FAE's ridiculous green eyeball's peering down at me from a glass globe embedded in the ceiling.
Great.
Also... creepy.
"Everything's fine, FAE," I say lightly. Because... isn't it?
Why was I doom-spiraling?
I blew up a building, and they didn't kick me out. What's one spoiled ArchGuardian kid's tablet after that?
Laughter bubbles up my throat, and once I'm laughing, I can't stop.
Why am I letting Esme get to me?
Why am I even worried about the Trials... about proving I belong here? They put a magick-binding spell on me, and I used magick anyway.
Again.
"Whew!" I take another swig of water and wipe my mouth, feeling much better. I got this.
FAE blinks. "Do you require assistance?"
"I do, actually..." I smile up at her, trying to look charming. "Could you please deactivate Esme's keycard?"
"Absolutely not," she says tartly. "Do you require any other assistance?"
Well, it was worth a try. I squint up at FAE, trying to decide if I can trust her.
I mean, the answer's "no," right?
It's just that I have so many questions about The Atlantis Society and the Academy and Aether and the Trials... but Chloe warned me to keep my mouth shut, and I've already messed up by saying stuff to Esme.
My search history on FAE Google's probably visible to the higher-ups here, so I shouldn't take any risks.
"Well?" FAE asks.
"Do you know what time it is?" I ask. "And also... do you know when the opening ceremony starts?"
"It's 5:30. The opening ceremony begins at 7:00. There are one and a half hours until it begins."
"Can you set an alarm or something to help me make it to the Gathering Hall on time?"
There's a short pause, and I cringe. Oops. I shouldn't have treated her like an alarm clock. "FAE?"
"Would you like one alarm or several?" She sounds pleasant and not offended at all.
"Oh... I'd like several alarms. I'm always late."
"How long does it take for you to get ready?"
"I... have no idea." And I really don't. Because I can't feel time passing, like, at all. Thanks, ADHD.
"One hour is typical for females," FAE says.
"Sounds good to me."
"However, you should begin getting ready now, as you will have a fifteen minute walk to your destination."
My medication finally hits me, thank God, and everything seems to come into sharp focus. There's a new bounce in my step as I set off to find my room.
The bathroom's smaller than the one I had at the beach house, but it's still much nicer than the one I had in my burnt-to-the-ground house.
Sorry, house. Don't miss ya.
There are two bedrooms, and Esme's already claimed the bigger one—there's a pair of tennis shoes next to the king-size bed—so I haul my luggage and paper piles to the smaller room.
I'm smiling as I take it all in.
My room's got a queen-size bed with a fluffy white comforter, and there's a wide, intricately carved wooden chest against one wall, just like the chest I saw in Esme's room. The carvings make up a woodland scene, full of trees, ferns, and tiny woodland creatures. There's a bronze disc set into it—with that hieroglyphic eye again—and it's blinking red.
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.
***