Professor Iris Cyan. That was her name. Whenever I saw her during the past week, she was always clothed up to her neck, and gloves seemed to be a regular part of her outfit.

Her classroom only had one desk, or should I say table because of its size. It was oval and it took up majority of the room. There was no separate teacher's desk. Just one chair that was blue while all the others were the color of sand. Opal and I sat next to each other as we did in all our classes.

She entered silently, walked up to the blue chair, and circled us with her gray eyes. Her oval face was rather pale, her lips pressed together as her gaze lingered on me for just a moment. I think that was the first time she actually looked at me. For some reason, it gave me goosebumps.

She gracefully arched her neck when she reached for a book on the table in front of her. She picked it up and turned a few pages slowly, as if she were holding a living creature instead of binded pages. Her eyes returned to us when she said, "Stories have the power to take us to places we have never been, to show us sights we have never seen. That is what is in the very heart of Literature."

In her soft-spoken voice, she clearly pronounced each word. No one made a sound. Everyone seemed to be focused on what she was saying, and I was no exception.

"After exploring children's stories last year, this year we are moving on," she continued. "We will let writers, human writers who let themselves be drawn into our world, tell us their stories. And, miss Azora," her gaze once again fell on me as she said, "I will be expecting a written report about fables and fairytales included in the lesson plan for the first year. Make sure you complete it by the end of next month."

More homework? My intestines tied to a knot at the very thought. Nevertheless, I politely responded, "Yes, Professor Cyan." I even managed to feign a smile.

"And now, let us look inside the mind of an extraordinary man. He once wrote: In a hole in the ground there lived..." Even though I already disliked this cold, reserved person, the natural fluency in her voice mesmerized me. I almost forgot all about the ample homework she assigned me.

Words were like magic. They had the power to take me to another place, just like music.

° ° ° ° ° ° °

Immediately after class, Opal and I visited the library to obtain textbooks needed for my upcoming assignments. As I was skimming through the book shelf labeled Botany, the green-eyed girl appeared beside me.

Lissa, her name was Lissa. I didn't learn much about her during the past four days. I didn't learn much about any of my classmates. Some of them still stayed at a safe distance, as if I might harm them in some way.

I was beginning to think that the headmaster had a conversation with all of them, to warn them that an uncommon student would be a part of their class. If he spoke to Opal, it wasn't unlikely that he spoke with the rest of them as well.

I wanted to tell them not to worry, that I'm completely harmless. I wanted to let them know that, even though I used to live in the water, I wasn't a siren. I never even saw a siren. My race had nothing to do with them. They didn't come to the shallower waters, and my race didn't go to the depths.

Thanks to my parents, I learnt that even humans had stories about the sirens. Some were lovely and tame, but others showed true colors of the race that lacked compassion and enjoyed destruction far too much.

If I were more like Opal, maybe I would have said out loud the words that were in my mind, but that would mean that they would all be looking at me, listening to me, maybe even ask questions. I wasn't ready for that just yet. Perhaps time will make me more courageous.

"You are going to need this one," Lissa said, handing me a book. Like a butterfly she fluttered, taking books off the shelf, one by one. "Take this one as well... and these two... this one will help you understand that one... and then there is this one with all the illustrations. No need to thank me."

She looked at me and gave me one of her smiles. She must have worn her contact lenses because her eyes weren't so intensively green any more. Their color was dimmed, which made them seem more humanlike.

After that strange interaction she just left me there, my arms full of books, my face full of surprise. Even Opal was speechless.

"That was fun to watch." The blonde girl whose name I couldn't remember even after a whole week, came from behind the shelf, wearing a short dress with floral pattern and a broad smile. "Don't resent her, though. She means well. Plants are her expertise."

"How come?" Opal had a quicker tongue than I did.

The blonde looked at Opal with her bright blue eyes. "She's a forest nymph. It's her thing. Even Professor Ravens sometimes stepped aside, letting her teach us about plants."

