Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was a beautiful morning in Gravesfield, Connecticut. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and everything just seemed right with the world. On this day, a young man slept soundly in his bed, until the alarm on his phone went off. Half awake, he pressed the snooze button before grabbing his glasses off the nightstand. He then sat up and yawned before putting his glasses on and smacking his lips.

The boy shuffled out of bed and into his bathroom. He got a look at his messy dark brown hair and quickly combed it down. He looked much more presentable now.

“Today’s the big day,” he said optimistically.

“Kam,” he heard his mother call out, “come downstairs for breakfast!”

“Coming, mom,” he said before walking over to his closet and pulling out his outfit for the day: a gray tunic with a dark gray belt, cowl, and light gray sleeves and leggings.

***

A minute later, he made his way down to the dining room, where his mother sat, reading the news on her tablet.

“Morning, mom,” Kam greeted.

His mother put down her tablet to get a look at her son. She looked like slim, a thirty-eight-year-old Dominican-American woman with tan skin and short, navy blue hair. Her eyes consisted of yellow-gold pupils, black irises, and aqua sclera, and cream colored spots under each eye. Her mouth had a catlike “W” shape, and her ears were long with tufts of navy blue hair at the bottom. She wore a dark green jacket, a striped white and indigo t-shirt, dark jeans, and black slip on shoes.

“Buenos dias, mijo,” she greeted.

Kam made a bowl of cereal and sat down across from his mother, Vee. He quickly got to work on devouring his breakfast as fast as he could.

“Woah, mijo, slow down,” Vee warned him, “you don’t want to choke.”

Taking his mother’s advice, Kam slowed down his eating pace. “Sorry, mom, I’m just really excited for today!”

“I know, but you should take it easy, Hexside’s not going anywhere.”

It was Kam’s first day at his new school, Hexside. He had wanted to go there for a long time, but Vee was rather apprehensive about the idea. She had… prior experiences with the Boiling Isles, and this made her super wary of the demon realm. As a matter of fact, she had such anxiety of the place that she could only spend a day there at the most before she started to feel unsafe. It was only after years of begging and pleading that she relented and let him enroll there.

As Vee ate a piece of her breakfast, a Hexes Hold’em card, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was gonna happen. Kam was her one and only son, her pride and joy, and the Boiling Isles was a messy, dangerous place. Sure, her sister was a human like him and she thrived in the Isles, but her son was an entirely different person. If anything happened to him, she didn’t know what she’d do.

Kam set his now empty bowl in the sink, then grabbed his backpack. “Alright, mom, I’m gonna head down to the transport hub.”

“Hold on,” Vee said, getting up from the table, “how about I drive you there? You can have full control of the playlist.”

“Sure, mom,” Kam replied.

Vee grabbed her purse and the two headed out.

***

The mother and son arrived at the transport hub. Similar to a subway, transport hubs allowed people to travel between the human and demon realms. There were metal detectors, pass systems, scheduled departure and arrival times, basically anything that you would see at an airport, but with much greater security. Though some individuals could bypass the whole process entirely by having their own door portal. The only problem was that they were super expensive and pretty hard to make, so most people just settled for the transport hubs.

Kam and Vee walked up to the platform. Kam was excited, but Vee was still nervous. Before he could leave, she knelt down to look at him at eye level.

“Now, Kam, are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?”

“I’m sure, mom,” Kam replied, showing no traces of hesitation. “I’ve wanted to learn magic for the longest time, and now I’ve finally got my chance.”

Vee let out a sigh, there was no talking him out of it. The pair hugged before Vee kissed him on the forehead. “Te veré esta tarde, mantente a salvo, mi amado hijo.”

“Lo haré, mamá,” Kam said before walking over to his shuttle, “Te quiero!”

“Have a great first day,” she called out before the doors of the shuttle closed.

As the portal in front of the shuttle activated, Kam waved to her through the window. The shuttle then moved down the track and went through the portal.

