Chapter 17:
The Looming Shadow
"So... This cat... she's a shape shifter?" Blinked Tress.
It was after school on Monday, and the group was gathered at the park, with Mimiru sitting contentedly on Wanda's lap.
"Yeah, she saved both of our lives when Ice was about to finish us off." Derek nodded.
"No way..." Cerella bent over, looking at the innocent cat. Her blond hair was held back by a blue headband today, and she wore a periwinkle blue blouse , and a light blue skirt. Her shoes were periwinkle blue as well.
Wanda wore a dark blue t-shirt with her blue jean coveralls, and white tennis shoes. Her brown hair was tied back using the ribbon she'd gotten from Derek, in a half-pony tail, like one of her favorite characters. Derek wore a black shirt, brown pants, shoes, and his brown jacket. Ingrid wore a blue striped shirt that cut off at the shoulders, blue jeans, a blue jean jacket tied around her waist, and white tennis shoes. Tress had her black hair held back with red orange hair clips, and wore a yellow shirt, with an orange tank top over it, and an orange skirt that had yellow triangles patterned at the bottom of the skirt. Her shoes were yellow as well. HuiLing wore a vibrant red Chinese shirt with short sleeves and golden dragon lily patterned all over, and black pants and shoes.
Mimiru looked up at the group with a quizzical expression on her face.
"This cat really transforms in to a human being?" Ingrid knelt down, scratching the back of the cats' ears.
"No, I talk just for getting kicks out of scaring the crap out of you guys." Mimiru spoke, tired of being treated like an object.
Ingrid yelled and jumped back. Mimiru stared at her, bemused. The cat jumped down from Wanda's lap, and as she did so transformed in to her human form. Her hair seemed to waft a little in the breeze as she took form. After looking at all their outfits, and the outfits of passerby, there was a flash of white light around her body, with the clothes from Meridian melting away to reveal a pink tank-top over a white t-shirt, a pink knee length skirt, and white dress shoes.
"Well, I wish I knew that trick." Cerella blinked in surprise
Mimiru smiled at Cerella, and that simple action seemed to relax the others.
"Hey guys!" Fusagu came over to the group, wearing a t-shirt that had 'Mecha Wing' printed on it with the characters, and blue jean shorts, as well as tennis shoes.
"Fusagu?" Blinked Mimiru in surprise. "I'd heard rumors that you had sided with the Guardians as well... but didn't know if they were true."
Fusagu stared at Mimiru with narrow eyes for a long moment before apparently deciding she could be trusted.
"Yes. I didn't like how Phobos was running things. And I wanted to find my parents." He told her.
"Any luck yet?" Asked Mimiru with saddened eyes.
"Not yet, but the Queen is helping me and we've got it narrowed down to a couple of villages." He replied, though he still kept his distance from her.
"I'm bored..." HuiLing stretched, standing up.
"I could always make you girls do some more training." Derek said offhandedly.
"Nah... I know! Let's go see the new Guardian Moon Eternal movie! It's in theaters!" Cerella jumped up suddenly.
Derek looked like he would rather do something else, but sighed.
"All in favor of going to the movies?" Tress raised her hand, she was then followed by Cerella, Ingrid, HuiLing and Wanda. "Out-voted, Derek. Besides, we're all done with our homework, even Wanda. So let's get going."
"Big brother's just going to have to swallow his pride and watch a girly movie." Cerella smirked.
"Nah, there's a new Galaxy Wars movie out that I'm going to see that's not girly at all." He stood up, stretching. "At least this is one pass time that beats tossing a pigskin around."
Wanda almost looked pouty when she heard there was also a new Galaxy Wars movie that had been released.
"Well, which would you rather have?" Asked HuiLing.
"Moon Guardian!" She replied almost at once. "I can watch Galaxy Wars another time... "There's never been a Guardian Moon movie released in theaters before."
"All right, my treat then!" Cerella smiled, holding up her purse. "I got my allowance from my Mom yesterday."
"Great!" HuiLing was practically bouncing on the spot in her excitement.
"Well, I'm heading back to the house, your mother should be there." Said Mimiru, transforming back in to her cat form. "And you left the window open, right?" She looked at Wanda, who nodded.
"See you later!" The group parted, Fusagu deciding to walk Mimiru home.
Derek hung back away from the girls as they walked, singing the Guardian Moon theme songs in their anticipation.
