Chapter Seven #3
“ I suck with my roots, ” Jennifer thought. “ The only one I’m half decent with is— ”
She clapped her hands together, casting sensory around them, and pinpointed the incoming fiends.
“Jamius,” Jennifer pointed to the few remaining wisps, “throw them this way.”
Jamius scrunched his face as his final copy splattered into watery goop between the fiend’s jaw.
It used its sticky tongue to lap at the magic soaking into the ground.
Ignoring his nerves, Jamius swept the wisps further out, scattering them.
It was invigorating and gave him the confidence to banish a few as well.
That rejuvenating boost came from Carter’s vitality.
“Wait,” Jennifer said, a plan in play.
Another fiend leapt from the trees into the rock terrain, chasing the remaining wisps that bobbed about.
Carter pieced together Jennifer’s plan and cast banishment toward the first fiend that’d arrived.
It’d grown strong off Melanie’s flame control and Jamius’ copies.
Despite all his precision in the root magic, only bits of tar shattered to nothingness.
Taking a deep breath, Carter unraveled the tether of vitality he’d linked to his teammates and channeled everything into his banishment.
I smiled. It was sloppy, but he’d destroyed the fiend, leaving only a handful of white wisps. Jamius and Melanie handled them.
“Wait,” Jennifer said again, prepared for the last two fiends to arrive.
Fighting over the remnants of the first fallen fiend, the pair was distracted, and Jennifer explained her plan to her coven mates. It was far from perfect—messy as fuck, in fact—but the four of them managed to group together, and each of them banished a fiend.
After they’d finished, I called them up to the proctoring room. I wanted to congratulate them all, convey how impressed I was, but their kinder classmates had that covered with cheery compliments.
“You went into this all wrong but managed to pull together a half decent strategy in the end. That was very impressive.” I eyed them as they lined up by the door. “Which of you would like to explain areas for improvement? I have quite a few in mind.”
Carter stood taller than the rest of his team, more slender and lacking the confident pose I’d grown used to.
His blond bangs were damp with sweat, and his tight smile didn’t hide the anxiety he avoided dwelling on in close proximity to me.
Gripping the back of his neck with a shaky hand, partly from nerves but mostly from how much magic he’d exerted, Carter led the discussion on areas of improvement.
That in itself was proof of growth—he’d not only learned mid-task how to alter where he’d gone wrong and fix it, but he’d acknowledged it.
After each of them reflected, I checked my watch.
“Let’s take a break and resume this in the afternoon class. It’s almost time for first block.”
“They get the whole day to prepare?” Melanie pouted. “Figures.”
“Really such a shame.” Yaritza flipped her hair, walking past Melanie. “I’m jealous. Would’ve loved to show off my magics this morning, especially considering my stars don’t burn out.”
Melanie ground her teeth.
“Time’s short,” I said, “but if you’re that eager, I’m sure I can whip up a solo round for you.”
“NO.” Yaritza grinned, her cheeks twitching from the forced enthusiasm.
“I can wait. Working on my patience and all. Sort of becoming my best virtue, out of so many others. I really just, you know, um, know how much this lesson is about teamwork, and I want to have teamwork. Solo is so selfish. And I’m not shellfish; I’m a star. Get it?”
“Rambles, you’re in my way.” Kenzo shooed Yaritza who blocked the door.
I shook my head at her flimsy excuse and allowed her and the other students to wander out of the proctoring room, making use of what time we had left to their own desires. Reaching for my phone, I paused.
Caleb’s concerns over the ranking system spiked.
Whether as a way to avoid checking the barrage of the notifications on my phone, reminding me of all the ways I didn’t fit into Enchanter Evergreen’s world, or guilt for how difficult it’d be for Caleb moving forward, I went to have a discussion neither of us wanted.
Explaining this would burst all the enthusiasm he’d carried in his growth since arriving at Gemini Academy.
“I know you were curious, perhaps even a little concerned, about the Spring Showcase.” I stepped outside the proctoring room, joining Caleb who lingered close to the door, jotting notes.
“Not concerned.” Caleb stopped writing and twisted his wrist, staring at his Cast-8-Watch. “I just want to make sure I’m practicing the right things.”
“There’s no wrong practice, it’s all going to help prepare you for licensing and graduation, but those are far off goals, and you want to prioritize this goal.
I understand.” I cleared my throat. “I’d planned on covering this in the afternoon, but since you’re curious, I can give you a bit of a heads up. ”
Caleb brimmed with anticipation, and it’d all be deflated the second he learned no amount of training would help because the ranking system was practically set up to ensure his failure.
“The rankings will fall into six separate categories,” I explained, and as the words spilled out, Caleb’s mind raced to write them in the most logical way he’d comprehend.
Collaboration 10% Physical Endurance 20% Academics 10% Root Proficiency 20% Aptitude 10% Branch Proficiency 30%
“Wait. If branches are thirty percent, does that mean…” Caleb bit his lip.
“It means you’re already starting off with a major deduction.
” It was something I’d tried to fight when administration presented their ranking system for the Spring Showcase.
Prospective guilds wanted to observe our students’ branch magics, which was logical, but no case I presented offered a better alternative.
They’d refused grading him with a different category breakdown because that’d make things too complicated, and soon, every kid would want their own special grading system.
They’d rejected my proposal to have his root proficiency calculated times two in place of his missing branch proficiency; it’d still ensure a ten percent deduction even if he managed a full twenty percent on his root proficiency.
