The Quest For Druinen
Chapter 1: A light in the Ground…
"I'll take roll now." said Mr. Jones, the 7th grade homeroom teacher at Embercrest middle school. "John Adams, Kate Adams," Ronan sighed and quickly glanced around the classroom. He looked up at the clock on the wall. 8:01, she's late. He though to himself. Ronan had chocolate brown hair and bangs just coming over his rich hazel eyes. "Alfred Dessen, Stella Duchet…" Mr. Jones looked around the classroom. That girl Stella was always late, and here she was late again. He was about to mark her absent, when the door slammed open, and in raced a girl. She had wavy rich red hair that went down just a little past her waist, which was tied in two pigtails on either side of her head. Her red face gave a telltale sign that she had been running, and it was clear that she was very much out of breath.
"So Miss Duchet, what kept you this time?" Mr. Jones asked raising his left eyebrow at her, waiting for a reasonable answer. A flash of anger appeared on Stella's face. "It's Ducette. Doo-che-tay. Get it right for once." Stella said angrily. "Miss Ducette," Mr. Jones started, putting a sarcastic emphasis on her last name. "You will go take your seat, now." Mr. Jones said. He turned to the blackboard to write the assignments for the day. Stella mocked him, sticking out her tongue and waving her hands in the air. The class erupted into laughter and when Mr. Jones turned around, Stella was sitting in the chair at her desk twirling her hair around her fingers, smirking all the while. It was clear to the class that Stella hated Mr. Jones, and Mr. Jones didn't like Stella, as Stella would make a fool out of Mr. Jones practically every morning.
Ronan leaned over to Stella's desk which, fortunately, was right next to his. "Why are you late every morning?" he asked. "To make Mr. Jones mad." Stella replied, humor showing in her crisp blue eyes. Ronan sighed. Would she ever learn? Ronan and Stella had been neighbors, and best friends, since they were toddlers. Ronan was used to this kind of behavior from Stella, since she had always been the bossier of them both. Stella looked over at Ronan, who was writing down the assignments from the board. He reached his hand up and pushed his long bangs out of his face. Suddenly, the bell rang. Stella was the first to jump out of her chair, glad to be out of Mr. Jones class. She slammed the door open and raced down the hallway. Several teachers shouted, "Don't run in the hallways!" but she didn't listen. She dodged students left and right as she went by, and ducking locker doors. Ronan scrambled out of the classroom after her. "Stella wait!" He called down the hallway. No one paid any attention to the two, for this happened practically every morning. By the time Ronan got to gym, which was his next class, Stella was already in her gym outfit. The gym outfits for Embercrest Middle were orange, white, and red, with a red dragon on the front, which was the school's mascot. She had on a pair of black and white mini-shorts, which complimented the gym shirt perfectly.
"Took you long enough." Stella said and grinned. Ronan stopped to catch his breath. "I… don't run as fast as you do, everyone knows… you're the fastest… on the track team… and the volleyball team!" Ronan said between pants. Stella's grin widened. "Well don't just stand there, go get into your gym outfit!" Stella remarked. Ronan gave a sharp nod and scurried off.
"Line up!" called Coach Osborne. The students lined up in order of last name. "We're going to do a volleyball tournament today! We've been practicing moves and techniques for a few weeks, so I know you're all ready for this." Stella glanced down the line at Ronan, who winked at her. Ronan's last name was Farman, so he was standing farther down than she was. "When I call your name, please come forward. John Randall, Kyle Bach," Stella stood nervously in line, hoping to be called soon. "The next team will be Hannah Park, Stella Ducette," Stella silently cheered to herself as she walked over to stand with her team. "Stanley Waters, Harry Garcia, Kyle Roberts, Anna Spencer, and Ronan Farman." Ronan ran over to where Stella was standing. "We're on the same team!" He said excitedly. "We're going to kick butt!" Stella said defiantly and pumped her fist in the air. "Pick a team captain, and then go find an empty volleyball court. There are enough courts to have 4 games going at once." Coach Osborne said. A girl from Stella's team spoke up. "Who should be captain?" the girl said. "Rock paper scissors!" A boy said. "Rock, paper, scissors!" They said in unison. Stella tied with one other girl. "Rock, paper, scissors!" They said. Stella had rock, the girl had scissors. "I'll be captain then, I'm Stella." They quickly introduced themselves and walked over to a court. Another team was on the other half of the court. Stella scowled when she saw who was on the other team. It was none other than Isabel Curtis. Isabel and Stella were long time rivals, they fought constantly.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't little Miss Stella." Isabel said with a smirk. "What's up ugly?" Stella said back. "You'll be running away like the coward you are when we win!" Isabel snarled. "Bring it on!" Stella said defiantly. The whistle blew, and Hannah served the ball over the net. A boy bumped it back over, where Ronan spiked it over the net. The ball hit the ground, giving Stella's team a point. Hannah served again, hitting the ball over the net. Isabel hit it back, only to have Stella jump high and spike it. The ball went spiraling toward the ground, but Isabel dived for it and hit the ball with open hands. "Foul, illegal hit!" Ronan shouted as he caught the ball and threw it back to Hannah.
