Magiana Imperial Academy - Volume 1: Path to Greatness
Chapter 17: June: Path to Greatness

The rest of that Saturday, Phillip and the others were showered in veritable praise. Everywhere they went, a horde of students followed, offering more congratulations and praise. At the end of breakfast, the headmaster - after spending several minutes trying to quiet them all down - announced that later that day, the winner of the House Cup to celebrate the school’s thousandth anniversary would be announced. In addition to congratulations, people were offering early thanks, sure that the actions of the five guaranteed House Sloane the victory.

“Hey, is this normal for you, Phil?” Miles asked. He and Phillip were sitting underneath a tree in the yard, but were still surrounded.

“It’s usually just little kids and tourists; the others in Ferenicia are pretty used to seeing me.”

“Well, are they anything like our little fans?” He spoke in a whisper to avoid being heard.

“Usually.”

The two sat underneath the tree for some time, but soon moved. Most of the people who were with them followed. This persisted throughout the entire day, but the crowd shrunk gradually with each movement. Even after lunch they were followed. Now the crowd was small enough that their fans thought it’d be fine to start asking them questions.

“Professor Windsor said you were a huge help!” Someone said. “How much did you guys do, exactly?”

Phillip tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t give away too much information, but still satisfy the asker.

“Well, Dominique, Trevor and I happened to overhear Professor Draut talking to someone, and then things just kinda fell into place.” He said.

Phillip thought that it was quite the lackluster answer, but the person who asked appeared to be satisfied. He was bombarded by similar questions and tried to answer them the best he could. He tried to push some of the questions onto Miles, but failed; Miles just insisted that Phillip did more so he’d be better at providing information.

When the day was drawing to a close, the last few of their fans finally left them alone. Phillip and Miles were quite relieved to be free of them. Dinner was to start soon, but they went to the common room to do something before then.

“Well, we basically lost the entire day.” Miles said, looking over the chessboard he and Phillip set up. “A bit of a bummer, but I don’t really care.”

“I wonder what I should do tomorrow.” Phillip said. “I need to pack, but their shouldn’t be too much I have to do. I guess I should go around saying goodbye to people.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Miles said. “I mean, I’m leaving early on Monday, so I don’t exactly have a chance otherwise.”

The two sat in silence as they played. Miles took his time planning out his moves, but from what Phillip could see, he didn’t have that much of a chance at winning. Phillip moved his queen, putting Miles’s king in checkmate.

“And tha-”

“Aren’t the two of you coming to dinner?”

Before Phillip could tell Miles he lost (since he apparently didn’t notice) Dominique spoke out to the two. She was standing by the open door.

“Oh, yeah, we are.” Phillip got up from the table and Miles followed.

The three entered the dining hall to a chorus of cheers from the Sloane table. Phillip sat down, just as the cooks began placing the food on the tables. To Phillip’s surprise, no one said anything to him or Miles during dinner, likely thinking they’ve congratulated him enough already.

At the end of dinner, the lights in the room dimmed, and spotlights lit up around the staff table. Headmaster Goude was standing up, smiling at everyone. Professor Draut’s seat was expectedly empty.

“Good evening, all!” He said. “As I announced earlier, we shall now announce the winner of the one thousand year anniversary House Cup!”

The area where the buffet tables usually were opened up and four black, circular objects began rising up. As they moved, the students saw that they were the tops of large glass containers. Inside of the containers were ethereal colored orbs which flew all around their containers. The orbs in each of the containers were different colors: one housed blue, another red, one gold, and the last green. When they stopped moving, there were four counters. In between the second and third was a huge golden trophy adorned with sapphires, rubies, topazes and emeralds.

“Before you is the system we use to keep track of the points during these competitions. Now, there are two more events which we must score before announcing the winner. It’s usually only one, but this year is special.”

There was another round of cheers from the Sloane table. The headmaster held up his hand to quiet them as he always did.

“The final addition we usually make is for the house with the highest average during exams. This year, it was House Lychester, which earns them another seventy-five points.”

This time, the Lychester’s cheered. As they did, the green orbs began to multiply in their containers. The counter below added seventy-five to the total. They were leading at the moment.

