"Good... girls... always... do... what... they... want?" Madam Clara growled through gritted teeth, looking straight at me from across her desk.

"Sorry," I mumbled, but it wasn't sincere. To be completely honest, I was thrilled that I had gotten such a result from a small incantation. The birds flying in and tearing up the tapestry had been the highlight of my life, even though it was destructive.

"You will be cleaning up the pieces of my beautiful tapestry and sewing the pieces back together, so the rules are properly restored," Madam Clara took a second to catch her breath after huffing for so long, "and you will be thoroughly cleansed of that filthy magic in the fountain today before dinner. And don't think we offer towels to those who so blatantly betray the facility's trust in front of all who live here."

I knew that this conversation wouldn't be the end of my punishment, but I sighed in relief nonetheless when Madam Clara pointed to the door, signaling me to leave the room.

"You will be staying in your cell for the rest of the day. And before you ask, no, the staff will not be bringing you any lunch or dinner. After all of the trouble you've caused, I don't think you should receive the meals that were supposed to happen in the main room, but my precious tapestry was ruined."

I merely nodded, scared to do anything else. The witchy feeling of that morning had dissipated, and now I was feeling nothing but helplessness. I could say the incantation again, but I didn't know if it would result in a ball gown or a catastrophic storm. 

When Madam Clara had obviously had enough of my presence, I let myself out of the office that held only terrible memories, and walked down the deserted corridors to my cell. At the end of the hallway, a cellmaster unlocked my cell, pushed me in, and then locked the door behind him. I heard the cellmaster's footsteps recede back to his post at the end of the corridor, and the hallway was drowned in silence once again.

The lunch gong came and went, the only sound I had heard in hours. My stomach grumbled at the lack of food, but I had to ignore it. I hadn't paid attention since I had started doing the facility's work during the day, but my skin was covered in sweat, dirt, and a layer of grime so thick I couldn't see my sunburned skin in some areas. I stunk of all the work I had done over the past week, and I longed for a shower. With nothing else to think about, I only scratched at my skin and tried not to breathe through my nose.

I was about to fall asleep when I heard the soft tinkle of a giggle ring through the corridor. Everyone at the facility knew not to display any sign of contempt or happiness, so this had to be an outsider. I winced at that thought, I had started to think of my former peers as outsiders of the facility. My life had taken a turn for the worst this past week, and I cursed myself for not being more careful when I was practicing magic in Phil's office so long ago. Of course, it wasn't an actual curse, considering I could probably actually do that.

"No, we insist sir, the person we wish to see is down this corridor," the person who had giggled was talking now, obviously trying to persuade the cellmaster to let them down this hallway to see me. This concerned me, but I was beyond caring anymore. If this facility wanted to further torture me, so be it. It's not like anything was going to change for me until Madam Clara deemed me 'cleansed' so I could leave this facility far behind.

"Sir, don't make me use force!" the tinkling voice said, trying to keep the happy note to her voice, but almost failing. Key word being almost.

"Sorry, but we cannot let you see that witch today. She has done a great deal damage to the facility, and therefore is in isolation until Madam Clara tells me otherwise," the cellmaster was growing annoyed with the tinkling voice by his tone, and I retreated even further into the corner of my cell. I didn't want to be caught in the crossfire of the fight that sounded like it was about to start between the melodious voice and the cellmaster.

"Oh," the voice became persuasive; alluring, "well then, I must insist on seeing that witch down the hall."

The cellmaster stuttered for a while before muttering something to the voice, which merely laughed.

My ears perked up at the sound of high heels click clacking on the stone floor outside my cell. I didn't dare look at the woman, for fear that I was imagining the entire thing and she really wasn't real.

"Darling, please come out of that corner," she said softly, "I'm Flora and my sisters and I can take you away from here."

I looked up, tears in my eyes, at the thought of actually getting out of this grime infested place.

"Where would I go?" I choked out, still facing the wall. "My father spares no love for me, so I have no place in his house," my voice was broken and cracking from both the crying and not using my voice all day.

"Well, of course you wouldn't, silly! You'd come with me to learn how to control that powerful magic of yours!" at this exclamation, I turned and nearly gasped at the woman's beauty. Her hair was pitch black, her skin was a milky color, and her eyes were a tantalizing topaz color that shone even in the dim lighting. "What's your name, little one?"

I almost corrected this lady, who thought I was smaller than a 16 year old. I was going to be a woman in two years for goodness sakes! "Aria Everheart," I answered, "Who are you?"suddenly I felt very ugly in comparison to this woman.

She gave a tinkling giggle, "Oh, where are my manners, of course you don't know the name Flora! Well, you see, I have four sisters." as soon as she said that, my eyes widened. She couldn't possibly be one of the authors of that magic book? "And we wrote a book on magic, trying to get that information out into the world, so that young people like yourself would be able to practice their magic and be seen as wonders, not horrors. Then, when the justices of Floricea influenced King Charming the first to place a ban on all magic because it interfered with their power over the people, the king did as those corrupt men wished. And so, my sisters and I, along with the rest of the magical community, fled into the outer woods, desperate to get away from the tyranny of the kingdom."

I nodded as I took that in, my mind only stuck on one detail, "You're over two centuries old?"

