Making History: Grimoire Acceptance Ceremony!

**Date Started:** January 3rd, 499XR
**Date Completed:** Completed
**Setting**: Clover Kingdom
**Characters Involved:**
Colby Monterey,Arissa Wu, Cain Monroe, Lea Kira, Haruhi Rephalia,Neal Aguilar,Lieser Bernkastel,Beatrix Roselei-Vermillion, Marco, Zela, Wesley Umbra, Andreas Agostini

## Follow the Yellow Brick Road

The Royal Capital was bustling with activity, as it always had. There were always merchants from foreign lands, performers with exotic beasts, and inventors advertising some new, innovative contraptions. For those who were able to access this capital, they found their pockets lined with the wealth of the nobles and royals who wandered freely through the streets of the capital. Despite this wealth, there were no homeless, no beggars, no thieves. In all of Clover, the Royal Capital was the most secure place in the country and the closest place to heaven in the entire world.

The sun illuminated the beautiful architecture of the capital, allowing the castle of the King to reflect its radiant lights onto the city itself. The aroma of luxurious foods filled the air like a misty bog as they all mixed together into a collective fume of flavours. There was always so much happening in the capital, from events for the nobles to tourist admiring its beauty. Though today was an even busier day than anticipated, for the first time in the history of the Clover Kingdom, the grimoire acceptance ceremony would be the largest ever.

With the approval of King Guthrie, lord of the realms, Magic Emperor Druisilla has sponsored a grimoire acceptance ceremony within the Royal Capital’s grimoire repository for all inhabitants of the Clover Kingdom to attend. For the first time ever, peasants, nobles and royals alike would stand together in harmony as the gods bestow upon them their grimoires. Druisilla had covered all transportation cost from all citizens registered to receive their grimoires, and thus even peasants were being carried in beautiful chariots befitting royalty and nobles.
Perhaps that was her plan, to ensure that none would be able to differentiate between the classes, at least until they stepped from the confines of their chariot.

Lea Kira had no taken a chariot, however. The repository wasn’t far from the castle itself, where she took up residence as a royal of House Kira, one of the royal houses of Clover Kingdom and the house from which King Guthrie and former King Augustus descended from. Guthrie and Lea were cousins of some sort. She hadn’t really dug much into how closely related, because it didn’t truly matter. She would never be Queen, nor did she want it. Her duty was to serve her king, regardless of the price she had to pay.

As she approached the massive repository, decored with golden arches and commemorative statues and banners of the previous Kings and Queens if Clovers, there were several Magic Knights stationed outside. Judging by their cloaks, they were members of Golden Dawn, currently headed by the Draconus Family another royal household of Clover who had pledged fealty to King Guthrie.

“Your name?”

Lea stepped forward attentively. “Lea Kira of House Kira!”

The Magic Knight flipped through a stack of papers, presumably with the picture and name of the one registered as Lea Kira. She had remembered that months ago, everyone registered for this grimoire acceptance ceremony had to send documents confirming their identity. The Magic Emperor, for people who would normally be unable to do such a thing, sent Magic Knights to serve as liaisons and assist those in the Forsaken Realms with this task.

The guard’s eyes stopped and fell between his paper and Lea.

“Yes, Lady Lea. Excuse my tardiness in confirming your identity. You may step forth.”
Lea nodded and walked inside the grimoire repository; a massive library whose walls were decorated and stained with millions upon millions of grimoires and ancient books. Lea’s eyes lit up in excitement as she scanned her surroundings, as did all of the others around her who were prepared to receive their grimoires.

Cain was one of the many that had taken a chariot to the tower, his friends having taken a chariot separate from him. They said that his calmness about the whole situation made them nervous, whatever sense that made. He knew many would probably be nervous; but not him. This was something he had been waiting for, years in the making.

The chariot he was in came to a halt and he hopped on out, thanking the driver. To think that the Magic Emperor would be as willing as to offer transportation; how incredible. If he ever got the chance, he’d thank her.

The boy looked upon the crowds of people. Nobles gave him looks, but it was nothing new. He had thought about dropping the bomb; revealing who his mother was. But he didn’t really want much to do with her. Cain definitely didn’t want to be associated with that wench. He would make a name for himself, and he would become a Magic Knight, maybe even a Captain one day. But for now, he had to go get his Grimoire.

Cain made his way through the lines, weaving through. He was far too impatient to wait in line, so he scurried his way to the front, some of the nobles giving him dirty looks. They murmured the common slurs, but they didn’t bother Cain. The way he saw it was that if he one day got to fight them, he’d take out his rage then. No need to get his sole chance at becoming a Magic Knight taken away so soon.

As he got to one of the entrances, the Magic Knight positioned by it looked at the boy. “Name?” she asked. She asked it lazily as if she wasn’t pleased to see the boy. Cain kept his composure and answered. “Cain Monroe.”

The woman shuffled through her papers, before finding Cain’s. She looked at it, and then at him. She sighed. “In you go,” she said. Cain walked past her, and she had already begun checking the next person identity.

Cain was taken aback by the tower. It was beautiful. Millions upon millions of Grimoires could be seen, and one of them would soon be his. He clenched his fists in excitement, letting out a yell of excitement.

Haruhi was among the last of the young mages to arrive. Having been separated from her best friends when she had to shake off her family from her back, she had been forced to take many sideroads and hidden paths in order to get here. She had paid some coin for a shared carriage towards the tower. She was a bit anxious, dreading the possibility that she would not get to acquire a grimoire. She had heard horror stories of weak and unconfident mages to not get theirs, rejected and failures of the magical world.

She got in line and her anxiousness grew by the minute as her dread festered in herself. When she finally got to the front, the assigned Magic Knight gave her an odd and maybe even worried look. "Aren't you-"

"Yes, yes I am Haruhi Rephalia. May I please come in?" She asked as the man began looking through the ledgers. "Y-yes, of course, just... Just don't tell **them** that it was me."

"I don't even know who you are..?" She replied as she began to enter, wanting to find her friends as fast as possible. "All the better then." Was all he said before he left sight and hearing range.

Grumbling at the fact that despite all the planning and preparation she made both Caine and Haruhi both went on ahead without her, never mind the fact that it was possible her own fault for oversleeping in the old church away from prying eyes but still they could have attempted to find her. Marching up to the front gate she gave the Knight stationed there a harsh glare when she noticed him ogling her slightly.

"If you stop undressing me with your eyes for a second I’d like to enter". She growled out causing the knight to blush in embarrassment as his fellow knights and some of the Magic Knight hopefuls laughed at him. "S-sor-sorry, Umm-Ummm your n-name". He managed to question in between stutters as he desperately tried to regather himself.

"Arissa Wu". She said before barging past him without looking back after he checked his list and nodded, honestly this was all Caine’s fault he probably wanted to arrive early to flirt with the female Knight hopefuls and completely forgot the plan, possibly leaving poor Haruhi to fend for herself.

Soon after the noble born of House Kira arrived, A carriage appeared in front of the massive repository holding the future grimoires of the newest generation of magic knights. The aspiring young knight arriving now was no different from any other person there, at least in his eyes he wasn't.

"Young man, we're just about there. Grab your things, be sure not to leave a thing because I can't turn back." The voice of the driver emanated through the mind of this young recruit, despite that he seemed to not be able to hear a thing but his own thoughts. "KID!! get your things, I don't get a lot of time here. You're not the only knight in training I gotta pick up today."

The young boy snapped back his head covered in sweat beads, surprisingly on a momentous occasion such as this...the boy looked like he could cry. "Y-YES! Leaving now! S-S-Sorry!" The boy moved in a large outburst, the beads of sweat shot from his forehead along with the small tears welling up in his eyes and onto the carriage floor as he grabbed his things and jumped from the carriage door almost dropping his things from his sweaty hands.

"C' mon Colby, you can do this. It's just getting a grimoire what's the worst that can happen?" Colby stood in line awaiting entry to claim his grimoire. While in line he was given dirty stares by many of the noblemen and women who stood around him, the reason for their stares would lie within his family name. As he approached the magic knight who would allow him entry his brain began to settle, he was almost there, almost to his goal of becoming a magic knight which would only be a start.

"And what is your name young man?" she asked.

"Colby...Monterey." Colby studdered as he uttered his last name to the woman. A look of disgust covered her face as she flipped through her catalogue of the registered young recruits, this was all too familiar an occurrence for Colby, he was not surprised. "Right through there" she uttered looking the yellow-haired boy up and down. Colby sighed and proceeded forwards into the room to get his grimoire.

He entered the grimoire tower to already see a large crowd of aspiring new recruits this group paired with the ones now entering there would be many people in between him and his chances of realizing his dreams he had to work harder than ever to get where he needed to be. As he scanned the grand hall that held his future grimoire other than the beautiful decorations on other thing caught his eye...he was the shortest person in the room so far this realization made him feel even more stressed than he was previously, awaiting the start of the ceremony.

Despite being the shortest person in the room, Lea had managed to catch Colby enter the library and had noticed his initial hesitance. From the last time they had met, she had garnered that he was shy. She pushed off the wall she was leaning on and approached Colby.

“Hi Colby,” Lea began, using her greeting to announce her presence.

"How was the trip?"

Colby, slightly startled by the voice that approached him turned abruptly. To his surprise, it was Lea, who he had seen and met many times due to their families doing business together often. He let out a sigh of relief relaxing before fully turning to Lea.

"Hey Lea, the trip was okay, to say the least. Took longer than I expected though, guess there's a lot of traffic considering the occasion, huh?" Colby smiled seemingly a lot calmer than when he entered the tower.

*"Now Wesley you do us proud you hear." "Yes you have to be better for all of us."* The voices echoed in his head. It didn't help that his parents hadn't come to see the ceremony, all they'd done is fill his head with their constant nagging. He'd never be like Avalon. Wesley sighed as he sauntered up to the tower to meet the magical guards.

"Name please." The guard spoke in a very dry tone. It was clear they didn't want to be here. Easy payday though Wesley figured.

"Umbra, Wesley Umbra." He spoke, glaring at the guard, one eyebrow cocked as if to ask if introductions were really necessary.

"Ah, Umbra yes of course right this way." The guard spat, quickly stepping aside and ushering him in.

Wesely nodded and walked past her into the spiralling tower of books. Surrounded by other kids he slightly pushed his way through and stood with the rest of the crowd, awaiting the beginning of the ceremony.

