( Haven’t read Legacy? Get outta here! Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the fifth installment of Andra’s Story, Part Five: The Epiphany)
The Epiphany
Andra woke up late the next morning and realized what time it was and rushed as fast as she could into her Level Three uniform. She had never been late for Foxfire before, she was always on time for every session and never late for orientation. But today, the sweet satisfaction of sleep overcame her desire to be the perfect student, and Andra jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready. She stuffed her Shade books into her bag, gobbled down a quick breakfast, then flew out the door.
When she leapt to school, she walked across the cerulean lawn with a new sense of confidence into her step. She felt fresh, she felt free and, in a way, actually a little hopeful. Nothing like a good night sleep to clear one’s head from a daily nightmare. As Andra entered the main hall of Foxfire, she saw all the prodigies had just finished orientation and were now heading to their morning sessions. Andra’s heart caught in her throat as she looked at them and she felt the familiar anxiety well up within her. She stuffed that down and firmly thought to herself,
No, today’s just a normal day. You’re a normal Shade. You’re just like everyone else.
She told herself this several times as she casually merged with the crowd and headed towards the Level Three wing. Her white hair was exposed and she decided not to hide it this time behind her hood. She figured if she was going to be a “ normal prodigy” then she’d better stop hiding like she wasn’t one. Andra smiled and tried to be friendly as she headed toward her locker. Licking her DNA panel, she braced for yet another terrible flavor of the day when a sudden surprising taste of sweet custardbursts tickled her taste buds. She savored the taste and smiled knowingly.
Elwin
The students licked their DNA panels and gasped in delight with a series of satisfied groans. As the students started to file out towards their sessions, Andra felt giddy knowing she would be the only who would ever know that Elwin had actually picked a good flavor for once. She smiled to herself and headed to her first session, carrying her books for elementism down the hall. Everything started feeling like everything was going back to normal. No more worrying about being different or being a monster, no more crazy theories about shadowflux, or any other Shade nonsense. Still, she tried not to think about her next Shade session.
As she walked down the hall, she suddenly had the vague feeling that someone was watching her. She glanced around her and figured it was just her imagination again and continued walking. But when she couldn’t shake that feeling, she felt that someone was following her and she looked behind her and saw no one. She took a deep breath and tried to act normal when she caught a glimpse of her shadow moving along the wall. She jumped and Andra briefly looked at it, realizing it was just her shadow, nothing more. Andra breathed a sigh of relief, laughing to herself and thought,
Come on, Andra. You can’t be nervous about a little shadow, right?
Andra gulped nervously and continued forward. She tried to focus on what she was going to do for her sessions and how to prepare for the finals coming up, when she noticed the prodigies were acting…. peculiar. She realized that the prodigies were trying to avoid her, and not like the usual “ I’m invisible and I don’t care you exist” sort of avoid, but the “ I’ve heard terrible things about you and now I want to get away from you” kind of avoid. She could hear prodigies everywhere talking about something as they glanced and stared at her. Everyone whispered about Maruca and how she was “ almost killed” and that she’s a “ dangerous Shade” and something about “ Exile”.
Andra panicked and wondered who could’ve told them about the incident. She was sure Linh would never do such a thing and she certainly knew Marella couldn’t be that mean. Andra turned pale and tried to keep her white head down, trying hard not to listen. She was tempted to pull her hood back over her face, but she resisted, thinking,
No, remember what Mom had told you. Be proud of who you are.
So Andra straightened her posture and tried her best to appear like the gossip was not bothering her, but the whispers seemed to grow louder with every step she took. Her senses grew erratic as her vision switched to dark and grey silhouettes of prodigies walking the other way or sidestepping her and making a wide path around her. Every few seconds, she could hear someone say “ freak” or “ monster”. Andra felt dizzy looking at every prodigy’s shadowvaper. One student bumped her, nearly making her trip and drop her books. The violent swirling of grey and white and black silhouettes and the excessive whispers that seemed to come from everywhere made her stomach turn and her head spin, until she couldn’t stand it anymore and she slapped herself back to normal.
The little hope she had felt before started to crumble and break into a thousand pieces, as her throat grew tighter and her breathing turned rapid. Her brain shouted things like “ I’ll never be a normal Shade,” or “ I’ll never fit in”, crippling her confident steps into wobbling legs.
Andra stumbled onward, trying to not look or listen to anyone, when she saw a crowd of prodigies up ahead. They all seemed to be crowding around a fancy looking elf with regal clothes, chattering loudly.
Ugh, must be another Regent visiting from the Council making another lecture on politics….ugh!
