Yuna and Rachel

The morning started with the crow of the rooster in the yard. Maria groggily woke up, puffy eyed, and looked around. By the look of the ruffled blanket and the divine smell coming from the kitchen, her dad was up and cooking.

She got up, took off the towel and tried to comb her messy hair.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" Her dad said cheerily as he dropped a plate of scrambled eggs and a salad in front of her. "Sleep well?"

Maria grumbled, then took a glass and opened the magical ice box that passed for a fridge in Elementum, looking for milk. She poured herself some. Then sat back down.

Her dad sat down at the table too. "Are you alright, honey?"

She sighed heavily, trying to get her thoughts in order, still drowsy.

"I can't believe I'm saying this... but I'm actually homesick." She finally answered. "I thought about it last night. And it's not that I'm unhappy to be here, it's just...it's complicated." She took a sip of milk to let her thoughts settle. "I don't want to talk more about it."

"I'm sorry to hear that..." her dad grabbed her hand and squeezed. "But we only have to stay here for 2 years so-"

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" Maria shouted.

Her dad looked at her in stunned silence, before moving his hand from hers to start eating. It was an awkward and quiet breakfast after that. Or, at least, it would have been quiet were it not for the humming of the voices in the back of her head.

"Our guests should show up soon." Her dad said, after finishing his breakfast.

Maria grumbled again, unhappy to have to deal with visitors, but hurried to finish her breakfast as well. It wouldn't end well if she was tired and hungry too.

Her dad didn't sit up from the table yet and, after a moment of silence, he said:

"I'm sorry if I upset you." Maria looked at him. He was fidgeting with the fork.

Unsure of what to say, she took a few deep breaths, trying to quiet down the voices.

"You didn't upset me... I was already upset." That, at least, was true. "I'll be fine." Maria didn't really know if she said that last bit for him or for herself. Maybe it was a bit of both.

Then there was a knock on the door. Her dad sat up from the table and went to open it up. Outside were a man and a woman and two girls that were quietly sitting behind them.

"Come on in" said her dad. The parents sat down on the sofa, while the girls came to Maria.

"Hello there!" said the taller one. Her wavy strawberry blond hair was intricately done, her clothes pristine and she made Maria, still in her pajamas, feel quite underdressed. "I'm-"

"Yeah yeah, you're Yuna, I'm Rachel, part of family White; the question is, who are you?"

Maria stared dumbfounded at the smaller girl, her curly red hair tied in two pigtails making her look childish, but her sharp brown eyes decidedly telling a different story.

"Rachel! This is not how we introduce ourselves to a long lost member of our own family! I am so sorry for my little sister's intrusion."

They were... family? "Not lonely" The voices chanted. Why didn't her father tell her? "He made you lonely" The voices insisted. Maria shook her head, but they remained insistent. "Why why why" They echoed. What more could her father hide from her? Apparently still quite a lot...

"Hello? Anybody home?" said Rachel, waving her hand in front of Maria's eyes. She startled awake. The surprise shut up the voices as well.

"I'm sorry. I must have zoned out. Um, what were you saying, Yuna?" Maria tried to be polite, but she still felt overwhelmed.

"Well, we knew your father left our family quite suddenly and well, we wanted to get to know you better. I was asking your name?"

"Ah, right. I'm Maria."

They waited expectantly.

"... and I guess I'm a water element? It still feels weird to say."

"Ah, that explains it. Water and air elements tend to be such airheads. Always with the head underwater."

"Rachel, stop being so rude!" Yuna then continued with a sweeter tone, as if trying to distract her from Rachel's earlier comment. "So, your mother must be a water too, huh? Were you taught by her before coming here?"

And indeed, now Maria was properly distracted. "No, my mother is a dark. And, well, with her not knowing any water magic..."

An awkward silence settled over the two of them.

"Did... did I say something wrong?" Maria whispered.

