[ It seemed like the real thing but I was so blind]

"I'm not a witch." Yima said for the thousandth time that day, first before the corrupt court that would have loved to see her burn and now to a strange man who just saved her from the worst punishment a girl like her would never have survived, Osi, the inescapable penitentiary which was found in Aarunt, she was sentenced to life on the charges of practicing magic. 

    "I believe you." He said uttering the words she had longed to hear from someone, anyone other than herself. Heat spread out in her chest. 

   She nodded once, leaning further back into the rough brown couch that she was beginning to hate. She hated the color brown. It reminded her of her mother, who only wore clothes that were of that color. 

   "It suits your eyes." He was right, her big brown eyes matched the color perfectly well. 

    "How did you know?" She asked hoping he wasn't going to say something as crazy as being able to read minds. It was obviously her fidgeting and the ugly glare she gave the couch before she sat down. 

   "Let me show you instead," The deep blue glow of the rytuid from the tank above him caused the entire room to feel crowded and spacious at the same time. "The house leaders are on their way." 

***

   Yima twirled the ring on her finger, she would have thrown it away but it looked pretty and it made her untouchable. Her father in-law, the pirate king, was feared by every breathing creature because of his thirst for bloodshed and violent crimes.

   The pirate king knew what power he would have if he's son married someone with an ability, especially someone who was known as a witch. He would be untouchable, seen as a god and that he became. 

   The man's eyes slowly found themselves on her ring finger and she couldn't stop the frown that took residence on her face, she knew what was to come even before he said anything.

   "Have you met his son?" The pirate king's son.

   "I have, multiple times." She recited everything the pirate king told her to say. She had never seen his son before, even when she signed the contract his signature wasn't there. 

   "Is he as handsome in person as he is in the stories that everyone has grown to know and love?" 

  "They didn't do him justice." That part was her own, if she was going to keep up this lie she was going to go big. 

   ''You don't seem like the type of person who would lie,'' he was wrong but she wasn't going to correct him. 

    He smiled, like he had just shared an inside joke with himself. 

   Ngula boarding was found in Aarunt and was situated in the city of Guni, where the families of every criminal locked up in Osi lived. 

   The island was surprisingly only known for having the most guarded prison, it was a good thing.

   He was quiet as he scrutinized her, she kept her head high, posture straight and maintained eye contact not wanting him to think he had her intimidated. Looking up at him, she took in his appearance paying attention to everything. The features on his face that stood out the most were his bushy eyebrows. His gunmetal blue eyes were filled with so much excitement and curiosity, that it was hard to look away.  

   He looked to be in his late forties and she couldn't deny that he was oddly handsome. His lips pulled up in a knowing smile and she felt blood running to her face in embarrassment, the thought of him being able to read minds bothered her a lot. She shifted her eyes to his desk which was neatly arranged and on it was his name tag which read, Med.

 On the wall were six large pictures of each house leader. Only one was headed by a boy, he looked to be her age with short blond curly hair, sunken blue eyes and a beautiful smile. He was part of house tifins. 

   She returned her attention to Med and noticed that he was having a conversation with someone over a mind link, mind links were formed only by blood oaths when two suitable people took part in that ceremony. Undergoing such a ceremony was risky because many people have died from trying to link themselves with unsuitable people.  Turning back to the wall, she took a glance at the people that she was yet to meet  feeling both nervous and excited. She hoped that someone had something that she could relate to, even just a little bit. 

   She knew she possessed something, she could feel it. 

  They sat in awkward silence as they awaited their arrival. 

   After the rytuid made its fourth complete turn, the double doors swung open revealing six people in uniform, except each had a different badge on their ****** pocket. Zelda, the house leader of house lintos had an intimidating presence. Her long grey hair was tied back in a ponytail, she was taller than Yima thought she would be.

   Nyx, leader of house imits was standing at Zelda's left. Her large blue eyes narrowed when they spotted Yima and she looked away. Falcon, the leader of house greens was the shortest and also, in my opinion, had the most beautiful hair color, the shades of the eastern rainbow.

   Adira, of house waves, was the complete opposite in the sense that her hair was the shade of the Durt bridge, colorless with brown edges. It moved like the ocean waves and sat proudly on her head, spilling onto her shoulders like water.

   Brielle, of house droppers, sent me an encouraging smile and Shesmiled back. Her almond shaped eyes didn't focus on anything at all but it still managed to feel as if she was watching the whole room at once. Hunter leaned against the wall in almost a ghostly way, it was like he wasn't even there. His gaze was fixed on Med and Yima followed suit.

   ''As you have already noticed, we'll be receiving a new student," he paused, "show her what you can do."

   Everyone's eyes fell on her  and she was glad that she managed to keep a straight face and pretend as if she couldn't feel their piercing looks. 

