Unmarked

Chapter 31

"So..." Lavina started, putting her dish in the sink. "She's just allowed to sit there all day or-" Amilia peered over to her.

"Sit there? She's been through quite the ordeal, don't you think?"

"I guess so, but it's been like three days. I've gone to school and come home and she's still on that couch."

"Maybe her big sister should talk to her."

"Isn't that more of a mom thing?"

Amilia chuckled.

"Besides, I have school to attend."

"Lavina we're going to be late!" She heard from the other room.

"Speaking of which," Amilia followed them into the other room.

"Not going to give your mom a hug goodbye?" She paused. "What wonderful kids."

Anghi and Lavina laughed and then gave Amilia a hug. Amilia kissed them both goodbye and they left out through the door. They made their way to school and split up for their first class, barely making it on time. The teacher began in Catonin, since it was her language course after all. That class went about as smoothly as it always did, with its bumps and all. Her next class was her history class. When she reached the door Anghi was waiting right there beside it. He smiled at her and then walked in behind her. She sat down first and then he sat down next to her. The bell rang and the class was pretty noisy.

"Alright, alright!" She tapped the board with her wand. "Come on now, calm down!" The class became silent and she began her lecture. "Many of you will be excited and surprised, but we have an upcoming visit!" Whispers started in the room. "Due to events, you all will have the extraordinary opportunity to see Ms. Cripple in person." The teacher paused for a moment to let the room fall silent once again. "Yes, she is back and doing well. Which means that I might add a few units onto this course this year, due to events that might arise. But I expect each and every one of you to come to next week's class with questions. At least one each. Even you two." She said pointing to Anghi and Lavina. "Anyhow, back to the lesson. Unora was successful in her attack on the capital. Making several strategic attacks all at once. Ms. Cripple was able to lure the witch away from her conquest by saying her name. Unora had thought that Ms. Cripple was in some sort of trouble, but found her with her friends and family. Ms. Cripple had only the three out in the open, but the others were hidden as this was a part of her plan. Ms. Cripple used her smarts to her advantage, but you see, she never actually wanted to kill Unora. Until the very end, when her sword pierced through her body, Ms. Cripple tried to reason with her, to no avail. But this was no surprise to anyone, of course, Unora had been set in her ways for so long that she could see nothing but revenge." The teacher turned around to the class. "Alrighty, homework, as always. I want you all to do a little project. I expect you to get started on it tonight, but you'll have the rest of the week to complete it. I would like you all to do a write up on Lorelei, Unora's daughter. She wasn't too old, but that's alright. I would like you to focus more on the family aspect than anything else, to understand the dear witches' thoughts." Then the bell rang and everyone rustled as they put their things away in their bags. The day went by as it typically did after that point, with her classes that followed. And once again Anghi and Lavina left together. They went straight to the house this time. Anghi ran past her as they reached the tree line. He wanted to get a head start on homework, as always, but Lavina just laughed and shrugged her shoulders. Lavina stopped a few seconds later when she saw Unora sitting outside on a bench. She was looking at the ground while fiddling with her hands. Lavina came up and sat with her. Then she looked to her.

"Are you alright?" Lavina asked her. Unora didn't answer. Lavina looked off into the woods and readjusted herself until she was leaning promptly on the bench. After a few minutes Unora put her head onto Lavina's chest. Then, she finally answered her in a whisper.

"No."

"You're not?"

"Uhuh."

"Why? What's the matter?"

"They're gone."

"Who?"

"My mom and dad." She teared up. "How am I supposed to live without my mom and dad?"

"Do you miss them?"

"Yeah, a lot." She whimpered.

"I missed my mom and dad too."

"Huh? But your mom is right inside."

"Sure she is," Lavina paused, "Now."

"Huh?"

"I lived without my mother and father for sixteen years. My moms only been back for the past few months, and every time she goes away on a trip, I worry she's going to leave again, but she never does. I suppose I'm just not used to having her here yet."

"How did you ever deal with it?"

"Well, I mean, I didn't really know her, so I suppose we differ in that respect. But I was always told about how amazing she was. I heard all of those stories from my grandparents and my mothers friends. I always felt like I could never be good enough for anyone, no matter what I did I could never live up to her legacy." Lavina looked to Unora. "I learned that you don't let people or stories determine you. That you have to carve your own path in this confusing world. You see, I don't like astronomy like my mom, I'm actually into golf. So what about you? What do you want to do? There are some really nice schools up here on the surface, or you could go to a Marked academy, there's even magic schools in the Market." Unora didn't say anything to her, so she continued. "So, what do you want to do?" Unora fiddled with her hands.

"I don't know."

"You have to know, you're the only one who does." It was silent for a few minutes. "Do you still want to learn magic?" Unora looked to Lavina.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You guess so? Do you or not?"

"Yeah."

"You know, you can always visit the schools and then make a determination. You don't have to decide right now, but you can't stay in this slump much longer, I know they're gone, but, what would they want you to do?"

"Move on, I guess." Lavina put her hand onto her shoulder.

"I know it's hard. But, we are all here for you. Me, my mom, Anghi." Unora smiled at Lavina. Then she whipped her tears with her arm. "It's ok to cry, and to not be ok. But there are always people who will listen. Now, come on, how about we go inside. And tomorrow afternoon we can go tour some schools."

"Okay." She grabbed Lavina's hand and they walked back inside.

"Well, look who finally decided to come inside." Amilia paused. "Our two little girls." She snickered. "Sit, sit, dinner's right here on the table."