"Yeah, it kind of sounds like screaming. But from far away," Corinth added.

"Couldn't possibly be those crazy kids I scared an hour ago, could it?" Cris chuckled. Then his memory suddenly kicked him back to reality. "Oh c.r.a.p!" With great vigor, he threw Cory's clothes, notebooks and anything else in search of his unconscious friend from La Ropa.

"Hey! You're turning my dorm into a pigsty," Corinth sounded genuinely p.i.s.sed at his pop.

After packages of white socks and undershirts were tossed aside, Cris found his submerged companion.

"Ahhhh! Ahhhh!" The now, conscious fellow, screamed in terror as Cris pulled him from beneath the remaining mounds of school supplies.

"Calm yourself. Everything's fine, you're safe here." The man freaked when he saw Cris, and immediately punched him square in the nose. "What-the-what!" Cris shouted as he hopped around like a kid on a pogo stick.

Anvard wasn't as mystified by the hidden fellow as were the others. He quickly pulled out his gold encrusted llave, and it began rotating before his chest like no other. Smooth and easy, quick and sleek. "NOX!" perhaps he over annunciated his desire to put this man back to sleep. The suspicious guy closed his eyes gently, then crashed against the floor just after Anvard yelped his spell.

"Ew! That's got to hurt," said Emmy. She looked on, slightly disinterested now that the belligerent captive was stone cold asleep and snoring loudly.

"Who was that?" Anvard asked while Corinth plugged his dad's nose with a dirty, ripped up sock of his.

"A friend," Cris said with no emotion.

"Well, it seems he doesn't like you as much as you do him," Anvard offered as he checked the guy out.

"Well, he wouldn't be the first," Cris said as he smelled an odd odor. He looked over to his son. "Where'd you get this cloth, Cory?" Corinth just shrugged, and Cris raised an eyebrow, but didn't really know why. He tossed the rank sock to the floor and walked the few feet over to his, not so beautiful, sleeper. He patted Andy on the shoulder. "Good job. Quick thinking too."

"Thanks," he said, "but what are we going to do with him now?"

"Allow me to handle that part." Cris placed his hand on the guy's forehead as his flesh melted away. It freaked Anvard out so much, that he jumped up and ran to his friends at the back of the room.

"Dad," Corinth started softly and fearfully, "um... are you going to kill that guy?" he went on to ask innocently.

Cris actually laughed, but through a tightly wound jaw. "Wow! What little faith ye have in me. Why would I have brought this man with me just to kill him? I could have done that already if I wanted to."

"So, he came with you?" Anvard asked without thinking first.

Cris gave the four of them a weird stare. "Yeah, he did come with me. And so too did this extra bed jammed up between the wall and Corinth's dresser. All these clothes, pencils, this computer tablet that's probably broken by now," he picked it up swiftly from near his black-booted feet, then tossed it aside. "And indeed all the other things that caused that ma.s.sive thumping noise when I dropped from the ceiling up there, with all of it in tow." He pointed to the ceiling for affect. He was slightly annoyed that his own son would ask him a question like that. And then the even more stupid question that followed it. "You four ought to pay more attention to your surroundings. It will help you in the future, I promise." He tried to calm himself after that outburst. Took in a deep breath, getting his composure back. He didn't want to come off in any way aggressive. He a.s.sumed Corinth knew he was a gentleman, but apparently not. Either way, he didn't want to scare off his son's first real group of friends ever.

He used his glowing hand to open a portal beneath the man's body. "Porta...Ad Domum," he quietly announced to the air with a steady tone. He used the portal to send the man to his home. Wherever it is, he will go safely. Criston was certainly getting the hang of wielding the hand of fate.

CRACK! CRACK! Came a knock to the door. It sounded like metal on hard wood. But who would knock with and object rather than their hand? Cris knew the answer to that question.

"Come in, Sena. Hendrix," he said with a telltale smirk.

Rather than waste her time opening a door that she just kicked with her Valid steel high-heels- she poured her way underneath the crack of the door like a silvery shadow. The viscous liquid slowly moved about the floor until it cleared the width of its reach. The shadow then meticulously rose nearly six feet into the air, as the form of a chic women dressed all in black took shape from the already dark, but reflective plasma. The contrast of her brown skin and bold blue eyes made her appear even more regal than Emma thought herself to be every time she pa.s.sed a mirror... or any other object that showed her reflection. But it was Sena. Hendrix who was the one to be looked at now.

As soon as her face took its natural mold, she began shouting at her son. "First you can't even be bothered to use the gifts of magik bestowed upon you, and now you suddenly have the urge to recklessly show off around town and this inst.i.tution!" She was so engulfed in the fires of her rage that she hadn't noticed the three additional Fielder children in the dormitory.

