Next Mage

~Marilla's POV

We had gathered twenty-one more mages. That was nearly the total of the whole of the Mage Academy already! The mages were all unique. There were some from America, Japan, China, Spain, three from Russia, two from Vietnam, and even one from Cambodia. But although most of them were accepting, a few people were looking confused, some wary, and some completely blocking out our friendly attempts to explain to them what was going on. I sighed exasperatedly.

"Hey, Marilla," I looked up at where the voice came from, and my eyes met Oliver's.

"Yeah?"

"Don't you think...well... Kuro..." He stuttered. I raised one eyebrow. "Kuro what?"

"Don't you think he's a little suspicious?" Oliver blurted. He bit his lip. I looked at Kuro, who was talking to Hana and Vulkan, one of the Russian mages. He was looking quite comfortable and not suspicious at all, except maybe the fact that his black hair was casting a shadow across his face as it swept over one eye, making him look like a delinquent.

"Uh...no?" I said, feeling quite confused. Kuro was the opposite of suspicious. He was funny, talkative and quite laid back. I looked at Oliver. "Are you okay? What's wrong?" Oliver looked down.

"Nothing." He mumbled. There was an awkward silence between us.

"Oh. Well, then. Um. Better get back to, uh, the introductions," Oliver muttered as he hastily walked away. I stared after him, puzzled. Then I looked down at my hands.

"Oh, yeah," I smacked myself. "Better go help then new mages."

~Oliver's POV

That was awkward, I thought as I hurried towards a Chinese mage, who was looking quite lost. I bent down towards her and she shied away from me from her spot on the grass. I flinched.

"Um, hello. Do you speak English?" I asked stiffly. The girl nodded tentatively. She put her arms out to gesture something.

A little.

I nodded slowly and began the explanation.

dashy line thingo

"Okay everyone, single file into the portal! We don't want someone's limbs ending up on another person!" Elvira shouted. Good thing we're on a remote island in the middle of the ocean, I thought. Her loud shouts would've drawn attention from miles away. I rubbed my face tiredly, then jumped as someone put a hand on my shoulder. I looked down. Marilla's big brown eyes were filled with sympathy. Something leaped inside me.

"It's okay, we're all exhausted," she said reassuringly.

"I know," I grinned, and we walked into the portal together. Elvira fumed behind us as we laughed.

"SINGLE FILE!"

another dashy line thingo

We zoomed through the portal, hand in hand, and chuckled as Elvira's shouts faded into the rainbow behind us. I looked at all the new mages in front of us. They seemed fascinated, some reaching out to touch the colourful walls of the portal and jerking their hands back to find that there wasn't anything really there.

The portal always got them interested, I thought, perhaps a little smugly. I could see the end of the portal, just a faint black dot amongst the bright, tropical colours, breaking the barrier between worlds. This was it. The end of the portal drew nearer, and in a split second, we were stumbling onto the academy grounds. Marilla wobbled, quite ungracefully, and landed on the ground with a thump.

"Need a little help there?" I asked cheekily as I grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"Hey! I'm still not used to it!" Marilla protested, grabbing at a tuft of grass and, unsuccessfully, throwing it at my head.

"Whoa, really? This is how you treat the person who just heroically helped you up? You didn't even aim properly! I am deeply offended, miss," I joked. Marilla rolled her eyes. I looked around at the new mages milling around, maybe a little disoriented from the portal. Surely this would be enough, I thought. They were enough. Elvira directed the mages up the grassy hill and towards the Academy. I could just see the tippy-top of the highest tower-- Oh no.

The Academy was on fire. Half of the building was burnt to rubble, charred and broken and crumbling to the ground.

The Elders. The other mages.

"Water mages! Everyone!" I screamed. I raised my arms and swept some of the fire off the roof. Through my foggy vision I could see a few burnt mages running out of the building, covering their mouths to block out the smoke. Stupid tears, I thought. I knew it wasn't just from the smoke.

Beside me, Marilla and Destan extinguished parts of the fire. Why did my element have to be so destructive? The flames licked at the walls, climbing higher and higher, consuming the Academy. Consuming my home.

Sweat slicked my shoulders and caused my shirt to stick to my chest. I coughed as smoke entered my lungs. The Ragnarok mages did this.

Realization hit me hard. Most of the fire was gone now, a few of the live embers being washed out by the rest of the water mages. They killed my father. They killed my friends. They killed INFERNUS. What if they killed my mother? I began to search frantically through the rubble, blind panic taking over my body.

"O...liv..er..." A strangled voice called from behind me. I whipped around and spotted my mother hobbling towards me. Relief washed over me like a wave. She was alive. I ran towards her, choking on smoke and tears, and buried my face in her charred clothes. I slumped to the ground and looked at the scene in front of me.

Terrified mages ran around haphazardly, some limping towards others for support. A burnt Aureole was sobbing with Pax over a mutilated something that looked like Kellen. Aiden, one of my best friends, was lying on the ground, dead. A few of the Elders were slumped against the crumbling Academy walls, their gazes empty as they stared upward, as if to greet their new home in the sky. Charred remains lay everywhere I looked. I hugged my mother's neck, not bothering to hold back my tears anymore, and sobbed. Rough, comforting hands wrapped around me as I sat helplessly on the burnt black ground.

"It's......kay," My mother whispered hoarsely. I cried and shook my head.

It wasn't okay. It wasn't.

It wasn't enough.