Soon the score was 24 to 24, and whoever got the next point won. Stella spiked the ball over the net, only to have it be spiked by a girl on the other team. It was plummeting toward the ground, but Ronan dived under it and bumped it over the net. Isabel hit it back over. Kyle bumped the ball over the net, but put a twist into it. It sailed over the net, and right as a boy was about to hit it, it swerved to the left and hit the court. Stella was speechless, they had won. "YES!" Stella shrieked, jumping up in the air over and over again. Ronan grinned and gave her a high five. Isabel glared furiously at Stella. "You were just lucky punk, I'll get you next time I swear!" she said through gritted teeth. "Team, get over here!" she barked. Her team followed her as she stormed off the court.
Later in the day, Ronan sat in his last period English class, staring at the clock. There was one minute left, which when you're staring longingly at the clock, is a long time. Finally the bell rang. Ronan stood up and stretched. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom. He walked out the doors, only to find that it was pouring outside. He decided to sit down and read until the rain stopped. He opened his backpack and was about to grab his book when a shadow loomed over him. He looked up to see Stella with her usual grin on her face. "What's up?" she asked. "Nothing much, I'm just waiting out the rain." he replied. "I have an umbrella, you can walk with me. After all, we're neighbors right?" Stella said. Ronan smiled. "Sure, why not?" Stella opened her umbrella and handed it to Ronan. "Don't you need it too?" he asked. "Nope, I like getting wet." she said with a goofy grin on her face. "Okay then." Ronan said. They walked home, chatting about the school day. Suddenly Stella stopped. "Look!" she said, pointing at something. Ronan looked up where she was pointing. She was pointing at a cherry blossom tree. He didn't know why it was so important, but then he saw a nest of what looked like robins. He smiled. "Pretty aren't they?" Ronan said. Stella nodded, her piercing blue eyes still looking at the birds. Suddenly, the ground on the sidewalk started glowing purple. "What's that?" Stella asked. "I don't know, but it doesn't really look safe…" Ronan replied. Stella started to skid toward the light. "Don't, it might be dangerous!" Ronan warned her. "It's not me, the light is pulling me in!" she replied. Ronan saw the fear in her eyes and realized that it was sucking her in, like a whirlpool. Once she was close enough she started to sink through the sidewalk. Stella started to scream. "Stella!" Ronan yelled. He grabbed hold of her hand and tried to pull her away, but Stella sunk through the ground, dragging Ronan with her.
Then they were falling. "We're falling!" Stella screamed. Her grip on his hand tightened as they plummeted down. Suddenly Ronan saw a faint light. "I think we're going to land!" He yelled. Sure enough, they fell a few more feet and landed with a thud. Ronan thought for sure he was dead, but he warily sat up and looked around. "Where are we?" Stella asked. "I don't know." Ronan replied. They seemed to have landed in the middle of a road. Normally this wouldn't have been too good because of all the cars, but there were no cars. There were more cherry blossom trees along the side of the road. Suddenly a girl approached them. She had dirty blond hair down to her shoulders, and was wearing what looked to be some kind of uniform. Even more strange, she had purple eyes.
