Chapter Text
“Come on, Jake! I promise I won’t let you cause a school-wide disaster this time!” Serena Riverfall was becoming exasperated.
“Last time I helped you teach a class, I flooded the entire Creative Magic building,” Jake replied flatly. But Serena could see that his excuses were running out. They’d been having this argument for an hour already, and she was tired of it. In this case, ‘tired of it’ meant ‘seriously considering dragging him out of his secluded tower and into the classroom regardless of who was watching’.
“Because you panicked when Cara looked in your direction!” Serena glared at him.
“Because she’s terrifying!” Jake protested. It was no secret that Cara Hollow was the scariest teacher at Dawnrise Academy, but Jake was the co-founder of the School Council. He had the kind of annoying powers that should have made him intimidating and mysterious, but you’d never know that by looking at him. Jake was the kind of sixteen-year-old who behaved like he was five. Serena had grown up with him, and she’d always been his protector. After sixteen years of forcing him to try new things and live his life, she was completely tired of his constant state of paranoia.
“She’s my best friend, Jake!” Serena fumed.
“I thought I was your best friend,” Jake whined.
“Stop complaining!” Serena was done with this. She grabbed his arm, flung open the door to his study, and dragged him down the stairs. “I’m not going to be around forever! You need to get a life, Jake! You are going to go to my classroom and learn how to teach a magic class, or so help me, I will -”
“Alright!” Jake conceded. “Maybe I do need to get out more.” That was the understatement of the century. He hadn’t left his tower in two weeks, and as far as Serena knew, he had been doing nothing but trying to figure out how to use telepathy, although he didn’t have the ability.
“See! I was right! Now do I have to drag you the rest of the way to the Creative Magic building or can you walk?” Serena’s anger hadn’t simmered down yet.
“I can walk,” Jake sulked as he jerked his hand out of her grasp. “You’re on fire, by the way. Just thought you should know.”
“Actual fire or magic fire?” Serena was unconcerned.
“Magic fire,” Jake answered. The harmless flames sparking along her fingertips flickered and extinguished. “You need to keep better control over your magic.”
“Says the boy who flooded a building last week,” Serena teased. It was her favorite thing about their friendship, how easily they fell back into their normal rhythms after an argument.
“Says the girl who caused a hurricane in first year,” Jake countered.
“Says the boy who did just as much for that hurricane as I did.” Serena laughed softly, remembering how Alder had stolen her hair-tie during their weekly field trip to the beach, and how she’d tried to use wind magic to steal it back, but it didn’t go as well as she’d hoped (Note to self: using first-year wind magic at a wildly magical beach is a bad idea). Jake had tried to stop the sandstorm she’d caused by drowning it, but they ended up causing a magic hurricane. It also didn’t help that they’d snuck away from the group to try to build a sandcastle with magic, so no one else was around to help prevent the chaos that had ensued.
That day, they’d discovered what doesn’t help prevent a hurricane. Throwing rocks at it with telekinesis, attempting to stop it with more first-year wind magic, zapping it with energy, and trying to teleport it elsewhere were among the list. They finally stopped it when Rein froze it in time, though Jake hadn’t known it was Rein. He’d assumed that Serena had manifested a new ability and used it on the hurricane-sandstorm-monstrosity. To this day, there was still a frozen half-hurricane-half-sandstorm monstrosity at Clearwater Beach.
“Hey, Serena,” Jake said. She turned back towards him. “I was just thinking-”
“Who are you and what have you done with Jake?”
“Very funny, Sera. My point is, what if we skipped class and went to Clearwater again?”
“Nice try- you’re not getting out of your responsibilities that easily.” Serena was not amused.
“Worth a try.” Jake grinned.
“You’ve been procrastinating all afternoon- it’s nearly evening, and we’re the last class. Come on, we need to get there before the chaotic ones.” Serena led the way past the Elemental Magic building, the Telepathy Magic building, and the Telekinetic Magic building before finally reaching the glass doors of the purple Creative Magic building.
A loud crash echoed from one of the higher windows, and broken glass rained down. Serena yanked Jake out of the way just before the shards crashed to the ground.
