First chapter, let's go!
Her alarm wasn't the thing that woke her up that morning, nor was it the next door neighbour's baby screaming in his bed. It wasn't the birds chirping on the rooftops, and it wasn't even her brother, who was usually the first to wake up.
No, Morrigan Chambers woke up that day because of the nerves.
They made her stomach twist and sent tantalising waves of nausea through her body, as if they knew just how much she hated them and wanted to drag out their torture.
The nerves had woken her up at the ungodly time of 5:30 in the morning - half an hour before her alarm was set to go off. Morrigan wouldn't usually have it set so early, heavens no, but today wasn't like any other day.
It was the reason her nerves were so hectic.
It was her first day at Alfea College for Fairies and Specialists.
Morrigan's older brother, Rowan, was going into his third year and was 'as cool as a cucumber' - his words, not hers - about going back.
But that was clearly the opposite to her.
Mor had tossed and turned in her bed that morning, trying to force herself back to sleep and will her nerves to settle, but to no avail.
Rowan had walked into her room, banging two pans together with no care for the neighbours, but had stopped almost immediately when he realised she was actually awake (realised meaning Mor sent vines shooting up his legs to his arms and kept him in place with a flick of her wrist).
It was no secret Mor was exceptionally powerful for her age, even though she never really spoke about it. She easily surpassed anyone her age, and possessed more control than anyone even her brother's age.
Or at least, that's what everyone else saw.
Resting her head on the car's chilled window, Mor sighed as she gazed out at the scenery whizzing by in a blur of countryside colours. All the wonderful hues of greens and blues and browns that were non-existent in the city. Even though her family lived on the outskirts of Solaria's capital, Mor had always loved it when they escaped to the countryside. Maybe it was because she was an Earth fairy, or maybe it was because it was just what she preferred, but she'd always felt like the country was like a breath of fresh air.
It reminded her of a divine fingerprint, curving and changing, no two parts the same. In all the world, the countryside view was unique, such was the way of the organic world. The dip and sway of the land, the patterns and species of flora, the ever changing sky and wind. Every day was a new snapshot in time, for even in the magic-filled Otherworld, it would never be exactly the same two days in a row. Little by little the seasons would bring changes, shifts in the natural balance. The country always had a way of reminding Mor that she wasn't different from nature, but a part of it - that it lived and breathed inside of her, pulsing in her veins and sprouting from her fingertips.
"How are you feeling, pip?" Her father, Cornelius, asked, glancing back at her through the rear-view mirror, shaking her from her thoughts.
Mor smiled at the familiar nickname. In all truths, she couldn't remember where it came from, but her father had always called her pip. Her brother, however, would always take the mick and call her pipsqueak instead.
"Like I'm gonna throw up." She laughed nervously, straightening up in the car seat.
Rowan, who was sitting in the passenger's seat, swivelled round and pointed away from him, "If you do, please do it that way."
Cornelius harrumphed, slapping her brother round the back of the head before swiftly returning his hands to the steering wheel, "Not funny, Row."
"It wasn't supposed to be." Rowan grinned, shrugging as he faced the front once more.
Her father shot him an unimpressed look, "Come on, Row, it's your sister's first day. She's bound to be nervous!"
"I know that," Rowan huffed, "All I'm saying is that I'd prefer not to have puke all down my neck."
"Guys," Mor chuckled, shaking her head at her family, "I'm fine-"
Her eyes widened and her hand went to her stomach as she lurched forwards, her other hand gripping the back of her brother's seat.
Cornelius gasped and the car swerved slightly, and Rowan yelped, jerking away from her as she gagged.
"Other way, other way!" Rowan squealed, waving his hands in the general direction of his father, "Not on me!"
Smirking, Mor collapsed back against her seat as laughs erupted from her lips, the sound bubbly and light.
She'd always been told that her laugh was highly contagious. It was loud and lively and light-hearted and held a warmth to it that always enticed others around her to join in. It always helped that whenever she was really in hysterics, the occasional snort would escape her.
