Chapter One- Existence
The screams of the frightened creatures followed the sound of a thousand fires raining onto the land. The smells were indescribable, a wash of pure evil intoxicating all the good of the planet. They ran dumbly, not wanting to know their fate set but the monsters that chased them. The gates were wide open and every second hundreds of monsters emerged from it, having never explored the place called Earth before. They wanted to know about it and they wanted to know just why the Oracles wanted it protected. The good monsters from the Other Realm were intrigued, but the evil saw them as fresh meat. More creatures that could be turned evil like themselves and could do their bidding. The pain and suffering on Earth was puny compared to the destruction the evil in the Other Realm caused. They had a new game to play.
Echo stared down the line of monsters with a determination she had never felt before. She turned to her oldest son and spoke to him silently. He knew what she wanted to do and immediately he shook his head.
"No, mother, you can't."
Echo drew her sword from its holder. The blade was made of a material no human on earth knew of yet. It was fast, light and, with her powers, invincible. She had used it before, but still she was not used to using weapons. She knew she would have to adapt. Her whole long life had consisted of adapting, moving from place to place, marrying new men every thirty years, explaining to her children that they too were special. They had been chosen to be the children of the guardian of the earth. They were freaks amongst their friends and even fathers, being taught their powers as they followed their mother wherever she took them. Echo's oldest son was writing down the powers his mother and his siblings held at every chance; he was the first scripture of magic in the whole world. Echo still couldn't write well and she trusted Moonbeam with all her heart.
"This is insane, mother. We don't know what powers they hold." Moonbeam continued, pulling his mother back inside the house.
"I'm ready." Moonbeam's sister Clover said, pulling out her sword.
"We have no other choice. If we don't fight, the world will be theirs." Echo said sadly.
"Mother, there must be another way. We are smarter than them and we can find another way to�" Moonbeam started.
"This is the only way." Echo replied and walked out of the house. She marched towards the monsters, clutching her sword as she awaited them to enter her territory. With her stood sixty other guardians, all appointed every decade after she was as the Oracle had told her. They were ready to fight to their deaths if that was what it meant. They knew their purpose and were ready for anything.
"We must not fear them!" Echo yelled. "We must know our powers will always guide us and that will save us all!" She climbed onto the back of the first unicorn guardian, an old friend of hers from a long time ago.
A sudden shudder came at their feet and the fairies of the earth had emerged. The fairies of water brought along their own tidal wave, the fire fairies had brought a river of lava and a tornado was appearing over the mountains, a flock of wind fairies holding it together. The animals guardians swarmed the land, also surrounding the space between the gates and the other animals. They were all ready to die for their earth. They knew their purpose.
"This is madness." Moonbeam muttered but he heard waves of disapproval.
"We can't let our mother be destroyed by monsters!" Clover yelled at him. "We must help her!"
The sons and daughters of the first appointed human guardian of the world marched out of the building, clutching their swords they had been trained to use. They would not going to cower as they had known of this day for many years, some of them being very good at foretelling the future. The children guardians, including Moonbeam, stood alongside Echo with faces of determination and will to fight. They were ready to protect their earth from the evil that had finally broken free of their cages. They were ready to not only banish the evil from the earth, but from the Other Realm also, to make it safe for the peaceful creatures that dwelled beyond the gates.
There was a great silence as they all held their breaths, waiting for the evil to arrive. They wanted the fighting to start, but knew it was just a human emotion getting the best of them. They did not want revenge, nor a chance to destroy another creature. They knew the whole fight was in the name of self defence. The evil would be struck down by the good they held within themselves and they would win. It wasn't confidence, it was the truth. Moonbeam also knew of destiny, and he knew his mother would not see another day after that battle.
