Chapter 9 - Evaluation

The man led her through the corridors, leaving her to gape at the structures, the high walls, the old wood, all of which she found exceedingly pretty. The best thing, though, was that the ceilings over the corridors were made of glass, letting the sun fall in and light the hallways.

The sun on her skin made the feeling of being removed from the stars far less suffocating, and even though it still felt more stifling than the open sky, she didn’t feel as trapped or miserable.

They finally came to a door that looked quite like all the others they’d passed, with the exception of a sign with unfamiliar scribbles on it. Letters, her brain called them, but the mysterious knowledge in her head couldn’t make any sense of them.

“What is this?” she asked in wonder when they’d stopped in front of it, her fingers reaching up to feel the incisions carved into the wooden sign.

“It’s a...sign?” the man next to her asked with furrowed brows.

“I know, duh, but it’s saying something, right? These are...words, right?” she traced the incisions, feeling quite proud of the deduction she made.

The man only looked at her dubiously, as if she was stupid. Which she wasn’t- at least, she liked to believe that.

“Of course it does. It says ‘Principal’ because this is the principal’s office, I brought you here to meet with her, like every new student,” his tone was irritated, as if it was supposed to be obvious, “Don’t tell me, you can’t even read?”

His condescending tone made her irritated and she pressed her lips together.

“No I can’t do this...reading thing. But I came here to learn about things like that, didn’t I?” she gave back, her voice hard.

“Ah, well, I’ve never met anyone who couldn’t even read before, so…,” he smiled in a way that was supposed to be apologetic but all it did was rile her up more, “But you can count, right?”

She whipped around to him, the mirth in her eyes replaced with sharpness.

“Why, yes, I can count, but if my lack of knowledge is amusing you, please by all means go on and make fun of me,” she hissed. She looked at his flame again, it was curious and probing and also a bit arrogant and superficial, and she found she didn’t like this kind of flame at all. She didn’t even look deeper to find his name, too pissed to find out more about this kind of person.

“Well, I’m supposed to be meeting this principal person, right?” she snapped when he didn’t say anything.

“Yes, of course, yes,” he said, his face a bit paler than before, as he pushed open the door and motioned her to go inside.

The inside was very similar in design to the hallways, wooden walls and floor, high walls, even though the ceiling was wooden instead of see-through. However, the outer wall was completely glazed, giving a view of the trees around the school and the city beyond them.

At the far end, there was a desk, large and heavy, behind which sat a woman, physically not much older than her, reading over a document in front of her with a strange apparatus on her nose. Glasses. How weird.

“Hello?” the girl asked once she entered and still got no attention.

“Oh, hello,” the woman looked up and smiled, “Excuse me, who are you?”

“I’m a new student, I’m supposed to talk to you.”

The woman eyed her over the rim of her glasses, motioning her to come closer.

“Ah, of course,” she said as the girl sat down in a chair in front of the desk, “What’s your name?”

Name.... Bitterness swept through her mouth.

“I don’t have one,” she said, her chin raised defiantly, even though her face muscles twitched. That got the woman’s full attention.

“You’re a Chaos-forged Immortal?”

The girl nodded, “That’s what I’ve been told. Apparently, we don’t get things like names easily.”

The woman put down the documents she’d been holding and took off her glasses before looking at her with far more interest than before. The girl looked back at her, finding herself quite welcomed by the gentle golden eyes that examined her.

She took a look at the flame of the person in front of her and found it stern and disciplined, but also gentle and kind, hidden deep inside. Leesha, that was her name, swirling at the bottom of a flame that seemed transparent, not hiding anything. It didn’t even hide the incredibly rich aura that swirled around it, a power that was both in quantity and quality completely different from anything the girl knew.

But the more she looked at the flame, the more strange things she found and it wasn’t just the aura. That kind of flame, clear and sharp, see-through, yet unfathomably deep, it wasn’t like the other flames she knew.

The girl’s eyes grew wide.

The woman smiled.

“I know that very well,” she laughed.

“You are…”

“Chaos-forged, yes. I’m like you.”

There was sympathy and amusement in her eyes as the girl felt excitement rise in her. So that was why the flame seemed different! She’d never met a Chaos-forged Immortal like her, so she hadn’t recognized it at first-glance, but looking at it now, it was obvious.

“My name is Leesha, but you can call me Principal, like everyone else does,” the woman stretched out her hand over the table, making the girl stare at it blankly until she redacted it again. Weird.

“Anyways, my soul was forged from a Stellar River, a stream that flows between the worlds and connects some of them. That’s why I understand you, probably better than the people who brought you here.”

The girl’s lips formed an O as she listened to the Principal’s words. A Stellar River? That explained the clearness and the cutting edge on her flame, a flame that wasn’t fire at all, but the purest, clearest of water that gave the woman life force and nourished her.

“My soul was forged from a star,” she told her, glad to talk to someone who would probably understand, “Or so the others said. I only remember fire and heat and that feeling of...I don’t know, life?”

It was hard to put it in words, the overwhelming memories she had before she woke up, but the Principal’s eyes glittered as she spoke.

“I know how you feel. So you are Firakha, huh. They call those like me Zeikha, children of the River. I was also born without a name, even though it didn’t bother me until I stumbled upon a village, two weeks after I was born. I suppose you knew it earlier, with your ability to see other’s souls, no?”

The girl nodded.

“I made companions, out in the woods. I’ve always been able to see their names, so…”

“How long did you live out there?” The Principal’s voice sounded genuinely curious and the clear flame once again made it hard not to reply her openness in kind.

