SHARDS

Chapter Six

I sat in the audience of another massive hall, eyes squeezed shut, pressed against my chair trying to avoid the multicolored pixie blurs that everyone else seemed to be used to. I winced as a wing grazed the tip of my nose and continued on. I cautiously opened an eye. Someone talking with their friends laughed, tilted to the right to avoid a pixie, and kept talking. I was once again reminded of how out of place I was in this world.

The kids I knew from the World School were nowhere to be seen, but Olive was right next to me, fitting in perfectly. They chatted flawlessly, radiating friendly energy. I, meanwhile, fidgeted in my seat while trying not to die. I wished upon everything there was to wish on for–

A loud CLANG echoed through the hall, and Soren appeared on stage, cross-legged on some poofy floating cloud. Not exactly what I hoped for, but still. Finally.

"If you are sitting in this room, you are either about to begin your first year at the Locus, you have suffered from amnesia, or you are simply incredibly lost." His voice boomed through invisible speakers. A couple of students chuckled at that.

"I trust you have all found your rooms to your liking?"

The crowd burst out in cheers and complaints. The rooms were co-ed for the first quarter, and I shared with my usual group. Ella, Hansley, Jas, and Olive, plus two twins from this world who refused to part. We'd stayed up late trying to figure out how to use the playing cards. After a while, the twins had jumped down from their bunks and showed us, incredibly smug. It was annoying. But the cards were really cool. You had to place them face down on the mat and whatever was on your card played out in a magic hologram-type scene instead of a board, in the center. It was like Dungeons and Dragons with cards and magic. The room itself was spectacular, with the softest bunk beds, all stacked on top of each other. There were seven in all, like the Pleiades, and I had the very top. It felt like climbing a mountain to get up there late at night, especially since each bed had so much space above it. The carpet below was so thick I could jump down from my bed, and there were seven workstations for schoolwork. The room seemed to go up forever, with clouds blocking the view. I wondered if you could launch a rocket in there. The worst thing was there was only one personal bathroom, for Year One's first semester, and it was hard to find, even with my little direction-sphere. It was always much too far away.

But all in all, it was pretty good compared to Diamond Hall Prep.

I tuned back into the headmaster's speech to hear him go on and on about the first lesson and 'class' schedules. We had a 'lesson' every week after the first, and in between we trained and rested. Apparently some lessons were longer than others—most lasting two to three days, but the longest ones could stretch for months.

He also discussed how human-raised lumenae would be placed in foster homes or we would get a guardian—and that we would only stay in our dorm rooms when we had a multi-day lesson. I raised my hand to ask when we would go back to our homes and families, and he laughed. A question for Seraphina, then.

Soren talked about the necessary equipment and I realized I had nothing. My belongings consisted of the school uniform which had mysteriously appeared in my closet, the sphere, the keycard, and the new toothbrush that also appeared by the sink in the bathroom. Even my clothes from yesterday were gone.

I really liked the uniform. It was black, with a jacket, shirt, and leggings– like something a ninja would wear. The little pop came from a silver diagonal stripe and a tiny, shimmering, circular badge that was gray with a tree on it, signifying no star.

He continued to talk, mentioning the motto of the Locus, "You can always reach out your branches, or Potes Semper Extendere Rami in Latin, PSER for short." It was crazy different from other schools, after all.