Winning one duel against her Headmaster had filled her with an energy unmatched to anything she had felt before. Even if it had just been through pure luck, a win is a win.
She had walked out of that training room with her head held higher than when she walked in.
Students that had been outside watched in confusion and awe, but they didn't know why. And Fila didn't tell them, thinking it would be for the best to hold this quiet. More as a good thing for her headmaster than her, if she could she would go out of that room with a banner saying that she had won.
As Fila stepped out, her bare feet silent on the oak, she was met with a wall of stares. To the others, she probably looked like she'd just walked through a hurricane, hair messy, clothes slightly singed, and breathing hard. But the jagged smirk on her face was sharp enough to cut glass.
But as she looked around she saw Sera, which meant that they had finished their training as well, Fila walked towards where the champions sat in the cozy living room.
"Hey, how did your training go?" Fila asked to the group, she stood behind the back rest of one of the sofas.
They looked at her, "Fila we were done four hours ago. What have you been doing?"
The answer came like an hammer to a golden clock. Fila froze, her fingers curling over the plush fabric of the sofa's backrest.
She let out a soft, raspy huff of genuine surprise. Time inside that pocket dimension must have been as flexible as the floorboards she'd been tearing up.
"Four hours?" she repeated, her voice catching that airy, slightly bewildered lilt. "I thought... well, I suppose the Headmaster is a bit more talkative than I realized."
Aaron perked up finally from his book, "Why do you smell like, mushrooms?"
Fila didn't answer, she had already started walking away, she needed a shower. couldn't have herself smelling like mushroom spores.
On her way to the stairway to the rooms she finally found Miles, he sat on the stairs with some other girl. She was a bit shorter than him, wore a pukwudgie emblem on her uniform, with blond hair and freckles.
Fila stepped in front of them and looked down at Miles, his magic was going crazy. Looking like it was trying to bend itself towards the girl. He liked her.
"What are you two lovebirds doing?" she asked with a sly smile.
Both of them got beet-red and looked away from each other quickly.
The girl cleared her throat, her Pukwudgie emblem shimmering as she stood up and smoothed her skirt with frantic, nervous energy. "I... I was just helping him with the Potion index! That's all. I'm Elara," she squeaked, giving a tiny, jerky wave before practically bolting up the stairs toward the girls' wing.
Fila watched the girl's retreat with a tilted head, her sapphire vision tracking the trail of panicked, rosy magic she left in her wake. She then turned her focus back to Miles, who looked like he wanted to dissolve into the dark oak paneling.
"Lovebirds?" Miles finally croaked, his face still a dangerous shade of crimson. "Fila, you can't just... walk up and say things like that. Normal people use 'hello' or 'how was your day' before jumping into relationship accusations."
Fila waved her hand in a dismissive way, as if saying 'alright anyway'. "Where is June?" she asked bluntly.
Miles shrugged his shoulders, "Haven't seen her in a while, could be in her room."
She looked at him still, seeing his messy magic shaping to be more normal now. The flowersight was still very strange for her, she knew that she could tell most things with it. emotions for example, but the problem with it that everyone's magic reacted differently. Miles for example, became a tangled web when conflicted or nervous. While Calla and Elliot were almost in harmony when with each other, maybe relation made an important role in it.
"Do you like her?" Fila asked, while still examining his magic.
The question seemed to have stirred something else in him as his magic now seemed to panic, but after he took a deep breath it calmed slightly. "Kinda of, we talked a bit in school a couple of times. Even during potion class." He explained.
Both had an interest for potions, what a match made in heaven. "Go to her, and talk more than. What are you doing still sitting here." she kicked his leg while saying it to make him stand up faster and go to her. She didn't want her to ruin their little moment together more than she already had.
Miles hissed as her foot connected with his shin, more out of surprise than actual pain. "Alright, alright! I'm going. You're a menace, Ophelia, you know that?"
'That's my middle name' she thought as she walked up the stairs.
Suddenly the stairs seemed really high and there were a lot more steps than she remembered. The lightheadedness followed soon after. And she had had to hold the railing to stabilize herself.
Feeling the world spin slightly made her sick. Adrenaline was a dangerous thing when exposed to it for too long and too much. One it dissolves in your body, your body needs time to adjust to how it normally functions. The drastic change made her sit down on the stairs.
