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.

King's Quarters

The boy's look was so convincing that Luna's mom didn't argue when he said he'd be taking us without her. We were going to "walk," though I knew the second the boy said it, there was more to his plans than just walking. We only walked a block, turned the corner, and then the boy closed his eyes and we were suddenly standing inside a magnificent hall that instantly gave me the impression of a royal home. The boy quickly pulled us into a room on our left and bowed to a woman who sat behind the desk in front of us. Luna and I both bowed as well.

"Will you inform Master Timblewood I have brought Miss Emma and Miss Luna and will be giving them a quick tour now?" He said respectfully to the woman.

"Of course, Alejandro. Did you have any troubles attaining them?" Attaining? What were we, some prize? Already, I didn't like her.

"No ma'am." He bowed again.

"It's no wonder Master Timblewood sent you. You are rather convincing." The woman smiled and winked at him. Then she looked straight at Luna and smiled an extremely fake smile. "You look so much like your mother, dearie." Luna smiled. "No doubt just as zany as well." I felt a bit of rage boil up inside me. Leave her alone, you hag, I wanted to say. "Why don't you take these lovely girls to their rooms, Alejandro?"

"Yes, ma'am." He bowed again and silently led us out of the room while I let my anger dissipate. Alejandro led us up 3 huge, ornate staricases and then down a long hall. He opened the door at the very end and motioned for us to step in. Luna's jaw dropped. It looked like it had to be a king's bedroom, judging by how expensive everything inside had to be.

"You shall have to share a room. I hope that is okay with both of you, Miss Emma, Miss Luna." Alejandro said sheepishly. Okay with us? We had been sharing a room for nearly a year now and both rooms had been WAY smaller. Plus we shared rooms half the time before that too.

"It's fine with me!" Emma said. Luna smiled suddenly.

"Just dandy!" She giggled.

"I imagine you would like some time to settle in, correct? I shall return in a little while to show the two of you around, but first, make yourselves at home." Alejandro blushed and bowed and we nodded. Once he left, I smirked at Luna.

"I guess I'm never getting away from you, am I?" I laughed, "You realize you are the absolute most clingy person in the world when you sleep, right?" Luna turned bright red and quickly turned around to face the bookshelf behind her.

"Gee, look. Books!" I rolled my eyes.

"Nice subject change, Loony." She grabbed a book off the shelf.

"Oh, look. It's the Idiot's Guide to RAWR!" Then she jumped around, probably in an attempt to scare me, and tripped. I burst out laughing and fell over too. Luna was even redder than before and then started laughing as well. We kept laughing until our sides were about to burst.

"You should write the Idiot's Guide to murdering your best friend's side by laughing way too much," I said, clutching my side from the pain.

"And you can write the Idiot's Guide to making your best friend fall over laughing at your face!" Luna laughed back. I snickered. You fell for me, hahahaha, I almost said. Luna rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what I would have said. In your dreams, she practically said.

"Miss Emma? Miss Luna?" Alejandro knocked softly on the door. I got up quickly, got Luna to her feet, and opened the door. He smiled at me and bowed then did the same to Luna. "Would you like to see the rest of the mansion?"

"That would be great!" I said excitedly. I felt Luna tense up for some reason next to me. The Alejandro gestured for us to step out and then placed a hand on each of our backs as we begwn our tour.

Headaches

I screamed as the electricity hit my stomach, sending shocks throughout my whole body. "You need to be faster," Franklin growled impatiently.

"I'm trying," I groaned back angrily, clutching my stomach as I tried to heal the pain.

"Fly. Make a wall of ice. Freeze me. Do something." He had been telling me the same thing all day. I was just too tired. My head hurt way too much. I just plain couldn't focus any more. "You're a healer!" he cried suddenly, throwing his arms out, "Just heal your stupid headache!"