Stella looked up at the girl. She looked to be about their age, and she looked nice enough. The girl smiled. "Welcome to Druinen." she said warmly. "Druinen?" Stella and Ronan said in unison, sounding very puzzled. "Yes. This is a world totally separate from earth. This is a land of magic." she replied. Stella started to laugh. "Nice one, now can you please tell us where we are?" the girl was still smiling. "But I already told you, we're in Druinen. This isn't a dream, it's real. Take a petal off one of those cherry blossom trees, try them, they're good!" the girl said. She reached over and plucked 3 petals from the cherry blossom trees. The moment she touched them, they turned into chocolate. She handed one to Ronan and one to Stella. "Eat it." she urged them. Stella and Ronan looked at them suspiciously, and then popped them in their mouths.
Stella was surprised; this chocolate was like nothing she had ever tasted before. It was rich, smooth, and creamy all at the same time. "This is amazing!" Stella said. Then she remembered her manners. "I'm Stella Ducette, This is Ronan Farman." she said, introducing them. "My name is Kaelia Woods, I've been expecting you." she said. "The headmistress is waiting, why don't you follow me?" she said, motioning them to follow her. "What headmistress?" Ronan asked. "Well you see," Kaelia said as they walked. "This is a world of magic. Only people that have magic in their veins can enter Druinen, so naturally you two were able to come here." she said. "Wait, I'm magic?" Stella asked. "Yes, both of you are. We've been watching you both since birth, and we have decided that you are old enough to come to Druinen. When we get to the academy, the headmistress will identify you."
"Identify?" Ronan asked. "It means that the headmistress will identify your blood and tell you your magic type. For instance, let's say your magic type is fire. She would tell you that, and then she would show you the Fire Dorm. That's where all the fire magic users stay. Get the picture?" Kaelia explained. "It sounds simple enough." Stella said. Kaelia led them down the road. Soon, they saw what appeared to be the hugest mansion Stella and Ronan had ever seen. They stopped at a big iron gate. "This is the U.Y.M. It's a magic academy for magic users ages 5 to 14. So basically it's like elementary and middle school combined." Kaelia explained. "Verification please." the gate said. Yes, that's right, the gate had spoken. "Kaelia Woods, middle school division." she said. "Welcome Kaelia." the gate said. "Follow me." Kaelia said. They walked through the gate into a huge courtyard. They walked up the path for what seemed like miles, until they reached the building.
They entered the building through the large double doors. The handles were golden lions with rings attached to them to pull the doors open. Kaelia took hold of the handle and heaved open the door. Inside was the most beautiful room Stella and Ronan had ever seen. There were red velvet chairs and real crystal chandeliers, valuable paintings, and two spiraling staircases that led upstairs on either side of the humongous room. To top it all off, the tiles on the floor seemed to be made of glass, and as they walked across they could see their distorted reflections. They followed Kaelia up the staircase on the left, and turned right into a hallway. They walked for a while and came upon two double doors much like the ones outside. Kaelia knocked on the door. "Come in." came a voice from inside. Kaelia pulled the door open. Inside was a very fancy office. There were old books stacked on shelves, and plants in every corner. A woman sat at a large desk in the middle of the room.
"Hello, I assume you are Stella Ducette and Ronan Farman?" she said as she smiled. Ronan shifted nervously, and Stella was too shocked to be able to speak. "Yeah… that's us." Stella said finally. "It's a pleasure to be able to meet you, we've been watching you. Now is the time that you have come upon your magical age, and the magic within your blood shall be revealed." she said. "I assume that Kaelia told you most of the things you need to know about Druinen and magic?" the headmistress asked. Stella nodded. "What I'm going to do now is identify you. Ronan dear, would you like to go first?" Ronan nodded shyly. He stepped forward toward the headmistress. "Please give me your hand dear." she said. Ronan held out his hand. She placed her hand in his and said what Ronan though had to be some sort of spell. "Oh ancient gods of Druinen that have protected us for years of the past and years to come, I ask you to identify the heir of your blood!" no sooner had she finished saying the spell when a red light formed between their hands.
