Thud thud thud.
Somebody knocked on the door. A young girl was lazily lying on the carpeted floor, her stockinged feet on the couch.
"Erika!" she called, as an older girl ran into the room to the front door, wearing a French maid outfit and yellow rubber gloves.
"I'm going, I'm going!" the girl replied as she opened the door. "Alan... hi..."
"Erika, what's with the maid outfit?" the visitor asked.
"Oh, I'm cleaning the house," she replied.
"Ah. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me or something," the visitor replied, laughing. "Can I come in?"
"Sure. Siobhan!"
"Okay, I get it, you want to be alone with Alanthreous," the girl lying on the floor said, getting up and picking her shoes up from under the table. "I'll be going to my room, then."
"Actually, I was going to ask you to make pour some fruit juice, sis," Erika replied.
"Oh," Siobhan said quickly, sitting on the couch and putting her shoes on. She rushed to the kitchen.
"Don't run in the house, Siobhan!" Erika said angrily.
"Let her, she's just ten years old. You act like you're twenty-eight, you know," Alan replied.
"I do not!" Erika retorted.
"Relax," Alan said quickly, as Siobhan came back and handed him and Erika their glasses. "Just joking, jeez..."
"Siobhan, go to your room," Erika said.
"I knew you were going to say that," Siobhan said calmly, walking to her room. She opened the door silently, and closed it quickly. She then removed her shoes and put them under her bed. She took a letter from her desk and began to read it.

Dear Siobhan

I've missed you so much! I haven't seen you since you were only five years old. I hope you can still remember me.

How are you and your sisters? I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she's doing better now, I've only just heard about the car accident. My boss told me to come spend time with you four girls, until your mother's out of the hospital and ready to work again. I'll probably be arriving in five days, so spend the $500 wisely, okay?

I can't say how sorry I am for divorcing your mother, but the truth is that she had an affair with another man, and not those lies that she's told you. Don't tell Dixie yet, she isn't ready, but I know you are ready, for you are wiser than a thirteen-year old girl.

I'm doing as well as I can with my ex-wife in the hospital. It makes me wish that we had never even divorced. Maybe then she'd not have gotten in that accident... I miss you a lot, please write back when you can!

Love
Your father

Siobhan sat on the ground, cross-legged, reading through the letter several times. So her mother had an affair with somebody else? She felt hatred towards her mother, instead of compassion. A small part of her had wished that her mother had died in the car accident, or that somebody at the hospital and switch her oxygen intake with nitrogen or something. She sighed as she got up again and put the letter back on the desk, then she pulled the chair out. She took a piece of paper and a pen, and began to write in a beautiful handwriting that was not like that of normal girls her age.

Dear father

I miss you too! I can remember when we were at the fun fair in 2001, on my birthday, you gave me a Pikachu plushie. I still have it.

Mom's going to be taken in for surgery in two days, but at the moment she's on oxygen tanks with an oxygen mask. It'd be nice to see you again, father! I really miss you a lot. And I promise not to tell Dixie about the real reason for the divorce, at least not until she is ready for it. And thanks for the money, father!

Other than Mom being in hospital, I'm doing okay. Since we can't go to hospital because it's too far, I usually send e-mails to the hospital requesting information, and so on. And since Mom's in hospital, we can't go to school, so we're doing some chores around home... well, most of the time. I spend more time being lazy than doing anything else, but I also help out my sisters when they start crying over what happened to mom, so I guess I have an important role in keeping my sisters calm despite my laziness.

Dixie's taking it the hardest, but that's understandable, right? She's just two years younger than I am. Most of the time she locks herself up in her room, and she won't talk to anybody except me. Basically, in terms of the chores we're doing for mom, she's lazier than even I am, since she spends most of her time crying in her room and not even noticing that there are visitors here.

Erika is doing okay herself, and with her boyfriend cheering her up - yes, she has one already - she's a bit better than me, emotion-wise. She cleans the house every day, wearing her silly maid outfit for no reason. I still don't know where she got it from. Regardless, her boyfriend's helping her and Marcel with homework - those three are in the same classroom, so I guess it's helpful, right?

Marcel's doing okay, too, but only now and then. While she has no boyfriend yet, she is helping with cooking, gardening and even shopping, thanks to the neighbors helping out with money and taking her to the shops. I'm amazed that she is skilled at cooking, though - Erika can't even make toast without burning it to a crisp, and Marcel's food tastes like the food at that hotel we went to before the divorce.

I wish you come home soon. I truly miss you a lot, even more than Erika and Marcel do! Dixie probably won't remember you, though.

