I will update from time to time\\
Chapter One: Wake Up![]
(SW: mild violence, caps and italics throughout, large paragraphs)
Chapter 1: WAKE UP!
I yawned. Another beautiful day has started again. I got out of bed and put my socks on. I walked over to the fridge and opened it. Aha! My favorite red thing. Apples. I love apples. They're just …so... red. I took a bite. I chewed it. I swallowed. It was good. Happy sigh. I love this life.
I walked over to my big color paper. I tried my absolute best to be good at identifying colors. I took out the Important Coin that my adult leaders gave to me. The outside color was... cobalt blue. The middle color was… magenta. Good job, me.
BRRING! I heard my timer went off. It was time for my rest. I walked over to my bed and lay down. My eyes closed slowly…
I was in a dome, with purple mist surrounding me. I felt a feeling that I never felt before. It wasn’t a good feeling, like I didn’t know what was going on. I was confused.
Just then, I saw the silhouette of a giant cloaked creature, with bulging white eyes. It had a tall staff with a purple, glowing rock inside. The creature started to point his staff in my direction-
Tap. I woke up with a jolt, still under the covers. Tap. Tap. That noise again. It was annoying me. Tap. Tap. Tap. Can’t you see I’m sleeping?? I heard a voice.
“Hey! Wake up! You’re going to be late for your first day of Academy!”
‘Academy?’ I thought. ‘What’s an Academy?’
I felt more tapping now. I gave in and sat up, sighing.
The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen was right in front of me. It was a creature that looked opposite to the one in my dream.
It was a small, light skinned fairy with stubby arms and legs, navy eyes, an unusually large head, light blue pieces that looked like cellophane coming out of its back, and a single tuft of orange hair. It also had a blue hat with a fluffy-looking yellow thing on the tip, as well as a large yellow and blue star on the front.
And. It. Was. FLYING.
“…who are you-”
“No time to explain! Follow me!” It said, cutting me off.
It quickly zoomed outside through my door, which was unlocked somehow. I remained in my bed. It slowly flew back in with a confused look on its face.
“Uh… are you coming or not?”
“No thanks.” I said calmly. “I like it here. I don't have to do anything but think and eat.”
“But you have to!”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be late for your first day-”
It sighed. “Please excuse my manners. I’m Noot, the Co-Ambassador of Academy. I was assigned to bring you here, because at the moment, you have no guardians to take you to Academy themselves. So… here we are! Now come on!”
Noot made a gesture towards the door. I thought about it, but then a voice popped up in my head.
‘You should stay here. It is safe here.’
‘But… I feel like it’s telling the truth.’ I thought-replied to the voice. The voice sounded like my own, but I was sort of afraid of it.
‘But what if the creature is messing with you?’
‘I don’t know… all that information seemed true.’
‘What if it takes you somewhere dangerous?’
‘I’m sure it wouldn’t. It seems nice.’
‘But what if-’
“Are you okay there?”
I jumped. It was Noot, who thankfully got rid of the voice by interrupting it. He hovered at the edge of my bed.
“Oh- uh- yeah. I’m okay.”
“What’s your name?” Noot asked.
“Uh… Sahara.”
Noot smiled. “That’s a wonderful name, Sahara! Now come on, we can’t be late!”
I got out of bed and followed Noot out the door. I stumbled, looking around, taking the experience in. I forgot that the world was so… green. I thought it was odd. I’m fonder of red things. Then, I looked in front of me, and I stopped dead.
But to be honest; it looked so strange that I didn’t know whether to fear it or not.
The animal looked like a deer on its hind legs, it was covered in lime and green spots and had a fluffy tail.
“What?!” Noot screeched. “B- but you’re a TripTrop! You’re not supposed to be in this realm- um- area!”
It growled at us, specifically looking at me.
“Oh, great. and it’s a grumpy one, too- they’re usually tame. Here- take this- I think it wants to battle!”
“I’m sorry?”
Noot turned to me, put his tiny arms out, and a large book appeared out of thin air.
