SWNOVELS Chapter 2: No House
“Wow, I never imagined the school to be this big,” said Penelope with her mouth wide-open and her neck craned back viewing the school with her bright green eyes dazzling like stars. Even Mako was astonished while gaping at the mighty fortress- no wonder her parents didn’t tell her anything, you had to experience it for yourself to believe it. In the corner of her eye, Mako spotted the boy with the turtle-neck staring at the academy with his neck craning back like the rest of them.
She heard Bard chuckling at the kids like he was very familiar with their reaction. “Come on first years,” he encouraged.
All the students scurried along a smooth-paved path, passing through massive black metal gates that protected the entrance of the academy, they all gathered in the foyer nervously waiting behind Bard. Mako tippy-toed over the heads of the other kids spotting two massive glass doors spilling shimmery golden light onto them, there was a coat of arms on the doors holding the original alchemists, they were: a sapphire phoenix, a mighty lion-turtle, a golden-armoured eagle and a jewelled mermaid.
There were torches flickering and radiated a warm light around the castle halls easily exposing massive staircases circling up and disappearing deeper into the castle turrets. Everyone noticed how quickly Bard disappeared in a dark room before coming back just as fast with another person accompanying him.
“Welcome first years, I am Professor Grimaldi, the Head of Water users.” Mako had never seen someone more beautiful but look severely strict at the same time. She was dressed in a long trailing cloak. It was navy-blue. Her hair was neatly braided and black like the feathers on a crow. Her eyes were an unusual purple and to Mako’s surprise they landed on her- the teacher’s head tilted slightly to the side before she continued. “I will take you into the Auditorium where you will meet your future teachers and the Headmaster-” Mako remembered the letter she had received thinking how eager she was to see the infamous Headmaster of Wiggin Academy. “You will also separate into the element you possess which are: Fire, Water, Air and Earth,” she informed promptly. Mako’s stomach lurched when Professor Grimaldi didn’t mention Black smoke. “Raise your hand if you’re a black smoke user,” she asked and everyone looked around while whispering to each other’s ears, Mako’s slim arm went slowly and awkwardly into the air. “Unfortunately, we do not have any Black smoke users this year, so, Ms. Mako Hawthorne you can take a seat wherever you like,” she said evenly, leaving Mako clueless of what she was supposed to do by herself.
All of their attention was caught when a smug voice spoke from the far corner. “Who would want a black smoke user at their table.” It was a boy with the spiky brown hair, he began to snicker at his remark with his friends that stood closely next to him, and they laughed right on cue when his eyes landed on them. His icy-blue eyes then coldly glared at Mako, his remark wasn’t a surprise to her and it wasn’t out of the ordinary, but still she expected to be treated with some dignity at this prestigious school; apparently not though, since people are the same wherever you go.
“Silence,” said Professor Grimaldi looking over to the boy with an intense glare.
Suddenly, an arm went around Mako’s shoulders. “She’ll be sitting with me, Professor,” said Penelope with a loud and clear voice for everyone to hear. The boy rolled his eyes before glaring at Penelope and Mako.
“Alright then that’s settled, follow me,” said Professor Grimaldi.
They strode past the glass doors that magically opened on their own when Professor Grimaldi waved her hand in front of it. Simultaneously, all their necks craned up and their eyes locked onto the high dome ceiling that had an intricate picture painted beautifully on the tiles- since Mako had only seen these types of things in books it was hard for her to figure out what the painting was when she first looked at it. But as she examined closely she could spot that there were two sides both full of Alchemists that were angrily attacking the other side and, in the center, stood a woman with a small black ball in the palm of her golden hands with two warriors protecting her fiercely from both sides.
“That must have been some battle,” Mako whispered to Penelope.
Penelope followed where Mako’s eyes were glued too. “You don’t know?” Penelope threw a puzzled look at Mako. “That’s the Battle of Pentagram.”
Mako shook her head.
“It’s okay,” Penelope sighed. “It happened like hundreds of years ago.”
Mako craned her neck one more time, she noticed the sharpness in the two warrior’s eyes as they stood bravely to protect the woman in the middle, leaving her to marvel over what the story behind the Battle of Pentagram was all about.
Their small scuffling feet continued to follow Professor Grimaldi under a massive chandelier, that was lighting the auditorium blindingly bright with small torches lightening the side paths, she felt like she was under a microscope with the thousands of eyes spectating them. The long bleachers circled a massive room with all of them facing the bottom center, with many unusual teachers seated on separate chairs; one of the teachers had a shiny moon crescent (like the one outside today) painted on his forehead, and the one next to him had feather’s sticking out of her hair. The students were all wearing the same uniforms while filling up the massive space, but none of them seemed to go near the far dark corner; even the teachers seemed to forget that that part of the room even existed.
Mako’s wandering eyes landed on a man sitting in the middle chair who was petting a ferocious brown bird, that was seated calmly on the arm of the massive chair. The man looked fairly young to be the principal of a school but the intense authority and fierceness radiating from him proved her otherwise. His raven hair was raked back and reached just above his broad shoulders. His grey eyes were surrounded by heavy lashes, they were sharp and alert but seemed relaxed and cool like nothing could shake his patience. A heavy crimson cloak was placed on his shoulders as it effortlessly spilled along his seat and rested on the floor near his massive black boots.
Professor Grimaldi gestured to the empty seats at the very front, while all the older kids were staring at them with knowing smiles like they were remembering their first day at Wiggin Academy. Surprisingly everyone found their seats easily since the podium was colour-coded for each element. Mako just followed Penelope to the bleachers that were glowing blue and seated next to her as she was too busy waving to some boys; from her exciting squeal it looked like she knew them quite well. Mako noticed Professor Grimaldi whisper something in the ear of the man she guessed to be Headmaster Wiggin, when suddenly, his smoky grey eyes landed on Mako making her freeze awkwardly in her seat.
He stood up from his seat after all the students had settled into their spots. “Welcome students to a new year at Wiggin Academy,” he said as the older students began cheering and clapping their hands enthusiastically. “I would like to start off by saying a few rules that are followed here. First off, do not leave the school grounds after 10:00 p.m. Second, due to the growing number of snapping dragons, the garden in the east wing is off limits, and lastly; do not touch or talk to any of the grim reapers, especially at night.” The hall was pin-drop silent.
Penelope’s soft voice whispered near Mako’s ear. “Told you the school was guarded by grim reapers,” she said with a grin.
“I have said this every year to the older students that were once new,” he said. “So, I will say this to the students who have joined us today. Wiggin Academy is here to lead you, so don’t abuse the leniency of your professors because you are first years. I built this school to help students understand their powers and guide them to help others with it-” his grey eyes landed on Mako once again- “I have made sure that the strongest benders have been created at this school, but I have also made sure that these benders are worthy of wielding such power-” His words emitted through the entire auditorium like rays of sunshine clearing up all the fog that golfed up the world after a rainy day. And for the first time today she felt convinced of why she came to this school- “Your classes start tomorrow at 8:30 am sharp, so I will leave you with your prefects to guide you to your dormitories, and I hope you all enjoy your time here at Wiggin Academy.”
The auditorium immediately began to fill with the chatters of excited mixed voices, but all of it was muffled to Mako when she realized she didn’t belong to any house to go to a specific dormitory.