The moon rose over the River Ethel like an avenging angel over an abandoned city. Silence hung on the cold air of the night and the moonlight blanketed everything it touched with silver.

Much to many's confusion, River Ethel was not a river. It was the widest lake in Roselia that was known for its magical properties and its breathtaking sight. In the far distance, you could make out the mountain range that served as a border between Roselia and it's neighboring kingdom, Tulia. But it was not only a beautiful sight, it dangerous one. The lake was known to attract many magical creatures.

Buzzing suddenly filled Scylla's ear as a curious group of small winged creatures materialized in front of her.

She cursed.

Sprites.

It wasn't rare for magical creatures to suddenly appear in Mystinque. In the creation of this artificial world, many of them decided to follow the mages into Mystinque. Some stayed in the other realm and others disappeared entirely. But sprites were quite rare. They were known to prefer to stay in the other realm's woods.

Scylla thought the rumors of sprites near River Ethel were just baseless warnings to keep the children from coming here. But unfortunately for her, it turns out this has become their new haunt.

Muttering to herself, Scylla took out the food she had brought on her journey - atleast the only sandwich that was left- and threw it towards them. The sprites dived for it and started clawing each other over it.

"I am here", a high-pitched voice said. Scylla turned to find a short petite girl looking at her. A bright pink backpack in her shaking hands. "I've come alone. Just as you've asked"

Finally.

"Good", she replied, tugging on her white cloak to ward off the cold. The other girl wore clothes that didn't exactly seem practical, considering the chilly night. "Do you agree with the terms of the deal?"

The girl but her lip. Looking down at her heels. "Will he be there?"

Scylla felt her heart wretch and she tucked the stray strands of her black hair behind her ear. She bit back her usual snarky response.  "Yes. Hector will be waiting"

"And how do I know this isn't a lie?"

"Sister", a deep voice said. And Hector emerged from Scylla's shadow. A sudden chill ran up Scylla's spine. "I missed you"

The girl quickly jumped towards Hector and hugged him fiercely, or atleast tried to. She tumbled to the grassy ground, tears streaming down her make up-covered face.

"Why can't I hold him?!", She demanded, rising to her feet. Her mascara splotching the area beneath her eyes. Scylla tried not to flinch when the girl stepped toward her threateningly.

"I am cursed, Sister", Hector hissed, looking at his hands, his dark blue wisps flickering uncertainly. "The foster family I was sold to were fishermen"

Scylla rolled her eyes, sitting down on the slightly-wet grass.

'Hector is so bad at explanations', she thought, picking up a random twig.

"How is that even related-?"

"There was a storm at sea", he said bluntly, staring down at his sister's shaking fists with interest. "We would have been fine but the boat got too close to the border"

'And ever since then', Scylla thought, 'He became more detached as a person'

"His foster parents became corrupted ones", Scylla said, crawling as she used a small twig to draw a protective wind circle around them. The sprites seemed uninterested enough, but she did not trust them. She took out her last canteen of freshwater to offer as sacrifice. "But the guards who corrupted his parents weren't able to corrupt Hector"

"They tried to recruit me as one of their inside agents but I refused"

His sister bit her lip, staring at his misty but otherwise physical form. "Did they...?"

"They tried to kill me", he nodded, hands brushing the hair on his sister's tear-stained face. Scylla knew it only felt as if the wind was touching her. "But the shadow people saved me. I am glad that I survived the ritual they put me through... But at the cost of my physical form"

"I promised to get you back", the girl whispered. Her brown eyes shined with tears as she stared at Hector. The sprites buzzed enthusiastically around her. "The family that took me in after I fled my foster family is rich and kind. We looked everywhere for you"

"It's okay little sister"

"I got into the school you dreamed of going to"

"That's... Nice"

The protective circle was complete, flashing a bright white light, then quickly disappearing along with the canteen. Hector's blue wisps of eyes flickered uncertainty for second, before refocusing. The sprites buzzed angrily and then retreated to the neaeby trees. They hissed from within the leaves, their razor-sharo teeth barred.

