Linked Worlds | Other Dimensions #1

Three - Emerald

© 2021 Calliope Night. All rights reserved.

"Crane? Finch? Eagle? No, that can't be right."

***

The sound of a screech bird jolted Em awake early in the morning. Why did mother nature decide that this was a creature that needed to exist? They sounded like their name suggested, a loud, ear-splitting, screech.

Em tried to find any reason or excuse to not wake up, but alas, much to her disappointment, she could not. Normally, she would wake up and just deal with the day but it was a Monday and she really didn't want to go to school.

But then again our winter break starts in two days so I guess I can make it through.

Teenagers were horrible, and Em knew better than most kids her age. Em was born an albino but apparently, that made her a 'freak of nature', as her classmates would say, and a 'menace to society', as any adults she met would say. She knew for a fact that the brunt of the ostracization was because she was an albino and one with green eyes. As if there weren't hundreds of other people with green eyes, at which she would roll her eyes exasperatedly. Also, all of the other phiries from where she lived feared and hated her which she thought was mostly because of her parents but that's a secret that everyone except for Em knew.

Sundays were the only day of the week that Em liked. Since there were no classes then, she could stay out in the woods the entire day and collect herbs for medicines, since that was part of the course she took. Medical studies always mystified Em and as she grew up she realized she wanted to pursue them as a career. The school had a massive forest on part of the campus which made sense in her head. She couldn't even begin to fathom a Laghirian (people who inherit the power to control the element of earth) surviving without one. It would be a total nightmare.

She got up and changed out of her nightgown into the school uniform. It was very simple, just a white top and a black skirt, and that's what Em liked about it the most. She continued to brush her hair out, accidentally pulling on one of her ears.

Ouch...that's gonna sting for a while.

A bit later, Em gave up on brushing her hair and shoved it all into a ponytail. Then she brushed her tail out until it was smooth... sort of.

She swore it was the bane of her existence.

Finished, she headed out of her room to get some breakfast and was greeted by two of her roommates having a catfight. Quite literally, since they were both cat phiries. She quietly made her way over to the breakfast table, started to toast some bread, and got out some jam from the cupboard.

The canteen normally provided food but she couldn't stand the place since a lot of her bullies hung out there. Not to mention that she hated crowded spaces. When the toast sprung up, her roommates finally noticed her.

"Hey Em," Meghan and Jekaterina, her roommates said in unison.

"Good morning you two, so what was today's argument about?" Em asked as she spread jam over her toast and poured herself a cup of steaming hot coffee.

Apparently, she shouldn't have brought the topic up because both of them ended up arguing again. She laughed as she watched them while eating her breakfast. When she was finished, she waved a quick goodbye. They both waved at her but still had their eyes locked on to each other, glaring daggers.

"Those two'll never change," she sighed.

She made her way across the path to the central building, shivering from the cold winter breeze. Em's breath created white puffs in the cold. The trees were barren and dusted with a thin layer of frost that crept from the grass to the concrete path causing her steps to crunch.

She absent mindedly climbed up the stairs, going to the floor that the history classroom was on along with the testing rooms. Lost in thought, Em didn't notice when a figure approached her from the front, and bumped into it, stumbling back a little.

The guy was a veori that she recognized. What was his name again? I know it sounded like a bird's name. Crane? Finch? Eagle? No, that can't be right. Oh, right it's Lark! Short for Salark I guess.

"Sorry about that," Em said, "I wasn't looking where I was going".

"It's fine, I wasn't either - Emerald, right?" he asked.

Em was a bit shocked. Sure most people knew her face, even coming from herself, she had recognizable features being an albino and all, but most people didn't know her name. She was just the girl who hung out with Xerina, one of the popular girls who happened to be her best friend.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, "What's -"

Suddenly a teacher, probably an invigilator, burst out of one of the term-end exam rooms, "Salark Corniae, your test begins in ten minutes," he warned as he scanned the hallway. "That's me," Lark said as he headed to the room, "Nice talking to you, Emerald."

"Good luck!" She shouted back, but she wasn't sure whether he heard her because the doors closed at the exact moment.

Ahh, whatever, I have my own class to get to anyway.