Iilrona Chronicles: Blood of A Thousand Men

Chapter 3: Obstacle Race

(Chan)

    “Eight people, one bathroom.” Jet sighed. “This is seriously stuff from a horror movie.”

    Chan had just returned from talking with Headmistress Zenith who he happened to run into-quite literally- while running down the hallways. Apparently their current living situation was normal. The campus assumed most Guardians in Training would either die or drop out, so they squished teams into rooms together to save space and help them bond. Honestly Chan doubted anyone on his team wanted to do much bonding.

    Pyaar grumbled angrily as he shoved his clothes into one of the dressers. They had tried their best to fit everyone’s stuff in as efficiently as possible. When you walked in to their room, immediately on the right was the guys’ four beds all crammed together. On the left was the door to the bathroom. Just beyond that, they had four dressers stacked on top of each other two by two to create a bit more space for the girls’ beds. Just beyond the girls’ beds were the double doors leading to the balcony they shared with the room next to them. They had thrown the two desks out there for now, trying to come up with a better floor plan.

    “We’ll make it work,” Chan insisted, moreso to reassure himself than the others.

    “This is my mirror space!” Lux angrily insisted from the bathroom. Chan sighed and hopped over Pyaar’s bed-the closest to the bathroom- to see what was going on.

    “No!” Jet angrily shot back as Chan opened the door, a nauseating amount of perfume filling the room. “I was here first. Your shit goes over there.” she shoved Lux’s bags of makeup and toiletries in the garbage can next to the toilet. The bathroom had a shower stall at the end and one toilet. Along one side was sink and counter space that had enough room for four to use comfortably. There were four sections of the mirror that opened up for storage, as well as drawers under the counter.

    “Whoa, whoa,” Chan stepped between the two before they clawed each others’ eyes out. The last thing he needed was blood on his hands that wasn’t Erseugen. “What’s going on?”

Jet and Lux both started talking at once, making Chan’s head spin.

    “Fucking STOP!” he heard Pyaar from the room yell.

“But we could totally hang the desks from the ceiling!” Serafina cheerfully responded, along with a sound that Chan could only assume was a desk scraping across the hardwood floor.

“Yeah,” Pyaar sneered. “And we’ll all just fly up and use them, you are fucking dumb as shit.”

There was a pause. “You can’t fly?” Serafina sounded genuinely confused at this. So she must be a flying creature? Like a Fairy? Chan thought to himself before focusing back on whatever the heck was going on between Lux and Jet.

“Wait, wait,” he stepped between the two again. “So you’re telling me you don’t think there’s enough space in here for both of you?”

“YES!” the answered in unison.

“But...” Chan looked at the mirrors. “There are four mirrors.”

“NO BUT THAT’S LIKE THE PROBLEM!” Lux yelled and started going at it again. “JET WON’T GET HER FAT ASS OUT OF MY MIRROR SPACE!”

Dear gods, Chan tried to understand just what was the problem. Lux and Jet having to share a bathroom? But... why? There was so much space. As soon as Ersa returned Chan was sure she’d help resolve this-

“ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!” he heard Ersa yell as though to contradict his thoughts.

“Now what?” Chan muttered, exiting the bathroom.

Ersa was standing in front of Pyaar, tips of her hair bright red.

Pyaar sneered and glared at Amber who was in a fuzzy bathrobe. “If you seriously want the attention so much, go work at a brothel, whore.”

“Pyaar!” Chan angrily gaped at him.

Amber’s bright periwinkle eyes shone with fresh tears. Serafina patted her back comfortingly as Chan and Kai looked on in shock at what was unfolding.

“Pyaar, take that back!” Ersa peered up at him and scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “Apologize for insulting Amber. NOW!” she demanded.

“Why?” he scoffed. “She should know better than to strip down in front of people like that.”

