It is a fine, windy August morning, and the streets were bustling with people. Sounds of beeping cars intertwine with the sound of speech.
I stop at the end of the crosswalk and tilt my head toward the sky. My suitcase rolls to a stop beside me. I stand there dumbfounded. Why do I have to do this? I already finished high school.
I felt a bump behind me.
"Hurry up, we are going to be late! It's the first day of orientation!" Two hands ruthlessly propel me forward to make me move faster. It was my twin sister, Emily. She placed her hands on her hips, her brown hair and her red skirt were fluttering in the wind. Onlookers around us, look at us because of the commotion. I wave them off casually.
I sigh. "But I want to miss the assembly. Assemblies are so boring, plus they already would have the class lists up." I hated school assemblies. I'd rather be at my desk, complete the classwork, and leave for home.
Emily frowns when I say that. She pokes my back. "I don't like surprises. The last time we were late for an assembly, we had to clean the school pool; I'll never want to do that again!" She pushes me forward again. "Let's move on, I want to get my school debut."
My sister Emily was among the most popular girls back at our old school two years ago. She had good grades as well. I used to be well known, but that changed 2 years ago before the world changed forever.
"You are too slow," she whines, shifting me from my thoughts. "I don't want to be late. I should've left ahead of you with Sara." She emits a faint sigh.
Once we were clear of the crowd we started to run. I normally didn't care to be late, I used to be on time for everything. The time was nearing 7:45 am. At least we would make it for homeroom. For my sister's sake, I'd at least debut, but little did I know, my life was about to get a lot more interesting. Mom wanted me to lie low but fate has other plans for me.
***
The school we were running to is called Midsummer Academy. As the only academy established in Midsummer City, students sixteen through twenty-six are set to study here. Besides the regular subjects, we were about to study and use the various powers that began to appear two years ago. The world had changed in an instant. According to scientists, the continents had rapidly shifted. It was like they were puzzle pieces moving into place. The places that we had known for centuries had completely changed. This had all happened in a day. The city that I had lived in before was at the epicenter. A small meteor had fallen to earth and had hit the central city park area. The meteor was like a key. It activated a continental shift and also gave off a ripple that activated dormant abilities in people.
During the chaos that had ensued post-impact, all the government leaders around the world banded together to create the world government, Atlantis. Partnered with them, were those who came from beyond our world. Humans from beyond the Milky Way. A Human Civilization that was older than millennia. Nansronians.
Atlantis with Nansron's help established sixteen academies throughout the sixteen major cities. Midsummer Academy is the largest of all the academies. Since Midsummer city is the capital of Atlantis, the number of students would be in the thousands. The odds were that we are sorted into sections based on district.
***
Emily and I finally made it to Midsummer Academy. As I had expected, it was huge. The academy takes up three city blocks. Luckily the auditorium building was facing the direction we came in. At the gate, a girl with long light brown hair, and a boy with short spiky blond hair were waiting for us.
"Look who's on time." The girl cracks a grin. She moves to hug Emily who was catching her breath. Emily's eyes bulge out slightly as she gets squeezed.
"Sara," Emily gasps, "we need to go." Emily pats Sara's back softly.
Sara looks at me and squints in disapproval. I shift my eyes away from her. Satisfied, She smiles devilishly and hugs the boy beside her.
"Jason, look who is on time for once." She holds her hand to Emily and me.
Jason looks at me nervously and backs up from Sara. I let out a nasty smirk. Nice. Not a word. Sara sticks out her tongue at me.
"Sara, please don't get me involved in this. Will is my best friend so I never say anything along those lines. I don't wish to court death." Sara smacks her forehead lightly as Jason says this.
The bell rings in the distance.
Jason then pats me on the back with sympathy and then moves past the gate. "Hey look, they finally opened the doors to the auditorium." He looks back at us and suddenly points. "Ah … we should probably head in."
***
The auditorium was swarming with people. It wasn't even a hyperbole that the attendance was in the thousands. The four of us stuck close to each other so we wouldn't lose each other in the crowd. We eventually made it to the second-floor balcony of the auditorium that overlooks the stage. Reaching the edge, I placed my arms to rest alongside the railing.
