On the way to the final trial—the power discovery and faculty assignment—Emily quietly asked Charlotte:
"What should we expect?"
Charlotte fell silent for a moment, as if weighing her words. Then she sighed:
"If you've passed the first two trials, the last one is just placement. But sometimes... someone doesn't make it."
Emily slowed her pace and looked at her friend attentively:
"What do you mean by 'don't make it'?"
Charlotte shrugged carelessly, but her fingers nervously twisted a strand of hair.
"I don't know. My parents never talked about the Academy. I grew up among ordinary people."
"So you didn't know you had abilities?"
"Not exactly… It's just that my parents weren't eager to deal with me because of what I am."
"And what are you?"
Charlotte smirked slightly.
"Neither here nor there. Neither like my father nor my mother. Strange blood."
Emily didn't know what to say.
"I have a difficult relationship with my father too, and my mother… she's gone."
"Is your father a mage or just a human?" Charlotte asked.
"Let's say… human," Emily replied, thinking she should be careful and come up with a backstory. "Are you afraid of the trial?" she quickly changed the subject.
Charlotte studied her, as if picking up on the shift in her voice.
"And you?"
Emily instinctively looked away.
They continued walking, and the silence between them wasn't uncomfortable.
The Academy's Grand Hall, the same one where they had gathered the day before, was illuminated by flickering lanterns suspended beneath the high arched ceiling. A small group of future students stood in rows, tensely staring at the center of the hall, where three mirrors gleamed. Two faced them, while the third stood with its back turned—mysterious.
Besides the Deputy Headmistress, there were two mentors present—a youthful-looking man in his fifties and a woman of indeterminate age, just like the Deputy, but softer. They watched intently, waiting for the trial to begin.
"You have to look into each one," Charlotte whispered. "One of them will take you to the Other Side."
Emily tensed. It sounded a bit like… death?
"We begin," the Deputy Headmistress announced solemnly. "We will call out the students one by one. You will look into the mirrors in order—first this one, then the second..."
She said nothing about the third. The ceremony had begun.
The first students stepped forward one by one, approaching the first mirror, which cast an eerie glow.
Someone nearby whispered,
"They always start with the Shifters. Makes sense—it's the easiest. They already have lists. If you've got, bloody hell, a tail, you don't need a mirror to figure that out."
The Lupers emerged on the other side with silver clasps in the shape of crescent moons on their coats. Indeed, you won your uniform here. There didn't seem to be any Sirens or Agrimants among them—they were rarer, as Emily had already gathered.
Some students hesitated, staring at their reflection. Emily focused—just for a second, the image in the mirror revealed a wolf's snarling face.
"Reveal Yourself As You Truly Are" read the inscription on the first mirror's frame.
Shifters, looking into it, saw their beastly faces. One by one, they stepped into the mirror and emerged on the other side.
Finally, a young man Emily had seen earlier with Odette approached the first mirror. His reflection distorted, the surface trembled.
"Next mirror," the Deputy Headmistress ordered.
The boy stepped toward the second mirror, which bore the inscription: "Reality Is A Choice." the Benders' mirror. He walked through and emerged on the other side with a clasp in the shape of a spiral—the mark of the Benders—on his coat.
Several more students followed, including Odette, who passed the first mirror without even looking at her reflection. She strode through the second mirror without a second thought—obviously, she had no doubts about her power.
Emily was nervous. She wanted to be a Bender. That magic could help her get home… if she even wanted to return.
When Charlotte was called, she didn't even glance at the first mirror. Her ignoring it was almost theatrical, a little too deliberate, even nervous. But as she passed by, it seemed to Emily that a mermaid's tail flickered on the surface.
She stubbornly fixed her gaze on the Benders' mirror. It rippled, wavered, tensed, and when Charlotte attempted to step forward… it violently spat her out into the Third Faculty.
Emily couldn't see from here what was written on the final mirror, but Charlotte was the first student to be sent there today.
Then, the same thing happened to a few others—a pale boy, and Ines, Emily's roommate, a Breton girl with a long blonde braid, whom Odette had mocked.
Finally, the Deputy Headmistress's voice rang out:
"Emily Laurent."
