Untitled (by Nadine)

A fork of purple lightning illuminated the stormy sky. A man stood on the crest of the desolate, windswept hill, staring expectantly up into the storm clouds. The wind whipped his long black cloak around him like a cape. There was another flash of purple light, which illuminated the man’s anxious face.
Suddenly, with the third flash of purple lightning and a clap of thunder, the stormy hill vanished. The man was standing in a vast, white marble hall. He looked quite unconcerned by this change of scenery, and strode briskly through the seemingly vacant vestibule, a sense of purpose about him as his footsteps echoed off the cathedral-like ceiling.
At the end of the hall was an ornate throne, carved of white marble like the rest of the chamber. It was illuminated by purple light that seemed to be coming from everywhere or nowhere in particular. A thin, beautiful woman with long, white-blonde hair was seated in the throne. She was dressed in a simple white gown that seemed to emit a pearly glow. She smiled a radiant smile at the approaching man, who made a brief bow as he approached the throne.
“I received word that Arielle is Chosen.” he said in a hoarse whisper.
“Yes. She has exceptional hidden talents.” smiled the woman.
“Are you sure it is right? She is so young. She only just turned thirteen in the spring.”
“Yes, I am quite confident.”
“She has always been somewhat of an outcast, although she does not want me to know… do you think she will fit in here?”
“Oh yes, most certainly.”
“I trust your judgment on every occasion, Melinda, but I cannot help but question it this time.”
“I know what I am doing, Eric. I have had this planned from the moment of her birth.”
“But why have you not told me of this plan?” asked the man, Eric, a little angrily. “All the other Chosen Ones will know by now, they will be anticipating it!”
“She must not know who she truly is until tomorrow, Eric. You have kept her oblivious to who you are and who she is until now. All I ask is for one more day of concealment, and then everything will become clear.”
Eric nodded solemnly, bowed to Melinda again, and turned to leave the hall.
“Oh, and Eric?” Melinda called.
“Yes?” he turned back around.
“Aurora sends her love.”
Eric smiled, glancing up to the ceiling, which was swiftly fading away to show the starry sky.
“I love you too, Aurora,” he whispered up to the heavens. He took another step away from the throne in which Melinda sat, smiling, and the hall vanished. He was standing on the stormy, windswept hill once again.

All was quiet on Plum Brook Road. Swings creaked on the playground from the light breeze. Streetlamps flickered on and off. An owl swooped across the sky. It was a very normal end to a completely average day in Ellie’s perfect, orderly world.
The house was silent as well. Ellie was curled up on her bed, a fluffy green blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders. A thick novel was lying facedown on her bed, marking her page while she organized the pile of carefully arranged pillows of all colors, textures, shapes and sizes. She took a sip of hot cocoa from the mug that was sitting on her bedside table, and then flipped the book right-side-up, preparing to get lost in the fabulous world of fantasy once again.
Ellie tucked a strand of her straight chestnut hair behind her ears as she read, her sparkling brown eyes flying over the words. So eager was she to vanish into the imaginary world of the book that she had read nine times previously that within a few minutes of reading, she was so deeply immersed that she barely reacted as her kitten sprung up onto the bed beside her and proceeded to attack the pillow pile. Only after a round, fuzzy, green pillow tumbled across the novel did Ellie look up to see what the commotion was.
Giggling, Ellie marked her page again and pried a square red pillow out of the kitten’s determined jaws. She collected the rest and plopped them down on her bed, and then picked up her book and continued to read.
Plum Brook Road, and the entire neighborhood, for that matter, was a very calm and tidy place. Ellie hated it. Everything was uniform; neatly trimmed lawns, gleaming cars, children frolicking about the safe and never-busy streets on their bicycles and scooters. Every morning, parents in suits would climb into their expensive cars and drive their kids to school. Ellie, however, would sit on the curb of the sidewalk in front of her house and wait for the school bus, because her father went into the office far too early in the morning to drop Ellie off at school along the way.