Vee’s smile changed back into a concerned frown, her son was now in the demon realm. “He’ll be fine,” she told herself, trying to calm her nerves, “his cousin’s there, she’ll look out for him.”

***

The shuttle arrived at it’s destination, a transport hub in the Boiling Isles. Kam and the other passengers shuffled out of their shuttle, but Kam stopped to look around. The sky was indigo, the trees were pink, the clouds were yellow, and there were large bones jutting out of the ground.

“Welcome to the Boiling Isles,” the PA system said overhead.

Kam took a deep breath in, the air smelled a little like sulfur. “Alright, Kam, this is it, your first day at your new school.”

He then raced into town. He passed by numerous strange creatures and buildings, ordinarily he’d stop and to look at these amazing sights, but not today. Today he had somewhere to be.

He soon came upon his destination, Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. He stood there, breathless, just staring at his new alma mater. Young witches and demons of all shapes and sizes passed by him, paying him no mind. “Alright,” he said to himself, “let’s do this.”

He then walked up the stairs and entered the school, ready to start the day.

***

In the principal’s office of Hexside, Hieronymus Bump, sat at his desk, doing some paperwork, when suddenly, his intercom went off.

“Principal Bump, Kam Noceda’s here to see you.”

Bump pressed his buzzer, “Good, send him in.”

With that, Kam poked his head into the room. “Uh… good morning, Principal Bump, sir.”

Bump got up and walked over to the boy, “Mr. Noceda, welcome, we’re happy to have you here.”

“Uh, thanks, sir,” Kam replied, slightly relieved.

“Now I want you to know that given your familial relations, there will be no special treatment,” Bump said as he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “you’ll be treated just the same as every other student here.”

“Uh, thanks, I guess.”

“Now then, let’s get down to business,” Bump said before motioning to nine banners hanging above his desk, “which track or tracks would you like to be placed in?”

“Woah, there’s so many,” Kam replied.

“Yes, and it was your aunt who was the first to study them all,” the principal said, sounding nostalgic. “Ah, Luz Noceda, to this day I still remember her as one of my MOST TROUBLESOME STUDENTS!!!”

Kam gulped, did the principal really hate his aunt that much?

Bump then let out a soft chuckle, “But she was also one of my favorites.”

Kam let out a sigh of relief and stepped forward. He put his hand to his chin and started to think about what classes he’d take. “Hmm, I think I’m gonna go with abominations, beast keeping, potions, construction, and healing.”

“Interesting choices,” Bump observed, “any particular reasons behind them?”

“Well, I kind of want to be an alchemist, so I figured these were the best choices for that field,” the boy explained.

“Ah, alchemy, the scientific magic,” Bump commented, “well I can assure you, you’ll learn all you need to know here.”

He then cast a spell, causing Kam’s sleeves and leggings to change color. His right sleeve was pink, the left was yellow, his left legging was dark blue, and the right was orange. Kam examined his clothes excitedly; this was it, he was officially a Hexside student.

“Now then, my vice principal will show you around,” Bump explained as he walked back over to his desk. “Ms. Creepwater, could you please call Lilith?”

“Yes sir,” his receptionist said over the intercom.

A minute later, the vice principal, Lilith Clawthorne, walked into the office. “Lilith, I need you to give our new student a tour of the campus.”

“Hey, Ms. Clawthorne,” Kam greeted.

“My goodness, Kam, you’re coming here now,” Lilith replied, pleasantly surprised. Kam nodded. “Well then, come along, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

The intercom buzzed again. “Ms. Clawthorne, you’re needed in the beast keeping track stables.”

Bump pressed the intercom button again. “Is it urgent?”

“It’s pretty urgent, sir,” Ms. Creepwater replied.

Lilith groaned, “Apologies, Kam, but it looks like I need to take care of this.”

Lilith then walked out of the room. “Looks like I’ll have to find someone else to give you the tour,” Bump said, “and I think I know just the person.”

***

Azura sat in her Oracle class, diligently taking notes, when the PA system buzzed over head. “Azura Blight Noceda, please report to Principal Bump’s office. Azura Blight Noceda to the Principal’s office.”