The first sign of evil emerged from the forest, the screams of frightened animals followed by the song of death. The evil that filled the guardians was painful, but they stood their ground and drew what weapons they had. Most just clutched their stones, knowing the keys to their powers laid in those gems. They were unbreakable and yet so fragile. Hate that strong could crack them open so easily. The evil monsters started to march towards the clearing in the forest, seeing the guardians made them only laugh. They wanted to destroy them first, knowing it was them that stopped the gates from opening.
"Ready!" Echo cried and a thousand creatures of power started charging, elements pouring past them, fighting with every strength the earth never knew it had. Metal hit metal and they swarmed in the centre of the battlefield, enriching the land with the blood of monsters and witches alike. The beauties of the guardians were lost as they had to fight and run as fast as they could, clutching their stones and thinking up every plan they could to defeat evil. They tried to think of good thoughts at all times, not wanting their sudden thoughts of depression to break the spells they were firing at the monsters. They brought in all the strengths they knew of, thinking of only winning and bringing peace to the land they had grown up on. One witch dropped his stone and that was enough lost hope for a split second for a monster to attack him. He tried to fight back but it was too late. He was drained of his powers and left to die as the monster ascended onto the next victim.
As the battle continued into the starry night, the creatures on both sides were growing tired. The guardians needed to develop their powers more before performing spells for so long; they knew they could not survive if the battle continued onwards. They needed time to rest but were not permitted to any. Any witches not able to battle were giving their powers to those injured, giving them hope if they needed it.
Echo was still powerful though. She was the most power witch amongst them. She could battle for days if needed. She was known by the witches as a living strength, only having to look at her to know that she would protect the earth. She would follow the last monster the edge of the world to make sure they would never hurt another creature. Echo did not fight often (there was no reason to most of the time) but when she knew her duty, she fought with so much determination it was outstanding.
Echo pulled her blade out of the monster, turning to another that was ready to pound on her. She kicked it back and threw the blade at it, sinking it into its heart. She ran to the creature and pulled out her sword, feeling adrenaline rush through her again as she pulled up a witch from the ground.
"Echo, there is a creature, it has Moonbeam�" The witch cried, running with her to where he had pointed.
She saw the monster clutching her son. It was taller than all of the other creatures and probably their leader. It held Moonbeam as if nothing more than a piece of dirt. It was fighting two other witches who were trying to get back their brother. Echo strained to see her son unconscious in the monster's grip. She knew the monster was strong and probably draining Moonbeam of his powers as she ran for it. She had to save him, she would not let another witch, especially her first son, be killed by that force.
Echo ran to the monster, holding her sword tightly in one hand, her stone in the other. She pointed her stone at the creature who staggered for a second from the force of the spell. Yet it did not drop Moonbeam. Echo threw her sword at the creature but it moved so quickly the sword just landed on the ground with a clatter. Echo knew she would have to get it, if only as a way of loosening the monster's grip on her son. She held up her stone as protection and ran for her sword. The monster knew his and stood in front of it, laughing as she tried her spells again. This time it did not work. Her powers were too weak, she could do no more to stop the monster.
She stared at her son and knew her fate. It was clear now. She could almost all of her powers to transport to a safer place, but her son would by dead by the time she could recover. She knew what the last of her powers would be used for. She had seen it in a dream a long time ago, not understanding its meaning. Now she knew. It was all so clear she could smell victory.
"Come!" She beckoned to the sword and she jumped in the air as it flew into her hand. She landed on the monster's back, and she drew together the sword and her stone. The stone melted into her weapon and instead of the smooth blade she had used before, a sword encrusted in tiny stones had taken its place. By using it she would kill herself.
The monster turned suddenly and Echo lost her grip, falling down onto the ground below her. She saw the monster above her, raising it's fist to strike her down. She raised her sword and felt all her powers drain from her body. She only prayed for the best.