And then, school. Ellie despised it even more than her neighborhood. She was teased constantly — not only for being exceptionally intelligent for her age, but because she didn’t fit in; she was friendless. Always wearing dark colors and sitting at the back of the class, Ellie stayed quiet. Her teachers tried to give her encouraging smiles when they saw her, but their hopeful eyes were only greeted with a cold glare. School would start again in a week.
Ellie hated her life. Books were her only escape.
It grew steadily later into the night. Ten o’clock… eleven o’clock… midnight… one o’clock… two… finally, at half-past three, Ellie heard the front door bang open. She hastened to turn off her bedside lamp and shove the book under her covers. By the time her father had reached the upstairs hallway, she was feigning sleep so impressively that it was evident she had done this countless times before.
Her father peered into her room, smiled wearily, and then withdrew himself from the doorway once again, lugging his briefcase behind him as he ambled down the hall and into his room.
Ellie lay awake in the darkness; eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. She wished she could lay here in her bed, look up, and see the stars, but she could not. All she saw was the ceiling, and a few taped-on glow-in-the-dark plastic stars from the craft store.
Ellie remembered how, when she was younger, she used to wish upon those silly plastic stars. She used to wish that her mother could come back to life. She used to wish that she would stop getting teased and make some friends. She used to wish that the fantasy world she read about in books was real. Now she didn’t waste time on such farfetched wishes. Cruel reality had stamped the hope and imagination out of her. She no longer believed in mermaids or Santa Claus. She no longer held that her Hogwarts acceptance letter was running a couple of years late. She no longer thought there were such things as werewolves or vampires or genies or even magic at all.
She was very wrong.
“Ouch!” Ellie exclaimed in the darkness, sitting up straight. She had felt a shock, a sort of zap, on the palm of her left hand. When she peered at it in the darkness, she saw a neon purple spark, bouncing up and down on her palm. Ellie gaped at if for a moment, continuing to cringe every time it touched her skin.
“Get off! Get off!” she hissed, “Get away!”
But the spark would not leave. It persisted to bounce on her hand determinedly. From what Ellie could tell, it was not a living thing— it was no more than a bouncing purple spark.
Suddenly, the spark glowed and grew bigger. Ellie’s eyes widened and she tried to shake it off, but it was now acting as if it was glued to her hand. Ellie watched in horror as the neon purple blob began to take form. It was becoming something like a sheet of paper — thin, but rectangular in shape. A moment later, Ellie realized that it was an envelope.
The purple glow faded and the envelope dropped into her hand, looking extremely ordinary, as though it had not just materialized from a dancing purple spark. Ellie stared at it for a moment before flipping on the switch next to her bed.
In the dim light of her bedside lamp, Ellie saw that the letter was indeed addressed to her. Extremely curious, she began to tear the envelope open. She pulled out a small sheet of parchment and read,

Dear Ms. Eleanor Thomas,
It is our greatest pleasure to inform you that you have been Chosen. A representative will come to collect you on the first of September at precisely twelve o’clock noon. We look forward to seeing you at the start of Term.
Sincerely,
Melinda Belle

Ellie stared at the letter. Chosen? Start of Term? Melinda Belle? She hadn’t the faintest idea what this letter was referring to. After a few minutes of puzzling over the bizarre statements, she decided it was a mistake; sent to her by accident. She tossed the letter on her nightstand and turned the lamp off again, slowly drifting off to sleep. When she finally did, her dreams were punctured by mysterious voices, whispering about Chosen people.


The next day was the first of September.
Ellie’s eyes flew open. The glare of sunlight filtering in around the curtains had awoken her. The first thing her eyes fell on was the letter, which was propped up against her alarm clock. Ellie was almost positive that was not where she had put it the night before. Still somewhat suspicious but managing to push the uncomfortable feeling away, she climbed out of bed and got dressed into faded jeans, a gray tank top and a black hoodie. She shoved her worn-out black high-tops onto her feet, threw her hair into a ponytail, and marched downstairs.
“Hello, Daddy,” she called as she entered the kitchen. Her father, who was sitting at the kitchen table, glanced up wearily from behind the Sunday paper.