Cornelius shot her a glare, "Don't do that, Morrigan! You gave me a damn heart attack."
"You're telling me?!" Rowan exclaimed, reaching back and smacking his sister on the knee, "I was almost vomited on!"
"Oh relax," Mor rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, "I was only playing."
"Easy for you to say," He scoffed, "You weren't the one about to be puked on!"
Mor groaned, rubbing the side of her face, "Bloody hell, Row, I wasn't going to be sick!"
"Language, young lady." Her father chided, and she sent him an apologetic look.
"Yeah, but you could've." The boy shrugged.
"Good god, how old are you again?" Mor laughed incredulously, "Dad, he's the older sibling, are you sure?"
"That sentence doesn't really make sense, pipsqueak." Rowan smirked, "Scientifically and grammatically."
"I think you'll find it is grammatically correct, idiot. Besides, the fact that you said 'doesn't really' makes it sound like you're not certain yourself. Maybe I'm-"
"Enough!" Cornelius growled in warning, "I do not want to spend the rest of the journey listening to you two bite each other's heads off, alright? If you guys have nothing nice to say to each other, don't say anything at all."
With one last glare at each other, the siblings reluctantly quit their bickering - Mor returning to the countryside out the window, and Rowan going back to fiddling with the radio and music.
Truth be told, Morrigan didn't really know how much time passed, but before long, they were driving down the manicured driveway and through the elegant, extravagant gates of Alfea College. She pressed her nose to the glass of the window slightly as she tried to take it all in from where she was sat, and a soft gasp slipped out of her.
"You look like a kid in a candy store, pipsqueak." Rowan snickered as he glanced back at her, but she just ignored him, her eyes too busy soaking up everything and anything.
The college stood there as if the surrounding nature had embraced it, that the flora flowed within it as much as around it. The rock walls belonged right where they were, as if perchance it had grown up right from that hallowed ground. It was as if it had been called into existence to protect those who came to dwell within, to quell the elements and allow a heat to build from hearths into the inhaled woodland air. It seemed to have a way of belonging to the earth it graced. An array of greys and browns mottled its walls; the kind of stone that reflects the sunlight into the ambient soul.
Students swarmed the front of the college, all lugging suitcases or bags behind them as they searched for their respective places to be. The sheer amount of people sent a sudden wave of nerves through her, making her swallow and draw away from the window.
The car halted next to countless others, and with slightly shaking hands, Mor opened the door and clambered out.
Cornelius appeared by her side, clamping a firm yet comforting hand on her shoulder and let out a long whistle, "Every time I see this place, I'm always left gobsmacked."
Mor nodded, eyes still wide as she turned on the spot, "I can see why."
Rowan walked passed the pair, completely unfazed by Alfea's beauty and slapped his sister's cheek gently as he went by, shocking her out of her trance-like state.
"Ow!" Mor rubbed her cheek - it didn't actually hurt, but she would sure as hell milk it.
Her brother rolled his eyes, "Quit whining, pipsqueak, I hardly touched you."
"I feel so sorry for whoever has to put up with the pair of you this year." Cornelius sighed, shaking his head as he followed Rowan to the boot of the car, and started to offload the luggage.
"So do I." Mor grinned shamelessly, helping her father take out her suitcase.
After everything was unloaded, Cornelius turned to his children with a saddened yet proud smile, and dragged the pair of them into a bone-crushing hug. Mor chuckled softly, wrapped her free arm around her father, and snuggled her face into his coat, inhaling his safe scent for the last time for a while. Rowan, however, just awkwardly patted Cornelius's back, glancing around occasionally to see who was watching the interaction.
Couldn't have anything spoiling his 'cool kid' image, now could he?
"Ok, alright, Dad." Rowan chuckled, pulling away from the hug, "I do need oxygen to breathe."
"Sorry," Cornelius smiled sheepishly, and sniffed, "I'm just gonna miss you two around the house. It's going to feel so empty."