He ended up standing next to two other kids, who seemed to be chatting about how long it was taking. "You've been waiting a while too hmm?" Wesely said as he arrived next to two other kids

Lea turned her head to face Wesley, who was surprisingly somehow just as short as Colby. Though, he was clearly exactly the opposite in terms of demeanour. The fact that he had initiated the conversation was indicative of that. The first few times Lea and Colby met; he wouldn’t even look her in the eye. How far they had come since that moment.

Lea stepped in front of Colby slightly.

“No, it didn’t take me a while. I live in the capital,” she answered.

“How about you? Where are you from?”

Rare was it the Holy Church would allow its followers to take part in such a sacrilegious ceremony. Only few have partaken in this ancient practice. It was a hot topic among the bishops and clerics that have separated the Holy Church into two factions. Those who believe that magic is a gift by God to help his creations survive. And traditionalist that fear that magic is a temptation given to humans by the Devils of the other realm in order to tempt them. And sadly the man he considered a father belonged to the latter group.

*You will be opening your soul to devils of unimaginable power.* The old bishop would remind him. *Temptation and sin. The desire to become God and trample in his holiness's territory.*

As much as those words hurt, Marco held onto his golden cross and whispered a slight prayer. God created everything on this planet and man in his image. Does that not mean God has mana? Does that not mean that God wants humans to wield magic to better take care of his creation? This progressive way of thinking was uprooting the Church. And sadly Marco, a noble bastard, found himself completely in love with the belief.

"Besides, let's see if a Devil messes with me if I'm throwing giant rocks at him." Marco joked. His crimson robe had two massive golden crosses sewn within, letting those who laid eyes upon him know that he belonged to the path of the holiness. Unlike the other peasants, Marco decided to walk to the massive repository.

...But the foolish boy found himself at another library in the Clover Kingdom. "Ugh!" Marco spat venomously. How did he miss it again? How did he find himself so lost?! Well, Marco couldn't tell his left from his right sometimes.

"Hey wait!" Marco screamed at a passing carriage. "The grimoire ceremony please!"

"A church boy taking part in the grimoire ceremony?" The old man laughed. "Hop on boy. This year is gonna be interesting!"

The trip wasn't more than fifteen minutes. Marco found himself before the repository, covered in sweat and smelling of different spices. "Marco."

"Marco of the Holy Church." The guard confirmed. "You guys tend to make the most entertaining mages. You may proceed."

Marco bowed and entered the spiralling tower of grimoires with amazement and wonder. He hadn't seen many mages in person. So the other rookies created butterflies in his stomach. Were these his competition? They'd probably had years upon years of practice. To think he might have to fight against them.

Sometime after the repository had opened its’ doors to the general public Andreas made his way out of his family's manor, opting to walk to the location rather than taking the carriage along with his parents. He had no interest in riding in a stuffy old carriage with his obnoxious parents, who had spent the entirety of last night voicing their expectations of him. He knew that this was the day that he'd either receive his parents’ admiration or their resentment for failing the family.

Despite his residence being close to the area Andreas found the walk rather long and taxing, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief once he got to the building. The structure was simply magnificent, an architectural masterpiece, with members of the magic knights at every possible entrance. It was truly a sight to behold. The only thing that one could say spoiled the scene being the presence of commoners and peasants. His parents had always told him that those not from the noble region we're below them and publicly displayed their biased towards them, although he never really quite understood why.

Andreas stood in line waiting for his turn, looking around for any sign of his parents. They were late as usual, however, he found this quite strange as they had departed from the estate long before he had. Feeling a bit anxious, Andreas considered setting out to look for them, that was before he snapped out his little daze and found himself at the front of the line. He had hardly noticed the line move. Now in the presence of the knights guarding the entrances, Andreas’ legs turned to jelly as he struggled to get a single word out of his mouth.

“What is your name young man?” she asked in a soft polite voice, as she gestured at the boy to speak up. “Andreas Agostini,” The boy said almost immediately managing to get a few words out.

Upon hearing the name the 'Agostini’ the magic knight stepped aside and let the boy through. Although House Agostini was not one of the ruling families of the kingdom, it still carried enough power to persuade common folk into doing their bidding.

Upon entering the tower Andreas was taken back by the number of people in attendance. He began wondering whether or not there would be enough grimoires for everybody, would someone leave this tower without one in hand today. However, with just a glance he could already tell that there had to be thousands upon thousands of grimoires, one of which would soon fall under his ownership.

"I hope both mother and father get here on time. I would hate to be embarrassed in front of all my future peers..." Andreas whispered as he looked over his shoulder, eagerly awaiting their arrival.

The day had finally come. It took much convincing on her mom's part for her mum to give the go-ahead, but here she was. The girl tried not to think about how she was a year behind most of the eager masses gathering today.

Limited without a grimoire, she could only leave the tiniest scratches on the surface of her magic abilities. It irritated her to no end, stuck with rudimentary gestures and mastering hand-to-hand under her other mom's watchful eye.

She was the one who got it after all; that same insatiable drive to achieve and excel. Not that her mom didn't have concerns too; she was just better at setting them aside and supporting Beatrix. "Compartmentalizing", the older woman called it. It's what Beatrix was trying to do as she flip-flopped between great anticipation and existential dread for when the checkpoint came up. As much as she loved her moms, the hyphenated last name wasn't their best idea.

It's why she chose to walk instead, weaving through the city streets after leaving their shared home. Here she could think and prepare herself as best as she could, blending with the growing masses set to attend this momentous event. Part of Trix wondered how the Magic Emperor pulled this off logistically and financially; seeing the parade of chariots only gave a small sampling of the hurdles and likely exorbitant cost of this charade.

Then again, it was likely good for morale and nationalism, recognizing everyone who was responsible for contributing to this country's existence. The girl languidly wondered what nobles thought of their children and kin rubbing shoulders with commoners. Beatrix made a note to ask her parents when she returned.

"Ma'am. MA'AM." Beatrix snapped to attention as the gruff voice of Magic Knight pierced through her daydreams, "You're up next." She walked forward.

"Your name?"

She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Beatrix Roselei-Vermillion," she responded. Predictably, those waiting in line or within earshot went quiet upon hearing this, before a growing cascade of whisper arose. "So it's her...they adopted her right? Where is she from? Is she a commoner? I wonder if she should have that last name. Well, she's pretty enough to pass for a noble I guess. Not that she'll ever be one proper; her magic power seems too limited." She followed the content of each conversation as they reached her ears, cheating a little so she could catch more than snippets.

The Magic Knight, to his credit, didn't participate in this gossip. "There you are," he commented, pen hovering over her name on, "Head on in. The ceremony should be starting in a few."

"Thanks." With that, Beatrix went inside, her focus laser-like as she contemplated what awaited her.

Lieser had expected this day for a long time. A foreigner coming from the Witches' Forest, this would be the final step to cut her ties with her past self and join the forces of Clover Kingdom in order to become the greatest mage that ever was. This was her dream - and so much she dreamt last night that when the birds pecked at the window and woke her up, it was almost too late to make to the ceremony.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" After looking at the clock, all she could do was scream. The birds flew away in fear, leaving Lieser alone in her small wooden house. The drowsiness didn't last long; she burst out of bed in seconds, covering her naked body with a dress and on her head a hat to control the messiness of her hair. With a piece of old bread in one hand and a sword in the other, she left - through the woods she made her way, walking a small path that connected it to the Hage village in the Forsaken Region of the Kingdom.

Lieser was a fast runner; it didn't take too long for her to cross the entire region and reach the outer walls of the capital. It was not her first time there too - she hunted small animals and traded them for money or other goods, and the capital was the best place to do so.

Taking bites of her bread, she made her way to the ceremony. When she arrived, the bread was long gone and the line of mages was shorter than expected; in fact, she was the only one at the moment. She approached the Magic Knight at the entrance, greeting him with a smile and a peace sign. "I'm Lieser. Let me in."

"Ok..." The Magic Knight looked at her and at the papers. "It seems you're one of the last ones." He said, drawing a line over her name.

Before he could confirm, Lieser was already walking in. She didn't imagine what was expecting her inside, but she couldn't contain the excitement on her face.

After stepping down from the carriage, Neal took a look at the long line and sighed. He has never like to participate in the event with a large crowd, especially with this many people.

Thought to himself and wondered, "Why has the King ordered everyone in the kingdom to come to one place for picking up their grimoire, it just makes the whole matter so much of a hustle." If it weren't for the grimoire, he would never appear in a place like this.

He got into the line and secretly prayed that the whole thing would be over soon so he could go back to his lab and continue on with his research. He opened a book and started reading.

"Your name please?" the guard asked

Without realizing how fast the line has moved, he found himself before the gate of the repository.

Mildly irritated by the interruption, he muttered to the guards, "Neal Aguilar". Chatter from other guards stopped upon hearing the name.

"Y-Yes sir, just give me a moment." the guard replied with a slight tremble in his voice.

Just before they start to look through the messy piles of documents, Neal sighed and snapped with his finger. The papers began to shuffle by itself and finally stopped at the page with his name on it. "A moment it is." , he responded.

Without bothering on the shocking looks from the guards, he entered.

Although large crowds annoyed him, part of him, however, was looking forward to the ceremony. After seeing the interior of the tower, he smirked. With millions of grimoires lied before him, he has never seen so many books at once in his entire life. This would be once in a lifetime chance for him to get a glimpse on millions of grimoires at once. He thought to himself.

Zela sat in one of the public carriages heading to the capital among half a dozen other girls and boys eager to get their grimoire. Older than most of them, she simply hadn't had a chance to get her grimoire before now. As such, she was one of the oldest people in the chariot by a few years. She was also different than most in that she wasn't technically a citizen of the Clover Kingdom, but that made little difference at the moment. After all, no one really paid attention to those from the forsaken region.

*Do they ever just shut up...* She thought to herself from the incessant prattling from the teenagers around her, her temper rising like usual.

A slightly smoking chariot drew some attention when it reached the platform, the people inside spilling out from the sweltering conditions inside. They escaped from the heat in a hurry, several of them slightly singed. Zela slunk out of the carriage shortly after, calmly walking towards the horde of people at the door as she got in line for the acceptance ceremony.