“As you all know, for the last several months, someone has been stealing from our vault, but thanks to the efforts of Isaiah Goude, Phillip Magis, Trevor Arc, Miles Krenshaw, Dominique Lyell and Professor Arthur Windsor, we have caught the thieves. For this service, we will be awarding House Sloane one hundred and fifty points.”

The Sloane table erupted into frenzied cries of joy as the blue orbs began multiplying. By the time they finished, they outnumbered Lychester by a fair margin. The cheers only grew louder, and once again, Phillip was surrounded by jubilant classmates.

“That’s enough, everyone! I know you’re excited, but your celebration can wait!”

Professor Windsor held the trophy over his head, beaming at his students cheered for the third time in only five minutes.

“I’ll be off to put this in the trophy case!” Professor Windsor happily said. “I’ll be right with you all in the common room for our celebration party!”

The platform holding the four containers and Professor Windsor descended. When they were underground, the floor closed again.

“That is all, everyone!” Goude said. “You may go! I look forward to seeing you all at the feast tomorrow!”

Phillip awoke when the sunlight fell on his face. He opened his eyes and blocked them with his hand. The sun couldn’t possibly be so bright that it make his curtains basically useless. Rubbing his eyes, Phillip saw that his curtains weren’t even drawn.

“That’s weird…” Moving, Phillip felt very different. Looking down, he saw that he was still in his uniform. His blazer, tie and shoes were off, thrown to the side.

Hearing loud snoring, he looked over to see Miles and Lloyd in a heap on the ground, both holding glass soda bottles. Trevor was the only one who had his curtains drawn.

“Hey,” Phillip walked over to the two and nudged them with his foot. “Wake up.”

With a groan, Miles sat up. “Hey there, Phil. What’s up?”

“What happened?”

“The celebration party.” He got up and stretched. Lloyd fell over after Miles moved. “I remember enjoying myself, but around midnight, everything sorta falls apart.”

“Midnight? Were we really up that late?”

“I guess. I’m going to go take a shower, Phil. See you in a bit.”

“I think I’ll take one too.” Phillip went back to his bed and threw a glance at Lloyd. “Should we wake him?”

“He’ll be fine.” Miles assured.

After taking a shower and changing into more casual clothing, Phillip began packing everything. On his way back, he saw Trevor on his way to the shower room. For the most part, everything was already in his suitcase, but needed to be rearranged. As he took everything out and put it back in, he heard Lloyd stirring. After waking up, he also asked what happened and couldn’t really believe that they were up so late.

“We weren’t up late!” Miles said with a laugh. “I bet that there will still be people passed out in the common room!”

“Think that’ll be us in our later years?” Lloyd asked.

“Probably.” Miles said.

It didn’t take long for Phillip to finish packing. He placed his pajamas on top of his clothes, needing to change into them for a few more nights. Tuesday came, and Phillip had decided that he’d go around saying goodbye to people. There was no real way to know when people would be leaving the next day, and thought that it’d be best to do it now.

Right next to the common room were pieces of paper, a pens and tape. Two baskets were filling up with armbands and keys. Following the example of the others who came by, Phillip took off his armband and put it in the appropriate basket. He took out his keys and wrote down his room number on a piece of paper before taping it to his dorm key and dropping them into the other basket.

Going into the common room, he saw people strewn about sleeping just like they were after the celebration party. There weren’t many people in the room, probably since they were enjoying the good weather.

“Ah, Phillip!” Walking outside, Phillip saw Kylie standing there, as if she were waiting for him.

“Oh, hey, Kylie.” She looked as nervous as she always did around Phillip.

“It was nice knowing you, Phillip; I hope you have a great summer!”

“Hope you have a good summer too, Kylie.” He extended his hand towards her. “I’ll see you in September.”

She looked at it like it was some alien object. Hesitantly, she took his hand and shook it, trembling nervously. Phillip couldn’t help but smile.

“Let’s hope you come to think of me as a normal person next year.”

“Y-yeah!” He left her next to the entrance of House Sloane, hugging her hand as if it were some precious treasure.

