3 Entrance Ceremony

He wasn't sure what he was expecting of the Temple, but it definitely wasn't this.

But that was probably because he had given in to flights of fancy the night before with Hana on what their new life would be like—grand feasts befitting the Goddess herself, king-sized canopy beds with feather-down duvets, and other childish delusions like that.

Still, it was reasonable to expect at least a little more than this.

If it weren't for the fact he had a small window and the floors were furnished with hardwood, his dorm would hardly be distinguishable from a little jail cell. Silvio squeezed around his mother as the two of them struggled with the fitted sheets on his ancient mattress.

"I always hated this bedframe," said Eliza.

Silvio sighed. He supposed it made sense that clergy wouldn't have big rooms, but the rest of the Temple was so beautiful it was almost insulting. Hanging off the hulking frame of his bed, he swung himself around on it.

"Mom, I don't need your help unpacking!" he whined.

"If you don't need help unpacking, then why did your sister finish almost an hour ago?"

His roommate, Jan, snickered. Silvio didn't like him. Jan was a mean-spirited and sarcastic boy who already took to making fun of him; a child with a body so frail he wondered how it could possibly harness magic. Even his platinum blond hair was wispy and delicate. He was off in his wheelchair in a corner, flipping through Silvio's Spell Calculations textbook and not doing anything constructive except fire off a few quips at his roommate's expense every so often.

Silvio wanted to retort by telling him that being a cripple was no excuse for being an asshole—but he knew his mother would skin him alive if he dared, so he tolerated him. He didn't appreciate his mother not telling the little brat off, though; all she did was shoot Jan a pointed look and mutter something under her breath about poor parenting.

"There!" Eliza placed a pillow on the newly made bed. "I wish somebody would write a bedmaking spell already. I hope you'll be better at Spellwriting than I was when I was in school." She chuckled. Taking a crystal out of her pocket, she tapped on it. It glowed with magic and projected the time like a hologram. "Done, and with just minutes to spare! The entrance ceremony is to begin in fifteen minutes." She paused. "Oh, I forgot my picture-taking crystal. I'm going to run and get it, but don't you dare be late!" And with that, she was off.

Silvio looked in the mirror and adjusted his uniform, a white tunic with a blue vest laced together with satin ribbon. He wore matching pants that tapered off at his ankles and woolen black socks with shiny buckled shoes. It was super traditional, he noted, running his thumb over the floral embroidery on the vest. He hadn't worn anything like it since his parents dragged him and Hana off to folk dancing classes when they were five. Still, it was fitting for an acolyte not to parade the vain modern styles of the wealthy.

Jan rudely brushed past him as he wheeled out the room. Silvio shot him a nasty glare, but it was for nothing. He was long since gone down the hall. He definitely didn't want to be late, though. Silvio picked his magical staff up off his desk, this time fitted with a few enchanted stones, a gift from his father. He broke a silly pose that he thought looked cool with it, and tittering with excitement, jogged to his sister's room.

"Hana!" he called. "Are you still in there?"

The door opened a tad, and Hana peeked her shy face out.

"You're finished unpacking, right?"

"I'm avoiding my roommate," she answered matter-of-factly. "She's way too intense."

Were they cursed or something? Silvio commiserated with her on their unfortunate luck in room assignments, but they couldn't be late.

"C'mon, let's go!" he commanded, opening the door all the way and grabbing her hand.

"Ah—um!" she sputtered. "I need to get my staff…"

"Hana, this is no time to be slacking off! The entrance ceremony starts soon!"

"I…"

"Don't tell me you're nervous to go?"

Hana flinched and nodded, gazing sheepishly at her shoes. Silvio weaseled past her into her room and grabbed the staff for her, stuffing it in her arms.

"Uncle Crowe said Isaana-sa probably won't attend, so if you're worried about embarrassing yourself in front of the Goddess, don't be."

Hana breathed a sigh of relief.

"And I know you're scared of crowds, too. Will you be brave and go if I stand right by you?"

She nodded.

Silvio's face brightened. "All right! That's the stuff! Let's go!"

-

They got there with only a minute to spare.

Standing at the end of the very back row, Silvio was more preoccupied with admiring the enchanted stones on Hana's staff than listening to the band processional.

"Oh, two black agates, a moonstone, and four emeralds!" he whispered. "I read in the Spell Calculations textbook last night that you can teleport with that!"

