#urgh. okay cool to recognize the source and all but we still feel like everyone hates us so. ruahghhh!!

[scabbardsystem]

...okay gang we're. we're out of The Situation now. the cousins are no longer judging every social faux pas we make! we can stop feeling like a nuisance to everyone who knows us like!! anytime now!!

[creator-zee]

198

I could help but fiddle as I sat in the chair, waiting. They had ten instructors administering the entrance exam. We weren’t told their names. They were just identified with a Roman numeral. We were also only identified by numbers. We were each given a random one. If we made it in, then we would learn their names, and them ours, but until then we were numbers. Anonymous numbers, with no titles, no names no reputations. That was the academy’s justification for the numbers. Then the instructors couldn’t be clouded by any preconceptions.

I glanced over at my sister who was laughing with her friends. They would have no problem passing this entrance exam. They were powerful witches. They aced every class, won everyone’s attention. I didn’t see how the instructors could possibly not know who they were. They were the poster children of our high school. She was the poster child of our high school. They would be sure to recognize her, she would pass with flying colors I was sure of it.

And I, I would fail. I always failed. I was the failure. The bastard child. The mistake. No matter how much I practiced, how much I tried, how many spells I cast, it was never enough. I could never be her. I could never match her.

I sighed. There was no way I could pass this exam.

“46, number 46, please come up. XI will be your proctor.” The announcer announced.

That was my number. I stood, my breaths shaky and walked toward the door. XI was standing by it, clipboard in hand. They were dressed like all the other proctors, in a plain white suit.

I handed them my slip of paper. It only had a single number written on it, 46. 

“Come with me, 46. The exam is in three parts: a written, a practical, and a duel. The written is a chance to show your knowledge, the practical is a chance for you to let loose and show your creativity, and the duel is to see how well you can work with another witch. You will not be dueling each other, but working together against a challenge.” XI explained as we walked down a long hallway.

As they finished, we stopped in front of a door. At least I might not totally fail the last part, since another witch would be helping me. Hopefully, it wasn’t someone I knew.

They opened the door. Inside, there was a single desk with a piece of paper and a pen.

“You have as much time as you need. Please hand over any electronic devices.” XI instructed.

I gave them my phone, and slipped off my watch to be sure, before sitting at the desk.

I picked up the pen and stared at the first question: What are the four main types of magic? At ;east that one was easy. Blood, Light, Dark, and Elemental.

I moved onto the next question. It was also simple. I continued working my way through the test. The questions grew in difficulty as I went on. It wasn’t until I got to page ten though that I really started struggling.

God, I should be better. I was barely halfway through the test. Meghan wouldn’t be struggling yet. She probably sipped through the whole thing and aced it. My hand holding the pen shook, and my writing became almost illegible. I took a deep breath.

I always knew I was going to fail. I shouldn’t be surprised.

My hand still shook, but I got it under control, and my handwriting became legible again. I would just write down what I knew. What I knew was embarrassingly little as I continued on the test. Was I really so dumb? I thought I had studied.

Who was I kidding? Of course I was dumb. Everybody had been telling me that my whole life.

Just keep going. Nothing to lose. Probably going to fail anyways. Probably wrong, but what does it matter. Just write it down. God they’re going to laugh when they see this. Burn it without a second though. Throw it in the trash. It was pitiful. 

One page left. Just make it through. I’m almost done.... With the first part. I still have the practical. God. I was so going to fail.

Finally, I set my pen down, having done all I could. However pitiful that amount was.

XI kept their expression neutral as they collected my pen and paper, and let me out of the room. An assistant took my test from XI, as another reset the room. XI led me to another room. This one was large, bigger than an average classroom, but empty. It had small windows high up on the far side that provided natural light. I realized it was the only light source when XI closed the door.

“You have ten minutes to show what you can do.” XI instructed. “Time starts when you first use magic.”

My mind raced. No guidelines. What was I supposed to do? My heart was still racing from my disaster of a writing exam.

I took a deep breath, again.

Okay... what was I good at? Nothing.