I screamed and caught it out of instinct. I looked closer at it; the very heavy book had three, different colored ribbons sticking out of it, it was made of brown leather with a large silver star on the front, and plates made of the same material on the borders of the front. My eyes went wide as I stared at it.
“…what do I do with this?” I stuttered. The animal, or as Noot called it, TripTrop, was drawing near us.
“Open the book to the first page.” Noot said.
I did as I was told and saw four large boxes, yet there were only two
that caught my eye.
The square in the top left corner had the same mysterious star on the front as the one on Noot’s hat. In the box below it, it had three, slightly smaller stars. The remaining had gray lock signs on them.
“Um…” I said, puzzled. “Why do I have the Weird-looking book? You can fly, so you have powers, right? Do some magic stuff to it.”
“My abilities are irrelevant to this situation. You’ll need this.” Noot said.
Then he handed me a stick.
No, seriously, a freaking STICK. I mean, I’ve been in fantasyland for like, fifteen minutes, and of all things, Noot, some tiny creature who can fly, Gives me the blandest thing on earth. A thin, wooden, tan STICK.
I didn’t say this out loud, though.
“…why do I need this?”
“Point it at the TripTrop. Quickly!”
I faced the tip of the stick in the TripTrop’s direction. It yelped and backed away slowly.
“Good!” Noot whisper-yelled, feeling excited. “Now say; ‘Starbit Blast!’”
"Uh… okay?"
I fixed my eyes at the creature and inhaled.
“Starbit Blast!” I shouted. Nothing happened. Noot frowned.
Suddenly, the TripTrop’s eyes glowed, it jumped, and a giant, green mushroom darted at me. I should’ve reacted differently, but I stood there in fright. Thankfully, the mushroom flew past me and into my house’s wall. It left a messy mark, but the chunks of mushroom faded into green sparkles.
“This thing isn’t very bright.” I said to Noot.
“I know! Say the spell again, this time with more feeling! I’m sure it’ll work this time!”
I pointed my wand at the creature. I didn’t know what feeling meant, so I just said it louder;
“STARBIT BLAST!”
I felt a shockwave spiral through my veins. A large orb of light formed at the tip of the stick and burst at the TripTrop, causing it to whine.
Then it growled even more and sent another magic mushroom flying at me. It missed again, this time hitting the ground and blowing up the grass.
“Yes!” Noot exclaimed in triumph. “Well done! Do it again and I think
we’ll be done.”
Oh, jeez.
After I yelled the spell again, which caused another spine-tingling rift across me, the TripTrop eventually ran away in defeat.
I felt… good. Not like how I normally felt, but a different kind- like I wanted to jump up and down, or something.
Noot flew up and down, clapping his hands together.
“Yes, yes, YES! You did it! Well then, now we can proceed to the Academy!” He raised his hand up and pressed the star on his hat.
“Wait- WHAT-”
I couldn't finish my sentence, because in a split second, Noot reached into my pocket, I heard a large explosion, felt an intense and uncomfortable weight press on me, and all I could see was a blinding, white light.
In the next moment, I fell flat on the floor, feeling nauseous, and was facing a strange, bat-like, greyish indigo bird with slightly terrifying spiral eyes, a pink snout, and red and yellow wings.
“What the…?”
“That's your new pet, Wott.” said Noot from behind me; I jumped because I didn't know he was there.
As I sat up, the bird known as Wott tugged at my blank white shirt with its piggish beak. It kind of scared me, but I couldn’t lie, it was cute.
I turned my head up and looked around.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
The beautiful, crimson, monumental walls with banana yellow lining that seemed to be hundreds of feet away from me were decked out with red and navy banners of that same odd star that keeps popping up. Between these tall banners were windows that seemed to be twenty feet high, letting in glorious rays of sunlight that filled up the whole room. The ceiling was decked out in extravagant chandeliers that fought their way against the sunlight, creating an explosion of glares if you stare at it for a moment.
To my far right, I could see five large shiny gems on top of matching pedestals. They were green, blue, red, cyan, and grey, and I could see a large light blue orb in the middle with yellow dust swirling around in it.
In front of those pedestals, there were five giant wooden tables, each of them decorated with the same color as one of the five gems. The tables were filled with what looked to be like other people, like me.
