Chapter 2

Dez and Mer try harder to break the spells on their friends

Dez

Philosophy class was as boring as usual. The room itself was dull and drab with little color. The only interesting thing in the room was a cow’s brain floating in a glass jar. The smell of old juices and spices mixed with ancient dusty books always made Dez want to throw up and it never went away.

Professor Jackson droned on about the mind for the first 30 minutes of class and then put students in pairs for a 'discussion'. But today, unlike most, there was a group project assigned.

“I’ll break you off into groups starting with you three in the first row.” Dez quickly calculated the groups by counting in threes until she reached herself. She was the first. Angelica, who sat behind her, was second, and Nick was third. Dez was relieved to have Angelica in the group. She was an old friend, and a fellow water-spellcastor. Once the Professor had named off all the groups, Dez dragged her desk to face Angelica’s. The project was simple: write a short story containing three different themes or morals. It was so simple that there didn’t seem any point to having groups.

“Okay, so you’re Destiny, right?” Nick asked, getting comfortable in his seat.

“Dez actually.” She replied, trying not to wince at the name.

“Right. So what are we supposed to do?”

“We should start with a character.” Angelica began. Her shyness melted away as soon as she set her mind to work. “Then choose our three morals.”

Nick waited, glancing between Dez and Angelica. “What? Nothing?” He smiled and leaned back. He sunk lower in his seat so his shoulders touched the back rest.

Dez glanced over her shoulder to see what Silvia was doing with her boyfriend and someone else Dez didn’t know. The prissy blonde caught her gaze and smiled. Dez smiled back and quickly turned back to her desktop. It was going to be impossible to pretend like nothing was up.

“I think it should be a girl.” Angelica said in her sweet sing-song voice.

“Why a girl?” Nick asked.

“because girls have more problems.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, they’re more emotional, they’re physically weaker, and they have their monthly-.”

“Okay, Angelica, I think he gets the idea.” Dez exclaimed, then to the side she added. “Better not reveal all our secrets.”

“It’s a secret?”
“No, but… Well, what should her name be?”

“Victory. But the she has to be a mermaid.” Angelica said a little quieter.
“Victory? Was it a competition?” Nick crossed his arms.

“No, I think she means her name is Victory.” Dez glanced around to see if anyone was doing any better than they were. Again, Silvia caught her eye. A shiver ran down her spine. She knows, Dez thought to herself. She knows I’m faking.

“Oh! And a purple tail! She’ll have a purple tail!” Angelica squealed.

“How old is she?” Nick mouthed to Dez, pointing a thumb at Angelica.

“I’m fifteen.” Angelica replied. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Angelica. She just had an interesting mind. Nick rubbed his hands on his face.

“Dean,” He moaned hitting the guy behind him on the head. “Switch groups with me.”

“No way,” The guy named Dean chuckled. No doubt, he had heard their entire conversation. Dez folded her arms on her desk not wanting to look behind her. She could still feel Silvia’s cold gaze. It was impossible to focus. She wanted to scream.
“Hey, is the group behind us looking at us?” Dez asked quietly, hoping Angelica would check for her.

“No,” Nick replied instead. He frowned. “Why would they be?”

“Just want to make sure they’re not cheating.” Apparently, Nick thought that was hilarious and started laughing.

“Let’s hope they don’t plagiarize our brilliant mermaid story.”

“Oh no, you don’t think they will, do you?” Angelica asked seriously, starting to eye Silvia’s group.

“Professor Jackson! Can I get a bathroom pass?” Dez stood and held a hand in the air. It was too much being in the same room as Silvia. She needed to get out.

“Yes, I suppose so.” He waved a wooden paddle and the other students returned to their work. Dez took it and marched out the door. When it was shut and the noise muffled, she felt herself begin to relax. She knows I’m not under her spell anymore. She’s going to come after me. Dez walked to the bathroom swinging her pass to and fro. It could be paranoia. Dez always thought of her paranoia as a gift. She was able to predict things that no one else would think of and sometimes it was useful. Who am I kidding? I’m insane. But imagining life without her constant worry sounded horrifying. I need a hobby.

Dez hadn’t been watching the clock and the time had gone by surprisingly fast. It was handy having a clock in the bathroom. That way, students would know just how long to wait until class had conveniently finished.

