Ah, the motherland… The double-edged sword that loomed over my life. But I wasn’t doing this to make Atlantis proud. Long before Persie had even suggested this place, I’d daydreamed about becoming a monster hunter for one woman and one woman alone: my mom. She’d been one of the finest hunters in Atlantis. Yes, it had taken her away from me in the end, but she’d loved her job with everything she had. I’d sat on my dad’s knee and listened to his stories about her death-defying captures and the weird and wonderful monsters of the deep, and I’d been so awestruck that I’d forgotten to breathe. I had known even then that I wanted to be like her, without ever having known her.
“Take a breath, baby shrimp,” my dad would whisper to me. Apparently, it had been her pet name for me because I’d slept curled up like one. And he’d continued it, in her memory. Though it had been a long time since he’d called me that.
I want to make you proud, Mom. I want to be as great as you were. Maybe, it’ll make me feel like you’re… still here. I had to blink away unexpected tears and pretend to stare at a few display cases filled with hunter paraphernalia. If Persie saw, she’d worry, and she didn’t need my problems on top of hers. There was so much I hated about Atlantis: the traditions, the arranged marriages, the paternal expectation. But it was where I was born. It was where I was loved by her. It was where I’d said goodbye to her, even though I’d been too young to remember. And that bound me to that backward little world, no matter how far away I roamed.
“Don’t get too close, she might hex you. They’re sentients, you know—sneaky buggers.” My head whipped around. The two closest cadets, with ponytails so tight they had permanently startled expressions, shot me daggers and descended into furtive giggles. I didn’t know which one had said it, and I didn’t want to cause a scene. But this wasn’t the first instance of this. There had been sly looks and whispers for the last five days. I’d ignored them, for the most part, hoping they’d wear out their petty bigotry, but it got harder each time.
“I wouldn’t waste the energy,” I hissed back.
They exchanged a worried look and scuttled to the front of the crowd.
Persie looped her arm through mine. “You okay?”
“All good here.” I forced a smile and kept my chin up. But a nagging doubt crept into the back of my head. Is this what Dad was talking about? He hadn’t always been a stuffy traditionalist. He’d gotten us out of Atlantis precisely because he didn’t agree with a lot of what they did. But that had changed over the years, after he’d started working as an Atlantean envoy for the integration program. There had been a slow shift in his mindset. He’d sat me down a thousand times and warned me that the wider magical world didn’t think kindly of us. It was his main reason for wanting to cart me off back to Atlantis. I’d called nonsense on it, but… what if he’d been telling the truth?
“Seriously, did someone say something? You look… sad.” I couldn’t pull the wool over her eyes. She knew me too well. Although there was one thing she hadn’t caught onto just yet. A secret, of sorts: that I needed her as much as she needed me. A fearless façade did not a fearless woman make.
“I was thinking about someone, that’s all.”
She nodded in understanding. “She’s rooting for you, Genie.”
“Yeah, I think she is.” I dipped my head and battled more tears until they gave up. Jeez, this independence thing came with a lot more weepy moments than I’d expected. But there was an old Atlantean sentiment that I kept close: “Loved ones never leave us, for they are within us. You cannot lose what is intrinsic to your heart. It is but a brief parting, not a forever farewell.”
Charlotte stopped in front of more familiar doors. “This is the banquet hall. First-year students take their breakfast in the old chapel at the back, if you didn’t already know from your orientation packages.”
“What packages?” I shot a confused look at Persie.
She shrugged. “Maybe ours got lost in the post?”
I took a quick look at the banquet hall, though I’d already seen it once today.
“This way.” Charlotte walked on, pointing out the way to the infirmary, four of the smaller libraries, and the laundry room. Apparently, they weren’t interesting enough to take a peek at. But we could always investigate more later, schedule permitting. We were supposed to receive our schedules at the end of the tour, and I guessed they’d be jam-packed.
Trekking on through the labyrinth, she halted halfway down a vast hallway and swung open a set of medieval doors. I expected a classroom or another library. Instead… well, what a view. To the right, there was a beautiful courtyard with pear trees growing along the perimeter, and benches beneath the rustling leaves. To the left were manicured gardens with vivid flowerbeds in full bloom, despite the chill in the breeze. Beyond the sandstone walls, from Charlotte’s curt description, were more gardens, where hunters and students liked to stroll. And, down a central path, rolling green hills stretched as far as the eye could see, even beyond the confines of the Institute. From inside, it was easy to forget that the outside world existed. But here it was, in all its lush green glory.
“This place is so beautiful, isn’t it? Everywhere you look, there’s something new and exciting to see!” Persie gushed breathlessly. “I wonder if those pears are ripe enough to eat?”
I shook my head. “They’d give you the collywobbles, make no mistake.”
“What?”
“A tummy-ache.” I grinned, feeling better with some fresh air in