   The first to step forward was Falcon, who raised her finger tips in the air and within seconds branches and vines swirled together to form a roaring dragon. Yima lost control of her jaw and it fell open as she clapped for her, Falon nodded her thanks before returning to her original position.

   The rest didn't look surprised, they looked bored. 

   Hunter blended in with the environment so well that it was hard to tell where he was, after his sudden disappearance several objects disappeared with him. Yima's eyes widened and she nodded her head several times, impressed. The objects appeared in different areas and as for him, in front of her. She jumped back in fear and even after she realized that it was him, her heart was still pounding.

   He extended his right hand towards her and gestured for her to hold his hand, she hesitated and slowly placed her hand in his and he raised it to his lips giving it a gentle kiss. His lips felt cold and hostile on her burning hot skin. As she watched him return, she noticed Nyx was rolling her eyes and fake yawning.

   Adira closed her hazel eyes for what felt like a few seconds, her eyes had changed to the color red when she reopened them, with her hands stretched in front of her and her palms facing up, water formed at her fingertips. Only until she absorbed the water back, did Yima realize that she had drawn it from her own body.

  She let out a gasp, amazing!

  Adira turned away like it was nothing and returned to her previous position. Brielle walked up the center of the room effortlessly, Med took out a jar of screnies, they were the most silent animals. He placed them in different locations, and they immediately started running at amazing speeds, but that didn't stop Brielle from slowing time only for them, causing them to move in slow motion.

   It was now Zelda's turn, her eyes focused on Hunter, Falcon and Adira's badges causing her eyes to change into multiple shades of color. She turned her attention to the room and repeated what they had all done. Yima stood up from her seat and sat back down embarrassingly. Zelda had a cocky smile on her face. Nyx was next, she marched right in front of Yima and before she knew what was happening, she was staring at herself. She screamed in an unladylike manner, she  suddenly felt dizzy and placed her head on the arm of the couch for support. 

  Before everything went black she heard Nyx say, ''definitely not an imit.''

[Throw my troubles at the world again]

When she awoke, she had a slight headache, her vision a little blurry. She looked around and she was still in Med's office but the house leaders were nowhere to be found. ''You're finally awake,'' She turned to look at him.

  "To answer your earlier question, I read your mind," he waited for a reaction and after a horrified look on Yima's face, he continues,"So which house do you think I belong to?" He asked.

  "I'm not sure." She replied.

  "House droppers, the best there is." He smiled to himself. 

  ''Here.'' He handed her a uniform, she quickly checked the badge and it was house Lintos.

  ''Why?'' She asked because she knew she wasn't able to do what Zelda just did. In fact she would rather be a part of none of the houses.

  ''Most beginners in house Lintos have no control of their powers and only know what they are capable of when they practice.'' He explained and she understood, when her parents found her she was on fire, but the fire never damaged any skin, it only felt like a whisper, a gentle caress. 

  She placed the folded uniform on her lap and waited.

  ''Thank you.'' She whispered and he stared blankly at her in such a way that she was sure he wasn't used to receiving compliments, ''I was just doing my job.'' He pointed out.

  He asked for Zelda through the mind link, this time it didn't take her long to show up. Her dark skin looks oily compared to Yima's dry looking skin. Zelda's gray eyes were fixed on Med. At each side of her were similar dressed twins who didn't much as blink, they looked just as deadly as her. 

  note to self: never provoke the trio. 

  Med explained that they were her second and third in command, Ophelia being her second and Adelia her third. They didn't seem to notice Yima, their attention fixed on Med. She couldn't tell who was who because they had the same hairstyle, a top bun and they were of the same height.

  ''You have a new member, she will stay under your supervision and protection until I say otherwise.'' What was that supposed to mean? She didn't dare ask.

  If she was upset, shocked or disappointed Zelda didn't show much of a reaction. Ophelia and Adelia exchanged looks and excused themselves. As they were outside, she could hear them laughing quietly but she didn't mind because she didn't know what they were laughing at and didn't want to jump to conclusions.

  Zelda had a ghost of a smile on her face, it was probably an inside joke and by the way Med looked it was clear that he was as blank as she was. ''Yima met Zelda, your house leader. She'll show you around, you may go I have work to do.'' He looked between them, waiting for one of them to speak.

  Zelda turned so that they were facing each other and she cocked her head sideways sizing Yima up. 

  "Hey." Yima said dreading what she would say or do and instead of answering, Zelda frowned, looked back at Med and walked out. 

  Yima stood there shocked and embarrassed, she avoided eye contact and looked down at her feet.

  She didn't know if she should follow her or stay rooted to her spot, the latter was what She preferred more. "Go." he instructed.

  She slowly stood up and made her way to the door. Ophelia and Adelia were waiting for her but Zelda was nowhere to be seen. "I'm Yima." She said, trying to make conversation. She got ignored by both twins, great, just what She needed right now. 