"Silvia Hendrix, meet the Fielder children," Cris said sarcastically, while gesturing to the youths, to mock his mother's overt antics.

"I've met most of them," she said to her son, then purposefully b.u.mped his shoulder as she sternly walked pa.s.s. "I do beg your pardon, children. I wasn't aware of your presence. But it'd be best if you went to your dormitories to ready yourselves for the first day school-wide address at the Pavilion. It will commence shortly. So, don't take excessive amounts of readying time." She glared at Emma. Though she had never spoken to, -or formerly met her, Hendrix could tell an overly prim girl when she saw one. It takes one to know one really. "After you've finished, you are to position yourselves at Olympia's Chariot of Winds station, for pick and delivery to the Pavilion."

"Can't they just walk?" Cris asked while frowning. "We used to do it. Have kids grown that lazy today?"

"No, children haven't grown lazy," she insisted as she motioned the children to leave. All but Corinth, of course. "But-new-age technology has made them that lazy."

Cris twisted his face up in thought, but concluded that she was more than likely right on point.

Though he wasn't sent away, Corinth walked out with his friends. He didn't want to be there for whatever Sena. Hendrix had to say to his dad.

"Uh-uh, you are needed here, Corinth. There is something your father and I must inform you of." Cris looked away uneasy when she said that. "This is your dormitory anyhow, so you too must ready yourself for the event of the evening."

Corinth's face showed nothing more than pure disappointment. He hadn't felt so welcomed by a group of people his own age in his entire life. He didn't want it to ever end.

"So, we'll see you outside at the chariot station, right?" Emmy asked with a huge grin forming across her darkly, olive hue face. "You're not going to try to ditch us, are you?"

Anvard's swarthy tan cheeks bloomed as rosy-red as they could with a budding smile. He knew what his little sister was attempting to do. They could all tell that Corinth was a shut-in when they first met him. They wanted him to feel a part of their little group as much as he wanted to be a part of it. He just smiled back at the three of them, nodding his head in conformation. They then drifted off down the South hall, headed back to their dorms in Concordia Nova, as Sena. Hendrix began closing the door behind them.

Anvard looked back with a puppy dog stare in his shiny pink eyes. He was quite the unique spirit. An athlete with a heart of gold. Sensitive with a soft and delicate demeanor. Yet still, he took down that belligerent man without hesitation.

Corinth watched the three Lirians, he now called friends, walk away. But he couldn't help but focus in on Anvard specifically, as the still growing giant stared back at him. He was a dreamy figure to some, or rather most. Why had he zeroed in on Corinth so abruptly? Corinth wanted to like Andy for many reasons that he couldn't fully understand at his young age. But something deep inside him begged to differ. Trusting someone with the makings of a perfect fourteen-year-old seemed like a hoax, and an all around bad idea. There are no perfect fourteen-year-olds. There aren't any perfect people. Period! He's athletic, intellectual, has integrity, humility, and even sensitivity. If that's not a gimmick-then he's working way too hard at being a good guy.

Corinth mulled over these thoughts, as Andy turned his head away from their interlocked eye contact. He turned, because Emma shouted at him, just before he hit the bottom k.n.o.b on one of the torches mounted to the walls. He too was trying to absorb every ounce of his counterpart, Cory, before the door finally clicked into the grooves of its frame, now shut.

But Cory continued to wonder, as Sena. Hendrix started barking orders at his father. Who is this perfect boy trying to fool? Himself - or everyone else? There had to be something about him that showed flaw, right? Corinth was intent on finding out what that was before he would act on any of his feelings for the swashbuckling Lirian athlete named; Anvard.

Chapter 14:.

Front Row Seat To Disaster

April 1, 1002 ~ Nightfall Corinth felt like it had been the longest day of his life. He'd met the greatest friends he could ask for, and found out some great news.

Emma sat outside in a gazebo on the Olympus Grounds. She was in one of several gazebos filled with students. Everyone was awaiting pickup from the Chariot of Winds. The station just outside Olympia was the largest, so many students were sent that way to wait. She was surrounded by her brother, sister, and roommate. Claudia was a bit of a geek. She got along much better with Emmy than Emma. They talked to one another as Emma sat beside them with her arms folded in a hissy fit. Anvard sat next to her with his arms too folded in a fit of rage. Because sitting next to him were his two roommates, Vonczech and Jane.