This time, Flora rewarded me with a full laugh, the kind that went to your eyes and that you didn't cover up with your hand to be polite. The kind that made everyone feel welcome and a part of something.

"Why, yes, I believe my two hundred and twenty-third birthday is this coming up this year," she tapped her chin in thought, "yes, I believe that's correct."

I took a deep breath and noticed subtle vines growing out of Flora's elbow length gloves, "I have another question, Miss. Flora. Why is there vines growing out of your gloves?"

She smiled and started taking off her gloves, one finger at a time, "I am the fairy of the plants," she started. "And I happen to need to wear these gloves whenever I interact with someone who is wholly human because my hands and lower arms are green. It's how you can tell what type of fairy you're dealing with. If you ever feel the need to fight a fairy, look at her arms. They'll always show her greatest strength."

Flora's arms were covered in a soft mossy grass, with tiny yellow, pink, and blue flowers peeking out here and there. Around her fingers were rings of vines, and around her wrists bracelets of roses and their thorns. All in all, her arms were the perfect meadow and forest of flora rolled into one. 

"How did you do that?" I asked, reaching out to touch one of the vines, and feeling strangely satisfied when they were soft and spongy to the touch. 

"When a young witch finds her specialty, her lower arms will be influenced by her specialty. If you become a fire fairy, your arms will be engulfed in flames. One of my sisters is a water fairy, and her fingers are like water faucets. It depends on what you're good at in your core, not what you want to be."

I had one more question that had been nagging me ever since Flora had said the word 'fairy'. In her book, I was classified a witch. So why was she calling herself a fairy?

When I asked her that question, she just smiled mysteriously and told me that I had to find out on my own.

"Now that I've gone and explained everything to you, would you like to come with me?" Flora asked with inquiring eyes. 

This could be big for me. I could go and become really powerful. Maybe even rule the world and rid it of it's petty rules about women, and make the world truly equal. But all that would have to come at some sort of cost. The only question I had left for this magical lady was: how high is the cost I will surely have to pay to become a trained witch. If I didn't go with her, I would have to stay in this freezing cold until Madam Clara announced me 'cleansed' and sent me back to the kingdom. But even then, nothing will have changed.

"Yes," I breathed.

"Wonderful!" Flora's face lit up in excitement at my answer, and she began to look around the cell. "Aria, darling, where are your belongings? You know, your shoes and clothes?"

I sighed, "I don't have any here. Madam Clara took the dress I was wearing when I changed into the uniform and everything else I left at home before my job as a gardener before I was arrested," I could feel the tears welling up again, but I wasn't going to cry in front of Flora anymore. Her coming here was a blessing, and I should treat it as such.

"Well, I suppose that's alright. You'll have all you need in the woods," Flora sighed, acting like it was no big deal that she had just told me that she owned an entire portion of the outer woods and I would be staying there while I learned magic from her and her sisters.

"How are you going to get me out of here?" I wondered allowed, looking around the room for an area that she could wiggle her fingers near and somehow destroy the wall.

When I turned to face Flora again, I learned that the only thing I had gotten right in my thoughts were the wiggling of the fingers. Flora was wiggling her vine covered fingers and there was a green light forming in between them, causing an eerie green glow to grow wherever the vines grew, which right now, was in between the mortar of the stones and out onto the wall outside.

"Right then," she said, and then pointed to the now vine covered wall. As soon as she pointed at the wall, it expanded outwards, and proceeded to fall onto the ground far below.

"How many stories up are we?" I asked, all the while embracing the newfound warmth of the outdoors.

"Only about six stories. I can easily jump us down, unless you'd prefer a vineway?"

"Vineway," I said, nodding my head vigorously, "definitely the vineway." 

Flora called vines off of the wall far below to come and create a staircase to bring us down to the ground.

"A vineway can be a helpful staircase," Flora explained, "or it can be a way to travel long distances as a zipline or underground transportation system. The witch world uses them often, so get used to the feeling of vines beneath your fingers!"

When we got to the bottom of the staircase, the vines shriveled up and crawled into Flora's rings.

"Right this way," Flora said again, this time leading me towards a carriage made out of shining silver, and on the inside had a vine of plenty growing all sorts of different fruits.

"Thank you," I said when Flora offered me a hand to help me jump into the carriage. It was a high step off of the ground.

After Flora followed me inside of the carriage, it began to move by magic.

"Make sure to eat what you want from the vine, it'll regrow anything as soon as you pick it. We have a long journey to the outer woods," Flora said, spreading out on her side of the carriage, and I followed suit.

The bench was extremely comfortable, and once I was settled down I began to eat from the magic vine that Flora had so obviously grown. The strawberries were exquisite and the peaches were simply delectable. When I was finally full, I fell back onto the cushioned bench seat and reflected on my time at the boot camp. I hadn't met anyone really worth remembering, which was sad, but at least I didn't feel like I was leaving anyone behind. 

Madam Clara wouldn't be able to find me where I was going. I don't dare to say that my life is looking up, it's just getting better.

~o0o~  

Word Count: 2328

Hello, hello! I'm so so sorry for not updating sooner, but I hope that this chapter was worth the wait! Thank you guys for making me smile at all of your amazing comments, and for voting on and reading this story. You all rock! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and may you stay happy!

Until next time,
~happyperson081