Fila sat heavily on the cold oak step, her head resting against the banister. The adrenaline, which had been the only thing keeping her upright for the last four hours, was finally deserting her. In its wake came a wave of exhaustion so heavy that it felt as though the carriage's gravity had suddenly tripled.
"Deep breaths, Ophelia," she whispered, her voice sounding thin and distant in her own ears.
The hallway began to tilt. Through her sapphire vision, the warm glow of the floating candles smeared into long, jagged streaks of light. The rhythmic humming of the balloon overhead, which had been a comforting background noise, now felt like a hammer striking the inside of her skull.
"Fila?"
The voice was sharp with alarm.
"June," Fila managed to croak. She tried to gesture vaguely at the stairs, but her arm felt like it was made of lead. "I think... someone enchanted the staircase. There are too many steps."
"Oh, for heaven's sake, you're white as a sheet!" June cried, dropping to her knees on the step above and pressing a cool hand to Fila's forehead. "You're freezing, you're shaking, and you're covered in soot. What on earth happened in there?"
Fila forced a small, tired smirk onto her face. "I hit him, June. I actually landed a hit on Fontaine."
"I don't care if you knocked his hat off, you're about to faint," June said firmly. She didn't wait for an answer, grabbing Fila's arm and draping it over her own shoulders. "Come on, lean on me. Honestly, Fila, only you could win a duel and then nearly kill yourself trying to walk to bed."
With June acting as a solid anchor, Fila managed to stagger to her feet. Every movement felt like a struggle against a heavy current. They shuffled slowly up the remaining stairs, Fila's bare feet dragging across the plush carpet until they finally reached the door to her room.
June practically poured her onto the bed. Fila didn't even have the strength to pull her legs up; she simply collapsed face-down into the pillow, the soft fabric smelling faintly of laundry and cedar.
"Stay there," June ordered, her voice softening as she pulled Fila's legs onto the mattress and began to tuck a heavy quilt around her. "I'm going to get Madam Thorne. Don't you dare move."
Fila didn't reply. She couldn't. The victory in the training room felt like a memory from a different lifetime. As sleep pulled at her, her last conscious thought was that the mattress was the softest thing she had ever felt in her entire life.
She woke up hours later to the sound of hushed whispering. Her room was no longer lit by the bruised purple of the evening sky; instead, the porthole showed the pitch-black vastness of the Atlantic at night, dotted with distant, cold stars. A single candle flickered on her bedside table, casting long, dancing shadows across the oak walls.
"She's waking up," a quiet voice said.
Fila groaned, her throat feeling as though she had swallowed a handful of dry sand. She pushed herself up on her elbows, the heavy quilt sliding down her shoulders. Her vision was still a bit blurry, but the sharp, sapphire clarity of her flowersight was beginning to return, revealing two figures sitting at the end of her bed.
June was there, looking exhausted and still holding a pair of boots, and beside her sat Madam Thorne, the school nurse. The nurse held a small crystal vial filled with a shimmering, silver liquid.
"Drink this, dear," Madam Thorne said, her voice brisk but kind. She handed the vial to Fila. "It's a Pepperup Potion with a dash of Valerian. You've managed to give yourself a textbook case of magical collapse. I haven't seen someone drain their core that thoroughly since a sixth-year tried to Transfigure a piano into a Pegasus."
Fila took the vial with trembling fingers and knocked it back. The potion was bitter and tasted faintly of burnt cinnamon, but the effect was instantaneous. Steam began to pour from her ears, and a pleasant, tingling warmth rushed through her veins, chasing away the leaden chill in her bones.
"Better," Fila rasped, her voice regaining some of its airy strength.
"You're a nightmare," June muttered, though she reached out and squeezed Fila's hand. "Miles told us what happened. Well, he told us you smelled like mushrooms and then kicked him. Fontaine had to explain the rest to Professor Hale. Apparently, you decided to play hide-and-seek with ancient magic in the middle of a flight."
Fila leaned back against the headboard, the steam still curling from the sides of her head. "It worked, didn't it? I'm still here."
"Barely," Madam Thorne interjected, packing her supplies into a leather bag. "You are to stay in this bed until tomorrow morning. No magic, no panthers, and certainly no more dueling the faculty. If I hear so much as a spark coming from this room, I'll have Professor Whitcomb put a Binding Charm on your wand."
