As Merlin now trained Katie and Kellie, Morgan le Fay sat in new magic shop. Morgan smirked as she thought of all the preparations her old mentor would most likely go through in order to prepare for her. Morgan, though had other ideas.
The rules regarding magical items prevented a Wizard from directly presenting it to the person they wished to make their apprentice. That was how Katie had originally come to possess the Ring of Age and how Kellie eventually found her ring as well. If Morgan was going to give a magic item to an apprentice she would need to follow those rules, failure to do so would result in the wizard being unable to claim the one they wanted as their own. Morgan had watched Mary Elise intently and desired to make the girl her new apprentice. The girls anger, sadness, and pain made her the perfect compliment to her own dark desires. As she now gazed at the ring in her hand she realized she would need to carefully make the ring available to her. Only after discovering the ring and becoming curious of its origins could Morgan truely influence the girl and mold her in her image. Now she just needed to place it somewhere where Mary could find it.
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Mary Elise sat sulking in the park. The girl wiped her eyes as she thought of what Kellie and Katie had shown her. Despite all her bravado Mary Elise did like Katie, Kellie and the others, it was Lisa and Kumiko that she couldn’t stand. As she searched her soul she realized why she disliked the two of them so much. Lisa and Kumiko were popular and beautiful, something Mary Elise considered herself not to be. While she had fought with the two in the past those days were quickly coming to an end. Unfortunately for her the damage had already been down, their juvenile actions had hurt Mary deeply. She had wanted to become friends with the girls however Lisa’s protective nature and animosity towards her prevented that. Now instead of having Claudia as a friend once more, she found herself alone again. Sniffing Mary Elise looked down at her arms, crying softly as she now covered the scars of a failed suicide attempt.
Mary had hoped that Kellie could of patched things up with her and the others. When she saw Lisa though her anger and bitterness got the best of her. Realizing she would never have them as friends again Mary exploded in a rage that even surprised her. She cursed herself for acting as she did, when Kellie had used her ring the isolated and depressed girl got an idea. She had been too scared to end her own life, instead she hoped that in her rage Kellie or Katie would end it for her. This too had proved unsuccessful as instead of magically destroying her they only reenforced what she had lost. Truely she had hit rock bottom now. Fleeing the school and not even saying goodbye to Sebastian or Karen, she now tried to work up enough courage to finally end her suffering.
“Your worthless,” she muttered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Why would you even think anyone cared about you? Your ugly, your disgusting, your a coward. Just do the world a favor and die.” Mary Elise cried anew, burying her face in her hands. Wiping her nose on her sleeve the girl slowly got up from the bench she was sitting on and began eyeballing a nearby tree. The branches were just low enough for her to get a hold of but still far enough off the ground. Taking a deep, sad breath the girl began slowly walking towards the tree, determined to do what she had though of doing for the last couple of years. As she began her slow walk she noticed something gleaming in the grass by the tree. Curious, Mary Elise approached. “Huh what’s this?”
Slowly Mary Elise picked up a small ring that was partly covered by leaves. Looking the ring over she could admire the simple yet beautiful design. The band of the ring was made of white gold with a small black jewel embedded in it. Smiling the girl held the ring up in the sun. “Wow this is really pretty,” she thought. “Almost looks like an engagement ring. I wonder who lost it?” Glancing around the park Mary Elise could see that no one else was in the park with her. Shrugging she turned the ring over in the palm of her hand. “Maybe I should keep this,” she thought. “Maybe...maybe This is a sign. Maybe this ring is saying don’t give up yet.” Mary Elise laughed softly at that thought, she found it to be quite childish to think the universe was giving her a sign to not end her life. “Who are you kidding,” she muttered. “The universe doesn’t care about you. Face it though, you don’t want to die just yet.” Sighing Mary Elise placed the ring on her finger, feeling a warmth spread through her body. Trying to shake the odd feeling she shrugged. “I should just head home,” she whispered sadly. “Mom I said probably worried. Maybe...maybe tomorrow I’ll finally have the nerve to just end this.”
As Mary Elise began her slow journey home she did not see the jewel within the ring give off the faintest glow. What she didn’t know was she was now in possession of the Ring of.....