“Welcome! Welcome! We're all glad to see you here. Have a seat while you wait; there's enough for everybody to go around,” Juliana greeted the student mages. A crowd of children, teens, and adults gathered around three rows of folding chairs, attempting to find seats for themselves and their acquaintances. Skye and Ivan located two on the second row and settled down on them.

  “So you think you're ready?” Ivan asked his sister.

  Skye nodded, bouncing her leg on her chair. “Yes, yes! I've been practicing my magic all day yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day before that—”

  Ivan laughed. “If only you put half the effort into your schoolwork as you do into becoming a mage,” he quipped. “Then maybe you wouldn't be going to me for help all the time.”

  Skye rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right, and the reason you're better than me at schoolwork is because you're so studious and not because you're just naturally gifted at everything you do,” she retorted. “Don't think I haven't seen your horrible work ethic before. You're even lazier than I am, yet you somehow succeed because you always find ways to cut corners.”

  “Don't act like you're not guilty of cutting corners, too!” Ivan pointed out. “You were the one who tried taking auralillies to get ahead in your magic classes before I did.”

  “And guess which one of us has quit auralillies since then and which one of us still takes them,” Skye replied with a smirk.

  Ivan averted his eyes. “Unlike you, I've only ever taken them in private.”

  Suddenly Skye heard her name being called, and she jumped in her seat. “Sorry Ivan, but I gotta go! I'm being called for my eval,” she announced. Then she left her folding chair and made a beeline to the front of the school's gymnasium.

  While Skye was walking, the voice that called her up repeated itself, and she was able to hear it more clearly the second time around: “Skye Everson and Cayto Halifax, please come to the front of the gym.”

  Cayto Halifax? Skye thought. Wasn't expecting him to be here. I thought he hated aura-magic and everything associated with it.

  Also, why would he come back after injuring himself and being treated so horribly by the other students the last time he got evaluated?

  Perhaps he doesn't really hate aura-magic…

  “Hey Skye, hey Cayto!” A woman with a black shirt, magenta eyes, and long silvery-white hair with blue, lavender, and pink fades greeted the two teenagers. “How was your day?”

  “Pretty good, thanks for asking!” Skye answered.

  “Mine was crap.”

  Skye and Hyacinth looked at Cayto. “I'm sorry to hear that. I hope the rest of your day will be better,” the healer responded. “But anyway, we've got to continue. Which one of you would like to go first?”

  “I'll go!” Skye volunteered. Hyacinth nodded, and Cayto stepped aside. Skye got into position, mentally preparing herself to summon her aura. Then her evaluator began calling out skill names.

  The first part of her evaluation went surprisingly well, with Skye being able to execute most of the moves given to her without any problem— save for when she tried to summon an ice wall and almost poked Cayto in the face with an icicle, earning a disapproving glare from him. By the end of the round, Skye finished with a sense of satisfaction.

  “Thank you!” Skye said to Hyacinth. But just before leaving, she remembered something else: her final move that she'd been meaning to demonstrate. Before her trial, Skye had been practicing a lot of ranged skills, specifically those which involved spawning her power from a long distance. Instead of making an ice block, spike, or wall appear near her, she'd been trying to make them form further and further away from herself. “And by the way, can I do one last thing?”

  Hyacinth nodded. “Sure.”

  Skye inhaled. She stuck her arms out and shut her eyes, willing her ice to appear as far away from herself as humanly possible. As soon as she thought she had prepared herself sufficiently, she opened her eyelids and let out a breath, expecting to see a cluster of ice crystals spawn at around five feet from her.

  Instead, she felt something cold and wet enclose her right hand and forearm, weighing it down. Skye yelped.