Azura sighed, she wondered what it was this time. She then got up and created a copy of herself. “Take notes, okay?”

The copy nodded and gave her a thumbs up before quickly jotting down what was on the board. The young witch then made her way down to Principal Bump’s office where she was greeted by the man himself.

“Ah, Azura, thank you for coming,” he greeted, “I need you to give our newest student a tour. I trust you may be familiar with him?”

Bump then moved aside, allowing Azura to actually see him. “KAM,” she gasped.

“Hey, cuz,” he greeted casually.

Azura rushed over to her cousin, “No way, Aunt Vee finally let you enroll?”

“Yep,” Kam confirmed, “it took a lot of convincing, but I’m officially a student here now.”

“That’s great, dude,” Azura said, “you’ve been wanting to go here for years now.”

“I hate to interrupt, but I believe you have a tour to get underway,” Bump cut in.

“Oh, right,” Azura said before turning to Kam, “come on, I’ll show you around.” The pair of cousins then made their way down the halls of the prestigious academy, leaving Principal Bump to get back to his work.

“Hmm, I give it an hour before something goes wrong.”

***

Azura showed Kam around the entire school. She showed him all the rooms for the tracks, the grudgby field, the trophy case, she even showed him the hidden passageways that her mom told her about. The tour took the whole morning, it was about lunch time when they finished.

Azura brought her cousin to the lunchroom. “So this is the lunchroom,” Azura explained, “it offers a mix of food from the human realm, and some good, old fashioned Boiling Isles cuisine.”

The pair got in line; Azura chose the griffon tenders with a side of bloodtato wedges, while Zephyr just stuck to the sack lunch he had packed. Azura then surveyed the lunchroom and spotted three individuals she knew all too well; a girl with dark grey hair and a tail, a girl with poof ball hair, and a sahuagin boy wearing a mask and apparatus similar to a rebreather, but filled with water. “Come on, let’s go eat with my friends.”

The pair walked over to the group, who looked at Azura and smiled. “Hey, Zuri,” Lycidia greeted, “what happened to you: Principal Bump called you out of class and you never came back.”

“He wanted me to give a tour to Hexside’s newest student,” she said before gesturing to Kam. “Guys, this is my cousin, Kam.”

Azura then sat down at the table with her friends, “Kam, this is my friend, Barbeau…”

“Greetings,” Barbeau greeted, with little drops of water splashing out of his mask.

“…my lovely girlfriend, Tansy…”

“Nice to meet you,” Tansy said.

“…and my best friend since forever, Lycidia.”

Lycidia took a bite out of her lunch, a large rack of ribs. “Sup,” she said with her mouth full.

Kam blushed subtly at the sight of the young werewolf. He didn’t know why, she just seemed so… different. He couldn’t help but stare.

Azura waved her hand in front of his head. “Cuz, you okay there?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he said, snapping out of his trance. He then sat down next to his cousin, “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

“So, Kam, what brings you to Hexside,” Tansy asked.

“Well, I’ve kinda always wanted to learn magic, but it wasn’t until recently that my mom would even allow me to come here,” he explained before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Is your mother not fond of magic,” Barbeau asked.

“No, it’s just that she’s had bad experiences on the Isles,” Kam replied. “She’s a basilisk, you see; the emperor brought her back from extinction and treated like a lab rat.”

That last remark caused the others eyes to widen. “YOUR MOM IS A BASILISK,” Lycidia exclaimed. Kam just nodded. “So, are you a basilisk too?”

Kam shook his head. “Nope, I was adopted, I’m 100% human.”

“Okay, how are you related to a basilisk,” Tansy asked Azura.

“My abuela adopted my aunt, Vee, twenty-four years ago,” Azura said calmly.

The trio just sat there and stared at the cousins. “You guys have a really weird family,” Lycidia said.

***

Meanwhile, in the beast keeping stables, Lilith was arguing with a group of demon hunters. “For the last time, we did not order a slitherbeast!!!”

