Briar's POV

I was not happy. Not only had Tyron, Caleb and I returned from the Main Hall to a large, thick, and heavy chain firmly preventing our door from opening. It was also impervious to my powers. Perhaps I oughtn’t have lost my temper, but I was fairly sure that this was an elaborate plot, likely on the part of Azami and Milaek. This was even more obvious when the only door we were able to open after that just “happened” to lead to Lisse, Illia, and Xerin’s room. Surprise. However, it was distinctly awkward when we realized that not only would six of us be sharing one bathroom, but that all of Caleb’s, Tyron’s and my stuff was still locked in our room, and that this was going to be a rather lengthy stay, judging by the three extra beds and toothbrushes that had materialized. Xerin and I had both been studiously avoiding each other’s gazes, and as soon as was polite she fled to the loft and yanked her curtains shut. Or rather, attempted to, as everything in this damned room seemed to flutter in a flower-scented breeze, I thought sourly.
The next morning, I was rudely awakened by a buzz that vibrated through my skull, causing my teeth to clatter against each other. I sat bolt upright, fully intent on crushing whomever was creating that incredibly irritating noise. Instead, I was greeted by all five of my roommates in similar states of fury and bewilderment.
“Good morning.” Azami sounded amused, but it was a tad difficult to tell as her voice was also disembodied.
“You have class this morning, first-years, and you will not enjoy the consequences of lateness.” Milaek, on the other hand, sounded downright grumpy.
“We’ll see you in class! Which, by the way, begins in five minutes.” Azami concluded sweetly. Caleb and I exchanged a horrified glance. He summed the situation up perfectly in a single word.
“Fuck.”
Five minutes later, we stumbled into the classroom, all of us appearing somewhat disheveled. We joined six others who were milling about, examining their surroundings. The classroom was small and basic, made of the same grey stone as the halls, and dark and smoky from the emerald-green fire blazing in the hearth. The enormous, intricately carved wooden door in the back was ajar, and was revealed to lead to an enormous arena. I had an extremely ominous feeling about that arena, and was not looking forward to discovering the reason for its existence. Milaek slouched in an enormous leather armchair near the door, clearly in a foul temper.
She favored us with a frightening glare that froze me in my tracks.
“Sit.” With that single word, I found myself inexorably drawn to one of the twelve low chairs lined up in neat rows. A glance around the room found all the other students in a similar predicament. Milaek growled, “Azami…” With a miffed sigh, a portion of shadow in a corner detached, resolving itself into the woman in question. She glided over to an upright wooden throne, carved with the same complicated, convoluted symbols as the door, somehow managing to drape herself over it without being injured on one of the many protruding spikes.
“Well, it would appear the first-years are all accounted for,” Azami observed in a saccharine tone that made my skin crawl. “Shall we begin, Milaek dear?” Milaek glared at her, but not very hard. She seemed cheered by the fact that Azami’s sickly sweet tone conveyed her intent clearly, that intent being to torture the first-years as much as was humanly possible.
“We’ll start with your tattoos.” Milaek flicked her fingers at all of us. “Oh, and names,” she added as an afterthought. I felt something akin to a cold draft blow through me, but could not see any evidence that anything had happened. I turned to Tyron, who was seated next to me, only to recoil in panic at the fact that his tattoo was glowing and floating about three inches above his bicep and that his name was hovering over his head in neat, opaque black text. He was staring at me with a similar amount of trepidation. The creeper with the ever-present sunglasses and the name ‘Set’ suspended above his head looked like he was having a panic attack at the symbol glowing above his stomach. Lisse examined her luminescent collarbone dispassionately, while the slightly less miniscule Asian girl with ‘Amber’ emblazoned in the air over her head looked downright excited at the gleaming symbol on her wrist.
“Now that you are all familiar with each other’s names, we’re going to have you do a little partnering exercise,” Azami drawled. Milaek looked daggers at her, exasperated. “I apologize,” she amended hastily, “You’re going to get your weapons and familiars first.” She rolled her eyes at the other woman. I started. Weapons? Familiars?
“This is one of our… more interesting classes,” Milaek continued, “in that each one of you has a unique Zodiac symbol. This means that there may be strange reactions between you.” Azami continued smoothly, “We are eager to document this, as there are no precedents to this situation.” So, we were an experiment? Before I could continue with that line of thought, however, Milaek began speaking again.
