Chapter 1 - Magic
"Nina, you spaced out again." Nina shook her head and returned to the real world. She surveyed the room she was in. She was sitting at a long, brown table. A steaming bowl of salmon and rice sat on the table before her. Nina raised her head to see her grandfather sitting at the table across from her, with his own meal before him.
"Sorry." Nina held her chopsticks in her hand and stabbed at the cubes of salmon in her bowl. She then began to eat her food before her grandfather got angry with her. The salmon was perfectly cooked as usual. Serin was a wonderful chef, she could cook anything. Serin took pride in making me like foods that I originally hated. Her most recent pride was seafood.
"I want you to start thinking about a higher education." Grandfather said out of nowhere. Nina stuck her chopsticks into her bowl. She rested her hands on her lap, looking down to them.
"Grandfather, I really don't want to talk about this right now." Nina sighed and placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand.
"Get your elbow off the table." He ordered. Nina looked to him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes. She raised her elbow from the table, placing her hand back on her lap. Why does he always want to talk about college? Nina thought, "you're 17 now, you've put this off for too long." Her grandfather then ate a spoonful of his salmon and rice.
"I don't want to go to college." Nina replied, her eyes staring at her grandfather. His eyes did not glance to hers for even a moment as he indulged in his meal. Nina clenched her fist in anger. The temperature in the room began to lower, "wizards aren't allowed to go to college." Her grandfather finally allowed their eyes to meet. His eyes were a boring brown, blending into what remained of his dyed brown hair. His eyebrows tilted downwards toward his oversized nose. His skin was fair, though he hid most of it behind his designer suits. His skin could make any teenage girl jealous. Grandfather was always trying to cling onto his youth as he had no successor to his business.
"You are not a wizard!" Silence hung over the two as fear shuttered throughout Nina's body. She felt her heart sink, wanting to be strong and tell her grandfather off. I am a wizard! Nina thought angrily. Her Grandfather always tried to convince her that she had a disease that caused her to produce magic. Rather, he tried to convince himself. Grandfather has always hated wizards because he believes they are all egotistical, that they were above those without magic. Nina researched this disease that her grandfather insisted she had retained. The local doctor, Sensen, assured her that no such disease existed to his knowledge.
"I am going to join a guild!" Nina announced. Her grandfather expressed extreme shock. The table began to shiver from his rage. His clenched fist was held to the table as grandfather calmed himself. There was a long time of silence. Nina's mind raced through all of the possibilities of what her grandfather could say to her next. Nina never yells, ever. She hardly talks around others. Nina never had a chance to learn how other people are, she was homeschooled her entire life. Her grandfather didn't want her to lose control of her magic in public, tarnishing their family's name.
"Leave." Her grandfather ordered in a hushed whisper. Nina stood up slowly, her legs trembling. What have I done? She thought to herself. Nina slowly walked across the aztec area rug that laid beneath the dining table. She reached the end of the rug, stepping onto the dark wood floor. Her hand caressed the golden door handle. She looked behind her, seeing her grandfather's unbelievable anger that he was suppressing until Nina left. She obeyed his wishes, opening the door handle. The giant door opened, she walked out into the hallway, closing the door behind her.
The hallway was long. It extended through the entire mansion. In front of the door to the dining room, a large staircase began. The staircase was also made of dark wood. Paintings that cost more than the mayor's house hung along the wall. They were expertly dusted and looked brand-new. Nina walked out of the dining room and turned right to ascend the stairs. They creaked slightly as she ascended, her hand shaking as she gripped the handrail. Each stair felt heavier and heavier, as if she had just run a marathon. What do I do? I'm going to join a guild whether he wants me to or not! Nina's thoughts ran through her brain, trying to process her next move.
A/N: Warning! Long description ahead! Feel free to skip! (You won't miss any of the story, I promise!)
Nina slammed the door behind her. Her feet sunk into the plush, white carpet beneath her. Her room was oversized, Nina often found it hard to make all of the space useful. Her bed was in the left corner of the room. It was a queen-sized bed with lavender sheets. The sheets accented the snow white walls that had a beautiful sky-blue design on the trim. The bed was surrounded with two nightstands of a light oak finish. Both held a silver lamp post with a light pink lampshade with a white accent stripe. The center of the room displayed a lavender couch that matched the bed sheets. A white blanket laid across the back of the heavily cushioned couch. The couch faced a fireplace decorated with a white trim. Two snowglobes rested on the ends of the mantle. They both had the same design, but different scenes inside. The on the left displayed a white fox playing with a snowball. The snowglobe on the right displaying a little girl riding a sled. A box rested in the center of the mantle. It was made of a dark spruce tree. Flowers were carved into the lid that was latched with a golden lock. To the right of the fireplace rested a tall, white bookshelf. It was packed fill of books that Nina had written herself. Each were at least 200 pages long. Her favourite was one called "Simpler", a story about a world without magic. Nina always fantasized about going to a world where everyone was the same. Her desk began after the bookshelf. The desk matched the bookshelf, but had glass shelves in the hutch. A collection of pencils laid on the left and right sides of the desk. Nina prided herself in being able to write with both hands. The shelves were filled with empty lined paper. Across the room from her desk was her dresser that was finished with the same wood as the dressers. A mirror hung above it, the same length as the dresser. A picture rested on the corner of the dresser, adjacent to it was a potted cactus with a pink flower on top of it.
Nina collapsed onto her bed with a hefty sigh. She sank deep into the memory foam mattress. I am a wizard! He just is afraid that I'm superior to him! Nina rolled onto her side, staring out of her window to the sunset. I am going to do what I want with my life! Nina clenched her fist, stopping when her nails began to hurt her skin. Her anger soared through her veins causing her eyebrows to wrinkle. She wanted to punch her bed so badly, but hesitated. Nina took a deep breath, her exhale turned into a deep sigh. Nina sat up in bed and held her hand out in front of her. Snow began to appear out of nowhere, circling around her hand. She closed her eyes and the snow fell to the ground. Nina's hands began to tingle from the snow, however she couldn't feel the cold. More snow began rising from the ground, in the shape of a puppy. Nina sighed and fell back onto the bed. Nina pat her hand on the bed and the puppy jumped on top of it, curling up next to Nina.
"Hey there Nino." Nina pet her snow-dog's head. The puppy began panting. Her tongue was pink even though she was made of snow. Her eyes were a beautiful crystal blue. Other than that, her body was pure snow white. Nino laid in a circle, her tail touching her black nose. Nino's head rested on Nina's hand. Nina looked back outside of the window, and the sun was gone. City lights sparkled over the horizon. Nina watched them flicker, feeling a sinking in her chest. She was fearful of what would come in the morning. What her grandfather would say to her, The last light in the city flickered off. Followed by Nina. Only nightmares awaited her tonight. That wasn't the worst of what was to come.