"Dad, stop." Mor whined, "You're gonna make me cry."
"I mean, it was alright when it was just Rowan at the college, but now both my babies are all grown up-"
"Oh my god." The boy aforementioned muttered, shifting on his feet as he glanced around.
"Leaving the nest-" Cornelius continued.
Mor ran a hand through her hair, "Oh good lord."
"Flying the coop-"
"Dad..." Rowan mumbled.
"Finding your feet-"
"Make it stop..." Mor glanced at her brother.
"Entering your prime age-"
"Ok, Dad seriously, stop." Rowan interrupted, hands in his pockets, "Just-just stop."
Cornelius nodded, tugging the pair of them into yet another hug, before stepping back and smiling at them, tears glistening in his eyes.
He sniffed, "I'm going to miss you two."
"I'm gonna miss you too, Dad." Mor smiled, nudging her brother subtly.
"Yeah, yeah," Rowan nodded, "Miss you too."
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes then.
Her older brother by two years never seemed to show any forms of affection, or at least never seemed comfortable with it. At times, Mor understood that - it can be easier to act like you don't care than let your walls down and show just how vulnerable you can be. But acting that way when their clearly very emotional father was saying goodbye to them, was just not on. Mor had no idea why he acted the way he did around their father, the person who had loved and cared for the pair of them since before they could walk or talk, but she just wished he'd stop.
"Call me as much as you can, alright?" Cornelius fixed them with a look, "I want to know everything!"
"Bye, Dad!" Rowan waved at him, and Mor wanted to kick her brother where the sun don't shine as she watched a flash of hurt flicker across Cornelius's eyes.
"I'll call you tonight, Dad." Mor smiled at her father as he clambered back into the car, "I love you."
"I love you too, pip. I love you both so much." Their father nodded, before starting the engine.
Morrigan stepped back and watched as the car disappeared through the college's gates and down the mile-long driveway. Drawing in a somewhat shaky breath, she turned to her brother - only to find that an empty space remained. Eyebrows pinching, she spun on her heel, scanning the crowds of students all making their way around.
A sigh of relief escaped her as she spotted Rowan talking and laughing with another boy, his back to her. With one last glance down the driveway and her jaw clenching, Mor strode over to her brother, dragging her suitcase behind her, and slapped him round the back of his head for his disappearance and attitude with their father.
He stumbled forwards, and his friend's eyebrows raised significantly as he bit his lip to hide his laughter.
Muttering a string of unrepeatable curses, her brother turned round to face her so quickly, Mor had to take a step back, dropping her suitcase.
Only, she had to take another step back when horror and shock coursed through her body, and she felt the blood rush uncontrollably to her cheeks.
The boy standing before her with a face of fury, was definitely not her brother.
"What the fuck was that for?!" The boy spat, and his friend had to turn away to hide his snickers.
Mor shook her head, "I-I'm so sorry! I thought-I thought you were someone completely different!"
"What?" The boy pulled a face, "You just go around slapping random people, do you?"
"No!" Mor couldn't believe what she had just done, "No, of course not-"
"Really?" The boy spat, "Because that's exactly what it looks like to me!"
Figure stiffening and face hardening, Mor narrowed her eyes at him, "Look, I said I was sorry, ok?"
"Oh right, and that's supposed to make it all better, is it? I'm just supposed to take it just like that, am I?"
She crossed her arms over her chest, "Yes, that's how apologies work, dumbass, so maybe you should take your head out of your arse and accept it."
"Excuse me-" The boy began, and Mor could've sworn she saw steam coming out of his ears.
She didn't miss a beat, "You're excused."
In the back of her mind, she registered the boy's friend walk off in the direction of a redhead, but she was too focused on the person in front of her to care. Mor stayed statue-still as the boy raked his eyes up and down her body, an amused smirk tugging at the corners of his lips, his hand still rubbing the back of his head. His gaze was like fire, burning her with every second it lingered on her, as if he could see every insecurity, every scar, ever trauma hidden beneath her skin, and Mor resisted the urge to turn away from him.
