#sileancastle

[sileancastle]

I am new to Tumblr, (still) but I have made another blog so I can share a story I am writing.

my main is @iconicanemone and I'll be posti chapters starting now!

[sileancastle]

CHAPTER THREE

The next morning, Jake was standing in front of his house, trunk beside him, and a bag on his back.

"Make sure you email us monthly." Helen said, fussing with her son. "Don't get into trouble. Make sure you get your homework done."

"I'm fine mom," Jake said, pushing her away.

"Where's your crown?" Penny asked.

"I forgot!" Jake said. "It's on my bedside table!"

"I'll get it!" Penny said, and she rushed inside.

"I told you I'd forget something." Jake said to no one.

"You'll be fine." George said.

"Don't stay up too late." Mrs Day said as the little girl came out of the house with Jake's crown.

She handed it to the boy, who placed it on his head. "Thanks Penny."

"You're welcome!" She said smiling as the bus pulled up.

"Come here," Jake's mom said, pulling him into a hug.

"Mom stop! I got to go!"

"Oh," she released him, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Good luck!"

"See you!" Jake said as he climbed the stairs.

He made his way down the aisle to Kelly, who was sitting near the back.

"Hey," he said as he sat down, sliding his trunk under the seat. "Is Luke's house coming up?"

"Yep," the girl said, twisting her unusually brushed hair, tiara crooked.

Glancing down towards the front of the bus, he saw that a bunch of the seats had one or more acupant. Some he could just see the top of the heads, but a few he saw their crowns. Near the front he saw one that reminded him of ram horns.

They soon made it to Luke's house, where he was standing in front of a one story house with his older brother, who ruffled his hair as Luke approached the bus.

Climbing in, the red haired boy made his way to the back, and sat down across the aisle from Jake and Kelly.

"Switch with me," Kelly muttered, and Jake stood up so she could scoot to the aisle seat. "Is your mom okay?"

"Yeah," Luke said after he put his trunk under his seat. "She didn't feel like standing outside too long, so she said goodbye inside. She also told me to give you guys these."

He took a split container and handed it to Kelly. Opening it, Jake saw that one side was chocolate chip cookies, the other was snikerdoodle.

"Awesome!" Kel said, taking a chocolate chip cookie. "Your mom is the best!"

Jake noticed Luke's sad smile as he took a snikerdoodle. "How is she?"

"Hanging in there." He replied, taking off his crown to fiddle with it.

Jake took his own crown off, feeling awkard with it on, and set it on his lap. "That's good."

"So what do you think school will be like now?" Kelly asked with some cookie in her mouth.

"I heard that the teachers are a lot more strict at Silean." Luke said.

"Didn't your dad go to Silean academy?" Kelly asked, turning to Jake.

"Things are probably a little different. Duchess Silean was the headmistress when Dad was in school. And there'll probably be different teachers as staff too."

"What school did your brother go to again?" She asked, turning around again.

"Robert went to Kerick academy by the south coast."

"Oh that reminds me!" Jake said, "I met this girl in the garden before the submission test who was from the south coast."

"Did she tell you her name?"

"Umm, Serine Yarrowbrook, I think. May be wrong."

"Strange she came up north to take the test." Luke said. "She would have plenty of time to travel from there to Silean castle. Classes only officially start till August. You sure you got that right?"

"She had a strange accent and way of talking." Jake said. "She said she 'granted' me her name. Oh!" He snapped. "Serine YARRLOCK! That was it!"

"That was the kind of talking Robert described." Luke said.

"Oh look!" Kelly said getting on top of Jake to look out the window to a forest scene. "We're almost there!"

Jake looked out the window, seeing a castle just emerging into view. It was on top of a slanting hill, near a river. It's many towers looked over the court yard. Jake saw on some of the walls were banners of the Silean family crest, a buck and a doe together on a blue background.

The vehicle climbed the hill to reach the gate, which had two status of undefinding figures, one male, the other female.

Entering the court yard, the bus made its way through shaded grassy areas with plenty of places to sit.

Jake noticed that there were some kids hanging on the grounds, most likely students who stayed over the summer.

