Jordan Cole Clausen is an aspiring Magus just beginning his education at the Bellafonte Academy of Magic, the most prestigious school for any newcomer to the fantastical side of the world. Of course, coming from a home where the sciences were all that truly mattered, JC is going to have a difficult time adjusting to his new role as an up-and-coming Magus. Can this young boy uncover his own desires and the mysteries of his fellow students? Or will he succumb to the weight of other ... pressures ...?

CHAPTERS: 1/?

WORD COUNT: 6.9K

GENRES: Slice of Life, Mystery, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance

The train car was very clean and almost completely empty. No one stood upon the sleek metal floor, and every wall lay bare of the casual graffiti that littered most frequently used trains. The red leather seats were all in pristine condition, and very few of them were occupied. What few occupants there were all wore the same uniform … the robes worn by all students of the Bellafonte Academy of Magic.

These robes didn’t seem to suit Jordan Cole Clausen very well at all. Their sheek black clashed horribly with his golden ginger hair, not just in color but also in pattern. The robes were designed to be neat and tidy, whereas the mop upon his head was quite wavy and always ended in some sort of curl. Perhaps it wasn’t quite as bad as he thought it was, since black was after all a neutral color, but he still would have much preferred a dark blue or light red.

Thinking about color reminded Jordan to check his eyes again. He looked at the metal wall, which was clean enough for him to see his own reflection in it. Just as expected, his irises had maintained their current shade of electric blue. They had been changing rather frequently as of late. Someone had suggested that they changed color depending on his mood. Perhaps ‘electric blue’ was his eyes’ idea of what vomitous nerves looked like.

Looking down at his cheeks, Jordan once again saw the ever-present freckles upon his face. He hoped they didn’t draw any attention to him: he would like for his first day at a public school in nearly five years to not involve someone making fun of the freckles on his face or his weird color-changing eyes. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair - a nervous habit that he liked to think helped to tame the wild growth - and turned around to look for a place to sit.

There were only three other people in the car, and none of them seemed like the particularly talkative type. One girl with brown hair and glasses held her bag close to her chest and seemed to be intently staring out the window - which, as the train hadn’t started moving yet, was currently facing a stone wall. On the other end of the train sat another girl, this one with blazing red hair that was clipped to the side. Her eyes quickly turned away from Jordan’s as soon as they happened to meet.

The third occupant sat near the middle of the car and opposite the entrance. He was a rather small boy with blonde hair that fell flat across his forehead, just barely short enough to not cover his blue eyes. He looked bored, his head leaning against the wall behind him, staring at Jordan with mild interest. It took Jordan a second to realize that the boy was staring at his eyes.

Jordan quickly ducked his head and went to find a seat. He settled for a similar spot to the one the other boy chose - facing the entrance, but a few seats away from him. He was reasonably close to the red haired girl this way, which made him more anxious … but at least this way it was harder for the other boy to see his eyes.

Moments stretched into an eternity after that. Jordan began to wonder when they would finally start moving … whatever was waiting for him at this new school, it had to be better than sitting in this car in awkward silence as they all traded glances at one another. Part of him wanted to break the silence somehow, but he felt like doing so would be breaking some sort of taboo.

After probably three minutes that felt much closer to five hours, the doors slid open to reveal another boy in the same black robes as the rest of them. His skin was slightly dark, probably latino or some combination close to it. His hair and eyes were a dark brown, and he was panting like he’d just run a marathon. Before anyone could stop him, he uttered the words that broke the taboo and made what was an awkward silence much more awkward.

“Whew … that was close … I’m not late, am I?”

Such a sacred silence had been broken by such simple words. Nobody seemed to want to respond to him, but everyone knew that somebody had to. This led to another moment of tension and awkward silence as all the children entered what could only be called a nonverbal sociological game of ‘Chicken’ where the first one to give a response would be banned from the exclusive and strangely safe silence club. The boy looked at each of them with a confused expression, reaching everyone else’s eyes before finally meeting Jordan’s.

Jordan always knew he’d be terrible at Chicken.

“No, you’re fine. They haven’t even given the five minute warning yet.”

