Magicae

Chapter 29: Visitor's Day

Penny didn't know what to do when Juliette told her that she had just had a premonition.

"Should we go tell Mr. Magister? Or at least Alex?"

Juliette shook her head, and when Penny mentioned Alex she replied with a vehement "No!"

"Are you okay?" Penny asked for probably the fifth time.

"Yup, just really hungry." Juliette began shovelling eggs into her mouth.

"Okay... what was your premonition about?" Penny couldn't help but ask.

"It wasn't important," Juliette said a little too quickly.

Penny didn't believe her, but didn't want to start an argument, so she let the matter drop for the time being.

Soon Emma and Geneva came downstairs and joined them, completely unaware of Juliette's premonition. All four girls began chatting about their families and Visitor's Day.

"I have three siblings- Jack, Bridget, and Bobby," Penny said. "And we live with my mom. Dad and Mom divorced when I was six, and we visit Dad every couple weeks."

The others nodded. "You're so lucky to have siblings," Geneva said. "I'm an only child, and it is so boring."

Emma nodded agreement.

"It's not as much fun as you'd think," Penny said darkly. "They can get kinda annoying."

"But they're sweet too," Juliette added."

"Sometimes... but you do miss them." Penny grinned ruefully. "I can't wait to see them today."

"They should be here any minute." Emma looked around. "We're supposed to meet them in the entry hall."

"Everyone done?" Geneva looked at the other girls, who all nodded. "Let's go!"

As they were walking out, they were stopped by one of the lunch aides. "Are you going to see your parents?"

The girls all nodded.

"Okay, do you know how this is going to work?"

Penny spoke up. "Don't we just show them around the school?"

The lunch aide let out a breath. "Not exactly. There are two groups of parents going around the school today. One group is all the parents who know about magic , and they will see the school as it is. The other group is the parents who are not Magicae, and they will see the school's illusion. Whoever is with them will see the same thing. So which of you have magical parents, and which of you don't?"

"Emma and I have parents who are Magicae, but Juliette's and Penny's aren't," Geneva said.

The aide nodded. "You two, remember not to mention to your families about magic being real. Now go ahead." She stepped aside and let them pass.

The four girls made their way to the entrance hall, where several families stood, looking around.

Penny recognized her own large family immediately and raced over. "Mom! Jack! Bridget! Bobby!"

Penny embraced each family member in turn.

"How's school been? Are you learning a lot? Have you made any new friends?" her mom wanted to know.

Penny nodded yes to all the questions. "It's really fun! My favorite class is English, we get to write a bunch. I'm working on a story that I'll submit at the end of the year for my final grade. And I have a few new friends. Geneva is over there, Emma is there, and
Juliette is..." Penny scanned the room for Juliette and her family.

Mom smiled. "That's great, Penny! Are you all in the same dorm?"

"Yup!"

Bobby tugged on Penny's shirt. "You didn't write me a letter!"

"Oh yeah! I'm sorry, Bobby. I've been really busy. I will send you one soon though. I promise." Penny held on her pinky. "Pinky promise."

Bobby eyed her skeptically for a moment before wrapping his chubby finger around Penny's.

"So how did Jack do reading?" Penny turned to Bridget. "Were his voices okay?"

Bridget nodded. "He did good!"

Penny smiled at Jack. "Good job."

"Thanks. It's cool how you have this fancy new school and these new friends and stuff, but... don't forget about us, okay?"

Penny nodded. "I won't." She grinned. "Pinky promise?"

Jack scoffed. "Yeah right."

As Penny led her family out of the entrance hall, her vision shifted. All around her, it was like the school was melting away.

Not melting. Just changing. The building went from a castle to the regular school building that had greeted Penny when she first came.

This is what they are seeing, Penny realized. The illusion.

It was surprisingly easy to keep from mentioning magic from her family. In fact, Penny had a hard time thinking about anything magic related. Even remembering her own powers felt like grasping for a dream that was just out of reach.

That didn't keep Penny from having a great time giving her family a tour of the building. Everything was the same  under the illusion, just without the magic towers. They stayed in a group with the other non-Magicae parents, a large group that trekked around the school.

At the end of the day, Penny waved goodbye to her family, Bobby reminding her to write. Funnily, as they left and the illusion lifted, magic became easier to think about and her mind cleared.

Penny assumed it must have been an affect of the illusion as a precaution to keep students from spilling the school's secrets to not magical family members.

She returned to the dorm, tired but happy. Emma and Geneva were already there.

"Hey guys." Penny flopped onto her bed. "Have either of you seen Juliette?"

"No. I haven't seen her since we all ran to our parents," Geneva answered.

Penny nodded. "Yeah, that's where I lost track of her too."

Emma nodded. "Same. But she should be back soon."

Remembering the premonition Juliette had had that morning, Penny wasn't so sure. But there was really no reason to worry, so she let it be.

But Juliette didn't come back to the dorm that night.

Sorry this took so long to be published. School started and I've been super busy with homework, golf, and band. I also have been rereading the Ranger's Apprentice series and finished them the other day, and while I'm reading a series I struggle to concentrate on anything else, including my own stories. And I am broken inside from finishing the series, especially The Royal Ranger.

But here it is! I hopefully will be able to update more regularly now that I'm more used to the back to school schedule.

Hope you liked it, and if you did please vote and comment! Thank you so much!