Strange Magic and Creatures of Darkness

Date: 4/28/2020

In this dream it kind of skipped around a bit. Like usual it was pretty short but the things that I do remember, I remember in VIVID detail, which is gonna make this whole thing pretty long. First, it started off with me meeting this dude who claimed to be one of the leaders of some magical school. He explained that his main role was to ‘sort’ kids into different groups, which were categorized by the kids’ powers. To do this he just revealed their inner power and chose a group based on what it was- since magical kids’ powers were almost like a locked box in their mind. All he did was ‘unlock’ the metaphorical box, he didn’t give us powers or anything, simply allowed for us to find our inner power that we already had. Anyways, he takes me to this school which is hidden but somehow huge. We get there from a little place in the city. There’s like a raised sidewalk part of the city that’s a bit unpopulated, it leads to metros and subways and stuff. One of the buildings it leads to has a bunch of warning signs saying ‘authorized personnel only!’ and stuff, and looks like a wide concrete tunnel that leads down a bunch of stairs into who-knows-where. The man takes me down and we emerge into a large, train-station looking area. It’s like a massive tunnel with a rounded rooftop that somehow filters in sunlights despite the fact that we’re supposed to be underground. Kids and adults alike, but mostly kids, walked all about their business, going to and from different places. There was another doorway at the far end of the tunnel which seemed to exit somewhere else. There was a main walkway in the middle with little lanes that directed human traffic, with people walking in opposite directions based on where they needed to go. On either side of the walkways there were a few steps that led to slightly raised platforms next to the walkways. These platforms had little railings so that nobody could jump down into the walkway; and behind them there were tiny stalls with food, tons of benches and tables to eat or just talk, and some open space areas where people stood and talked. The sides of the room/hall had several doorways, each leading a different direction (some had stairs going up, some down, some had elevators, some went straight or left or right, etc). A lot of the kids are carrying suitcases or bags, and a lot more have strange traits. Some have horns, others have oddly colored eyes, and a few have stained skin, such as a boy with hands that were bright red. There were kids with tails, kids with forked tongues; name any sort of small yet obviously magical physical trait and someone here had it. There wasn’t anything huge, like there weren’t centaurs or people with wings or anything, so I only noticed it when I looked closer at the people around me. And otherwise it sounded normal too, there was super loud chatter of people everywhere talking, suitcases rolling, passing conversations sounding casual. The man walked me down one of the walkways and then led me up to one of the platforms halfway down, where we emerged next to a vendor’s stall. Five kids were leaning against the side of the stall talking. None of them had suitcases or anything. “Hello!” the man says brightly to them. They say hello back and the man says something like, “she’s a brand new student here, just recruited her. Can you show her around and all to give me some time to prepare for her finding?” The kids say sure and the man heads back towards a doorway which apparently leads to his office. The kids introduce themselves, and even though they’re all older than me, they’re super nice and patient seeing as I have no clue what’s happening. There’s a girl with shoulder-length, spiky pink hair, who has a nose ring and dark eyeliner under her eyes. She’s pale and wears all black and a choker and some killer laced up boots, and acts really chill. She introduces herself and mentions that she’s “a Galaxy,” which I don’t know what that means but I nod anyways. The tips of her fingers are stained black, and her ears are pinched like elf ears, but otherwise she looks perfectly human. Then there’s a boy with short dark brown hair who introduces himself as “a Firie,” which again I just nod at. Occasionally smoke drifts from his lips when he talks. His Adam’s Apple is very prominent, and he’s deeply tan, like he and the sun were just BFFs or something, like I’ve never seen anyone that perfectly tanned. He was casual like the pink haired girl, only a bit less chill and a bit more excitable, and almost brash. He wore untied tennis shoes, a red T-shirt, and black jogging shorts. He seemed almost arrogant but he was still really nice- he just was the type to make overly confident jests and jokes, by the sound of it, but he wasn’t actually arrogant, if that makes sense. There was a shyer girl