Everything Has Changed

Of Tears And Rain

Linh stared down at herself, lifting her arms slightly to examine the creasing fabric of her Foxfire uniform better. Her Foxfire uniform was definitely of a less exquisite material and design than the traditional costumes she was used to wearing, but having being clad in the obsidian-black uniform made it feel all too surreal.

She had already received all her Foxfire supplies a day before, and she had rifled through everything, trying to make sense of them. Her timetable for the week had also been delivered, and Linh had already memorised it by heart. Her first lesson for the first day of her first school year was Elementalism. She had studied the subject in theory, but never in practical.

She wondered if she would do okay in catching lightning bolts or trapping hurricanes. Maybe she would struggle at a simple task like skimming the water with the rim of a bottle to catch a ripple. After all, she had always lost her cool when it came to water.

Someone knocked on her bedroom door, and Linh hesitated for a while before calling out, "Come in."

The door swung open and Tam walked in, already fully dressed in his own uniform. Unlike Linh's uniform, which consisted of a black pleated skirt worn over black leggings and a shirt-vest-cape combination, he had to wear a black lace-up jerkin over a dark grey long-sleeved shirt. Slacks with pockets at the ankles completed the look.

Foxfire Academy was a noble academy all right, but they sure had a peculiar sense of fashion. Just looking at the horribly short cape on which her family crest had to be embroidered made Linh feel sick. Casting an uneasy look at the full-length mirror in her walk-in wardrobe, she could already see that they looked absolutely ridiculous, especially when she caught sight of the beautiful long tunics and the ankle-length silk capes she was so used to wearing hanging by the side.

"Well-" Tam said, a little awkwardly, although Linh didn't really know why, "first day of school, huh? I bet you're nervous, because I am."

"What an understatement," murmured Linh, jeweled comb in hand as she tried to gather her hair into a sort-of ponytail. Her jet-black hair just seemed to fade into the back of her uniform, and she didn't need that. It would just make her look even weirder.

"Here, I'll help you," offered Tam, taking the comb from her and brushing out her hair quickly but neatly. Linh handed him a hair tie silently as she watched him twist her hair into a neat bun.

"You're good at this," Linh said, a little surprised. "Now... now that I think of it, your hair always looks good. And I'm not kidding when I say always. I mean- look at those bangs. How do you do it?"

Tam looked away, a slight tint of rosy pink colouring his cheeks. "Um... I have a lot of hair products that I steal from Father's bathroom?"

Linh blinked.

"Oh - okay-" she finally said after a long second. "That works, don't worry. Next time I want my hair to be styled I'll ask you for help."

Tam rolled his eyes and turned away abruptly as he headed for the door. "Don't count on it," he warned. But Linh could see that he was smiling, something that she hardly associated with her brother.

She turned to look at her reflection for the last time, and she saw nothing but a scared, helpless girl who had spent her childhood being emotionally abused and carrying the idea that she didn't belong in this world.

Then she blinked again, letting the tears morph her vision, until she saw a girl who was drowning in her own element.

***

The glass pyramid seemed different than when she had seen it the first time. Maybe that was what happened when one finally knew that something was going to belong to them definitively.