Guardians of Plaxas

Chapter the Ninth: Opal

"So....I hear you had a little run-in last night," my trainer says.

My head jolts up and my concentration on the toad in front of me slips away. The toad glares at me and hops off.

"Umm....yeah, I did. Why?" I ask.

After Bella and I were caught last night, we were hauled to Carrie's office. And, in the middle of the night, she was sitting there, her dress pristine, her nails painted, not a hair out of order. How does she do it?

She told us not to wander around the school, especially not at night. That it was dangerous. We tried pulling off the "We were lost looking for the bathroom," thing, but it didn't work. But we didn't get in trouble at all. Just a warning.

My trainer touches my chin, tilting my head up. "I must warn you. Be careful around Carrie. Be careful around this school. One wrong thing could make everything go wrong,"

I pull away from her touch at her strong words, staring down at the rock between us. The courtyard doesn't seem as inviting today as it did yesterday. The walls around us seem to confine us.

"Anyway," my trainer says, producing a jar of branches out of her pocket. "We know that your source isn't nature in general, but we can try small things in nature. Like that toad that we just did. How about tree branches?"

"Uhh....okay,"

"Hey, Ruby!"

I look across the courtyard, shading my eyes against the bright sunlight, to see Bella and Kaitlynn wandering around. They're each eating an apple and they look like they have no particular destination in mind.

My face is getting warm. I know that I'm the only one who hasn't found their power yet. People have come through the courtyard from time to time, smirking at me as they walk by, as they enjoy their free day.

I wave at the two half-heartedly as they get closer. "Hey, guys. Come to watch me fail?"

"Aww, Ruby, we know that that's not true. You will find your power, you just have to take your time! It'll come to you!

My trainer nods. "I'm absolutely sure that it well. We have an excellent way of choosing people for this academy."

But I'm not supposed to be here. My brain tells me. You should just turn yourself in right now and go home. Home, where you'll be safe and warm and you won't have to do all this. And Ruby can take your place and she'll love it here. Just turn yourself in.

"You know what, let's take a break. We can go somewhere for ice cream, I know a great place in the town,"

"Carrie said that we're not supposed to go out of the school," says Kaitlynn, sounding very worried.

I realize now that while I do miss my parents--I miss them so much--that I'll miss my friends, too. In the third day that I've gotten here and already I know that Kaitlynn and Bella are the people who I've been waiting for my whole life. The friends that I can just enjoy being with.

And so I don't say a thing. The week passes. I haven't found my power throughout it, and everyone's getting restless. People whisper. Am I really supposed to be here? Higher-year students praise me. For them, my not getting my source just means that their classes are delayed for longer. We can't start classes until everyone has a source. Or, I guess, until they send me home.

Carrie is getting nervous, too. I've seen her at the dining hall, leaning over to whisper with my trainer. My trainer has gotten more and more nervous over the week, her brow creasing with every day, the lines under her eyes getting darker and darker.

Tomorrow is Saturday. I've been told that Saturday is a day off for everyone, including us. I wish that I could just find the stupid source already! I wish I could work through Saturday to find it, but the trainer won't allow it. I guess she's sick of helping me. Of course, if I was in her situation, I would be, too.

I wake up on Saturday feeling disappointed and annoyed. I really should turn myself in, shouldn't I. It would be better for the whole school if I did.

"Hey, Ruby! Let's go out for ice cream!" cries Bella, poking her head down from the top bunk to look at me on the bottom.

"It's eight in the morning and we're not allowed to go out of the school without a guardian," I tell her, feeling thoroughly depressed.

"Well, since it's eight in the morning, nobody would think that we would go out for ice cream so they wouldn't think that we'd be around the town. It's reverse psychology!"

Bella's spirit cheers me up a little bit and so I agree. Kaitlynn's not here. I think that she joined a club of some sort and she's there right now.

We grab our backpacks and head to the front door.

"Hey. Where are you guys going?" asks Dante, his permanent scowl appearing from behind a door to our left.

"It's none of your business," Bella replies haughtily, lifting her bag higher on her shoulder.

"Actually, since you two seem to be going outside of school boundaries, it is," he claims.

"You know what, Dante, just don't tell anyone. We're just trying to enjoy ourselves after a long week of school," Bella says.

Dante sneers at me. "Oh, right, I forgot that you're the one with no magic who's keeping us all from learning,"

Blood roars in my ears and suddenly I feel an experience I've never felt before. I feel....energy. I feel Dante's energy, I know what he's feeling right now. Angry, because his mom had to go marry someone else. Proud because he got into this school. Confused because this school is nothing like he thought it might be.

I latch onto this angry energy, taking it from him, forcing him backwards, away from the door. "Stop. Just don't," I tell him, pushing him verbally.

Suddenly, the energy shuts off, just as quickly as it came. I collapse to the floor and Bella clutches my shoulders. "What just happened?" she asks.

"I-I don't know," I stammer.

Dante stands up on the other end of the hallway. "Well isn't it obvious?" he asks us. "You've found your source."