Almost immediately, all twenty two children moved to stand around the edge of the room, leaving the center open for the collection of Time Lords to stand. Even though they had already decided not to separate, Tirin and Iota ended up standing on opposite sides of the room.

A Time Lord stood in the center of the room, his headpiece larger than the others. "Welcome to the Academy, Novices. Today is a memorable day for all of you, for it marks the start of your education and your entrance into the community of Time Lords."

The ceremony took longer than Iota expected. They were not expected to do much except stand there silently, meaning Iota was able to devote her attention to the writing that decorated the walls. It was a different version of Gallifreyan than she was used to, meaning it was rather difficult for her to read. In the back of her mind she noticed there was a song being sung and it was the only thing that made her pay attention again.

Iota met Tirin's eyes. He gestured with his head towards a blond boy a few people away. If Iota remembered correctly, his name was Landi. And he was fast asleep. She could see a few of the Time Lords glancing at him constantly, but they did nothing. She giggled, causing them all to look towards her. She blushed deeply, lowering her eyes.

"And now it is time," all of the children turned their attention once more at the main Time Lord, "for you to complete your Initiation."

With a calm face, he turned himself around so that he faced Remon. "Remon, the eldest." He nodded towards him. He turned so that he looked towards a girl with dark brown hair. "Prexitel, the second eldest." He went in the order of age, moving from oldest to youngest. Iota noticed that Tirin was older than her by three of the students, though they were both close to the end. "And finally, Heph Tro, the youngest." In unison, all twenty two bowed at once. "Now, in the order I just named you, you shall be brought to the Untempered Schism."

Remon stepped forwards and a Time Lady placed a black covering over his shoulders. She buttoned it for him before stepping back, nodding in respect. He turned to the head Time Lord. "I swear to protect the ancient Law of Gallifrey with all my might and brain. I will to the end of my days, with justice and with honour, temper my actions and my thoughts."

The head Time Lord and Remon bowed to each other before the head Time Lord began to lead the way out of the room. A second Time Lord stepped forward. "You are allowed to talk amongst yourselves while you wait for him to return. Please be prepared to return to your position when he returns."

Tirin and Iota rushed to each other, both already giggling about Landi falling asleep and the strict ceremonial aspect of the whole event. Without Remon there to conduct everyone into some form of structured conversation, everyone split into small groups. Iota noticed that two people, who looked remarkably similar, had gone to talk to the group of Time Lords.

When the head Time Lord returned, everyone rushed back to their positions. Remon was no longer with him. He seemed amused when three of them attempted to stand in the same spot. He turned to Prexitel and she stepped forwards. She followed the same pattern Remon did before leaving once again.

Soon, no one bothered to move forwards when they were left alone. They just turned to the side and spoke to the person next to them. When it was time Tirin's turn to leave, Iota waved goodbye. She began to shake as she constantly looked towards the door while the three people between them went to the Untempered Schism.

The head Time Lord came into the room and turned towards Iota. Her hands were clenched by her side as she walked over to the Time Lady who draped the covering over her. She took a deep breath before turning to look back towards the head Time Lord.

"I swear to protect the ancient Law of Gallifrey with all my might and brain. I will to the end of my days, with justice and with honour, temper my actions and my thoughts." Iota knew she spoke too quickly, but there was no way for her to redo it.

With a smile, the head Time Lord lead her out of the room. The walk out of the Academy seemed shorter than she thought it would be, but Iota was glad for that. She almost felt that she would run away to her father if it was any longer.

There was a much longer walk through a field after leaving the Academy. Torches dotted the landscape in order to light up small spaces of land at a time. Iota could see Time Lords standing by each of the torches, their backs turned towards her. The head Time Lord moved so that she began to walk in front of him. It was basically a straight path to the Schism in the distance.

Every time she passed the standing Time Lords they turned and nodded at her. They all seemed to be moving slowly, as though they were in a trance. Every few steps Iota felt as though she should look back to make sure she wasn't moving too fast or too slow. But she knew it was wrong to do so. She had to keep her eyes forwards as she approached the Untempered Schism

The Schism swirled blue and purples together, mixing to form colors in between the two. The space behind her eyes began to burn. Her head began to pound as she stopped in front of the circle that stretched high above her head.

A voice began to whisper in her ear. It wavered between thousands of voices and languages. She tried to focus to hear what it said, but she couldn't make it out. Other voices began to sing, mixing with the whispering voice to drown it out. She couldn't understand what any of them said. Instead, she felt her attention being pulled towards the Schism.

She felt a cold fill her body. It dug under her skin and pressed out from the inside. Something seemed to be pressing on her from all sides and she felt her breath pushed out of her. Her eyes began to swim with colors, but she couldn't look away.

Iota stood there for a few minutes, staring into the Schism, before she felt a calm replace the cold. It filled her body and filled her with a sweeter warmth than before. She didn't want to leave. It was nice, then, comforting, to look to the Schism.

The voice began to get clearer. It was whispering her name. Her first name, the first word she had ever heard. Over and over again the voice was whispering it to her.

She took a deep breath before turning around to face the head Time Lord. Immediately the warmth left her and was replaced with emptiness. It made her hands vibrate, but she clenched them still.