Fila gave a small, weary nod. "Fair enough."
As the nurse left the room, June stayed behind, dropping the boots onto the floor with a dull thud. "I found them. They were under your desk the whole time, tucked behind your trunk. I also brought you some bread and cheese from the kitchen. You missed dinner entirely."
"Thanks, June," Fila said, reaching for the plate June offered. The hunger hit her all at once, sharp and demanding. She took a bite of the bread, feeling the reality of the carriage around her—the slight swaying, the distant wind, and the solid presence of her friend.
"Fila?" June asked quietly, her aura softening into a gentle, shimmering pink. "Was it worth it? Pushing yourself that hard just to land one hit?"
Fila looked toward the desk, where the leather-bound book sat in the shadows. She thought of the "jump," the way the world had folded, and the look of genuine surprise on Fontaine's face.
"Yeah," Fila whispered, a genuine, quiet smile touching her lips. "It was worth every second."
After sleeping it all of, with the help of many potions and stern rules from madam Thorne. The day arrived, Fila woke up with excitement she hadn't felt in a very long time, but also a banger of a headache.
"It will last for about two days, if you keep drinking the potions I give. It might go away after one." Madam said in a stern but calm voice. She always cared for the students a lot. And everyone listened to her, even if the instructions she gave were harsh and boring, and the potions tested like sweaty socks most of the time.
Fila winced as the morning light from the porthole stabbed at her eyes. She reached for the cup on her nightstand, barely suppressing a gag as the thick, viscous liquid slid down her throat. It tasted like boiled earth and old leather, but she knew better than to complain to Madam Thorne.
"Thank you, Madam," Fila rasped. Her voice was still slightly thin, but the airy lilt was coming back.
"Don't thank me, dear. Just stay on your feet and out of dueling rings for the next twenty-four hours," the nurse replied, giving Fila's hand a final, motherly pat before heading toward the door. "The carriage will be descending soon. Try to look like a Champion, even if your head feels like a Bludger hit it."
Once the door clicked shut, Fila sat up slowly. The swaying of the carriage was different now, heavier. They were no longer gliding through the thin, icy air of the high Atlantic. The temperature in the room had climbed, and a humid, thick warmth was beginning to seep through the wooden seams of the manor-carriage.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and finally, gratefully, slid her feet into the boots June had found.
A soft knock at the door preceded June peering in. "You're alive! And you're wearing shoes. It's a miracle."
Fila managed a small, jagged smirk. "Don't get used to it. How close are we?"
"We're already over the canopy," June said, her aura a vibrant, excited pink that practically hummed. "You have to see this, Fila. It's not like the forests back home. It's... it's endless."
Fila followed June out into the grand hallway. Most of the other students were already crowded near the windows in the common room area. Even Miles had abandoned his potion index, standing near the railing with Elara. The two were whispering, their magic still doing that strange, shy dance Fila had noticed on the stairs.
As Fila approached the large, enchanted window at the front of the carriage or manor, the view took her breath away. Below them, a sea of emerald green stretched out in every direction, shimmering under the morning sun. Giant trees, their trunks as thick as castle towers, reached up toward the balloon as if trying to snag the dark blue silk.
They had already been instructed that they would have to walk to the school, as no transport could fit into the dense jungle surrounding the school.
The carriage began to groan as it banked sharply, the massive balloon overhead straining against the humid air. The descent was slower than Fila expected, the magical manor-carriage searching for a pocket of space in the canopy large enough to settle.
"Everyone, gather your belongings!" Professor Hale's voice echoed through the hallway. "We touch down in ten minutes. Remember, you are guests of Castelobruxo. Keep your wands holstered and your wits about you."
The students rushed into their rooms to gather the things they would need for the hike into the jungle. Baggage would be sent to the school magically, instead of having to carry the hundreds of trunks.
Fila went into her room, she had a bag ready with the things she thought she would need. Potions, snacks, water and her book that she now knew how made. But she hadn't read it yet since she learnt about it, I would sort of be like finding out who your favorite masked artist would be during a reveal, kind of scary.
Outside the carriage groaned and hummed as it closed to the ground fast, it swung around in the air with ease at it looked for the best place to settle down just outside the jungle.