"I'm tired. Work with Luna." Ugh. The look he gave me made me feel even worse about how terrible my focus had been the past few days. My head hadn't stopped throbbing for days. He resigned and let Luna take my place in fighting him. Instantly, he let off a jolt of electricity at her. The jolt veered away and then Franklin stumbled back a few feet, tripping over a box that had quickly shoved itself under his feet. Luna smirked triumphantly. Ha! I could almost hear her shout.

"Good thinking, Luna," Franklin chuckled, standing up. "Can't lift me though still." That put the smirk off Luna's face. Instead she put out her hand and screwed up her face, clearly trying to lift him off the ground. He chuckled again. "I'm nowhere near as light at Emma." He shot me a look that clearly said my weight was somehow a weakness. "You're going to have to get a lot more mental strength before you can lift me."

"Franklin! Emma! Luna!" Luna's mom called out from the front room. Her voice made my headache suddenly intesify and I doubled over, clutching my skull. The room began to spin, my stomach lurched, and I fell over.

"Emma!" Luna's voice seemed to echo throughout the entire room as I blacked out.


The first thing I noticed was that I was crying. I had no idea why though. Emma! Emma! I kept thinking. I had some weird sense that someone died, but it didn't make sense. No one had died. Weird memories I didn't recognize seemed to be flashing through my mind. Why was I thinking my own name over and over? I opened my eyes. Luna was shaking my shoulders, whispering my name over and over while tears streamed down her face.

"What's wrong?" I blurted out stupidly, nearly knocking her over as I sat up suddenly. She furrowed her brow at me, but at least stopped crying. Then I remembered the feeling that someone had died. "Wait, who died?" I asked, horrified that it was someone important.

"Emma, no one died," my mom's voice said softly. I felt a little bit better and rel-- My mom? What? I shook my head. Luna's mom. True, she was much more of a mother to me than my own had ever been, but that didn't make her my mother. What was with me? "Did she hit her head?" Luna's mom asked Luna who looked more than just slightly terrified. Luna shook her head and looked at me like I might suddenly explode. "Emma, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," I said impulsively. I shook my head. It hurt.

"How does your head feel?"

"Fine." Impulsive again. "Er, no. It's buzzing. Hurts a lot. Fuzzy." I giggled at the word. My friend had had a bear named Fuzzy when we were little. Er, no, I had had a bear named Fuzzy. "Astral!" I said suddenly, jumping up. I regretted it a moment later as I became suddenly more dizzy and stumbled. I lunged forward to catch Emma. Er, no, Luna and her mom grabbed my arms and kept me from falling. Whatever. Astral projection or something.

"What?" Luna's voice echoed somewhere far off. My vision blurred, the world spun, voices echoed around me, and I fainted.


For some reason, I was making pancakes. "Emma!" Franklin shouted, causing me to jump and nearly trip myself. "You're burning pancakes worse than me. Why don't you sit down?" I looked at the pancakes again. They were literally on fire.

"Oops," I said stupidly. Franklin moved me out of the way and put out the flaming pancakes.

"Jeeze, Franklin, you literally burnt those pancakes," Luna yawned as she walked into the kitchen. "I think I'll just have cereal, thanks. G'morning, by the way." I suddenly remembered my head hurt. And then I realized I didn't remember anything since blacking out, which must have been days ago, judging by the lack of "Are you okay?"s I was experiencing. Did I have old-timer's? Or however you spell the real word.

I was so busy trying to figure out what was going on inside my head that I didn't hear the doorbell ring or notice Luna dragging me out to the entry room until I found myself sitting in one of the chairs in the entry room, in conversation with Luna, her mother, Franklin, and a teenage boy who I was sure I had never met before. He must've been 16 or 17.