Onstage, there was a single man with silver hair in his fifties standing at the podium. He was dressed like he was about to wait tables at a famous restaurant. The man looks stage right and motions for four people that I'm positive were my age from backstage. The silver-haired man as well as the four other people coming from backstage gave me a feeling as if I knew them from somewhere. The four stand on both sides of him and stand motionlessly casually smiling. One boy and three girls. The boy had short sandy brown hair and was dressed casually in black and blue clothing. The girl standing beside him is a brunette with silver streaks along her forelocks. On the other side of the man were the other two girls. One of the girls had lush flame red with pink highlights that went a little past her shoulders, and her eyes were a dark shade of orange. The girl beside her had long dark brown hair with a long streak of red going down the side.
I noticed that the girl with flame-red hair was looking into the crowd a lot. She had to be looking for someone in the crowd.
Our eyes suddenly meet.
She makes a shocked face. Her shocked face soon dissolves into a smile and she waves to me on the balcony. I looked around and then pointed to myself. The girl nods her head yes. Her mouth moves like she's trying to say something.
[No way. Is that you Irin?]
I look around. I didn't recognize the voice. Both Emily and Sara were quiet, waiting for the announcements to begin. Jason hadn't made a noise either. That must have been in my head. I look back down at the girl. I mouth to her. [Wait… Did you just talk in my head? Who is Irin?]
She grins wickedly and nods. Her voice projects into my mind. [Never mind who Irin is. Don't tell anyone about this okay? If you want, can I talk to you later on? This can be our little secret.]
She places her finger to her lips.
I smile and give her a thumbs-up. [I won't say a word.]
She smiles brightly, pulling her arms to her back. [I'll keep you to your word. My name is Mari Summers by the way. I have a feeling we are going to be friends right away.]
The guys around us get all flustered.
Mari notices gawking happening around her. She makes an embarrassed expression. [I should get back to what I'm doing, I'll talk to you with actual words later on when we're done.]
[Sounds good.]
She goes back to standing straight. The dark brown-haired girl beside her whispers to her in interest. I could make out the words. [So who were you talking to?] Mari shakes her head flustered. Her cheeks go red. It looked like she was trying to divert a subject from where I was watching. The dark brown-haired girl starts to eye the crowd with interest. She suddenly stops before she locks onto me on the balcony.
"Welcome everyone to Midsummer Academy!" The silver-haired man had started to speak. He held his hands up high. "I am Headmaster Flintelan of the Midsummer branch of the National Academy and the Official Head of all the academies here on Terra."
Earth was renamed Terra after Atlantis was established.
"I welcome you second and welcome back the first wavers. First wavers, your classes were just posted to your Berry Watch, you may now head to the battlezones for evaluation. I wish you all a great year. Second wave please stay for introductions and other information. You will be part of a fantastic experiment."
Students that I assumed were from the first wave all picked up their bags and left the auditorium in a hurry. Only three out of four-quarters of the students were left. Everyone else that stayed was looking at each other wondering what the experiment was.
"Now let's truly begin," Headmaster Flintelan smiles. "You all are in for a treat. The second wave will be studying alongside my Nansron City students." Bright light filled the space, the auditorium doors opened and students dressed in black and blue uniforms filled in the abandoned seats.
Kids around me gasp in excitement, me included. This was going to be an interesting school year.
"I say again, welcome to Midsummer Academy. As students of this institution, when you graduate you will either become a civilian or become a member of the Fleet. The Fleet are the ones who will defend this world and other worlds in this fabric of reality. You will be no soldier, but you will become heroes one way or another." Flintelan's eyes go dark for a second. "Do not use what you learned here for evil." The air pressure gets tense for a second and then settles down. The Headmaster's expression brightens. "Now let's introduce the four representatives from the Nansron City branch."
The boy with short spiky sandy brown hair steps up to the podium. I looked around me, and several girls were swooning at the sight of him. I roll my eyes. Typical.
The boy taps the mic. "Hello, is this on?" The Nansronians that were sitting down started to laugh. His eyes flash for a sec. "Okay, it's on. Hi everyone, I'm Jake Horano." He waves to all of us.
"Jake, get on with it!" A Nansronian boy with floppy blond hair yells from the crowd.
"Okay then," Jake mutters softly. He hands off the mic to the brunette girl with silver highlights beside him.
The girl waves to the crowd. "Hi, I'm Katrina Kana. Thank you for having us." She passes the mic to Mari.
"Hi everyone I'm Mari Summers and I hope that both Terrans and Nansronians can come together as one and fight beside one another." The crowd cheers. Mari smiles and hands the mic to the dark brown-haired girl beside her. The girl ruffles her hair a bit.
Everyone gasps when she steps forward.
"Anastasia Suns!" Everyone cries out.