"Line's moving quickly at least," Zela grumbled to herself as she slowly wound her way through the line, eventually ending up at the front.

"Paper's, please." The knight up front will say as they look over Zela. "Aren't you a bit old to be part of the grimoire ceremony?"

"I live pretty far out in the Forsaken Zone, you try to find time to go get a grimoire," Zela responded flatly as she dug the singed piece of paper out of her pocket.

"Fair enough, you're free to go in." The man will respond back.

Zela walk towards the entrance, noticing the logjam of people at the front all trying to enter at once. Tapping her foot impatiently, she waited for a few minutes for the people to make much progress into the building, but they never did.

Zela channeled some of her Mana back into her skin, letting the heat escape her body once more. The people around her started sweating quickly, taking a moment before they realized just how hot things were getting. A bubble of space formed around the young witch as the press of bodies opened a gap to escape the worst.of the heat. Zela walked forward, watching as the people in front of her quickly followed suit while those behind her started moving forward in her wake. As she passed the rest of the way through the crowd, she eased off the heat, allowing her to be approachable again. Behind her, the jam of people started moving as they decompressed, using the room she had created to finally move forward.

"This is why I hate crowds..."

Signy moved through the crowd quickly, making her way to the registration desk without any hassle. She had an aura about her, one that was like a neon sign telling everyone to avoid her at all costs. For those who couldn't read or were too oblivious to sense her hostile disposition, she had a glare that could melt metal. Even though none of them had grimoires, she didn't seem like she needed one to be dangerous.

She made it to the registration desk, facing a rather severe older woman. Their exchange was brusk, neither of them really cared to be here it would seem, but they were both obligated for different reasons. Once it was confirmed that Signy was indeed registered, she was allowed to pass through.

As she entered the repository, her face smoothed from a perpetual glare to a child-like awe. She was still young, after all, and this was the largest, most extravagant collection of anything she had ever seen in her life. And her father loved collecting all manner of weaponry. The shock was enough to reset her to the mentality of a fifteen year old, for a moment. But soon the mask was back, but softer than before. She was approachable now, at least.

## Friendships Formed

### Beauty and the Beast

Cain walked over to the red-head, she seemed to know what she was doing. Plus, the rest looked like nobles, too stuck up on their high-horses for his liking. While this girl, albeit attractive enough to pass as a noble, had the vibes of a commoner. Cain might've been guessing her, but it sure seemed liked it. "Hey," he called out. "Do you know when the Grimoires are like...given to us?"

She paused, her head slowly turning at the loud, errant voice. "They're given when they're given, and not a moment sooner. It would behoove you to have a little patience; you're not the only one eager to attain their grimoire," Beatrix responded coolly, her azure gaze raking over the one who asked the question.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Cain." the boy responded. Her gaze was was chilling, not what he expected. Was she actually a noble? "Look sunshine, I don't know what a 'behoove' is. Lets stick to words that I can understand, yeah? Who're you, though?"

"Behoove means to benefit or be beneficial," she commented. Upon hearing his name, Beatrix weighed whether or not to give her own. After all, he didn't add a surname; he was probably a commoner then. Adding her surname might prove frivolous, and she had enough of a spotlight as it is.

"Beatrix," the girl said finally, her gaze narrowing just a bit. "Where are you from?"

Was she a commoner after all? She didn't add a surname, so thats what Cain was led to believe. "Nice to meet ya." he mentioned. He processed her question before answering rather nonchalantly. "Ah, the towns not too large, it's an hours trip as the crow flies. You?"

"Nice to meet you as well I suppose," she returned. Part of her noted his way of speaking; definitely a commoner. Technically, she was in the same boat..before being spirited away by her mothers anyway. "I live in the city; not too far from here in fact. Ended up making the trip by foot since it was easier than riding around in a glorified cart."

The boy raised a brow. "You didn't take the cart?" he asked, clearly bewildered. "That thing was so cool! Way better than what I'm used to." he said. he noted that the girl spoke differently than what he was used to. What was she up to? He didn't think much of it, only deciding to make more conversation. It was definitely taking his mind off the pressure of the whole thing. "Living it up in the city, eh? Whats it like living up there?"

"No it's really not; you're a peacock in a gilded cage, paraded around with accompanying pomp and pageantry," she responded, seemingly disappointed by his enthusiasm for the "carriage-ride". "In a word: comfortable. Too comfortable to the point of fostering complacency sometimes. Nonetheless, it's where my parents live, since they work in the city. For the most part anyway; what are your parents' occupations?"

"More fancy words, huh?" Cain murmured, not really knowing what she said. "Your parents must pretty important, working in the city." he noted. "My dad's a deadbeat. And as for my mom...she's a Magic Knight. Her and I aren't that close though. Yours?"

"I...see. Well, I suppose they are, though to me they're just mum and mom," she commented, seemingly unsurprised by the idea of him coming from a broken household. "Mine? They're Magic Knights. What squad is your mom a part of?"

"Two moms? Thats cool." Cain said, being genuine. "My moms a part of Blue Rose. Either of your mothers a Magic Knight?"

Trixie winced instinctively when he said that, having encountered others who weren't so genuine. Had her mothers not been so prominent, she doubted people would tolerate their openly gay relationship. Such were the times. "They both are. One of my moms is part of Blue Rose too," Beatrix hesitated for a second before deciding, "she leads it actually."

Cain's eyes expanded, his jaw dropping. "YOUR MOM IS-- WHAT YOU--" he began, stammering. He decided Beatrix wouldn't enjoy the unwanted attention, so he lowered his voice. "Your mom is Elizabeth Roselei?? So that means your other mom is Rosanne Vermillion?? THATS WICKED!" he whispered harshly, a contagious smile on his face.

Beatrix swatted him. "Can you not be so loud?" she hissed. "Yes, my mom is Elizabeth. And my mum is Rosanne. It's warm definitely...I just wish they would stop coddling me; mum especially."

Cain laughed out loud from disbelief. "Sorry, sorry..." he murmured. "Just not everyday you meet someone related to two CAPTAINS!"

Beatrix swatted him again. "Clearly you're bad at listening. Yes yes, I know," she said, clearly not amused by his gushing behavior, "who is your mom? You never said her name."

"Sorry, sorry." he apologized again. He was just in complete awe at the moment. "My mom? Oh, her name is Eve. She's...something."

"Eve..." Trix mused, "that rings a small bell. Why don't you like her? Mom says she's one of the most reliable people she has in her squad."

"She ditched me." Cain responded. "I've seen her twice in my entire life. Not her biggest fan, persay."

"What? That doesn't make sense...she why would she do th-" Beatrix fell silent, thinking about her own past. Why was she just dropped off at the orphanage and forgotten? She shook her head at the thought. "Who raised you then?"

"My grandparents did." he replied. His grandparents were amazing, easily the best people in his life at the moment. He would miss them while he was a Magic Knight, but he had already promised himself that he would visit them as much as he could when he became a Magic Knight. "They're really good people."

"Your grandparents...I see," Beatrix commented, noticing how his tone softened when describing them. It was nothing like the ire when describing his mom or the disgust for his seemingly non-existent father. That trait they had in common at least. "They sound like decent people. What's their occupation?"

"Gramps is a farmer, but he's a hard worker." Cain explained somewhat defensively. "In fact, he exports to the city, which is a pretty big deal." and that was pride. Cain was truly grateful for his grandparents, and made sure to make them look good whenever he had the chance. "Gran-gran's a housewife, but makes the best damn gumbo you'll ever have."

She nods, catching this defensiveness, but unsurprised by its existence. After the revelation earlier, Trix expected tension to follow. "Hmm, what kind of food does he grow, and what city markets does he export too? I'd like to try it sometime," Beatrix responded before raising an eyebrow, "Gumbo? What's that? I've never tried it before."

The boy beamed. "Oh, you can't miss it! There's a restaurant a few streets away from the Royal Palace entrance, I hear a while ago the Captains ate there." he ranted. He noticed this, and cleared his throat, apologizing for that. As Beatrix asked what gumbo was, he raised a brow. "Y-. You've never had gumbo before?! It's the best thing ever. I don't know what it really is, but I know it has a stock, and veggies. Pretty sure the stock is either of meat or shellfish, thats just a preference from what I know."

Her confusion cleared. "Ah, mum is always gushing about their food. I guess I'm overdue for a visit," Trixie mused before stopping short, surprised by his shock. Was it that popular? "I should try some of that too then."

Cain nodded. "You really gotta try Gumbo." he said. "Oh, what Squad you aiming for?"

"Of course," she responded before cringing, "neither of my parents' that's for sure. I'm thinking Silver Eagle or Coral Peacock. Both squads are strong these days and the former has pedigree. It would be nice to get into Golden Dawn, but I doubt they'll be accepting anyone..they're too picky."

"That's fair." Cain replied. He knew he wouldn't want to be in a squad alongside his mother, but he suspected that he and Beatrix had different reasons for that. "I'm thinking Coral Peacock, maybe the Crimson Lions." he said, answering the unspoken question. "Whatever Squad I join, I'll become its future Captain."

"Interesting; that's my same objective," Trix commented, before a thought came to her. "Tell you what. Let's make a bet; whoever reaches Captain of their future squad first will take the other out for a meal. Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner; it's the winner's prerogative."

Cain grinned, liking the idea of the bet. Either way, he got food. So he was more than down for this. "I don't know was a 'pravocado' is," he began. "But it sounds like a deal." he stuck out his hand, a grin still visible on his face.

"Prerogative. It means choice; so the winner chooses where and what meal we have," she responded reflexively. Her own expression was a smirk, another layer of motivation added; not that she really needed it. She grasped his hand, "The deal is the deal."

As their hands fell to their sides, he nodded; excited for what was to come. "Alright, Beatrix." he began. "I'll be seeing you around, yeah?" he said rhetorically, walking away backwards, waving at her.

"Quite. See you soon Cain," she responded. As he left, Trixie lapsed into silence once more, taking a seat on the building floor. For now, she was content to listen to the other conversations taking place, letting her hearing range out a bit. It was then she picked up snippets of another conversation. *"Divine Magic? I wonder what that entails..."'* Curiosity piqued, Trix stood up once more, headed in the direction of this dialogue as she pared away other, irrelevant conversations.

### Cutting the Cheese

Despite being the shortest person in the room, Lea had managed to catch Colby enter the library and had noticed his initial hesitance. From the last time they had met, she had garnered that he was shy. She pushed off the wall she was leaning on and approached Colby.