“Ya know, lady, ya could’ve told us that before we lugged the cage in here,” the head demon hunter argued.

Just then, the slitherbeast busted out of it’s cage. Two of the demon hunters summoned spells and tried to get it back into the cage, but the beast spat goo at them, sticking them to the wall. The beast then charged through the door and rampaged down the halls.

“Oh dear,” Lilith yelped.

***

After lunch, Kam, Azura, and her friends went to check out Kam’s new locker.

“So, how exactly do I get my books and stuff out of here,” he asked.

“Like this,” Azura said, approaching the living storage compartment.

She then gave the locker door a quick and gentle scratch under it’s… chin, I guess? The locker opened its mouth, extending it’s tongue with Kam’s books.

“Just like that,” Azura said.

Kam stared at his cousin and the locker. “I’ve never felt such an odd mix of whimsy and disgust.”

Before anything else could be said, they all heard a loud roar down the hall. They looked over to see students running their way, and a giant beast thrashing about.

“WHAT THE HEX,” Azura exclaimed.

“That’s a slitherbeast,” Lycidia said, “but what’s one doing here?”

Kam stepped forward, “I don’t know, but it’s gotta be stopped.”

Azura and the others stepped in front of him. “We’ll take care of this, Kam, you should get to safety!”

The four quickly ran towards the beast, leaving the human behind. Kam huffed before taking out a notebook and a pencil and drawing something on it.

Lycidia quickly leapt onto the beast’s back and formed some reins around it’s mouth, doing her best to steer it away from anyone. Barbeau started singing to soothe the beast’s temper, using his bard magic to enhance it’s effects. Then Azura and Tansy used construction magic to wrap up the slitherbeast, subduing it.

The four of them took a collective sigh of relief. “That was significantly easy,” Barbeau said.

Tansy inhaled sharply and Lycidia facepalmed. “Beau, you’re not supposed to say that,” Azura shouted.

“Why not,” Barbeau asked.

The slitherbeast growled angrily before breaking free from it’s restraints and roaring at the young witches.

“That’s why,” Azura answered.

The slitherbeast spat goo at the four of them, sticking them to the wall. It got close to the four and snarled, as if it was getting ready to bite.

“HEY, UGLY,” a voice called out from down the hall. The slitherbeast looked over to see Kam holding a slip of paper. “Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!”

The slitherbeast roared and charged at Kam. “KAM, NO,” Azura called out.

The slitherbeast leapt at the boy, but he quickly slid under and slapped a slip of paper on its underbelly. The creature then fell to the floor, completely unconscious. Kam raced over to Azura and the others.

“Woah, Kam, what did you do,” Azura asked.

Kam took out his notebook and pen and started scribbling again. “I just drew a simple ‘sleep spell’ glyph,” he explained. “I’ve been doing research into glyph magic for a long time, so I know all the combinations and what spells they make.”

“Woah, that’s pretty impressive, dude,” Lycidia commented, “now think you can get us out of here?”

“No problem,” Kam said before making a fire glyph. He melted the goo with the flames, freeing them.

“Thanks, Kam,” Azura said, bashfully, “sorry for underestimating you back there.”

Kam shrugged, “It’s all good, cuz, just remember I can take care of myself next time, okay?”

Azura chuckled, “Sure thing.”

Lycidia put her arm around Kam’s shoulder, causing him to blush. “Ya know, if you keep hanging around us, ‘next time’ will happen sooner than you think.”

The group all started laughing. “She is not exaggerating, we regularly find ourselves in ‘life-or-death’ scenarios,” Barbeau said, causing them all to stop.

***

Later, after school had let out, Kam returned to his house. “Mom, I’m home,” he called out as he walked in through the front door.

Then, out of nowhere, Vee rushed over and pulled him into a hug. “Mijo,” she exclaimed. “¿Estás bien, nada roto?”

“Estoy bien, mamá,” Kam replied.

Vee breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. So, how was your day?”

Kam smiled, “I think I’m gonna like it there.”