They were two of a kind. Quite the stiff b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They gave Anvard a hard time the entire time he was in the dorm room with them. He couldn't believe how unlucky he was with the roommate draw. He wished he could do it again, but it was only done once per semester, by lottery. On orientation day,he pulled the lever of the automated slot machine. As it tumbled around, he took a look around the impressive structure that was the Pavilion. He was concerned with the whole of the selection. He hadn't seen a soul that looked worthy of bunking with him. The tumbler slowed to a crawl while two indistinguishable names flashed and flashed on the screen above the wheel. Two names from his year level.

Anvard was chosen to be a selector. He was asked to pull the lever. Their names just so happened to be the ones that popped up. When the guy that ran the tumbler called out those two soon to be dreaded names, Anvard looked from the field for them in the crowd. They both stood up and the green and pink spotlights flashed around their heads to illuminate their positions. At the time, he thought nothing strange about either one.

Vonczech, a muscular and tall guy just like him. He wore a baseball cap that hid most of his loose curly blond hair. As Anvard looked at him now, remembering orientation day, he saw some of those curls peeking out from beneath that very cap. They fluttered gently in the night breeze. His lightly tan skin had pimples that ran all along his jaw, making him look less than attractive, even though he had all the makings of a young Adonis. He wore a jersey to the Pavilion that day that represented Aurora Boreal green serpents bracket. Andy knew before he joined the Levanta.r.s.e club that Von would be a future opponent as well a roommate.

Likewise, Jane appeared somewhat athletic, but in a sort of feminine way. She was from Andy's home World. Her pink eyes were as delicate as her pale skin, but she wore boyish type clothes that threw the rest of her look off. Her black hair was pulled tightly into a bun that rested at the center top of her perfectly shaped head. Like most Lirians, she was pretty and proud. Also like most people from Lirio, she had a particularly self-absorbed nature. It didn't show until they met face to face at the dorm, but it was even more p.r.o.nounced than that of Emma.

She walked up to him upon entering the dorm and designated what parts of their rather lofty abode he could step foot in. She said that the entire area surrounding her bed, and the small common room they were meant to share, was off limits to him. Simply because he was a newbie. He didn't know what to do, so he hastily agreed, just to get her out of his face.

Vonczech too had a self-centered quality about him. All he did was workout and insult smaller boys than himself. He was from La Envidia. His green eyes and the jersey he wore at orientation told Anvard that much. And if the stereotypes were right, then he was the jealous and envious type. Andy knew that would lead to an overt amount of compet.i.tion on the Levanta.r.s.e field. Anvard clutched the pink fish on the chest of his own Levanta.r.s.e jersey as he looked at his two greatest enemies at school.

The chariot finally pulled up, but Corinth was nowhere in sight. "Can't we just take the next one, I don't want to leave without Corinth," Emmy said to the others.

"I don't either," Anvard said in a stressed tone, "but this is the last one." His eyes searched around for Corinth in the distance, but there was no sign of him.

"With his dad being the Gla.s.s Handed Ghost Man everyone's been talking about, I'm sure he'll make it there before we do," Emma spat that out, while she stood with her arms still tightly folded across her chest.

Anvard ran over to her from the archway of the gold and white gazebo. He promptly put his hand over her mouth, even though her lips had already ceased flapping. "If people know about that, Corinth will be taken in for questioning, or worse! They think that guy's a thief, but we obviously know he's not, right?"

Emma thought for a second. She didn't want her hatred for Corinth to get in the way of her crush on his father. Anvard looked into her eyes with a frown. She didn't even bother protesting that he was still covering her mouth. That's how deep she was in thought over this.

"Emma!" he called out. He let his hand down as everyone in the gazebo started to stare. "You in there?" He waved his hand across her face, and she finally came to.

"Oh!" she gasped in surprised. "Yeah, I got you. I'll keep it under wraps ... for now ... definitely." He looked at her curiously. "Look Andy, I know I put you out at our last school, but I can keep a secret when I want to."

"So, that means you wanted to tell everyone about my feelings back in Imperativo?" he inquired, with a sad frown bubbling over his boyish, fresh looking face.

She cowered slightly as she realized she told him something she never wanted him to know. "I thought that the Imperativo people were more accepting of other cultures, Andy. How was I supposed to know they'd kick you out?" She was trying to sway him to her reason. "And think about it, really! If those jerks would have never discriminated against our family..." she paused to collect her thoughts. "Well, then...then Aurora Boreal school would have never let us in. None of us have high enough test scores to get scholarships. Nor enough family riches to buy our way in. So... really you should be thanking me. I'm the only reason why you even got the opportunity to meet Corinth. Or go to this marvelous school." She was kissing her own behind at this point. She closed her eyes as she spoke in a higher register with each word.