The bus stopped near the front exit, where other busses had already parked, and as people were standing up to get off, a lady near the front wearing a simple gold chain crown stood up. "Everybody sit down!"

People muttered as they sat back down, some having to move back a couple of seats cause of how fast they moved.

"Now," the lady said. "We will dismiss you separately. Leave your luggage here, and it will be sent to your rooms. Now, first two rows."

She made room for the front rows to get off the bus. Jake waited as the bus was disembarked row by row.

When the lady called for his row to leave, he picked up his crown from his lap and stood up, following Kelly down the bus, with Luke behind him.

"Ooooh! I'm so excited!" Kelly said as she hopped onto the ground.

"I know right?" Jake said, slipping his crown onto his head.

"I'm kinda worried about our stuff." Like said as they walked to the entrance.

"You're just killing the mood." Kelly said, going through the giant doors.

Jake stopped for a minute to take in the entrance. The ceilings towering above the students filing in was covered in a mirror, reflecting the crowd below.

In front of them was two grand staircases, swooping to meet a story high.

Hanging from the staircase was a banner with the crest again. This time Jake could read the motto above the deer. "Familia Est."

Following the crowd, Jake walked through the doors under the banner. They made their way through hallways with the walls covered in paintings of the past.

The crowd filed into a auditorium, filling the seats. Taking a seat near the front, Jake looked around at the other students.

"What's going to happen?" Kelly asked, sitting to the left of Jake.

"They're probably going to introduce us and explain some things." Luke said on his right.

"That makes sense." Kel said, twisting her hair already in some knots.

"You would think that you wouldn't be allowed to be on your phone." Jake said, seeing a dark haired girl with a purple-blue flower crown on her phone in the front row.

"Look look!" Kelly said, grabbing Jake's arm and pointing to the edge of the stage.

Seven adults had appeared from backstage, and were lining up on stage.

The man in the middle was standing a foot in front of the other teachers. "Welcome students!" The chinese man said, smiling. "I am Headmaster Silean, and I welcome you to my school!"

He gestured to the other people on the stage. "We're all so glad you could make it. Before we continue with our welcoming, let us introduce ourselves."

He stepped back, and the woman at the far left took a step.

"My name is Ms Pascoe," she said, wearing a yellow jacket." and I'll be your student councilor for your time here."

She took a step back and let a big broad man step forward.

"My name is Professor Carroll," he said in a deep voice, blue eyes shining. "And I teach Physical Education and history."

"My name's Professor Hormel," A southwestern woman said, brown hair in a crew cut and wearing a skirt. "And I teach the seer youngsters."

"I am Professor Mardis." Said an older balding man on the other side of the headmaster, smiling wrinkles around his light brown eyes. "And I teach spell casting."

"My name's Professor Dodge," said a black woman with black curly hair. "I teach teleportation."

"And my name is Professor Cooper." Said a spanish man wearing a shirt that had a math joke on it. "And I teach Math."

"Now that we're all introduced," Mr Silean said, checking with the other teachers, some of which nodded. "Let me explain a few rules.

"Students are not allowed in the river, classes are an exception. Sign ups for electives will be in Ms Pascoe's office and in the dining hall.

"In just a moment, you will come up here, and collect your dorm room number, class schedule, and to have your crown inspected. Our school prefers it's occupants' crown's to be in pristine condition."

He nodded, and five of the adults left stage right, leaving the headmaster Silean and Ms Pascoe.

Students started to stand up to get into a line, and Jake stood up and followed his friends.

"Why do they have to inspected?" Kelly asked as they got in line.

"They probably want to give us a habit of taking care of our crowns." Luke said from in front of her.

"Too bad for you." She said, looking back at Jake.

He shrugged, not really saying anything.

He didn't want his crown cleaned. The same gut feeling he had last night came back stronger. Something would happen if his crown was cleaned of the layer of rust.

He was so in thought that the person behind him had to clear her throat.

"Oh sorry," he said to the girl as he stepped forward in the line.

"It's fine." She said, her blue eyes watching him.

"What's your name?" Kelly asked, spotting a potential conversation.

