This Time.

"Congrats, Emma," I heard Eric, the telepathic guy in some of my classes, say quietly.

"What?"

"You just proved that you are, in fact, the most Emmazing person at this school." He smiled sincerely, something I didn't think he'd done before, and sat down next to me. "She hasn't used her power since she was eight. She's been thinking about letting you see her power for a long time. I've never heard her even consider letting someone else see her power. . . . Sleepwalker used to go to your room every night before you came here. He had dreams about someone who would change our whole world. For the better. Alice can see that in you. I don't know what you'll do, but I think Alice has been right about you all along. Do you know what she could do with her power?"

"Er, no?"

"She gives dead things new life. If she gathered enough strength, she could pretty much make an army of living corpses." He smirked. "Zombie apocalypse."

"Alice wouldn't do that."

"Duh." He was then silent, possibly thinking or finding out what I was thinking. "I know how those people think. You're powerful, Emma. They already know that. But if you let more show, they'll take you and squeeze you dry." He stopped again, this time, clearly thinking. "I'm sorry if you don't want my advice, but it's safer if you don't show your full potential. Alice-" He seemed to be struggling to say what he meant. "She believes in the good of everyone. It's sweet, but not everyone is as nice or good-hearted as you hope or she believes. I guess I'm just saying be careful. Don't trust everyone here."

"Eric?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, for one, thank you for not just reading my thoughts to find out what I was going to say."

"I thought you'd like the privacy."

"Thanks. Not to sound rude or anything, but what's in it for you? Warning me?" He didn't respond at first. He looked at the ground. Finally, he stood up.

"I'm trying to do the right thing this time," he said quietly, as he walked away. This time. I wondered what he did last time.

Queen of the Faeries.

We had six days of class, alternating between Power Training days and General Education days, and then one day off each week. It took some getting used to, but Alice was always helping Luna and I find our way around school. Seamus loved to carry Luna around at lightening quick speeds whenever he could, and Luna seemed to be brightening up to him too.

On Power Training days, I was in Mr. Hank's class most of the day. The basic idea was to develop skills and controls over our powers, though Mr. Hank also had us doing rigorous exercises to keep us in peak physical and mental shape. He explained that being in better physical strength would strengthen our powers, as would being in better mental strength. I still never saw Alice use her power though. Mr. Hank never made her use it, and she avoided answering the question whenever I asked, so I was just left wondering.

General Education days were long, boring, and tedious versions of regular high school days. Classes started at 8AM and went on until 10PM. We had 5 blocks of 2 hour classes, with a break or meal in between each, plus an hour and 40 minutes of our elective class (which changed each month). Our first day of General Education, Luna and I had to be tested to see where we were academically. The test was long, boring, and tedious. I ended up testing into all honours classes: Geometry, English, Biology, Spanish 1, and Gifted History. My first elective was Computers. As it turned out, Alice was in the exact same classes, so we were rarely apart, except for sleep.

Luna tested a lot lower than me, a fact neither of us dared mention, (though I knew it was on her mind and I wished there was some way I could just magically make her better at school) so we ended up only having Computers together. Luna didn't take that too well, but Seamus was in a few of her classes. He always found a way to cheer her up, which I was thankful for.


"He's good for her, you know," Alice said quietly on one of our days off. Seamus had just whisked Luna off to go do whatever, leaving Alice and I to spend the day alone.

"I-- What?"

"It bugs you sometimes. Luna likes being with Seamus."

"No. I'm happy she's happy. I--"

"I know, Emma. I wasn't saying you're a jealous person or mean or something. It just bugs you sometimes. It was just the two of you all your lives, so it'd be perfectly normal to feel a irritated about sharing her." I opened my mouth to argue, but Alice held her hand up. I sighed and let her continue. "Feel that cold breeze? You're tense. Every time you get any bit upset, the weather changes slightly." Alice smiled suddenly.

"Alice, I think you're a bit delusional," I laughed.

"You're a lot more powerful than you realise. Think of something really happy." I sighed. Alice had been trying to get me to fly again for weeks. I appreciated her willingness to help, but flying wasn't something I could really control.

"I told you already, Alice. I can only fly when it's one of the happiest moments of my life." Alice rolled her eyes at me.