She tried circling quickly around the crowd when she recognized the official’s face in the center of the assembly.
Stina??
Andra’s stomach flipped as she stared in shock at the beautiful elf standing amidst her audience of excited prodigies. Stina flipped her frizzy brown hair that was adorned with a beautiful, gleaming white circlet. Her dress was a shimmering gold while her cape hung elegantly from her shoulders in a shining silver. The ringlet had a glistening pink tourmaline jewel in the center, crowning the regal head with a royal gleam. She stood proudly like a queen making her debut before her subjects.
Her cape clasp bore a symbol Andra’d never seen before: a swirling pendant with three curved points meeting in the middle, creating a sort of fancy triangle.
Andra gaped at the regal figure before her and was speechless. She tried to catch snippets of the conversation, but there was too much chaos. When the noise died down a little, Andra could finally hear one of the prodigies say,
“ How did you do it? How did Council make you a Regent?!”
“ Well, it’s really quite simple,” Stina said in an authoritative manner,
“ The Heks family has always been a valuable asset to the Council, and now they need our help again fighting the Neverseen. It’s as simple as that. I don’t see how you’re all surprised.”
Andra scoffed as the other prodigies started asking more questions, and Stina answered in her queenly fashion. Another prodigy asked,
“ Hey, what does the kraken patch mean? Does that mean your a ruler over krakens now??”
Embarrassed, she looked down at her patch and scoffed, saying, “ Of course not! It’s a …mascot patch. Nothing really that special about it.”
Andra held back a snort when Dex Dizznee, also dressed in a stately white jerkin and gold cape, stepped towards Stina and tugged at her shoulder, saying,
“ Come on, Stina! We’ve got a lot to do. You’re supposed to be meeting
Councillor Bronte for… you know what. We can’t waste any time!”
“ Alright! Really? All I was doing was talking to all of my friends.”
“ You mean talking to your fans? Come on, we can’t be late. This is important. For Sophie, remember??” Biana Vacker urged next to her, appearing beside her in a gorgeous silver dress.
“ Okay! Okay! I’ll go! Well, sorry I have do some Regent business, but I’ll get you all updated and stay in touch,” Stina called out to her fans as Dex and Biana dragged her away through the crowd. Andra tried to hide from Stina as she continued towards her class, when she accidentally bumped into her, nearly tripping her up in her pretty dress.
“ Oh, watch where you’re going!” Stina snapped.
“ Oh, sorry, I didn’t…” Andra stammered.
“ Hey, you’re the Shade that hurt Maruca, weren’t you?” Stina inquired, boring her judging eyes at Andra.
“ I.. uh…”
“ It was you, wasn’t it?!”
“ Stina, leave her alone,” Dex jumped in, stopping beside Stina. Andra briefly glanced at Dex in equal surprise at his attire, when Stina said,
“ Back off! I want to hear it! Is it true you knocked Maruca back thirty feet and knocked her completely out, cold? Is that right, monster?”
Andra cringed at the word and fumbled with her uniform, trying to keep her eyes averted from the growing audience around them.
“ Well?!”
Startled, Andra stuttered, saying,
“ I… I’m sorry.”
“ Ha! Sorry?! That’s all you can say?! Sorry?! Someone hurts one of my closest friends and all you can say is ‘ I’m sorry’?!”
“ Hey! Maruca’s my friend too,” Biana intervened, “ and I just heard is feeling a lot better now, so just lay off! We’re late for our meeting with Councillor Bronte!”
“ Not until I’ve had my say. I knew she was a worthless freak…” Stina started saying,
“ Stina, stop!” Dex pleaded, grabbing her arm but Stina wrestled out of his grip and continued,
“ You can’t even control your own ability enough to have a simple hang out! Ha! Oh wait until I tell the Council about this. They’ll be shocked that a Shade would ever do such a thing to a fellow prodigy! A worthless freak!” Stina blurted out in front of everyone.
Hot tears started to form in Andra’s eyes as anger started to swell in her. She held it back and clenched her fists, saying in a low voice,
“ I’m not a freak.”
“ Oh sure. I wonder when your next “accident” will be. You shouldn’t even be coming to Foxfire! Just admit it, you’re a monster!”
“ I’m not a MONSTER!”
Andra screamed, making everyone freeze in terror. Her voice seemed to come from everywhere in shrieking whispers as darkness started to close in on the hall. Her fists shook and her eyes were as dark as night. Stina backed away, frightened, as Andra raged with fury. Shadows were hovering around her hands, ready to do her bidding. She could feel the familiar cold, darkness embody her and the hatred rise up within her. All of a sudden, she remembered who she was and what she was doing, and then she stopped, startled. The hall lightened up once more as the shadows in Andra’s eyes faded into their natural ice blue hue.
