Chapter 2 (new)

"Weird, I haven't had a dream of that day in a long time" Luna said as she sat up the next morning, the sunlight casting dazzling sparkles through her window that danced across her room.

She rubbed her eyes a few times, casting the sleep from them, before blinking as she adjusted to the light. Her reflection stared back at her in the mirror, sleepy and disheveled, her long brown hair a mess of tangled curls. She stood slipping her feet into her slippers before standing and stretching her arms wide. Her feet shuffled across the floor as she went and sat in front of her dresser and began brushing the tangles out of her hair.

A tangle caught in her brush, sending a small bit of pain through her scalp, and a memory of someone else brushing and styling it for her returned to her mind. She shook the thought away, instead trying to think of how Nana used to help her brush her hair and teach her how to be on her own. She flipped through her wardrobe, not looking for anything special since a uniform would be provided, and she remembered a maid flipping through her clothes and choosing one for her, and not being allowed to dress how she wanted. Even her shoes were put on by someone else, and she loved the freedom she had once she met Nana.

Once she was dressed she started packing her things, and by the time she finished the sun was halfway across the sky. Her room lay bare as she wrote a note explaining where she went, leaving it pinned against her door before sitting down on the floor once more. She had taken care of everything, making sure that everything would stay in order on its own until the master of the house returned home. She pulled out the letter once more and removed the magic circle paper from behind, reading the instructions before placing it on the floor. She had never seen a pre prepared magic circle before, she was used to making them herself.

Following the instructions she took a small knife from her pocket and slid it across her palm, letting the blood trickle down her wrist and onto the paper. The lines glowed with white light as it burst to life at the touch of her blood, a portal the size of a door now floating in front of her, lush landscape peering at her from the other side. She stood taking one last look around the room she had called home for the last six years, she smiled softly before taking the last of her things into her hands, and stepping through the portal and onto the other side, ready for her next adventure to begin.

She stepped through the portal and onto the other side, a little dazed from the swirling vortex of the portal. She staggered backwards a few steps, bumping into something, and when she turned she noticed it was a table. A friendly looking girl stood behind the table, her skin milky tan, her hair bright teal color, she smiled at Luna.

"Hello, how can I help you?" She said, a vacant look on her smiling face.

"Um... new student information?" She said, not sure of what to say.

"Ah, hello and welcome to Witchcraft academy esteemed new student, I have here for you your schedule, uniform, and dorm r-room key." She said, her voice sounded like it glitched for a second.

"Um okay, but where are they?" She said, looking around at the blank table.

"I have h-here for you y-your schedule, uniform, and dorm r-room key." She repeated, her voice glitching more.

"Uh, is there anyone else who can help me?" She says nervously, looking around the courtyard.

"Oh gears! Why'd it have to malfunction today of all days." A voice says from behind her, a shape running past her.

It's the same girl that's standing behind the table, but now with a more expressive face. She starts messing with the girl standing behind the table, whose body now glitches as she tweaks it until it suddenly slumps, going slack.

"Gears!" She proclaims again with exasperation. "Sorry about that, my clones seem to be malfunctioning on today of all days. Anyways, what's the name?"

"Name? Oh, Luna Moon." She says, baffled by this girl.

"Luna Moon… Luna Moon… Moon Moon Moon, hmm I don't see it." She says, scrolling through a mana tablet. "Are you sure that's your name, or at least the one you applied under?"

"When they asked for the name I wanted to go by, I assumed that they would actually use it for things like this. My birth name is Celestia Winchester, is that on your list?"

"Ah yes here it is, Celestia is such a cool name, why would you want to change that?"

"Uh… personal reasons, but could you see if they could change all my schedule stuff to the name that I provided on the application, I don't like having these mishaps."

"Sure, I can see about that. Now let's get you all set up, here's your schedule and uniform." She says, handing Luna a slip of paper and a folded piece of cloth. "And it looks like you're in room number 101 in the girls dorm." She says, handing her a key with a tag hanging off of it, 101 printed in curving script on it. "Now you're all set, feel free to explore campus as much as you want today."

"You aren't going to give me a tour?"

"Oh heavens no, I gotta get this clone back in working order before the next round of students comes through." She says, giving the copy of her a pat on the shoulder. "Normally the clones give tours, but this one is broken and I don't want you sticking around until the next tour."

"That's a clone?" She says, the information finally starting to sink in.

"Yep, you're a slow listener since I said that earlier, but that's enough questions. You have all day to unpack and explore the campus before the assembly tomorrow, and don't be late to the assembly or else you'll get in big trouble. My name is Amber and if you have any questions, don't ask me, now tata, goodbye, be on your way." She says, pushing Luna away from the table.

"Well she wasn't very helpful." She said to herself, walking off to try to find her dorm room.

She stops at a bench, setting down the items Amber had given her, picking up the clothes and inspecting them. It was a cloak, and when she draped it over her shoulders she felt the tingle of magic at its edges. She closed her eyes and let the magic drape over, the sensation feeling like it was melting across her body, and when she opened her eyes her original clothes were gone. The cloak had shaped to a long deep navy blue trench coat, a similar colored skirt blooming from her waist, a light blue collared shirt had replaced her blouse, and a green tie hung around her neck. Her shoes had also been replaced with a pair of simple black school shoes.

