Thomas was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"So?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "What happened?" Alice smiled. "Everything worked out perfectly," she said. "The mirror confirmed that she is one of the Attuned." "Hold up a second..." I said. "Do you mind explaining what's happening?" "Of course," Alice replied. She led me to the living room and I sank down onto the sofa, still in a daze.

"I guess I should start from the very beginning," she said. "According to our legend, the world started with Aza and Ezo." She waved her hand at the painting behind her. On it was two people, a woman and a man. The woman had dark brown skin and was wearing a green robe. She had leaves and blossoms in her hair. "That's Aza." I thought. Then she pointed at the man on the other side of the painting. Ezo was depicted with pale, almost translucent skin. He was wearing a long black robe with a hood on it. In his right hand, he held a silver staff.

"He looks like the Grim Reaper," I remarked.

"That's because the Grim Reaper that you guys know about is based on him," Alice replied.

"Now, as I was saying, Aza was the goddess of life and the one who created the Earth and its inhabitants. Ezo was the opposite. He was the god of death and created the shadows and night. While the two of them were forming the Earth, they came into a disagreement. Some creatures on the Earth complained to Aza that night was too dark, so she fashioned the Moon and stars to give light. This angered Ezo, as he believed night to be his domain. When he told this to Aza, she disagreed and said that she was doing good to all the creatures by giving them light. She went on to say that light was better than darkness. Ezo flew into a rage at her words and decided to prove her wrong. He went into the deep recesses of Earth and convinced many of the creatures that Aza had created there to join him. With his army of demons, Ezo set out to show Aza that darkness would prevail."

"Wait," I said. "Let me guess. Aza and Ezo have an epic battle, Aza wins and light prevails."

Thomas laughed. "That's what many people think," he said. "But the legend has a little twist to it."

"Shh.." said Alice. "Ezo led his group of dark demonic creatures up to the surface one night and challenged Aza. He said that whoever won would become the ultimate ruler of the world. With no other choice, Aza gathered her followers and accepted Ezo's challenge. The two sides battled for years. Whenever it was day, Aza's forces would get an extra boost. The same happened for Ezo during the night. This made it so they were evenly matched for years until Ezo sacrificed many of his followers and cast a spell that made night endless. Aza knew that she could not undo the curse without sacrificing her own forces, and refused to do so. Instead, she sacrificed herself. Her death was powerful enough to destroy half of the curse and Ezo's forces. She trapped Ezo and his remaining followers in the center of the Earth. Aza then gifted the last of her magic to a select group of followers, who became the Attuned. She entrusted them with the task of protecting Earth and preventing Ezo from rising again."

"And that was how the Attuned came to be," said Thomas, finishing the story.

"Wow..." I said. "So does it mean that I have cool powers or something?"

"It's very complicated to explain, and I don't have the time to go in-depth, but yes," said Alice. "Sometimes the gift skips a generation. Your mother was an example. She always thought we were strange, but it was because we weren't allowed to tell her who we were." "So Mum wasn't magical?" I asked.

"Yes," Alice replied. "Because of this, we weren't sure if you had powers. If you didn't, we were planning on just sending you to the local high school. But since you are... that changes things. Instead, you'll be going to Silverleaf Academy, where you can learn more about your powers and how to use them."

"When do I start?" I asked.

"Tomorrow." Thomas said, his eyes twinkling.

"Well, shit." I thought.