Andra breathed heavily, shocked at what she had done. Shaking, Andra stared at all the frightened kids and felt like she’d really become what they’d all feared she would be. A monster. Pale and terrified, Andra staggered away from Stina, running through all the possible casualties she could’ve caused. Stina got over her fright and resumed her haughty disposition and said in a really low voice,
“ Yes. You. Are,” and stalked off without another word.
Biana stood there open mouthed in shock. Dex wondered at what he had just witnessed. Tears started to form in Andra’s eyes and she felt like she wanted to scream again. Stina’s words cut deep into her heart and tore open a fresh wound that was just about to heal. All her hope faded as Andra tried to not look at the thousands of eyes watching her. Andra stood there, wallowing in her humiliation.
After what seemed like forever, the other prodigies snapped out of their shock and cautiously resumed their usual chatter, ignoring the traumatized Shade standing alone in the middle of the hallway. Andra felt ashamed when Dex came up to her and said,
“ I’m so sorry Stina did that to you. She never should’ve said those things about you.”
Sniffing, Andra tried to hold back the tears and quietly said,
“ That’s okay.”
“ I know Stina could be cruel, but I never expected her to be that cruel.”
“ It’s… it’s okay. I … I’m used to it,” Andra said, putting on a very unconvincing face.
“ You don’t deserve that. I’ve never seen an Empath so insensitive, well, maybe one other.. but still, that was uncalled for,” Dex said, looking absolutely appalled.
“ He’s right, nobody deserves to be treated that way. Especially by an Empath. I really wish I gave her a good punch,” Biana said, furious at the injustice she had just witnessed in front of her.
Andra felt touched by their gesture and her anger and humiliation eased up a little. She surveyed Dex in his new look and considered him handsome in his white jerkin and golden cape. His silver circlet complemented his strawberry blonde hair, embedded with a glistening emerald jewel. His mascot patch was a tomple, which was a large, cute and fluffy insect that she’s heard are very good dust eaters and can be very handy, especially around a huge elf house. They’re cute and practical, which she thought suited Dex perfectly, just as Stina’s kraken fitted her.
When she looked at Biana, she smoothed her silver dress shimmering brightly and beautifully in her white cape, and gazed at the golden circlet bearing an amethyst jewel glistening upon her head. She looked like an elf princess, which rightly suited her. She was a Vacker after all.
Andra, suddenly self conscious, considered her unruly white locks which she only had a few minutes to brush and her dull, brown Level Three uniform which probably needed to be washed. Compared to the two dazzling Regents before her, she was mess. Andra blushed and smoothed back a stray hair from her freckled face, trying to not look too disheveled. Andra looked warilyover her Biana’s shoulder and spotted Stina chatting with another friend of hers from a distance, when Biana said,
“ I hope you know that I don’t believe you’d actually hurt Maruca intentionally. That was just an accident. Believe me, I would never side with Stina on the fact that you would ever hurt anyone on purpose,” Biana emphasized.
Andra said, “ Thanks, I figured you guys never really sided with her anyway.”
“ Well, we have no choice. The Council has us working with her as Regents to help capture the Neverseen,” Dex informed.
“ Really? Wow. I was so surprised you guys are actually Regents. I don’t know if I should bow or something?”
Biana laughed and said, “ No, we’re cool, besides, we’re just Regents so we can help Sophie better with her projects. We’re Team Valiant.”
“ Team.. Valiant?” Andra asked.
“ It’s what Sophie picked, although I think I would’ve liked Team Awesome better or some of our many other great suggestions. The Council sent for all of us yesterday at a meeting in Eternalia, and they made us all Regents right then and there,” Dex explained matter of factly.
So that’s the secret meeting everyone was talking about.
“ Well, it’s the team that counts. Anyways, someone has to keep the world safe,” Biana stated, proudly, “ And I’d say Team Valiant is the best!”
“ Or Team Sparkles,” Dex added,
“ Or Team Fancypants,” Biana added on.
“ Or Team Awesome-sauce.”
“ Or…”
As Dex and Biana named off the long list of possible team names, Andra wondered what it would be like if she was in the Black Swan fighting the Neverseen. She’d actually considered the idea several times to take revenge for her father’s death, but when she spotted the scars gracing Biana’s shoulders, she was reminded then that fighting the Neverseen had a cost. Considering how many stories she’s heard about Sophie and her friends almost dying, she figured it wasn’t worth the risk. What good was she anyway?