Eventually, Emmy couldn't take it anymore. She swiftly walked over to her twin sister and smacked her face so hard that it knocked Emma's headband off. Emmy's eyes were wild as she stood over her sister, now splayed on the ground of the gazebo.

Some of the kids in the gazebo cheered. "Cat-fight! Twin ~ Cat-fight!"

"No!" Emmy shouted at a torn asunder Emma. "What really happen was you sold your own brother up the river. All because you're too stupid to know when someone's pumping you for information! Those Levanta.r.s.e jocks had it out for Andy from jump street. And all that, because one of them said that you were pretty- which is a given by the way!" Emmy noticed that Emma started to cry. She attempted complimenting her sister while chastising her all the same. "Because he said you're cute Emma," she calmed-her tone, "you told him that Anvard likes boys and not girls for relationships. You know it's a normal thing in Lirio, and even in Velocidad. You also knew that it was far beyond taboo in Imperativo. You knew-and you did it anyway."

Emma was on the floor sobbing, while the others left the gazebo to jump on the chariot. Only Claudia remained besides the trio of Fielder family members. Emmy took a much needed deep breath after she wrapped up her monologue.

"I'm sorry," was all Emma could come up with at first. "I'm truly, deeply sorry, Andy. I hope you don't hate me for all this trouble I caused you." Tears streamed down her face as her brother knelt down to wipe them from her cheeks.

"No, I could never hate you." Corinth walked up onto the steps of the gazebo as Anvard started to speak. No one but Claudia noticed him. She waved her hand, to say hi, but didn't speak a word. He and she then turned to the brother and sister show after the awkward greeting. "I just hope that you learned a valuable lesson from all we've been through since mom and dad were forced to transfer us from that Imperativo school to this one. Even though you screwed me over big time, it never crossed my mind to want to hate you." He lifted up her chin, and saw a smile break through the tears that continued forming. "Come on, let's go see if we can find Corinth."

They all turned around and noticed their little friend standing on the steps. "Hey guys!" he said, and his voice cracked awkwardly, because he could now see all the tears in Emma's eyes. "Sorry, if I kept you waiting."

"No worries, let's just hurry up and get on the chariot. It's the last one," Anvard informed Corinth.

"Are you sure it's the last one, because I just saw it pull off into the sky a minute ago," Corinth told them.

Anvard's face dropped. "What! And you didn't try to flag them down?"

Corinth got a little defensive. He didn't think it was his fault. "Well, I had no idea it was the last one. Sena. Hendrix walked me down here, but told me to skip the chariot that had just pulled up. Then she used some spell to get herself to the Pavilion quickly, because she's the speaker," he took in a deep breath. He rushed through the words so forcefully that all the oxygen left his lungs abruptly.

"I wasn't blaming you or anything," Anvard told him as he walked over and grabbed his hand. "I just don't know how we're going to get to the Pavilion now." He led Corinth out of the gazebo and onto the grounds that sparkled with silver pixie dust.

"Well, my dad said that when he went to school here- the kids always walked over there," Corinth offered that tidbit to the group with a hopeful shine in his turquoise eyes. He was suggesting that they suck it up, and just march their more than able legs over to the ma.s.sive structure. He'd only seen it on that map that Emma stole from Bernard's office, but he could tell it was huge.

"That seems to be the only plausible way to get there," Claudia spoke up with her silky voice. She then galloped, in a not so silky manner, over to Corinth. She gave him an awkward hug. Awkward for Corinth, that is. Then said, "hi, again."

"You two already met?" Emmy asked.

"Well, sort of. It was while Emma was blubbering on the floor, but we still kind of met," she declared innocently.

Emma's heart didn't take too well to that statement, but her face told a different story entirely. She looked unfazed by the jeer. She just stood there with the faint remnant of a smile, as she fixed herself up. Utilizing the small mirror in her compact, she gazed upon her beautiful face, brown hair and flawless skin with pride. She was seriously considering turning over a slightly new leaf. Hearing those words come from Emmy's mouth made them all the more real to her. Her twin sister was the only one she truly respected.

"Okay, so Corinth, this is Claudia. She's me and Emma's roommate. Claudia, Corinth. So, now you two have been properly introduced," said a formal sounding Emmy.

Corinth threw a clunky wave her way, and she smiled back graciously. Corinth thought she was absolutely beautiful, but her hair didn't quite measure up to his perception of beauty or normality.