Ronan could see nothing in particular, but the headmistress seemed to be seeing something, or she wouldn't have been staring so intently at his hand. "I see, very interesting…" she started. "First things first, there are 7 ancient gods that protect us, Dahlia the fire goddess, Nymphera the earth goddess, Haelius the sea god, Cryptonis the god of darkness, Brenithia the wind goddess, Westorian the war god, and Heliathen the light god. You, my dear, seem to have the power of Westorian the war god, which is very rare. When you are escorted to your dorm, your dorm mates will tell you all about your powers. Now Stella dear, come here." Stella stepped forward, and the headmistress performed the same spell she had done with Ronan. When she examined Stella's hand she turned very pale. "My… oh my! The third muse… the third muse is here! The prophesied third muse is here at last, bless my soul!" Stella looked around. What on earth was a muse? "Um…" Stella started. "Dear, you have a very rare type of magic, the magic of music. You, dear, are a muse. Muses use music for attacks, pleasure, and much more. There is one goddess that rules above all, Symphonia, the goddess of music. Sit down; this is quite a story to tell."
She motioned for the three of them to sit down in the red velvet chairs in front of her desk.
"Symphonia is the goddess above all other gods and goddesses. The legends say that Symphonia had three daughters, Sandona, Elisawyn and Heradyn. She loved her daughters very much. Each morning they would play their instruments to wake up the other gods. Sandona played an instrument much like a violin, but it was shaped differently and had a much richer tone. Elisawyn played the flute, and Heradyn played the harp. They all enjoyed playing their instruments, and their mother praised them every day. One day, they ventured off into the dark realm of Dyssinian without realizing it. They moment they stepped foot into the dark realm, they were instantly killed just by the haze of evil in the air. When Symphonia heard the news, she wept every day for the loss of her daughters. The legend said that Symphonia blessed three families on earth, that the firstborn daughter of each of the three families two thousand years from then, would be the reincarnation of one of her daughters. Evidently, Stella, you are the reincarnation of Elisawyn. The other two muses are here at the academy already. They have been long awaiting your arrival. I will have Kaelia show you to your dorms now." They stood up and walked toward the door. "Oh, and before I forget, here are your uniforms." the headmistress said, handing a bundle of clothing to Ronan and Stella. "Thank you headmistress." Ronan said. "Thanks." Stella said, remembering her manners.
Chapter 2: Dorm Mate Greetings
As soon as they were in the corridor, Kaelia started speaking rapidly. "Stella that's so cool, you're a muse!" "Yeah!" Stella laughed nervously. "Ronan, you'll be mister Destructo-man!" Kaelia said. Ronan grinned. "Yup!" he said. the stopped at another set of double doors. "Ronan, this is your dorm. Dinner is at 6:00 sharp. The sparrows will bring you your schedule. Well, good luck!" she and Stella waved as he opened the door to his dorm. As they walked away they could hear a chorus of cheering coming from Ronan's dorm. Kaelia led Stella down another corridor, until they came upon yet another room. "This is our dorm." Kaelia said. "Our dorm?" Stella asked. "Surprise, I'm the reincarnation of Heradyn!" Kaelia said. "In other words, I'm basically your sister." Stella was speechless. Here she thought she was an only child in her family when, really, she had two other sisters far away that she didn't even know about. Stella's face turned into a wide grin. "I've always wanted to have a sister!" Stella almost shouted. "Well now you have us. Come on, I'll introduce you to our dorm mate." Kaelia said. Stella and Kaelia walked into the humongous room. There were paintings all over the walls, very expensive furniture and top it all off, there were extravagant music notes painted on the walls.
"I love this room!" Stella exclaimed. "I thought you would." Kaelia said with a grin. "Kaelia, did you bring back a visitor again?" a voice came from the other side of the room. "Hey Skyla!" Kaelia greeted the girl. "Stella, meet Skyla. Skyla meet Stella; the reincarnation of Elisawyn." Kaelia said with a grin. Stella thought Skyla was going to faint. Then Skyla started grinning from head to toe. "I'm so glad to finally meet you, my second sister! I'm Skyla, the reincarnation of Sandona." "Hi, I'm Stella." Stella replied trying to keep a straight face, but broke into a grin instead. Skyla had grey eyes and wavy blond hair down to her waist. "Stella, you'd better get your uniform on. Then we'll take you down to the training room until it's time for dinner." Kaelia said. Stella disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out Kaelia and Skyla almost squealed. "You look adorable in you uniform Stella!" Skyla exclaimed. Kaelia nodded her up and down in agreement. Stella looked up and down at her uniform, admiring the expensive material it was made out of. It was a maroon colored sailor uniform complete with black Mary Jane shoes and white socks with a black lacy trim that went up to her thighs. On her head rested a maroon beret with black trim.
