Modern Magic

First Day

Rio and Maria walked to the lunch room, which was more of a giant lounge than anything else. It was a massive room, with half the room covered with carpet and the other half tile. The tile was a soft blue, while the carpet a deep purple, for the school colors. 

When they entered the room, Rio and Maria gawked a little, wondering how such a big room was for just meals, and how plush it was. Every chair in there was a soft, plush one, with armrests and backrests instead of tables with benches. The tables were high quality wood, kept perfectly cleaned and pristine by all sorts of janitors and staff.

The food was on the tile side, in giant buffet lines, and all were separated by a sign saying where a certain region of food was. European, American, Japanese, Chinese, and a few more all listed above the food itself. Rio wandered with Maria, who showed her some of the Spanish food they had, and then Rio showed Maria some Japanese food.

Soon enough, both of the settled on getting some Mexican burritos, both stuffed with beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and onion.

As the girls wandered the room, they found an empty table near a small bookshelf. They sat down, sinking into the chairs a decent amount, and started eating.

"Oh, wow! This food is delicioso." Maria said, soon after taking two bites of the burrito she had decked out with guacamole, sour cream, and hot sauce.

Rio nodded, hoping that delicioso meant delicious and not something else. She took a bite and then nodded again, agreeing with Maria's statement that it was amazing... She hoped.

The two chatted while eating, both learning English from each other, as well as their own languages. When Rio had finished, Maria had already cleaned her seat up, making it easier for any staff who cleaned.

Rio cleaned her stuff up, walking over to the dish drop-off area for dirty dishes. After she had set the plate and cup down, she turned to leave, only to ram into the back of a young man. He whipped around, a little angry at first, but then softening his gaze when he saw Rio below him by at least a foot.

Rio ducked her head politely, nodding and stepping around him. She couldn't help but notice his hair, a deep green color and wavy, framing his face ever-so-perfectly. His eyes were a light blue, and over his nose was a small scar, going from eye to eye.

Rio headed back to Maria and they got ready to leave, afternoon assembly starting soon for freshmen and a few sophomores transferring late. Anyone who was a junior or senior couldn't transfer if they weren't already there.

The duo passed a small library, a few students already inside with some leaving and entering. From inside, a young woman with black hair waved to the girls, and Rio assumed she was the librarian.

Rio looked at her map for a second and found her way, Maria following behind her. When they made it to the auditorium, there were already hundreds of students, and most had virbant hair colors.

A side effect of having powers meant unnatural hair colors or eye colors.

Maria spotted two seats next to each other relatively close to the stage, so the two ventured there. There were a lot of conversations happening between friends, and many were in different languages altogether.

After a few minutes, five people walked onto the stage, one being very clearly the headmaster, but the others were confusing.

"New students, we welcome you to our school. I know many of you are from overseas, so we have a few translators here, one for Japanese, Spanish, French, and Chinese. If more assistance is needed, a pamphlet will be handed out with other, smaller, languages."

He was a large man, with very broad shoulders and a large build, giving him the appearance of a fighter. His hair was buzzed short, but the tint was most definitely black. He wore glasses over his glassy blue eyes, one of which was angled at a different direction. He wore a neat suit, with many hues of purple and then some blue accents on things like his tie or shirt.

"This year, you will be focusing more on training your magical abilites. Those of you with specific numbers of Aparides will be in classes with others of that same number. Fours with fours and fives with fives for reference."

"Now I'm aware some of you may be higher than others or lower, meaning there may be fewer students, but don't let that deter you. You must stay vigilant to succeed, as I know many of you will."

The speech went on for a while, addressing rules and mandatory meetings every once in a while, but otherwise finished quickly for a speech. Rio learned new words, since some that were translated from English she didn't know.

When the students were all dismissed, it was time for their first class. Rio and Maria were in separate classrooms since Maria was a four and Rio was a seven.

As Rio walked to her next class, she wondered how life would be here. And whether she would succeed.