The Valley View Voice

The Questers,

by Macy M.

 

 

Chapter One

      Aria walked through the front lawn. Her tan combat boots crunched through the freshly fallen leaves, and she smiled. Fall was her favorite time of year. She stopped to shift her book bag to the other shoulder. The dorm rose behind her as she got to the street. She was soon joined by her friend and protégée Zelda. Zelda was a new kid that had joined a couple weeks ago and Aria had taken Zelda under her wing. As they walked up the marble steps they were joined by Silas, the joker of the grade. Aria blushed and fumbled for words. She had a small crush on Silas, but would never admit it.

      “You guys ready for the space test?” Silas asked, butting his shoulder into Aria, who stumbled.

      Zelda slapped her forehead,“Right! I totally forgot to study! Oh man, what do you think my dad will do to me if I fail? HetoldmeIhavetogetagoodgrade if I don’t he will kill me I have to go study!” She raced off to the library, presumably, leaving Aria and Silas together.

      “Soooo… you wanna walk to class?” Silas asked, his hand self-consciously rubbing the back of his neck. He readjusted the welding goggles that hung from his belt to prevent them from falling and set off up the steps, not waiting to see if Aria followed. Aria hesitated then followed Silas through the halls of the building. Their school, Ayrith College, was one of the biggest buildings in the town, mostly because most of the classes taught there were extravagant. For example, the kids learned how to use a gun, and all kinds of different weaponry. They learned how to care for mythical creatures, not that they would ever meet any because they didn’t exist. Then they learned how to harness their inner elements, but Aria and her classmates hadn’t succeeded at all the year they had been there. They had all those crazy classes plus the normal classes taught at any school. She ran now, Silas was getting ahead of her.

      “Silas! Wai- ugh,” Aria was tripped and fell on the ground, her hands stinging from the impact. Her book bag slid and fell over her face, covering her angry reddening expression. Her hands started to cool but her temper hadn’t. Before she had the chance to make a snappy remark the oppressor got down in her face and laughed.

      “Ahahah! Look at that! Aria is chasing her boyfriend! Well looks like she won’t catch up now,” the voice’s owner was Marth Knotley, the school bully.

      “LEAVE HER ALONE.” Silas thundered, earning the attention of the whole hall. Now all eyes were on Silas.

      “Heh. Look! Silas is standing up for his girlfriend!” Marth cried, earning jeers and taunts aimed at Silas and Aria.

      “I SAID-” Silas’ fists were balling up and he looked ready to hit something, probably Marth’s face.

      “Marth, Silas, Aria? Is there a problem here?” A teacher by the name of Professor Erix had walked up silently next to Silas.  He held his hand in a blocking gesture meant to stop Silas from hitting anything. For a moment Silas panicked, thinking it was one of Marth’s goons. Then a look of relief crossed his face and he smirked at Marth. Aria was grateful for the interruption of taunts at Silas and her.

      “Sir, Marth was-” Silas started, he was obviously mad that Marth had threatened Aria.

      “Hush, not now Silas. Marth, help up Aria.” Grumbling, Marth helped Aria to her feet, shooting wild glares at her as he did so.

      “That’s a good boy, run along now.” Still grumbling about unfair situations and teachers everywhere you turn, Marth headed (hopefully) to class.

      “So, Silas, Aria? Come with me.” Professor Erix said, leading Aria and Silas into his office. “So Silas, would you like to tell me what happened?” Professor Erix asked, his hands placed on his desk in an ‘A’ shape.

      “Well, Marth tripped Aria, and then he taunted her, then you saw the rest.”

      “Yes, yes, now Aria? What happened from your point of view?”

Aria blushed, then stumbled for words, “Well, same as what Silas said, Marth tripped me, then taunted me, and yeah…”

Professor Erix looked disappointed and he sighed. Suddenly he looked older than he really was. His long cloak looked old and used, and his graying hair added to the look. “Well, get to class now. You can tell your teacher I held you in a little late.” He waved his hand dismissively, and Aria and Silas walked out.

      “Whoa, he was starting to freak me out a bit at the end there,” Silas commented with a sly smile once they were out of earshot of Erix. Aria smiled. She couldn't agree more.

      “Yeah, well I better get to class, okay? See you later.” Silas dashed off. She walked through the now silent halls to the gymnasium. The gym was big, and in the center there was a dome of ropes, ladders, and a lot of other things to help with agility training.

      “Aria! You’re almost late!” Barked Coach Prieto. He was a tall stocky man, and very agile for his age, though he was no longer in his prime. “Alright. Everyone in line! Well let’s see. How about, Zelda the newbie and Aria! Get up there. Aria on the right and Zelda on the left.” They both lined up. “So I’ll tell you the rules, because of the newbie.” Zelda blushed.