"Would you like to bring Ronan with us to the training room? He could probably do with some training too." Kaelia asked Stella. "Okay, let's go get him." Stella replied. Kaelia, Stella, and Skyla walked down the giant hallway until the reached the War Dorm. Kaelia knocked on the large golden door. "Yes?" Came a voice from inside. "It's the muses, may we come in?" Kaelia called back. After a few seconds two boys heaved the door open, letting the girls inside. "Who's this Kaelia?" a boy asked. "This is the third muse Stella Ducette; she's the reincarnation of Elisawyn." Kaelia replied. The boy's eyes widened. "Whoa, nice to meet you Stella! I'm Maeson; Maeson Kantor." He winked at Stella jokingly. "So she's a new muse, what about it?" came a voice from Maeson's right. Stella turned to see the cutest boy she had ever seen. He had jet black hair with bangs partially covering his crimson eyes. "Hunter! Why you…" Maeson's expression turned from Glad-to-see-you to the angriest expression Stella had ever seen. "How dare you, insulting a muse!" Hunter shrugged. "It's not like I care, I don't see why they're so special anyways. She looks stupid enough to me." Stella turned bright red. She was about to retort when Ronan walked into the room. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed.
"He just insulted our newest muse!" Maeson shouted angrily. "It's drop dead disrespectful to insult a muse!" he said. Suddenly the door slammed open and a woman stepped into the dorm. She had on pointy gasses and her hair was tied up in a bun. "What is going on here?" she barked. "He just insulted our newest muse!" Maeson said again, pointing to Hunter. "Mr. Everhart, come with me please." the woman said. Hunter got up without saying a word, and followed her out of the room; the door slamming behind them. There was a moment of silence. "You see Stella, it's absolutely disrespectful to insult a muse, because they are the three daughters of Symphonia." Maeson explained. "Oh, what were you here for anyways?" he asked. "We're here to pick up Ronan." Kaelia replied. "Go right ahead." Maeson said with a grin. Kaelia thanked him and headed out the door.
"What did you want me for?" Ronan asked as soon as they were out in the hallway. "We're going to go train at the training room, we thought we would bring you along." Stella replied. "But wouldn't we need someone to train me? You're all muses, so you wouldn't be able to help me at all." Ronan said. "Oh, that's right! We need someone from your dorm to help train you." Kaelia exclaimed. She ran back to the War Dorm and knocked. "It's Kaelia." she said. The doors opened. "We need someone from this dorm to come with us to train Ronan." she called into the dorm. "I'll go." Maeson said. He followed them out of the dorm into the hallway.
"Sorry about Hunter, he's usually like that; but I never expected him to insult a muse. His parents were both killed when he was really young, and he's so cold and rude that no one even wants to be so much as in the same room as him." Maeson explained. Stella listened thoughtfully. "It's okay, I didn't really understand the whole conversation anyways." she said with a giggle. I'll befriend him, then he might act friendlier to everyone. Stella thought to herself.
When they arrived at the training room, there were already two boys and a girl there. The girl had chocolaty brown hair a few inches past her shoulders and smooth hazel eyes. The first boy had red hair that looked kind of messy down to his shoulders and sharp blue green eyes. The second boy had hair so blonde it almost looked white, with bangs hanging down over his chocolate-colored eyes. "Hello Kaelia!" the girl said sweetly. She had a charm about her, her sweet smile and her politeness seemed to put Stella at ease. "What's up?" the first boy said with a grin. "Hey Kaelia." the second boy said. "I'm bringing two of our newest magicians to train." Kaelia replied. "Stella, Ronan, meet Megan, Luca, and Logan. Logan, Megan, Luca, meet Ronan and Stella." Kaelia said. "It's nice to meet you!" Megan said. "Sup?" Logan said. "Hey." Luca said. Stella thought Luca looked shy, but she could tell he was trying to maintain a straight face. "What dorms do you two belong in?" Logan asked. "I'm in the War Dorm." Ronan replied. "And I'm in the Muse Dorm." Stella said. Logan's eyes just about popped out of his head, and Megan looked just as startled. "You're the third muse?" Logan exclaimed. "Oh!" Megan managed to squeak, otherwise too shocked to speak.
