There are a lot of ways Mason imagined the magical world to look like, there'd be dwarves, elves, simple townsfolk, and maybe a dragon or two; like a strange mixture of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. That was not at all what he saw when his eyes had adjusted after stepping on the glowing teleportation symbol, it took him a moment to even realize that he had even been transported anywhere at all.

Though there was a definite change of scenery, he was now standing in the middle of what he guessed was a train station. People were in constant buzzing streams all around him, the clothing is what amazed Mason the most, there didn't seem to be a set style to any of them. Some wore cloaks, trench coats, wedding dresses, formal suits, and a few women were completely nude. He felt like he'd stepped on a set of a Lady Gaga music video. "Where the heck are we?"

"Would you stop gawking." Bonita snapped, "Don't they teach manners in the mundane realm?" She gave him a distasteful look. "This is a multi-teleport hub station, when you leap from one realm to another, the hubs connect you to a safe area so that you don't just end up at the realm equivalent of where you were. For example the area where Sanctuary is located on your earth could be the same area as a bubbling acid swamp is in this realm... Are you even listening to me?"

Mason looked past the scowling woman, his mouth still slightly a gape. "But those people are..." he glanced over at the couple again, making sure he wasn't seeing things, when in fact he was seeing everything. "Naked."

Bonita followed his gaze and then made a face, "How unsightly, invisible clothing is sooo last season."

"Invisible clothing... Wow, well I'm completely whelmed now" Mason mumbled still stealing quick glances at the women in invisible clothes.

"Don't be such a child, now lets go. We have to reach Roxelts at a reasonable hour, I absolutely hate being late." Bonita said as she looked down her nose at a pair of tickets. "I think I parked my car on Platform 9..."

"And three quarters?" Mason suggested.

"What?"

"Forget I said anything"

"I already have. The platform is down this way." She then picked up a quick pace, effortlessly weaving through the oceans of people. Though Mason found it a bit more difficult to do the same, more than once he accidently bump into someone. One overly wrinkled woman, or at least he thought it was a woman, flicked his nose when he stepped on one of her tails. "Od taht niaga dna lli nrut ouy otni wets!" She screamed in a strange foreign language as he hopped into Bonita's car.

"I think I just got another curse placed on me..."  Mason chuckled nervously.

*****

The drive to Roxelt's Academy was a quick one, once they pulled up Mason could barely sit still as he stared up at the overly impressive building.

"This is a school?" Mason tumbled out of the car. "It looks like a freaking fortress, is this really Roxelt's?" He had many ideas of what the school of magic would look like, many of them stemmed from a certain book about a boy with a unique zigzag scar on his forehead.

Roxelts didn't disappoint. It was indeed a fortress, stone upon stone, at least seven stories high. The stained glass windows were all beautifully decorated and when they caught the sunlight they caused a wondrous effect as if the fortress had multi-colored scales like a dragon. Mason sniffed the air and sighed softly, the countless amounts of flowers that were artistically planted at the opening of the building gave off a delectable scent.

"This place is... Magical." Mason let out a breath. Part of him ached as he thought of how much his mother would enjoy observing all the flowers, or how his little brother would have hid behind him because of the stone winged gargoyles that stood guard at the entrance. I have to get through this, no matter what. I have to see my family again.

"Such a tourist. Come along Mr. Spears, I'll guide you to your room." Bonita had to drag Mason though the marvelous academy to the west wing, which is where the male student dorms were located. More than once did a student giggle at Mason's feeble attempts to explore before Bonita urged him forward, "I'm not a tour guide, Mr. Spears. Keep moving, do not try my patience." she said through gritted teeth.

When they finally reached their destination Bonita stopped jabbing Mason in the back, she turned and knocked on a wooden door with a name tape that read: KINCAID. There was another name tape that a had a hastily written SPEERS beside the other.

"They misspelled my last name..." Mason said, slightly deflated. "The school of wizardry misspelled my name..."

"Shush" Bonita said over shoulder, then knocked again. "I know you're in there, boy. Don't make me kick down this door, you have till the count of five... four..."

Quickly the door was thrown open and a panting dark skinned boy was standing before them.

"Can't a guy get a few minutes of privacy?" The boy droned.

"Not anymore." Bonita pushed past him into the room, tugging Mason along. "Mason Spears meet Tobias Kincaid, you are now roommates!" She rushed through the rest as she moved back outside the room, "Tobias, this is the boy I told you about, remember? You will show Mason around the school grounds and get him his uniform and whatever he may need. Oh, and Mason I'll drop off your class schedule later this evening, toodles." She closed the door behind her. Mason could hear her snickering as her footsteps receded down the hall.

