Mother

I woke up to the sound of my alarm, blaring from across the room. I lazily got up and turned it off, checking my recent messages.

'Aunt Beth: Honey, we need to talk. Come over after school today.'

'Peter: I'm sorry. We tried keeping it a secret because we know how you would react.'

'Clovis: Olly, it was for the best.'

I shut my phone off before going towards the bathroom to take a quick shower and freshen up. Once I get out, I get dressed and change Beatrix's food. I look at the clock on the wall, and realize I'm going to be early. I formed my portal to the front of the school this time, saying bye to Beatrix one last time. I walk in and see a few of my fellow classmates from advanced sorcerers class walk by.

"Hey, look who's early." I heard Grey from behind me.

"Yes, such a shocker. Good morning to you guys too." I waved to both Grey and Niven before walking closer to them. They both looked like a mess.

"We have a project today for math, can't wait." Niven gave a sarcastic cheery voice. We all started laughing at him before heading inside.

"Yeah, did she say what the project was?" I asked Niven, him immediately shaking his head.

"What's wrong with math?" Grey spoke up.

"Nothing is wrong with it, I just don't feel like doing math." I explained to him.

We walked towards the cafeteria, the apple juice the school gives isn't half bad.

"They better have the apple juice." I sighed, quickly stretching.

"And if they don't?"

"I'd be upset, duh." We walked towards the juice area, and I noticed there's only one apple juice left. I reach to grab it before another hand gets it before me.

"Grey." I glared at him, my hand over his.

"Vio."

"Give me it." I poked his side.

"What's the magic word?" Grey pouted at me. He knew he was getting on my nerves, and he enjoyed it.

"Do you want a katana in your hip?" I scoffed at him. He handed me the drink, raising his hands in defeat.

"Feisty." He winked at me before grabbing an orange juice.

"Shut up." I mumbled under my breath before heading towards a nearby table. We all sat around in it, drinking our juices and Niven eating his cereal.

From the corner of my eye, I see Mr. James at the door. I look over at him and he calls me over.

"I'll be right back." I put my bag down, and walked towards Mr. James.

"Where's the letter?"

"It's at home. I'll be fine here. I placed an extra barrier on my apartment just in case. You guys have to be careful too. We don't know when my parents are going to show and who they'll bring with them." I whispered to him, before walking back to the others.

"What was that about?" Niven questioned.

"Nothing, he just had a question about one of my classes. You know counselors, annoying." I finished the rest of my juice, throwing the carton into a nearby trash can.

"Class starts in 5 minutes, I don't want to go." Niven placed his head on the table, sighing in defeat.

"Same, but we have to. I just want the day to finish and it didn't even start." I leaned back a bit, forgetting there wasn't a back to the seat. I yelped nearly falling, but Grey caught me.

"You're so clueless." He laughed at me.

"Shut up, you're named after a color. Your parents are clearly the clueless ones." The table went silent.

"I'm sorry." He let go of me, shortly getting up.

"Go get him." Niven told me,

I got up and jogged towards Grey. I grabbed his arm, him yanking it away.

I created a rope and had it wrap around his legs. He stopped walking, slowly turning back to face me.

"I'm sorry." I stared at him.

He started laughing out loud, holding onto his sides.

"You actually thought I was mad. It was a joke, Vio." He continued laughing. I grabbed the extra part of the rope and yanked it, causing him to fall. He caught himself with his hands, he tried getting the rope off but it just burned him.

"Vio, get it off." He looked up at me.

"What's the magic word?" I mocked him from earlier. He just glared at me, waiting patiently.

I removed the rope from him, lending him a hand. He grabbed it, slowly getting up.

"Let's go back to Niven." We walked back into the cafeteria and lost sight of Niven.

"Where is he?" Grey also started looking around the cafeteria. I went back to the table we were sitting at and it was empty, my bag was gone too.

I grab Grey's collar and pull him closer.

"Is this another joke? Where the hell is he and my bag?" My grip tightened on his collar. I had something important in my bag. Grey lifted up his hands, shaking his head.

"I don't know where he is." I let go of him. I look to the back of the cafeteria and see the doors to outside were open. You're kidding me.

I ran to the back, everyone else in the cafeteria staring at us confused. I kicked open the doors and saw nothing. I saw some rustling in a nearby bush and went towards it.

"Niven. Give me the bag back, now." I called out. The rustling stopped shortly after, and a person came out. It wasn't Niven.

"Why the hell do you have my bag, Aria?" I formed my katanas.

"I don't trust you. I saw the opportunity and took it." She threw my bag onto the grass near her.