“Hi Colby,” Lea begun, using her greeting to announce her presence.

"How was the trip?"

Colby, slightly startled by the voice that approached him turned abruptly. To his surprise, it was Lea, who he had seen and met many times due to their families doing business together often. He let out a sigh of relief relaxing before fully turning to Lea.

"Hey Lea, the trip was okay, to say the least. Took longer than I expected though, guess there's a lot of traffic considering the occasion, huh?" Colby smiled seemingly a lot calmer than when he entered the tower.

"You've been waiting a while too hmm?" Wesely said as he arrived next to two other kids

Lea turned her head to face Wesley. Though, he was clearly exactly the opposite in terms of demeanor. The fact that he had initiated the conversation was indicative of that. The first few times Lea and Colby met; he wouldn’t even look her in the eye. How far they had come since that moment.

Lea stepped in front of Colby slightly.

“No, it didn’t take me a while. I live in the capital,” she answered.

“How about you? Where are you from?”

"Same as you, Umbra family residence in the captial." His eyes flicked between the two with a blank stare. "I was referring to how long this ceremony is taking. I'd like to gather my book and go. Or rather I have to." He stepped closer to them to make way for the constant flood of people that streamed into the room.

"Either of you know your magic yet?" He raised a single eyebrow.

Colby watched as Lea stepped in front of him, he was confused but figured it was an accident due to his height she may not have even noticed so he shrugged it off.

Colby slightly raises his hand from behind Lea. "I actually know a few things when it comes to my magic though, they're very small. At most I can create a small spark in my hand, which is surprisingly effective, I can even channel it into my blade for an attack for a little more power."

Colby creates a small spark of lightning in hand for demonstration. "Neat huh?" Colby smiles holding out his hand holding the crackling spark of lightning.

Lea smiled. "Yeah, Colby! That's so cool. Who would've thought that you would be a lightning magic user?"

She looked towards Wesley. "As for me, I'm a Barrier magic user."

"Absolutely wonderful." His tone was flat, "I personally don't know what type of magic I have. I apparently can't manifest it yet or at least without a grimoire." He held out his hand and a small glimmering ball appeared, shaping itself into an odd symbol that looked like an animal skull of some sort. "This is all I can do, this shape too."

Colby looks at the animal skull-shaped object shining in his hands. "I mean based on looks alone I would say light magic but it could be anything, you must really want to get this grimoire, I can't imagine having to wait so long to find out about my magic I manifested mine pretty young compared to others"

"So Wesley, why exactly do you wanna be a magic knight? assuming that's why you're here getting your grimoire?"

"I fucking hope it's light magic." Wesley responded with a sigh. "I want to be a knight for the Umbra family, my older brother decided to dishonor the name and now I'm here trying to do the opposite."

"Umbra....with light magic?" Lea inquired rhetorically. "That'd be pretty ironic, don't you think?"

"That would be pretty ironic, wouldn't it?" Colby throughout this conversation had a smile on his face all his grimoire jitters were gone and he was happy. "I wonder what's taking so long? We've been talking for a while now. I guess they're just waiting for more people to get here these are usually pretty packed." Colby looked around as people were still entering at the exact same pace as they were when he first came. "So since I'm pretty sure your both going on the exams in a few months, any squad, in particular, you're looking to join?"

"I'm looking to join Golden Dawn," Lea responded. "Everyone who came before me have been Golden Dawn, and I must not be the exception." She looked down at Colby. "You know, family pressure to be great and all. Though, how about you? Which squad are you looking forward to joining?"

"I really wanna join the Crimson Lions, my older brother Jack is actually a member not sure if you've heard of him." Colby thinks back to his older brothers insane and hot-headed tendencies among many others and smiles. "Either them or the Coral Peacock, I really like what they've been doing over the years they seem like a great squad to join that is if I'm not chosen for the Lions."

"Well, I guess if I don't get picked Golden Dawn, I'd join someone like the Coral Peacock's too. Aren't they supposed to be treasure hunters and dungeon raiders, now? Though," Lea stopped to think briefly. "Yeah, recently the Captain and Vice Captain retired or something."

"Golden Dawn if possible for me, really anything with standing for me." Wesley added, his eyes flicking repeatedly from them to the rest of the room and back. "Anything with standing really. Just hopefully not Green Mantis, that's where my brother was."

"Yeah, Golden Dawn would be really cool." Lieser, a total stranger to the group, decided to join the conversation. Her voice came from behind Colby and, when she started talking, her elbows were placed on Colby's shoulders, with both her closed fists pressing on her cheeks and holding her head right above his. The boy was being used as some kind of support, as Lieser herself had a tired expression on her face.

As Lieser leaned onto Colby, Lea’s pupils dissipated into the deep white of her eyes. For most, it was an expression of shock and surprise, maybe even sometimes confusion. It was the same for Lea.

“W-Who is this, Colby? D-Don’t tell me this is your….GIRLFRIEND?!!”

Colby was completely and utterly shocked, what he was experiencing was a mix of fear and confusion. On one hand Lieser was way to close for comfort and now she was being called his girlfriend, he had no idea what to do but to try explain himself quickly and swiftly.

“W-W-W-W-W-WAIT!! This is just a misunderstanding. S-She’s not my girlfriend, I’ve never even met her.” Colby thinking he diffused the situation to scared to move the girl from his arm turned to look at Lieser, who he had to look up to for that matter. “W-Who are you?” Colby spoke with a fake smile to mask his shock.

Wesley slid next to Lea and leaned down to about her height staring at the two. "Wow Colby I didn't know you had such a cute girlfriend. Nice going man." He grinned for the first time since they'd met, taking pleasure in the kid's stuttering. To him Lea was messing with Colby, so why not join in.

"Girlfriend?" Lieser expression went from tired to confused in seconds. She distanced herself from Colby a few centimeters, pointing both her arms in his direction as trying to show him off as some kind of unknown specimen to an audience of curious scientists.

"Look, it's a kid. I can't go on dating kids..." She approached Lea and Wesley; one of her hands held open near her face in order to block her words. Whispering, she continued. "... I don't want to offend the kid or anything, but... I'm not into pedophilia, you know?" She looked over her hand in Colby's direction, returning her gaze to Lea and Wesley. "I'm Lieser, by the way."

“H-H-HEY!! I’m not a kid! I’m probably just as old as you are. Height means nothing!”

Colby’s face grew red with anger, he became flustered. Colby hates to be mocked for his height which was below average, if not worse. Colby directed his words straight at the girl as he had heard all her poorly whispered words.

Wesley let out a small laugh and grasped her hand, shaking it quite vigorously. He enjoyed her teasing. "Wesley Umbra." He spun back to Colby with a grin. "Don't worry about it bud, just drink some milk, it'll make you grow."

"So Lieser you know your magic?"

"Oh." Lieser responded to Wesley's shake just as vigorously as he did. She barely heard Colby's tantrum and just kept answering the other mage's question. "Mhm, but I can't go on telling everybody. It'll ruin the surprise!"

"...Okay, um, so let's like talk about literally anything else, like Colby!" Lea commented, gesturing towards him. "In fact, Colby, did you have plans after this grimoire ceremony? Are you going to stay in the Capital for a little bit? We could relax together, or something. I could take you to this amazing place I know. My dad can set us up with reservations, asap."

Colby after ranting for a short time finally realized his anger was falling upon deaf ears, he let out a deep sigh before turning to Lea.

"I actually planned on staying in the capital for the next six months, to train with my older brother. If I'm correct I think he's actually on a mission right now, so I should have some off time to myself for a while. I would love to relax for a bit with you, Lea, maybe we can even train together. I just need to find a place to stay until my brother returns." Colby would say with a soft smile on his face.

"You can stay with me!" Lea jumped, before noticing her outburst. She cleared her throat. "I mean, I'm certain that we have space for you. I'll talk to my father today, and have him arrange something for you."

Wesley grinned at their little interaction. Smirking as he turned to Lieser, whispering. "They are adorable aren't they." It was clear Lea was interested in him but Colby's knowledge of that remained to be seen. He decided to make it a little interesting though. "Oh looking for a place huh. Well my house has had an empty room for over 20 years so if ya need to crash somewhere I'm sure I can arrange that.

He crept around to Cobly's side, whispering in his ear. "I mean isn't it a little weird to live with a girl if you're not together?"

Lea stepped forward. "But you don't want to stay with a stranger, right Colby? Imagine all of the new people you have to meet? All of the people you have to interact with that you don't know? It'd be terrifying!"

"U-Ummmmmmm." Colby had a flustered look on his face as the two plead their cases as to why he should stay with either of them. He didn't know who to pick, they both plead good cases but ultimately he could only stay with one of them.

"Well, I mean, it would be nice to stay with a stranger and make a new friend n all but, Lea did offer first and I'm already acquainted with most of her family, so if it's okay with you, Wesley. I think I'm gonna stay with her." He would say while twidling his thumbs.

Wesley was a little confused over how Lea heard that as he'd whispered it in Colby's ear. Though he showed none of it, simply giving a shrug to Colby. "Suit yourself man." He turned to glance over the room once more. "Honestly though are they stalling or something? We've been talking for what feels like ages and they haven't even addressed us.

Lieser was a little lost in the conversation; she stood there and heard their interactions, until Wesley pointed out the fact that it was taking too long for the grimoires to be handled. With the cue on, she decided to leave the group and potentially meet new people. "You're right! I'm gonna check it out." Before saying goodbye, she left in bigsteps; one hand on the trim of her hat, the other holding her sword.

"She was...weird, to say the least." Colby would say about Lieser as she stepped away sword in hand. Colby grew almost restless after waiting for so long, it seemed almost as though his grimoire would never come. "I wonder what's taking so long? For the most part, everyone is here or at least nobody's entering. I can't wait till I get my grimoire, what do you think your's will look like?" Colby looked over to both Wesley and Lea directing the question towards them both.

### The Good Book

Marco watched the others converse among one another. How lucky for some to know their magic affinity already. In the church, it was sort of against the rules to dabble in magic. And so, Marco simply knew that his noble blood possessed a non elemental affinity. While unrefined, his magic power was considered incredible for someone his age.

