Chapter Twenty-Five
The week flew by, everyone in homeroom was equally disappointed yet excited for their three classmates who’d made it into the finals.
Caleb. Kenzo. Jamius. Honestly, of all the students who didn’t make it through the semi-finals, there were a handful from my homeroom I’d have expected to squeak through ahead of Caleb or Jamius.
I wasn’t at all shocked by Kenzo’s placement, and neither were those annoyed by it.
Some, however, like Gael, cheered louder than anyone else, so the enthusiasm evened out.
“Okay. Enough patting them on the back,” I said, ending the morning cheerleading squads. “You three need to get to the auxiliary gym.”
“ About damn time. ” Kenzo stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“ Now? Like this exact second? ” Jamius panicked.
Caleb buzzed with strategies and concerns and wonder and delight and anxiety, and I simply had to skirt around his incessant overthinking because my head already ached enough from the crowing rooster and students talking over each other.
“We’re not going?”“I wanted to see who won.”
“It’s going to be Kenzo, duh.”“Don’t remind me.”
“ It could be me or Caleb, too. Maybe. ”
“ I made a sign, though. ”
“We’re stuck in class all day while they get to cast?”
“It’s so unfair. I want to see the beaver in action again.”
“Cl-cl-cluck!”“ Is King Clucks jealous? So adorable. ”
“Good luck, Kenzo. And Jamius and Caleb and tell the other competitors good luck, too.”
“Stop talking.” I glowered, biting back an angry growl. “We’re going, but the contestants need to show up early.”
“Yay!”
Their exuberant excitement exploded throughout the classroom, and I suddenly regretted unbursting their little bubbles. Whatever. I cracked my neck.
“We have an hour until the ceremony, so we’ll use that time to catch up on missing work.”
Those remaining sighed, which helped me settle back into a bit of satisfaction.
Jamius summoned three encouraging copies as they exited the classroom.
“What are you doing?” Kenzo snapped.
“Winners need an entourage,” a copy answered.
“You’ve got nineteen clones in you before you’re done for the day, and you chose to waste three of them for an entourage.” Kenzo huffed. “Guess I don’t have to worry about you.”
Jamius sulked, and his clones booed Kenzo before leading their original down the hall .
After the slowest hour of hovering beside students to make this time productive on missing work, Headmaster Dower announced over the intercoms for classes to make their way down to the auxiliary gym for the Spring Showcase Finale.
We made our way there. Despite my best efforts to maintain an orderly line, the kids traipsed through the halls merging into the pack of first-year students all chaotically bursting into the auxiliary gym.
The turnout was massive, so many guests, in fact, I had difficulty finding seating for my homeroom.
“This way,” I snapped, cutting off Peterson and wrangling my students into a row while his kids floundered about. “What? We don’t have all day, Peterson.”
Fighting a smirk, I joined my students at the end seat.
The number of enchanters and acolytes was incredibly high.
Even a few guild masters had shown up in a privately reserved seating area closer to the arena than anyone else.
Carefully inserting herself among the guild masters, Enchanter Campbell made small talk.
Or what I could only assume was small talk or plotting or business or whatever she’d planned.
Her thoughts bubbled with concern about the demons stalking the streets of Chicago, but burying them, she focused instead on solidifying her position among these industry leaders.
How’d Chanelle manage to get the biggest turnout in Gemini history?
Honestly, I’d never seen this many enchanters at a second-year showcase or a third-year gala.
Though many enchanters’ minds buzzed with boredom, some held interest in interacting with one another or enchanters they’d avoided since every guild prioritized solidarity in their guild over the collaboration many had grown accustomed to.
“ Well, well, well. ” Milo’s thoughts tickled my nape and made my ears burn. “ You look quite dashing today. ”
I searched the crowd for him, half standing, while he whispered naughty words and cast naked images in his mind. My face burned .
“Are you okay, Mr. Frosty?” Gael asked.
“Ba-bawk.”
“ Yeah, he totally looks like a beet. Red and round. If only his hair was green. ”
I sat down, tempering Gael’s mind as he and his rooster cluckled in unison, believing I hadn’t heard their thoughts. Fucking rooster.