"What did I miss?" Niven shortly came outside, standing next to Grey.

I look back at Aria. She's holding the book.

I threw one of my katanas at her, it sliced her cheek. It shortly reappeared in my hand.

She held onto her cheek with one hand, the other holding the book.

"Put it down. Before I'll make you regret it." I fumed. Grey took a hold of my wrist.

"Don't."

"You don't know what that book has. Don't get in my way of getting it back." I pushed him off before walking over towards Aria. She tried forming a portal to escape but Niven snuck behind her and kicked her away from it.

"You work for them, don't you?" I stood over her, placing one of the blades on her neck.

"For who?" She smirked at me.

"You talked so much about me being evil, when you work with them. You're pathetic. One of you get Mr. James, now." Grey ran into the school, looking for James. Niven placed a barrier under her so she wouldn't be able to portal her way out.

"I don't work with your parents. I've been told that something in your bag would help me prove that you're bad." She confessed.

"Aria, this book is dangerous. You wouldn't even be able to open it because of the spells it has on it. This book is keeping you guys safe right now." I pressed the katana closer to her neck, gritting my teeth.

"I don't regret a thing. You're going to go down sooner or later. I can't wait to see you fall." She started menancily laughing under me. Shortly after, I hear Grey and Mr. James.

"James, my parents. They have people outside of the town on their side. This one, tried grabbing the book." Grey and Niven sat there confused on what was going on.

"I've told you to put it somewhere else, not to keep it on you. Why won't you listen?" Mr. James sighed before forming handcuffs and placing them on Aria.

"I keep it somewhere safe, I forgot to put it back." I got up, dusting off my pants.

"Come by after school we still need to have that discussion. As for you Ms. Francis, you're coming with me." He walked away with Aria.

I grabbed my bag along with the book, placing it back where it was. I looked at the time and realized we were late to class.

"Thank you both. I'll see you guys later." I rushed to my first period class being, English.

Once I made it to the class, nobody was in it. I opened the door to the dark silent room, confused. The door shut behind me and locked.

"Olivine Viotto." A familiar voice called out from the corner of the room. I put my bag on my back, forming my katanas.

"Are you really threatening your mother?" The lights suddenly turned on. I looked to the corner of the room and saw her. She had a black silk dress on, her long hair resting on her shoulders.

"What are you doing here? Where's my class?" I walked towards the chalkboard.

"I missed my daughter, why else would I come? Your class is in the auditorium right now. I didn't hurt them, don't worry. Now, how are you my daughter?" She crossed her legs, leaning back into the chair.

"If you missed me, you would've visited sooner and changed your ways. I was completely fine before you showed up. Does Beth know you're here?" I tried my best to keep my cool, I believe I can defeat her but not inside of a school.

"You don't talk to your mother like that. I would've visited sooner but I had things to handle before I can see you. She doesn't. Olivine, come back home. We both know it's for the best if you listen to your mother." She slowly got up and walked towards me. I placed a barrier in between us.

"This is my home. It would be best for everyone if you were dead. I should take you out now." I stared into her lifeless eyes, filled with regret and power.

"No it isn't, come back to me and your father. You and I both know you can't defeat me. Give up this useless battle." She held out her hand.

"I'm sorry, but no. You guys aren't good, all you do is crave power. No matter who gets hurt in the process. What if I got hurt? Your beloved daughter, huh? What if I died in your arms, would you still crave that power? Crave the feeling of everyone fearing you??" I felt my blood boil at this point, I can't tell if they miss me or need me to help complete their plans.

"We want to be strong so we wouldn't have enemies, no weak spots. If you were to die in my arms I would get revenge for you. If we take over half of these towns, and have our own army we'll be unstoppable, do you understand that?" I can tell from the tone of her voice that she was getting impatient.

"Mom, I am not going back with you. You're wasting both your time and mine. Why the hell are you guys doing the plan so late? I wouldn't have been in your way years ago..." I told her. She looked at me in disbelief before laughing.

"Fine, but you'll be begging me and your father to take you back. Everything comes in it's own time, you have to be patient. Watch." She formed a portal and walked through it.

I sat down in a nearby desk, trying to fully process what happened. I heard the door rattling, and soon open. It was Niven and Grey. He saw the tears rolling down my face and the barrier that was still up behind me.

"We heard shouting and wanted to check up. What happened?" They both entered the room. Grey reaches to give me a hug, I hesitate and back up.

"My mother. I'll be fine. It was just a conversation." I started choking on my words. I placed the barrier down. Niven immediately ran and gave me a hug. Grey following, giving me a hug after Niven.