Echo woke up from her dream with a start. She always awoke when the woman was about to win. She watched her bedroom come into focus and groaned. She was back in the present day, she was no longer a great warrior that slays monsters and rode unicorns. She was back to being a plan old witch. A boring, normal witch that lived in the Other Realm. She placed her pillow over her head and tried to sleep again, wanting the dream to begin from where it always ended. She wanted to know if the woman did slay the most feared kind of monster in the land, if she did survive or if she sacrificed her powers to save her son as a true warrior would. She wanted it all to happen again so that she could live in the Olden Days as a great hero. The history books spoke very little of a witch called Echo, not interested in the savage witches at the beginning of the earth. She was not even known as the very first Original, instead history books congratulated a witch called Moonbeam who wrote down the first spells and tricks known to her kind. The olden Echo was just known as one of the originals, probably a bad one at that as she died when only six hundred years old. The modern day Echo did not care what history recorded. She knew Echo was the first witch and Moonbeam was her son. Nobody believed her, of course, thinking her opinions were ignorant and irrational. The only proof she had were the reoccurring dreams but they were little to no evidence.
Echo could not sleep again. Tomorrow would be her first day back at school and she couldn't wait. It would get away from the castle she lived in and most of all her parents. They were very embarrassed to have such a failure for a daughter. Echo was not a good witch as she did not have the talents of her mother and father. They were top of their classes and graduated with honours. Echo was taught by a private tutor but, unbeknown to her parents, she paid the tutor to say her classes went well while Echo attended a normal witch school. One where any kind of witch could enter, including half witches who had one mortal or demon parent. There she felt happy and free as she knew it was the last place on earth her parents wanted her to be. They wanted her to act like the princess she was and attend banquettes, learn to ride a horse and dress eloquently.
The real Echo could be no more different. Though she did take up horse-riding lessons at a young age, she grew bored of it as she wasn't even allowed to jump hurdles or sit on it properly; not with both legs on one side. Echo was tall and had short black hair that shone green in the light. Her eyes were a natural dark purple and she wore clothes that made people assume she was a regular witch and not in fact an heir to the throne. Echo only slept in the castle; at all other times she was exploring with her best friend Pepper or transporting into the Earth Realm. There she could have so much fun. She knew the humans were her responsibility, as with all witches, but she found them so amusing. They were slow, boring and she only had to float two inches off of the ground for there to be a frenzy. Echo and Pepper often amused themselves with such games as 'move the buildings' or 'make their pets disappear'. Echo wasn't cruel but like most teenaged witches, she saw no reason in having to protect creatures so stupid.
Echo watched her clock tick slowly towards Waking Hour. Time was very complicated in the Other Realm and so they just named times by what they did. The sun and the stars in the Other Realm hated each another but, instead of taking it in turns to shine, they often fought for the sky. One time the sun had won and they were left awake for over five days. Another time darkness fell on them and they were left in a night time state for a month. Echo knew the routine though and she could feel the Waking Hour approaching and unless the sun was defeated from yesterday, it would be in exactly two seconds�
"Morning your highness!" A chirpy voice sing-songed as the maids entered the room.
"Leave me alone." Echo mumbled and transported herself to the bathroom. She got dressed and brushed her teeth. She hated her maids. She hated them all. She knew they were not bad people, nor were they any lower in class, she just found their jobs pointless. She appreciated them when they were needed but to her they were no more needed than the elaborate castle she lived in. Echo wanted more than anything to lose something in her room without it turning up in a matter of minutes by one of her maids. She wanted to rip her clothes and mend them herself, not by magic as soon as she lost a button, even out of the castle. It was as if a spell was on her at all times, caring for her and protecting her against any danger, even a paper cut. Echo hated being treated like an antique, always kept in her glass cabinet and never touched by anybody, unless they had white gloves on. That was why she went to a public witchcraft school and was not taught by her tutor. Her parents hadn't even realised she was at a normal school, they were too busy anyway. If they ever found out, she knew the penalty. She would not be seen as a princess in their eyes and she hoped they would banish her. She would love that, she wanted to be free. She could live with her best friend Pepper in the dark woods, away from anybody that would know who she was and feel true happiness in a place she could call her home.