For all the tension and fear that answering his question brought, the relieved expression on the other boy’s face almost made Jordan’s decision to speak up worth it. Jordan always enjoyed helping people whenever possible; it felt good to know that he was able to make someone else’s life easier. Jordan actually started to think that maybe answering the boy wouldn’t be a complete disaster. Until that boy decided to sit next to him.

“Thank God! I was so scared I was gonna miss it. I mean, I got up extra early just to make sure, but there was so much to pack and mom just wouldn’t let me leave on time, so I got really worried, y’know? I’m Eddy by the way. What’s your name?”

The boy - Eddy - set down his practically overflowing backpack as he spoke to Jordan. After sitting himself down and introducing himself, Eddy held out his hand for Jordan to shake. It had been quite some time since Jordan had shaken anybody’s hand before, which only made the anxiety about being approached by another person in this way become magnified. Jordan managed to force a half-smile and took hold of the other boy’s hand. “Jordan. Nice to meet you …”

Eddy’s smile grew somehow wider after completing the handshake, a feat Jordan would have thought impossible. “You have no idea how scared I was that I was gonna miss the train! My family are all non-magic, so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go if I didn’t manage to get on and there was NO WAY I was going to pass up going to a magic school just because I missed a dumb train!” Eddy began to tremble, seemingly out of pure excitement. “Man, a REAL magic school! Can you believe it!? We’re gonna be Magi!”

Jordan couldn’t keep his own excited grin from emerging after seeing Eddy so lively. He had to admit, the idea that he’d been accepted to learn magic had definitely made the prospect of going to public school again well worth it. This was the kind of experience most people only ever got to dream of, or at best read about. Jordan, and all the students on this train … they were going to live that dream.

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” The blonde boy sitting across the entrance from them spoke up, looking at Jordan and Eddy with a smile on his face. “My family are non-magic too. They couldn’t believe it when the Spokesman came up to our door! I don’t think any of them expected much from me. I’m Roger, by the way.” Roger didn’t extend a hand for Jordan or Eddy to shake. He appeared to be too lost in thought about the day the Spokesman came. Jordan had to admit, the whole affair had been pretty surreal for him as well. He had woken up to find a man dressed in a black suit sitting in his living room, telling him not to be alarmed and that he was only here to deliver news. The following conversation had been one Jordan knew had changed his life forever.

Eddy quickly caught on to what Roger had said. “Same here! My mom always told me not to push myself, that as long as I was happy ‘it didn’t matter how much money I made’ … joke’s on her. Magi make wicked cash!” Eddy and Roger both laughed at Eddy’s words. Jordan had never known that Magi made a lot of money … though, now that he thought of it, it did make sense. Magic could make anything more efficient or more convenient. It might even be possible for them to make objects to sell on their own … or would that be breaking some sort of law …?

“Have you decided what school you’re gonna major in?” Roger leaned over the gap between their seats, his mouth open in a wide smile and his eyes dancing with ambitious fire. “I’m gonna be a Mensuramancer, if I can! Everybody says it’s the hardest school to learn … well, apart from maybe Metamancy, but that’s mostly because of the variety. Besides, I’m not one for politics.” Roger sat back in his chair, looking out the opposite window at the rolling fields. Wait, when had they started moving?

“I want to know how the universe works. I want to find ways to make it work for me. That’s the essence of what being a Mage is all about, don’t you think?” The look of wonder on Roger’s face was lustful, as if all his dreams were right there within his grasp. Jordan wasn’t sure if he was right or not, but then it wasn’t like his aspirations were any better …

“... don’t think …” The girl in the glasses sitting at the other end of the car had spoken for the first time since they began their journey. Jordan, Roger and Eddy all looked over at her curiously.

“What was that?” Jordan asked. She had spoken rather quietly …

“Yeah, what are you saying over there?” Roger looked a little offended by something, but Jordan wasn’t sure what. The girl in the glasses took a deep breath before raising her head and looking at Roger with defiant eyes.

“I don’t think that’s right. Magi study the laws of the world. True, we bend them a little bit, but we don’t force them to do what we want. That isn’t how it works.”

