Atlantis Academy: The First Element

CHAPTER FIVE

When I open the lid, I realize it's actually a safe, made of thick metal on the inside, with a locking mechanism. All my stuff should fit inside, so Esme can't mess with it.

'Course, she's probably gonna get me kicked outta here, anyway.

Perfect. Let her.

When I open my new suitcase, I gasp at how much stuff is inside. Chloe and Ethan went all out. There are white, short-sleeved polo shirts and navy sweatshirts with a silver Metatron's Cube emblem on the chest, navy blue skorts, and dark brown mid-calf boots.

Socks, underwear, bras... plus the same silk navy-blue pajamas I saw at the Guardian beach house. Beneath all that, there's a pretty, pale blue-green dress, silver flats, and a small silver wristlet.

Wow.

I swallow around the lump in my throat. Did Chloe and Ethan use their own money to buy all this? Do I need to pay it back? I should try to pay them back somehow.

But Chloe made it seem like it was a gift...

I try to relax as I take out the final items: a leather-like bag with a Metatron's Cube embossed on it and a rectangular, navy-blue paper box tied with a silver ribbon.

I peek into the bag first. Shower stuff and new make-up. Like, lots of make-up, not just the cheap brow liner and mascara I normally use.

I pull out a lip gloss. How much was this one?

I tried to buy something like this once, right after my mom died, from the grocery-store-slash-laundromat-slash-post-office in Port Ashford. I was just staring down at my basket, feeling paralyzed in the aisle. I had milk, boxes of cereal and mac n cheese, cans of tomato soup... and a single tube of lip gloss.

I was trying to mentally add everything up, but all the numbers kept jumbling together in my brain. So I just dumped half the basket on the nearest shelf and hurried to the check-out line, hoping I had enough money.

I didn't.

A huge line of annoyed shoppers built up behind me as I emptied out my bag of change on the counter, and even after using up every last penny, I had to put back the soup.

My cheeks heat up at the humiliating memory, and my throat gets even thicker as I finally pull the ribbon off the box.

There's a notecard nestled on top of the tissue paper with a message written in a feminine scrawl.

Good Luck!

We know you can do this.

Welcome home, Lyric.

~Chloe and Ethan

I lift the tissue paper and suck in a breath.

It's a wand.

A freakin' magick wand!

Giddiness rises in my chest, and I lift the wand out of the box nervously, like I might break it. It's a lightweight pale wooden stick about the length of my forearm, and a delicate, winding vine has been carved into it.

All this stuff is brand new. All of it.

When have I ever been given so much...?

I can't remember.

I think this is the nicest thing anyone's done for me in a long, long time.

Esme sucks, but there are clearly good people here... and they want to see me succeed.

My eyes start to leak.

But it's not tears, 'cause I never cry.

Yeah ya do. You were sobbing in the Chancellor's office.

That was just—

"Lyric," FAE says brightly, interrupting my brain's argument with itself, "you need to start getting ready. You'll be late if you don't."

FAE's crazy eye is goggling at me from my ceiling.

"Uh... How long 'til I have to leave again?"

"One hour. Remember, it's always better to be early than on time."

I nod in agreement, even though I don't think I've ever been early a day in my life. But maybe, with FAE's help, I finally will be.

She's my dream robot. I've decided. So what if she's a little sassy at times? She's what I always needed. I just didn't know it.

"FAE? Do you know the, um, dress code, for this event?"

"Semi-formal wear."

"So... like this?" I lift out the blue-green dress and silver flats and wristlet from my suitcase and lay them on my bed next to my magick-freakin-wand.

"Yes. That outfit should suffice."

"How 'bout some music, FAE? You got any?"

Music always helps me stay on track. I might not be able to feel time, but feeling and hearing beats and measures seems to help me stay focused and create my own sort of rhythm.

"Certainly. What would you like to hear?"

"Something... epic. Something that'll get me excited for tonight. And... put it on repeat."

"Of course." A song begins to play, and it's epic from the first beat.

(listen to a snippet of this new song here:)

Doors are open.

We've been chosen.

Ruins are smokin'.

She's been awoken.

Do you remember,

Long ago?

Do you remember,

What we used to know?

Do you remember,

What they stole?

Do you remember,

When we held the throne?

Rise.

It's our time now.

Rise.

To take back the crown.

Rise.

We are the future.

We've had enough.

We're rising up

'Cause we are rulers.

It's a new religion—

A new catechism.

From an ancient vision,

She is risen.

Excitement's building within me with every measure.

My new life starts tonight.

***