Echo looked at herself in the mirror. She imagined the Olden Echo staring back at her, holding her sword and telling her to fight for freedom. To fight against the demons and save the humans from dangers they knew nothing of. The gates now stood at the entrance of what the humans called a haunted house, on the edge of a small city in one of their tiny countries. None of them were brave enough to approach the gates and they remained there for all time, undisturbed by mortals. The gates were now controlled by Sesametes, a type of beast that looked like tall humans. They were completely robbed at all times and permitted demons and witches to pass through unless evil beasts. Even vampires could pass through easily and those who couldn't knew of spells to cross through without trouble. The evil demons of the world did not care for the Earth Realm and did not try to cross it. Echo's parents kept them under control anyway, being ruling guardians and had fought in many wars against evil demons. That was why Echo hated them so much; they fought against so many and yet Echo was not allowed to ever battle. She was not a worthy guardian and according to the Oracles she never would be. That was why she wanted to escape; she would fight no matter what she was told and with that she would have to escape from her family and those who followed them.
Echo transported herself from the bathroom to the entrance to a large building. She stared up it happily, sighing at the sight of witches walking in, ready for another year of school. The building looked almost like a prison, except where barbed wire and watch towers should be, there were rows and rows of hedges and forests where people trying to enter would get lost in for years. Nobody ever went near the forests that surrounded the school; not after one overeager witch wanted to get home quickly and was lost before placing both feet through the shrubs. It took the teachers five days and millions of searching spells to find him, though they knew he would be dead already. That story always talked any new students out of exploring past the fields and so they remained wondering just what horrors were through the hedges. The building itself had rows and rows of tiny windows, looking as if it was an efficient, orderly school where everything that needed to be found was laid out on maps. It was quite the contrary.
Like the games Echo and her friends played on the humans, the building itself liked to confuse those who entered it. The school building was made of ancient enchanted bricks that a great witch had used to make his castle, demolished by demons hundreds of years ago and in its place a school was made. The first head master and faculty made the forest as the demons came back for many decades to destroy any remains of the witch they had hated. Standing proud, the building knew the students and did not allow anybody else inside. It changed around the classrooms and many times Echo remembered being locked in her classroom as the building decided to move the whole room to a 'safer location.' After the downfall of its last master, the school was very paranoid of any demons that did not have witch blood in them. The school was known as the safest place to be if under attack from demons and so in the time of war many of the students lived there to escape harm.
Echo walked through the archway of the entrance to feel a thousand feelings swarm her from the students that had already arrived. There was hustle and bustle as new timetables were appearing in their hands, as with maps that would magically change as soon as the building changed for the first years'. Echo was used to the school and knew what paths to follow to find the right classroom. Her timetable appeared on the top of the books she was carrying and she read it as she walked down the corridor, finding her old locker right by her form room (or where her form room usually was). She continued to read, disappointed her old teacher for the elements had been changed to a new one. She was also merging forms with one she didn't know for another class, so she was expecting abuse about being a 'little princess' from them.
Walking with her paper in front of her face, she did not realise where she was going until she found herself on the floor after tripping over something.
"Sorry!" Came a voice from above her. She shook her head slightly and saw a boy with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes holding out his hand for her. He smiled for a second. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Echo grumbled, pulling herself up without the boy's help.
He smiled again and picked up his skateboard. "Did I hurt you?"
"No, I just got surprised." Echo replied with the same tone of voice she used with her maids.
"Oh, Okay." He looked eager for a conversation, as if he didn't know anybody in the school. "You couldn't help me get to my class, could you?"
"Not really." With that Echo walked past him, not known for being a conversationalist to any student, let alone ones who knocked her over. She found her locker and placed her books inside, hoping her best friend would be in the same classes as her, unlike last year where she only saw her during lunchtime.