Dez breathed in a deep sigh. They needed to tell someone about Silvia. One of the teachers would have more experience with these sorts of twisted spells. They could report her. Then what? Silvia would get arrested, or expelled. Dez watched the clock again. It ticked slowly towards the lunch bell. She couldn’t pretend to be Silvia’s friend, it just wasn’t practical. It sounded great yesterday. They’d just have to find another way to get Talin and Anthony free.
Dez grabbed her pass and headed back to the room. They only had a few minutes left and she still needed to get her things.

"Ok class, this project will be due next week.” Professor Jackson chanted as Dez walked through the doors, “Remember: This skit must contain at least three of the basic morals we discussed." Dez glanced over at the back of Silvia’s head. She wondered if Silvia even had morals.

Mer

Mer smiled as the wind blew her hair in her face like little stinging whips tickling her cheeks. She never tied her hair up for dragon riding. It just felt more freeing to leave it down even if it was a tangled mess afterward. She clung to her dragon’s scaly body with her legs and feet, holding herself erect and still maintaining balance to lift her arms in the sky. She let out a cry of joy. She hadn’t truly enjoyed this for months. Under Silvia’s spell she never really enjoyed anything.

Dragon Training had always Mer's favorite class. Her dragon, Shadow, was nearly black against the blue sky with navy wings. She had been formed from Mer’s excess amount of magic since the human body can only take on so much power without the risk of dying. In a way, Shadow had saved her life just by being born. She had hatched when Mer was eight and it was the best birthday present she had ever received. Dragons were majestic beautiful beasts and she felt that everyone deserved one, not just spellcastors.

Mer’s heart skipped a beat when Shadow suddenly dipped down in the sky. She fell forward, clinging to the saddle now out of breath. Nothing like a burst of cold reality to upset your stomach, she thought. She looked over her shoulder at the wide expanse of the Academy. It’s golden walls and brown peeking roofs were too far off in the distance now. She needed to get back or she would miss the bell. Mer sighed in disappointment. She was only just beginning to enjoy herself. The shining palace rang loudly only minutes later. It was lunch time. At least she had an excuse to be late.

"Have you had the chance to talk to Talin or Anthony?" Dez whispered to Mer as they made their way to the dining hall.
“No, they haven’t left her side.” Mer replied.

“I’ve been thinking. This whole ‘pretending’ thing isn’t going to work. It may last a little while but she’s going to catch on. She’s not as thick as she looks and we can’t risk being put under again.”

“Well then what do you want us to do about it?”

“Tell someone, a Professor or a councilor that knows more about this than we do.”

“We’ll talk about this later, she’s waving us over.” Mer mumbled out of the corner of her mouth.

They saw Silvia sitting tall in her seat next to Talin. Anthony sat close by eating some tasteless porridge. He didn’t seem to enjoy anything except maybe Silvia’s gaze. Her white blonde hair flowed down her blue-green dress and her perfect pink lips curved into a smile. The green complimented her light skin tone and matched her nature element color. She smiled good-naturedly when she saw Dez and Mer approach.

"Hey, come sit!" It didn't sound like an order but Mer took it as one. She seemed so nice and flawless on the outside. There was no way this girl was using magic to control people.

"I don’t know about you, but my day has been amazing." Silvia’s eyes widened excitedly. Mer could tell she wanted to say more but she kept glancing Talin’s way as if waiting for him to leave. He didn’t seem to notice. His tall shoulders rose above her neck so he couldn’t get the message. Mer caught herself staring at him and quickly looked back down at her plate. She hoped Silvia wouldn’t notice her face turning red. Talin was definitely not like other guys. He was nice, athletic, and very good-looking. But Mer didn’t need to have a silly crush on a poor brain-washed boy. What he needed was help, not a new girlfriend, even though a new girlfriend would be a huge improvement.

"Oh, Talin, would you mind getting me my lunch? Please." He frowned at first till he saw her face then he lit up into a smile. Mer wondered why she even needed to send him away. If he was under the spell then couldn't she just make him forget, or was it more complicated?

"Anything for you," he replied, Mer wanted to vomit.

"Now, in Philosophy our group already finished the script, so I showed it to Drake and Talin and I think Drake liked it! He was smiling when he read it! Do you think he likes me?" Mer couldn’t believe this. She wanted to share an appalled look with Dez but couldn’t with Silvia right in front of them. How could one person need two boyfriends and a bunch of others on their leash?

