(Ages in this chapter: Stella: 8 - 14, Victor Summery: 9 - 15, Lief Moonfall: 8 - 14)
Stella's POV
When I was eight years old, the End Matriarch walked into my life and took me to the Coven.
For the longest time ever, which was only eight years, I had been living with Nebula, who was my mother.
I don't remember who my dad was, he had walked out of my life just after I was born.
Some suspected foul play, but I didn't believe them because mother never played anything fun.
"STELLA!" My mother shouted. "FOR THE LAST TIME! YOU NEED TO SUMMON A COMPLETELY FUNCTIONAL PORTAL!"
I shook my head, completely confused. How can I? I'm only eight!
For the most parts, I had gotten the majority of the portal down, I just wasn't able to summon an active portal.
Why does mother want an active portal?
Whenever I asked my mother this, I got a beating and wasn't fed for at least three days.
So I wised up and stopped asking.
But on this day, I was already stressed out, so I punched her with my small fists out of anger.
Mother didn't take this well and grabbed me my the arm and walked up to the balcony, and held me over the edge, ready to drop me.
"Mother!" I shouted. "I'm sorry! I don't want to die!"
"Then think before you act!" She hissed and I could tell that she was about to let go.
However, before mother could let me plummet to my death, somebody cleared her throat.
My mother turned around to see a purple and pink haired woman, who didn't look like she was that much older than mom, stare at her intensely.
But what really made me stare was her eyes.
These were not any normal eyes, these had purple scleras and white irises.
"Nebula," she said.
"Ceris," mother grumbled.
"What are you doing?" She asked.
"Teaching my foolish daughter a lesson," mother replied.
"I am not foolish!" I said, indignantly.
"And why are you dangling her off the edge of the balcony?" Ceris asked.
"Because she punched me," my mother replied. "I'm disciplining her."
Ceris rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's how we discipline children, by dangling them off the edge of the balcony."
Mother gave Ceris the death stare, who had no reaction at all besides bitch, just try me. Before reluctantly pulling me back up and onto solid ground.
Solid ground! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Joy to the world!
"Ceris," mother said. "Why are you here? I told you that I no longer needed your lame guidance."
Ceris didn't reply for a moment, giving my mother a disappointed look. "I'm not here for you," she finally said. "I'm here for the girl."
I looked up in surprise, totally not expecting this event to happen.
"I'm sorry," mother said, not sounding sorry at all. "But she's not for sale. I need her to-"
"To create your portal?" Ceris finished. "I know, however at this rate she'll never be able to do it."
"So what am I supposed to do?" My mother asked. "Produce another offspring?"
Ceris facepalmed. "For the love of Ender Dragon, no," she said. "I have a proposal to make."
My mother looked a tad more interested now, clearly listening.
"I want to take Stella to the Coven," Ceris explained. "While she's at the Coven, her magic will get stronger. When she is ready, she'll come back home to you."
Mother's eyes narrowed. "How long will it take?" She asked.
"Six years maybe," the other woman replied.
"SIX YEARS?!" My mother screamed. "I AM NOT WAITING THAT LONG!"
Ceris looked like she wanted to strangle my mom. "I'll pay you," she said, seething as she took out a small bag.
Mother opened the bag to reveal shiny gems and I could see her dollar signs replace her eyes.
"Take her," she said. "And make sure she's perfected her magic."
Ceris just glared at mother, who hadn't taken her eyes off the priceless gems.
"Come along," Ceris said, in a much warmer tone of voice.
Quickly grabbing my favorite magic book, I followed the older woman, still bewildered.
"What's your name little one?" She asked.
"Stella," I replied.
"Nice to meet you Stella," she said. "My name is Ceris and I want you to listen to me. Your mother is a bad person, and I have spent years trying to get you out of her clutches. That's why I'm sending you to the Coven. You'll be raised there properly, and you'll have other young wizards and witches to play with. And no matter what, I'll make sure that Nebula will never find you again."
I nodded, wondering if my father was living at the Coven.
When I asked Ceris this however, she didn't reply.
She just gave me a sad smile.
Victor Summery's POV
We were waiting patiently for Mr. Redwood to start.
Well, some of us were. More than others.
"Come on Teach! Hurry up!" My best friend, Lief Moonfall, said.
"Lief!" I said. "Do you want to dust the library again?"
That made him shut up, but he stuck his tongue out at me.
"Your friend is correct, Lief," Mr. Redwood said. "If you continue to misbehave, we might have to be a little more harsh on you."
Lief rolled his eyes. "Yes mister," he said, mockingly and Mr. Redwood narrowed his eyes at him.
"In case you were wondering why I'm so late," Mr. Redwood said. "It's because somebody has arrived at the Coven."
"Wait, who is it?" I asked.
"Well, she's supposed to be joining us." Our teacher said.
A young girl with purple hair, a black dress and a witches hat walked towards us, her blue eyes darting from the left to the right.
"Hey girl!" Lief called out, causing her to jump, however, she quickly recovered.
"Everyone this is Stella," Mr. Redwood said. "Hopefully, she'll behave more than some of you." He cast a hard stern look at Lief, who managed to look dramatically offended .
"Nice to meet you everyone!" She said, smiling. "Let's get along, shall we?"
"Huh," Lief said to me. "I like this girl already."
Time Skip: Six Years Later
Stella's POV
I had just turned fourteen years old, and just as Ceris promised me, she made sure Nebula didn't come after me.
The conversation went something like this.
Ceris: Nebula, your daughter still needs training so you'll have to wait or I will decapitate you and stick your head against the wall and laugh at it everyday.
Nebula: FUCK
Yeah, I also decided to stop calling Nebula "mom".
The good news is that I'm having a great time at the Coven and even struck a friendship with Lief Moonfall and Victor Summery.
Each of us specialized in a different kind of magic. I was skilled more in Arcane magic, while Victor was skilled in potions.
And Lief... used his magic to perform magic tricks like a magician.
I don't even know what Lief's magic abilities are, because he never told us.
"So," Victor said. "How's the portal going?"
I groaned. "No process," I replied.
"Maybe you should call it quits," Victor said. "You've been at it for six years by now."
"No!" I snapped, before calming down, "I mean... no. I'm not quitting until I'm able to summon a fully working portal, even if it's the last thing I do!"
Lief snorted. "If you keep that attitude up, there's going to be a prophecy about how you're going to destroy every single dimension." He joked.
There was a moment of silence before we all started laughing.
Not because we thought it was funny, in fact the idea of all the universes being destroyed was terrifying.
But at the same time, the idea was just so bizzare.
I mean... a prophecy about me being the destroyer of all dimensions?! How ridiculous is that?
Next Chapter: How Stella met Tsuki and Azrael