"What dorms are you three in?" Stella asked. "Fire Dorm." Logan said. "I'm in the Wind Dorm." Megan replied. "Water Dorm." Luca said. "Alright, let's get training!" Skyla shouted enthusiastically. "I'll teach you everything you need to know." Skyla said with a grin. She walked over to the far end of the room. Stella figured that was where they were going to train, so she obediently followed Skyla like a dog was attached to its master. In front of Skyla stood a large circular target. It looked somewhat like a target for shooting arrows. It looked somehow different, but Stella couldn't seem to put her finger on it. "There are a lot of uses for your magic; just simple music, damage, hypnosis, to stun, and lots more!" Skyla announced. "We'll start off with damage today, and hypnosis and stunning if we can get to it." Skyla told Stella. "First things first, you need to find out what instrument suits your taste for the different uses of your magic. For instance, I play the early violin for damage, but I play the harp for simple music magic. We're now going to find out what instrument you'll play for damage. I'll show you how to summon your instrument." Skyla told her. Stella listened intently, for she had no intention of being a student with bad grades like she was at Embercrest Middle. Skyla clapped three times in the air, moving her hands in an arc above her head while doing so. On her last clap, she kept her hands closed and brought them down to her chest. With a swift movement, she took her hands apart from one another and made a horizontal line in front of her chest. Stella saw a glittery shape over Skyla's head, which soon took the form of a violin and a bow. Skyla brought her hand above her head and took hold on the neck of the violin in one hand, and the bow in her other hand.
She lowered her hands down to her side, careful not to hit the violin against the hard glass floor. "That's how you summon your damage instrument. You have to uses a different spell to summon your other instruments, but let's focus on our damage instrument. Now you try." "Okay." Stella nodded with a determined look on her face. She raised her hands and clapped three times in the air, making sure to make her arc wide as Skyla had done. She brought her hands in front of her and made the horizontal line across her chest. Nothing happened for a few seconds which made Stella think that the spell hadn't worked, but suddenly a faint shimmery glow appeared over her head. "Quick, reach up and grab it!" Skyla practically shouted. Everyone turned around to see what the commotion was. Stella reached up into the air, and pulled down a golden flute. "Cool, I've never seen a golden flute!" Maeson exclaimed. Stella jumped in surprise, as she hadn't noticed Maeson and the others coming up behind her. "Hmm, I haven't seen a golden flute before, or heard of one either." Skyla said, a hint of surprise in her voice. "May I see it?" Skyla asked. "Sure, go ahead." Stella replied. Sure it was a golden flute, but she didn't see the reason why everyone was fussing over it. Skyla took the flute into her hands and held it up in the air, turning it this way and that, examining every little detail of the flute. Finally, she held it out for Stella to take.
"Have you had any experience with flutes before?" Skyla asked curiously. "I've played flute since 5th grade, actually." Stella replied. "Excellent." Skyla replied. "Play it!" came a voice, who she soon recognized as Maeson's. Stella glanced at Skyla, who gave her the thumbs up sign. Stella raised the flute to her lips and took a deep breath. Melodic notes came pouring out of the flute, as Stella played a slow but beautiful tune. Suddenly, targets, painting, and other objects floated up into the air and flew at rapid speed at them. Skyla quickly raised her violin and started to play. One by one the objects stopped in midair and silently floated around the room. But even Skyla's violin couldn't stop all of the objects. "Stella," Skyla shouted. "try to control you magic!" "I can't, it's out of control!" Stella shouted back, a lump forming in her throat. Suddenly, Stella heard the sound of another instrument. She looked over to see Kaelia playing a clarinet, warding off some of the rapidly-flying objects. All of a sudden, a black beam of light shot across the room, enclosing around all of the flying objects. The objects suddenly turned around and floated back to where they came from.
