The doors opened to a big courtyard, and as Lia followed the others and stepped through, she was almost sure that something had to be wrong with the space in here. There was at least some overlap between the garden outside and the walls she could see here. Where she had seen green lawn outside, she now saw tall walls from in here. Was the space on the inside actually bigger than what she could see on the outside?

“Please watch where you step,” a woman said. She could only hear her gentle voice, and was too far back to see how the woman actually looked. “You might walk into a wall otherwise. Parts of the big open space here are just an illusion,” she explained, “so please follow our exact footsteps.”

“Why are there illusions?” a boy asked. “That sounds stupid.”

“Because you are expected to learn how to tell illusions and reality apart,” Ludwig explained, and he sounded almost annoyed. He had joined the group and was now walking with the rest of the adults in the front. “Learning magic is not only about how to call it forth and control it. It is also important to tell what are magical and what are mundane effects. Not only your own, but also those of others.”

“But why?” the boy insisted.

“A wise man once said: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” the woman began to explain. “Ignoring a real missile, because you think it’s an illusion is as much a folly as having to dodge a fake one.”

“Why is it wrong to dodge a fake missile?” he still wasn’t satisfied, though Lia thought he had a point with that question.

“Because,” Ludwig took a deep breath, “dodging another, real missile, might then become impossible. You might also lose your own target and are suddenly at a disadvantage.”

“Does that mean we’ll be employed in military operations?” a girl raised her voice, half in panic.

“As much as the empire is at peace at the moment - praise be to her royal highness - there are still sinister figures, like space pirates, out there. In these cases people may call on some of you to protect them,” the woman explained in a calm voice. Though Lia thought she had given Ludwig a short stare before she answered.

“But I don’t want to be in conflicts,” the girl complained.

“Then good luck”, she continued. “Some of us go through life without conflict, but others are drawn into it. Others again instigate conflict.”

That being said”, Ludwig intervened, “Any conflict in this school is not tolerated, and the ones that were part of the conflict will earn harsh punishments. No matter who instigated the conflict.”

As he was giving the warning, they were led through another enormous door and down a side corridor. There the doors had normal sizes once more and it took them a while to follow these two into a smaller room.

A tall young man with black hair sat in a corner. He slowly stood up as soon as everyone had entered the room, and he put some kind of pad away. He had a gentle smile on his lips as he slung his arms wide, exposing the black robe with gold trims fully.

Lia wondered for a moment if these were ceremonial robes or whether he was wearing them daily. The latter seemed rather impractical.

“I am Principal Arthur P. Rose”, he said in a loud and clear voice. The same voice that had welcomed them in front of the doors. “Let me welcome you to Crystal Academy.” He lowered his arms and it seemed as if his smile got even broader. “You are here in order to be classified. We will see whether you are an Impera or Impero,” his gaze wandered from a girl to a boy, “and which Elements you’re able to use. Those of you who’re neither Impera or Impero, will be sent to a different room to see how compatible your magic is with a certain kind of Element.”

Lia noticed Eclaire’s broad grin, and she stuck her tongue out, pulling on her eyelid. She vowed to herself to pass this test and be an Impera.

As if on cue, Arthur looked at Eclaire and said: “Many of you may think that Impera and Impero are far better than Donar, but that is not the case. An Impero is nothing without a Donar. You are nothing without each other.” He turned and seemed to address everyone once more. “Because of that we will teach both of you magical theory. The practice sessions will be different though. While Impera and Impero need to practice the control of the magic they’re given by a Donar, the Donars will work on their control providing mana, their stamina and their capacity. Providing magic to an Impero can and will be very exhausting!”

Lia glanced at Ophelia next to her. All of this was far different than she had imagined, but the green haired girl just shrugged. “He might say all these nice things,” she whispered, her words almost drowned out by all the children suddenly talking to one another. “But society sees things differently.”

Lia sighed, curling her hands into fists. None of that mattered. She just had to prove that she was an Impera.

