1: St. Rosa's Academy For Girls

"Miss Granger, your sister has a gift and we would like to cultivate it to its fullest extent. You can not hide her forever ma'am, she must be let free eventually."

Seren bit her bottom lip in thought. It was a bad habit of hers that she just gave up on trying to break. In the other room, her little sister peeked through the door and watched Seren converse with a strange man.

Dressed in a suit, the man appeared to be of London nobility, but why would a nobleman from there be all the way in the poorest area of Colwyn Bay? "I'm sorry," The girl's thoughts were cut off by her sister's words, "But I can not allow her to go, she is still far too young."

That was the final nail in the coffin. The girl slammed opened the door fully and stared at her sister with slight anger, "But Ren, I'm fifteen. I am plenty old enough to do as I please."

"Avaline!" Seren stared at her in shock, she hadn't expected her little sister to be listening, much less burst in the room in front of a stranger. She could hardly walk in front of strangers without stuttering, much less acting out in front of them. "You don't know what you're talking about. You've barely left the house, how do you suppose you can do what he is asking."

Avaline turned her dark gaze to the man and without her usual hesitation towards strangers, she immediately asked for his proposition.

"First of all, young lady, I should introduce myself. I am John Hawthorne, butler to Mrs. Rosalind Yorkshire, Chancellor of St. Rosa's Academy for girls."

He's a butler, thought Avaline. He wore such fancy clothing that she was determined that he was a part of the nobility class. Along with this sudden revelation, her brain had also just finished connecting the pieces of her previous actions, and it concluded they were quite rude.

Her face heated up but she maintained eye contact. Her sister had once said, although she couldn't remember when, to always maintain eye contact even if it were uncomfortable, for it would show her respect towards the other person, allowing them the time of day to speak with her. And so, she maintained the now embarrassing eye contact.

She continued to stare even as she nervously curtsied to the man. Another rule of respect her sister had taught her. In her words, "A proper lady should always curtsy after introductions. It would be disrespectful to do anything else."

"It is a, uh, pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hawthorne."

Mr. Hawthorne smiled through his bushy goatee at the girl's manners. "And to you as well, young miss. As for my proposition, I would merely like to have you sign a four-year contract to attend St. Rosa's."

Avaline searched through her memories on contract law. A party never revealed the full details of the contract, it would be too stupid of them to do that. "Where is the fine print, Mr. Hawthorne?" She asked with some hesitation. She would have to get used to speaking out in the open if she ever did accept this contract. But, she was good at adapting so she saw no reason she couldn't adapt easily here.

"Clever girl." Mr. Hawthorne's smile grew as he continued, "As I said, four years at the academy. However, you will spend those four years observing a select few students. I know how good your memory is and we would like to utilize it."

The man took a sip of the cheap tea Seren had prepared hastily and showed no sign of distaste, "At the first of every week you will write a letter on your findings and address it to the Dean of Sciences. It will then be handled from there."

Avaline thought for only a second before readily agreeing, much to her sister's protest. This was her chance to finally prove to Seren that she could, in fact, survive on her own. She took the contract that layed on the table and scanned all of the print, absorbing the data and tucking it into her brain for later use, perhaps she could use some of the fine print to her advantage later.

Signing it, Avaline had sealed her fate in the hands of Lady Yorkshire. Seren couldn't take it and her eyes started to water, her baby sister was now going to be leaving her.

With the contract finalized, Mr. Hawthorne no longer had any need to stay, he thanked them for tea and departed readily, supposedly to present the contract to his mistress.

For once, Avaline consoled her sister, and not the other way around. It was always Avaline crying over anything ranging from a papercut to a torn page on one of her favorite novels.

"Oh Ave, why... why do you have to leave me..."

Avaline held back her own tears and acted strong in front of her older sister. She sat her down and pulled her into a soft but tight hug, "You know I had to leave the nest eventually. And why not now? If I do well at that academy I could help us out in any number of ways."

This only further increased the sobs. And as they sat in each other's embrace for what seemed like forever, Avaline couldn't help but imagine what her life would be like at the academy. Good or bad she knew one thing for certain, that it would change her in more ways than she could ever know.

Two months later she had her dresses and other amenities packed inside a trunk she never knew they had. After the packing, she tried on her school uniform and looked at the full body mirror in uncertainty.

She didn't like looking in the mirror, she always had body image issues and would constantly starve herself in pursuit of looking thinner like her sister. It worked, however, she is now underweight and very unhealthy for her age, even with her sister forcing her to eat.

Avaline continued to stare into the mirror. What did one generally do in uniforms? Schoolgirls in books tittered and gossiped and batted their eyelashes at young soldiers, but she did not know how to do any of those things. Were there young soldiers anymore? Maybe Mrs. Yorkshire had some young and handsome guards that could fit the role.

"Do you feel well?" Seren bit her lip in worry and put her hand to her sister's forehead.

"I look terrible."

A kiss was planted on Avaline's forehead. Her sister directed her gaze back the mirror and said something comfortable, but it only made Avaline feel worse. At least her sister looked real and not like some ghost. Avaline was a good head shorter than her sister and somehow, despite having the same features, only she looked disproportionate.

"You are beautiful, Ave. You really are." She said the same comforting words again as she brushed Avaline's hair off her face and tied it back with a thick ribbon. "You are a perfectly respectable young lady. I promise you."

Despite her best efforts, Avaline felt she would never be a respectable young lady. Besides, Mrs Yorkshire didn't want respectable, she wanted a keen eye who could relay information to her and that is exactly what Avaline will do.

"She wants a camera, not a lady." For as long as she could remember, Avaline could see things others couldn't, could connect dots otherwise seen impossible to do so. Her mind was a weapon of deduction and observation with a perfect memory to boot, she could remember everything from the present to five years back, every little sound, touch, smell, and sight. It was a gift her sister always said to strangers she met, thats probably how Mrs Yorkshire found out about her.

"Well, you can be both." Seren finished tying the ribbon into a tight bow and huffed, "They won't contradict one another. Just because Mrs Yorkshire desires your mind doesn't mean you should abandon all of your other qualities as well." Avaline pulled slightly on her skirt and chanced herself another look at the mirror, specifically at the girl inside of the mirror and wondered if there was anything else she could offer to the table.