FernStone

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

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Once the weedy kid who’d fallen was hauled back in, Isla made a decision. She was just going to do it, people left be damned. She wasn’t going to stay clinging to the railing forever.

Isla blinked to the release lever, yanking it down before blinking back to the railing and clinging on. She ignored how her head spun and the sheer exhaustion coursing through her body as she turned to make sure it had worked. And it had - the lifeboat was lowering, though it was a lot less dramatic and slower than she’d expected. That’s what she got for basing her expectations off of movies… but it was still too quick for her to blink right in.

She watched the boat lowering as she waited a few moments for her head to clear, breath ragged from all the blinking she’d been doing in such a short space of time. Then sigils glowed around her beanie and she teleported into the lowering lifeboat.

As soon as Isla appeared inside the lifeboat she collapsed, managing to catch herself on one of the chairs. She pulled herself up to just about sit on one even as she stared in front of her, completely out of it. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open and there was absolutely no way she was going anywhere… she’d pushed her body to its limits with her abstraction.

She blinked and said to no one in particular, words slurred and accent heavy, “I think I need a nap.”

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Caelea hit the ice platform Zoey had made, feet first before her legs buckled beneath her and her head slamming into it. The world swirled around her as she lay, winded and in intense pain. She felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her head and she closed her eyes in an attempt to ward away the pain that came from blurry vision. Slowly, surely, she came to her sense - even as her head still pounded and swam with dizziness.

"You alright...?"

Zoey

“I’m alive,” Caelea groaned, not moving from where she lay on the ice. She opened her eyes to squint them against the overly bright night sky. Bright lights speckled the corners of them even as she rapidly blinked. Everything fucking hurt but as she’d said she was alive… and nothing seemed broken.

So yeah, her being alive just about covered how she felt. But also she knew this situation wasn’t stable at all. She tried to sit up, slowly, only to be hit by a wave of nausea and throw a hand over her mouth to stop herself from throwing up. She lay right back down.

"Alright... squirt… Got an idea, not a good fucking one but we're about to drown. Ice floats on water and we're going up... so how about we just physics do its fucking thing and figure out what to do next from there?"

Zoey

“I can’t believe that’s catching on,” Caelea muttered in as close to a joking tone as she could muster. Her voice was harsh sounding as she spoke, still winded, but she answered without any doubts. “Let’s do it… anything’s better than drowning.” She slowly turned her head to look at Zoey. “I’d rather be on a floating ice block than trying to swim.”

Something she very much couldn’t do. If she was honest, her pounding and confused brain didn’t entirely get what the plan involved (not at all helped by the fact she’d always failed physics). But anything was better than nothing.

“And maybe I can somehow use my abstraction to somehow propel us.”

As if that wasn’t another, probably terrible, idea.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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"... I honestly had no clue the supernatural even existed before today. And I'm still not sure if it exists... my husband just insisted I come here today."

Phillis

Maya raised an eyebrow. Huh, that was interesting. Maybe he had another reason for having her there… but she didn’t dwell on it. She’d talk to Kayla about it later, she already had her words memorised. She also completely ignored Phillis’ clear confusion at Maya even talking to her

“Witches is a bit of a loose term for us,” Maya laughed, genuinely, at the imagery described. Her gaze flickered to Emily momentarily - now it would be fun to see her with green skin. “We may call ourselves a coven but we’re more like… a tight knit group of girls with powers. Though, robes would be pretty cool if impractical in the Florida heat.” She shrugged. “We may look pretty normal, but we’re really not.”

"... Is magic really real?"

Phillis

Ah, the million dollar question. While Blake clearly believed in (and had probably seen) magic, Phillis must have not. Maya smiled.

“It is.” She automatically raised a hand to rub the back of her neck, right where her sigil was - even if it couldn’t be seen by the blind. “And I think you’re just about to get it proven to you, if you watch the demonstration.” She tilted her head, not taking her eyes off of Phillis. “I’d show my own but it's… a bit destructive.” She only took a moment to decide if she should continue. “I can release blasts of sound that can damage objects and the like. It does have the unfortunate side effect of ruining my hearing for a bit.”

