Discover the shadows( name may be changed)

Chapter 3- This one's long

"Socks? Home T-shirts" my mother called out as she scanned the items in her list, only moving to the next item when both my twin sister Lexi and I packed in our suitcases and bags in our bedroom. When our mother wasn't looking, Lexi rolled her eyes at me and grinned. My mother left to make lunch and Lexi ran over to our shared walk-in closet and beckoned me over.

Now, before I continue, a few things about my sister Lexi: on the surface, she looks like your stereotypical feminine girl who cares about fashion and makeup and is a complete airhead and needs some guy to save her. Lexi is anything but that stereotype. She likes makeup but only applies light makeup on special occasions. She says that too much makeup will make one look like a clown, and I agree completely. She is practical, and a fan of action segments in the pokemon games we play together. We save up money together to buy the games and spend hundreds of hours playing and raising strong pokemon. She may not be as smart/ academic as me and may not have as much magic as me, but she owns stilettos that can LITERALLY CRUSH SOMEONE'S SKULL. So no thank you, I will not make the mistake of getting on my twin sister's bad side. Thankfully, I'm plenty powerful on my own. And either way we are very different people. I'm not that outgoing until you get to know me while she is loud and happy with everyone but only feels safe and comfortable and being silent with those she trusts.

Also, about the walk-in closet. Before you assume I am rich, that is Ashwini's family's job. They are also our neighbours and happen to live in a mansion but are somehow also the nicest people ever. The walk-in closet became a walk-in because once when I was five years old I was hiding in the closet from Lexi and heard her coming closer so I wished the closet was bigger. My magic instinctively expanded the space or something but basically pulled a Narnia by expanding the closet enough with a lot of nooks and crannies. I was a little worried and wanted to tell my mother but my older sister Lakshmi convinced me to keep it a secret and now it's become a hiding place for us and we all have considerable magic reserves so we can use our magic to light it up.

I eagerly dashed into the closet, wondering what she was going on about. After all, we WERE going away for quite some time, and we need to have everything. Although, I wish I could have brought more of my storybooks, I am bringing my computer but I don't know if there will be wifi...

As I stepped into the crowds of tops and leggings, subconsciously noting a distinct lack of Each bag had initials printed on it, one mine and one hers. What on earth did she want with these bags? All they would do would be more things to carry and besides we already had picked out two bags to use to carry our daily schoolwork. She grinned as though she could read my questions on my face, and whispered, "We can use these to carry stuff that she said we couldn't take. I absolutely have to take my favourite blue and purple and sunshine yellow gowns... oh and I guess you can take your books too!" she amended, and it briefly struck me how different yet similar the two of us were. In some ways, I mused, Ashwini is more of my twin than Lexi is. But he is also really entitled, even if he doesn't mean to be. And besides, Lex and I have gaming in common.

A rushed fifteen minutes and 10 300-page books later my mother returned, this time with Ash in tow who was already shaking with silent laughter as our mother sat us down and gave us a lecture on how we were going to go to Vidya Academy the next day and it was going to be a very different world from the one we were in now. Literally.

A bit of info dump here. Vidya Academy is located on the planet known as Kepler 452-b, in the Kepler 452b system. This planet, which we call Prithvi both in my village, Pavitra, and in the arcane community, is considered the older cousin of Earth and is much larger. Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, us arcane, which by the way means magical people, have brought over different species of wildlife over there for centuries, allowing animals that went extinct here on earth survive until today, and although that makes Prithvi a biological treasure, it is also incredibly dangerous. The animals that have gone extinct on earth and hence are similarly at risk on Prithvi are safely protected in enclosures with the ideal climate that is set up and facilitated by various magic types.

Here are the magic types and a quick summary of them. I got this from the Narayanan archives (fancy word for library) and I might as well know so that I can use my powers well when I get them.

1. Fire: Considered the most common and easiest to use.

2. Earth: More difficult to control but can be very powerful.

3. Air: Requires intense focus and discipline to use effectively.

4. Water: Often called "the softest magic" but can be just as deadly if used cleverly.

My father, who is arcana while my mom is human, once told me of a fifth type of magic so powerful and out of control that it could level cities thousands of years old and raze structures that have withstood the test of time to the ground. It was, apparently, so powerful that arcana struggled to wield it, often dying in the process. The only way the arcana could even use this magic was if they are half demon, which, contrary to legends, are not evil creatures but are certainly dangerous. The magic usually tends to destroy the arcana in the process, but I suspect it is nothing but a myth.

It doesn't matter either way. The only person who told me these tales is dead, and no amount of magic can bring him back.

I nodded along to my mother as she went on and on about etiquette, adjusting to whatever food they gave us, but as she finished, I snapped back to reality and realised her eyes were moist. Her baby birds were leaving the nest. I hugged her and told her we would contact her once a week at the very least. My mother, Lexi and I had a good old-fashioned group hug for which we even dragged in my older sister Lakshmi for. Ashwini, as always, joined in too, although lately he's been looking at my sister a little weirdly. Oh well.

Author's note: By the way, in case this wasn't obvious, this is from Shreya's perspective