Human.
I got out of my trance of astonishment thanks to Noot tapping one of his tiny hands on my shoulder.
“Sahara? Are you okay?” he said, tilting his head.
“Oh- yeah- I was just looking around-”
“Mesmerizing isn’t it?” he beamed, admiring everything that I just gazed at. “I’ve been at Academy my whole life, and I don’t regret a single moment.”
After a moment of silence, I spoke up.
“So, what- “
“Oh, right! I forgot! Sorry for the delay. Could you go sit next to this group of kids over there?”
I whipped my head around to see a large group of other people who looked about my age, sitting in front of those five gem towers. Oh man, do I really have to do this? I’ve never been around somebody my age before. I looked back at Noot with a worried look on my face. He smiled empathically, as if he was reading my mind.
“You can go Sahara, it’s okay! I promise they won’t hurt you.”
After thinking for a moment, I nodded. I waved goodbye to Noot as I and Wott slowly walked down the podium to my destiny-
“WAIT!” Noot yelled out. I frustratingly ran back to him. Wott squawked tiredly as well.
“What?!” I reacted.
“Take this.” He held out that big fat book. “You might need it.”
I shoved the large book in my bland backpack. NOW I’m off to my destiny.
Or maybe I’m not. I dunno. I’ll just have to see for myself. Or maybe I’m just being dramatic. Or maybe it’s a metaphor. But I don’t know anyone here. What if I have no purpose here? What if the kids are mean to me? What if that voice was right?
Oh wait, I’m already there. Dang it! I need to stop zoning out.
I sat down in the back next to a boy with cobalt blue hair, amber eyes, and a pointed nose. He was hunched over, lightly kicking a black satchel on the floor next to him, as if he was bored. His attire looked nothing like mine. He had on a grey tee, a brown belt with a gold buckle, blue pants, and leather shoes.
In fact, in the entire crowd of kids, I stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone had on some sort of colorful outfit, yet all I had on was a plain white T-shirt, slightly ripped open-ankle blue jeans, and green sneakers with laces. Everyone’s hair was either a deep and/or vibrant color, but mine was an extremely pale lilac. The only thing that I had in common with them is that everyone had odd creatures by their side.
I heard some people in the crowd whispering excitedly about how it’s the “year of the Prodigy,” but there were a select few, mostly girls that looked richer than other kids, who were giggling and snarking under their breaths, some of the turning their heads towards me, pointing at my hair and clothes.
It made me feel… not good. I don’t like that feeling. Sometimes I feel it when I drop something, and it hits my foot, or when I bite my tongue while eating.
But this wasn’t physically hurting me. It still hurts though, but in a different way. I don’t like this feeling.
To take my mind off it, I tapped the blue-haired boy on the shoulder to ask a question.
“Why are you kicking that bag?” I said, pointing to it.
The boy looked up at me.
“Um… It’s mine.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Awkward silence. Well, until the boy broke it.
“Why do your clothes look like that?”
“This is what I wear every day. Is something wrong?”
“No, no- I’s just that I’ve never seen anyone wear something like that before. Are you not from here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay, well, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Hunter.” He spit in his hand and put it out.
What is he doing? Am I supposed to do something with his hand, or give him something? I stared at it.
“What?” Hunter asked. “You’ve never heard of a handshake before?”
“No… sorry.”
He shrugged. “Eh, it’s okay.”
“…I’m Sahara.”
“Cool name.” He said, being too busy staring off into the distance.
Suddenly, there was a loud whistle. Everyone’s head shot up to look at him.
I saw a slim, charcoal grey skinned flying being with shining white hair. He had cyan and gold wings, like the orb in the middle of the pedestals. He was wearing a decorative uniform that had the EXACT SAME star on it that I’ve been seeing for a while, and he was tightly clutching a book in his arms.
He flew down to the edge of the podium, right in front of us, and the place went silent. He spoke up.
“Welcome, people of all ages, species, and genders- to the Selecting of the year 2007- it is 2007, right- yes, of course it is! I don’t keep track of years, sorry. My name is Gale, and I’m the Head Keeper of Academy! But of course, you all know that. Now, before I shall make the rest of my announcements, lets proceed with the Selecting, shall we?”