The girl’s expression gave away her fear, but also her determination to make her voice heard. It was like something Roger had said personally offended her. Like he wasn’t just incorrect, but morally wrong to have said those words. Roger looked incredulously at her.

“What are you talking about? Magi mess with the natural order all the time!” Roger in turn expressed severe disgust at her words, his face contorted in an expression befitting an outraged politician, or an equally upset child. “Just look at the train we’re on! It uses time manipulation to speed us along, or did you not see the landscape go from fields to groves just now?”

Was that why Jordan hadn’t noticed the train starting to move? That actually seemed like a seriously convenient form of magic … no wonder Roger wanted to major in Mensuramancy. The girl in glasses flushed bright red in response.

“That’s a beneficial research application! There’s a big difference between a fast train and … whatever you just said!!” She was absolutely livid by this point. Jordan was actually worried that the two of them were going to break out into a fight if someone didn’t stop them. Why did HE have to be the one to step into these awkward conversations?

Jordan gulped before opening his mouth. “Hey, maybe we should-”

“SHUT UP!”

Out of nowhere, the girl on the opposite end of the train shouted the two of them down.  She stood up and walked over, fists clenched with a stubborn fire in her eyes. Upon arriving in front of the two of them, she stood slightly in-between so as to look at each of them in turn as she spoke, but not as to block their sight of each other.

“Look, we’re all here for different reasons, okay? You wanna be a Mensuramancer? Fine. I don’t care, and neither should you- what’s your name again?”

The redhead directed this question at the glasses girl, who glared at her a little defiantly, her face still red. “It’s Penny.”

“Well Penny, I’m Red. That’s what everyone calls me, anyway. Here’s the thing: what this guy wants to major in and why … that isn’t your problem. We’re all gonna have to work our asses off to get what we want here. Magic isn’t easy. If it was, everybody would do it.” Red whirled around to face Roger.

“And you. Roger, right? You’re really gonna let someone else’s opinion of your motivation affect you? People are allowed to have opinions, man. And a lot of them are gonna think yours are shit. So man up and deal with it, alright? Nobody likes a whiner.”

Red turned away from both of them and walked back to her seat, saying as she went: “You guys are gonna have to let this stuff go, especially where we’re going. Magi are the most stubborn people in the world.”

The rest of the children stared at Red as she walked off for just a few moments before returning their attention to other things. Roger and Penny glanced at each other, huffed, and turned away to pursue their previous engagements: Roger turned around to stare out his own window and Penny pulled a book out of her bag and started reading. Eddy seemed sufficiently unnerved by the sudden tension in the car.

Jordan, however, continued to stare at Red as she rolled back onto her seat, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. There was no way that he would have been able to do what she just did. He’d just barely gotten up the guts to speak out when she just came strutting over to shut Penny and Roger up. Not only that, she actually succeeded in doing so using nothing but the sheer presence she exuded. If magic had anything to do with confidence, and Jordan believed that it probably did, then he already knew who the best Magus in their car would be.

It didn’t take too long for Red to feel his eyes watching her and open one of her own. Jordan immediately turned away, trying hard not to look creepy - which, in retrospect, would probably have the opposite effect. He needed to find something to distract himself … distract all of them, probably. Jordan looked around at each of the other three nearest him, trying to think of what he could draw attention to that would start a conversation with any one of them … his eyes lit upon the book in Penny’s hand.

“Is that Re:Zero!?” Jordan blurted the words out before anyone knew where he was looking. Penny looked up at him in shock, her arms instinctively moving to cover the book. Jordan seemed to shrink under the gaze of his soon-to-be classmates. “Sorry … it’s just, it’s one of my favorite stories, that’s all. I haven’t read the light novels yet, so I got excited …”

Eddy and Roger both looked at Jordan as if he were from another world. Penny, however, looked at him like a lost puppy who’d just found someone to pet it. “It’s amazing, isn’t it!? I was already learning Japanese in middle school because of mom, but I got so much more motivated after watching it. I had to read the light novels, more than anything!”

Jordan nodded emphatically. “Same here! Well, uh, not exactly … I wanted to learn Japanese, but my parents wouldn’t buy me textbooks. ‘When will you ever go to Japan?’ they always said.” Jordan’s prior excitement devolved into a despondent sigh. “I wish I could have, though. I know it’s hard, but it’d be worth it just to continue the story.”

