Seven years later, in the late summer. A place far and far away from the cold and dark north. A grand gate and a matching yard with multiple buildings, garden and small park. In big letters, above the main gate, it says 'Magical Academy', in ethereal runes that are not visible to mundane people. In front of the gate stands a young woman, only 17 years old. Her long blonde hair flowing in the wind. She's looking at the front gate with approving eyes.
"So... first day of Mage School, eh? It has come to this, has it? It's been, what, 7 years since I told mom I wanted to be a Mage?" Lily mutters aloud to herself.
"Hello there, miss. You know talking to yourself is the first sign of going nuts?" Says a girl with a beautiful chocolate-brown skin and slightly spiky vibrant green hair. Her amber eyes are warm and welcoming.
"Ah, Hello. Sorry, first day here, I'm kinda lost. Am I in the right place? This a school for Mages?" Lily says excited.
"Oh, you're the new one, the transfer student? Yeah, yeah, you're in the correct place. This is a school for Witches, Wizards and Warlocks. We don't really use the word Mage around here. Oh, my name is Tarutaru Enoka, nice to meet you!"
"Tarutaru...? That's a cute name there, Grass Patch. So Witches, eh? What's with the names?"
"Grass Patch...? Oh, my hair. Cute, new girl, cute. Thanks for a nice nickname!"
"New gi—? Sorry, sorry, I didn't introduce myself. Sorry. I'm Lilia Martinson. You can just call me Lilia or Lily."
"Lily then! A cute name. But yeah, it was the school administration some years back who divided us in threes: Witches - that's us, the girl mages; Warlocks - those are the boy mages; and Wizards - researchers and scientists of the magic world."
"Handy. But why divide boys from girls?"
"Eh, were you looking towards to catching a boy already? Hehee, no, I don't really know. It's more like we Witches are drawing magic from our surroundings, and Warlocks get their power from supernatural beings. I don't know why it also divides between the genders, but eh, that's how it is."
"Has there never been a boy Witch, or a girl Warlock?"
"I don't think so... I'm guessing there's something else than gender at work there, but damn if I know. Ask the teachers on History class if you're interested. Say, what class are you on?"
"History class—oh well, I probably won't, doesn't interest me that much, I don't care about them that much, anyway. Oh, I'm in class… uh, what was it... It had some kind of bird in the name... lemme see my papers..."
"Bird? You're in Nightingale?" Tarutaru says astonished.
"Yeah, Nightingale, that was it!" Lily says and snaps her fingers.
"Oh, so you've been at school a year already?", Tarutaru says and raises her eyebrow at Lily.
"No...?" Lily says and tilts her head.
"Nightingale's a second-year class, though... I'm in that class," Tarutaru says and strokes her chin.
"Great, we're going to be classmates!" Lily says excitedly, "Wait what? Second year...?"
"Yeah… Hey, come, let's go ask the teachers if there's been a mistake," Tarutaru says, grabs Lily’s hand and turns to leave. "I’ll show you. Follow me!" she shouts and starts to pull Lily onwards.
"Ah, but... oh well… Okay Grass Patch, coming!" Lily shouts and follows Tarutaru towards the school.
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