“What the heck was that?” Jake’s eyes were wide with shock. “Are we being attacked? Was that an attempt at murder? Who did that, Sera?”
“Calm down. It’s probably just some of the students being idiots,” she explained. At least, that was what she hoped. “Let’s go check it out.”
“Why aren’t you concerned?” Jake’s incredulous expression brought a smile to Serena’s face.
“This happens all the time. You just never see it because you’re holed up in your office all day, ” Serena emphasized as she pushed her way through the double doors. Jake gave an affronted huff.
Jake hovered at the entrance for a second, before seeming to ultimately decide that following Serena was the best course of action. He hurried past her as though she was a magnet for disaster, and pressed the up button on the elevator. The silver doors dinged, then slid open, revealing a huge dent in the opposite wall. What kind of idiots did I let into my classes this year?
“Sera?” Jake asked her tentatively, jolting her from her thoughts of rethinking her life choices. “Are you… okay?”
I’m too tired for this right now, she thought. Seventeen was far too young to be running a whole school, let alone a magic school where none of the students had any common sense or control at all.
“Do you know how hard it is to fix a whole entire building with magic? Really difficult, let me tell you. I also really, really don’t have time to do that right now.,” Serena snapped. She spun around, and stormed over to the staircase. “Are you coming or not?” Jake sighed and followed her. “You’re not arguing with me?”
“I’ve known you my whole life. I know that it’s a bad idea to argue with you when you have that scary intense look in your eyes,” he answered. “Unless you want me to argue with you?”
“I don’t have time for this,” Serena repeated.
“Alright, sorry,” Jake apologized.
“No, it’s okay… I guess I’m just worried.”
“About the students?” Jake guessed.
“No, I’m worried about my evil best friend who can stop time and is probably plotting world domination right now. Of course I’m worried about the students, they have less common sense this year than ever before!” Serena buried her face in her hands, and kept walking up the stairs without tripping. After twelve years at Dawnrise, she knew every inch of the building that well.
“So you and Rein are still talking?” Jake demanded incredulously.
“No, I haven’t spoken to her in years. You know that.” Serena looked back and sighed. So much for honesty.
They continued up the stairs until they reached the second floor. Serena leaned through the archway to check if anyone was in the hallway. It was deserted. She hurried back into the stairwell and kept going towards the third and final level. By the time she reached it, she heard a shout echo through the hallway.
“Mari! The teachers are going to be so mad at us!” At this point there was absolutely no doubt in Serena’s mind that her most chaotic students were behind this.
“Are these the ones you keep complaining about?” Jake inquired.
“Unfortunately so,” Serena replied. “They’ve caused almost as much trouble as we did our seventh year.”
“No way.” Jake was obviously shocked.
“I’m afraid so,” Serena sighed. “I’m getting too old for this.” She loved teaching, and most of the students were like younger siblings to her, but she was so tired of their shenanigans.
“Sera, you’re seventeen,”
“And your point is?”
“Sera, you’re seventeen ,” Jake repeated.
“I’m still waiting for you to get to the point.” Serena was completely serious. “But since you’re clearly not going to, we might as well find out what’s going on with them.” She pointed ahead.
The third level of the Creative Magic building was made almost entirely of magically reinforced glass. The floor was dyed a dark, shimmering grey that allowed sunlight to shine through, lending the floor below it the appearance of outer space. The walls were dyed varying shades of blue, from cerulean and teal to midnight blue and sapphire. It was a miracle her students hadn’t found a way to shatter the enchanted glass yet. The third floor contained a library and four classrooms, and it was by far Serena’s favorite place in the school. That’s why it was off-limits to a certain group of chaotic first-years: Mari Winter, David Locke, Minerva Brightshine, Gavin Carter, and some others. They were her favorite and least favorite students at the same time.
“I can’t believe I haven’t expelled them yet,” Serena said to herself.
“I can’t believe it either,” Jake replied. “Should we go stop the chaos?”