who told me that she was a “Galaxy” too (I nodded), and she had softly curled blonde hair and wore pastel colors. She had a small forked tail curling by her feet, jet black and flicking as she talked. Her eyes were deep, navy blue, much too dark to be regular, and each had a small light blue speck of color near the edge of the iris. She seemed sweet if not quiet, although she was a bit dim by the sounds of it (not in a bad way!). There was a boy with dark brown dreadlocks and dark skin who seemed chill, but in a different way than the pink haired girl. He said he was a “lighter,” to which I just said “huh,” and the only unusual things about him were his eyes- which were bright yellow- and the small ring of blonde which made what looked like a halo at the top of his hair. He wore cool shoes which were very clean and a hoodie, along with some jeans. The final boy seemed like the ‘leader’ of this little group. He had brownish-red hair and was also rash, but not like the “firie” boy was. He was just confident, and showed it. He stood straight with good posture and wore a red sweatshirt, ripped black jeans, and scuffed Vans. He introduced himself as a “floater” and at this point I didn’t even say anything. After introductions I told them my name, and that was about it. They started by explaining that the different groups here were pretty hard to remember, just cause there were a lot. There were Firies, people with- unsurprisingly- abilities over fire or heat. There were Galaxies, people with abilities over directions and “night magic,” which I had no idea what that meant but I was like, okay, sure, night magic. Makes sense. There were Lighters, people with ability over lightness / darkness, and there were Turners, people with ability over water or other liquid. Then there were Frosts, people with power over snow and ice and the cold in general. Wilders who had abilities over animals and plants. Grounders with abilities over the earth, metal, and other similar materials. Welders with abilities over specific types of metal and technological magic (again, makes sense I guess). There were Tamers with abilities over mind-like powers (mind reading, hypnosis, etc.) and there were Floaters, people who had abilities over the air and who were most well known for the ability to fly/levitate both themselves and other stuff. There were Voices who had abilities over more artistic magic- namely shape shifting, changing the colors or shapes of items, changing voices, etc.- and there were also Killers who, despite their name, didn’t always kill. Killers had power over sickness and disease, however a lot of them were actually healers as a result. Turners were known for time magic but also did a lot of magic having to do with mind-based powers (not mind reading; more like telekinesis and stuff). There were Stormers who were known for weather-based magic like lightning, and finally there were Runners, people with ability over movement (including teleportation apparently). I tried to memorize all of the groups but it was impossible, so I just memorized the groups that my new classmates were in, plus a few that stuck in my mind. Then they led me around the school, taking me through each of the doorways. Most of them led to the different buildings for each of the groups. They were much too big to actually fit in this space but since the school was magic I let it slide. The buildings were as you’d expect. The Firie building had walls of stones like obsidian, and the pathways to the dorms were thick stone with metal railings that lined either side, preventing you from falling into the literal lava below. The building itself was so hot I was sweating right as I walked in, like the heat was CRANKED. There was one part near the entrance/lobby area of the Firie building which was a small, raised circular pad, made of a red-hot stone. Every once in a while the area above the stone would burst into swirls of flame; and when the flame flickered out a person would step off of the pad, unharmed and unworried, and go about their business. It was apparently how they teleported/got around. The buildings were all similar. The ones that stuck in my mind were the buildings of my new classmates’ groups, since they let me explore those buildings more. The Galaxy room was almost pitch black, with a replica of the galaxy shining all around the room. Floating purple, gray, magenta, white, and black crystals hovered around the room, almost like stars themselves. A replica of the solar system floats and bobs in the air in the center of the lobby, super realistic and glowing. The teleporting pad thingy for them was shaped like the moon and glowed, and when a Galaxy would teleport, the air above it would turn dark; like the air had split down the middle and cracked. The dark crack slowly opens up, revealing stars. The stars are blocked out by