"Azari. Azari Lynn."

Jake took in her blond braids, and a flower crown with white tulips on it. "I'm Jake Day, and this is Kelly Buhrman."

"And this is Luke Piercy!" Kelly said, pointing her thumb to their red haired friend.

"Nice to meet you." Azari said as they stepped forward. "So you all know each other?"

"Yep!" Kelly said. "Luke and Jake got in easily. I barely passed."

"Where're you from?" Jake asked.

"More up north, near Jambore city."

"Cool!" Kelly said. "We're from the nearby town Manshore."

"So you can go home for the night!"

"Actually no," Luke said for the first time. "This is a boarding school. You're supposed to be focusing on school, and living here helps with that."

"Why are you such a downer right now?" Jake asked.

Shrugging, Luke turned to climb up the stairs to collect his papers.

"Is he usually this negative?" Azari asked.

"No, he isn't." Jake said as Kelly followed Luke.

After she was done, Jake went up to the table to collect his papers.

"Name?" Ms Pascoe asked, looking at him with her grey eyes.

"Jake Day." He replied, watching her look through her pile of papers.

"Here you go!" She said, handing Jake his stapled papers. "You can have your crown inspected after Mss Buhrman."

Jake turned to see Headmaster Silean hand Kelly back her tiara. "It's in decent shape." He told her.

"Thank you!" She said as she skipped off the stage.

"Let's see yours, Mr..." Silean said, moving his eyes to Jake.

"Day, sir." He said, slipping his crown off his brow and handing it to the man.

"Hmm," Mr Silean said, barely touching the crown with his fingertips. "This is covered in rust. Did you inherit this?"

"No, it chose me by appearing on my bedside table." Jake said.

"Right. That would explain it." He said, tapping a rock on the table. "Happy Birthday!"

Jake was confused at the last part until a clear liquid spurted out of the rock like a giser. The headmaster must be a spell caster who had to shout out a word unrelated to what he wanted.

Headmaster Silean took the crown and moved it under the liquid, the rust coming off easily.

He gasped as Jake saw the metal underneath, a silvery substance that shined rainbow in the light like a pool of oil.

As more of the rust fell off, Jake could see how beautiful his crown was, glistening in the light.

He looked at Silean's face, which was in-between awe, surprise, and another emotion Jake couldn't place.

"That looks like Duchess Emily Silean's crown!" Said a kid still in line.

Hearing that, nearly every eye turned to Jake and the headmaster. Handing his crown back, Silean raised Jake's free hand.

"Behold. The heir of Silean Castle and the future Duke of Uphonia!"

[sileancastle]

Jake tossed some of his clothes from his dresser into a trunk. He then turned around and scooped his stuff from his desk and plopped them in.

His mom watched him from his bedroom door. "You won't fit the books you'll need in there."

"We're going to have to bring our own books!" Jake asked, looking at his messy trunk.

Laughing, Helen Day came in and put the trunk's items onto Jake's bed, and then started folding his clothes so they'd fit.

"I don't know what else to bring! What if I forget something. What if I bring too much! What if I bring too much AND forget something!"

"Calm down Jake." Mrs Day said. "Your father went to Silean academy. If you're worried, you can just ask him."

"I dunno," Jake said, sitting down next to his mom. "I just didn't realize that this could actually be happening. I mean, Silean Academy!"

Helen laughed. "Pretty awesome, right?"

"Yeah!"

"Don't worry." She said, stopping to brush a strand of blond hair from her son's face. "No matter how well you do, we will always be proud of you."

Their touching moment shattered when something crash below them.

Sighing, Helen set the shirt she was folding aside, and went to the door.

"WHAT'S GOING ON DOWN THERE?" She yelled.

"PENNY BROKE ANOTHER DISH. NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT!" Shouted Jake's dad from downstairs.

"Nothing to worry about, my foot," Mrs Day said as she left the room.

Jake stood up to follow her, but a ash grey streek zipped under his bed. He got down on his hands and knees to peer under there.

A cat with amber eyes stared out from under. "Hey Smokes," Jake said gently, reaching towards him.

