''Agatha! why Agatha?! Gods, what has gotten into me?'' Seraphina cursed herself as she paced around the small room she was given by Dinah's mother. 

''Of all the names in the world, I had to choose that of Varog's favorite harlot?'' she sat on the equally small bed with her head between her hands. ''Agatha, ugh,'' she gagged.

It was evening , and the sun was setting, Illuminating the whole kingdom with its beautiful orange hues before welcoming in the night. To say the day had been long for Seraphina would have been an understatement.

First, she had to help Carissa, Dinah's mom, prepare lunch. When the woman had called out to help in the kitchen, she had been outside the house soaking in the sun. She almost said no, but her rumbling stomach disagreed. And so, she dragged her feet to the kitchen and helped the woman cook lunch, which was rice and guinea fowl stew.

Her own lunch however, consisted of leftover rice and gravy from the stew. Once again, she was denied her meat.

Secondly, and probably the worst of all. She was introduced to Dinah, who looked at her like she was some street rat. Gods, she hated her.

She hated that the girl took Timothy away from her, she hated how she had looked down on her, she hated how she had perfect raven black hair and beautiful doe like brown eyes. She hated how Dinah was perfect in every way while she was flawed and weird. No wonder Timothy never had any romantic feelings for her.

When Carissa had told Dinah that Agatha, as in her, Seraphina, was going to help her prepare for her upcoming wedding. All the doe eyed girl did was hum, and without so much as exchanging another word, turned on her heels and snapped her fingers at Seraphina to follow her. As much as she didn't want to, she had no choice. 

Also, Carissa pushed her from behind, so there was that.

And last but not the least, Dinah's green eyed younger brother, whose name she had not even bothered to learn, had peeped through the window in her room, and caught her changing. She had marched up to Carissa and told her about it, but the damned woman blamed her instead!

She somehow managed to make Seraphina look like the bad guy, while her son smiled at her cheekily from behind his mother's skirts. No matter how hard she tried to explain, the woman was unrelenting. In fact, she even went further to accuse Seraphina of trying to entice the young boy.

Just the mere thought of that made her cringe. In what gutter had the woman's head been in?

Her, a seventeen-year-old girl, enticing a boy who was no more than ten years old, disgusting.

Because of her whorish ways, Carissa's words not hers, Seraphina was denied dinner that night and was asked to stay in her room until she was called for.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted to her room, causing her stomach to rumble even more. She got up and poured water into the glass from the pitcher she was provided with and filled her stomach with it.

As she sat confined in her room, there was only one thought going on in her head, she had to leave this place. She couldn't stay here anymore, she had to run. ''Staying here is going to do me no good,'' she whispered to herself as she looked out the window and at the setting sun. ''I need a plan, now.''

Luckily for her, the thought of locking her bedroom door had not crossed Carissa's mind yet. Sooner or later however it will, and she didn't plan on sticking around to find out.

And then there was also this voice at the back of her mind, pushing her to take this action. It was almost like there was another person inside of her, telling her what to do, and for some uncanny reason, she trusted it.

Seraphina waited until it was night fall before springing into action. She knew there was leftover food somewhere in the kitchen, all she had to do was sneak out of her room, change into her old clothes, because this stained beige maid outfit Carissa had given her was ghastly. No one with an acute fashion sense would ever wear that.

After that, she'll have to rummage through the kitchen looking for the leftover bread and maybe snag some ham if she's lucky, and then quietly sneak out of the house.

Simple, right?

Absolutely not!

What she hadn't planned for, was Dinah coming downstairs to refill her pitcher while she ransacked Carissa's kitchen that night.

''Frig!'' Seraphina cursed when she noticed the shadow coming down the stairs. The fire was still burning in the fireplace and it was really not helping her case. If Dinah saw her, she would be dead. No, she would be worse than dead.

Suddenly an idea struck her, if she could light things up on fire, surely, she could stop it too. It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

''I think I can do it,'' she whispered to herself as she hid behind one of the barrels of water, her gaze wavering between the fire and the fast-approaching shadow. ''Come on, come on,'' she rubbed her hands together and focused on the fire.

''I can do it, I can do it,'' she closed her eyes and imagined the fire. 

You can do it. 

There was a light whisper behind her. She opened her eyes and was just about to look behind when she heard a soft gasp. Thinking she had been spotted, Seraphina was ready to come out of her hiding place and surrender, but what Dinah said next stopped her.

''Ohh, the fire has gone out!'' she gasped dramatically, causing Seraphina to roll her eyes but also mentally clap for herself for actually doing it. ''I can't see. Oh, what if I miss a step and fall down? I cannot risk myself when I'm so close to getting married. No, no, let me go get my lantern.'' 

