October 20, 493 U.C.

I woke to the sound of clattering pans. Light was creeping through the windows, and Ela was dozing next to me, using my hand as a pillow.

The room was quiet and empty. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, searching Daniele’s house. Did they just leave? Disappointment filled me. Maybe I shouldn’t have slept. Maybe they hate me. Maybe —

“Good morning, Casey,” Denise called out, walking into the room. “We had some discussions and decided to let you rest.”

“Good morning.” I looked at her. “Do they hate me?” I whispered.

“Of course not. They just wanted to give you time. If you ask Ela or if you want, I’ll call. They’ll be here instantly.” Denise took a seat next to me. “I do apologize for the way it was handled. There wasn’t a great way.”

“To meet my family-slash-not-family,” I finished for her.

Ela bonked me on the head. “Stop that, or I’ll tell them. And you’ll get a lecture. They’ve been worried sick about you.”

“Ow!” I stuck my tongue out at her.

“That’s better. Today is going to be busy. You have school, and we need to schedule meetings, and your family wants to talk. Oh - and you have a therapy appointment. The doctors insisted on that one first. It’s after school.” Ela pulled on my hand and grinned. “Get up, Casey! We’re going to school!”

I stared at the bold fairy. “You can’t go to school.”

Ela scowled at me, swapped her attire to match the school uniform, and stuck out her tongue. “I disagree. I’m going!”

Looking away from the terror, I focused on the doctor. “I don’t feel like going to school.”

Denise nodded. “It’s been a traumatic few days. How are you feeling this morning?”

I tried not to think about that, slowly pulling my legs up to my chest.

Daniele walked in and waved at me. She walked over. “Casey, sorry. I didn’t — I didn’t know what to do? And I was worried about you. And I — I’m sorry.” She finished and wiped water from her eyes.

I forced myself up. Then I hugged her. “Thanks,” I whispered.

Daniele hugged me and started crying.

“No crying. I don’t want to think about any of it,” I said, patting her on the back.

“That’s what I thought,” Denise said with a look of concern. “Maybe school would be for the best. Then we can chat after school.”

I groaned. My desire to talk about any of it didn’t exist.

“What do you want to do?” Denise asked.

“Curl in a ball and sleep,” I replied, looking back at the couch.

“Can’t let you do that. Go get showered and come eat.” Denise handed me some clean clothes.

I couldn’t really argue with that. A shower sounded great. So, I went and showered, stewing over my new circumstance. I had new people who were apparently family. They seemed to care. Did they want me? Could I have a family? My thoughts started ballooning.

The shower went cold while I did. I jerked around and shut it off. Drying off, I got changed into the school uniform. Maybe I should go and just pretend everything is normal.

I stared in the mirror. My true appearance stood there. I borrowed Daniele’s brush and shouted. “Ela! Where’s my amulet?”

“Gone!” Ela said happily from outside. “Your mom took it. She said that per the treaty, you aren’t allowed to wear them until they get the politics straightened.”

My groan echoed through the house like thunder. The walls creaked. The light flickered, and Daniele started laughing, which got me to stop.

“No mocking my plight!” I shouted at her, putting on my uniform.

“Sorry,” Daniele called back.

I walked out and headed to the kitchen. Breakfast looked and smelled amazing. I took a seat, and an image popped up on my ocular computer. It was a picture from yesterday. The three of them were hugging me. My eyes started to water.

“I took it yesterday,” Daniele said, looking at me. “I thought you might like it.”

Quickly wiping away the water, I smiled at her. “Thanks.”

“School?” Ela asked, landing on the table and stealing a bite of my scrambled eggs.

“I guess.” I looked over at Denise. “How long ago did Daniele tell you?”

“Let’s worry about that another time. Just know that we care about you.” Denise walked over and hugged me.

That was when I realized it was going to be a long day. I considered teleporting off into the wilds. Then I looked at the picture. A smile crept onto my face. Maybe we can be a family even if I am almost grown.