The cat allowed the boy to pick him up, and bring him back downstairs.

In the kitchen, Jake's mom was on the ground sweeping up the shattered remains of a plate with Jake's little sister perched on the edge of the living room carpet, toes barely touched the linoleum of the kitchen.

"You know I can help you with that." George Day said, standing nearby.

"Yes. You can help by getting a paper towel damp and handing it here." Helen said, ignoring her husband's obvious implementation.

"You okay Penny?" Jake asked, sliding up behind his sister.

"I didn't mean to break the plate. But Daddy helped me fly afterwards." She said, standing on her tippy toes.

"Well you better say sorry to Smokes. He got scared with the noise."

"Oh! Sorry Smokes!" Penny reached up to pet is head, giggling.

"You wanna go help me pack?" Jake asked, tilting his head towards the stairs.

"Yes yes!" The little girl said, bouncing up and down.

"Keep Smokes from the kitchen." Jake's dad said, handing his wife the wet paper towel.

"Alright Dad." Jake said as he took both the cat and his sister upstairs to the sound of Helen saying "This isn't damp, it's wet."

After climbing the stairs, Jake set Smokes down and closed the stairs door. He followed Penny to his bedroom, where she had flopped onto the bed.

"Okay, we need to carefully fold my clothes and sort my things." He said. "Can you sort my stuff?"

"Absotootly!" The little girl said. She started to put the stuff on the bed in separate piles.

As Jake folded his clothes, Penny started to sing about what she was sorting.

"Sketchbook goes with the books, same with the cookbook. Pictures go with the pictures, and-" she cut off as she looked through the stuff. "Where's Kelpsy?"

"Over there on the bookshelf." Jake said, tilting his head to a worn stuffed otter. "I thought he should stay home so he wouldn't get home sick."

"He's your home!" She said with the little child wisdom as she got off the bed to fetch it. "And you didn't pack your crown!"

"That's cause I'll be wearing it to school." Jake said, putting a pile of clothes into the trunk.

Penny came over with Kelpsy silent. "Why don't I have a crown yet."

"Mom and Dad are waiting to see if one will choose you." Jake replied, taking Kelpsy and placing him in the trunk.

"But I don't want one to choose me!" Penny said, crossing her arms. "I might get an ugly one like yours."

"It's not ugly." Jake said, looking at his crown.

"It's rusty!"

"The rust gives it character."

"Still,"

Shaking his head, Jake sighed, knowing full well what his sis wanted "Bring it here."

Penny scurried to the bookshelf and carefully lifted the headpiece off the shelf and brought it to her brother.

Taking the crown from ginger hands, Jake placed it on his brow, feeling the always undescribable feeling he had whenever he wore his crown.

"It looks better on you." Penny proclaimed, as she always did when she saw Jake wear his crown.

Looking in a mirror on his wall, Jake saw  himself, messy blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a rusty crown that dipped on his forehead, then arching up on either side of his head, then leaning away, with an extra amenity curling in the front, reminding the boy of deer antlers.

He smiled. "Let's keep going." He said as he took his crown off, placing it next to him on the bed.

A knock on the door caused the siblings's eyes to look towards their dad in the doorway, carrying some books.

"Mom want you, Penny." He said as he came in.

"Okay Daddy!" She said as she left the room.

George put the pile of books in the trunk. "One set of first year books. They're still in the curriculum. I checked."

"Thanks Dad." Jake said as he put in some socks.

"Your mother said you were getting worried?"

"Mainly on packing."

"Oh, more than that," Mr Day said, watching his son avoid his gaze. "What's wrong."

"I don't know!" Jake said. "I have this gut feeling that I should be worried about something, but I don't know what!"

"Maybe it's the seer in you?" His dad said. "We got the results an hour ago." He said, replying to Jake's questioning look.

"Huhh," Jake sighed. Patting his son's back, George stood up.

"The bus will come to get you tomorrow. Make sure to pack your devices' cords."

"Almost forget. Thanks Dad."

"Your welcome Jake."

With that, Mr Day left the room, closing the door partway.