“That’s probably a good idea.” Serena had resigned herself to the fact that she’d have to deal with the chaotic first-years sooner or later, and better to do it now rather than after they caused a schoolwide disaster. She raised her voice. “Marina Eva Winter! Come out of that classroom right this instant or so help me, I will give you detention for the remaining twelve years of your magical education!”
A small dark-haired girl with glasses tentatively crept out of a classroom at the end of the hall. “Sorry,” she said, sounding very much not sorry at all. “Do I still have to do detention?”
Serena heaved a sigh. I’m too tired for this.
“Who was your accomplice this time?” she asked.
“Ethan.” Serena made a mental note to give Ethan detention as well.
At that moment, she realized that Jake was nowhere to be found. “I really am too old for this,” she muttered under her breath.
“Did you say something, Ms Serena?” Mari seemed puzzled, or maybe she was just confused. Or possibly trying to test Serena’s patience, the limits of which were decidedly not large.
“I told you, it’s Serena. I’m like six years older than you, I don’t need a title. Just call me by my name. All the other students do.” Serena heaved a sigh. “Just… go to the Elemental Studies building and take this to…” Who would be in the Elemental Studies building at this time? Sam had said that they were going to Clearwater with Paige and Haven. Alder, Liam, and Miles always held a single afternoon class, then reverted to informal instruction for the remainder of the day. Serena withheld another sigh. It looked like she’d have to rely on her half-sister. She snapped her fingers, conjuring a small blue spiral notebook and an ink pen, then wrote:
The bringers of chaos were at it again, Creative Magic building’s been damaged, Jake’s being stupid. Can you round up the troublemakers and oversee detention tonight? Also, we need to talk. Glowering Woods at midnight? -S
She closed the notebook and tapped the cover with the pen. The pen melted into the cover and dripped over the pages, sealing the notebook shut. She then held it out to Mari.
“Take this to Laura Palmer, and don’t try to read it because the magic seal will open for her, and her alone.” Mari took the notebook and made her way to the staircase.
When Mari had faded out of sight, Serena braced herself against the wall and exhaled. I’m too tired for this, she thought again. She forced herself to walk forward, although every muscle in her body protested against it. She was always this tired after performing simple magic, as it took an enormous amount of energy just to keep her magic under control. It was easier to perform extraordinary feats of magic that no ordinary mage could do easily. That was what her magic was made for, it was just her nature. It just flowed out, and she barely had to think about it. But when using simple magic, she had to hold back for fear of overdoing it and conjuring a flood of notebooks and ink pens, for example.
Sometimes I wish I was normal. Then I remember that ‘normal’ is the reason everyone else is the way they are.
She was distracted by a loud crash coming from the window. Serena rushed to the side of the hallway and heaved open the glass pane. She stuck her head out, and craned her neck to see what was going on. Jake was standing in the courtyard, sixty or seventy feet below, with his hands held out towards a window in the Telepathy Magic building. As she watched, he turned to- oh no - the fountain in the middle of campus.
Serena cursed loudly, disregarding the fact that there might be students in earshot. The water from the fountain rose into the air, and zoomed towards the building again. I have to do something. She clambered out the window, feeling very shaky as she balanced precariously on the ledge, and yelled, “Stop!” at the top of her lungs. Just in case that wasn’t enough, she focused as hard as she could on deactivating Jake’s ability, hoping that her magic would cooperate for once.
Jake froze, and turned towards her. The water splashed (mostly) harmlessly to the ground, drenching a homework-toting teacher about Jake’s age.
“Serena! I had a perfectly logical reason to do that, why’d you break my concentration?”
“Because I told you, it’s really hard to fix a building with magic! Also, your ‘logical reasons’ are never logical!” she shouted back. A gust of wind swept along the ledge. Serena cursed again under her breath. Don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t-
Her left foot slipped off and Serena went tumbling over the edge.
Serena screamed several words that she would normally get in trouble for saying, but she’s falling to her death so who’s going to stop her?
“Serena!” Jake shouted, already standing below her. The ground was rushing up to meet her… at a very slow speed? What?
“You do realize you’re basically floating gently to the ground-” Jake started, then Serena cut him off with a glare. She lowered to the ground at last, and stormed towards Jake.