Andra fiddled with her uniform as Dex and Biana listed on and on until she interrupted them and said,
“ Uh, that’s really cool, you guys. So…um… is your brother apart of the team as well. I didn’t see him today.”
Biana took on a downcast expression and said, “ No, unfortunately the Council thought it was best for Sophie to not get… distracted.. if you know what I mean. They thought it’d be better for him to be on a consultant basis…for now.”
Andra nodded understandably and remembered Biana’s brother, Fitz, the boy that everyone wanted to be noticed by, the “teal-eyed wonder”, begging for chance to be noticed. No ever expected the weird elf girl with brown eyes and five abilities to get together with the handsome Vacker boy, but they did, which disappointed a lot of hapless girls. Even she wanted to be noticed at one point, but realized that he was into Sophie, she observed them instead and started rooting for Fitzphie( as that boy, Keefe Sencen called them). Of course their relationship had a few bumps along the way. That thing with Alden Vacker that happened the year before really upset their relationship, and whatever else came along their way after that.
They seemed alright now, in fact better than alright, except Fitz did seem a little out of sorts recently. Of course that’s probably due to his brother, Alvar’s death, and is most likely going through the grieving process. He fooled every one into believing he had lost his memory until he betrayed the entire Vacker family right in front of a live audience, and then got himself killed. Andra shuttered at that horrible night at the Celestial Festival when Alvar Vacker gave his entire family legacy over to the Neverseen, with everyone watching. Andra didn’t blame the Council for not involving Fitz with a lot of stuff with the Neverseen at the moment, especially when he’s grieving over a despicable brother.
Andra said, “ Yeah, well, I guess the Council knew what they were doing.”
Biana and Dex nodded silently and then Dex commented,
“ Well, if they knew what they were doing, I wonder why they allowed Stina the Kraken to join us?”
“ Hey, I heard that!” Stina said from across the hall. Biana turned on Stina and said,
“ You owe Andra an apology! And if you’re going to be stuck up about it as usual, then there’s no point in you being here with us.”
“ I have to do the reading, remember? For our secret meeting with Councillor Bronte. Now what do you say about that??”
“ I could swap you for any Empath any day, such as Keefe Sencen. The Council doesn’t have to know about it,” Biana fired back.
Stina turned red and said, “ Well, if you decide to go with that goof ball instead of me, then I will report this to the Council!”
“ Go ahead! See if I care! If anything, they’d probably side with me anyway!” Biana retorted.
“ Ha! I doubt that! I don’t care if you think that Keefe is better for the task, but just remember I’m a Regent, he’s not.”
“ Fine! Just meet me at Councillor Bronte’s office but don’t go the way I’m going!” Biana stated.
“ Fine with me! Come on, Brynn! Let’s get out of here. I’m done with Vanishers and Shades anyway,” Stina snapped, then walked down the hall with her Telepath friend, Brynn. Biana made a disgusted noise and said,
“ Come on Dex, I’ll walk with you to Mr For… I mean Magnate Leto’s office. It was nice meeting you, Andra. I hope things go well for you! If Stina tries to get at you again, just let me know.
Andra nodded meekly and smiled weakly at the two Regents.
“ Also, great Shade trick by the way! Stina totally fell for that!” Biana added, enthusiastically.
“ Yeah! If only I had a picture of her face when you burst out angry and covered everything in darkness and became absolutely terrifying! She was thoroughly freaked out!” Dex said, laughing at the memory.
“ See ya!” Biana waved as she left with Dex heading towards Magnate Leto’s office. Andra awkwardly waved goodbye, and was left standing there, her spirits sinking once more.
She sighed, and tried to walk towards elementism when her ears suddenly tuned into a conversation nearby.
“…. Speaking of Shades, did you hear about what happened to Sophie and Fitz?”
Andra stared after Brynn and Stina as they walked slowly down the hall, talking in low whispers. One part of her wanted to abandon all the gossip completely, but another part of her was really curious about what they were talking about. Suddenly, Andra felt a strange, floating sensation. A surreal feeling overtook her body as her vision enhanced and started zooming ahead towards Brynn and Stina. Her vision floated alongside the two girls as Brynn intently listened to Stina’s story. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, neither did they seem to notice her. Her very body felt like a ghost floating fluidly through the air.
This is weird.
She thought as her other senses caught up with her and she was suddenly walking beside them. Stina’s bragging voice started to tune in when she continued saying,
“ I know! They’ve been up there for a whole month together! Of course, Sophie took advantage of that, and now their all Fitzphie and everything. Ugh, I mean really? I think he could do better than that,” Stina said, matter of factly.