“We must tend to you individually, and therefore will call your dominant signs in alphabetical order. That means… Aries is first.” Azami flicked her fingers negligently at me. “Let’s see… your element is space, correct? And your powers are teleportation and illusions.” She did not wait for me to confirm or deny this, not that I could have, considering how horrified I was that she had just announced my powers to the rest of the class. The timbre of her voice deepened, the cadence becoming stilted.
“Fiat Lux!”
The room swirled around me, details joining each other in a meaningless mass of grey. I did not notice, however, as my attention was riveted by a glowing, winged figure that careened towards me, resolving into a falcon with inky feathers and clear golden eyes. It? He? She? She. She landed on my shoulder, nipping the spot where my tattoo was located. A burning, prickling sensation passed over my body, as my tattoo detached itself from my shoulder and hovered before my eyes, deconstructing into a mosaic of golden squares and reorganizing into the outline of a sword, resolving itself into a silver Longsword with a Celtic dragon coiled around the hilt. What the fuck? This was getting creepier by the second. I closed my eyes as it drifted into my hand, mentally testing the weight and balance. Both were flawless. I blinked, surprised that I was back in the classroom. Azami favored me with a knowing smile, and made a shooing motion with her hand. I was returned to my seat, absently stroking my falcon’s head as I watched Lisse stalk to the front.
“You’re Aquarius… element, air… oh, what an interesting power! Invisible, solid moving objects. You’ll be a formidable opponent.” Lisse’s expression did not waver.
“Fiat Lux!” 
I watched as she rose a good foot in the air, hovering for a moment (had it really taken only a moment? It felt like an eternity) before slowly descending as a violet snake with iridescent scales materialized across her shoulders. She gripped a Naginata, and I knew enough about east Asian weaponry to be respectful of the perfectly tempered metal that was capable of holding a very sharp edge.
“Cancer.” Caleb rose. “Hmm… element, wood- power, plants… “
“Fiat Lux!”
Caleb gained a Small white rat and a huge black handled scythe with a green plant-like pattern ruining all across its length.
Larimar responded to “Capricorn.” Milaek’s frown relaxed a tad when Azami poked her, muttering something, before taking control. She smiled at Larimar, but it was not friendly. In fact, it was creepy as fuck. “Oh, another air element! Your power is air bending, correct?”
She returned with a Small water-goat thing that muttered something intelligible under its breath, and a long wooden staff, which she promptly folded twice. “Gemini.” No one moved. Azami’s smirk widened incrementally. She beckoned languidly with one hand, red-lacquered nails digging into her palm when she made a fist. Set was yanked to his feet and tugged up the aisle between the chairs. His expression didn’t change.
“Oh dear… how troublesome.” She simpered. “Let’s see… your element is shadow and you’ve got quite an interesting power. It’s corruption! Isn’t that odd, Milaek dear? Didn’t he actually kill someone with it?” Set’s face drained of color, and he swayed on his feet. Milaek grinned ferally. “Yes, let’s see… it was his girlfriend, wasn’t it? Perhaps it was because he tired of her. Girls can be dreadfully clingy sometimes.” Azami tilted her head to the side. “Well, in that case, I simply can’t blame him.” She smiled, and it made my skin crawl. “Don’t ever think of defying us again,” she told Set, who didn’t seem capable of speech. Even after his red/ blue eyed white rabbit and weighted chain materialized, he seemed incapable of movement. Azami pouted and sent him back to his seat with a petulant flick of her fingers. I closed my eyes. What was going to happen to us under the care of such capricious, coldhearted… beings? Call the Irish superstitious, but we know there are other creatures in this world, and that they’re usually dangerous.
Amber was positively wriggling with excitement by the time “Leo” was called. What had happened to Set didn’t seem to bother her at all- she beamed at the universe in general when a white tiger materialized at her side, glaring at the classroom through pale blue eyes. Her weapon was a claymore that was almost as tall as she was, and I eyed her with a little more respect, knowing that I could hardly lift a weapon of that size and weight. The only other person there who could wield a claymore like that was Tyron, and Amber did not look nearly that strong. Yet there she was, a tiny Asian girl, easily lifting it with one hand.
“Libra.” Gareth sauntered towards Azami and Milaek. They exchanged an enigmatic glance, and then whispered something to him. He grinned mockingly, bowed, and returned to his seat. From the whispers that ran around the room, I wasn’t the only one bewildered by this exchange, and curious about Gareth’s weapon and animal. When I caught his eye, though, a peculiar expression hovered on his face momentarily- he almost looked unhappy. However, my attention was drawn away when Illia responded to “Pisces. Element, Light. Power… electricity. Very well.” Illia had looked more than a little apprehensive at this point, but she relaxed when it became apparent that Azami was not going to reveal anything untoward about her past. She appeared positively delighted with her peculiar crowned monkey and two strange hand held blades with points on the end.
