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She had to go back to Academy. The tragedy had given her an excuse for many these long months, but she couldn’t avoid school forever. Mounting pressure had forced her father to exert what little control he had left over his sixteen-year-old daughter, and here she was back in class. She wasn’t ready for this, but time kept moving forward despite her world standing still.
Emilie Mondragon made it to lunchtime. She scurried away at the first opportunity and found a remote retreat away from the rest of the class. They’d spent the whole morning on a field trip along the Tigris River as Professor Deshpande reviewed the history of the earliest civilizations. The lesson had provided Emilie with none of the knowledge she needed to achieve her objective. She needed specific information to enact her revenge. Lollygagging along the Tigris was for children and teachers.
Emilie nibbled at the sandwich she’d made for herself. She’d had to learn how to do everything on her own the last few months. Her father wasn’t well enough to even make her a simple lunch. If supporting yourself and becoming independent at sixteen would’ve qualified for some Academy credits, Emilie would be ready to graduate. She’d suffered a lifetime of experiences over the last year. She could probably teach Professor Deshpande a thing or two.
“Well, look at this,” came a voice from behind Emilie. “It’s the spooky girl.”
Emilie had missed so much Academy the last many months that she hadn’t been able to rejoin her old class. She was essentially held back to the group a year behind her. The students were all strangers. Two of them somehow found her in this remote alcove along the wooded area downriver where Emilie had found a little respite.
“Leave me alone,” Emilie said.
They called her spooky because she had a hooded cloak that she never removed. Her face was hidden within the shadows and the dark robe concealed her true shape. She looked like a mage from some sword and sorcery movie. But Emilie was certainly no magician. She despised sorcery.
How fateful, then, that the boy taunting her now wore a black top hat and pristine matching tuxedo, a blue cummerbund as dark as an ominous thunderhead. He carried a wand made of metal, more tooth fairy than Harry Potter. It even had a tip at the end in the shape of a small star with a sharp edge on each of the five points. The wand was polished to a shining silver sheen.
“She wants us to leave her alone, Ich,” the Magi said, waving his wand like he was weaving a spell.
“It’s a free world, Pyrros,” the other student said. Ichika was the smartest girl in class. Her head was twice as big as Pyrros’s noggin. Her hair was wild, sticking out like a fluffy troll doll and as gray as Emilie’s grandfather’s had been before—
“It’s also a wide world,” Emilie grumbled. “Go find somewhere else to be free.”
“A new girl doesn’t get to dictate the rules, spooky,” Pyrros taunted. “Maybe we’ll follow you around all day.”
“I don’t think I can stand the stink of Magi much longer,” Emilie said.
The teenage boy glared at Emilie. He was blonde and pretty and the scowl only made him appear even more like some hero out of Greek myth. “How about you let me see what’s under that hood and I leave you alone for the rest of the day?”
“How about you leave me alone for the rest of the day and I don’t stick that wand right up your—”
“Hey,” Ichika interrupted. “You don’t talk to him that way!”
Emilie found the girl’s reaction interesting. Did Professor Deshpande know one of his students had a crush on another? Genius girl hearts Magi boy. Did they know how dangerous such affection could be? Emilie knew full well what happened when forbidden love goes awry. She had the scars to prove it.
Pyrros pointed his wand at Emilie. With a flick of his wrist, her hood magically flipped back and revealed her face. Both the other students stepped back and hissed at the sight of her. Emilie quickly grabbed the hem of her hood and yanked it back up. But it was too late. Both her tormentors had gotten a good look.
“Sheesh,” Ichiki said. “Were you in some kind of a fire or something?”
“Something,” Emilie answered.
“Did someone do that to you?” the Genius asked.
“I didn’t do it to myself,” Emilie snapped. “You ask foolish questions for someone who’s supposed to be so smart.”
Pyrros had recovered from the sight of Emilie’s face and stepped forward to defend Ichiki. “I know, I know. ‘You should see the other guy’, right?”
The other guy had been a Magi.
Emilie pulled an item from under her heavy cloak. She wore a utility belt with a dozen pouches around her waist. They could perform all sorts of functions. The item pinched between her fingers was dander from a yeti mixed with a single unicorn tear. She put the smidgen of secret science against her lips and blew the dust toward the two unruly students.
Rainbow frost instantly chilled the two taunting teens. They both started shivering uncontrollably, the temperature plunging dangerously near frostbite in a manner of moments. Pyrros dropped his wand and rubbed his arms. Ichiki started rummaging through her rucksack for some technological device to counteract Emilie’s attack. She pulled out something resembling a curling iron and the tip started to glow a warm orange. They managed to defrost before hypothermia set in.
“Y-y-you just might get expelled f-f-for that!” Pyrros warned.
“You’re right,” Emilie acknowledged as she bent down to pick up the Magi’s wand. “I can’t chance ‘might’.”
Emilie stabbed him in the arm with the sharp point of his wand. Pyrros cried out loudly in pain. The injury was merely a flesh wound, but he was going to bleed a bit. Professor Deshpande would rush in here any moment. Emilie leaned forward close enough that Pyrros could see her face within the shadows of the hood.
“You asked about the other guy...,” Emilie hissed. “He looks blonde and pretty and unscathed right now. But just wait. Soon, he’ll wish he looked like me instead.”
Emilie was about to get expelled. That was okay. She’d wanted that all along. Her return to Academy had always been meant to be short-lived. Pyrros had given her the push. He’d given her a lesson she hadn’t expected to receive. She realized she was ready for the next step. Emilie was ready to move forward. To seek revenge.
She thought to herself: Time to call Sofía.
Truth to Light Amazon
Truth to Light NineStar
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