the silhouette of a person. This silhouette steps from the crack and slowly fades from black to a regular person, and the crack in the air closes behind them. The hallway to the dorms feels slightly out of balance, like gravity has gone a little wack. The pink-haired Galaxy girl shows me a peek of her room. It’s just as dark, but a large moon-shaped orb floats in the center of the room, glowing. Stars cover the walls. There’s a beanbag in the room that’s solid black, however I see some pink decorations lining the walls too. As soon as the door opens I realize that there’s definitely not normal gravity in there. Next is the Lighter building. It’s a huge contrast to the Galaxy building, and I have to squint until my eyes adjust. The walls are softly glowing, and the ceiling shines like an Aurora, differently colored lights flowing and pulsing above us. Orbs of light float around the room, some the size of baseballs, but most the size of marbles or smaller, looking like illuminated dust floating softly around in an unfelt breeze. They’re almost like fireflies. The hall to the dorms is also glowing, however the floor is softer here, a weird silk carpet material that seems to almost resist my shoes. The Lighter boy explains that the carpet can only be actually walked on in bare feet or socks. It’s strange but I don’t comment. His room is brightly lit but the walls fade gradually, almost pulsing. The ceiling is softer too, less variation in the colors, slower swirls. There’s a large LED TV screen set into one of the walls, and a bright yellow couch in front of it. Several golden orbs float in various places. A string of light swirls around the room curiously, almost like it’s a creature of its own. After exploring all of the magic types’ rooms, which were all very cool (my favorite being the floater room which was cooled by a light, constant breeze; that building had no gravity whatsoever, it felt like I was suspended in the middle of the sky somewhere high up. The walls and ceiling and even floor were painted to look like a sky as well, and actual clouds floated about the room), the kids take me down one of the centered doors. It leads to an outside area, very pretty, with rolling grass hills and trees surrounding the small area on two sides. On the other sides there are faded brick walls of the building we’re in. At this point I’m not questioning the logic of how the hell we came out into an outdoor area when we’re completely underground in the city. The buildings are very simple. The one wall has the door we just came through, which leads to that main walkway area. On the other wall there’s a second door. Apparently, that’s where the guy I met earlier is- they call him “the sorter,” for obvious reasons I guess. There’s two or three empty picnic tables in the center of this field area, and we all go and sit at one. This place is empty and a nice relief from the noise and crowdedness of the walkway-station-place. We all sit at a table and they talk casually. I get to know them a bit better and they get to know me- they ask questions about my life, and if I have any family who’s magical (I say no, and the Firie boy raises an eyebrow and says that that means one of my family members is either hiding something, or died before they could tell me). Then they ask about my personality, saying that if you have a super strong and stereotypical ‘type’ of personality, it could correlate with your magic type as well. I try to explain myself but they don’t see anything immediately obvious. The leader type boy tells me I’ll be fine. Then the other door opens and the man appears. He tells me he’s ready to sort me. The kids tell me good luck and I thank them for being so nice. The pink haired girl assures me that they’ll be here after I’m sorted and they’ll continue to help me out and be my friends even after, so it’s all good. Then I go into the building. It’s quite small. There’s only two joined rooms, so joined that they almost count as one room. In the first, there is a little desk in a corner, filled with tons of stuff. There’s a small cabinet against the wall in front of the desk with papers and scrolls in it. On all of the other walls there are tables and bookshelves holding magical items, books, and more papers. There’s a large doorway leading into the second room, which is similar. There’s a cute little rug in the center of the room. All of the walls have bookshelves or desks on them, covered in more stuff. There’s an empty spot on one of the desks in that room which seems suspicious. The man tells me very kindly how he’s going to do this. He’s going to take me into the room and ask a few, probably strange questions. Then he’s going to place a few items in my hand, ask questions, and continue until he thinks he knows what to do in order to unlock my power. Then he’s going to either mutter a spell, give