Chapter One:

History Class

The day started out like any other day. The alarm clock woke me up at 6:00 and I crawled out of bed at 7:15.

After dragging myself out of bed, I walk, almost zombie-like, into the bathroom and stare into the mirror. Yep, same old face staring back at me. Same brown eyes, same dark brown hair, long-than-usual bangs smashed against my cheeks by the pillow…I frown. As usual, one lock of hair stands straight up, desperately trying to oppose gravity. I don't dare try and make myself look very orderly though, my hair puts up too much of a fight.

I yawn and stretch luxuriously before hurrying to get dressed for school. As I pull my green shirt down over my head, it hits me. It's quiet…too quiet…Sorry if that was cliched, but it's true. I finish dressing and duck out of my room and into the kitchen, staying close to the wall as if ninjas or something were about to jump out at me. Nope, my life wasn't that exciting.

Instead, I hear singing. Singing. Now I was beginning to get worried. I peek around the corner and spy my mom putting a cake into the refrigerator! How could I forget! It's my birthday!

"Felix, come on out already, I know you're awake."

Is it just me, or can mom's hear thoughts? Either that or she has super-sonic hearing. I come out into the open kitchen, catching the fading smells of freshly baked chocolate cake before it completely retreats into the refrigerator. My stomach growls.

"Breakfast is ready too, dear," my mom says. "Happy Birthday!"

I look at the table and see a feast fit for a king. Mountains of pancakes! Now, I don't care if mom's can hear thoughts or not, just as long as she knows what I want for breakfast! Needless to say, I dig right in.

After what must have been thirty pancakes later, I finally get ready for school. I grab my backpack and car keys, (Gaia, I love being able to drive to school!) say good-bye to my parents (Jenna, my younger sister, has already left for school) and leave.

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The trip to school was uneventful, along with the first three classes I had that day. Only real difference that day was a whole lot more people than usual spoke to me, even if it was only to say 'Happy Birthday'. Even Alex, the self-proclaimed most popular guy in school and the new kid, gave me a Happy Birthday, but I honestly think it's only because Mia, the only person Alex seems to listen to, made him do so. Mia may be sweet as an angel, but if you value your health, don't make her mad.

Next on my school schedule, however, was the history class of doom.

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"Class, open your books to Chapter 11," Mr. Lincoln, our history teacher, began. Sorry, but I must include this now; I pray that none of your history teachers will ever be like Mr. Lincoln. He looks like a balding mouse, but sounds like a cat with a stuffy nose. One of those people who can drive you mad really easily. Luckily for the senior class, he had terrible eyesight and refused to wear glasses, so he could never see us wincing and twitching as he spoke.

The entire class reached into their backpacks simultaneously and pulled out their history books. I unceremoniously dropped it on my desk and it fell open to a chapter on the Mythology of Weyard. I was just about to turn to the chapter called out, when a certain picture, underneath the section 'The Great Lighthouses,' caught my eye. I stared.

Looking at the picture was like looking in the mirror again. The person standing in the picture, he looked almost exactly like me. The only real difference was the clothes, but…Same eyes, (although a bit narrower) same hair, (a bit longer) even the same bit of hair that refused to go down. Heck, this guy even looked as tall and old as I did! I was almost scared to read the caption below, but I finally dared to.

Felix, one of the great Heroes of Weyard, who supposedly could control the element of earth itself. He and his companions brought forth the Golden Age in 1670.

Felix…this guy even had the same name as me!

"Felix!" Mr. Lincoln was yelling at me. I stared up with wide eyes, almost like a deer's.

"Y-Yes?"

"Would you please read the first section of Chapter 11? Or would you like a little more time in your own little world?" Ooooooooo, poison in those words.

"Uh, sure." I quickly shot a glance over at Alex's book (he was sitting next to me, so he was a good target) for the page numbers, but instead caught him staring, slack-jawed and wide-eyed, at my book. I gave him a weird look after getting the page numbers, swiftly turned to the correct page, and began reading with a shaky voice, my words barely audible.

Mr. Lincoln was right. Although physically I was there in the classroom, my thoughts were elsewhere.

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History class never seemed to end. The Tolbi-Lalivero War, which we learned about, was the longest war in history, and that history class proved it. I however, didn't hear a word of it. I was too stunned.