      “You have multiple ways down. Stay on your side, and you must come up the way you got down.” Aria surveyed her options. She had been given the easier side. There was a ladder, and she could always jump down.

      “Ready, GO!” Zelda looked unsure so Aria took advantage of this to start her descent. She jumped down. Meanwhile the class had separated onto two sides.

      “ARIA! ARIA! ARIA!”

      “ZELDA, ZELDA, ZELDA!” Aria started climbing up the ladder, the ladder wasn’t a real ladder really. There were small ovals that you stepped on and you had to be balanced otherwise you slipped and fell. Aria, having done the course before had no problem climbing back up. At the buzzer though, seeing Zelda struggle on the harder side of the course, she hesitated.

      “NO MERCY Aria!” Coach yelled. And the hesitation was gone. She buzzed the buzzer. She glanced at Zelda struggling up and felt bad. But it turned out she had no need for worrying. A nerd named Radi got last and is going to clean the floors tonight, so Zelda didn’t have to.

The bell rang, announcing the start of lunch. It was practically a stampede to get to the lunchroom, but Aria waited for Zelda.

      “Nice job for your first try! I have been doing this course since forever so I know all the tricks of the course. Don’t worry you did awesome for your first time, considering Coach gave you the harder side.”

Zelda smiled gratefully, “Thanks Aria. What class are you going to after lunch?”
      “I have Science. Gotta take the space test. Luckily I spent time studying.” Aria said. Zelda blushed. They kept going in silence, which seemed like a new habit for them. They slid into the lunch line, and bought their pizza. They ate mostly in silence too because they were busy scarfing down the food. Then they got out and joined the crowd getting out. They parted ways with a wave. Aria glanced in the direction of her classroom. As she suspected, Marth was waiting. She quickly went the other way before he could see her. Fortunately for her there was a back door she could use that was pretty much always unlocked. She opened that door and walked in. She sat down at her desk just as the bell rang.

       “Alright. Who studied?” Professor Vannela asked. A flurry of hands went up and the professor beamed.

       “Good, good. Then I trust you will have no problem.” She smiled as she said that. She then proceeded to hand out all the tests. “You will have the whole class period to work on them, so take your time,” she said, glancing at a few individuals.

When she got her test Aria glanced over it quickly. It was six pages of questions with nearly no multiple choice. Aria ran her hand through her short, light blue hair. She had dyed it last summer, much to the dismay of her mother. At the thought of her mother Aria smiled, she missed her. Aria calmly started filling out the test.

 

Student: Aria Millenum Teacher: Professor Emery Vannela

Space Test-2nd Years-Science

1. What is in the solar system around Miger? The planets around Miger are Inger, Golaria, Apan, and Indie, as well as countless stars and other solar systems.

2.Who was the man who discovered the interior of our planet?

Inventor Tomath Miger, whom our planet is named after.

3.Who was the founder of the solar system around us?

The Inventor Tomath Miger, 10 years after he found our planet.

4. What are the other planets like? There is the Ice Planet Apan, whose inhabitants are habituated by wearing thick furs and have very good ice element powers. The Lava Planet Inger, whose inhabitants wear protective gear and have very good fire element powers.

 

Aria looked up. Most people had their pencils in their mouths, they were either chewing or biting their lips, or running their hands through their hair. She glanced at the remaining 50 questions.

. . .

      “Alright time!” Professor Vannela called.

Aria breathed a sigh of relief as she penciled in the answer to the last question.

      “Have a good weekend students!”

As Aria handed in her paper, Professor Vannela winked then turned away leaving Aria perplexed as she walked out. When she got out, there was Marth, waiting for her. His goon, Ashton Crowe snatched her bag.

      “What do you want Marth?”

      “Aria, Aria, Aria,” he whispered in her ear like he was scolding a child. “You know what I want. It’s the same thing I’ve always wanted. I want you to join my posse. I want you to become my ally. You have powerful acquaintances in the army. Your Father, is a very, very powerful general. I want him to be on my side, and for that… I need you.”

      “Keep dreaming Marth… I will never join you. Never.” Aria spat. She snatched her bag from Ashton and stalked out of the hallway, never even looking back.

      “I will haunt you till the end of your days Aria! You hear me? The end of your days!” Marth cried. Aria rolled her eyes and proceeded to combat.

      “There you are Aria, I was getting worried. I don’t know what to do in this class!” Aria smiled and dumped her bag in the corner with Zelda’s.

      “Alright punks! Line up!” Professor Elex called. He was the weaponry professor and the only professor to have ever been in battle, the scars still evident on his arms and face.

      “Today is a day dedicated specifically to fighting and you will be fighting an opponent of your choice.” Aria looked over in Zelda’s direction and noticed Zelda looking meaningfully at her. She gave a little nod and turned her attention back to the professor.

      “So choose your partner, weapon and go!”