The head Time Lord bowed to her. "I, the Searcher, welcome you to the Academy."

-I-

The Searcher passed Iota off to a Time Lady before returning to the room to collect the other Novice. The Time Lady introduced herself as the Finder, something Iota found amusing. Especially after she noticed the look the two adults had shared.

The Finder led Iota to a side building of the Academy. It was a long rectangular building that stretched around one side of the Academy and the back. As soon as they stepped inside the entire building fell into a whisper. Iota saw eyes through cracks in the doors and she knew they were looking at her.

There were still a few whispers from inside a few of the rooms and Iota was able to hear some of them. All of the voices were female.

"I heard she stared into the Schism for a whole nine minutes; that's nearly impossible."

"Isn't that Theta's sister?"

"Wasn't she the one holding hands with that other Novice?"

Iota blushed before looking down at her feet, not wanting to hear the voices any more. The Finder stopped in front of a door near the end of the third floor. "I believe you've already meet your roommate, for she is from your class." The Finder opened the door and stepped aside.

There was a girl with long dark hair sitting on one of the two beds, staring right at the door. She was unbraiding her hair from the bun it had been in. She jumped up when Iota entered. "Hello. My name is Nella." Nella held out her hand and Iota shook it.

"Iota Xi. But everyone just calls me Iota."

Nella nodded. She had darker skin then Iota had seen around before, but her eyes were a beautiful chocolate brown. "Nice to meet you Iota. Who were you when you looked into the Schism?"

Iota blinked. "What do you mean?"

Nella gestured towards Iota. "Did you run away when you looked into the Schism?"

"No."

"So you either went mad or were inspired." Nella nodded, jumping back onto her bed. She pointed towards the bed across from her. "Sit."

Iota went and sat down. "How will I be able to know which one of those I am?"

Nella shrugged. "I don't know. I've read books about it. Obviously, those who run away are known instantly. But those who go mad or are inspired take longer to tell. Sometimes it happens immediately, sometimes much later in life and sometimes never. You never know."

"What are you?"

Nella frowned. "Same as you. I didn't run, but I don't know much beyond that. It's annoying." Her eyes brightened. "I wonder if it's possible to be both. Or two of the three. Can you be inspired but also run? Or run and also go mad?" Nella crawled to the edge of the bed and pulled out a notebook before writing something down. "I'll have to read more about it." She looked up at Iota. "Can you describe what it was like for you? I want more points of reference."

So Iota described it. "Before I even reached the Schism, behind my eyes started to burn. My head pounded when I stopped in front of it. There was a voice whispering something to me, but I couldn't tell what it said. I could also hear people singing. Then I felt cold. It almost felt like I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't look away. Soon I began to feel calm. I didn't want to look away. It was only when the voice became clear that I looked away."

Nella looked up from her writing with interest. "What was the voice saying?"

"My name. My first name. Over and over again."

Nella nodded, writing it down quickly in her book. "I didn't hear any voice. There was just a pinprick of pain in the back of my head as I stared into it at the start. After about a minute, the pain exploded to include the entirety of my head and I looked away." She closed her book.

"My brother told me that tomorrow we get a tour of the Academy."

Nella seemed to brighten at that. "I'm so excited for that. Even though the Academy is way too large to tour in one day, it will still be amazing to see what we could." She seemed to realize then that Iota had mentioned a brother. "What's your brother's name?"

"Theta." Iota shrugged. "Technically, Theta Sigma. He's two years older than me."

"I have an older sister, but she's fifteen years older. I don't see her that often."

Iota moved so that she lay on her stomach, her legs pressed against the wall. "What's her name?"

"Juno." Nella moved so that she was in the same position as Iota. She looked around the room. "Are they going to give us something to wear to sleep? It is getting late."

A knock at the door stopped Iota from answering. Instead of fighting over who was going to answer the door, both of them stood up at once. Iota was shorter, so she got to stand in the front.

Someone who looked a few years older than them was standing there, a collection of nightgowns in her arms. She held out two of them. "I'll be back in the morning with the robes you're supposed to wear tomorrow." Iota took them before the girl nodded and left.

Nella held the nightgown up, studying it. "I have a feeling this will be a bit too long for you." She refolded the nightgown over her arm. "I'll get changed first."

Iota climbed back onto her bed and sat so that she faced the wall. Nella tapped her shoulder a moment later and Iota changed. Both of them sat awkwardly for a few minutes before Nella waved goodnight and lay down.

Iota took the job of turning off the lights before she curled up on the bed. She wished she knew where Theta was; she wanted to hug him tightly and never let go.

A/N: Thank you for reading this story; it means the world to me. I hope you're enjoying it so far.

The description of looking into the schism was really difficult for me to write; I had to re-write it a few times before I got something I was relatively happy with. Please tell me what you think of it.

I am so sorry that I keep forgetting things I meant to say, but I forgot to say how Iota's name is pronounced.

Iota Xi is pronounced= i-oh-ta ki

It is a combination of two Greek letters.

Notes on reviews:

Teddy bear 007: When I read that first sentence, I literally began to clutch my heart and bite my lips nervously. I swear my heart began to race because I was so worried I had disappointed you. But then I smiled widely and relaxed as I read the second one. I'm so glad you liked the previous chapter :).