“I don’t want to force you. I do think it would be healthy to face it head-on. Ready to go to school?” Denise asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get this nightmare over with.” I quickly finished off the plate, grabbed my things, and headed for the door.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Ela happily followed. She looked up at me. “Please, Casey? I always wondered about it.”

“I should wear a disguise.” I pulled out an amulet and winked. “Like I don’t have spares.”

“Casey, no!” Ela groaned and tried to grab it. “Elani will be checking. She said she’d have to take you to command if you did it. There are treaties, and they don’t want to tell people about you unless you want to say it.”

I walked into the airlock and considered that. They were hiding the fact that I was a clone. Joy filled me at that. I wasn’t ready to fight that. Wiping water from my eyes, I nodded and stashed the amulet.

Daniele smiled at me. “You look great. It’ll be alright.”

“You know that this is going to give you away, right?” I asked, gesturing to myself. She was as good as confirmed.

Daniele nodded. “Yeah. There’s no stopping it.”

We walked out of the airlock. Then we turned and started the walk to school.

“Look who finally decided to stop lying,” Daron said with a smirk as he walked up.

I stuck my tongue out. My platinum hair flashed into my vision as it swung.

“Hello, Platinum,” Spen’ze said with a chuckle as he walked up. He grinned evilly at me. Zriulth did the same.

I just threw my hands in the air. “You got me.” Then I marched towards the school.

“No costume?” Zriulth asked.

“Apparently, I am banned for the moment.” I sighed. Ela giggled.

“Why is she out?” Daron asked, staring at Ela in complete shock.

I shrugged. “She wanted to be, and it’s not like it changes anything for me.”

Zriulth walked next to me. He looked at me with a growing smirk. “This is such a good day.”

“Right?” Spen’ze stretched and grinned evilly at me. “Someone to take the heat.”

“She is Liani’s daughter. We can refer them to her,” Zriulth said.

I turned to him. “How do you know that?”

“Are you kidding? I don’t know the details, but every fae knows now. It spread through us like wildfire. Those two are ecstatic.”

My face lit up like a Christmas tree. A little bit of pride mingled with it. It seemed they did like me.

Then I heard the buzzing swarm approaching. I looked over to Daniele and grabbed her hand. She giggled and didn’t speed up.

“Platinum?” Lucy asked with wide eyes as she walked up. She nudged Daniele out of the way. “Nice to meet you. I’m sure we can be friends. I’m Lucy. I can show you around the school.”

I moved back alongside Daniele. “We’ve met, Lucy. My other name is Casey.”

Lucy shook her head. “No. She was in school then.”

“Holotech.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “But how?”

I smirked. “A second is such a long time if you are properly motivated.”

“And if you can distort time,” Zriulth added.

“Well, yes. – Gah!” I had a nice bout of feline grace while Liani and Jolzki appeared right in front of me.

Liani chuckled and pulled me into a hug. “Have a good day at school, daughter dear. You look good.” Then she kissed my forehead while I blushed furiously.

“Thanks,” I murmured and hugged her. “Have a good day too.”

Jolzki wrapped his arms around both of us. “We are expecting you after school. Alright?”

“Okay.” I hugged him and then let go.

The swarm suddenly realized who was there. Squeels rang through the air. Several cursed, and the two of them vanished, leaving me with the blood-thirsty swarm.

“Priceless. Did you get a picture?” Daron asked. “I sure did.”

“Monster!” I barked and contemplated running. I regretted not learning a rain spell to speed everyone up.

Daniele giggled. “I got one too.”

I cried in anguish to the sky, sending a flock of rotk soaring out above the buildings.

Lucy grabbed me. “Your mom is Liani?” she shouted in my ear. “Well, I’m sure we can put it all behind us, Casey. And we can partner when I get magic. You could help —”

I huffed at her and several who approached. “I’m banned, literally. They have banned me from all potions, enchantments, and awakening stuff.”

Katherine bolted up along with Trevor and several others.

“Why’s Platinum here? Wait, is she Platinum?” Trevor asked while staring at me.

