Chapter Two- Tales
"I hear he's a spy."
"I hear he's a demon."
Thus the rumours began about the new boy as Echo sat down on the grass outside with Pepper and her friends at lunch. All of them had heard what had happened and soon the whole school was buzzing with tales about Zodiac, as if he were a new television show being discussed in mortal schools. The stories Echo had heard were from an Oracle visiting to a witch hunter plotting. Both were implausible and ridiculous but still they seemed more realistic than Zodiac being a normal, everyday witch. Echo had to admit she was confused herself over him and wanted to know the truth.
"Have you anything against us demons?" Gin asked Sunny who had spoken against him.
"No, but I mean a true evil demon, not a Norgokham. I'm talking something that wants rid of us witches, like a Klakjin." Sunny said and many nodded.
"But how would School let him in then?" Echo asked.
"Maybe he stole some powers from a helpless witch, that could fool anyone these days when we're all half something."
"Stole powers?" Pepper asked. "That's impossible to do, even for a Klakjin. I bet he really is a witch but he's found a way to gain power. Did you see that weird thing he was holding? Probably holds his spells inside."
All eyes looked at her as if she were mad. "That's a skateboard." Echo explained.
"A what?" Pepper asked.
"A mortal play thing, don't you even listen in Mortal Study anymore?"
"Never mind, the point is he could be older than he looks, some old witch that wants more powers and where else can you find powers than a public school? It's ingenious." Pepper smiled, happy that her theory was proving the most popular to all the other people in the circle.
"Or maybe�" Parma started.
"Or maybe I'm just a normal witch who happens to have a lot of powers."
All eyes turned to Zodiac, who was standing behind Pepper. They watched as he stormed off, all of them feeling a sudden rush of anger from his emotions. Echo was the only one in the group who started to feel guilty. She knew what it was like being bullied and hassled by rumour after rumour about her after only arriving at the school. She couldn't stand all the eyes watching her, sniggering as she tried to fit in. That was probably why Echo never spoke up unless with Pepper when in a big group of people. Now it looked as if she was not going to be bullied because the school population had found a new victim. Echo waited a few minutes before she left the group and started to search for the new boy.
Entering the library, Echo smelled the dank odour of old books and dust, always begging somebody to clean the place every so often. It was like a museum; everything carefully placed and nobody spoke. Many students were studying under small candles; some were talking telepathically to eachother but most were behind the curtain at the end of the long library. The library had an extended room in which looked like an enchanted caf�. It was the quite small but could fit enough sofas and comfy chairs for those who did not want to go outside for any reason. One was the weather but many witches were happy with a cup of coffee and discussing recent discoveries in magic and the latest cult films imported from the Earth Realm. There Echo found Zodiac, by himself and reading something he looked neither interested in nor happy he was reading. Echo sighed loudly and sat next to him, not saying a word.
"No, I'm not a spy and no I am not a demon." Zodiac said stiffly and continued to read the large book with a look of extreme boredom.
"I didn't say that." Echo replied.
"You were feeling it though." Zodiac turned the page to more tiny words compared to the size of the book. Echo saw it was something to do with the origin of power, all inaccurate according to Echo's dreams.
"You read my mind?" Echo demanded.
"No, I felt it. I can't help feeling emotions, it's another thing I'm good at." He sighed loudly.
"You don't like your powers?" Echo asked, amazed. Most would boast of their magic to the other students, comparing spells at any given chance.
"Not really. You come to find out what's the deal with me? Well, ask away." Zodiac closed the book and stared into Echo's eyes. Echo felt nervous and turned away, not liking people looking at her closely.
"It's just� Well� It took my parents thirty years to master the elements and that's pretty impressive." Echo stammered.
"I didn't know it was that hard. I just did it." Zodiac explained. "I guess I just have a gift."
"Who taught you?" Echo leaned closer to him, trying to make him feel uncomfortable instead.
"My friends a few years ago. They gave me a few pointers and it worked." It didn't seem to affect him.
Echo laughed, almost bitterly. "You thought people wouldn't bully you for that much strength? What did they say at your old school?"
"I never went to school before today." Zodiac's voice grew smaller and smaller as he spoke.
"Oh?" Echo asked coldly. "Well congratulations, you've just convinced me enough to think there's something strange about you. You might as well say your mum or dad is mortal!"
Zodiac's face suddenly glowed red and he got up. "Well, thanks for making me feel worse." He walked off quickly and after a minute of deciding whether or not she should, she ran after him.
"You have a mortal parent?" Echo asked quietly, catching up with him at the door of the coffee room.
Zodiac shook his head quickly, his head lowered. "No! They, they're witches too."
Echo looked around and saw nobody was watching them. "Are you an Original?" She whispered.
