Dedicated to Isla, 
as she comes and goes. 

"I can't believe we have Witch exams," Lucas grumbles, along with several other students as they exit the hall.

"Witching Standard Exams, to be specific," Sierra specifies, dropping in line with Lucas and Minerva as they walk back to the lounge. Sierra isn't a big fan of exams herself, but she knows their purpose and importance so rather than complaining about them, she prefers to prepare for them. As the lounge nears, Sierra weighs her chances of sneaking away unnoticed. Despite it only being their second day, professors had dumped assignments on them already and Sierra highly doubts that she can complete said assignments in the bustling lounge.

When she looks back into the crowd, Sierra notices Zoe walking with Day and another boy that she doesn't recognise, who dare she say, is quite the looker. The trio head towards the lounge on the other side of the castle and Sierra wonders if she should invite them into the lounge. Then she remembers how Day didn't even acknowledge them when he had returned from their mini soccer match last night, and so she decides otherwise.

"Sierra, what are you looking at?" Sierra turns around to see Luke and Minerva standing a few steps away and looking back at her with confusion.

"Uh, Noah." Sierra gives herself a mental clap on the back for her new found improvisation skills. "I was looking for Noah."

Minerva looks around, her eyes searching the crowd. "Hmm, maybe he had to stay behind or something."

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Day, Alec and Zoe walk towards the courtyard, where the four castles meet in the middle. The floor is tiled, and with the academy starting in February, the aftermath of snow from last night lingers in patches. Some of the benches are even wet from melting snow. The moon is out, and Day wonders how long they have before it starts snowing again. The scarf that is tightened around Alec's neck, is flowing with the wind and Zoe shudders beside Day. If not for the fact that Day is sneezing every thirty seconds, he would've offered Zoe one of his coats.

"Why the fuck are we here? I feel like I'm on the verge of getting hypothermia," Alec asks, looking around at the empty courtyard. Who knew befriending Day Blackwood would result in him freezing to death? Under his breath, he mutters, "I did not sign up for this."

Zoe nudges Day, who looks deep in thought. He jumps, surprised by the movement.

"What?" he asks Zoe, as if she is the one who holds the answers.

"Why are we freezing out here, rather than sitting inside and cuddling next to the fire?" Zoe questions, rubbing her gloved hands together and bouncing on her feet in an attempt to keep the heat running through her body.

Alec tucks his scarf inside his jacket, so it would stop flying and slapping him in the face. "If you keep talking about cold or fire, I will turn around and hide in one of the lounges for the rest of my life."

"That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?" Zoe replies, angling her body in front of Day to stare at Alec's now pale face. Zoe had never seen the tanned, Italian boy so lacking in colour.

Zoe turns to look at Day with an expectant look when he steps forward, breaking out of the line the trio had formed. He looks around the courtyard, and up at where the full moon frowns down upon them.

As Alec and Zoe inch together, she nudges him with her elbow. Alec rubs his arm sorely, and shoots her a sour look.

"Get your bloody boney elbow away from me," Alec grumbles, and rather than the annoyance Zoe expects in his voice, mirth laces his words. She looks up at him and finds a mocking look on his face. Zoe rolls her eyes and the tips of her lips lift.

The sound of Day's feet brushing past snow brings Zoe's attention back to her best friend.

"Is he on drugs, or something?" Alec asks, surveying Day's body as he examines the area. Zoe looks at Alec and the comical befuddled expression littering his face.

Her vision shifts to Day, and she tries to figure out what he is doing. "Or something."

"When I walked into the lounge yesterday, I had this really bad feeling. Like the lingering leftovers of dark magic." Day pauses, his voice distressed. "It's how I feel standing here, only it's stronger."

Day freezes in his perusal, and turns around and looks at the pair standing behind him with a calculatingly look. His eyes shift onto Alec, and Day's eyes narrow into slits as he shoots an accusing look his way. Alec's eyebrows rise.

"What? I didn't do it."

"Do what?" Zoe asks, facing Alec with a matching accusing look. Alec throws his hands up in the universal sign of surrender. Before Zoe can ask Day what she is missing out on, Day walks towards them and brushes past his friends. He stops in front of the statue that stands behind Alec.

With matching confused and curious looks, Alec and Zoe turn around to look at Day. Day's fingers reach out and touch the marble statue of a woman.

"Maria Costav," Alec says. At the puzzled look Day and Zoe shoot at him, he elaborates. "The statue is of Maria Costav. The witch who read the prophecy of The Chosen Heirs."

"Yeah, I thought the name sounded familiar," Day adds.

"Hmm, yeah," Zoe says, walking towards the marble statue. "Governor Gilbert was the last person to see her, until she died and her body was discovered."

"Why do they have a statue of her here?" Alec asks, his eyebrows scrunching towards the bridge of his nose. With both the boys perusing the statue in suspicion, Zoe can feel the hairs on her neck bristling.

"Because she's the most powerful Seer witch we've had?" Zoe suggests, as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. Day turns to look at her, and then shrugs.

"True that."

As Day and Zoe turn around to walk back inside, Alec interjects, "Maybe, or maybe not."

"What?" the female witch asks, unable to wrap her head on why Day and Alec are so worked up about the statue.

Alec casts a look at Zoe and Day and then back at the statue. With a last glance at the marbled tribute, he shrugs and joins the pair as they walk back inside, instantly being enveloped with warmth.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Zoe enters the domus lounge that leads to their dorms. It is empty besides the small group of first years seated near the window. Zoe assumes everyone has retired off to bed with their second day being more tiring than the first.

