Orphans with special abilities are slightly revered in this world, and I was no exception. Being an orphan with abilities has it's perks, like getting adopted quickly, but the orphanage had a very strict rule: make sure you're not adopting a child for an ability they possess.
This caused the orphanage to have a low adoption rate, and Madame Dupont was proud of that. At a point Emily would have actually left. A rich merchant had happened to pass by the orphanage to adopt a child. His specific requirements were for the child to be tall and 10, and the only one with that record was Emily.
"Bye, Bye losers", she made a mocking face as she hurled her few belongings over her shoulder. Madame Dupont was standing beside the man's trailer, holding on to the adoption papers. Emily walked up to the man, who was smiling proudly like he had won a prize, and from the horse's own mouth, he said,"You will make a fine lassie in school you know? With your abilities and all".
Madame Dupont just snatched Emily from the trailer and ran inside. "Everyone! Lock the doors", she yelled. As if on cue, everyone ran inside, and the strongest amongst ourselves drag the doors shut.
"I have SIGNED! LET ME HAVE HER!", he raved, banging on the doors. Avery and I ran upstairs and went to laugh at him. "Do you think Madame Dupont actually made him sign first?", I asked Avery. "Honestly I have no idea, but it seems like she knew what she was doing". We later on found out from Divine and Ebony (ok, we eavesdropped on them)that Madame Dupont normally gives some people an extra paper to sign before they leave. Usually, that document is the final adoption paper that you need to sign, so she normally waits until the moment they are about to leave before she presents the paper. This is her way of testing the adults' true nature; whether they're adopting the child for selfish reasons or not. If she doesn't give it to you to sign, she is free to take the child away from you, hence if you try and report her for her actions, she can't be arrested or reprimanded.
There was another time too, where we had twins residing in the orphanage, Jason and James. Whereas James was the gifted child(Air ability), Jason was the smart one. He consistently gave Madame Dupont advice on how to run the place. So when a couple that deals in selling spices directly to nobles arrived, Madame was very excited. She introduced everyone to them, but Avery and I weren't interested in being adopted, so we went to hide. Madame introduced Jason to them. "He is a very intelligent young man.", she said proudly, "He helps me with a lot of things regarding the orphanage. His brother, James is an exceptional kid, having air abilities and being an athletic child". She was proud of them, everyone could tell, so when the couple decided to only adopt James, she bluntly refused. She didn't understand why the twins had to be separated. "If you can't adopt one, please leave. They deserve all the love they could get, and if you can't promise that for them, then don't take one away". The couple left disappointed and angry.
All this while the rich merchant that had wanted to adopt Emily was hatching a plan. Avery and I were about to turn 7 that year, and Emily was about to leave for the Academy. Our arguments were less yet violent as usual, and Madame always had to stop us, either it's Avery versus Emily or Emily and I. The night before Emily and the other 10 year olds were supposed to leave, we heard a sudden bang from Madame's room. One 9 year old ran into the dorms and yelled, "MADAME'S BEEN HIT". Everyone started to panic. Marlon purred loudly and everyone suddenly looked at him, confused. "You need to set up a plan", he said, "because the whole place would burn to ashes soon". Emily moved forward, "I volunteer to evacuate the children". I moved forward as well, "I volunteer to monitor the fire and if it can be extinguished in time". The 9 year old moved forward as well, "I will conduct an evacuation for Madame".
And we set out. Avery followed by me, and all those who wanted to help. It was a tedious task, especially those who had to carry Madame out. The fire had spread from the kitchen to the entire ground floor, so we had to summon all the water users to create a flood to stop it.
"I saw a figure dash past into the forest", I overheard someone tell their friend, and I automatically knew it might be the culprit behind it. I called out to Avery after the fire had gone down, and we went into the forest. Marlon trailed behind us, "You know it's a very bad idea right?". I made a signal for him to keep quiet and we crouched behind a rock. There were two men in a cave, and the taller one was handing over a bag to the other. "Is it enough?", he asked. The shorter one nodded. "Now go and kidnap that girl as well. She's going to be 11 soon, and she needs to be within my grasp or else it would be too late". At once we both knew it was Emily he was referring to. "Could that be the merchant?", Avery asked, a bit too loud too, because we were caught. They tied us up and dumped us to one side of the room. "Looki here. You are from the orphanage yeah? Guess what? You'd be forever alone there". I hissed at the merchant and he chuckled, "No one would save you". As at this time, Marlon had secretly entered the cave and was biting off the ropes. "Avery, listen. I need to generate a lot of aura. I'm coming to do something", I whispered. Whiles he wasn't looking, she placed both of her hands onto my shoulder(by this time the culprit had left as well), and I whispered, "Go and report your crimes at the square", making sure to picture the village square and how he would present himself to the villagers. At once, he started to march out of the cave in the direction of the square. "Still got energy in you Avery?", I enquired, worried. She nodded excitedly, "I didn't know you could do that?". "Liar". "Oh c'mon just let me have it this once". "No way".
We sent Marlon to scout for the culprit, whiles we headed back to the orphanage. Luckily, Emily hadn't been caught yet, and some kids had gone out to the village to call for help. Everyone was just settling to the outdoors whiles hoping that Madame would awaken at some point. "Emily we need to talk it's important", I told her. She glared at me and sighed, "What is it now? You want to get credit for the evacuation? Well guess what? You won. Yayyyyy", she said and waved her arms about. "Someone wants to kidnap you", Avery blurted out, annoyed. Emily gasped, "You're kidding right?".
Suddenly, we heard a shout nearby. Marlon had sunk his teeth into the man's leg, and he was frantically trying to shake him off. The kids managed to hold him down, but a bit of damage has been done to Marlon by then.
"Sleep", I whispered, stretching my hands out in his direction. I didn't want to hesitate another moment, lest he ran away. My vision slowly began to blur out, but I still had one thing to do.
Madam Dupont. She was still unconscious, but it looked more like she was sleeping. "Aria don't do what I'm thinking", Avery said to me, trying to hold me down, "You don't know what might happen to her". I didn't care about any side effects. We needed her alive. I needed her alive.
In my 3 years of being by her side, I have felt a weird feeling that I haven't felt before. It felt soo genuine, it felt endearing, and relaxing. She was a strict woman, but you'd know she cared for us. No one has treated me like a person deserving of familial love other than her. "I need to do this", I sobbed, "We need her in our lives, Avery. I don't care if everyone sees me use my powers. I just need to do this". I knelt down besides her, whiles Avery tried to distract the children from what I was about to do. Her body was getting cold, her face started to look pale as well.
That's not good, I thought and readied myself. Stretched out hands, focusing on using all of my aura, I yelled out, "WAKE UP MADAME DUPONT".
My world started to spin. Stars began to dance around me. The sky opened up to rainbows bouncing off the clouds. "What did you do Aria Davenport", the Primordial One said to me, stroking my cheek. "Am I dead or something?", I asked. "Not yet. Unless I allow it". I understood. I had done something which was a violation of my abilities. Yes I could picture whatever I want and whisper it out for it to activate, but not only did I picture Madame waking up, I said my wish out loud, and I had ignored the fact that she was slowly dying. "You used your life force to make that wish", he said, "but I have a simple proposition". "Let's hear it then". "You'd inhabit your cat for the time being, until I figure out what to do with you. You see, the others aren't happy with your decision, and I would have to try and find a way to convince them to forgive you. Give me a human week, and you'd be back in your body".