Snippet 3- Busy morning

Kia ran, not understanding how she could possibly be late. She had woken at dawn with her glow, dressed, breakfasted and then...and then what? She should not have started reading that's what. She should have stayed with her friends, if she had been with them, she couldn't possibly have missed class starting.


She skidded round a corner of a corridor and saw a few other girls run through a door, marked with the number she had to get to....She sped up, but the door was shut before she could get to it with a solemn, doom-laden, definitive click.
She halted, fidgeted, unable to make herself knock....Why? How did this happen? She'd been shut out....
Just knock on the kakking door Koralia....Such a quiverer. She screwed up her hand, but couldn't make herself do it. Couldn't face a teacher being late...She could hear the lecture beginning, I'm missing it! Her inner voice cried out in horror. Knocking now would just disturb everyone else! She dropped her head and tried not to cry. Why was this so difficult to her?

"Koralia?"

She looked up to see the Professor Palladium, the elf teacher who had brought her from the Marcus Vastwoods and who had taken their first class the day before. She didn't think he had remembered her name.

"Are you late?"
She nodded numbly at his question, her heart sinking further, expecting a lecture or maybe even a detention....It didn't matter. If she missed this class, how would she ever get to be a fairy? She almost missed his answer.

"Hah! Me too! Ehem. Not a great start to the day for either of us is it?" He smiled awkwardly, noting her tearful face. "You're supposed to be in Rainer's class, aren't you? Our classes will be joining up after the lecture, so I'm sure it's fine if you sit in on the lecture with my class instead."

She stammered some thanks, and he waved her into his classroom, full of other freshmen. A few minutes later the lecture began and Koralia was listening intently.




*******
(The roleplay then focused on Rainer's class, which everyone else was in. I got to post more as Kia after the bell went and both lessons ended.)
*****




Meanwhile, Palladium's class.....

The bell rang, making most of the students jump. Palladium began to hurry to finish up the lecture, aware that the class was running behind.
The students from Rainer's class could be heard in the corridor, heading outside.


"...and that's about it, in theory...The rest of today will be devoted to practical exercises designed to get you in touch with your winx, to help you find your inner self, and your magic. Now, we have a 15 minute break, after which we will regroup in the school yard. Professor Rainer and myself and some of our best second years will all be around to help guide you through any problems. All right! Class dismissed!"


The class of girls began to chatter excitedly about what the lecture had just covered. Koralia sat quietly, head bowed, Palladium's words echoing in her skull.

Belief, Will and ....Wish?
She'd never have believed she would turn out to be a fairy. The thought had literally never entered her head, probably never would have, especially not being Merish.
Will. That was something she'd always lacked. Her lack of will for anything was probably what disappointed her mother the most....She pulled back from the thought.
And Wish.....Wish? That is so...vague. What kind of an instruction is that? Although... reflecting on it, she realized she had never really wished for anything before, except that she wasn't so scared. And later, that her eye would clear up. When she'd run away, she hadn't wished for it. But here she was anyway....somewhere new. Alfea, Magix. A place that was bright and clear and full of magical creatures, plants and people....Was this the kind of thing she would have wished for, if she'd thought to make wishes? An adventure? To see exciting new worlds? Because she'd done it, and found she too was a magical creature in the process.


She sighed. She couldn't see anything much in it, just the series of incidents that led her to this point. There was certainly no stirring of joy as she put her experience into clear thoughts, just recollections of the dread, the gut-clenching fear that drove her further away from her home planet. This wasn't a jaunt she'd set off on, it had been a blind panic, flinging herself from one cargo ship to another, hiding, running, hiding, running, hiding, running!
She realized she was grinding her teeth into her cheek, and stopped herself. Most of the girls were now gathering their things. She briefly wondered if the other class was outside already.

What else had Professor Palladium said? Anything that was concrete, methodical....by the book. Something she could understand, something she could cling to without it sending her off to think about why it was she had left at such a run, how she had ended up here.
The words of the lecture came rushing back to her, almost spelling themselves out in front of her eyes.

"When a fairy transforms, she pulls her magic to the surface...Almost like a caterpillar's chrysalis, your winx is inside you and always has been, developing along with you! Transforming is the art of calling on your winx when you need it, calling your fairy identity to the surface. It gives you access to your wings, your powers, you wear it as your costume....and also as your armour. When you are not in winx, your winx magic is within you. You have to push it up to the surface...Close your eyes, and open your heart to your possibilities. Try to find the power inside!"


Worth trying, right?
She closed her eyes, and tried. She pictured herself reaching down into a blackness, like a deep gouge in the earth, but it was like remembering a scene in a video...Then, through her concentration rather than the image, she felt something. A warmth, like she'd felt in the crystal yesterday, then the same strange taste spread across her tongue...It felt incredibly real. Her heart began to pound, and suddenly-




Orange and yellow and pink lights exploded in her vision, bright, sparkling, glowing. The light cascaded as far as her eyes could see, and she felt wind whipping at her. A strange thrill shot through her, from her toes to her stomach through the roots of her hair....something was fluttering at her back, and her eyes shot open.






The lights were nowhere in sight, and she was still in the classroom.

Though now she was standing up, and everyone including the teacher was staring at her. She began to blush, then forgot about everything as she felt whatever it was at her back fluttering again, and she whipped round twice, trying to catch a glimpse...

"Koralia you just..." Palladium cleared his throat and tried again "You just transformed. All by yourself. Most unexpected, but I believe congratulations are in order!"

"oh..." Koralia stammered "I...I'm sorry!"




***********


Kia was blushing furiously, embarrassed. This wasn't right! Now what? She wasn't supposed to just transform like this, what would she do for the rest of the day?
Then she heard something being dropped, and someone was speaking in a surprised but warm voice.
"Oh my! Palladium? What have you told them?"

"Nothing different than what you told your class, I should think....It seems miss Koralia just didn't need as much of a push as we thought." Palladium smiled, but she couldn't hear the rest of his speech, staring at the newcomer.

She'd seen boys before. She'd even liked some of them, in her own hesitant way, but she'd never felt anything like this. He was standing, holding the pair of glasses he'd dropped and talking animatedly with Palladium. It seemed to be the beginning of an argument and they were both oblivious to her, something she would have been thankful for if her mind had been working at that moment. Her last conscious thought was to be grateful she had already been blushing, as she tried not stop breathing. His face was burning itself into her mind.

Something about him was different to anyone she had seen before, something about him was utterly beautiful. So beautiful that she felt like she'd been hit in the stomach.






Five minutes later, she was outside, still transformed, with no recollection of how she'd got there. Walked, presumably, but she simply could not remember when she left the classroom, could not remember anything but him. She shook her head from side to side. She must be sick! Which illnesses wipe out small sections of memory? She tried to list any she could think of in her head, but none of them sounded right....and his damn face kept appearing in her mind's eye.
She spotted some of her friends, and headed towards Aly and Krysten, sitting by the fountain. Anything to take her mind away from whatever had just happened.

"Hi-" It came out in a squeak, as if her voice had been stored up in her throat for an age. She tried again, and was pleased to hear her voice sounding normal this time "Hello Krysten, Aly."

They turned to reply, then stared at her.

"What is it?-Oh, right. Um. I transformed! Hooray." she said, feeling embarrassed again.