Chapter 3.

Eight years old, the twins had finally begun their 'formal' education. The school was really more of a joke than anything else. Most children in Gardinia were needed to help at home either in the family trade or to watch the younger children. Only the slightly more prosperous families could afford to not have their children close at hand. Still, for the lucky few, the most basic of subjects, math, reading and writing were the rewards. The class took in maybe 40 of the 150 children of age in Gardinia. To those who could afford it, school was a chance for children get out of the house, and even have some fun, when the teacher wasn't watching too closely. Jensa had the children following her lead within a few days of starting class.

Each day, while they ate lunch, Jensa would share fantastical stories, or else tell of her recent escapades, embellished of course. Kyrin would add in bits here and there, always at just at the right time to best enhance the story. The other kids, ranging in age from 6-14 or so would gather round, spellbound by the tales. Needless to say, the twins were quite popular within the school, and quite unpopular among parents. Especially after the incident with one of the town's water wells.

Only two months into the school experience, Jensa shared a tale she'd overheard about a human who could breath underwater like a fish. Of course, she was convinced she'd seen one living in the town well. So Jensa gathered the school kids together after school one day.

"I'm telling you, she had greenish skin and webbed fingers and she was in the well! She disappeared as soon as she saw me, but she was definitely in there! I think we should try to talk to her."

"No way! She's probably a demon or something, out to steal our souls. You'll be cursed for sure if you try." Tig, one of the older boys nodded, as if he was the authority on such matters.

"Was she really green?" The youngest girl in the class, Vaza asked, eyes wide with fear and curiosity.

"Of course she was! And slimy looking too, like a frog. Wouldn't it be cool to talk to her? Assuming she can talk, that is."

By the time lunch was done, Jensa and Kyrin had almost half the kids agreeing to sneak out of their homes after dinner to try and tempt the fish girl to show up. Ordinarily, families didn't allow their children to go out after dark. Even Seylira tended to keep the twins close by, more fearing human danger, than spiritual. But it was only dusk when dinner was finished and they'd made the excuse that they'd forgotten something outside. By the time Seylira become suspicious, the girls were halfway to the well.

Only half the kids who'd promised to come actually showed up; an impressive turnout of five in total. Some probably had chickened out, but equally likely, they'd gotten caught by their caregivers and hadn't been able to sneak away. The sun was sinking below the horizon, dying the children red in it's fading light as the group approached the well.

The red light, coupled with the mischievous look on Jensa's face was enough to make all but Kyrin back away. She looked almost demon-like as she spoke, flashing a grin, "so….who's brave enough to look?"

Five pairs of eyes searched each other's faces, all the while avoiding Jensa's lest she volunteer them for the job. It was Kyrin that spared them. Her tiny voice made them all look up, surprised to hear her actually speaking. She rarely spoke to anyone but Jensa, and certainly not to a whole group of people, always letting her sister be their spokes person.

"Lets all look at once." Jensa would nod her head in approval and motioned for the others to approach quietly. Seven children crowded around the well, pushing and shoving as Jensa pulled out the small candle she'd hidden in her pocket. Lighting it, she held it up, squinting to see down into the darkness.

"Well? Where is it?" Tig sneered, suddenly much braver now that there was nothing to see.

Jensa, never loosing confidence for a moment would just respond, "probably hiding from your stupid face. Be patient, will ya?"

One of younger girls gave a little terrified squeak, causing them all to jump. Jensa dropped the candle in surprise. As the light traveled down into the well, Kyrin's eyes opened wide in surprise as she saw a large splash in the water, preceding the extinguishing of the candle as it plunged below the surface. Kyrin would look up, thinking they'd all seen what she'd seen. But Jensa's face wasn't eagerly looking down at the water. Instead, she, and everyone else were staring up at a group of very angry, very frightened looking adults hurrying towards them.

"I should have know it was you two behind this! How dare you drag my child into your dangerous antics! Child of the devil, you two are-"

The resounding ring of a hand on face would echo across the grounds, rant stopped midsentence. It seemed as if Seylira had come from nowhere, suddenly placed between the twins and angry mob. "If you kept better watch of your own son, you'd have no need to scold mere children. Don't go blaming your failure of the innocent act of babes."

The woman's cheeks burned red, but she'd retort, "big words from you! You couldn't keep your charges in either! I suppose it comes from having an absent mother and a lax guardian. Mark my words, those two hooligans will one day find themselves in trouble so big even you won't be able to get them out of it."

The next few minutes would be very noisy and chaotic as parents began hurriedly dragging their kids home, out of the dangers of nightfall. Silence fell as just Seylira, Jensa and Kyrin were left behind. The silence was probably the loudest thing the twins had ever heard, because in that absence of words, they realized how much trouble they were in.

"'Lira we're-"

"No. Don't even try to explain. You know that I encourage your curiosity, hopeful that you will not learn to distrust the world around you. But I also didn't raise you to take stupid risks. You know that it's dangerous at night, and you know how people around here are. Do you want everyone here to start accusing you of being cursed, of being demons? Your father has worked so hard to protect you from narrow-minded people, and this is a pretty poor way of repaying him. Now not another word out of you two. We're going home, now."

The twins would follow along, wordlessly. The next day, three of the kids who'd gone to the well had been removed from the school. The rest of the children had been told stories about the twins. Stories horrible enough that the children actually listened to parental warnings and stayed away. By the end of the day, word had spread, and the Devron children were officially labeled outcasts among the students. And in the midst of all that turmoil, Kyrin had completely forgotten about the strange splash and greenish shadow she'd seen that night at the well.