“WHAT?!” Ersa huffed, clearly pissed. “Alright, first of all, what has Amber EVER done to you? She’s one of the nicest people on this team! I’m not going to stand around and do nothing as you try to make her feel like shit for no good reason. Amber’s from another Realm entirely. WHERE THEY HAVE DIFFERENT CUSTOMS WE AREN’T USED TO! You would’ve known that IF YOU HAD JUST TALKED TO HER!”

“Why the hell would I ever talk to her?” Pyaar growled back.

“Because that’s what teammates do.” the rest of Ersa’s hair began turning from light pink to red. Chan felt the ground beneath him start to shake. “That’s what friends do. But you’re too busy pushing people away you wouldn’t know what a friend was if they had it plastered on their bloody forehead.”

“Oh shit.” Chan heard Lux gasp. He and Jet had stopped their fighting to watch Pyaar and Ersa.

“What the hell are you going on about? Friends are nothing but a waste of time. I don’t have friends. I don’t want or need friends or any of that bullshit. If I strike up a conversation with someone, it’s only so I can use them and then get rid of them as soon as possible. Besides, how the hell is a prissy little princess like her going to last out there in a real fight? Look at her. The only reason she’s made it this far is by riding everyone else’s coattails. Bitch couldn’t save herself if her life depended on it.”

“Take that back right now or I’ll-”

“You’ll what? Shoot another Erseugen behind my back? Smack me against the wall? You won’t really hurt me. You’ve got rules-”

In the blink of an eye, Ersa’s fist flew through the air with lightning speed as it came in contact with Pyaar’s chest. There was so much force behind her punch, he was projected backwards and propelled through the wall to the room next door. He flew straight through the rubble and crashed into one of their neighbor’s beds.

    Everyone from both rooms stared at the two with shock and awe as Ersa stepped through the fresh hole and leaned over Pyaar as he coughed up some blood. “You’re a terrible excuse of a man. People like you are a rotten infestation to society. Now you get your shit together or I swear to the gods I will break your arm next time you so much as utter a degrading comment towards any of us!” She spat on his face and marched out to the balcony to stare out into the orange and red sunset.

    Everyone stood there staring at the mess for a moment before Chan finally broke the silence. “Sorry for the mess!” he looked at the students in the other room as Pyaar coughed up some more blood and gasped for breath. The bewildered students in the room next door stared at him for a moment before responding.

    “It’s ok…” one of the tall wide eyed girls whimpered. “We’re moving rooms. NOW.”

    Everyone in the other room quickly grabbed their things and left.

    Chan’s teammates shuffled about and awkwardly went back to what they were doing, an uncomfortable silence settling between them.

Pyaar glared at them from the floor, loathing them. At least Ersa knows how to deal with him. Sort of... Chan thought.

Amber sniffed back her tears and stood beside Chan. “Should we tell the Headmistress about this?” she asked quietly

“Um… not now.” Chan responded, settling the matter. “Here,” he reached into his afro and handed her some chocolate. “Take a long relaxing bath. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.” Amber grinned and accepted the peace offering, entering the bathroom with a smile on her face.

(Ersa)

Ersa breathed in heavily and let the evening breeze wash away her anger from earlier. She was currently sitting on the railing on their balcony, thinking over if she could have handled that better. She had just returned from checking out several books from the library. Amber was about to get changed when Kai mentioned that she should wait until the bathroom was free. Then Pyaar started making snide comments and it just escalated from there. She shook her head, unfortunately violence seemed to be the only way to get Pyaar under control. Good thing she seemed to be stronger than him. And she’d prove it to the world tomorrow during the obstacle races. All across Iilrona citizens from everywhere would gather to watch and cheer their favorite Guardians in Training on, or even see the new recruits. She’d have to be in top shape in order to stand out. Maybe then someone would recognize her from her past.

    The second day of orientation was all the first year students competing in the races, the next day second years, then third years and on the fifth day both fourth and fifth years competed. Fourth and Fifth Years tended to be grouped together for most things in the Guardians in Training program since there were always so few. Unfortunately Ersa wouldn’t be able to see any of the others compete since First Years had to continue with their orientation.