Her smile widened. “But, if the demonstration they give isn’t satisfactory, I’ll gladly show you.”

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

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"I got my eyes on you."

Hagan

“You keep them there,” Isla smirked, punctuating it with a wink. She took a step towards the nicely labelled lever only for another shock wave to unbalance her. She quickly widened her stance to avoid falling over. Then, the ship began to tilt.

"... Are we moving or is that just me?"

Hagan

“I think we-” Isla started before letting out a loud yelp as she began to slide backwards, quickly losing her balance. A sigil glowed purple around her beanie as she began to fall and she blinked twice in quick succession so that she was right next to the railing by the lever, which she quickly grabbed a hold of with her arms and legs and clung for dear life. She squeezed her eyes shut as her head spun and nausea shot through her body, both from the blinking and sudden upending of the ship. She concentrated on clinging like a koala and cracked her eyes open once she sort of felt like she knew which way was up.

The lever was nearby - not close enough to reach, but she could probably blink to it. Fuck this wasn’t risky at all.

“I can still get the lever!” she craned her neck to shout down (probably) towards the lifeboat. Hopefully the people in there hadn’t hit their heads badly. “Should I just do it? There’s no way anyone else is getting here!”

Yeah it was selfish, but Isla didn’t know how long she could cling to this railing. The only reason she hadn’t done it already was because as soon as she teleported she wouldn’t be able to do shit for a while… and if she pissed off the big guy he could easily throw her out the lifeboat.

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Caelea’s relief at getting to Zoey was short-lived.

A second wave hit the boat and she stumbled, stabilising herself with air and wincing as a ripping sound pierced through her ears. Then it was the sound of her own, high pitched, scream as the boat collapsed inwards. Panic shot through her as her feet slid out from beneath her.

She tried desperately to keep herself on her feet with her abstraction even as the whole place turned vertical, grabbing out for anything nearby only to already be plummeting down. Her abilities were useless as she fell and a million thoughts flickered through her mind.

She’d survived the Glutton only to die in a shitty Titanic remake.

She hadn’t left a will! Scratch that, she hadn’t even got enough to leave a will before she died.

Wasn’t she supposed to see her life flash before her eyes right before she died?

Why did it have to be a boat?

She squeezed her eyes closed as she accepted her inevitable death by plummeting into the ice cold ocean, thoughts fading from her mind as it went blank.

Then she hit something hard.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Maya was thoroughly enjoying watching Emily grow more and more visibly pissed off as she continued talking. So, of course, she wasn’t going to stop. Especially when Blake Schmidt himself was speaking directly to her. That would just be rude! And Maya couldn’t have that. She noted the glare from his wife, who her gaze had mostly been fixed on (totally not because of how attractive she was), and forced herself to not smirk. Keeping a mostly neutral, I’m adorable but don’t trust you, smile. She may be enjoying winding Emily up, but she had to not entirely fuck things up for everyone.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket as Blake began to answer her questions, and she ignored it for just now. It would be rude to divert her attention.

"Maya, Maya, a cute name."

Blake

Her face momentarily screwed up with disgust before she forced herself back to a polite (and more fake) smile. Yes, she was cute, but no she didn’t want to hear that from him. It just sounded sleazy. He went on to ask what he could do to make her trust him and if she was going to give an honest answer it would be nothing. She was never going to actually trust him. The thought of that made her want to shudder. She just about trusted that Coven, and they were full of (not rich) women.

No she’d asked her questions for two reasons: firstly, to wind up Emily. Secondly, to try and get him to slip up something useful. She didn’t plan to make the deal… She’d been forced into enough business meetings by her family to know she couldn’t. But she could at least help (though her main reason was to spite Emily, of course, the helpfulness was secondary).

