I swallowed the lump in my throat, turning slowly to see the familiar man I'd begged for many years to train me— my father's best friend and Master.
Magnor Rune was a legend— specializing in martial arts, combat, and magic. His father had lived for many generations and had passed down his acquired knowledge to Magnor who continued to learn while teaching and training many shifters across the dimensions. He'd settled here in Versa many years ago. He was the one who had trained my father until he was summoned to his gatekeeper duties.
I'd been begging Magnor to train me from the time I could barely walk, wanting to be like my father and mother who were both powerful and respected. He'd denied my request each time, using the excuse I was either too young or inexperienced to begin my training.
One must desire so strongly to become great before they hear their calling. Forcing yourself to achieve those standards will only end with failure.
Since then, he'd continued to decline my request; my last one was last year when I turned nine. After that, I'd given up asking. I didn't see the point and my heart couldn't handle the rejection anymore. I had dealt with my fair share and adding more would only tip me over the edge— as if I wasn't there already.
I stared at him with sad eyes; my tears continued to flow down my cheeks as the rain beat down on me. He must have used some type of spell – the water not landing anywhere near his body, leaving him dry.
His silver eyes stared at me, holding much wisdom in them. He glanced at my soaked appearance, a frown forming on his previously expressionless face.
I didn't reply to his call, only turned my back, facing away from him. No words could describe how I felt— the desolation and self-pity I'd buried in my very soul had finally resurfaced and raged for freedom. I knew Magnor could help me; he could remove me from my hopeless outlook on life.
But again, I was tired of asking. If the strong desire I felt within myself wasn't enough to prove my bullies and enemies wrong, that I wasn't some weakling who'd be a nobody for the rest of her life, then I'd never achieve that level of ambition.
I opened my mouth to speak, knowing it would be in vain.
"Everyone looks at me as if I'm nothing...a nobody. A hindrance. I bet just looking at me makes them cringe in disgust. Every day is the same. Even when I try to focus on the better parts of life, to acknowledge my worth and how these struggles will pass, the day still turns out far worse than the last. I'm tired...so tired of this. Why won't anyone listen? Why do I continue on this unknown path of life if all that is left for me is pain? I go to school just to be shoved and abused and all the teachers ignore me. I finish school and am pushed into a corner to suffer the onslaught of insults, followed by more kicks and punches. I limp home to an empty house, with not even one person to share my agony with." I trembled as sobs overtook me. I hung my head low, crying my eyes out.
"I miss Mama and Papa. I want to be loved...to have friends. Yet, no one wants me."
I lifted my head to face him, glaring.
"Is that not enough of a resolution to be trained by you? Will I ever be worthy of your guidance? Or am I nothing to you too?" I snarled, trembling.
If he deemed me not ready, I would accept my reality: that I'd never be good enough for this world.
He took a step forward— followed by another. In a few long strides, he was directly in front of me. Whatever barrier that shielded him grew in size— stopping the rain from its hard descent against my pale skin.
I lowered my head, closing my eyes as I readied my heart for the same set of words. Instead, he patted my head gently.
When was the last time anyone had patted my head? When had someone last shown me an ounce of affection instead of inflicting pain?
I covered my eyes with my hands, crying harder. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into an embrace.
I didn't hesitate— crying my heart out in his arms. If this was the last time I'd have someone to listen to my cries, I'd let every tear fall. I'd let go of all the pain that had piled up from the years of abuse and hate. The world would feel the sadness I'd locked inside my soul.
When I shed the last of my tears and my whimpers softened, I pulled away, looking up at him for his answer. He gave me a small smile and his silver eyes softened.
"You’re ready," he whispered.
Invitation
"Celestia. Can you go retrieve the mail?"
"Okay!" I called out from the backyard, taking a deep breath as I finished my yoga session. I knelt down to stop the flow of music from the small speaker box, grabbing the towel next to it.
I rose, sighing in relief as I began to pat the sweat that clung to my skin.I can't wait to take a long bath. My muscles are killing me.
I pulled the hair tie from my wrist, gathering my long black locks into a messy ponytail. I assessed the tips of my hair— the purple and pink highlights having grown in size, moving further up.Shit, I need to dye my hair if I want to hide these colors. But it'll just reappear in a week. Such a waste of dye.
I'd had black hair during my childhood and teenage years. However, the moment I hit twenty, the tips began to change to purple. Now that I was approaching twenty-five, the ombre transition to black and purple had grown significantly; pink had also been added to the equation.
Maybe it was due to my vigorous training lately, the magic that flowed within me getting stronger each day. I didn't mind when I was home, but I didn't know if it would be approved at Aslan Academy, a school for hunters and huntresses training to be worthy of tracking down and eliminating the Forsaken.
The Forsaken were a darkness only the strong and worthy were able to face and conquer. If an individual wasn't powerful enough to take on the darkness, they would be consumed and turned into a Forsaken themselves. This was a growing problem in our dimension — many individuals attempted to take on such beings in hopes of proving themselves. Well, I was no fool and wouldn't face such creatures until I was one hundred percent confident that I would be successful.