Days  three through five were different for every group. There was the stationary magic tests, projectile magic tests, and weapon selection. Most students kept their weapons they brought to school, but some chose different ones. Hopefully Serafina settled on a weapon. Ersa had noticed during their Erseugen fights Serafina used random objects as weapons.

She sat outside for a good half an hour when she heard a screen door open behind her and turned to see an extremely attractive man wearing nothing but a small bright purple towel over his bottom half exit and stretch. He was extremely tall and very muscular. The overly-sexy muscular. His hair was a dark brown and still wet from showering. It was plastered to his forehead in a way Ersa never thought she’d find attractive in a man.

“Oh!” he gasped when his soft brown eyes locked with hers. “You must be from the other room.” He looked from Ersa to her door. “My, aren’t you the pretty one.” In the blink of an eye he was standing next to Ersa, holding her hand. “My name’s San.” He said in a husky voice. “But you can call me-” he kissed her hand “Anytime.” He gave her a sultry wink that made her blush ever-so-slightly and walked back to his room. Ersa looked down in her hand, surprised to see his phone number on a piece of paper with a heart next to his name. Damn. He was smooth as hell. She nodded her approval and put the piece of paper in her pocket.

Must be a ladies’ man. Or a man’s man, judging from his slight sashay… Or an everyone’s man?

As she pondered over this San guy who was in the room next to theirs, another from their room emerged.

“Oh my gods, her hair!” she heard a screech from behind. She whipped her head around to reveal the tall sexy San standing next to a slightly shorter girl. She had platinum pink hair cut just at her shoulders and bangs that fell perfectly above her eyes. Her skin was golden brown tan and her eyes light green. The girl looked Ersa over and scowled.

“And her face is just like a model’s!” she said enviously, pouting slightly. “Dammit, San.” She hit his arm. “You were just messing with me!”

San laughed “Sorry, Hali. I couldn’t help it. That look you make when you’re angry is just so arousing.” He leaned close to the girls face as though about to kiss her when she suddenly pulled away. “Ugh. None of that, pervert.” She teased. “I’m Hali!” she smiled and walked over to Ersa, extending her arm in a friendship handshake.

Ersa turned and jumped back onto the balcony. She took Hali’s hand and felt her grip tighten a little too much. “Ersa.” She smiled at them in the evening glow of the sunset.

“Ready for tomorrow’s event?” San playfully placed his arm around Ersa’s waist.

“Better not get too close,” she warned, flirting along “I bite.”

San backed up, “A feisty one, isn’t she?” he grinned at Hali as though they were hatching some sort of plan.

Hali tapped her chin. “Her hair is the perfect color…” she leaned in so close to Ersa she could smell her expensive perfume. “Ersa,” she began slowly. “How would you feel about modeling for my daddy’s clothing company?”

Wait. Was she serious right now?

“Um…?” Ersa saw no reason to say no as of now. If she was serious, that is. “So long as I can get my studying in, I don’t mind?”

San laughed, “Study! Oh my gods!”

“Shut up, San” Hali glared daggers at him. “I’ll be in touch with you soon.” She smiled promisingly at Ersa.

“Looking forward to it… Who’s on your team right now?” Ersa questioned, wanting to know more about them.

“Well me,” San began. “And I think that’s it.” He joked.

“Gods, you sound just as bad as Terrin.” Hali rolled her jaded eyes. “Our self-elected leader.”

“Not that I’m complaining.” San ran his fingers through his dark hair. “I like being dominated every once in a while.”

“So San, Hali, Terrin,” Ersa ignored San, holding up three fingers.

“And Negmah, Koko, Bellium, Akuma and Marana.” Hali finished, also choosing to ignore San.

“Eight also?” Ersa pursed her lips. “I was told the standard for teams was nine, as to represent the nine Realms and the First Guardians.”