  They went through corridors with worn out walls and creaking floors, it was probably a hundred years old.  The cool morning breeze hit her as they exited the building, their footsteps and the rustling of the semi-dry leaves on the trees aligned in a straight line leading to the gate were the only sounds audible as they followed the path that led to  the gate.

  The gate had an owl, octopus, a sea serpent, a bear, a fox and a buffalo painted on it, representing each house. Ophelia, her twin sister, Yima had a buffalo as a badge.

  The gate opened with a loud bang causing a shiver run down her spine as she took in the buildings in front of her.

   In Likanu, where she grew up, such buildings belonged only to General Runn's workers who were tasked with destroying their homes and farms so that more industries could be built. 

  There was one flag missing,

"Where's house greens?" She asked no one in particular because She expected them to both ignore her.

 The twin on her right responded, "It's in the nook forest." Well that made sense.

  She hated the silence, She hated silence in general because it made people think, remember and talk to themselves. She didn't like the thoughts she got when she was alone or when it was quiet. 

 She started to think about the place she once called home and each time it reminded her that she's never going back there and it was like a stab to the heart.

  "Are you two going to show me around?" One of them turned back but both of them said no at the same time.

  "Zelda?" She asked, worried that they'll say no again, one of them stopped and asked her to shut up or she'll shut her up herself. Let's just say that after that she didn't mind the silence at all.

***

  Each room they passed was closed, but she could still get an idea of what was happening just from the sounds coming from the room. The long corridor was never ending, they continued forward until they stopped at door 50. They handed her the key before going back the way that they came.

  She walked in and found her roommate, she was on her bed with her legs crossed and eyes shut, the latter opened when she stepped fully into the room and locked the door behind her.

  Her side of the room had a painting of Lebi, the smallest Island. The whole room wore a mauve color.

  "Hi, I'm Yima." Her voice sounded forced, her roommate didn't seem to notice as she smiled and introduced herself, "Nice to meet you, I'm Lilith but you can call me Lily." She had one of those rough voices that scratched the right side of your brain when you heard them.

  "It's a breath of fresh air to finally meet someone from Lebi, is it true that you never sin?" Yima had heard many stories concerning Lebis, most people say they are angels sent to purify this wicked world.

  "A true Lebi never tells," Lilith dramatically whispered, Yima was crushed. She wondered why she even thought that Lilth would be willing to tell her everything just because she asked.

 "So, where are you from?" Lilith asked.

  "Likanu," Yima replied once she was seated, "and it isn't as bad as people like to make it." She added. Lianuians were viewed as people who lacked everything from food to water and even clothing.

  "I can't take your word for it, besides everyone says otherwise."

  "They are all wrong. I've lived there my whole life and I've never seen anyone die from hunger." Lilith didn't believe her.

  "Where are your stuff?" Lilith asked to change the subject. 

  Yima glared at her as she answered, "This has nothing to do with where I'm from, I left everything back home." It was partly true. The pirates only gave her the ring and sent her on her way.

  "Or maybe you never had any, don't worry I have enough for the both of us." Yima was both irritated and grateful.

  "What's that?" Yima pointed to the cage on top of Lilith's wooden wardrobe, it was covered with a soft blanket.

  "My pet yonio, his name is Fangs." 

   Lilith closed her eyes once more, ending the conversation. Yima moved to the door in shock, she hoped that Lilith wasn't being serious.

  Her heart skipped a beat causing her breathing to become excruciatingly slow. A shiver ran through her whole body leaving her shaken and trembling. Her skin crawled and She pushed further into the door. She frantically searched for the keys but couldn't find them. "Lilith, throw the keys," her voice was wobbly.

[They mistook my kindness for weakness]

"Are you okay? The door isn't even locked-" She couldn't hear what Lilith said after that, her own thoughts of being wrapped up by the yonio and being eaten whole crowded her senses. She heard a cage creak and her blood stained eyes searched for the source, searching for the cursed creature just in case it crawled out of its cage and ended her life. 

  "Look, he won't hurt you."Lilith was holding it out to her, the yonio. It's mighty fist sized head lay on her opened palms, its scales a disgusting yellow. It was still young, its ears and beard hadn't developed fully.

  She screamed. 

  Every contact her skin made with anything made her jump, She started mumbling things to herself and screaming in-between words. 

  A mad woman.

  She dared a glance and her eyes fell on a long plum colored body marked with huge scales and three tiny horns at the tail. It was curled up on the bed hissing at her, She looked into its eyes even though she knew that that was a terrible idea. The swirls of multiple colors in its eyes made her feel light headed.

  She couldn't look away in fear of it leaping for her when She least expected it. She was rooted to her spot, controlling my breathing.

  Lilith was saying something but she couldn't hear her, the pain in her chest was unbearable, It made it hard to focus on her breathing. She broke down crying, as she yelled continuously. The world went black.