All of what he said sounded nice, and probably fake, and Maya went to say something in response. Then Kayla started talking and she closed her mouth. She inclined her head slightly towards their leader to indicate that she was done with talking and would let her take over. As much as she wouldn’t do it when Emily told her to, Maya actually liked and trusted Kayla and was glad to let her take over. So instead she finally pulled out her phone.

"Phillis Schmidt looks angry. Find out if the rumors are true. Do what you do best- make friends."

From Kayla

Now that she could do. For once Maya actually decided to do what she was told - partly because it was from Kayla, and partly because she wanted to do it anyway. She slid closer to Phillis with a warm, somewhat sympathetic, smile.

“So, you’re interested in the supernatural too?” she lowered her voice: so that it wouldn’t distract the others from their discussions, but was audible to the woman herself. She started with a ‘neutral’ topic rather than going right into it like she had with Blake… because while he was cheating, rich scumbag his wife probably wasn’t (and she was hot). “What made you interested in them? Was it him? Are you looking to get some yourself?”

Maya paused for a moment as she realised she’d just bombarded her with questions. “That’s something I could definitely understand. It’s tough for women out there, but having magical abilities certainly help… and it’s how this little group formed.” She subtly indicated to the coven as she smiled, words soft but sweet. “I’d never had proper companionship before I’d joined. The world of the Extra-normal really brings people together.”

Step 1: ask questions about the common topic and pretend to speak about herself genuinely. Step 2: Find out information from her, cause chaos and maybe get something more…

It was hard to keep her smile friendly and warm because this was just too much fun.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Maya really regretted not taking the stairs.

Being the shortest in the coven wasn’t something that normally bothered her but when stuffed in an Elevator with everyone? It meant her face was far too close to some people’s chests that she’d never wanted to get up close and personal with. She could barely breath and was so glad to get out of there when they reached the top.

She rolled her eyes as Madison went off about someone grabbing her ass, completely ignoring it. As if she’d had time to think about it in there. For once she was glad when Emily appeared and led them all over to Blake.

And she had to admit, he looked hotter in person. But that didn’t mean she was going to trust him in any way. No, she’d take his money for whatever he wanted from him and that was it. Honestly she didn’t even want to be near him. His wife, on the other hand… Damn. She was very attractive. It was a shame that she was married to some rich asshole who slept around with all his secretaries.

"Ahhhh, so you all must be the Coven I heard so much about. Glad you all decided to attend, come, come, take a seat. Get comfortable! We're going to be here for a while...If you all decide to play ball, but this is my beautiful wife Phillis."

Blake

Maya shot Emily a suspicious glare as Blake said about having heard so much about them… had she told him something? Nah, as much as she disliked Emily the girl was unlikely to just outright tell her boss about the Coven. It wasn’t anything to brag about. If anything, they were an embarrassment. Still, she took a seat, making sure that she was out of reach from Blake but still fairly close… and closer to his wife. She left space for Kayla and Lyss to be closer - it was their duty as leaders to take that hit.

“Hello Mr Blake, Ms Phillis,” Maya said, walking the fine line between slightly formal and completely informal as she completely ignored Emily’s hint to not say anything by just introducing the leaders. She leaned back where she sat, adopting a relaxed pose. It was far too comfortable of an environment to be as uptight as Emily was.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Kayla and Lyss to get it right, cause she did. She just didn’t like how clearly Emily wanted them to all stay quiet even if she hadn’t explicitly said it. She wasn’t about to submit to what the girl wanted. And anyway, someone had to subtly press Blake to get him to spill whatever was hiding behind that smiling facade (no rich man smiled and meant it). So she was going to stir things up a little.

“So, what exactly is it that you want from us?” Maya lounged back further, gaze fixed on Blake. “It must be more than just magic powers if we’ll be talking a while. I hope it isn’t anything like the stuff in,” her gaze flickered to Phillis with a suggestive spark in her dark eyes, “the rumours surrounding you. It’s just that you may have a lot of money-" Maya cut off as Emily jammed an elbow right into her side, coughing at the sudden pain and shooting a glare at her.