Stella turned around to see Hunter, the boy who had fought with Maeson earlier about being disrespectful to muses. His expression looked so angry Stella thought that in any second she would flee in terror. "Which one of you idiots did this?" He shouted. Stella flinched. If he found out she had done it, there was no telling what he would do to her. Weakly, Stella raised her hand. Hunter was looking around for a sign of who had made the disastrous mess. His eyes locked on Stella, who was now raising her hand high in the air. "You." Hunter snarled at Stella. Maeson leapt in front of Stella, to defend her, and also because he hadn't quite finished what he started with Hunter earlier. "Back off, she hasn't used magic before." Maeson growled. "Maybe you'd like me to finish you off first?" Hunter said as he sneered at Maeson. "No, stop it!" Skyla shouted. "He didn't do anything, leave him and Stella alone!" "I would keep your mouth shut if I were you." Hunter growled at Skyla. Skyla looked at him angrily, but obediently backed off. Hunter walked toward Maeson. Maeson held his fists up ready to fight, but Hunter walked right past him walking straight for Stella instead. Before anyone knew what was happening, Hunter was face to face with Stella. "You should think before you do, idiot." Hunter growled at her.
Stella thought about backing up a step, but then she decided it would make her look weak. She tried to retort, but no words came out of her mouth. Suddenly, Hunter started to make gasping sounds. Stella looked up and saw that Maeson had his arms around Hunter's neck, ready to strangle him at any given moment. "No violence Maeson, but let's send him on his way." Kaelia said coolly, although anyone could tell she was angry by the look on her face. Kaelia lifted her clarinet to her lips and started to play a lively tune that somewhat resembled a polka. Hunter started to rise up into the air. "What are you doing? Curse you!" Hunter yelled as he was thrown across the room. He slammed into the wall at full speed, and then Kaelia sent him speeding down the hallway. She put her clarinet down. "It'll be quite funny to see where he ends up don't you think?" Kaelia said with her usual smile.
Chapter 3:
"Why don't we sit together tonight?" Logan suggested. Megan, who was standing next to Logan, nodded her head. She and Logan had been childhood friends and, despite the huge difference in their personalities, were never apart. They chatted as they walked down the hallways to the dining room. They soon came upon a big door. "Prepare to be amazed." Logan said, and winked at Stella. Stella wondered what could be so amazing in a dining room. Logan opened the doors to reveal a room about five times as big as her gym at Embercrest. There exquisite dining tables around the dining room, with crystal chandeliers hanging over each one. "Whoa." was all Stella could manage to say. "Told you so." Logan said as he grinned broadly. "Over here!" Skyla called, as she pointed to a dining table right in the middle of the room. They walked over to the table and took a seat. Stella looked around puzzled. Where were they supposed to get their food? "What are you looking for?" came a voice. Stella didn't recognize the voice. She looked around trying to see who was talking to her. "I said, what are you looking for?" Luca said. So it had been Luca's voice. He had hardly spoken since they had met, so Stella had no recognition of his voice. "Where do we get our food, is there a kitchen somewhere?" she asked. Luca looked at her oddly and chuckled. "Watch this." he said. He seemed pretty nice once he actually started talking. "Steak medium rare, cooked carrots with maple glaze, Greek salad, apple cider." he said. Stella had no idea what all this meant, except for the fact he was naming a lot of delicious foods. Suddenly, a white porcelain dinner plate appeared in front of him, filled with all the foods he had just asked for.
Stella stared in amazement. "Whoa! So you just say what you want and it appears?" "Yup, it's as simple as that." Luca replied, taking a bite of his steak. "Let's see…" Stella thought out loud. "I know! Meat lasagna, mashed potatoes with gravy, clam chowder, hot chocolate." she said. No sooner had she finished naming the foods when they appeared on a plate before her. "Is that how you get food?" Ronan asked, who had watched carefully what Stella had done. "Apparently." Stella grinned. "Well, in that case, cheese pizza, sautéed mushrooms, stuffed breadsticks, water." the food appeared on Ronan's plate before him. Stella noted that this food was, by far, much better than the cafeteria food at home.
"May I have your attention please?" a voice said through the microphone. "Announcement time." Megan whispered to Stella. "Good evening mages, I hope you have had a splendid day." came the voice of the headmistress. "First things first, whoever wrote graffiti in Maple Way corridor should turn themselves in, you'll be in less trouble than if you let me find out myself." "The corridors have names?" Stella whispered to Kaelia. "Yes." Kaelia said in a hushed voice. "Second of all, I have some very exciting news to announce." she said again. Stella started to hear hushed voices and whispers discussing what the exciting news might be. "We have two new mages today, Ronan Farman and Stella Ducette." said the headmistress. Maeson and Logan raised their hands and clapped as loud as possible for their new friends. Megan, Luca, and Kaelia were clapping with smiles on their faces, and Skyla was up out of her chair screaming at the top of her lungs. "I don't mean to make you uncomfortable," said the headmistress, noticing Ronan's very red face. "But would you like to tell us a bit about yourselves?" Stella nodded. "Very well then, here you go." said the headmistress as she handed the microphone to Stella.
