She had been living in the Academy since the day that she was found, abandoned, on the front door of the lobby. Thirteen long years. She had taken on the name they had given her, the food they had given her, the tasks they had given her, and the life they had given her. But this one day changed everything.

       "Amy! Amy Brown! Wake up! It's time for Morning Chores to begin!" screamed a shrill voice that cut through Amy's ears. She groggily sat up and rubbed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, a thin face with delicate horn-rimmed glasses and mean, squinty eyes glared back at her. 

       "Well, don't just sit there staring at me! Get dressed and head over to the Assignment Table!" Marylnn yelled in Amy's face. Even though she was only four years older than Amy, Marylnn acted like she was a 40-year old lady. For her, everyone had to have perfect manners and always be on time. Amy liked her old Room Counselor, Lannie, a lot better than Marylnn. But Lannie was fired last year when she had been caught excusing a girl who had tried to use her left hand to write on an assessment. 

       "The No-Lefties Rule was and is always supposed to be strictly enforced, as was made clear when you joined the Academy's staff as a Room Counselor," had been Headmistress Umbridge's last dismissing words to Lannie. 

       "Amy Brown! Did you hear what I just said? Stop mulling about and get ready!" Marylnn yelled again. Amy went back to reality to see Marylnn's scrunched up face angrily staring at her. 

       "Alright Marlynn, I get it. I'll get ready!" Amy snapped back at her. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and stood up. She grabbed her uniform for the day from the Clothing Shelf and headed over to the Changing Rooms as Marylnn muttered under her breath. 

        Amy turned around and put on a false smile. "What was that Marylnn? Did you just say something?" she asked sweetly. 

        "Nothing of your concern, Amy. Get ready or you will be late for Morning Chores!" Marylnn shot back at her, her face turning red as she pushed her glasses up her nose. 

        Amy smirked back at her and twirled around and walked over to the Changing Rooms. She went in and headed to Stall Number A9, her assigned number. She pushed open the door and went in. For once, Marylnn was right. She was going to be late for Morning Chores if she didn't hurry. And late was not something that she wanted to be. Last time someone was late, the punishment had been missing Evening Meal for two days straight. Amy quickly shed the plain nightgown used for Sleep Time and donned the slightly scratchy, plain, brown, plaid uniform which consisted of a blouse, skirt, and leggings. She slipped out of the stall and the Changing Rooms and deposited her nightgown in the Used Clothing Bin as she headed to the Assignment Table. When she got there, almost everyone was alert and ready, standing in their rows and lines. Amy quickly headed over to her spot in the formation, Row 16, Line 7. 

      Just as she reached it, Assistant Headmaster Morday rang the bell on the Assignment Table that symbolized Assignment of Morning Chores was starting. He scanned his list and started reading off names for each Assignment. "The following people shall be doing Cleaning of Dishes for their time in Morning Chores today: Abigail Smith, Emmaralda Van Tassel, Cornelia Danby, Diana Corday..." his voice droned on and on, until Amy's name came up. 

       "The following people shall be doing Dusting of the Halls for their time in Morning Chores today: Madeleine Terrell, Katie Mordan, Fanny Lopez, and Amy Brown." Amy sighed. Dusting of the Halls was the most boring and difficult chore that was available to do in Morning Chores time. Every speck of dust had to be meticulously cleaned. If this requirement was not met, then a hardy punishment would be dealt out, such as schoolwork being doubled for a week or no Talent Pursuing Time for a month. But you got what chore you got. There was no changing of the schedule. 

       Amy went up to the Stamper Machine, which gave her a small ink tattoo that would later come off during Shower Time that specified she was to be working in the Dusting the Halls Department for Morning Chores this day. Then she commenced walking to the East Wing of the Academy, where the Dusting the Halls Department was located.

      Amy dragged her feet through the empty hallways. Everybody else was commencing Lunch Time. She was a little late because at the last second, the Head of the Dusting the Halls Department, who always checked to make sure everything was clean after the workers left, had noticed a small corner which had been skipped over for weeks. Amy had happened to be last worker still there and had just been stepping our the doorway when the Head had called her over and made her clean the isolated corner. The only good thing was that the Head had given her a pass that would make being late acceptable for this one time, because it wasn't actually Amy's fault that a corner had been skipped over; that was in another girl's area.