"Master Timblewood has specifically requested to have Miss Emma and Miss Luna come with me back to his home for special training," he was saying. "I am very sure you are aware of Master Timblewood's expertise and knowledge in people like us, Miss--"

"Yes, yes, I'm fully aware of his . . . expertise. However, the decision is for Emma and Luna to make themselves, so I suggest you impress upon them, not me, how . . . knowledgable Timblewood is." Luna's mom had a very sour look on her face. I got the feeling whoever this Timblewood guy was and her had some sort of history that she was trying to put behind her. The boy looked disappointed that she was acting less than completely admiring of Timblewood. He smiled again as he looked right at me.
"Well, Miss Emma," he turned to Luna, "Miss Luna, I suppose I should explain more about Timblewood to you." You should explain more about how amazing your voice is. What? His voice? Where did that come from? A sharp pain shot through my skull suddenly, as if someone was ripping it apart and exposing my brain. For some reason, I suddenly had no care for his words, just the fact that he was speaking seemed to be making me feel all weird and airy. Ugh, I'm going boy-crazy, aren't I? My headache worsened exponentially and I didn't catch much else that he said except that he wanted Luna and I to go with him to some prestigious, upper-class, "special people" school. I wished I could have heard what he was saying better, but my head seemed to be echoing loudly and the pain just kept intensifying. "Miss Emma?" Shoot, he had asked me a question.

"Er, well . . ." I said, trying to remember what he had just said. I looked to Luna's mom, hoping she could save me from embarrassment.

"I think it may be a good thing to get the two of you out of this house," she said. "Lord knows you've both been stuck inside far too long. And I trust the principal to care for you."

"Please, ma'am, Mister Timblewood is not a prinicipal," the boy said, "He's a--"

"It's up to Emma and Luna. They have my permission to go."

"Misses Emma and Luna?" The beautiful boy said, awaiting our repsonses. Luna looked like she had left her brain elsewhere. More pain shot through my head and I grabbed the sides of my head and tried to heal it. He said some other stuff, probably along the lines of, "Zomg! She's dieing! -insert spazz attack here-" Then Luna's mom said something and Luna ran out of the room. The room lurched suddenly and I fell over. I expected to black out again, but instead, the pain in my skull dulled slightly and I started to hear what was being said again.

"I haven't quite figured out what's going on, but I think Emma's getting headaches from Luna," Luna's mom was saying, probably thinking I had actually blacked out. "I've tried reading her mind, but I can't make sense of anything in her mind. Luna's mind seems alright though. I think, for Emma's sake, only one of them can go. Timblewood might be able to help Emma, so I think Emma should be the one to go."

"Have you considered the possibility that Miss Emma may be developing some sort of mind ability? Perhaps you should not halt the proccess." Ugh, no, not another ability I couldn't control. No way. I did not want to deal with that.

"It's different than any developing mind ability I have seen. And I have . . . other reasons for wanting to separate them. Their relationship with each other is . . . unhealthy." I lifted my head to see the boy make a strange face at Luna's mom. He didn't seem to like anything she was saying.

"Master Timblewood has requested I bring both back to the mansion with me," he said firmly, suddenly looking much older and more powerful. Luna's mom glared at him and it was very clear that her mind would not be changed. I groaned, no longer wanting to be thought unconscious and forced myself to think I really had blacked out.

"Emma? Are you alright?" She knelt down beside me and I stood up slowly.

"I'm fine. I want to go." She looked at me carefully and nodded slowly.

"Why don't you go get your things together?" She looked at the boy. "Why don't you go help her? I need to speak with Luna." The boy nodded, glaring at her. I hurried to my room, wanting to get away as fast as possible.

"Miss Emma?" the boy said softly as I threw all my things together and then started throwing all of Luna's things together as well. He touched my shoulder lightly, his way of asking me what was wrong.

"She can't stop Luna,"I growled. "Luna wants to go. I know she does. She lost her mind last time I left without her. I'm not doing that again." He smiled slightly.

"The two of you are very good friends, are you not?" I nodded. "Her mother does not like that." I felt my jaw clench. My head definitely still hurt. The boy took Luna's and my things out of my hands and set them by the door. Then he led me to Luna's mom's room where Luna's mom was shouting at Luna.

