Luna had just finished getting dressed when she heard her mother call up the stairs, "hurry up or you'll be late for school!"
Luna gave a heavy sigh and glanced at herself in the mirror. She wasn't much for fashion so she always kept it simple. Today she chose to wear a simple long sleeve black shirt, black skirt, and of course, her favorite black leather combat boots with the steel toe tips. She glanced a bit closer at her reflection, her purple irises beamed back at her and she noticed that her eyeliner was a bit smudged. She shrugged and turned away from the mirror, grabbing her brown messenger bag as she did.
As she descended the stairs the smell of bacon hit her and her mouth watered. Her mom always cooked eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. Luna never complained though, her mom took care of her no matter how hard the struggle was and besides, who doesn't enjoy bacon?
"About time! I was worried you were still in bed. Hurry up and eat then I'll drop you off at school. I have to run into work this morning to cover a shift."
"Why do you have to cover someone else's shift?"
"Because the hospital is severely short-handed today, if I don't come in the ER will slow down and patients will have to wait longer to get help."
"So? Half of them probably just have headaches or panic attacks."
"That's enough of that now, eat up and be quick about it."
Luna frowned at her mother but did as she was told. She quickly ate her breakfast while her mother got changed for work. In the space of fifteen minutes they were both ready to leave with only one of them prepared to face the day ahead.
***
"I'll pick you up after school, I should be done around 3PM."
"I can walk home, it's no big deal. I'm eighteen now, remember? Final year of high school and all that jazz."
Her mother glanced over at her, "I know you're an adult now but monsters have been sighted on the outskirts of the city, I'm not cool with you being alone until the issue has been handled."
Luna rolled her eyes at that, her mother was always worried about the monsters. The truth was that Luna didn't fear them, granted she had never seen one in person, but the mention of them never invoked any kind of fear in her. Most people though were liable to panic at the mere mention of that word and the news wasn't much help. It was constantly reporting on monster sightings and attacks all over the world.
"We both know I'm cursed or possessed or whatever. I'm not worried about a monster getting a hold of me."
"That's not what I worry about."
Luna looked at her mother and saw the concern written all over her face. Luna understood why her mother was worried though, no explanation was really needed. Most mages come into their power when they turn thirteen years old, Luna though had been the exception. She manifested her powers when she was just six years old. They had to change cities and schools a few times over the last dozen years due to Luna's inability to control her powers.
To date none of the magical teachers or academies had been able to help her master her abilities and Luna had completely given up on trying. She spent most of her time pretending she was normal and that her magic didn't exist.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll be waiting for you." Luna undid her seatbelt and exited the car. Thankfully the drive from their apartment complex to the school was a short one.
"Love you, Doom and Gloom!" Her mother called out, waving goodbye.
Luna sighed before responding, "love you too, mom."
She watched as her mother drove off, then readjusted her messenger bag. It was heavier than usual because of the new history class she had signed up for. She hadn't realized at the time that it required her to carry two different textbooks.
As she made her way into the school she passed under the familiar archway that held a bright blue sign proudly proclaiming, "King's Private Academy". It was one of the finest schools in Nocturne City and they taught general education alongside magical education. This was the real appeal for Luna who refused to sign up for any of the magical based classes. She didn't see a use for studying runes, learning divination, or potion making. To her, these were subjects that she had failed miserably at over the years so they were less than useless.
"Morning!" A bright cheerful voice called out to her as she entered the school and made her way through the crowd of students milling about the place. She turned and saw her best friend, her only friend for the matter, running towards her.
Mary Tree was the exact opposite of everything Luna was. Luna embraced modern gothic fashion and often kept her outfits simple. Mary loved bright colors and followed the latest fashions almost obsessively. Luna was reserved, pragmatic, and didn't trust easily. Mary was outgoing, hopeful, and friendly to every person she met. They were a study in contrast yet for some odd reason, they were friends.
Luna isn't really sure how that happened, all she knows is that three years ago when she moved to Nocturne City and enrolled at this school, this bundle of sunshine took a liking to her and decided to follow her around. Luna had been annoyed at first but Mary's personality and heart of gold had finally won her over. They had been inseparable ever since.
"Today is the first day of that new history class, right? Mr. Thompson is teaching it this year I think."
"Yeah, supposed to be starting with ancient history and working our way up to modern society and civilization."
"Oh that sounds neat!"
"What about you? What classes do you start today?"
"Well, since it's the first day of school and it's our last year as high schoolers, I decided to buckle down and take more enchantment classes."
Luna nodded as they walked down the hallway. The history classroom was on the second floor and only a few doors down from Ms. Worth who taught advanced enchantments for seniors. It was a small mercy that they both shared a class on the second floor and around the same time too. The rest of the day they would be apart since Mary focused on her magical studies more than general education.
"What are you guys learning this year?" Luna wasn't truly interested but she knew that Mary would be offended if she didn't pretend to care.
"I'm not sure. The schedule didn't really go into a lot of detail. Hopefully fun stuff though, I need to be prepared for the Exorcist Guild."
They finally reached the second floor and stood outside of the classroom that Mr. Thompson was waiting in. Luna quickly looked inside and saw that the class still had a few minutes before officially starting.
"You're seriously going through with it then? Seems kinda lame."
Mary rolled her eyes at Luna before replying, "you only think it's lame because you haven't seen them in action. Think about it, you could fight monsters and protect people!"
"I have thought about it. I'm not interested in playing super heroes, besides what monsters are you going to fight with enchantments?"
