[Special] A Ring of Mushrooms

[fairies of the lake]

Rules:

• You are only allowed to be in one [special] thread at a time.
  
• This event takes place the day before the Yule celebration.
  
• This thread is open to students only.
  
• This thread is being run by a moderator.
  

The world behind the mask of the reality throbbed with life. They had slept for far too long. The offering made three years ago had satiated them. Now, the desire grew again. The mortal realm beckoned them. This human land, known to them as Lake Caspian was one of many entrances, but few found themselves surrounded by such beauty as the the Mille-feuille Academy offered.

Their power was still weak. It would take time, many moons before they would grow strong unless they could find another way to grow stronger. After great debate in their royal courts, the decision was made. On the night before the Yule celebration, they would make an attempt to open the doorway to reality.

---

In the early morning of the day prior to the school's Yule celebration, Lake Caspian sat quietly without a soul in sight. Had there been someone near, they would have seen the bright crimson flame appear from nowhere and burn a small ring in the ground. Instead of destroying the grass in that ring, the grass grew, shifted, and changed. In its place now sat a perfect ring of mushrooms. The center of the mushroom ring, where only grass had once been, turned into a small patch of beautiful flowers.

Above the flowers, strange orbs of light appeared. They started glowing a light white and shifted into a cold blue. The cold blue sparkled and became a deep shade of violet. The violet, too, shifted and turned into a a hot red. The red only lasted for a few moments before it became a soft pink. The pink light faded into white and the entire cycle started again. It would continue like this until it had been noticed and drawn attention in the direction of the lake. They would shift and move about in the sky until the lights had brought students, as many as it could attract, to the circle of mushrooms and the mysterious patch at the lake.

[noelle sini forrester]

Noelle always found that taking a morning walk was great for clearing the mind. Most people would assume that it was far too cold to even step outside, but Noelle, having grown up in the very north of England, was used to it. She didn't have any lessons this morning, but no one usually came down to the lake in this weather, it was usually even colder by the water. Doing up more buttons on her coat, she took a few more steps around the lake.

The lake, today a deep, slate blue-hue, almost black, was still. Not even a ripple could be seen on its surface. It was ominous, or at least Noelle thought, perhaps almost too still.
Suddenly, what looked like a small, pink blur, danced across the surface of the lake, then fizzled out into thin air. Another one appeared, this one closer to to the surface, and did the same.
"What is that?" Noelle thought. "A dragonfly? It's too cold for dragonflies."
Another light appeared, this one larger, and blue. They seemed to be graduating toward some area about 50ft away from where Noelle was standing. Immediately intrigued, she walked over to where they were emulating from, shivering both with coldness, fear, but also some sort of excitement.

The lights ended at a small patch of grass a few meters from the lake's edge. A small ring of toadstools was there.
"A fairy ring!" cried Noelle. She'd never seen one before, but had heard many myths about them; that if you sat by one until midnight, a fairy parade would appear; that if you walked backwards round one you would become invisible and many others. Noelle, even though she hadn't believed in fairies for a long time, still retained a belief of magic in the world, at least somewhere, so she was wary of going closer to the ring. She sat down on the damp grass, pulled out a notebook and pen that she always carried round, and began to sketch the mushroom circle and lights.

[julie rin hideaki]

Julie had been running for twenty minutes along the lake, wishing she was wearing shorts, and not trousers. It was so cold when she left the dorm room, but now her cheeks weren't only pink or rosy, they were colored with a brightning red. Fifty meters away, she spotted someone sat on the grass. She sprinted towards the person and saw that it was Noelle, with a notebook and a pencil, drawing something in front of her. Curious thing that was... Julie had never seen mushrooms and flowers displayed in that way. She stoped by the girl's side: "Good morning, Noelle! I didn't know you were also an early riser!", she exclaimed, trying to catch her breath. "What's that thing you're drawing?"

[hecate cassandra castilo]

Hecate stretched as she walked, the light of the early dawn spilling across her body. I miss the color of the sunrises back home... Hecate wasn't an early raiser, but on the few, freak occassions she woke up early, she would see the blood-red of the sun as it spilled on the desert she could see on the edge of the city. She sighed. It's not so dam cold there either...

As she walked closer to the lake, she saw her roommate Noelle and another girl she'd never seen before. Hecate decided to listen in on their conversation.

[noelle sini forrester]

Noelle was startled by the first year behind her, she didn't realize that anyone else would be up this early. Usually she was always first up in her dorm, and no one ever accompanied her on the walk. Her pencil skidded across the paper as she turned round.
"Oh! Hello Julie. I'm just drawing...these mushrooms." she said in a fluster. "And um...this may seem a bit weird, but can you see those lights too?" She gestured wildly towards the lights, which were fastly changing color and zipping about.

[julie rin hideaki]

"Oh, so those lights are real", she thought it was her imagination, or at least the lack of oxygen in her brain playing tricks on her. "Was this made by the school staff? It certainly looks magical". Julie had never heard of a fairy ring, and to her, just the fact that a school for lolitas existed was already magical. So in her conception of a fairy tale land, it was only natural that absolutely anything could happen.

[fairies of the lake]

Students had come. It was as they had before and would again. The ring of mushrooms had been found, but it wasn't enough yet. There was still one last thing that needed to be done before they had succeeded in doing what they must.

The lights grew bright and more intense. The light would catch the attention of those nearby. During that moment, the ring of mushrooms and the grove inside changed again. This time, a single gold coin appeared, nestled beneath a blade of grass. The coin stuck out just enough that the moonlight would reflect off of it, revealing a gold glint that would be tempting to those who were nearby.

[noelle sini forrester]

"Ah!", exclaimed Noelle. "The lights just got brighter!". She tapped Julie on the shoulder and pointed towards the mushrooms, in which the lights began to emanate more wildly from, and a larger gold glint had appeared. The aforementioned gold light, however, was stationary. Noelle was afraid of going near to it, what if it was harmful? It was just a light, of course, but there was still a sense of the unknown behind it that made Noelle slightly fearful. Peering closer, she saw the light was coming from a small, golden coin poking out of the grass. It wasn't the dull gold of a pound coin, but brighter and shinier.
She again said to Julie, "Hey! There's a coin here. Look."

[julie rin hideaki]

That couldn't be just some special effects made by humans... But then what was it? Magic? Real magic? Julie remembered a book about fairies she had read as a child. They were scaring and mean... From then on, she decided it was better not to believe in them. And ever since she heard that saying "I don't believe in fairies" makes a fairy die, she always said so when an opportunity appeared.

Julie was so entertained by the lights that she almost didn't notice the coin, only when Noelle pointed it out. She looked at it and felt strongly attracted to its misterious glow... She let a "I don't believe in fairies" escape from her lips, leaned over and touched it.

[fairies of the lake]

As the student crossed the threshold of the fairy ring, the silent chears echoed across the other kingdom. The gamble had worked. The student reached down and touched the gold coin.

Julie was an autumn, they could feel it about her. The fairy kingdom had need for a connection to an autumn in the real world. Though she could not be seen, not yet, the fairy queen ran her hand across Julie's cheek. Julie would feel nothing more than a cool breeze on her face. Then, the fairy queen leaned forward and kissed her forehead. This would not be felt at all, however the magic would.

This Julie Rin Hideaki would never feel the harsh cold night again. The air might be blisteringly cold, but to her, it would always be comfortable. Oh, her breath would still bring about wisps of coldness, but her body would warm.

And on the night of the Yule, the prince would appear and take Julie into dance. As time moved on, Julie would find herself drawn more towards the fae. Yes, she would be the one to help them. It was only a matter of time.