Jiwa

Chapter Five

I heard the other kids muttering, and shushing each other, and the clatter of clay shields being thrown away so that they could come and see. Mme T attempted to shoo them, but that did not work, so Mme T waved her hand and pinched her fingers, and everyone's mouth was magically glued shut. 

"Our classmate Fiona has just achieved a Sixth Year spell, so I want everyone to give her a round of applause. But quietly-" All the students started whooping and cheering and clapping wildly, but it was too much. Mme T has mistaken my silence as awe. It was actually stomach sickness. The sound was too much, it pounded in my skull, and the eye started crying - or was that my eye? I could feel my energy drain out of me like quicksand, and I kept crying like maple syrup, and man was I tired? I needed to SLEEP.

Mme T came over to me and summoned two blue-and-green pills. She stuffed them in my hand, yelled at the class again, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in my dorm room.

My life was quickly going downhill.

I felt a lot better, so the pills must have worked. I sat up and stretched, pulling on a romper and redoing my ponytail. I decided to try some simple magic before going back to the studio.

Maybe I shouldn't be going back to the studio, and I really should eat something first.

I sat on the bed and bent my hand forward. The tree outside my window shook off all of its leaves. I pointed at a stone on the windowsill and said, "Crumble, bumble." The stone cracked down the middle to reveal a tiny bee-shaped sculpture.

I grabbed my bag and made my way to the atrium. The atrium was shaped like a pentagon, with grand double doors on every side leading to a different wing of the school. Scattered around the atrium were clusters of chairs and tables and beanbags. And in the center of the atrium there was a cluster of small shops that sold knick-knacks and foodstuffs.

I went up to a stall selling sweetmeats and bought myself a tauhu-Krim, a sort of sweet cream beaten with beans. I handed over three wang as payment. As I munched on my snack, I walked through the grand sculpted double doors leading to the pottery wing. They had supposedly been crafted by Priscilla Peculier, the fourth-oldest child of William Peculiar.

When I got to the door to Mme Ts' studio, I hesitated. I had recently been banished from the place for being sick...should I return so quickly? Even though I had slept the whole night, I had been pretty sick. Or was I even? I should ask Rivi because I remembered almost nothing. I shook my head and resolved to practice in the hallway. However, as soon as I leaned back against the wall, my head slumped into my chest and I fell back asleep.

I was sitting back at the studio, but instead of being surrounded by other Third Year students, I was surrounded by five kids who looked to be Five-Year students. However, only one of them really seemed to be good at pottery. She had on what looked like an older version of the present uniform. Instead of a scarf, she had a tweed vest over a blouse and a skirt.

"Hey! Do you need any help?" she said, motioning to the lump of clay that sat in front of me. I sighed and nodded. She nodded back and pulled the clay towards her. She sunk her fingers into the clay and slowly pulled it upward, creating a pyramid. When she saw me shaking my head, she laughed.

"What's so funny?" I asked, embarrassed. She stopped laughing and grinned. "Girlie, it breaks my heart when people say that magic is the only way to do pottery. It has so much more personality when you hand-shape it, don't you agree?" I was stupefied by this girl, so I just nodded. She smiled and peeled the clay out from underneath her fingers.

"You know, where I'm from, we would use clay for everything. My father was - and is - a brilliant potter." I nodded and smiled at the girl. She felt familiar, even though I was fairly sure I had never seen her before.

"Oh! Here he is now...Dad! Over here!" the girl waved her hand wildly at the man walking towards us. I gasped, and an image flashed into my mind. Then I realized it was the same man who had helped me with my clay the first time!

"Sir! Sir!" I said, waving my arms alongside the girl. The man saw us and chuckled. "Priscilla! Who is this?" he said, sitting across from us. I gasped again, and pointed back and forth between Priscilla and the man.

"You're William Peculiar! That means you're Priscilla Peculiar! You guys are the founders of the school!" I said, shocked. Priscilla and William looked at each other and laughed.

"Are you calling Arts and Crafts Camp a school?" said Priscilla. "Girlie, this is a place that definitely ain't school." I gasped again.

I was startled awake by the sound of the second-period bell. I had fallen asleep in the hallway. Maybe I really was sick. I shook it off and headed into Mme Ts' studio. One of the good things about being a Third Year was that my only concrete schedule was lunchtime and extra-elective. As long as I was there at those times, I could wander the halls if I so pleased.

As soon as I walked in, I noticed something was off. There were half the amount of kids there usually were, and no one was using a wheel. I glanced around and spotted someone cleaning up their stuff. I walked over and tapped them on the shoulder. They jumped, but did not look at me.

"Pardon me, but where is everyone else?" I asked them. They ummed for a second, then said, "Well, I suppose a bit of the class has come down with something..." I gasped.

"A bit of the class!?!" I exclaimed. "More than ⅔ of the class is GONE!" At this exclamation, they turned around and saw me.

"Eep!" They dropped their tools in the sink and ran out the other door. I turned around and glanced over the rest of the classroom. Every kid had their eyes glued to me, but when I tried to look at them, they turned their heads down and ignored me. Except for one girl.

Rivi got up from her desk and hurried over to me, her hands nervously fiddling with a towel.

"Fiona, go back to your dorm. Now. They don't know what's happening, but it isn't helping anyone if the Magic Eyeball Girl is wandering the studio." I felt like I had been slapped. Rivi was so curt and sharp, and she was usually so sweet! What has happened?

"Mme T! Mme T!" I called. Usually, she would hear me and come out of her office. But today, she didn't come.

"Stop!" hissed Rivi. I turned questioningly towards them. She hissed, "She's not here! You should leave!" I was really confused now. "What? Why?" I whisper-shouted. She sighed, rubbed her forehead with the towel, and handed me a slip of paper.

It had come in a letter to the House Captains a few days ago, they explained. 

But they only showed the letters to a few people. 

A disease is running rampant through the school. We were still encouraged to attend base classes, though. It has been happening since only a few days ago. Thousands of students are feverish and bedridden. They have not yet discovered the source of the disease, or how to get rid of it.

They only know that the disease makes itself known a few days after serious magic is performed. 

Symptoms include nausea, lethargy, fevers, and coughing/hacking. 

If you believe yourself to be sick, stay in your dorm and notify your House Captain.