Founders Story

For a long time in Atemnity, there were no options for schooling. It was either you and your family had a lot of money so you were given the opportunity to go to a high-class private school, or you were forced to go into the public school system, learning the same basic and standard information as everyone else in all of the Kingdoms.

That all changed when three friends, Ayra Raven, Jayden Raven, and Gareth Braddock, were born. Ayra and Jayden, twin siblings, never had the easiest life. Both of their parents were bankers so they were always travelling to each of the Kingdoms, barely returning to see their two children. The twins were left home in Relerian a lot of the time with their nanny, Mrs Allred, but she was asleep half of the time. Ayra and Jayden were always isolated, doing things only with one another because they didn’t have an option. Finally, when they were around 7, they were placed into public school and both of the twins parents thought it would be for the best. It was not.

During school, Ayra and Jayden were ostracized. Everyone thought that the two twins were very odd but, they did not know any better. The children and teachers were shocked that Ayra and Jayden were so independent and intelligent, especially being seven-year-olds. But, it was just how they were raised. In the end, it didn’t matter to Ayra and Jayden that no one liked them. They had one another and that was all they needed.

This was before the incidents happened. At around the age of 13, weird things happened around Ayra and Jayden. The girls started to notice that Ayra’s appearance began to change based on her mood. Sometimes they noticed that her hair almost looked like it was on fire when she was annoyed and it looked almost purple when she was embarrassed. During class, the room even seemed to change to Ayra’s personality. If she was depressed in class, it was like the weather was gloomy and all of the lights darkened. If she was happy, the day was bright and cheerful. Some girls even said that Ayra’s voice could change. They swore that they heard her speaking in a very deep voice although, Ayra said that it never happened. Jayden, on the other hand, had different issues. During class, he would start to doodle and, whatever he drew came true. If he drew his peer Craig falling while on the playground, exactly two hours later, it would come true. Jayden had no idea how this happened but, he knew that whatever he drew would always happen.

People started to figure out that Ayra and Jayden had powers beyond the normal child. The girls were afraid of Ayra, wondering what she even looked like because her appearance and even her voice changed often, and the boys were afraid of Jayden and his art. Even the teachers were afraid of their magic. Ayra and Jayden never meant any harm; they didn’t choose to have powers.

Soon, no one ever talked to them. Ayra and Jayden always sat on the lunch table in the right-hand corner of the dining hall because no one would even come near them. During classes, no matter where they sat, they were always by themselves. But, Ayra and Jayden soon started to appreciate it. Like they always said, they preferred to be with one another.

Gareth Braddock changed everything. Gareth, the new kid in the school, never cared about what others thought of him. He had travelled and been from school to school that he never really thought about what others thought of him. He knew who he was and he didn’t care if others judged him for it.

In science class, Gareth and Jayden were paired together, much to everyone’s excitement. Everyone was relieved when they were not paired with one of the “freak twins” but, Gareth did not mind. After the project was done, Gareth and Jayden continued to spend time together. Soon, Gareth sat with Ayra and Jayden in their table at lunch. All of the kids thought that Gareth was ruining his reputation but, he did not care. He was just happy to be surrounded by two people who he liked.

A few years later and Ayra, Jayden, and Gareth all graduated high school. They were all ready to go off to college, Jayden and Gareth studying in Everagil and Ayra heading off to Serelia when Jayden and Ayra’s parents were attacked and killed during the Thallian civil war. Jayden and Ayra decided, in their sorrow and depression, to not go off to college but instead try to work to bring money to the family and keep their house. Gareth felt for them but, he knew he had to go to college to get an education, the goal that his father always wanted for him. He got into a great school and needed to go but, whenever he got the chance, he came back to visit Jayden and Ayra.

Jayden and Ayra, for five years, did a multitude of jobs from being a blacksmith to a chimney sweep to owning a small business to sewing to being a secretary to cooking to being a butler but, they could not find anything that they enjoyed. Neither of the twins had any passion for their jobs or anything that they did. The only thing that they really enjoyed was helping others but, they could not get any money for it. Until they had an amazing idea. Jayden and Ayra loved working in the royal palaces but, they hated having to clean and listen to every want of the Queen and King. Jayden and Ayra tried their best to see if they could try to be a Royal however, anyone not of royal blood was banned from becoming anything else but a worker for the royal family. Jayden and Ayra thought it would be amazing if they made a school that would train royals. That way, those who were not of royal blood like themselves, could be the royalty that Atemnity wanted. Together, they planned and planned and decided that they had to make this school. Ayra, using her powers of disguise, went and talked to the royalty of Relerian about opening a new school and, they were not against it. Jayden started drawing up the architecture of the school in his sketchbook, knowing that once it was done, it would magically appear two hours later. Together, the two of them started to make a school but, they still needed more help.

They both went and found Gareth, who was a successful businessman, working towards having his own tavern called Braddock’s Pub. It was just the beginning of his store and, it probably would have been very successful if Gareth did not give up his dream of making the best tavern of all the Kingdoms and instead went and helped his two best friends make their school.

The three of them, back together again, worked hard to make this school for royals. They came up with the idea for dorms, invented classes for royalty students, hired professors, ordered food for the Dining Hall, and soon, they had an entire school ready . One of the best features about the school was that in the middle of the Dining Room, was a giant tree. Jayden and Gareth originally were going to tear it down but, Ayra fought hard and long for this tree, making sure that it stayed alive. So, Jayden made the architecture go around the tree, making it a part of the decorations. It just so happened that this tree was a Hawthorn tree, which inspired the name of the school.

Soon, the school was ready to open but they were missing one thing - a leader of the school. Ayra, Jayden, and Gareth worked really hard to get everything up and running and, between the three of them, no one wanted to be the sole Headmaster or Headmistress. So, they opened Hawthorne without a Headmistress or Headmaster. The three of them took over all of the responsibilities as the Head of School and together, collectively, were the Head Staff.

But, there soon was an issue. Relerian was okay with having this new school but, the rest of the Kingdoms were astounded and angry that Relerian was opening a school that taught Royalty. The other Kingdoms fought with the King and Queen of Relerian, practically announcing war if they did not tear down Hawthorne. The King and Queen of Relerian wanted to keep the school open just as much as Jayden, Ayra, and Gareth did but, there was nothing they could do. The rest of the Kingdoms were going to make a world war.

That was until the Queen of Relarian, Larissa Wellington, said that she wanted the school to stay open and the leaders of Serelia agreed. Serelia was known for having a powerful army and, although the Kingdoms did not want Hawthorne to open, they knew that they could not defeat both Relerian and Serelia working together. With Serelia’s undefeatable army and the weapon-making of Relerian, it would not guarantee a win for the opposers so, the rest of the Kingdoms allowed Hawthorne to stay open.

Queen Larissa joined Jayden, Ayra, and Gareth on their opening day. Although only 100 students enrolled, Larissa was highly impressed with the school and all of their ideas. She offered her help and, at first, Jayden, Ayra, and Gareth turned her down. They appreciated the support but, they thought they could handle everything by themselves. As the school year continued, it was a lot of work for Jayden, Ayra, and Gareth to do all by themselves and so, officially, they asked Larissa to join the Head Staff along with the three of them. Together, all four of the Head Staff members, they transformed Hawthorne into being one of the most popular schools. Instead of all of the famous and highly desired private schools, all of the students wanted to come to Hawthorne, the free and yet rewarding boarding school. Larissa soon became the first Headmistress of Hawthorne and worked with Jayden, Ayra, and Gareth, changing and shifting around everything until there were over one thousand students at Hawthorne.

*By Aria Winters*

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