The One

Zanna's fantasies

The witches were just as eager to transfer misplaced souls from Refica as they were uninterested in transferring those from Hominum. In order to uphold the pureness of the concept of witches, those who were not witches by blood were cast away as soon as they were discovered. What pulled in one direction naturally pushed in another.

The struggles of the Inglebird family were rarely shared by families in similar situations in Refica. Often, both the misplaced soul and their family were eager to have them sent back to Hominum—it would be easier to survive there, they guessed.

Besides, an ordinary human being in Refica was just that much easier to detect than a hereditary witch in Hominum.

Even so, Bentley Snyder passed almost a whole two decades undetected. In the multitude of colors in Refica, he lived like a shadow, passing through the streets like any other passerby, dressed like any other passerby. He behaved as any witch might, and when he didn't showcase his skills, others dismissed him as unimportant—one person fewer in the competition was good news, whatever his reason.

One day, a girl next door approached him. They lived on the outskirts of town, away from the hub of activity that would most certainly expose him. His neighbor was the only one who noticed his deliberate attempt to blend in with the shadows. She was about his age, a little younger; her dark green eyes and short, wavy light brown hair gave her a cheerful demeanor, lighthearted as a windchime; she had freckled cheeks that complemented her features rather than clashed with them. When everyone else did everything they could to perfect themselves—including their physical appearances—Zanna Owen didn't seem to pay it any mind.

Perhaps that was why Bentley felt as if she could be trusted.

"Yooo..." Zanna greeted him that day by perching right at his window. Bentley lived in a modest house with no front or backyard. There was no fence, thus making it all too easy for anyone to simply walk up to any of his windows and speak to him.

Bentley opened his window with a stoic expression on his face. If it could be helped, he didn't want to catch even Zanna's attention. After all, who could tell what kind of a ripple her knowledge could cause?

"What is it?" he asked, slightly yet obviously troubled.

"I wanted to ask you something," Zanna said, grinning. "Open the door!"

Leaving him no room to refuse, the young witch vanished on the spot. Bentley could only assume that she'd teleported herself to his door—unnecessary, since it would take her only a few steps, but...whatever.

He closed the window again and this time drew the curtains too. The young man made his way to the door and opened it. Sure enough, Zanna was standing there, waiting. She invited herself in and headed straight for one of the chairs by the table. After she'd sat down, Zanna asked her question.

"Why haven't you turned yourself in?" she asked, before Bentley could even close the door completely. "I don't see you enjoying Refica."

"I'm not having any trouble here so far, so I see no reason to move." Bentley shrugged and took a seat next to her. "Why are you here anyway? Don't you have anything to do?"

"Hey, even if you want to kick me out, you don't need to be so blunt about it," she protested. "No, I don't."

"School?"

"Nope!"

"What?"

"I live with my grandma. She doesn't make me do anything, so...I self-study and skip school," Zanna said.

"...Huh. That kind of thing is pretty rare. Guardians usually make you learn as much as you can as quickly as you can. Not that not attending school altogether is illegal."

"Yeah I know. But hey—if I don't go looking for trouble, trouble won't look for me, right?"

"Are you sure you don't go looking for trouble?"

Zanna cleared her throat dramatically loudly. "What about you? How did you survive school?"

"I wouldn't if I'd gone."

"Ha! So you did the same thing!"

"Except I don't have guardians with me, as you can see."

For quite a few years now, Bentley had been living on his own. It wasn't that he had no family members, it was just that they lived at the heart of the city, at the heart of the rat race. They discovered early on that he would never take part in that race. After thorough consideration and some negotiation, the whole family decided that if Bentley wanted to live in the dark, he could—and it couldn't be in the city. They gave him minimal support, but he got by.

Once again, Zanna cleared her throat.

"Today!" she announced, raising a finger as if to make a point. "I want to go spy on some schools. You have time, don't you?"

Academies.

Schools in Refica were flexible compared to schools in Hominum. In Hominum, assuming that everyone was born equally incapable of magic, schooling began at the age of six and students ascended to the next grade with each passing year. There were many levels of schooling, and if one so wished, one might even be studying their whole life. School was compulsory until one's coming of age unless the family applied for homeschooling. In Refica, assuming everyone was born with various degrees of intrinsic magical abilities, school grades were determined by tests, not age. At the same time, as the competition to grand sorcerer was fierce and most families had only one child, parents often came up with their own ways of educating their child. Attending school was just one of those methods—the laziest one on the part of parents, truth be told—and while it was the most popular option, it wasn't very rare for witches to skip the institution and learn about witchcraft in their own ways.

"I didn't say I'm free today," Bentley protested mildly as he walked along the mostly empty streets that afternoon alongside Zanna.

"But you came," she pointed out, "That means you're free."

"You kind of just warped me out of my house, remember? It wasn't voluntary."

The girl laughed merrily but did not reply. They had arrived at one of the biggest academies in the area. Zanna looked left, looked right, then walked toward one of the benches in a nearby park to sit down. Her gaze was focused on the magnificent building.

Bentley sat with her. He observed her for a few moments before speaking again. "You seem kind of keen about this school," he said, "Why don't you go?"

Without tearing her gaze from the academy, she answered, "I'm waiting for the one."

"The one?"

"Yeah. You know, the fated one. When I see them, I'll go to school from Grade 1 with them."

"Wait, you mean soulmates? How are you even sure those exist? And how are you going to find them in such a huge world?"

"Well," she said, clasping her hands together as if praying to the almighty Odessa, "If they never show up, I'll just never go to school! There's no point in getting up every day at the same time doing the same things until half your life's passed. School can't possibly be fun without the one."

"...is that supposed to make sense? And how are you going to know even if you meet them?"

"I just will! That's how it works." Zanna halted for a second, scanning their surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "There! I've found the one!"

"What?" Bentley followed her gaze to find three people walking together. When Zanna spoke, they stopped and turned almost simultaneously towards the two of them. "...which one?"

The three people included a completely cloaked male, a young man with reddish brown hair, and a girl that looked to be just a little younger than him. They looked similar. Were they...siblings?

"The girl," Zanna whispered, having realized that she'd spoken too loudly.