"Wow... look at this line!" Tress had her hand over her eyes to block out the sun as she stood on tip toe to look at the people.
"Girls..." Groaned Derek as they reached the ticket booth.
"Five for Guardian Moon Eternal: The Movie please!" Cerella said.
"Can I see your ID please?" The cashier asked, and when he saw Cerella's ID, he gave her the tickets, and she in turn passed one each to the group.
"One for Galaxy Wars: Young Future Knights." Derek said, paying the cashier for his ticket. "See you girls later." He said with a wave.
When the girls got their sodas and popcorn, they went in to the theater and sat down in the middle row, in the center. Wanda sat at the center of the group with HuiLing on her right, Cerella on her left, Tress on HuiLing's right and Ingrid on Cerella's left. The theater was full of a bunch of girls their age, as well as some adult women who enjoyed the show when it was aired on Television from their childhood also. With a few boys and men who had been dragged along by their girlfriends or siblings. The excitement was like that for a Harry Potter release when the minutes ticked by for the trailers to start. And when the title screen for the movie appeared, a hush fell over the crowd after loud cheers and whoops.
It was an enjoyable crowd, laughing as Bunny made a fool of herself in front of the Star Lights, booing when the enemy appeared, capturing and killing all of her friends except for Minako, Princess Kakyuu, gasping when the Princess and Minako protected Eternal Guardian Moon to their deaths. A hush again came over the group in the theater as they watched Eternal Guardian Moon shrouded in grief move to face the enemy, a demon by the name of Dalibor. Many were surprised- Wanda and her friends included- by the battle song. A song by a group known as Truth, and their song 'Never Give In' as Eternal Guardian Moon fought Dalibor, turning in to her Neo Queen Selene form with her extended, full length staff and the Mystical White Crystal in its flower form. The battle itself lasted for the duration of the song. Wanda found herself crying as Selene remembered her friends, and Mamoru when it looked like Dalibor would win. Wanda blinked when Selene's wings unfolded as her power reached the maximum, finally sealing away Dalibor with a brilliant flash of silver-white light from the Mystical White Crystal at the end of the song.
Wanda could hear HuiLing sniffling as Selene used the last of her power to summon the Star Crystals of her friends to revive them, before she passed out from the power overload. The Guardian Senshi gathered around Serenity while Endymion held her in his arms at the center of the large group, and used their own power through clasped hands to revive her. Finally the ending of the movie came when Bunny was brought back to life, and they returned back to Crossroads with Mamoru and their friends. The credits came on to loud cheers and whoops.
As the groups of people filed out of the theater from their various rooms, Wanda and her friends were busy talking about the movie they'd just seen as Derek found them after his movie was done. He held back a few paces as they walked in the streets and gabbed.
"I cried when Mars died!" Tress said.
"I know! And when Princess Kakyuu was killed... so sad..." Nodded Ingrid.
"I wish I had a boyfriend like Mamo-chan." Cerella flung her hair around as they walked.
"What? Someone who will dote on your every wish and give in if you cry and wail like a baby?" Asked Wanda, earning a glare from Cerella.
"You're only saying that now because you HAVE a boyfriend." Ingrid pointed out rather sarcastically.
"I never really liked Mamoru... he's kind of a jerk to Bunny-chan sometimes." Shrugged Wanda.
"So? Every boyfriend has to have a bit of a jerky side to them in order to real in his girlfriend if she starts getting out of hand." Smirked HuiLing.
"I still can't get over the fact that you have a boyfriend before ME." Grumbled Cerella. "You, miss-anti social and evil-kin-evil on the battlefield."
"Um... excuse me? When did the conversation turn to me?" Blinked Wanda.
"Oh how could we let the conversation draw away from the movie... whatever were we thinking?" Said Ingrid.
"Don't you guys ever talk about anything but boys and entertainment?" Asked Derek, now officially annoyed with all the girl talk going on. "Like why we haven't heard from Queen Elyon in a while, or Phobos?"
"Party pooper." Cerella glared at her older brother.
"How dare we try to spend a day acting like how thirteen year olds should." Retorted Ingrid.
"And a fourteen year old." Wanda corrected.
"Right." Nodded Ingrid.
"Besides, I don't mind a bit of non-excitement for a change." Tress told Derek. "So much has been going on, I can barely keep up with school right now, and got an A-minus in math yesterday."
"So? I haven't cracked open a book in days and I'm feel great." Ingrid smirked.
"Like that means anything to me, miss straight-C average?" Retorted Tress.