The crowd boomed with applause as Gale leaned down toward us and whispered.
“Alright, guys, when I call your name, you go stand on the Astral Gem over there-”
He pointed to the light yellow and blue swirly gem in the middle of the five others.
“-and a certain Gem will explode, clarifying what house you are. Everyone got it?”
We all nodded. Wait- did he just say EXPLO-
“Splendid!” He nodded to Noot, who seemed to press a remote. All six gems glowed brightly, and Gale stood up, clapped his hands, and rubbed them together.
“Alright- first is…” he got out a scroll that opened by itself. “Addyson Acedreamer!”
A girl with purple hair in a bun and green eyes strolled up to Gale. The latter put a badge on the right of her chest- a golden M plastered on an electric blue shield shaped badge. She was staring at me as Gale pinned it on. That’s totally not weird.
It wasn’t a look of hate and jealousy, but not a look of happiness either. Her emerald eyes were slightly bulging in a way as if she was shocked. But not scared of me either. Man, this world is confusing!
Addyson Acedreamer walked up to the podium, and a weirdly large turtle with light blue spikes on its back followed her. It looked frightened.
The next part though, oh man, you better cover your ears! The second she stood on the “Astral Gem,” the giant cyan gem on her right, regardless of the four others above Addyson Acedreamer, blew up! Like fireworks! It was so freaking loud, I’m sure I noticed every single kid in the crowd hunched over and covering their ears as tightly as they could, including me. And I could hear the creatures beside us wailing -adding to the noise- which didn’t help AT ALL.
But not Addyson. She stood as still as a statue on that blue hump the entire time, as if nothing was happening. That’s odd, right? I thought so.
When the cyan explosion- and the animals- simmered down, I could see Addyson picking up her unconscious creature and walking over to sit down. I tried to comfort Wott when Gale exclaimed.
“Wow! First one is always the best, in my opinion. Congratulations, Addyson- you’re joining the element Ice- oh- she’s walking away- um- okay…!”
Addyson sat right next to me as she set down her fainted pet, sat down beside me (on the left, Hunter was on the right, chewing his fingernails), and blankly stared forward, as if waiting for something to happen.
Um… okay. I wasn’t anticipating the next explosion, if there was another, but-
“Hello.” she stated, her head now turned towards me. I jumped so high I headbutted the two-hundred-foot ceiling and managed to high-five one of the banners before I came crashing back down to exactly where I was sitting.
The weird Addyson girl is talking to me! Say something! Anything!
“HHHhhh…?” I breathed, trying to make words. Her expression didn’t change.
“Do you like it here?” she asked.
Okay- answer the question, but with ACTUAL WORDS.
“Where is here?” I mumbled. No! Don’t answer a question with a question! That’s stupid!
Before she could answer back, another name was called out.
“Amaranth Bleakbasket!”
No animal followed that one, for some reason.
This time the red gem exploded, and felt even worse, because I knew it was coming. Addyson still didn’t move an inch. When I sat back up after covering my ears, she smirked at me.
“You’re not used to this place, aren’t you? That white haired girl my friends are talking about. Such a shame, isn’t it, not knowing as much as the… superiors.”
…what?
I observed her quietly. Her hair was actually three different shades of purple, and they all melted into a spiral in her bun. Her emerald eyes glared at me like she was up to something. Her hands had mauve and maroon nail polish- one color on each hand- kind of clashy if you ask me.
“Rupert Bronzetip!”
He got a blue badge, a tiny tan horse with a green, fluffy mane trotted along with him, and the green gem exploded, apparently scaring him to death. Not actually though, but he fainted, and some other kids had to drag him over to where they were sitting.
“Hey!” a girl with dark pink hair and blue eyes teased, leaning over to us. “Stop messing with the new kid, Addyson!”
“I’m just having a little fun, Eleanor.” Addyson scoffed. “I bet she doesn’t even know who The Prodigy is.”