“Now, the tests will begin,” the principal dictated, and called the first name: “Arthur Astra.” A shy boy with ice blue hair stepped forward. “Please, hold this,” he said, handing him an object that looked like a disc. A woman with dark red hair put a hand on his shoulder. She was the one that had led them here and had answered some of the questions. She was middle-aged and wore a simple black robe.

“Now concentrate on simply moving the disc upward”, the Principal instructed the boy. “But don’t move it with your hands. Instead try to relax and imagine it pushing itself upward.”

Lia got on her toes. She wanted to see something of what was happening, but the boy’s back was in front of the disk and she couldn’t see whether it started floating or not. It was even more frustrating as she heard some children gasp and murmur. Mr. P. Rose began to smile. “So, you’re an Impero. Congratulations. Please proceed through the door behind me.” The test had ended and she had seen nothing.

“Miss Eclair Centauri?” the Principal called the next one. Rudehair raised a hand, fought her way through the crowd, and almost pulled the disc out of the Principal’s hands. Then, the same woman put a hand on her shoulder, and this time Lia could see a glow emanating from the disc. It didn’t last long and was a red-orange color.

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“Another Impera,” P. Rose whistled, “and a strong one, it seems.” He gestured to the door behind him once more, and she walked past him. She stopped in the door, her gaze fixed at Lia and she grinned broadly at her, before finally disappearing completely.

“Miss Orphelia Deimos?” Her new friend sighed, straightened her shoulders, and made her way through the eight or so children that were still waiting. She took the disc, the woman touched her shoulder and ... everyone stared at the simple stone. There was silence. Not a glow. Just ... nothing. It almost hurt Lia to see her not succeed with this test. Everyone was still looking at the stone disc. Lia sighed and looked at her friend. “I’m sorry,” she mouthed, no sound coming out of her lips. At last ... did her hair just glow a bit brighter there? Lia rubbed her eyes. Nothing had changed. The disc hadn’t moved. There was no light. And then came the Principal’s devastating conclusion: “Seems like you are a Donar. Please move on through the door on the right.” There wasn’t even a congratulations. Ophelia was right. He was talking nice, and yet ... he saw Donar like everyone else.

Three more children were tested before Lia’s name was called. The results were one more Impero, and two Donars. Finally she stepped forward and, with a fast beating heart, she gripped the disc. The stone felt cool to the touch, and there were minuscule symbols etched into the surface. Small geometric figures, maybe even letters from a different language, that couldn’t be seen from far away. It was a fascinating sight. Some strange artifact. She had read about these things: They were from a long time ago, and could neither be replicated by modern science or modern magic.

Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, and she felt as if the warmth of the woman sank into her, flooding her body, before settling around the knot in her stomach. The principal had said the instructions often enough, so she simply closed her eyes and concentrated on the stone moving upward. The warmth in her stirred, but didn’t move from the knot in her stomach, as if it was trapped there. The stone itself was still cool to the touch, and when she opened her eyes, it didn’t glow. She concentrated harder, and harder. “Move”, she whispered. It felt like a shout in her own head. Nothing happened, despite her skin feeling cold and clammy. Sweat had appeared on her forehead.

“That’s enough,” the Principal said. “She’s another Donar,” he announced her failure to everyone.

“No ... no ...” she said, her body shaking, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. She held onto the strange disc. She just needed another chance. She could do this. No. She had to do this. The principal laid a hand on hers, and gently removed the disc from her fingers. He had this look of sorrow on his face. The strength left her arms and she let go, then, without his prompt, walked to the door on the right. It opened with a hiss, drowning out her wistful sight. With her back to the others, they couldn’t see the tears running down her face. Separating them here was a small mercy. Hers wasn’t the only dream that had shattered today. Her fate was sealed. She’d simply be a battery for all those real magicians.

The door closed behind her, and she didn’t hear the next student that was being called. “Follow me,” Ludwig was standing in front of her, and turned, his voice as cold as it was in the beginning. At least there wasn’t a “I knew you were just a Donar,” or some other derogatory statement. For him she had always been on the lower rungs on the social ladder. She had had the chance to climb upward, but that hadn’t happened.