Claudia was from Velocidad. A far off World away from Draconia. In Velocidad things moved very fast. The entire place was like one ma.s.sive city-center. Everything was high-rise, and made of asphalt and steel. They had a city life mentality, and a respectful openness to self-exploration. Her skin was light tan. It almost looked yellow to Corinth, but he had certainly never seen a person in Draconia with purple hair. Claudia dyed her hair to match her eyes. She loved everything matchy-matchy. Her natural hair color was a very dark brown. Much better than purple in most people's eyes, but she didn't care about opinions. But facts on the other hand. They were her sustenance.

She was a stone cold killer when it came to fact checking. She would challenge anyone on the integrity of their research, even Sena. Hendrix. And that's saying something. Her black rimmed wire gla.s.ses made her look very studious. But didn't exactly coincide with her eccentric fashion sense, though somehow her eclectic ensemble worked. She wore a purple plaid skirt with white stockings and a white and purple striped hoody.

A breeze blew by that made her shiver. "I am so glad I brought this jacket. If we're going to be walking there I don't want to freeze to death doing it," Claudia announced.

"It's not that cold," Anvard corrected. "The firebirds that fly above the force field keep everything at a fairly constant temperature from night to day," he motioned to the sky as if there were actually firebirds to witness.

"Actually, Andy, as they call you..." He smirked, but was hiding how much it irked him for her to call him that. He didn't even like when his sisters said it. "That's a myth. No realistic evidence has ever been established on their existence."

"Well, why isn't it as cold as ice this far north. The Angora Mts. are just outside the school grounds on the far north side of Hyperborean. Everything outside the force field is frozen solid. But the mountain ranges that fall under the field are nice and comfy." He came in a little closer, emphasizing his next point. -"So, in your -expertopinion, what the heck is keeping this place from being a popsicle?"

"There's some real magik doing that. Not myths!" she insisted her own point as she stuck a scolding finger out at him, chiding him for feeding into legends.

"Ah," he knew he had her cornered now, "and is that magik known, or unknown?"

Claudia put that same finger she pointed at Andy, to the side of her mouth. She had a look that expressed deep thought, but she snapped out of the fogginess quickly. "Okay, okay, you're right. I don't have enough information to finish this debate. But I'll get it! I guarantee you that." She grinned and he smiled. But he really didn't care whether she followed through or not. He knew he was right, because he'd seen a firebird with his own eyes.

"Okay, I'm finished with my makeup, we can go now." Emma was back in control and ready move.

No one bothered to tell her that they weren't waiting for her, because they were afraid she'd burst into tears again. Little did they know that she was far pa.s.sed whining over Anvard's personal problems. She loved Aurora Boreal, and was more than satisfied that they were transferred just in time for the start of the semester. She walked ahead of them all as they made their way from the Olympus Grounds, northeast to the Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the last students and staff alike were filing in through the gates of the ma.s.sive structure. There was nearly no seat unfilled, except those not holding Corinth, the Fielders, and Claudia. It was a mandatory a.s.sembly. Meant to inform students, new and old, of the way Aurora Boreal functioned as a singular unit.

The beige, yellow, and black cylinder shaped arena seated tens of thousands, though only 8,200 students attended the school per semester. The other seats were taken up by staff and family members that dropped their children off, but couldn't just leave them. These types would miss their babies before they turned on the ignition to their car to drive out of the parking lot. Emotions were running high for a lot of parents and students. Even the staff was a bit high strung.

The academic faculty & staff had a peaceful early spring-break away from their work place, and most didn't want to return. Not to sniveling little rich kids, over intellectual scholarship recipients, or numb skulled athletes. They wanted to stay far away from the small World of Hyperborean. Keep to their hometowns in the Worlds they hailed from. But money makes everything go round. The positions they held at Boreal school paid handsomely, so there's always someone, somewhere, just waiting on a waiting-list to take their jobs. None of the faculty or extended staff ever forgot that key detail. They treated their positions with a precise diligence. Perhaps none more than Sen. Bernard.

He stood a tier below Sena. Hendrix as she turned, from reviewing a sheet of notes, to the podium and the large audience before her. She was in the center of a ma.s.sive crowd in the bleacher seats, running the length of the Levanta.r.s.e track that encircles the Pavilion field. The hologram screen behind her bore her forward presence. Large enough for everyone, from every angle in the stadium to see. This was to ensure that all students got a good look, once again, at who their Grand Ministrant is. Likewise, to see the presentation. Beginning now...

"h.e.l.lo students, family members, faculty & staff. It is wonderful to see all of your shining faces here tonight."

She was surprised to hear cheers already rippling through the stands like crashing waves in the ocean. The students were all amped up from their chariot rides through the sky.