"But doesn't he know you already have a boyfriend?" Mer asked. What happened to Talin could happen to Drake just as easy. It wouldn't be hard for Silvia to manage two zombie boyfriends.

"No. But I just want him to like me. I mean out of all the girls in our level he would most likely choose me. Right?" Mer and Dez grumbled silently.

"Of course! You're the prettiest girl in the school!" Dez exclaimed with mock enthusiasm. She was looking a little antsy.

"Aww thanks, I was worried everyone already forgot." She laughed and Mer and Dez tried to join in unsuccessfully. "So should I tell Drake I think he's cute or wait for him to tell me?"

"Wait till he tells you. It’s more flattering that way." Dez replied. It seemed like an easy distraction to keep her busy while Mer and Dez tried breaking the spell on Talin and Anthony. It wouldn’t take long.

Dez

"finally," Dez began as she and Mer made their way to Dueling Techniques. "Last class of the day!" Dez smiled in her blue dress that ran to her knees, clutching her books in her arms. Mer was wearing the same black dress with her shoulder bag strapped to her shoulder. They were a rare sight since spellcastors from different dorms were hardly seen together.

They had just reached the dueling classroom with Prof Mumphrey teaching. Tenth period was for the water, air, and fire element dragons and ninth was for nature, and earth dragons. The light spellcastors had a class on magical creatures.

The dueling classroom was the largest room next to the cafeteria and the auditorium under construction. Another difference from the other classrooms was that part of the ceiling was missing. A huge circular gap in the ceiling stood over the large platform for dragon dueling. It was there so that the students could summon their dragons from their dens.

A large group of chairs stood in front of the platform. Mer and Dez took their seats In front of Angelica and Elena. Angelica was chatting with Elena about ponies and rainbows or something. She was going on about a kid named Skylar too. Dez turned to Mer. "So anything I should know?" Mer filled her in on her cryptic conversation with Talin while the first group, Drake and Joel's dragons, dueled.

"Wow, just what does the spell do to your brain? Can he even think on his own?" Dez asked after Mer finished her story. Then Mer's name was called along with Cameron, a slender lofty student with messy bronze hair.

"Wish me luck." Mer mumbled as she got to her feet. But Dez knew she wouldn't need it. Cameron's dragon may have been a fire element but against Shadow, he didn't stand much of a chance. They summoned their dragons by murmuring a spell then they started dueling. The battle didn't last long. Cameron's large dragon, Pyros sent a few flames towards Shadow but they were all knocked away or dodged. Pyros was befuddled when Shadow sent a sharp breath of air hurtling towards Pyros' stomach. He fell to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. Once a dragon fell to the floor the battle was won. Cameron scowled furiously while the crowd cheered. He yelled something at Mer inaudible to Dez. Mer didn't look too pleased with what he had to say. Their dragons recovered and flew back into the sky. The next names were called and Julia and Angelica made their way to the platform. Mer came grumbling back to her seat.

"That jerk.." Mer mumbled under her breath.

Like Dez, Angelica's dragon was a water dragon and Julia's was fire. Their duel started with Angelica shrieking at the golden dragon. It stood a head taller than her small pink and blue dragon, Bubbles. Julia's dragon let out the first attack of fire breath. Then Angelica did something strange. She called out in a shrilled voice "HIDE!" And bubbles did just that. She vanished before the fire hit her. Everyone looked around, baffled by what they had seen. One minute Bubbles was standing on the platform, the next she was gone. Then, suddenly, the dragon reappeared behind Julia and her dragon. Bubbles used her tail to knock Julia's dragon to one side. The shock and the impact combined drew the large dragon off balance. Angelica yelled, or tried to yell: "BLOW!" she put her hands to her face and demonstrated for her dragon. Bubbles did as she was told and blew out a river of water that left the golden dragon falling to the floor with a violent thud and Angelica won. The students in the front row were soaked from the replete of water. Everyone cheered and a few students actually stood up, including Dez and Mer.

"How come my dragon can't disappear?" Dez asked enviously. Julia looked infuriated; she stomped off to her seat to sulk. When Angelica returned to her seat Dez tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, how did you do that with your dragon?" She asked

"Oh, she's always been able to do that." Angelica smiled "I found out because I kept losing her when she was a baby."

"And you never thought to use this special ability until now?" Dez asked critically.

Angelica shrugged in reply.