Gold Miltiades fidgeted anxiously in her seat in the train, surrounded by hundreds of other kids on the train. She'd never been around teens her age before. No, correction, she'd never been around teenagers, period. Not that she'd ever had the need for the kind of company, but her lack of experience made it highly disorienting at the moment.

Especially so when he was standing right there.

He'd appeared before them, all pomp and pride and smiling. The sight of him sickened her, so much so that she felt as though she would hurl if she stared at him too long, a feeling that was not helped by the ridiculous speed that the train they had boarded was going at.

The Headmaster Niccolo. Archemage, world renowned spell-caster, and murdering thief of the lowest kind. He put of this facade of amicability, but Gold knew the truth. His spells were focused on Analyzation, a branch many mistook as one belonging to Creation or Existence - they were wrong. The Analyzation Branch of magic, unique and belonging solely to the Headmaster, was a branch of Destruction. Furthermore, it's powers were only useful for one thing:

Spell-stealing.

Perhaps for lower-ranked mages with spells only a nobody would cast, it might not seem so severe, but it was one of the most heinous crimes that a mage could commit. Spells and magic were the lifeblood, the very reason of existence for mages! The carefully crafted formula's, the painstaking hours they committed to each word and enchantment, and the amount of literal and metaphorical blood spilled by them all went into the development of their magic. The results they gained were due to the effort they had put into it, and the only time they would ever feel joy when used by the hands of another was if that other person was their Apprentice, hand-picked and carefully raised as the next successor to the magic!

And the Headmaster could invalidate all of that. He has invalidated it. Several times. Several, bloody, atrocious times.

Perhaps what was even more painful than the fact that the man had murdered her father and mother to steal their spells, was the fact that they were probably no more than a footnote to him. They were just another in a long, long list of victims on his rise to power. Power that only other Archemages could curb, and power they were slowly starting to lose.

It was why she happily agreed when Archemage Miltiades sent her on this mission. Asides her personal grudge against the Headmaster, she was also nothing short of grateful to Miltiades. The man had taken her in the night her parents were murdered - they were once his disciples, and he had planned to visit them to see how they were doing. He had taken her under his wing ever since. He taught her more magic, and raised her for five years. When she turned fourteen, she assumed his first name as her own.

Details of her parents murder were given to her, though not easily. She had prodded him relentlessly for years, and was rewarded with only got bits and pieces of information before finally having the full story.

Now she was sixteen. The other Archemages have had enough. For years, Archemage Niccolo was impenetrable, always fighting on his own terms, on his own grounds - with no one able to wrestle the advantage away from him. This time, things would be different.

Bringing down an Archemage was no simple task, not even when one or two worked together. But it could be done. And it would start with her.

Meruin walked to her room, mulling over her plans for the day. She had taken her time with breakfast, not wishing to rush through her meal. Still, she was one of the first to arrive at her room, an advantage afforded to her via a deal with one of the sylphs flitting about in the canteen. The Headmaster constantly warned students about making contracts with them, true, but once you knew how to handle fairies, it was fairly easy to get help from them.

In this instance, she willingly traded a large piece of pancakes (that she had gotten for this very purpose) in return for a quick whisk to her room. A simple contract with very little room for error.

Upon her arrival, she found that she had been beaten to the room by her roommates already. In fact, one of them had kicked the door open and was yelling louder than Meruin thought was necessary.

"Ehem," she coughed, trying to get her attention. "You're blocking the way. Could you move?" She punctuated her sentence with a quick jerk of her head to the side, before adding "Also, be careful of who hears you using the word 'fairy hunting'; the good neighbors are capricious folk, and might take offense to that."

Xinhua arrived, she listened, she ate, and she left. While she was not one to rush things, she did have to get to her room quickly - she had no idea who she would be rooming with this year, and as such, it would be prudent to arrive early lest... unsavory things be done to the room she would be staying in. Such an incident occurred last year and though she had punished the offending party in the dueling ring, she was not eager to repeat the experience.

When she arrived, it was to her disappointment that the others had arrived earlier. Still, she hoped that they were the reasonable sort, at least. Encountering one of her roommates as she was exiting the room, the tall priestess gave a small bow in greeting.

"Room 25-A is it? We will be roommates then," she said with a courteous smile. "I am Xinhua. It is good to meet your acquaintance."

Walking with a grace that belied her physique, she offered her outstretched hand to Rhea.