"Maya... how about you let our leader do the talking?"

Maya rolled her eyes at Emily but withheld from a snarky comment or argument starter because of present company. Still, she looked back to Blake... Who honestly didn't look all that put out by her talking. So she continued anyway because honestly, she did not give a fuck about Emily's opinion.

"As I was saying, why should we trust you right away?" She asked, incredibly bluntly, as she threw out any pretense at subtlety. But she had held back on saying other, nastier, things and she counted that as a win - getting elbowed aside. "And also, why is your wife involved?"

A New Generation [Fern & Sky]

“Yeah I’m not into the pressure to do so well,” Bryn shook her head with a smile. “I’ll leave that to my sister.”

She grinned as the other two seemed equally excited about being on their way. “I know! I’m so excited for the start and for the starting ceremony.” She forced herself to sit back down even as she bounced her leg. “I wonder how long the journey is? I hope not too long… Not that I don’t like you two! I just want to get there!”

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“I guess we shall see,” Vivienne smiled at Jacob, eyes flickering to the window. She suppressed her excitement at being on their way - it wouldn’t be ladylike to show something like that. Perhaps if it had just been her and Maddie…

She then shook her head with a tut. “It’s disgusting, what happened to keeping magic away from muggles? I hope someone does something about it soon. It’s really a disgrace to the wizard name.” She glanced over at Jacob. “But you’re right, they’ll never make it into such a prestigious house. I’m sure they’ll all go to Hufflepuff where they belong.”

Vivienne pursed her lips. “At least none of the teachers are mudbloods. At least, not the important ones.”

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“I’m not your baby brother,” Gus grumbled, elbowing his twin as he sat down beside him. “I’m a few minutes younger… But yes, I’m Gus. Also no one wants your nasty, body heated chocolate.” He grabbed one even as he said that.

“I’m Ben,” Ben said with a sigh as he sat down next to Nadia. Maybe talking to these two had been a mistake. He turned his head to the girl next to him and, quietly, said, “you’ll do just fine in the sorting ceremony, I’m sure.”

“Nice to meet you Nadia, Ben,” Gus smiled calmly even as he kicked Archie again for good measure. “I apologise in advance for him, he’s a pain in the ass. But if you just ignore him he might shut up.”

Ben raised an eyebrow at that, choosing to ignore it and instead asked, “what did you mean by reptilians? Are there animals on board?”

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“Oh really?” Li bounced up a little bit as Carter said he wanted to start a newspaper. “You should start a Newspaper, I’m sure that would be needed at school! I can help out with the photography.”

Ishbel smiled as the two boys ranted about that, gently petting her cat. “I’m sure you’ll manage to get into Ravenclaw if it’s what you want. Most people get placed into the houses they think they will, my brothers said.”

“You’re right,” Li smiled with a nod. “Really, there’s no problem with any of them… Just some of the people in them. One of my sisters was almost sorted into Slytherin but she begged the hat to let her into Ravenclaw with the other one.”

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“Oh we are!” Olivia stood up with a grin, staring out the window for a moment before she sat back down. Thanh turned their head round to watch the platform rolling away and sighed slightly.

Olivia blinked as Saiorse went right back to what she’d been saying before and honestly, it was a little hard to follow. “Yeah that’s what I’ve read about em! I’d love it…” Imagine all the maths she could do!

“I’m sure you’ll fit in fine somewhere,” she smiled. Saiorse was an odd girl but that wasn’t bad, and she was very nice. Any house would be lucky to have her. “You’re right about that. I don’t know much about it but I’ve heard Slytherins normally don’t take too kindly to people like me. What is it, pureblood wizards? Sounds ridiculous to me… Just tells me who I don’t want to talk to.”