"No way!" Opal couldn't hide her surprise. "I heard about the forest nymphs. They are connected to the trees, so they can never leave the forest." Lowering her eyebrows, she added, "Unless they have a death wish."

"And after a while their skin begins to resemble tree bark, and tiny birds nest in their hair," the blonde added as if she were reciting a children's poem.

"Yes, that too!" Opal's eyes widened, causing horizontal wrinkles on her forehead.

The blonde leaned in, placing a hand on Opal's shoulder. "Don't believe everything you hear, little one."

Opal quickly moved away. "Don't call me little one you... you... At least tell me what you are, so I can come up with an appropriate insult!"

"Opal, I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it," I said to prevent her from exploding. I liked that curly-haired dwarf, but she had a really short fuse. I turned to the blonde. "What my friend wanted to ask was what your name is."

"No, I didn't," Opal mumbled. If I heard it, the blonde must have heard it as well, but chose to let it slide because she said, "I'm Niatesikleamaniena." The name rolled off her tongue as if it was completely ordinary. If I had to repeat it myself, I'd fail miserably. The confusion must have been painted all over my face because she added, "But you can call me Nia. I've decided to use the shortened version of my name."

Many of the hidden races did that, used a different name once they entered the human world. I believed Opal would never change her name. And I was seriously considering keeping my real name, too. Azora did not sound too strange in human ears.

"Are you a nymph? If you are, what sort? Water? Earth? Air?" Opal had so many questions that a part of me was beginning to feel relieved she didn't care much about the underwater life. Still, the plan to prove her wrong when it came to diving was not yet forgotten.

"I'm no nymph," Nia replied calmly. "I'm a fairy."

"A fairy!" It was my voice that was not able to hide the surprise. I had never met a fairy, and they were a part of so many stories. And to have one of them standing right in front of me! Even making my new found friend angry.

Her eyes focused on me, it felt like they were piercing right through me. For a moment it even seemed to me that their blue color was liquid. I blinked several times, and the illusion faded away. "I know where you came from. I know what you are." Her words might be perceived as some sort of an accusation, but her smile let me know she meant nothing bad by it. "And I bet they had their hands full trying to make you look more human. Would I win that bet?"

"Yes," I replied with a nod. "You would win that bet, and then some."

Nia kept smiling at me with that joyful smile of hers, which encouraged me to ask further questions. "You're a fairy! I've read a lot about fairies, and, forgive me if I'm being rude, but what happened to your wings?"

"Did the surgeons have to cut them off?" Opal joined enthusiastically.

"No one cut off my wings." She twirled to show us her wingless back. "I've never even seen a surgeon."

"How is that possible?" Given my medical history, that seemed completely unlikely.

"You see, fairies are not entirely corporeal beings. So, if we want to change the way we look, we can do that. I look like this because I chose to look like this."

My jaw dropped to the floor. It was that easy for Nia, and in my case, a medical team of three surgeons and seven other staff members was needed. I felt jealousy biting.

"So, if you wanted," Opal's curiosity wasn't satisfied just yet, "you could simply change your appearance? Tomorrow you could show up looking like me?"

Nia tilted her head to look at my dwarf friend. "Don't worry. I won't do that. I like being able to reach things off the high shelves."

I grabbed Opal by the arm to stop her from lashing out, causing one of the books I was holding to drop to the floor.

"Don't be mad at me, Opal. I'm only joking. I know you're big enough to handle it," Nia said and blazed us both with her smile before she turned and left.

The moment I bent down to pick up the book, the door opened. A boy dressed in black walked into the library. I recognized him. He was the one who stared at me during the first dinner, when I just arrived at the school. I still remembered the feeling of unease he aroused in me.

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him after that, but then again, I did have other things in mind. He only took one step and halted, as if he came across an invisible barrier. He looked around the room and after he spotted us, swiftly turned back and hurried down the hall.

When the door closed behind him, all we could do was to exchange puzzled looks.

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