"Oh... my gosh! I just remembered something... Career day is TOMORROW." HuiLing said in alarm.
"What? Why didn't you say something sooner?" Cerella half-shouted. "I could have been preparing ahead of time with setting my alarm clock an hour early!"
"What's so important about Career day?" Asked Wanda.
"Dude... It's only the most important day of the second term of school!" Ingrid looked aghast at Wanda.
"Right... if you don't get there early, let's just say you'll be cleaning in the sewers or doing volunteer work at the PRESCHOOL." Cerella looked scarier than she had in a long time.
"Or doing clean up duty at the college laboratory." Smirked HuiLing at Cerella, who shuddered.
"Did you HAVE to remind me of that hell?" She asked HuiLing.
"Only because you're the one who bumped in to a beaker and blew up the room as a result." Sniggered HuiLing.
"Ok... setting my alarm, got it." Wanda blinked, glancing back at Derek who rolled his eyes at his sister.
When the clock tower in Heatherfield struck four o'clock in the afternoon, the group decided to part ways.
"See you guys later!" HuiLing waved, heading to her family restaurant.
"I'm going to go study." Yawned Tress, waving as she walked away.
"And I'm going to go get a head start on my beauty rest for tomorrow." Cerella yawned. "The movies wore me out."
"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Ingrid went her own way as well.
Wanda blinked when she noticed Derek was still there, after the other girls had all gone.
"What's up?" She asked him.
"Nothing... mind if I walk you home?" He asked her with a smile, which she returned.
"Why would I mind?" She said, walking over to him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
Derek felt his face burn magenta for a brief moment before coughing when she pulled away. This was going to take some getting used to, he decided.
"Why are you blushing?" Asked Wanda when she pulled away. She didn't see what was wrong about a hug. Then again, she remembered that they hadn't really had a chance to spend time together since they came back from the latest attack on Meridian.
"Uh... no reason." He lied quickly with another cough. She stared at him when took a breath and the magenta shade vanished from his face as he regained control. "Let's get going." He didn't mind so much when she wrapped her arm around his, in fact he quite enjoyed it as they walked together down the street. He was surprised at how quickly she took to the whole relationship, considering how she'd been about anything socially related in the past. Perhaps the fact that her friends and their parents both approved made a difference in her willingness to cooperate. Or his sister's hints that Wanda had always secretly had a crush on him helped in the adjustments.
Wanda blinked when she noticed he was looking down at her. There was an awkward silence before she looked away again. He smiled and reached over with his right hand, pulling her chin gently to make her look at him for a brief moment before she noticed how close his face was to hers. She saw the look in his blue eyes as his lips hovered above hers for a few tantalizing moments, then they covered the distance rather quickly. For a few seconds, Wanda's eyes were wide in surprise, before she realized she quite enjoyed the kiss and they slowly closed as she leaned in to him.
He broke the kiss after what felt like an eternity, and looked down at her with a small smile on his face. He was pleased to see that her reaction hadn't been one of anger or disgust. In fact, he thought the pink tinge on her face as a reaction from his kiss was rather cute. He blinked in worry when she suddenly looked a little pale as she grabbed her bad shoulder.
"Let's get you home. You've had a long day." He said. He made sure to keep an arm around her, to lend her some of his strength as best he could, while he walked her home. When they reached the doorstop, Will answered it.
"Hi, Derek. Thanks for bringing her home." She said with a smile until she saw the worried look in his eyes. "Something wrong?"
"It's just my shoulder acting up a little today. Nothing a bit of rest won't cure." Wanda said before Derek could reply.
"I just wanted to make sure she got home safe is all." Derek told Will, who nodded.
"Thanks for the help. I have your favorite Pizza waiting for you inside." Will thanked Derek before looking at her daughter.
"See you later Derek." Wanda gave a goodbye wave at him as he turned with a small smile on his face.
Phobos sat on his throne in Meridian watching Wanda through the sand mirror he created on the floor.
"Interesting... so the poison is still having an effect on the girl." He muttered. Cedric stood by his side. "We could use that to our advantage. So long as they don't find the real antidote or have the former Guardian of Earth heal her again."
"What is your plan, My Lord?" Asked Cedric out of curiosity.
"Bring me Dalibor... And then you'll know." Phobos said with a sneer on his pale, stretched face.
"Dalibor, My Lord?" Blinked Cedric, even he was surprised at that request. "But he..."