me a potion, or even something smaller, such as touch a part of my head and give a burst of magic. I feel nervous but excited, and tell him to continue. He takes me to the rug and does just what he said he’d do. After about five minutes of questions and items, he flips through a heavy tome, then looks at a scroll, and then tells me he thinks he knows what to do with me. I get nervous at the ‘thinks’ part but I stay calm otherwise. Then he tells me to cup my hands and gives me a few directions. First, he tells me to breathe as hard as I can, like I was trying to force something from my lungs. I do so, feeling weird. Then he tells me to try and flex the muscles in my forearm, wrist, and palm; but ONLY those muscles. Again, I do what he says. Then he has me flex my arms, still keeping my hands cupped. Finally he places a single drop of a weird liquid into my palm- it disappears as soon as it touches my skin- and then presses his thumb to my forehead. Then he says, my magic has been unlocked. He warns that I may go through some physical changes now that magic has started to flow through my veins. I ask what group I am and he says, “you’re a star, I believe.” I ask, “Galaxy?” and he says, “no. You are a Star.” I’m confused but thank him and then leave. The kids at the picnic table are chatting idly but watch excitedly as I come back. The boy asks what I am and I say, “Star.” “You’re a Galaxy?” the pink haired girl asks. “No,” I say, confused. “I thought so too, but he said I was a Star, not a Galaxy.” The Firie boy voices the confusion. “That’s not a group, though.” I shrug, starting to feel sick to my stomach. “That’s what he said...” Then, my stomach burns, bad. I double over and cough. Suddenly I feel something spread upwards through my body, something warm and tingly. I hear one of the kids say to back away a bit cause I’m having my Changing. I feel a sharp needle-like pain all over my forearms and hands. It fades and I see a dark black color staining my hands and arms, spreading to just below my elbow before it stops. It looks like someone dripped paint down my arms and then the ends of the streams of pain were suddenly stopped at the crook of my elbow. They’re almost like gloves, with the ends of the sleeves being unevenly cut and curved. Then I feel a stabbing pain behind my eyes and gasp, grabbing at them. I immediately take out my contacts on instinct, but that doesn’t help. I close my eyes and press them and eventually the pain fades. When I open my eyes I can see way better than before, even with contacts. The pain moves to my shoulder blades, and I grunt, arching my back and grabbing at my back even though I can’t quite reach. I hear a hiss and feel the pain fade. Finally, the main moves to my feet, where it grows until I think I might pass out- then stops. I wait for something else to happen but nothing does. Eventually I stand and check my legs and feet. They seem the same. “Woah,” says the pink haired girl. Then pink haired girl grabs my hand, drags her finger through the air, and opens a dark slit. She steps through and pulls me after her, and I gasp as everything goes dark for a second. When I re-emerge I’m in the Galaxy room. She runs towards her bedroom and pulls me along. When we get there she shows me to her bathroom where there’s a full sized mirror. Overall I’m not that much different, at least, most of my features are the same, or similar. My arms are the biggest difference, and even the nails are stained a see-through purply black. My eyes are almost the same blue as before; they’re much more gray now, and the rings around the outside of them are black instead of navy blue. A single ring goes around each of my pupils, framed by my almost-gray irises. The ring is red on one side, purple on another, and a bit yellow near one side; they gradually fade together into a gradual rainbow of reds, pinks, purples, and yellows. I check my feet and legs but I still don’t see any difference from before. However, from my back two strange clouds of purple and black come out almost like wings. They seem to be some sort of controlled smoke, almost shadow like, and they move a bit: they’re fluid. I turn to see them but they fade from view when you examine them from different angles. They’re not very big and hardly rise above my shoulders. They’re really only that obvious from the direct back of me. Eventually the Galaxy girl tells me that we need to try and find a place for me to stay, since I don’t seem to belong to any one group. She takes me back to the picnic table where the others are waiting and they ask what magic symptoms I’m having, because that might give a clue as to where I could belong. My advanced eyesight apparently indicates me being a Lighter. However, the Lighter boy points out my shadow. I didn’t notice before, but now that he mentions it I realize that my shadow