Phillip had meant to say goodbye to Dominique first, but saw Victoria with her friends near the ranch containing the animals the school kept. Without much thought, he called out to her. She looked back, a slightly annoyed look on her face. He beckoned to her, and she left her group, who were giggling as she got closer to him.

“And what is it that you want?” She asked, arms crossed.

“Just wanted to say goodbye, is all.” He looked back at the ranch. “So, what were you up to? Giving your friends some pointless facts about the animals cooped up over there?”

“They were not useless facts! When it finally comes time for us you take Magical Animal Husbandry-”

“In what, two or three years?”

“-the things I’m telling them will be useful!”

“Then why not tell them when they know they have the class?”

“You said you wanted to say goodbye, right?” She angrily asked.

“I did.” He held his hand out to her. “Here’s to learning how to tolerate each other next year.”

“Enjoy your summer, Phillip.” She said, taking his hand.

“You too.”

When she left him and went back to her giggling friends, they crowded around her, no doubt asking her questions about the conversation she and Phillip had.

Continuing his search for Dominique, he shortly found her with her sister, Francisca, and Terra. He didn’t need to call out to her, she noticed him first and waved. He joined the trio.

“Hey, Phillip,” Dominique said. “Need something?”

“Just wanted to say goodbye.” He told her. “Same to you, Francisca, Terra.”

“Oh. Well, goodbye, then, Phillip.” Dominique said.

“Bye.” Francisca said. “I know it was a while ago, but I wanted to thank you for trying to help me during the Week of the Haunt.”

“Thanks for trying to help me feel better after Victoria embarrassed me a few months ago. She gave you some troubles for a little while, so sorry about that.”

“It’s fine, both of you.” Phillip said, waving a hand dismissively. “I’ll see you all in September. Hope you’ll be able to help me with my work if I need it next year, Dominique.”

“Sure thing.”

Going inside of the school, Phillip went around saying goodbye to each of the teachers. Professor Rowen was the first one he visited. She was very thankful for Phillip’s efforts, and told him to expect similar thanks from all of his other teachers. Before going up to the second floor, Phillip stopped by Professor Draut’s room. There wasn’t a soul within. There was going to be another teacher calling this room their own after the summer, but Phillip hadn’t the faintest idea who it could be.

Just as Professor Rowen said, all of the teacher’s Phillip met thanked and congratulated him. Up on the third floor, he heard cheerful voices coming from Professor Black’s classroom. Before going to check in on the noise, he checked the other classes. Professors Windsor, Acre, and Pyke were all absent from their rooms. He made his way to Professor Black’s room, and saw Professor Wilson exit his own class.

“Oh, hello, Phillip.” He said, smiling warmly. “Dropping by Winona’s little party, are you?”

“Party, is that what’s going on in here?”

“Yes it is.” He said. “I was just helping a student with a little recreational work.”

Professor Wilson walked into Professor Black’s room, and Phillip peeked into his room. At the back of the room he saw Saturn putting away from things. Phillip was a bit unnerved, but felt that he should say goodbye to him as well.

“Hey, Saturn.”

He looked at Phillip through his curtain of greasy black hair. “Well, hello, there.”

“Yeah… Just thought I’d wish you a good summer, is all.”

“Well, thank you, Phillip.” He walked past Phillip and out of the room. “Hope you have a good, safe summer as well. You never know what might go wrong, no matter how cushy of a life you lead.”

As usual, Saturn instilled unease in Phillip. Even so, Phillip knew that there was some truth to his words. He looked back down the hall, meaning to go check in one the party Professor Black was seemingly having.

Opening the door to her class, he saw the five teachers who had helped him learn so much more about magic over the year. They were gathered around one of the tables, which had snacks spread out, and talking. Professor Black was at another table, stirring something in a cauldron, Cait Sith sitting next to her.

“Why hello there, Phillip.” Professor Black said, taking her eyes off of the cauldron for a second. “Need something from one of us?”

“Just going around saying goodbye, professor.”

“Well, why not come in for a bit?”

He entered the room, and the other four all praised him as the others did.

“Why are you all doing this now? Couldn’t you do this tomorrow?”

Professor Windsor sighed. “Tomorrow is a work-filled day, so we won’t have time. Have to make sure that everyone in our house is taken by authorized peoples. Now is our only time for a little party.”