She stepped forward. The first mirror remained silent.
Thank heavens—in this world, she didn't at least have a tail. It was reassuring to know it for sure.
Now, they will all see she was a fraud. But wouldn't they had seen it earlier, if this procedure was only formality, like Charlotte had said? Did Emily have the power? What would happen if she didn't?
All these questions were bumping into one another in Emily's head as she looked into the Benders' mirror. It seemed to accept her, and Emily felt a huge, unimaginable surge of relief. But just as she prepared to step through to the Other Side, a pang of regret flashed through her—she and Charlotte were being separated… and suddenly, something inside the mirror whispered.
For a brief moment, emptiness swallowed her, and then the mirror rejected her, spitting her out into the Third Faculty.
She managed to read the phrase on this third mirror, it said "Lose to Find."
There were about twenty new students in total. Everyone had passed through the mirrors.
Charlotte, beside her, let out a quiet, delighted laugh. Someone shushed her,
"The Deputy Headmistress is about to address us!"
Emily couldn't help but ask,
"Why not the Headmaster? Why haven't we seen them yet?"
Someone tugged at her cloak sleeve, and even Charlotte shot her a warning look.
The Deputy Headmistress stepped behind the podium.
"Congratulations. You have passed the trial, survived the assignment. You are now students, and we will teach you to face wicked delights. What you believe to be wicked, will surprise you as ten times more. Your powers have awakened, which means the game is over. There are rules here—break them, and you will be expelled. Or sent to live among humans… and possibly go mad."
Emily held her breath. Powers… awakened? She hadn't signed up for this!
The others, however, looked as if this was exactly what they had been waiting for. Damn it.
The Deputy struck the podium sharply, silencing the murmurs in the hall. She scanned the students with her differently-colored eyes, as if calculating how many would survive their first year.
"Classes start tomorrow at nine. I advise you not to be late. Tomorrow's schedule: 'Defense Against Yourself' with Professor Morte. 'Magnetism of Desire' with Madame Delico—do not touch each other unnecessarily after class. 'History of Failures' with Professor Aylsworth—it will open your eyes if you still have any illusions left."
She paused and slowly ran a fingernail across the wood of the podium.
"Now, the rules. You must attend your classes. You must put in the effort. You must survive—that is important. It is strictly forbidden to bring outsiders into the Academy. Even if they are dying. Even if they promise to keep silent. At night, do not open your doors. Not for anyone. Not for anything. If what's behind the door knows your name – it's not your problem. Ignore it. If you don't see your own shadow – inform the teachers immediately. Don't wait."
The Deputy looked at the students intently, as if she had finally decided that they were worth remembering their faces.
"The dormitories. You'll be shown to your rooms. And the Third Faculty – especially for you. A Familiar is mandatory for the Third Faculty – please enroll one by next Monday. You know you have to wear the clasp. Always. If you forget, the Academy will remind you of it."
She nodded, and two teachers stepped forward.
"Dismissed. Sleep well. Tomorrow will be intense for you."
The group from the Third Faculty, where Emily was standing, was assigned the male middle-aged teacher as their guide. He tilted his head toward them and introduced himself:
"Professor Mercier. Teacher of 'Senses and Boundaries'. I'll show you to your apartments – your dormitories are on the third floor. First-year students share a shower."
Already in the corridor near the dormitory, when the teacher left, and Ines and the pale boy, Marten, went to their rooms, and even the curious faces of older years' students disappeared back into their dormitories, Emily noticed that she and Charlotte were left alone – their dormitories turned out to be opposite each other.
Charlotte was incredibly radiant, as if a weight had been lifted from her soul. She must have really been afraid of something – for example, not passing, and really wanted to study at the Academy.
"The Third Faculty is not for losers, you'll see!"
She boldly leaned in and kissed Emily on the lips with her slightly wet, hot, and incredibly soft lips.
In surprise, Emily froze, and then felt a warm wave spread through her body, reaching her stomach, fingertips, and returning as heat to her brain. While she stood with her mouth slightly open and blushing, Charlotte had already wished her a good night and disappeared behind her door.