Pepper was one of the most popular girls at school and a descended from a tribe of forest fairies on her mother's side, so she was half witch, half fairy. She had wings and was really only half an inch tall, but she always changed her height to a regular witch size. She was an Earth fairy, knowing all herbal spells and living with a lot of animals. She was one of the most liked witches, being very pretty with her short blonde hair and always positive attitude. She was a real hippie; stopping deforestation, raiding animal testing labs and protesting about many things. Pepper even lived under a tree, when her actual size, depending on an all natural lifestyle. It was no surprise when she had no clue how to screw in a light bulb, never using modern technology. Being half-fairy, she was known for wanting -- and receiving -- attention from everybody with her wings and ability to fit in tiny spaces. One fairy was found smuggled in a pencil-case for a final exam, another managed to break into the Headmaster's secret vault, in which all confiscated items were kept, to sell the best pranking-spells to other classmates. Fairies were mischievous and above all very, very smart; knowing how to get into and avoid all trouble they found like it was an art form.
Echo slammed her locker door shut and saw the same boy she had fallen over was asking another student for directions. She stared at him for a few seconds, trying to think where she had seen him before. He seemed familiar, as if she used to know him or had seen him around. She doubted it was that castle or the school as he was a new student, it couldn't be Pepper's home because he wasn't a fairy and the Earth Realm was unlikely as no self-respecting witch lived there. She saw him talking to a girl called Lily that made fun of Echo's wealth all the time and she looked like she was going to make fun of him as well. Echo stopped staring as he turned to see her doing so and she walked into her classroom, confused.
The classroom was dark and looked very dismal. Their teacher was known for complaining and sobbing uncontrollably if anybody ever mentioned anything to do with her last boyfriend. Ms Droneable had put a love spell on herself a few years ago and expected the man of her dreams to love her. Instead, he married another witch and she hadn't recovered since. From the spell she had lost all happiness and took a job as a teacher to go with her mood. Ms Droneable made everybody miserable and although she didn't teach them, she made them do homework about the dangers of love every week. It was said that anybody who was in her class was doomed to never love and they all hoped it weren't true.
"All right class, sit down." Ms Droneable said sadly, sitting herself on a chair and sighing loudly.
Echo took her seat at the back of the class and waited for Pepper to emerge, late as usual, from out of nowhere. Pepper was known for being late and making up excuses for her tardiness, not doing her homework but teachers still loving her and boys wanting to date her, despite her clothes and hair never being clean. Echo was never jealous of her though, Pepper was very modest and did not intimidate her friends the slightest.
A bright flash appeared to the side of Echo and Pepper sat down in her chair, breathing heavily and pocketing her wand. She could not use her finger for magic and had to use a wand like all other fairies. Pepper sunk in her seat as Ms Droneable sobbed loudly about it being the anniversary of meeting her 'true love' for the first time.
"I remember seeing him next to a fountain, and he-he�" Ms Droneable bawled into her sodden dress again. "He said I looked nice�"
"Gods help us." Pepper mumbled and Echo grinned. She and Pepper began to write notes to eachother as usual. They used to use telepathy as with many students but thoughts get mixed up in small spaces, especially enchanted ones, so teachers could hear them clearly. Now they used invisible paper that only appeared to the person it was being written to and by. They continued to write about their home and the new year at school.
Got PE with Newt this year.
Newt was Mr. Newman, a teacher who was turned into a newt by a student ten years ago and had never recovered. Hating all students, he was partial to making them play PE in the rain, liking wet conditions a lot.
Bad luck. Echo wrote back. I hope I get you in Elements- you're always better at Earth then me for some strange reason�
Ha Ha. Was all Pepper wrote back as the bell was about to ring.
"Don't forget to find me a good revenge potion for this afternoon! The one that makes him cry the most will get a prize!" Ms Droneable called as they all walked out.