“Good morning,” he said, his voice somnolent.
Ellie grabbed a blueberry muffin from the cooling rack on the granite countertop and had already sunk her teeth into it when her father said, “Don’t touch the muffins, Ellie. I’m bringing them to the staff appreciation function later today.”
She quickly stuffed the punctured muffin in the pocket of her hoodie. “Right. Okay. Well, I’m going outside…” She hastily edged out of the kitchen and down the hall. The back door was open, allowing the warm air of the last days of summer to ventilate through the house. Ellie pushed the screen door open and stepped outside into the sunshine.
The backyard was covered with lush grass and surrounded by a picket fence. Flowerbeds flanked the two wooden steps that led into the yard from the back door on either side, underneath windows. A large oak tree was situated in the corner of the yard, and it was there that Ellie headed. With easy grace, she lifted herself up onto the thick branches and disappeared into the flourishing green canopy.
Nestled in her usual spot atop a particularly thick branch, Ellie finished eating her muffin. She wondered again about the mysterious letter she had received in the dead of night. By now she decided it was a joke, and the little purple light had been some sort of optical illusion. She checked the battered silver watch on her right wrist. It was 11:56 AM. The letter said a representative would come and collect her at noon. Doubting it would really happen, Ellie swung down out of the oak tree and headed back inside.
Her father was still sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Ellie sat down across from him, but he did not greet her; he made no sign of recognition she was even there. Ellie could just see the top of his slightly balding head with that light-brown hair over the top of his newspaper. He readjusted the paper slightly and now Ellie could see his forehead and eyes as well. He was wearing his glasses, which Ellie thought made him look very studious and wise.
A reckless idea came to her. But if anyone could tell her about the letter, her father could! He knew all about optical illusions and scientific things, and knew all about important and obscure places and people. She was sure he would be able to tell her if what she had received the previous night had been real. Her father was just always right. It seemed that even if he had no schema on a topic, he would guess at something and in due course they would find that it was correct. When she was younger, Ellie had believed that her father might have some mystical powers that enabled him to be right all the time. Now she simply thought he was extensively intelligent.
“Er, Daddy? Can I ask you something?”
He laid the paper down on the table and turned his blue eyes to his daughter’s face, waiting expectantly.
“Erm, right… well, last night…” Ellie wasn’t sure how to phrase it so that she didn’t sound insane. “I saw some, erm, purple light. And I, er, found this letter.”
“I see. What did the letter say?” her father asked, his expression unreadable, though Ellie thought she detected a twinkle in his eyes.
“It said that, erm, someone would be, um, coming to collect me at noon today.”
There was no mistaking that Ellie’s father’s eyes were flashing now. “Did it say anything else?”
“Erm, yes… the lady who wrote it -- Melinda Belle, the letter was signed -- said that they looked forward to seeing me at the start of term. She said I had been chosen for something, but she didn’t say what.”
“Where is this letter?” her father questioned.
“In - in my bedroom.” Ellie stammered.
Without another word, her father got up and marched upstairs to Ellie’s bedroom. Ellie waited nervously in the kitchen. Two minutes later, he returned.
“Congratulations,” her father beamed. Ellie stared at him in bewilderment. Before she could ask what was going on, however, a shock of purple light filled the small, tidy kitchen. Ellie toppled over backwards in shock, knocking over a wooden chair as she went. When she stood back up, a cloaked figure was standing in the middle of the room. Her father seemed completely unconcerned.
The woman reached up and pushed her royal-purple hood back to reveal long brown hair and pale skin. But the most curious thing about her was her eyes, which were a stunning amethyst color.
“Come along, come along,” she said somewhat impatiently, beckoning for Ellie, who was observing her warily from several feet away, to come closer. “We are on a very tight schedule. I have to pick another student up at 12:05.”
“What -- I -- how -- who are you?” Ellie stammered.
The woman stared at her for a moment, and then said, “I am a representative of the Crystal School of Magic.”

“Crystal School of -- of…” Ellie trailed off, certain she had heard correctly, but not believing her ears.
