(Zelda's POV)

I must have a death wish or something here. I just yelled at The Nightingale. What the HELL is wrong with me? I'm going to hide in my room for a week, and maybe he'll forget what happened, but first, I should go to dinner; you can't sleep on an empty stomach, right?

I walked to the dining hall and saw many students sitting at long tables. I should find the Intuitous table and eat. "Do you always walk away in the middle of conversations?" I heard Oliver say behind me.

"I don't know. Do you always sneak up on girls from behind like a creep?" I countered.

"Did you just call me a creep?" Oliver said.

"Did I fucking stutter?" I growled.

"Okay, seriously, who are you?" Oliver asked me, getting annoyed. "I've never seen you around here before."

I giggled. "Oh, you just noticed that? Congratulations!" I clapped. "But it doesn't matter who I am, so let's leave it at that and go our separate ways." I sassed him and walked away. Shit, I did it again. Get it together, Zelda. It would help to keep a low profile and not provoke dark lords in training.

"Zelda!!" I heard Professor Portman call. "I'm glad to see you here. I was worried you would skip out."

"Sorry, Professor, I lost track of time at the library," I said.

"No worries, Zelda, and I wouldn't have blamed you as I'm not a fan of being the center of attention myself," Professor Portman said.

"The headmistress isn't planning on making an announcement still, is she?" I asked with worry. "I can grab some food and get out before she sees me."

"Not likely, Miss Cromwell, but a nice plan, though. I see you have a quick wit." Headmistress Caroline smiled. "Now, we can begin your introduction now."

"Headmistress, please, that's not necessary," I said very quickly.

But my pleas fell on deaf ears, and the Headmistress made her announcement. 

"Students of Elysium, I have an announcement to make. We have a new transfer student this year. I want to introduce you to Zelda Cromwell," I waved at the other students as she continued. "She will be joining the senior class and has been chosen already by the Intuitous Circle. Miss Cromwell is an incredibly bright student, and I'm confident she'll make a transformative addition to our school. So, I expect you all to make her feel welcome and help her show all the beautiful things Elysium offers. On that note, I'd like to congratulate you all on a brilliant first week back this semester. I hope you enjoyed your weekend and are ready for classes tomorrow."

Headmistress Caroline returned to her seat with the other professors. "Hey, at least she didn't ask you to make a speech," Professor Portman joked.

"Don't give her any ideas," I said. "I could give a nice little shoutout to a special someone for you in my speech," I smirked.

"Zelda, let's not get carried away here." I laughed at him as he was about to drag me to the table. "Now get some food, you troublemaker,"

After dinner, I went to my dorm room, and as I was about to open the door, I was greeted by one of the students. "Hey, new girl. It looks like we're neighbors, so we'll be sharing a bathroom, don't touch my stuff, and we'll be cool," She walked off without another word and returned to her room.

"Uh, sure. No problem." I said to myself. I went into my dorm and quickly saw how boring it looked. Goddess, I guess I have work to do before bed. I snapped my fingers, and everything changed how I imagined my room would look. "Now that's better," I smiled as I looked at my room with everything blue and white. I got dressed and headed to bed.

For the first time since I found myself in this ridiculous situation, I felt some semblance of calmness wash over me. It could be that familiar comfort of being at Elysium or the measures I've taken to make this feel like my room back home. It could be the fact that I'm not alone in this. Professor Portman has been nothing but kind to me. I can feel all my worries come crashing down on me. The weight of everything feels heavy on my heart. "Shawn, I wish you were here with me now. I don't know what I'm doing, and I could be my best friend now."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier, silly?" I heard a voice say.

I screamed and hid under my covers. "Who's there? You better leave, or I'll jinx you six ways till Sunday," I threatened.

"Hey, now don't threaten me with a good time." The voice laughed. "You know, you might look very scary if you weren't under your blanket,"

"Okay, who's there?" I said, getting fed up with this. "I know I'm the new bitch around here, but this isn't cool,"

"I'm sorry, your right. Look behind you," I turned around and saw Shawn sitting on one of my couches. "Hey, bestie!" Shawn smiled.

"SHAWN?! What are you doing here?" I said.

"You called on me. So, I'm here for you now." Shawn then turned into a miniature-sized version of himself and sat on my shoulder.

"What the fuck!" I said.

"Wow, Zelda. That's not appropriate language for Elysium's President." Shawn said, scolding me.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing; I'm not the President at this point in history." I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Shawn laughed nervously. "I forgot I'm only here now because of your time travel dilemma."

I was bewildered. How did he get here? "Care to explain what's going on here, Shawn? I'm too tired to make sense of this one right now."

"Zelda, let's say I'm a part of your subconscious. You know, like a manifestation of your psyche's need for your best friend," Shawn explained.