Zodiac looked her in the eyes as he replied. "No, I'm not. I just happen to be a very powerful witch and I hate it." He walked out of the room quickly and this time Echo didn't follow. She looked at his clothes and saw they were not a normal witch fashion. They looked like mortal clothing with the bland colours and no signs that they had any powers such as self-cleaning. His hair was a strange blonde, as if he had dyed it that colour instead of having normal blue, green or red hair like everybody else. Unlike a bad dye job, though, it looked his natural colour, like a mortals'. Echo had noticed his eyes were an icy blue colour and he had a few spots like a mortal teenager. He looked liked he had been trying to fit in with mortals all of his life, when it was a known fact no witches lived in the Mortal Realm unless hiding from the Council. Echo didn't give it a second thought as she found Pepper in the corridors and they continued their day with more and more rumours brewing.
Echo walked out of school with the sun on her shoulders and a new smile to her face. Her week had been the first of what she thought was going to become a fantastic year. Echo had been placed into conversation after conversation, introduced to new friends and was no longer the miserable princess who hung around Pepper for company. People were starting to believe they were actually friends now instead of Pepper feeling sorry for her. It was a great feeling to be called by her real name, even by Lily and her gang. It was almost enough to forget the feeling of guilt Echo felt every time Zodiac was ignored and even purposely abandoned. Echo was grateful for the new student, even if he was most likely miserable like she was for years.
"It had to happen to somebody." Echo said loudly and walked down the path to the gates of the school, in the mood for a long walk home so her good mood wouldn't wear out so quickly. Once she entered her home she felt lonely and bored, roaming the long empty corridors and trying to find new places to sneak out so she could find Pepper. Echo wasn't sure whether her parents were strict or if they would even allow her to stay around a common Earth Fairy's home amongst the forests, east of their castle. Even though they lived in the same house Echo didn't know much about her parents at all, being very against young princesses interrupting them and disturbing them. The maids and servants brought Echo up, telling her the rules supposedly set by her family. She only saw them at the elegant balls and dinner parties and even then she wasn't allowed near them.
Walking through a village near her castle, she could hear a few people whispering about her. It looked as old as time itself, the buildings made from single materials such as mud and sticks, some even from pieces of cloth. The path was winding down a hillside; creatures of every kind scattered about, staring at their visitor with either wonder or hatred. Echo quickened her step as she saw witches and demons staring at her through cracks in their curtains and behind half open doors. One even darted for the nearest house as she approached them; scared Echo might arrest it or even kill it, being from a warrior family. All except one who remained standing in the centre of the street. It looked like a woman, but Echo could only guess from her long shaggy dress covered in dirt. Her short body was covered in boils and scars and Echo could see knife marks scarred into her skin in the shape of disgusting tattoos. Her nose was long and pointed but slightly crooked to one side, but Echo was drawn to where her eyes were supposed to be; instead they looked like the eyelids had been stitched up badly, leaving two pieces of round skin in their place. The dumpy troll-like woman watched gravely towards Echo as she walked on, pretending to ignore her and continue walking along the village road.
"Daughter of the royals, no?" The hag suddenly shrieked and Echo felt her heart leap into her throat. Echo turned around to see her staring her in the face, making her jump again.
"Uh� Yeah." Echo said and tried to walk on but the hag blocked her.
"You deny your heritage!" The hag cackled. "You avoid your fate! Now evil awaits you at the place you treasure the most!"
Echo stormed passed her, trying to ignore what the hag had said about school. The hag, despite being blind, grabbed Echo's sleeve and pulled her back harshly.
"Be warned, young princess! The evil will not wait! He will hunt you and leave you to die in love's arms! Run, young princess, run away and deny the fate the Oracles bestowed upon you!"
"Leave me alone!" Echo screamed, hearing her shirt rip and ran as fast as she could, the troll-woman's cackles ringing in the sudden darkness that meant the stars had won. Running through the forest, Echo ran to the only place in the world that she truly felt safe. The forest was screaming from a thousand creatures awakening from their sleep as Echo hurried passed them, feeling the presence of anger and fear amongst them.
Reaching the clearing in the dead centre of the forest, Echo looked around and found the tree at the North-East-East-South point and there she kneeled beside it, searching blindingly in the darkness for the exact spot. There Echo recited, in a shaky voice, a spell she had known off by heart at the age of eleven.
"Searching, kindly tree of great age and grace,
Found, above earth's watchful eyes its hidden trace,
I ask to enter, be not afraid of my non-fairy presence,
I am a pure soul, I hold no evil essence."
Echo stood up and bowed deeply to the tree as a mark of respect and the tree sprang to life, bowing back and lifting its root to unveil a small hole in which Echo kneeled beside it again, waiting for somebody to know they had a guest.
A tiny aqua-coloured light came from far down the hole and Echo watched as the light grew larger and finally to the size of a tall teenager with shocking blue hair. The light faded and Echo saw before her Pepper's older brother, still flapping his wings slightly as his feet weren't touching the ground. He had the features of a very attractive human eighteen-year old; his green eyes were rimed with a blue; the same colour as his messy hair and he had always been well built which made him an excellent athlete. Echo remembered him winning a large majority of school medals over the years and people were betting him to the win the title as School Champion at the end of his last year at school. Echo had always liked him and had been extremely shy around him whilst visiting Pepper for many years.