They rejected any alternative I concocted because, again, it simply wasn’t fair to others.
I didn’t even suggest giving him the points outright, but Peterson had offhandedly brought it up as if that was my next option.
“ Next thing, you’ll just want to give him full credit because it’s unfair he doesn’t have a branch.
” Peterson’s words were grating in my thoughts.
“ But tell me, how is that fair to students born with difficult branches they actually have to master? ”
There was nothing I could do to change the circumstances facing Caleb in this ranking system. It was designed against him, and now, he had full clarity of that.
Caleb’s mind swirled with doubt, casting tidal waves which would consume his spirit in an instant. I fought for the right words, any words of encouragement, but truthfully, nothing I had to say would lift him from that ocean of despair. He needed time to absorb the shock, and then we could talk.
“ If I’m already out thirty percent, then that means I need one hundred percent in every other category. No. One-hundred and ten percent in every category. ” Caleb looked up at me. “Does extra credit count?”
“Not particularly, but everything you do in and outside of the academy is evaluated by your Cast-8-Watch, so it can’t hurt. ”
Caleb beamed. Unlike Tara, unlike me, unlike any person I’d ever met, he swam against the current of his own self-doubt, defying the sea of sorrow the moment he was plunged into the depths. Determination burned inside his thoughts until all the sadness evaporated.
“You’re pretty optimistic.”
“I’m not optimistic; I’m determined. Maybe arrogant, slightly, but there’s a difference.
I hope. I realize the hand I’ve been dealt, and I understand no one’s going to change the system on my account.
But I know I’m capable of succeeding despite it.
If they want to start me in the negative because I lack a branch, fine.
I’ll succeed inside the system, and when I do, maybe I’ll change it so other branchless witches don’t have to scrape by so hard. You know?”
I nodded, soaking in Caleb’s confidence that radiated throughout the auxiliary gym in a hue of violet pride.
Blinking away the colors, I eyed Jennifer.
This array of colors was something she spotted with ease thanks to her empathy, but I rarely glimpsed the colorful spectrum of emotions unless I’d unraveled my telepathy all the way, like when releasing a manifestation.
Caleb walked away determined, and I ran my fingertips along the scar on my throat.
Since that attack, my psychic branch had grown intensely.
Perhaps it came before that. I spent so many years repressing my telepathy, it was hard to know how much of my branch I kept boxed away just to make it through the day.
Of all the students I’d helped over the years, delving deep within Caleb’s mind to guide him away from death, delving into Kenzo’s and Tara’s too, unlocked something inside me. Since then, my telepathy amplified faster than I could keep up.
After having a discussion I’d dreaded, I felt a bit lighter, which had nothing to do with my haphazard delivery and entirely to do with Caleb’s way of handling it.
And if he could handle the academy of his dreams literally conspiring against his success to showcase others, I could handle a few offhanded comments about my relationship with Enchanter Evergreen.
I sighed. Whichever app I’d forgotten, I would read through the notifications and delete.
I pulled out my phone and smirked. I hadn’t been the subject of more online chatter. Or, likely I had, but no missed apps, which was a win in my book.
Nope, the bombardment came from text messages. I rolled my eyes scrolling through a few casual “hellos” from folks I hadn’t talked to in years—or ever—but then found a flurry of unread messages from Milo.
My heart thumped faster, and my cheeks warmed.
Even before reading through the texts, I felt his concern synced to each inhale I took.
He must’ve been nearby for work. The passion and care thrumming through the air was soothing, though, completely vanishing the annoying start to the day that work had practically washed away already.
There was a slight time difference between this flurry and the next batch of unread texts Milo hurled.
He was out late, probably most of the night. Maybe he’d gone home, but more likely, Milo had gone back to the guild and fallen asleep at the office, finishing paperwork or making sense of one of many other visions too early to sort.
I scrolled through all of Milo’s self-conscious texts, emojis, gifs, and still saw floating bubbles by the time I’d reached the end.
I quickly typed back, upset he’d been consumed by panic this morning.
It was pleasantly strange, this thump in my heart, the idea he’d spent all day concerned about my feelings, but all I wanted in this second was to alleviate his nerves.
And I was. I hadn’t kept track of the thoughts glomming onto me out of curiosity or the one’s eager to pry for info since arriving at the auxiliary gym.
Work was a wonderful distraction. I contemplated adding an emoji, something kind and smiley.
Something that’d make my comment resonate. My phone buzzed. Too late.
He followed his comment with a questioning gif. Something to show his humor and lightly address his concern. I bit back a chuckle.
I added a kissy emoji. Gross. Removed. A heart?
Tacky. Maybe a black one. No. Love eyes?
Worse. I sucked my teeth, taking a deep breath and pushed all the outside voices rattling in the back of my mind like static noise.
These damn teenagers were in my head and Milo didn’t make it any easier liking these coded text conversations that were impossibly difficult to decipher.
The perk to work was it helped distract me from how openly dating the great Enchanter Evergreen had put my life under a microscope, and if he said it’d pass soon, I believed him. I trusted him even when I didn’t believe him.
Damn clairvoyants, always playing some angle.
Especially this one, determined to make the brightest future possible he could for everyone involved in his life.
A future I was eager to get to as I wasted time sending silly texts back and forth like instruction didn’t matter, work didn’t exist, and the past was washed away. It was a calming few minutes.