Octavia

I'm really hating headmaster Silva right now. It's 6am and myself and the rest of the specialists are jogging around the pond.... It's also cold as hell. Silva, Sky and Riven have taken the lead at the front. I'm 5 people behind them, close to the front but not so much that I'm dying. I have no doubt there shall be more hell to come.

Why did we have to come outside so early? Why couldn't we stay in bed. Little Shadow wines

OOooooooh... how I miss that bed. Where it was warm and dark. No annoying sunlight.

Shut it Belial, Octavia needs to stay in shape if she wants to stay in the top rankings.

I sigh in irritation. Those ridiculous shadows have been whining all morning. Helios, here I was thinking they were the fearsome shadows of the dark ages. But nooooooo.... They're just whiny little brats, the lot of them.

Sky keeps glancing back at you. I think someone has a crush. Darkling teases

Only because Stella asked him to keep an eye on you. Asmodeus whispers.

I tense. A blush rises to my cheeks when I look up and see Sky glance back at me. He grins at me before turning back to the front. We slow to a stop at the end of the pond. Silva steps onto one of the training platforms.

"Listen up," he calls out, voice echoing through the chilly air. "We're going to be doing circuit training. Sit-up, squats, laps, mountain climbers, weights..." Silva goes on to list the various methods of torture as he indicates to different 'stations' set up around the training ground. "12 stations, 10 minutes on each then work on your sparring. Don't forget to hit the showers before you get to class. I'm not having the lot of you stink like pigs." Silva pauses as if remembering something. "...and take a break if you need one, if you pass out you don't get to skip class anyways."

Sweet Apollo, what do these sickos do all day? Not even Drea was this bad. Not about conditioning at least. Not unless I made a mistake. I quickly move to the weights eager to get a spot as the other Specialists begin to divide into groups.

"Fancy seeing you here."

I glance up. Sky grins down at me as he picks up some weights.

He totally just picked a number that he thought would impress you. Darkling murmurs.

"What? At the weights or at training?" I question passive aggressively. Sky stumbles for a second, clearly shocked by my tone. Sue me, it's too early for this.

"I-" Sky breaks off into an embarrassed chuckle before look at me from under his brows. "Can we start over?"

"Pardon?"

"Can we start over?" Sky asks. He's smiling hesitantly at me, eyes filled with warmth and worry. "We didn't start off on the right foot. So can we start again- from the beginning?"

I stare at him. What a peculiar boy. I didn't really think much of our interactions to be honest but this is really bothering him.

People pleaser

Shut it. I snap

I bring my hand out as if to shake his.

"I'm Octavia Sitara of Solaria. I don't believe we've met." Sky grins, his face lighting up.

"Sky Ashford of Eraklyon."

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It was a few hours in and Sky and I had moved onto cool down laps, racing each other along certain stretches when we got bored. Silva had mapped out a path around the border of the school that loops through the training grounds, forest and some of the fairy hangouts.

"How are you settling in?" Sky asks from my left.

I hum. How do I go about answering that question? I found a dead body. I'm not sure that's a good conversation starter though.

"Little Pixie," An annoyingly familiar voice calls in greeting. I glance over to see Riven jogging to my right.

"Riven." I say back. Forcing a quick smile in his direction as I desperately ignore the butterflies in my stomach at the sight of his grin.

"Riv," Sky says, voice tense.

Jealous little prince charming

We fall into an uncomfortable silence and begin to jog as a unit. We pass through the stone circle, slowing slightly to watch some of the first year fairies display their power.

"You didn't come home last night." Sky says distantly as he looks ahead.

Who is this guy? His wife????  Asmodeus demands.

I glance over to Riven, watching as his jaw clenches.

"I was busy, there was a party, you know." Riven replies.

Liar.

Such a pretty liar.

You were never at the party.

"Liar." I blurt out. Shocking both myself and the boys.

"What?" I say uncomfortably as I shrug my shoulders. "Fairy, remember? I know things"

Riven glances to my shoulders.

"Send one of your shadows to follow me, did you?" Riven asks angrily. His body tense.

"Wait what?" Sky demands, bringing his arm in front of me to slow us all to the stop. "What do you mean send a shadow after Riven."

Well now you've done it

Second day here and you're already spilling the 'big secret'

"I thought you had light magic like your sister." Sky questions.

"I- I do." My voice is timid and hesitant

"And the shadows." Sky asks.

Panic begins to set in. Shit. shit. Shit. How could I be so stupid so soon. I could rationalise slipping up a couple of months in when I got to know them but this is just plain stupid. I look at Sky who is staring at me expectantly. I glance at Riven who's smirking as he looks between Sky and I.

"I didn't know it was such a drama for you, Pix" Riven taunts.

"Don't be an asshole" I snap

"Ouch," He mocks. "You wound me."

I glare at him, bumping against his shoulder as I stride past to continue jogging. Avoid my problems. Yeah, that's gonna work out great. I break into a jog hearing Sky and Riven quickly follow.

"C'mon Pix, I was only joking." Riven says as he catches up. I snort in anger.