The carriage looked liked it had a drunk driver parking a minibus, but on the inside. Things were calm, Fila stood in the entrance now waiting for the moment the doors would swing open and she could finally breath some fresh air. Because after spending a couple days in her with so many people it became rather stale with air, with no new air coming in.
The manor-carriage gave one final, bone-rattling shudder as it settled into the soft, loamy earth. For a heartbeat, the only sound was the clicking of cooling wood and the faint, dying sigh of the balloon overhead. Then, the heavy oak doors unlatched and swung outward.
Fila stood at the threshold, her hand gripping the strap of her bag. She had expected fresh air, but what hit her was a physical weight. The humidity was like a thick, warm blanket, smelling of wet earth, crushed flowers, and a sharp, spicy scent she couldn't quite identify.
"Step lively, everyone," Professor Hale called out, stepping past her onto the jungle floor. "Welcome to the Amazon. Try not to touch anything that looks like it wants to touch you back."
Students rushed out to witness the beauty of the biggest forest on earth.
June walked out with the rest, the humidity wasn't a problem for most since charms could easily cool or heat someone. But just the sight of these big trees and feeling like the forest was actually alive and breathing made ones breath fade away.
June looked back, she hadn't seen Fila walk out.
She stepped back so that she could peak through the door. And on the floor sat Fila on her knees. She dropped everything and rushed over.
"Fila! What happened? Is it your head?" June cried, skidding across the oak floorboards to her side.
Fila didn't answer immediately. She was hunched over, her forehead almost touching the wood, her hands pressed flat against the floor. Her breathing was shallow, and her magic, usually a sharp, sapphire flame, was flickering erratically, like a candle caught in a gale.
"It's too much," Fila finally rasped, her voice trembling. "June, tell them to... tell the forest to be quiet."
To everyone else, the jungle was a beautiful, humid landscape. But to Fila, stepping toward that open door had been like walking into a deafening roar. Her flowersight, sensitive enough to feel the heartbeat of a single plant back in New York, was being absolutely bombarded. Every ancient tree, every thick vine, and every blade of grass in the Amazon was pulsing with a raw, primal magic that had never known the pruning shears of a wizard.
Fila held her head, "Tel… tell, Fontaine… come." She could barley rasp out through the hammering she felt to her head right now.
June didn't hesitate. She scrambled up, her boots thudding against the oak as she leaned out the door. "Headmaster! Headmaster Fontaine! Something's wrong with Fila!"
The urgency in her voice cut through the excited chatter of the students outside. Fontaine, who had been discussing the perimeter wards with Professor Hale, turned instantly. He didn't walk; he moved with that fluid, predatory grace that made his age seem like an illusion, reaching the carriage steps in seconds.
He stepped inside. He took in the sight of her, on her knees, trembling, clutching her head as if it were about to split open.
"Everyone back," Fontaine said, his voice quiet but carrying a weight that brooked no argument. June stepped back toward the wall, her hands pressed to her mouth.
"Ophelia," he said softly, his voice a low hum that seemed to vibrate beneath the roar of the jungle. "You're trying to listen to the whole world at once. You have to stop. Close the windows."
"I... I can't," Fila rasped, her fingers digging into her scalp. "There are no... shutters. It's too loud."
"Then look at me," Fontaine commanded. "Only me. Forget the trees. Forget the vines. Find the gold in the center of the green."
He placed his hands over hers, gently prying them away from her head and holding them firmly.
"Focus, Ophelia. Narrow the beam," he whispered.
She forced herself into a steady breathing exercise as she focused as hard as she could. Fila needed to turn her volume down, easier said than done. But if she didn't, she would probably go insane at this rate.
Diving deep into her magical field, like she had done when trying to use it for the first time. she looked at the threads, the trees and vines. She didn't need to look at them all at the same time, only when she wanted too. And maybe not the whole forest in one bite.
Slowly she managed to get it in control, shrinking her field little by little. Her head still felt like someone had dropped a boulder on it, but now she could actually walk.
During her time managing her magic, Fontaine had been keeping a calming spell on her during the whole time. meanwhile madam Thorne had brought another potion.
