"Are you going to do it?" James asked Carmine. "Because if you are I need to tell my mom that I won't be back for a while."

"Don't be ridiculous you're going back."

"Not if you aren't. Come on, you just discovered that whole new world exists and you're just going to leave your best friend out of it? Besides, you'll need a trusty sidekick to rely on."

"Did you just willingly refer to yourself as my sidekick?"

"Hey, you're the one with magic. I'm just the moral support."

"Don't say that you have plenty of useful abilities."

"Abilities that will augment yours. So, are you going to do it?"

Carmine thought for a moment. This would be a huge change, and it was scary to think about. But something inside her was telling her that this was right. She'd be with her family, and she'd be somewhere where she wouldn't be seen as a freak. 

"Yeah. I'm going to do this."

"Great. We need to find a way to call my mom." 

"I'm sure they have something."

~~~

"So where are we going?" 

As soon as Carmine had told her that she was agreeing to train, Ever had taken them through several different modes of transportation, none of which Carmine recognized. 

"The Red Forest," the only thing Ever gave as an explanation throughout the entire trip. 

"But where's - what's the Red Forest?"

"You'll see."

Carmine was already starting to regret her decision. 

Finally, after several hours of travelling, they arrived at what Ever claimed as their destination. It was a forest, and it was most certainly red.

"Welcome to the Red Forest."

"I never would have guessed."

 "Calm your sarcasm, we're in a holy place."

"Please elaborate."

"This is where the primary temple of Rowena is located, and also where the closest alignment temple is."

"I have more questions."

Ever took a deep breath, and seemed to be collecting her thoughts. "You've heard about our pantheon, correct?"

"I vaguely recall."

"So we have eleven Guardians. They each control a natural realm. Care to learn their names?"

"Why not."

"The four seasons: Verna of Spring, Juna of Summer, Rowena of Autumn, and Eirwyn of Winter. The four realms: Ignis of Fire, Frida of Ice, Terra of the Earth, and Mara of  the Sea. Luna of the Moon, and Sola of the Sun. And the leader of them all, Aria of the Air. Anyway, the point is that each of them rule over a natural realm, and they're also the ones that brought magic into our world. Through them, we are able to perform magic, and they're the only ones who can perform magic in Earth."

Carmine thought back to all the weird things that happened around her back home. That had to have been magic, right? She figured there must be some other explanation, and also if she asked more questions her aunt might actually slap her.

"Alignment determines what kind of magic someone can perform. Each person is aligned to one Guardian. Our entire family has been aligned to Rowena. Some families have a bit of a 'blood purist' complex, where people will only marry and have children with people who are aligned with the same Guardian as they are, and somehow most of the time their children are also aligned with that Guardian. It's an old fashioned way of thinking, so a lot of the pure families are 'dying out' since a lot of people started marrying whoever they wanted. Our family is pure Rowenan going back several hundred years, and we were kind of late leaving the loop. Anyway, chances are you're Rowenan, just so you know."

That's a lot of information.

"Long story short, we're here."

"Here" was an unimpressive square building made out of some sort of dull gray stone. 

"This is the primary temple to- to Rowena?"

"Goodness, no, that's for later. This is the alignment temple."

"It's kind of... underwhelming."

"It kind of has to be for all the enchantments to work."

"How does that work?"

"Never mind that. This is how we figure out your alignment. Basically you just walk in there and wait."

"That's it?"

"Yes. If you see something glowing, touch it. It might take a bit, since you grew up in a magic free realm."

"My general rule is to not touch mysterious glowing object."

"Just trust me on this. Also, you should keep in mind that nothing you see in there can hurt you."

"That's comforting."

"Just go inside."

Carmine wanted to retort, but she had a feeling that obedience was probably the best policy in this situation. So, she opened the surprisingly light stone door and entered the building.

It was pitch black inside the building. How long do I have to wait? she wondered. The dark was starting to unsettle her.

The temperature was starting to drop. Carmine sensed movement in the shadows, but her eyes couldn't pick up on anything specific.

"Nothing can hurt me..." She wasn't sure how much she believed that statement.

A translucent being jumped out at her. She couldn't stop herself from screaming. 

More things jumped out at her. She backed away until her back hit a wall. 

Ice was starting to form on the floor. 

The things kept jumping out at her, but never touched her.

A faint blue light started glowing from across the room and gradually grew brighter. She took a deep breath and forced herself to walk across the room, through the ghosts, to it. 

One of them jumped at her, and this time it touched her. Its touch was cold, like her arm had been hit with ice. A painful warmth and an itch was left behind. She touched it and found something warm and wet. Blood? It couldn't be. Nothing in here could hurt her. 

She persisted on. Something was telling her that touching the source of the light would end this. 

The ghosts were increasing in number, but she forced herself to ignore them. None of them had touched her since, which she decided to take as a good sign. 

After what seemed like forever, she stood before the source of the light. She placed her palm on what seemed to be a pedestal of some sort, which was pleasantly warm in the freezing cold room. The warmth spread through her body, and a sudden light filled the room. The ghosts were gone. It was just her, surrounded by ten pedestals, each in a different color.

She was still breathing heavily from the experience. Had it all been in her head? No, that wasn't possible. The blood on her arm was proof, which she did check was still there.

She looked down at the palm she'd touched the pedestal with. There was an imprint of a snowflake, tinted with a faint blue light. 

Mind reeling, she walked out of the building to face her companions.

"There you are," Ever said as soon as she opened the door. "I was starting to worry- what's wrong with your arm?"

"It's nothing."

"Let me see." Her aunt pried her hand from her arm, revealing the bloody cut. 

"Carmine, what happened?"

"I don't know! One of those things touched me."

"What things?"

"I don't know. They were ghosts, sort of. I couldn't really get a good look at them. They disappeared when I touched the pedestal."

Ever seemed at a loss for words - for once. "This isn't- this isn't something that normally happens. I'll have to..." She trailed off, then shook her head, seemingly to clear her head. "You touched the pedestal?"

Carmine nodded.

"Let me see your palm."

Carmine held up her palm. Ever took it and examined it closely. 

"That's interesting," she muttered. "You're aligned with Eirwyn."

Hey all. 
There's a drawing that I've been wanting to do for this scene since I first wrote it over a year ago that I'll hopefully get to do soon. I'll put it in the media when I get to it.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed. I want to know what you're thinking, so leave your thoughts in the comments.
Until next time,
~Patchesmimi