With good timing, Jake's phone dinged. Opening it, he saw he had a group message from Kelly.

Kel: Who else can't sleep?

Vader: It's only 7

Day: I don't think I'll sleep tonight.

Kel: What do you have to worry about, Day?

Day: I dunno. I have this gut feeling

Vader: Probably just nerves.

Kel: I have them!

Vader: Is everyone packed?

Day: Almost

Kel: not really

Vader: Make sure you get packed l before tomorrow. The bus will show up, and you'll regret not packing today

Kel: ik! Dad's already fussed at me

Day: I've gotta finish. Seeya

Vader: Bye Jake

Kel: Buh bye Day!

[sileancastle]

Silean Castle [Chapter One]

As Mrs Williams rattled on about the history of Uphonia, a boy in the classroom was reviewing his notes.

Complaceny - a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements.

Force = Mass * Acceleration

The Harlem family is the owners of the famous Rickadie Crown, who hasn't chosen a new owner since Sir Callem Rickadie the forth.

Of course, all that wasn't on his small piece of paper. It was just one word for each of the answers. Complaceny, Fma, Rickadie.

Jake was relying on his memory to remember the longer answers to these words, and hoping his brain would fail him like it did every so often.

"Mr Day." Mrs Williams said in a pause of her lecture. "Who was the last wearers of the Rickadie Crown?"

Jake glanced at his notes, which didn't give the answers he needed. "Sir Callem Rickadie the forth," he racked his brain. "And his younger sister Zinnia, who died when Callem was 9."

"What's that piece of paper?" The teacher asked, standing in front of his desk.

Jake wordlessly handed his notes to his teacher, who gave it back after glancing at it. "Good job."

"Mr. Piercy, please refrain from using magic in my classroom without permission." Mrs Williams said on her way to the front of the classroom. Jake's friend Luke jumped as a floating pencil taking notes dropped onto his desk. "Sorry Mrs Williams."

"Hmm," she said. "Miss Buhrman. What was the cause of Zinnia Rickadie's death?"

I look over to my friend Kelly, as did everyone else. Asleep on her desk, she didn't react to Mrs Williams till she slapped the front of Kelly's desk with a ruler.

"Fire!" Kelly shouted as she jerked her head up, her silver tiara caught midway down her midneck length of brown knots.

"Correct!" Mrs Williams said surprised as the rest of the class snickered. "Zinnia died from a house fire at age 4, shortly after the Rickadie Crown chose her. That death was soon to be followed with more as her father waged war on the neighboring Leige, for he thought that the fire was a work of arson. It wasn't until the current leader George Sirean stepped in that the great Rickadie Lang war ended."

As she lectured about the war, a folded up piece of paper got tossed onto Jake's desk. Putting his notes in his pocket, he unfolded the passed note.

"Meet at Day with Vader in the usual spot" it said in Kelly's usual scrawl. Catching his friend's gaze he nodded, then passed the note to Luke.

He didn't react to it immediately, as Mrs Williams was facing the class. As she asked Jessie Gumb to explain one part of the war, Luke looked at the note, and caught Kelly's eyes, frowning.

Jake averted his attention away from his two friends' staring contests to pay attention to the lesson.

After the lesson, the trio met up at a table outside of their school.

"Why'd you want to meet up?" Jake asked Kelly.

"Cause I don't want to fail the submission test!" Kelly cried, flopping onto the table, face planted on the metal top.

"Calm down Kelly." Luke said, moving some notes away from the flopped figure. "You won't fail."

"Yeah I will!" She said, lifting her head. "Silean only accepts the best! And I'm not!"

"You think we are?" Jake asked.

"Luke is straight up smart, and your notes are crazy good!"

"No they're not." Jake said.

"She's right." Luke said. "You always know ahead of time what the questions are, and write the answers in a way that only you get."

"Okay, first, it doesn't always work like that." Jake insisted. "And second, let's stop talking about this!"

"Alright." Luke said, adjusting his gold circlet with green spots of emerald. "But do you know what the test is going to be focusing on?"

"Probably history." Jake guessed, ignoring Kelly's groan. "The headmaster is the son of the last Duchess."