Fila let out a long, shuddering breath, her forehead slumping against Fontaine's shoulder. The physical weight of the jungle was still there, but the mental bombardment had finally ceased.
"Better?" Fontaine asked, his hands still holding hers steady.
"Yeah," Fila whispered, her voice sounding like cracked glass. "It was like... the whole forest was trying to introduce itself at the same time."
"It's the drawback of your gift, Ophelia," Fontaine said, helping her sit back on her heels. "In a place like this, you cannot leave your senses wide open. You must learn to filter the noise, or the jungle will swallow you before you even reach the gates."
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small, dark stone on a leather cord. It felt cold—unnaturally cold—even in the sweltering heat. He slipped it over her head.
"This is a Null-Stone," he explained. "It won't block your sight, but it will dampen the 'static' from the surrounding flora. It will give you a fighting chance to walk those two miles without your brain melting."
Fila touched the stone, feeling a strange, hollow silence radiating from it. The headache was still there, a dull throb behind her brow, but the world felt manageable again.
"Thanks, old man," she murmured, a faint, ghost of a smirk appearing on her lips.
Fontaine chuckled and stood up, offering her a hand. "Don't mention it. And try to keep your 'windows' cracked just a sliver for now. We wouldn't want you missing the Caipora entirely. They'd be offended."
Fila took his hand and stood, her legs feeling a bit like jelly but holding. June rushed over, looking between Fila and the Headmaster.
"Is she okay? Can she walk?"
"She's a landslide, June," Fila rasped, straightening her bag and finding her footing. "It takes more than a few loud trees to stop me."
When she finally could step out and 'see' the sight before her, she kind of forget that just a few moments ago she had felt pain like no other. But she swore at the trees on the inside for making her go through that just now.
She held out her hand, and a cane formed and flew into her hand. Just like the cane she had used when she first went blind.
Fila leaned on the cane, its smooth wooden surface familiar against her palm. It wasn't that she strictly needed it to find her way, not with the vibrant, pulsing map of magic her flowersight provided, but it acted as a support, a physical connection to the earth that helped her balance against the shimmering waves of the jungle's energy.
The hike began in earnest. The air was so thick with moisture that it felt less like breathing and more like drinking, yet the sights were unlike anything the Ilvermorny students had ever imagined. Giant ferns, their fronds etched with glowing veins of life, bowed over the trail as the group passed. Brightly colored insects, large as saucers, hummed through the air, leaving trails of iridescent dust in their wake.
"Stay on the path!" Professor Hale called back, his wand tip glowing a soft, guiding blue. "The enchantments on this trail ensure we aren't bothered by the more... territorial residents."
But during this, Fila didn't hear anything. She was too busy looking, smelling, feeling around. The new trees and plants around here were truly special. She could feel the poison in some of them, and in others she could feel healing capable abilities. Something she could use in her own toolbox of magic.
Fila looked up more than the other students, she wanted to see if she could find one of the infamous protectors of Castelobruxo lurking around. The Caipora. But according to her books she had read about the little tricksters of the jungle, they were nocturnal. Meaning the slept during the day and lurked around at night.
Which made her sad, she had always wondered if they were ugly cute or just cute.
Fila tapped her cane rhythmically against a gnarled root, her blindfolded head tilted toward the canopy. Even with the Null-Stone muting the forest's roar, the sheer density of life above her was staggering. Through her flowersight, the trees weren't just wood and leaf; they were pillars of pulsing emerald light, interconnected by a web of glowing vines that hummed with ancient power.
"They aren't all asleep, you know," Fontaine said, having drifted back to walk near her. He sounded entirely unbothered by the steam rising from the damp ground. "The Caipora are nocturnal by habit, yes, but they are also incredibly nosy. Especially when a balloon full of North Americans drops into their front yard."
As if on cue, Fila felt a sudden, sharp tug on the strap of her bag.
She didn't flinch. Instead, she let out a short, raspy huff of amusement as her flowersight caught a flicker of something small, furry, and remarkably fast. It wasn't a solid heat signature like a human; it was more like a concentrated ball of chaotic, earthy magic. It leaped from her shoulder to a low-hanging branch, chattering a string of high-pitched sounds that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
"Got a fan already, Ophelia?" June asked, wiping sweat from her brow. She hadn't seen the creature, only the way Fila's bag had jerked. "Or is the jungle just trying to eat your snacks?"