has... evolved. In my shadow, I appear to have massive wings, horns, and some sort of strange circling cloud around my head. The changing shadows are definitely not a Lighter thing cause. You know. LIGHTer? The Galaxy girl suggests that perhaps a shifting shadow suggests a Voice, since it’s similar to shape shifting maybe. However, then I start having an itchy nose- at first I thought it was just because I was outside but by this point it’s terrible- and the Firie boy shouts for me to back away from them a bunch. I do, rubbing my nose like crazy. Then, suddenly, I sneeze, except when I sneeze purple flames erupt from my mouth. I cough afterwards and smoke drifts from my lips like with the Firie boy. They shout that if I’m not feeling sneezy I can come rejoin them. The Firie boy says that the fire obviously suggests that I’m a Firie, however the color of the flames could also point to a Galaxy, since purples and blacks tended to be their colors. After mentioning the colors the kids looked at my eyes and noticed that I had colors from a few different groups- yellow from Lighters, red from Firies, purple from Galaxies, pink from Tamers, deep magentas from Shifters and even my regular gray-blue eyes from Runners and Storms (respectively). So then colors were ruled out as a determining factor for which group I should join. The kids decide we should talk about this over lunch, since everyone was getting hungry. Plus, either way they still needed to explain some other things. As they get up and start to move I notice something. Their shadows seem to be bubbling. I mention this and they look at me like I’m crazy- they can’t see it. Then, I watch in amazement as little black creatures emerge from the shadows. They’re spiky looking, like the dust creatures from Totoro basically. They’re little balls of shadow, the size of a plum each, maybe, or smaller, and they’re quick; they move so fast I don’t know how I can see them. The only defining feature is a pair of ‘eyes,’ two dots set in the middle of the shadow creatures which is clearing purple, a smoke substance like my wings. But even then the eyes sometimes disappear as they move around. I can almost hear them too, making little noises almost like squeaks. They’re pretty cute. However, when I describe this to the other kids they get super tense and freak out. The ‘main’ boy explains that those were Creatures of Shadow (original name, I think) and that they were the basis of all evil. People with magic hunted them just like they hunted other monsters, except Creatures of Shadow were not only the most common, but also the most dangerous and most elusive monsters out there. There were two types of Creatures of Shadow- ‘unformed’ which were the ones I was seeing now, and ‘formed,’ which basically appeared like a person’s shadow that had stood up and become 3D. They explain how dangerous and evil they are but they still seem cute to me. I also wonder how they don’t see them when there’s so many. I crouch down in front of a bunch of them and say quietly, in my baby voice that I usually save for my cat, “hey, who are you little guys?” A few of them do that squeak noise thing which is adorable, by the way, and then scurry up to me. One in particular comes right in front of me. I hold my hand out and it climbs into my palm. It feels cold and incredibly lightweight. I stand up and hold it a distance from my face, so I can see it and talk to it without being all up in its business. I say in the baby voice, “do you have a name, lil’ guy? Or gal? Lil’ adorable shadow?” It squirms a bit and squeaks, then transforms; the shadows swirling inside of it stretch out and rise a bit, making it taller; soon it forms a tiny, tiny scene. I look a bit closer. The shadows form a simple looking tree, and then curl down to form a noose. In the noose is a 3D stick man- faceless, basic limbs, basically a teeny tiny doll of shadows. It’s a hanging scene, but somehow it doesn’t seem all that grim when it’s so simple and not graphic. The shadow creature gives me a few seconds to look before swirling back into a little ball shape. “Oh,” I say. “Was it painful?” It squeaks but I understand it to mean, no. I smile. “Well that’s good. Was it like, here?” The thing squeaks in a way sounding like, kinda. I giggle then say, “are all your friends similar?” It squeaks yeah. But some are from farther away. The Galaxy girl interrupts to tell me that 1), I look like a wacko talking to my hands, and 2) I needed to stop conversing with evil creatures of shadow and come eat with them because I needed to know the schedule and where everything else is, regardless of whether or not I was ‘properly’ sorted yet. I sit the little shadow dude on my shoulder and follow the kids inside. The rest of the shadow creatures all hop into my shadow, catching a ride on my shadow wings or shadow head. A few curl around