By the time Beatrice had made it through the castle and out to the west field, the Skeet-Shooting arena had been mostly emptied. The spectators who had been cheering on the contests had wandered off, either happy at the showing or disappointed with their friend's standing. Only professor Arcturus and some of the Ravensburl staff were still around the arena proper, magically cleaning up the debris from the targets and preparing the grounds for the second-year games. Much to the earth witch's dismay, Nova was nowhere to be found.

"Professor Arcturus!" Beatrice called, jogging up to the judges' table where the Destruction professor was. She stopped just before him, panting and out of breath.

"Beatrice, my dear! What's happened to you?" Arcturus's brows furrowed in concern.

"I had to meet the Headmistress suddenly and I just got back." Beatrice took a moment to catch her breath. "Have you seen where Nova went?"

"Nova?" Arcturus beamed, "You don't mean the first-year Skeet-Shooting champion, do you?"

"What? She won?!"

"Yes! Oh my, you should have seen the last ten seconds of the third round, it was her against that Hawkswood boy. Targets everywhere, but oh my, her precision!" The professor beamed with pride. "I always thought she shone brightly during my class, but once given the chance to show what she could really do, oh my, did she deliver!"

Beatrice beamed. "That's wonderful! But where did she go?"

"Hmm, I can't say for certain, unfortunately. She did take a long while to check the stands before she wandered off though."

Beatrice's heart sank. Nova had waited, looking for her, and she wasn't there. She wasn't there to celebrate her win with her, or to cheer her on at the final round.

"Thank you, professor." The earth witch's voice caught in her throat, tight with emotion as she thought of Nova standing there, her triumphant smile fading as she scanned the stands and couldn't find her. The disappointment she must have felt... "I'll go find her, thank you."

Beatrice turned and hurried away before hot tears could fall down her cheeks. She walked on through the castle hall without purpose or direction, unsure of where she might find her roommate. Nova didn't quite have a place she frequented through the castle. She didn't stay inside the dimly lit library any more than she had to, and certainly not if they had no homework. She only ever visited the dining hall for food and drink and not to sit and chat with friends. She didn't spend time in the fields aside from her quick jogs either.

Then Beatrice was struck with a realization that had the tears flowing down her cheeks, unbidden, blindsided as she was with a surge of emotion that gripped her heart.

Nova had no one place she frequented because she was always with Beatrice. Wherever her Bee would flittered off to, Nova would be there too.

Blinded by her tears that she roughly wiped away with the heels of her hands only for them to return, Beatrice walked on through the castle without thinking. It was only when her legs were moving up a flight of stairs did she snap back to the present. She was at their dormitory building, going up to their floor. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she turned the doorknob to hers and Nova's room. Maybe she could just fall into bed and cry into her pillow for the rest of the day, at least till Nova came back.

"Bee?"

Beatrice hastily blinked, her head snapping up.

Nova was there, on her unmade bed, her phone in her hand and a small golden trophy on her nightstand. The look on the Asian witch's eyes shifted from anger, to confusion, to concern as Beatrice sniffed and sobbed. Before the tech witch could say anything else, her roommate had thrown her arms around Nova's shoulders, crying and blubbering apologies whose words Nova couldn't make out.

After a short while, Nova just smiled and hugged Beatrice back, stroking the back of the shorter witch's wavy hair. "Hey, it's okay. I'm sure you had a reason why you weren't there," she said in a soft voice.

"I'm sorry!" Beatrice sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I should have stayed put! I missed the whole thing, I didn't mean to!" The earth witch wiped her face with the end of her blouse, and hastily took her foggy glasses off. "Professor Arcturus told me about everything, you had gone head to head with the Hawkswood kid and beat him! Nova, I'm so proud of you!" She squealed, hugging her roommate tightly and burying her still sobbing face into Nova's shoulder.

Nova felt and heard one of her vertebrae crack from the force of Beatrice's hug.

A blush crept across the tech witch's face even as she hugged her roommate back. "You... You are?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Yes, of course! You're amazing and brave and so talented!" Beatrice babbled. "I knew you were always good at Destruction class but even Professor Arcturus was so impressed with you today! And it’s not just the skeet-shooting, do you remember when you tackled the impostor?"

"I tackled him, sure, but you used the vines on him like you've done that lots of times before."

"But Nova, you ran up the wall!" Beatrice let go of the taller witch for a moment, pausing to wipe away her tears with the edge of her blouse. "You ran up the wall like it was nothing!"

Nova burst into a short laugh. "No, that really was nothing, Bee. It wasn't that many steps—"

"But still! You're amazing!"

"No, you're amazing." Nova's smile was soft as she pecked Beatrice's cheek with a kiss. "Let me guess why you weren't there. You saw someone in trouble again, didn't you?"

The earth witch shook her head. "I would have left if I saw someone in trouble, but it was a lot worse than that."

"What?"

"I saw me, Nova." Beatrice's tone was grave. "I saw another impostor, but this time they were disguised as me. Either the first one got away or there are at least two."

"Damn. There might even be more. What happened?"

