Hello everyone! I am back with yet another chapter for you guys, as promised here is chapter 3! Again this chapter ended up being around 3,000 words too lol, overall though I do hope you enjoy it even though things are a bit slow at the moment, the dreams tend to be hard to write for me honestly, anyway the sisters finally arrived at the actually! Let's see what happens.
Edit: Chapter three rewrite done! I am one step closer to releasing the newer chapters! I am really excited to continue the story because I have so much planned.
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Day 1.0: The Emperor
Yet again she was in the same dark, eerie forest.
Above the midnight sky stood the vibrant red moon, casting its red glow on the dried trees, she stood amidst them, trapped between the dark path. Lillias sat on the ground, her hand holding onto her injured arm as it continued to bleed, legs throbbing from the pain.
She fought through it, pulling herself up with what remained of her strength before she started moving forward and running deeper inside the dark forest, her pace now slower than before as she limped forward.
Her destination was crystal clear, her eyes were filled with endless motivation. With every ounce of her strength, Lillias went through the uneven and rough path. With each step taken she moved closer and closer. The uneasiness slowly started to creep in the deeper she went inside. A tower stood in the distance, covered by the path of trees.
She was reluctant to step forward. Every ounce of her being was telling her to run away.
Feeling a cold chill run through her body, she took a few small steps and clasped the door's handle, gripping onto it with all her might. Lillias found herself getting nervous, anxious even. Normally she would've turned around and gone back but she could not do that, it was not an option for her. Instead, Lillias closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her nerves, it was all she could do. There was no time for hesitation, not now when she was this close. Not now when everything was at stake.
She slowly twisted the doorknob, pushing the door back as it started to creak, the moment it opened a violent wind passed through ruffling her soft hair around, out of reflex the young girl covered her eyes with her arms shielding her from it.
Once it passed, the young wizardess stepped forward into the tower, darkness filled her vision, it was hard for her to navigate her way across. There was nothing in sight. she couldn't see anything, multiple emotions started swirling in; fear and uneasiness followed by a sense of apprehension. Whispers soon followed along, the closer she stepped into the darkness the louder those became. And then she stopped noticing something, standing in the darkness was two haunting eyes, it glowed with a faint red color.
A dangerous taint of red.
And then, Lillias was jolted awake, her body shifting slightly as her vision slowly adjusted to the light. Straightening her posture, Lillias covered her mouth and let out a small yawn. Those dreams of hers just kept getting more frequent. She didn't know what to make of them. But in the end, they were just that; Dreams. So why did they always make her feel so anxious? Why were they always so vivid… as if she actually experienced those events?
"Lillias, Loris! wake up!" Ignorant of her sister's thoughts, Liz happily let out a small squeal before moving towards the window, her innocent eyes sparkling with joy, "Look! We're just outside Gedonelune Town!"
Lillias took a brief glance outside, seeing the beautiful trees leading to a huge town in the distance, standing in the middle was a castle, its walls made of white stones. "This is…" Even Lillias was left speechless and bewildered at the scene.
"Gedonelune Royal Magic academy!" Liz was the one that enthusiastically finished Lillias' sentence, her loud voice resonating through the train.
Loris looked through the window, watching as they moved closer to the town, she remained silent, her eyes focused on the scenery.
Behind her, one of the bags began to move slightly, as if something was struggling inside, the fabric stretched and moved before the acceptance Letter came bursting out from it, almost tearing the bag. The acceptance let out a sigh, "I-I thought I would die!" He was breathless.
"Oh welcome back acceptance letter," Lillias gave him one of her usual smiles as if she had forgotten how he ended up in the bag in the first place.
"Brother!" The two other acceptance letters floated towards their fellow brother and wrapped around him, giving him a comforting hug.
"Aww," Liz cooed at the scene.
"You two get off me!" The acceptance letter ended up struggling to free itself once again, this time from his brothers' embrace. Seeing this scene, Liz couldn't help but let out a soft giggle.