"Oh, so I'm imagining you right now." I placed my hands on my head. "Great, now I'm losing it."

"Think of me as your guide on this journey, Zelda," Shawn said.

"And what exactly are you guiding me to?" I asked.

"I don't know; I'm not omniscient, Zelda." Shawn shrugged.

"Then how are you supposed to be my spirit guide then?" I pressed.

"Zelda, you must trust the process," Shawn said.

"Well, I wasn't aware there was a process at play here," I said.

"Did you think you were tossed back fifty-two years into the past for no reason?" Shawn asked me.

I gave him a confused look, and I sighed. "I don't know. I haven't had much time to think about it.

"Then let me help you, Zelda. Please tell me what's on your mind." Shawn said.

"Well, one of my worst fears has become my reality. Not only have I met my soulmate, but HE'S ONE OF THE DARKEST WIZARDS OF OUR TIME! I HAVE BEEN FREAKING OUT!" I said.

"Yes!! Good, good. Let it all out. We're making good headway here. It's no surprise how you're feeling, of course. I have always known you were never a fan of this soulmate stuff," Shawn said.

"What is there to be a fan of, Shawn?" I growled. "Oh yes, stars and fate above, please come down and decide the love of my life for me. Nothing is more romantic than having my free will taken away." I mocked. "Who in their right mind wants that?! I felt like my heart leaped out of my chest when I heard his voice and words. Even my magic wanted to meet him. I don't know what this means or what I need to do. I only know that I don't want this," I poured my heart out to the figure of my imagination.

"You don't have to be with him, Zelda. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Shawn smiled.

"How do you know? My life has been a mess since I landed here," I said.

"I know you are one of the strongest people I've ever known. You can tell fate to kiss your ass and fuck off. You are in control of yourself," Shawn said.

"Yeah, well, it sure hasn't felt like that since I've gotten here," I said.

"I know, but get some rest, as you have had a long day. You are going to kick some ass in class tomorrow. You can do this, Zelda Mikaelson." Shawn started to fade away, but I knew I would see him again, even though others would not.

One day at a time, right? I can do this.

I got some rest as the next day rolled around; my first class was with Professor Portman; I'm ready to take on anything the past throws me. I know everything that will come to pass. I'm from the future, so I know what will happen and the events that led to it. Time Travel? Evil Soulmates? How strange can things get?

"Oh, you again," I heard Oliver say in the distance. Oh great, not this guy again. How did he make 'you' sound so rude?

"Can I help you with something?" I hissed.

"I don't know. Can you?" Oliver grinned. "Or are you going to continue acting like nothing happened yesterday?

I scoffed. "That's a bit disingenuous, don't you think? I never said anything happened and all I did was defend myself from your false accusation."

Oliver nodded. "Fair enough." He walked inside the same classroom that I was going in. We have Abjuration and Defense Against the Dark Arts together. Perfect, just fucking perfect.

I heard footsteps in the distance, but no one was there as I looked around. Oh well, time for class.

But little did Zelda know that a dark figure was watching her.

"Oh, you foolish little girl. What a dangerous game you're playing."

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(Oliver's POV)

After Dinner, Sunday Night

After dinner, that girl was on my mind, the smell of her hair, the warmth of her skin on mine. I walked back to my dorm room with my friends Jax and Corvin.

"Jax, are you coming or what?" I called.

"Yeah, but I can't stay long. I've got a date in an empty classroom with a girl from Gratius," Jax said.

"Jax, when will you stop thinking about your dick and start using your brain?" I asked.

Jax pondered my question. "No, I do think about food, and speaking of girls, weren't you talking to that new girl during dinner? She's cute,"

"Please don't ever make that face at me again, even while talking about someone else. We weren't talking; she just ran away from me." I said.

Is she running away? As in, you've been chasing her down? Who are you, and what have you done with our Oliver?" Jax was shaking with worry.

I gritted my teeth, and my face scrunched up. "I think our dear friend, Jax, means to say that we're just surprised. We've never known you to pay attention to girls before., Or you know, guys, either. Except for us, of course," Corvin said.

"You two are the only ones who never treated me differently from the start. I respect and value that you guys can think for yourselves. I never had to prove myself to any of you. Unlike others who only wanted to start associating with me after our first year," I said.

"Well, if you start dating, don't feel weird about talking to us about it. We're here for you, man." Corvin nodded.

"You guys are making a big deal out of nothing, honestly. I don't suddenly want to date because I spoke to some girl. The only reason I was talking to her was that I'm pretty sure she tried casting a love spell on me in the library. I wanted to get her to admit it and undo whatever she did, and as a result, I have this ridiculous mark on my arm now because of what she did." I explained.

"Show me the mark, Oliver. I might be jumping to conclusions here, but I must be sure. What you just described sounds like an awful lot like ancient magic involving soulmates," Corvin said.