my legs and hands, climbing in my pockets or nuzzling into little crevices- some squeeze on top of the curve of my wrist, some rest in the dips of my collarbones, and some even sit themselves on top of my feet. A smaller swarm of them flits around by my feet when I walk. I mostly try to ignore them since I can’t seem to step on them or anything, even accidentally, and I want to NOT look like a weirdo staring at weird spaces in the middle of the building. The kids lead me to the opposite platform, we all get some food (paid for by them, although I insist on paying them back), and sit at an empty picnic table and chat. I get a few stares because of my wing-like clouds at my back, and my arms. Once we sit down and have talked about basic stuff, like classes, schedules, and different offices, the shy Galaxy girl with blonde hair tells the others that “we should do the SMM” for me already. The pink haired girl hoots and the ‘main’ boy pulls a strange gemstone thing from his pocket. The kids explain quickly that there’s a very common tradition at this particular magic school: soul mate marking, or SMM. The tradition consisted of using an only-slightly-dangerous spell (involving the gemstone I saw the girl pull out) to reveal the ‘soul mate mark’ on the specified person; or, in other words, to reveal the mark where that person’s soul mate would first touch them. The mark would be black at first, and would fade quickly. However the person would always be able to see their own mark; it would just fade for the people around them, about a few seconds after the spell finished. Once touched, the mark would light up a ton of colors, and fade the same way, after about thirty seconds- only that time, it would fade for real. The one boy mentioned that it was banned at the school- however pretty much everyone did it anyways, to the point where teachers just didn’t care anymore. I got excited at the prospect of it all, and agreed. The pink haired girl takes the crystal, which is rainbow, and presses it to my throat. Then she says a spell. The other Galaxy girl joins in occasionally, changing with her. Eventually I feel a warmth start spreading out on my cheek, and the girl stops chanting. Then all of the kids make a face; either they frown or they inhale sharply through their teeth, saying “yikes,” “oh, no,” and “that sucks, man.” I blink at them. “It was on my cheek?” The Galaxy girl hands me a mirror apprehensively. I take it and think, are you kidding me? There’s a black mark clearly defined right on my cheek, in the shape of someone’s knuckles. A fist. “Maybe her soulmate wipes tears away or something...?” the nice Galaxy girl offers. “No way, see how defined it is?” Firie boy says. “In order to make such a defined mark it’d have to be a harsher impact. She totally gets decked by her soulmate.” The Galaxy girls yell at the Firie boy in unison, telling him to be nice and, “why would you say that?!” I assure them it’s fine and that at this point it’s not my worst concern. Then the kids begin talking and eating again and I start interacting with the shadow creatures. The kids ask questions about them and I explain that they’re not really as bad as they claimed. I say, “maybe you just have a misunderstanding with them.” The kids shrug. I ‘talk’ to a few more shadow dudes, each telling me how they died and squirming around. They tell me that they usually hide in the shadows, unseen, but that it’s lonely and cold. They’re glad that they could come out and interact with me. Plus, apparently I somehow counted as a ‘shadow’ for them, in the sense that people couldn’t see them when they were on me. Then, the shadow dudes detach a bit. The first one I met, who I nickname “King,” hops onto the table and the kids get frightened. But then I tell them it’s fine and they’re like, well, that’s super fucking weird but whatever. They kind of watch idly as I speak to the shadow creatures and play with them and stuff, and they talk amongst each other about whatever as they watch. Eventually quite a few of the shadow creatures have detached from me so that they could play or interact more. People passing by start to freak a little, pointing and whispering and shying away, and sometimes even shouting in surprise, but I ignore them because I really like the little dudes. Then, all of a sudden, I hear someone shout- loudly enough for me to hear- “what the Hell?” The kids and I turn to see a few kids stopped at the platform, staring between me and the creatures. Most of the creatures quickly scurry back to me or my shadow, but a few (namely, King) stay where they are, if not scooting a bit closer to me. Pink-haired Galaxy girl shouts back, “mind yo business, damn.” The girl comes forwards. She has bright red hair with a single blonde streak down the side, which is pulled into a ponytail. Her eyes are bright red and stand out