She couldn't say it out loud, but she found this scene amusing.
Finally freeing itself from their grasp, the acceptance letter straightened up and looked through the window, "It seems we have arrived," he floated towards Liz. "Welcome to Gedonelune Town."
"It's so beautiful…" Liz gazed through the window at the scene of the town, her sisters standing behind her.
“Agh! Finally, I can’t handle one more minute cramped inside this train!” as the train came to a stop, Loris got up and stretched her arms, her joints letting out small cracking sounds the more she stretched.
As they got off, the three sisters were able to look at the town more closely. The main street was spacious and the town was very large, it had many buildings of different shapes and sizes stationed around. It was known to be a very lively town and usually crowded with many people, wizards in particular were common In such a place.
"Wow!" Liz exclaimed loudly.
The loud shout caught the attention of a few bystanders, their heads turning towards three new wizards. Just by looking at the uniform, they could tell they were new students in Gedonelune Royal magical academy, it was a commonly seen uniform around town, and as such it was easy to identify. It was not a rare occurrence for new students to come, in fact, it was the opposite.
Liz and her two sisters ignored the attention and instead focused on what stood in front of them, a huge, extravagant white gate, the small delicate carvings were well designed and looked simple yet enchanting. It was followed by a huge building, that was Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy.
It was known across the continent as the best magic school.
The academy was a vast, luxurious white castle, it stood in the end of the town holding a simple yet refined look. The academy was surrounded by rich greenery and nature, along with bushes there were many flowers circling around it. At the center stood an enchanting fountain, the center was decorated with a statue while water sprouted from three different sides. The three sisters each could only look in total bewilderment, even Loris.
Liz and Lillias’ eyes were filled with excitement and anticipation. “Wow!” Liz exclaimed loudly, right in front of her stood the prestigious academy just like in her dreams, her eyes sparkled with joy as her emblem glowed. With a creek, the white gates opened up giving the sisters access to the academy, “Wow! Wow! WOW!" Those were the only coherent words she could utter, each time her voice escalated in volume.
“Quiet down!” The acceptance letter shouted in frustration. Lillias on the other hand couldn’t help but let out a little giggle while Loris simply chuckled. “Ah sorry, but it’s better than I imagined!” Liz sheepishly replied, her gaze shifting down. Just looking at the academy made her excited for her future as a student there.
“It really does look magnificent,” Even Lillias had to admit, “It’s also so rich with nature!” to anyone who knows her, it was a known fact Lillias was a lover of nature even from a very young age she loved running around in gardens and tending to plants. She was good at it no less.
“Gedonelune academy...” Loris muttered, her eyes glued to the academy she once aspired to attend, however, that desire was now dead, it had long vanished in the sea of forgotten dreams. If she was being honest, she had no reason to be here, not anymore.
So why was she accepted? It didn't make sense.
“Watching you all now makes me wonder if you can even handle this...” The acceptance letter let out another long sigh. “I’ll be fine, I am going to be a great wizardess just you wait.” Liz proudly declared, puffing up her chest. Normally one of the acceptance letters would have given a sarcastic remark but one glance at Lillias and they knew that was out of the question if they wanted to live. The three acceptance letters all rose up, “Well our job is done,” they said in unison curling up, one letter glowed as a piece of paper appeared and floated towards Liz. She grabbed it and looked at its content, “A map...?”
“It was a long trip,” One of the letters pointed out.
“But at least it wasn’t boring, I’d say it was even kind of entertaining,” Another one declared.
“Well, good luck and be seeing ya!”
With the last acceptance letter’s remark, they each glowed slightly and with one more puff of smoke they floated towards the sisters’ open palms, completely motionless and unresponsive. Loris looked at the now normal letter in her hand, “huh...I kind of miss those stupid letters now.”
“Yeah, same here,” Lillias nodded as she gently rolled up the acceptance letter before placing it inside the bag, “but we should head to the dorms now.” she took a brief glance at both her sisters and saw them nod.
