The Academy of Alactria

Plasma (Edited)

"Plasma" the man finished. "You have the power of Plasma". My classmates looked at me as I stared at the floor. How could I have an element that no one else has? I think I liked the idea of a purple alien blob better. At least it wouldn't be so powerful. When we were younger, our village elder used to tell all the children stories of the war with Quunamg. We used to hear about everything, from how they chopped people's heads off to stop their spirit becoming one with the universe, to how they had the perfect war weapon, plasma. He described how it was glittery, shiny and beautiful. He would make all the girls fall in love with it, making them sigh in awe every time he mentioned it. When you were older, he would describe in savage detail about how it could blow men up and kill them from 100 metres away. It wasn't real of course, only legends but the thought that I was a mythical walking, talking war machine was concerning to say the least.

At that precise moment, the bell rang and I fled from the piercing stares of my classmates. Adam stepped forwards.

"Amy, wait for me!".

I hurried along the hallways, only slowing down when I was a good three corridors away. I could hear the rising chatter behind me, rising and falling like waves crashing down onto the floor as they talked about the power, the childhood stories and legends they'd heard about plasma and where I even came from. As I walked, people stared at me, having already heard the news passed along the corridor. As I passed a group of boys, I heard their comments:

"She must be a witch,".

"No one could have that much power,".

"She must have tricked the hat. She's a girl,".

"They should kill her before she destroys us all,".

Electra, who was sat on my shoulder, bared her fangs at the boys we passed and even whipped one of them on the head with her tail. As I hurried up the stairs to my dorm, she even went as far as to chase one of the boys down the corridor! While it was funny to see a broad shouldered, muscly boy being chased by a neon pink dragon the size of a dog, I was still depressed, the comments still echoing in my head. I reached my room and, unlocking it, held it open for Electra. She bounced in and immediately ran to the four poster bed. I shut the door behind me, relieved to be away from all those comments. I just needed some time to myself. Or rather, time to myself with my dragon. Electra had reached the top of the four poster bed and was trying to get me to come up using our mindlink.

You should come up here! It's so comfy

I would probably break the bed

No you wouldn't

Can you come down, please? I don't want you to get hurt

I won't get hurt. Woah!

I rushed forwards to catch Electra before she hit the floor. A sense of relief flooded through me as I gently placed her down on the bed and lay down next to her. We stayed like that for a few minutes, each taking comfort in each other's company. Before I knew it, my eyes were slowly closing, the warm body next to me snuggling up as I rested my hand on her snout.

At dinner, I sat by myself. I hadn't seen Adam since I had rushed out of the class and felt too guilty to knock on his door to apologise. Not that I was awake anyway. I picked at the salad on my plate. I don't normally eat salad but I loved the rainbow colours of it - the vibrant red, yellow and green tomatoes, the ruby reds of the pomegranate seeds and the shiny skins of the pulses: lentils, chickpeas and kidney beans. Electra was curled up on the bench next to me, chattering about everything and anything:

"I love the high arched ceilings. And look at that boy. He's so ugly!".

I spluttered. "Electra! You can't talk about people like that,".

"Why?".

"Because, because, it's mean,". I finished lamely.

"He is though. You have to admit it,". I quickly inspected the boy. His hair was died a bizarre muddy blue which clashed awfully with his bright orange eyes. His orange armour was incredibly made and he had a sword with various colours on it, marking him out as a team leader. In Year Two, the team leaders would learn how to summon various members of their team by pressing a particular colour. His knee high electric blue boots made him look very odd. Too be honest, he looked like an elf - he had pointy, sticking out ears, and a squashed nose. I looked at Electra:

"You have a point,".