“No way,” Vinny mumbled, fear edging his voice. “You’re…how…?”

Mr. Abrov looked stern, and walked towards me.

“Rey,” Mr. Abrov spoke, in an almost whisper, “Have you been in contact with anyone since you left your home?”

“No, Mr. Abrov, sir,” I replied. “Well-”

One of the teachers next to Mr. Abrov took a step forward. “Well? It seems you have left out some crucial details, Rey-”

Mr. Abrov sighed. “Not now, Professor Hilton.”

Professor Hilton seethed with anger, clearly wanting me to take the fall for the chaos that Jork managed to wriggle us out of.

“Mr. Abrov, sir, we ran into-”

Mr. Abrov smiled. “Yes, I know, Jork told me. I was just wondering if you saw anything else. But if you didn’t, then I’m sure we can just normally get you to your classes.”

“But, sir, with all due respect,” Professor Hilton snarled. “I believe the boy has to answer some more questions in front of the Elder Order of Light, don’t you think?”

Mr. Abrov’s smile immediately disappeared. His eyes drooped, and his mouth twisted with annoyance. “Professor Hilton, I do believe that slowing down this child’s progress is utterly useless and unnecessary.”

“But-”

“I do not wish for you to speak again, Professor Hilton. I highly doubt that someone like you should be suggesting possibly putting Mr. Karn under trial for an Order that has no business here.”

Professor Hilton stumbled back in shock. I wonder…Mr. Abrov sounded as if he disliked this Order, and that Professor Hilton had secrets of his own. The other teachers were still silent, waiting for what Professor Hilton might say. He had opened his mouth, but no sound escaped his lips.

“Good. It seems we are in agreement.”

Mr. Abrov twisted his body away and began walking out of the room, the other teachers following him. Jork gave a hearty wave and followed after the rest of them.

“Well, Rey, it’s time to go,” Vinny squeaked. “I need to take you to the, er, other tower.”

Vinny walked down an old hallway, with cobwebs littering the roof and floors, and small cracks across the hall. For what felt like hours, we finally arrived at a small door. It was oak, with an old, rusty metal knob.

“Well, er, it’s nothing special, considering it’s rarely used,” Vinny muttered. “But we’ll have it cleaned for you in the coming days.”

Vinny began pulling at the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He then turned to look at me.

“Er, can you use magic? You need to use…that magic to get inside.” Vinny muttered.

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I looked blankly at him. I twisted to the door and pressed my hand on the knob. Concentrating all of my willpower at the knob, I released as much energy I could, but nothing escaped my palms.

“Keep trying,” Vinny whispered. “You only need the smallest smark of magic to make it work.”

I kept pushing at the door, to the point where I was leaning against it. Vinny’s sharp breaths weren’t helping my concentration either.

“Well, maybe if you were magicless…” Vinny muttered under his breath.

I was nearly punching the door now.

“We’d be better off that way,” Vinny finished.

I twisted around towards him. “Shut up!”

Vinny’s eyes went wide with shock, then narrowed with dislike. “Don’t you understand,” Vinny shuffled uncomfortably. “Don’t you understand what you are? A curse, that’s what you-”

The door behind me flew backwards as I felt my hand fall through the barrier. After collecting myself again, I looked at Vinny, who was smiling.

“Heh, I knew that would work,” Vinny chuckled. “I was never much of an anti-Dark mage fairy myself, you know.”

I gaped. So Vinny wasn’t a jerk? Huh. I already liked him 10 times more now. I turned towards the dorm and my happiness vanished. It was a mess. Old, dusty books were strewn across the floor, with cobwebs lining the tall corners of the room. Torn robes, overturned tables, and all sorts of junk were littered across the stairwell that led upwards from the back of the room.

“What the heck?” I sputtered. “What a mess…”

Vinny hovered beside me and shrugged. “It hasn’t been used for a while.”

I walked forwards and pushed a table back in its original spot, or at least what I thought was its original spot.

“Why?”

Vinny sighed and looked across the room. “Well, you see, not many mages are affiliated with Light or Dark…those are the ancient elements.”

I thought about what he said. I’ve heard those terms before, from Jork, from books I’ve pored over from information for the past few months, and from bits and pieces from Mei.

“Light mages are usually handled by the Elder Order of Light, a group of Light mages that are organized under their ranks. Dark mages, however, are much more rare and seen as taboo. Most techniques used by Darkness counteracts with other elementals, either destroying or disrupting them. It’s just more unnatural. Many infamous mages specialized in Darkness.”

I swallowed this information with a lot more fear than just a few seconds ago. Infamous mages? He was referring to evil mages, wasn’t he?

“However,” Vinny continued, with a bit more cheer in his voice. “There are some good Dark mages. Not all are bad. However, we only have one Dark teacher at this school. She’s a very powerful mage indeed, arguably the strongest teacher here…”

Vinny cut off there, looked at me with a gleam in his eye, and hovered out the door. I was left alone, in this mess of a room, and sat down on a couch in the corner. I had finally done it. Magic. I extended my palm out. A flicker of purple energy rippled off of it. A mirror in the corner of my eye showed how much I was smiling, my dimples nearly flying off my face.

Maybe I had this power all along, but I had just never pursued it hard enough. I was always a realist, and if I tried a lot, and failed, I usually called it quits. But recently, and now, that is not happening now. I was a mage.

I walked up the staircase. It spiraled and twisted up the tower and its claustrophobic walls surrounding the stairs, until it reached another large oak door. With a press of my hand, I was inside the boys dorm.

It wasn’t very large. Guessing from how run down it was, I assumed the other towers were most likely larger, and therefore, better. However, having this all to myself could be useful, especially with all the space. There were a couple of bunk beds across the room, a table, some desks, chairs, and a small open space, most likely for practicing. I paced across the room, waiting for a knock at the first door, but none came. Silence pierced my ears, turning into a silent buzz. I tried talking to myself to get rid of the noise, but it kept buzzing.

Instead of bothering to try anything more, sleep would probably be better. I rested my head on the pillow of the bunk bed, and closed my eyes.