"Listen, she wouldn't hurt you, right? It's a lot to handle and comprehend. Just breathe." Niven tried helping. There was a small explosion nearby.

"She would hurt you guys. She'd do anything to get me back, and she doesn't care for anyone else. What was that?" I got up and looked out the window. I saw Aunt Beth. Niven and Grey both stared out the window.

"Isn't that your Aunt?"

"Yeah it is, she must've heard my mother came by." I formed a portal in front of her, and connected it to the classroom. She fell in, shocked.

"Hey there." I sniffled. Her eyes had been filled with remorse.

"Are you kids okay? She didn't hurt any of you, right?" She ran up to us and checked for any visible wounds. I sat back down, trying to think of what to do now. She'd hurt anyone in her way and it doesn't matter who...

"You already know what I want to say. We have a lot to talk about, it was nice seeing you two again. Maybe in the nearby future we'd have a normal conversation." She said goodbye to us before walking out of the classroom.

The bell finally rang, it's period 2 now.

"Well, I'll see you guys later." I left the classroom, heading towards my chemistry class. The class was down the hall so it was quick.

"Welcome, Ms. Viotto." I was welcomed by my teacher. I waved to Ms. Pam before sitting in my seat. The class went by quicker today for some reason.

"You have no homework tonight, have a good day kiddos." The bell rang, dismissing us. I walked towards the math room to where I met Niven. He let me walk in first, and he followed behind.

We sat and waited for the teacher and other kids. A few minutes pass until the teacher finally arrives.

"Sorry for being late class, today we're starting on our projects. You will have a week to complete this project, I don't care how you complete it but I want it done. Each group has an 8 page worksheet, some of it being short responses. You'll be receiving these worksheets at the end of class today, so you have a free period, talk about how you guys are going to complete the worksheets and whatever else is necessary." She sat down at her desk, immediately going onto her phone.

"So.. how are we doing this?" Niven asked.

"You can come over and we can work on it? Knowing Ms. Pam the equations are going to be difficult." I suggested to him.

"Sure, I can today?" I agreed with him.

We spent the whole period on our phones, me and Niven had some small conversations about our magic but other than that there wasn't much talking. The class went silent after a few minutes, Ms. Pam not realizing or caring. She had her moments where she did a good job teaching and then other times like this where you just question how she got her job.

"Okay, I'll dismiss you guys early today. Bye." She got up and walked out of class. I packed my stuff and left the class, heading towards Jame's office. I didn't know if Aria would be there or if he took her somewhere else.

I walked to the office, and knocked on the door. James opened up the door after the second knock.

"She's with the principal, we don't know why she would want the book but it's definitely not for a good thing. How are you holding up?" He took a seat in his office chair, the brown desk between us.

"I'll be fine, I'm just worried for everyone else. What if she tries getting one of you? James, I think I might have to leave." I played with my bag strap. The room went silent for a while.

"I don't think you should leave. However, I'm not in your shoes. You do what you think is right for yourself and everyone." He played with the pen on his desk. Not maintaining any eye contact. James has a certain power where he can look into the future. He knew that if he tried messing with the present now, the future is going to end up completely different.

"I'll keep the idea in the mind. If they show up again or any threat, I'm leaving. I can't put anyone else in danger, James. Promise me, if I do leave, you'll let Beth know why I did." My heart started aching from the thought of leaving the town. Leaving everyone behind, but it would be for the best. Tears slowly started rolling down my cheeks again, my life was being ruined again because of them.

"I promise. We'll take them down, sooner or later." James looked up and saw the state I was in. We sat in silence.

"I don't want you guys involved, I can't lose any of you. You, Beth, and the others. This is my fight, James." I got up and left the office, looking for the bathroom. I rush in, placing my bag on the counter. I look into the mirror and stare into my broken eyes.

It'll be okay. Get stronger and protect those you love. I repeated to myself. I cleaned up my face before going to the lounge room. Running into Grey on the way.

"Hey, Niven told me you guys have to work on the project. Can I come? I'm good at math and have nothing to do." He curiously asked.

"Sure, we can talk more about it during advanced sorcerer's class. See ya." I tightened my grip on my strap before walking by him.

I entered the lounge room, finding the closest chair. I sat down and took a pair of my headphones out, immediately putting on some of my comfort music. I briefly close my eyes, listening to the soothing melody.

"Olivine, Oli." I heard a voice calling out. I opened my eyes to both Niven and Grey standing over me.