“Sagittarius. Element, Water, Power, weather.” Nico yawned. Milaek glared at him. Her words dripped poison. “The mere fact that you have been running in and out of our grounds since you were a small child does not excuse your rudeness.” At this remonstration, he had the grace to look slightly abashed. Azami smacked him on the head lightly, but her attention was clearly somewhere else. Nico acquired a beautiful Cremello Peruvian Paso mare, well suited to his penchant for riding rougher terrain, and a blue and white striped lance which almost surpassed him in height, but which he easily controlled with one hand.
“Scorpio.” I snapped to attention- I was extremely curious as to what Xerin’s element and powers were. “Element…. How fascinating. You don’t look like a Fire Elementalist. Power, the ability to create and control fire. You have one of the easier powers to control, lucky you.” Fire? Easy to control? Unlikely.
“Fiat Lux!”
I sincerely doubt that anyone was prepared for a twenty-foot-long indigo dragon to appear in the middle of the classroom. Xerin looked more surprised at the two shining golden fans she was holding, but that’s Xerin for you. I doubt she even knew how to use them. Azami rubbed her temples.
“Xerin, wait in the arena. Your Dragon is consuming most of the space in this room.” She gestured at the door, and it opened the rest of the way. Xerin slipped through, followed by her dragon, who appeared to have some difficulty squeezing through a doorway that had to have been at least five feet across. Milaek sighed. Raising her voice, she called after Xerin, “By the way, that’s a baby dragon. He’ll probably grow another forty feet!” I grinned at the idea of the trouble that a sixty-foot dragon was going to cause.
“Taurus. Element, Earth. Power, the ability to control the earth.” Azami eyed Tyron. “Well, it certainly suits you.” She did not exactly look pleased, however, when he acquired an elephant familiar, though it was not nearly as large as Xerin’s dragon. I was more interested in his weapon, however- it was enormous. His mace (Solid iron and covered in lethal-looking spikes) was maybe five and a half feet long, and must have weighed more than I did. Milaek, however, was also unimpressed with the elephant, and shooed him into the arena after Xerin. Miraculously, they both fit through the door.
“And lastly, Virgo.” Zenery made her way towards Azami. “Element, Space. Power, Telekinesis… Oh! This is exceptional. Both you and Briar-“ I started at the mention of my name, “have the power to travel to the Outer Planes.” Zenery and I exchanged a confused glance. “However,” Milaek said sternly, frowning at the interruption, “We will have to elaborate further at a later time.” When at last Zenery had acquired a strange white wolf, half her height, but as long as Tyron was tall, and two thin jian, we were all sent to the arena to join Tyron and Xerin.
“This is an arena, as you can see quite clearly.” Milaek smiled slowly, revealing her inhumanly sharp canines once more. “This arena is for combat.” Judging by the several sharply inhaled breaths from my classmates, I wasn't the only one who was surprised and apprehensive. Azami clasped her hands in front of her. “Every single one of you will learn how to use and control your power. We will take any measures necessary to ensure your co-operation,” Here she pause, looking straight at Set, “And rest assured, some of our means are… somewhat… drastic.” Her odd, dark eyes flashed red again. “At the moment, however, you have Applied Enchantment with Professor Elena, and I sincerely doubt that she will welcome the various animals and weapons in your possession. To have them dematerialize, activate your power with the incantation ‘Ne Fiat Lux’. After the first time, you will not see anything strange, so it will take but a moment.” I frowned, but tried it.
“Ne Fiat Lux”. That burning, prickling sensation passed over my body again, and both my sword and falcon vanished. It seemed as if everyone else had also had some measure of success, even Set. His face was back to its typical emotionless mask, although it was a bit difficult to tell with the sunglasses on. My brow furrowed a bit when I caught sight of Gareth. Azami followed my gaze, and sighed when she saw who I was looking at.
“Gareth, please show them your weapon and familiar.” He exchanged a guarded glance with Milaek, before slinging an elegantly carved, unstrung longbow that certainly hadn’t been there a moment before over his shoulder. A black panther coiled around his legs, eyes red as rubies. Azami inclined her head, and he vanished them with a flick of his wrist. There was something extremely odd there. Gareth was progressively more enigmatic, and he seemed to have an established alliance with the draconian headmasters. Caleb caught my eye, mouth set in a grim line. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one filled with trepidation.