And to Seraphina's relief she turned on her heels and went back to her room for the lantern.

''What an idiot!'' Seraphina shook her head at the retreating girls back. ''The moon is literally shining through the window. Gods, how dumb can somebody be?''

Not wanting to waste too much time on Timothy's vain fiancée, she got up and grabbed the two pieces of bread she had spotted from her hiding place and a slice of ham she had spied next to it. She wanted to go for the cheese too, but it was too far into the pantry. Dinah would be back soon, and she might not be lucky this time. Putting the ham carefully between the bread, she wrapped it into her now clean handkerchief and put it inside her skirt pockets.

After fastening her borrowed cloak around her shoulders, she looked behind her one last time to check if there was another person there, but there was no one. 'Hmm, weird,' she thought, 'I could swear I heard a -'

A thud from above broke her from her thoughts.

''Frig, she's coming!'' Seraphina cursed. She quickly gathered her skirts and ran towards the door, which unfortunately for her, was locked. ''Oh frig, I'm done for now,'' she began panicking.

Dinah was coming down the stairs with her poorly lit lantern. If she were to start unfastening the locks, the other girl would hear her for sure.

''What to do? What to do?'' Seraphina looked around the living room, while keeping an eye out for the doe eyed girl. Luckily for her, the lantern was poorly lit and the vain girl was taking her sweet time in coming down the stairs.

It seemed like for once, luck was on her side that night as she spotted one of the windows was  ajar. She could vividly remember Carissa shouting to her son to close all the windows before they retired for the night. In his hurry, the little boy must have forgotten to fasten the latch on one. Without wasting a second more, Seraphina pushed the window wide open and climbed out without making any noise.

Dinah came into view just as she closed the window. She hid under it for a few seconds, hoping that she was not spotted. After what seemed like a full minute, when it was twenty seconds at most, she heard the slow thump of someone climbing up the stairs.

Dinah had gone back to bed without noticing anything amiss. She really did live up to her village's name.

She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and chuckled to herself. ''I can't believe I did it. I escaped, and all thanks to that green eyed peep! Who would've thought?'' She gave herself about ten seconds to bask in her newfound freedom, before grabbing the nearby lantern that was suspended over a hook and ran off in the opposite direction of where she had first come from.

Dunderton was even bigger than Seraphina had imagined. So many streets, so many lanes to get lost in. As she wandered about the quiet village, many thoughts crossed her mind. One however, really stood out.

What was it with her and fire?

Was it just a coincidence?

No, it could not be. If it had happened only once, it would have been understandable, but four times now.

Can she somehow control fire?

''Hah, that's impossible, no one can do that!'' she laughed out loud at the absurdity of that, before realizing that she was in an incredibly quiet street and someone might have heard her. Clamping her mouth shut and blowing out the flame in the lantern, just in case, she continued with the one-on-one conversation with herself.

What if she was a witch?

''Gods forbid!'' she gasped out quietly. ''I cannot be a witch, I just cannot. Besides, witches don't exist, none of this exists. There is nothing like controlling fire or witches or any of that hogwash. Not here in Elisira at least.'' She waved her free hand in the air, as if doing that would rid her of crazy her thoughts.

''I think I'm going mad,'' she finally concluded, ''Maybe I need a good night's sleep to clear my head. ''controlling fire, huh?'' she snorts, ''unbelievable.''

She was now out of the village and was walking down a path, which when she looked up, was leading to a deep forest. As someone who had grown up listening to stories about dangerous creatures from hell roaming in deep, dark forests, from her mother, Seraphina thought it wise not to venture into it, especially at this time.

Spotting a huge boulder, which was now slowly becoming a thing and also her savior in this journey, she jogged towards it and sat down. ''Gods, I'm hungry.'' Her stomach rumbled as she removed the bundle of food from her pockets and bit into the bread. ''Mhmm,'' she moaned, ''I love bread.''

She decided to spare the other slice of bread and ham for later. Come tomorrow, she will be venturing inside the dark forest and gods know what will be waiting for her on the other side.

Will she even make it across the forest in the first place?

And if she were to die in it, she would at least want to die with a full stomach.

She made the mistake of glancing at the forest on her right. The shiver that ran down her spine had her wrapping her cloak tight around her body. The forest itself was vast. The trees making it up were of all kinds, varying from short and bushy to tall, towering ones. Their dark green leaves swaying as the wind blew, casting haunting shadows all over.

She thought she saw something move by the edge, but it might have been a figment of her imagination. Not wanting to see the dark forest anymore, lest it led her to changing her mind about tomorrow, Seraphina chose to sit on the other side of the huge rock.