He grabbed his cross and prayed for guidance. Only opening his eyes to scan the books on the pedge. *Light. Plant. Sword. Dark. Animal.* So many potential outcomes. He started to get lost in hopeless predictions. But no matter what, Marco wanted to be an earth mage so bad. He could use his magic to help protect those in danger AND increase agricultual yields throughout the year.

But of course the thoughts of the Magic Knights exams brought him back to reality. The Coral Peacocks had recently undergone a major change. Leading to a new captain and vice captain. This meant he could be apart of a new history. Or maybe he could get into the Crimson Lion...His earth magic would surely put out any rampaging fires.

He started to smile. warmth spreading throughout his body as he began to picture himself the hero he'd always wanted to be.

Haruhi began to despair, not being able to find any of her friends. *Strange, weren't we all supposed to meet up here?* She thought to herself. She had been isolated for a long time, and as such, large crowds intimidated her. Small gatherings, she could handle with ease, but being in the tower with all these people... She needed her friends again. Or at the very least, she needed company to distract herself.

Haruhi patted herself on her cheeks, trying to snap herself out of her worried stupor. She took one last look around, and took note of everyone conversing with one another, bonding and discussing future plans. *I need to get in on this!* She thought, feeling it more out of necessity rather than want, lest she would start going crazy. She walked around a bit further until she took note of a young boy who seemed to be all alone. Putting on her happy face, she approached him with a bit of a skip in her walk. Once she closed in on him, she noticed the symbol clutched in his hand. If it was what she thought it was, maybe she could gain something more from this as well. "Hiya! Hey, I don't mean to intrude or anything, but you wouldn't happen to be religious, would you?"

Andreas' began pacing around the room, finding the wait for both his parents' arrival and the handing out of the grimoires a bit boring. Noticing that many of the aspiring mages here came in groups, Andreas began feeling a bit left out considering that he had entered the tower alone.

Looking around the scene he questioned whether or not he was the only person who hadn't come here with some sort of companion or family member. It was impossible right? Just as he was beginning to doubt this he noticed a beautiful crimson haired girl standing all by herself.

Andreas made his way towards her, however as he did this he noticed the girl making her way to a strange boy holding something in between his hands. As he was about to approach her Andreas suddenly stopped, taking notice of the strange symbol in between the boy's hands.

"I thought members of the Holy Church didn't attend these sort of events, but it seems that I am mistaken" His interest in both the noble girl and the strange church boy having grown considerably Andreas carried on, in a bid to befriend them.

"Pardon my intrusion, but would one of you happen to know at what time the ceremony will begin?"

Before the other boy had a chance to answer, another one came out of the crowds and now seemed to approach them. "Hiya! No actually, I was hoping that someone here would know." Haruhi answered before jumping up and walking up to the stranger. "Wanna introduce? I am Haruhi Rephalia." She spoke with her hand reached out.

"Is that so? That is quite unfortunate." Andreas replied as the girl walked up to him. "Haruhi. Haruhi Rephali what a beautiful name for a beautiful lady" Andreas said as he reached out for her outstretched hand. He bowed towards her palm before lightly kissing it. Andreas wasn't really sure if any of the other nobles at still performed this, but he personally considered the gesture to be a common courtesy. Besides this was how nobles were supposed to act, at least in the eyes of his family. *I hope that I'm not being too weird. What if she finds me weird* These were the types of thoughts running through head, as he managed to get a few words.

"Andreas Agostini. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Turning his attention towards the other boy. "Now that I have told you both my name would you mind sharing yours?"

Marco was about to answer to the crimson haired girl but found that a white haired boy had interrupted. And what was worst? This boy was trying to hit on her at a time like this. Marco hated nobles. Not for their arrogance or holier than thou mentality. But rather for their endless cheesiness.

"My name is Marco." Marco announced confidently. "And I am indeed a member of the Papal...Or at least I hope..After this ceremony all hopes of going back to the church might be over."

Marco chuckled lightly. "Do you guys know what's supposed to happen?"

Haruhi blushed softly at Andreas' gesture. She had never quite been treated like this before, regardless of courtesy or not. Her noble etiquete training was the only thing keeping her from bursting out rambling and turning into a tomato. "Thank you, sir. I am most humbled by your words." She spoke properly before pulling away and going back to her more excitable self. She returned to the now introduced Marco. "A member of the church? In that case, maybe you can help me a bit? I am... A bit confused with my magic. As for what is going to happen, I am not as sure. My family kept me sheltered from all things magic after my affinity was found."

Marco was shocked. He wished he could help the girl out with her magic but it was to no avail He barely knew how to manipulate his own magic power. It'd be like the blind leading the blind. "Well," Marco started. "I'm not so good with this magic thing myself. I don't even know what my affinity is. The church frowns against magic and so you're not really allowed to experiment."

He smiled though. She seemed lost and Marco knew that feeling better than anyone else. And such, he nodded. "But if you stick by me, we can figure this thing out together!" He said with newfound confidence.

"I see…" Andreas sighed "I sincerely wish you the best of luck in that regard Marco. I couldn't possibly imagine what it must feel like to leave everything that you know and love like that, in pursuit of your dream. I truly feel for you, Marco." Andreas said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. For some reason commoners found it somewhat difficult to understand if a noble was being sincere or not, as most nobles often spoke to them in a patronizing voice. However Andreas was not one of these and he certainly was not like his obnoxious parents, he tried his best to avoid inadvertently insulting them.

"But aren't you a noble? Raphelia. That name implies that you are of House Raphelia does it not? I mean I just find it a bit odd that they would do this, a noble family no less" Looking a bit shocked he went on to add "So you both struggle to use your magic, huh? This was never a problem for me considering that my parents always pushed me to be the best at everything." Noticing that he was starting to ramble, Andreas used his magic to form a single feathered wing.

"If either one of you require any assistance I would be more than happy to lend my services, however…" he trailed off as this wing began crumbling away slowly "My problem lies in not in its initial creation, but in sustaining it. So I guess in that regard I'm really in the same boat as you two." he said chuckling a bit.

Marco was touched by the kindness. But he'd heard that other nobles tended to be quite underhanded in their behavior. And such, he remained quiet in order to keep his guard up and heart protected. Still, for those two to be actual nobles gave Marco a bit of jealously. Would he had turned out this way had his parents not given him up for adoption? A child born of sin. Marco lived with the idea that he existed to make up for his father's failure in following the Lord's word. Due to this, he couldn't experience he happiness that these two were given. Still, there existed a piece of Marco that hoped for the authenticity of Andrea's genuineness. On top of everything else, the young rookie was shocked at the beauty of his wing. Something that reminded him of the holy angels above. It was instances like these where the church would question the purpose of magic. For it seemed as if Andreas had crossed into territories belonging to God.

"That's troublesome." Marco responded to his predicament. At least this kid could create something. All Marco could do is fire blast of Mana the size of pebbles.

Haruhi inspected the wing with awe and wonder. "I am, I just so happen to have a magic my parents didn't like, so I was shunned away from magic." She replied to Andreas. SHe then turned to Marco. "Which is kind of why I hoped you could help. MY magic is called "Divine Magic", and I thought you as a religious man could maybe help me figure out something?"

"Divine Magic?" Marco repeated. He hadn't heard of such a thing. Well, there existed rumors that a certain someone utilized magic to fake their miracles...But those were just the gossips of the choirgirls. Still, Divine Magic sounded quite sacrilegious...

"I've never heard of it...I'm sorry. I always thought that the Holy arts and Magic never mixed. Though I wouldn't mind helping you with it."

Andreas was shook by Haruhi's words. Forced to shun her magic by her own parents nonetheless. He couldn't begin to imagine what that must've been like her. As he was about to offer her words of sympathy, Andreas heard something which peeked his interest.

"Divine Magic? Should that not entail that your magic invokes the use of some kind of godly force." Thinking upon it further Andreas wondered. Was such a thing even possible? Andreas had heard of strange magic surfacing in certain individuals before, but nothing like this. A magic that summons upon the aid of God. Impossible. No such power could possibly exist. "However I doubt that it's anything like that, right? I mean that's the sort of thing that you read about in children's storybooks."

"I wouldn't say so Andreas." Marco replied nonchalantly. "His word says that there are countless creatures of darkness and light who wield magnificent power. In fact it was his word that protected us from them before. Although any prayer to another God would be against my doctrine." Marco took a breath. What if this magic he possessed involved other gods?! He wouldn't be able to walk into the church ever again!

"You never know with this world. Crazier things have happened." Marco tapped his chin. "Isn't that giant skeleton on the outskirts the remains of a great Devil?"

“Yeah, Haruhi’s magic is pretty wack.” Cain said as he walked over to the group, having left Beatrix. He raised his hand for a high-five towards Haruhi. “Nice to meet y’all. And to answer your question my white-hair brother, I don't think anyone knows what it is. My gramps just says it's what remained of a battle many years ago.”

Beatrix arrived soon after. "I heard the words Divine and Magic together in a sentence. Anyone care to explain?" she asked, curiosity coloring her tone. She noticed Cain was there as well; so much for going their separate ways for the time being.

*Wow, we seem to be popular right now.* Haruhi thought to herself. In other cases, she might start getting a bit anxious, but Cain was here now, so all was well. "Cain!" She exclaimed whilst returning the high-five. She then looked over to the new woman who approached them, curious as to who she was and what brought her close. Then she heard her question and could only assume that it was that. "Yeah, that would be my magic. When I was tested some time ago, they declared my Affinity to be "Divine Magic". I still have no clue what that means and what to expect from it. I just hope my grimoire may enlighten me."

Her heat having finally died down from making her way through the entrance to the building, Zela quickly realized one thing.

"I have no idea where I am going..."

Zela had never been to a city before, having spent her entire life in the forest. And she had definitely never been in a building this large before.

Looking around, she picked out a group at random. "Hello... I'm not from around here... So where do we go for this ceremony?"

"Weird...I've never heard of such an affinity before, any idea of its mechanics?" Trix asked as a follow up before remembering to introduce herself. She extended a hand to Haruhi, "Beatrix, nice to meet you." It's then she hears a voice behind her. Turning to see the source, she finds a red-headed girl who appears very lost. Trix waves her over with her other hand.

"The ceremony is here. We're just making conversation while waiting for it to start. Your name?"

"I see, Zela is my name." Zela responded gruffly. "Don't have a last one, since people seem to like to ask that. Your's?"