“They don’t,” Thanh spoke up for the first time, though quietly as they turned to look at the others. “My parents aren’t wizards either, and someone was rude to me about it earlier.” Their trip shopping for supplies had not been pleasant. They didn’t give a fuck about other’s opinions but it was tiring to deal with.

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

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Isla didn’t have a chance to respond to the confusing words Odessa spouted, or greet the new appearance (fuck she didn’t know sign language), before the ship was hit with a sudden impact that sent her flying. She blinked on reflex and it was enough to stop her from slamming into the wall but she still collapsed from the sheer momentum, head banging against the floor.

Fuck. Isla shook the dizziness away and forced herself up, even as the room spun slightly around her. She considered gathering everyone up and teleporting them to the lifeboats but… no, she’d blinked enough today that doing that would knock her out. They could walk.

"... I think we need to leave."

Odessa

“You don’t need to say that twice,” Isla mumbled as her head pounded, not even waiting as she headed out the hole in the door and quickly made her way towards the lifeboats.

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Though she hadn’t said anything, concentrating on greeting the new person, Caelea wasn’t going to let Hagan stay behind. Never again was she watching a friend die or anything. But she shook those thoughts away as she tried to keep up a friendly smile even as the person in front of them was clearly unnerved by her and Hagan. She couldn’t say she could blame them.

“Nice to meet you too, Finley.” Her pale gaze went past them and to the new person approaching in a spectacularly haphazard, fall inducing, manner. Finley clearly knew him and she opened her mouth to ask about it…

Only to be sent flying right towards the wall. Caelea pushed out a blast of air to cushion her impact, succeeding in pushing herself away from the wall and right into a railing instead. Thankfully it was at a much slower pace, even as the combination had her feeling like the air had been punched out of her lungs. She forced herself up even at the sharp stab of pain in her left leg, using a bit of air to support herself. She’d ended up right next to the lifeboat and was glad she hadn’t pushed herself off the boat.

“I don’t know,” Caelea shook her head at both Hagan and Finley as she tried to figure out what was happening. Something had hit the boat hard… and she doubted it was friendly. She jerked out of her thoughts as the younger of the two teens pushed past her. She gritted her teeth and pushed down that anger that rose at that. Not the time.

"We gotta go, now. Anyone know how to drive a boat?"

Trent

“He’s right, we need to go,” Caelea announced, quickly taking charge of the situation. Penny had basically put her in charge of this group and like hell was she going to let her down. She needed to get them off safely and as far as we was aware she had the most experience in life threatening, probably supernatural, occurrences. “Someone can learn to drive. Everyone get in that boat, right now.”

Her words were firm and bitten out, and she turned to look at Hagan. “That includes you, Hagan. Get on.” She frowned before she continued speaking to him. “I’m going to go get Zoey. Make sure the others get on and, I dunno, watch the kids.” Speaking of, she turned to the two of them. “You two stay put. You don’t know us but trust me, we know what we’re doing.” She sounded a lot more confident than she felt. “The others will be here soon I'm sure. So unless either of you can magically teleport…”

“I can!” A distinctive Scottish voice came out of nowhere - well, from Isla as she just stepped out in time to hear the conversation. For once, she decided against lying. “I can teleport for whatever you need.”

“The lifeboat only releases from the outside,” Caelea explained shortly, to which Isla nodded. Hagan could point it out or something... But Caelea didn't want to spend too much time explaining it.

That made sense, without any kind of teleportation someone would have to stay in board to fix it. Isla hadn’t wanted to use that right now, but at least when she got onto the lifeboard she’d be relatively safe. She could nap for the journey. Shrugging, she stepped on board the lifeboat past Trent and properly inside. Then back out. “Yup, I can do it.” She then looked at the others around with a wave and a grin, as if there wasn't something banging into the ship at that very moment.

Caelea shook her head at the confusing behaviour but didn’t question it, cause they didn’t have much time. “I’ll be back soon. All of you stay here and get ready to leave.”