"Shh!" Hana shot back at him. "Uncle Ignatius's about to speak!"

As if on cue, the tired-looking man took the podium on the center stage and cleared his throat.

"Ah-ah, good morning!" he began, but he was almost impossible to hear in the very back. "Regretfully, the Goddess cannot attend the entrance ceremony this morning, so I shall be making the opening remarks in her stead. Congratulations, children! You are the next generation who have been chosen to continue the sacred tradition of Sorcery! We hope that at the Temple you will learn all the basic magical skills that will serve you well for everything you hope to achieve in life…"

Silvio tuned him out. Crowe looked small and insignificant anyway in comparison to the grand building in front of him. It was built in the forest on an island floating in the middle of a lake. Its base was made with stones polished by nature itself, hints of jade embellishing it. The top levels were constructed of sturdy hardwood, fitted with stained glass windows and buttresses with gargoyles perched atop them, water pouring in a gentle stream from their mouths back into the lake. Flower boxes filled with tulips and poppies overflowed into a tangle of ivy creeping up the walls, the building's steeples reaching high into the heavens.

It was an exterior like this that was why Silvio was so disappointed the interior could house such a drab room.

"… Anyway, I am the High Priest, Ignatius Crowe. You may call me 'Crowe' and only 'Crowe.' I'm the Professor of Spell Calculations here."

Crowe stepped down and was replaced by a short, chubby woman with blonde hair trimmed into a messy bob.

"A-And I am the High Priestess, Ffion!" she squeaked, wringing her hands nervously. "I teach both Healing Arts and Potions, so I—uh—I hope we can get along!"

As the clergy introduced themselves, a familiar uncomfortable feeling welled up inside Silvio's stomach. He grimaced; trying to ignore it wasn't helping. "Psst." He nudged Hana.

"What?" she whispered, clearly annoyed with him.

"Bathroom," he whispered back.

Hana sucked in a glut of air. "Can't you wait?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"I don't think the Professors will let us leave."

Silvio held his stomach, giving his twin a pleading look. "I'm literally dying!" he moaned. "We're in the back! No one will notice if we slip out for a bit!"

"But getting in—."

"You can use the teleportation spell!"

Hana hesitated and looked around. No one was paying attention to them. "Are you sure you can't wait?"

"Never been more sure in my life!"

Looking around once more to see if the coast was clear, they slipped behind a tree.

"You're a lifesaver!" Silvio said. "Now take us into the Temple!"

"Um…" Hana fidgeted. "Do you know the words?"

"The words?" He stared at her. "You mean the invocation? Yep. It's, uh... 'lanua lanue.'"

"I don't know if this is gonna work. It seems hard to me… Can't you just pee behind the tree? Aren't boys good at that?"

"Please!"

Hana looked at her brother, then at the staff, and grabbed his arm. "… Fine. I'll try. Hold on tight. O Gods of the Land and Sky, lend me your blessings--b-BESTOW upon me your power and lend--grant me your blessings: Lanua lanue!"

And with that, the agates, the moonstone, and the emeralds glowed, there was a mighty crack, and everything went black.

-

Silvio was the first to regain his bearings. Feeling a pounding in his head, he held it until the dizziness went away and Hana recovered.

"Where are we?" he asked.

They were inside the Temple, but not anywhere near the dorms that they knew. Instead they landed in a grand library, chock full of thick, aging volumes stacked neatly on the shelves.

Hana clasped a hand to her mouth. "Look!" she whimpered, pointing out the window.

Silvio looked out and blanched. Far below them the tiny antlike bodies of people populated the front lawn. "Oh, no," he groaned.

"I don't think we're allowed to be up here!" said Hana.

"Then let's find our way out of here fast!" he exclaimed, grabbing her arm. "And then find a bathroom, of course," he added.

Jerking her along with him, they sprinted down a row of books, twisting and turning fruitlessly in the unending labyrinth—

"Don't you think it's bad manners to run in a library?"

They froze, looking around for the new voice.

"My eyes are up here," she said, and when they looked up, they saw her. She was a woman of astounding beauty, dressed in a stately overcoat and long frock, sitting atop one of the bookshelves and eating a packet of wine gums. She stared down at them, hawklike amber eyes boring into them, betraying a deep cleverness on the otherwise neutral expression fixed atop her heart-shaped face. Her hair was long—it reached past her waist—but most notable about it was its unnatural forest-green hue.

