My Way To You

Edlyn swore to herself that she would protect Ariana and would never give Flint any opportunity to try and be alone with her. "Your back!" Halina shouted as she got up from the bed. Talisha was at the only wall mirror brushing her hair. Watching them walking in through the reflection.

"Ya.... we"re back." Ariana responded unenthusiastically. Talisha and Halina looked at each other then at Edlyn. While Edlyn just shook her head no. Ariana looked around the floor then brought up her gaze. "Where is my luggage?" She said pitifully. Edlyn bit her bottom lip to stop herself from bombarding her with questions while Halina escorted Ariana towards her bed. "Look, the cubby has a hidden closet for clothes. We thought we could put your things away last night… sorry, you know, we all needed a bit of a distraction."

"Oh… thank you." Ariana said with a small voice. Halina couldn"t hold herself back. "Hey! You know… my hair is so short now I wish I could do something with it. I mean it doesn"t really match my uniform that well, so I was wondering… you know because your so pretty and all, if you could give me some tips?" She shouted as she blushed fiercely. Ariana looked up and tried her best to smile but to show her sincerity. The gesture was nice, she knew Halina meant to give her a distraction and appreciated it even if her voice and body language said otherwise. "Why not?" She said as she went to grab her own uniform. "Give me... give me just a second to change."

Ariana took off the dress and looked down. She instantly covered herself with her arms and started to scream. "Ariana?" Halina said as she reached out for her. "Don"t look please!" She yelled. "Get out!" Edlyn shouted as she stared down Ariana. Halina and Talisha looked at each other and didn"t budge. "You both need to get out. The others will come soon and we can"t let them know the truth. Just say it was a bug and you ran out while we are trying to kill it." Edlyn said as she furrowed her brows. Halina was ready to protest but Talisha grabbed her hand and dragged her out the room. Slamming the door behind them.

Ariana started to silently sob as she hugged herself. Edlyn pinched the bridge of her nose to calm her anger. When she settled her heart she walked up to Ariana. "Flint… did he... did he tou-ch you ag-ainst your will?" Edlyn asked. Ariana brought up her head and hugged herself tighter. "Ariana, please… did Flint do some-thing ag-ainst your will?" Ariana covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud. She tried to take deep breaths with her mouth covered but it sounded torturous. "Ariana?" Edlyn tried once more and Ariana nodded her head yes. Edlyn quickly wrapped her arms around Ariana"s shaking body. "It was not your fault. You are the vic-tim." She whispered, remembering Mrs. Dabney"s words back at the infirmary "Not you fault. You are the vic-tim." She said again but more firmly.

Halina and Talisha knocked on the door after everyone left. They saw Edlyn helping Ariana get ready. She had a grave expression on her face as was finished brushing Ariana"s hair. She was wearing the the royal purple school dress but just like Edlyn"s uniform, the skirt"s length was modified. Instead of going down to their ankles it stopped mid thigh. It still had slits on the left and right side to reveal the indigo plaid dress underneath but it puffed out more with layers of lace underneath. The dress had a low cut in the front making the white collared blouse stand out as it seamlessly blended into the royal purple dress. Along with the uniform dress all students were to wear a silvery grey blaze with golden vines on the trim of the lapels. Ariana was already wearing her ribbon around her neck like a puffy bowtie, the ends of the ribbon went down and the bronze stars glittered under the light. Edlyn had just finished tieing a plan, red ribbon in Ariana"s half up hair hairstyle.

"Wow! A single ribbon can make you look so sweet! Do you think the same can be done with my hair?" She asked innocently. Ariana looked at Halina, she gave her a small smile but her eyes betrayed her real state of mind, they were all puffy and red from crying so hard. "I"m sorry ladies but we should finish up and get to the mess hall for breakfast. We must not be late for homeroom." Talisha said as she started to collect her school issued satchel. Talisha pouted and a spark was ignited in Ariana"s eyes. They were giving her an out, they didn"t ask or want an explanation so she had to grab the opportunity for normality, even if she had to push through the hurt and pretend to be okay.

She quickly grabbed the brush from Edlyn and pushed Halina onto her bed. She moved behind her and started to brush. "Three minutes, just three minutes and we can go." She said as she quickly started parting Halina"s hair. Ariana got Edlyn to pa.s.s her clips and hair ties as her hands worked. She section and braided at lightning speed. When she was finished she took a step back and admired her own work. Halina walked over to the mirror and gasped. She had never seen the style of hair before. Two mermaid like tails were braided into the long part of her hair there was only an inch of a gap between them but her hair was so light it stood out beautifully.

In the front, two inches of her was swept behind her ear and pinned into place while a loose lock was purposely left out, it sat infront of her ear to frame her face. "You can still add an accessory if you want." Ariana said as she pa.s.sed her a small, blue crystal swan hair pin. Halina nodded her head so Ariana pinned it in place. Halina turned around and admired herself a little more. "We will be tardy." Talisha sighed and the girls quickly grabbed their things.
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During breakfast Ariana made ideal talk and smiled, during their walk back Ariana made small remarks and smile. When they arrived to their homeroom, Ariana stopped talking altogether and just smiled. She was trying her best to keep herself together but it felt like the whole world knew how dirty she was, how easy she was, how vulnerable she was. She could see them turn into shadows with glowing red eyes, whisper, making up rumours and laughing as they pointed at her. "Ariana?" Edlyn called out. Ariana shook her head and everything was back to normal. "Sorry... just tired " She said and then pointed towards a spot with four seats.