  Of course the “sticky ice” issue had to resurface now out of all times, Skye thought to herself. To her annoyance, she found that a single particularly-long ice crystal had attached itself to her forearm and extended from it, instead of manifesting in the manner she had originally planned. Hey, this kinda looks like a spear…

  “Hyacinth?” Skye asked. “Is the “ice spear” an official move? I think I may have invented a new skill by accident…”

  Hyacinth shook her head. “Nah, that's been around for a while. Lots of ice mages before you have created arm spears. It's just that nobody really uses them because they're unwieldy and tend to break off easily. They're not really good for much except for looking cool.”

  Skye's expression deflated. “Oh.”

  Hyacinth jotted some notes in her clipboard and glanced at the clock. “I'm sorry, Skye, but I'm afraid your time is up,” she observed. “It's Cayto's turn now.”

  Skye smiled and began walking away. “Thank you, Hyacinth,” she said.

  ***

  Alright, this should be simple. All I gotta do is get into the mage program and not kill myself. That's it.

  Cayto sighed. He really didn't want to be out here, about to relive all the pain and shame he's been trying to avoid for the past month or so. But if that was what preserved his standing with the rest of the Halifax Clan, so be it. None of this would matter when he escaped the island-prison he was trapped in and returned to his rightful home, anyway.

  It would be kind of sad to leave Avriya though, just to return to a life I never wanted in the first place…

  Cayto fought off the urge to slap himself, as he typically did whenever he thought of something stupid like that. He couldn't afford to look even more idiotic in front of everybody than he already had. Instead, he focused all of his energy to the empty space in front of him, pointing his fingers in the direction that he wished for his electricity to travel. A moment later, there was a spark, and then what looked like a miniature bolt of lightning sprouted out of his fingertips.

  Hyacinth nodded. “Very good,” she commented, jotting more notes on her paper. “Although you do look a little tense.”

  “Can I go now?” Cayto asked.

  “Not yet. I can't get much information about your level of experience from one lightning line alone,” Hyacinth explained. “Would you mind demonstrating a few more skills for me?”

  “Like how many?”

  “Seven, perhaps?”

  “That's too many.”

  “Alright, five then.”

  With a great deal of reluctance, Cayto completed the rest of his evaluation, deliberately choosing the easiest and most simple set of skills he could think of to avoid injuring or humiliating himself. He wasn't aiming for a high group; he just wanted to get this whole mage thing over with and return to his normal life as soon as possible, that being if he had a “normal” life at all. Or at the very least he could avoid getting chewed out by his father over summoning curses and being a reckless embarrassment to everybody around him. Anything was better than that.

  “You can go now. Thank you for coming,” Hyacinth told Cayto.

  Cayto walked away without a word. Finally, he was done with this whole aura bullshit for the day—

  “Greetings, Solanum Tuberosum!” A certain peppy junior shouted, jumping in Cayto's face while waving around a fistful of flyers. “Please hand out these flyers for my cult— ahem, whoopsies! I meant to say “please hand out these flyers for my dorm party!” If you don't you'll be haunted by horrors beyond your comprehension, now byeee!” She dropped the flyers in Cayto's hands and ran off.

  Cayto sighed again. He really didn't need another encounter with Alexis right now out of all times, and he didn't want to be handing out flyers for her, either. But he already knew that he couldn't risk getting on her bad side. Between triggering his social anxiety by handing out flyers to strangers and ruining any chance he had at a stable life outside of Avriya, he'd prefer the former.

  The first person he approached was the crazy ice girl he got evaluated with— Skye, who almost poked out his eye with an icicle. He held out a flyer and cringed.

  “Please take this,” Cayto requested. Skye took the flyer from his hands, holding it up to read it.

  “Dorm party November 15th at 5 pm, room 1013. Free pizza and demonic rituals for everyone involved. All Silver Run students welcomed,” she read out loud. “Huh. Sounds interesting. Didn't know you were into that type of stuff, Cayto.”

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  “I'm not. I do not support whatever is going on in that flyer.”

  Skye gave Cayto a curious look. “Then why were you handing these out?”

  “Alexis forced me to.”