Cain spotted Beatrix and raised a brow, nodding his head upwards in greeting. He spotted Zela, but noted that Beatrix had taken care of introducing herself to this rag-tag group. "Alright, well I know Beatrix, Haruhi and this Zela girl now. But I still don't know the rest of your names, and thats kinda bothering me."

"My name's Marco. I was apart of the Holy Church." Marco stumbled. Hefound himself sweating. Or perhaps it was the red head who seemed to radiate such an intense aura. Either way, he quickly smirked at the new members of their makeshift group. "Must be awesome to know what your magic is!" He smiled. "I won't know until this ceremony finishes. But I'm praying for earth."

"I feel ya, Marco." Cain responded, sighing. "I got no idea what my Magic is either. Haru here was lucky to find hers out, but I'm still in the blind." he said. "I'm hoping for something sick, like Metal Magic. Or Laser. Gah, there are so many options, ya know?"

Upon hearing Marco announce his name, Andreas took a bow and went on to do the same "My name is Andreas. Andreas Agostini. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Shouldn't your magic resemble your parents, no?" Zela asked Cain curiously. "Both mine were fire mages, so mine was obvious from the start."

Cain scowled. "Ugh, I get a magic derived from moms?" he questioned, obvious distaste in his words. "I don't know what dads was, nor do I care. Hopefully they'll do one thing right and give me some cool Magic."

"She's right. Typically individuals wield either a derivative of one parent's affinity, the exact same affinity, or a hybridized conglomerate of their parents' affinities," Trixie added before turning, "Name's Beatrix, nice to meet you Zela."

Marco chuckled at Zela. "Well. I'm an orphan. All I know of my parents is that one was a member of a royal family and the other a cleaning woman from the outskirts." That wasn't all he knew...He remembered finding a series of newspapers from several days after his birth. News of a woman who served the house Kira being found slain outside her house. A royal dagger embedded deep into her womb. Marco's stomach twisted and churned at the memory. A night where he stumbled too far into one of the Church's greatest secrets. Only one word stuck out from that night...Vanessa.

Was it safe for Marco to even tell them *this* much? Well something would be off if there came a time where he might have to reveal his magical power. Plus, these were the only kids who came to talk to him. Something in his gut told him he could trust them.

"So this ceremony might tell me a bit about my heritage."

Cain nodded. "Hopefully your parents aren't as useless as mine," he said. "Especially my mother, she's trash. You got a noble parent, so thats already several steps ahead of my own."

"I technically had a dozen parents, but that was mostly because I was raised by a coven more so than an individual." Zela responded.

"A-A dozen?! Andreas said stuttering, utterly shocked at Zelda's statement. Struggling to get his head around at the idea of having that many parents nagging you all the time, like his did "I can barely stand one of my parents and dealing with the both of them is a complete nightmare. How did you manage?" Andreas curiously asked as he stared at girl, eager to no more.

"More power to you, Zela." Cain said. "I couldn't imagine having to deal with multiple of my moms, I'd have gone insane in the first week."

"I was raised by all of them from the beginning, just used to it I guess." She responded back.

"That reminds of the church." Marco said with a grin. "In a way, everyone becomes your parent."

"They really do..." Zela responded in a distracted manner, her eyes elsewhere. "But... I need to go for a minute."

### Which Witch

Lieser was incredibly bored at this point. After her short interaction with a group of mages, she decided to go out and check why it was taking so long for the grimoires to be handled. With her wrapped sword over one shoulder, she walked aimlessly in the enormous hall; head in the clouds, she day-dreamed about the color and shape of her grimoire, how many pages would it have and how many leaves would adorn its cover. She was so invested in her thoughts that it took some time for her to realize that she had fell on the ground. The pain in her head started to grow stronger and the silhouette of another person in her front started to become clear.

"What happened?" Lieser said, confused. She grabbed her hat from the ground, putting it on her head as she got up.

“I never expected to run into you of all people here.” Zela said coldly to the younger woman as she watched her stand up. “What’s trash like you doing out here?”

"Ara~ do I know you?" Lieser's expression and tone shifted completely when she recognized the woman in front of her; her vivid red eyes turned opaque and the smile on her face carried a bit of mischievousness. She touched the tip of her hat, bringing it down a bit to shade her face.

"If you don't then you clearly didn't pay attention before everyone threw you out." Zela flatly stated, arms crossed over her chest. "But turn again, all things considered, it wouldn't be that surprising. So I'll ask again, why bother showing your face again."

"Don't go out making assumptions like this. We both were cast out, weren't we?..." Lieser took a deep breath before continuing. "... and aren't we here today for... the same reasons?" She giggled, leaning her head to one side.

"I left of my own accord." Zela responded with annoyance. "My exile was my own choice Lieser. Even you would have heard if I was thrown out."

Lieser put one finger next to her mouth, looking up as forcing herself to remember something. "Hm... you're right, you left in your own accord... but wasn't that because you no longer had any use for your mother?" Now, her eyes gazed directly into Zela's.

"Leave my mother out of this," came a sharp response. Zela's shifted her posture, standing far more aggressively than before. "You know nothing about it."

"Then why are you so mad about it?" Lieser continued, her voice devoid of emotions. "I guess the rumours were really true. I'm so sorry for you, Zela..." Tears started to fall from Lieser's eyes. "At the end... we're the same, aren't we? No place to go back, no place to call home, not even someone to call family."

Shuddering a bit, Zela grimaced at the younger women's comment. She narrowed her eyes before taking a deep breath, trying to let go of her anger as she stated, "We are nothing alike Lieser, and you should be glad about that."

"You're right. It was naive on my part to assume that; after all, all you could do was run away from your problems. Me, on the other side..." Lieser cleaned the thought that came to her mind, putting a smile on her face. "Let's not talk about it."

Zela had a foreboding expression on her face as she turned partially away from Lieser. Sparks crackled from her right hand as it clenched. A burning gaze could be seen in her eyes as she twisted back around, feet sliding across polished stone as her hand ignited with a burning arc aimed dead center at the other witch.

Lieser didn't expect things to go this far in this short amount of time; however, the temperament of Zela was something she had already heard of and she was not surprised when the witch went for a direct hit against her. Lieser remained still; the fist going straight to its desired target. For those in the crowd watching the scene, it was a certain hit, but for the witches the feeling was different. As the fist got closer, Lieser's legs were consumed by a dark spark that forced her own body out of its state of balance, falling backwards at the same speed of the coming fire punch. When the movement was complete, Lieser was already in the ground a few meters away from the other witch, without a single burn mark.

"Oi, what's your problem, Zela?" She said. Now, a bunch of other individuals watched the scene.

“You’re my problem Liesler…” Zela grunted as she approached the other witch, flames still burning.

One moment Zela was stalking down the subject of her ire, a fellow witch of all things, all righteous rage and blazing fire. But, before she could get close, both girls were enveloped in swirling orbs of water. The flames were extinguished, Zela's power contained within the confines of her sphere, Lieser getting the same treatment even though she hadn't made a hostile move towards anyone.

Just then two figures floated from above, everyone just now noticing their presence at all. They must've been concealing themselves, or hidden in one of the tall stacks, in order to have gone unnoticed in a crowd of teenagers examining everything around them so excitedly.

Both figures were obviously female, but one didn't even look human. She looked crafted really, a flowing dress in a deep navy shade with grand pauldrons covering her form, while she wore a tall headdress that concealed her eyes and upper face. Her strangest feature, however, was the fact that her body itself appeared to be formed of water, practically glowing with mana.

The other woman was almost average by comparison. All pale skin, dark hair and long limbs. She wore ceremonial robes with markings that one couldn't make out from a distance, but once she touched down on the ground she was unmistakable: Drusilla Liseran. The reigning Magic Emperor of the Clover Kingdom. A wave of realization rippled through the crowd, causing them to shift from murmuring loudly to sitting silently, waiting for the woman's next move.

Drusilla made herself look overly severe for all of two seconds before a laugh cracked the facade. A smile, warm and motherly, painted itself on her features and she approached the two girls held in bubbles "This is a wondrous occasion, ladies. Let's not take away from it with fighting, no matter how justified you think it may be." She looked at Zela for a moment "We're not men, surely we can be civilized around one another." She waved her hand to the other figure, who had stayed stock still after touching the ground, and with a flick of a wrist the bubbles fell away. The water that comprised them didn't even touch the ground before evaporating into nothing, leaving the surrounding area as dry as it was before.

"Now! I do believe I have a ceremony to commence." She gave the two a wink and launched into the air once more. Rather than following after her, the woman in blue dissolved into a puddle of water and disappeared without a trace.

## Onwards to Oz

The Magic Emperor floated over the crowd of young hopefuls, drawing the rapt attention of the hundreds upon thousands of eyes in the repository. They followed her movements as she made her way to the stage at the head of the repository, touching down behind a podium emblazoned with an elegantly crafted four leaf clover, the symbol of their kingdom. Magic Knights throughout the large room motioned for quiet where some were still talking amongst themselves, but it was the raising of the woman's hand that silenced the room.

She looked out amongst the crowd for a moment, her loving smile positioned firmly on her face, before she spoke "You know, my council told me I was insane for coming up with the idea of this. Holding a mass Acceptance Ceremony in the royal capital, for all the children of Clover
who are ready. After all, thousands of teens in one room? A recipe for disaster!" She let out a small chuckle to herself.

"But, I wanted to see you all. So many of you, all as bright and as amazing as the others. It truly doesn't matter your birth or status, each one of you holds the capacity to be great! And that I can be here to see you set off on your journeys to that greatness...I feel honored and humbled. I may very well be talking to the future Captains of the Magic Knights. My own successor! Or..." She leaned forward as though sharing a secret "The next King or Queen of Clover."

"As Magic Emperor, I am often looked at as a symbol of hope and peace within the kingdom. People trust me to impart knowledge and give purpose to those who lack it. If there is one thing that I can impart upon you, it is this: there is nothing you cannot do, no fight you cannot win, no enemy you cannot defeat, so long as you remember to keep fighting. For it is only when you give up that you have truly lost." She quieted for a moment in order to let her message sink in before her smile turned up a thousand watts "NOW! Without further ado! RELEASE THE BOOKS!!!"

