Lily & Rose: Blossoming Magic

A Warning About Magic

The next morning, Lily shambles towards the classroom only half-awake. She stops when she hears her name called out.

"Morning, Lily!", Tarutaru calls to her.

"Morning, Grass Patch. What're you doing here, don't we have theory next...?"

"Nah, they canceled it, I'm standing here and trying to tell everyone that the Teach couldn't reach that we're doing study hall next. There are instructions on the blackboard in the auditorium."

"Study hall? Ah yeah, aka Sleepy Times!"

"Lily, no. There's quite a bit of notes you have to take!"

"Ehhh, I'll borrow it from somebody afterwards. Maybe that Cotton Candy girl. See ya!" Lily shouts and leaves.

"Caldwell, she doesn't— Lily wait there's no way— Uuugh, she's gone already..." Tarutaru says and watches after Lily's back looking defeated.

Lily enters the dim auditorium and sits down comfortably on the soft chairs. She reads the instructions and decides to just ignore everything and catch on her sleep. Afterwards, she feels refreshed and walks to the main entrance hall, where she spots Rose near the doors. She walks closers and hollers at her.

"Hey Cotton Candy? Can I borrow your notes? I was, uh, late, so I didn't get to attend." Lily asks her.

"I don't have any.", Rose answers coldly, without changing her expression at all.

Lily blinks and takes a half-step backwards. :: Such a cute voice! I did NOT expect that. How can anyone acting that indifferently have such a cute voice?! ::, she thinks to herself.

"Why? You were there, weren't you?", Lily says and tilts her head slightly to the side.

"Why? Why would I? I don't need to learn. I already know it all.", Rose says matter-of-factly.

"Well, aren't you the arrogant one!", Lily says.

"Mh.", Rose mutters and shrugs her shoulders.

"And a friendly one in addition! I wish I had it easy like you Naturals, wouldn't have any need to work my ass off like I do now!", Lily says and sighs deeply.

"It's not what you think once you get further in your studies. You'll see you have it better.", Rose says deadpan, turns and walks away, leaving Lily standing there.

:: Such a cute voice and face and such a bitch! What the hell? Does she not have any emotions at all? Is she a human at all? ::, Lily thinks.

"Oi, blondie-chan!", someone calls over. A light voice with a noticeable foreign accent. Lily looks around and spots the owner of the voice, a girl in 3rd Grade uniform. She has long bright light blue hair, and she looks Asian. She looks at Lily and gestures towards Rose. "Yeah, you there! New girl. Take care, this Rose has thorns." Then she turns and walks towards the 3rd Grade stairs and disappears upstairs.

Lily shrugs and walks away, not paying that much attention to it. She enters her classroom and sits down. Teacher arrives and addresses the class.

"All right class, settle down. Today's lesson is the basics. You should know this already, but I know some of you haven't paid attention and some of you may even not know at all. But this is the most important lesson I can give. Pay attention and remember this like your life would depend on it, because it just might."

The Teacher emphasizes her words by waving around her arms wildly, "As you all know, magic comes from outside, we draw it from our surroundings when we need it. We channel it though our bodies for spells and effects. And thus we can achieve wondrous things. But remember that magic is not to be toyed with. If you cast a spell while angry, it can kill you. I wish I was joking. Magic amplifies our emotions by orders of magnitude. The human heart is not capable of dealing with such intense emotions. Having potent emotions while channeling magic can literally kill you. A couple of years ago there was an accident near this school. Someone was asked to perform a simple Contact Ritual, but unbeknownst to the teacher at that time, that person's dog had just died that morning. So great was their sorrow, when they drew in the magic, the amplified emotion just stopped their heart."

Teacher puts her hands on her hips and looks at the class with a serious expression. "This is why it's extremely important to be in total control of your feelings. And not to perform any magic at all if you feel like you can't control them. Having any powerful emotions can quite literally break the human heart. Do not take this lightly."

"Yes, Miss Martinson?"

"Uhm.. As you said, we draw magic while performing it... But what about those that do not... those that always...", Lily lets her voice trail out and slowly looks at Rose, who is indifferently doodling on her desk, not even listening to the teacher.

"Yes, what indeed? Well, it is true that some of us have been born with the privilege of not having to do work for gains. We know very little about that kind of thing, and those who are born that way do not talk. If you'll heed my words, you'll pay no attention to matters like that. It's not like they pay any attention to us. Isn't that correct Miss Caldwell?"

There is no reply.

After that, Lily's life settles into a comfortable pace. School at morning, then recess, then more classes, then lunch and a longer recess and then afternoon classes. Afterwards she goes home and does homework and maybe something else. She doesn't really have anything to do and is mostly bored or is reading books.