Aria met up with Zelda and walked over to the weapons rack. She grabbed a sword that would have been deadly if not for the blunted endpoint.

      “So grab a weapon of your choice and a shield and we’ll start.” Zelda grabbed a different sword and the two faced off in the center.

      “Alright ready!” Aria crouched sword ready, shield drawn.

      “Go!” Aria jabbed out quick and retreated, shield up. Zelda jabbed out quick afterward, only banging steel. Aria did a quick feint to the left then proceeded to jab instantly to the right. She almost caught Zelda unawares,who seemed to know what she was doing. They were moving in a circle now, treading on the red circle on the gymnasium floor. Zelda thrust her sword out and Aria met it with a clang of steel from her blade.

      “Alright punks! Water break.” Aria calmly walked over to her bag, and drank some cold water from her thermos. After about two minutes they started again, relentlessly jabbing at each other with their swords, and they all kept going. They would have all died a million times if not for the blunted edges of their swords, and the big heavy shields that protected them from the blunted swords and weapons of their partners. Then before everyone knew it, they were walking out of the training gym, with it’s padds and weapons, back to the real world.

      “Whew! That was fun! I like that class it's my new fav!” Zelda cried, she was pumped. Aria smiled at her friend's enthusiasm.

      “Yeah, it’s often my escape from reality. I use it to get all my excitement out so that I can concentrate and not be hyper in the next classes.” Then after a moment, “Great, I’ve given you my secret…”

Zelda laughed at that comment and for a while they just walked in silence. “So, why were you late to weaponry?”

Aria grimaced, “Marth.”

      “Who?”

      “Oh that’s right, you don’t know him. He’s the school bully.”

Zelda looked scared for a moment. “What did he do?”

      “Oh, nothing much, he just wanted me to join his gang. As if.” She smirked.

Zelda looked even more scared.

      “Oh, don’t worry. He won’t want you. No offense, but you’re not that type. To be honest, he only wanted me because my father is a powerful man in the army,” Aria shrugged. They walked into the field for the mythical creatures class.

      “Nearly late? And from the reports I’ve had from your other teachers this isn’t the first time.” The teacher, Professor Fenolas barked.

      “I’m sorry Professor, I was showing Zelda around as we walked, she wanted to see some stuff so I had to stop a few times.” Aria smiled sweetly up at the teacher. Zelda gaped at her friend. She had just lied to a teacher! A teacher! Zelda had no choice but to go along with the lie, smiling too. She crossed her fingers behind her back and pretended that’s what they’d done.

      “Hmph. Okay then, let’s get started.” The Professor proceeded to lead them all to a pen where supposedly a mythical creature was tethered. The Professor ‘stroked’ the ‘muzzle’ lovingly, but to her bewildered students she appeared to be running her hands through air.

      “Uhh, Professor?” A student blurted, Professor Fenolas was now gazing at the ‘animal’ and forgetting all about his class.

      “Oh! So sorry children.” Some students groaned at the term ‘children’.

      “Let us carry on. This is a Riagon. The species here is a special type of dragon, a dragon from the mountain ranges of Laodin, and is also gifted with the powers of mind control…that is why for a moment I, erm, blacked out for a second,” the Professor mumbled sheepishly. Then suddenly Zelda started nudging Aria.

      “Aria, Aria!” Zelda whispered urgently.

      “What?!” Aria hissed.

      “What’s that thing in the pen?”

      “What thing?”

      “The animal thingy that’s in the pen with Professor Fenolas?”

      “What?”

      “The dragon-like thing that looks exactly like what he described is in there.”

      “Wait. Let me get this straight…you actually see the Riagon?”

      "Yes. Aria! Aria, it’s looking at me!”

      “Okay, let me handle this. Professor, can I ask you something?”

      “Yes Aria?”

      “What would happen if you saw this animal, like you claim you do?”

      “Well, that would mean your powers are awakening and you may soon be called on a Quest. Why? Do you see the Riagon?”

      “No. I just wanted to know for research.”

      “Good, good, I am glad that someone is interested in my lesson. Hmph.”

. . .

      “You may all go now class dismissed.” Aria shoved Zelda off the bleachers, jumped off and started running.

Zelda picked herself up and hurried after Aria. They ran through the halls to Professor Erix’s office.

When they got to his office, Aria knocked.

      “Come in.” Professor Erix called softly. They both entered, Professor Erix looked up startled. He obviously wasn’t expecting them. “Yes?”

      “Professor, Zelda saw the mythical creature that Professor Fenolas was showing us.”

      “Really?”

      “Yes sir. It was a Riagon. I saw it and it looked at me.” Professor Erix looked slightly troubled at the news.

      “Hmm. This is bad. This is a very bad time for a Quest,” he mumbled. Then he looked at Zelda for a few seconds.