"What? Like getting out of her form?" Pepper laughed and they carried on down the stairs, knowing their next class had been moved to the basement. (The school had thought Physical Spells was too dangerous to learn by open windows.) They walked into the much brighter room, being greeted by a large fox; Mrs. Vixen's best friend and assistant. There were rumours from her name that she was married to the fox called Ginger, but he denied it at all times.
"I hope you have all studied." Ginger said gravely, jumping up onto the teacher's desk. "Mrs. Vixen is expecting great things from you this year."
"I bet she is." Carvin replied and they all laughed.
"Yes, Mr. Heartsteady, I am." Ms Vixen said suddenly, appearing out of nowhere. "We will be starting with disappearing."
There was a knock at the door and it swung open loudly, the school knowing it was somebody important. Echo craned her head to see who Mrs. Vixen was talking to. There was murmuring from the class as they too wanted to know who the school thought was good enough for it to open its door to. Instead of the head master or a teacher, in walked the boy Echo had bumped into in the corridor. He didn't appear or act important, looking around nervously at the class he had entered.
The class listened as he talked to the teacher, showing her a piece of paper. She looked doubtfully at it. "I don't see how you can think you can just come into this class�"
"It wasn't my idea." He replied and he saw Echo. He smiled at her and continued to talk. "Anyway, if you think I should move into a lower class�"
"Not at all!" Mrs. Vixen cried and the class was surprised as she'd never usually say things like that to students. "Take a seat and we'll see how it goes, Okay?" She turned to the class who were all suddenly looking at something else other than where the conversation had taken place. "Class, I'd like you to meet a new student�"
He looked up from his book. "Oh, it's Zodiac."
"As yes, Zodiac. Well, I hope you enjoy your time here at this school."
"Not bloody likely!" One witch called out and they all laughed. Mrs. Vixen tried to calm everybody down but they were all looking for an excuse to talk about their holidays and catch up on gossip. Gossip such as the arrival of a new student who had already reached his third year of high school before his first afternoon.
"So, what spells can you do?" Pepper asked.
"Uh, lots." Zodiac replied.
"Name some." Dreamer said, sitting in front of Pepper.
All eyes were on the new student and he stammered. "Um, I know the elements pretty well and the�"
That was all he needed to prove he deserved to be in their class and year. The elements were spells in conjunction with fairies. After their creation the witches and fairies had to learn to understand eachother in order to work together when battling evil. The fairies taught the witches how to change into their elements over hundreds of years. The witches would be taught, starting from an early age, how to transform matter into the four main elements. From that the witches would learn how to conjure up elements, control them and then become those elements themselves, thus understanding more about fairies and how to work alongside them. If Zodiac knew them then he was worthy of impressing the entire school.
"Now, he's just teasing, no student knows the elements yet." Mrs. Vixen said over the pupils talking.
"No, really, I do." Zodiac replied.
"Try earth then!" Pepper yelled, "and I'll tell you if you are doing it right."
"Uh, maybe not�" He said suddenly.
"No, go on Zodiac." Mrs. Vixen said and Echo wasn't sure if she was encouraging him or wanting to see him fail.
Zodiac stood up and looked around the classroom. He looked at the faces of anticipation staring at him and he sighed. "Okay then." He whispered something to himself and pulled out of his shirt a long chain, carrying his witches' stone. He held it tightly and whispered words nobody could understand if they tried. He continued to do so until everybody jumped in shock. Suddenly there was a flash in the classroom and in place of a boy witch was a pile of what looked like dirt. People got up from their chairs and looked at the mud on the carpet, expecting it to do something.
"Is that it?"
"I could turn myself into dirt�"
"I thought it was supposed to be exciting�?"
People were murmuring at one another as the trick seemed to have ended. Echo looked at Pepper who seemed to be examining the mud carefully.
"See if it is earth." Echo said to Pepper. The class agreed with her and Pepper nodded.
