An Amalgamated Education

A Knock at the Door

Aura De Luca never truely thought that the world would change. Of course, there were signs. There always are for things like this. The walls of the universe started to fade, becoming only a thin veil between the magic and the non-magic realm. Aura's world which was once secret, progressively became crystal clear. Everything started with a transparent outline of each realm appearing in the other. It was as if ghostly buildings and people had suddenly come into existence. Naturally, everyone was frightened, the non-magic realm even more so, believing that their streets were now haunted with. Chaos began to ensue as the mages had to reveal themselves to the non-magical world. Wizards and witches in the magic realm did attempt to mend the veil. Scientists from the non-magic realm did as well once it became known to them. However, they all were working against the clock, and the countdown rapidly reached zero. Ultimately, they failed. The boarders of each realm, continued to fade, and within a matter of weeks, it fully merged into one.

No one completely knows what caused the merger, just that it failed to be stopped, and that the destruction was immense. Buildings from each realm merged to form one. Suddenly, a dental office was part of a candy shop. Not everything was quite as light hearted as that though. Hundreds of millions were displaced as their homes became part of something else. Some houses even merged together, forming one owned by two separate families. The best of mages and non-magics (nages) realised that they were all in this together, sharing their homes with one another. This is just one of the ordeals that was caused by the merger. It threw the world into complete chaos. Entire systems of government and laws had to be adjusted to account for two governments within one country, the non-magic and the magic council. Third world countries were affected by this the most, with tensions leading to a civil war between mages and nages. Disease outbreaks began to occur as viruses and bacteria had more opportunity to infect a variety of people. In the initial days of the merge, there were severe food shortages, resulting in the starvation of millions. After three months, the United States began to get back on its feet, and this is where our story starts, with Aura, a high school student trying to make sense of this newly merged world, and surviving her first year of an amalgamated education.

Aura looked in the mirror, trying on her fifth outfit within the hour. The stress of a new school was eating her up inside. She attempted to snap out of it. After all, Aura's family was fortunate enough have not been greatly affected by the merge. The De Luca's owned two properties that they shared between the magic and non-magic realm. Her grandparents resided in the magic realm and her immediate family in the non-magic, allowing for them to have a portal between worlds. Before the merger, mirrors were used as a means of travel by mages across the realms. If a mirror was placed in the exact same point as another in both realms, one could move freely between them.  No one knew why entirely, it just happened to work that way. In the magic realm, when something worked, nobody questioned it. Having access to a portal ensured the De Luca's would be able to do this regularly, as it would allow for Aura to attend a magical high school with ease, and her brother to attend a nage high school. Aura's twin brother Orion, possessed no magical abilities. Her mother Elenora, had loved a Greek nage, resulting in one twin that had magical capabilities and one that didn't. Nages could not enter the magic realm, as ruled by the magic council, meaning their family had to remain in the non-magic realm. What made this entire dynamic more difficult, was that Elenora was a single mother, so she had to work nage jobs on the side to pay for Orion's education at East Shores High. There was no formal currency exchange between the realms. In a sense, the merge made it a bit easier for Aura's family. Elenora was now free to wholeheartedly pursue her passions, she'd always wanted to be a full time healer. For Aura, she was just excited to finally attend high school with her brother. Now they had a chance to be close again.

Aura signed. None of her clothes seemed appropriate for a nage high school.
As she sifted through her wardrobe, Aura's mind wandered.
"Dark dresses and cloaks aren't going to cut it at this school", she mumbled to herself.
Aura knew the nages would judge her. Finding out magic was real would have been such a big shift for them, she could picture them taking any opportunity to bully a mage out of fear.
'Honestly, I'd be scared too', she thought.
Aura finally settled on an outfit she deemed somewhat acceptable. She looked in her mirror, the most normal outfit she owned was a short black skirt, and a see through sparkly mesh top, that she layered a black singlet under. Aura thought black was a good colour for her as it slimed down her curves. That was what she hated about being Greek and Italian, she was all curves. Aura scanned the rest of her features. She had thick lips and a boxy nose. Her eyes, which were her favourite thing about herself, were hazel. Aura pinned her blond wavy bob back. She shook her head, knowing the outfit would be too much for a nage school.