Silence filled the room once Bonita closed the door leaving both Mason and Tobias with shocked and bemused expressions on their faces.

"Uh..." Mason stuttered, cutting through the awkward silence. "Nice to meet you?" He lifted his hand to shake.

Tobias glared down at Mason's outstretched hand, then leveled his dark eyes on his face. "So you are the wolf boy?" He did a slow half circle around Mason. "Hmm, sure you're up for this kid? The students here don't really play nice to outsiders, especially to lower tiers."

"Want to take a picture? It'd last longer." Mason remarked. "And I can take care of myself just fine. Uh, mind showing me around a bit?"

With a shrug, Tobias opened the door and gestured for Mason to follow. "Welcome to Roxelt's Academy."

*****

At first Mason was sure that he and Tobias weren't going to get along too well, but as Tobias guided him about the school grounds informing him about the intense history of the academies backstory, he began to get a sense that Tobias was really passionate about the magical academy just as much as he was.

"And here," Tobias said with a hint of a smile on his lips. "Is where the war barracks were located, it used to hold armored trolls which are basically extinct now and other magical creatures. But now its been repurposed into the academy store."

To Mason the store looked like an old tavern that you'd see in medieval fantasy games or TV shows. The walls were decorated with different academy outfits ranging from casual sweaters and hoodies to cloaks and leather armor, just above the cashiers desk was a large wooden shield with the academy crest. The crest was on almost every product in the store, the crest depicted a red snake wrapped around a golden dagger with a quilled pen on the left side and a unrolled scroll on the right.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Shouted a wild haired girl from behind the cashiers desk, "Oh, it's Tobias and... Who are you?"

The girl had  vibrant green eyes that seemed too wide but were full of amazement, her hair was a dark auburn and so curly that Mason forgave her for not going through the trouble of combing it, her round face was a war ground of freckles and her lips seems forever flexed in a playful smirk. She gave off a 'the girl next door' kind of aura, with a hint of peppy tomboy.

"Hey, Ember. This is Mason, a new student." Tobias twirled a finger in the air, concluding the greetings. "Have you got any new uniforms in?"

Ember shamelessly looked Mason up and down, twirling a renegade strand of hair to the side of her face. "Nice to meet ya, Mason. You're kinda hot, are you single by chance?" She flashed a smile at him which made his cheeks run hot. "Loving the long hair by the way, frames your face perfectly." She took a stand of his hair and twirled it seductively around her finger. "Mm, silky smooth."

"I-I am, b-but..." Mason stuttered, he'd never had a girl be so straight forward before. Oh come on boy, it's time to man up. A guttural voice said in Mason's head, She's pretty cute and has a great body, could be fun for a fling or two-

"Stop teasing him, Ember" Tobias cut in, his tone all business. "Did you get any new uniforms in or not?" he reached over and slapped her hand to make her release Mason's hair.

The wild haired girl broke out into a fit of giggles and snorts, "Jeez, Tobias. Can't a girl have a little fun? It's like, so boring here." Ember said slumping forward banging her head softly on the desk. "Ouchie!" She rubbed her forehead vigorously. "Sorry about that Mason, you are cute but not really my type. Besides, I'm kinda spoken for. Ain't that right Toby baby?"

"Huh? Oh! You two are a couple?" Mason's expression must've been funny because Ember was soon in a fit of giggles again.

"Ember!" Tobias snapped his fingers, "Uniform. Now. Please."

"Oh right, right. Here ya go." She brought up a box from behind the desk. "One new academy uniform for a mister Mason... Speers?"

"Spears," Mason said in a aspirated tone. "Like the weapon"

"Oops. Here just sign this paper work confirming you received your stylish duds and we're done here!" Ember pulled out a few sheets of paper. "And don't worry about the sizes, the clothing is weaved with magical self fitting-"

"Can we speed this up?" Tobias cut in once again, "We still have to pick up his linen and I want to get out of here before-"

"Well if it isn't the great Tobias Kincaid!" Boomed a voice as a group of students entered the store. "Have you finally left your room to grace us all with your great magical prowess?" The boy who had spoken looked as if he'd stepped right out of a Abercrombie & Finch magazine, he was all frosted blonde tipped hair, toned muscles, bleached white smiles, and blue eyes that never seemed to catch light right.