With that she ran off, towards the other side of the lifeboats, ignoring the sharp pain that shot up through her leg each time her foot hit the floor. She was really regretting that no one had gone with Zoey there… hopefully she was alright. She was tough, Caelea was sure she was fine. But still.

“Zoey!” she called as she reached the other side. “We’ve got a lifeboat set up on the other side… We gotta go.”

Recollections: The Othergrounds [Complete]

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Caelea rolled her eyes as Hagan slipped right back into calling her by an old nickname, even as she smiled. It felt just like old times… Fearing for their lives and worrying that something might attack at any time! Just perfect.

She shivered as the two of them stepped outside and was very glad for the extra layers she’d grabbed from one of the shops. She definitely did not envy Hagan in nothing more than a tank top. She folded her arms as she surveyed the lifeboats. They certainly weren’t what she’d expected, big orange things that looked far more durable than the kind she’d seen in movies. Hopefully they were easy to drive or whatever you did with boats. She followed Hagan over to it and started looking at the other side - you never knew where a release mechanism may be.

"Wow, squirt, that wasn't that hard. We'll probably want to be in this... hey, want to hop in there and see if there's a way to drop this from the inside?"

Hagan

“Huh, that was easier than I expected,” Caelea turned to look at Hagan, gaze flickering down to the lever he had his hand on. She then nodded at his suggestion that she go inside. “Will do, I’ll get right in there. Hopefully it’s as obviously signed as that lever.”

She frowned slightly as she took a moment to figure out how to actually open the lifeboat door, before stepping inside. The thing was big enough inside that she was fairly certain each of them could take a row of seats to themselves if they really wanted to… but that wasn’t important right now, so she walked past the seats to the wheel at the front. There were a shit ton of levers and while they were all labelled she didn’t see a single one to do with release. Fuck.

Caelea made her way back to the entrance and stuck her head out of the lifeboat. “There isn’t anything for dropping it from the inside. We’re gonna have to… I don’t know. Figure something out. Maybe some can drop it and then jump in.” That didn’t sound dangerous at all.

“We should wait for the other’s to see what they think… if they have any ideas,” Caelea shoved her hands in her pockets, coming to stand beside Hagan (totally not to use him as a wind buffer). She looked up at him with a slightly narrowed gaze. She could tell something was off, cause for a start he was quieter than normal. She guessed the situation was pretty shit and it wasn’t like she could ask, since it had been so long since she’d last seen him. Now wasn’t exactly the time anyway.

So instead, she said, “I sure do hope there’s an easy way out when we get to that city.” Assuming they all got to the city. “I am not into getting stuck in some shit place again. This is not my idea of a good time...” She shook her head. “Not that it isn’t good to see you, and the others again, but I was expecting the eventual reunion to be a lot better.”

She went to say something else only to notice someone new approaching. They were short (though not as short as her) and skinny and didn’t look dressed for the cold weather.

"Ex...excuse me? Do you two w-work here?"

Finley

Caelea held back a laugh, shaking their head. “Do we look like we work here?” She indicated between the two of them. Yeah, they were really dressed for the part. “No we don't. I'm guessing you woke up on this ship with no idea how you got here? Same here.”

She let out a slight sigh. Damn, talking to new people was not her strong point and it had happened far too often for one day. Especially to someone who was clearly nervous. Maybe if she introduced them they’d seem less intimidating (as if that could ever happen with Hagan).

“I’m Caelea and he’s Hagan,” she said, nodding towards her much taller friend. “We were sent by Penny- the, uh, captain to sort out this lifeboat so we can all get off this ship. She’ll be joining us from the bridge with other’s soon so I’d stick around with us.”

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"Boop."

Odessa

“Huh?” Isla blinking down in confusion, staring down at the shorter girl who had just poked her nose. What the fuck? That wasn’t weird at all. Still being the person she was, she pasted a wide smile on her face. “I know my nose is pretty nice but there’s no need to touch, you know?”

