A clicking pencil roused Ash from her mid-class daydream and she looked down at a circular criss-cross pattern in the margin of her notebook. The professor was a very short, wispy fairy with wide-spread glistening green wings that had to fly up to write on the chalkboard. Mr. Greymoon was a forest fairy and had leaves fashioned around him in a robe. His skin was the color of ferns and his wings mirrored it with glimmered tips that shone like rainbows. He enjoyed talking about using herbal magic in the kitchen and would often go on long-winded lectures about food and tending gardens.

Much like the one he was going on about now, though she quickly caught on the subject was which herbs and plants have protective qualities that helped ward off evil and those that invited misfortune. Her Herbology class was the fourth and final class of the day and her mind had much to occupy it, although it was not focused on magical studies.

She tuned out again, her mind wandering to the upcoming exam.

Magically adaptive, huh? I wonder what skill it will test me on. It’s not like I have water magic like Kieran or musical abilities like Amysa.

Chances are they were to be called in alphabetical order so she would not have to wait long to figure it out. Amysa likely would go before her and she could sate her anxiety by bombarding her friend with questions about what to expect. Her knee jiggled under the table, bouncing on the tip of her toe, and her pen whirled around between her fingers.

“Miss Grim?” The high-pitched, falsetto voice of Mr. Greymoon called from the front of the room.

Her head snapped up and darted around the room of empty desks, realizing she missed the dismissal and was the only one left there. She scrambled up and fumbled to get her supplies in her backpack, muttering apologies and profuse acknowledgments that she was still there. She slung her backpack on her back, a breath exhaling as the weight settled, and headed with quick steps up the rows of desks.

“Hold on there, Miss Grim.” Mr. Greymoon flitted in front of her before she could dart out of the door with a tiny fistful of herbs wrapped in a silver ribbon, “You’re worried about the Mending, hmm? Is that what has your brilliant mind in a tangle today? Normally, you are my most involved student and I didn’t see you raise your hand once today.”

Her cheeks stained red with embarrassment at the direct chastisement and she ducked her face. She did not need teachers on her case right now, especially not the one who basically raised her. After a moment of silence, her eyes flicked up to the fairy and she saw a soft smile.

“I knew you would be worried, so I made you this gift.” He held out the tiny bunch of herbs and laid it on her outstretched palm. It looked like a small charm and was no larger than a bottlecap. “It’s a mixture of chamomile for anxiety, mugwort to open your eyes magically, and rosemary to,” He glanced at her knowingly, “stave off the nightmares.” His small emerald eyes almost looked sympathetic and he patted her fingertip.

A normal person would hesitate to take gifts from any sort of Fae, even the faeries or the sprites who can be mischievous and oftentimes misleading in their dealings. They often crafted their conversations and would take advantage of naive humans who would accept their gifts without knowing the contract they entered by thanking them. Ash, however, had grown up around the Little Folk and the Fae in the woods surrounding the schoolyard.

“Your gift is much appreciated, Mr. Greymoon. Eione only knows how much help I will need going into this.” She responded expertly with a bittersweet smile and he clasped his hands in approval. After all , he was the one who taught her proper etiquette as a budding mage.

His face was stoic as most of his kind remained and he tilted his head at her, hovering close to her hand. His wings fluttered rapidly to keep him in the air and the thin membranes reflected the light into rainbows almost like the sunlight reflecting off a pool of water.

“No matter the score they give you, only you can diminish your value by allowing others to bring it down or your own mind making excuses not to try.” With the strange words of wisdom, he spun and flitted out of the doorway, leaving her to her own mental crisis.

It was Amysa’s turn first at the Mending just like Ash predicted and she practically ambushed her friend after dinner when she returned to their room for information. The half-siren was uncharacteristically sitting very still on the edge of her bed staring at the purple rug.

“What was it like? What was your test? How well did you do? Did they tell you your ratin-” She froze when she saw the ashen look on her friend's face and asked quietly as she sat down with her, “are you okay?” Ash wrapped a concerned arm around her shoulders and searched her face for any clue. It took several moments of deep breaths and wide-eyed staring in a state of shock before the girl could speak.

“I-I .. saw my mom die,” Her voice was strangled and barely audible. “Right in front of me.” Amysa raised her hands up from her lap to chest level and looked down at them. Her palms were violently shaking and a cold sweat dotted her forehead. “T-they said the - the results were ... I’m not supposed to tell you, Ashy, but you have to know. You just have to.“ Her voice trailed off as her eyes brimmed with tears, unable to continue her account as her chest heaved with rapid breaths.

