A/N: Hello to everybody reading this! I'm ShiningAurum6226, and this is my first story: I am… Mysterious! This is a crossover between I Am Frankie and The Other Kingdom. The setting is located in the I am Frankie universe, but has some elements from The Other Kingdom. In this story, Cole and Dayton are fairies from the kingdom of Ceresia, but they will not be the only magic practitioners at Sepulveda High. So, here's the first chapter and I hope you enjoy!
Also, I'd like to say thank you to my beta reader, sparkydragon98!
Chapter 1: I am…Hiding Something
In the dead of night, a teenager sat on his bed. He was a handsome young man with light brown hair, blue eyes, and a slightly athletic build. He swung a tennis racket, watching as the green and white ball bounced off the floor, against the wall, off the ceiling, and into the waiting swing of the racket.
Cole Reyes had always been a night person, as opposed to the converse, and those closest to him knew that. Often times, he woke up in the early hours of the morning to practice his favorite 'other' sport, tennis, practice his magic, or just think about issues lingering on his mind. Tonight, his early morning rise was due to the latter.
For a few weeks now, he'd been having some weird feelings in his body. However, fairy feeling could have a number of meanings, and this one wasn't particularly unpleasant, which is why he didn't say anything. But it was there, and it had been growing more noticeable since the day he started feeling it.
Cole was interrupted from his musing when his room door flew open and his twin sister Dayton walked in. She was much shorter than him with long, curly blond hair, and brown eyes. She gave Cole an angry look, before pointing her hand at the tennis ball, which spontaneously combusted.
"What the heck are you playing tennis for at three in the morning?!" she hissed loudly. "Are you trying the wake up the entire neighborhood?"
Cole looked at his sister, an amused grin on his face. "First, if you keep talking like that, you'll wake up everybody."
"That still doesn't explain what you're making so much noise for at three in the morning!"
Cole sighed. "It's nothing, Day. Can you please go back to bed?"
"I would, but I can tell you're lying. Elenchus, remember? What's up?" Dayton asked as she took a seat next to her brother.
Cole cursed silently. Sometimes it was really annoying having a younger sister who knew exactly when you were lying and when you were being honest. Not to mention, she's emphatic. With another sigh of defeat, he turned to his sister.
"Fine. It's not serious. I've just been having a weird feeling for a few weeks now—" He was cut off as Dayton immediately pressed her hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? You seem to have a normal 'other' temperature, so I don't think you've contracted any diseases; you don't seem to be exhibiting any symptoms of having any fairy diseases, but I'll go get mom right now and—"
"I'm fine, Day!" Cole snapped, a little harsher than he'd meant. Every time he talked about something that seemed unbelievable, or complained about feeling uncomfortable, his sister always overreacted, and sometimes it was super annoying.
"Sorry," Dayton pouted.
Cole wrapped his arm around his younger sister. "It's okay. I know you were just worried about me."
"Did you talk to Marinogius about it?" Dayton inquired.
"Nah. It doesn't hurt or anything similar to that; it just feels weird. I'm fine," Cole reassured his sister. "You should get back to bed. Remember, we're visiting Ceresia after school today, and you're a lot less adept at staying awake than I am."
"Yeah, yeah," Dayton said, walking toward the door. "Good night."
"Can you say good night, considering that it's morning right now?"
Cole's only response was the closing of a door, which made him chuckle.
Dayton woke up to the sound of her alarm. She turned it off, groggily getting out of bed and heading to her bathroom to take a shower. Once she finished, she headed downstairs and was met with the sight of her brother eating breakfast.
"Morning, Cole," Dayton yawned.
"Told you, you should've gone to bed early," Cole taunted with a smug grin on his face.
"Oh, shut up," she snapped, moving to fix herself a plate of food. "Where's Mom?"
"She had to leave for work early," Cole explained. "But she said to remind you that we have to come home as soon as possible. By the way, what lesson are you learning today?"
"I'm practicing my illusion casting," Dayton replied. "How about you?"
"Marinogius and I are going to practice our astral projection. So far, I can only project my astral body while I'm asleep."
Dayton opened her mouth to respond when the teenagers heard someone knocking on the door. When she saw who it was, she felt her heart skip a few beats.
It was a tall boy with dark skin, long black hair, and dark eyes.
"Hey, Byron. What up?" Cole greeted.
Byron Patrick was one of the duo's closest friends. When they'd first arrived at Sepulveda High, he was the first person to talk to both of them. After that, the trio had gotten closer, and some feelings had developed between them.
"H-hi, Dayton," Byron stammered, awkwardly waving at Dayton.
"Heeey, Byron," Dayton replied as she smoothed out any wrinkles in her clothes while simultaneously adjusting her hair. Cole simply watched their interaction with a hidden grin on his face. From the first day, he could tell that Dayton was attracted to Byron, and the feeling was mutual. It was often fun to see their awkward interactions with each other.
"So, I w-was wondering if maybe you guys would like t-to walk to school together?" Byron asked.