“A year, more or less.”

“Wow, that’s long.”

The girl shrugged at that, not really knowing what to say. It hadn’t felt long, even now, especially since she'd had no idea that other beings like her lived in this world.

The Principal smiled softly and pushed a strand of long black hair behind her ears, which were, to the girl’s surprise, slightly pointed.

“How did you get your name?” The girl finally asked, when the silence began to stretch uncomfortably.

“A friend gave it to me,” the principal answered without missing a beat, “About a year after I was born. He didn’t have a name either, so we exchanged. I’m sure something like that will happen to you as well,” she smiled gently, “In fact, I might know someone. In the newbie class, here at Redhall, there’s a young Immortal. She got her name stolen when she was a mortal and had problems getting a new one since. Maybe you could reach out to her.”

A smile made its way on the girl’s lips. So there’s someone with a similar problem here? The thought alone made her giddy, finally meeting someone who could give her her name!

If she’s willing, I can have a name!

She grinned involuntarily. A name, and maybe a new friend!

“So there’s no problem with me going to school here?” She asked, after all, that was why she was here, talking to Leesha.

The principal shook her head.

“No of course not. You can live here as well, there’s dorms on the grounds for students who haven’t found accommodations in the city yet. Actually, I’m glad there’s a Chaos-forged Immortal here,” she flashed a relieved, almost girly smile that made her look a lot younger, “There hasn’t been anyone since me.”

The girl smiled back and motioned to stand up.

“Ah, there’s one more thing though,” the principal flicked her forehead with an apologetic smile, “When we administer new students, we record their current level. Most of them are Saints without having chosen path to take in the future yet, but it’s common procedure. Besides, Chaos-forged like us are mostly a bit different. I was an Empress of Water when I was born and I rose to be a Lesser Goddess far faster than my peers.”

Lesser Goddess. So that was the rich quality of energy she’d seen earlier in her flame. The flame and power of a Goddess, it wasn’t something she could measure up to….at all.

The girl nodded. She already knew she had more power than others, so it might as well be recorded. She didn’t intend to keep it secret.

“I am a Lesser Goddess of Rivers and Hidden Truths and becoming a Goddess, I’ve acquired the ability to see into people’s souls with a touch. It’s not as accurate as the ability of you Firakha, the children of the stars are considered one the most powerful Chaos-forged for a reason, but I can determine your current level. You just have to stay still and let me into your heart.”

“Alright,” the girl agreed, trusting in the kindness of the Principal's flame.

The Principal stood up and walked around the table towards the still standing girl and slowly put four fingers on her forehead. The girl could see that she moved a part of her flame into her fingers, the steady water streaming from her soul to her body, just like her own flame did when she communicated or ignited fire.

She kept still as the Principal’s cold water flowed from those fingers into her own body, swiftly making its way to her flame. Her instincts told her to burn the foreign power invading her but she didn’t move, only observed as the water swirled around her flame.

The Principal could’ve tried to harm her at this point but she didn’t. That part of her soul only watched and, after a while, retreated back into the fingers on her forehead, flowing back to the flame it originally came from.

The woman’s fingers fell down as she opened her eyes and stared at the girl, her expression shocked.

“What is it? Is there something wrong with me?” The girl questioned. a little anxious.

The principal shook her head absently as if to clear her thoughts.

“No...well, not really, but…”

Her eyes were still filled with astonishment and a vague hint of...fear? Respect?

“You’re not a Saint,” she said with a breathless laugh.

Well, I knew that already. But judging by Leesha’s expression, it was something more than that.

“I thought you weren’t a Saint either?” She questioned, a little confused as to what was so shocking.

The Principal shook her head again and pushed her fingers against her temples.

“You probably don’t know about this, but usually, Immortals rise to higher stages through two things: absorption of Chaos energy and an understanding of the fundamentals of the universe, or parts of it. In some rare cases, Immortals with naturally large amounts of Chaos energy are born but they’re still Saints, because they lack true understanding. Now, Chaos-forged like us usually have an innate understanding, because we literally are part of the universe, by first degree. That’s why I was born an Empress of Rivers. But even for us, being at a higher stage than Emperor at birth? Nearly impossible.”

She sighed again.

The girl vaguely understood the concept but she still didn’t understand the problem.

“So, I’m an Empress, then?” She asked, even though something told her that wasn’t the case.

“No, you’re not an Empress. You’re an Ascendant. A powerful one at that, you lack only little Chaos energy and mortal faith to become a Lesser Goddess.”

There was silence after that and the grave look on the principal’s face didn’t make it any less heavy.

Ascendant? Isn’t that...one of the highest levels there are?

The girl blinked, quite bewildered.

“That’s...something big isn’t it?” She asked, even though she already knew. If even the principal had thought it impossible before…

Ah, I’m really not normal, aren’t I? She sighed a little in her heart.

“Yes, yes it is. But then again, it might be ordinary for Firakha. There hasn’t been a new child of the stars for a long time, so I wouldn’t know,” the principal shrugged, and then flashed her a smile, “Well, this is something good though. In this world, the stronger you are the better. And the stronger my students, the better it is for me.”

Her grin was cheeky and once again made her heaps younger. The girl smiled back, still a little gobsmacked.

“For now, just go to class. Everything will happen as it should,” Leesha chuckled, “And if there’s anything you want to talk about, just come to me.”

“I will,” the girl grinned and then excused herself, walking out of the room with her back straight and her head held high.