Agony is like shock. It jolts through the body, waking up every nerve, every artery, every vein. But unlike shock, it lasts.

Agony is the Cat when it sinks its nine teeth into your back. When you misbehave. When you displease the Hag.

Agony is the feeling when your best friend is lashed until unconscious, a still, barely breathing figure.

—

The one-three-nine rule applied only in the orphanage: one whip for enforcing good behavior, three for correcting imperfect behavior, and nine for removing terrible behavior. It's the only way to learn, says the Hag.

Of course, they don't call her the Hag in front of her. They would be burned alive.

—

The slowly rising sun peeked through the dusty window of the small, dark room that three girls, Lilac, Rose and Deiji, shared. There was a single bunk bed with three bunks and a creaky nightstand with three drawers: they contained all the girls' possessions.

The peaceful scene lasted for a few minutes since we started following our characters in this story, but then, something stirred. It was a human… a girl. The one who's thoughts and emotions we will be following, at least for now.

She had slightly tanned skin, was not very tall, and had shiny, luxurious hair, with a single misbehaving tuft, which she tied into a high ponytail upon waking. As she opened her eyes, we may observe that they were very dark, but not quite black… indeed, as the sun shone onto them, they glowed a shade of chocolatey brown. They were slanted and small, with single eyelids. Yes, I remember now… Lilac was her name.

As if startled, Lilac sat up suddenly and started shaking a tall slender figure with pale skin and dark hair. She was thin and graceful. The slumbering girl, whose name was Deiji, shifted but didn't rise. Lilac bit her lip and turned to a girl with gorgeous dark skin and thick curly hair, that had obviously been attempted to be straightened, however, it did not work very well. This one woke without much problem. Her eyes were brown too, a much lighter shade than Lilac's, and she as well tied her hair up. She carried herself with such grace and formality, and the way she smiled shone through her, so that she was an unparalleled beauty.

And this, unfortunately, is where I must leave you. You should exit my mind, now, and enter Lilac's.

—

Late, Lilac knew. Late.

The Hag never made exceptions. At Stonewall Orphanage, one must wake up at four, five at the very latest, and show up promptly for breakfast. Or else there was no breakfast.

Lilac didn't care about breakfast, though. The cold, mashed-up pint of stuff vaguely resembling food did not appeal to her appetite. But she was hungry. They were all hungry, always.

Especially Deiji.

—

"Lilac, Rose, Deiji, you are late." Whip. "You do not," Whip. "Get," Whip. "Breakfast!" Whip.

Lilac, perfectly (she hoped) concealing her immense exasperation, replied, as politely as one possibly could in such a situation, "Yes, Mrs. Williams."

Rose and Deiji responded in kind, Deiji perhaps a bit groggily, narrowing her translucent, beautiful brown eyes so that they, temporarily, lost their usual sparkle. The Hag huffed and turned away.

The Hag's real name was Mrs. Williams. But to every single girl at Stonewall, she was the Hag.

It suited her better, of course. She was a hag, very much. Ugly inside and out. She had thinning gray hair, warts, a creaky voice, and a habit of whipping or otherwise torturing children, which, as I hope you have noticed thus far, was not a great virtue, putting it mildly.

Stonewall Orphanage seemed like a welcoming, comforting place where a kind old woman takes care of orphaned or abandoned girls. It received donations from all around the world to support it, but most of the donations that supposedly went to this "non-profit" project went instead into the Hag's pockets. All the girls knew that, it was common knowledge after all, but most other people didn't. The money went to the lobby as well. And to the clothes, makeup, and accessories. To make the girls "presentable for adoption." There was barely any money left for the girls' rooms and food.

Though Lilac was hungry, there was no point in risking it. She had to leave, and now. To stay alive.

Stomach still growling, Lilac headed downstairs to her first lesson, Politeness. The staircase creaked and groaned one by one as the young child descended the stairs.

She tiptoed along the narrow hallway until she reached a door with peeling green paint and a label that read, "lassrcon I lo 2."

It used to say, undoubtedly, "Classroom No. 2," but enough of the glistening black print was peeled off for it to be quite illegible.

