4: Sapphire Second
Before she could land herself in further trouble, Mr Payne took her aside. “I had better be off, lessons will be starting soon. Phantasia, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask Ms Thorburn. We know things might be overwhelming at first, and we’ll do whatever we can to make things easier,”
Phantasia nodded and Mr Payne left the room with a cursory wave to the rest of the students, but they were all still transfixed by the new student. Ms Thorburn broke the silence.
“You kids stop staring at her. You’re going to make her feel uncomfortable,”
She shuffled a pack of cards, drew a few, and studied them, then she looked up at Phantasia, who was watching with great interest. She had been taught about various ancient forms of human divination used to mimic natural faerie powers.
“Guess they don’t need to do things like this where you’re from,” she chuckled, pushing the cards aside, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t a bad reading. Come here, I’ve got something for you,”
Phantasia sat down at the desk. The rest of the class returned their attention back to their own lives, though she could still sense the occasional glance in her direction. Already their auras were beginning to edge towards her, tiny threads seeking to entwine themselves in her life.
Ms Thorburn leaned in and began to whisper. “Problem with these kids is that half of them don’t believe in anything, and the other half believes in the wrong stuff. Take John there,” she nodded towards the boy hiding behind his mechanical device, “He spends his time beavering away on that laptop, refusing to believe in anything that science can’t explain. Joel and Kaori, they’re the complete opposite. Doyle just wants to impress the girls, Lysander and Angelo want to make everyone laugh, and Dante…” she became even quieter, and Phantasia was aware the boy at the back of the room was still glaring at them, “Whatever he believes in stays securely in his head.”
She then leaned back and handed Phantasia a book from her desk. Phantasia studied the blue cover.
Phantasia Celeste
Sapphire Second Year
Ms Thorburn waved towards the book, “You keep note of your homework assignments in that. I’m supposed to check it every Friday, but I usually forget. It’ll tell you when and were your lessons are anyway. I hope you’ll settle down with these misfits okay, they’re all harmless really.”
She then began to shuffle the odd pack of cards again as Phantasia walked off, studying her lessons. Some sounded similar to what she’d studied back in the Water Queendom, whilst others were mysteries. She found the prospect of these lessons the most exciting. As she sat speed-reading through the array of pages, consuming each and every paragraph of information in seconds, two of the boys came over to her. From their auras, they reminded her of wind faeries.
“Well hello there,” said the first. He had scruffy dark hair and was dressed in an odd style, his bright clothes meticulously selected for their colour coordination, if not for their aesthetic appeal.
“You all right?” asked the one with spiky hair, “Heard you were starting today, welcome to the team, I’m Lysander. This cheeky chappie is Angelo,”
The colourful kid saluted. “Hello!”
