The twins had scurried off the second Leolina looked their way, her eyes narrowed and full of scorn. The way her glance sent people running for the hills reminded her of her own mother, with a menacing glare that whipped anybody into shape without so much a word. Cateline was instructed to follow Jaspar and Leolina back to the lobby where she would be introduced to her mentor, a woman who the headmistress supposedly trusted.

"Axulran is a far swim," Leolina said without looking over her shoulder as she talked. "I was told about your adventures, word travels fast in the city of Daggernest."

Cateline nibbled on her bottom lip, nodding carefully. "If I can be so honest, I do not have much of a clue on how I ended up here."

As Leolina stopped in the center of the foyer and turned to look at Cateline, she nodded her head knowingly. "So I would presume. We welcome you to Lighthelm, and I will have one of my most trusted scholars take you on a tour. She is a riot of a woman, but she is the only person I would say stood a chance at protecting royalty."

Clearing her throat, Cateline lowered her stare to the marbled flooring and tapped her flats against it awkwardly. "I do not feel very royal as of late, headmistress."

Humming, Leolina did not dignify her with a response before a second voice chimed in. This one was as sweet as honey, dripping with enthusiasm and delight. Turning to look at the source, Cateline was greeted by a small girl that bounced with each step. Her hair was also white, eyes almost crimson with orange embers floating about the iris. What surprised her the most was that she had no pupils. She smiled towards Cateline with rosy cheeks.

"This must be the newcomer, aye?" she said, turning her gaze back to the headmistress. She had an accent that was peculiar to Cateline, one she had never heard before.

"Indeed. Aiora, this is Cateline of Axulran. She is an esteemed guest, we must make sure she has the most pleasant stay."

"Esteemed? Well, paint me with gold and fortune, I am looking forward to showing you around."

"I shall be off, then. Aiora, come and find me in the alchemy room as soon as you have finished."

Nodding, the headmistress and Jaspar were off, leaving the two of them to stand quietly and awkwardly. Cateline folded her hands in front of her waist and let out a sigh. This was an amazingly large place, she imagined it would take eons to get around.

"Alright, Cateline. I have a question for you."

"And what is it?"

"Do you want the fun tour or the tour Leolina expects me to give you?"

Cateline's eyebrows raised. Aiora looked at Cateline with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and let out a giggle.

She continued. "I'll take that as you need a bit of fun in your system. Come on, then!"

Without waiting for Cateline's response, Aiora brought her to a stairwell and began to climb the spiral. She was wearing a blue gown that was a tad too long for her, but Aiora didn't pay mind. The stairs served no challenge for her.

Lifting her dress up as she followed, she came to a landing that looked grim in nature. Only one lantern lit the corridor, a decaying wooden door held up by one broken hinge. There were wooden crates and piles of rope surrounding, an open archway of a window allowing a chilled breeze to cool the floor. Aiora opened the door and smiled over at Cateline.

"You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"It's a bit creepy up here, is it not?"

"Afraid of a bit of cobweb? Spiders only bite if they smell fear. Now, stop moseying around and come on."

She nearly swung the poor door off its hinge as she opened it, dust flying into the air like it hadn't been opened in eons. Cateline was overcome with the smell of mildew, dust infiltrating her sinuses, and earning a sneeze. There were burlap tarps covering boxes and antiquated objects, all as old, or arguably older, than this very building. Cateline walked to an old desk, jars full of dull liquid scattered about. She leaned down to get a closer look, seeing what looked like gems and rocks inside the gross slush.

Shuddering, she backed away from it and moved alongside Aiora. "Your version of fun is a storage closet?"

"No, however, there are some fun toys in here!" she said with a giggle, lifting a brass candelabra by the stem. Bringing her finger to it, she lit the wax candles on fire without so much as a second thought. Cateline jumped back a little, her jaw dropping at the sight of fire coming from nowhere.

"How did you do that?"

Aiora looked at Cateline with wide eyes, her eyebrows raised and her mouth parted in surprise. Stumbling for her words, it took the blonde girl a moment to find an answer. "Well, Cateline, why are you here? To learn... what?"

"I, uhm..." Cateline trailed off, her lips naturally forming an o shape as she shuffled her feet. Suddenly, the draped sleeves of her gown were far more enticing than that question. "I do not know."