Anastasia was shaking a bit. Her lips were quivering at the sight of the crowd. "Hell-llo everyone thanks for having me. You may know me from the Grand Tour I did a few months ago." Her golden-red eyes glance at the ground in embarrassment.
Master Flintelan takes the mic back from her.
"Thank you for those introductions. Students don't hesitate to come up to talk to them once the assembly is over. I am positive that you have much to ask these coming weeks."
Mari takes the mic back from the Master. "Now second wave students, please reach under your seat and take out the touch screen tablet." Everyone takes out the tablet and holds it outstretched. Mari grabs the one that was sitting on the podium. "Now place your hand on the tablet. We are now getting your power pressure ranking as well as your biometric data. If you don't know what Power Pressure is, the Master will give you all an introduction before we start."
"As students of Midsummer Academy, you will be able to produce abilities that are classified into eight power pressure categories. Fire. Water. Air. Earth. Psych. Spirit. Lightning. Shift. All under the banner of the Light. Power Pressure is ranked from one to ten. Shift is the outlier. Ten being the highest and one being the lowest. This is only an estimate of your abilities, nothing is concrete as you develop throughout your time here. Now please let me demonstrate."
Mari places her hand on her tablet. The tablet blinks.
"And that's how it's done. Now everyone please proceed."
Everyone places each one of our hands-on our tablets. Mine blinks green a few times and gives off a low sound. My tablet was the first to go off and echoed in the minute of silence.
No freaking way. I look around as everyone's predictions were blaring out. Half of the Nansronian students were trying to find the direction of my tablet. There goes my plan to lie low.
I then glance up on stage. Master Flintelan, Jake, Anastasia, and Katrina looked rattled. Mari smiled softly. Anastasia looked at Mari confused. Jake and Anastasia looked up and noticed me on the balcony. Their jaws drop. Emily, Sara, and Jason look at me surprised. The Nansronians in the crowd still looking around in the direction of the noise from my tablet.
"No way!" A Nansronian cries out in the crowd. It was the blond boy who spoke out earlier. "Is that why you four are here?!"
Mari's dark orange eyes glow gold for a second, "Not now Alecor." The boy closes his mouth.
A girl with blond hair and yellow eyes shouts from beside Alecor, "Let Alecor speak Summers. Your status has no sway here." Mari's face twitches. The girl smiles. "You know His rivalry with Alecor, besides I know the feelings of you three, not you Katrina, but I'm sure you know the stories from everyone here who knows."
Katrina nods slowly not knowing what they were talking about.
"Will, what's going on? Whose name is that on your tablet?" Emily whispers in my ear silently.
Words didn't evn want to come out.
Sara and Jason carry her concern as well. I had no idea whose name was on my tablet, the girl Mari on stage had said the name to me, I had many questions that were popping into existence, but I felt this was the wrong moment to ask. Sara and Emily were in a state of shock as well. Different names appeared on their tablets. Tensions were high. Everyone's focus was currently on Mari and the girl in the crowd at the moment. The girl was still smiling.
The blond girl stood up on her chair introducing herself. "My name is Arelena Terra and this is Alecor Ragnar, I trust that you all will come to know us throughout the year." Arelena's eyes skim the crowd and rest her eyes on me. She projects her voice to the balcony. "It's been five years, I hope you haven't missed us. House Terra sends its regards." She smirks and does a deep curtsy to me then faces the other way.
No way she noticed me! It shouldn't be so easy to see.
Jake comes forward and pulls Mari back by the arm, whispering to her.
[Stop making a scene here!]
Mari mouths back to him. [She is openly challenging me.]
Mari's intent, I could feel it like we were connected in some way. It was strange like I don't know her and know her at the same time. I had a feeling that we were connected in some way. She glances at me and then looks back at Arelena.
I threw my thoughts at her. [Mari, please don't make a scene here. It'll only make things worse!]
She looks at me for a second bewildered.
[Fine.] She snarks.
[Thank you. Can you please explain things to me later after we get out of this?]
She mentally sticks her tongue out. [You'll learn about it anyway. We all have big mouths.]
A voice emits from the crowd.
"Are you going to spill or what Summers?"
It was Alecor. He rolls back his hair in frustration. "You heard what the scanner said. It's obvious you noticed something on stage, you made the first authentic smile I've seen in years. You never truly smile anymore." He waves his hand to point around in the crowd. "Don't tell me you guys haven't felt it. Surely you all have lost your senses. Two very familiar, faint Rank Ten potentially high Power Pressures." Alecor smiles. "You can't deny it."