"Cool." She said quietly, inspecting her new uniform before slipping her schedule and key into her pocket. "Now all that's left to do is try to find my dorm room."

She started to wander around campus, taking in the sights and hoping that eventually she would find the girls' dorms. The campus was beautiful, but so large that she quickly became lost and confused. She stopped in the courtyard after she had gone in a large circle, she looked around, trying to figure out which way she had already gone and come from. And while she was debating which way to go, another student suddenly slammed into her as they ran by, not even stopping to apologize in their haste.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" She tried to call after them but they were already gone. "Ugh that hurt." She said quietly, rubbing her lower back.

"Are you alright Miss." A male voice said from above her.

She looked up to see who it was, a redheaded boy stood in front of, his smiling face haloed by the sun behind him, the light making his red hair look like it was on fire. He was handsome, his brown eyes the color of burnt amber stared gently at her, his hand outstretched as an offer to help her up. She took his hands, and he pulled her gently up onto her feet. The man was wearing what looked to be a school uniform like hers, except he wore a pair of dark blue pants instead of a skirt like her uniform.

"Yeah I'm alright, thanks for helping me up." She said, brushing the dirt off her uniform.

"That's good, I'm glad you aren't hurt. The upperclassmen got here a week ago and have already started classes, so watch out for them when they're in a hurry." He said, smiling warmly at her unlike the way Amber had.

"Thanks for the tip, but how do you know, are you an upperclassman?"

"Haha, no!" He says, laughing, his deep voice making the laugh boom across the courtyard. "I'm a freshman just like you, see the green tie, all freshmen wear them. I just came here early with my older sister." He says, giving his own tie a tug.

"Oh so then you must know your way around better than me, so do you think maybe you could help me find my dorm room."

"Oh ya that's easy, I'd love to help a pretty girl like you."

"T-thank you." She says, blushing slightly, not used to compliments.

"Well for starters you're going in the complete wrong direction." He says, turning her in the right direction as he starts walking in the direction of the dorms.

"So what's your room number?"

"Room 101, girls dorm, at least that's what that girl who greeted me said."

"Oh you mean Amber, ya she's a real piece of work. But that number sounds awfully familiar, but I can't quite remember why." He said as he walked, his long strides made it hard for Luna to keep up.

"Ya she didn't seem too friendly, didn't even bother to give me a tour, her clone seemed politer than her and it was broken."

"Ha that's funny, girl deserves something to take her down a peg or two, been full of herself ever since she learned her talent early."

Luna stays silent as the walk, not sure how to reply to that comment.

"I usually can recognize everyone who attended the other academies with me, so you must be new, where are you from?"

"The uh… the human world." She says nervously, her voice a quiet peep.

"Oh cool, I didn't think we got any students from the human world."

"You know you still haven't told me your name yet." She said, changing the subject.

"And you have yet to give me yours as well." He says with a smirk.

"Fine then I'll go first, my name is Luna, now it's your turn."

"Luna, that's a pretty name, it suits a pretty girl like you. My name however is pretty plain and common, not very unique either, my parents chose to name me Joseph while my older sister got a cool name. Her name, Kibishī, is in the japanese style of my clan, I think it means strict or something like that, but it totally suits her."

"I don't think that's a bad name, I've never met a Joseph before, but what do you mean by clan?"

"Right you're from the human world, a lot of the more well known families here are called clans because of how large their families are, there are three major clans, each with their own specialty. The Winchester clan specializes in magic, although they aren't nearly as strong as they used to be." He said, the mention of her family's last name made Luna flinch, but he didn't notice and kept going. " And then there's the Ryūs, the dragon clan, and then the last one is the Astreya family, one of the most well known knight clans, known to produce all the royal knights of the country."

"Astreya… that sounds familiar for some reason, but I don't think I've heard of the Ryū clan before."

"Really, they're considered to be one of the most powerful of the three right now, the dragon clan is well known for protecting this world since the dawn of its creation."

"I see well then it makes sense that I know nothing of them since I'm from the human world."

"That is true." He said, leading her into a building that said girls dorm on a plaque above the door.

"Oh wow the dorms are a lot larger than I expected." She said, looking around in awe.

"Wait until you see the rooms, they're magically enhanced to expand to any size on the inside, so you could put just about anything in your room if you ask for permission first."

"That's cool, I didn't know magic could do that." She said as she followed him up a grand staircase at the center of the main room.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you lived under a rock, I guess knowledge of magic and the magic world must be quite limited in the human world, so that must mean you're very talented to have gotten into this school."

"It's not limited, my teacher just didn't teach me stuff like that when I studied with her."

"Oh I see, well this is it." He said, stopping in front of a door with a plaque card that read 101.

"Thanks for showing me the way."

"No problem, it was a-"

"Surprise!" Two voices called as the door flung open and a cloud of pink smoke exploded into the hallway, knocking Luna's small frame against the wall, where she slumped to the floor unconscious.