“I have come to escort you to the campus for the start-of-term. Or did you not get your letter?”
“Yes -- I did -- but--”
“Well then why are you standing around? Chop, chop!”
Ellie looked back at her father, who gave her an encouraging sort of smile. “I’ll see you very soon, Ellie. Now go.”
“But what about all my stuff?”
“It will arrive at the school mere seconds after you do, now please hold out your left hand.” the woman instructed.
Bewildered, Ellie held out her hand, palm facing upwards. The woman snapped her fingers and a purple spark, similar to the one Ellie’s letter had been delivered with but slightly larger, appeared in her hand. She placed the rapidly growing orb into Ellie’s palm.
“Now close your hand, and close your eyes as well for good measure.”
Ellie did as instructed. A moment later she felt the warm orb in her hand expand to encase her entire body. There was a high-pitched squeal in her ears for a moment as her feet left the ground. She was spinning uncontrollably through nothingness, she was sure of it, and then --
Ellie’s feet hit cold, white marble, and so did the rest of her body. She opened her eyes and was astonished by what she saw.
She was lying on the floor of a room entirely made out of the marble. It appeared to be an antechamber; a handful of other boys and girls who all looked about her age were sitting on the benches that lined the walls, apparently waiting for something. All eight people in the room were staring at her. She hastily scrambled to her feet.
“Erm, hello.” she said uncertainly.
A chorus of hellos, hi’s and heys greeted her, and then the people turned back to the conversations they had been holding before her arrival.
“My Mum says I’ll be top in Elements, and I do think she’s quite right,” a blonde girl who looked to be about 14 was telling the black-haired boy next to her.
“My auntie told me that Ms. Belle is really nice, but if you get on her bad side, you don’t want to cross her.” a brunette girl who appeared to be 11 or 12 advised those around her.
It seemed to Ellie as though everyone but she knew what this place was and why they were here. Feeling very isolated, she sank onto an empty spot on the bench, continuing to listen to conversations and look around the room.
The girl sitting next to Ellie had pale skin and white-blonde hair. She looked to be thirteen, Ellie’s age. Her eyes were a crystal blue; they were gazing vaguely up at the ceiling. She was wearing a sparkling, frost-blue strapless dress, quite in contrast to everyone else’s casual attire, and humming to herself. After a minute she registered that Ellie was sitting beside her.
“Oh, hello,” she said in a quiet, dreamy voice.
“Hi,” Ellie smiled.
“My name is Alena. It is of Celtic origin. It means ‘winged.’ Who are you?”
“Eleanor,” said Ellie.
“That is a pretty name. I have to look it up and see what it means.”
Ellie nodded uncertainly.
“How old are you?” asked Alena.
“Thirteen.”
“So am I. That would be fun if we were in the same dorm.”
“Wait -- this is like a boarding school?” Ellie asked, bewildered.
Alena tilted her head to the side, giving Ellie a questioning look. “Yes. Did you not know that?”
“I’ve never heard of this place until about ten minutes ago.” Ellie said, feeling increasingly dim.
“That is odd. I have grown up dreaming about this school.” Alena lifted her head towards the ceiling and smiled pensively.
“If you’re familiar with this place, can you tell me about it?”
“Oh yes. Ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my ability.”
Ellie paused, unsure of where to start. “First off… how do we do magic?”
“You set your mind to it and use your concentration and knowledge.” Alena replied.
Ellie stared. “So do we get wands?”
“No. Why ever would you need one? They would just be a bother. Imagine having to rely on a wooden stick to be able to do magic!” Alena laughed airily at the evidently absurd idea.
“So how do we do it, really?” Ellie asked, even more confused. “Do we just snap our fingers?”
“Only if you wish to transport an object or being. I have seen my mother do it many times.”
“So how do we do regular magic?” Ellie inquired, but at that moment a pulsing purple orb appeared in midair in the center of the room, a split second later taking the shape of a figure. A moment later the purple light was gone and a boy with untidy dark brown hair was standing in the middle of the room. Ellie couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t been laying on the floor when he arrived, and grimaced, thinking that she had probably made a complete fool of herself.