Your loving daughter
Siobhan

Siobhan quickly put her shoes on again, and left her room, going to the front door.
"Where are you going?" Erika asked.
"Oh, I have to give something to the postman," Siobhan said.
"You've written another letter?" Erika replied sarcastically. "Go then, give it to him, then go back to your room."
Siobhan opened the door and ran to the mailman. "Good afternoon, Mr. Melna!"
The mailman stopped when he saw the young girl, and he smiled. "Good afternoon to you too, lass. I'm sorry to hear about yer mother, I hope she'll be okay."
"I hope so too," Siobhan lied, when in actuality, she wished her mother died. "Anyway, I have a letter that I've written to my father."
"Ah, how is he?" the mailman asked.
"He's doing as well as he can with mom being in hospital," Siobhan said. "He wishes that they never got divorced."
"Ah, that Eric Cruz!" Mr. Melna said, reminiscing over the past. "I remember teaching him Irish when he was a young lad."
"He speaks Irish?" Siobhan asked.
"Aye, he does, and he took extra classes. Sure, most students mocked him for it, mocking him and beating him up for things like not having a social life like they did, but in truth, yer father didn't care. He prefered being able to speak multiple languages to having a social life."
"Dad was bullied?!" Siobhan exclaimed in shock.
"Aye, he was, but he pulled through, ignoring the bullies. He was a brave lad, I'll give ya that. Anyway, you haven't given me the letter yet."
Siobhan handed the letter to Mr. Melna. "Thanks, Mr. Melna!"
"No problem, lass!" Mr. Melna said, walking off.
Siobhan smiled as she went back inside. "What are you smiling about?" Erika asked as Siobhan entered the house.
"Oh, nothing, the mailman knows Dad, even taught him Irish," Siobhan answered, closing the door. She then passed a shocked Erika and went to her room again, removing her shoes and lying on her stomach atop her bed.


"Sis?"
Siobhan woke up with a jerk. "Huh-wha?" Siobhan turned around to see a girl smaller than her stare at her through the eyes of a gas mask. Siobhan screamed as the girl giggled and removed her gas mask. Siobhan gasped from fear.
"Sorry," Dixie said.
"Dixie! Don't do that!" Siobhan breathed, slowly getting over the shock of being startled. "I'm starting... to think that... you want to... become a criminal..."
"Sorry, Siobhan," Dixie said meekly. "I just wanted to scare you to feel a bit better, that's all." Dixie put the gas mask on again, and Siobhan quickly covered herself with her blanket, hiding her face as well.
"Well, while you scare people to feel better, you make them feel worse," Siobhan said slowly. "Where did you get the thing anyway? I thought it was locked up in Mom's room!"
"Oh, Marcel has the keys to Mom's room, and she got it for me with her and Erika's gas masks," Dixie replied.
"What?" Siobhan asked in shock. "You all have those scary things?"
"Yeah, and yours is in your closet," Dixie said. "It's been there since after that time we had to wear those to get used to wearing them."
"During those threats of a chemical war?" Siobhan asked.
"Yep! You were so scared that you spent most of the time in your room, and Mom was furious. Three weeks after those threats turned out to be fake, we all could remove the gas masks, right? So we removed it and you kept yours in the closet since. Mom took ours off after we terrorized you with them, because of how scared you are of gas masks."
"And now you have the things back?" Siobhan asked.
"Yep," Dixie answered.
"Oh man..." Siobhan said slowly, then felt someone tugging at the blanket. "Hey!"
"Siobhan, please," Dixie asked. "I want you to get over your fear... then we could be the 'gas mask sisters' or something."
"NO!" Siobhan replied angrily. "NO WAY!"
"It was an order," an older voice said. Siobhan recognized it as Erika's.
"NO WAY! I'LL NEVER DO IT!" Siobhan shouted. Then she felt a sudden sharp pain through her heart and she screamed in pain.
"Sister!" Erika and Dixie both exclaimed.

The pain felt like no other. It hurt her heart more than it hurt anything else. It was as though her heart was trying to kill her from inside, beating so fast that, had she been younger, she'd be dead from such fast heartbeats. She knew she was different from normal people, but how, she didn't know. Her heart hurt. She closed her eyes in pain. Everything was red. She felt as though she was going to die. She couldn't hear a thing. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel anything but coldness. She couldn't even move. Then, everything disappeared. Her pain was gone, and she saw nothing but a black void. She felt nothing anymore.
Was this how it felt to be dead? she wondered. Was this really how death felt like?
She began to think of how painful it was. She couldn't breathe. Did someone try to kill her and her sisters with a poisonous gas? Was that why they tried to get her to wear a gas mask? Or was it them who tried to kill her? Her own blood sisters?


