Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 9-Where We Meet Some Rather Important People

I woke up to gray. Absolute gray. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu.

"Fog designed to wake you up is like the evilest thing ever," Deynan groaned somewhere to my left.

"I assume it's magic, but how do you enchant a gas?" Isaac asked.

"You enchant the machine that makes it," Mr. Marquez responded.

I moved my hand through the air in front of me. "This doesn't feel like fog. It feels like...mist. But that's impossible."

"Why so, Ravi?" Dr. Smith asked.

"Mist should be thinner. I should be able to see you..."

Just then, something bright appeared to my right.

"What the heck is that?" Deynan exclaimed.

"It looks like..." Isaac breathed.

"A castle," I finished in awe.

We rushed to the front of the boat for a better view, being careful not to trip over anything (as we couldn't see). I could hear Dr. Smith chuckling behind us.

It was a castle. A huge, magnificent, white, shining castle. I had to squint to look at it, it was so bright. We stared in silent awe.

"Oh, I see how it is," Deynan said finally. "We get a gloomy looking facility. And they get a shiny white castle."

I turned away, blinking away the afterimage from my mind. "It does seem a bit unfair."

"Oh, Natasha does like her flambouncies," he said dismissively.

"Natasha?" Isaac asked, knitting his brow together. I realized that through the light of the castle, I could see.

"The headmistress of the school," Dr. Smith said laughing. "Natasha Simone's School for Girls. Or NSSFG."

Isaac nodded.

We waited in anticipation for a few more minutes. Deynan was getting jittery. He tapped his feet and fingers. My annoyance grew steadily. It was like this guy was MADE to tick me off.

After what seemed like forever, the ship came up to a dock, and a gangplank was lowered. It was a lot nicer than the one we had. In fact, everything about the girl's school seemed to be a lot nicer than ours. What was up with that, Dr. Smith?

A woman in a red summer dress came hurrying up. Dr. Smith's face lit up. "Natasha!" he called. He strode forward, gave her a fierce hug, and kissed her on the lips.

We froze. "Um..." Deynan said. I could hear Mr. Marquez laugh quietly behind us.

They broke apart. Dr. Smith turned to us with a wide smile on his face. "Boys, may I introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Natasha Simone."

We stared. Wow. I didn't see THAT coming.

"But your last name is Smith," Isaac said. "So...she kept her maiden name?"

Dr. Smith looked sheepish. "Well, no. My last name is Simone as well. My first name is Smith. Smith Simone."

We gawked.

"It's rare for a doctor to go by their first name, but it does happen," he added.

Mrs. Simone surged forwards and shook our hands excitedly. "I'm so excited to meet you three! We've never had interactions between the schools before. You guys are revolutionaries!"

"But we aren't changing anything through our own will," I said under my breath. I hadn't intended for her to hear me, but she laughed. "I think we're going to get along."