Chapter:2 SPARK & SPELLS

The Arcane Research Institute looked exactly how Ivy imagined it.

If she imagined a sentient library married to a tech startup raised a chaos gremlin.

The building was massive - an impossible blend of glass, ivy-covered stone, and floating staircases that adjusted their direction depending on your mood. Literally. A sign out front read.

WELCOME TO ARI

Ivy didn't even question it. She was too busy gaping at the glowing wall murals (which moved), the enchanted vending machine, and the sleek glass lifts that zoomed between floors like magical rollercoaster.

She clutched her bag to her chest and followed the glowing arrows towards the intern office. On the way, a levitating orb buzzed past her ear and said cheerfully, "Warning: You are five minutes late! Good luck!"

She filled it off politely.

By the time she burst into the Intern Hall, she was breathless, glittery, and seconds away from a nervous breakdown.

The woman at the front desk glanced up. She had flaming red hair, sharp golden eyes and the kind of energy that screamed Don't test me before my third espresso.

"You must be Ivy Astra."

Ivy nodded, panting. "Yes, sorry. There was a blueprint explosion, and a glitter bomb and possibly a wizard its emotional issues."

The woman raised a brow, "So...you net Ronan."

Ivy stared, "Is it... that obvious?"

"Oh sweetheart. He's everyone's first magical accident." She extended a hand, "I'm Kiera. Intern coordinator, partial mind-reader, full-time chaos manager. Welcome to ARI."

Ivy liked her immediately.

Kiera handed her a glowing ID badge, a floating tablet, and a folder that tried to fly away twice before Ivy trapped it under her elbow.

"You've been placed in Division D, Spell engineering support team," Kiera said.

Ivy blinked, " Spell engineering... like... the complicated math stuff?"

"Mm-hmm. Potions, constructs, magical infrastructure, boom-boom enchantments. That kind of thing," Kiera paused. "And yes, Ronan works there. Sorry in advance."

I'm not scared of him," Ivy said.

Kiera grinned, "Good. You'll survive longer than most."

–

Division D was located three floors up, across a bridge made of living crystal and guarded by a dozing griffin. Ivy waved her badge and tiptoed past it.

The lab was massive - glass walls, glowing spell circles on the floor, enchantments swirling in containment tubes, and paper flying through the air as if they had somewhere important to be.

At the far end of the room stood Ronan, his coat half-off, hair messier than ever, scribbling something into a board while also muttering into a floating comm-orb.

He hadn't seen her yet.

Ivy tiptoed to her assigned desk, trying to act casual. She was halfway through pretending she knew what one of the buttons did when -

"You're late," Ronan said without looking up.

"I'm glitter bombed and mildly traumatized. Cut me some slack."

He glanced over, eyes scanning the glitter still stuck in her curls. A flicker of amusement passed over his face - so fast she almost missed it.

"You didn't clean up?"

"I tried. Turns out spell soot is very clingy. Like your personality."

A snort came from the next desk over. Ivy turned to see a girl with silver braids, bubblegum pink glasses, and a lab coat covered in stickers. She was eating magical popcorn that popped before she bit into it.

"I like her already," the girl said, "I'm Lani. Resident enchantment hacker and chaos cheerleader."

"Ivy, Intern, part-time glitter explosion victim." she said, smiling.

"Oh, you'll fit in great."

–

Over the next hour, Ivy was thrown into a whirlwind of onboarding chaos. Lani helped her charm her desk into recognizing her. A talking clipboard tried to quiz her on safety rules, but she failed. A floating teacup spilled itself in her bag.

And Ronan? He mostly ignored her. Except when he didn't.

"Don't touch that."

"You're holding the wand backward."

"That scroll is upside down."

"You don't stir with a pen - never stir with a pen - are you trying to summon a disaster?"

Ivy gritted her teeth. "Do you ever say nice things?"

"I say accurate things" he said.

"You say things that make people want to shove you into a broom closet."

Lani sipped her soda, "This is the most alive I've ever seen him."

–

By mid-afternoon, Ivy finally had a moment to breathe. She sat at her desk, scribbling notes and trying to figure out if magical circuits were supposed to buzz that much.

Across the lab, Ronan was working silently - his jaw tight, expression distant. Sometimes, he glanced at her like she was a puzzle he didn't decided to solve yet.

"Hey," Ivy said, standing up, "what's the project we're actually working on?"

He didn't answer right away.

"Stability field. The city's been having glitches - magic behaving unpredictably. We're trying to isolate the source."

Ivy nodded, "And it's not you?"

He looked at her.

She grinned. " Kidding, mostly."

There was a silence. Then he softly said, " You might be useful after all."

Ivy blinked. "Wait. Was that a compliment?"

"No" he replied.

"It's sounded like a compliment." she said.

"It wasn't," he said.

"You accidentally complimented me, didn't you?"