  Skye shook her head in disbelief. “Wow. Just wow,” she remarked. “And by the way, if she ever forces you to do anything that makes you too uncomfortable or goes against your beliefs, you can always say no to her. I'm aware Alexis can be pushy sometimes, but that doesn't mean you should go along with whatever she demands of you.”

  “You know nothing about her at all,” Cayto mumbled.

  Skye's face fell. “That doesn't sound good. But anyway,” she added, “I think it was really brave of you to continue to pursue aura-magic despite everything going wrong the last time you attempted it. Heck, you got stepped on, spat at, and were even told to die during your first evaluation, and those injuries you received from it were no joke either. Yet you still went back, and you managed to complete a second round without harming yourself. If that's not dedication, I don't know what is.”

  Cayto shrugged. “I'm really not as brave as you think.”

  “No! I'm actually serious when I say this. What you're doing is incredible, Cayto. Not to mention that whole thing with your father being the CEO of a giant shock-tagging company? He's literally trying to wipe out aura-magic from existence, yet you're going against not only his wishes, but your entire upbringing, too, for the sake of following your dreams. I'm impressed.”

  “Thanks,” Cayto mumbled half-heartedly. Under normal circumstances he may have told Skye how utterly wrong she was about him, but he figured that in this situation it was better to thank her, even if it wasn't genuine. When he first arrived at Avriya, Cayto struggled to escape because it was already known that he was trying to find a way out, so the islanders defended against him. Then, when he started faltering in his efforts, the people around him seemed to be less on-guard. Cayto figured it was for the better if he made everybody think he had given up on escaping. He would raise less suspicion that way.

  Everybody except for Alexis, that was. There really was no fooling her.

  Meanwhile, Skye looked at the ceiling, and a puzzled expression crossed her face. “Uh, Cayto?” she asked. “Is it just me or is it raining here?”

  “Raining?” Cayto echoed. “Aren't we indoors?”

  “Yeah, but look around. There are droplets falling from the ceiling.”

  “That can't be good,” Cayto noted as a puddle formed at his feet. Then he stuck out his hand. “Wait, these droplets literally feel like nothing.”

  Skye stuck out her own hand after him. “You're right. They do feel like nothing.”

  “So does that mean we have to evacuate the building?”

  Skye shook her head. “Not necessarily,” she replied. Then she took a glance at the section of the gym where her and Cayto's evaluations were held. “Actually, I think I know where this “rain” is coming from.”

  ***

  Hyacinth placed her foot inside a puddle of rainwater that had gathered on the gym floor, noting how it splashed and formed ripples around her. With a curious look on her face, she took a step back. Her foot remained completely dry.

  “Ivan, I'm impressed,” the healer remarked, earning a giddy smile from her student. “I've never seen illusions as seamless as yours.”

  “Really?” Ivan asked.

  “Yes, really. If I didn't know you were an illusion-mage, I would've genuinely believed it was raining indoors.”

  “Thank you!” Ivan exclaimed, leaning over to check Hyacinth's paper. “So does that mean I'm placed in a higher-level group now?”

  “We'll see about that,” Hyacinth replied, pulling her clipboard closer to herself. “Though I don't know which division you'll be in, I am considering you for placement in Advanced 3.”

  “Advanced 3?” Ivan echoed. “So I'm an expert?”

  “If what I saw today is truly representative of your magical abilities, then yes, you are officially an expert at illusion-magic,” Hyacinth stated. “You may leave now.”

  But Ivan did not leave the area, despite Hyacinth's prompting. “Mind if I ask what group Skye is in?” He enquired instead.

  “She's in Beginner 1.”

  Ivan's expression shifted into that of a person who had just received a punch in the gut. “That doesn't sound right,” he remarked. “Skye's been busting her behind off, made considerable progress in your class, and yet you still haven't promoted her. It's been over a month already! Most students leave Beginner 1 after 2-3 weeks.”

  Hyacinth bowed her head. “I'm sorry, Ivan,” she apologized. “I totally get you wanting the best for your sister. But I'm afraid that Skye is not ready to move forward with her training yet.”