"It wasn't a very funny joke" I snap

"I am so lost right now." Sky says from my left. Riven and I glance over at him. Sky's face is filled with confusion as he looks at the two of us.

"And when did the two of you meet?" he questions.

"Oh- Pixie and I met outside the barrier." I watch as Riven's eyes darken. Mine must be doing the same. The same because Sky asks,

"Did something happen?" Sky is glancing between the two of us. Worry clouding his features.

"Nothing happened mate. We're fine." Riven resures, clasping Sky shoulder in what I assume is the awkward straight guy version of a hug.

"The only interesting thing that happened was Pix here ended up telling me she has Shadow magic." Riv nods to me, a shit eating grin as he intentionally brings the subject back to me. Asshole. Sky looks at me, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I've never heard of shadow magic before." Sky questions hesitantly. I sigh. He clearly wants answers and from the look on Riven's face he would too. I doubt he liked being seen so scared and worried by someone he barely knows. This is probably his weird way of getting back at me. I might as well control the situation. Tell them enough to stop them asking questions and drawing attention to me. Besides, I'll have to tell Dowling at some point if she hasn't already worked out the full extent of my powers. The hereditary magic lie can only last so long.

"I have light magic like my twin, yes, but apparently a long lost relative of mine had shadow magic. It must have been dormant." Thank you Stella and your semi-believable lies.

"Then what's with the cloak and dagger shit?" Riven questions as we walk towards the training grounds. Stop poking holes in my very fake backstory. 

I let out a sigh. This part at least isn't a lie.

"I'm second in line to the Solarian throne." I say. Riven splutters next to me. Right, of course, Riven didn't know that Stella's my twin.

"Wait, wait, wait." Riven turns to face me, shock contorting his features. "You're Stella's twin."

I wince at his tone. I forgot the story mother dearest told about Ricki didn't paint Stella in a good light.

"Stella and I were sent to different schools. As heir Stella needed a visible, brag-able education. As second in line I needed to train to be Stella's advisor."

Or the lesser known left hand. Asmodeus cackles. Information and spies and whispers in the wind.

"And when the shadows emerged with the light it was a tarnish on the Sitara name- let alone the Crown." Sky looks down at me, sadness clouding his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something but I quickly cut him off.

"I don't take it personally. In actual fact my magic is beneficial to Solaria; it just has no place in the Light of Solaria's image. Not exactly a good media campaign"

We've reached the training grounds and head towards where we left our gear earlier. Sky looks deep in thought on my left while Riven looks pissed on my right.

"So Stella's image can't be ruined by your magic." Riven questions. His voice is bitter and I watch transfixed as his hands clench into fists. He's shaking slightly, knuckles white and veins prominent.

"Riv." Sky admonishes. He glares at his brother in arms.

"What, it's the truth. That's why you've been trying to keep it under wraps." Riven says to me. His jaw tightens. 

I sigh. Picking up my water bottle I quickly take a drink, eager to get rid of the thoughts in my head. It is the truth in a way but the history behind the why is more dangerous.

"It is a small price to pay." I say, turning to Riven. He looks down at me, disbelieving. "I'm not hiding who I am, I- I just have no desire to flaunt it. With or without the Queen's commands."

Bullshit and they know it. Darkling hisses

The bell rings throughout the courtyard, signalling the beginning of classes.

"We should go." I turn away quickly and begin to walk to my next class.

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I walk into the Spell-work class glancing around to find a seat in the classroom that could be easily described as a library. There was a row of windows at the end of the room, opposite the door. In front was the teachers desk filled with various magical objects. The left and right walls were filled with floor to ceiling bookshelves. Most shelves were filled with ancient looking tomes but there were sections of more recent publications. Including a whole 5 rows dedicated to the various spell-work textbooks we'll need over the years. I glance back at the door in the back left corner, the rest of the wall is filled with glass cabinets filled with artifacts.

The classroom quickly fills up with students eager to get a seat with friends. I make my way to the back row looking for Stella as I did. She said we would have the same classes. Sitting down I begin to get out my textbooks.

"Helios above, I hate first years." Stella groans. She gracefully slides into the seat next to me, ever the elegant princess. I grin at her. Stella's eyes flash with irritation as she sees my smile.

"Don't look at me like that."She snaps, huffing as she pulls out her textbook and notebook. "It's the first day and they're already blowing up the suite group chat about the stone circle."

Hmmmm... I didn't see any of Stella's friends when I was out with Sky- they must have it before lunch. Shit. I should probably tell Stella that I told Sky and Riven.

"Stel-"
"Good Morning class," A tall woman walked to the front of class. Similar to Dowling in age, she has tan skin, brown hair and these beautiful green eyes that are making me jealous. "I am Mrs Dainton and I will be your spell work teacher for the rest of the year."

The lesson was far more interesting than I expected. We are currently learning about the basic language for spells and incantations. Be it Latin, Greek or Old Solarian. Downside to this class- lots of translation homework. Very little magic is involved apparently until we can actually understand the words we will be saying.