She sat up straight. Siobhan was still on her bed, still wearing the same blue dress, the same black stockings, the same red mittens. She heard voices in the living room. She snuck to her bedroom door and put her ear against it and heard an unfamiliar voice talking.
"I'm very sorry. Are there any other relatives of yours alive?"
"Yes," she heard the familiar voice of Marcel answer. "Our dad, but we don't know where he is or if he even knows about Mom."
"What is his name?" the unfamiliar man asked.
"Eric?" Siobhan heard Erika reply slowly. "I'm not certain, though."
"Where's your younger sisters?" the unfamiliar man asked.
"Well, Dixie went to bed and Siobhan has a fever, I think," Marcel answered. Siobhan took a mitten off and placed her bare hand on her forehead. It was hot.
"So who's taking care of you four?" the unfamiliar man asked.
"That would be the neighbors," Erika answered.
"Can you think of anybody who would want your mother dead?"
The words of the man kept replaying in her head. Siobhan slowly walked to her bed, lying on it, putting her mitten on again. She stared at the ceiling. Her mother was dead. She started to regret wishing that her mother had died. Then she heard the door slam and a car driving away. She closed her eyes and sighed. She heard her door open, and someone sitting next to her. Then she heard the door slam shut.
"Dixie, you're still awake?" Erika asked.
"Yeah," she replied. "Is Mom really...?"
"Uh huh," Marcel answered. "Mom's really dead. Basically, we're orphans."
"No we're not!" Siobhan exclaimed, sitting up suddenly. Dixie leapt off the bed.
"Mom's dead, Siobhan!" Erika exclaimed.
"But Dad isn't!" Siobhan shouted back.
"We shouldn't be fighting," Dixie said, trying her best to make her voice quiet. A short silence went by.
"Dixie's right," Marcel said softly. "We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves. And who are you talking about, Siobhan? Dad's not here, he doesn't give a damn about us!"
"You're wrong," Siobhan said. "We've kept contact with letters, ever since he sent me that birthday card earlier this year."
Her sisters looked at her. "What?" Marcel asked in shock.
"Dad said he'd be coming home in five days," Siobhan said.
"No wonder you were talking about him and smiling earlier today," Erika said. "So what are we going to do?"
"How'd Mom die?" Siobhan asked guiltily.
"Somebody exchanged her oxygen tank with some tank that had a gas that caused her to freeze to death," Marcel replied. "That's how I understand it."
Siobhan sighed. "So now what? Dad'll have to take us in, and that means we'll have to find jobs or something."
"Dixie's too young--" Marcel began, but Dixie interrupted.
"I can do translations, can I not? Mom taught me Afrikaans, I can translate important Afrikaans articles from South Africa to English!"
"You speak Afrikaans?!" Erika and Marcel said in shock.
"Girls!" Siobhan exclaimed. "Let's get some sleep, and relax."


Thud thud thud thud thud.
Siobhan woke up to the loud knocking. "Ugh..."
She got up, slipped on her shoes and went to the front door. "Who is it?" she asked tiredly.
"It's your father," the reply came. Siobhan immediately opened the front door and hugged her father tightly, tears streaming out of her eyes.
"Oh, father..."
"Shhh, it's okay, honey... Dad's here," her father said. "The moment I found out about your mother's death, I immediately packed my stuff, delivered a note to my client, and drove all the way here."

