Fears and Secrets

Later in the afternoon, Tissaia sat the girls down across from one another.

"An essential part of being a mage is the ability to communicate with those in your vicinity. But sometimes, things must be said privately."

The girls watched the Rectoress closely.

"You will try to read the girl across from you's mind. Find her fears. Find her secrets."

The girls concentrated.

After a while, Tissaia asked, "Well?"

"Iva's greatest fear is snakes," Nera reported.

"Asha's greatest fear is drowning," Kali said.

"IIfri's biggest secret is that she kissed a guy in her family's store," Uma stated.

"Serena's biggest secret is that she snuck a loaf of bread out to a friend of her's," Elvira said.

The others snickered. Serena hung her head. Tissaia cleared her throat.

"That will be all for the day, girls. Dismissed."

They stood up and began to leave.

"Cupcake."

Serena stopped. She turned around to face Tissaia.

"What?"

"Don't let them get to you. You don't want to appear weak, do you?"

Serena swallowed and shook her head no. Tissaia smiled.

"Good. You may go, cupcake."

Serena left and headed back to her room. The rest of the day, she spent in her small, barely furnished room. Once, she stared at herself in the mirror.

Serena wasn't an overly beautiful girl, but she did have nice dark chocolate hair with dark brown eyes and a tanner olive skin tone.

She sighed and returned to her bed.

Over the next weeks, Tissaia trained the girls. She pushed them to their limits and did so without much concern. The strongest were growing while the weakest remained behind.

One night, she woke them all up at midnight, during a thunderstorm. Maids then led them all to down, deep below Aretuza. They walked through a corridor and came out into a wide opening.

Tissaia greeted each of the girls, and handed them a glass bottle.

"Hello, Asha."

"Welcome, Nera."

"Hello, Iva."

"Welcome, Kali."

"Hello, Uma."

"Welcome, Ilfri."

"Hello, Elvira."

The girls all greeted her back. Soon, she sensed Serena coming.

Never once had Tissaia discriminated Serena based on the fact that she was Nilfgaardian. In fact, she had never told the other girls who were all from Northern kingdoms. Yes, Tissaia had battled the Nilfgaardian army at the Battle of Sodden Hill, but if this new generation's strongest mage was to come from Nilfgaard, then so be it.

"You're late, cupcake."

Serena, on the other hand, was still very pissed off about being at Aretuza. She glared at the Rectoress who just ignored her. Indeed, Tissaia saw much of Yennefer in Serena. Both were stubborn, yet had the potential to be very powerful.

She led them out of the open area and into a small opening.

"Welcome, girls, to Tor Lara, otherwise known as the Tower of the Gull. A powerful place forbidden to all except the Brotherhood of Sorcerers."

The girls all looked around the rocky cavern that Tissaia had led them into. It was wet from the rain and cold.

"Why are we here?" Serena grumbled. "It's the middle of the night."

Suddenly, thunder rumbled across the sky and a lightning bolt crackled down onto the raised platform in the center of the cavern. The girls all screamed and flinched away. But Tissaia stood with a straight back, unwavering.

"To see who can control the truest expression of chaos. Your task tonight is to catch lightning in a bottle."

"That's an impossible feat though," Ilfri said.

"No, this is magic, Ilfri."

Tissaia looked around at each of the girls.

"Nera, your up first."

The girl shakily stepped up onto the platform and heard the rumbling of thunder. Then, the crackle of lightning lit up the dark sky.

"Bottle up, Nera."

She raised the glass bottle into the air and looked away, afraid. Pure lightning came down and went into the bottle. Nera carefully looked at her bottle.

"I did it!"

Suddenly, the lightning crackled and shot out of the bottle and hit the wall. All the girls yelped. Tissaia stood with an unreadable expression on her face.

She had seen many girls fail this trial. Many had gotten injured or even killed. This was no surprise to her.

"Step down, Nera."

She did and returned to her spot. Tissaia looked at another girl.

"Elvira, you're up next."

The girl stepped up onto the platform. She raised her bottle upon Tissaia's command. A bolt of lightning came down and went straight through the bottle. The electricity overloaded Elvira's body and she shook with the energy. Then, her body collapsed.

"Is she still breathing?" Asha asked quietly.

Uma quickly pulled Elvira's body off of the platform and checked for a sign of life. After a few seconds, she shook her head.

"She's dead."

Silence filled the cavern. Then, Tissaia said, "Uma."

The girl crawled up and raised her bottle. She looked away and successfully caught a bolt. She returned to her place, the pure electricity crackling in her hands.

"Ilfri."

The girl stood up, raised her bottle, and closed her eyes. The others watched as the lightning crashed down and rippled into the bottle before being directed back out. Ilfri stepped back down, shaking.

Neither Iva nor Kali could catch the lightning either. Iva got shards of glass in her face when the bottle shattered, and Kali was seriously injured.

"Your turn, cupcake."

Serena shook as she made her way slowly forward.

"Faster, we don't have all night."

Serena climbed up, but her hands were cold and she accidentally dropped the bottle. It broke on the platform. She turned around to face Tissaia who remained reticent.

Then, Serena remembered:

Her mother told her, "Be good. Make me proud."

Tissaia said, "Stop crying. Your mother will be very disappointed if you cry."

Serena took a deep breath and made up her mind. She reached up her hand towards the open sky as thunder rumbled overhead.

"Rectoress, are you really not going to stop this? She doesn't have a bottle!" Uma protested.

"Quiet," Tissaia said coldly.

Uma didn't say another word. Everyone watched as the lightning came down and crackled right into Serena's fingers. It coursed throughout her body.

Lightning is chaos, Serena thought. Control the chaos.

She knew better than to let the lightning touch her heart. So she internally directed it from her hands to her arms, down to her stomach to avoid her heart, back up to her other arm, and out through her other hand. The other girls gasped when they saw the lightning leave Serena's body, and she was still standing.

Tissaia's face remained impassive, but on the inside, she was feeling very pleased. She had seen the potential and was right to bring her to Aretuza. Tissaia knew Serena was not a lost cause.

"Let's go, girls. We're done here."

Tissaia swept out of the cavern, and the others followed her. They returned to their rooms in Aretuza, and Tissaia went to her office. Just as she entered her office, she sensed a presence behind her.

"You want to know how you did it, don't you, cupcake?"