Hunter jumped up from his slouched position. “Are you crazy?! Of course, Sahara knows what The Prodigy is! I mean- who doesn’t-”
“Shut your mouth, you underscore.” Addyson spat at Hunter. “The Members are talking.”
Hunter frowned and slouched back down minding his own business. I felt bad for him, and I frowned. Oh, how I hate that stupid feeling!
“Ethan Darkmaster!”
That name seemed familiar. I saw the kids around me shudder as a Dark-skinned boy with indigo eyes and a purple hoodie walked by, as if he gave off a bad aura. I saw he looked a bit sad, like he didn’t want to be here. A boy with extremely messy magenta hair, bloodred eyes (like me!), and black and gold robe patted Ethan Darkmaster on the back.
Gale gestured for him to step on the Astral Gem with an excited grin on his face.
It took a while for a gem to explode- the Astral Gem was fizzing and blinking until finally, the grey gem exploded.
“Wow.” I said, breathless. “That was different, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah…” said the girl named Eleanor. “Really different…”
Awkward silence.
“So, what’s The Prodigy again?” I asked.
“Oh, so every fifty years-” Addyson started, until she was interrupted by another name call.
I didn’t hear it though- I was too invested in this “Prodigy” story.
“Sahara! You’re up!” Hunter called out.
My head shot towards Gale, who wearily shouted,
“Um… Sahara Dragonshadow? Anyone?”
It took me a moment to realize that that was my name. Addyson’s head made a gesture that told me to go.
As I walked around the crowd and up to Gale, many heads were turning at me, but almost no one was silent like when Ethan Darkmaster came up.
Everyone was whispering to each other- probably because I was different. Even Darkmaster fits in with the crowd if you look at them from far away.
I kept walking, and a million thoughts went through my head.
What if I die? What if this is a prank? What if no one likes me here? What is I was never supposed to get out of bed? What if Noot chose the wrong person? What if that voice was ri-
My legs trembled as I walked onto the Astral Gem. Silence.
No, seriously, nothing happened. Everyone was staring at me; I could feel it. Staring at the new, broken kid that isn’t from here. Staring at the one with the non-vibrant hair and the boring clothes. Staring at the one who knows nothing about their world. Staring at one who the Astral Gem doesn’t even want. Staring at-
BOOM!
Goes the grey gem.
I felt a bit more confident than before, now knowing that at least one gem likes me.
I saw Darkmaster and his friend smile at me. But why? Was it because I was different? Or did they even want to be my friend-
“Um- hello?” Gale said, waving his long-sleeved arm in front of my face. “You may go sit down now!”
Right!
I wobbled over back to my seat like nothing happened. But something DID happen- the grey gem wanted me. But why? What does it mean?
“So, as I was SAYING,” Addyson butted in. “The Prodigy is this student that comes to the Academy as a tutorial every fifty years, with the year ending on ‘07’, or ‘57’. And this is the year 2007, so it’s called the ‘year of The Prodigy-’”
“What’s a tutorial?” I asked.
“A student starting their first year at Academy, like us. So, this student is supposed to defeat the Puppet Master, which ALSO comes every fifty ye-”
“What’s a Trumpet Master?”
Addyson’s face showed feeling for the first time, anger.
“Do you want me to tell you what The Prodigy is or not, you Bember?”
“Jamie Eggfetcher!”
She got the blue badge, and boom goes the red gem.
Anyway…
“Addyson!” Eleanor said, shocked.
Addyson ignored the latter and glared at me. “Sahara, that’s your name, right? I’ve never heard a name like that before. In fact, I’ve never seen a person like you before. Why were you even late? Everyone got here on time. But the Selecting didn’t begin on time because Gale said we were ‘missing a student.’ I bet that was you. Are you even from here? What are you?!”
“I’m a person with dignity. You probably wouldn’t understand.” I shot back.
“Dang!” Hunter shouted. “Are you really going to take that?”
“Eleanor Graymine!”
“Oop! That’s me!” Eleanor said, standing up. She wagged a finger at Addyson. “Be. Nice.”
“Dragonshadow just said I don’t have dignity!”
Eleanor shrugged and walked away. She got a badge.
Addyson looked back at me with cold eyes. This woman is freaking me out- gosh!
