Bits and pieces

"I will get straight to the point." said Mr. Brown. "Miss, I'd like you to join our prestigious Academy of Elements, back in the magical dimension from which your father and mother came. You will have a dorm room and-"

"Hold on, a new dimension?" So not only she had magical powers, there was also a magical dimension? If it weren't for the ice coating the door, she might not have believed the stranger.

Mr. Brown quirked an eyebrow at Maria's dad. "Did you really teach her nothing about her magical heritage?" Her dad looked taken aback at the question.

"I didn't want her to know it was real. Until... she would be safe." His voice was heavy with emotion, out of which Maria could clearly hear worry. The words were spoken slowly, as if he were afraid that one slip up would be her doom.

"As I told you before, the Academy is a safe space. It is in the middle of the biggest city on the continent, protected by many enchantments that keep its students protected. You know this as well as I do, Noah." They shared a meaningful look. Which must have been hiding a thousand words that Maria unfortunately didn't understand.

The silence let places for the voices to rise up. "Danger!" they warned. "Don't trust him!" they begged. She stuffed them back down once again.

Maria cleared her throat and said: "So, um, I would like to know more about this dimension. And this Academy."

Dad looked at her surprised, as if he just now realized that she was still here, but before he could get a chance to talk, Mr. Brown continued:

"Why, of course, miss. You see, there is a magical dimension, called Elementum, heavily interconnected with this one. The connections can be simple in nature, like a portal from this world to Elementum and back. The more complex connections essentially keep both worlds flourishing. Elementum has 2 big continents, separated by an ocean filled with an archipelago of islands. On one of the continents, Aether, there is a capital city, called Aetheria, housing the Academy. It is a very welcoming place, as students come from far and wide to attend and master their elements."

And that's when it clicked.

"Wait wait wait wait... you're telling me all the stories about Aether were the real deal?!"

Her dad smirked and said: "Well, mom and I told you stories about as many things as she could. Just didn't tell you they were real. We wanted you to know where you came from, even if you didn't know it was real. Kind of like a reverse Santa Claus, I guess."

"So you did tell her something about her magical heritage after all. Clever way to do it too." Said Mr. Brown, smiling, oblivious to the fact that Maria’s worldview had been shattered for the second time in the last 10 minutes.

'So all those stories were actually real? Like Aetheria, the glowing city? The Great Earth War that broke the continent in 2 pieces? All of those amazing magical creatures that mom told her about- Hold on.'

Maria turned towards her dad, and he held a mixture of a thousand different emotions floating up to the surface, out of which she could still see worry. It had been there, tainting his bright eyes ever since she had gotten into the living room. 'Why didn't he tell her that it was real? Why did he need to keep her safe? What was so terrifying in that other dimension that she wasn't even allowed to know it was real? Her dad very obviously still believed that her finding out was a bad idea and there was an obvious conflict between him and Mr. Brown, who seemed very supportive of her finding out about Aether and even going back to it...'

She felt her emotions rise again and took a few steadying breaths.

And that's when mom entered the room, breaking Maria's train of thought. She was carrying a tray of assorted goodies: coffee, sugar, milk, a few biscuits and some savory pastries as well. She put them on the table, only then acknowledging Maria's presence. She did a double take, before her dad spoke up.

"Well, Maria, I think you already found out a lot more than you can chew right now. How about you go out of the living room and start your homework while me, mom and Mr. Brown catch up?"

He had that same strained smile he wore earlier when she had entered the living room. It seemed there were still more secrets he wanted to hide. To "keep her safe". But how could she defend herself against something she knew nothing about? All those bad feelings that she had pushed down earlier were starting to rise up again, demanding to be heard and acknowledged. "Danger!" they screamed. "Too good to be true!" they hollered.

"He didn't let you know! You should-"

"-ask why" finished the little earnest voice, almost a whisper.

"I'll leave if you let me ask one more question." The little voice of curiosity had won once again.

The smile dimmed a fraction, but nevertheless, her dad nodded.

"If Aether was so wonderful, why did we leave?"