Not looking at the forest, will make her not think about it. This was her coping mechanism. She did it two nights ago when she ran away from Copperfin and she will do it now. Also, the forest and  its deadly creatures were tomorrow's problems, she had to survive the night first.

The wind was beginning to pick up and Seraphina feared she might have to look for another place to spend the night. Preferably somewhere with a roof. As her gaze swept of over the vast lands in front of her, she realized she only had two options.

One, either she retraces her steps and heads back to Dunderton, which was out of question. Or two, she walks into the vast green mass of trees behind her, where she would most likely be killed.

''Hmm,'' she wondered out aloud, ''a slow torturous death in Dunderton or a swift death in the forest, what's a girl got to do?''

''I believe the answer to that is neither,'' she heard a soft, but powerful voice from behind her.

Seraphina almost jumped out of her skin from the sudden sound. The last thing she expected was company, and that too in a place like this one. She hid her face behind her cloak and slowly peered at the owner of the voice.

She had expected it to be a woman yes, but not an impeccably dressed one. She looked like a royal or something. Definitely not someone you would see in these parts of the kingdom. So, what was she doing here?

The woman in question, was dressed in a plain deep purple gown with thin gold threaded borders. There wasn't anything special about it, but to Seraphina, who had been wearing dirty brown, white and black clothes all her life, the purple dress was fit for a princess, and to top it off, the cloak around the woman's shoulder was of the darkest black she had ever seen, and when it fluttered in the wind, it blended perfectly with the night. One would think it was cut out from the night sky itself.

''So, what have you decided?'' the rich looking woman peered down at Seraphina, who was shamelessly ogling at her dress, imagining how it would look on her. ''Do you wish to die tonight?''

''Huh, what?'' she blinked her eyes away from the gown and slowly got up. A lesson that her mother had taught her, that when speaking to someone who was standing, make sure you're too. You wouldn't want to come off as rude.

''You're not dying tonight, young girl,'' the woman smiled at her knowingly. Did she know something Seraphina didn't?

''Who are you?'' Seraphina finally found the courage to ask the woman upfront.

''My name is Hilda Greeves, Order of Merlin, second class, and principal of Elisira's Academy of the Arcane. You can call me Ms. Greeves,'' the woman introduced herself. It was a well-rehearsed introduction, one that she used frequently it would seem.

''I'm sorry, I didn't catch anything after your name,'' Seraphina shook her head, ''order of what? and principal of where now?''

The woman's lips curved upwards, almost like as if she were smiling, and that's when Seraphina noticed her eyes. Magnificent amethyst eyes, sparkling in the moonlight, peering down at her.

''You have incredibly beautiful eyes,'' she found herself speaking out loud, as if she were in a trance.

''As do you,'' Hilda Greeves nodded her head at her. ''Eyes like yours are incredibly rare.''

''My eyes, phsst,'' Seraphina snorts, ''I wish I had brown or black colored eyes like normal people. Maybe then I wouldn't be the village freak.''

''You're no freak, young girl. Yes, you're different, but that doesn't make you a freak.'' Ms. Greeves now fully smiled at her. ''Tell me, what's your name?''

''A-A-Ag-'' Seraphina wanted to lie, but the look Ms. Greeves was giving her, and the knowing smirk playing on her lips, made her decide otherwise.

''You wouldn't lie to me, would you?'' the woman, who looked almost the same age as her mother, give or take a few years, inclined her head to one side, waiting for an answer.

''Ahem,'' she cleared her throat, ''Seraphina, my name is Seraphina..... Fleming, she said after a short pause. Choosing to use her mothers' maiden name. It was also at this moment Seraphina decided that henceforth this was the name she was going to use, if she is ever known, it will be for this name.

Ms. Greeves smiled a wistful smile, like she was remembering something, an old memory perhaps. Seraphina watched the older lady's amethyst eyes glaze. However it was short-lived. When the woman's gaze met hers, all emotion had gone from her eyes as she looked at Seraphina from head to toe. 

''Well then,'' she crossed her arms in a graceful manner, ''best not to waste any more time, we should well be on our way to the academy.''

''W-what academy?'' Seraphina eyebrows furrow in confusion.

''For heaven's sake girl, haven't you been listening?'' the woman chided her. ''Elisira's Academy of the Arcane. That's where we will be going.''

''No offense Ms. Greeves, but I'm not going anywhere with you, ''Seraphina tried to be polite as she could but feared it didn't come out as she had expected.

''I see,'' the woman sighs deeply, ''your mother taught you well.''

''You knew my mother?!''

''Why yes, Rosalind and I were friends.''

Seraphina's interest was now piqued. This woman oozing royalty claims she was friends with her mother, but never in her seventeen years of existence had her mother ever mentioned her. It was also not like she could run over to her and ask, maybe Ms. Greeves would indulge her.

