I woke up with a start, the sun filtering in through the blinds on the window. I could hear laughter coming from outside and birds chirping.
Swinging my legs out of bed, I readied myself. I just put on the clothes from yesterday even though I had already packed my stuff and moved them here.
Yesterday, Juniper and I had went back to my grandparents' house to tell them of my decision.
Grandma Abby had teared up a little while Grandpa Sam thought proud of me. They themselves had went through the teachings of Terra Arbor and had hoped to pass that onto me the year after this year but then decided against it since my mother had called them to bring me to them already.
When Grandma had went over to the Hathaway household, she had talked to Juniper's mother about me being introduced to Terra Arbor. And when they had both approved, telling Juniper it was okay, we made the trip.
I held my hair up in one of the three hair ties on my right wrist and went outside to see Juniper on the porch, waiting for me.
"Morning, Jun," I yawned, stretching.
"Morning, sleepyhead," She smiled.
"What do we do on Sundays?" I asked.
"Same thing we did yesterday. Rest up for Monday," She answered, simply. We walked down the stairs on the porch.
"Idaline!" A familiar little girl's voice rang out. Juniper and I looked to our right to see Izzy and Nico walking toward us from their house.
"Hey," I knelt with a smile as she tackled me with a hug. I looked up at Nico.
"So we're neighbors?"
"Appears so," He raised his hand for a high five and I didn't leave him hanging.
"So, where do we go for breakfast?" We looked at Juniper. And I noticed Izzy perk up at the mention of breakfast.
"The Academy Cafe. That's where everyone gets their food. And, of course, all the food is fresh and hot off the stove or if it's produce, then it's just fresh,"
"Then let's go. I'm starving," Nico sighed with a smile. Izzy, being who she was, jumped for joy.
"Yay!" She threw her hands in the air and jumped around.
"Alright. Come on," I grabbed one of her hands and set it down, quietly laughing at her actions. Juniper guided us back to the Academy. The Academy Cafe was all the way down the hall from the front door. There were a lot of people in line.
"Welcome to the Cafe, guys," Juniper said.
And then my favorite morning smell hit my nose.
"Bacon," Nico and I said, simultaneously. He smirked at me while I just laughed.
We entered the line and got the plates for our food. They were labeled with sections of each food category: produce, grains, protein and dairy. I got watermelon and oranges for produce, brown rice for grains, scrambled eggs and bacon for protein, hard boiled eggs were in the dairy and I got water for my drink.
Once we all got our food, Juniper turned to us.
"The back door-" She pointed to the door at the far corner of the Cafe. "-leads to outside where there's picnic tables and stuff like that. Though most people do stay in here to watch the clock and for the clean feeling to be inside... want to try it?" She suggested.
We all shared a look and nodded.
We found a nice spot under the shade of a juniper tree, which Juniper actually recommended herself, and sat down. Juniper sat next to me while Nico sat across from me with Izzy next to him.
"They really want us to be healthy, huh?" I asked Juniper, gesturing to my plate. She nodded.
"The King and Queen along with all of the more experienced people here want everyone to have a balanced diet so you can have full strength and energy when you use your powers. We can tire easily depending on the kind of techniques we use with our powers or other weapons. And, of course, if we ever have an attack from Terra Osores again then everyone will be able to help in battle," She explained between bites.
"Well, that's nice of them," Nico commented. We continued eating in the breeze.
"Have you guys seen all of Terra Arbor?" Juniper asked Izzy and Nico.
"Not all of it. When we were facing the place with the fountain, which is cool I must say, we only entered the King and Queen's hall, the Academy hall and the Neighborhood hall," Nico shook his head.
"Then that's what we're gonna do today,"
"Hey, Juniper. Just a thought: where do all the Fairies live?" I asked, curious.
"In the Garden," I must've gave her a confused look because she laughed. "But they fly a little over the trees to a secret place that only they can access. Anyone who wants to get there, can't. It's a straight mile into very thick and tall trees in a dense forest. In the Garden, it starts out normal but then the height and thickness of the trees change. That's why all the trees are different. So people won't know which direction to go and so they won't be able to get to the homes if they know the direction. Although, the Fairies are smart anyway. They head the wrong way first so they can lead anyone off. Then head home. So no one knows where the exact location of their homes are except for the King and Queen,"
"Now that makes much more sense," I said as she nodded.
"Ready for the tour, Nico? Izzy?" She turned to the two in front of us. They nodded.
We got up and walked back inside to the Cafe and put the plates on the counter where the cooks would pick them up and clean them.
We headed out of the Academy's hall and to the fountain clearing.
Juniper knelt next to Izzy as we all faced the halls.
"Garden or Training Arena?" She asked her.
"Oh, so you don't want my opinion? I see how it is," Nico said, sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and smacked his arm with a smirk.
"Watch it, Sassy Pants. It's Izzy. She's a young girl. In a place affiliated with Magic," I reasoned. He rolled his eyes and smirked then looked down at Izzy who had put her best thinking face on.
"Garden!" She squealed. Juniper stood and we walked to the door on the far left and into the Garden.