"No no!" Yuna quickly answered. "It's just... unexpected is all. I never heard of a light and dark having a water child. Probably because it's such an uncommon pairing..." Yuna's cheeks were now flaring red in embarrassment.

Another bit of silence between them. And, considering the unusual response from Yuna, Maria had even more to ask her father than she originally thought.

"Anyway," Rachel broke the silence, "I'm an earth element, and my dearest sister is a light element. Our mother is a light and our father an earth." She gestured vaguely towards the couch.

Yuna joined the conversation again:

"So, we heard you come from Earth and that you only recently found out about Elementum."

"That's true. It's... a lot to get used to."

Yuna's gaze softened.

"So, are those clothes you usually wear back on Earth? They seem so-"

Maria's cheeks reddened this time and Yuna's gaze hardened as she turned towards her sister:

"Rachel, if you finish that thought..."

"Ok then, maybe we could go shopping together? Pick some more... traditional clothes." Said Rachel, smiling innocently, then looked at Yuna with a look that I swear implied "Is that better?" Yuna scoffed.

"Um... actually, I'll take a few minutes to change into something a bit... nicer. Didn't quite get the time to do that before you arrived."

"Take all the time you need!" Said Yuna before Maria closed the door to the dorm.

A few minutes later, she felt much better coming out of the room. Rachel opened her mouth, but Yuna nudged her again.

"You look much better, Maria." Her expression told her otherwise. She looked at Maria's ripped jeans with a clear look of unease.

"Are you sure? I could find something else-" Maria said, now a little uncomfortable.

"Yes, it's totally fine-"

"Let's just go shopping, Yuna." Rachel cut her off and headed for the door.

"Hold on! I don't have any money to pay with." Maria said.

"Our treat." Yuna answered, grateful for a distraction.

"You mean our parents' treat." snickered Rachel.

Yuna just sighed heavily and opened the door. Maria said goodbye to her dad, making a mental note of all the things she wanted answered, got a set of keys and a bit of money (her dad insisted she should take some) and went outside.

As she left, she noticed the sisters' parents were staring at her intently.

"She's absolutely adorable, Noah." Mrs. White said right before she left.

And on they went through the busy cobbled streets. The ripped jeans attracted more attention than Maria would have liked. She got quite a few curious looks and sometimes heard the scoffed remark of "Earthens...". Whenever Rachel heard as well, she'd throw a witty retort over her shoulder, after which Yuna would whisper "Rachel!" and Rachel would give her a quirky smile. It made Maria feel just a bit better that the rambunctious redhead was on her side.

She also got pelted with a ton of questions. Yuna was particularly interested in her "Earthen culture", so Maria told her all she could. She was also interested in what we learn at our school if we can't learn anything magical. Every little detail fascinated her. Yet she carefully avoided asking her about her family life. Probably still afraid after her previous mistake.

Rachel didn't seem as impressed, or maybe she was just hiding her enthusiasm, but when Maria got to geography and she heard about Earth having 7 continents, she asked about what kind of war they had that could split the world like that without the earth magic that split their continent up in two. Maria smiled at that. Rachel was an earth, it made sense she'd be interested in such things. She then talked about tectonic plates and how they moved and made mountains, islands, volcanoes and earthquakes. And as she predicted, Rachel was entranced. Must be interesting to hear how Earth could function without any sort of magic, especially her own type of magic.

The market square had Maria awe-struck. Tents and colorful market stalls filled the plaza, and brightly-colored banners and signs decorated the small shops that resided in the buildings around the square. The smell of baked bread, pastries, fresh fruits and veggies wafted through, as it had done yesterday in the central square. The stalls sold everything from food to shoes and clothing to maps and other utility items to different magical knick knacks.

As if sensing her hesitance, Rachel took her hand. "C'mon. The crowd isn't that bad." The sisters guided her on the edge of the plaza and they entered a small shop. It was quite similar to the clothing shops on Earth and Maria instantly felt more at ease. That familiarity was somewhat perturbed by the shopkeeper: a white fluffy bovine-like face of what she knew was a firbolg appeared from behind the counter.