Ash wrapped her arms around her head and pulled her close to her chest like a mother embracing a hurt child, stroking her hair. She hummed a soft familiar tune that rumbled in her chest, a soothing melody that she had heard the siren use before to calm herself. After several minutes of quiet, shaky breathing, Amysa straightened and smoothed back her hair behind her ears, and wiped her eyes.

“My exam ... “ She inhaled deeply and began again, her eyes still misty with tears that threatened to pour like a flood down her face, “We .. we were on the coast of Padstow. You know the one known for the otters and the whales off the coast.” She tilted her head and nodded at Ash, “We were there for Maol’s birthday, I remember the day so .. so well.” Her voice trailed and she dropped her head to focus on the wooden floor. “My brother and I were playing in the waves with my mom, but the otters weren’t supposed to come out until later that evening so we were spending time on the beach. Out of nowhere, there was this huge wave that came up behind me and crashed over our heads, dragging us all underwater. I could hardly see, let alone get my head above water to breathe. I didn’t know which way was up or down and I couldn’t find the surface. I didn’t .. didn’t see where they went.” She spoke quickly and hiccuped, raising and lowering her eyes to try and hold back the torrent.

She took a deep, shaky breath and tucked a hand across her stomach in a protective hold on herself. “I felt this ... this searing pain in the side of my neck and couldn’t feel anything below my legs.” Her other hand rose to rub the side of her neck underneath her jaw where they had likely torn through but she felt only unbroken smooth skin.

“I thought I had hit a rock or something and been paralyzed and c-couldn’t swim. But I tried to kick and shot forward like I had been propelled by something. I looked down and my legs had fused together with scales into some sort of tail like the skin fused together and a fin sprouted from my feet. At the time, I didn’t know what was going on. I do now obviously, but this was then. It was the saltwater that pulled it from my blood, little did I know. That’s where the real memory stopped. That was the first time my power had manifested. Mom had told me it was likely the salt water that brought it out of my blood. I don’t know why I hadn’t gone swimming in the ocean before. ” Her words flowed quickly through the quavering as if she believed she would break before she relayed her thoughts and needed to explain herself.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Amysa’s ice blue eyes locked with Ash’s, freezing momentarily, and her voice dropped an octave, “Then I saw it. And Ashy, I saw her. I saw my mom...” The dam had broken behind her eyes and she made such a heart-breaking sound of grief and pain that Ash had to tighten her grip on the girl to keep her from slipping away into her despair. Ash reached over across the girl to her desk, snatched her shirt, and dabbed at her cheek.

“She, she was wrapped in a tentacle of one of the biggest leviathans I had ever seen. Its jaws were huge and its teeth..” She inhaled hiccuping without finishing the thought and quivered with a small shudder of fear as if the monster was in front of her again. “It had spikes all over it and it was huge. It brought my mom to its mouth and before I could .. before I could,” She sobbed openly as she recalled it her words coming out broken and unsteady as if it was all her strength to recall it.

“It b-bit her. I could hear a voice that echoed in the water ‘Death... Pain .. Torment’ ... It wasn’t hungry.”

Amysa shook her head slowly, any color that remained drained away and a nauseous look crossed her face. “It just wanted to inflict pain, it sounded so, so angry. Her- her blood clouded the water before the thing let her go to focus on me. She .. her body was batted away like a fly by the creature like she just meant nothing. Like she meant nothing to it. Nothing at all.” Her red puffy eyes turned to Ash in disbelief before continuing, tears streaming down her face. “I felt it reach for me and wrap around my waist, bringing me towards its horrible mouth with its rows and rows of teeth. I did the only action my heart was telling me to do... I-I screamed.”

She paused before continuing, a semblance of strength returning to her face “It created a sonic wave that caused the creature to make this horrible, agonized sound and released me, retreating away from us both. I went directly for my mother and dragged her to the beach... She-she wasn’t breathing Ash and I couldn’t feel her heartbeat. There was so much .. so much blood everywhere. Maol was screaming at her to wake up and I tried to stop it with my hands, but it wasn’t -- enough.” She buried her face in her hands and her breath hitched with emotion. “I remembered the song my grandma used to sing at the funerals and memorials to our fallen and before I could really think about it, I was, I was singing it. There was a glow around my fingertips and I could feel the sinews and tendons and skin come back together. Straightening and mending underneath my fingers -- then she gasped a breath.” She glanced up at Ash again in disbelief. “I brought her back, Ash. I healed her.”