"Oh I'm not gonna fight, I'm going to join up and help with mana-crafting. You know enchant weapons, armors, etc. Enchantment based mages are in high demand and being able to supply Exorcists with the tools they need is a seriously cool job."
"Right. Well I'm going to class now. Enjoy enchanting tea cups or whatever it is you do there."
"Still time to change your mind and sign up for a few classes?" Marry offered hopefully with a charming smile.
"Absolutely not."
They parted ways and Luna quickly found a seat at an empty wooden desk in the back of the classroom. Their teacher, a middle aged man with balding hair, cleared his throat loudly to capture the class's attention. Looking around Luna saw that the class was fairly small but that didn't surprise her, this was an elective course and not required for graduation. None of them paid her attention and that too was not unexpected, most people avoided her. Between the rumors of what she did to bullies when she was younger and the aura that she gave off, it made most people uncomfortable around her.
"Welcome students to a new school year! Now I know what you are thinking, this is going to be a boring class full of reading and power point presentations but that's not the case! We will watch movies and have daily discussions on history related topics."
The man wrote his name on the board but the class already knew it from the syllabus. Luna cracked her book open and buried herself in it. One more year and she would be free of school, free to go off to college and find something to do with her life that didn't involve being a mage of any kind.
***
The rest of the morning flew by in a blur, after history was english and math classes then thankfully lunch break. Lunch was Luna's favorite time of the school day, she could just relax and eat in peace without having to worry about taking notes or trying to memorize large amounts of information for tests.
"So how was your classes?" Mary asked as she sat down with a tray full of vegetables, fruits, and chicken. Mary probably loved lunch time more than Luna but you would never know it.
"It was okay, history was interesting but the other classes were the usual. How was your enchantment class?" Luna poked a fork around at her caesar salad while watching Mary devour her lunch.
"Pretty fun! We enchanted coins and gave them the ability to increase the stamina of anyone carrying one." Mary was talking with her mouth full and Luna had to scoot away to avoid being hit by food flying out of her mouth.
"Mary, eat with your mouth closed."
"Right! Sorry!"
They finished their meals in silence and continued on with their conversation.
"What subjects do you have this afternoon?" Mary asked while she fished out her own schedule for the day.
"Just biology and then study time."
"I have math and then study time. I hate math." Mary sighed as she thought about the complex equations that waited for her in the dreaded textbook she had been assigned.
"Same. It's the worst. I'll probably skip study time though."
"Why?"
"Would rather do something else."
"You could use that time to sharpen your mind though and prepare for exams."
Luna shrugged, the truth was that she had always been a good test taker even with minimal studying. She usually averaged straight 'B's in all of her classes despite the lack of effort she put in. She wasn't sure why she was so good at taking exams, just that the information was easy for her to recall as if she knew the answers already. She chalked it up to luck but sometimes she wondered if it stemmed from her magic or something worse.
"Well I'm going to study hall, math is my worst subject and I need to find a tutor."
***
Luna sat outside under the shade of a large maple tree. Skipping study hall was the right decision in her book. Squirrels were gathered around her, eager to accept the gifts she was handing out. Luna had stolen a bag of peanuts from the cafeteria to share with them, she figured that the school lunch ladies wouldn't notice and even if they did, what were they going to do?
The squirrels climbed all over her lap, munching away without a care in the world. Luna watched them, fascinated by their gentle nature and soft fur. She had always loved animals and she spent a good deal of time with them. Her mom had found her more than once feeding raccoons, stray dogs and cats, and birds. When it came to people, Luna kept her distance despite the pangs of loneliness. It was better to be lonely than to put them all in danger she rationalized to herself. The only people she couldn't push away were Mary and her mother, everyone else she kept at arms length. She had never even had a boyfriend or girlfriend in a romantic sense.
"I'm all out, sorry you guys." Luna stuffed the empty plastic pouch into her pocket and gently ran a finger down the squirrels back. It didn't seem to mind this since Luna had bought his loyalty with peanuts.
"You guys are really lucky. You don't have to worry about losing control and burning things down. You definitely don't have to worry about math or history."
The squirrel looked at her and chattered which made her smile. She glanced at her phone and saw that school was over for the day. Her mom should be here in a few minutes to pick her up. She gently nudged the squirrel off of her lap and stood up brushing her pants off as she did. It was nice outside today, a warm spring day with a soft breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees around her. Being outdoors was better than being trapped in a concrete prison she thought to herself as she made her way to the parking lot.
Her mom was waiting in the car, honking and waving with a tired smile. It made Luna feel a bit better, her mom worked hard to take care of her and despite their different personalities, Luna loved her more than anything or anyone else in the world. She never knew her father, he had been gone before she was born. Her mother had told her once that he had been a weekend fling—he apparently had never known about Luna.
Whenever Luna asked about her dad though, her mom wouldn't say much. Just purse her lips and change the subject. Luna had always found that suspicious but no amount of prodding would change anything. Her mom was just as stubborn as she was.
"Get in sweetie! How was your first day?"
Luna got in and put her seatbelt on, "it was fine. Nothing special to be honest."
"Well that's better than the alternative then."
"We interrupt this music broadcast for a breaking news update, a large horde of goblins have been spotted on the outskirts of the city. Citizens are being warned to avoid the southside until the Exorcist Guild has had time to clear them out."
The radio interrupted their conversation and her mother focused her attention on the special announcement. "Goblins so close to the city? That's unusual."
"They're just goblins, mom, how scary can they be?"