Guardians of Plaxas

Chapter the Thirteenth: Opal

 "Ruby. You have to get up. Come on,"

I groan and mash my head into the pillow. "Can't I sleep for a little longer?" I mutter, my eyelids feeling heavy.

"Nope!" Bella has great glee in yanking the pillow off my head. "It's our first day of classes, Ruby! Come on!"

Kaitlynn stands in the doorway of the room the three of us share together. She's already dressed and ready for the day.

"Come on, Ruby, we've gotta go," she says softly, sweeping her hair out of her eyes.

I sigh.I'd forgotten it was the first day of classes. I head into the bathroom to get ready.

When I come out, Bella and Kaitlynn are comparing schedules. They seem to have mine, too.

"Ruby? What's this "special training" that you have on your schedule? And you don't have group training," Kaitlynn comments.

"Oh." I blush and take the schedule back from Bella. "I....since my power is, like, stronger than other people's, I have to get private training to make sure I don't, like, hurt anyone."

"Huh. That's pretty cool." The girls look at me with pride, which is surprising. I'd been expecting jealousy.

The dining room is overflowing with people, mostly new kids like us, chatting and laughing. The mood is light and excited.

I swell with energy. It's our first day of classes.

"The three of us have Defense together, first." Bella tells us. "And Kaitlynn and I have group training together. Ruby and I have survival skills together, too."

"Ruby, you and I have enemy recognition and Everyday Skills together." Kaitlynn says, grinning.

"Is that all the classes?" I ask.

"No, there's one more. Um...let's see, it's Creature's class." Bella says. "None of us share it."

A horn rings through the hall and we scurry to take our seats. A tall man stands next to Carrie on a raised platform at the front of the school.

"Welcome and welcome back!" the man cries, lifting his arms. The school cheers.

"I trust that you have all been studying hard over vacation?" he asks.

I glance nervously at my friends and Kaitlynn rolls her eyes. "He's joking," she mutters.

"In case you don't know me, I am Saimad, the Ruler of this school!" everyone laughs. "I mean, of course, the principal," he says, and people cheer.

"This nice woman next to me is Carrie, but I trust you all know her. Carrie is the director of the Students. That is to say, the vice principal. But she's the one who watches over all you little rascals, while I maintain this dump."

People laugh again. Saimad seems like a funny guy, and a good principal.

"Anyway, it's time for you all to get off to your classes. Year 1 students, all your classes will be on the first floor. They should be simple enough to find, but remember that if you ever get lost, come to me or Carrie and we will help you along your ways."

People disperse through the doors that surround our halls, heading off to their first classes.

"Come on, guys, this way," Bella leads us to a door on the opposite side of the hall. We're definitely not the only year 1 people heading this way.

We arrive at our first class only seconds before the bell. As it rings, the teacher walks in. I'm surprised to see that she's one of the trainers who were helping the year 1 students figure out their powers.

In the class, I recognize Lary, AKA eraser boy, and Gabriella. Everyone else seems to be from different towns.

"Welcome to the class of Defense, your first class of the year!" our teacher says. "Before we begin, I'm going to tell you all a few things about myself. My name is Patricia, and that's what I want you all to call me. No Ms. Fulton or Ms. Patricia. Those names make me feel old.

"I'm from North Broughton, which, if you don't know, is on the Eastern side of Plaxas. Northeastern, of course. My favorite color is gold and my favorite creature is the Glow Inugami. I enjoy their wide range of colors and their soft glow-hence the name. I also enjoy their diverse personalities and their ability to stay alive even in the toughest conditions. But I suppose I shouldn't be talking about this with you guys, I'm not your Creature's teacher."

A kid in the back raises her hand and Patricia checks her list before calling on her.

"Lillian?"

"Will we get to meet these creatures? Like Fluff wards?" she asks, glancing at her friend. The two giggle.

I roll my eyes. Of course someone like Lillian would want to meet a fluff ward. They're practically the definition of girly. But fluff wards are not for me.

"In your Creature's class, you may meet several creatures," Patricia says. "Now. Let's get to know each other, and then we'll begin with some simple defense procedures."

The getting to know each other part takes most of the class, but at the end Patricia takes out several small pieces of metal and hands them out around the class.

"What are these?" someone asks.

Patricia leans against her desk. "Try to figure it out," she says.

We fiddle with the pieces of metal for a bit. I don't understand what we have them for. How is this little thing very useful for Defense?

Suddenly, a kid on the other side of the class shrieks. We all turn his way as a giant shield appears in his hand.

Patricia gets up and heads over to the boy, taking the shield from him. "There you have it, kids. These little scraps of metal are shields." she turns to the boy. "Now tell me, what did you do to get this to become a shield?"

"I, uh, I....I guess I thought the word 'defense' inside my head," he stammers.

"Yes, that'll do it. Another way to get these to activate is to wear them around your wrist. When the metal senses danger, it'll activate. Now. Homework is to practice with these. And to shut them down, just think the word 'safe.' The bell's going to ring soon,"

And with that, class is dismissed.