"Get up. You're going to try it. I need to prove my theory." Alice suddenly stood up and pulled me up too. "Close your eyes and focus on a happy memory." I obeyed, rather unwillingly. I didn't really know what happy memory to use. It seemed kind of stupid really. No, I wouldn't think that. I'd at least let Alice have her little experiment done right. Happy memories? I decided to think about the last time I flew. My whole class cheering for me. All the excitement and relief. The way Alice had so easily believed in me, having just met-- Alice laughed triumphantly. "I knew it!" I opened my eyes suddenly. Alice was dancing around, swirling in the breeze. Wait, breeze? For the first time, I paid attention to the weather. A warm breeze seemed to be circling around me. I suddenly noticed the way Alice's hair was flying in all directions.

"Alice--?"

"See? I told you! Feel it?" Alice grinned massively. "You're an aerokinetic!" Her grin grew even bigger, if that were at all possible. "Want to see my power?"

"What? Yes!" After weeks of seeing nothing of her power, I definitely wanted to know what it was. I felt the wind pushing at me, trying to pull me up. Her grin faltered a bit.

"Well, I already told you it's not that great, so, uh, yeah . . ." The air gave up on lifting me.

"Aw, c'mon, Alice! I want to see it!" She grinned again.

"You have to give me some wind to work with first." So that was her plan. Get me to show off my power in exchange for letting me finally see her power once. It wasn't really a fair trade, but oh well. I was going to see her power finally. That thought started to fill me up and I felt the air pressure around me start to build and push me off the ground. More wind! C'mon! I thought. The leaves beneath my feet started swirling around and flying up into the air next to me.

"How's that for wind, Alice?" Alice grinned some more, and put her hands out toward me.

"Watch the leaves." And I did. At first, I saw nothing. They were just leaves. Then I noticed one suddenly fade to a pale pink colour and what looked like wings sprout out. Another turned a bright blue colour. Then there was a beautiful orange one. Soon, I was surrounded in flying bits of colour, all resembling something between a faerie and a flying leaf.

"Holy crap, Alice! 'Not that great'?? You're nuts! That's amazing!" Alice's face turned bright red. I couldn't focus on flying any more and stumbled as I hit the ground. Most of the faeries fell to the ground and slowly turned back into regular leaves. The few that remained fluttered around Alice and I.

"I can't really do that much. And it makes me really tired." As if to prove her point, she wandered a few feet over to a nearby tree and sat down against it, closing her eyes. I walked over and sat next to her.

"You just turned a bunch of leaves into faeries. That's insanely awesome." She laughed a little and then rested her head on my shoulder.

"You have no idea how tired that just made me. All that physical fitness stuff Hank has us do is nothing. It makes me so exhausted. That's why he never has me do it in class. I used to pass out in class every time he'd make me practice. He got tired of calling in the nurse, and I got tired of being tired." She didn't say anything more. We both just sat in silence as she fell asleep. The last of the faeries turned back to leaves.

It Gives You Wiiiiiiings!

"So what are your powers?" Alice asked me as we walked.

"Uh, I dunno. I can make ice, and--" I stopped, trying to make a dramatic pause, "I can fly."

"Sweet! That's gotta be awesome. You could make it hail even! Just fly up high and start making chunks of ice." She turned left, and I followed.

"What about you? What can you do?" Alice's smile disappeared suddenly.

"It's not a very good power. It's . . . weird. I don't know how to explain it. Later." Alice didn't say anything for a few more minutes, until we got to class.

"Alice!" Mr. Hank said cheerfully as we walked in. "Oh, and Emma too! You're just on time!" He beamed at us, and I saw that Alice was smiling again. "Alice, why don't you help introduce Emma to the rest of the class?" Alice looked like there was nothing more she'd rather do.

"Yes, sir!" she said. "Okay, everyone, this is Emma. Today's her fist day here, and she can fly." I felt my face redden, though Alice didn't seem to notice. She looked as if she was about to explode with joy. "Emma, that's Steve," she pointed to a large guy with spiky, blond hair. "He can melt stuff. And that's Mittens," she pointed to a dark-haired girl in the corner who happened to have mittens on. "She wears mittens because she's kind of poisonous. And over there is Toby," Alice nodded to a small boy who looked like a mouse. "I don't really know what his power is. And Edie doesn't always show up."

