The magic exam. The day soon arrives, leaving me terrified. How could I possibly survive this? Not to mention that I was immediately torn out of the running by Aladdin's amazing ability. Still, I pretend that I have no fear as I walk into the blinding sunlight. I have no spells, but I listen to the Rukh surrounding me. My staff, a plain hunk of wood, twists itself to the right. My eyes are closed, but they flick open as a giant tree grows from nothing. It doesn't stop there. From the roots, snakes slither out. Birds fly from the branches that form haphazardly, cracking the borg surrounding it. I move my staff back to the original position I had it in, but the tree didn't stop growing. Finally deciding it was time to stop it forcefully, I move the staff out, then up, bringing it down with the speed of the lightning that suddenly splits the tree, killing it. Thankfully, everything else is okay.
"First kodor!"
These words surprise me. Me? That powerful? I was just Faiza Nejem, a failure in my own kingdom. I back away, fearing the worst. However, I knew in the back of my mind that this was real. A first kodor. I'm actually pretty powerful.
~'~
"Congratulations, Faiza! I knew you could do it!" Aladdin's words made me smile. It wasn't even shy. It was full on, full faced, full hearted joy.
"Thank you, Aladdin! You were amazing!" I squeal, forgetting myself. "I didn't know you could do magic like that! It was wonderful! Just completely wonderful!"
"I didn't know you could do something like that either! I mean, a tree out of nothing? That's amazing!"
Right then, Sphintus walks up, seeming different than normal. A wide grin parts his face. He begins to chat with Aladdin, leaving me isolated in the middle of a party. I breathe in deeply, trying to get ahold of myself. That's when a familiar red panda skitters on the floor, leaving a bunch of people freaking out. It runs straight towards me. I crouch down, catching it and holding it in my arms.
"What's that thing doing here?"
"Look, Nature Chick got the rat."
"What even is it?"
"Mumin, are you okay?" I ask the creature. He chirps, snuggling close to me. "Silly critter..."
"That's yours?" Sphintus asks, making a face at me. I turn to face him.
"He followed me for a long time while I was leaving my country, so I took him in. This is Mumin. He doesn't like staying in my room all by himself. Isn't that right, Mu?"
Again, the silly critter chirps, leaping onto my shoulder. I giggle, feeling a little braver. Suddenly the weight is gone from my shoulder. Some boys had taken him away.
"W-wait!" I begin to run after them, trying to save my friend. "Stop it!"
They had started to put him in water, holding him under.
"We're just drowning this rat for you, Miss!" one laughs evilly.
"You can't! Mumin, MUMIN!" I scream, trying to get past them. Anger swells in me. I begin to claw at them, leaving giant scratches. Finally, a hand claps on my shoulder. I watch as a tan boy with a cobra around his neck pushes them aside, pulling a still red panda from the water. I naturally take the creature from the boy, checking his pulse. There is none. Still, I refuse to give up. I give chest compressions to no avail. Mumin was gone. I stand without a word, anger replacing my grief for a few moments. I leave my staff next to the small creature before approaching the boys that were still laughing at him. With dead eyes, I look straight up at the one with the main role. I punch him straight in the face, breaking his nose.
"Why you-"
That's when I attack fully, allowing myself to break as many bones as I can before strong arms pull me out.
"You killed him! You killed Mumin! You're worse than monsters! You're sniveling bastards that don't deserve to live! Let me go! I'm gonna kill them!"
"Calm down, he's alive! We used some healing magic. Mumin is fine!" Sphintus's voice drowns out my yelling. I let myself go limp, still shaking. The grip on me loosens, allowing me to scramble to my pet.
"Mumin, I'm sorry..." I apologize as the red panda opens his eyes. I scoop him up in my arms before snatching up my staff and standing up. "Count yourselves lucky that you weren't killed." I growl menacingly at the monsters before walking off to my room. I watch them gulp in fear, genuinely scared for their lives. It brings me a bit of sadistic pleasure to reflect on as I go to sleep that night.
The morning sun reveals me in the breakfast hall, Mumin on my shoulder. Since the incident last night, he seems a thousand times more clingy. I didn't mind. Soon, I notice some battered wizards skittering in, so I meet them with a cold glare. I watch them run faster at that with satisfaction.
"That was a little uncalled for." Sphintus sighs over his breakfast, his tired eyes boring into me.
"What was?"
"Beating them half to death."
"It really wasn't. They tried to kill Mumin. What would you do if someone hurt your cobra?"
"Kill them."
"And my reaction was uncalled for. He's closer to me than almost everyone. I was completely justified."
"Fine, fine. Whatever floats your boat, Fai."
"Whatever, Phi."
"Phi?"
"So I can't give you a nickname?"
"Not that one."
"What can I call you, then?"
"Sphintus."
"So no nickname?"
"Nope."
"Then Phi-Phi it is."
"NO! What makes you think that's okay?"
"Nothing, I was just teasing. I won't give you a nickname."
"How bothersome."
"Yeah, yeah. I get that a lot." I look down, scratching behind Mumin's ear. "You know, bothersome, reckless. I get called stupid a lot. Whatever, it isn't like it's original."
"Wait, you're serious?"
"Why would I lie?"
"There's no way! Why would people treat you so badly?"
"Because I stood in my brother's shadow for a long time. At least, that's my guess. It really isn't clear."
"Brother?"
"Yeah, Mus'ad. He's the only reason I came to this school. He's my best friend. I wish I was as strong as him. We never really separated until I came to this school, so we're really close. He went to Leam to become a gladiator. He said that the more he knew about fighting, the better of we'd be, so he sent me here."
"Is he older?"
"By about an hour. He's my twin."
"That's good. I mean, at least you have somebody, right?"
"I guess so... I mean, everybody's got to have somebody."