    “We had nine. My piece of shit boyfriend left after Fariyoh Forest. Ex-boyfriend, I should say.” Hali shrugged as though it were no big deal. San rolled his eyes. “He had a nice ass,” he admitted wistfully.

“I’m sorry.” Ersa replied, more sorry that she had asked.

“Ha! Don’t be.” Hali laughed. “It just means I’m free to get with a real man.” She winked.

“Mmm.” San beamed at this, as though someone in mind.

Ersa, San and Hali continued their conversation until the moon was completely visible above the trees. They were all in good spirits by the time they were headed back inside.

“Time for bed.” Ersa nudged San playfully as they each headed back to their own rooms to finish the night in peace.

Ersa wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and walked into what felt like a brick wall. She jumped back “Oh! I’m sorr- oh.” She stopped when she saw Pyaar’s tan chest “It’s just you. Put a shirt on, geez.” she was glad it was dark, she felt her cheeks burning red. Who knew he was so toned?

“Can’t.” he huffed, flinging a soaking wet shirt over the railing. “Serafina chose to use it as a towel.” He grumbled under his breath.

“Oh my!” Hali appeared outside again, fluffing her hair. “You didn’t tell me you were hiding such a handsome man in your room, Ersa.”

“The hell is she?” Pyaar crossed his strong arms over his chest and looked at Ersa. Probably the nicest look she’d ever get from him, too.

“Hali.”

“Did I hear someone say sexy man-oh!” San appeared in the doorway again, now wearing pants. Still shirtless as ever. “Hello gorgeous.” He mumbled, looking at Pyaar’s body.

Pyaar seemed to shy away a bit from San’s gaze, making Ersa smirk. “And San.” She said.

Suddenly Serafina stepped jumped through the open door and was on the balcony with them “I said I was sorrryyyyy!” she tugged on Pyaar’s arm.

“My gods,” he growled. “I SAID DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” he jerked his hand away as Chan hollered out the door. “Pyaar, I have a breeze spell in mind I could use to-”

“MAGIC IS WHAT DID THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

Amber then stepped out, joining the ruckus. “I thought it was a de-mist spell!” she insisted, probably for the hundredth time. “The bathroom was all foggy and I-”

Lux then joined them on the balcony, complaining about how his hair drier was soaked and wasn’t working and demanding someone fix it, or fix his hair.

Ersa sighed as they all continued their arguing. What a team.

“Damn.” San stood next to Ersa as they watched them. “You guys are even louder in person.” He turned to Hali. “Tell Terrin we need to cast a sound-proof spell. And maybe get a few noise-reducing crystal objects installed. This doesn’t seem like this is going to be a one night thing.”

“Wait.” Lux paused, somehow hearing their conversation over the noise, and walked over. “Did you say Terrin?” his blue-grey eyes went wide as he frantically glanced at Pyaar, then at the door to the other team’s room. “Terrin as in tall, buff, dark skin that glistens in the light, close-shaved head, and an attractive smile that goes perfectly with his good looks?”

“Yeah?” Hali looked at him curiously head to toe, as though summing him up.

“Oh no.” he quickly pulled Ersa, Hali and San into a huddle. “Remember those guys who got into a fight on the very first day of orientation… The ones Professor Soji got mad at for breaking his wall?”

They all looked at Pyaar. “Shit!” San gasped. “I knew I recognized that beautifully sculpted body of his!” he quickly ushered Hali back into the room. “Let’s make it a goal to keep them as far away from each other as possible, ok?”

They all nodded in agreeance.

Ersa stepped in the middle of the drama. “EVERYONE SHUT UP!” she yelled. A couple seconds later, they were all silently looking at her.