Eddy saw his opportunity to jump into the conversation and went with it. “So, does that mean your middle school didn’t have it as a language? Mine didn’t either, though I feel a bit better knowing a little French.” Eddy smiled at Jordan and Penny in turn, ready to continue getting to know his classmates. His smile faded when he saw the one on Jordan’s face doing the same.

“Well, actually … this’ll be the first time I’ve gone to a school with other people since I was nine. Or was it eight?”

Everyone else in the car fell silent for only a moment before Roger spoke up.

“So wait, you didn’t go to middle school? What did you do, then?”

Jordan shrugged. “Read from textbooks, mostly. Occasionally, I’d do some ‘homework’ my parents would write for me … basic calculations and grammar, you know.”

“But what about your free time?” Penny gave Jordan a confused, but pity-strewn expression. “What did you do then? Who did you talk to? Did you have friends?”

“One friend.” Jordan smirked a bit as he looked at the ground. “We were pretty close in elementary school. But when I moved, he changed, and we just … stopped talking I guess.”

“So it was just you? You and your parents, for five years?” Eddy’s question was posed with an incredible lack of tact. From the look on his face, he was too busy trying to imagine that life to spare thought for preserving the feelings of the one who lived it.

Jordan shrugged again. “It wasn’t so bad. My mom and dad know a lot. Mom’s a doctor and dad’s an engineer. They taught me a lot of things.”

Jordan didn’t understand why they were all making such a big deal out of it. It’s not like he’d been held prisoner in his own house or anything. He was happy to stay with his mom and dad, learning everything he could … he wanted to make them proud, to thank them for always being there for him. What were all the lonely days he went through in comparison to all the knowledge, care and love he got from his parents?

“But there’s more to life than just learning things!”

Eddy glared with a firey passion into Jordan’s electric blue eyes. His energy radiated off of him in a sort of courageous blaze. This was the feeling of a man filled to the utter brim with conviction.

“There’s so much more than knowing the laws of physics, or even knowing the laws of the universe! Space and time, natural law, none of that matters in comparison to one simple thing, something that every human needs: fun!”

Eddy stood out of his seat, waving his arms emphatically as he spoke, using them to emphasize his every word. “People need to be able to laugh and smile with other people! To embrace others with love and affection, to have someone to embrace them in return! To grab hold of what they desire and never let go as they plunge ever further into the depths of the human spirit. To hear their partner’s sweet voice as their very soul reaches its most magnificent peak, climbing ever higher and higher in intensity until finally exploding in a massive spray of-”

“W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!?”

It was Penny who cut Eddy off, and Penny who was currently hiding her newly-reddened visage behind her light novel. Roger was on his back and laughing out his lungs within seconds, his hair quickly becoming a scattered mess as tears welled in his eyes. Even Red, whom everyone thought had fallen asleep, could be seen struggling to hold back her own laughter.

Jordan couldn’t help but let a little laughter escape his lips too. He hadn’t expected the conversation to take this sort of turn, that was for certain. Eddy had seemed like he was the ‘Average Joe’ character … who knew he would turn out to be this eccentric?

Eddy’s face turned beet red as he looked at his fellow passengers, scowling at the laughter on their faces. “Go on, laugh!” He shouted, looking like a demon with his contorted expression of rage. “You won’t be laughing when I’m the greatest Eromancer the world’s ever seen! I’ll be making you all quake in your beds with my power!!”

Roger fell off his seat and proceeded to roll across the floor of the train car, howling with laughter. Red completely lost her composure and was also falling over herself. Even Jordan found himself chuckling much harder than before, trying his best to show respect for Eddy’s passion but finding it difficult to control himself. Eddy’s rage showed clear signs of building, but was thankfully interrupted by a voice on the overhead making an announcement.

“Attention students, we have arrived at our destination. Please collect your belongings and exit the train now. You will be escorted to the entrance ceremony shortly. We hope you have a wonderful year at our academy. Farewell.”