"Thank you, Alice, and welcome, Emma!" Mr. Hank said. "Since we have a new student today, I want the rest of you to work with you partner while I assess her ability. Alison, will work with Steve since Edie isn't here again?" Alice nodded and joined Steve in one end of the room. Toby and Mittens took to another part of the room and the too pairs began practicing using their powers. "Okay, Emma. Alice said you can fly?"

"Er, yeah," I muttered. I really hoped he wouldn't ask me to do anything. I didn't really know how to use my powers very well, especially not flying.

"Anything else?"

"Uh, I can sorta freeze stuff."

"Okay, why don't we start with flying? Let's see how well you can fly." I couldn't think of anything to say, so I shut my eyes tightly. "Sorry, I can't fly"? No, I could. I just . . . didn't know how. Well, no, I knew how. When I was so happy, I felt like I could just fly, I really could fly. All I had to do was be happy, and my body would do it on its own. I was no where near that extreme happiness. If anything, I was starting to panic. "Go on, now, Emma. Fly." How was I supposed to fly with so much pressure? I was getting extremely nervous and tense. C'mon, Emma! Fly! I tried to focus, but I couldn't. "Emma?" Mr. Hank's persistence wasn't helping. Couldn't he see that?

"Um, E-Emma?" Alice's voice came from my left. Her voice was shaking, which scared me. I suddenly felt the urge to protect her. Whoever was making her scared would have me to answer to. Alice had gone out of her way to make me feel welcome and-- I felt hands grab my shoulders suddenly, and I opened my eyes suddenly. Alice was looking at me as if I had just blown up or something. "Emma? You o-okay?"

"What? Yeah. Fine."

"You s-sure? I th-think you just f-froze everyth-thing." I realised Alice's voice wasn't shaking out of fear, but cold. I looked around the room, and saw a thin layer of ice coating everything. Then I looked at the ground. My feet were frozen to the ground and very smooth ice surrounded me. Which explained why Alice was still gripping my shoulders. She was using me to keep from slipping and possibly breaking something.

"Sorry. Hold on. Here." I reached out and and put my hands under Alice's arms, helping keep her steady. Relax! I told myself. I forced my mind to focus on good memories. I remembered how Alice had shown me and Luna to the dining hall, ate breakfast with us, and, in general, had just been exceptionally kind without anyone telling her or anything to get out of it than friends. Yes, that was a good memory, and here she was again, daring to tread across the dangerous surface, to make sure I was okay.

I wasn't aware of my surroundings anymore, which was why I hadn't felt my body pull Alice closer to me, or her arms around me in a hug, or the rush of air as I flew again. Not until I heard Alice's soft laugh in my ear at least.

"You're flying, Emma," she said, her voice practically ringing like wind chimes. A ripple of shock shot through me, and gravity took over. Alice didn't tighten her grip, flinch, or react to falling at all. She believes in me, the thought rang out strong and clear, and gravity lost the battle just in time. I heard someone start clapping.

"Yeah, Emma!" a small voice cheered. I could see the mousy little boy jumping up and down, cheering for me. Toby. Steve, the blonde guy, was pumping his fist into the air. Mittens smiled at me, something, as I would learn later, that was very rare.

"Excellent!" Mr. Hank's gruff voice boomed. I knew I was smiling even bigger than anyone else in that room, even Alice, who seemed to have a smile engraved on her face eternally. Carefully, I let gravity pull Alice and I downward until our feet touched the ground. She let go of me, stepped back, and smiled. I couldn't help smiling back. I was going to love it here.

Uncreatively Titled.

The darkness slowly gave way to a small amount of light. I was vaguely aware that I wasn't breathing, but it didn't bother me much. Actually, I couldn't really even feel anything in my body. Mainly, I just had a vague sense a panic, as if someone was dying. And then, suddenly, I felt the pain of not breathing, and gasped for air suddenly. I started coughing and my vision returned. Luna was hovering over me, and I tried to say her name, but I barely had enough air in my lungs.

"Are you okay?" My vision shifted out of focus again, as another image overlapped my current vision. I couldn't make anything out though, except that Luna was saying something. Then everything went back to normal again. "Emma?"

"Sorry," I muttered, sitting up. "I need to sleep." Luna helped me up, and I fell asleep the moment I reached the bed.


I flt perfectly fine again the next morning, and barely even remembered anything had happened the night before. Luna was a bit moody, but it was probably because she was worried about me. I was too busy thinking about what our first real day here would be like to have any time to worry.