Lia didn’t even wonder what was going to happen now, and she simply followed him through a corridor and past several unassuming doors. He stopped in front of one that looked exactly like several others, and there was no indication as to why he had chosen this room.

The room itself wasn’t very large. The two chairs in it almost made it look stuffed, though with the white stone walls, white marble floor and a ceiling that was made of white light, the chairs at least gave the room a speck of color, even if that color was brown leather.

“Take a seat”, Ludwig said, and Lia sat on one of them. The chair was more comfortable than it looked, or at least more comfortable than she was used to. He took the other chair and sat ahead of her.

“We’ll now determine how compatible your magic is to the Elements an Impero wields,” he explained in that monotone voice of his. “Take my hand.”

Sighing, she laid her hand in his. She didn’t look up, didn’t want to look into those cold eyes that would tell her that she’s just a tool for him. He only needed to know how useful a tool she was. She felt so defeated by it all. Her big dream had shattered, although anyone without magic would probably tell her that she should feel lucky.

“Close your eyes,” he kept instructing her like a robot, “find the knot of energy within your body. Then pull from it and push it through your hand into me.”

She almost didn’t care to do this exercise, but finally relented. She closed her eyes, sighing and began to concentrate. At the test earlier there had been this knot within her ... hadn’t it? Where was it now? Why couldn’t she find it? All there was, was her churning feelings! She tried to pull at them, pull them apart, hack through them like a panicked person trying to fight their way through a jungle, running from a large animal behind them. The more she pulled and hacked, the deeper those feelings became, like vines that had a mind of their own, that wanted to trap her. Nothing was forthcoming besides more and more frustration.

“Do you have trouble finding your center?” Ludwig asked. She wasn’t sure if the hint of sympathy she heard in his monotone voice was him, or just her wishful thinking, but she nodded in reply. Take your time.” That sounded once more like an instruction. That one had been her imagination then. He seemed like an infuriating robot that had programmed into its logic that he was better than her, maybe even than anyone, and they had forgotten to input what emotions were. He was even more frustrating than the test before. Where was this damned knot of energy she should feel? She had felt! Why was there nothing now? Maybe she was a new freak of nature accident that had blue hair, and no magic. They’d probably sample her DNA, then send her back home. Maybe even force her and her parents to pay for the shuttle ride back and forth.

“Come on,” Ludwig insisted. “Concentrate!” He sounded slightly frustrated ... no that was just his robotic voice ordering her around. She didn’t want to do this anymore. Not with him. He was haughty, emotionless and now frustrating on a fundamental level. That frustration was everywhere, and she heard herself growling. She imagined casting a spell and throwing him into the corner of the room using all her frustration, her anger, her ...

Suddenly she felt as if pushing against some kind of barrier, then through it ...

A bright flash. Heat. A loud bang. A hand pulled away.

Lia opened her eyes. She stared at Ludwig who stared at her with wide open eyes. He hadn’t been thrown back in the room, but ... behind him there was this big crack in the wall. Half the light on the ceiling had gone dark. There was a crack on the floor. Something smelled burned. Was her hair singed? What had she done?

Ludwig had to be furious with her, any moment he’d ... he was still staring. At her. No, not at her. Past her. Even past the wall.

“A... Are you okay?” she asked. she reached out, wondering if she should call someone. But where should she go? Back to the testing room? She wasn’t even sure she could find it again.

Ludwig jerked, gasped, and panted as if he had run a marathon. His gaze wandered to her. “I ... that ... you ...” he stuttered. He wasn’t an unfeeling machine?

“I’m sorry,” she told him. He took a deep breath, stood up and righted his robe, then he cleared his throat. “Please wait here,” he murmured. Then, without looking at her, he turned and quickly left the room.

He left her staring at the white door, a thousand unanswered questions on her mind.