She expected a smart, witty response, but instead his reaction shocked her even more.
"My name's Riven."
Mor schooled her features into neutralisation, "I don't remember asking."
"I told you my name, maybe you should take your head out your arse and tell me yours." Riven met her gaze, his mouth curved into a mischievous smirk as he used her own words against her.
"Clever."
"I'm still waiting." His smirk only grew, much to her annoyance.
After a moment of just staring at each other, she eventually huffed and rolled her eyes, "Morrigan. My name is Morrigan."
"Ah, so like the Irish queen, huh?" Her eyebrows raised at his surprising knowledge, but any ounce of admiration vanished swiftly as looked her up and down again, "Gotta say, you look more like a princess to me."
Mor tilted her head slightly, "And you look like a contentious, arrogant arsehole to me."
Riven clutched a hand to his chest, "You wound me, Princess."
"You'll survive."
"Oh definitely, but maybe a kiss would speed up the process?" He mimicked her and cocked his head to the side, the smirk never leaving his face.
She scoffed, "Kiss my ass."
"Gladly."
"You're a dick."
"I agree."
She wanted to punch him.
Huffing, Mor glanced around the slowly clearing courtyard, and picked up her suitcase, "I have to go."
Riven rolled his eyes, "What? Am I wasting your oh-so precious time?"
Mor narrowed her eyes at him again, fixing her green-eyed glare on him, "You, sir, do not deserve any of my time, unless you are secretly a shadowsinger named Azriel."
"Who?" His face scrunched slightly.
"And you just proved your worth."
Mor turned to leave, wanting to get away from the boy as quickly as she could.
She wanted to find her brother, make sure it was actually her brother, and kick him in the balls for leaving her alone.
However, before she could take even one step, Riven's calloused hand latched onto her wrist, "No, c'mon! Who is he?"
Mor raised an eyebrow, turning to face him and snatching her wrist out of his grasp, "Someone you don't deserve to know about."
Riven scoffed, rolling his eyes, "I bet I'm just as good, and no doubt better than him."
"Oh sweetie," Mor sighed, "don't be petty. Besides, no one is better than Azriel."
With that, she spun on her heel and marched off, dragging her suitcase behind her, and, just for the fun of it, swinging her hips slightly.
She didn't really know why she did that, and she stopped almost immediately, cringing, but all she knew was that Riven was going to be a pain in the arse.
"Challenge accepted, Princess!"
Point proven.
*****
Morrigan swiftly found her way through Alfea College and into her dormitory - which consisted of three bedrooms shared between six girls, including herself, and a shared lounge space.
As she entered the dorm, Mor instantly had to dodge out of the way of a short, larger girl carrying numerous little pots of various plant species, ranging from a cactus to a hydrangea.
"Watch the begonia!" The girl called out, pointing at the plant Mor had already stepped on, "Or, uh, nevermind."
Mor's eyebrows raised as she bent down and scooped up the potted plant into her hand, placing it on the table beside her, "I'm so sorry! I didn't see it."
"No, how could you?" A tall, beautiful, blonde girl who radiated authority walked by, clothes draped over her arm, "They're everywhere."
Mor glanced at the blonde girl, allowing her magic to stretch out to her, like concealed fingers reaching through an unseen wall. Blocking out the room's other noise, she focused all her attention on the invisible tendrils of magic drifting towards the tall fairy, drawing in a steady breath as they stroked the fibres of the girl's own magic.
A Light Fairy, then.
For as long as she could remember, Mor had been able to sense what a fairy's element was. She couldn't understand how, and she'd never told her family about the ability - but she had researched and read every single 'history of magic' book she could get her hands on, and nothing ever mentioned her gift. Mor would free her magic slightly, as if opening a single door in her body, and allow wisps of her magic to drift towards anyone or anything she wished. The tendrils would stroke and brush against the fairy, caressing the very fibres of their magic.
