A girl, named Herb, is sitting hunched over her laptop in her room, the screen illuminating her face in the early evening darkness. She had been refreshing her email inbox a dozen times in the last hour, her heart beating really quickly. Then, it appeared: an email with a glowing, gold-leaf crest subject line: 'Coriander Academy. Acceptance and Enrollment Details.'
She didn't read the whole thing. She just screamed.
"I got in! I got in, I got in, I got in!" She runs out of her room, and down to where her parents watching the TV
"Mom! Dad! I got in!"
Her mother, Alexis, looked to her daughter, away from the TV. Her father, Mike followed closely, walking next to Herb and looking at the laptop she is holding.
"Herb, what is it? What happened? Is something wrong?" her dad asked, concerned by the sheer volume of Herb's shrieks.
Herb spun the laptop around, pointing a shaking finger at the single word 'Accepted.' "Coriander Academy! Mom, dad, I got the full scholarship! I'm going!"
Herb's mother let out a delighted shriek and hugs her daughter tight, practically lifting her off the ground.
"See, honey? I told you, all those late nights were worth it for you!" her mom whispers proudly.
Suddenly, a tall, lanky figure appeared, leaning against the doorframe. It is her older brother, Hendrix, a college sophomore. He had his arms crossed, looking down at his sister, but the smirk on his face was replaced by a look of genuine happiness for his sister.
"Wow, good job," he admits, giving her a rare shoulder pat. "You actually did it. You're going to be best friends with, like, royalty, or something. I'm happy for you.
Herb basks in the rare, unified pride of her family. This was the payoff for her whole life of quiet achieving: a ticket to a great future.
The enrollment details, which arrived the next day on a heavy parchment packet were less conventional. The essential instruction was clear: She was to meet the academy transport at the unmarked, overgrown bus stop by the old oak on the edge of town, precisely at 7:00 AM.
She found it odd how it was at the bus stop nobody even used anymore, but she guessed that it was because it is on a less busy road.
With that, she begins to pack all her things up in all the bags she could find.
"There! I'm all done!" She exclaims happily, and tries to pick all of them up at the same time. While she was trying, she heard a laugh.
"Sweetie, you're not strong enough to do it alone." Alexis comments, walking inside the room and picks up a few bags.
When she arrived to the bus stop, clutching her backpack, and suitcases, she looks around, and she counted eight other students so far.
"I... I don't know if I can do this, mom..." Herb whispers, looking at her mother.
"I know, but you're a brave girl, you can do it..." Alexis replies, putting a comforting hand onto Herb's shoulder.
Herb nods, taking a deep breath as she let her mom's words sink in. She adjusts the straps of her backpack and tries to look confident, though her stomach was really twisting into nervous knots.
Herb couldn't help but feel that this wasn't going to be a typical school.
At exactly seven in the morning, the undergrowth rustled. A strange vehicle rolled into view, it looked like a bus, it was black, and it had eyes on the front of it, Its wheels didn't make a sound as it came to a stop. The air around it shimmered faintly, like sunlight on a pond.
A tall figure in a uniform appeared at the door, bowing slightly. "Welcome, students of Coriander Academy," the figure said, voice smooth. "I must welcome all of you to your first year."
Herb's heart leapt in both excitement and fear. She took a tentative step forward, and then another. One by one, the other students pit theirnbags into the bus, and climbed aboard, murmuring in a mixture of awe and nerves.
When she finally stepped onto the vehicle, she noticed something peculiar: the interior was not like a normal bus. The seats were arranged in a circle around a glowing crystals on the floors for lighting.
"Find yourselves a seat." the uniformed guide instructed, still smiling.
Herb blinked, but ultimately, sbe decides to sit next to a girl with black hair.
"I don't like it here..." Her whispers to herself, fidgeting with her fingers.
"I know. right?" the girl said, grinning. "First day jitters, I guess. But don't worry, it's way cooler than it sounds."
Before Herb could ask what she meant, the bus started to drive away.
However, something shocking happened, Herb saw a glowing portal infront of them, nobody else reacted, which suprised her even more.
"What the heck is going on?!"
"What? You've never been thrown through Dimensions?" The girl next to her asks.
"Wait what?!" Herb shouted, shaking her head.
"Right, you must be new," the girl pointed out. "Well, I'm Salt." She holds her hand out.
"Uhm... I'm... Herb..."
About an hour later, they finally arrive infront of a school. Every other student is walking out of the bus calmly, but Herb is holding her head in shock, and when she looks up, she saw a tall, purple and red building.
"Hey! Come get your bags!" She hears Salt yelling to her.
"Right..." Herb mumbled, "Coming!" she quickly rins to get her bags.
While getting her luggage, Herb looks up and sees a short, fluffy, pink haired girl pull out a broom from her stuff, while another girl next to her, with medium lenght blonde hair takes out not a bag out of the compartments, but rather, a huge aquarium, big enough to fit a human inside of it.