“Go back inside and get ready for bed. Stop wasting your energy over frivolous things like this. Now, since you are all behaving like children, I will act accordingly. BEDTIME IN TEN!” She looked them all in the eye as a warning before walking in to their cramped room. At least the focus of orientation wasn’t teamwork. They’d need to work on that later. She sighed and went into the bathroom only to find it humid and sopping wet everywhere. Did Serafina try to turn it into a pool, or something??

Seriously, her teammates were like children she’d be stuck babysitting the rest of their time at the school. Oh well. She placed a water crystal in the shower and began humming a tune she’d known ever since she could remember. A tune that was the only connection to who she was 16 years ago, a tune she’d cherish until the day she died.

(Kai)

All throughout the day and the rest of the week the obstacle course races were commencing for all Guardians in Training. From First Years to Fifth Years, they all had to do the race every year during Orientation Week. The race was solely a physical competition, no magic allowed. The obstacle race had six main parts, all spiraling inward. The first part was running around the entire Battle Arena. Then there was a huge mud pit with a rope you had to swing across. The rope was purposely cut short, however, so you pretty much had to get dirty. After that there was a huge 500 ft brick wall you had to scale. At the top there was a tightrope you had to get across. There were magic wrecking balls swinging all up on the tightrope with no rhythmic pattern to follow. After that you jumped or climbed down a few hundred feet and walked across a slippery beam, a pit of bees buzzing below. Then you jumped or climbed down and in the center of the Battle Arena was a 500 lb weight you had to carry back the way you came. If you let go, dropped the weight, or let it touch the ground, you were out. It was very difficult.

Most First Years didn’t make it very far. You were expected to be able to complete the course by the beginning of your Fifth Year. The first two years were just a formality to make sure you were improving.

Kai winced in pain as Chan adjusted his pillow behind his back. During his run he had fallen into the pit. He wasn’t exactly allergic to bees, but with that many concentrated in one area, anyone would be having a miserable time. At least Chan and Lux were keeping him company. They were all currently in the infirmary, Kai trying to avoid his reflection so he didn’t have to see his red swollen body. One eye was still swollen shut, but he could watch Ersa, the last of their team, compete.

Amber had made it to the mud pit and got stuck in the middle. Jet was more of a magic-user and had very little physical strength so she collapsed at the end of the running portion. Poor girl looked like her legs were still shaking. The only reason she had been able to keep up in the Fariyoh Forest was because she used magic. Serafina had made it surprisingly far. She was almost across the tightropes when a wrecking ball came out of nowhere and hit her, making her fly through the air. She was also surprisingly resilient and came out without a scratch. Lux made it to the mud pit then refused to go on. He didn’t want to get his outfit dirty. Chan had made it to the 500 lb weight but couldn’t carry it back up. He had trouble climbing with one hand. Between helping Kai, Chan would do push-ups and lift weights. Pyaar had made it to the center and was almost back across the slippery beam before he lost his balance and dropped the weight.

“Hey!” Lux pointed to the surprisingly high-quality TV on the wall. “There’s Amber, Jet and… Pyaar?” he squinted as the camera panned over the crowded Battle Arena.

Sure enough, for some reason Pyaar was sitting next to Jet on the end of the row.

“Guess he wants to watch Ersa?” Chan offered.

“He probably wants her to do badly, so he’s watching to gloat when she messes up.” Lux rolled is blue-grey eyes.

“Ha!” Kai managed to spurt. Only it sounded more like “Mgha.” Pyaar was a fool to think Ersa wouldn’t do better than him. Kai doubted she’d finish, but he was confident she’d at least get further than Pyaar, who currently had the best time of the First Year class.

“Ready racers?” the announcer called out, deep voice echoing throughout the semi full stands. There were a bunch of Guardians in Training and other Nebulus University students in the stands. A few guests from neighboring towns and cities were even there to cheer on relatives or friends. Some just came because they liked the thrill of the races. Most were watching on their TVs at home.

“Three… two… one!” BOOM! A gun was shot and everyone sped off.

Ersa immediately shot ahead of the group, surprising Kai. She sped around the track in near-record time.