"Just a gremlin looking for a souvenir," Fila replied, her smirk sharpening. She reached into her pocket, pulled out a small, dried piece of honeycomb she'd swiped from the carriage, and tossed it toward the branch where the magical signature was lingering.
The honeycomb never hit the ground. A tiny, clawed hand snatched it out of the air with a zip, and the signature vanished back into the deep green, leaving only the scent of wild musk behind.
"Ugly-cute," Fila murmured to herself, tapping her cane again. "Definitely ugly-cute."
As they crested a final, vine-draped ridge, the forest suddenly peeled back. The sight hit Fila's mind like a sudden, clear chord of music. Standing before them, nestled in a clearing right in the jungle. The bright stoned school laid. Golden, and with the look of a castle mixed with a pyramid of the ancient habitants of the Latin America.
"Its really beautiful, I must say it kicks Ilvermorny in the ass." June said while still holding her arm tightly.
Fila let out a small laugh, but she might be right. Ilvermorny wasn't really know for the most beautiful school. But it had its charm.
"Champions to the front." Professor Hales voice cut out in the middle of their admiration.
Fila straightened her posture, the Null-Stone clicking softly against a button on her jacket as she moved. She tapped her cane against the shimmering stone of the clearing, her jagged smirk returning. Beside her, Sera and the other Ilvermorny champions stepped forward, their dark blue and cherry red uniforms a sharp contrast to the emerald landscape.
As they reached the edge of the clearing, a tall woman with dark, braided hair and robes stitched with shimmering jungle-cat fur stepped forward. Her magic was immense, a deep, resonant green that felt as old as the trees themselves.
"Welcome, travelers from the North," she said, her voice carrying a warmth that seemed to settle the restless air. "I am Headmistress Benedita Dourado. You have traveled far, through the breath of the Atlantic and the heart of the Amazon. Castelobruxo opens its gates to you."
Fila felt a ripple of interest from the Brazilian students. They were staring, she knew. A blind champion with a wooden cane and a bag that smelled of stolen honeycomb was likely not what they had expected from the "Great Ilvermorny."
"It's about time," Fila murmured under her breath, her airy lilt carrying just enough of her usual defiance.
She could feel one signature in particular, a student standing directly behind the Headmistress. Their magic was sharp, sparking like lightning in a storm. It was a duelist's aura if she had ever felt one.
"The ceremonies will begin tonight," Dourado continued, her eyes sweeping over the tired, sweat-soaked group. "But first, rest. The jungle has a way of testing the soul, and you have a tournament to survive."
Fila looked over the little crowd that had formed, apart form the one standing just behind the headmaster. She didn't see anyone who she could qualify as a duelist.
They were soon after lead deeper into the school. Passing through a pair of big doors. Just like at every school. The stone doors were immense, carved with figures of jaguars and serpents that seemed to watch the students as they passed through. As Fila stepped into the entrance hall, she was struck by how different the air felt. At Ilvermorny, the castle was a place of drafty hallways and the smell of old stone and pine. Castelobruxo smelled like blooming orchids and damp earth.
The entrance hall was a vast, circular space with a ceiling that soared upward into the heart of the pyramid. Instead of torches, the room was lit by large, floating crystals that emitted a soft, golden glow. Making it feel cozy and welcoming. Almost as if coming to a warm place for a vacation.
"It's incredible," June whispered, her grip on Fila's arm loosening as she looked around. "Look at the walls, Fila. They're moving."
But fila wasn't listening, she couldn't see the carvings clear with her sight. But she could see the magic, and something in the carvings moved from time to time. She had been so drawn in by it that she didn't notice the group had already walked on. The jaguar on the wall looked back at her, and than jumped to the right. There a snake circled around a small tree and showed its fangs.
"So cool." She mumbled, only when she finally looked around did she see that she had been left here. "Crap." She said to herself.
Fila stood alone in the vast, circular hall, her head tilting as she tried to track the retreating footsteps of the Ilvermorny group. Between the roaring waterfalls and the soft, rhythmic humming of the golden stone, the sound of her classmates was being swallowed up quickly.
"Right," she rasped, her cane clicking against the floor. "Great start. Lost in a giant golden pyramid within five minutes."