Later that day, when Siobhan's sisters were all awake, Siobhan went to ask them at what time their mother had died.
"It was at about four in the afternoon," Erika said.
"When'd I lose consciousness?" Siobhan asked.
"The same time," Marcel asked. "Must be coincidence, though. Are you sure you ought to be up right now?"
"When I lost consciousness... it felt as though I died. At first I thought somebody tried killing us with poisonous gas... I feel like killing myself..."
"I think I should tell you girls the truth," their father said suddenly behind them, startling them. "And Siobhan, don't even think about it, okay? Your mother wouldn't want that."
The girls all sat on the couches opposite their father's. He looked at them all. "You see, you girls are all unique - more unique than even most people are. You see, you four all have gifts. Special powers, that sort of thing."
"What?" Dixie exclaimed.
"I should know, I myself have special powers," their father said, then he conjured a ball of burning gases in his hand. "I control fire. Your mother... she used to control ice."
"You're not serious!" Erika said in shock.
"Whoa," Marcel said.
"Siobhan, judging by what you felt at the time, I'd say you have the power of Heart - which, as a result, makes you more forgiving than your sisters. I had that power myself, you know. You also will notice when someone close to you has passed away - in this case, your mother. As a result, though, when you feel sad because of it, you feel like killing yourself. In other words, sadness is deadlier than poison gas, in your case. I too felt the pain, but I've become used to it, during my third year at the Phoenixflare Magic School, when most of my family members were murdered brutally. I didn't lose consciousness, but as it was the first time somebody close to you had died, you probably lost consciousness, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," Siobhan answered. Then, to herself, she muttered, "No wonder..."
"It'll seem as though you'd have gotten a fever, though, but it'll go by eventually. Dixie, you're the youngest, and you tend to wear gas masks a lot, as Siobhan has told me through a letter. I know very little of you - and your older sisters - so I'm going to have to guess here. I'm guessing you control poison."
"Waah!" Dixie cried. "I don't want to poison my sisters!"
"You'll probably be able to cure them, Dixie," their father said. "I don't know. Erika, you control fabric, if I had to guess. Where did you get a French maid outfit?"
"Uhhh, made it myself?" Erika said, blushing. "How'd you know about that?"
"Siobhan told me via letter. Marcel, you're the most mature sister, and thus the most responsible one. My guess would be that you can control light."
Marcel snapped her fingers and a small orb of light appeared above it. "Interesting," she said in a bored monotone.
"Now, girls," their father said, "I'm going to enroll you in a magic school, okay? One nearby here."
"What?!" the four girls exclaimed simultaneously.
"I'm a wizard. That makes you all half-wizards," their father said. Then he took a wand out of his pocket and waved it, muttering "Clunixia."
He split in two, the second one not holding a wand. "No way," Siobhan said excitedly. "That's awesome!"
"It is, isn't it?" Mr. Cruz said. "Ixclunixia." The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. "One of the best magic schools I know of would be Frogwings, mainly because they learn spells during their first year - the one nearby does that in the second year."
"Can we go there?" Siobhan asked quickly.
"Where? Frogwings?" her father asked.
"Yep! Please?"
"That's in South Africa, you know."
"Pretty please?" Dixie asked.
"Oh, I dunno..."
"We want to go there," Marcel said.
"I don't," Erika said quickly. "What about Alanthreous van Graan?"
"He's the next door neighbor's son?" Mr. Cruz asked in shock. Siobhan nodded. "Well, well, what do you know! You know, his parents are wizards too, so maybe he's a wizard as well!"
Erika's mouth fell open. "What...?"
"Anyway, we probably should wait for the funeral, it's in ten days. I know the headmistress personally, so I can notify her about this," Mr. Cruz said. "She'll understand, she was actually your mother's rival back when they were just eleven."
"But what about work?" Siobhan asked. "You'd have to move to South Africa, wouldn't you?"
"Firstly, I can cast the Teleportation Spell," Mr. Cruz said. "Secondly, you girls'll spend every term at the school, and not at home, except during vacations. And I have a call to make right now, in private."
"Okay," Siobhan said calmly, getting up and walking to her room. Her sisters followed her, but went to their own rooms instead. Siobhan opened her bedroom door, and went inside, closing the door silently. She walked to her bed, and slipped off her shoes. She sighed. So she was gifted with the power of heart, and so was her father. So that's why they forgave the people who constantly bully them so easily. However, when her mother had died, they both felt the pain, and she had lost consciousness, while her sisters had thought she had gotten a fever...

After ten minutes had gone by, she got up from bed and walked to her closet, removing her mittens. She opened the door, and shivered. She went to a dresser nearby, and put the mittens in the top drawer, taking a pair of black gloves out and putting them on. "I think I'll lock the door and plunge the room into darkness," she said softly to herself.
She slowly walked to her bedroom door, and locked it. Then she shut the curtains of her bedroom, making everything dark. She closed the windows, then walked to the closet again. She had often wandered around in the darkness in her room, so she had a good memory of where everything was. She sighed. She remembered her mother's last words to her. "Don't worry about me, Siobhan. I'll be alright, it's just a check-up to see whether I'm sick or something." An hour or so later, she got in a car accident, and two days later, she died. Siobhan took a deep breath.
"Here goes something," she muttered to herself, putting on the gas mask that lay in her closet for so long. She then climbed into the closet, shut the doors and lay inside on top of a rug she had placed there if she wanted to hide. It was comfortable, so she didn't mind lying in her closet. She could see perfectly everything inside her closet, from the dresses that she rarely wore to the skirts and tops that she wore often. She could hear her father's voice from the living room.
"Are you telling me that they're Nobodies?" Mr. Cruz said in shock. Then he sighed. "So they're not human? At all?" Another short silence. "What do you mean, there's somebody with two Nobodies? That's virtually impossible!" Another short silence, and Mr. Cruz sighed again. "I understand, but killing them? Are you insane?" Another silence, this time slightly longer than before. "So I'm to kill the four Nobodies when the two Inhuman Nobodies pop up someplace as Super Inhumans?" A shorter silence this time. "I'll try my best, then." It was silent for several minutes. "I see. Goodbye."
Siobhan heard him slump onto the couch. She sighed. "Dad's a murderer?" she muttered to herself. "I shouldn't tell anyone, though, wouldn't want to give away my hiding spot to my sisters or anybody else."
She opened her closet door again, removed her dress and stockings, and threw the stockings on her bed. She hung the dress up in the closet, and took a black top and skirt out. She put those on, and went to the dresser again, this time opening a drawer underneath the one containing the gloves. She took a pair of black tights and socks out, and closed the drawer. Then she put the tights on, with the stockings over it, and the socks over her stockings. It was very hot, but she didn't mind. She took her gloves off, opening the top drawer again, and taking a pair of black gloves out - these were elbow-length, instead of wrist-length like the other gloves she wore. She put it on, wearing her wrist-length gloves over it. She closed the drawer and took a recording device from her desk, then she went to her closet again, and put on a black jacket and scarf. She frowned. Here she was, trying to get over her fear of gas masks, and now she went a bit overboard. But she didn't care much, because she didn't want her sisters to know. She climbed back in her closet and closed it. She sighed.