“Go Ersa!” Lux whooped as though she could hear him.

Ersa easily made it around the track and swung effortlessly over the mud pit, not losing any speed. She leapt so far, she barely touched the mud before scurrying up the wall.

“By the gods...” Chan muttered in awe.

They heard cheering from the surrounding infirmary rooms. “That pink-haired girl is amazing!” they overheard.

They need to make these walls thicker. Kai judged from his silent post.

“She makes it look easy!” Lux looked at Chan and Kai, silently asking them if they were seeing the same phenomenon he was witnessing.

Ersa ran across the tightrope, gaining speed, missing every wrecking ball. Everyone cheered harder.

“I don’t believe this!” the announcer said, his attention completely fixated on Ersa. “This First Year looks like she’s about to pass the record set by Ten of the Top 10 nearly thirty years ago! Not even any of our Fifth Years have come close to beating him!”

Ersa got to the end of the tightrope and jumped down. Using her momentum from the fall, she slid across the slippery beam, grinning mischievously all the way. She jumped off at the end, landing with a thud at the bottom.

“That was amazing! Is that even legal?!” the announcer was excitedly describing the events to those who were listening over various broadcasts. Ersa sauntered over to the 500 lb weights. “Yes! Yes it is!” the announcer was saying as Kai tightened his grip on the sheets covering him.

Ersa grabbed a 500 lb weight. She steadied herself and ran back at nearly the same speed she had gotten there. She ran across the slippery beam with ease then jumped up to where the tightropes were.

“Folks I do believe we are seeing history in the making!” the announcer was practically screaming with excitement as Ersa crossed the tightrope at the same incredible speed.

“I wouldn’t believe this if I hadn’t seen her fight yesterday...” Chan muttered more to himself than the others.

Everyone watched as Ersa jumped from the top of the 500 foot wall. When she landed, she made mud splatter everywhere, covering the wall and nearly everyone within a few hundred feet of the mud pit. The other students were cheering Ersa on as she quickly shot through the mud with amazing speed and agility. Finally she made it back out of the mud pit and ran back around the track to the start of the race.

When she crossed the starting line, the crowds got even wilder with their cheers.

“Amazing folks!” the announcer had all but forgotten the rest of the racers as he focused on Ersa’s overwhelming victory. “Our very own First Year student Ersa has beaten not only Ten’s record, but THE WORLD-WIDE RECORD FOR THE FASTEST TIME IN HISTORY! THIS AMAZING GIRL BEAT OUT ALL THE OTHER REALMS!”

Ersa panted heavily as everyone crowded around her, congratulating her. She raised her head and looked at the camera, smiling and waving.

“HOLY TERRA!” Lux cheered, practically jumping up and down. “That’s bound to make our team more popular!”

Kai shuddered at the thought. He hated the limelight.

“I’ll text Amber to stop by later,” Chan grabbed his phone and typed furiously, a twinge of jealousy in his voice as he said, “If she can pull Ersa away from the media long enough, that is.”

(Chan)

“How about the Sassy-Bold Caravan.” Kai wiggled his eyebrows at the others a few hours later. The swelling had finally gone down and he looked almost normal again, just a little puffy around his eyes and arms.

    Lux snorted at Kai’s latest suggestion for team names. Lux, Kai, and Chan were all writing down funny ideas for teams names just for the heck of it. Earlier Una’ren, one of Lux’s friends, had stopped by to say hi and told them that the First Years were picking team names. The guys Una’ren was with kept suggesting cool names like Nova Eternal and the Magneto Effect, which got Lux inspired to write down some ideas. Unfortunately what had started out as a serious affair ended up with the three boys laughing over ridiculous names or splicing their names together. Their favorite so far was the Super Special Awesome Kailux-Chan Squad.

    Just then there was a knock at the door.

    “What’s the password?” Lux joked, giggling like a schoolgirl.