Jordan took this opportunity to try and stop the waves of laughter. “Roger, come on … we have to get off the train.”

Roger, with tremendous effort, managed to regain control long enough to grab his suitcase and start walking off the car. Penny quickly stowed her novel in her bag and left, looking so embarrassed Jordan was worried she might just shrink to the size of a slug. Red was one of the last to go, stopping to pat Eddy on the shoulder before exiting the car.

“Thanks, Eddy. We all needed that laugh.”

Eddy blustered as she walked through the doors, chuckling to herself. Both him and Jordan stared at the door for a few seconds, during which time all Jordan could do was wait for Eddy to stop seething. Not wanting to still be on the train when it left again, Jordan coughed. “Well, uh, let’s not keep the escort waiting, yeah?”

It was then, and only then, that Jordan thought to look at Eddy’s face. He immediately wished he hadn’t; the vicarious embarrassment was enough to make him want to go back home already. Tears were flowing freely down Eddy’s face, a haphazard mixture of frustration, anger and sadness twisting it into the most pitiful expression Jordan thought he had ever seen. There was no way he could walk out that door like this …

Jordan didn’t really know what to do. He just stood there, trying to think of how to stop the tears from falling, how to get back the seemingly indestructible smile Eddy had on his face when he first entered the car … it didn’t take long for Jordan to blurt out the first thing that came to mind.

“I think it’s cool!”

Eddy’s sniffles paused for a moment, and his eyes grew wide as they turned to look at Jordan.

“I mean, it’s not something I’d do, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important! People deserve, uh, ‘fun’. They deserve to get better, at all things! Just because you picked a different subject matter doesn’t make your major any less important than any of ours. If anything, how much you care about it, how much you want to succeed … that makes yours more important!”

Jordan wasn’t sure exactly how much of his own words he believed … true, he did greatly admire Eddy’s passion for his school. That being said, Jordan didn’t really think it was any more useful than Mensuramancy or Naturamancy were. Judging by the way Eddy looked at him before wiping his tears on his sleeve, though, Jordan’s words seemed to have the desired effect. Eddy was walking off the train car before Jordan had registered he was ready.

The two boys rejoined their fellows on the platform to find that the escort had already arrived. He was a rather tall, lanky man with a long mane of shaggy brown hair and a trimmed beard, all of which were finely groomed. His eyes were a chestnut brown and gave the same warm shine that was kept within his smile as he looked into each and every student’s eyes. He was wearing the same black robes as the rest of them, with the exception being a large brown coat draped over his shoulders, open-sleeved and looking as if it could fall off at any moment. This man was either genuinely the friendliest person Jordan had ever met just by sight alone … or he was very good at appearing that way.

“There you guys are! Hey there, I’m Steven. Steven Fallamos, but everyone just calls me Steven or Steve. I’m the janitor, but I’m also the guy leading you all to the entrance ceremony. What are your names?” Steven looked at Jordan and Eddy as he asked the question. Jordan hesitated for a second, taking the time to notice that everyone else’s eyes were on the two of them now.

Jordan gulped, hoping to find some way out of the situation. “W-wouldn’t you rather start with the people that were here first?”

Steven laughed. It was a hearty, almost bark-like laugh that gave the sense that his hair wasn’t just a fashion choice. “I already got everyone else’s names while we were waiting for you two to come out and join us. It’s not like I’m asking your life story, man, I just wanna know your name!”

Jordan still didn’t like being asked to introduce himself out of the blue like this … He was very grateful when Eddy chose to step forward first. “Eddy Vargas. I’m an Eromancy major.” Roger snickered a bit, but surprisingly Eddy ignored him.

“Oh, I getcha. Good choice man, it’s a good practice.” Steven nodded appraisingly over Eddy’s decision. “Never underestimate the power of good sex. Now then, your turn.” Steven gave Jordan an expectant, but also gentle and patient look.

Jordan nodded, stammering a little as he spoke. “I-I’m Jordan Clausen … I’m not really sure yet, but I was thinking of maybe … probably … Enchanting?”

