Natasha POV
Immortality is not all everyone believes it to be. I mean, sure, you live forever, but after a while, all your family is gone, and all your friends have died, unless they too are immortal.
Staring up at the ceiling, remembering the past 800 years was one of the only ways to pass the time in this prison called a high school. The teacher droned on and on about the war of 1812. Ha! Wouldn't he be surprised if he knew I had been there, watching the action? I could certainly fill him in on a few points he had missed.
I glanced to my right. There sat an auburn haired girl, who also stared vacantly off into space. Odd since, to a human, this lecture would be interesting; what with the reenactment videos, the teacher was projecting on the wall. Hmmm…. This might prove to be an unusual twist in the ordinary tedium of 'life'.
Elini POV
Finally, the bell. This is the I-don't-know-how-many-eth time I have heard about this war in the past century. You would think that after that long I would be finished with high school, but nooo. Because I appear to be 17, the laws require that I still attend school. Hmm…maybe I could buy an island, and disappear from the world, just hang loose, do my own thing, and surf to my heart's content.
I slammed my books into my bag hanging on the edge of my chair. Oops, that was a little too hard. The edge of the chair splintered under the force of my shove. I quickly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. It didn't seem so, so I cautiously hummed a little tune and the wood of the chair grew back together. Gazing upward, I noticed the girl across the aisle looking at me. She gave me a wink and a thumbs up. What? She saw that? Of course, by that wink and gesture, she must not have thought anything of it…wait a minute…no one is supposed to know about elves, only other immortals. Does this mean…? I have to get to know her better.
Natasha POV
So…I'm not the only immortal in the school. There is an elf in my history class. Hmm…I wonder whether there are others of us in the school.
I walked into the courtyard of the main school building. The elf came running up and dropped her voice to a whisper.
"I know you saw me today in history. Who are you? What are you?"
"Me? I'm a vampire."
"Get out. There is no way. If you are a vampire, why isn't everyone in the school dead?"
"That is such a stereotype. 'Oh no, look out. It's a scary vampire. It's going to kill us all and suck our blood. It's an evil monster.' Get real. Some of us survive by the blood of animals, others by vegetarian means, while a few, only a very few, drink human blood, and they often only drink the blood of killers. I happen to drink both animal blood, and this may sound crazy, V-8 and tomato juice."
"Well, that still doesn't answer one of my questions. Who are you? I'm Elini by the way."
"I am Natasha Seana Ikanochiv. I know you are an elf. From where do you hail? From your appearance, I would say you are from the Isle of Gems. How old are you?"
"You're close. The Isle of Gems, as you call it, is a group of isles. I am from the Isle of Rubies, hence my red hair."
We walked along the courtyard towards the woods at the edge of the track, learning more about each other on the way.
"So what else can you do? I mean, besides make wooden furniture fix itself."
"Well…I can control all of nature, including animals and people."
"Sweet!"
As we reached the woods, we heard snarling and snapping. Glancing over, I raised my eyebrows at Elini. This could be interesting. All of a sudden, it hit me…the musky, sharp smell of a werewolf. There were more immortals in the school?
When we rounded the curve of the path, we saw a werewolf pining a jock to the ground…uh, oh…this could be bad…
Inasha POV
How dare he‼ I'll teach that arrogant jock to lay his hand on my breast! Wait, I think I just blew my cover…Yikes…this could be bad.
I stepped off the jock, growling all the time. The only way to fix this would be to kill him, but that will prove messy, I mean, everyone saw him leave with me, my family will have to move…oh why did he have to be so dumb?
"Need some help?"
I wheeled around and saw to other girls. Great. Now I'll have to kill two more people…
Wait…she knows I'm a werewolf? I sniffed the air. With that scent, she (the black haired one) could only be a vampire, and the red-haired one? Elf or pixie, I can't tell.
I transformed quickly.
"What help could you offer? Making his death as painful as possible?"
"No," she rolled her eyes. "Didn't you know that most vampires have abilities? Mine is that I can erase or create any memory a person, immortal or otherwise has had. I can erase his memory of this event, yet leave his fear of you in place, so he won't bother you again."
"That sounds great! Do it, please."
As we watched, the vampire stationed her fingers at each temple, closed her eyes, then blinked.
"There! It's all done. And let me tell you, he has some pretty nasty thoughts running through that mind."