  “Oh.” A deflated look crossed Ivan's face. “Well in that case, have you thought about combining groups?”

  “Combining groups?”

  “You know, put multiple groups in one lesson and teach them all at the same time? I think it would help the beginners who feel stuck, since they can learn from and practice alongside students who are more experienced than them.”

  Hyacinth shrugged. “I don't know about that, Ivan. It would be much harder to supervise and arrange lessons for a larger group of students with varying levels of expertise as opposed to a smaller one made up of students who all have roughly the same amount of experience. It's a good idea though.”

  “But it also takes a lot of time out of your day to teach all these individual lessons,” Ivan pointed out. “Seriously, you take on so much work around here. Maybe you wouldn't have to spend as much time working if you taught a few large groups instead of many smaller ones. Accomplish more in one session. That way you can finish your day earlier.”

  “Thanks for the suggestion,” Hyacinth said in between yawns. “I'll take your idea into consideration.”

  “No problem,” Ivan replied. Then he set off to find his sister. “Skye?!” He called. “Skye, where are you?”

  Skye wasn't in her chair, so Ivan checked the back of the gym, where the disposal bins were kept. He did a double take upon encountering her in that area, digging through a garbage can along with another student. “Skye?! Cayto?!”

  Skye looked up at Ivan. Cayto kept sifting through the trash, avoiding eye contact with Skye's brother at all costs. A third person, a girl with pink pigtails and eyes of two colors, glanced down at the ice and lightning mages, crossing her arms with a sinister smirk. “Hey Ivan. Fancy seeing you here,” she said. “You see, your sister and your future boyfriend have committed quite the infraction, and are now sentenced to searching the garbage bins for the flyers they threw out. I created those flyers all by myself, you know. They were very important to me.”

  “I see,” Ivan stated. “Skye, Cayto, would any of you like some help?”

  “Actually, this is all my fault,” Skye confessed, standing up to face Ivan. “I was the one who convinced Cayto to throw out the flyers for Alexis's dorm party. He appeared to be uncomfortable handing them out, so I told him he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do. I got him into this situation, and for that I am sorry.”

  Alexis leaned against the wall and cracked a smile at Skye. “Sticking up for a friend, I see,” she noted. “How noble of you. But I'm afraid this is a punishment both of you must bear, so I’m not allowing you to take the entire blame for Cayto. And you, Ivan,” she added, turning to face him, “stay out of this. This punishment is for Skye and Cayto only.”

  “Roger,” Ivan replied. Then he peered down at Skye and Cayto. “Sorry I can't help you guys. But I'll wait for you once you're done—”

  “Boo!” A girlish voice shouted from the corner of the gym, and seconds later, its source came dashing in front of the four teenagers while giggling. “I am the big and scary Garbage Monster!”

  Skye jumped. Alexis laughed. Cayto gave the dark-haired, pale-skinned girl an annoyed glare. “What are you doing here?!” The latter demanded, still too embarrassed to show his face. “Don't you have parents?”

  “Daddy let me watch the mages today. He says I'll join them once I'm older!” The little girl exclaimed in a sing-songy voice. “And why are you digging in the trash?”

  “That's none of your business,” Cayto muttered.

  But the girl remained undeterred. “Oh, I know, I know! It's because you're secretly a raccoon! Is that right, Cayto?” The child goaded, leaning in close to the teenager. “See? You even have raccoon eyes to prove it!”

  “Oh, would you please shu— I mean, be quiet?!” Cayto snapped. Ivan held back a giggle. Skye put a hand over her mouth. Alexis didn't even bother restraining her laughter.

  “You see, Cayto had recently started working at a daycare center, and now the High Mage's daughter is attached to him to a great degree,” Alexis explained to the Everson siblings. “But unfortunately for him, he is deathly afraid of children, and Juniper right here is known for making older people feel uncomfortable.”

  “You'd be uncomfortable too if some child tried to cling onto you with their grimy little child hands, would you?!” Cayto shouted at Alexis. This made Juniper giggle and start slapping her hands on him.