Steven’s smile fell slightly as the rest of the students turned to look at Jordan. Jordan himself seemed to lose about five inches in height under the weight of their judgemental stares. He’d heard that Enchanters didn’t exactly have the best reputation among Magi, but he hadn’t expected his own previously non-magic peers to react so strongly …

Steven coughed, attempting to draw attention away from Jordan. “Well, you’ll all have time to really think hard about your majors over the year. You aren’t really expected to have that stuff picked out yet - they’ll explain that better during the entrance ceremony. Speaking of which …” Steven pulled a watch from one of the many pockets the students only just noticed were peppered across his coat and checked the time. “... Yup. We’d better get going. Not that there’s any rush, but early makes a better impression.”

Steven led the way off the landing and into the school itself, giving Jordan enough breathing room to actually examine his surroundings. The inside of the small train station built into the basement level of the Academy was about as drab as you’d expect of a non-magic station … Jordan realized that he actually felt a little disappointed. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting out of the magic school he’d be attending, but grey stone walls surrounding a grey stone floor and grey stone stairs certainly had not been on the list.

Thankfully, as the group ascended the stairs, Jordan got to see a small taste of the sort of thing he had been hoping to find here: instead of lamps mounted on the wall, the staircase they were ascending was littered with floating yellow lights akin to giant fireflies. Not only were these lights very fascinating to look at, they also served a secondary purpose in causing everyone to forget about Jordan’s major.

He still had trouble grasping why they had all looked at him like he was insane for wanting to be an enchanter … Eddy got embarrassed when he was laughed at for majoring in Eromancy, but at least that got people amused. The sheer concern over all of their faces, like he was just wasting his life and didn’t even realize it … it was enough to make anyone lose faith.

“Sorry about the long climb.” Steven’s words from about a story above snapped Jordan out of his thoughts. “Been trying to get them to set up a portal or something for a while now, but Ms. Bellafonte says it should be an ‘experience’ …” Steven shook his head, his voice giving away the bemused smile across his face. “She’s nothing if not theatrical, and she is a lot of things. You’ll see what I mean.”

“I’ve read a lot about the Headmistress, Mr. Fallamos!” Penny spoke up, completely oblivious to Steven’s distaste at being referred to as a ‘mister’. “Is she as amazing as she sounds? Did she really start the school all by herself, and fund it out-of-pocket for six whole years!?”

Steven laughed at Penny’s question. “Yeah, she did. Pretty amazing, right?”

Roger, too, got incredibly excited at the mention of the illustrious Ms. Bellafonte. “I heard that she killed a dragon that was threatening the school!”

Even Red was seemingly enamored by the possibility of meeting this woman. “I heard she once teleported the entire school to another continent in order to avoid a natural disaster!”

As the rest of the students were gushing over the many impressive feats of their headmistress, Eddy leaned over and whispered into Jordan’s ear: “I heard she’s nearing 40 and still looks like a million bucks.” Jordan wondered vaguely if Steven could hear the two of them snickering in the back.

“Why don’t you guys ask her yourself?” Steven stopped everyone’s conversations with his own rhetorical question. “We’re here. Look sharp people: time for the big show.”

Penny gave a small ‘Eep!’ as she nearly dropped her bags, Roger and Red both stiffened up as if ready to stand attention at a moment’s notice, Eddy seemed mildly interested and Jordan was pretty sure he’d left his backbone on the train and was considering going downstairs to retrieve it. None of them were really prepared to meet the amazing woman they’d been discussing, much less the other numerous students that would be waiting for them in the entrance hall. Jordan remembered the looks he got from the group he’d already met for his major and wondered just how much worse it would be to have a huge crowd of people giving him that stare … he shuddered as the thought urged him to hide somewhere dark and soft.

“Everybody ready?” Steven looked back the students, his smile seemingly sinister in the dim lighting. None of them had enough time to answer before he began pushing the door open.

Immediately, they were all besieged by the loudest assortment of brass instruments they’d ever heard. The grand cacophony of noise echoing in from that door could only mean one thing: the ceremony had already started.

“Well? Go on, go on!” Steven urged them all to hurry into the room, lightly pushing them through the door one by one. Jordan was last in line to enter, but just before he crossed the threshold, Steven leaned down to look him straight in the eye. Steven’s smile in that instant was unlike any he’d shown them that day - hopeful, and with a gleam of childish glee hidden there somewhere.