"Whoa," were Izzy's and Nico's reactions.
"It's beautiful," Izzy grinned with glee.
"I agree," Nico nodded, looking around.
After they were finished gawking, we led them into the Training Arena.
When Izzy got an idea, I could see a legit lightbulb rise above her head and light up. She turned to Juniper.
"Can you show us your Magic?" She asked. Juniper looked around at the training pairs. "Please?" Izzy pleaded. Juniper smiled.
"Well, I haven't done a challenge in a long time. Why not?" She led us to a little clearing away from all the targets and weapon racks. The clearing was filled with kids of all ages. They were wielding swords, bows and Magic. Everything was a blur.
Juniper raised her hand straight up into the air.
Soon enough, someone high fived her. It was a girl about her age with a fierce look in her striking amber eyes.
"I challenge you," They announced, simultaneously, staring into each other's gaze.
"The name's Bree. Weapon of choice?" The girl asked.
"Juniper. And I trust the Elements. You?"
"My sword is better," I noticed a sheath on her belt. She grabbed the hilt and unsheathed a beautiful silver sword. The sun reflected on the metal.
I saw a familiar light green light form on Juniper's fingertips.
"I'll start easy on you," Bree said.
The sword started to glow an electric blue. She swung it diagonally and a little spike of blue light quickly made its way to Juniper. She easily deflected it by swinging her right hand diagonally skyward creating a shield of stone in front of her which immediately crumbled back into the ground.
"You need to be better than that," Juniper chided. Bree smirked.
"Tough one, are we?" She started to send a lot of electric blue spikes toward Juniper. But she fought back sending waves of stone, bursts of fire, or shots of water toward her opponent. When Bree stopped for a split second, Juniper took that as an advantage to disarm her.
She disarmed successfully by backflipping and knocking Bree's sword out of her hand. The girl bent over to catch her breath.
"Nice duel. Look forward to beating you next time," She walked over to Juniper and shook her hand.
"I look forward to beating you, again," Juniper smirked.
"Oh, we'll see," Bree walked off after Juniper handed her sword back.
She walked over to us, a bit out of breath.
"That was honestly amazing," I said in awe.
"Which is good. I haven't trained in forever. Bree almost had me at some moments. I think I might stay and train," She looked at us pointedly. "Do you think you guys'll be okay without a guide?"
"Yeah. I think we're smart enough to handle Terra Arbor," I nodded with Nico.
"We'll have to keep an eye on Izzy, though," He pointed out.
"Yeah, I know. She'll be okay," I assured him. "She's with us," He nodded in agreement.
"Alright, guys. Stay safe. We'll meet back at the Academy at lunchtime. A bell will ring so you'll be able to know when lunch is," Juniper informed us.
"You're gonna train for that long?" I asked. That had to take a lot of dedication. She just shrugged.
"Like I said, I haven't trained in forever. I need to practice my skills and techniques. And pretty soon, all three of you will have to, too," She said. "Bye," She ran off.
I turned to Nico and Izzy.
"Well. Let's go," We started walking out of the Training Arena and headed for the Academy.
"So. Tell me about yourself, Idaline," Nico said as we walked down the hill to the Academy courtyard. I flinched.
"Please call me Ida. Being called my full name... it's personal," I muttered and stared at the ground. I could feel Nico's gaze against the back of my neck. The way he said it reminded me of when my father had started to get distant from my mother and just called for me when he wanted something to be fetched for him.
"Sorry," He said, immediately.
"I mean, it's fine. Just don't say it that way, again," I sighed and looked at him.
"... Right," He nodded, slowly.
"Anyway, you wanted to know a few things about me? Um... I'm an only child. I have two friends, Zoey and Jack, who are brother and sister. I go to Prior High in Batavia, Illinois. My family is poor," I paused when those words slipped out of my mouth.
When I was introducing myself to Zoey and Jack and when I just talked to them in general, the topic of my family never came up until a few months after we met.
To think I'd be this honest to a guy I had met yesterday... confused me. But the aura of him was strangely calming. It felt like I could trust everything I had with him. And that's something I had always wanted from day one.
"Is that it, Ida?" Nico interrupted my thoughts.
"Oh, sorry. Just thinking about some stuff. Anyway... my parents. From my birth to when I was four years old they were like any parents. Caring, nice, responsible for their child. Then something happened. I've never been able to figure out what but something happened that made them change. They started to get distant from one another and, from time to time, took out their anger on each other. As for me... I'm mainly home alone now. All I have now are Zoey, Jack and my grandparents. I just focus on school so I don't have to worry about money in the future. And I usually stay with my two friends when I go home from school and when both of my parents aren't at the house. That's the same reason I'm here. My parents are... somewhere and my two friends are out of town so I'm staying with my grandparents all this summer. Which is fine by me," I added that last part with a hint of bitterness laced into my voice.
After the Change, I've never cared for my parents at all. And they've barely held the responsibility needed to care for their only child. So all three of us were on the same page.
Then I felt a tap on my right hand. I looked down to see that Nico was pointing to the 'x' shaped scar.
