Chapter 1

I saw Dalton fail.

I saw my archenemy, the incredibly stupid, ugly, big shot creep Dalton fail.

His two golems were decimated by three people. Three people!

He could've put his "ultimate" creation on them, the Golemboss, but he fled from a "dark aura".

It's all up to me now.

The three didn't have an idea that I was watching them. They couldn't see through my defenses. Good. It's always better to have the element of surprise. My shields still up, I jumped down from my watch post.

I was surprised by what I saw. They were teenagers, no older than me. But they could wield those weapons they held really good, so I didn't stand a chance. Even if I had the element of surprise, I could never win this battle. My "flight" instinct was urging me to run away while I still could, while my "fight" was urging me to kill them. I decided on a compromise.

"Stop," I said, my voice squeaking and shaking. They still hadn't sensed me. I still could flee. But I stood my ground.

"Stop!" I said, a bit more loudly and confidently.

They finally looked up, hearing me.

"Wake up, Rebecca," one said.

"Huh?" I was truly confused.

"Wake up, Rebecca!"

The world around me blurred.

"Come on, Rebecca. Time to quit dreaming and start working."

"But I don't want to," I moaned.

My sight focused. Schala was looking down at me, smiling.

"Aiee!" I screamed, and sat up quickly.

"What? Am I that scary?" asked Schala, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Alright, I'm up, I'm up," I said, getting out of bed.

I'm Rebecca, an Enlightened one living in Zeal. I was born in Enhasa, the city of Dreams. Thus I'm a Dreamer, dreaming up new ideas for Zeal and sleeping my days away. Most Zealians learn both weapons training and magic training. Anytime I tried to use a weapon, my magic or something rejects it. I can hold it and swing it, but my aim gets terrible and once it ended by me accidentally killing someone.

Everyone says that it was lucky that I was training with the Earthbound ones so no one of "my" status was harmed. In my opinion, a life is a life. I should not have been set free. My magic, well, that's another story. The magic trainer says that I have a "special" gift. Dalton says I have no gift, that I should go live with the Earthbound ones. He was stopped by the trainer, saying that Janus, too, didn't seem to have a gift. Why should I go live with the Earthbounds if Janus does not?

Schala and I have been friends for a little while. She was the one who introduced me to the Gurus and Janus.

Since I can't master weapons handling, I was supposed to be apprenticed to the Guru of Life. But the weird thing is that the day before we were supposed to start lessons, he disappeared. Some say that he opposed the Queen's plans. I don't believe it. He was the one who designed the Blackbird and the Ocean Palace. Why would the Queen banish one of her highest officials?

We Enlightened have to trade jobs regularly to make sure we all have equal jobs. My chore today is to wait on the Queen and send messages to people she summons. To be honest, I don't quite trust the Queen. Her schemes for immortality are a bit strange. She has a new right-hand man, a traveling "prophet". All his predictions have come true, but he doesn't seem like a prophet. All Zealians have aura sensing, and so do I, even though I don't seem to have any magic. I must admit, I can even feel the Black Wind, even though it's only a little bit. The prophet seems to have a similar aura to Janus. But that can't be. He can't be Janus.

I am a bit stranger than the other people in Zeal, even Janus. It seems all people in Zeal like fancy clothes proving their rank, but I don't care for them. I actually am most comfortable in a nice pair of pants, a silk teal shirt, and a blue knee-length overcoat. Also, my hair is teal, unlike other Enlightened, who's hair is either blonde or light blue. My eyes are a orchid-magenta mix, so not like the blue eyes of most Enlightened.

Today, since my job is to serve the queen, so I must suck up and dress up in the teal dress that is required. Actually, it's supposed to be yellow, but I like teal. Teal is a beautiful color, suggesting the endless wonder of the seas or the boundless beauty of the skies. So, anyway, I dress up and head off to the palace. On my way, I see some different people wandering Zeal, but I pay them no heed. When I reach the throne room, the Queen calls on me immediately. It's not very common that she does this.

"You. I need you to call upon Schala," she says, and goes back to her meeting with the prophet and Dalton.

"Yes," I say, hurrying out of the room.

I ran toward Schala's room, knowing from former experience that the Queen was not very patient.

"Schala, you're needed in the throne room," I said, realizing to late that she was having a talk with Janus.

"Oh, Okay," she said, and walked toward the door, then turned.

"Oh, and who might you be?" she said to a few people standing beside me.

"Please, Schala, hurry. If you're late, I'll be punished!" I cried.

Heaven forbid that I'll get punished.

We both rushed out of the room, and hurried toward the throne room.

When we entered, I was quickly dismissed.

"Go stand behind the throne," I was told.

Once I was in position, I sat and waited. To pass the time, I practiced magic. This time I was able to conjure several tealish fireballs. I felt like celebrating, but I knew I couldn't. Suddenly, I heard the door slam. No one can open that door from outside without Schala's pendant! I stepped out from my hiding place.

The three people that stood before me were the same from my dream! And around the leader's neck, was Schala's pendant! They were the strange people that I saw going to the palace, and in Schala's room!

"They're..." I started.

The prophet gave me a frightening stare, and turned toward the Queen.

"These are the troublemakers I warned you of, highness."

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Author's notes: Hello everyone! I'm sorry about the boring first chapter, but I had to get out a ton of the exposition. If you thought it was exciting, great! I hope you like my second (really my 1 ½, since my first one is dead) published fanfic! I really appreciate reviews, bad or good! Saphiremomo