Disclaimer: I do not own COTRK; Jenny Nimmo owns them. I do not own Mel (or her friends); they belong to Annie Dalton. I do not own T.R.A.P. or the Dougen; they belong to the co-producers of princess Ai. I do not own any references I might make to anything else; they belong to their respective owners.

Another New Start

***====Flashback====***

Feet pounding down corridors. Clangs as chains are released. Frantic shouting. Not much time left now. The creak as the unoiled hinges of my cage door are opened. Relief as the many chains that bound me are released.

I lift my head and stumble my way into the chaos beyond. The drugs used to silence us are starting to wear off. I follow the stream of Dougen into the centre of the complex. Among the crowd I can pick out the pink hair of the shape shifter. She was the only one in with them, the only that was kept. I wonder why? But there is no time to think. We must hurry.

Soon the crowd is no more. Swept by others into portals. Only four of us remain, but the last portal has turned scatter. Once through, we will be separated. I look at the anxious faces of my three closest friends, before nodding them on.

One by one, they duck into the light of the closing portal. I take one last look at T.R.A.P, my prison of the last few months, then, I too turn to the portal that will take me to my new life.

***====End of Flashback====***

Mel and Liv huddled under the little protection the bus stop gave them. Large droplets of September rain attacked them from above. The purple drama bus parted what seemed to be an endless flow of water. The two girls ran for its more adequate cover, jumping inside as soon as they could to find shelter from the wet.

They sat together on the bus, playing noughts and crosses on the steamed up windows. The new girl found it was nicer to have a friend on her first day, than to arrive clueless at the gates of her new school like last time she transferred. I what seemed like minutes, they were departing the bus to stand outside newly polished, but still dull gates.

Within seconds the girls were lost in the sea of colour cloaks. Just a head of wild black curls and a mop of orange, blue and white streaked hair. The school term had begun.

***-====Monday evening====***

The king's room. Homework time. Bone academy has many strange traditions. The endowed doing their homework in here is one of them. And why is it called homework anyway? We do it in school. One by one we file in. There are only two new faces among the crowd, First years. New like me.

A member of teaching staff is seated at the round table. Once we are all seated at the table, he looks up and clears his throat to give some kind of speech.

" Now I am well aware that many of you have been here before, but we have three new pupils with us today. For the benefit of all of us, can you please stand up and introduce yourselves."

I rolled my eyes, another 'hi I'm new!' speech. I push me chair back, meaning to rise, but I'm not quick enough to start the torturous introduction.

"I'm Will, and I can read anything in any human language!" Cried out an energetic boy who was stick thin, with huge eyes. "It means I rock at French!"

" I'm Tina, and my drawings hold keys for the future." Said the dullest girl I've ever met. She and Will were polar opposites.

" I'm Mel, and it's easier to show you my endowment than to explain it."

I took a pencil from the table. With my fingers, I pushed out the lead. Then I crushed what remained and shoved in into my fist. I waved my other hand over my fist and took a few moments to applied pressure. Finally I opened my fist to reveal a perfect diamond nestled in the palm of my hand.

***====Sometime during the following week, perhaps on a Thursday, as I like Thursdays====****

I could hear footsteps padding down the corridor, two, maybe three pairs. The paces were accompanied by low murmuring voices. I thought I heard my name dropped into the conversation. Huh, never miss a chance to 'find out' what others think of you. I sensed I had a little time before the group rounded the corner.

I turned to the wall behind me and placed my hands on the cold brickwork. Straining my mind, I thought back to what my friend Lola had told me about this method. 'Give it for the monocles in your hand to become friends with the molecules in the wall.'

Slowly, I watched, as my hands seemed to sink into the bricks. They were, no thicker than air to me…. O.k. maybe a bit thicker, like too thin icing. Once entirely encased, I drew my eyes to a crack, so I could witness the scene about to take place. Three people rounded the corner, Olivia, Lysander and Emma. I was not hurt that they were talking behind my back. Humans have impulses, and bitchiness is one of them. I, for one, would know that by now.

"-It's just that now the other endowed are gone, there has to be someone to take their place." Emma was in full flow, but she abruptly stopped.

So they thought I was evil (sorry EBIL). Insert freakish laugh Never saw that coming.

"There does seem an aura of … oddness around her." Liv put in hesitantly, as if there was something more she was too nervous to say. But then could be wrong. I mean, Liv, nervous?

Lysander nodded.

"My ancestors are trying to tell me about her, but I'm not sure what they mean," his voice dropped a tone. "They say she is more aligned to their world than ours. I cannot begin to understand what they mean."

"You know how our endowments get stronger over time," Liv waited for the other two to nod. "I think, sometime, mine became stronger; I can now sense illusions. It's just up till now there's been no other illusions to sense." She paused, as if unsure what to say next. "I can sense an illusion around Mel, but I can't see through it. It's paper thin, but so strong. If I could break it, we'd know the truth.

The 'little discussion' about me ended there. The trio carried on in silence. I wasn't surprised Liv had sensed the glamour I was wearing. An illusionist will spot an illusion, I suppose. Once they were out of sight, I melted out of the wall. I guess rumors will fly, but they are rarely accurate: with mine, well, it would be hard to get further from the truth.

A/N: Mel's 'friends' (and her foes) may be entering this in chapters soon to come. However, thats not so simple. As mentioned in afore chapter, going through a portal, they were split up. There will be a story for each of them, each in a different book, cartoon, anime ect. give me some advice on where ypu want each character to be. Thanks for reading this far. Please review.