Drusilla flung her arms out wide with dramatic flair...and nothing happened. She held the pose for a long moment before she looked around herself "Um. I said release the books! Julio release the books you're making me look bad-" She turned to look at someone behind her, but in that moment thousands of grimoires flew from their places out into the crowd, leaving the Magic Emperor looking more than a little embarrassed.

The air above the teens was alive with books of all shapes and sizes flying this way and that. Many looked up into the variable storm of paper and leather with wide eyes, their gaze flitting this way and that looking for their very own book.

There were three that floated above the rest, though. They seemed to be swathed in brilliant light, drawing attention to them like divas on a stage. One commonality with them were their covers: each held a four leaf clover. Drusilla watched them as they descended through the storm, the other books parting around them as though they were extremely important persons, to their soon to be masters.

The books that could only really be described as pompous do to their behavior had made their choices and found their way into the hands of three individuals, blessed by the gods of luck and mana: Cain Monroe, Zela and Andreas Agostini.

Haruhi found herself torn from the conversation as the Magic Emperor appeared. After a little speech, which did not seem to have gone quite as planned, the grimoires flew out from their resting places, now seeking out their new masters. Haruhi noticed how a bronze adorned grimoire floated over to her while taking in every detail of it. It was impossible to not notice the three four leafed grimoires being handed out, one of them belonging to her dear friend Cain. Which made it a bit of a bittersweet feeling to see that someone so close to her received one, yet here she was, with an ordinary three leaf. Shaking the feeling away, she decided to be happy for her friend, and that she did not need any additional boons. Her brothers hadn't, so how could she possibly prove herself innately better if she has such an headstart? She grabbed the book and swiftly opened it, only to be overwhelmed by its contents. Page after page and chapter after chapter stood filled to the brim with text, each page littered with descriptions of deities, their beings and powers that they offer. She slowly began to get a grip on how this would work, but she couldn't help but be confounded, for how would she ever possibly be able to pick from a book containing hundreds of pages?

Part of her still couldn't believe the Magic Emperor was physically here. Yes, Beatrix knew about her organizing this monumental event, about all of the money, logistics work, paperwork, and headaches going into ferrying all the candidates to this place. Her mothers talked about at the dinner table regularly.

Yet here she was in all her glory, commanding the grimoires to be released from their shelves and distributed to the chosen masses. Yes, there was a small hiccup, but it was almost immediately eclipsed as the books took off. Trix was at first mesmerized by the ebb and flow as each grimoire sought its partner, dropping one by one into the waiting hands of each. Three cresting above the rest weren't lost on her either: their four leaf clovers clear as day. Looks like it was someone's lucky day; she wondered who the three were.

Alas, Beatrix would not see those grimoires' trajectory as she found one floating in front of her, seemingly impatient. The girl paused, struck by a sudden bout of nervousness as she examined its cover, three-leafs set among an array of colors. She had waited an extra year for this right? Then she needed to go for it; her parents didn't raise a shrinking violet.

"No time like the present.." she mused, reaching out and grabbing the book. Before nearly dropping it. Was it always this loud?? The booming whirlwind of grimoires flying by her, the chattering voices. She could count every thread woven into this grimoire's cover, well-used yet durable, perhaps a little rough. More fascinating to her were the dizzying array of colors, as she picked out hundreds of shades residing within the fabrics worn by her grimoire seekers. Most Trix couldn't name, but the fact that they were there..it was like high-definition. Never mind the overwhelming smells...including some less than pleasant body odors.

She nearly dropped the book again when she heard a voice in her mind. "It's about time you came to collect me. What was the hold up child?" It, well she, sounded amused. Beatrix glanced around to see if she was the only one who heard this, nearly barking a retort out loud. "Who are you?" she managed mentally.

"Just the narrator of your story, or history-keeper. The container of your triumphs and innovations. Plus the stories behind them. Hence, a grimoire. No?" its tone signaled further delight at Trix's flummoxed state. It was going to be a long few months.

Cain had stared at the Magic Emperor in awe. She was right, she was the symbol of hope and peace. She was a symbol of power too, and Cain respected her all the more for it. He hung on to every word she had said, trying his very best to remember them. Such inspiring words shouldn’t be forgotten, but with Cain’s memory, he’d forget them as time passed, replacing them with some that were more...dynamic, but followed the same general gist.

Then the Grimoires were released. They zoomed about, each more intricate than the last. But the boys eyes locked onto the three that hovered above the rest. They glowed with power, radiated a relaxing yet commanding aura. He felt as if his soul was being tugged towards them, or was it his soul that attracted them? One of them deviated from the floating three, heading slowly but directly towards Cain. The Grimoires that stood between the pair parted like waves, and soon it floated directly in front of him. The most shocking part of it all wasn’t any of that though, it was what was engraved on the centre of the book; a Four-Leaf Clover.

Cain grasped the Grimoire in front of him in one hand, and a strange sensation flowed through him. He felt...calm, relaxed. As if he belonged. He swiped through the Grimoire, each page written in some strange dialect. Yet, he could understand it. The boy didn’t understand how, but he did. With every word he read, he felt more and more pride. Because he finally knew what his magic was, and he was ecstatic. For his magic was Beast Magic.

All this commotion. Between the two rookies fighting and the underwhelming entrance of the Magic Emperor, Marco found himself unable to follow all the drama. But he did catch the books soaring off of the shelves like shooting stars landing upon the earth. One by one, his fellow rookies received their books. Each on dropping into the hands of a happy, jumpy teenager ready to risk their life for their kingdom. Something caught his eye. A brown book darting from hand to hand. Marco could feel it...The book was lost. Each time it landed in a rookie's hand, the book would jump back into air until another.

He followed the book, weaving throughout the crowd and almost running face first into several books. He knew that one was his. He could feel it. He managed to leap into the air and catch it as it suddenly fell. Now, the moment of truth. The moment he spent the entirety of his life waiting for. Marco eyes widened.

*Clothing Magic.*

Marco read confused. He hadn't the slightest idea what it meant. Hell, he'd only heard whispers of the magic. But he could feel his dreams of being an agricultural god slip away. Maybe now he could help provide some clothes to people? *Not even a real element...*

His face twisted but turned into one filled with ambition. This was what he was given by God. Surely the purpose would make itself known!

For some of the students, the grimoire acceptance ceremony was a wonderful momentum, an occasion where their obscures magic were finally revealed to them via the spells and archaic writings. But, for Lea, it was just a mere confirmation of her duties. As her three leaf clover floated elegantly in front of her, the longsword held upon her back begin to glow a bright color as it resonated with the grimoire itself.

**Zireal**, a family heirloom spread from one heir to the next in the Kira family was gifted to her at an early age when her magic had been discovered; when she was told she was a Sword Magic user. She had begun training her swordsmanship, devoting herself to the art for the day when her grimoire arrived, she could begin performing what she had been born to do.

Lea smiled and grabbed her grimoire from the air, before turning to face Colby, only to witness another grimoire's emergence.

Spiraling down from the sky to Wesley was a rough looking book, marked with a three leafed clover. It had no signifiers on it at all to discern what form of magic lay within. On the back though was that same symbol. The only thing Wesley could ever form with his mana.

"Please let this be something." Wesley mumbled to himself as he reached up, grasping the book. Within his hands as mana flowed through it the grimoire began to change. The wear and tear became null, the clover vanished to reveal the symbol of the umbra family and in that same leather the faint imprint of what looked like a beast's footprint around the symbol. The other symbol on the back had expanded outwards into what looked like a lens, though it was only a drawing.

He could feel the book bonding to him as mana surged between the two. A wave of relief washing over him for only a brief moment before the grimoire swung open to reveal an illustration. The illustration of a large serpentine being swirling its blue body in the ocean and letting out what seemed to be a roar. He could feel the mana tugging at him, begging him to. He recognized this, the same damn infernal magic his brother had. The single magic he had begged not to get, Monster Magic.

"Son of a bitch." He roared, tossing the grimoire at his feet. It immediately curved backwards, affixing itself to his belt. He glanced to Lea and Colby, hoping they at least fared better than him.

While all his friends and those around him were acquiring their grimoires Colby stood in wait for his to come to him. He stood staring off into the sea of grimoires falling from to their partners from midair. As the final grimoires began to start falling Colby watch in pain as his didn’t come.

“W-W-Where i-is my g-g-grimoire.” Tears began to well up in Colby’s eyes. among the immense sadness he was feeling anger began to well up in his body, he went from crying to nearly breaking his own hands in anger.

“I wasted a-all my time prepping for something that was to good to ever come to me.” Colby held his head down, he turned and began on a walk to leave the repository. He began to hear all the terrible things ever said about him in his head beginning to believe the claims. Just then, a book began to float from the shelves. It was pitch black in color despite golden yellow etching and designs on the book cover and spine all surrounding the bright yellow three leaf clover in the direct center.

It shot down from the enormous shelves in great speed almost as to make up for its loss of time and catch its partner before he exited the repository. It lowered itself in front of the yellow haired boy, the bright light enough to alert him of its existence. As the boy looked up his eyes widened, tears welled up in his eyes and began to fall from his face, behind it was a smile reaching from ear to ear.

Colby shot forward and hugged his grimoire. The years in his eyes began to shoot out of his eyes almost as a rushing river would shoot down a water fall he ran back to his friends, all the hatred left his mind and joy enveloped his heart.

“LOOK LEA, I-I-IT’S MY GRIMOIRE, IT CAME!!!.” His tears began to slow down only small drops left under his eyes leaving behind a smile almost as though it was a rainstorm clearing to bring a rainbow. He held out his grimoire for his friend to see. “Look guys, he came!”

While Wesley didn't notice Colby's initial sadness due to his own anger at his grimoire. The sobbing cheers from the boy finally turned his head as Colby ran up to him and Lea, ecstatic as he held the book up for them to see. He couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at the kid. He was an odd one but he was genuine. Ignoring his own anger at his absolute loss in the magical roulette, Wesley looked the book over once before grasping Colby by the shoulder.

"Good job man. With that you'll be slinging lighting like nobodies business." He glanced at his own book once again and simply sighed. There was really no point in being any angrier. Colby was happy to simply get a grimoire. Still even if he did have magic, his family wouldn't be pleased with his fate.

"Of course it came!" Lea cheered alongside Wesley. "You're destined to do great things, and you and I, and Wesley here too," she continued, smacking Wesley on the back as an act of encouragement, "will all become Magic Knights and serve our kingdom! Yay!!!!""