“We will never speak of this again,” she muttered as she passed him. He whirled around to walk beside her.
“Why did you stop me, anyways?” he sounded genuinely curious, which further reinforced Serena’s opinion that he was an idiot.
“Because you were breaking the Elemental Magic building, and like I have said many times before, magical repairs are difficult!”
“But it would have been worth it-” Jake started.
“If you had actually seen something worth damaging a building full of students and teachers for.” They’d had this argument many times, and Serena had a sinking feeling that she knew why he’d done it.
“What if it had been a Dreamspire mage?” Jake’s confused but positive demeanor changed in an instant. A sneer twisted his face into something sinister. “I saw whoever it was on top of the building! No one’s allowed up there, and you know it.”
“Yes, I know that no students or teachers are allowed up there. I also know that no one obeys that rule , because it’s a stupid rule. You probably just interrupted an Air Mage trying to enjoy their lunch.” She spoke with the air of one explaining that one plus one equals two, but the calm, rational logic she displayed hid the uncertainty and fear that came with lying. The second of doubt, of sheer terror when you think you’ve been caught.
“And if it wasn’t an Air Mage?” Jake snapped.
“Then I’ll handle it- like I’ve been handling everything in this school since you become the Director.”
“I know you were friends with Rein, Kaitlyn, and the others. Can I trust you?” the question sounded childish, but the intent behind it was anything but. Serena was no fool; she knew what Jake was doing. The real question was, are you willing to fight your other friends for us?
“Do you trust me?” She dodged the question and stalled for time.
“That’s not what I’m asking.” Jake obviously thought he was unreadable, but his intentions and thoughts were splashed all over his face. Are you still in contact with your friends from Dreamspire? Would you betray Wren for us? Who are you really fighting for? That’s what he was really asking.
Serena shoved the raging sea of her emotions to the back of her mind, and collected herself. Stay calm. Stay composed. Stay believable. The shield of lies she’d been hiding behind was one thread away from unraveling before her eyes. She prayed Jake didn’t pry further.
“Yes.” Her voice didn’t waver. Anyone would have thought she was sincere. When is this going to end? She ached for the end of the day, when she could travel back to Dreamspire and she could just be. No lies, no checking every five seconds for suspicion in the faces of everyone she spoke to, and best of all, no Jake. Her friends, her magic, and her purpose all lay just out of her reach. So close, but so very far away.
“Good.” The hostility in Jake’s voice melted away, and she could almost pretend they were friends. There were only a few more hours left in the day, every second ticking away brought her closer to the person she couldn’t- wouldn’t let herself think about. Not now. Not here, where every lie tore her apart a little bit more every day. Where every wish she made, every stray thought might be the end of her. Where she couldn’t afford the slightest mistake.
Serena nodded, and raised her voice. “Classes are cancelled! Go back to your dorms!”
“I didn’t know you had the power to do that,” Jake said as he followed her.
“Well, since you’re shut up in your office all day, someone has to take command,” Serena observed. She sped up, every step restoring some of her energy the farther away from Jake she got. So close; almost there. She stopped three-quarters of the way through the courtyard and concentrated on her apartment for a second. A door appeared in front of her, as if it were drawn by pencil. She walked through it, then turned to slam the door.
“Get your school together, or I’ll do it for you.” she smiled sweetly. Jake stopped in his tracks, startled, and the door closed.
“Well, that was interesting.” She turned to see a silver-haired teenage girl sitting in her kitchen.
“Hello, Rein,” Serena greeted her. “What happened this time?”
“You’ll see,” Rein answered. She pulled out her phone and sent a text. A portal opened between them.
“Let me guess- Astra again?”
“Yes, the whole city’s on fire. I really am all for committing arson, but this is going to be irritating to clean up.”
“Agreed.” Serena stepped through the portal, out of the creativity-strangling world of Dawnrise and into the lighthearted chaos of Dreamspire. Perhaps creativity-strangling was the wrong word, but make no mistake, Dawnrise Academy was certainly far less interesting and captivating than the shining towers of Dreamspire City.