Thud. Thud thud thud. Thud thud.
She sat up. Somebody was knocking on the front door. She heard her dad open it. She quickly activated her recording device to record any conversation, just in case.
"Ah, so you're the agent I was to meet?" Mr. Cruz said in a pleasant voice.
"Yes," the visitor asked. She had a voice that made Siobhan flinch. "I bring news about Black."
"Ah, so what could you find out from her?" Mr. Cruz said in a serious voice that Siobhan had never heard him use.
"She had knocked her godson out with sleeping gas, along with her godson's future ally," the woman said. "She and her own daughter wore gas masks, so they weren't knocked out."
"I see," Mr. Cruz said. "Where are they?"
"At a hospital. They're planning on sending the three kids to Frogwings."
"What?" Mr. Cruz said in shock. "But the girls shouldn't be in contact with the two Nobodies!"
"Correct. It means that the orders are to kill the girls immediately," the woman said.
"I see," Mr. Cruz said slowly. "How exactly am I to do that?"
"Worry not, agent Cruz," the woman said. "I've sorted it out already, we just need to get out of here and wait until midnight."
"Midnight? What for?"
"Poison gas," the woman said excitedly. "The entire building will be flooded with it, and whether they wear gas masks or not, they'll still die, as the gas is highly toxic to come into contact with... unless, of course, the girls get the idea to wear gas masks and biohazard suits or something that covers their skins entirely, but I doubt they'd be wearing gloves in this warm weather."
"As far as I know, the youngest likes wearing gas masks, and her sister has a fear of it. Her eldest two sisters both don't wear it as often," Mr. Cruz said.
"I see," the woman said. "What are their names?"
"The eldest two girls are Marcel Amelia Zetske Edith, and Erika Xylla Anabeth Chrissie Tina," Mr. Cruz replied. "The younger one is Siobhan Uma Nadine. The youngest one is Dixie Ellen Alexandra Daria."
"Such long names," the woman said, obviously in shock. "So those are the four Nobodies?"
"Yes," Mr. Cruz answered.
"Intriguing. You and your dead wife are Somebodies, yet your daughters are Nobodies?" the woman asked. The door slammed shut and Siobhan quickly stopped recording the conversation.

