Zodiac Academy: The Awakening

Darcy elatedly reenters House Aer, but Seth is less pleased. He gifts her a key to her room on the 11th floor and warns her that each day will only get worse and that she should consider dropping out of Zodiac Academy. She brushes off the warning and retreats to her room, where she discovers a tablet called an Atlas. The Atlas contains the profiles and contact information of everyone in the school, including Tory, and details her class schedule, her syllabi, and the school event calendar.

The next morning, the fawning brunette from The Orb the previous day approaches Darcy on her way to Cardinal Magic class. She introduces herself as Geraldine Grus, part of the Almighty Sovereign Society on campus, which recognizes Darcy and Tory as the rightful Heirs to the throne. Darcy and Tori reunite in Cardinal Magic class. They make quick friends with a Latino student named Diego Polaris, who shows them the Fae social media site called Faebook. The site already has hateful posts about the Vega twins.

Professor Orion teaches Cardinal Magic—a class intended to provide students with “a basic understanding of all practical magic, simple divination and astrology” (107). He outlines the Orders of Fae, which include Taenia, parasitic Orders such as Vampires and Sirens; Mutatio, mutating Orders that include shapeshifters such as Werewolves, Dragons, and Pegasi; and Divisus, spliced Orders such as Minotaurs and Medusas. Each Fae has an Order, but Darcy and Tory do not know theirs. Orion reveals that he is a Vampire.

Darcy receives an anonymous private message through Faebook from an account named “Falling Star.” It claims that “he” hasn’t told the twins the whole story. When Orion catches her reading the next private message during the lesson, he demands that she read it out loud. It mentions the “he” from Falling Star’s previous message is Orion, “the lump of muscle who teaches [her] Cardinal Magic class,” whom they’ll recognize by “the scent of bourbon on his breath” and “the permanent scowl stamped on his face and the general air of failed dreams about him since he lost his chance at playing for the Solarian Pitball League” (114).

When Orion discovers that the twins cannot mentally resist Coercion—the ability of persuasion every Fae possesses and learns to shield against from an early age—he orders his students to Coerce them until they can successfully resist. Principal Nova arrives while the students force Darcy and Tory to do humiliating things. Principal Nova decides that they need teachers to tutor them once a week. She tasks Orion with aiding Darcy and Professor Prestos with aiding Tory.

Tory and Darcy grab lunch at The Orb, where they expertly avoid the desperate calls of Geraldine’s Almighty Sovereign Society club. The girls eat as they wander campus and witness a herd of Pegasi lounging in a meadow. They are shocked when the Pegasus they pet transforms into a peer named Tyler Corbin. A pink Pegasus transforms into Sofia, the blonde girl from the night before.

While Darcy attends Air class, Tory and Sofia walk to the Fire Arena for instruction by Professor Pyro. Tory is confronted by Caleb before class starts, and he feeds on her again before announcing her as his official Source; the declaration warns all other Vampires against feeding on her. Despite his feeding draining her magic, Tory’s fire ability is incredibly powerful and difficult to wrangle into the small sphere that Pyro instructs everyone to make. Pyro decides that Tory needs a powerful peer whose magic can allow her to gain control over her own. Pyro tasks Darius with helping Tory.

Darcy travels through The Wailing Wood to meet Orion for their first tutoring lesson. She receives a message from Falling Star, which reads, “The shadow draw closer to you, Darcy! Stay in the light!” (149). She begins hearing sounds in the darkness surrounding her just before Darius Acrux emerges. Darcy asks him to escort her to Orion’s office, but when Seth emerges, the boys Coerce her into running. Eventually, all four Celestial Heirs surround her and use their Elemental abilities to cover her entirely in mud and dry it onto her skin. They allow her to leave. She walks across campus, humiliated by everyone’s laughter.

When she arrives at Orion’s office, Darcy finds him drinking bourbon. Orion uses his magic to remove the mud from her body. When she declares that she won’t allow him to feed on her just for removing the mud, he does so anyway to prove that until she can fight him off, she’s vulnerable to every Fae at Zodiac Academy. Orion reads Darcy’s palm and explains that Fae have five lines—heart, head, life, fate, and power. While his power line is three quarters across his palm, Darcy’s is complete. Based on the intersecting lines on Darcy’s palm, Orion determines her power rankings. While her ability in all the Elements is strong, air is her strongest, followed by water, earth, and fire.

Orion reveals that Darcy’s father was a rare Hydra (Mutatio Order) and the most powerful Fae in Solaria, with three Elements—fire, water, and air—while her mother was a Harpy (Devisus Order) and had the air Element. Orion urges her to pay attention when her power surges, as that might indicate what her Order is.

Orion declares that the twins’ reappearance is a huge upset to the Fae world. Powerful families are being murdered just as the King and Queen were. While he believes that the Celestial Heirs can handle the Nymph population, he isn’t at all confident that the twins could. When Darcy pries for more information about the mysterious Nymphs, Orion shuts down.

Tory begins the following day by reading the daily Gemini horoscope that her Atlas provides. The horoscope predicts that Darcy will collide with a Sagittarius who will bring her peace of mind. It urges her not to forget her true obstacles and says that the choices she makes today could determine her path to come.

When she opens Faebook, she discovers that a fellow House Ignis member, Milton Hubert, has posted a photo of her naked back from the Ignis initiation. Tory tracks down Milton in the common area and uses water, air, and earth Elements to punish him while she deletes the photos from his Atlas. Afterward, Darius claims to have copies of the photos and invites Tory to punish him as well. Knowing that doing so would only bring Darius satisfaction, Tory says that he must be desperate “for material to jerk off to” and leaves (178). Tory and Darcy attend their Water Elemental class, where they learn that Max Rigel is a Siren. Sirens draw magic by feeding on the emotions of a host they make physical contact with.