Okay... what was I least bad at? Urgh. All I could think of was criticizing teachers, the scathing glare of my mother, and my sister’s taunting words.

I guess just do what I can, isn’t that what I always do. I already bombed the writing portion. I had already failed. I couldn’t fail more. I was already the bastard child, the failure. I was already rock bottom, forever shadowed by my sister. Nothing could ruin my reputation anymore than my simple existence had.

What was the first magic I learned? Blood magic. That takes time to draw the symbols though. I needed to use my time wisely. The symbols had to be natural. I could use elemental magic to form the symbols and then use blood magic for a grand finale.

Hah. Grand. Even that would be pitiful compared to what Meghan could do with a wave of her hand. No doubt she would blow away her instructor in this portion, in all the portions, who was I kidding.

Whatever. Deep breath, just do what I can, no matter how pitiful. Ten minutes. I could do ten minutes.

I crouched, pressing my hands into the floor, concrete, hard, unforgiving... familiar.

I let my magic pulse out of my hands into the concrete,  grass began to sprout despite the lack of dirt. Flowers continued to bloom all around me, creating a thick mass of plantlife, the base that I needed.

My eyes were closed, so I couldn’t see the green mass of plant life that surrounded me, but I could feel it. I changed my magic, fire carving intricate paths in the plats, burning precisely, the exact shapes of the sigils I needed. I extinguished the flames with a thought, and a flash flood of rain, cooled the ashes. I drew the water back up, leaving clear, dry channels in the plants.

I finally opened my eyes and stood, seeing the shape of the sigil in front of me clearly. I pulled a knife out of my pocket, and carefully cut my wrist. The blood dripped out of it and filled the channels of the sigil. Once the paths were complete, I began carefully chanting the spell, channeling my magic into the sigil. The sigil pulsed and glowed as my magic poured into it.

Out of it my magic began to form into a shape, a golem. A creature of magic that would fight and serve next to me until it was extinguished, by me or another. The one I formed was one of my own creation. It wasn’t like the ones in textbooks, white knights or angels. I could do those, but never correctly. I was technically wrong forming a golem like this, it wasn’t like in any book, but it was what I could do, and it was mine.

The white light of my magic solidified into the form of a hippogriff. It reared up in front of me. I let the plants wither away leaving me, the golem, and XI alone in the room.

My golem trotted around the small room, before settling next to me, standing tall and proud. I also stood up, I was tall, but far from proud. It was a weird golem afterall. Not much of a grand finale. At least I hadn’t screwed up the elemental magic.

The golem, sensing my unease, nudged my lightly with its head. I rubbed its face, reassuringly. The feather felt calming, as I stroked its neck, facing XI, waiting for them to speak. After about another 30 seconds they spoke.

“Time’s up. I will bring you to a waiting room, while we wait for another witch to finish.” Xi said, when they finally spoke. They glanced at my golem.

“You’ll have to extinguish it. No magic can carry over between rounds.” They said.

I nodded, I was expecting that. I severed the magical connection and the golem disappeared. I knew I could always summon it again.

They glanced at my bleeding arm. I followed their gaze. I dug around in my back pocket and pulled out a bandage, I quickly wrapped it around my wrist, as I followed them down a hallway to another room just like the one the practical had been in, but twice as big.

“The duel will start when the other witch is sent in.” XI said, before closing the door and leaving. 

There was nothing in the room, just concrete floor, and concrete walls, and windows. I missed the comfort that my Golem had provided. Technically, they hadn’t said I couldn’t do magic. I had already failed, the worst they could do was kick me out, and that was bound to happen sooner or later. In a less flashy way, I formed another sigil. I carefully cut my other wrist, and filled it with my blood and my magic. I summoned my Golem again, the hippogriff quickly forming.

I bandaged my wrist as my golem stretched. I sat against one wall, and it laid down next to me, resting its head in my lap. I ran my fingers through its feather, finding comfort in the simple action.