Siobhan's heart was beating frantically. So her father intended on killing his only daughters. She had no choice. She had to contact her sisters. She quickly took her phone from her blue dress that was hanging above her, then sent a message to all her sisters: "Cm 2 mai roem w/ GMs". She quickly rushed out of the closet and unlocked the door, hiding behind it in case her murderous father came in. When the door opened, her sisters all came in wearing their gas masks. Siobhan quickly shut the door and locked it.
"Don't say a word, not until I tell you why I alerted you here," Siobhan said quickly.
"Who are you? What did you do with Siobhan?" Marcel asked. "And why'd you use code?"
"Yeah, last we checked you were afraid of gas masks," Erika added.
"Is it an emergency?" Dixie asked. Siobhan nodded. "So that's why you asked us to come to your room with our gas masks?" Siobhan nodded again. "Why?"
"Dad's planning on killing us," Siobhan said. "Our lives is more important than being a-afraid of something, isn't it? I also used code, since it'd be hard to figure out what I was saying if somebody could trace our messages."
"Yeah, being scared of something isn't as important as remaining alive," Marcel said. "But why would Dad want to kill us?"
"Where do you get all this nonsense?" Erika said angrily.
"It's the truth, I heard Dad and some woman planning on killing us," Dixie said. Her room was just as close to the living room as Siobhan's.
"I even got proof," she said, holding the recording device in her hand. She set the volume to low, and signalled her sisters to go the closet and listen to it. She didn't want to listen to it twice.
"Dad's really going to let us die?" Erika said in shock. "And why do they call us Nobodies and not Somebodies? What's the difference between the two?"
"I dunno," Marcel said, "but I do know that we need to get out of here."
"Without them noticing?" Siobhan said quickly. "How? No, I propose we all just put on black outfits, no matter how warm it is in Phoenix, and then... well, I dunno, somehow survive? I mean, we don't have bio-whatever suits, do we?"
Marcel left the room. Siobhan looked at Dixie and Erika, who shrugged. "What's up with her?" Dixie asked.
"I dunno," Erika said. "It's as though she has lost it completely."
Three minutes of silence went by, then Marcel entered the room again, wearing lots of black clothing, so that she looked almost similar to Siobhan. It was only their hair colours, hair styles and their lengths that differed; Siobhan had long brown hair whilst the tall Marcel had long, wavy red hair. Dixie, who was the shortest of the four Cruz girls, had long brown hair that she always wore in ponytails, and Erika, who was slightly shorter than Marcel, but longer than Siobhan, had short red hair. They all had green eyes, however.
"Well, they doubted that we'd wear warm clothing in this weather, didn't they?" Marcel said. "So, I figured, why not do what they thought we wouldn't do?"
Erika sighed. "You do realize they'd notice if we just leave the house whilst wearing these clothes, right? Our hair's visible, it's a bright red colour."
"Not if we wear hooded jackets," Siobhan said, covering her head with the hood of her jacket. Marcel did the same, then looked at the clock on her phone.
"You two should hurry," she said quickly. "It's almost five o' clock!"
Erika and Dixie both rushed out of Siobhan's room in a hurry as Siobhan checked her phone for the time. "You lied just to get them to hurry up, didn't you?" she asked. "My phone says it's one o' clock."
"Yeah," Marcel answered, "but our lives are in danger, right?"
"True. Lying to save our lives is helpful for now."
"Also, I found a bottle of methylenedioxymethamphetamine in Mom's room," Marcel said.
"What?!" Siobhan exclaimed. Then she sighed. "Mind telling me what that is?"
"Drugs," Marcel said. "Mom was a drug addict."
"No way," Siobhan said slowly. "And we didn't even notice?"
"Nope," Marcel said. "She hid the symptoms of drug abuse pretty well."
"Darn," Siobhan said slowly. "That must've been why she was going to the hospital that day..."
"Possibly," Marcel said. "Oh, hey, princess."
Dixie came into the room, already hooded. "I'm not a princess," she said quickly.
Erika rushed into the room, hooded as well. "Marcel, you liar."
"What? At least now we got our wish of being 'gas mask sisters', as Dixie put it," Marcel answered in an insouciant way. Dixie giggled.
"And what about Dad trying to kill us 'Nobodies'?" Siobhan asked angrily.
"Well, we'll just have to wait until midnight and hope that we can escape then," Marcel said. "If we can't, then at least we'll have tried-- where are you going, Siobhan?"
"Mom's room," Siobhan answered. "Maybe we can find some way out from there."
"Good idea," Erika said happily. "Maybe a spell book or something - if our parents really were wizards."
"Then let's go," Dixie said encouragingly.


"Found it!" Siobhan exclaimed, holding a wand and a book in her gloved hands. They tore the room apart to find something that could help them escape. "What's the time?"
"Excellent!" Erika said excitedly. "So? Is there a way out?"
"Relax, she's just found it, give her a break," Marcel said, sounding just as excited, looking on her phone. "And it's five minutes before midnight."
"Now what happens?" Dixie asked. Siobhan turned the pages, eventually stopping.
"Teleportation!" Siobhan said softly. "It's a spell for fifth years, apparently... but we should try casting it anyway."
Erika and Marcel placed their hands on Siobhan's shoulders. "Relax," Erika said. "You won't be able to try if you're tense."
"She's right," Marcel said. "Relax, but not too much, otherwise you'll fall asleep."
Siobhan took several deep breaths. She felt calmer and relaxed. "Two minutes before midnight," Dixie said worried.
"Teleportia!" Siobhan said clearly, but nothing happened. "Ugh, that was an epic fail and a half."
"You didn't wave your wand," Marcel said. "When Dad did that spell that cloned him, he waved his wand."
"It says here you should also name the location of where you want to go to," Dixie added.
"That makes sense," Erika said. "Who'd want to end up teleporting into a volcano by accident?"
The ground started shaking as green gas came from the ground in the house. "Uh oh!" Dixie exclaimed. "They're killing us right now!"
"Poison gas bombs hidden in the carpets while we were in our rooms?" Erika exclaimed. "They must have done it with magic!"
"Or while we were sleeping," Marcel said slowly. "After all, we wouldn't be able to do anything then!"
"You're right," Siobhan said, "we were sleeping then. They could've put the bombs under the carpets then!"
"Hurry up!" Erika said quickly. "Before we get gassed!"
"You're not helping," Dixie said. "She has to concentrate again! Right?"
Marcel nodded affirmatively. "Dixie's right. Siobhan, pretend as though there isn't poison gas here. Just relax and try again. And remember the location and waving the wand!"
"I will try," Siobhan replied.
"Trying's not good enough!" Erika said angrily. "HURRY UP!"
"Seriously, Erika, you're just making her more tense," Marcel said. "Relax, little sister."
"Yeah, and if Erika makes you tense again, I'll turn her into a squirrel!"
"Hey!" Erika exclaimed. Siobhan laughed.
"You know, Dixie, you're skilled at cheering people up," Siobhan said.
"Thanks, sis!" Dixie replied.
"So now you're ready to try again?" Marcel asked. Siobhan nodded.
Siobhan took several more deep breaths, feeling calmer and relaxed again. This time, waving the wand and speaking clearly, she said, "Teleportia Frogwings!"
In a sudden, they all disappeared from the room. Not a trace remained of them.