against her pale skin. She has minimal makeup but the stuff she does have on pops; thin, dark eyeliner around her entire eye and mascara. She wears a series of red, orange, yellow and black colors, in a generally sportsy style. Her hands are red, and she has tattoos in the shapes of flames crawling up one arm. I wonder what group she’s from, I think sarcastically. The girl marches forward, leaving her friends to stare. She still keeps her distance but now she doesn’t have to shout as loud when she says, “if there’s a Creature of the Shadows in our SCHOOL, it becomes EVERYONE’S business. What are you guys doing, just sitting there?” I freeze up and protectively grab King from the table, cupping him in one hand and ‘petting’ him with the other, brushing my finger over the top of the thin shadows/smoke. The Firie boy responds this time. “They must not be the same creatures cause they’re not dangerous at all right now. Maybe she can control them, I don’t know, but they like her and’ll do basically whatever she says, so they’re not like, a danger. C’mon Lissa, don’t overreact. They’re not attacking anyone, they’re not a threat. It’s fine.” Lissa fumes- literally. Smoke drifts from her mouth when she speaks. “Don’t tell me not to overreact, we spend our lives hunting those shits! But sure, when some random girl decides to mess with dark magic, it’s FINE.” “It’s not dark magic..?” I mumble. Pink haired girl repeats me. “It’s not dark magic, Lis. She’s a newbie, just got sorted. We don’t really know where she belongs yet but it’s just a part of her powers- she literally doesn’t know any magic at all.” “Lemme guess, she’s a GALAXY. That’s the only reason why you’d defend anyone anyways.” Lissa glares. “I’m not-“ I begin quietly. “She’s actually a ‘Star,’” the leader boy says casually. “Like they said, she’s innocent. Just leave her be.” Lissa’s eyes widen and she stomps her foot. Flames burst into life in her palms and then extinguish, burning bright yellow. “‘Just leave her be?’” she asks incredulously. “She’s working with dark creatures! How can you guys even CALL yourselves magicians if you sit by and do NOTHING when there’re shadow creatures inside your own SCHOOL?” I mumble, “I’m really sorry, I don’t...” Again, Galaxy girl stands up for me, both metaphorically and literally. She’s clearly mad- it seems like they have some beef outside of this specific argument. Darkness swirls inside of her pupils. “Stop being such a stuck-up jerk, Lissie. Just cause you’re a fucking sniveling asshole who’s scared of their own shadow doesn’t mean we all have to be. They’re clearly not hurting anyone, so they’re CLEARLY not a threat. And most likely they’re not even the same shadow creatures we know of. This girl’s power is new, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are too. Just fuck off.” I quickly intervene, speaking mostly to pink haired girl. “Um, I think they are the same... I mean, that’s what they told me...” Lissa scoffs. “She’s literally openly admitting to conversing with dark creatures and you guys STILL defend her. God, you call ME the coward, but you’re the ones refusing to do anything. Cause you’re scared she’ll set them on you if you do.” I widen my eyes. “No! I’d never set them on anyone, they’re really not under my control that much. I think you guys have just misunderstood them.” “‘Them?!’” Lissa turns her anger fully to me. “Yeah, they used to be people,” I say. “I knew you were the type to lie, but you’re not even a good liar. That’s plain sad,” she says. “I’m not lying! Look, this one- I’m calling him King- he was hanged in the yard right next to the sorting building.” I pull King out and look at him expectantly and he slowly hovers out of my hand, making himself visible. Immediately Lissa roars and says, “don’t you dare set that thing on me or so help me I will punch you so hard!” She goes to charge me and King goes back into my shadow; I back away, saying, “listen, you REALLY don’t wanna punch me, please-“ She reaches me and punches; I dodge clumsily and stumble backwards. “Is that a threat?!” “No!” I yelp as she kicks at my legs and I fall to the ground. I kick her feet too and she falls on top of me, but quickly gets up, grabs my shirt to pin me in place, and raises her fist. “No!” I shout again, desperately. “Just, PLEASE, don’t punch my left cheek, literally anywhere BUT there, trust me, you’ll regret it- seriously!” Before I can plead again she punches me right on top of the mark. A shock of pain travels through my cheek, jaw, and even head- but surprisingly I feel the coldness of one of the shadow dudes pass through the area less than a second later and the pain fades. I tell myself that it’s just a coincidence that she punched me on the SMM. Then, she pulls her fist back and I whimper slightly, although it’s kind of exasperated. Her fist is glowing all sorts of