I walked out of the room, stiff and lifeless, when, as I walked out of the building, I heard Alex speaking to someone from behind a dumpster. I slumped by, not caring at all if he saw me or not, when I found who he was talking to. I almost let out an undignified squeak as I fell out of sight. I thought Alex's oddly colored long blue hair was abnormal, but the two he was talking to went completely past strange.

The first, a huge, tall man; the second, a woman. The man had a pale blue skin color, as if he had fallen into a vat of blue ink and it had started to fade. Even his hair was blue. The woman looked a little closer to normal though. She had long blonde hair, but her skin tone was nearly pink. Their clothes definitely caught the eye in contrast to Alex's as well. They just seemed…ancient…But the final touch was their ears. Both of their ears were long and pointed.

"Why have you called us, Alex?" It was the woman speaking; her words like a snake's. Alex knew these people?! "Do you have news?"

"Yes, in fact, I do," Alex replied. I could almost see the smirk on his mug, but my view was blocked by the trash. I could only see the man and woman. "I believe I have found the one we're looking for."

A huge grin spread across the face of the two. "Really now, where is he?" asked the man.

There was a moment of silence, then, Alex spoke. "Closer than you think." I gasped. Alex somehow knew I was spying on them! I tried to get up and run, but something rooted me to the spot. Something deep inside me was keeping me down, something strange and foreign. I tried to fight it off, but failed miserably.

A shadow covered me now as the two strange people Alex was talking to overshadowed me, looking down at me as if I was a stray dog and they were dogcatchers. I simply put on a nervous grin and attempted to wave. Attempted is the word, you should notice. I couldn't move much at all. The smile was the limit of my movement at the moment, and it was more like a twitch.

Both of them reached down, completely ignoring my innocent façade, and picked me up by the arms. As soon as their hands touched my arms, searing hot pain swept through my body, sending every nerve berserk. It passed eventually, but left me feeling even number than I already was.

As humiliating as it is, when they got me up, I just hung there like a lifeless doll in their hands, unable to do anything about it. They carried me around the garbage until we were in front of Alex, who was standing there, smug as ever. Wait--let me rephrase that. He was actually floating there, smug as ever.

"I must say, Alex, you've gotten better at Psynergy over the years." The woman spoke again. "I've never seen an Adept who could stun a person this well, not to mention another Adept."

Psynergy? Adept? What the heck?

"Yes, Menardi, a few hundred years will do that." If I could've, I would've pinched myself right there to see if I had fallen asleep in history class and was dreaming. Unfortunately, I couldn't.

Without ever tearing his eyes away from me, the captive, Alex swung his right arm back to the brick wall behind him and held his hand to it, fingers outstretched. His hand began to glow in four different colors: blue, gold, violet, and red, along with a small spot on the wall. The glowing stopped, but the spot on the wall got larger and larger, rippling with blue and white light, until even the big guy could easily walk through.

"Hurry, Saturos, Menardi," Alex commanded. "The gate won't stay open forever." Saturos and Menardi nodded and walked towards the portal obediently. My own classmate was kidnapping me!

Oh no…not good...

I tried to struggle, but nothing worked. I couldn't even twitch a finger now.

The portal was coming closer…

I closed my eyes, desperately trying to get away somehow.

Saturos had set one foot inside…

Something deep inside me snapped.

I could feel a power, much like the strange power that had stunned me in the first place, but not foreign at all, rising.

Just as I began to feel cold energy from the gate on my face, the quaking began.

"What in Mercury's name!" Alex shouted. "An earthquake?! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Although I couldn't see it, I could feel Alex's piercing glare. "You! You did-" Alex's voice was cut off as a tremor struck. The ground below unleashed its rage, Menardi and Saturos tripped, and I was flung into the portal.

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What happened to me…

Am I alive?

Ugh…I hurt everywhere…I must be alive…

I opened my eyes slowly, but shut them quickly, blinded by the sunlight flooding in. I was in a soft bed, lying on my back.

How did I get here?

I raised a hand to my head, trying to get rid of the spots flying in front of my eyes, but stopped. I could move again, I realized. I covered my eyes with my hand, preparing for the sunlight, and opened my eyes again.

I was inside of a strange, small house it seemed. The walls and floors were wooden, but the ceiling was nothing more than straw. A table and a few chairs stood in the corner of the room, covered in books and various items. The house, however, seemed unoccupied. Or, I thought so, until…

"Hey, are you ok?"