"What do you think lessons will be like?" I asked Luna, hurrying to get ready. She didn't say anything. "Where do we even go? I already forgot where to go. Do you know where we go?" Someone knocked on the door just then. A moment later, I flung the door open, and found Alice standing at our door nervously.

"Alice!" I beamed.

"Er, hi," Alice said nervously. "I, uh, figured since, you know, it was your first day today and all, I'd help you, you know, show you where you're supposed to be. I know Alejandro gave you that tour and stuff, but he did that for me too, and I couldn't remember any of it." Wow. Yes! Of course!

"That would be great! Thanks, Alice!" Alice grinned back at me, and seemed a lot less nervous, having gotten that out of the way.

"So it's about time for breakfast right now. Are you guys ready to go? I can wait."

"I'm all ready. Luna?"

"Give me a minute," Luna grumbled. A few minutes later, we were on our way to the dining hall.


"There's always food in the dining hall," Alice explained as we walked. "Clayton - he sleepwalks - said he woke up in the dining hall eating strawberries at 3 in the morning once. Oh, by the way, if someone comes to your room in the middle of the night, it's probably Clayton. Apparently, he has prophetic dreams, which is why he sleep walks."

"Prophetic dreams?" I asked. We were in the dining hall now. It was huge. A long counter ran along one side of the room. It was covered in assorted food, like a great feast. Maids were running here and there, making sure all was well. There were dozens of round tables throughout the hall, many of them occupied by other teenagers. There were also some teachers and a few young children scattered in the hall. This wasn't a mansion, it was a castle!

"Yeah, it's weird. Sees the future and stuff. Get whatever you like," Alice nodded to the counter of food, snapping me back from my racing mind. "It's all free and you can have as much as you like." She quickly got her food and took a seat at an empty table behind us. A minute later, Luna and I sat down next to her with our food. "Anyway, Clayton has to go to the people in his dreams, I guess. Like if he was going to have one with you in it, he has to go to you while he's sleeping. His last roommate got so fed up with the sleepwalking thing though, that he just up and left."

"Hey, Alice!" A teenage boy waved at us as he walked in. His thick, black hair looked to be in desperate need of a hair cut. Once he had gotten his food and sat down, he quickly broke our temporary silence with the fastest talking I had ever heard. "So you gonna introduce me to your new friends, Alice, or do I have to do it myself?"

"Seamus, this is Emma and Luna. Emma, Luna, this is Seamus." Seamus stuck out his hand, and I shook it. "Today's their first day here. I was going to show them around to where they're supposed to be. You know Alejandro's tours are always horrible." Seamus and Alice both laughed.

"So what class are you guys in?" Seamus asked speedily.

"Uh, I'm with Alice," I said. "I think Luna's in the same class as that Eric or whatever his name was guy."

"Eric? Woah. Wait, what am I thinking?" Seamus stared at Luna suddenly.

"Seamus!" Alice gave him a dark look.

"What?"

"Even if she was a mind reader, that's rude. And she probably isn't one, right Luna?"

"What? No. I just move stuff," Luna blurted. Finally! She talked!

"Woah! Sweet! Like with your mind? That's awesome!" Seamus was practically bouncing in his seat. "Alice, can I take her? Pleeeease? I have to go over that way anyway and you and Emma are on the other side, so it'd just be logical to do it that way. And---"

"Ask her, not me," Alice said. Luna shrugged, and Seamus just about flew through the ceiling, bouncing.

"Are you ready? I'm ready!" Seamus squealed. Luna just shrugged again. They both stood up to leave. "Bye Emma! Bye Alice! See you later!" Alice and I waved back, as Seamus quickly dragged Luna right out of the hall.

Once they were out of the hall, Alice burst out laughing for a moment. "I feel so bad letting her go with him, but I couldn't argue with him. It'd be stupid to go all the way over to the west wing if we're going east wing."

"Why's he so . . . hyper?" I asked.

"He's super fast. Walking at a normal speed is hard for him. His whole body functions faster than a normal person's. He shaves his hair off constantly, and it just grows back at hyperspeed. He's also pretty strong, despite how skinny he is. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to carry Luna so he could run to class with her." I laughed at that idea. Luna was in a bad mood, so she'd probably get pissy if he tried to carry her at all.

"So everyone here has powers?"

