The grounds of Academia Celestia, a prestigious Midlands school of the arcane arts, were abuzz with activity. The anomalies striking the region had thus far left the campus largely untouched but for a few minor disruptions, but given the severity of the rifts striking the nearby Westeria City and the government-ordered evacuation, no risks were being taken.
Robed spellcasters carrying lists of names were overseeing children as young as eleven who were being organised into groups depending on where they were being evacuated to. The majority were bound for the Westlands, where the TNG evacuation efforts were centred, but a fair few had families and homes overseas to which they could be returned - Celestia's prestige brought it its fair share of foreign students, after all.
Part of Scarlet was proud of the efficiency with which the school's faculty were operating. Ever since the academy had come under siege during the Orsa of Terminus wars, evacuation procedures had become an art that every staff member knew like the back of their hand. The half-dozen portal circles arrayed in the courtyard were active at full capacity, with groups of children being taken through by staff members to designated teleportation circles and portals at other magical institutes across the globe with an efficiency achieved through years of regular drills.
The rest of her, however, was disheartened. Given the scale of the anomalies, she feared that they wouldn't be able to return to the campus for a long time. There was a lot of history in the towers and walls of the academy, and she was loathe to abandon them, even if it was temporary and a solution could be found to the dangerous anomalies in the region. But the safety of the students came first.
A startled shout drew her attention across the courtyard to one of the circles. It had just been activated in readiness to take a group through, but the magical energies had begun to ripple and spark violently. The staff overseeing the circle quickly shepherded the students back and away from it as the newly formed portal warped and crackled. Scarlet had only taken a few steps towards it when it detonated in a burst of arcane force. The teachers were able to throw up wards to prevent the detonation harming anyone, but there was an abrupt surge of panic.
"Alright, stay calm!" Scarlet called out as she hurried over. "Everyone's alright?" she did a quick once over of the group to confirm it, and then nodded. "Good. Hold back from this circle for the time being until we can figure out if that was a one-off. There's a lot of planar instability going on right now, things are going to be a little dicey, but the longer we're all still here, the more risk there is of something worse going wrong."
She turned to one of the staff members nearby - the one in charge of managing this circle's evacuees. "Sarah, have the groups we were sending through here split between the adjacent two portals, work out the order with their managers, but keep things moving as a priority. I'll see about getting a team on figuring out if we can get this circle up and running again."
Too much to do, too many things to worry about. Scarlet sighed, hurrying off to find some more of the conjuration department to analyse the malfunctioning circle and see if there was anything they could do for its stability. It would be a miracle if they pulled this off without any students being harmed, but gods be damned, she was going to do everything in her power to make it so.
Robed spellcasters carrying lists of names were overseeing children as young as eleven who were being organised into groups depending on where they were being evacuated to. The majority were bound for the Westlands, where the TNG evacuation efforts were centred, but a fair few had families and homes overseas to which they could be returned - Celestia's prestige brought it its fair share of foreign students, after all.
Part of Scarlet was proud of the efficiency with which the school's faculty were operating. Ever since the academy had come under siege during the Orsa of Terminus wars, evacuation procedures had become an art that every staff member knew like the back of their hand. The half-dozen portal circles arrayed in the courtyard were active at full capacity, with groups of children being taken through by staff members to designated teleportation circles and portals at other magical institutes across the globe with an efficiency achieved through years of regular drills.
The rest of her, however, was disheartened. Given the scale of the anomalies, she feared that they wouldn't be able to return to the campus for a long time. There was a lot of history in the towers and walls of the academy, and she was loathe to abandon them, even if it was temporary and a solution could be found to the dangerous anomalies in the region. But the safety of the students came first.
A startled shout drew her attention across the courtyard to one of the circles. It had just been activated in readiness to take a group through, but the magical energies had begun to ripple and spark violently. The staff overseeing the circle quickly shepherded the students back and away from it as the newly formed portal warped and crackled. Scarlet had only taken a few steps towards it when it detonated in a burst of arcane force. The teachers were able to throw up wards to prevent the detonation harming anyone, but there was an abrupt surge of panic.
"Alright, stay calm!" Scarlet called out as she hurried over. "Everyone's alright?" she did a quick once over of the group to confirm it, and then nodded. "Good. Hold back from this circle for the time being until we can figure out if that was a one-off. There's a lot of planar instability going on right now, things are going to be a little dicey, but the longer we're all still here, the more risk there is of something worse going wrong."
She turned to one of the staff members nearby - the one in charge of managing this circle's evacuees. "Sarah, have the groups we were sending through here split between the adjacent two portals, work out the order with their managers, but keep things moving as a priority. I'll see about getting a team on figuring out if we can get this circle up and running again."
Too much to do, too many things to worry about. Scarlet sighed, hurrying off to find some more of the conjuration department to analyse the malfunctioning circle and see if there was anything they could do for its stability. It would be a miracle if they pulled this off without any students being harmed, but gods be damned, she was going to do everything in her power to make it so.
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