"Psst!"

Amy stopped and looked around. It had just sounded like someone was calling her over. She saw nothing and continued walking to the Lunch Time Cafeteria. It probably had been her imagination. Who would have the need to secretly call someone aside in the Academy, anyways?

"Psst! You girl, in the brown plaid clothes!"

The sound came again. This time, Amy stopped and listened hard. It had really sounded real. Amy realized that whoever was calling her had to be new. Everybody in the Academy, or at least the girls, wore the same uniform.

"Over here!"

Amy turned around and nearly had a heart attack. A strange little creature that looked like it had come right out of the fantasy books that the Head of Literature sometimes read to them was standing in front of her. It had leathery dark green skin that contrasted sharply with the pale white creamy color of the walls in the Academy. Big bunny-rabbit ears extended horizontally from the side of the creature's head and extended upwards. Giant puppy eyes the color of olives stared woefully back at Amy. Thin arms and legs stuck out like twigs from the creature's body. The creature wore a single peice of clothing that appeared to be made out of a burlap sack. 

        Amy blinked. The creature was still there. "Wha-wha-what are you?" she stuttered. 

        "A virio," the creature said matter-of-factly. "I will tell you everything later. But you must come with me for now." 

        "Come with you?"Amy asked incredulously. "I can't do that. This is my home, I can't just-" 

         "You will come with me," the creature that called itself a virio said firmly. It looked straight at her and she was drawn into the olive green pools. The creature started moving and she unconciously followed, her body moving, but her mind screaming at it to stop. The virio headed straight towards the main lobby. Amy nearly went hysterical. If everyone saw her, she would be in big, big trouble. Bigger than missing a few meals or extra homework. The creature walked right into the front lobby. But that wasn't the surprising thing. The surprising thing was that nobody noticed them. Just as if the creature and Amy weren't there at all. Before she could marvel and stare, her body once again moved of its own accord, following the virio. And before she knew it, they were outside.

Amy breathed in the fresh air and all kinds of smells wafted up her nose. This was the first time, the first time ever, that she had been outside. It was wonderful. There were just so many things to see and smell and feel! But the creature pulled her away before she could admire the outside world.

"So. What name did they give you?" the creature asked, glancing back at her.

"Hmm?" Amy aked, too immersed in the outside world to listen.

"I said, what name did those people at the Academy give you?" the virio said, a note of irritancy creeping into its voice.

Even though this creature had just kidnapped her from her only home and was taking her away to who knows where, Amy had an inside instinct telling her that this virio as it called itself was trustable. So she told it her name. " They gave me the name Amy Brown," she said. The creature said nothing for a second.

"My name is Oculiv. You can call me Oc or Liv." the creature said gruffly. And then it stopped talking and didn't say anything else. Oh well, so much for small talk. Suddenly, the creature veered to the right and picked up speed. When she saw where they were heading, Amy screamed. The creature was going to jump of a cliff. And take Amy with it.

     "What are you doing?!" she yelled. 

     "Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" the creature yelled back. And then, it jumped off the cliff. And even as her mind yelled and screamed and shouted Nooo!!!! her body followed it. In other words, she also jumped off the cliff.

Amy closed her eyes tight as air whooshed around her. She heard the creature say something. "What?" she yelled out without opening her eyes. 

The creature yelled back, "Tria (Tree-uhh)! Your real name, the one your parents gave you, is Tria Crystalwood!" That was the last thing she heard before everything blacked out.

HELLO EVERYBODY!!! I love cats (as my dumb username clearly states). I especially like ocelots. I'm not really into writing, but it usually comes out not too bad when I actually try. So yeah, that's about it! 

-helloilovecats

*THE PICTURE IN THE MEDIA IS OF OCULIV. HE RESEMBLES DOBBY FROM HARRY POTTER A LOT, HUH?*