“ Oh my gosh! I didn’t know they were up there! I figured they were on one of those secret missions the Council sends them on,” Brynn exclaimed.
“ Everyone was supposed to believe that, but I heard Biana talking to Dex about it, and then she told me the real story about what happened.”
“ What did happen?” Brynn asked, eagerly.
Andra tuned in her ears to listen, and Stina leaned closer to Brynn and said in a confiding voice,
“ Well, apparently the Neverseen attacked them while Fitz was on one of his training sessions, and Sophie of course was with him when they attacked. I heard that this really scary Shade they have with the Neverseen, I think her name was Umber, you know the one that got crushed by that door at the Celestial Festival? Anyway, she used her scary, shadow… whatever it’s called and stabbed Fitz and Sophie with them, crushing their bones.”
“ Oh my gosh! That’s.. that’s awful! How is that even possible?” Brynn exclaimed, shocked.
“Yeah! It was super scary the way Biana described it to me. I do happen to know if you look really close at Fitz, he still limps a little and Sophie’s hand shakes every now and then. So believe me, it really happened.”
“ I just can’t believe it…”
Andra felt herself go numb. Her brain fired faster than she could process it. All this time Lady Zillah had been keeping secrets from her, hiding her from what she was. All this time, she didn’t know what she was capable of. Now she knew the terrible reality.
Mom was wrong. Shadows can hurt people.
Andra shuttered as a faint, far away voice called to her, saying,
“ are you okay?”
She didn’t know who it was, but she didn’t turn as she continued following the girls down the hall as they headed towards elementism. They continued talking about how creepy Shades were and how dangerous shadows really where, when Andra could hear that voice again, saying,
“ are you okay?”
Stina’s voice became distant as Andra started to feel weightless like she was going to faint when she felt this sort of calm breeze float through her head, and she turned around towards the way she came….and saw herself still standing there with another person shaking her. That’s when Andra felt a pulling force jerk back into her body as all her senses crashed back into her.
“ Are you okay?!” The boy in front of her asked, worried.
Andra’s body felt distant and numb all over. Her neurons fired every second as she faintly breathed in thin vapors of air, trying to process everything that happened. Everything was a blur, her ears rang and her skin tingled as she hyperventilated, struggling to breath. When her vision cleared, and a handsome, blonde boy appeared before her with his hands planted firmly on her shoulders.
“ Are you okay?” He said. Andra tried to talk, but all she could utter was a strangled squeak. Instead she nodded, trying to stop her head from spinning.
“ Wrong girl, Hunkyhair,” a terrifying ogre said sulkily beside him, and Andra nearly jumped out of her skin, not noticing she was there. Andra blinked her eyes several times, clearing her vision and her ringing ears and she recognized the boy as Keefe Sencen. She swayed and nearly fainted when Keefe held fast to her and said,
“ It’s okay, Ro won’t bite. Uh why don’t we sit down. Over here’s good.”
He gestured to a bench next to the wall, and she gladly let him lead her gently. She gratefully set herself down and tried to process everything that happened.
“ Okay, why don’t we just take a few deep breaths.”
Andra tried a couple of deep breaths, but ended up in raspy gasps.
“ Wow, she’s more dramatic than Blondie, I mean I’ve seen a few of her epic meltdowns, but this is intense,” the ogre, Ro, commented, staring down at the frightened elf girl. Andra tried not to notice the way the ogre smiled at her with her big, sharp yellow teeth as flexed her unexpectedly colorful claws.
Too bewildered to move, everything spun around her head like a cyclone. Something about “shadowflux” and “dangerous” and being a “ ghost” floated in her mind. The whole event played in her head over and over again, replaying the terrifying moment when she saw her own body while the boy was trying to shake her out of her trance. She remembered the feeling it had, that she felt more free than she had ever felt before, and then it hit her: she had done this before.
Every time someone would say something interesting or gossip about some prodigy, she would always want to listen in from her spot in the Lunch Hall. And she did. She thought it was just her overactive imagination, but she heard every single one of them talking with perfect clarity without them even noticing her presence. At first, she thought she had manifested as a Vanisher( which would’ve been great considering her situation) but then she also recalled the strange floating sensation and realized that she was being carried by something.
She realized then she was shadow whispering.
Andra put her face into her hands, overwhelmed by the idea, blaming Lady Zillah for not preparing her for this. When she realized she had let the darkness carry her very consciousness, she freaked out even more.
What is happening to me??