“Oh, it is alright that you did not land properly when you arrived,” said Alena, seemingly reading Ellie’s mind. “We all have bad disembarkings sometimes, and you did well for your first time Transporting. When I first did, I ended up miles from where I was supposed to be heading because I panicked and flailed around. This takes a great bit of adjusting to.” Alena smiled placidly. Her statement did not help soothe Ellie’s nerves.
“So… where are we, anyway?”
“We are in the atrium.” Alena answered.
“Oh.” Ellie said, glancing up at the ceiling. She had not noticed it before, but the sizeable room they were in had high, cathedral-like ceilings with a skylight in the center. Fluffy white clouds were drifting across a brilliant blue sky over their heads.
Ellie glanced back around the room, performing a quick head-count. Including herself, there were ten people in the room. Just as she had finished calculating this, a girl with long, glossy black hair on the other side of the room said loudly, “All ten of us are here. Where is―?”
Before she had time to finish her thought, the heavy, white-painted double doors on one side of the room swung open and the purple-eyed, purple-cloaked woman who had sent Ellie to this inexplicable place stepped into the room. Everyone fell silent at once, staring expectantly at her.
“Welcome,” she beamed, “to your first year at Crystal School of Magic.
“The returning students are already in their dorms, getting settled. In a moment you will be placed in a dorm. The decision of where you will be placed has been made by an impartial judge, and it is depending on your individual characteristics, magical gifts, talents, and so on. Some of you will be grouped together in a room and some of you will join rooms that already have students of your gender in them.
“While you stay here at CSM, the people in your classes and dorms will be your family. I will ask you to please treat them as such.
“And now, please listen for your name. If you have a Mortal name, I will call you by such. When I do so, please step forward and receive your Pendant.”
The room was dead silent. Nobody fidgeted. All eyes were on the woman.
“Alena Silver. Moonbeam Dorm 4.”
Alena stood and moved across the room so smoothly she seemed to glide. She received a necklace with a pendant in the shape of a silver crescent moon. She looked elated as she returned to the bench and sat down. “My mother was in the Moonbeam Dorm.” she whispered, her crystal eyes gleaming.
“Mortal name Michael Hill. Inferno Dorm 7.”
The brunette boy who had arrived after Ellie stood and ambled up to the front of the room, where he received a necklace with a pendant wrought like a blazing fire.
“Finn Xavier. Inferno Dorm 7.”
A black-haired boy received a pendant identical to Michael’s. They grinned at each other as Finn sat down beside him.
“Lily Clemons. Prairie Dorm 2.”
A blonde girl grinned as she took the pendant shaped like a meadow.
“Mortal name Eleanor Thomas. Shadow Dorm 5.”
Ellie felt a sense of excitement steal through her. If Eleanor was only her mortal name, then what was her other name? When would she discover it? She stood up and walked up to the woman, who placed a necklace with a pendant that resembled a starry sky in her palm. She hung it around her neck as she walked back to her seat on the bench next to Alena.
As others were called to the front of the room, Ellie turned the pendant over in her hands. It was made of silver, but it was not heavy. It was shaped like a slightly distorted circle, and small silver stars were embossed in the metal. It was cold against her neck.
And so, in another minute or two, everyone was sorted into their dorms: Inferno, Moonbeam, Sunshine, Prairie, River, Tornado, Song, and Shadow. Of all the people in their group of ten, Ellie and Michael were the only ones with separate mortal names. They were all now standing in groups or pairs, whispering excitedly while the cloaked woman at the front of the room scribbled something on a long sheet of paper.
“From what my mother said, there are not many people in Shadow Dorm,” Alena smiled serenely. “That must mean you have special powers that the rest of us do not.”
From Ellie’s point of view, it seemed like Shadow Dorm was the loner dorm. Nobody else out of the group had been sorted into it. She thought she was placed there not because she was more powerful than the rest, as Alena had suggested, but because she had barely any power at all.