"Why history!" Kelly moaned. "Why can't it be easy like math!"

"Cause the Silean family is rich in history." Luke said. "And it won't be the common knowledge that would be on the test."

"If only," Kelly cried. "I can easily tell you the last Duchess is Emily Silean!"

"That's cause it's preschool stuff." Jake said. "The test would probably focus on other kinds of history, like the genology of the Sileans, or how they came into power, or the last dynasty before them, or where the Silean crown was seen last."

Jake stopped as he noticed a floating pencil near Luke writing down what he said. "Come on, I'm just guessing."

"Your guessed are close to accurate." Luke said, pointing to him.

"Fine!" Jake said. "Study that stuff if you want! I'm not the end all be all."

Leaving Luke to tutor Kelly, Jake stood up to give himself a breather. He walked  around the school grounds, taking in his last day at primary school. That afternoon would be tests for the final grade. Most students on Jake's grade would take these tests. His trio wanted to get into the Silean academy, one of the best secondary schools out there. Well, the guys wanted to get in. Kelly just wanted to stay with her friends.

He walked through a garden, bursting with flowers and crops. Free to take one, Jake strolled to a cherry tree near a pond and took one. Popping it in his mouth, he spit the pit into a trash can he was passing.

As he made his way to the exit, he heard beautiful singing.

He turrned a corner and saw a girl with long black hair in a braid singing in a foreign language. Eyes closed, she swayed to the slow beat, her face filled with emotions.

Jake stood there, though he didn't know how long, listening to the beautiful music.

When the girl ended her song, she opened her blue eyes, and gave a start when she saw Jake.

"You startled me!" She said, in a strange accent.

"Sorry. Your song was beautiful." Jake complemented.

"Hmm," she said, "You are a student here?"

"Yeah, last year. The name's Jake Day."

"Hmm," the girl said again. "I grant you my name. Serine Yarrlock, originating from the southern coast, come to take one submission test."

"Glad you could come, Serine." Jake said. "What secondary school are you testing for?"

"My father wishes me to attend Silean academy."

"Oh, that's what I'm testing for. Just a heads up, the test might be of politics and crown magic."

"Ah, thank you for the assistance. But why do you think that?"

Jake shrugged. "It's a little querk I have."

Off in the distance, an old fashion bell rang, followed by a voice on the intercom. "Can all eighth graders testing please proceed to room 11c?"

"Well, we better go," Jake said, turning back to Serine. But the bench she was on was empty.

"Huh, must be a teleporter." Jake muttered as he made his way out of the garden, and to the school entrance.

As he entered room 11c with some other students, he was stopped at a table right near the door.

"What school are you testing for?" A man at the table asked.

"Silean academy." Jake replied.

"Here you go." The man said, taking a packet from one of many piles. "The table you're sitting at is on the front."

Glancing at the front, he made his way to table 13, passing Kelly in an already filled table.

Jake sat down at the table with two other students, and started flipping through the magically blank packet.

Looking around the filling room, Jake spotted Luke four tables away, and the foreign girl, Serine, at a table by the door.

Soon enough, the stream of students stopped, and the man who gave them their packets closed the door, but not before the headmistress of the school came in.

"Welcome kids!" Ms Rudolph said. "To my students, I hope you had a good time here, and to visitors coming just for the tests, I hope you like your short time here.

"Now, before we get started, let me just say a few things.

"No magic is nessesary for the written portion of the exam. The pencils that will be given to you will allow you to see your test. So there will be no cheating."

"Now then!" Ms Rudolph clapped her hands. "Let us begin!"

Twitching her fingers in a follow me motion, a stream of pencils flowed from a box the man pulled out, and each one floated to an individual student.

Jake grabbed the one floating in front of him and opened the packet to the first page.

"What was the last dynasty that used the title 'King' 'Queen'"

Jake quickly wrote down the written answer and went on to the next question.

"Discribe two ways a crown may choose a wearer, and at approximately what age?"

Jake smiled. He was one of the people that got chosen by a crown, instead of given it.