I dodged behind Daniele, trying to use her as a human shield. It seemed fair. She’d refused to run.

“She’s Platinum,” Spen’ze answered. “And she’s Casey.”

“Oh, hi, Casey!” Katherine said with a big smile. “Want to go shopping this weekend?”

“I’d have to get permission.” I sighed.

Katherine grinned. “I’m sure they’ll say yes. We could totally have some fun and team up when I become a magic girl.”

“Ela, is there a law about teleporting to school?” I asked the fairy lounging on my head.

“Nope,” Ela replied as she stood up and surveyed things.

“Can I get a plushie?” Maria asked while staring at Ela. Her hands reached out.

I pointed up. “Ask, Ela.”

Ela grinned and waved at Maria. “We’d need to give a quest. And we’re banned from that until everything gets cleared up.”

“See. No power.” I sighed, which just made the fae laugh at me. I scowled at my tormenters, who were enjoying this far too much. Yes, I could understand the irony, but I didn’t much care for it either.

“Can I talk to Ela?” Maria asked with wide eyes. Then she grinned as Ela flew over and landed on her head.

“Hi!” Ela said chipperly.

“Liani is really your mom?” Katherine asked. “You’re fae?”

I refused to answer, pretending I was out by the ocean. I considered taking a trip while rounding a corner.

“She is,” Spen’ze said with a smirk. “Eluna is her sister.”

“Your mom or sister can help me get magic,” Lucy said happily.

I snorted. “I don’t think that’s how this works.”

Lucy wormed in next to me. “I can talk to them and explain.”

I forced myself not to screech. Now, I was suffering the same fate as the two smirking boys nearby. Not using an amulet had been a mistake. I regretted it.

Trevor turned to me. “Casey, I can’t believe you hid that. Can you awaken me?”

“Nope. I’m banned.” I kept walking and sniffed the air. Finally! “Here comes the rain!”

Daniele glanced up. Then she bolted. I giggled and did the same. We tore off down the final block. Most of the others joined us.

I raced into the school and entered the airlock. Every head pivoted. I groaned. The airlock opened, and the second swarm hit with a barrage of questions. The two fae behind me unhelpfully just laughed through it.

“Is that your familiar?” Sun-young asked with a grin.

“Yes, she’s Ela,” I said. “You can use her to make requests. She’s in charge of those.”

Ryan walked up with a smirk. “Hi, Casey. Can you make me a magic girl?”

“Evil! The lot of you!” I barked and tried to march to class, running into a wall of people who wouldn’t let me through.

“Come on. I heard you are Viper,” some senior said. “You know how to give people magic!”

I pointed at Ela. “She’s in charge.” Then, I tried to worm through the human blockade, making glacial progress. I turned and glared at the two who were trapped there with me.

Spen’ze laughed. “Alright, get to class!” he barked out.

Unsurprisingly, the students did not listen to him either. I let out a wail, sending it throughout the school. That didn’t discourage anyone. Several pulled out phones.

I turned and saw that Daniele had escaped. With a groan, I teleported to class and dropped into my seat, leaving the boys to deal with it.

Turning, I logged onto the desk. Then I began searching for the news.

Ela came flying through the door. “There you are!”

“Whoops. Sorry, Ela.”

“Ela!” Ryan said with a grin, beckoning her over.

Ela stuck her tongue out at me and floated off to chat with Ryan. That worked for me. I turned back to the desk.

Students came streaming in. I began ignoring all requests. It was for the greater good that was my sanity. Then, like a ray of sunshine, our teacher walked into the room.

I let out a breath of contentment. She stared at me, blinking repeatedly. Things went downhill from there. I thought the fae boys had it bad. Sadly, everyone knew that I had given people magic. That made it so much worse.

The entire day was a disaster of requests. I shan’t get into them since I’m actively blocking them out while in this therapy session.

Suffice it to say that I’m dealing with it. It’s an adjustment.

And that, dear readers, catches us up for the most part. Since I’m not in the mood to write about attending English class or going to therapy, I shall take a short break. Have some fun!

Love, ~Casey.