The jock woke up (I had knocked him out) looked around, and, when he saw me, started screaming and ran off.
"Well, at least that's taken care of. Guess I won't be looking to him as a prom date."
We all started laughing at that. "I guess you won't," said the vampire. "By the way, I usually like to know the names of people I save, so what's yours?"
"I am Inasha Navin. And you?"
"I'm Natasha Ikanochiv. This is Elini…what was your last name?"
"Oops, did I forget to mention that? It's Barzarkai. By the way, I'm an elf."
As we strolled back towards the school, we got the surprise of our (very long) lives.
Elini POV
So there we were, strolling along, talking about, you know, girl stuff, when all of a sudden, this blond girl pops up.
"That was so cool what happened back there! I saw the whole thing!"
We all looked at each other-THE WHOLE THING! Natasha began to move her fingers to her temples, preparing to wipe the girl's mind.
"No, wait! Don't do that! I'm immortal too!"
"Oh, yeah," said Inasha. "Then what kind of immortal are you?"
"I am a dragon shapeshifter."
"There's no such thing," scoffed Inasha.
"Re-ally. Then I guess someone forgot to inform my island. If there is no such thing as a dragon shapeshifter, then (here she pulled us back into the trees) how come I can do this?" As we watched, she transformed into a shimmering red dragon, perfectly built for fighting. Next, she morphed into a sky blue dragon, streamlined for flying. Then she disappeared.
"Hey, where did she go?" I asked. Suddenly she was standing right next to me.
"You just saw my 'spy' form. I can make myself about the size of a kitten, and perfectly clear. No one can see me. Oh, by the way, my name's Eileana."
"Ok, that's more than just a little bit cool," I commented as we continued to walk back to the school. As we did so, I noticed a faint golden glow surrounding us. From the look on Natasha's face, she noticed it as well.
Unknown POV
"Finally, they are together. The prophecy will at last be fulfilled," muttered a shadowy figure.
He began to chant,
"Only through four can evil be slain.
If the bond of four becomes broken, darkness will reign.
This test will try friendships until they stand as one.
They will stand together, not turn and run.
Evil will rise,
They will take to the skies,
Saving from darkness both worlds,
These four destinied girls."
With that, he threw a handful of powder on the fire and disappeared.
(All four girls having the same dream)
A man walks out of the shadows and begins to speak. "You have finally come together after many years. It is your destiny to save two worlds—yours and mine. There is coming a great evil, and only you four, if you stand as one, can stop it. A passageway into my world lies in the fountain at the center of town. When you awake, you must go to the fountain, join hands, and step as one into the water. You will then be in my world. Follow the signs I have left for you, and you will find my home. There I will give you the things you will need on your journey."
(The girls wake up)
(Elini POV)
Whoa, that was a weird dream. It seemed to have value though, so I should go to the fountain to see what's up.
I walked to the fountain, and, as I arrived, I saw my friends standing there as well. "Hi, guys! Look, I had this…"
Natasha interrupted me. "This really strange dream?"
"Yeah! How did you know?"
"Because I think I might have had the same dream. Was yours about this really weird man.."
"Who told you it was our destiny to save our world and his world?" interjected Eileana.
"Yeah, you had the same dream?"
"I think we all did," said Inasha. This is a little freaky.
"Whoa, did you say that, or did I think that?" I asked.
"I didn't say it, I thought it."
"You mean, we can hear each other's thoughts? I wonder if we can communicate through our minds…let's try it!" Can you all hear me?
Yeah, we can! This is weird, we need some answers.
With that, our connection was broken, we joined hands, and stepped into the fountain.
(Inasha POV)
You would think that these portals could be built at ground level, but nooo, you have to fall 12 feet and land on your ass to transport. How lame.
"No kidding!" exclaimed Natasha.
"Oh right, I forgot we can hear each other's thoughts."
As I looked around, I saw that the entire landscape had changed. We were clearly in the middle of the day, but the light came from a ringed planet suspended above the horizon. To my left I saw a sign. The sign read:
To find the answers to your questions
Turn left at the crossroads,
Then follow the path until the cow crows.
"That's odd. It must be a typo. 'Until the cow crows?' What's up with that?"
"I don't know, but it says to continue on if we want answers to our questions, so we'd better get moving," trilled Eileana.