Ms. Hadley walked in and stood at a podium at the front of the cla.s.s. Ariana looked around and saw that there were rows and rows of seats going up a slant, students climbed the stairs to find a place to sit. She figured the entire first year was gathered together for homeroom. "Alright, if I can have your attention please." Ms. Hadley shouted. Everyone silenced and brought their eyes forward. "Fantastic! As you all know, this Academy prides itself for bringing up the young n.o.bles of the future. We focus on both academics and magic while we encourage science and future advancements. To do so we must start off with the Summoning Ceremony. A ritual from the past that has now become the main root of our history and culture."

She looked around and spotted Ariana. "As first years you will summon your familiar who will be with you until you graduate school. That is the term of the contract made between you and your familiar. You will be borrowing the school"s power to stabilize the familiar and it will be up to you to strengthen that bond so that you can make a more permanent contract. If you"re lucky you can build enough magical energy to sustain your familiar and they will stay with you for the rest of your life. If you can"t but you still build a bond then you may get blessed. If you do nothing then that familiar will be more then happy to leave your side."

Edlyn looked at Ariana while Ariana stared down Ms. Hadley. It looked like she was trying to communicate telepathically with the teacher but she had no idea if they were able to. "Your familiar will be your support, your companion, your tool, your a.s.set and your lifeline. This Ceremony can not be taken lightly, you must be completely focused and willing to give yourself to the contract. Do you understand?" Ms. Hadley shouted. Most of the students murmured their response. "Excuse me?!" She scolded and in unison the students shouted their understanding. "Good. Shortly we will make our way back to the auditorium for the Summoning. The process is pretty simple but it can easily backfire if you take the Ceremony too lightly or try to play a prank. Trust me it has happened in the past and the results are far from pleasant."

Everyone was starting to get anxious, they acted like they were sitting on pins and needles as they shifted their weight and strained their ears. "Right so to do the Summoning Ceremony, blood will be needed." Ariana and Edlyn paled, they looked at each other and Ariana mouthed the words. "I can"t." Ms. Hadley continued. "You will hold your hand over blessed water and recite an incantation as your blood drips into the water. If done successfully your familiar will manifest itself before you. Don"t worry, you do not have to memorize the incantation you will be reading it from a scroll so no mistakes will happen. Even if a mistake was to occur the board of directors, the school nurse and Student Council will be there to handle almost anything. Any questions?"

Edlyn quickly stood up. "Can you use some-thing else? Like hair?" The students afraid of cutting themselves started to murmur, hoping that there were other options. "No. Blood packs are the only way. You are using the blessed water and school grounds as a medium for the summoning. To establish the bond you must provide your blood. If nothing is summoned then we must ask you to make a bigger offering of blood. The nurse will be on standby for the faint of heart or anyone who used too much blood."

Ariana could feel her heart thundering against her chest, she broke out into a cold sweat and her eyes became wide. "Master...." She heard Vasu say. She instantly stood up. "Ms. Hadley can I be exempted from the Ceremony!" The first years turned to see who shouted and Ariana felt another wave of anxiety hit her. "Exempted? Why would you need to be exempted?" She said coolly. Ariana instantly became dumbstruck. "Everyone has already seen my familiar Vasu. I don"t need a new familiar." She said awkwardly. "Really now? Do you honestly believe a familiar that what you"ve inherited through your family will be better then one the school will help you summon? I doubt that, you couldn"t even properly control the familiar. No, the bond that you create here will be stronger. So you must partic.i.p.ate."

Ariana deflated and sat back down. Her cla.s.smates started to whisper joyously, envy left some people as they laughed over the new information Ms. Hadley announced, Vasu was not really her familiar. Ariana didn"t want to fight Ms. Hadley, she realized that no matter what she had to do the ceremony. She had already gone against her initial plan of keeping her Lumas secret. "Alright if that is all let us proceed to the auditorium. Your third year escorts are also waiting outside, so move." She said as she walked towards the door. Everyone was getting up and silently following Ms. Hadley. "You"re looking pretty pale." Halina said as she got up. "You okay?" Ariana looked up at Halina and sighed. "Just very, very tired."

"Alright we better move then." Talisha said in a deep voice, her face darkened slightly as a sinister smile spread across her face. "Sorry?" Edlyn asked as she grabbed Ariana"s hand. "Oh I said we should be moving along with the others." Talisha said cheerfully as her face returned to her normal, docile self. Edlyn stared into her face for a bit then bowed as she let Talisha go by first. "Please, af-ter you." She said. Talisha and Halina hesitated and watched as everyone else was clearing out. "I don"t think I can do this." Halina said as she brought her hands to her face and ma.s.saged her cheeks. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!" Talisha shouted then brought her fist to her mouth and coughed. "I mean... cough... a lady must not squish her face. It is very unsightly."