Lilac's heart started pounding, of its own accord, thought she, with apprehension- no, not apprehension. Fear. "Apprehension" was too subtle a word for the feeling tearing her veins apart. She fixed her demeanor, pasted on a false but somewhat realistic smile, and reached out, feeling the cold metal doorknob searing her skin. Forcing herself to concentrate, Lilac turned the brass doorknob.

The Hag wasn't here yet. Busy whipping children, likely. Thought Lilac bitterly.

But even as she thought, she prepared herself for—

Creaaaak.

"Lilac. You are here. Why are you slouching? Get up!" Whip. "Better. Homework?"

"Yes, Mrs. Williams," Lilac replied sweetly, curtsying. She held out a sheet of paper filled with words.

"Mm, yes. Okay. Now for today's lesson…"

—

Panting, Lilac dragged the mop to a corner of the room. Finally, she was done with the extra work that the Hag assigned her after Politeness. Lilac looked up at the old clock five minutes ahead, and it displayed "11:55."

Exactly ten minutes until lunchtime, she thought.

Through the entire morning, she wasn't able to see Rose or—

"Deiji! Why are you here?"

"Got out of Arithmetic, finally. We have ten minutes, hopefully enough to visit some friends, and you can practice your singing! Rose got whipped, by the way," Deiji added, tossing her dark brown hair, "by the Cat."

Worry overcame Lilac. Rose was one of the Hag's favorites, and if she was whipped by the Cat, she must've done something wrong.

"We need to talk to her later," replied Lilac, frowning slightly, "but for now, let's rest."

Deiji dragged Lilac by the arm and pulled her back to the minuscule room that vaguely resembled a dormitory.

"Sing. Now," Deiji insisted.

Lilac grumbled, "I don't feel like it."

Deiji pursed her lips. "You know we don't have time to practice! Try. Now. Plee-eaaase Lilac, just once?"

Lilac furrowed her brow in concentration, and finally let out a deep thrumming sound, like the plucking of a double bass. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, it stopped. "I can't, Deiji! It comes to me, I don't go to it. I can't force myself to sing!"

"Then say the words again. I don't care if I don't get to visit my python today, just say those words! Do something awesome!"

"What? Which words?"

"The 'I expect a guardian' words, dummy!" Deiji cried in clear exasperation.

"Expecto Patronum?"

"Something like that."

Lilac smacked her forehead. She hadn't tried to make the mist in a long time. "Deiji, it's not going to work. It only worked the first time!"

"But try? Please, please, please?"

Giving up to Deiji's convincing, Lilac held up her hands. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Yay!"

Lilac cleared her mind of all thought and emotion, and said, "Expecto Patronum!"

Nothing. As always. Lilac felt frustration take over her thoughts, and one lightbulb flickered and was extinguished. She realized with a jolt what she was doing, and she suddenly had a thought, quite like a lightbulb of her own. "Deiji, what if…"

The bell. Lilac tugged onto Deiji's arm and dashed downstairs in six seconds flat. (Oh fine, six seconds and two hundred thirty-five milliseconds, but it's much more fun to say six seconds flat!)

As they reached the last step, Lilac flew to her seat and Deiji to hers, just in time to catch the Hag's announcement in the whole.

"Lunchtime," said a bored voice. The Hag. For once, not whipping, scolding, or otherwise bullying or harassing children. "Somebody has come for adoption. Come here during your second afternoon class for selection."

This was a rare event, for, as Lilac knew, it took about a month to fill out all the papers, and wait in line, if you wanted to adopt from Stonewall.

It has been over a month, now, since the last adoption. A month since Deiji's birthday.

She still remembered the day when Deiji had suddenly said, "I'm eleven now."

"Really?" Lilac asked, astonished. "How do you know? None of us know our birthdays."

"The Hag told me, believe it or not. My mother had me in the orphanage, named me, then ran off," Deiji replied matter-of-factly.

"If you're turning eleven today, then I must already be eleven!" Lilac exclaimed with sudden realization. She had always thought of herself as a ten-year-old.

"You're older than me?" Deiji said, puzzled.