The gates slammed shut behind them shortly after the three sisters walked into the academy grounds, the sudden sound made Liz jump up slightly, she composed herself and held the map close to her face trying to decipher it, “The map doesn’t even have the names of the buildings written down.” She grumbled a little while walking, after a while, Liz turned the map around not even sure which way was which.
Not paying attention to her sister, Loris let out a little yawn as she followed after her sisters in a daze, she didn't manage to get enough sleep after the small incident. Lillias kept on walking behind her two sisters, she kept on observing their surroundings when something in the distance caught her eyes, without even glancing back at her sisters she ran towards the botanical gardens, "So beautiful!"
The sides of the garden were blocked by a wall of greenery filled with flowers, and behind that were trees as far as the eye could see. In the middle, the ground surrounding it was covered in brown tiles, each plot was decorated exactly the same giving a harmonious vibe, and at the end, a small white gazebo stood at the center. On the right side, multiple garden arches were planted, each decorated with different flowers of different colors. The sight instantly captivated the nature-loving Lillias.
"Oh what a beautiful garden!"
Meanwhile, Liz and Loris kept moving forward, unaware of the absence of their sister. One was focused on the map while the other was half asleep. Liz took a left turn while Loris lagged behind, and took a wrong turn. The young brunette did not seem to notice the absence of both sisters, she kept on moving forward, too engrossed in trying to decipher the contents of the map, unable to understand a single thing even with how much she was focusing. Liz finally gave up, "Agh this is ridiculous!" With a huff she turned around, "Hey Lillias, you know how to read maps right? can you take a-" she stopped in her tracks, "look..." To her surprise, she found no one behind her, "Huh? Where did they go?" She started looking around her, "Lillias? Loris? Where are you?" There was a moment of silence before the situation started to sink in, the dread slowly seeping in, "Don't tell me...I got separated from my sisters…"
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“It would seem I wandered a bit further from the others than I originally intended,” Lillias looked around, “Oh well, I’ll just meet them in the dorm.” with that decision she started looking around, searching for anyone she could ask for directions. Unfortunately for her, there was no one around to help her. When she was looking around she noticed the building a little distance away from the botanical garden, although she hadn't seen it before she could tell it was the main building. Lillias decided to head there hoping someone would be around to guide her, if not then she'll just find the dorms on her own. With that thought process in mind, she entered the main building.
What greeted her at the entrance was a floor covered in red carpets and two stairs leading to the next floor. The walls were high and almost looked bronze in color. Towering above were multiple orbs of light that beautifully illuminated the place, between the two parallel stairs were smaller stairs leading down. "Whoever chose the interior design had good taste," Lillias continued on and headed upstairs. For the next 20 minutes she circled around the main building hoping to find someone but no one was in sight. Ending up where she first started, she took a deep breath and headed down, which was followed by a left turn. One room grabbed her attention, and the door to it was left open. At the center of the room was a small statue of a dragon, wooden bookshelves surrounded her completely, and each and every one of them was filled with books.
"How amazing, so this is the library of Gedonelune Royal Magic Academy," Lillias muttered to herself as she stepped inside, she started moving between the shelves while checking out the different books, it was then that she took a sharp turn and crashed into a certain someone holding a huge pile of books, the sudden collision sent her body falling backward as the books fell to the ground. "Whoa!"
"Watch out!" In a desperate attempt to help her, the blond student stretched out his arms and grabbed onto her frail arm, the force of her fall pulling him along. With a crash, his body fell forward and in an instant, their bodies collided with the shelf, tipping it over. This caused a domino effect knocking a few other shelves.
In the end, Lillias and the blond were practically buried in books, their bodies lying on the ground. "Ow...that definitely hurt…" Lillias rubbed the back of her head, her back aching from the pain.