"Did it work?" Marcel asked. She looked around. "Looks like it, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, and here comes somebody," Erika said quickly.
"Let's hope it's somebody understanding," Siobhan said quietly.
"Yeah," Dixie added.
The woman who walked towards the castle behind the girls stopped suddenly. "Who's there?" she asked. Her grey hair was curly, and she wore spectacles. "I know you're there, I can sense your aura!"
"Siobhan Uma Nadine," Siobhan said clearly.
"Dixie Ellen Alexandra Daria," Dixie said just as clearly.
"Erika Xylla Anabeth Chrissie Tina," Erika said.
"Marcel Amelia Zetske Edith," Marcel said last.
"Ah, the Cruz sisters, who cast the Teleportation Spell five minutes ago," the woman said. Siobhan gasped.
"How did you--" she began, but the old woman interrupted.
"You see, Aura Users - like me - can tell when spells are being cast at any time. They are valued for their ability, for they often help the magical police capture magical criminals."
"How did you know we were sisters?" Erika demanded.
"I was expecting you four, to be honest," the old woman said calmly. Matilda Cruz - your mother - sent me a letter saying that your father - Eric Cruz - planned on killing you all and that I should take you in. However, her magical dueling rival, Maddie Black, who also has the gift of seeing the future, was visiting me at the time, so when she found out about it, she used her future sight to see whether this was true. Sadly, it was, but luckily, you four were to escape."
"You mean... you knew we were going to die?" Marcel exclaimed. "AND YOU DIDN'T TRY TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!"
"If it wasn't Ms. Black who used the future sight, I would have," the woman answered calmly, "but she also has the blood of an Aliatunian - a race of human-like aliens capable of seeing the future. She herself doesn't know it, but regardless - she can see the future and no matter what is done, it cannot be changed."
"So... now what?" Dixie asked.
"Well, you four girls can stay here. I've already requested that Ms. Black come over tomorrow not only to meet you four girls, but also to get your things from your home..." The woman gave a deep sigh. "I'm Professor Petra Pan. I am the headmistress of Frogwings, the School of Magery."
Marcel gasped this time. "Sorry, headmistress," she said quickly, bowing. "I didn't mean to shout."
"I don't mind," the headmistress said. "Let it all out, that's what I say."
"So you d-don't mind if people shout at you out of anger?" Erika asked quickly.
"Not at all. They'll find impossible to harm me, though, but regardless, letting one's anger out makes it easier to calm the fires that rage," the headmistress said. "Are you girls hungry?"
"Are we ever!" Siobhan exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, we haven't eaten since we've discovered our father's plot," Dixie said.
"Excellent," Pan said. "Let's go in, and please do remove those masks, they're terrifying."
The four girls went in with the headmistress, and only then did they remove their gas masks. "Whoa," Dixie said, awe-struck. "So this is Frogwings?"
"It looks fantasically awesome!" Erika said, in a voice of amazement.
"It's... it's... it's awesome," Marcel mouthed.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Siobhan said, "but it still doesn't satiate my hunger."
"Take seats at the table in the center, and don't take the large chair in the center, that's my chair," the headmistress said. "I'm going to ask Bananablade to cook up something tasty."
"Who's 'Bananablade'?" Dixie asked.
"Ernie le Roux, also known as 'Bananablade' for his banana-shaped sword, is the chef of the school of Magery," the headmistress answered.
"Why's his sword shaped like a banana? And don't magic users use magic only?" Erika asked. Pan sighed.
"He's obsessed with bananas, and for the second question, there are spells that can only be blocked by weaponry. In his case, it would be that sword of his. It's an artifact from the Middle Ages, actually! It protects the wielder entirely from magical spells."
"What?! Really?!" Marcel exclaimed. "Awesome!"
"The sword of his changes chape too, you know. If I were to wield it, it'd become a staff. What is your favourite thing, Siobhan?"
"Most favourite things... ahhh... Pikachu, cats, keys... and black," Siobhan answered.
"Were you to wield it, chances are it would have become a giant key in your hands," Pan finished. "Anyway, keep any questions you have until when dinner's done, okay? Otherwise it'll never get done."
The headmistress left the room as the four girls took their seats. "So what do you think of the headmistress?" Erika asked. "I think she's a little... weird."
"She's nice," Dixie said quickly.
"I agree," Marcel said. "Besides, we're new to this... magic-related things, so obviously magic users would be weird."
"She's a great person," Siobhan said. "If it wasn't for this Ms. Black she was talking about outside, we'd possibly have to go into hiding someplace else. Hey, wonder if she knows what Dad meant when he called us 'Nobodies' and himself and Mom 'Somebodies'."