"Almost everyone, at least. Mrs. Ackern doesn't have any, so she's always rude to everyone with powers. Oh, and most of the maids don't have any powers. Sorry to rush you, but if you don't finish eating soon, we're going to be late."

"Oh, right, sorry." I hurried to finish my food, and then we hurried out the hall and headed back up the grand staircase.

Tours.

The tour was magnificent. Alejandro showed us the entire mansion. Every single little detail, all the history behind everything. It was truly amazing. We met lots of different people throughout the mansion. The girl I was to be taking my lessons with seemed exceptionally nice. She just gave off this vibe of . . . pure kindness.


"This is Miss Alice. She will be your partner in your learning, Miss Emma," Alejandro explained. "Miss Alice, this is Miss Emma. She has just arrived here today with Miss Luna." Alice must have been about 15. She was only a few inches taller than me and had dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"It's very nice to meet you, Emma, and you as well, Luna," Alice said sincerely. Luna half-smiled at Alice, but otherwise ignored her.

"Great to meet you too, Alice," I replied cheerfully.

"Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get back to my room so I can write my dad a letter. I'll see you tomorrow though, Emma. Bye!" Alice waved goodbye and then danced her way out of the room.

Later on, we met Mr. Hank, who was also very nice. He oversaw the students I was going to be learning with. He seemed a bit gruff, but still nice, nonetheless. We also me Eric, one of the students who would be in Luna's lessons; Jessie and Tim, twins; Mrs. Notting, Luna's teacher; and Frank, who looked to be around 8 years old.

Then, all too soon, the tour was over, and Alejandro led us back to our room. We said our goodbyes, and then Luna quickly shut the door.

"Wow. This place is amazing, isn't it, Luna?" I said, grinning. Luna didn't seem as enthusiastic and flung herself on the bed. Well, I'd have to change that. I sneaked up to her. "Hey, Luna?" I whispered.

"What?" She grumbled, keeping her face buried in pillows.

"POUNCE!" I leapt onto her back, quickly throwing her off guard. Success!

"Ow! Ah! What the hell, Emma?" She shoved me off of her and sat up, glaring at me.

"I'm a ninja!" I announced cheerfully.

"Uh, I don't think real ninjas tell other people they're ninjas." She was clearly trying not to be cheered up. My logic, however, was superiour.

"Exactly! See, now you don't believe I'm a ninja just because I told you! So that means I AM a ninja!" No matter how hard she tried to be grumpy, she couldn't help laughing. "Hey! Don't laugh at me!"

"Rawr!" Luna blurted suddenly, pinning me and using her awesome tickle-attack skills. "Take that, you ninja!"

"Aaaahhh! Nooooooo! Not the tickling! It's my weakness!" I laughed. Luna's laughing faded slowly, as if she were getting lost in thought.

"Superninja catches the Tickle Monster off guard!" I pushed her off of me and pinned her down, regaining the upper hand. A moment later, she made a weird look, so I stopped and sat next to her. She seemed to be trying to say something, but couldn't get the words out. Finally, she sat up. I could feel the tension in the air, and decided looking at a painting on the wall would be smarter than staring. Instinctively, I wanted to hug Luna or something, because she seemed so upset, but I changed my mind a split-second later, making my hand twitch instead of moving to hug her. She grabbed my hand, reminding me of how a cat pounces on any small movement near it.

"Sorry," she muttered, letting go of my hand. Luna wouldn't look at me after that. She kept staring at the painting on the wall. I took her hand back awkwardly, but said nothing. She needed space, I decided, so I squeezed her hand once before letting go and walking a few feet away.

My head started to throb painfully. My vision blurred and then cleared suddenly. I was standing on a playground, much shorter than I remembered being. There were children all around, laughing and playing games, children who I once knew. A boy, Jeremy was his name, had a dodgeball in his hands, and he was looking straight at me, a smirk on his face. He threw the ball straight at me, as hard as he could. Stop! Stop! Stop! I thought over and over again.

Then it did. The ball just stopped, mid-air, right in front of me. A moment later, it dropped to the ground without hitting me. Jeremy ran away, screaming, "WITCH!" and all the other kids followed. I could feel the desire to run away, to escape this world and life forever consuming me. I was plotting my escape, when I felt someone put their arm around me. I looked over, and looked straight into my own 8-year-old eyes. My heart started racing and then everything went completely black.