She then turned to Penny with a nod. “Aye, it’s the lack of shoulder pads.” She then glanced between Penny and Odessa, smile turning slightly more genuine as Penny told her not to mind the strange girl. “It’s alright I don’t mind at all.”

Yeah, she totally found it weird and kinda minded but she wasn’t about to say that. She completely brushed off the talk about ferns because like? Why would she ask about something that sounded weirder. She’d rather not know… maybe it was some kinda weird teasing they had going on between them. She shrugged to herself and watched as Penny went over to talk to the guy who was curled up on the floor. She’d leave that to her - no use sticking her nose into somewhere she couldn’t help (unless he wanted to hear a whole bunch of lies).

Instead she turned to Odessa, twirling her hair around her finger.

“Soooo,” she drawled. “Did everyone here wake up on this weird cruise ship? Any idea why?”

A New Generation [Fern & Sky]

Bryn nodded energetically as Eli talked, smile wide as her gaze flickered between the two. They both seemed very nice even if Min was slightly quieter. Bryn could tell that they were going to get along great!

“I think you’d both make perfect Hufflepuffs,” Bryn grinned brightly at them. “Or Gryffindor as well, Eli. My older sister is a Gryffindor and so was my father, but my sister’s a Ravenclaw. She’s so serious all the time so I know I don’t want to be a Ravenclaw! I want to be Gryffindor I think I’d fit right in there.”

She puffed her chest out slightly, before her head suddenly jerked towards the window. “Look! I think we’re beginning to move!”

---

“Hmm, well if one is as careless as that maybe it's best they don’t join us until the sorting ceremony,” Vivienne hummed in response to what Maddie said about the twins. She certainly hoped they wouldn’t bring down the names of pureblood families. She glanced at Maddie, noticing that her friend seemed a little annoyed… but not being sure why. Well it probably wasn’t anything big.

Her lip also curled up in disgust at the thought of Muggleborns being let in this year, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. My brother did say something about that… But I didn’t want to believe it, the thought it so repulsive. At least there shouldn’t be any in our house.”

“I’m glad that Maddie and I have managed to avoid Muggles until now, but I can’t believe we’ll have to deal with them at hogwarts of all places.”

---

“I don’t think that’s how house changing works,” Gus laughed lightly, before folding his arms with a wide smile. “What do you mean, not fun? You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover! But it will be a nice benefit if I get to read… Well.”

He paused momentarily. “We could go back and sit with those Slytherins! I haven’t seen any other empty carriages but if you want to go find one…”

Ben held back on saying that the sorting ceremony wasn’t a test in any way, because she clearly cared a lot about it. He didn’t get a chance to comment on it anyway as she looked towards the door and he followed her gaze. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of two identical blond boys. Twins?

“Yeah, I think we should,” Ben frowned, standing back up and opening the compartment door. He forced his expression back to something more friendly as he regarded them both. “Are you two okay?”

Gus turned around to face that taller boy with a smile. “Of course! We were just deciding whether to ask to join you two. May we?”

Ben went to nod before hesitating, looking back at Nadia to see what she thought of it.

---

“We all have older sibling problems,” Liqin moaned dramatically, slumping down in his seat. “What a hard life.”

Though, he instantly perked up at Carter’s agreement. “Hopefully I can take pictures and then you can write about it! That would be sweet, so you write then? Wow. I wonder if it would be the first time people did that for the ceremony...”

Ishbel laughed slightly at the two boys' passion towards different things but answered Carter’s question easily. “Hufflepuff. All of my family’s been in Hufflepuff and I think I will be too.”

Liqin just shrugged. “My oldest sisters are Ravenclaw, and my other is Gryffindor but… I dunno what I’ll be sorted into. I wouldn’t really mind as long as it isn’t Slytherin. What about you?”

---

“Oh really! Ravenclaw’s the house I was most interested in,” Olivia gave a wide smile. “Do you think you’ll end up there too? And that’s true! We’re all starting from the beginning and I’m sure we’ll all do well.”

