"And now I don't know what to do now. I'm afraid of what will happen if I tell someone, but I know I can't leave." Rachael says as she finishes up tell Shreya the whole shebang.

"I'll help you." Shreya smiles.

"You will? Why would you do that?" Rachael asks shocked. "I don't mean to sound suspicious, but you barely know me. Why would you stick your neck out for me?"

"Because it sounds like fun." Shreya shrugs. "Part of the reason I came to college was to meet all different kinds of people! And you, Rachael, are quite an interesting person. But have you ever considered that there may be magick in you? Have you tried any?"

"Well... no..." Rachael sighs.

Shreya stayed silent for a moment before an idea popped in her head. "I've got it! Come on, let's go before the shops close."

"Wait, Wait. Where are we going? I thought we couldn't leave campus." Rachael asks confused.

"There are a few pre-selected places we're allowed to go. Like Penn Square for example." Shreya says leading her over to a door with five different handles. "Along with the lake and the one that opens up in a tree."

She skimmed over the labels next to the door handles, turning the one engraved with 'Penn Square' and opening it up. They stepped out into a quaint little town with booths lining the square and a street of small little boutiques.

"Whoa..." Rachael gasps looking around.

"Charming, right?" Shreya smiles.

They both looked around, one in shock and one in excitement. "Um...Is that vendor selling heads?" Rachael asks pointing towards it.

Shreya quickly grabbed her by the forearm and started to drag her away. "Yes, But you'll want to stay away from those unless you want to end up with a nasty curse. Now come on, no time to waste! We need to get you something to help with that whole 'no magick' thing."

"And how exactly are we supposed to fix that?" Rachael asks, as she leads her to a small quaint looking shop.

"Let's get inside and see if they have what we're looking for." Shreya smiles dragging her inside the store.

It was much larger inside than she was expecting and every inch of the store was covered in trinkets, clothes, and a bunch of strange glowing objects.

"How are we supposed to find anything in here?" Rachael asks, looking around at the wall to wall mess.

"That's where I come in! Oh, um, just a second, please." A female voice called out from the back of the shop.

A rustle from a pile of lamps beside her jump and cause an avalanche of rusted candelabras from a high shelf right towards her. She flinched waiting for impact, but it never came. They had stopped just above her head and were just floating there.

"Sorry about that! I was organizing some of the floghart's droppings we store under this armoire" A tall green skinned woman with vines wrapped around her arms spoke as she gestured to the candlestick making them place themselves back on the shelf. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you."

Rachael observed her carefully and she smiled in return. "First time meeting a wood nymph? I'm Aster. I run this shop." She smiles at her putting her hand out to shake it.

Rachael took it and seemed surprised when her skin felt like polished wood. "I'm Rachael. You're-You're...Wow, You're beautiful."

"That's quite sweet of you to say." Aster smiles at her. "Through, beauty is nothing but a mere construct. I guess the same could be said of us. We too were nothing but shapeless atoms once..."

She paused looking off into the distance her eyes turning a dark black color, she seemed to have zoned out completely. "Interesting..." Aster mumbles as her eyes return to normal and focuses back on Shreya. "Oh! It's you again! I was hoping you'd be back."

"I'd assume so. I spent a minor fortune the last time I was here." Shreya smiles. "Listen, love, do you have any marbles? My friend here is worried about the first day of classes and wants a boost."

"Yeah, anything would help really." Rachael sighs.

Aster's eyes twinkled upon hearing the word class and she went behind the counter to get something. "So you're a Penderghast student too? You both are so lucky! I've been begging Papa to let me go, but he's still bitter about all that wand business."

She set a polished wooden box on the counter, with 'Mistry Miracle Marbles' engraved on top with gold lettering. Rachael glances at Shreya briefly before lifting the lid off the box to reveal four different color orbs.

"What are they?" Rachael asks looking over them.

Shreya picked up a clear orb from the box with white smoke swirling around inside it. "One of Mistry Inc.'s bestsellers. Each of these orbs contains enough magick to perform one spell per element. They may be small, but they pack quite the punch. Like one very beautiful, very down to earth heiress we all know and love." She placed it in Rachael's palm and she let it roll around her palm before folding her fingers over it. "And this little guy is yours."

"But why would people with magick need something like this?" Rachael asks.

"You can use it instantly instead of taking the time to build a spell, and it won't use up any of your own magick so you can cast again immediately." Shreya explains.

"They're the best on the market! Of course, they only work for the elements which they correspond." Aster adds.

"How do you even use it?" Rachael asks looking at the ones left in the box.

"Ah. Aster, do you have any singles?" Shreya asks.

Aster rummages through a drawer pulling out a blue orb and handing it to her. "It'll cost you, and I must insist that you go outside to-"

Before she could even finish her sentence Shreya had rolled it between her finders and raised it up toward the ceiling making a raincloud appear over her head. The blue smoke disappeared from the orb and it began raining. "See? Easy."

"You attuned never listen." Aster huffs, the leaves in her hair rustling.

Shreya snaps her fingers and makes the cloud disappear with a blast of air to dry everyone off. "Oh don't be such a tenacious toad, Aster. What do you think, Rachael? These will surely come in handy."

"Thanks, Shreya. But if one isn't enough, then there's really no helping me." Rachael sighs, pocketing the white marble she had in her palm.

Shreya handed Aster a shiny violet coin, and Aster's eyes widened. "I assume this is acceptable."

"Absolutely." Aster smiles quickly putting it away.

Both girls said their goodbyes to Aster before leaving the shop and returning to their dormitory.

"So, now that you've got a bit of magick to take into battle, do you think you're ready to face tomorrow?" Shreya asks.

"Honestly, I don't see how it'll matter after this Attunement placement thing. Seriously, Shreya, what am I going to do?" Rachael sighs letting her anxiety get the best of her.

Shreya put a gently hand on her shoulder. "You're going to get through this because I'm going to help you. And I'm just too fabulous to fail."

Rachael cracked a smile and laughed in return. Glancing over Shreya's shoulder a mirror catches her eyes a strange for inside it, like a shadow or a smoke creature. "Hey, do you see that?"

"What?" Shreya asks turning around to see what she was pointing at.

Rachael stepped closer to the mirror looking around to try and find the source of the reflection, but came up empty. As she approached it, it was the same version of herself she had seen earlier, but something was different. Something else was there.

"Rachael!" Shreya says putting her hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting any closer to it.

A the strange smoke creature from inside the mirror turned a dark red color the black smoke admitting from it at a faster pace. It launched itself from the mirror and into the room towards her.

"Shit!" Rachael gasps going to take a step back and tripping over herself falling onto her back as the creature jumps towards her. She threw her hands up to protect herself a bright warm light emitting from her hands and blast a hole through the creature. "How-"

She sat up quickly seeing the monster was gone along with the light though she could still feel the power of it coursing through her veins.

"What the hell was that!" Rachael gasps, looking back at Shreya.

"I don't know..." Shreya says still in shock. "But it looks like there maybe be more hope for you yet."