"Ah, girls! My favorite little customers. I see you brought a friend." He had a deep, gentle voice, slow and melodic, like the sound of a cow bell.

He seized her up with his big brown eyes. "Earthen clothes. I see. I can manage that. May I inquire if she has an element?"

"She's a water." said Rachel casually.

"Interesting. Come this way." And with that, he headed towards the back, a white fluffy tail swishing behind him.

He showed them shirts, blouses, t-shirts, skirts, dresses, pants (no jeans and nothing ripped, which must explain the weird looks she was getting). The clothes were soft and light, perfect for the hot summer weather. What caught Maria's eye was a shawl made out of a shimmering material, changing color in the sunlight. She had always had a fondness for shiny things. Yuna must have noticed, as she grabbed it and put it in a paper bag, giving her a wink.

Rachel was surprisingly helpful too. Despite her sharp tongue and brash nature, she had quite the intuition in choosing clothes that fit her and that she also enjoyed. The clothes that didn't fit, but she particularly liked, the firbolg shrunk or made larger to be able to fit her. The firbolg smiled enigmatically. "I know a bit of nature magic."

Yuna didn't comment too much, discussing with their shopkeep as if they were old friends, but always paying attention whenever Maria came out of the changing room and giving a well meaning smile and a thumbs up to show her approval.

They ended up coming out of the store holding five full bags of clothes and one with three pairs of shoes. Despite Maria's insistence, the girls paid for everything.

Then Yuna guided them to the magical stuff stall. Rachel scoffed. "Really?"

"C'mon, look around." Yuna told Maria.

Maria felt like a kid in a candy store. She looked at the stuff strewn about, touching one thing or another. There was a singing wooden bird that caught her attention and when she turned around to show it to Yuna, she came to her with a simple locket with a transparent crystal.

"Here, try it on."

She helped Maria put it on and the crystal shone a bit, then the light was covered in dark tendrils, turning the crystal an inky black, after which the color lightened and became a nice blue. From the bottom of the crystal, seaweed started growing and three small orange fish appeared from the side and started swimming inside the gem. Amazed, Maria touched the gem and a fish came up to the edge and booped her finger. She didn;t notice the quizzical looks the sisters exchanged.

"Can I buy this?" Maria practically squealed.

"Already paid for." said Yuna, a small smile on her lips.

Then they headed out of the crowded plaza, Rachel taking the front of their group.

"Alright, now one more stop before going home!" She announced.

She slowed in front of a bakery. They entered and came out with three large cream puffs. Then they sat down on a nearby bench and talked and talked. This time, Yuna and Rachel told her more about themselves. Yuna would start her second year at the Academy, Rachel, being two years younger, still had to wait another year. The stories they told of what they considered mundane fascinated Maria.

The delicious desserts were long gone by the time they got off the bench. The sun shone down on the buildings and the windows, covering everything in a golden glow. They chatted and laughed like old friends as they wondered through the cobbled streets on the way back home and, because of the sun, they reminded Maria of the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz.

They arrived home in time for dinner. It was her dad's cooking again, but from the grandiose nature of it, Maria could tell he had had help. She also doubted it came from the White parents. They didn't seem like the type to cook by themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. White were incredibly polite during the dinner. They were quite curious about what she thought of Elementum and Aetheria and were glad that "their precious girls" had made such a good impression on her.

After dinner, they said their goodbyes and Mrs. White promised that they'd be back. Maria smiled and waved, but as the door closed, her eyes hardened.

She had almost forgotten the questions she had to ask since the beginning of today. Almost.

"Dad, when were you going to tell me that I had a family here? Who are they? Is that why Mr. and Mrs. White looked at me with fondness? And why did the girls look at me so strangely when I said my mom is a dark? Why... why is it wrong that I'm a water? Why are you still hiding things from me?!"