Phillip saw Professor Black take the cauldron off of the fire and pour some of the liquid within into five wine glasses. Professor Acre took four gloves out of her messenger bag and, using her wand, had it retrieve four of the glasses, placing them in the hands of the other teachers.

“I’m very sorry, Phillip,” Professor Pyke began. “But this sort of drink isn’t for people your age.”

“It’s fine, Professor Pyke.” Phillip said. “Thank you all for the things you’ve thought me this year. I’m looking forward to what you have in store next year.”

“You were a good student, Phillip.” Professor Black said. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy what we’ve got in store for you next year. Be safe over the summer.”

“I will.” He bade their farewell and left the room.

Phillip had only intended to say goodbye to Luna before taking the rest of the day to rest. The most likely place for her to be would be somewhere quiet, without a lot of action. With the screams Phillip could hear from outside the window, she certainly wouldn’t be down there. She’d have to be in a building somewhere.

She might’ve been in the school, since there were other students around. Until then, he didn’t see her, though. Phillip was almost certain that students weren’t allowed to go into the other houses, mainly since it was yet to happen. He went outside, scratching his head as he looked around for her.

He wandered around the grounds aimlessly looking for her or trying to hear her voice over everything else, until he heard Reginald’s voice near House Lychester.

“That’s eno- Luna, s- I’m fine!”

Looking around the back of the building he saw Reginald swatting at Luna, who was trying to put something on his face.

“Hey, prince, do something about your wife!”

When Luna turned to Phillip, he saw that Luna was holding a box of bandages and that Reginald’s face was covered in scrapes and cuts. He could only guess that Luna was trying to tend to his wounds.

“What happened to you?” He asked.

“Regi swung off of a vine trying to get into the lake and slammed into a tree instead.” She turned back to him and tried to cover his cuts again.

“Hey!” Reginald glared at Phillip. “I told you to do something about her!”

“I don’t own her,” Phillip said. “If she wants to help patch you up, she’s going to patch you up.”

“Thank you, Phillip. Could you help me here?”

“What do you mean, help?”

Before she could answer Reginald, the dirt sprouted from the ground and surrounded Reginald’s feet before hardening, sticking him to the ground. Phillip then pulled Reginald’s arms behind his back.

“What’s wrong with you, prince?!” Reginald tried to break free, but Phillip wouldn’t let him go.

Luna went ahead and bandaged Reginald. Once she was done, Phillip let go of Reginald’s arms and released his feet from their dirt prison.

“Sorry about him.” Luna said, as if she were referring to a stubborn child. “Were you looking for me, Phillip?”

“I wanted to say goodbye.” He said with a smile. “You’re leaving early tomorrow, right?”

“I am, but it’s not like it’ll be that long until I see you again. My parents and I are going to drop by Ferenicia on Saturday, after all. Don’t move.”

Phillip looked past her to see Reginald trying to sneak away. When she called him out, he stopped in his tracks, looking irritated. Phillip couldn’t help but replace his obedience amusing.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you, then.” He said. “I’ll call you on Wednesday or something.” When he walked past Reginald he said, “Be sure to behave, alright?”

“Who’re you to talk?! You’re the one wearing an engagement ring!”

He left the pair, hearing Reginald complain about the bandages all over his face while Luna scolded him. Phillip had said goodbye to everyone he wanted to (save for his roommates, but he’d be seeing them later anyway) , but still had quite some time before the year-end feast. Phillip decided to go and spend time in the common room.

That night the dining hall was as loud as ever, maybe even louder. No one was wearing their uniforms or armbands, and it didn’t seem like they were sitting with their housemates either. Phillip looked around the tables, trying to see someone he knew.

“Hey, Phil!”

Miles was waving at Phillip, sitting with the rest of their friends. Francisca was sitting with her sister, and Victoria was nearby, likely so she could be near Dominique more than anyone else. Luna was with them.

“Hey, guys,” Phillip said. “It’s finally over.”

“It’s been fun, our first year.” Luna said.

The chefs passed out the food, looking much happier than they have over the last few months. Phillip was about to start eating when Miles let out an odd sound. It sounded blissful. It seemed like there were others who reacted similarly.