Green hair!

How much dye did she use to get it that way?

She rifled through the wine gums and plucked one out, eating it with a loud smack.

"Respectable deduction skills," she continued, still chewing. "This is the Goddess's private archives. You are correct that no student is to be up here without special permission. I mean, some of the books here date back to the days of the Aclarian Empire. There's no way she'd let a bunch of dumb middle schoolers mess around with something so rare."

"We're really sorry, ma'am!" sputtered Silvio. "It was an accident!"

"I didn't mean to…" Hana added.

"No, it was all my fault!" Silvio cut her off. "I pressured her into trying a spell she hadn't done before, so please only punish me!"

"Hmm." The woman licked her fingers, and with a slight push jumped off the bookshelf. Except "jumped" wasn't the right word for it. She floated down, levitating in front of them for just a second until her feet met the floor, but even then her body still seemed somehow weightless. "Yes, it's pretty clear you've never tried it before," she said drily.

Silvio stepped protectively between her and Hana.

"P-Please don't expel us!" stuttered Hana.

The woman shifted, then burst into laughter. "Expel you? Why would I expel you before school's even started?"

"But—we broke the rules."

"It was clearly an accident," she replied. "I'll tell you what: how about we keep this our little secret, and in exchange you work hard for the rest of the year?"

"So you're not going to punish us?" Silvio asked in disbelief.

She shrugged. "I mean, I should, but I don't feel like it."

"You don't…?"

"Rules are more suggestions than anything else, dear." She ate another wine gum. "Seldom ever has progress been made because people chose to fit in a mold. But you ought to be glad you ran into me instead of, say, that stuffy old Ignatius." Looking them over, she swallowed and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "You know what, you two must be his. He was going on and on about his niece and nephew coming here. Young lady, you were the one who cast the lanua lanue?"

Hana nodded nervously.

"I think that was pretty remarkable for your first try," she said. "Of course, being related to Ignatius, it only makes sense for you to be gifted. You shouldn't have tried that, though." She paused. "Teleportation is dangerous if you don't know the layout of where you're going perfectly. You were lucky ending up here just a bit off the mark. Normally when beginners try it, they end up stuck in a pocket between space-time. There's no oxygen in there. They always die."

"O-Oh." Neither sibling was sure how to respond to that.

"It's better to just fly somewhere."

"Like the flying spell you did?" Silvio inquired.

"Pardon?"

"You know, how you floated down to us just now…"

"That. Oh! That!" She crumpled up the wine gum packet and shoved it in her pocket. "Something similar, yes. Anyway, I think you should probably leave now. Instead of running around in circles, the exit's a straight shot from the main aisle."

"Again, thank you so much for not punishing us! Are you the librarian?"

"Sure."

"And, uh… where's the nearest bathroom?"

"Fifth door down the hall. But if you want to know a little something-something, a little bird told me there's a secret tunnel leading to the forest in the third girl's shower stall on the first floor. Nobody would notice if you were to take it to get back to the entrance ceremony. Just saying."

"You're so kind, ma'am!"

She waved them off. "Yes, I am. By the way, you two are fraternal twins, right?"

"Yes?" Silvio didn't see what that had to do with anything, and by now it was taking all of his willpower to remain in control of his bladder. "Why?"

"Hmm, no reason. Well, I'm interested in you two. I'll invite you up for tea and cakes sometime. All right, get lost. Books make poor toilet paper."

The siblings took this outlet to leave, but before they left the library Hana turned around to thank her once more—but she was no longer there, as though she just vanished into thin air. Silvio didn't care; he ran straight to the nearest bathroom and relieved himself, emerging a minute later.

"I'm a changed man!" he announced.

Hana rolled her eyes. "This isn't time for jokes! We need to get back!"

Silvio nodded, and they made their way down the stairs in silence until he piped up once more. "What was up with that lady?" he asked.

"She was weird," agreed Hana. "Silvio, do you think…?"

"What's up?"

"… Do you think she was the Goddess?"

"Why do you think that?"

Hana paused. "There's something off about her. And she had green hair!"

"What, you thought that was natural?" Silvio snorted. "It's the fakest dye I've ever seen! Well, I don't think she was Isaana-sa. Don't you think a Goddess would have more of an all-loving, wise vibe to her?"