Each element had a different texture.
Light felt soft and delicate on the surface, yet delve deeper, and a blinding amount of power waited.
Earth was solid but flexible, constantly shifting and moulding shape. It was stubborn but refreshing, never the same two days in a row - just like nature itself.
Water was fluid and bubbly, yet copious amounts of power churned beneath it all.
Mind magic was manipulative and pulsing, frothing and simmering with the urge to be let loose.
Fire was raging and fierce, and an intense feeling always overcame Mor whenever she stroked a Fire Fairy's magic.
Air, similarly to Earth, was always changing. Sometimes it was a gentle breeze against her tendrils, other times it was a seething storm, rumbling and roaring with energy.
Ignoring the blonde girl, Mor instead focused her attention on the broken stem of the begonia, wrapping one gentle hand around the break and willing her magic to emerge. She felt the familiar tingle in her fingertips and the surge of her blood and the flash of her eyes before she removed her hand and smiled, seeing that the stem was now mended.
"Whoa." The short girl from before breathed, "Impressive. I'm Terra, Earth Fairy, if you hadn't already figured with all the plants. Are you an Earth Fairy? I'm assuming you're an Earth Fairy from the magic you just did, but I could be wrong. And I'm rambling again, aren't I? Sorry about that."
Mor chuckled slightly, "No, don't worry about it! And yeah, you're right. I'm an Earth Fairy. My name is Morrigan, but you can call me Mor."
"Great!" Terra grinned, taking the begonia from her hands and walking off to put it somewhere.
Mor walked further into the dormitory, looking around in slight awe at the place. It was clearly furnished on a rather high budget, but it held more warmth than anywhere she had ever been before.
"Do you know who you're rooming with?" Terra returned a moment later, the smile on her face ever-present.
"Uh, a girl named Stella, I think?" Mor shrugged, returning her focus to the fairy in front of her.
The blonde girl from before sighed, walking down some small steps that led into a bedroom, "That would be me. Yay."
Mor rolled her eyes, "Geez, try to contain your excitement, would you?"
"Funny." Stella pulled a face, disappearing back up the steps and into what Mor assumed to be their shared room.
Mor muttered, "Attitude much?"
"Mhm, I'm starting to think it's her only style." A voice stated from her left, and she turned to see a girl with a rather pointed nose, her black hair pulled up into space buns and headphones resting around her neck.
"One she'll wear all day, every day, I bet." Another girl added, her dark skin contrasting the blue of her denim jacket.
"Musa, Mind Fairy." The first girl nodded in greeting.
The second girl flashed a small smile, "Aisha, Water Fairy."
"Mor, Earth Fairy." She grinned back at the two of them.
The three of them split their separate ways, and Mor lugged her suitcase up the steps and into her shared bedroom, eyes widening slightly.
The room was quite possibly the smallest of the three, and the walls were slightly curved, but that didn't by any ways mean that it was cramped or at a lack for space - oh no. Sunlight spilled in from the two large windows, both overlooking the college gardens, and seemed to make the room even bigger. Two beds were positioned on either side of the room, one under the first window and the other tucked behind a protruding part of the lilac wall. A wardrobe accompanied the first bed, and a chest of draws lay next to the other, topped with embellished lamps and room sprays.
"Wow, that's a lot of clothes you got there." Mor's eyebrows rose as she noticed the layers upon layers of extravagant pieces of clothing stacked and hung up inside the open wardrobe.
Stella straightened up from folding a jumper away, turning to face her, "A lady needs her wardrobe, does she not?"
"Yeah but, how many wardrobes did you bring exactly?" Mor chuckled, dumping her suitcase beside the bed behind the wall.
"As many," Stella picked up a white, lacy shirt and held it against her as she gazed into the mirror, "as needed."