I closed my eyes leaning against the wall, and my heart finally stopped trying to hammer its way out of my chest. I just had one last task in front of me, and I would have another witch to help me. I could only pray that it wasn’t someone that I knew. I was going to be useless, but at least I could get through it. If the other witch was powerful, then it would go quickly.

The door opened and I opened my eyes. It wasn’t someone I recognised, that was something.

They remained silent as the proctor, who was dressed just like XI, but was a different one, instructed us.

“The duel round begins now. Work together to defeat the challenger.”

I stood, and my golem stood next to me, as I waited for this so-called challenger.

I felt magic begin pulsing through the walls of the room, and I tensed, so did the other witch.

Magic began gathering on the far end of the room, a golem, a large one. But, who was forming it. I glanced at the proctor, but they were as emotionless as ever.

The other witch glanced between me and my golem. “I assume that can fight?” She asked.

I nodded, eyes darting between her and the form the magic was forming into. It looked to be a stone giant.

She began chanting, and I recognized the spell. It was a dark magic enhancement spell.

When she finished chanting I could practically see the magic radiating from her. She was powerful, very powerful.

She turned back to me, her eyes glowing with dark magic. “How many golems can you summon?”

I shrugged. “How many do you need?”

“That depends, can you just do the one shape?” She asked, glancing at the golem that was almost formed.

I shook my head. “I can do others.”

“Perfect, then can you do a dragon, and a griffon as well?” She asked, as she began chanting another spell.

I nodded, and got to work forming the sigils. I unwrapped my left arm and cut it again, using the blood to fill both sigils. I channeled my magic into them. I had done two at a time before, but this was different. A dragon was a huge golem, and a griffon was also big. It took all my concentration as I poured my magic into the sigils.

My hippogriff golem protected me from any debris headed my way as the other witch began her attack on the golem.

I released a breath I hadn’t realised I’d been holding as the golems were formed, the sigils disappearing. A dragon roared and a griffon shrieked as they gained form.

“Attack.” I commanded, softly, and they rushed forwards to join the fight. 

The room which had felt impossibly large at first, now felt stiflingly small with all the bodies in it. I felt useless, standing and watching the battle. I couldn’t help; I was useless. I re-bandaged my arm as my golems and the other witch successfully tore the giant’s arm off.

It disintegrated into magic, but another quickly replaced it. The only ways to kill a golem were to use up all the magic being channeled into it, or to cut off that source.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the magic flowing through it. I could feel it pulsing from it’s heel? Yeah, it’s heel was the epicenter of the magic. An achilles heel. The proctors must think they’re so clever.

“Go for the right heel.” I called out. My golems immediately heeded my call, but the other witch gave me a strange look.

“It’s the epicenter.” I explained.

Understanding lit up in their eyes. And they leapt from their perch on its shoulder to the ground, grabbing its leg and tugging, strengthened by magic she toppled the lage form.

My dragon immediately pounced on its chest holding it down, as its icy breath trapped its head in place. The hippogriff and and griffon pinned the nearbuy leg and arm, as the witch yanked the leg off. The giant disintegrated back into magic.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, it was over. Now I could go home, and start looking for a job and an apartment, and maybe, finally escape from my wretched family.

The witch dropped her spell, and the glow of magic left her.

“I’m glad I got paired with a powerful witch.” She commented, as she turned to the dragon, running her hands along its snout. It was docile now, without something to defend me from.

I turned to her in surprise. “You must be mistaken.”

“Why?” She asked, looking up from the dragon to me.

“I’m not powerful.” I muttered.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the proctor. “You’re free to go, results will be posted when exams are done.”

I nodded, and extinguished my golems. I didn’t need to hear the jeers. I headed towards the door.

“Wait, what’s your name?” The other witch asked.

I glanced over my shoulder at them. “Kiri, Kiri Wolf.”

“Wolf?” Her eyes widened. “Your?”

I nodded, and opened the door. At least now she knew how wrong she’d been. I wasn’t a powerful witch. I was a disgrace to my family name.