"These guardians are proving to be much more stubborn and powerful than their predecessors, Cedric. And special times call for special measures. I never had to bring out our dear friend before... but he can help Rhea achieve my ultimate goal for the new Guardian." Phobos stated with a touch of his old impatience.
"Yes, of course." Cedric bowed and left the throne room. Several minutes later, he reappeared with a tall man cloaked in shadow standing behind him.
"You summoned me, Lord Phobos?" A deep, dark voice with a touch of sarcasm came from the shadowy figure. All that could be seen of him for a few moments were the whites of his eyes, and the jet black pupils and red irises. Then he came in to view as Phobos smirked at the man's comment.
Dalibor was clothed in red and black armor. Black armor on his arms, epaulets, and a red and black patterned chest plate. His legs were armored as well, and he wore thick knee length black and red boots. His body was thick, showing pure muscle beneath all the armor. Nothing could be seen of his face but his eyes because of the helmet and mask that he wore. The right half of the mask was black, while the left was blood red. The outlines of the right eye was blood red, while the left was black. A long onyx colored braid flowed from beneath the back of his helmet. He wore a black shirt underneath the armor, as well as black pants and gloves making the red of his armor stand out particularly well in the dark of Phobos' throne room. There were four vertical lines on his mask where his mouth should have been, to represent breathing holes.
"A situation has risen that requires your assistance, Dalibor." Replied Phobos.
"Oh?" Replied Dalibor, the sarcasm in his voice with every syllable and verb.
Phobos pointed at the sand mirror on the floor where he watched the goings' on on Earth.
"Bring me the leader of the Guardians of Kandrikar. With the Heart. Alive or dead. If she is alive, make sure she can still be of use to us. She might have what I need even without the Heart, to ascend to the throne and stay there." Phobos told the man.
"Of course, Master." Dalibor bowed. "I shall go retrieve her. And let our dear friend Rhea do the rest. If she is still alive."
Phobos couldn't help but smirk at Dalibor's response. Nearly everything he said, there was the sarcasm in his voice.
Wanda woke the next morning rather reluctantly as her alarm rang, then started quite literally yelling at her.
"Wake UP! You SAID you wanted to get up early for school today!" The alarm screeched at her in a high female voice for the fifth time.
"UGH, FINE!" Wanda sat up, her hair sticking up at odd ends and her violet nightdress hanging off her right shoulder. She grabbed her alarm, glaring at it. "I'm up, see? Now shut up!"
"Only if you ask nicely, sweetie." The alarm clock replied.
"Do you want me to send an electroshock through your systems and short circuit you?" Snapped Wanda fiercely.
"Wanda, when you're done arguing with your alarm clock, come down and have breakfast, ok?" Asked Will, who had opened her daughters' door and witnessed her daughter having a fight with the appliance again.
"Of all the powers I had to inherit... why did I have to get the one that allows me to speak to annoying appliances?" Wanda said as she rummaged in her closet for something decent to wear that day since it was now Career day.
Cerella was already in the shower, making sure her golden yellow hair was clean and shiny. The bathroom smelled of mint. Her curtains were light pink, and the floor was pink and white checkered tiled. The wall was a simple light pink, with white clouds painted over it. When she was done, she put her hair back in a single braid before choosing a light green blouse with a pair of blue jeans. She wasn't about to be caught dead in a work zone wearing a fancy skirt hat could get spit on or be stained for life. She chose regular tennis shoes and white socks to put on before rushing to the dining room where her brother, mother and father were already sitting and eating their breakfasts.
Derek wore his usual black t-shirt, blue jean pants, and black tennis shoes. His brown jacket hung on the back of his chair.
"So, you ready for today, sweetie?" Asked Cornelia, looking at her daughter.
"I'm surprised you made it out of your bathroom in one piece this morning." Muttered Derek, earning a glare from his little sister.
Dalibor watched the group of girls gather at the gate to their school that day. Hidden in the shadows, nothing could be seen of him. However, he didn't notice a white cat with sapphire eyes following his every move since she sensed the dark presence. Mimiru stayed out of eyesight of the man the whole morning and afternoon.
The five girls and Derek gathered round the bulletin board with their classmates to figure out what jobs they'd get that day.
"Looks like they're taking a different approach this year." Blinked Derek.
"Maybe that's what all those possible career choice forms were the other day they had us do were for." Tress remembered just a few days ago in history class, the class was interrupted by Principal Knickerbocker who handed everyone a big pamphlet of paper related to the kind of careers one would do if given the choice.