''How did you know her?''

Hilda Greeves' eyebrows rose at the girls use of past tense when talking about her mother.

Could it be? she thought to herself before banishing the thought from her mind. Rose could not have died, she just couldn't have. After all, she did contact her about Seraphina's abilities and whereabouts, but then again, why was her daughter out here alone in the middle of nowhere? More importantly, where was Rose?

''She and I were friends,'' Ms. Greeves swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and replied to the younger version of her friend.

''My mother never mentioned you before.''

Gods, this girl is persistent. 

Hilda Greeves pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed once again. ''I can imagine why,'' she began, ''Rose and I were friends for a very long time until we had a huge fallout and then we lost touch.''

''You called her Rose?'' Seraphina's eyes widened. If she knew one thing, it was that only those who were close to her mother called her Rose.

''Indeed,'' she nodded, ''and knowing her, she would have wanted for you to come to the academy with me, Seraphina.''

''And what will I do there?''

''Well, '' Ms. Greeves, pulled her cloak around her tightly and smiled at the young girl, ''correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have a special ability?''

Seraphina took a frightened step back. Did Ms. Greeves know what she can do? What she did? Was the Academy code for prison? A prison where children who killed their parents are taken too? Had she come to arrest her?

''What's the matter child?'' Ms. Greeves put her hand on Seraphina's shoulder, but the girl shook it off.

''Please don't take me there, please! I didn't mean to do it, it just, it just happened. Please, I'm not a murderer.''

''What do you mean?''

''Please, please, please don't,'' she begged, ''I really didn't mean to do it, he was just hurting me and, and I was in pain and-'' she sniffed,''- and then the next moment the whole house was on fire-''

''Seraphina, child, listen to me,'' Ms. Greeves once again tried to approach the scared girl, but she was pushed away again.

''I cannot go to the academy! I cannot not go to a prison! I haven't done anything. I can-''

''Enough!'' the older woman shouted, her voice holding  more power and authority so much so, it made Seraphina stop in her tracks. ''You will be quiet and listen to me.''

''B-but I-''

''Listen.'' Ms. Greeves pressed and waited for Seraphina to calm down. After receiving the small nod from the sniffing girl, she continued. ''The academy is not a prison, it is a school for young, gifted children like you. We train you to sharpen your skills, you learn more about the power you have and how to wield it.''

''A school?''

''Yes child, a school.''

''So, there are more like me out there?''

''Hmm, more or less,'' Ms. Greeves says. ''There are fire wielders, like you. Yes, I know what you can do Seraphina,'' she chuckled upon seeing the look on the girls' face. ''Then are air summoners, water wielders and guardians of the earth. We call them Elementals.''

''Woah,'' Seraphina's eyes widen even more. ''Elementals,'' the word rolled off her tongue. ''So, you're saying I'm magic.''

''Yes,'' Ms. Greeves laughed, ''yes, you're magic. You are special, just like everyone else at the academy, and I will tell you more about it, if you come with me. I'm the principal after all and I can't leave the academy unattended for too long, you never know who could be trying to break in.''

''B-break in?!'' Seraphina eyes widened in fright.

''Nothing you should worry about young Rose,'' Ms. Greeves smiled down at her, however when she looked at her eyes, the smile slowly faded away.

''It's my eyes, isn't it?'' Seraphina, already used to being treated differently because of said eyes questioned the woman.

Although Ms. Greeves didn't reply, she knew.

''So,'' Ms. Greeves cleared her throat and averted her gaze from the girls' eyes. ''Are you coming?''

''But I don't have any money, clothes, books. This-'' she gestures to herself, ''-is all I have.''

''You needn't worry young Rose. Everything will be provided for you at the academy.''

''I-um-'' Seraphina scratched her head in thought. 

What did she have to lose? She had nothing left here. Maybe this woman can help her. But what if she was a kidnapper, or worse a murderer?

Go.

There it was, the sound at the back of her head again, urging her to trust this woman and take the leap of faith.

''I see you're still not convinced,'' Ms. Greeves said. ''Maybe this will help.''

The wind around them suddenly picked. Seraphina had to hold her hair down as she watched Ms. Greeves chant something in a foreign language. All of a sudden, a ball of bright white light appeared just a little above their heads and it gradually began to widen, as did Seraphina's eyes.

She was completely transfixed. Never had she seen something like this before in her entire life. To top it all off, Ms. Greeves stepped into the circle of light. ''Well?'' she held her hand out for Seraphina to take.

''Here goes nothing,'' Seraphina mumbled to herself and walked into the light.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Do vote to show your support. I'll really appreciate it!

-Jessica.S