"It's just a reminder for me to keep working hard," I explained, briefly. And when I looked up at him, Nico's expression wasn't surprising with the shock written across his face.
"Don't ask. The only other people who know are my friends and grandparents. My friends' parents don't know the full truth. And... I've never really opened up about my past at all to anyone so... " My voice cracked at the end and the silence started to grow.
"What did you mean by all that Ida?" The silence was broken by Izzy herself.
Before I could think of something to say, Nico saved me.
"She just meant that her past is very... special and shouldn't be told to anyone. Just people she trusts,"
I looked at him and mouthed 'Thank you'. He nodded in response.
"Oh. Okay. Do you trust me?" Izzy looked up at me.
"Of course I do. But do you promise to never tell anyone anything I just said?" I asked. She nodded with a firmness I could tell was real.
"If you trust me, then of course I will trust you, with all of my heart," She said, with a maturity that she's never shown until now. I stared at her in amazement but smiled.
"So, Mr. Avalon," I turned to Nico as we kept walking to the courtyard. "Tell me about yourself," He smiled.
"I'm the average teenage guy. I live in Bar Harbor, Maine and go to Riverwood High. I'm a pretty social guy with a few friends. That's pretty much it,"
"Oh, really? Not fair, considering I'm trusting you with everything I am. Hobbies? Likes? Dislikes?" I asked him, my hands on my hips. We had reached the courtyard so I stood there with a small glare, looking at him.
"Let's see then. Reading, writing, skateboarding, staying outdoors a lot. It helps me think. There's also this special field not too far from my house. I go there to do my homework everyday or just to have a picnic with my little brother or for reading or writing," He added.
"Outdoorsy person, are we?" I smiled at him.
"Only a little," I saw a hint of blush on his cheeks.
"A little? After what you just said, I don't believe you. And you said you live in Maine?" I asked.
He nodded in reply.
"But I came here from Illinois. How could you possibly-"
"Probably because Terra Arbor is everywhere. The entrance is anywhere and everywhere. It's just there to take people in for the cause," He hypothesised.
"That makes sense," I nodded.
We walked over to a tree and sat down. I sighed and looked around us.
Everyone was running around, having fun, reminding me of all the fun times Zoey, Jack and I had when we were in middle school.
***
We reached the park just in time. The sun was in the high west, which meant it was probably around two in the afternoon.
All three of us dropped our bikes onto the ground and started running around the playground, being free. I felt the wind flow through my hair, feeling like I was flying across the park not even touching the ground. I walked up to Zoey and poked her.
"You're so it!" I announced. She turned and looked at me with a frown on her face.
"Not fair! I didn't know we were playing!" She stomped her foot.
"Well we're playing now, sis. Make your move," Jack said from a platform.
She grinned evilly and looked at me. Before she could touch me, I was flying again to a nearby tree.
"This tree is home base!"
"I'll be there in a minute, Ida!" Jack yelled.
"You're not gonna make it! You know I'm faster than you!" I watched as the siblings ran around trying to tag or avoid being tagged. After a little while, it just got boring.
"Zoey!" She turned to me, sweating and panting like crazy. "Tag me. You two are getting nowhere,"
"Oh, thanks," she breathed. I held out my hand. She slapped it and started to walk away. Jack just stayed there looking at me, also out of breath.
"Well go on. I'm gonna start running and both of you know well enough that I'm faster than both of you," I said.
He followed after his sister. Pretty soon it was an all out chase between all three of us.
By the time the sun was setting, we were all lying down next to home base, pouring cold water all over ourselves. Jack, being the King of Jokes, kept telling us stupid jokes, puns and riddles. But we all laughed anyway.
***
"Ida? Ida?" I heard distantly. I opened my eyes to see a worried Nico in front of me. "You okay? While you were napping you were... crying," He muttered. I reached up to my face and he was right. I felt the tears still flowing out of my eyes.
"Sorry. Sorry. I'm fine," I wiped away the tears and inhaled, deeply.
"You really did scare me for a sec," He sat back.
"Sorry, I... nevermind," I shook my head. He looked at me, questioningly. "It's okay. I'm fine," I assured him with a smile. "But thanks for worrying. I appreciate it,"
"No problem," He said, a smile slowly tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Don't worry. My... special problems-" I glanced at a waking Izzy. "-stress me out sometimes," I explained, carefully. I didn't want Izzy involved with my problems at all.
Nico nodded and sighed.
Then a bell rang, reminding me of the Prior school bell.
"Were we really out that long?" I looked at Nico.
"I guess so," Nico shrugged. "I kind of dozed off too,"
"Anyway, come on Izzy. Food's on the way," I shook her by the shoulder.
"Food? Me like food," She mumbled and rubbed her eyes with a yawn. I smiled and stood, with my hand held out to her.
She looked up at me, reached up and took it.
"We should probably wait for Juniper," I said and leaned against the tree.
After a few minutes, a panting Juniper was running toward us.
"Hey," She smiled and wiped the sweat off her forehead as we made our way inside the Academy.