'At around 6-7 will a crown usually chose it's wearer. Two examples is the crown glowing as the crown is presented to the child, or as the crown appearing by the child's bed.'

As Jake went on to the next question, he found himself atomatically answering as his mind wandered.

He remembered the morning his crown choose him. The morning of his seventh birthday, he woke up with a rusty elaborate crown sitting next to his alarm clock. He thought his mom put it there as a birthday surprise, but she never saw it before.

As Jake finished the last question, his mind flicked to his crown in general. He didn't wear it often, cause when other students had elaborate crowns, he always found it distracting.

He stood up, and brought his test to the door. He put the packet on a pile already made and handed in his pencil.

"Thank you, Mr Day." Ms Rudolph said. "We'll call you back for your practical exam."

Meeting up with Luke, they stood nervously, waiting for Kelly to come out.

"Luke Piercy?" Said Mr Arnold from room 10c. "Time for your practical exam."

Jake patted Luke's shoulder as he walked to the classroom.

Jake stood there, waiting. After Luke was done with his practical exam, he entered the crowded hallway.

"They told me to go to the cafeteria." He told Jake. "I'll see you after you're done."

"See ya." Jake said, absent mindedly.

Thoughts started to flick through his head. He didn't have any magic. Neither did Kelly. Would that cause them to not get in? That would devistate Kel. And Jake? He didn't know how he would react.

After the current person left room 10c, Mr Arnold called his name. "Jake Day?"

Jake made his way through the hallway to the room, where there was a table in the middle of the room, seated which was a lady garbed in scarves and gypsy attire.

"Sit down." Mr Arnold said. Sitting across from the lady, Jake's nerves racked up to an eleven.

"Calm, my son." The lady said. "This test is merely to see if your magic abilities will surface if they have not done so.

"Not being well in magic will not hinder you in your dream."

Jake relaxed at the last part. "What do I have to do?"

"Take my hand, and I will determine your magic level."

Jake put his hand in the darker hand, weighed with rings.

"Ah yes. Some, not all of, your magic has surfaced. Tell me. Have you had premonitions or accurate thoughts of the future?"

"Well, sometimes I can guess questions that are random, like when a teacher calls you out to answer something."

"Ah, you have some seer in you." The lady giggled. "Less than I, but nevertheless, you have great potential in your future of magic."

She nodded to Mr Arnold. "He is done. Call in the next."

Jake stood up, and left the room. The student who was next was Serine. She gave Jake a smile as she passes, and the door closed behind her.

Jake left the crowded hallway and made his way to the cafeteria, where students were already chatting together. Jake sat down next to Luke, who was nervously pulling at his red hair, his crown on the table.

"Hey, you'll definitely get in." He said, patting Luke's back in a comforting way.

"It's not me I'm worried about." He said, staring at the table.

An hour went by before Kelly came into the cafeteria. She sat down next to the two boys. "I ran out of time in the written portion! I don't know if I did it right!"

"It'll be fine." Jake said, giving her a quick hug. "Doesn't matter if you don't get in."

"You were the last one, right?" Luke asked.

"No, second to last."

"Look, there's Ms Rudolph." Jake said, turning to the stage that took the place of one wall.

She put on her head piece, elaborate with feathers, and cleared her throat into a microphone. "Hello again students!"

Jake spotted some younger kids peek into the cafeteria, reminding him of when he used to do that every year.

"In just a moment, we will give you your graded papers with the secondary schools you can choose from. I know all of you did your best. I know your future will be bright."

With that, she did the same gesture with the pencils, and papers fluttered from a pile her assistant brought out, and landed in front of each student.

Flicking through the papers, Jake noticed he only got two answers wrong. On the last page it listed the secondary schools he could go to. "I got in!" He said, spotting Silean academy in the list.

"Me too," Luke said. "Kelly?"

Jake glanced at her, seeing her crestfallen face. "You didn't get in?"

She slowly nodded, until she flipped her paper around and pointed at the school. "Nope! Totally did!"

"Stop messing with us!" Luke said. Giggling, Kelly pulled her papers back and circled the school.

"Can't wait!" She said, beaming.