“I have some people to talk to. I might be going to an art school out-of-state.” Eva shrugged. The two people in the alley had mentioned an academy and she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t a little excited. She almost regretted running from them, but it seemed to impress the woman at least. Of course, there was one other person to talk to before making any final decisions.
“An art school? You can’t do art.”
“You wouldn’t know art if Bob Ross himself bit you. That doesn’t mean others are so woefully lacking in culture.” Eva glanced over his shoulder. “Speaking of, I think someone I need to speak with just walked in.”
Both boys turned to watch the main entrance, opposite the bulletin board, where the woman from the alley was being led into the main offices. She spotted Eva and gave a small wink before disappearing into the office.
Their homeroom teacher emerged a moment later and made a beeline to the group. After a brief exchange, the boys were dismissed and Eva was following Mrs. Wheeler into the offices. She brought Eva to a small meeting room where the woman sat on the opposite side of the table.
She wore the same black three-piece suit, but added a bright red tie with a stylized butterfly on the front. Her brown hair hung to her shoulders in the front, but cut at a diagonal to the nape of her neck in the back. Her sharp green eyes completed her imposing look.
Eva took the seat opposite of the woman. Mrs. Wheeler, despite all the chairs being moved to the corner quite purposefully, dragged a chair over and sat adjacent to Eva.
The three sat in silence. The woman sized up Eva while Eva tried to do the same. The woman definitely didn’t look like someone to be crossed. She projected an aura of confidence. Confidence that wasn’t well reflected in Eva’s own aura. Eva had yet to discuss any of the possible schooling, if that is what the woman was here for, with her master.
Mrs. Wheeler fidgeted awkwardly the entire time.
Eva began drawing a small sloth rune, tracing the pattern on the under side of the table with her fingernail. It wouldn’t last long, but should be enough to put Mrs. Wheeler to sleep. She began to trace out the broken ring to direct its effects towards her homeroom teacher when the woman’s lips quirked into the start of a small smile.
She said, “Mrs… what did you say your name was?”
The homeroom teacher nearly jumped ten feet in the air at the break in the room’s tension. It took her a minute to realize she was the one being addressed. “Wheeler,” she said.
“Thank you Mrs. Wheeler, I think we can take it from here.”
“Ah, but…” she glanced nervously between Eva and the woman.
“Don’t worry. She’s just come to recruit me for her academy of fine arts. Right?”
“That is correct,” the woman said.
“The arts? Oh congratulations Eva. That’s excellent news. I’ll just,” she glanced between the two once again, “I’ll be out in the office if you need anything.” She stood and left the room, quietly shutting the door with a whispered “good luck.”
The two remaining occupants of the room stared at one another for another minute still. The woman across the table spoke first.
“The academy of fine arts?”
Eva shrugged. “It is just what I told a few other acquaintances of mine. I didn’t know your academy’s actual name, and I doubted you would have said. Magic’s existence might be an open secret, but it is vague enough to keep people guessing.”
“Hmm. And beneath the table?”
“A sloth rune with some Ogham modifiers, directed at my homeroom teacher with the intent of inducing sleep.”
“Runes?” The woman actually looked surprised, rather than her semi-condescending, ‘smarter than thou’ look. “Where did you learn about runes?”
“A book. Why?”
“We don’t even teach runes at Brakket. They are considered archaic, supplanted by most modern forms of thaumaturgy, and not worthy of learning by proper mages.”
“They’ve done alright by me,” Eva said with another shrug. “They keep people away from my home, among other useful things.”
“Indeed.” The woman pulled out a small notepad and marked a few notes. “And getting past the fence yesterday?”
“I stepped.”
“Stepped?”
Eva stood up, stepping to her side in the process, and stepped back across the table. “I can be anywhere I can see with a single step.”
She marked another note down. “Can you step to a location in a photograph?”
Shaking her head in the negative, Eva said, “through a window or anything I can see through, but not a picture.”
“And returning someplace you’ve already been? Say the alley from yesterday?” At Eva’s negative answer, the woman marked down another note while mumbling, “rudimentary teleportation.”
“Excuse me, but are you going to introduce yourself at any point during our conversation?”
The woman looked up and blinked twice. “I’m sorry, I got a bit carried away. I am Zoe Baxter. I teach magical theory for all six years at Brakket Magical Academy.”
“And I was not incorrect when I said you were recruiting me?”