"--can't spend forever with her!" Luna's mom looked as if she was about to explode in anger.

"What in the world are you two screaming about?" I groaned. My head was throbbing, but I was trying to ignore it.

"Why don't you go finish getting your things, Emma," Luna's mom said in the fakest voice imaginable.

"Ma'am, Miss Emma has already gotten her things. She is prepared for departure," the boy said quickly.

"Let me just finish saying goodbye to my daughter." More like finish screaming at her.

"I'm going," Luna said, very clearly standing up to her mother.

"Very well then. We can all go together," the boy said. Luna's mom scowled, but he gave her a look I didn't understand and she didn't argue. Emma and Luna: One. Luna's mom: Zero.

Starlight.

I decided I didn't want to tell Luna. I wanted to show her. So I cheerfully went through the day, mentally planning how I was going to show her. Everything would be perfect. I knew I'd be able to fly without dreaming. It was going to literally be a dream come true.

"Luna," I whispered into her ear, a cocky grin across my face, barely visible in the dim glow of the night light in our room. She had assumed I was asleep and had forced her way into my arms, mumbling something about warmth. She jumped at the sound of my voice, but exhaled slowly a moment later. "How'd you sleep?" I laughed, my grin not fading at all.

"I didn't," she growled back, though clearly not actually angry. "I thought you were asleep though."

"No way. You think I could sleep when I'm busy plotting sneaking you out of this place?" She gaped at me. Neither of us had been outside very much. We were trying to avoid being seen by the wrong person. But it was night. Pitch black. And I wasn't concerned with being seen anyway. "Get up," I ordered softly, whispering into her ear again. She shuddered, but she wasn't cold. Luna stood up, eyeing me suspiciously. I laughed, grabbed her hand, and quietly led her to the kitchen. I opened the window I had chosen earlier and crawled out, motioning for her to follow as well. She did, though hesitantly. Her caution only made me laugh more.

I walked us to a spot in the tiny yard where the moon shone directly above us. The moonlight made her blonde hair glow an unearthly colour. This time, I was the one who shuddered, and I wasn't cold.

"What's this all about, Emma?" Luna hissed. My grin returned.

"What if I told you I could make you float like you do to me?" Her jaw hung open.

"What are you talking about?" she breathed, confused.

"I'll show you. Don't let go." Her face showed only more confusion as I locked her arms around my neck and mine around her waist. "Smile," I whispered. And she did, slightly. It was good enough, though. I didn't have to close my eyes. My feet left the ground and I smiled at Luna. She looked down at the ground and quickly tightened her grip on my neck. 

"Oh my God," she whispered back, as we floated above the trees now, the moonlight still hitting her hair in such a way that it was hard to believe she was human. I let my left hand carefully move to her hair, just to be sure it was real, as we flew over the city. Luna put her head on my shoulder and I realized she was crying. 

"Luna?" I said softly, noticing that staying in the air had suddenly become harder. She shook her head and looked up at me. She was smiling.

"I was so . . . worried about you. I thought I was doing it on accident at first. And then when I realized it wasn't me . . . " she shuddered slightly. I sighed, relieved. She was happy, not sad. "I was scared, Emma. I didn't know what to do. You looked so scared . . . "

"I'm not scared anymore. I can fly!" I shouted, suddenly squeezing Luna tightly in a giant bear-hug. A bird flew out of a nearby tree at the sound of my voice and shot past the bright moon. For a moment, I just stared at the moon and the eerie glow it cast upon the night, Luna's hair especially. "Luna?" I said quietly after a long silence.

"Yeah, Em?"

"Can I ask you something?" She looked at me curiously and nodded. "You've always said I'm warm all the time," I paused, trying to figure out how to word my question right. Luna made a weird sound in the back of her throat and in the moonlight, I could see her face redden. I suddenly started laughing and smirked at her. "So what's it like having your own personal heater?" We both laughed, and soon, the night began to fade back into day and we snuck silently back into the house and to our room.