Ten minutes passed as the headmistress came into the room, followed by five short creatures with long ears, carrying food. Dixie squealed with excitement. "Are those elves?"
"No," the headmistress said. "These are dwarves."
"Dwarves?" Siobhan said in surprise.
"Yes," one of the dwarves said angrily, "if one more person asks that I'm going to grab my axe and axe you all to death!"
"Grimlir, that's not how you are going to treat future students," Pan said angrily.
"Future students?" he repeated.
"Yes, future students. They're all new here, and I'll personally be teaching these two the things they should've been taught for two years," Pan replied, gesturing to Erika and Marcel. "This in the time of four days, too, term starts then. I also will have to get some students then, for they're first years, like Siobhan."
"Wait, what?" Marcel asked.
"We're twelve," Erika explained. "Students of the first year come here at ten years of age - like Siobhan. Dixie, however, I don't really know about her. That's how I understand it."
"Well explained," the headmistress replied. "As for the youngest girl, she can get special non-magical classes until she is ten years old."
"No fair!" Dixie exclaimed.
"However, those classes are important, even though they won't appear as such." Pan took a deep breath. "How many languages can you speak?"
"Huh?" Marcel looked around. "Languages?"
"Learning languages at a young age usually makes it easier to learn, doesn't it?" Erika asked.
"Yes, it does," Pan said. "After all, there are many things to learn in languages."
"I speak Afrikaans," Dixie said slowly. "And also French and English and German. All fluently."
"Goddess of Light, she's smart at her age," Grimlir said in shock as the dwarves put the food down. "Muradin, you speak that Dra-whatever-ian language, don't you?"
"Draconian?" another dwarf asked. "Of course I do, I even teach it when there are students here! Not that many students take that class," he added in a sad monotone, "but still."
"I'll take it!" Dixie said quickly.
"You will?" Muradin asked.
"So will I," Siobhan said.
"Me three," Erika said.
"Count me in," Marcel added.
"Looks like you got four students for Draconian class," Pan said happily.
The dwarves bowed to the headmistress and left the room. "Aren't they going to eat here?" Dixie asked.
"No, they have their own dining room," Pan answered.
After talking about this and that, the dinner was quickly devoured. "That was absolutely the tastiest meal I have ever had," Marcel said.
"Agreed," Erika replied.
Siobhan turned to face the headmistress. "Ma'am, what do you know of 'Nobodies' and 'Somebodies'?"
Siobhan's sisters stared at her as Professor Pan turned to look at Siobhan. "Where did that come from?"
"Our father called us 'Nobodies' and himself and Mom 'Somebodies'," Siobhan answered clearly.
"You know," the headmistress replied, "I myself don't know much about that. I shall have to find this out at the library in my free time. Anyway, the guest rooms should be open now, it's the corridor to the left of here. You have the same rooms, it's the first door to the left of the corridor entrance. Good night."
"Good night, headmistress," the Cruz sisters said in unison as the headmistress got up. She waved her wand, making the dishes disappear.
"Where'd they go?" Erika asked angrily; Siobhan knew she wanted to wash them. However, Erika asked too late, for the headmistress was already outside the great hall.
"In the kitchen," Marcel said. "I guess."
"Let's get some sleep," Dixie said. Siobhan got up first, then her sisters followed suit. They went to the room they were told was theirs, and found that it looked larger than they though.
"This is a castle?" Marcel asked in amazement. "I wish I was a princess!"
"With that axe-crazy dwarf?" Erika asked.
"That'd be a laugh," Siobhan said. "Marcel would just fry the guy with magic, right?"
"She has yet to learn spells," Dixie said, getting on her bed. "Wow, four days before term starts officially? I hope I'm ready."
"So do we all," Erika said, as she and Marcel got onto their beds.
"Well, let's hope it's gonna be fun!" Siobhan exclaimed.
"Night, all," Marcel added.
"Night," the four sisters said in unison.