She then tilted her head with a smile. “Your brother is probably right, I’m sure they’ll teach us well and make sure we all settle in well. I just hope none of the other students are nasty about those of us without wizard parents.”

Thanh remained silent, but had turned their head slightly to listen in on their conversation - they were born to two humans too, and it was also their worry. Even if they didn’t know how to make friends well in the first place or even want to talk to people normally.

A New Generation [Fern & Sky]

“Nice to meet you Eli, Min,” Bryn grinned at them both as they took their seats. “And same! My brother and sister always boasted about going to Hogwarts but finally I’m getting to go too! I can’t wait.”

The energetic girl brought her legs under her so she was crouching on the seat, looking at the two of them with bright eyes. “I hope we get going soon! What are you looking forward to most? What house d’you think you’ll be sorted into?

---

Jacob Yaxley… Ah, of course. Vivienne knew the Yaxley family well. Another pureblood Slytherin family of a similar rank to hers. It made sense as to why her brother had allowed him into the compartment, but she just wished he had told her first.

She narrowed her eyes for a moment at him before sweeping into the compartment, sitting down opposite him and indicating for Maddie to sit next to her. She crossed one leg over the other before leaning forward slightly.

“Of course we do, but it won’t take much planning,” she said haughtily. “After all we were made to rule the school.”

She then tilted her head. “Twins? I didn’t realise the Montagues were starting this year too.” She glanced at Maddie with a smile. “Did you? I wonder what they’re like. Either way, we’ll meet them soon enough when we’re all sorted into Slytherin.

---

“Our ideas of boring are entirely different, Archie,” Gus rolled his eyes at his twin as he began to walk through the train carriage a lot of the compartments were already full which left them with limited options. He paused for a moment at a carriage with two girls and one boy, who was wearing a slytherin scarf. He snorted and lowered his voice to whisper at his twin. “I think I found the pureblood Slytherin compartment… Let’s not sit there.”

Unlike most other purebloods, their parents didn’t ascribe to blood purity and looking down on those who weren’t pureblood. As a result the twins were much more accepting than most purebloods - even if they both still expected to be sorted into Slytherin.

Gus stopped going and stopped at another compartment with just two people, probably first years, one a tall boy and the other a girl who was clearing up some notes. A mischievous twinkle lit up his eyes as he turned to Archie. “How about here? They look fun.”

---

“Nice to meet you, Carter,” Ishbel piped up, clearly relieved now that his sister had gone.

Li laughed slightly as he pulled his camera back inside the compartment and shut the window, figuring that he could get nice photos on the journey later. “I understand the older sister problem very well… I have three.”

“I have two older brothers,” Ishbel shrugged with a sympathetic smile. She then nodded at Carter’s question. “Of course! I’m nervous but also very excited.”

“I cannot wait to see the castle,” Li’s eyes practically started glowing. “I’ve heard it’s beautiful… Imagine how many good photos I can get of that! I wonder if we’re allowed to photograph the sorting ceremony… that would be so cool!”

---

“Huh?” Olivia blinked as Saiorse, rather quietly, said something about looking forward to meeting her. Weird but alright, she’d just brush it off. She wasn’t exactly normal herself. So she just smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you Saiorse! Yup, I’m a first year too.”

She sat down beside her after putting her luggage away, finding it a bit odd that the other person had come in without greeting them. But if that’s what they wanted… well, she’d concentrate her efforts talking to the person who cared!

“Are you excited to start? I am! Not that I know what any of it’ll be like, my parents aren’t wizards you see. But I still can’t wait.”

---

“Thank you,” Ben smiled and stepped in, putting away his luggage before answering her question. “Benjamin Sallow, also a first year. But everyone just calls me Ben.”

He sat down opposite her with a light sigh before looking at the notes that she’d tried to clean up. “That’s a lot of notes you have there… Already preparing for classes? That’s impressive.”