"Hi, I'm Stella Ducette. I'm 13 years old in the middle school division here, and I came from a school called Embercrest in New York City. I'm…" Stella trailed off, wondering if she should say that she was the third muse. She glanced over at the headmistress, who nodded at her. "the third muse." she said quickly. Gasps could be heard from around the dining hall, people were whispering and chattering excitedly. Stella blushed and handed the microphone over to Ronan.
"I- I'm Ronan Farman, I'm also 13 years old in the middle school division here, and I also came from Embercrest. I'm in the War Dorm." Ronan finished smoothly, counteracting his nervousness at the beginning of his introduction. "Excellent, let us welcome and treasure our new mages this school year!" the headmistress said, as she ushered them off stage. Stella and Ronan hurriedly went back to sit down with their friends. "Way to go dude!" Logan grinned as he held out his hand to Ronan for a high five, in which Ronan slapped his hand as he walked by, sharing Logan's grin. "You looked so cool up there!" Skyla exclaimed. "Congratulations!" Megan said as she smiled sweetly. "Well done." Kaelia smiled at Stella. Stella wondered why Kaelia always spoke as if she were in the 18th or 19th century. Stella thought it would be weird and quite nosy to ask though, so she kept to herself.
Dinner continued on as the laughed at stories they were telling each other. "And then there was this one time that Skyla was running in basketball and forgot to look where she was going, she ran into the basketball pole and then the ball hit her on the head!" Logan was saying as everyone laughed hysterically. "Well…" Skyla scoffed, trying to think of a comeback but couldn't. Stella was still looking around the dining hall, obviously spellbound by all the magnificent decorations; especially since it was holiday time. She happened to look over at the table next theirs, and saw a boy with glossy black hair. Stella thought he looked familiar somehow. Then she realized who it was; it was none other than Hunter Everhart, the boy who had insulted her and the rest of her friends. She scowled just at the sight of him, but then she noticed he was sitting alone at the end of the table. She felt sort of sorry for him. Stella wondered if the reason he was so cold to everyone was because no one would give him a chance.
"I'll be right back." Stella said to her friends as she stood up. She walked over to Hunter wearily, but also with confidence. I can do this; all I have to do is be persistent. Stella thought to herself. She was a few feet away from him and he hadn't noticed her approaching him yet. Stella took a deep breath. "Hey." she said, trying to sound cool but gentle at the same time, she didn't want to scare him off. "If it isn't the Idiotic Muse." he replied, with no change in facial expression at all as he stared blankly at the other side of the room. "Why are you sitting alone?" she asked. Stella was determined to get something other than a scowl out of this boy. "Because I can." he replied dully.
Over at the other table, Luca noticed that Stella was gone. He looked around and saw her at the table next to theirs, speaking to that boy, Hunter Everhart. "Look!" Luca exclaimed, as he pointed to Stella. Everyone turned around to see Stella seated at the other table chatting with Hunter. "She's talking to that creep?" Maeson exclaimed. "Be quiet, she's actually doing a pretty good job. Normally he would've already shooed her off." Kaelia said in a hushed voice as she observed Stella.
"Why are you talking to me?" Hunter asked skeptically. "Because I feel like it, why?" Stella said and grinned. "No one ever does." Hunter mumbled. "But I am." Stella pointed out. "Why don't you sit with us?" she asked. Hunter didn't reply. "Come on!" she said enthusiastically as she pulled him up from the table and dragged him over to where her friends were sitting. "What's she doing?" Ronan exclaimed. "Hunter is going to sit with us." Stella declared as she plopped Hunter down in a chair and then seated herself next to him, just to make sure he didn't cause any trouble. Maeson and Hunter glared murderously at each other, but Stella didn't seem to notice. "Desert time!" Skyla declared happily. "Chocolate Mousse!" Skyla said, and instantly chocolate mousse appeared on her plate. Stella knew that at this new school, she could have whatever she liked as long as she remembered the name of the food she wanted.