Indeed, it was puzzling. Deiji was much taller than Lilac, but the Hag had asked Lilac if she remembered Deiji's arrival (which she didn't, seeing that she was barely a month old.) But at least, it proved that Lilac was the elder one.

"One minute until the bell rings!" reminded Rose, halting Lilac's train of thought.

Lilac instinctively looked up at the clock and a rush of fear ran through her. 12:04. She would have been dead without Rose.

"Thanks!" Deiji smiled gratefully.

The three girls headed to the cafeteria, where they were earlier (for once) than the Hag to come down. When the unfortunate event mentioned prior did actually happen, the Hag made the announcement. "Somebody has come for adoption. Come here during your second afternoon class for selection. A woman has signed up for the waiting list. Expect another adoption in one month."

Deiji was excited, but Lilac knew that she had a low chance of being selected. Deiji, Lilac, and Peony all did. The Hag always made sure that the adopters knew that the three of them were troublemakers (Deiji), had a learning disability (Peony) or just plain weird (Lilac).

Rose and Iris, however… They were perfect. It was nearly impossible to believe that they weren't adopted yet.

Hoping against hope that she would be the one, she or Deiji or both of them, or Peony, maybe, she muttered "I expect a guardian" in Latin, with the vivid image of being adopted in her mind.

And barely had she uttered the words, a strange blue mist started leaving her hands. Nobody seemed to notice. Shocked and a bit scared, Lilac nearly yelped aloud. The mist stopped suddenly.

Sure enough, when the young couple came for the children, they chose Iris, the Hag's favorite. Lilac tried not to feel disappointed, but she couldn't help the tiniest tug in her heart.

The Latin did not work. But she had another chance in a month, which was…

Now was the time. Lilac took her place between Chrysanthemum and Tulip, letting the latter's mousy brown hair brush the back of her neck.

The adopter marched in. She was an old woman, but not short like the Hag: very tall, in fact, and was dressed rather peculiarly, with an emerald green garment that nearly draped onto the floor. Her gray hair, with a hint of coal black still embedded in them, was tied up into a tight bun, and she wore a stern and slightly strict expression.

"These are the girls?" Her voice reflected her demeanor in every possible facet.

"Yes, ma'am." The Hag's voice was oddly sweet and girly next to strangers, much unlike the harsh and commanding intonation they were used to at the orphanage.

The woman peered over her spectacles at each one, pretending to check them out. Lilac didn't know how, but she simply knew that this new woman already knew which one, or ones, she wanted exactly.

"Ah, yes, ma'am, if you would allow me to provide some… advice, see? This one is Peony. She can't do anything right! Oh yes, and that's Rose… perfect except her dreadful skin color, disgusting!" (Oh, please, the Hag cannot be talking. She's just a plain racist jerk) "I see you've reached the troublemaker, Deiji… a real troublemaker, I'll tell you that. Now, this is Lotus, she's top of the class in studies, but old… fifteen!" Lilac had registered that Lotus was, in fact, seventeen. "This is Chrysanthemum, very shy but otherwise good, this is the weirdo, Lilac. Don't take her! It'll be bad luck. Anyway, this is Tulip. Lazy, lazy girl, but very kind. Now take your pick! You said two, right? I suggest taking Rose and Chrysanthemum, or maybe Lotus too…"

"Thank you for your advice," the adopter said coldly, putting stress on the last word, as if it were foul tasting on her lips, "but I can make my own decisions."

"Oh, of course, ma'am, of course… Now, which do you choose?"

The woman appeared to think for a moment before saying, "The 'troublemaker' Deiji and the 'weirdo' Lilac. Those are the two I want. And do not judge me, I have my reasons."

The Hag, slightly stunned, stuttered, "Y-yes ma'am, o-of course, of c-c-course. Lilac, D-Deiji, go at once!"

Lilac, feeling even more stunned than the Hag had seemed, forced herself to take a step closer to the woman, attempting her sweetest smile. Deiji looked as if she was feeling the same way.

"And one more thing?" The woman, who had been back-facing the Hag, turned around and looked as if she just remembered something.

"Yes?"

"May I see their living quarters?"