"Hey Blue." Echo said weakly.
"Hi Echo. What happened to you?" He looked at her shirt and then back into her eyes. "Did you get attacked?"
"It's nothing, I just want to speak to Pepper."
Blue turned back to the hole. "Yeah sure, come in." He shrank back to the size of a grain of rice and waited for Echo to do the same. Touching her stone lightly, Echo shrank to Blue's size and clutched tightly onto her stone as she flew down the dark hole, having never being good at flying. As she soared down, she looked around to see the many different levels of the world beneath the tree and the many different tunnels on each one fly passed her until they reached somewhere in the middle of the multi-storey building in the ground. They flew into a particular tunnel and Echo stopped flying as they reached the living chambers. Lit up by a thousand tiny fires along the walls, Echo still caught her breath as she was reminded of its splendour every time she visited Pepper's home. The tunnels were the size of a small acre to a normal sized human and so to something no taller than a centimetre; it was like an entire city. In retrospect, this was a small inhabitant for fairies who were known to have families in their thousands from only three generations. The walls had haunting pictures of the Earth Fairy tribes that had brought beauty to the earth, spells to bring balance to the nature above them and mostly how to heal all types of animals, from the Earth-common house cat to the remaining dragons of the Other Realm. The tunnels were like the trickiest labyrinth, only conquered by the true Earth Fairies so Pepper and her real siblings never travelled them on their own. Everything was made by nature under the tree, from the clothing and food to the complicated potions that fed and nursed all the animals kept inside. Echo remembered her favourite animal was still being looked after by Pepper; a young unicorn that shimmered with gold in the light, its horn said to be made from the most precious of crystals, just like the witches' stones.
As they crossed the grand hall that greeted all guests with warm and any kind of hospitality the visitor expected, Echo saw, as per usual, the young Earth Fairies staring at her, knowing she was pure witch and hating it. Despite the witches and fairies working together during the time of war they were known to stay with their sides at any other time. Echo especially would not be liked amongst fairies, being from a pure blood family of witches and her parents not excepting the fairies' help in the dark times two decades ago. It was this that made Echo feel nervous about entering Pepper's home, but it was still the safest place on earth, apart from the school. Pepper had, last time she had bothered to count, sixty-seven brothers and eighty-five sisters but only five of them were her real siblings. The rest were her mother and stepfathers who were pure fairies instead of 'halfies' as Pepper and her real siblings; Blue, Quail, Shadow, Cavern and Pink were called. Echo knew there was resentment between the true fairies and their older step brothers and sisters who were 'poisoned' with witch powers. Pepper never spoke of it usually but Echo saw the looks she and Pepper were given by the pure Earth Fairies at all possible times.
Blue led Echo through the dark tunnel to Pepper's room, lighting up as they passed each torch. Blue smiled at Echo as they reached the door and he flew away to his room, apparently too busy to say good bye. Echo knocked on the door and heard the flutter of wings approaching the door.
"Hi Pepper." Echo said as happily as she could muster after being told her fate by an old hag.
"Come in and tell me what happened." Pepper said firmly and Echo knew she had been trying out her spells to see outside of her own vision.
"You saw then?" Echo asked as she walked inside the enormous room, decorated with every kind of ingredient on thousands of shelves. They were as simple as spider venom, seeds of eternal roses and bark from the Whispering tree to as complicated and dangerous to the aqua from the Lake of Rebirth, the jarred song of a sphinx and one ingredient Blue had told Pepper never to use, sealed and placed in a magic vault only Echo knew of. They lined the walls, hung from the ceiling and some even floated on their own, making Pepper's room look like a laboratory more than a bedroom for a teenager. Within the room, though, was a living room with a roaring fire always alight, a small kitchen that cooked the most delicious foods at the touch of Pepper's wand, a bathroom with enchanted bath that could be filled with any kind of liquid you pleased and an enclosed bedroom with two beds; the extra one for Echo to sleep in whenever she pleased. The whole room was bursting with magic at all hours and all objects had at least one enchantment placed on them. Echo remembered fighting with an aggressive mop once who told her off for treading mud on its clean floor, only to be rescued by a reasonable broom that reminded the mop that living cells would be living cells. Echo loved her second home and one day hoped that she could have one just like it, though it might have more modern items than Pepper owned, which was none.
"Yeah, though I couldn't hear what was being said. What was she?" Pepper pointed her wand at the floor that made two comfy looking blankets appear. Echo sat down, making tall glasses of spiked apple punch appear, wanting to get drunk -- and fast -- to remove her memory of what had happened today.
"A hag, I think. She just told me everything about me and what the Oracles had told me when I was six." Echo replied, remembering it was that fate that made her miserable every day of her life.
"You remember your fate? I can't even remember going there, let alone what they said to me. What was yours?"
Pepper asked, looking into Echo's mind for the answer after Echo's permission was given.
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