Ash was dumbfounded at the power of her friend and shook her head in wonder. “That’s,” the words escaped her to describe it. “That’s some power Ams. I’m so, so sorry that it came at the cost of having to see that, but they had to of scored you high for that, yeah?”

“They gave me Flame, the highest of the three categories. They told me I had one of the greatest potentials as a healer they had ever seen in this century. My mom didn’t even have this level and I still can’t believe it.” She sniffled and wiped her nose and eyes with her sleeve.

It had been some time since Amysa had seen her mother and brother Maol after she was admitted to the Academy. Families and relations weren’t allowed on the grounds and while Ash believed this rule was steeped in secrecy and the ability to avoid oversight. However, it was justified by protecting the student’s focus and not perpetuating homesickness. She always thought for a school that placed so much importance on blood, it was odd they didn’t allow blood relations on the grounds.

“I scored ten on my Thaumaturgy, eight on my willpower, and a six on my bloodline because we don’t know who my father is.” Though her eyes were red and puffy from crying and stray tears still periodically tracked down her face, the siren gave a small, but proud smile.

Ash tugged her friend into an embrace again and squeezed her shoulders in admiration. The deep gnawing hunger of dread coiled around her stomach and she glanced at the clock on the wall. “We should probably get ready for bed, it’ll be my turn tomorrow most likely and we will see what these veins hold.”

She didn’t ask her friend what to expect in the room to not bring up the flashback again and it would only serve to feed the demons of doubt that shadowed her mind.

It would be unlikely she would get any sleep tonight.

The sunlight streamed through the curtains and had slowly risen over the windowsill to pour over Ash’s still-open eyes. As her alarm pierced through her sleep haze, she groaned and rolled onto her back. She was sure today was her Mending day and she wished beyond hope that she could just roll over and forget the day.

Excitement and apprehension fought for control of the nausea that threatened to send her running for the bathroom. Amysa was an early riser so she was already in front of the mirror humming a beautifully soft melody to herself and twisting her locks of hair

Ash rolled over to hit her alarm clock and sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes. Her dreams had been bits and flashes, but no one solid scene she could conjure up in her mind. A face cast in shadow, crimson braided ropes of liquid, the smell of dusty tomes, and a light buzzing sound like fireflies. It was uncommon she couldn’t recall her dreams because she usually had crafted them before she fell asleep, one of the techniques she had developed to combat her nightmares.

Though her bloodline was unknown, she had grown up around the Academy since she was rescued and taken in by Mr. Greymoon. The professors had always been cagey about her past, how they knew she was from a magical bloodline and how they would even know if she had the capability despite having a magical resonance. All she knew was that there was an accident and her family home was lost in the fire. Every time she would ask about her family, they would go quiet and quickly change the subject with a placating band-aid and a pat on her head.

Though her previous life was not one she remembered all that well, her toes wiggled underneath her blanket in remembrance of the dirt and soil between her toes when she ran through the gardens behind the Academy. The tree boughs brushed her face as she raced after one of the brightly colored woodland pixies as a child. The song of the birds that had long since flown away to more friendly environments. How she missed the days when nothing was expected of her and a small sigh of melancholy escaped her lips.

Her teeth clicked together anxiously and the nervous energy in her muscles made it uncomfortable to stay still. She paced while brushing her teeth, her eyes unfocusing and running over possible scenarios in her head. Her roommate had already readied and left, Ash barely hearing her leave in her dissonance, and she had not the chance to ask any more questions now that she was calmed. What if she didn’t even have enough magic to make it into the Null category? Would they force her to leave? She didn’t even know her heritage let alone what people she could seek refuge with. Maybe they would allow her to stay with Mr. Greymoon and continue to learn to see if her magic would manifest, but there was a nagging voice inside her head that debated the possibility with logic.

After wrestling her hair into another messy bun with ringlets on either side of her cheekbones and flattening down her uniform from the day before, she trudged out of the room and started down towards the Common Room for breakfast. Her eyes stole to the portraits of professors, Headmasters, and key figures in history that lined the hallway at the base of the stairs. Their names were in fancy golden script on a plaque at the bottom of each frame, but there were only a few she could name off the top of her head.

She was able to get into the line for breakfast and grab an apple from before the conveyor line of cooks and servers before an announcement came booming through the high-ceiling of the room.

“Will Ms. Ashaera Grim please report to the East Wing?”

Normally, the professors were given the names who were scheduled to take the test during their period and they were excused before class started. The student’s heads whipped this way and that, leaning and looking for her. Once a majority of them found her, all eyes focused on her and she gulped, tucking the apple into her pocket and stepping out of line.

It was time.