003: Abandoned

"Mother, what must I not know about?" Ophelia asked innocently, curiosity laced in her voice.

"My dear, you will find out about that soon enough. For now, let's go home," Ophelia's grandmother said, confusing her.

Home? Why would her mother's home be located in this weird city?

"Let's go," Gata's words distracted Ophelia's thoughts.

Without uttering a word, Ophelia followed them out of the airport to the spot where the car was parked. They got into the car, which was driven by Gata's mother.

It was a thirty-minute ride from the airport to the house her grandma called their home.

They alighted from the car before entering the house, which looked so old, built with wood rather than the brick buildings back in Meritan city.

"Aunt Gata," the moment they entered the living room of the building, a lady with a stature smaller than Ophelia's rushed up to Gata.

Gata smiled faintly as she embraced her. "Anna, you have grown into a beautiful woman. I almost didn't recognize you," she said calmly. "Ophelia, this is Anna, my late sister's child, and Anna, this is my daughter, Ophelia. She will be attending your school too."

"For real? A human? I doubt she would survive there," Anna muttered, loud enough for Ophelia to hear.

Again, she was the weirdest one in their midst. Everyone had dreadlocks and pale skin, but hers was just way different. She didn't look like any of her maternal or paternal members… where on earth did she get those features from? She asked herself inwardly.

"She has to," Gata said before walking up to her mother, leaving the girls to interact.

"Gata, are you sure you aren't making the wrong decision by bringing her to the East Coast? Don't you know it is almost another century? The demons need the spellbinding power! The poison is spreading, and they need the spellbounder of this century," Gata's mother, Baya, informed. "The coven had tried all they could do to keep Ophelia's power locked and make sure she doesn't give off any sign of spellbinding, but you brought her here?"

"Mother, this is for the best," Gata said, not wanting to remember the horrible pain Ophelia has to go through because she can't control any part of her powers.

The nightmares. The insanity. She was the one who always had to deal with it… and now, Ophelia has to face it herself. This is her reality. The life the sun goddess chose for her.

"This isn't for the best. You will send her back tomorrow morning," Baya instructed, not wanting to drag this on.

"I won't, mother," Gata opposed. This is the first time she was going to go against her mother's instruction. "Ophelia kept getting nightmares which kept swallowing her eye colors and eating up her witch instinct. If she doesn't fight now, she will lose her witch instinct completely, and if her human phase can't handle it, I am afraid the grace of the sun goddess will be in vain."

"The world needs her now," Gata continued. "The world needs the spellbounder to check-balance birth and death. But now, the demons are ruining it because she can't even stand for herself, talk more of the world."

Gata's words sank in, making Baya realize that nothing one can do to beat one's fate. Destiny can never be defiled; never in history has it happened.

"If that is the case, what do you plan to do?" Baya asked calmly, now convinced that this is the right decision to make.

"I already got her admission to Magical Ray College. All she has to do is take the admission exam, and if she passes, then fine, and if not, she stays here with you," Gata revealed. "Earning powers, unlocking powers and spells, fighting darkness, it is all in her part. Let's just have faith in her and await the kind of world she would build with the sun goddess."

***

Ophelia thought she would end up making an enemy with her cousin, Anna, but they ended up coming closer, sharing a lot of things, or maybe not.

Anna didn't reveal the fact that this isn't a city only humans exist in. This is a city whose citizens are witches like herself, Baya, Gata, and other covens, vampires, demons who are in hiding after the last war that broke out mid-century ago, werewolves, weretigers, werelions, hybrids, and special Borns.

She revealed the slightest hint about their school to Ophelia and the likely questions they would ask of her.

"Ophelia, we are going back to school today, so get your ass up and let's get prepared," Anna's voice echoed, waking Ophelia from her sleep.

For the first time, she slept soundly.

"Okay," Ophelia climbed down the bed before rushing to the bathroom.

She took a quick bath before returning to the room. Not wanting to scatter her luggage, she put on the dress she wore to the house.

"I am ready," she announced after dragging her luggage to join Anna and Baya in the living room.

Her eyes scanned the living room for her mother but couldn't find her. "Is my mother still sleeping?"

"No," Anna replied straightaway.

"Then, why isn't she seeing me off?" Ophelia asked, wondering if she pissed her mother off last night.

"Your mother is already on her way back to Meritan city. So get that off your mind and focus on schooling in Magical Ray College," Anna revealed calmly.

Ophelia ruffled her long chestnut-colored hair, which fell on her shoulder, messing it up. "I know she would do this! She and the others should go to hell!"

As if directing those words to the person facing her, she continued. "I will make sure to graduate with good grades and make them know being different isn't an excuse! It isn't an excuse to drag me here and abandon me!"

"They didn't abandon you, both your father and mother," Baya spoke calmly, trying to ease the loneliness lingering inside Ophelia. "Your mother has to return back home. Your sister is preparing—"

"But they have father. She has Jay… and this is also my last year in college," she mentioned, making Baya and Anna exchange glances.

She must have thought Magical Ray College (MRC) and her previous school are similar.