"Of course we would!" Dayton blurted out. Then she caught herself. "I mean, sure, whatever."
As the trio walked to school, Cole moved farther up ahead, leaving Byron and Dayton to walk next to each other, awkwardly silent. Eventually, Byron cleared his throat.
"S-so Dayton, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to help me work on a project after school today?" Byron asked nervously, drying his sweating palms on his shirt.
"I can't," Dayton said. Then, catching the look of disappointment on Byron's face, she quickly reworded her response. "What I mean is, um, Cole and I are going to visit some family members after school today, so I can't come over. I'd be happy to come some other day of the week."
Byron let out a breath of relief, which he covered up with a noisy cough.
"How's Brain Squad going for you?" Cole asked, rejoining their conversation.
"It's okay. But we still need an alternate. Sadly, no one's met the criteria, so we only have five members. How about your Tennis match?"
"It was awesome, man, I—" Cole stopped abruptly and fell onto one knee, panting heavily. Dayton and Byron knelt down next to him, concerned.
"Are you okay?!" Dayton asked.
"Is enough oxygen reaching your brain? Are you feeling dehydrated? Is your blood sugar high enough? Maybe it's—"
Cole cut him off. "I'm fine, Byron. Just felt a bit dizzy for a second there." None of the three teenagers looked up, but if any of them had, they would have noticed a completely unfamiliar girl with long straight dark brown hair, brown highlights, and brown eyes pass by the moment Cole hit the floor.
Frankie Gaines was a new student attending Sepulveda High. Although she looked, talked, and acted (somewhat) like a normal adolescent teenage girl, she was anything but normal. Frankie Gaines was a highly advanced android with a multi-core processor, a 90-kilowatt hour lithium ion battery, an endoskeleton constructed of titanium, specifically manufactured to be low weight, multi-tasking capabilities, and much more.
She currently sat in front of her school's principal, Ms. Carmen Hough, waiting to receive her class schedule. Of course, she'd already downloaded said schedule from the school website, but no one needed to know that.
"I apologize for arriving late, Ms. Hough. It seems my mapping app had a temporary software malfunction," Frankie explained.
"Well, considering this is your first day of school, don't worry about it," Ms. Hough waved it off. "Now, normally I'd call the head of Red Carpet Welcoming Committee to show you around and take you to your classes, but she's currently in her AP Math class. However, according to your schedule here, your first period is also AP Math. So, if you follow me I'll take you to your first class," Ms. Hough finished, standing up and walking out the door.
"Thank you, Ms. Hough," Frankie said as she followed the principal out of her office and into the hallway.
"Don't worry about it," Ms. Hough responded. "Ah! Here we are," she said as she walked into a classroom full of students.
She faced the students. "Students, this is Frankie Gaines." She turned to Frankie. "Frankie, why don't you say a little bit about yourself to your new classmates?"
Frankie, not understanding what exactly Ms. Hough meant, obeyed the instruction literally. "A little bit about yourself," she said, unintentionally amusing her classmates.
"Looks like we've got a comedian on our hands," Ms. Hough teased.
Frankie observed the hands of everyone present before observing her own. "We do?" she asked confusedly.
"Can I talk to you, Ms. Hough?" Mr. Manhart, the AP Math teacher asked.
"Of course. Have fun, Frankie." She turned to the class. "And remember, kids, treat one another as if…"
"…we're all kittens wearing mittens," the students completed for her.
"Whatever that's supposed to mean," a random kid mumbled under his breath.
'Do 'kittens wearing mittens' have any significant meaning to humans?' Frankie thought, filing the thought away for later review. She looked around, observing her new classroom. Then she noticed the equation on the board, which was incorrect. Whoever solved the equation missed a parenthesis, which led to an incorrect solving, and in turn led to an incorrect answer. Frankie's binary decision-making software led her to correct the answer on the board.
"Frankie, you can have your seat," Mr. Manhart told her. Then he noticed the equation on the board. "Wait, did you do this?"
"Yes," Frankie answered.
Just then, a girl stepped forward. She was short with long, curly, black hair and brown eyes. "This was my equation! You had no right!" the girl, who Frankie's systems identified as Lucia Baxter, complained. "Now I have to start all over again because you probably got it—"
"Right!" Mr. Manhart exclaimed.
"This is unfair! I was about to solve it," Lucia said.
"Incorrect. You missed a parenthesis here," Frankie stated as she pointed at the board. Lucia looked at her notes to find that Frankie was indeed correct and she had missed a parenthesis. Byron and Dayton exchanged an excited look.
While Lucia was still complaining to her teacher, Frankie walked away in order to find a seat as instructed. Noticing an empty seat in the front row, Frankie attempted to sit in the seat but was stopped by the girl in the seat next to it. She had dark skin with long, black hair and black eyes. Frankie identified her as Tammy Gilroy.
"Sorry, Brain Squad only," she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. "Next time, mind your own equation."
"Why don't you leave her alone?" Dayton said, speaking up for Frankie.
"Why don't you leave your face alone?" Tammy shot back, never one for witty comebacks.