"You slept the whole day." Niven showed me the time, it was the end of the 9th period.

"Oh, I didn't realize." I stuttered on my words. I turned off my music, rubbing my eyes. I slowly got up out of the chair, both of the guys staring at me weirdly.

"What?"

"Your eyes changed color." Grey leaned in closer, staring at my eyes.

"Yeah, they change color sometimes. Let's go." I formed a portal in front of us and let them in first. They went in, and I followed behind. I see Beatrix running to the other room, hiding from the new guests. They both placed their bookbags on the big couch, taking off their shoes.

"I feel weird in here." Niven shivered. I forgot to tell them about the spell.

"I have a spell on the apartment. For safety reasons, of course. No one can cast magic inside of the apartment and no magic is getting in. We can work on the worksheets in the dining room." I walked towards the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen.

I took the worksheet out of my bag and placed the bag on the floor near my chair.

"So, you guys can work on a page each, I'll try working on two." I gave them each a separate piece of paper, sorting out the rest of the papers to the side.

"You live alone?" Grey asked while working on his questions.

"Yeah, have been for 2 years now. We've been friends for months but I keep forgetting you guys never came by." I switched out my pen due to the first one running out of ink.

We worked in silence before someone knocked on my door.

"I'll go get it." I got up and walked towards it. I looked through the peephole and saw my neighbor, Miss Davis. I opened the door, giving her a smile.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked her.

"Can you go grocery shopping for me tomorrow? I was going to ask tomorrow but I had a feeling I would forget." She let out a little chuckle.

"Yeah, I can. I'll go after school so you can leave me a list later today or tomorrow before I head out for school, okay?"

"Yes, thank you so much sweetie. I'll bring the list tomorrow. Have a good day." She walked back to her apartment. I closed the door and walked towards the others. I checked on their work and saw both of them were still on the first question.

"Why don't you invite us more often?" Niven said out of the blue.

"You guys never ask." I stuck my tongue out before finishing up my first question. I checked my phone and saw messages from both Clovis and Peter. I rolled my eyes before putting it away.

"Who are you ignoring?" Grey pried.

"That's none of your business, maybe you should finish your work." I pushed him away before pointing at the work. We all resumed working peacefully, Beatrix came and jumped onto my lap.

Half an hour passed, we all finished our worksheets. I put the finished worksheets together and separated them from the incomplete ones.

"There's 5 more. Grey if you want to help you can take one home and work on it, both me and Niven will get two each and finish it before it's due. Are you guys staying or do you have to leave? I'm fine with you guys staying." The others shared a look with each other before answering me.

"I'll do it. I can stay for a bit." Grey took the first paper he saw.

"I have to go. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Niven gave us quick hugs before heading off. Niven finally left the apartment, leaving me and Grey.

"So what do you want to do?" Grey walked around the house, observing the decorations.

"Up to you. Maybe, just watch something?" He gave me a quick wink before jumping onto the couch.

"You're such a flirt, it's repulsive." I pretended to throw up in my mouth.

"You're so clueless, anyways a movie?" I nodded and sat near him. I opened Luku, looking for a movie. I browsed through the movie section and stopped at a horror movie. I gave him a quick smirk before putting it on.

Throughout the movie, I jumped a few times, and somehow got closer to Grey. My phone started ringing.

"I'll quickly pick this up." I paused the movie and got off of the couch. I saw that Peter was calling.

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Olivine, I'm sorry. I heard she visited? You're safe, right?" Peter asked in a hurry.

"Yes, I'm busy and don't want to talk to you right now. Don't call again please." I hung up the phone, placing it on the counter. I turned around to be greeted by Grey.

"Who was that?" His voice sterned.

"It's complicated. We can continue the movie if you want." I tried walking by him before he lightly grabbed my wrist.

"You really have no clue?" He mumbled.

"Clue for what?"

"It doesn't matter. Continue the movie." He let go of my wrist and took a seat at the couch, looking slumped.

"Whatever you say." I rolled my eyes before sitting down next to him. An half an hour passes of us watching the movie, no one has said a word yet.

"Are you coming to school tomorrow?" He brought up. I paused the movie before turning to him.

"I don't know. Why?" I started playing with one of my velvet pillows.

"I just wanted to know."

"Oh, well I don't know. We'll see if I even wake up." I joked with him. He sighed before quickly stretching. We just stared at each other before Beatrix started meowing.

"Why do you always do this, little one?" I picked her up and gave her a few hugs before placing her down onto the couch.

"I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Vio." He grabbed his bag from the couch and left the apartment. He seems off...