She shrugged her shoulders and ushered him in to the first floor ladies' room. "You have a point."

"She's just the batty librarian. They probably didn't want her outside because she's so weird!"

Hana hopped into the shower. "I can't find it!" she called.

Silvio joined her and furrowed his eyebrows. All the stones lining the wall looked exactly the same. Suddenly, he got an idea, and began knocking on the stones. He knocked until one returned a sound that was different from the others. "This one!"

Hana jiggled it around a bit. Sure enough, it was loose. "Wow, how did you figure that out?"

"I figured that a stone that led to a tunnel would sound different than one that was just a wall."

"You're smart!"

"I know."

While Hana was able to pry it loose, the entire stone was too heavy for the twins to move, even working together. But if Silvio was brains, she could be brawn. "S-Step back!" she commanded, and braced herself, pointing her staff at the stone. Putting all her mental energy into the thought of moving it, she whispered, "Levitatia!"

The stone dislodged itself with an agonizing groan and a shove, but it finally gave way and slammed into the floor. Hana let go, huffing and puffing and sweating bullets.

Silvio whistled. "I hope the floor isn't damaged. But oh well! No one will suspect us! Good work!" He peered into the hole in the wall. Letting his eyes grow accustomed to the dark, he saw that it led to a 1.5-meter jump down to a wet, slimy trail below. "Woo!" he shouted, jumping through the chute. He landed with a hard thud. Wincing at the slight pain that lanced through his ankles, he called, "Okay, now you!"

Hana looked inside. "Oh, no…" She quivered.

"What's wrong?" Silvio asked.

"I hate heights!" she shouted back.

"It's not that far a drop!"

"All the same, though…!"

"Hana, come on! I'll catch you, so don't be afraid!"

Hana took a deep breath and hesitantly jumped down. Sure enough, Silvio kept his promise, but her weight and velocity was too much for him. Hana landed safely, but Silvio bowled over, right onto his tailbone.

"Ow-ow-ow!" he moaned. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"S-Sorry! Are you okay?"

Gritting his teeth to dull the pain, Silvio stood back up. "Yep! This pain is less than a papercut! Let's go!"

"Wait!" Hana used levitatia once more to return the stone to its original place. Even though she had to move the stone farther, this time she felt far less exhausted when the task was done.

"That was better than the last time!"

"Practice makes perfect," Hana demurred.

"You need to help me with my magic! You're so good at it! Not for long, though," added Silvio, winking at her.

The Sabatka twins wasted no more time. They ran down the dark, muddy trail and eventually emerged from a well-hidden cave in the woods. Now that he thought of it, Silvio decided that it was probably very foolish of them to blindly trust the librarian's words, but since she wasn't lying, all's well that ended well. Listening for the sound of voices, they hurried back and resumed their place in the crowd.

The entrance ceremony ended soon after that. The children bid their farewells to their mother, but it was hardly a teary affair—they would be reunited with their parents at the upcoming Illunis Festival, after all.

Instead the Priests and Priestesses shepherded the acolytes inside, leading them to a large lecture hall. The adults sat at a long table in the front while the children crowded into the benches.

"Okay, everyone!" called Crowe over the excited chatting of the students. "Now that you know your professors, you need to get to know each other. After all, you will be living together for the next year! Starting in the front row, state your name, hometown, and what you want to do with magic when you grow up!"

One by one, the students introduced themselves.

"—I'm Jan Addens, from Hakalai Pass. I want to do something with trains."

Whatever. Silvio rolled his eyes and drifted off into his imagination, only to be brought out of it a moment later via a sharp jab in his side.

"Ow—I mean, uh, name's Silvio Sabatka, Caershira's finest! When I grow up, I want to be the town police chief just like my Dad!"

He sat down, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Hana stood up next, but upon seeing all the eyes locked on her, slunk down a bit. "Um… H-Hana Sabatka," she whispered.

"Louder, please?" Crowe requested.

"H-Hana Sabatka!" She blushed, shrinking into herself a bit. "S-Silvio's my brother, so I come from Caershira, too. Um… er… I, uh, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."

Hana plopped right back into her seat as soon as she was done, hiding behind her brother. The students continued introducing themselves until there was no one left.

Crowe stood back up. "I know the class this year is very large, but I'm sure all of you will become fast friends. You'll learn about your class schedule and holy duties tomorrow, but for now wash up and prepare for mass. Meet in the worship chamber at 1600 hours, and afterwards we'll have supper. Dismissed!"

