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♣ Chapter 1: The Sight if our School ♣

The boy that sits in the dark corner, the girl who has that dreamy look on her face, the shadow of a person who flits through the halls, who is never in your classes (or anyone else’s) and features.

Our main characters go to thisA� school. Between the three of them, we have Tily Qwerty, Erin Zelity, and Peter Fenice. The first controls the weather, the second moves things with her mind, and the third flies.

It was a warm August evening. The three were sitting on the lawn of Peter Fenice, discussing their powers.

“So, who’s power do you think is the best?”asked Peter.

“Well, moving stuff without touching it can be useful. You don’t burn you’re fingers on hot pans, you can get things without having to get up, and you can scare people out of their wits!”

“But if you fly, you can look at everything around you , you can take shortcuts to school, get anywhere much faster, and impress people.”

“But, if you control the weather, you can give yourself a snow day if you didn’t do your homework, you can hide from any enemy with a simple thunderstorm, you can make any summer day cooler, and you can brag about it!”

There is silence for a moment, until Erin says, quietly,

“Do you miss Udomia?”

“Of course,”answers Peter, his voice as low as hers.

“How could I not?” Tily yells to the silent neighborhood.Then, at a normal volume,”Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”

At that exact second, a purple portal opens up and a large package comes flying out.It lands with a thud in front of the trio. Tily dives upon it, ripping the paper and throwing a thick envelope at each of her friends, which they tear open with speed unknown to them before then.

“Yes!” Tily exclaims upon opening it. It is a letter from their beloved school, including a “welcome back” and a notice telling what they would need.

“I already have most of this stuff, I only have to buy the beakers for science.” said Tily.

“Ah yes, your set exploded last year, correct?”asked Peter.

“No, it imploded.” said Erin, giggling.

The next day, the three take a portal to The Floating Alchemist, one of the few stores where they can get things for Udomia, to get Tily’s beakers and some stained glass for Erin. Afterward, they move on to their favorite ice cream parlor, theA� to cool off on the hot August day.

All to soon, the summer has passed and their long trip to the foggy forests where Udomia lay sneakedA� up upon them.A� Udomia was a unique school, where students stayed for the school week and went home for the weekend. Every Monday morning, students would pack onto buses and trains with special stops at Udomia. Some students (who lived far away) would even take planes!

Since Tily, Erin, and Peter lived in different neighborhoods, they each had to take a bus to the train station that would take them to Udomia. They met in the last car of the train, where they found some seats to sit in. They each had a duffel bag for clothing, a backpack for school supplies, a binder for classes, and an item relating to their power. Tily had a compass (to tell which way to send her storms), Erin had a dictionary (to practice lifting heavy things), and Peter had aA� stopwatchA� (to time his speed).

They chatted, slept, and read the entire ride. But all to soon, the old school loomed in the distance, encircled with fog and choked with ivy. The train stopped as soon as they were at the small station, and everyone was jostled around. The train filled with noise as everyone got out, including Tily, Erin and Peter. Outside they could see many other trains and buses of all shapes, colors and sizes pulling in. Students were everywhere, and there was much pushing, but in the end everyone made it to the door. There they stopped. The ivy that curtained the door and acted as a lock at night drew back slowly to reveal a weathered stone door, which swung open seemingly of its own accord. People streamed in from every direction. If you had forgotten something on the train or had dropped something, there was no way you could push through the crowd to retrieve it.

They were led to the gathering hall, where 6th and 7th and 8th graders were separated. The high schoolers were taken to the brobdingnagian (definition: gigantic) western part of the school. Everyone in the room was talking or yelling or screaming, and everyone was sitting at their house’s table. The houses were as follows: Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Metal (the five elements). Peter, Tily, and Erin sat at the Air table. Erin looked over at the Fire table to see her neighbor and best friend, Kathryn, wave at her. She waved back.

In the center tables (for the hall was circular), sat the 6th graders. They were awaiting their chance to be sorted into one of the five houses, depending on their power. Some of them barely knew what their power was. To believe that the trio had been in their place just last year!

Just as the volume in the gathering hall became exceedingly loud, the doors opened, and suddenly everything went perfectly silent. The Principal stepped inside. In her barely detectable accent said,

“I am sorry to be so late. But to all sixth graders, welcome! And to all others, welcome back! I hope you enjoy your stay!”she smiled her warm smile at everyone.”Now let the sorting commence!”