“I’m Jaye.” She said, as I left. The entrance was clearly labeled and it led to an open field, with a path, I followed the path and it led back out front, where families and friends were waiting.

My mother found me, her expression of boredom shifted to irritation. I walked over to her.

“I suspect that you failed miserably. No reason for you to stick around. Go home and pack your bags. You have until the end of the week to move out.” She ordered, as cold as always.

I shrunk under her piercing gaze. “Yes ma’am.”

I knew she would kick me out when I inevitably failed, but I had hoped for a little more time. Hopefully I could find a job in a week. It was doubtful I would be able to find a place to stay though.

I weaved my way through the crowds, as my failure pressed down on my shoulders. I had known I was going to fail. I had always known. I was useless. A failure, a dissapointment, a disgrace.

The sidewalk began to swim in front of me. I stumbled. Great, I couldn’t even walk home correctly. I glanced around. At least there was no one nearby. I stepped off the sidewalk and slumped against the wall of the building. I slid to the ground. Bushes were between the sidewalk and the building, so I was out of anyone’s way.

I glanced at my arms, the bandages were soaked with blood. Three golems was just too much blood I guess. I just needed to rest a little bit. Then I would go home, pack, and figure out what I was doing. Someone, somewhere would need a grunt to do basic menial labor. I just had to hope that it would pay enough for me to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, that was unlikely. I would end up on the streets, finally looking like the failure I was.

My eyelids felt heavy, it wouldn’t hurt if I just closed them Just for a little bit, then I would get up. 

198.1

When my eyes next opened it was dark, and I was soaking wet and freezing. Who knew how long I had been sitting in these pushes. I pushed myself to my feet, still unsteady. I just needed to walk it off. I stumbled and caught myself on the wall. I was so weak, so useless. Meghan wouldn’t be reduced to this from just a few golems. I needed to be stronger, but I wasn’t. Tears joined the rain running down my face. What had I ever done to the world to be cursed to be so weak and so useless. 

I should’ve just died with my father in that wreck. It would’ve saved so many people so much trouble. By the end of the week my mother and sister would be free of me, but I would just be someone else’s burden. Maybe it was better if I just didn’t make it home. If I just stayed here, if I just disappeared. I wouldn’t be missed. They would probably throw a party.

But, someone would find me here. I should find somewhere else.

I began walking again, unsteady, but there was no helping that. I made my way to the edge of town, not far from the academy. I stumbled and fell again, scraping my hands, as I tried and failed (as if I could ever succeed) to catch myself. I only bother to right myself in a sitting position, legs hanging over the edge as I looked down at the rushing water of the river.

That was more like it. No one would find me there.

All that stood between me and it was a steep hill, slick with mud from the wind, and air. I just had to push myself off the path. I would no doubt slide down the hill and fall into the water. It would carry me away. I would be forgotten. I snorted. As if I wasn’t already.

I heard voices. What would anyone be doing out here this late?

I glanced over my shoulder. They were still far enough away. They hadn’t noticed me. If I went now, they never would. Who was I kidding? I was invisible. They wouldn’t notice me if I didn’t move. I could always go after they had walked by.

“Kiri?” One of the voices asked.

Crap.

“What the hell are you doing out here?” I recognized the voice, unfortunately.

“You were supposed to go home.” Meghan chastised. “Not drown your sorrows in the rain. Mom’s being generous enough to give you a week so I suggest you take it.”

She laughed. “You have the rest of your life to sit crying in the rain.”

Her friends laughed.

I felt a yank on my arm, she pulled me upright. “So, get your sorry ass home and apologize. You’ll be lucky if she even lets you stay the week after this.”

I nodded, numbly and began walking back, while my sister and her friends went the other way. She had smelled of booze. She must have gotten drunk celebrating her acceptance. I should be happy for her. But... I didn’t have the energy to be happy. I didn’t have the energy for anything.

Somehow, I made it home. I opened the door with a key in my pocket.