The smile completely shattered and it took her dad a moment to regain his voice:

"That... is a very complicated question with a long story. Perhaps I'll tell you that story sometime soon. But...not right now."

Her mom took her hand and led her to the door. Her voice was gentle, but her face showed worry as well.

"It's a sensitive subject, don't be too upset, dear." she whispered. Maria swore she heard her voice tremble. "Don't worry, you'll find out when the time is right."

And with that, the door closed behind her.

But if they thought they could get rid of her that easily...

She went to her bedroom, loudly closing the door to give the impression that she was upset. Which wasn't too hard, given the fact that she genuinely was. Then she took her shoes off and put on some socks, since it would make tip toeing back a lot easier. She slowly opened the door and peeked down the hallway. Everybody was still in the living room. Good. She inched closer and closer to the door until she could finally put her ear up against it. Unlike last time, the conversation was carried in hushed tones. She strained to hear the words they were saying.

"... no one ... protect..." said dad.

"... stays here... Maria... die..." replied Mr. Brown.

She heard a clink, probably from a coffee cup placed back on a plate.

"... everything... destroyed... save Maria!" Said her dad, his voice rising up again at the end.

There was a shush, a pause, then the whispers continued. She only caught the end of what Mr. Brown said:

"... shadow... save... Maria..."

Then she heard someone heading for the door. She ran down the hall, hoping that the socks would muffle the sound and she quickly entered her room. She hurriedly opened her math book and took a pencil from her pencil box. It was bright orange, as luck would have it. She opened her notebook and started drawing random things, in the hopes that it would pass as writing. 'Damn it, it's a bright pencil, of course it won't-'

Her mom entered the room and Maria turned towards her with a sour look: "What?"

"I just wanted to see if you need help with your homework." she said gently, before glancing towards the orange flowers sprinkled on the page.

Maria grumbled. "No thanks. You can go back to your super secret discussions about a dimension which I just learned today was actually real and not just made up stories... It's not fair, you know?"

Her mum came and sat down next to her. "Look, honey, I'm sorry we didn't tell you, it's just-"

"Just what?!" She angrily closed the notebook, half out of rage, half hoping her mum didn't see the empty page of doodles.

"It's a complicated story and a lot to put on your shoulders right now." She put a hand on her shoulder, as if to demonstrate. "You are almost at the end of your freshman year and we wanted you to not worry-"

"Worry?!" Maria shouted with disbelief. "Worry!" This time, she shouted with anger. "I broke that sink like how long ago? Is it almost two months now? So for almost two months! I had dangerous powers surfacing and causing damage after damage! And you didn't want me to worry."

The feelings were swirling dangerously, spilling their acid into her voice and words. And the voices? They said liar and betrayal over and over.

And then her mum hugged her. It was unexpected enough that it shut her up, even if for a moment.

"I'm sorry that I had to worry you now. Your father and I were still debating how to tell you, I wanted it to be sooner than this, believe me." She muttered, then let go. "He just wanted to let you study for high school in peace so we could train you over the summer." The voices were quieter now, quiet enough that she could ignore them again.

"But how can I study now for a normal boring high school when I can just go to a super cool magical academy?"

There was a pause. Mom bit her lip, then said: "We're still discussing whether to let you attend or not."

And the voices were back again, screaming of betrayal once more.

"But Mr. Brown said it should be my choice!"

"Honey, I love you, but this is a choice you cannot make alone. I'll be going back in the living room and I hope you'll be able to actually study instead of drawing meaningless shapes on your notebook." She kissed her cheek, sat up and walked out of the room.

After she left, Maria opened the notebook, cheerfully rushed orange flowers blooming on the last page. She felt... numb. All those strong emotions pulling her in all sorts of different directions had left her drained and confused. She couldn’t even make sense of all this. So she tried to distract herself, going through her math homework. Time went by in a messy blur, too slow and too fast at the same time. And then her homework was over and the talking in the living room still wasn’t over.

Maria plopped on her bed, staring at the colorful little stars she had glued on the ceiling a few months ago. She closed her eyes, trying to think through everything she knew now. Wanting to know more.