      “Come with me. We must get to class,” Professor Erix said, showing them out and giving no sign that they had even talked about Zelda’s sighting.

When they had all gotten to class, Erix finally gave an indication they had talked when he pointed out, “Today we will start once again trying to unlock your elements. I think we should start fresh since we have a new student,” he looked pointedly at Aria as he said this. “So, Zelda show us what you got.” Zelda opened up her palm and waved her other hand in a circular motion above her opened palm. Slowly a small thundercloud started to form. There was a gasp from the students close enough to see.

      “Very good Zelda! Very good. Now, try to unlock a different element. You are part of that specific generation that has power over two elements.” Zelda concentrated again, and a small gust of air flew through the room. Zelda summoned it into her palm and it hovered there, a small swirling mass of nothingness.

      “Alright. Zelda, you are allowed 3 companions on your Quest.”

      “A Quest?” Zelda squeaked.

      “Yes.” The Professor sighed, “It is a very bad time, granted, but you are strong and I know you can make it. Now, choose your companions.”

      “Aria Millenum,” naturally were the first words to escape Zelda’s lips.

Aria stood, “Zelda Strongford, I would be honored to accompany on your Quest.”

      “Good. Then now Aria will be allowed to choose a companion.”

Aria saw Silas looking at her pointedly with his fingers pointing at him above his head. “I choose Silas Sarkis.”

      “WHAT?!” Zelda shrieked. “Why him?”

      “Well he’s helpful and he can make things, and he’s handy with a map. And I really had no choice because it has to be two boys and two girls.” Aria said, watching as Silas winked at her and stood up.

      “I, Silas Sarkis accept the responsibility and possible dangers, and would be honored to accompany you, Zelda Strongford and Aria Millenum.”

      “Good, now Silas is allowed to choose a companion.”

      “I choose Sirius Nigarin,” Silas said, and Zelda slapped her hand to her face for the second time that day.

      “Alright, I, Sirius Nigarin accept that I have been asked on this Quest.”

      “Good, good. Now that that is settled, Aria, summon your elements,” Professor Erix looked at her, his gaze seeming to see right through her into her thoughts. Aria focused on her palm and just as soon as she looked at it, a glowing pink and blue cube materialized just an inch above her open palm. It hung there, suspended, for a good while until she balled her hand up.

      “Good, very nice, now your second element?” Aria focused, this time on the room temperature, and in a second, it dropped to -10 degrees. Everyone shivered and drew their layers about them. Professor Erix just shrugged and the temperature rose back up to the normal 55 degrees. Aria concentrated again, and this time a blast of ice shot onto Professor Erix’s feet, freezing them into place. He started laughing and Silas doubled over in laughter, then high-fived Aria.

      “Heh. Good job Aria. Silas? Your turn.” Silas looked as if he knew what to do. He quickly flicked his hand and a small puddle of water appeared in his hand. A look of disappointment crossed his face as if he wanted something else but he pushed the thought away. He quickly waved his hand in a circular motion, summoning a rock from the ground. This time he looked satisfied.

      “Good. Good. Sirius, you know the drill.” Sirius stood up and summoned a small bout of fire in his hand. Then without a second thought, replaced it with Silas’ goggles, suspending the metal part of the lens with his fingers.

      “Hey! How? What? I am so confused with how you did that,” Silas gaped at Sirius. Sirius threw back his head and laughed.

      “Alright. Good job everyone. You will now report to the Principal’s office.”

 

 

Chapter Two

      As they trudged through the silent halls, they shared looks of disbelief, fear, and excitement. Sirius wrung his hands multiple times, Silas kept stuffing his hands in his pockets then taking him out and doing it again. Zelda fiddled with her hair, tying it quickly into braids and then undoing it and repeatedly glanced at the note Professor Erix had written up and sent with them. Aria ran her hands through her hair about a million times. They made it to the door of the Principal’s office, and no one wanted to knock. Zelda finally mustered up the courage to knock so she stepped forward and knocked timidly. The door opens and they walk in. The Principal was sitting at her desk. With a motion of her fingers, she closed the door behind the students. The room was dimly lit, the blinds were partly closed on the one window overlooking the field. The Principal was a lean figure and when she stood up, the students could tell she was draped in a long dark purple dress. She stood up and her menacing glare filled the room with more tension. Then she smiled warmly and all tension evaporated. She spread her hands and four metallic chairs zoomed in front of her desk. She flicked her fingers and the blinds slid upward. The lights grew brighter. She motioned for the four to sit with a nod of her head. She crossed her weathered hands on the desk. For a good long minute they stared at each other. The Principal reached into a drawer and pulled out some small glasses. She examined the note written in Professor Erix’s small, slanted handwriting.

      “So. I understand that Zelda Strongford has seen the Riagon and you have all accepted to come on her Quest with her. Is that correct?” They all nodded agreement.