Mother was waiting for me, arms crossed and foot tapping. “You're a disgrace Kiri. I shouldn’t be surprised anymore but you continue to astound me with your stupidity. Wandering off. After I gave you a week to prepare. Well, I’m done being generous for an ungrateful bastard like you. You have ten minutes to grab what you want, and then I’d better never see you again.”

I nodded numbly, stumbling up the stairs to my room. I grabbed a backpack and shoved a change of clothes, my wallet, and my toiletries in it. I don’t know why I bothered. It was pointless. I was just going to disappear.

Nonetheless, I grabbed the backpack and left. I wandered through the streets, and found myself back at the path above the river. I sat down, shivering by this point, bandages pink with the mix of water and blood.

I glance at the water. It was so peaceful. Could I be peaceful if I joined it? Finally end my misery. No more jeers, no more taunts, no more disappointed stares. No more teachers telling me once again that I could never be like my sister. That I was a disgrace. The whispered words.

What can you expect? She’s not even a full wolf.

My mother would finally be happy. She would be able to stop pretending she didn’t have another daughter. It would be true. She would only have one.

I just needed to do it. To just push myself over the edge. 

I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the water, but it was long enough that the water turned golden as it reflected the morning rays of the sun.

I was startled out of my trance by something nudging my shoulder. It was a bird, a kestrel I think. It had a tiny note attached to its leg.

The tiny falcon landed on my leg. I carefully untied the note from its leg. Once untied, it expanded into a regular sized letter. A message from a witch then.

I opened the envelope, while the bird began preening its feathers. It was sealed with the symbol of the academy, a talon.

I didn’t think they took the effort to send rejection letters to all the witches who failed to gain acceptance. It was a prestigious academy and thousands tried their luck each year. Only 500 were accepted each year. That was a lot of rejection letters.

Congratulations Kiri Wolf!

That didn’t make sense, congratulations for what?

You have been accepted to Eagle Gate Academy. Your excellent performance in the entrance exams have led to you being placed in the top ranks of this years incoming class. As with all high-rankers, you are awarded a full scholarship with an additional thousand dollars of spending money each semester.

Unfortunately, you were absent at the acceptance ceremony, but if you would like to accept your scholarship and your place among these walls, please report to the front office, show this letter and we will take care of you. You have until the end of this week to decide.

Congratulations again, and welcome. We are glad to have such a powerful witch join our ranks.

Sincerely,

Eduardo Butler (XI)

I stared at the letter in absolute shock. My hand were shaking. This must be a prank, some kind of mistake. I wasn’t a powerful witch. I was a failure. I had failed. I had messed up. I wasn’t deserving of this. There had been a mistake. A typo, they had messed up with the numbers. This letter must have been meant for my sister. It couldn’t be for me. That didn’t make any sense.

I was weak. I was useless. I barely passed my classes in high school. I was a failure of a witch. I had messed up the written portion. My demonstration for the practical had been pathetic, and Jaye had done everything in the duel. I had just stood there.

I remembered my sister last night. She must be pranking me. She must be waiting in the bushes. Or she’s waiting at the academy, waiting to see them laugh when I present the letter.

But, she didn’t have a kestrel. She didn’t have the academy's seal.

No, no. It was just a prank. She was a powerful witch. She must’ve figured out how to fake it. Maybe the letter would burn my hands, or dissolve into acid or something. Maybe the bird would turn and attack me.

I glanced at the bird. It had its head tucked under one wing and looked to be sleeping.

Tears began falling from my eyes, again. Why did my sister have to be so cruel? Why did she have to rub it in. Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? Why not just let me disappear? If she hadn’t sent me this stupid letter I probably would be floating in the river by now. I would’ve been out of her hair finally.

I was tempted to tear the letter up and finally push myself over the edge. But, I glanced at the bird. It looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake it. I could wait. A few minutes, or hours, didn’t matter.

I heard more voices. Early risers. Dammit. Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice me.

The bird heard them too, and woke with a shake of its small body.

I spread its wings. Was it finally taking off? If it hurried I could be gone before the voices got too close. It did take off, but only to land on my shoulder.

I sighed. I suppose I would wait.