Syncing to Milo, our link connected seamlessly with him at the other side of the arena.
“ Found you, ” I thought.
He smirked, adjusting his tie.
“ Did you have a hand in this turnout? ”
“ Might’ve owed Chanelle a favor, so I called in a few others. Besides, a lot of these enchanters would gladly attend a showcase in exchange for some of the fortune I passed their way. ”
“ Seems unfair. ”
“ Not really. ” Milo’s eyes fluttered, his mind wrapped in potential outcomes this single event might offer for the guilds in the years to come.
“There must be some excitement to expect, having brought Enchanter Evergreen here to witness Gemini’s Spring Showcase firsthand,” a reporter said, drawing Milo back to an interview on the cusp of beginning.
“Honestly, every showcase that’s happened throughout the city—no, the state—and those yet to begin have been teeming with excitement and filled with truly talented young witches,” Milo answered.
“It’s difficult not being able to attend them regularly.
It’s important for guilds to remember much of our work involves observing, uplifting, encouraging, and training the next generation of magic.
I’m simply glad the amazing coordinator of this event found the time to reach out and explain why I deserved to reward myself with such great competitors today. ”
“Speaking of competitors, any predictions on who will win this showcase?”
“Thankfully, no spoilers from my branch today.” Milo laughed; his whole face beamed with joy. “But something tells me Caleb Huxley is going to display some impressive skills.”
My heart thumped. Was he being sincere or polite, given the odds stacked against Caleb?
“Who?” The reporter paused, checking the roster of students lined up and the names next to the best branches first, and his expression did little to hide how stunned he was when he spotted Caleb’s rank or branchless status.
“I’d never want to question your foresight, and who doesn’t love a good underdog story?
But surely there are more impressive candidates in today’s event. After all, he’s ranked awfully low.”
“I’m not suggesting winners. Remember, I haven’t seen anything about that.”
Liar. Milo had likely seen a hundred outcomes. Okay, maybe a dozen. Still, there were probably fragments, he subtly, suggestively pushed. I was grateful none of the kids could hear the interview. I could only imagine the spinning wheel of thoughts it’d create.
“Every single student out there is impressive.” Milo had this boyish grin of admiration like he was amazed by the next generation of magic.
“Not merely a handful. In fact, every student who ranked showed potential for making it to first place, and too many for me to count who didn’t land among the top 160 students this year.
All the first-year students show so much promise and potential it’d be unfair to declare a prediction based on magic, ranking, or anything else.
Honestly, I was simply in awe at Caleb’s perseverance.
No branch, and he pulled through in two rounds where branch capability was at the forefront of placing.
I’m honored to see each of these brilliant young witches who are about to display their talents. ”
Chanelle moved into her announcement, forcing a quick end to the interview and drawing me away from Milo’s mind.
“I hope everyone’s excited for Gemini’s Spring Showcase Casting Royale Finale.
” Chanelle waltzed across the freshly fixed arena floor.
“Similar to our first round, this is an independent match, but roots are completely allowed. All magic, in fact. Like the second round, if you’re knocked out of the arena or simply knocked out—you’re finished.
However, there are no dampening cuffs to make things easy, and there’s no time limit. Last witch standing wins!”
Cameras zoomed in on the top twenty-four students who’d landed in the finals.
Should’ve been forty, but two teams had a stalemate which resulted in an extra sixteen cut from the finals.
I scanned the contestants, counting on my fingers.
That was an even number, but I knew there was one additional student disqualified from the finals.
Jamie stood among the crowd, a proud smirk plastered on his face.
“ What the actual fuck is he doing here? ” I linked to Chanelle.
Her breathy sigh hit the microphone, and she ignored my question. “Let the casting royale begin!”
The kids sprang into action, firing branch magics which turned the arena into a flurry of chaos.
I lingered close to the fresh memory that rose to the surface of Chanelle’s thoughts, glimpsing the uncomfortable conversation she had with Headmaster Dower and two other administrators, each reassuring they’d never question her judgment, passion, or expertise in the educational field, while simultaneously skirting coy repercussions if the Novak’s didn’t get their way.
I quelled her frustrated and discerned thoughts. Annoying administration. Entitled parents. Spoiled kids.