  “Child hands! Child hands! I have grimy child hands!” The little girl chanted. Cayto swatted them away, and Ivan picked Juniper off of him.

  “Alright, Juniper. That's enough from you. Cayto is already suffering enough as is,” Ivan reminded the girl while she sulked. “Give it a rest now, will you?”

  Cayto let out a sigh of relief and finally looked up for the first time since Ivan arrived. “Thanks for saving me Ivan— WAIT, WHAT?!” He yelped, his face turning even more red than it had been before. Then he let out a long and high-pitched shriek and immediately fled the vicinity. “PLEASE FORGET WHATEVER JUST HAPPENED, I'M BEGGING YOU. FORGETTHISFORGETTHISFORGETTHISFORGETTHIS PLEASE FORGET THIS!” But Cayto's desperate pleas proved futile, and even Skye, who was previously trying to hold back from laughing, was left snickering in his wake.

  After Cayto disappeared from sight, Skye picked up the pile of flyers he left behind and handed them to Alexis, along with her own flyers that she had gathered with him. “Sorry about all that,” the younger Everson sibling apologized again, this time to Alexis. “If you want, I can hand these out for you.”

  “Oh, you have nothing to apologize for,” Alexis responded. “In fact, that whole spectacle was highkey entertaining.”

  “Gotta agree with Lexi here on that one, it sure was fun to watch,” Ivan concurred. “Though I have to admit I felt bad for Cayto at times. Poor dude; I got so much secondhand embarrassment from him.”

  “Wasn't expecting him to work at a daycare center, be afraid of children and scream like a girl yet here we are,” Skye commented. “That sure was a whole other side of him I didn't know about.”

  “Well actually, he quit working at the daycare the same day he joined,” Alexis informed the two remaining teenagers. “But my point still stands. Seeing him freak out and get all flustered like that was hilarious.”

  Juniper held up a rock. “I found this cool rock at the car place and never got to give it to Cayto,” she added. “Do you think if I give it to him, he will like me?”

  “Car place?” Skye asked.

  “She means parking lot,” Alexis explained.

  “Oh.” Skye crouched down to meet Juniper's eye level. “I bet Cayto already likes you, and is just too stubborn to admit it. So if he acts like he can't stand you, don't take it personally, okay?” She advised Juniper.

  “Okay!” Juniper replied. “I won't take it personally. But if I give Cayto the rock, will he admit that he likes me?”

  Skye let out a soft laugh. “I don't know,” she said. “Maybe he will, maybe he won't.”

  Juniper held the rock closer to Skye's face. “But it has sparkles!”

  “Yeah, that's a sparkly rock,” Skye observed. “Why won't you hand it to Ivan so he can give it to Cayto the next time he sees him? He'll even tell Cayto it's from you.”

  “Actually, that's not a bad idea,” Ivan agreed. He stuck out his hand, and Juniper gave him the rock. “Thanks, June,” he responded, patting the girl on the head with his other hand.

  But Juniper was having none of it. “My name is not June!” The little girl protested, stomping her foot and pouting. “I am Juniper Nightmare Dalton, ruler of the Living and Dead.” Then she held up a raggedy old bunny plushie. “This is Hades. He is my assistant. He says if you don't obey me, he will sentence you to eat broccoli and brussel sprouts for the rest of your time on the mortal plane and in the afterlife.”

  Ivan took a step back. “Whoa there, Juniper Nightmare Dalton,” he reacted. “Broccoli and brussel sprouts is quite the punishment. And did you just say that you were the ruler of the living and dead? I thought you were the big and scary Garbage Monster.”

  Juniper cackled. “Actually, I am the big and scary Garbage Monster AND the ruler of the Living and Dead, you poo-poo brain!” She proclaimed, crossing her arms. “Fear me!”

  Alexis stared off into space and pressed her palms together. “Dear God, please help this child,” she prayed.