"Shadow! Let's go, you will be late for orientation. "My dad called out from the outside.

"I'm coming. I am just looking for something really important."I called out.

"Shadow Ebony Darkness if you don't get here in two minutes....I will call your mother."He said clearly bluffing.

Yes, that dumb collection of random words was the name that my parents took a month to think of. The name was supposed to be a reminder of my fate. Although it was a thousand years to come before I could accomplish it, it did not change the fact that it was there and I had a duty of making sure I go the right path to leading me towards that fate. That day was the first step I had ever taken to go towards that fate. It was nerve-wracking to think of going to a college so far away from the home I had grown up in for seventeen wonderful years of my life.

"Shadow."My dad said standing at the entrance of my room.

He was wearing his normal black shirt and jeans that he practically wore every single day of his life. When I asked him about it he would claim that he was a minimalist so there was no need for him to wear different outfits so instead he bought seven pairs of jeans and shirts that he wore every day. The good thing was the colors complimented his dark skin tone and made his skin glow when he stood at the right place in the sunlight. He was tall about Six one which reflected on my height since I was five-eight. It was tall for a girl.

"Dad. Two minutes haven't passed."I said, holding my checklist and looking around the room again to make sure that I did not forget anything.

"She's just scared of going to college."Ash, my twelve years old brother, said, walking into my room as if it was his.

I looked at him with fierce eyes letting my red iris shine with anger.

"Oh what do you know you midget?"

"I know that you will be gone for six months so i get to use your room as my gaming station."

He said looking around the room with his eyes shining with excitement.

Ignoring his statement and looking back at my dad who looked like he was losing patience.

"Can we go now?"He asked me to tap his foot on the ground.

"Okay fine but if I forgot anything I am calling you and you have to bring it to me by hand."I said, grabbing my black backpack.

I entered my father's blue Renault Zoe sitting in the backseat. I loved sitting in the backseat it was strategically located at a point where my dad could talk to me but not too much.  I remembered the day my mother bought for him the car he was so excited to just drive it. It was the day when he made our family take a last-minute road trip to Espenda which was a long eleven-hour drive just to go see some mountains and rivers. Those were the few times in the year when mom was around and I smiled at just the thought of her presence.

"Thinking of your imaginary boyfriend?"Ash said entering the other side.

"Haha, very funny."I said rolling my eyes.

"Are you two already arguing?"My dad asked me to enter the driver's seat.

"No, some kid has not had enough attention today and is begging for mine. "I said looking at him.

"Ash i know that you will miss you're dear old sister but could you please not act so needy before she goes to school.You can cry about it later."He said, making fun of him and winking at me.

My dad never took sides in our arguments. He would either shut the both of us up or he would just wait for one of us to be out of words. He was doing me a favor, that was all. I did appreciate that he would go out of his way to do that.

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As we drove past the neighborhood I grew up in, I could build images in my mind of the great times spent there. That is where I learned to ride a bicycle, I went to my friends'  homes to play video games, where I fell riding my friend's scooter, the square where we held a make-shift wedding and I was the pastor. I smiled at the memory. That day we were just idiots using our time to do anything since time was not that precious at that time. We lived wildly or as wild a small child could live.

It was a warm evening so the red-orange light reflected inside the car in a magnificent breathtaking manner.

"Does the magic realm have sunsets?"Ash asked looking outside the window.

"Oh for the first time little Ash does not want to ar--"

"Shut up and answer the question."He said snapping at me before I could make fun of him.

"I was only allowed in the dark realm for the interview and it took me straight to the school building so I don't really know."

"Oh...."He said holding a long pause,"Do you think your cotton candy personality will survive being there?"

"Of course it will, the dark realm is not about being evil you know, it's about balance."I said pulling my chest out with pride.

"Balance is their school motto or something."

"Noo….."

Ash looked at me with the eyes which called me out for my lies.

"Fine. It's their school motto."I said lowering my head.

He scoffed at the answer. Then, we were not looking at each other. We were both observing the sunset further and further. I wondered what his facial expression was, maybe he was crying. Ash crying because I was leaving for college would be the biggest win I would get in my life. I tried peeking to see what his face looked like but it was more of a sad expression. I was disappointed. That boy could not even cry or his dear old sister.

Then I heard a sudden sniffing from the car. I knew it was not Ash and it was definitely not me. The only other person in the car was my dad and I looked at the mirror and sure enough, my dad's eyes had a hint of red in them that showed that he was crying.

"Dad."I said, shocked that he would cry so early.

"yeah."He said like there was a frog in his throat.

"Are you crying?"I asked looking at him.

"Of course not.."He said looking forward.

I looked at him hiding clear evidence and looked back to my window and smiled. It was hard leaving my family for six months in a whole other realm where I have never been before. My heart was beating out of my chest and I wanted to go hide somewhere. It was crazy knowing that I will be in the dark realm learning how to use my dark magic. The scariest part was that I never used dark magic before in its purest form.

In the mortal realm magic barely manifested itself as much as it did in the magic realm, it needed years of training and mastery for magic users to use their powers in the mortal realm and it would not even be that powerful. True masters who have one thousand years of training could affect the mortal realm from the magic realms. I was a bit concerned about my skills in magic use since I lacked seventeen years of training because my dad insisted that his daughter should at least spend seventeen years of her young life in the mortal realm. My mother was not one to argue and she said that seventeen years was nothing since I was practically immortal.

As I thought of all the new things coming in life and all the interesting people who were born in the dark realm, it made me nervous once again.

"What if I don't get any friends because I am too weird?"I started thinking.

I could not imagine being lonely forever. Being immortal really did not have any perks if you're lonely.

As I sat in the backseat panicking and overthinking every single aspect of life, the time flew by and we had reached the destination. We were at the oceanside on the edge of a cliff. By that time the sun had set and no one was around. My dad relaxed and I think he cried all he wanted to before we reached.

"We are here," He said, opening the trunk of the car and taking out my two suitcases which had my clothes and personal effects.

I took out my phone and checked my social media. I had told all my former classmates that I was called to a random island school far away from home. Those who saw my dad's car must have assumed that I had gone to the airport. I decided to sell it further by sending a tweet.

"#social-media-detox, need to start college right."I said adding a dumb GIF at the end.

I wondered if the magic realm had social media as I walked out of the car taking my luggage.

"You got everything?"My dad asked at the edge.

"Well I don't know someone rushed me out of the house."

"I am sure you have everything."He said smiling and hugging me.

"Take good care of yourself."He said whispering in my ear.

"It's just six months, no need to worry."I said smiling.

I pulled back and he handed me a letter. I looked at the sender's address.

Eba Rue Darkness.

Council of dark Magic Arts

677330, Assim.

Looking at my mother's address made me smile.

"You want a hug."I said looking at Ash.

"You are just going to school not dying."He said, handing me one of my suitcases.

"Suit yourself," I said, taking my luggage.

I took out a stone that my mother gave me that allowed me to partially enter the magic realm. It also cloaked my presence so that I could not be seen by a regular mortal entering another realm. I proceeded to jump over the cliff with the luggage in hand.

I was prepared to go to the College of Assim for the Extra Dark Arts.