Andra mumbled as she tried to sort through all her swirling thoughts.
“ Is there anything I can do to help??” Keefe asked, greatly concerned. Andra kept her face buried and mumbled things about shadowflux and Stina, and that she was a freak, until Keefe took her hands and said,
“ Hey! It’s okay. Just breath,” and he sent another cooling breeze through her mind and immediately her muscles relaxed and her breathing was softened. Keefe held her hands firmly, which ensued several dissatisfied grunts from the ogre standing over them, and surveyed her with various expressions. Andra figured that he was reading her emotions and at that point she didn’t care. She did feel sorry for all the turbulent emotions that she was feeling because Keefe turned pale several times before he released her hands and said,
“ Okay, so what’s going on? I feel a lot of… I don’t know what it exactly is, but it’s a lot and it’s not good. So I think you need to spill it before it makes me sick.”
Andra took another deep breath, and said dismally, “ I can’t do anything right. No matter how hard I try, I can’t do it. I’m not normal. I’m a failure, I can’t control myself, and after what happened, I shouldn’t even be coming to Foxfire like Stina said.”
“ Woah, Stina? That’s ridiculous! I’ve seen her put down people countless times, but you shouldn’t let that bother you. Just don’t listen to Stina. Stina doesn’t know anything,” Keefe tried to encourage.
Sniffing, Andra replied, “ Oh sure, and that’s not going to change the fact that I’m dangerous! I don’t want to hurt anyone, but it’s obvious I can’t control that now anyway.”
“ Come on, you’re not dangerous. That’s just Stina talking…”
“ How would you know?! You’ve probably never hurt anyone in your life!” Andra snapped, and heaved a heavy sigh. Keefe sat there, stunned, unsure of what to do next. A brief somber expression passed over Keefe’s face, and he himself perked up again and said,
“ You know what we should do?! We should stuff a stinky gulon down that fancy new dress of her’s and see how she likes it! We’ll show her! We can be the “Get Stina Back For What She Did To Me And Now She Deserves A Stinky Gulon Team!” What do you say??”
Andra nearly laughed at that and said, “ Isn’t that a very long title?”
“ Nah! It could be “ The Gulon Team” for short though, but we can workshop the name as we go.”
Andra pictured Stina screaming and wriggling as a stinky gulon explodes in the back of her dress, making her unbearably reeked for a week, and smiled. Still, she knew that was not really something she was willing to do, yet she relished the thought for a few more moments before saying,
“ That’s okay, I think I’ll just pass on the whole “ gulon in back of dress” thing. Thanks anyway.”
“ That’s alright! We’ve got to go anyway, Hunkyhair,” Ro insisted.
Andra at the ogre, then noticed that her metal underwear was stuffed with colored boxes of sweets. Suspicious, she asked,
“ What’s with all the candy??”
“ Oh, that! Well…” Keefe leaned closer to Andra and in a intriguing tone he said, “ We stole it! We raided the Mentor’s closet filled with candies and sweets! So sure, they give us treats as well at lunch, but they’re nothing compared to what’s in that closet. There’s sweets in there we’ve never even heard of before! It was epic!”
Keefe laughed mischievously and Andra stared at him in shock. She knew he was a trouble maker, but not this much. She couldn’t help thinking about all that candy stuffed in an ogre’s underwear and cringed. When Keefe was finished reveling in his folly, he asked her in a low voice,
“ So we’re wanted criminals, and if you happen to see one of the Mentors, or Sophie, would you mind not telling anyone you saw us here? I don’t want to suffer the wrath of Foster, you know?”
Andra nodded in agreement, and Keefe clasped his hands together enthusiastically and said gratefully,
“ Thanks! Appreciate it, really.”
“ Hunkyhair, we really need to go now,” Ro reminded, her buff arms crossed impatiently.
“ Okay, Ro!” Keefe said, getting up, “Well I’ll see you around… uh..”
“ Andra,” she said.
“ Andra, okay, Keefe’s the name by the way. Keefe Sencen, but I prefer Lord Hunkyhair, if you don’t mind. You’ve probably heard about me. Have you ever heard of the Great Gulon Incident?” He asked with a twinkle of an eye.
“ I was there,” Andra stated, questioningly.
“ Well, some say it was me, of course I proudly deny it. But I know it took a great genius to pull it off,” he said with a proud smirk. Andra grinned at that and thought how adorable and fun he was.
“Well, see ya. Oh, and since you’re not okay with the whole “revenge with a gulon in back of dress” idea, I thought I should at least give you this instead,” Keefe added, handing Andra a bag of Prattle’s candy. Andra looked at it with glassy eyes and said,
“ Thanks, appreciate it.”