Wanda suddenly caught them all off guard.
"YES... zoo here I come!" She exclaimed, throwing up her hands in triumph and showing more energy than any of them had ever seen, at least in quite a while.
"What was that explosion for?" Blinked HuiLing as she looked at Wanda's name and stared. "Caregiver for the animals at the zoo? Lucky!"
"No way... last year I got to clean the Monkey Bars... At the zoo. I can still smell the monkey feces." Cerella shuddered.
"You and animals..." Ingrid said.
"What are you guys getting?" Asked Wanda after she calmed down a little bit.
"Me? Computer specialist at the College in the Heatherfield Astronomy tower for a day." Smirked Tress.
"This year I got something much more befitting of myself." Cerella flipped her long golden braid around. "Designer for the biggest supermodel group in town! I've got all of my art supplies in my locker ready and waiting."
"What else would suit you?" Ingrid rolled her eyes.
"So? What about you?" Cerella asked Ingrid in return.
"Me? I thought I'd go opposite of what I normally do, and try my hand at water studies for the local lake. Good government funded job never hurt anybody." She smirked in response.
"And what'd you get?" Wanda looked at HuiLing.
"Me? I get a day at the local art museum managing all the paintings and making sure hell doesn't break loose there." Grinned HuiLing.
"Hey, looks like we'll be working together then, HuiLing." Stevie, the boy she had a crush on, had overheard their conversation and came over, causing her to give a small shriek in surprise.
"Great! I can't wait to see the museum." HuiLing said once she regained composure over herself. The girls all giggled.
"I wonder who's going to be working with me. I don't see anyone else on the board." Wanda looked up. Normally a mentor got two students or more for the day.
"What did you sign up for, big brother?" Asked Cerella through her fit of giggles over the redness on HuiLing's face as she was talking with Stevie.
"Me? Working at the library." He said this as though it was perfectly casual.
That statement earned several surprised, wide-eyed stares from the girls, and Stevie.
"What? I love poetry and books." Shrugged Derek. He then remembered that he hadn't exactly managed to tell Wanda that yet. He'd been saving that for when he was done with his latest poem. "The literature here has always fascinated me." He admitted.
"Woah... a big tough guy like you, a book worm?" Blinked Stevie. "Never would have thought my idol would enjoy being around a library."
Derek blinked at that statement.
"Idol?" He and Cerella both said in unison, with the same tone of surprise.
"Oh no, you do NOT want my brother as an idol." She said rather quickly before Derek could say anything.
"Thanks for the support." Sighed a now annoyed Derek.
"Hey, Cerella." Odin appeared in their group. "I see you're working today at the modeling group. Great, I'll see you there!" Odin was a tall boy, with a thick head of short black hair that stuck out at odd places. He wore designer blue jeans, a blue long sleeved shirt, and black shoes.
"Odin... you signed up for that too?" Cerella had a look of elegant surprise.
"Oh yeah, I love art and designing clothes." He grinned.
"Hey Derek!" A high pitched, girl's voice came from behind, and Wanda's eyes narrowed. "Looks like we're going to the library together." The girl's name was Eva, and she was in the same classes that they were. It was widely known that she had a massive crush on Derek. "We're going to have to leave animal girl behind for this one."
"First off, I don't appreciate your treatment of my girlfriend. Secondly..." Derek said in anger at Eva's treatment of Wanda. He walked over to Wanda, and kissed her right on the lips in front of the whole group before rising, having made his point that he was now officially off limits to everyone else, and anyone who tried to take Wanda from him would have him to answer to.
Wanda was still blinking in surprise, her face burning magenta when the Principal's voice came over the intercom. The colors on her face clashing brilliantly with her purple striped shirt, blue jeans and tennis-shoes.
"Attention students, please make your way to the auditorium where your mentors are ready to receive you." The Principal said.
The hundreds of students seemed to converge on the spot, in the middle of the hallway before walking down to the auditorium as instructed.
"Why does it always feel like I'm in a pack of sardines when we make for the auditorium?" HuiLing asked as she was bumped around while walking.
The auditorium was filled with round tables and a different group of adults sitting at each one. Each table had a paper plaque stating what facility or group they represented.
Principal Knickerbocker stood at the entrance waiting for the students.