The heaters are on, and the two coats she is wearing feel too hot of all a sudden. Shredding one off, she shrugs it over her arm and walks towards her friends that are seated near the same corner as yesterday. By the looks of it, this is their spot now.

"Where have you been?" Sierra asks, noticing her first as she walks towards the group.

Zoe shudders just imagining the cold and replies, "Ugh, don't even ask."

With raised eyebrows, Sierra nods reluctantly, the curiosity biting away at her. With a huff, Zoe drops onto the couch and closes her eyes. This is so much better than standing outside. Even though it hasn't been snowing, it still feels like she has been deserted in Antarctica or something. She still has to figure out what had drawn Day to the courtyard in the first place. Due to the miserable weather, students barely went to the courtyard, choosing to use the corridors or hallways to walk to one castle from another.

"Why do you two always get the bean bag?" Zoe asks, eyeing Lucas and Noah as they relax on the silver and green bean bags.

"What's the saying? Something about a bird and worm?" Noah scrunches up his nose in confusion, rummaging through his brain for the proverb his mother always repeated to him whenever his brother got the chocolate cake in the weekend instead of him.

"The early bird gets the worm?" Sierra offers smugly. Noah clicks his fingers towards the witch, and shoots her a smile.

"That's the one!"

"Whatever," Zoe replies, rolling her eyes.

"Are you guys ready?" Minerva questions, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Luke glances around at the group in confusion, trying to figure out if he is the only one confused. When he notices matching looks of question, he breathes a sigh, happy that he isn't the odd one out again. No one said being a Luxine is easy.

"Ready for what?" Noah questions.

"For the tournament! Obviously!" Minerva exclaims, enthusiastically and Sierra furrows her eyebrows.

Sierra can't figure out how someone can be so excited about the Tournament. The Tournament isn't a joke, the Heirs will be chosen, and that is no joke. Ever since Sierra was old enough to enter her parent's private library, Sierra had been studying the prophecy. And now, Minerva is treating it as if it is a joke.

The glass and marble door to the lounge slams opened before a frightened voice yells, "Help! There's a girl bleeding!"

Sierra jumps up from the couch, and hurries towards the chubby boy, who is still in his uniform. A look of horror appears on Sierra's face once she notices the blood smeared on his white dress shirt. Sierra finally takes in the panicked boy's appearance, his brown hair is dishevelled, his blue eyes wide, and Sierra wonders how he hasn't frozen to death without his blazer on.

"Take a deep breath, then tell me what's wrong." Sierra commands, her voice soothing but firm, and the worried boy's breaths became slower and more controlled. Though the terrified look remains in his eyes.

Heavy footsteps sound down the stairway, and then Day Blackwood and Alec Bacani appear. Alec's eyes land on the chubby boy, and they widen.

"Orion! What happened?" Day asks, rushing towards his friend. Sierra steps aside when Day and Alec come to stand next to her.

"There's a girl bleeding, I don't know what happened!"

Day places a hand on Orion's shoulder comfortingly, and questions with a firm voice, "Where is she?"

"Cou-courtyard," Orion answers, stuttering. Before Sierra can even comprehend the words, the two boys are rushing out of the lounge and towards the courtyard.

"Get a professor!" Sierra yells back at her friends and finds herself following the boys.

They stop, and look out from under the shelter. It is pouring with rain and Day notices the body curled up next to the pillar on the left side. He runs towards her, and instantly kneels down to examine her state.

"Get her inside, I can heal her until the professors arrive," Alec orders, looking down at the same girl who had turned up late to Incantations on their first day.

Day kneels down and lifts the bleeding girl in his arms and walks towards the castle. He lays her down on the marbled floor, just as Sierra arrives followed by Noah. Day pulls the large blazer that Amisha is pressing onto her body.

Alec kneels down on her other side, and examines her wounds. Her entire white blouse is soaked if not with blood then the rain. With hesitant hands, he lifts her shirt a little. Alec gulps when he sees the smeared blood on her skin.

He raises his hands over the blood. "Abstergium."

The blood clears revealing a large gash on her waist. The skin under his eyes wrinkle as he focuses on the wound, trying to remember all the spells he had learnt in his free time. So focused on the bleeding girl, Alec doesn't notice the pitter patter of footsteps.

Zoe lets out a gasp when her eyes land on the bleeding girl. She steps forward to help, when Day places a hand on her wrist. She looks up at her best friend with confused eyes, but notices that his focus is on Alec and Amisha, observing and alert.

"Photom termino vulnus," Alec says, the volume of his voice low but firm. When nothing happens, Alec places his hands over the wound. With his other hand, he presses down on the other side of her waist, trying to stop her from shaking. And then he repeats. "Photom termino vulnus. Photom termino vulnus."

Alec's eyebrows furrow when nothing happens. Unable to make sense of it, Alec's hand moves away.

"Move aside, Mr. Bacani," a loud voice commands. Alec's eyes finally leave Amisha's wound, and he looks up to see the Principal walking towards him - No, towards Amisha.

With reluctant movements, Alec stands up and steps back, allowing the older witch to examine the bleeding girl. Only when he has stood up and stepped back, does Alec allow his eyes to meet with Amisha's.

Her entire body is shaking, but she doesn't let out a sound. Her eyes are wide, and it seems as if there is a haze in front of her eyes. Her brown eyes are on his, until they close.

Almost instantaneously, the Principal lets out a gasp. 

So, what did you guys think? Who's your favourite so far? I was really happy with Luke's character aesthetic. 
Don't forget to vote and comment. Would love to hear your thoughts