Chapter 5

"Miss?" She blinked groggily at the bright light. Trying to focus on the silhouette above her. "Guys, she's waking up. Miss, are you alright?" She raised her arm to cover her face.

"Ugh, too bright…" She heard laughter and the sound of curtains being closed. She opened her eyes to find herself in an old-fashioned bedroom. How she knew it was old fashioned she didn't know. Slowly she sat up and looked around the room. There was a fancy-looking dresser with a matching mirror. Stonewalls that someone had hung a large tapestry from in an attempt to cover them up. Pale pink curtains hung in front of what she presumed to be a window with a chair beside it. A wardrobe near the door and finally, the bed she was in and the bedside table.

There were also 3 people in the room. Two of them were the boys from earlier. While the third was unknown. Peter and Erland looked to be a couple of years younger than herself while the third person was older. But something didn't seem quite right about that. Something told her that she was older than all of them, by a long shot.

Peter grinned brightly. "You're finally awake!" He was wearing a different outfit than before. Instead of the blue and white sailor's outfit, he now had on a pale blue tunic with and black leggings. He also was wearing a belt with a scabbard but instead of a sword, it was his wand.

Erland was wearing something similar. But different colours, dark blue tunic and smoky grey leggings. The last boy looked oddly familiar to the girl. He had ginger hair and bright green eyes. A vaguely square-shaped curl stuck out from his head. His clothing is the same as the other two but in greens and browns. He also wore a short cloak and a rapier hung from his waist.

"Where am I?" The girl asked, confused. Weren't they just in a forest?

The unknown boy answered, "This is the place of my cousin, Romilda." But that didn't explain to her what she was doing here. He continued as if he knew what she was thinking. "You fainted, Peter and Erland brought you here." Oh. That made sense.

There was a brief awkward silence before somebody spoke again. "Uh, anyways. Its almost lunch time so why don't you get ready and join us. Afterwards, we can show you around." The girl smiled brightly.

"Of course!" Erland and the unknown boy nodded and turned to leave. Peter grinned at her.

"I'll be waiting outside your room to show the way. Kay?" She nodded.

With that, the three boys left the room. Softly closing the door behind them. Leaving her alone with her thoughts. Her green eyes scanned the room one last time before she slipped out of the bed and threw open the curtains. Letting the sunlight embrace her in its warm grasp.

Peter leaned against the wall just outside the door sighing. This girl sure was a mystery. When Erland and he had found her, he thought that it was a little strange that she was sleeping in that den but hadn't thought too much about it. Maybe she was just seeking shelter, you never knew in this day and age.

But her powers were strange. Never before had he met someone with that amount of pure magical energy. It had been non-existent before that incident too, disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Now, he may not be old compared to others, but he was fairly sure that there had never been anyone else with powers like her. Except for maybe during the time of the ancients.

Creak. He pushed off the wall when he heard the door open. Turning to look at the girl as she exited the room. She wore a dress similar to the one yesterday that she must have found in the wardrobe. It was a solid dark blue with an apron in the front. The sleeves went all the way down with ruffles at the end. She still wore the ribbon from the other day.

"Alright," he cheered. "You ready to go?" She nodded shyly. He turned and pumped his fist in the air. "Let's go!" The girl followed him as he leads them down the hallway.

Romilda watched proudly as his students sparred. Golden eyes taking note of where they have improved and where they still need to fix some things. He turned his head when he heard the lunch bell ring. Wasn't Lucille on lunch duty today? She must be done. Turning back to his students he clapped his hands together.

"Alright, that's enough for now." The two stopped and held their weapons to their sides, bowing to each other to signal the end. "Its lunchtime now so please get ready. And don't forget to put the practice swords away."

They nodded, "Yes, Sir!" Well, at least they were quick about it. He turned on the spot, cloak swishing, and headed inside the castle. Alessio had visited him earlier to inform him that the girl was awake and joining them for lunch. He was curious to meet her. He has lived an exceedingly long time and never had he heard of someone with powers like her other than in old legends.

Perhaps, she could help them with their goal. But only if she wanted to. He wasn't about to force her to do something she didn't want to do.

She followed Peter down the corridor, only to come to another corridor, and another. Until they came to a spiral staircase which then leads to, yet another corridor. Finally, after what felt like ages, they arrived at a set of doors. She was going to get lost in this place.

Peter spun around to face her. "We're here!" He cheered loudly. "You'll love all my friends. There is Amity and Alton, they're like siblings but not. Alton is only visiting though; he has to go back soon." He paused before continuing. "There's Lucille, she's the oldest out of the permanent residents here other than Alessio's cousin. Alessio is that guy who was with Erland and me when you woke up. Sascha is here too, they're really cool."

She stared blankly at him, he cleared his throat and looked away awkwardly. "Uh anyways, this is where we eat normally. I think it was Lucille's day to cook. Let's go in." More awkward silence. "Yeah." He turned and opened the door, holding it so she could walkthrough. She took a deep breath and crossed the threshold.

Hiiii. Its been a while hasn't it. But guess what, I finished all my school work for the year so that means I'll have more time to write. I hope that y'all are liking the story so far. I would love to hear all your theories about it so feel free to comment and stuff. Like, who is the girl? well, that one might be kinda obvious.

Next time, we finally get a name for our protagonist and we find out the goal of all the residents of the castle. As well as just who this Romilda person is.

-Star

p.s. did I mention that I go by star now? I'm still trying to figure out how to change my account name.