"Agh…" The blond student wasn't in a better condition than Lillias, "Why not knock over the other bookshelves while you're at it?" His voice was harsh and filled with a hint of anger, sarcasm dripping from his words.
"No thanks, feel free to do it yourself," Lillias replied with sarcasm of her own, with a grumble she looked at the boy, "And get off me while you're at it."
Pushing the books off him, the Male student got up and straightened his uniform and then extended his hands towards her still having the decency to help her. She stood there silent, but grabbed onto his hand, pushing herself up with the help of her blond companion.
"Thank you for your help."
"I've never seen you around here before, are you a new student?" The student asked, his purple eyes boring into her blue, his gaze filled with suspicion.
"That is correct, I've just arrived today," feeling as confident as ever, Lillias answered without any delay, her cheery voice not wavering.
"That's quite impressive, I never saw someone destroy the library on their very first day."
Lillias only smiled almost as if taunting him, "Yes indeed, and you were a great help in doing so."
The blond grunted unable to deny he was indeed at fault for causing the accident in the first place, he looked back at the mess, and with a defeated sigh he proceeded to reply, “I Apologize about that.”
“No harm done...well-” Lillias stopped midway as she looked at the fallen shelves, books were all over the floor and the whole library was a mess. Thankfully no one aside from her and the blond student was around to see the current situation, or they would be in trouble… big trouble. “Maybe SOME harm was done...”
"Right…" The student let out a distraught sigh as he grabbed onto his wand, or where his wand was supposed to be. Shockingly he could not feel it, as if it was no longer there. When he looked he found it had disappeared, "No…" he patted down his cloth trying to find his wand. "No, no, no," his mind started filling with a small hint of panic. "Wait don't tell me…" his eyes glanced down at the pile of books, he was almost sure that was the case, "Agh you've got to be kidding me."
Lillias observed the boy for a few minutes, then something came to her mind, a small smirk formed but she quickly hid it, "Oh my, whatever shall we do, I don't have enough confidence to fix this mess with magic…." She trailed on, "It seems we'll have to do it by hand," Lillias suggested, "Oh my name is Lillias Hart, by the way, it's nice to meet you."
Elias just stared at her with conflicting emotions, "A pleasure." It was anything but that at the moment, "I am Elias Goldstein." Before the girl could say anything he interrupted, "Now that we put greetings aside." He looked back at the scene in front of him, he had no idea how to fix this before curfew, but there was one thing to be glad about, "At least not all of them fell," his statement was followed by a slow creaking noise, then a thud followed by a crash. "...I spoke too soon didn't I?"
"This...will take a while."
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"Agh, I can't believe this!"
With a huff, Loris proceeded to walk through a forest, "If only I had slept more on the train this wouldn't have happened, scratch that, if we didn't go to Gedonelune Town from the start this would never have happened! But no! They had to drag me along, it hasn't been a day since we arrived and I am already regretting this so much! 'It will be fun,' they said, 'you'll grow to like it,' they said, yeah right," The young archer continued to vent out her anger, "This certainly is turning out to be lots of fun."
Loris let out a sigh as she stopped in her tracks, trying to calm her nerves. "Okay, calm down Loris, calm down…." Her voice was barely a whisper, she closed her eyes trying to even out her breathing, she tried to concentrate on things she loved; fighting, eating her sister's food, running in the forest, and napping. Thinking about those brought the tiniest smile to her face. It took a few minutes but Loris managed to calm her nerves, with a calm mind the young girl was ready to continue her search for the dorms.
As she was getting ready to leave, something caught her eyes, it was a stuffed animal of some kind, a hybrid between a rabbit and a bear, with black eyes made of glass beads, its small legs taking tiny strides towards its destination. Noticing the gaze of someone on it, the strange creature looked to the side, its beady eyes stared back at Loris, for a second, they simply stood there, staring at each other, completely frozen in place before it darted off somewhere, and hid.
"...What the hell was that?" Was all Loris was able to ask, her little encounter left her confused, dumbfounded, and slightly bewildered. With a small shake of her head, she continued on her way forward.