    “Uh…” Chan heard Amber’s soft voice on the other side. “We brought pizza?”

    He opened the door and let Amber, Jet, and Ersa in. “Close enough.” Lux winked at her.

    “Here.” Jet dropped a doggie bag on Kai’s bedside table and walked over to the windowsill to sit and stare out as the sun finished setting.

    “Ersa!” Chan stood. “We saw your amazing performance at the race today!” even though he wished his own time had been better, it was clear Ersa was at a level far beyond any of them. “Can we train together tomorrow morning?”

    “Uhm… Sure? Why not.” she smiled.

    “I had no idea we were in the presence of a goddess!” Lux teased and bowed.

    “Oh, it wasn’t that amazing.” she blushed slightly.

    “It was pretty cool.” Kai nodded.

    “What’s this?” Amber giggled over Chan’s shoulder at the list of team names they were working on. He felt himself blush slightly at their ridiculousness.

    “We started to come up with team name ideas.” Chan told her. Amber giggled as she sped-read through them. “Una-ren told us that we may have to pick team names soon, so we figured we’d get a head start but…”

    “Things sort of got out of hand.” Lux laughed.

    “Chocolate Monsters?” Amber laughed so hard she snorted, making everyone else laugh with her.

    They all talked and came up with funny names until it was nearly midnight-the First Years’ curfew time. All First Years had to be in their dorms by midnight every night, otherwise they got in trouble. Most professors didn’t care too much, but security was tight during Orientation Week, so they needed to get going.

    Kai had to stay in the infirmary overnight, just in case his allergies acted up again.

    “The rest of the week shouldn’t be too bad.” Chan said optimistically as they all made their way back to their cramped dorm. He wasn’t a big fan of eight people sharing a room clearly meant for only two, but he liked the group for the most part, so he didn’t mind too much. Except Pyaar. Pyaar he could do without. “I overheard some of the Fourth and Fifth Years talking about Orientation Week and how there’s just some magic tests and a maze to go through.”

    “I thought they removed the maze?” Lux frowned.

    “I think they did...” Amber added.

    “I can’t stand physical activity.” Jet grumbled. “Give me a magic equation or spell any old day.”

    “Where’re you from again?” Ersa asked somewhat randomly as they rounded the final corner.

    Jet paused as though debating on what to say. “Mylocyta Realm.” She finally admitted.

    “The Witches’ Realm?” Lux scoffed. “That explains a lot.”

    “Like you’re one to talk.” Jet glared. “Weren’t you saying the other day you’re part fairy?”

    “Three fourths fairy, one fourth elf.” Lux said proudly as he opened the door to their room. “But I’m proud of my-“ he stopped short and stared into the blackish purple portal that was now where there room should have been. He closed the door and stepped away.

    Jet opened the door. “What’re you stupid?-” she saw what was inside then closed the door. She opened, then closed, then opened and closed it again.

    “The hell?!” she snarled at the portal.

    “What’s going on here?” Chan reached into his hair, grabbing his rapier. It took some powerful magic to create portals. Was someone trying to pull a prank on them or something? Maybe someone was jealous of Ersa’s amazing race?

    “Shit!” Lux gaped at the portal. “I had a limited edition Johnathan Frez lip balm I was saving for the first day of class!”

    “What do we do?” Amber looked at Ersa and Chan. He subconsciously followed her gaze to Ersa. Thanking the gods she was his coleader.

    “Hmm.” Ersa tapped her chin. “Well, we could-” she stopped suddenly as the colors of the portal began to change. “Get back!” she commanded. Everyone jumped out of the way and prepared for the worst as a foot appeared at the bottom. Followed by another and then-

    “Serafina?!” Lux sighed with relief as he stepped away from Chan.

    “Hi guys!” the weird dark green haired girl beamed as the portal disappeared, revealing their room-in tact- and perfectly fine.

    Ersa ushered her inside and pushed her down on a chair. “You’ve got some explaining to do, Serafina.”