Edlyn, Ariana and Halina looked at Talisha with an eyebrow raised. "It helps me calm down. My brothers would do it to my face when ever I needed a time out." Halina replied then brought her face close to Talisha. She was so much shorter then her, she hand to bend down a lot to match Talisha"s eye level. "Are you..." She started to say as her magenta eyes seamlessly peered into Talisha"s soul. "Ariana! Your group is the last one, come on!" Someone shouted from the entrance of the room.

Ariana looked down and gave a small wave. "Coming Vera." She shouted back. Halina backed off and started walking down the stairs. Talisha quickly followed while Ariana and Edlyn followed a little further back. "What will you do?" Edlyn whispered. "I didn"t know." Ariana said as she started to slip into her thoughts. "Don"t worry, the Ceremony is harmless and even if you screw up the incantation the only thing that would happen is a fire would start." Ariana heard some mentors tell the first years as the escorted them to the auditorium. "Well there was the one time someone dismembered their entire body becomes her replaced words I the incantation with different words." Someone said. "Right! Thank the heavens that Mrs. Hadley was there or else he would have died!" Someone replied. Everyone turned pale. "Don"t listen that was a tall tale someone made up to scare first years!" Vera shouted but the damage was done. The the were all scared.

By the time they made it into the auditorium Ariana had already come up with a dozen different ideas but each one was extremely risky and could lead to unknown consequences. The Third years sat behind the first years while Ms. Haldey walked up the small stairs and stepped on to the stage. Looking straight at them were the board of directors, the Student Council and Mrs. Dabney with a small medical station. Flint stood proudly to the right of the Headmaster, he pleasantly watched the students take their seats. He spotted Ariana and gave her a charming smile. Some students near by started to swoon but Ariana grabbed Edlyn"s hand. Any smile from him looked cold and sinister.

"Welcome!" The Headmaster said as everyone settled down. "As you all know, today is the Summoning Ceremony for our new students. As Ms. Hadley has already informed you, your familiar will be with you only through a temporary contract. It will be your responsibility to build the relationship with your familiar. Mrs. Dabney will be on standby if we need her medical a.s.sistance. I ask that you all take a deep breath and read the incantation carefully, the poor woman is 8 months pregnant and I do not need a premature delivery on this stage. We will call everyone up by their student ID numbers. Please pay attention when we call up your ID number, if you do not know your ID please stay seated. Do not a.s.sume. the number we called is yours, when we called the number three times we will call your name."

The Headmaster stepped forward and walked towards a very elaborate 2-tier, pedestal fountain. It was a beautiful ivory colour and it gold and diamond embellishments all over. A lotus flower sat in the center of the first tier as water sprayed upwards and spilled into the second tier. The water was crystal clear, it was so clean and pure and Ariana wondered if it would change colour once the blood started to drip into it. White stone stands encircled the fountain, each one holding a gla.s.s like sphere the size of baseball. There was five in total and each one had a storm brewing inside with different colours, blue, red, golden yellow, mint green, purple pink and a shimmering white. Each sphere was delicately laid on top of a silk cushion that was done with the opposite element"s colour.

A few feet above the fountain was a swirling light blue, magic circle. "First up 125 300F... 125 300F... Ahhh here he is our first summoner." The Headmaster said as he watched a pudgy, blonde male with a pink tie climbed onto the stage. "Mateo and Callista, if you would please." The Headmaster said as he watched a male and female pair walk up. They were wearing the school uniform but had the third year"s gold ribbons tied around their necks.

The tanned male had a blinding smile, a quiff hairstyle with faded sides. His eyes sparkled with rays of gold and lavender as he presented a jewel encrusted dagger. While the a girl with fair skin, bright rhubarb purple hair styled into a braided chignon. She held up a tea stained scroll as she batted her long, violet eyelashes. The pudgy blonde started to blush a ridiculously bright red as sweat rolled down his mochi like cheeks. "Make a small incision across your right index finger. Allow the blood to drip into the water as you read the incantation slowly and clearly. Let your magically energy flow with your words and a magical creature will come to you."

The pudgy blonde nodded his head and took the dagger from Mateo"s hands. He cut his right index finger as he gripped the dagger with his left hand. Mateo had to pry his hand up to get the dagger back and Callista brought the scroll closer to the pudgy blonde. Blood dripping slowly into the water, it slowly started to turn read and a new magical circle appeared below his feet. He opened his mouth and the first words came out. "An ahi soir. An wai ó dheas. An makani ó thuaidh. An honua siar. Pouli i gcónaí i bhfolach laistigh de mo chroí ach an kukui beidh mé i gcónaí mar threoir dom thuas. Tar amach leanbh na n-eilimintí agus bí mise kukui, treoraigh mé i rith mo chuairte. Ní bheidh deireadh leis an gconradh seo ach amháin nuair a bhainim céim amach. Teacht chugam mo chuid eolais!"