"He doesn't remember much", Scylla interrupted, wiping the sweat on her pale forehead. "Hector didn't even remember you. That is, until I saw your flyer about a missing boy named Hector"

"Your name helped me remember", Hector said, blue 'eyes' glowing warmly. He placed a hand over his sister's shoulder, or atleast, tried to.

"Hector I-", his sister choked and suddenly turned to Scylla, a pleading look on her face. "Is there a way to bring him back?"

"Not that I know of", she muttered, turning to look away. She didn't like it when people cried. "But I'll look into it when I get to the Academy"

"Is that why you want to get into Jinxel Academy?"

Scylla sat down on the ground, doodling on the ground absentmindedly with her stick. "It doesn't concern you"

Her dirt drawing started to look like a chicken.

The girl sat down, breathing with relief as she took off her heels, she didn't answer for a while, she seemed to be enjoying the feeling of not wearing heels. "It's a deal then.... but on one condition"

"What?"

The girl's blue eyes shone brilliantly and Scylla flushed when she realized that those must've been Hector's eyes too.

They were beautiful.

"Hector has to go with you"

Scylla sputtered, taken aback and Hector gave them a look of confusion, frowning ever so slightly.

Shadow people had a very small slit as a mouth, so when you didn't pay attention that much, you'd never even notice them having a mouth.

But Scylla always seemed to notice. She shook her head, offering a confused and suspicious look at the girl."What? Whatever for?"

"I'm leaving with my parents", she said, coming up to her feet and dusting her bright pink skirt. "We're moving to Tulia, which is great, I've never really liked this place. While I'm there, I'm going to seek their Great Library in hopes of finding a way to reverse Hector's... current state."

Hector opened his mouth to protest, but instead, he grumbled and sat down beside her. His hand surprisingly warm as it brushed Scylla. He gave her a look- one which she knew meant he was trying to comfort her.

"That doesn't answer my question", she muttered, slashing her dirt drawing. The girl didn't seem to hear her.

"I have no love for Jinxel. It took them years before they fired that stupid pedo-", Hector's sister spat venomously, her hand on the wind barrier. "Do whatever you want there, but no harm is to come to Heather. But please do harm her cheating boyfriend. I hate him"

She whispered a spell and the barrier opened to let her free. A gust of wind blew over them, causing Scylla's hair to slap Hector's face.

"The deal is sealed", with a slicing motion of her hand, a scroll materialized and fell on Scylla's lap, along with a uniform and a heavy bag filled with books. "Welcome to Jinxel Academy, wicked one"

The girl clicked her heels and vanished.

Invisibility shoes. A rare magical item that derived magic from the sun itself. It creates a barrier around the user that allow then to stay invisible for a short period of time. Though, the magic wears off and it can only work once or twice.

Scylla smiled.

Smart girl.

"Hector", Scylla said, exiting the barrier to stare at her face in Ethel's crystal blue waters.

The sprites buzzed angrily but made no move to bite her as she cupped the water and gulped it eagerly.

Cold icy water trickled into her mouth as Memories flooded her mind.

The smell of leaves and the feeling of humid air on her skin- The time she had sent a message to the Grove of Whispers flashed into her mind.

The alarming heat and scent of smoke and fire followedx- she recalled the time she woke up to find her house burned.

She suddenly felt dizzy.

Scylla stopped drinking before her head started to hurt. The magic from water was strong and alarming.

She stood up and smiled up at the moon.

It was a crescent.

A wicked smile.

"What now, My Lady?", Hector asked, moving to stand beside her, head bowed down slightly as if to show respect. But it only made her feel shorter. She would've felt annoyed, but today was her victory.

"Now", she smiled triumphantly, pulling out the dagger from her cloak. "We go to school and pay a visit to Christina Solaire"