“ No worries, that’s what your Lordship the Hunkyhair is for!” Keefe said with a dramatic flourish.
“ Come on, your Lordship, we’ve got more important things to do than talking with Andra girl here. You don’t want to get Blondie angry, right?” The ogre insisted impatiently, lifting Keefe by the back of his collar, like a murcat holding it’s kitten.
“ Okay! Alright! You don’t have to be this drastic! I’m going!” He said, flailing his arms.
“ I wasn’t sure if you were going to go,” Ro mumbled under her breath.
“ I was just being nice!” Keefe whispered, “ Well it was nice chatting with you, Andra! Call me if you need a gulon or two!” Keefe called as he was being carried away down the hall.
“ I should’ve just left you at home and tied you up to a chair, feasting on my bacteria. You need a haircut anyway,” Ro said as she carried Keefe down the hall.
“ I’m fine just the way I am! I’m Lord Hunkyhair!” Andra could hear Keefe say.
“ Soon you’ll be Lady Hunkyhair if we don’t shave off those locks! I’ve got the perfect knife for that!” Ro said enthusiastically as she carried Keefe around the corner and disappeared.
When the strange ogre and protesting elf’s voices faded, Andra sat there alone wondering what to do. She looked down at the candy bag and opened it, fishing out a silver Prattle’s pin wrapped in tissue. When she opened it, it revealed the delicate shape of a halcyon. The beautiful, blue bird happened to be a personal favorite of Andra’s, despite the fact that everyone had to dress up as one during the Opening Ceremonies. It wasn’t a rare pin, but something about it made Andra remember that halcyons were resourceful, quiet and thoughtful. They were alert and observant, they could always tell when a storm was coming. That’s when she felt that vague feeling of being watched again and she thought about what to do next.
She didn’t want to go home, but she didn’t want to disappoint her mother. She can’t go back to Shade sessions, but Lady Zillah probably knew better than anyone else about with her situation. All the anger she had for her before made her think twice that maybe Lady Zillah couldn’t help her after all. It’s only been a week into her training and still she couldn’t get past lesson one. And since she didn’t tell her she was controlling shadowflux, she decided she would do this on her own.
She looked down again at her new halycon pin, her face reflected faintly off the sheen silver when she suddenly remembered the mirror room that was in the Silver Tower, a room used to know who you truly are and what is on the inside. Her brother had talked about it often and how boring it was staring into a mirror for hours asking the same question over and over again. Andra got up and knew what she had to do. She had to know the truth, and there was only one way to do it. Immediately she headed to the Silver Tower.
The Silver Tower stood proudly against the main Foxfire building, shining in the afternoon sun. Andra stepped up to the door and tried licking the sensor that was high up on the wall. When she couldn’t reach it, she tried knocking and suddenly the door opened to a very grouchy woman, saying,
“ Who’s there?”
Andra gulped and straightened up, saying, “ Is my brother Brenik here?”
The intimidating woman, who she recognized as Lady Cadence, the new Beacon, looked down at the Level Three prodigy standing at her doorway, and said irritably, “ What is it you want of him? And why aren’t you in your session? It’s nearly midday.”
“ Please! My… my mother sent me to send him a message. It’s very urgent!” Andra lied desperately. Lady Cadence considered Andra for a moment, then said,
“ Fine, but be quick about it! And don’t disturb the students while they’re in their studies.”
“ Thank you,” and she entered the Silver tower.
The tower consisted of several different class rooms and a hall where the students were lounging around, concentrating hard on their studies. The statue of a unicorn stood proudly at the end of the hall, glistening it’s glass wings. Andra stopped at the entrance and scanned the room to find her brother. She found Brenik sitting in the corner of the room, reading some book about proper linguistics, when he noticed her and immediately got up from his chair, walked over to her in his shimmering silver cape, and said in a low voice,
“ What are you doing here you little twerp?! Don’t you know anything?! This is a private space. You can’t just walk in here whenever you like! How did you get in here?!”
“ Lady Cadence let me in. I told her I had an urgent message from Mom,”
Andra explained, quietly.
“ What?! What is it ?! Is Mom okay?!” Brenik asked, anxiously
“ Yes, she’s fine,” Andra said, “ I need you to take me to that room of mirrors.”
“ What?! What are you talking about? You mean the Hall of Illumination?”
“ Yes, that’s it! I need you to take me to the Hall of Illumination!”
“ Wait, I thought this was about Mom?”
“ I had to say that in order to get in. Please, Brenik? I need your help, ” Andra pleaded.