"Sick burn, Tammy. Try one that makes sense next time," Dayton said smoothly. Tammy glowered at Dayton, but withdrew her arm to allow Frankie to pass. Dayton gestured to Frankie, who stared at the gesture with a confused look, walking over to her slowly.
"Come here, Equation Sensation. There's a seat right next to me back here," Dayton told Frankie.
"Thank you. But I am Frankie, not 'Equation Sensation.'"
"Right. My name is Dayton. Just like the city."
Frankie went online, finding information on the city of Dayton. "Dayton, Ohio. Population 141,003."
Dayton was impressed. "Wow, what are you? Some kind of computer?"
Warning messages flashed on Frankie's screen, but luckily she was saved from answering when Mr. Manhart asked them to take their seats.
"Come on. Don't mind Tammy, though. She's just bitter." Dayton paused, thinking. "And smart. Lethal combo."
"Lethal to humans, or all forms of life?" Frankie asked, genuinely believing Dayton's statement.
Dayton laughed. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine," she said as Frankie sat down next to her. However, something was nagging Dayton. All living things had emotions, some better at masking and controlling theirs than others. However, she was getting absolutely nothing from this Frankie girl.
Dayton shrugged, pushing the thought to the back of her mind and focusing on what Mr. Manhart was saying.
After class, Dayton went to ask her friend Holly about a project for her science class. In the middle of her conversation, she noticed Tammy and her little followers talking to the new girl, Frankie. Knowing that Tammy was definitely up to no good, she wrapped up her conversation and listened to what Frankie and Tammy were talking about.
"Perfect!" Frankie said. "I need a favor now. I was told to go to the locker hallway after Math class. I cannot find any such location on my map. Would you mind directing me?"
The trio of girls looked at each other, and Dayton could tell this was a golden opportunity they were not going to pass up, even without sensing their feelings with her empathy magic.
"Yeah, down those stairs, down the hallway, and straight out the door at the end," Tammy directed.
"But the door sticks," Lucia added. "So make sure you get a running start."
"Thank you. Now we are even," Frankie responded.
The girls shared another look before Makayla said, "We sure are." They walked away, laughing at the misfortune that was about to befall the new girl.
Once the girls were out of sight, Dayton walked up to Frankie. "Don't," she said. "They just sent you to the indoor pool. That door was installed in the wrong spot. If you walk through, you'll fall right in!"
Frankie's eyes widened. "That would be a serious problem."
"It's just a prank. I guess a little water never hurt anybody," Dayton said.
"It will hurt me. I cannot get wet, no exceptions," Frankie insisted. Hearing the urgency in her voice, Dayton thought of something she'd read about a while back.
"Wow. Do you have Aquagenic Urticaria? It's an other disease that's really rare."
"Aquagenic Urticaria. Also known as, water allergy," Frankie explained as Dayton nodded. "And yes, it is very rare. It affects every one out of two hundred and thirty million people."
"I'm glad I stopped you then," Dayton said. "From now on, anytime you need help, just come to me. I am the head of Sepulveda's Red Carpet Welcoming Committee."
"Okay. May I ask you something right now?" Frankie inquired.
"You just did. But, sure."
"Were we previously talking about a different disease that I was unaware of? You said it is 'another disease that's really rare.'"
Dayton laughed nervously. "No, it's not you. I just talk weirdly sometimes." She quickly changed the topic. "Come on. I'll take you to the locker hallway. Then you can accompany me to the cafeteria. We can talk revenge along the way," she finished, smirking.
"I am unfamiliar with a language known as 'revenge'. How does one speak revenge?"
"No, it's just an expression," Dayton deadpanned as they walked off.
"Ah, yes. I will file this under category: expression; subcategory: language."
'Frankie Gaines, you are extremely peculiar,' Dayton thought.
Cole Reyes was currently waiting at the tennis court for his afterschool practice. Although, looking at the sky, his natural fairy intuition told him that it would rain in less than ten minutes. True to his intuition, he was walking off the tennis court after practice was cancelled due to unfavorable weather.
Luckily, as any rational thinking person would do, he brought his umbrella with him to school. As he opened it up, he thought about that mysterious feeling he'd felt earlier that day. The only reason he had fallen was because it had caught off guard. Now, he'd guessed that it was being caused by a person; he resolved to find whoever it was, and why he/she was affecting him that way.
As looked around, his eyes wandered over to a lone girl standing in the rain. However, once he got a good look at her, his heart stopped, and a pleasant sensation flooded his entire body. He couldn't describe it, but he felt like he could pull off the most complex spells or play a tennis match for an entire week.
As Cole felt himself smiling stupidly at the cute girl, he subconsciously knew – as cliché as this sounded – that from here on out, his life would change drastically.
A/N: That's a wrap! Chapter 1 of I am… Mysterious is completed! I'd like to know your comments, thoughts, and views. I do appreciate constructive criticism, but I do not appreciate flames, so please don't send any my way.
Till next time,
Shining Aurum