Walking up to the pile of dirt, Pepper shrank herself to the ground, her tiny wings fluttering as she flew around the mud, as if looking for something special. Echo, being used to her friend changing into a what-most-people- would-see as a speck, saw Pepper shrug and continue to look.
"Well it is obvious he was just lying and he�" Mrs. Vixen said before a shuddering was made.
Everybody backed away from the mud as it began to shake the room, jumping around until it sank into the carpet. People didn't know what to say as a twig shot out of the ground and it grew within seconds into an oak tree. Vines were growing up the classroom walls and the carpet changed to earth, grass sprouting from it until the whole class were standing in the middle of a small forest enclosed in a room.
Pepper changed back to her witch size and whistled loudly as the forest seemed to stop growing after every plant blossomed various colours of flowers and types of fruit. "That's the earth element all right, and a damn good spell at that."
"How do we tell him to go back to normal?" Mrs. Vixen, looking around at the wilderness that was once her classroom. Echo wasn't sure if Mrs. Vixen was impressed or just amazed like the rest of them.
"I know a trees' weak spot." Pepper said. She walked up to the oak tree in the centre of the room and she looked up at it. All eyes watched as she tickled the tree, right under its branches, and it began to shake violently. The class gasped as the room shook with it but the forest began to descend, crawling back into the earth and the mud moved back to the centre where the oak still shook madly as Pepper continued to tickle it. Beneath the mud laid the carpet and nothing seemed damaged at all. The tree shrank into the mud, leaving only the pile of dirt again. It rose up and shaped itself into a boy figure. Zodiac suddenly appeared again and he was laughing loudly.
"Okay, Okay, I give up! You can stop now!"
Pepper stopped tickling him and he wiped his eyes from laughing so hard. The class were left gaping as he sat back down on is desk, rubbing his hair as pieces of dirt and leaves were still visible. He brushed down his jeans and looked up. "What?"
There were millions of questions being thrown at him, even from Mrs. Vixen as he had just demonstrated the most amazing spell their school had seen for centuries. Echo was merely impressed by his sudden modesty as he looked frightened by so many people wanting to know just how he had conjured up such a spell.
"I can do that." Pepper said as she sat down, not caring how he had performed a trick she could perform when she was five years old.
"Still, that is impressive. Maybe he has earth fairy blood?" Echo asked, trying to figure out why he seemed somewhat familiar.
"No, he doesn't. I could tell if he does. Probably just a whizz at spells." Pepper yawned as she started to look through her book, ignoring the crowd of people that had stopped the whole lesson to know the new student's skills. Echo knew her friend to hold jealousy to students who were better at spells than her, especially spells such as the elements. Echo, on the other hand, wanted to know more about him.
Echo turned back to her friend who was trying to look as if she was interested in the page she was turned to. Echo smiled slightly, her friend was bad as hiding her emotions, especially envy for others. Echo would be hearing every bad thing about Zodiac until tomorrow; Pepper had to find faults in her competitors or else she would be left miserable. So Echo would help her find things that are wrong with him, like tripping Echo up in the corridor.
"How did you start practicing the elements then?" Mrs. Vixen said.
"Um, a few years ago." Zodiac answered. "My friends gave me some spells to learn and I tried water. Next thing I knew I was a puddle on the carpet!"
Echo laughed with the class. He acted as if he didn't know what magic was, as if he had only just learnt it. Echo had been learning magic since she could remember, getting in trouble by turning her clothes into pets and transforming her whole room to jelly. Basic mistakes that could be made when there was nobody to teach her magic except for maids and servants. She had to be taught by tutors until she discovered of a world outside the castle; one with real people and friends for her to find. If it hadn't been for Pepper Echo was sure she would have left the school and returned to her life of maids and being perfect in front of guests. Pepper couldn't care less that Echo was royalty and showed her everything a witch their age should know. Together they had learnt about each other's ways of life and slowly Echo had grown to love nature as much as Pepper did.
If it wasn't for Pepper, Echo would be a real princess and a very good one at that.
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