Arcane Academy

.01

Valentine:

The light filtered in through the purple, floral printed curtains and painted a golden arrow across the hardwood floor. With a yawn, Val pushed her big, pink feather filled blanket off of her, surrendering her body to the cold autumn chill that filled the bedroom that morning. She dared to allow her feet to touch the frosty floor and a shiver ran up her spine as she darted across the room to slip her feet into her pig-shaped slippers. She could have sworn she had left them by her bed, but then again, she could have very well left them by the door when she switched off her light and zoomed across the room in the darkness to evade any monsters she may have summoned. If any monsters had appeared, at least she found solace in the fact that the piggy slippers had survived.

Seconds later, her alarm clock blared its usual chirpy tune. As usual, the girl was awake just before the sounds could wake her from her peaceful slumber. She was used to this by now, knowing things would happen right before they did. It had happened since she was little and was one of the main reasons she dreamed of going to the Academy, that and the fact that she came from a long line of Elves.

It had been three months since Arcane had opened its doors to those of other species. She had been thrilled the day the post came and she saw printed in big bold letters:

"After many decades, the mystical school of magic has officially started the application process for new and just as mystical students. The time has come for the Gifted to gain their spots at a school where they can perfect their abilities and learn from the best. Get those applications in and going because spots are limited and rooms will fill quickly."

Val hadn't hesitated another second. She placed the paper down and took out her laptop. Though not many were fortunate enough to live hidden among the humans, Valentine Beaumont was one lucky enough to do so. Her family had been doing it for decades, hiding their pointed ears behind thick, curling hair and using body paint to hide their Elven tattoos of vines that spread up their bodies like a lattice. She knew many of the other Elven and Fae creatures lived in cabins and tree homes deep within the Shadow Realm and didn't have access to things such as the internet. People like that would have to travel for their applications while Val had the luxury of applying via the school's website.

The school's website was protected by spells and such, which meant that the mundanes merely saw the website as a boring blog sight. This made them log off almost immediately. But for those with the Sight, they were able to see it for what it was: the website for Arcane Academy, designed by Arthur Arcane himself. Arthur was a good man, from what Val had read, wanting to make a difference in the Shadow Realm. While his ancestors had seen the school as a place solely for magic users, such as witches and wizards, Arthur saw more potential. He thought he could create a peaceful school filled with many different species, like vampires, werewolves, demons, elementals and so much more.

The day she got her acceptance letter, she had been bouncing off the walls. She was completely ecstatic. She would be attending the school of her dreams and getting an education worthwhile, one that would help her get her abilities under control, so she could understand them finally. She had packed her very favorite belongings and she tried her very best to pack light, but in the end, she had three heavy suitcases and a very disgruntled father, especially when he had to drag them all across the large castle and to her assigned bedroom.

She found that she didn't feel as bad upon arrival to her dorm, for her roommate had about the same amount of bags, maybe even a few more hidden on her side of the closet. Her roommate, which she found she adored quite quickly, went by the name of Lucinda Dallesandro. Before she had arrived, she had babbled to her father about how anxious she was to encounter her roommate for the first time. She had heard horror stories of terror reigning roommates, girls just not getting along, and far worse. She was worried she may have to switch out. She was thrilled to find the girl was sweet and chatty and full of smiles to offer. The girl was a hybrid and Val found herself completely intrigued by this. She had only ever met full-bloods before, not Mutts. Luci was half vampire and half mermaid, which allowed her to move on land with legs but swim in the ocean with a glorious fin. She didn't need to rely on blood for her food.

She truly did admire the place so far, she thought as she moved to the closet in order to get changed. From her classes to her newly formed friend group, she couldn't help but love the place, and her uniform wasn't too shabby either. The students were given a handful of different uniforms to wear in order to mix things up. Valentine chose the red plaid skirt that day, along with a cream-colored sweater to go over her dress shirt and tie, with knee-high socks and her flats. As she slipped on her ruffled socks, she noticed that the bedroom was already empty. Luci was quick to get up and get her day started, while Val liked to cut things kind of close. She only had about twenty minutes to get her morning bagel and get to first class.

Valentine grabbed her bag filled with her books for her classes and headed for the door that let out into the girl's common room. The girl's common room was filled with golds and reds that appealed greatly to her. She had to admit that whoever had the job of decorating not just the common room, but the entire school, was doing an amazing job. The school was nothing less than beautiful. The ceilings were high and chandeliers hung from them, sparkling as the sun came through the tall and wide windows that gave a perfect view to the water and trees surrounding the Academy. Scattered around the room were red velvet seats and golden tables, dark statues of Council members standing high in the corners of the rooms.

Val had only just started learning about the Council and the Territorial Wars in her History of Magic class, so she found that she didn't know much about them except what they had taught her in class. Despite growing up in the Shadow Realm, her father had kept her rather apart from the goings-on around them. When she reached the age of fourteen, he had moved them to a human neighborhood where she began to attend the mundane school. He would be very displeased to find out what she was learning about and that she actually found it rather interesting. As she grabbed her delicious bagel covered in cream cheese and a nice warm coffee, she made her way to a table to open the section on the Territorial Wars. She, unfortunately, had a test on it later that day and though she knew she was prepared, she wanted to look it over one last time.

Since the early 1800s, the Territorial Wars have been shaking up the Shadow World. The Territorial Wars began with the original Council members, one which represented each race (that they knew of - some had still remained undiscovered). While Wizards wanted to remain hidden from humans and stay hidden in the Shadows, Vampires wanted to overrun the humans, take control so that those of the Shadow World could force themselves upon the humans and live together, though, in reality, it wouldn't be a very free world. Humans would be under the thumb of the Gifted rather than the other way around.

Other races (such as demons, shapeshifters, and werewolves) agreed with the Vampires while only few stuck with Wizards, such as Elementals and very few of the Faeries (others remained neutral to the situation). During this time, few battles broke out within the human world between the races, causing many casualties, both human and Gifted.

Despite the battles not lasting years at a time, sometimes only hours or days to weeks, each was damaging in its own way. Eventually, when the humans (in fear of their own lives) began to fight back against them all, the Wizards came up with something called the Gifted Entente. The Entente stated that to keep their people safe, they had to remain hidden and couldn't expose themselves. Harm to a human without justified reason would end in imprisonment. What was considered justified would be discussed by the Council. The Entente also allowed for memory wipes of humans who had witnessed anything to do with the Shadow World by a Wizard or other being who had the ability to ensure the safety of the people.

To this day, the War has come to settle, though a few stray rebels do create chaos now and then. Those caught receive punishments decided by the Council.

To Val, the last part of the entry seemed more of a threat than anything educational. Something to help keep the students in line and hopefully keep the Academy as peaceful as possible.

Though, it was evident that peace was still far from them. As Val stood, sliding her books back into her bag, ready to head off to class, she found herself surrounded by a group of sour-faced Wizards.