"I chased them through the west hall, they stopped at the Abjuration case but didn't take anything. Then they went to the east hall and..." Beatrice sighed heavily. "Professor Laurence used a spell called the void prison on me. It was like falling into nothingness, it was terrible!" She shuddered at the memory of it.

The tech witch's brow furrowed in thought. "Laurence did that, huh?"

"I woke up in the Headmistress's office and she was scolding Professor Laurence for targeting "the wrong Beatrice." He said it was because I aimed my wand at the imposter, and I mean.... He has a point, I did do that, and I guess it looked like I was the instigator?"

Nova patted her roommate on the arm to get her to move out of the way for a moment. As she stood, her sheep-shaped familiar rolled away from underfoot. "I don't trust Professor Laurence. Remember that time when we saw him coming out of this building?"

"He said something about the posters." Beatrice nodded.

"He didn't do shit. He was lying. And now you're telling me he attacked and incapacitated you?" Nova's voice rose with anger. "And the impostor that you caught! The Headmistress unraveled illusions from it, they were layered on. Laurence is the Illusions professor!" The tech witch paced up and down the short dormitory room. "Not to mention he's just an asshole to us in class!"

"I know what you mean, Nova. But he's still a professor of the school." Beatrice said slowly, unsure of her own convictions. "Headmistress must have some trust in him if she had hired him on to teach her students, right?"

"She might have trust in him, but I don't." Nova scoffed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration. "And you shouldn't either, Bee! Not after what he did to you!"

Beatrice nodded and stood as well, and caught the frustrated tech witch in a hug. "I know, I know."

"I...I just." Nova sighed, her anger deflating in Beatrice's embrace. She hugged the earth witch back. "I'm just worried about you, okay? A void prison, seriously?"

Beatrice couldn't help but smile. "You do care about me, huh?"

"Of course I do!" A fierce blush crept up Nova's face. "Don't make me have to say it so much."

"It's okay." The earth witch found herself giddily smiling, looking up at her roommate and the shy, embarrassed look on her face. "I care about you too. And I'm so proud of you."

"I'm... I'm proud of you too, Bee. You're amazing."

The two witches' lips met softly, their eyes fluttering closed as they held each other in their arms. It was a conversation without any words: an exchange of their worry, concern, pride, joy, and a shy, blossoming love that was still young and unsteady, still testing the waters. Two witches from two different worlds, with mastery of opposing magic, but hearts that now understood the other.

They passed several hours together in their dormitory room, speaking in hushed voices and soft giggles. Nova, her skin still cold, warmed quite quickly to Beatrice and the earth witch was more than happy to hold her and to be held in return. The tech witch's touch was soft and shy as if the young druid was fragile, immaterial. That maybe if she caressed her cheek wrong she would fall into a million pieces and be lost to her forever. Nova, her sharp, dark eyes looking out from behind her long lashes, was more than content to see the lively and energetic earth witch from afar. Just happy that she was here, with her.

It was Beatrice who took the first step and held her roommate's hand with confidence. She had held others by the hand before, guiding the wounded and lost along with the rest of the family, but this was different. Her heart hammered in anticipation and nervousness, her very skin was alight with an energy she had never felt before. Every touch was electric, and she was sure it wasn't from Nova's innate connection to electricity. It was all her, all them.

When Beatrice took Nova's hand, the taller witch didn't flinch or move away. When Nova ran a hand through Beatrice's wavy hair, the earth witch smiled softly back. When the two leaned into each other, their lips meeting, eyes fluttering closed, there were no words exchanged and no doubts lingering. Nothing else existed but the two of them in that moment: not the impostors running free in the castle, not suspicious professors, and certainly not Circe Amelia Hawkswood and her cronies. There were only two young hearts, lying together in Nova's messy dormitory bed.

It was only once Beatrice's stomach began to audibly growl several hours later that the two witches laughed and noticed the time. The light from behind the curtains had long since dimmed, and Beau the mandrake had begun to peek from its pot and squeak.

"I guess we have to get up now, huh?" Nova chuckled softly. She smiled more freely around Beatrice. "How long has it been?"

"Who cares, really?" The earth witch smiled and planted a soft kiss on her roommate's forehead. "But it was lovely while it lasted."

"It's not like this is the last time, right?"

"Of course not! But we should probably get some dinner. I don't think we've eaten since..."

Nova shook her head. "We didn't even have breakfast. The skeet-shooting was in the morning."

"Half a day's gone already?" Beatrice hauled herself out of bed, moving to quickly get the dropper from her bedside table and give Beau its dinner before the mandrake would start screaming and give the whole dormitory floor tinnitus.

"Who cares, really?" Nova repeated with a chuckle, coming up behind Beatrice and embracing the shorter with from behind, leaning her head on her shoulder. "I hardly even noticed it."

The earth witch put away the dropper and made sure her familiar was satisfied before turning around in Nova's arms and giving the taller witch another quick kiss. "I guess it's true what they say, right? Time flies when you're with the one you love."

Nova blushed fiercely. "Bee!"