"Well, this certainly is a new face around here."
Loris turned her attention towards her observer, taking in his features. He had mesmerizing emerald green eyes that held a mischievous glint to them, his hair was soft. On his right ear was an emerald green earring that swung slightly with his every move, what irritated Loris the most was the amused expression his face held as he observed her.
"So what of it?!" Loris glared at the student, her eyes twitching slightly from irritation, she tried to control her emotions to no avail.
"Oh, feisty one I see," The boy's smirk widened, further annoying the girl, "Let me guess, you're lost and trying to find your way to the dorms."
For some reason, something about the student made Loris feel a little wary, maybe she was just being too cautious, "Yes and?"
With a smirk, the boy continued, "I could help...if you ask nicely."
"Absolutely never playboy," Loris was fast to reject that offer.
"That's… quite the befitting compliment," Luca chuckled a little amused by the quick reply of Loris, "But really you might want to reconsider my offer….unless you want to be late for curfew," he taunted her as he started walking and circling around her.
A small grumble escaped her, Loris was well aware that would be bad for her plus she didn't want to spend more hours looking for the dorms than necessarily, "Just tell me where the dorms are."
"What's the magic word?" Luca looked at her with the same annoying smirk, when he saw Loris turning around to leave instead he quickly intervened, "Okay, okay! I'll tell you, you're heading in the wrong direction, it's actually the opposite way, you see that forest? That's the northern valley forest, past that is the dorms."
For a few minutes, Loris just observed Luca not sure if he was indeed telling the truth, "If you're lying…" she looked him in the eyes.
"I am not, I am not, it really is past the northern valley forest."
Deciding to trust the words of this student, Loris turned around and walked away to the northern valley forest.
Luca watched her with an amused expression on his face until she was out of sight, "Good luck actually finding the dorm...considering it's the other way," he chuckled to himself wondering how the girl would react when she found out he lied and instead walked the opposite direction where the dormitory was actually stationed. "A new student huh? This should be fun."
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Her destination was the dorms, yet somehow Liz found herself in a completely different place, she stood at the entrance of the main building that opened up to the two parallel stairs. “Whoa this place is big, it's amazing that my sisters and I will be studying in a place like this from now on.”
There were no students in sight, Liz concluded that classes were over for the day but that left her in a bit of a pinch, she had no one to ask for directions and the map was not helping what so ever, "Agh...if only Lillias was with me…" with a sigh, she took one more glance around, "Where's the dormitory anyway?" To say the least, the young wizardess was getting impatient, she had lost track of time looking around. Liz had tried to look for her sisters but in the end, she couldn't find them, her search for the dormitories was also fruitless, all she did was manage to get lost with a map, she wondered if anyone else has ever managed to do that. 'It'll be bad news if I don't find the dorms before it gets dark,' With that thought, Liz let out another long, irritated sigh.
Her search somehow led her to yet another place, this time it was a beautifully decorated grand hall, Liz gazed at it, "It's so huge! I wonder what goes on here?" At the far center of the room stood an altar. Upon closer inspection, Liz noticed a golden scale with a blue gem placed on the middle of the handle, it intrigued her curiosity.
"Hmm, I wonder what that is?" With that question, Liz walked towards the altar and reached out her hand, her hand slowly coming closer to the scale.
"Don't touch that."
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Preview:-
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Lillias: "it would seem I have to do this preview on my own, alright then, shall we proceed?" *clears throat* "We each find our way to the dorms and meet up with our roommates....hmm? Wait so that means we won't be sharing a room together like we used to, that's a bit disappointing but I already expected that, this could be a good way to get to know the other students. What kind of person is my roommate, I wonder? I am excited to meet her, something tells me she's interesting. Next time, "Friends."
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Journal:-
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This time I have something I drew myself, here we have Loris Hart wearing the academy uniform. As I said I will be posting more Art as I write.