"Who are those?.." Herb asks, pointing to the two girls.
"Oh them? Those are Pepper and Cinnamon." Salt explains, pulling her own bags out.
"Why is everyone acting like this is normal?.." Herb asks, still looking around in slight amazement, and confusion.
"Because, it is." Salt shrugs, as if all of this is normal.
After everyone got their bags, the guide from earlier is standing at the fountain infront of the school, taking out a megaphone, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Everyone, I welcome you, to Coriander Academy!" He says cheerfully, pointing to the tall building behind him, as fireworks go off that start to spell out 'Welcome!'. "My name is Mister Anise, I am your guidance councelor." the guide points to himself. "Here, you will learn how to control your magical abilities, learn to battle for good and equality, and to protect our world."
A few final year students walk next to Mister Anise, and they all wave at the students.
"These are our prefects, they will help you find where all of you need to be, take your time to look around, but only until tomorrow morning. By then, you will have to decide which path you want to take here. And your dorm room keys will be handed to you at the main hall."
Herb listened to him, but when he finished, she looked down to the ground. 'Magic?' She did not have any, she thought magic was just a myth, and she could not fight well either.
But she gets pulled out of her thoughts once she sees that Salt is walking away. She panicks slightly, and runs after her.
There are many stalls around, Herb looks at each and every one of them, but she feels like none of them fit her well.
Herb's steps are slow, she does not feel comfortable here at all. The stalls are bizarre, almost alive, in a way that made her stomach twist. One stall has floating ribbons above it, another smells like both chocolate, and grass. Yet every time she approached one, she just couldn't feel what the other students do, she can't find anything that seemed to fit her.
Salt, who had already disappeared halfway across the courtyard, suddenly turned and beckoned her over with a hand.
"Hurry up, Herb," Salt called out, with a bored look on her face. "You're going to get lost in the first hour if you don't start making choices."
"I... I don't even know what I'm looking for..." Herb shouted, panic rising in her chest.
Salt rolls her eyes. "You'll know when you see it. Everyone has their... 'calling moment' here. Some of us are obvious. Others? Not so much. Like mine."
Herb swallows hard. She clearly didn't feel like the obvious part. She has no flashy magical talent, no intimidating powery, nothing that screamed 'I belong here.' She clutches her backpack straps tighter, wishing that she was invisible, or that she was back at home.
Then, something caught her eye.
Unlike the other stalls, this one isn't as colorful, or loud, It has calm colors, mostly yellow and black, behind it, is a woman, who is smiling at every student. Despite not looking like the other stalls, this one has many people around it.
Herb looks at every student around, deciding to check it out, she walks closer to it.
"Hi. Hello. Welcome." The woman greets each student.
On top of the stall, the sign said 'Breezes'.
"Uhm... hey?.." Herb walked up to a student, who had sharp ears, and has sunglasses on. "What are 'Breezes'?"
The tall boy scoffs, and crossed his arms. "Are you dense? Or did you just come into the world?"
Herb looks shocked, and her face reddens. "I..."
Salt suddenly appears out of nowhere, and stands infront of Herb. "Why don't you just answer her question, and be useful for once, Nerium?" she demanded.
"No." the boy, Nerium, said, and just walks away from them, putting his hands into his pockets.
Salt growled, but then she looks towards Herb. "Ignore him, and how he acts."
"But, who was that?" Herb asks.
"That's just Nerium. He is just a jerk for no reason!" she yells the last part loud enough so he can hear it too.
"Oh..."
"By the way, to answer your question. Breezes are what protect the flowers. They are the essences of life." Salt explains, crossing her arms.
Herb looks towards the stall, on one hand, they seem to not use any magic, and only use swords, and othsr fighting techniques, but on the other, she isn't the strongest person. But ultimately, with a determined face, she looks back to Salt. "I think... I want to be in this class..."
Salt's eyes widened a little, she was not expecting that, but, she just shrugs. "Eh. Okay..."
Salt stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Well, hey. If that's what feels right to you, then go for it. Don't let Nerium or anyone else scare you off.
Herb nods, though her heart hammered like it wanted out of her chest. She stepped closer to the stall. The woman behind it, a tall figure with warm brown skin and bright hazel eyes, watched her approach with a soft, encouraging smile.
"Hello there," the woman greeted. "Interested in the Breezes' Path?"
Herb swallowed. "Um... I- I think so? Maybe? I mean, I don't know much about it, but... it just feels right."
The woman's smile warmed even more. "That's usually the first sign that it is right." She reached below the table and pulled out a name tag. "Whenever you feel that it is really right for you, write your name and come back to me."
Herb glanced at Salt, who gave her a small nod to keep going. With shaking hands, she reaches for the name tag and she took it.