   This was the end, she thought.

**

She sprung awake in a Naka's room, the healer was nowhere to be found, her head was pounding, She placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. She felt squeezed up in the tiny room which had potions, books and other stuff everywhere.

  The door opened and in came Zelda and Lily, the latter looking worried. They made the room even more crowded.

  "Finally, you're awake," Lilith sat next to Yima, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

  Yima said nothing.

  "There's nothing to be sorry about, it wasn't your fault she was scared of Fangs." Zelda spoke out.

  "She tried to kill me!" Yima spat out angrily, "she removed it from the cage and threw it on me." She added. 

  "She's lying," Yima narrowed her eyes at her, "partly, look I did open the cage bu-" 

  "See, she just confessed to it." Yima told Zelda.

  "Lilith why did you open the cage?" Zelda crossed her arms. 

  "I wanted.. no, I just…" she trailed off and Yima had a triumphant smile on her face.

  "I need a new roommate, I can't share a room with a murderer." Lilith flinched, she didn't like what Yima just said.

  "I'm not a murderer." Lilith hissed.

  Lilith's claws sprung out and they wanted nothing in the world but to shred Yima's throat and they would have been successful if not for Zelda's fast thinking and freezing Lilith. 

  "Let me give you a little tip if you want to survive this place, don't go around calling people names." Yima swallowed nothing as she studied Lilith's now frozen body. Lilith's eyes were bright orange, her right hand with claws inches away from Yima's face, she could feel the cold ice as she let out three shaky breaths. Lilith had a feral look on her, she had this raw anger radiating from her that Yima feared it might melt the ice.

  "Go and hide somewhere and make sure she doesn't find you," Zelda smiled, "Lock your doors although you won't be able to keep an angry Lilith from breaking it down." 

  "Why don't you just keep her in this state?" Yima's head was still pounding. 

  "In a few seconds she'll release herself," Zelda narrowed her eyes at Yima, "how do you feel?" 

  "Tired." In the situation that she was in, being tired was the last thing she wanted to be. 

   "Smoke, you're causing it." Zelda was right, it was happening again but this time without the fire. 

    The sound of ice breaking was heard. 

  "Are you feeling better?" Lily asked her, she looked normal. 

   "No." Yima hesitantly said, taking a few steps back. 

  "That's good." Lilith said and she disappeared into thin air. 

   "The ice I put her in calmed her down," Zelda chuckled, "I was only joking when I told you to run away and hide." 

   "Why?" 

   "Lilith will be your roommate and before you open your oversized mouth to complain,  you should know that Fangs will be taken back to the pet house." Zelda opened the door and turned back to add," Don't ever lie to me again, I won't hesitate to do what Lilith was dying to do." Zelda walked out.

**

The cage wasn't on the wardrobe when Yima got back, she went around checking under the beds just to make sure.

  Yima hadn't realized how tired she was until she saw her bed for the second time. 

***

  They talked about Lilith that night when she got back. They both agreed to pretend as if it never happened because they were stuck together as roommates for the rest of their lives. 

  Lilith told her about how she was an only child and also an orphan. Her parents drowned when Lilith was only five years old, she believes that they did it on purpose because they didn't want a cursed  daughter.

**

The next day She woke up early and found Lilith getting ready. "You have almost three hours until your first class, you should rest." Standing with her hands on her hips, she stared down at her.

  "Why are you going this early?" She asked while getting in a sitting position.

  "I'm in advanced, so that means I can't continue following the beginner schedule that I followed last year."

  "Since I'm a beginner, Where's my schedule?" She inquired.

  "I have an hour to spend so I'll give you a little lesson," She sat on her bed and continued, "There are three levels at this school, there's beginner, advanced and master. You spend one year as a beginner, three years in advanced and seven years in master. Once you are done, you are either chosen for lecturing or being part of H.U, no one knows what they do," She stopped and looked at me, silently asking if Shewas following, She nodded once and Lilith smiled before proceeding.

  "Okay so you'll collect your schedule from Zelda. A noluo will guide you, just give it a copy of your schedule. It will take you everywhere you need to go until you're able to go there alone without assistance. Everyone eats at the same place but luckily you get to choose what you want to eat, you only get two classes a day as a beginner. Good luck."

  "I already like it here." She stated genuinely.

  "Good to hear, see you around." After Lilith left, Yima couldn't go back to sleep so She spent the remaining hours getting ready.

  Zelda's office was locked when She got there, but luckily Zelda left her schedule attached to the door. It was easy to spot the nolou, the green scales on its small body and large gray eyes that were attached to its belly were hard to miss.

  It led her e to her first class which was outside. She took a seat at the back, everyone was here except our instructor, they were in some garden.

  "I'll deal with you later." Someone sneered at the boy next to her.