The voices were close enough for me to make out.

“I can’t believe that you were partnered with Kiri Wolf.” The first voice said.

“You saw the rankings.” A second voice added.

“She beat her sister, and you know how good her sister is.” The first spoke again.

“I would never have guessed she was that powerful.” A third voice admitted.

“I know.” One said, agreeing. “I’d heard that she was pretty much useless.”

“She was far from that.” Three said. “She summoned three golems, three. And not the textbook ones, hard ones, a dragon, a griffon, and a hippogriff.”

“Three? That’s a lot of blood.” Two commented.

“Is it? I don’t do blood magic. I focus on light and dark.” Three said, surprised.

“Yeah, especially ones that big. The sigils have to be big, and blood has to take up the whole sigil.” Two explained.

“Hey, guys.” One said, quietly. I almost couldn’t hear them.

“What?” Two and three asked, confused.

“Does she look... okay?” One asked, still quiet.

I realized with horror that they had stopped walking and were probably talking about me. Just keep walking, just keep walking. I chanted in my head. Their conversation was confusing enough. Maybe they were friends of my sister, roped into this prank. It was oddly elaborate though. And I didn’t recognize the voices, and she would never say I was better than her, even for a prank.

I glanced at the letter in my hands again. Was it real?

“Hey are you okay?” Three called out, as one and two shushed them.

“Fine.” I responded.

The bird on my shoulder chirped, startling me. I slipped. 

I was right, the hill was muddy, I couldn’t get any traction. The bird flew off my shoulder in surprise. The letter flew out of my hands, as I suddenly found myself plunging towards the water. And suddenly, I was afraid. Wasn’t this what I had wanted?

I stopped, an iron tight grip around my wrist stopping me from falling.

I glanced up. “Jaye?”

“Kiri?”

“What are you doing here?” We both asked at the same time.

She yanked me up, back onto the path. “You first, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I muttered, as I pulled my arm back, wincing. She had grabbed my left arm, and the cuts had broken open again.

“You don’t look fine.” She said.

“I’m fine.” I said again, standing, grabbing my backpack. The letter was gone anyways. It didn’t matter if it was real. I would find another spot to disappear, another spot to die.

The bird flapped in front of my face and landed on my arm, which I held out for it. It had the letter in its beak.

“What are you doing sitting out here by yourself if you got the letter?” One of her friends asked.

“And you’re soaking wet. Have you been out here all night?” Her other friend asked.

I snatched the letter from the bird and crumpled it in my hand.

“I’m fine.” I repeated, brushing past them.

I just wanted to disappear.

“You’re turning them down?” Jaye asked, aghast. “Did you get accepted somewhere else better?”

“I just - just leave me alone.” I snapped, turning to face them. “I’m not the powerful witch you think I am. I’m a failure. I’m useless.”

I held my fist up with the crumpled letter in it. “This, this is a mistake. They must have messed up with their stupid numbers. It was meant for my sister, not me. I’m the bastard child, she's the prodigy. I failed at every single step of that entrance exam, there's no way I made it in.”

I turned on my heels and began walking away. I just wanted to disappear, needed to disappear.The letter was a mistake. I was a failure. They would realize that. The bird was still following me. I held out my arm, it landed on it, chirping gratefully. I carefully moved it to my shoulder. I uncrumpled the letter in my hand, staring at it again. I reached back and slipped a pen out of a pocket in my backpack meant for a water bottle. I crossed out my name and wrote in Meghan’s. I folded the letter back up, put it back in the envelope, tucking the flap back in.

I cast a simple spell on it and it shrunk into a tiny roll. I tied it carefully to the bird’s leg again.

“Take it to Meghan Wolf.” I told the little bird, and moved my arm, urgin it to fly away. It remained firmly in place.

“Kiri.” Jaye called after me.

I ignored her. She didn’t know me.

“Kiri wait.” She tried again.

I paused, but continued. I didn’t need to disappoint anyone else. And that’s what she would be once she found out that there was a mistake.