      “Ma’am if I may, what exactly is a Quest?” Zelda asked boldly.

      “Well, my dear Zelda. I don’t really know. It all varies. Aria’s brother for example, a smart chap named Riunin, went on a Quest to the Ice Land Apan. He never returned. He was tasked with taking control of the monster Aniag. Last I heard of him he was in the heat of battle asking for reinforcements. Naturally I told him I couldn’t send him any. He severed the connection and was never heard from again. He was one of our star pupils so we sent search parties-”

      “WHAT? You sent search parties after my brother? Since when. I should have been told about this,” Aria complained. She was already uncomfortable talking about her brother, and now she had cracked. She had brief flashes of all the times her brother had protected her and when they had had fun together, when she had spilled her ice cream, and he had given her his, not ever complaining. And the time when she was tripped and almost punched but her brother had intercepted it and helped her, when they were playing in the park a couple days before he got his assignment.

      The Principal’s voice jolted her painfully back to the present, “I know we should have told you Aria, but we thought since you were in such an emotional state, that we shouldn’t put you in a more damaging emotional state. I’m sorry, and I realize now we should have talked to you. Anyway,” she pushed her glasses up her face. “We must not dwell on the past, let us talk about our current problems. So. You have now unlocked your powers and must be assigned a Quest. Let’s see now,” She flipped through a slim clear folder. The folder was stuffed with papers, the problems of their world, and others. “There is this one, no, nevermind. Ah! Looks like we have a winner! Here you go Zelda.” Zelda fingered the paper. After a moment’s thought, she folded then pocketed it. The Principal looked slightly disappointed, but she replaced the look with one of concern. Then she dismissed them with a weary face and heavy hand. They all trudged out, casting dismayed looks at Zelda’s pocket, which now had a rectangle shaped lump where the paper of doom rested.

      Finally Zelda broke the silence, “So, does anyone know what we do now? Is Professor Erix waiting for us in class?”

      “I guess. Let just go back,” when they got back to class, they found Professor Erix was still trying to get students to get their elements going. The students had faces in concentration, trying to get their elements unlocked and ferried away to a new world with a Quest. When he spotted them, he waved them over. He motioned to a door in the back and as if he had been watching, a man came out of it. He had a stack of papers and books in his hand. The man wore glasses, a long white coat, had a triangular mustache and short spikey hair like he had just been electrocuted. Professor Erix shared some short words with him and then motioned them into the room. It was a lab. A very full, and used lab. Some of the technology was waaaaaaay old. They had computers from like the 2000s! Since this was 2350, the technology of computers were just plasma screens that were connected to plasma keyboards. You could practically look through the plasma screen! He led us to a corner of the lab that was full of modern tech and stuff under white sheets. Smiling cockily, he pulled a small sheet off of an even smaller object. He revealed a box. Aria could tell they were all confused now. Professor Erix smiled at us and looked like he expected us to know what it was. When no one seemed to get it, he looked disappointed and opened it.

      A handful of square objects were in it. He selected four and handed them out to us. Aria turned it over in her hand. It was a square with a button in the center. She hesitated over pushing it, in case it was some sort of detonator.

      “Don’t worry Aria, you can press the button. It won’t blow up a bomb,” the Professor said. Aria blushed, and pushed the button. A wide screen instantly filled the space in front of her. It had a greenish tint to it, but when she touched her finger to it, it turned ice blue with a hint of pink. She swiped her hands on it and a set of icons appeared. Among them were icons labled VideoFeed, Vault, TelePor and a bunch of others. When Zelda touched hers, it turned a darker shade of green with a tint of yellow. Sirius’ was earth brown with a small shade of dark blue mixed in. Silas’ turned red and silver. Professor Erix just watched as they explored the full capacity of their squares. Aria pressed the button labeled Vault. The screen did not expand backwards, but a vast expanse filled the screen. There was a back wall, and Aria found she could stick her hand into it without her hand going through the screen. There were some provisions in it, along with a slip of parchment. When she opened it, a map filled it. She found it was a map of Miger.

      “That, Aria, is a special map. It will give you a map of the planet you are currently on. Since there was no way to tell what planet you would be on for your Quest, I programmed it to act a certain way,” Professor Erix explained patiently. Aria smiled at him gratefully. She folded the parchment back up and placed it back in the Vault. She closed the Vault and pressed the button on the square one more time to shut off the device. The others did as well, and the Professor led them to another box. This time, he pulled out a few watches. They worked normally, but when he handed it to her she found that there was a space big enough for the square they had just acquired. The space had a small place in the middle for the button, and it fit perfectly. She fit the watch on her hand and when she pressed one of the buttons on the watch, the same screen she had just been using filled the space in front of her.

      “Sir, if this does the same thing, then why make two separate devices?” Zelda asked the question they had all been wondering.