He was at least a head taller than both Tobias and Mason, when he got closer a entourage of students seemed to follow him. He beamed a smile at each of them then placed both of his hands on Tobias's shoulders, he leaned in and whispered something in his ear. If it weren't for his heightened senses Mason wouldn't have heard. "Even though your family name is basically trash, isn't it?"

Then the boy pushed Tobias aside, causing him to crash into a display of trinkets, the entourage of students laughed. "Oh, your a new face" the boy said as he closed the space between him and Mason. He extended his hand liken a gentleman "The names Jake Dinkle, heir to the Dinkle estate. Nice to meet you mister..."

Mason grasped Jake's hand, "Spears, Mason Spears." He then began to squeeze Jake's hand. "That was my friend you just pushed, best apologize. Jake" A challenging gleam in his eyes.

A wide grin spread over Jake's painfully handsome face, "You should chose your friends more wisely. Mason." His hand began to heat up causing Mason to snatch his hand away. "Tell ya what, come with me now and I'll show you around the school myself might even see if I could-"

"Nah, I'm good," Mason interrupted as he helped Tobias up. "But you can leave and show yourself out though." He glared over at Jake, his eyes shifting.

Jake took a step back as he looked into Mason's now pulsing golden eyes, the entourage of students behind him began to whisper among themselves. "You're a damn hound aren't you?" Jake asked then began to chuckle, "Of course the only friend a Kincaid could get would be a filthy werewolf."

"Want to take a step closer and say that again?" Mason could feel his blood begin to boil, the mark on his chest began to sizzle on his skin. Duck forward, jab your right claw into his stomach, slice him from his belly button to chin, watch as his guts spill onto the floor. Mason shook his head to clear his mind, who just said that? He thought to himself, that voice didn't sound like his own.  Was he hearing things?

"I always wanted to try out some of the battle magic I've learned, want to be my test dummy?" Jake grinned.

Tobias tried to hold Mason back, "It's not worth it, you just got here. Don't be stupid!" But he easily shook him off.

Mason was suddenly very eager to fight this ken doll of a boy, the dark voice in his head repeated its instructions. Duck, jab, slice, watch the guts spill. His finger nails extended into claws, sharp enough to slice through flesh effortlessly. Duck. Jab. Slice. Let the guts spill.

But before he could heed to the constant stream of instructions in his mind, a peculiar scent assaulted his nostrils. The scent caused his chest to swell and his heart to skip a beat; his blood began to cool as the scent grew stronger.

"Would you two chill?" A girl peeled away from the entourage, "Jake, come on let's go."

The girl had soft full lips that were turned into a small pout, slightly slanted bright blue eyes, and silver flowing hair that nearly reached her knees. She had petite and bodacious body frame, even though she was small in stature when she spoke she clearly took control of the entire room. She flung her hair to the side, and once she did the scent washed over Mason again.

"Oh come on, Jaclyn." Jake said over his shoulder, "The puppy still wants to play, isn't that right puppers?"

Mason growled in response, his blood heating back up.

"Jake. Now. Don't make me tell father." Jaclyn glared at Jake, then flicked her attention to Mason. Once their eyes locked it suddenly felt like they were the only ones in the room, a new magnetic force tugging them to each other.

"Fine, Sis." Jake relaxed then turned from Mason, he cracked a smile over his shoulder. "Next time you won't be so lucky, Puppers." And with that he and his entourage left, along with the girl.

Once they were gone for sure, Mason let a breath out and as he did his nails retracted back to normal and his eyes relaxed back to their normal dull brown hue.

"Now that," Ember waved her arms in a circle, "Was pretty damn hot."

"Who was that?" Mason asked, still looking in the direction where the girl stood.

"Jake Dinkle, the prince of Roxelt's." Tobias informed him, "You're a moron for calling him out in front of his posse by the way."

"Not him. The girl, with the silver hair" At that both Ember and Tobias looked at each other, a worried expression on their faces. "What?"

"That was Jaclyn Dinkle." Tobias said.

"AKA Jake's little twin sister. AKA the top queen bee of all the 'popular' Witch's of Roxelt's. AKA out of your league, wolf boy." Ember filled in.

A confident smirk slid onto Mason's face, he had to find way to talk to that girl. Did she feel any of that earlier?

"We'll see about that, Ember. We'll definitely see about that."

**** Wow, some new characters! And Tobias is back, hopefully you still remember him from a few chapters back. So what do you think of Roxelt's? Let me know any questions or suggestions you might have!****