“What’s up with you?” Phillip asked.

“They fixed it!” He exclaimed.

Looking down at the food, Phillip cut into his chicken parmigiana and took a bite. Almost reflexively, his mouth curled into a smile. The food had returned to the same gourmet quality it had for the first half of the year.

“How did this happen?” Lloyd asked. “Think they already sold some of the stuff Draut bought and used the money for the feast?”

“Maybe.” Miles said, shoveling food into his mouth.

The group began eating while joyously recounting their first year together. The subject of Professor Draut’s replacement came up and everyone shared their ideal teacher to take over the post. The most common description was the complete opposite of Draut.

Platter after platter of food was set out for the students to take from until, about an hour or so later, dessert was finally placed in front of the students, meaning that the feast was finally coming to a close.

Soon, the headmaster stood up and the noise in the dining hall quieted a bit. Everyone who wasn’t already looking at the headmaster turned to face him and the rest of the sound disappeared.

“Good evening, everyone.” Goude said. “I know that we had some issues during the latter half of the year, but I still hope that you enjoyed your year! We will have any and all problems fixed by the time you return in September, I assure you. Either way, I must tell you all that I’m proud of you; you all worked hard even with those inconveniences. You all have earned a well deserved rest. Enjoy your summer, all, and be safe!”

Everyone began cheering after the headmaster stopped speaking. The doors were opened and everyone began filing out. Phillip went back to his dormitory and changed into his pajamas for the last time that year.

The next morning, Phillip woke up to see the others getting dressed. Miles had everything ready as if he’d be leaving in only a few minutes.

“Hey there, Phil.” Miles said. He walked over to Phillip and held a fist towards him. “I’ll be heading out soon. I’m going to wait for my folks out front. See you in September. If we can’t meet up during the summer that is.”

“I’ll try to see if my parents will get you to Ferenicia.” Phillip said, fist-bumping Miles. “See you later, Miles.”

“See you, Lloyd, Trev.” He walked out of the room dragging his suitcase. Phillip got into the clothes he’d be wearing on the way home and began towards the door.

“Enjoy your summer, Trevor, Lloyd. I’ll try to keep in touch, guys.”

“Sure thing, Phil.”

“Enjoy your summer, Phillip.”

A lot of people were running around with their luggage, and the front of the school, which was often empty, was full of cars. The voices of parents calling for their children and people trying to enjoy their last few hours on the campus filled the air. Phillip went and ate his final breakfast in the empty dining hall before going outside and waiting underneath a tree. He saw many others, friend and stranger, leave for home.

He sat underneath the tree for several hours, waiting for his own ride home, which would be at the school at noon, as his mother told him in a letter she sent the week before. He was so caught up in watching his peers and keeping a lookout for his family that he never saw Victoria and Eli approach the tree from behind.

“Hey there, brother.” He looked back at his younger brother, who was smiling down at him. “Ready to leave?”

“Yes, I’m ready.” He said, getting up.

“Thanks for bringing me over to him.” Eli told Victoria, who left the two right after. “Mother and father are waiting for us in the limo, brother.”

Eli led Phillip to the front of the school, where the ink black stretch limousine he had arrived in nearly ten months before waited. The chauffeur was waiting to take his suitcase while his mother was waiting to give him a hug. As she threw herself onto him, Phillip could hear some people around him laughing while others gasped and began whispering at the presence of the queen. Eli opened the door for his brother and mother before climbing in himself.

“It’s good to see you again.” Said his father with a big grin. “I’m sure you have a lot of stories, especially about your little investigation into Earle Draut.”

“Quite a few.” Phillip replied. “And father, would you be able to get me some things about Magi Marauders? I’ve come to like the game quite a bit over the year.”

The king began laughing. “Why of course, Phillip! Why, I might just have to rent out a stadium in the city one day so you could play the game.”

As the limousine began pulling away from Magiana Imperial Academy, Phillip began recalling the events of the year as his father wanted, taking one final look at the huge castle as it grew smaller and smaller. While it wasn’t perfect, he very much enjoyed his year there and couldn’t wait to return in September, but intended to enjoy his summer as much as he could.