Beatrice laughed and hugged her tightly.

When the two witches reentered the main castle, it was well into the evening and time for dinner. Students from both schools were milling about in mixed groups more and were finding more and more places to sit and talk. The benches around the raven fountain were full, so other groups have opted to sit on the field or up in the skeet-shooting arena stands. The area was lit only by the torches and lanterns, as well as the light from the stars, but Beatrice was sure she saw some movement past the audience stands where it was dark and out of the way. Nova, holding Beatrice's hand and getting more used to her roommate's cautious and trouble-sensing nature, just chuckled and squeezed her hand, leading the earth witch away from the stands before she could go investigate the sounds of clandestine giggling from behind the bleachers.

The main hall was alive with the sounds of chatter, with snippets of conversation reaching Beatrice's ears.

"There's something going on about the races?" She asked out loud, straining to eavesdrop and find more information. "Weren't the races at the east field, at the same time as the skeet-shooting in the west field?"

"I think so, but they might have another schedule for tomorrow. As far as I know, the races were really popular at the sign-up." Nova said with a shrug. The tech witch wasn't too concerned about the Games when she herself hadn't had a bite to eat all day. She continued to steer the nosy earth witch into the main dining hall. "Hey, there's The Witches Three. Wanna have dinner with them?"

"Huh?" Beatrice looked over to the table they usually shared with their friends and hesitated for a moment. After how none of the three opted to help her with the impostor problem, she bristles slightly at the option to eat with them. But right away she shook her head. "Why would I be mad at them? They have nothing to do with it..." She muttered before nodding with conviction. "Sure, let's have dinner with them. We can tell them all about your win!"

After a quick detour to pick up trays of food as the dining hall set-up had been returned to the cafeteria-style self-service, Nova and Beatrice joined their friends at the dinner table.

"Oh?" Adeline said, greeting them with a small smirk. "You two darlings have a pep in your steps! Come, come, sit and tell us what happened!"

Beatrice giggled, a blush spreading on her face. Beside her, Nova likewise looked shy. "Nothing happened! Well, I mean, Nova won the skeet-shooting contest for the first years!"

"What? That's amazing!" Adeline beamed, clapping her hands. "Oh, I wish we had been there to see the moment!"

Hanan, caught off guard and speechless as her mouth was full, likewise clapped enthusiastically. She gave Nova a thumbs up even as her mouth bulged like a squirrel's.

The tech witch chuckled. "Thanks, you guys. It was the first game this morning so I guess not everyone was awake yet."

"Well, we were up, I have to admit." Adeline continued. "But we went straight to the east field to practice. Had some blinders on the whole day, unfortunately." She put her hands up to either side of her eyes to mimic the blinders one would put on a racehorse.

"What for?"

"The duels."

Hanan nodded, finally swallowing her food and dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. "Yeah, the team duels start tomorrow. They'll only be having a few teams every day, then the last day of the week will be the one-on-one duels. We're up against Circe tomorrow!"

Between Adeline and Hanan, Sascha looked ashen-faced as they stared into their plate, the fettuccini Alfredo going cold and untouched. Beatrice made a face and nodded her head questioningly towards Sascha, and the French witch shrugged in response.

"We've been practicing all day, as best as we can to prepare. But we're all just first years, so there's only so much we can do."

"But you three have the best teamwork I've ever seen! You'll be able to handle this without a cinch!"

Hanan restlessly pushed food around on her plate. "Maybe, but we haven't seen how Circe and those other two are as a team. The two are always with her, so they must all be really close, right?"

"Just because they follow and obey doesn't mean they're close," Nova said, matter-of-factly. She leaned back in her chair as she usually did, the back legs balancing her weight. "I bet, Circe's just going to shout orders at them like they were dogs."

"Nova."

"Am I wrong, Bee? She looks like the type. While you three..." The tech witch gestured to their friends. "You guys are a real team. And we'll be in the stands watching the whole time, cheering you on! So stick it to that stuck-up ass, for us, okay?" She looked pointedly at Beatrice as she mentioned the stands.

Adeline broke into a relieved sort of laugh. "Oh Nova, you darling. Thank you. I know we can do it, but that's not going to stop us from being nervous as all get out for ages! I don't think either of us are as spectacular as you with offensive spells. Ah, ah, ah, don't deflect! You did win the skeet-shooting competition, and you can't shoot healing spells so you know what I mean."

Beatrice giggled lightly at Nova's expense, but she leaned forward, curious. "I did always mean to ask you guys, but what are your fortes? If Nova is electricity-based magic, and I do best with earth and plants..."

"Oh!" Hanan quickly swallowed another mouthful. "I do best with sigil-based magic, but I'm working on learning more fire magic."

"Hmm, I prefer sound spells myself."

"Writing," Sascha said simply, the first thing they had said all day.

The earth witch leaned back, her brow furrowed in thought. Sigils, sound, and writing? How would that help with a duel? She glanced over to her roommate, who could only give a small shrug in reply.

"I guess we'll see how well it plays out tomorrow," Beatrice said with a confident smile.