Of course you would find history stuff and translating intersting, you and Trix always had that in common

I tense at the reminder of my old friend. She should be here with me. She would love these classes. My thoughts drift back to that room. The one hidden below the castle. Beatrix and I were there together. Except I got out. 

"I heard that at other colleges they just teach the students the incantations." A tall fairy was saying to her friends.

"Well that's kinda the point of Alfea, Babe." The friend-

Girlfriend Tavi, don't be homophobic.

teased back, her black her shimmering as she moves it to one shoulder. "We're learning the whole language so that one day we can make our own spells. You know, the whole 'Alfea has produced some of the greatest fairies of all time'" The two break off into giggles as they walk down the corridor.

I look at Stella who's fixing her lipstick in a compact mirror.

That shade looks good on her. There's the shadow with a crush

Please get a life. Darkling says, voice tired and clearly fed up

I chuckle at their antics. They are a rather amusing pair.

"The shadows say something funny again?" Stella asks as we turn to walk towards the cafeteria for lunch. I tense slightly but quickly relax when I realise it's just Stel.

"One of them thinks you're pretty," I tease, grinning at her. "The other wants him to shut up about you apparently."

Stella hums in appreciation.

"Why should he? He clearly has good taste."

Damn straight I do.

I burst into giggles, Stella quirks an eyebrow at me but chuckles at my antics.

"How's the control of your own shadows going?" She asks. Stella looks at me, worry clear in her blue eyes. I sigh. We walk into the cafeteria,as we make our way to the queue I say,

"It's improving. But it's a slow process." I pause thinking carefully about my next words as I glance around to check that no one's listening. "The basics are all there. That seems to translate from my light to the shadow. So I can do small pieces but shadowing forming, blending in and shadow travel are all-" I break off as we reach the lunch ladies. We quickly pick up sandwiches and a drink, thanking the ladies politely as we go. Always a good idea to be kind to people who serve you food. If your lucky you get extra pudding; if your unlucky.... poisoning the food would probably be the least worrisome of things they could do.

"I thought you could shadow travel?" Stella asks as we find a seat under one of the windows against the side walls. I hum, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"That's not me though." Stella looks confused. "That's the shadows that talk to me. You know there's two types of shadows. The ones I can create come directly from my magic." I pause to take another bite of my sandwich. "And the ones that exist without me, the ones that are sentient, I can talk with because of my magic."

Stella's face is a calm mask as she scans my form, taking in the normally hidden shadows that I have allowed her to see.

"But they listen- to you." She says hesitantly.

"Yes," I lift a hand up. Little shadow is swirling in my palm. "I have earned their respect and they have earned mine. Mutual trust and loyalty."

I glance up at Stella. She's still looks worried about me.

She thinks we may betray you.

Yes, she worries for you.

Wants to know if we'll ever turn on you.

"The shadows can't move around in a corporeal form without my magic. They would just be whispers in the wind, trapped to one single shadowed spot without me. In return for showing them the world through my eyes and giving them form and emotions, they keep me safe." I finish off the rest of my sandwich, Stella doing the same with hers. "Of course there are other ways we help each other. And after what Rosalind did we're bound to each other but the foundation is that I trust them and they trust me."

Stella smiles at me, seemingly reassured.

"Okay," She says, looping her arm with mine as we walk towards the exit. "If you trust them; I trust them."

Little shadow darts out to brush against her hand in appreciation. Stella giggles slightly as the feeling.

"You didn't tell me you could feel them." Her voice is filled with delight. I can't help but smile at the sight of my sister playing with the shadows as we walk through the deserted corridor. "They're like a cold breeze." She says.

I burst out laughing.

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The day passes quickly and before I know it Stella and I are making our way towards Dowling's office for lessons. One perk of mother dearest's desire to keep our less than adequate magic quiet is that we get one on one lessons. Royal privileges and all but still, I'm not going to say no to extra practice and help when it comes to my shadows. Even if it was supplied by the satanic queen.

The assistant outside Dowling's office stands up when he sees us coming in.

"Your Highness-es."

I'm pretty sure that's not the right title.

Who cares, he did a little head bow- appreciate the respect.

Calum... He's a fairy. Not very powerful.

He's not very loyal. Two faced indeed.

I hide my wince at the bombardment of information. They're getting easier to cope with and understand but it can still be too much at times. I can feel a headache begin to build.

You need to hide away. I don't need Dowling knowing about you.

They grumble but do as I say. Thank Apollo they decided to listen. I don't have time for Shadow temper tantrums. I feel empty without them. Their presence has become so familiar.

"I'll just take a water, room temp. Thanks, love." I snap as we walk towards Dowling's office.

Stella looks at me. Face controlled but eyes wide with shock at my tone. I sigh. That was rather unnecessary of me.

"Hiding my shadows away makes me feel vulnerable." I whisper, "I'm defenseless without them."

Stella's eyes soften and she reaches out to briefly squeeze my hand in comfort. The opens and we quickly straighten up. The masks of the bitchy princess and the icy cold sister plaster on.

"Ah, girls." Dowling smiles in welcome and she indicates for us to enter. "Come on in."