Incognito

Incognito: A Mistress of Disguise
Chapter 1
Empress swung from the Oak tree outside her School’s fence and landed inside the School, for a person weighing eighty-five kg she was surprisingly light on her feet. Her stomach jutted out from under her black suit and the only button on it won’t close, she spotted an afro haircut that made her round face look long and her small eyes that will soon disappear if she doesn’t lose the excess fat on her face scanned the school premises. Her schoolbag hung on one shoulder and she wore white sandals instead of black shoes, the compound master was going to have a fi. She walked briskly to her class whilst ignoring the catcalls from junior students mocking her for coming late, she swore she was going to deal with them later.
‘Empress’ Palec called as she entered the class, he was the school team’s captain and a ladies man and also a basket mouth, ‘you missed Defense class and Herbology, but you’re in time for the Search’ he announced and she groaned, she came late so she could miss that. Everyone in her class used nicknames unlike the rest of the School, they believed someone else knowing their real names meant giving them power over them, ‘that’s a load of bullshit’ Palec would say but no one knew his name or the family he came from, who believes in bullshit now?
The Search was a medium created by the Elites of Erebus to find people with innate abilities to control any of the four elements, Wind, Water, Fire and Earth. If you could control an element you’d be transferred to the Institute in Central Erebus where you’d be trained to become an Elite but if you didn’t, you remained at the School and when you graduated you’ll be called an Ordinary, a derogatory term for people without innate abilities. Every year from Elementary school to primary school and finally the School, the Elites dispatched Inquisitors to conduct the Search and she had failed it every time so it’s no wonder why she was not psyched about it.
‘Can you cover for me? I need to go pick up my sisters from ballet class’ she said to him, the easy smile on his face disappeared. ‘I’m not helping you skip it this time’ he said, ‘I had to clear the entire school field the last time’.
‘I’ll fix you a date with Jamila’ Empress offered and he grimaced. ‘Alright!’
This time she left through the gate and waved at the gateman on her way out. Her sisters, Jamila who was seventeen and a year younger, Katerina and Lovelace who were twins and two years younger than her, had ballet class two streets away from the School. The instructor had taken one look at her and puked, ‘this one has a stomach big enough to contain this building and buttocks large enough to land an airplane!’. She took a swing at the lady and missed and was branded a tomboy. All her sisters had discovered their elements as young as two, Jamila was Wind, Katerina was Water and Lovelace was Earth, their mother had created a garden for Kat and Lovelace to practice while dad took Jamila into the forest to practice. Their parents were Fire and Water and she was nothing.
Empress used to get so jealous at the attention her parents gave her sisters but it left her when they died in a plane crash when she was eight and she had to take responsibility over them so they’d stay out of the orphanage and out of danger. She peeked through the glass and saw them glide and twirl across the dance floor and smiled, it was worth it.