The day came faster than I wished it to be. The sun shone brightly into my room. Turning away from it had little effect. A soft string of curses left me. Mornings were never my thing and certainly not today. I could hear cluttering below and the tell-tale heavy thread of my brother walking down the stairs. I heard my mother yell something, but it was too far away to properly distinguish. Max' footsteps stopped somewhere at the end of the staircase.

"Zephyra! You need to get up!"

I grumbled out an affirmation, but turned again. A few more minutes wouldn't be the end of the world.

"Now!"

I sighed deeply. I sat up and yelled my okay at the top of my lungs. With my eyes still closed, I slowly got out of bed. My eyes pried themselves open as I made my way to the washroom. I ignored the tub, I'd washed yesterday before the gathering. Instead I searched for the clothing mom had laid out for me. With some disdain I realized she'd found the one skirt I had. I abhorred the thing, which made me hide it every time mom found it again. The downside was that it was now probably the only proper piece of clothing I had. That along with the frilly blouse my grandmother once gave me. Was it too late to wish I'd already outgrown these garments? Though, that would probably mean I had to go in Max' old clothes. I briefly wondered what would be worse, when this time my father's voice rang through the house, slightly irritated.

"Zephyra!"

This shook me out of my contemplation. I yelled that I would be down in a sec and dressed in the clothing that had been chosen for me. The blouse was a little too big, but otherwise I assumed I looked more like a girl than I'd ever done before. My only pair of shoes were cleaned and looked no older than two years. The lack of fabric around my legs made me feel awkward. I tried my best to ignore it as I walked down to the kitchen. There were still some leftovers from the night before, now carefully spread out on the table to be had as breakfast. My grandma, dad and Max were all seated at the table, with mom packing the last bits into her bag. She was the first to notice me and started to shine the moment her eyes rested upon me.

"Oh look at you! So grown-up! So beautiful. You should really wear that skirt more often."

The others now also took notice of me, which prompted my dad and grandmother to echo the compliments. Max just stared briefly at me, grinned sadistically and then proceeded with his breakfast.

"Didn't know you could look like a girl," he said.

I glared daggers at him, as mom gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Dad swatted Max, who only took the blow because if he hadn't, dad would have knocked Remus, bowl and all, off the table. Still he grinned as he rubbed his arm.

Max raised his arms in surrender.

"I'm not saying that stuff. But it doesn't look bad,"

I looked away. I was glad I wasn't looking as ridiculous as I thought I was. However, I didn't really feel like I wanted to hear these compliments now. I'd rather heard them when I wore comfortable clothes. Honey floated around my head a few times, as if giving her own sign of approval. She then landed on my mom's shoulder. Mom steered me to the table, where grandma already placed some food on my plate. This was the most food we'd see in months and right now, I didn't think I could stomach more than the usual. My grandma gently rubbed my arm as I slowly started to pick at my food.

"Michael, we'll be late. Come on," mom said to dad, who quickly shoved the last of his breakfast down his throat. Beedle was already egging him on, buzzing loudly until he finally got up.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" he said as he looked at me.

I shook my head. I loved them both, but I didn't want to arrive at the Summoning Day with one of the janitors and cleaning ladies escorting me an hour earlier. The people of my year already knew who I was and from what family I came from. But the new students who would file in today didn't. And even if I summoned something better than a bug, I would still risk being ridiculed.

"Then we'll see you at school. Mousey is already in your bag, be certain to keep it clean until the ritual, okay?" mom said.

I nodded, received a kiss from both mom and dad and watched them leave. It had suddenly become silent in our small kitchen. Max was focussed on his food, while sometimes giving scraps to Remus. Max was one of the few people I knew who actually fed his familiar. Familiars didn't need food, they were most of the time not even corporeal. But Remus seemed to enjoy the superfluous action. My grandmother and her spider Betty were both making sure I would have enough food on my plate, which was more than I'd ever be able to eat. Finally she broke the silence.

"A familiar is nice, but I wonder about your cores and potentials too. Do you have any idea which ones you'll settle on? You've always seemed like an air and earth type to me, just like your old grandmother."

She winked at the last part. I smiled weakly in return. I had pondered about my cores and potentials as well. After all, they could be my tickets for a life with an artisan's guild. If my mana core settled upon the core elements of earth and air like my grandma predicted, I'd be able to apply to the postmaster's guild, the merchant's guild or the builder's guild. I only hoped I didn't get lightning. Somehow, everyone in the Grey family with the lightning core failed to be able to use proper lightning magic. And I didn't want to become the next failure. Or work hard with my other core so the world would forget my inexperience with lightning, like Max. His core elements were lightning and water, but he only ever used water ever since a lightning spell blew up in his face.