Movement caught Mor's eye, and she turned her attention over to the doorway, where a redheaded girl - whom, Mor realised with a start, was the same girl Riven's friend disappeared after - was standing awkwardly, frowning slightly at Stella.
"May I help you?" The blonde girl sighed, looking over at the redhead as she placed the shirt back on her bed and grabbed a flowing skirt.
"Yeah, yeah," The redhead walked closer to the door, and Mor picked up on the American accent, "Are you changing?"
"I am." Stella nodded, holding the skirt against her waist.
The redhead's frown deepened, "But I thought the orientation party was a casual thing?"
"It is." Mor's roommate replied as if she was talking to a child.
Rolling her eyes at the girl's attitude, Mor walked over to the redhead, crossing her arms as she leant her shoulder against the wall.
"So, a casual thing that you're changing for?" Redhead relayed, glancing at the Earth Fairy, who just shrugged.
Stella pursed her lips, twirling slightly as she admired herself in the mirror, "People have seen me in this outfit already, they'll expect something different."
Redhead's face scrunched up into an incredulous look, "People expect you to wear multiple outfits a day?"
Huffing as if merely speaking to the girl was a chore, Stella turned to her exasperatedly, "People expect me to care how I look."
"Don't mind Little Miss Hostile over there." Mor rolled her eyes, "I've learnt in the past 3 minutes of knowing her, that she's really not worth the effort."
"I'd rather be Little Miss Hostile," Stella replied haughtily, pointing to Mor's shirt, "Than some flowerchild who seemingly can't brush her teeth properly."
Biting her lip, Mor caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.
A plain, tight-fitting red t-shirt that she realised - with no small amount of embarrassment - that there was indeed a small toothpaste stain down the front of it.
Over the top, she wore a leather jacket which had apparently belonged to her mother, a person she'd never known. Her slim, denim jeans were ripped at the knees and her black, tattered converse covered her feet. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail at the back of her head, thin strands of curls sticking up and out in what Mor could only describe as a bird's nest, although everyone around her would disagree.
Mor had never really been overly confident in the way she looked.
She'd admit, she was certainly not beautiful, stunning, awestriking, but she was definitely not ugly. She was somewhere in between, nestled right in the middle of the scale of modern beauty standards.
Pretty. She would say she was pretty.
She brushed off the comment and only smiled, "Perhaps, but at least I don't have to buy my friends."
"That's because you don't have any."
"That's not true!" Musa called from somewhere in the dormitory.
"I can vouch for that!" Terra added.
Mor smirked, raising an eyebrow at Stella and winking at Redhead, and walked out of the room, deciding then and there that she couldn't be bothered to unpack and would do it later. As soon as she was out of earshot of Stella and Redhead, Mor turned to Aisha.
"Who is that girl?" She asked, her voice a hushed whisper.
Aisha followed her gaze to the redheaded girl, "Bloom, Fire Fairy. She's from the Firstworld and her parents are human."
"Her parents are human?" Mor frowned in confusion.
Aisha nodded, "That's what I said. Apparently, Dowling seems to think it's a dormant power in the bloodline, something like that. They think she's in the Alps."
Mor pursed her lips in thought, soaking up the information as she nodded slowly, "Thanks. I definitely know who I'm turning to if I need some gossip."
"Hufflepuff?" The Water Fairy asked randomly.
She shrugged, "Sometimes Gryffindor. How'd you know?"
"The energy."
Mor chuckled, "Oh, you are so Gryffindor."
"Of course." Aisha shrugged, "How'd you know?"
"I didn't," Mor grinned shamelessly, "You just told me."
As the Earth Fairy cast a glance out over the dormitory, to where Terra was moving plants about the place, Musa was sitting on her bed and listening to music, Bloom and Stella were still conversing, and Aisha had continued her unpacking, she knew that - with a little work - the six of them would become friends.
Or at least, they'd learn to put up with each other.
Chapter 1 done!
I feel like it was a little short, but oh well.
What do you guys think?
See you lovelies next time😘😍