“They wouldn’t have sent your sister a letter, because she accepted her place at the academy at the ceremony.” She said. “The letter is meant for you. You’re the only person who wasn’t there to accept their place.”

“Because I failed. I failed the exam. I shouldn’t be accepting any place. They made a mistake. They must’ve mixed my name and number up.” I argued over my shoulder, still walking away.

“Why do you think you failed?” Jaye asked. “The results say you passed, and you passed by a lot. Are you calling all the proctors liars?”

“I couldn’t answer the writing questions, by page ten I was basically just guessing. My practical was pathetic. I did some stupid elemental magic and summoned a deformed golem. And you did everything in the duel.” I listed as I continued to walk away from her, but she kept pace. Her friends trailed uncertainly behind us.

“I did everything? You summoned three golems, and you pointed out the weak spot.” She argued. “And page ten. The questions were ridiculously specific by page 5. It’s designed to be way too hard. You’re not supposed to know every answer. It’s to see if you’ll try to cheat on an exam designed to make you fail.”

“I stood in the corner.” I shot back. “I didn’t do any fighting. And how do you know that about the exam?”

“They told us after they finished announcing who was accepted. We were sworn to secrecy, but you can know, since you were accepted.” She explained.

She didn’t push it until she ran ahead and stopped in front of me, stopping, and looking me in the eye. “Who made you think you were such a failure?”

I laughed, but it was dry and lacking all humor. “The entire world. I’m Kiri Wolf, the useless bastard child who should’ve died with her father, not leaving the poor widow to take care of a child that’s not even hers.”

“What?” Jaye mumbled. “You weren’t trying to - is that why you were...? “

I stepped past her again. 

“Just forget you ever saw me.” I mumbled. “Soon I’ll have disappeared anyways. The whole world will forget me then.”

“Kiri, wait.” She grabbed my arm. I pulled it out of her grip.

“Just go back to your life. Forget about me.” I repeated.

“I’m not going to just let you kill yourself!” Jaye shouted.

“Well you should. I was always doomed to die amounting to nothing. I'm just skipping the dreadful middle parts.” I said, ignoring the bird who chirped on my shoulder with... concern? That shouldn’t be possible.

I heard Jaye say something to her friends, but I couldn’t make out the words. I did hear though that Jaye's footsteps suddenly quickened. I side-stepped as she went charging past, trying to tackle me.

I was once again dangerously near the edge of the path. One misstep and I would be in the river.

“Kiri, don’t.” Jaye pleaded as she turned to look at me.

I didn’t move, staying in one place. Frozen... by fear. Stupid, stupid fear. I should just take the step back. It made sense. I wanted it, I wanted to disappear. But, I had remembered falling. That had been terrifying.

Suddenly, someone was next to her, XI, Eduardo. They were out of their white proctor suit though, and dressed more casually.

“Kiri.” They began. “I can assure you that the letter is not a mistake.”

“I don’t understand.” I mumbled. “All my teachers have told me that I can’t do magic properly.”

“I believe that they were clouded by their prejudice. They saw you only as Meghan’s bastard sister instead of actually looking at your magic.” They said, slowly, carefully. “You are one of the most skilled witches I’ve had the honor of proctoring in a while.”

“But, but I - I guessed on over half the written. And, and...” I ended up trailing off, overwhelmed. I collapsed to my knee, burying my face in my hands, as sobs overcame me.

Arms were around me almost immediately, gently leading me away from the edge.

“Come on, we’re taking you back to the academy.” A voice, Eduardo, gently urged.

I didn’t fight them, as they teleported us in front of the academy. They led me through the school, until we ended up in a long room, with beds on each side, an infirmary.

They slipped my backpack from my shoulders, and talked with one of the nurses. I didn’t pay enough attention to make the words out. Everything was a blur. 

The nurse exchanged my muddy clothes for clean ones before laying me on the bed. The nurse then patched up my arms, cleaning them and bandaging them better. She offered me something to drink, and I sipped on it, it was a glass of water.

The bird never left me for reason, perching on my leg. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.