“Good luck.”

Steven pushed Jordan into the entrance hall, and he found himself incapable of worrying about anything anymore. The sheer magnificence of what he was seeing blew every anxiety out of his mind. Pristine white walls surrounded him, adorned with golden rods similar to candelabra that instead housed more of the glowing spheres of light he’d seen on the staircase below. Many of these same lights simply floated about the massive room where those on the wall didn’t stretch far enough to illuminate. There was a long table in the far corner with several empty platters and bowls, presumably to be filled with snacks at some point during the ceremony. Paper plates and plastic cups also sat on this table; not a fancy setup, but oddly comforting given the situation. It felt more like a traditional school party or dance than an entrance ceremony.

The thing that really caught everyone’s attention was the large table at the back that seemingly floated in the air above the student’s heads. This ‘table’ was obviously meant more for addressing a crowd than for dining, proving much too thin to effectively hold more than a glass of water. It reminded Jordan of a judge’s bench, only long enough to seat several individuals as it was doing now. At this table sat what were clearly all the teachers at this academy - strangely, all of them were female. Before Jordan got a chance to examine them however, the woman at the middle of this table clapped her hands together.

She was a tall, slender woman with firey red hair all frizzled and wild, with a long ponytail in the back that remained oddly straight and narrow as it fell across her back. Her eyes were a deep sea blue adorned by silver rimmed spectacles, and her robes were not those of a standard Magus’ choice. They were tan with small, golden crystals embedded across them, and left everything from her shoulders and neck down to the middle of her belly exposed. Jordan was thankful to the cloth that ran back up along the sides of her belly to cover the majority of her chest, but wished that the robes didn’t then expand outward again like an ornate skirt to reveal the woman’s lavish legs and high heels. She also wore a pair of equally tan and very long gloves and a tan-black Magus hat.

This woman spread out her arms and gazed at the crowd of students with a smile that could blind the sun. “New friends! Old hands! Welcome to the Bellafonte Academy of Magic! You have chosen or been chosen to attend our school in the hopes that you will one day better the world with your knowledge of its inner workings and nature. I am Elizabeth Bellafonte, your Headmistress and, if you’ll allow, one of your trusted ears among the school faculty. I hope we all get along well!”

Elizabeth lowered her hands onto the table and grinned at the crowd. “But I’m not one for long speeches. Let’s get this party started!!”

Immediately, food and drink appeared on the previously empty plates and bowls as the long table all the faculty were sitting at disappeared, leaving them to gently float down to mingle amongst the crowd. As everyone laughed and separated to collect refreshments and speak to one another, Jordan started looking around to see if he could find any other freshmen just arriving to the school that hadn’t gone by train. Those from more prominent magical families would likely have used a portal or teleported or possibly even flown here, so the four that he met on the train were likely just a small fraction of his class.

Sure enough, Jordan saw a great many children that looked to be about his age mingling in with the crowd, many of them seemingly just as awkward and concerned as he was. None of them seemed to want to approach the refreshment table, content to wait until the faculty and older students got their pick before thinking about food. None except for one girl with stark white hair tied back in a long ponytail who had already gone to the table and was just then moving away with her plate full of food. As she left the table and looked away from it, she noticed Jordan watching her. Her eyes were strange … the most firey shade of bright blue he’d ever seen. Jordan turned away immediately, certain that he was blushing.

“Another one caught your eye, huh?” Eddy, who hadn’t left Jordan’s side even as other people milled about and jostled them around, was grabbing the latter’s shoulder and giving him a thumbs-up. “I noticed you taking peeks at Red on the train. You’ve got good taste, man - gotta love a girl with confidence, right?”

Jordan felt his cheeks burn even hotter than they already were as he stammered a response. “N-no, that - it’s not like that, honest!”