The boys and girls shuffled down the halls to their respective bathrooms. Silvio ran ahead of the boys and beat them to the washbasin, bathing his face. The cold water felt good after being in the hot lecture hall for so long.

Bump.

Silvio flinched as something rammed into his ankles. Wiping the water out of his eyes, he swiveled around. And he wasn't surprised in the least to find Jan, bumping into him over and over again with his wheelchair.

"What's your problem?" he hissed.

"You're taking forever," Jan said.

"You can stand to wait a few minutes--!"

But whatever fight was brewing wasn't to be. The two boys' squabble was broken up as shrieks sounded from down the hall. The boys mobilized and (against their better judgment), stampeded to the girls' bathroom where all the commotion was. This time Silvio couldn't outrun them, and he craned his neck trying to figure out what was happening.

"Students, what's the meaning of this?"

Crowe and Ffion parted the throng of excited boys and angry girls.

Crowe knocked on the bathroom door. "Ladies, are you all dressed?" he asked. At shouts of the affirmative, he and Ffion opened it, only to be met with a livid young girl.

"What happened, Lydia?" inquired Ffion.

"Someone busted the shower!" she snapped, pointing a quavering finger toward a stall.

Silvio paled. He immediately knew what she was talking about.

"What? What do you mean?" The grown ups parted the curtain, only to let out shocked gasps themselves. The shower floor was completely crushed in, bits of loose stone strewn every which-way. Silvio turned his gaze to the rock Hana removed. It had hardly a scratch on it.

"It was like this when we got here!" said Lydia.

"Does anyone know what might have happened?" Crowe asked. "Anyone, if you have any information at all, please speak up now or forever hold your peace!"

The students blankly looked at each other.

Slowly, someone raised his hand.

Jan.

"I saw Silvio and his sister sneak out during the ceremony."

Dirty tattletale! Silvio scowled at him.

"What? Hana, is this true?"

Please don't bend under pressure, please don't bend under pressure, please don't…

Hana evaded her uncle's glance and shook her head.

"Did anyone else see them sneak out?"

The students froze. Many of them HAD caught them slipping away, but no one was about to label themselves the class snitch, either. Nobody came forward, and a few even shook their heads.

Crowe sighed. "Well, we can't prove anything…"

"Then why are their shoes all muddy?" Jan pointed out.

Silvio's gaze wandered down to his feet. Sure enough, his moccasins were dirty. He must've not noticed amongst all the chaos before.

"How did your shoes get muddy?" Crowe interrogated Hana.

Raising her head enough so she barely made eye contact with him, she stated brusquely: "Me and Silvio were roughhousing before the ceremony and ended up in a puddle. We're sorry."

Crowe sighed. "I'm going to choose to believe you. I hope you were honest with me. Just don't go dirtying your uniforms up anymore. And as for you, Jan—don't tell fantastic stories. But right now we have more important things to do than punish people! Ffion, can you fix the floor?"

She bent over, observing every last detail with the thoroughness of a foreman. "Hmm! There ARE a lot of pieces to put back together, but I can do it. I'll need a few hours and the floor won't look very nice, but it'll do. When we go to Minumna we can just pick up some rock from the quarry to replace…" She paused. "Oh, Crowe, I've just had a most frightening thought!"

"What is it?"

"Now that I think of it, how could a child do damage like this? What if this signifies a sinkhole's about to open up?"

"A sinkhole!" Crowe's shoulders stiffened. "I never thought of that! Children, go outside as far away as possible from here! A teacher will be with you in a few minutes! I must notify the Goddess of this at once!"

With that, he ran off, leaving the students to talk in hushed whispers amongst themselves.

"W-Well, you heard him!" commanded Ffion. "Go outside! We'll bring you back in once we're sure everything's safe!"

Most students didn't need to hear that twice. They ran away as fast as they could, shrieking and speculating about the sinkhole.

Of course, two people knew there was no sinkhole at all.

As Hana and Silvio reached the exit, they shot each other a look.

"That was close," whispered Hana.

"So, what do you think?" asked Silvio. "Are we already the class troublemakers?"

She nodded. "I think so."

And as they returned to the outside world, Silvio could've sworn that out of the corner of his eye he saw a green-haired woman phase through the wall and smirk.