Boom goes the green gem.
Eleanor runs back to us and excitedly flails her hands around. “First Plant, baby!”
“What’s Plant-”
“IT’S AN ELEMENT.” Addyson stated, cutting me off.
“Natalia Ironbell!”
None of our shocked expressions changed as the grey gem exploded.
Awkward silence.
“Mack Keyblade!” boom goes the green gem… or Plant… I guess?
“Is it nice here?” I asked, feeling small.
“For Members, yeah.” Hunter muttered angrily.
A couple seconds later-
“Hunter Legendhelm!”
“Aw man…”
He walked up to the Astral Gem, and for the first time, the dark blue gem exploded. Kids in the crowd oohed and ahhed. The gem’s color reminded me of the outline of my Important Coin. I took it out of my pocket and stared at it. Wott nipped at the Coin with his piggish beak, and I chuckled.
“What’s that?” Addyson asked, pointing to the Coin.
I jumped yet again. This is, what- my SEVENTH time zoning out? I lost count.
“It’s the Coin that my adult leaders gave me.” I replied, looking up at her.
“…you mean parents, right?”
“I don’t recall.”
“Wow, you really are weird. Not in an alien way, though, just…” she stopped to stare at the Coin. “I’ve never seen a piece of currency like his before. Is it rare, possibly worth a lot?”
“It’s my Important Coin. My gut tells me I have to protect it at all costs.”
She stopped examining the Coin and fixed her gaze on me. Only for a second though, as she whipped her head around to find Eleanor and Hunter spying on us, as if she sensed them. Their eyes widened in defeat.
“Will you two stop snooping? This is a private conversation.”
Eleanor proceeded to brush her hair with a comb she took out of her own golden honey purse, and Hunter continued to bite his nails while looking up at the ceiling this time, but quickly looking towards the floor because he was blinded but the chandeliers.
“Zion Maroonmight!” That was the kid who comforted Ethan Darkmaster. He got the blue badge, and off with the grey gem.
Addyson turned back to me.
“Just so you know, I don’t-”
She paused, looking to the left and blushed like we were all going to die tomorrow.
“…care about you, or anything- I’m only curious about the Coin you have.”
She pulled together a straight face. “What’s the coin for?”
“Oh! It’s for-”
Wait….
What is the Important Coin for? I never stopped to think about this before. I didn’t actually know why I had it- or why I wanted to protect it. Maybe because my adult- I mean- uh- parents gave me the Coin. Maybe because it looked cool. And it DID look cool, thank you very much.
It was kind of the only thing that looked different than everything else in my life. All I would do, every single day, was wake up to no one but myself, eat a sandwich and apple for breakfast, look outside the window to see if anything interesting happened(all there was were forest trees so that was fun), eat another apple, review my color sheet, take a nap, wake up an hour later, eat another sandwich for lunch, do nothing for a while, eat a (shudder) grilled sandwich for dinner, and go to bed.
That nap in the middle of today was interrupted because Noot made me go to this weird place.
Still, about the Important Coin.
“I don’t know what it’s for.” Addyson looked confused.
“How could you not know? I mean, you’ve had it for your whole life, right? or did your parents recently give it to you?”
“I haven’t seen them in six years.”
Addyson stared at me like she was about to scream at me. Or hug me. Or do both. I don’t know. As I said before, she is very confusing when it comes to facial expressions. Then, all she replied was:
“I’m… sorry.”
She moved away, back to the other Members. Eleanor and Hunter stared at her as she walked through seats, like they didn’t know what was going on. Then they looked back at me with the same expressions. I shrugged sadly.
I didn’t pay attention to the remaining names that were called, except for the last name, “Damian Zapshard.” He got the cyan gem and no badge. Then, for the first time, the Astral Gem exploded, and everyone started to get out of their seats.
Wait, what?
I tapped Hunter on the shoulder. “What’s happening?”
“We go to the table with our Element, the one that matches the color of our Gem.” He replied, then walking away, waving. “Have a good one!”
I nodded and stood up.
Wait…
What was my Gem again?
[will update again soon, here are future chapter names in the meantime =D]