“You really think so, Lea.” Colby would say still staring deeply into his grimoire flipping through the pages twinkle in his eyes. He shut his book abruptly looking up at Lea. “Maybe we’ll even be on the same squad, all three of us!”

Wesley coughed a little at the smack but smiled, giving Lea an equally gutsy smack on her back. "Hell yeah, why not. I could see the three of us as a team." A full smile covering his face for the first time. Wesley quickly glanced towards the door and back to Lea and Colby. "Hey I don't know if either of you have plans after the ceremony. But I know a couple of open fields outside of town we could use to practice our magic." Part of Wesley did really want to hang out with them but the largest factor was the looming conversation he'd eventually have at the Umbra family household. One he wanted to stay far away from for as long as he could.

Lea nodded. "I'd love to, but I have to make preparations for Colby's arrangements. In addition, I have a meeting with my father and his advisers. Then, the entire family is having a dinner tonight. Unfortunately, I'll be quite busy for today." She paused briefly. "But, perhaps tomorrow or the following day could work?"

“I would love that too but since I’ll be staying with Lea I’ll probably need to get settled in and meet with the family though, I know most of them.” Colby would say slightly down he won’t be getting to train with Wesley today. “But it could definitely work another day, couldn’t it?”

"Ahh of course." Wesley nodded. "Tomorrow then." He held his hand out again, concentrating as the symbol appeared once again. A floating three dimensional shape of pure mana that spiraled around, weaving itself around the small space it could move.

Staring at the beauty that was the Magic Emperor, Andreas found himself in complete awe at her words. To think that she would say such words perhaps the kingdom still had some hope afterall. Perhaps some day the nobles would start using their power for the benefit of all instead of selfishly hoarding it for themselves. Yes, it was a nice thought but was it really possible? Could nobles put aside their narcissistic egos and work together with the commoners?

As he pondered on this he noticed that the grimoires had already been released, some had already began making their way to their chosen mage. Each grimoire's design seemed to mirror its owner's soul, and that was what bothered him. If each grimoire truly reflected its owner's soul then that would mean one of those two remaining grimoires that had been floating above the rest had to be his. He definitely felt a connection to one of those grimoires, but he was just not sure which of those grimoires would choose him.

Holding out his hand, the right grimoire separated from its companion and made its way towards Andreas, landing on his outstretched hand. The light surrounding the grimoire grew far more intense once in his hand, as if resonating with his very being, this action caught the eye of some of the other mages. As the light died down its clover was revealed, earning the envy and spite of many of the onlookers. The clover on the cover on his book was none other than the coveted four leaf clover.

A small smile formed on his face as he stared at the book, wondering what the future had in store for him as many people began congratulating him for being lucky enough to have been chosen. However he felt that the book had chosen for another reason, this reason was unknown to him. Although he had a feeling that he'd soon find out, as he looked at the remaining four leaf hovering in mid-air, awaiting to be collected by its owner.

"I wonder who the other grimoires will bless together..." Andreas trailed off as he noticed the arrival of his parents. It was about time they got here.

Zela stood towards the back of the crowd, having moved away from the others in her efforts to get away from Liesler. Now she stood behind the packed masses, surrounded by only a couple of people too busy staring at the grimoires above to pay attention to her. Zela too stared up at the books above, but her eyes were not that of wonder and amazement. Her gaze was almost hungry as she looked across the various books floating above. She checked on various books that floated past her, the grimoires floating towards their respective owners. As she looked around at the various books, she saw nothing but disdain, as she knew none of them were for her. She looked back to the sky, and noticed the three books shining up above.

"I found you..." Zela said as her hand reignited once more, a pillar of flames rising up from her palm. Above all but the highest books, one shimmered with a red light, slowly being drawn towards her burning palm. Red energy wreathed the grimoire as it descended down, protecting it from the inferno engulfing it. The flames sputtered out completely when it touched her hand, the four-leaf clover staring back at her as she observed the book. A red book adorned with skulls and crystals, it seemed thick in her hand, but it was overall rather short.

"Now... it's time to begin." Zela smiled.

After her fight with Zela and the intervention of the Magic Emperor herself, Lieser was even more excited to put ther hands on a grimoire. She distanced herself from the crowd, staying alone in a corner where no other mages were around. As the grimoires danced in the air, she pointed at every single one that passed in front of her.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, ..." She counted. The last one to appear was a singular one. It had a pitch black cover and red sparks enveloped with a dark aura leaked from its pages. Lieser picked it up from the air with one hand, closing the book and putting it on the ground. With her unsheathed sword, she started to rip the cover, torning the clover design that once was printed there without even seeing it herself.

"...and moe." She finished. With the grimoire on hands and the remaining pieces of it on the ground, she left the scene and joined the rest of the group.

"Oi, what's your problem, Zela?" shouted from somewhere not far from him. Standing at very side of the hall against the wall. Neal supposed he has found a perfect spot far from every possible interruption. Apparently not.

Just as he was trying to shift his focus back to reading, he sensed a massive amount mana entered into the repository, one that he has encountered and experienced years before during a very rare occasion. The uncanny and unsettling ambiance emitted from her mana still gave the same chill down his spine. Without a doubt, it was the current Magic Emperor.

"Finally! I have waited long enough for you" Neal thought to himself while closing up his book.

The ceremony finally began.

Seeing thousands of grimoires flying around looking for their chosen owners really piqued his interest. His sheer curiosity towards all the grimoires has consumed him. This may be one of the very few times he has lost his cool. While he scan through the hall in wonder, he noticed an opened grimoire floating at the center of the hall surrounded by letters-like mana which spun around it continuously. Although he felt a familiar aura coming from it, he was not very sure if it was his. "Well if it's mine, it will probably come to me." He thought. Still standing by the side, he waited for it to come.

Minutes passed. Almost everyone has got their grimoire in their hands. With the only grimoire left unclaimed was the one he saw in the center. "Damn, what is the matter?" Neal wondered while walking towards it.

As he approached, he began to notice that the weird looking shaped letters surrounded around the grimoire seems to be something he recognized. It was an ancient language to his knowledge. Spinning around like a seal waiting to be broken. He muttered out the words without any difficulties and broke the seal. As the power unleashed, his grimoire continues to shine brighter. Neal noticed the content of the opened page at a glimpse of his eyes.

"Wisdom of Athena..." he smirked. "It seems like we are both thinking about the same thing." Neal raised his palm and rested it on that page while closing his eyes. "Alright, let see what you can do."

All the grimoires in the hall began to float in respond to his spell. As he opens back his eyes, a surge of mana emitted from his spot and started to cover the entire hall while flipping the pages of any grimoires in contact with it. Letters-like mana emerged from the books and began to find their way back to Neal. It was an experience like no other he has gone through before. Hundreds of thousands of information suddenly poured to his head together as he read through the details of every single grimoire in the hall.

"Well, so the three four-leaf are fire, beast and wing.... Ohh we also have a few strong and interesting one too. Hmm divine.., chaos.., compass.., sword.., amplification.., air, chain and monster?! Well there is this lighting one which I have to look out for too... " Muttering to himself as he screens through the magics.

The sudden burst of information gradually overwhelmed him, Neal closed his grimoire abruptly. His breath was heavy and the feeling of suffocate nearly caused him to faint on the spot. "I-I definitely need more practice.." he said and fell on his knee.

Signy looked up at the flocking grimoires, her eyes drawn to the three floating above the rest just as pretty much every other individual's was. As she looked at them, she thought she would feel longing to possess one. Or maybe eagerness to find out who the lucky owners were. Or even envy when they found their homes. But she didn't want one, she didn't covet them. She was completely devoid of emotion looking at the rare tomes.

It was shocking, just how little she felt. Was something wrong with her? Everyone else was probably seething with jealousy...lost in her thoughts she didn't notice when a grimoire fluttered before her. Her eyes were drawn to it at the rattle of chains connected to its binding. When she saw the book, she knew why she didn't want a four leaf. Because this simple grimoire was hers, she wasn't meant to use anything else.

Signy reached out and plucked the book from the air and immediately felt that a part of her that had been missing finally found its way home. She pulled it softly to her chest and let a genuine smile bloom on her face. *With this*, she thought *I'll be able to complete my mission, father...*

## There's No Place like Home

Drusilla watched the swarm of books and the crowd of teens as they were united with one another. She had watched the three four leaves with no small amount of interest for a long while, but her eyes were drawn to other subjects that were just as interesting. She spread out her sensory abilities to get a feel of them all, and her heart filled with a child-like joy. It was an amazing thing, feeling someone unite with their grimoire for the first time. You are able to get a feel for it beforehand, a slight inkling of what a person will be capable of when they achieve their power. But when they first gain that power, one's mana lights up like a beacon.

And she felt it all. Some turned into pillars of fire or raging oceans. Others deep forests and frigid arctic circles. She felt the spirits of beasts, heard the beating of wings and the rattling of chains. She even felt the shifting of a compass rose, which was a sensation that she could only describe as unique. It was like the most beautiful symphony of feeling she had ever experienced *I need to hold these more often* she thought to herself, her smile growing brighter and brighter with each fledgling mage united with their grimoire.

She watched until the very last book met the hands of the very last teenager. Once the excitement of finally having their grimoires had settled, they looked to her for what to do next. Drusilla had to reign in her own excitement, lest she vibrate off or through the stage "Well! That is certainly a sight that takes some getting used to. But now...now you're ready. You've taken the first of many, many steps to becoming who you are all destined to be!"

She raised her hands up to the ceiling, her eyes scanning the crowd with a bright gleam "Go! Go train! Go practice! Go study your new spells! Go have *fun with it*! Consider this an order from your Magic Emperor!" She stepped back from the podium and looked to be preparing a hand motion before she stopped suddenly. She shuffled back towards the podium: "Oh um...the carriages are still outside, prepared to take you back home! The one you arrived in has been enchanted with a spell to act as a beacon for you, so you don't wind up getting in the wrong one and heading across the country accidentally."

Drusilla moved back once more and raised her hands "Ta-ta!" She clapped twice in quick succession, black flames creeping up her body and consuming her form steadily. The flames roared and peaked, reaching almost all the way to the ceiling, before collapsing in on themselves and leaving no trace of their own or the Magic Emperor's presence there just moments before.