      “Well my dear Zelda, the square is-if you will-a battery. It is only part of the bigger picture. That goes for life as well. If you only analyze one part of the picture, you will never get as far as you could with the bigger picture. Remember that,” He explained. Aria fitted the watch on her wrist. She didn’t even have to adjust it, it adjusted to her wrist automatically. It was fairly cool, and the others seemed to be testing this capability, Silas putting it on chair legs and thick objects. Every time, it adjusted properly.

      “Cool!” He exclaimed when he had exhausted all his test subjects. I smiled at him and he grinned. Professor Erix finally led them into a darkened passage. Sirius, who had been silent as a shadow until now, turned on his screen. That lit it up for a few feet ahead, but the darkness really lifted itself when he turned the flashlight on. Professor Erix smiled approvingly and nodded a thanks to Sirius. When they got to the light at the end of the tunnel (literally, the room adjacent to the passage was nearly blinding after the darkness of the tunnel). Aria shielded her eyes and squinted. Next to her the others were doing the same. When her eyes adjusted she found they were in a small training room, obviously only intended for the kids on a Quest. A thin layer of dust coated most objects in the room. Professor Erix motioned to the room with a wave of his hand.

      “Zelda. It is up to you. You could have this whole training room at your disposition, all I need is to see the paper you were assigned. So hand me the paper, and you can keep this room as your own.” Zelda shivered. Seconds, then minutes ticked by. Finally she reached into her pocket and took out the sliver of paper that could be our death sentence. She looked over it and her eyes widened.“You have been summoned on a Quest. Your area of battle is the Ice Land,” She read.             Aria crossed her fingers behind her back.“Please no, anything but,” She whispered, though she knew what Zelda was going to say. There was only one Ice Land. That one Ice Land was Apan.

      “Apan. You must take control of the monster Acex,” Zelda looked at Aria with frightened eyes. Aria stumbled backwards like she had been punched in the gut. She felt around behind her for a wall. When she found it, she sank down against it and buried her face in her hands.

      “We could have had anything, anything, but it had to be the place where my brother died. Anywhere at all. But nooo. It had to be Apan. Zelda,” Aria added, looking up at her friend. “Do you know how many times I’ve had nightmares about that place? Do you know? I’ve fallen asleep thinking of my brother, and then wake up screaming and sweating. I dream of being there and dying like my brother,” Her face went into her hands again. She was on the verge of tears. A figure came and sat next to her, and wrapped its strong arms around her. She looked up, and there was Silas. No longer joker, he was looking at her, his face completely sincere. His face expressed concern, worry, and sorrow. Aria now remembered that his brother was Riunin’s closest friend, and he had been on that Quest with her brother. He had died with her brother. A silent tear leaked down his cheek. He smiled at her and just squeezed her shoulder.

      “If you need to talk, I’m here. If you need me, ever,” He whispered, so that only she could hear. Aria nodded stiffly. She stood up with him, and rubbed her eyes. Silas’ arm was still around her shoulder. She shrugged it off, though she would rather keep it, and his face showed a look of hurt. She looked at him pointedly and he smiled, returning to the joker she knew. Professor Erix looked at Aria and put his hand on her shoulder.

      “I know that it's hard for you to go to Apan. I know you wish now that you weren’t going on this Quest. I know. But your elements are unlocked, and that cannot be undone. Trust me, all your teachers know what it's like. The only reason we are allowed to teach here is because we have gone on a Quest. We unlocked our elements, and did the same thing that you are going to go through. We were all scared, me included. I know that you are scared, all of you, but you can always talk to one of your teachers,” Professor Erix said. Aria nodded.

      “You have one thing wrong. I’m not scared. That’s not who I am,” Aria said. Sirius gave her an approving look. The Professor waved his hand and training equipment popped up from hidden trapdoors in the floor. They were mechanical and assumed fighting stances. Sirius, who had never been much of a fighter, threw out his arm and a steel sword zoomed to his hand. He assumed a fighting stance as well. Looking at them like, are you coming? They smiled and ran to the rack. Aria fingered the swords, testing for the one she thought would work the best for her. Finally she settled on a steel sword with a leather wrapped grip and a light blue topaz at the end of the grip. She smiled. Fighting was something she was good at, blubbering out her feelings, not so much. Zelda led them into the sea of mechs. It was fun, slicing metallic mechs until you couldn’t swing any longer, and by then all the mechs were gone. Then Professor Erix, who seemed to be really enjoying this, waved his hand and a new volley of mechs popped up. This time they were programmed to know your weaknesses and they responded accordingly. Every time Aria tried to swing, they anticipated and blocked. Aria tried a different strategy, faking. She feinted to the left and swiped to the right, cutting off a mechs head. Then she was attacked from behind. Her sword was swiped from her grasp and clattered to the floor near Professor Erix who smiled and placed the sword beneath his foot. Then he looked at her like, what are you going to do about it? He looked at her with a quizzical look, and tilted his head asking the question over and over again. Aria had put herself in a vulnerable position, she had focused on Erix instead of the mechs. She was knocked from the back to the floor. She quickly rolled over and kicked out with her legs, using the momentum to get up on her feet. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her hand and cracked her knuckles.