“ Do you realize you could get in trouble for lying to a Beacon?” Brenik warned in his hushed voice.
“ I know, I would’t have asked you if it weren’t important. Please just point me in the right direction!”
Brenik looked down at his sister with a serious expression and finally said,
“ Alright, fine. It’s just down that corridor and up some stairs. Take a right at the first room you see. Happy now?”
“ Yes, thank you!” Andra immediately headed towards the corridor.
Brenik stopped her and asked, “ Just one thing: what is all this about??”
“ I’ll explain it all later. Right now, I just need you to trust me, okay?”
“ You better not mess anything up, or I’ll be in big trouble. You hear?”
“ I promise your stupid mirrors won’t get dirty,” Andra promised, when Brenik grabbed her arm and said,
“ I don’t trust you, you’re up to something.”
“ Well I don’t trust you, either, so we’re even!” Andra said as she wrestled out of Brenik’s grip then she sprinted down the hall.
Brenik looked after his sister, his brow creasing with worry.
Andra found the stairs and eagerly climbed it all the way to the top. She entered a hall full of doors with different designs and shapes. She curved to the right and immediately found herself in the Hall of Illumination. The space around her was very quiet, almost too quiet for Andra’s liking. Andra took in all the mirrors and her own various reflections, twisted and skewed in odd and strange ways. Andra looked into one mirror that was normal, reflecting her own plain and simple features back at her. She glanced away for a moment, when she saw a black figure out of the corner of her eye, and when she glanced back at the mirror, and it was gone. Andra took a deep breath and kept going farther down the hall. In another mirror, she was almost invisible and another showed her shrouded in shadow. Andra shuddered and kept going when she spotted one mirror in particular that stood opposite of the shady mirror. Here, she could see herself but the image was dim all around her except at her center where a glowing light burned brightly. It reminded her of her shadowvapor and wondered if this could be the mirror she was looking for. She gazed long and hard into the mirror, trying to make sense of it, and didn’t notice her shadow moving from her feet across the floor, climbing it’s way up the wall and onto the mirror in black tendrils. The shadow started to consume the bright spot and shrouded her image in darkness. Andra gasped and backed away in fright as she stared at the shadows shaping her own reflection into the dark silhouette she saw in the mirror at Choralmere. The figure pulsed in darkness and suddenly Andra felt a familiar, terrifying cold.
She knew then that this was the thing that followed her, watching her, waiting all this time to reveal itself. Now she knew for certain that this was no imagination at work, the monster was real. It was apart of her, and she knew then that there was no escape. The frightened Shade froze as the figure in the mirror slowly considered her, and then it placed it’s palm onto the mirror, then pushed its hand through the glass barrier and reached out for Andra, beaconing for her to take it. Andra screamed and backed into the shady mirror, where the silhouette appeared as well, grabbing her with it’s shady arms. Andra wrestled out of them and fled out of the room.
Andra raced down the stairs, running for her life. She could feel the shadow following her. From the darkest recedes of the ceilings to the shadiest corners of the room, the shadow gave chase, and Andra fled into the lounge room. She bumped into Brenik where he was standing, and he called after her, trying to tell her to stop. Andra didn’t listen and kept going on until she was outside the door and ran out of breath the blue lawns of Foxfire. Andra stopped and doubled over, looking back to her beloved campus. She knew now what she was, and she knew she couldn’t go back. She fished out a crystal necklace from under her outfit and lifted the crystal into the sunlight. When the sun hit the crystal, she let the light carry her away from the Lost Cities… forever.
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Okay, I know, yet another cliffhanger to wrench your hearts out( evil laugh). But we’re almost there! We’re three parts away from the epic conclusion. So happy you guys came! It will take a little bit for the sixth part to come out due to my main project, but it will be worth the wait.
Here’s another fun KOTLC fact for ya’ll! Yet another name we all know and love, Lady Zillah’s name literally means “ shadow”. Also Tam’s name means “ twin” or “ innocent and noble”. And these are not made up names, these are actual names the author used in her books. Awesome right?! Also, hope you guys loved the surprise appearance of our beloved KOTLC character, Lord Hunkyhair! Do you want to know what Keefe’s name really means? Do ya? First give me the
Keefe fan cheer ( Keefe! Keefe! Keefe!). Okay here it is: His name means either “ gentle” or “ handsome and noble”, which I think all of that fits our favorite KOTLC character perfectly!
Hope you enjoyed part five, please comment on how you liked it as well as suggestions or any changes I can make for the chapter, and I will see y’all next time!