"I was hoping fire and earth, you know. One from mom and one from dad," I said.

Max snorted. "I can definitely see you with those,"

I flicked some food at him. "Thanks," I sneered.

"Don't play with your food!" grandma scolded.

Max and I both bowed our heads and muttered an apology. Grandma let it go thus sparing us another lecture on why we shouldn't waste food. She placed some more on my plate - I began to wonder if she thought I'd been starving - and continued as if nothing had happened.

"I can see some of your father's fire in you, but I think it would be more of a potential. Perhaps water like Max?"

I shook my head. Out of all the possibilities I could get, water was my second least favourite. Mostly because Max already possessed the water core, like our mother. And I didn't want to become another copy. I wouldn't be able to live up to Max' achievements. I wasn't even going to try. My grandmother must have seen my thoughts on my face. She nodded, but said nothing more. I was finally allowed to eat something in peace, but more than half an egg and some bread didn't manage to pass my lips. I was too queasy to eat more. And I knew I'd regret it later.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to continue, I got up. I made a move to clean up, but grandma waved me away.

"Go on. Today is your day. Max and I will clean up. You make sure you get there in time."

I nodded. Usually this would have made me happy. I was never allowed to skip the cleaning up. But now it had been a way for me to postpone. I moved slowly to my bag. I could see a part of Mousey peeking out from it. I pushed him down harder, mentally apologizing.

"Come on Zephyra, you'll be late."

With a heavy heart I formed a smile. "How would that be different from normal?"

Grandma clacked her tongue, pushing some wrapped up food in my arms. She took my shoulders and started to steer me to the front door. "Because you don't get to become an adult every day. Now off you go young lady."

She gave me a final hug before pushing me out of the house. I looked back one more time, seeing that Max had somewhere realised that grandma had been pushing me out of the house. He towered above her and waved at me.

"See you at noon!"

I waved back. "See you."

With that I turned my back and started my trek to school. It wasn't far. Ten minute walk, tops. But it felt a lot longer today. Worse thing was, it was busier than usual. People were getting up early to set up for the Day of Aether. It was a celebration that Aether had managed to keep the impending darkness of Rethea away for yet another year. Always celebrated on the day the sun would shine the longest. The summer equinox, I believe was the term. On this day our magic was strongest and spells took less effort to cast. And grand spells, like the Summoning spell for a familiar became possible. Hence this day was also known as the Day of Summoning. I had to manoeuvre past several carts, apologize twice and halt abruptly before someone rode my toes off. All just to cross the road. I took a right, leaving the main road and into a smaller one leading directly to the school. It was more of a backway in, a way you learnt once you attended school for at least a year. Or, if you had parents who worked at the school like me.

Here it was calmer. I recognized a few of my year up ahead, but I felt no need to call out to them. I’d never spoken to them before and I didn't think they were extremely eager to talk to a Grey before the Summoning. They probably thought I would bring bad luck or something. Instead I walked on, head bowed towards the ground and focussing on putting one foot in front of the other. I wanted to put my hands in my pockets and was cruelly reminded I did not have those in this skirt. They shot past the fabric. I tried holding on to the edges, but that felt awkward. I finally gave up, crossing my arms and hoping no one would notice me. The road, while not long, was muddy from last night's rain. I had to jump across a puddle and move out of the way of several mud spots on the road. I hadn't thought about that when I'd turned to this road. The main road was paved with stones and definitely less muddy. I'd just mindlessly taken the road I'd been taking the past seven years. Oh well, I wasn't turning back now. Being late by a few grains was agreeable. Being late by half an hourglass - especially today - would be horrendous. I took up the pace and walked on.

The small bridge to cross the river that bordered the school came within sight. For a moment I felt a knot turn in my stomach. I glanced up and past it, my heart thumping louder than necessary. A sigh of relief followed when I noticed the bridge was clear from all but the two students who were ahead of me. Good. At least no trouble there. I followed the two and slowly the school came into view. An ugly building in the middle of a field. It was grey and brown, clashing with the yellow white stone and wood that most of the town was built off. It probably had once started off with being shaped like a horseshoe, but I was certain the architect they'd asked had never seen one in his entire life. Because you needed a whole lot of imagination to see a horseshoe in the school's architecture. Signs were planted along the roads going up to the school, stating that new students had to go through the front door while eighth year students were asked to go through the back. I huffed when I saw that the signs were pointing to the mentioned doors. So they finally decided to clear that up. Too bad, it would have quelled my nerves a bit if I saw a confused first year amongst us.

I walked towards the door, my heart jumping when I heard my name.

"Zephyra!"