      “If that's how you want to play it,” she muttered, summoning ice into her palm. The ice covered her hands, forming a thick protective layer around them. She started punching, kicking and blasting her way through the mechs. Soon she was reunited with her friends in the middle of the mech fight. They stood back to back, fighting side by side. Aria had wondered what the cube was before, now she knew. She cupped her hands and summoned a big blast of energy into her combined hands.

      “DUCK!” She cried to her friends. They didn’t bother questioning her. They knew how uncontrollable new elements could be. She built up the energy, and before she knew it the blast was too hard to control. She let go, immediately ducking. Professor Erix had the sense to duck as well. When the air stopped crackling with energy, Aria stood up. The mechs were dead. Well, as dead as a robot could be. A few slow claps sounded in the silence. The Professor stood there. He threw the sword and Aria caught the blade.

      “Good, good. Congratulations. Aria, that was most impressive, everyone else too,” he said. Aria wiped the sweat from her forehead. Professor Erix smiled and let them leave through the door for study hall. Since they didn’t have any homework and it was the weekend tomorrow, they hung out in the court.

      “Well well well. If it isn’t the new recruits. How are you coping with your death sentence?” Elmyra asked. She was the female version of Marth, and if it was possible, even worse. Zelda rolled her eyes. She glanced over at Aria who was leaning on the wall near the bench she was currently on. Aria had her fingers to her temples in exasperation. Zelda smirked.

      “Fine. And you know, I think you’re just jealous. You wish you were getting all the attention now that it’s all on us.” Indeed, everyone was paying attention to them and asking how it felt. It was funny, Silas and Sirius were enjoying it and they were playing tricks on everyone who was watching. Aria took a bite from her apple.

      “Yeah. How’s it feel to be normal without any attention?” Aria asked. The two Elmyra clones behind her, who were really named Ilrune and Larissa tucked their hair behind their ears and flipped their blond ponytails in an effort to conceal their real sentiments. Aria snorted.

      “That’s what I thought. So you can just leave us right now and go back to trying to win back the attention, shoo!” Aria said. Elmyra stalked off and the two clones flipped their expertly coiffed ponytails and followed. Aria doubled over laughing. Zelda followed. The two boys looked at them like they were mental or something. Their expressions only made the girls laugh harder. The bell rang and everyone flooded in. The four made their way back to Professor Erix for all their other classes had been taken off their schedules and they just had extracurricular lessons for training. This time, Professor Erix led them to a rack of clothes and gear.

     “Choose what you want for your Quest,” he said. Aria looked through the clothes and found a dark blue army jacket with a ton of pockets. On the sleeve there was an old patch with 13 red and white stripes and a bunch of dots on a blue square. The old emblem of the United States. When Earth had become a fiery ball of combustion from all the pollution, the US had been obliterated along with all the other countries. It fit her perfectly so she kept it on. Next in the gear rack she found two belts that had rectangular shaped pockets sewn on. When she stuck her hand in them she found that she could keep going. They never ended. Handy! When she put them on, she found they crisscrossed in the front diagonally, forming an ‘x’. She took the sword she’d had strapped to her side and slipped it into the new belt. She found metal studs that were placed on the end of her combat boots and let her kick and hurt the person real bad. She walked back to Professor Erix and stood there, waiting for her friends. Silas came back with a dark trench coat that suited him perfectly. He had a belt similar to hers that didn’t have any pockets, but did the same crisscross effect. He had found an old baseball cap, and when he pulled it off there was a small hidden pocket in it. He also had a “man-purse” that had a huge amount of space. Since the other two didn’t seem to be back yet Aria went back into the sea of gear. This time she saw a section she hadn’t seen before with weapons. She flipped through the bin and found a rustbucket of a gun. She brushed off the dust and the rust. The gun itself was fairly impressive. It was a small handgun but had no spots for cartridges. Instead there was a hole in the back near the handle. She put a shot of ice into the hole and nothing happened. She supposed you would have to pull the trigger. She looked through the viewfinder and found her target. Silas’ feet. She ducked down so he couldn’t see her and fired. The gun made no sound, it just fired a blast of ice that expanded in midair. The power that it shot with would not be possible for Aria to create with just her hands. She smiled and placed the gun in her new belt pockets. She stood up and whistled a tune with her hands behind her head.