“Aw come on, man.” Jordan could never have imagined that such a bright grin as Eddy’s could be so terrifying under the right circumstances. “It’s not like it’s a big deal, no reason to get embarrassed. This is the best part of being human, after all!” Eddy released Jordan’s shoulder to strike a pose reminiscent of a Shakespearean play. “All humanity has smelled the petals of the rose of love, and ev’ry one of us pricks our finger ‘pon its’ thorn! Such a sweet scent blended with such bitter pain - O how conflicted is the human heart!” He then pointed both his thumbs at his own face and smiled again. “Pretty good, right?”

Jordan was laughing in spite of himself. “I’m guessing you were in a drama club in middle school?” Even if the insinuation had made him uncomfortable, Jordan couldn’t deny that Eddy had a way of making even that feel much easier to accept. Eddy wasn’t just making a good joke, he was showing Jordan how easy it was to over-dramatize physical attraction.

Eddy nodded emphatically, his hands on his hips and his elbows out, displaying himself proudly to the world. “Yup! I was one of the better actors - I never got cast for lead once.”

Jordan laughed at how proudly Eddy made this statement. “Wouldn’t that make you one of the worst actors, then?”

Eddy raised a finger at Jordan. “Au contraire, young acolyte. You see, the lead is always one of the worst actors in the play, unless it’s Hamlet or something I guess.” Eddy stopped for a second to consider something, but waved his hand dismissively. “No one’s that good in middle school, or even high school - no, in school theater, the really good actors are always in the background. That way, the bad actors get some recognition for playing the lead roles, while the background actors get recognition for being good actors. Get it?”

Jordan laughed and commented on how he’d never thought of it that way. “But what happens if they’re all good actors?”

Eddy rolled his eyes. “In a middle school play? You’ve got to be kidding.”

The two of them laughed and chuckled for a few moments. Jordan was honestly surprised at how quickly he was growing fond of Eddy’s jovial nature and even his sexual deviance to an extent. It was interesting to be able to get to know someone with focuses so far from his own, yet with so much more passion and conviction in his beliefs. Jordan admired Eddy’s pride and desire, and especially his good humor.

“You boys get any food yet?”

Jordan and Eddy paused in their laughter just in time for their jaws to drop. Before them stood the Headmistress herself, Elizabeth Bellafonte, holding a paper plate piled with meats and a few vegetables. Jordan had never been this close to someone so important before … he was already thinking about all the different ways he could embarrass himself. Eddy was thinking about something completely different.

“N-no ma’am!” Eddy’s voice cracked as he nearly shouted the Headmistress’s ears off. “Just waiting for the others to finish so we can line up, ma’am!”

Ms. Bellafonte winced as Eddy’s face reddened into a shade any stop sign would be proud of. Trying to save the boy some face, Ms. Bellafonte managed a smile with some difficulty. “Now, there’s no need for that. No one’s going to stop you getting some food. You are students here now, after all! Help yourselves to whatever you’d like!”

At that moment, Bellafonte snapped her fingers and three platters of food as well as a plate for each of the boys floated gently over to where they were standing. “Come on, dig in! You’ve got some big years ahead of you … you in particular, little guy.”

Ms. Bellafonte ruffled Jordan’s hair and smiled at him. Eddy looked surprised - and a little envious - as the half-naked Headmistress stared right into Jordan’s electric blue eyes. Jordan himself turned an even deeper shade of red than Eddy had as he felt every eye in the room fall upon him and the Headmistress. After a few awkward moments that seemed to stretch for eternity, Eddy finally asked “What do you mean, ‘him in particular?’”

Ms. Bellafonte looked at Eddy with raised eyebrows. “You mean he hasn’t told you?” Her gaze then moved back to Jordan’s face and became stern. “I would think that once you made a friend you’d be happy to brag about it. You’ll need plenty of bravado for what’s ahead.”

Jordan shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. “I … haven’t really gotten around to it yet …”

Ms. Bellafonte huffed and stood up before smiling once more at Eddy. “Well, you know how to pick your allies, at least. This boy you’ve been talking to, this dull, uninteresting child … is to be my apprentice.”

Hello there! Thank you so much for reading this, I put a lot of hard work into this story. If you enjoyed, please show a little love to MiniMorrigu over on Reddit, their Magic Academia CYOA was the biggest inspiration for this project and the basis for the world in which the story is set. Again, thanks for the read and have a wonderful day!