colors- she turns and looks at it in disbelief before turning back to look at my cheek. I scramble out from underneath her and touch my cheek where she’d hit me. I taste blood and run my tongue over my cheek, which is split open, saying meekly, “I told you not to punch me...” “No way!” Lissa says angrily. “You tricked me!” “What?” I say. “No! I told you specifically not to hit me there... I knew something like this was gonna happen as soon as I saw my mark...” The girl swears. “There’s no way my soul mate is a dark magician. I’m changing my mark!” I sigh and watch as she storms off. Then I turn to the kids. “That’s just plain bad luck,” pink haired girl says. “Yeah, that sucks bro,” the Lighter boy says sympathetically. I sigh again and sit down, rubbing my cheek. The pain is almost completely gone. Then I see King crawl out from behind my neck and hover in front of me; his eyes are fading from a bright purple. “You did that?” I ask in awe. He squeaks a confirmation. I giggle and smile. “Thanks so much, I really owe you... you’re all so sweet!” I ‘muzzle’ him and set him on my shoulder again and explain that he somehow healed me. Galaxy girl shakes her head and mutters something about bad luck again. Later, the Firie boy takes me to his building, thinking that maybe he can find a dorm room there for me. After all, I did create flames, right? However, part way there I run into Lissa again. She’s angrily talking to some kids in the hall of the dorms, and I think I can guess what she’s talking about. I turn around and try to back out but Firie boy says loudly, “wow, I bet you’re tryna play the victim, huh Lis!” I freeze and think, oh God, why? Not again... I hear Lissa exclaim something and I think, maybe I can still get away. But then Firie boy says something like, “she even produces fire and everything, and her eyes are partially red- that’s why she’s here!” I turn and look over my shoulder. I’d managed to hide in the shadows and sneak along the wall until then, but as soon as her red eyes pass over me they freeze. I decide it’s better if she DIDN’T find me in a suspicious position like that on her own, so I step out and say nervously, “Um, actually, we were just gonna leave now...” Firie boy looks at me confusedly and I raise an eyebrow and give him a look. He frowns, then the lightbulb comes on. “Oh! Yeah. She’s gonna visit later, we forgot to give her the tour of the main courtyard first.” Lissa spits at me and I flinch. A wad of REALLY hot saliva lands on my forearm, where I have newly dyed skin. Upon coming into contact with my arm, the saliva stops sizzling and steaming, and instead turns to a strange crumbling substance. It becomes blackened and hard before crumbling to the ground as ash. Definitely not making myself seem any better here. I say, “Um, sorry about your spit..? I didn’t know I could do that...” Lissa seems ready to hit something again, she’s smoking at the mouth and yelling about how evil I am again. I back away slowly and mumble, “I’m really sorry, sorry- Uh, I’m gonna leave, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to intrude or whatever, sorry about your spit too, uh, bye...?” Then I slip back into the shadows on the wall. I don’t know why but somehow I do this as if it’s perfectly natural; I feel myself press into the wall and my body turns into a shadow itself, hidden by the shadows on the wall. I move incredibly fast as a shadow, and see the shadow creatures leaping around inside of me, popping from my chest or arms or legs. I quickly slide along the wall, through the lobby (where a very confused Firie girl watched me go) and out into the main platform area. I spot the kids I know talking beside the table where we were sitting, waiting for us to return from the Firie rooms. I slide over to them and push out from the wall, and materialize again. The Lighter and the shy Galaxy girl are the only ones facing the wall to see me do this. The Galaxy girl squeals and jumps while the Lighter raises his eyebrows and mutters something like, “that’s weird.” The others turn and ask me what the hell just happened. I explain that apparently I can move through shadows and stuff. And also that I had done so to escape from a very angry Lissa. They say that it’s cool, and that it’s awesome that I can do that, although the leader boy mentions that it is very strange how I seem to be centered around shadow. After all, shadows WERE the evil of this world. I don’t know what to say to that so I shrug. I know I’m not evil- or at least I think so..? I don’t FEEL evil. And I’m not thinking anything evil, although someone evil might think that too... I see the Firie boy run out of the door and quickly run to greet him, apologizing for leaving him there with Lissa. He tells me that it’s fine and that I probably would’ve gotten punched again if I’d stayed any longer. Then the dream ends.