      “Very funny Aria. It was so funny I forgot to laugh. Now get this off me!” She laughed and waved her hand. Zelda came around a rack holding a new set of clothes. “Come on guys, be serious. This whole thing is serious,” she said. Sirius came around another rack in a white shirt, black pants and a red bulletproof vest. He had his sword strapped to his belt. Zelda looked at him in awe.

      “Sirius. You look...different. More serious maybe,” she said. Silas wiggled his eyebrows at Aria.

      “Yeah why so SIRIUS!” He doubled over laughing, but Sirius just rolled his eyes at the joke that had been used for years. The Professor was eying the new gear and clothes. His eyes hovered over Aria for a longer time than anyone else. She shifted uncomfortably and ran her hands through her hair.

      “Ah, Aria. Interesting that you would choose that jacket. That specific jacket. That was your father’s jacket in his quest. When it became too small for him he donated it to this school in hope that someone would inherit it later on,” he explained. Aria gripped the cloth that hung over her hands harder. She felt the tears coming but blinked multiple times to stop the volcano that threatened to erupt. He smiled sadly at her and waved them through the door. Yet again they found themselves in the practice room. This time when the Professor waved his hand, the wall moved out and a bunch of small hand and footholds popped out. Silas wrung his hands and got in a running position. He looked at me and motioned me next to him. I smirked, gave him a look that said, you’re going down. I walked up. I cracked my knuckles. Zelda walked up and stood in between us. She placed her hands in front of them and shouted,

      “Three! Two! One! Go!” Aria ran like her life depended on it. She jumped up and grabbed the wall. It was soft. She made some ice spikes and plunged them into the wall, climbing the wall. Silas was using the handholds available, which were spaced very far apart and made climbing harder. When he saw what she was doing, he enveloped his hands in earth and did the same.

Soon they were almost to the top. Aria made a mistake. She looked down. Her feet hung and it was at least a 30 foot drop. She gulped and kept climbing. Soon the bell was in her reach. Silas’ too. She made a wild grab at it. Her hand scraped the surface and she just barely grabbed the cord. She pulled hard on the cord and let herself drop. She created a platform of ice and descended it with her on top of it. Zelda high-fived her when she got to the bottom. Silas smiled good naturedly and high fived her as well. Professor Erix nodded and put the other two on the wall. Aria saw that he had also filled in the holes created by hers and Silas’ picks. Zelda ended up doing the same technique, but using air propellers. She jumped up, grabbed a handhold with her lightning bolts and repeated the technique. Sirius lost by a mile after trying to take control of the wall by the gears on the inside, which didn’t work because there were no gears. So he had stood there for a while while Zelda gained the lead. She was almost halfway up when he started. When they stopped Professor Erix was stern.

      “Sirius, may I ask you why you were standing there for a few minutes? If you were looking for anything metallic, I can assure you there is nothing. This section of the wall was designed to look like, and act like a regular cliff or mountain. There will be no gears in a real mountain. Do I make myself clear?” He asked. Sirius nodded, a bit afraid of the Professor’s new turn of mood. Erix rubbed his temples.

      “Forgive me, Questers. This infernal migraine has been bugging me lately. I must excuse myself. You can either continue to train in this room, or go home for the weekend. You can access this room at anytime by pressing the training room icon on your screen. It will teleport you directly here. See you on Monday,” He said. He smiled wearily and walked out the tunnel. The students did a parting wave before turning to each other. Sirius and Silas decided to leave and followed the Professor out. Zelda and Aria reached the conclusion that they couldn’t do much as two so they headed to Aria’s dorm. They gathered their stuff and left as well. They chatted about the recent turn of events all the way back. When they slammed the door of her dorm, the housemaid greeted them and offered to take their things. They politely refused and took them to Aria’s room instead. Aria only grabbed a few things and they were out again almost instantly. They were going to go to Aria’s parent’s house. Her father would probably not be home, but her mother always was. When they entered the small shop owned by her parents, her mother was an artist. A bell rang as they entered and her mother appeared at the counter. Her face split open into a wide grin that Aria supposed would not stay for long. Her mother walked around the counter and gave her daughter a big hug. They walked to the office in the back and sat down on the bench.

      “Mom. I’m really happy to see you and all but you might want to sit down for this little bit of news.” Her mother sat, a little confused by the request.

      “Mom. Me and Zelda are going on a Quest,” Aria said calmly. It took her mother a second to digest the information, and when she did she buried her face in her hands. She mumbled a few no’s and something that sounded like, not my other one. No, no, no. Aria heard that and placed a hand gently on her mother’s shoulder. She looked at her mother, and so much compassion showed in the way she talked and hugged her mother. When her mother got over herself, she suggested they call her father. They started the computer and video called her father. Her father was a veteran Quester and therefore had a device roughly the same as the new Questers. He turned it on and they found he was on his couch reading a good old fashioned paper book. Aria told her father about the recent turn of events. He nodded gravely and promised to talk about it later.