BEING REWRITTEN

3 | Ella

Tuesday, November 26, 2019 | 7:00 am

Pink, blue, purple-- No. Rose, cornflower, amethyst. Yes. Better. That's what she saw. As soon as they were identified, they disappeared.

It was only the first minute of first block and Ella wanted to leave. She occupied herself by trying to hone in on her curse. Master it, maybe. She was doubtful she would anytime soon, but if she had to outline one more textbook chapter it might just become a reality.

Ella was a special case. Ella was an aura reader.

Desirable by others, hated by herself. It was quite the nuisance to suddenly have colors fly from all directions of the people around you. She didn't choose when she saw it, but it almost hurt her to know that it was possible to control it. She wasn't the only aura reader, but even among mages, they weren't common at all, and were extremely desired among the workforce.

Since she couldn't figure out how to tame the power, she decided to hone in on what it actually meant. Strictly when she felt like it, Ella studied color wheels. If she could understand how to describe the hues, it would become easier for her to pin the person.

It crossed her mind that, since she was in her last year of the academy, she should probably find a mentor to fine tune the curse. Of the two possible candidates, they both were uninterested in helping her. If she couldn't get help outside of her circle though, she would take it upon herself to learn how to use it. After all, that shit made money.

A good friend of hers was helping her do this. They had known each other since kindergarten, but Ella had a sneaking suspicion that there was something she wasn't telling her. With all of the times she had helped her, she always brought new knowledge that not even the aura reader knew about. Up until recently, she had just been brushing it off as her friend being extremely smart (because she did have amazing grades, after all), but she was telling Ella things that not even she could fact check.

Most of the rest of Ella's day was boring, making idle chat with classmates and spending her lunch with her friend Todd, where she let gossip spill. The girl was one to stay out of drama herself, but boy did she love to talk about it.

During the next block, she was called up to see the Headmaster. She didn't know why, and it didn't sound urgent, so she didn't really care. The offices of the administration were on the very first floor of the building, so she cursed at the knowledge she'd have to travel up another four stories after the meeting.

The halls were quiet since classes were in session, but before she could reach her destination, she ran into something blocking her path. Or rather.. A whole person pacing in front of the office she was supposed to enter.

"Um.. excuse me?" She greeted, getting the short girl's attention. The blonde stopped her pacing and looked up to the speaker.

"Oh.. Sorry. Ella, right? Were you called here too?"

Fuck. She didn't know this girl's name, although she did recognize her as being in the same grade. Guess she'd find out in the meeting, although her guard was up now that she knew she was called here with another person who she had nothing to do with. She couldn't place what this could be about.

"Yeah, I was. Well, uh.. Are we gonna go in?"

The short girl blocking the door turned around, knocking timidly twice before announcing the two of them.

"Uh... Headmaster? It's Mira. And Ella Morris is here too."

Damn, this girl must be one of those observer types. She's never had a class with her, but somehow she knew her name, and she wouldn't be surprised if this Mira could point out someone by first name at random. It made her feel less bad about not knowing her name at first, though.

There was only a brief pause before the headmaster invited them in her spacious office, and she immediately took note of the other occupants who she wasn't at all familiar with. What was this about?

"Oh!" She turned her head to see Mira looking at an older man standing next to Ms. Rosaline. "Oh, goodness. Did I offend you yesterday, sir? If I did I truly apologize. I didn't mean.." Although she trailed off when a hearty laugh was heart from the corner of the room.

There stood a man, probably in his late thirties or early forties, who had salt and pepper hair and--

Her eyes flashed.

Yellow. Bumblebee?

"Dear girl, I don't think you could offend anyone with those macarons of yours." Bumblebee spoke, a genuine and friendly smile on his face. She liked this man.

"As much as I'd love to talk more about that sweet little cafe, you girls may want to sit down for this proposition." The man standing next to Ms. Rosaline said, nodding to someone she had failed to notice until now. She glanced over.

"Hailey?"

"Hi, Ella." Hailey chuckled, walking over and standing next to Bumblebee. "And Mira, too. I know you're probably both confused, but Aldritch here is going to explain it all." She looked over at the man standing with the gray beard and long, disheveled hair.

For a man his age, she expected him to not have as much hair, but instead he had it pulled back into a short ponytail. Nonetheless, this Aldritch started to explain.

"My name is Aldritch. I'm sure you already know Hailey, and my colleague over there is Amos. We come from a branch of law enforcement called The Guild. You shouldn't have heard of it, and if you have this discussion may not be as nice as I would have expected.." He chuckled, trying to break a bit of the tension. "Hailey here is my apprentice, and sworn to secrecy, so please forgive her for not speaking about her mentorship. Speaking of which, neither of you are to say a word of this outside of this office."

Aldritch shoved his hand in his pocket to retrieve a wallet-looking thing, and slid it in Mira and Ella's view open. It was a badge. Probably proof, and good thing too, because even in the magic world this sounded like bullshit to her. The most believable thing she was getting out of this so far was that their Headmaster was in it.

"The Guild serves as a secret branch of law enforcement permitted to use magic in their field work. All members are handpicked, and The Guild is on a strictly need-to-know basis. We're a very small branch, and only launch investigations on case files that we're given by higher-ups. We don't take reports from civilians or anything like that. Anyway, the reason we've called you two here today is to offer you both a mentorship. Mira, you would be taken in by Amos. Ella, unfortunately who we had picked out as your mentor couldn't be here, but if you accept you'll be able to meet her in the office tomorrow."

"What would they be able to teach me?" Ella wondered, unintentionally out loud, but she ended up being glad she asked.

"Mrs. Mai Li is an aura reader, just like you. She's offered to take you in and teach you a thing or too."

Ah, so that's where Hailey's been getting all that information from. She had to admit this offer was extremely tempting, and exactly what she had been looking for.

"What about our families? The Guild is secret, isn't it?"

Ella turned her head slightly to glance at Mira, who had just spoken. The girl had a point. What would they tell their parents? And would there need to be any permission forms signed?

"Since The Guild is secret, we can't disclose specifically to your parents the details of your mentorships, but since The Guild is also still technically a branch of Law Enforcement, we can have them sign a permission form for a general apprenticeship with the NYPD without specific branch placement."

"Alright, I'm in." Ella sat up. She was sold. Ms. Rosaline was here approving everything, Hailey was in on it, and this was either a very elaborate prank or the next step in her journey to mastering her curse.