Aiora blinked towards her, setting the candle tree on a table covered by a tarp, and nodded slowly. "Alright, that's fine, I suppose. I think we need to find out a bit more about each other, don't we?"

Cateline didn't respond, she only stared at Aiora and bit her tongue. She feared what would happen if she revealed too much of her origin. While Jaspar and Leolina were calm, those twins looked horrified. She could only imagine what Aiora would do.

"Well, let's handle the issue of ignorance later, right?" Aiora said with a smirk. "There is something I wanted to show you."

She walked to a curtain hung from the wall, pushing it to the side and tying it around an elegant holder so it didn't fall. A large door with dusty glass shed some light into the decrepit room, particles floating throughout the air in the rays. She looked to her right, catching a glimpse of something glimmering from the new light. It looked to be a mirror partially covered by torn burlap, but she didn't walk over to look. She was more fascinated by what was outside.

As Aiora opened the door, the wood screeched to life and the handles snapped, as if they were breaking, but when she took her hand away, it revealed that all was just the same. Old, beaten, and decaying.

This led them out to a balcony wrapped around the entire width of the academy, overlooking a courtyard and meadow. To the right were miles and miles of flowers; pinks and blues overcoming the vibrantly green grass. In the distance, past the lake, were rows of mountains spanning the horizon. This was such a striking contrast to Axulran, where their mountainous regions topped with snow instead of greenery. Hills were slick with ice and rivers all but frozen over, her homeland was told to be cursed with ice. Cateline didn't mind, though it did make the coldest seasons all that much more unbearable.

Aiora pointed her finger to the center of the courtyard, where a fountain glowed the same way a flame would. The water trickled out of one of the layers, falling into the basin of liquid. Beneath this stone artistry were symbols on the ground that radiated both blue and red light. It was a wavering illumination, one that fascinated and drew her toward it. She made a note to go visit it once she was finished with Aiora.

Next to it was an archery field, targets full of arrows lined in a row. Just alongside that was something unique. Two men with swords made of shimmering steel dueled each other, their laughter evident even from up here. A loud clash could be heard, much louder than any normal sword could produce, and as one of the men swung once more, a bolt of lightning shot into the sky and spread like a spiderweb. Cateline gasped, her eyes trailing to the heavens and watched as it unraveled the electricity into the clouds.

"They told me they would be sparring today," Aiora said with a breathy laugh. "Lightning, of all enchantments! Can you believe it?"

Cateline looked towards the blonde girl, watching in surprise as she tucked her hair behind a pointed ear. Traveling behind the back of her ear to the nape of her neck, slithering beneath the surface of her dress was a line of symbols that pulsated with the most subtle hue of blue. An elf with tattoos? Both of those things were unheard of to Cateline, foreign and almost taboo.

"I cannot," she responded calmly, tearing her stare away before she was caught. It began to dawn on her this kingdom was populated with more elves than Axulran ever was, at least in her lifetime. Throughout her eighteen years, she had seen one elf. Now, she had seen at least three. At least.

"Would you like to go say hello to them?" Aiora said and leaned over the balcony. "They are my dearest friends. Problem children, no doubt, but they both have hearts of gold."

"I do not think that would be the best idea."

"Oh, come on! You come to a place you clearly have no knowledge of, by means that got the headmistress's attention, of all people, and are expecting to survive by way of isolation? I tell you, Cateline, that is a fool's dream."

Without waiting another breath, Aiora swung her legs over the stone fencing and looked at Cateline with wild eyes. "Did you know I could fly, Cateline?"

"What--"

Aiora dropped. Cateline screamed out, reaching out over the balcony to grab her by the wrist just as she slipped away, but it was too late. Her heart was racing, her ears ringing as she looked over the ledge to see a splattered girl.

Instead, there was a girl laughing as hard as possible. Hunched over, holding her stomach and apologizing profusely, Aiora was standing on a section of roof that was only a few arms-length beneath them. Letting out a breath, she looked towards the two gentlemen who had been sparring as they peered up towards them. Evidently, Cateline's scream had a tendency to echo.

Pursing her lips, Cateline pushed herself from the stone fencing and stormed down the stairs. She had little patience to be made a mockery of, especially if it meant giving her a near heart attack in the process. From the stairwell, Cateline could hear Aiora call for her, but she did not care. She simply wanted to go to her quarters, curl up, and let her mind go numb for the first time since she had arrived at this place.