"Welcome everybody, to career day! Please make your way to your specific tables where your mentors are waiting for you." She stepped aside and let the students file in looking around at the different tables and meeting their classmates and mentors for the day.
Wanda quickly found hers, and she was surprised to be the only student working for the zoo that day, while the other tables were seen to be quite full. She saw her friends greeting their mentors, and slowly walked up to her table.
"Hello, you must be Wanda." Smiled the woman sitting at the table. "I've heard so much about you from the Principal and your parents. My name is Julie. Julie Hail. And this is James Greenriver." She pointed at the older man sitting at the table next to her. Julie had brown hair that was tied back in a pony tail, and wore the two piece outfit for the Zoo Employees. Her eyes were hazel green like her parents, while her skin was a healthy looking peach with a light tan.
James had dark blond hair that was short and prickly. There was a gold hoop earring hanging from his right ear, and his eyes were lightning blue. He too wore the blue Zoo employment outfit. He was tall and muscly, while Julie was rather short and scrawny for someone her age.
"Pleased to meet you." Smiled James, as Wanda reached over to shake their hands.
"Shall we get going then?" Julie looked at Wanda, who nodded. She could see Tress looking like she was a kid in a candy store as she was looking at each of the books her mentor brought as examples of what she could expect once she got to the astronomy tower later that day.
Wanda waved at her friends and Derek as she filed out with the two mentors. The three reached the van the adults used to reach the school, and wherever they needed to get to. The van was large, painted ultramarine, with Heatherfield National Zoo in gold lettering on both sides of the vehicle. She got in to the back seat, while Julie took the driver's chair, and James the co-pilots'.
Her friends and Derek were quickly drawn out of her mind as they pulled in to the back end of the zoo where only employees were allowed. She wished she had about four more sets of eyes to be able to look at everything properly. She was seeing behind the cages and enclosed areas for the first time in her life. She spent the morning learning how to care for big cats, like the lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs that were at the zoo. Her favorite cats by far were the albino tigers that were huge and powerful.
When lunch came, Julie and James took her to one of the many restaurants in the zoo as a treat. She enjoyed talking about the care of animals in the zoo, and Julie hinted that she might put in a word for Wanda about getting her a part-time job in the future, with how well she got along with one of the tigers earlier.
Tress was like a kid in a candy store that morning. She wanted to go right to the observatory telescope, but her mentor- an older man by the name of Dick Williamson- who had graying short hair, but his eyes were still bright and very intelligent. He however, didn't wear the traditional white lab coat Tress expected to see. Instead, he wore a simple blue sweater, blue jeans, and black shoes.
"Well, first I'll introduce you to the crew." Said Dick once they reached the main observatory.
She saw at least a dozen Apple computers, and just as many Windows desktops. She was itching to get at some of the technology attached to the telescope. Her classmates looked just as exited.
"This is Tom Wagner, our head of technology." Dick introduced the young man sitting closest to them bending over some statistics. He had short brown hair that was neatly combed, and hazel eyes. He wore a red t-shirt, blue jeans and white tennis-shoes. His skin was a dark, but healthy brown.
"Yo kids." He waved.
"His partner is my daughter, Daphne Williamson." Dick went on, directing them to the tall blond woman. Her hair was indicated to be waist length, but it was currently held up in an Asian-style knot. Her eyes were also hazel, and she wore a light blue sweater, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. She sat at one of the larger Apple computers that was usually occupied by Tom.
"And the guy cleaning the telescope is Alphonse Gore. No relations to Al Gore, he likes to remind people." Dick added.
Alphonse was the youngest of the group currently in the main observatory, with dirty blond hair, and bright blue eyes. He wore a black shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis-shoes.
"Hey Mr. Williamson. Giving some of the kids from the school a tour, eh?" Smiled Alphonse.
"You could say that. Al here is in charge of making sure the technology we have is running properly, as you can see." Dick explained to Tress and her classmates.
Tress blinked at Alphonse, who grinned at her from behind Dick's back.
"So, let's get started with the basics-" Dick began a tutorial on how things were run in the observatory before letting them anywhere near the main telescopes.
Cerella couldn't have been happier. She followed her mentor along with Odin, and several other classmates. Apart from Odin and herself, her group consisted of a girl with blond hair in pigtails and blazing blue eyes, light peach skin, wearing a pink blouse and blue jeans and white shoes. Her name was Arianna Giselle, and she was in the same class as Cerella. Next there was a girl with short, shoulder length sepia hair, with hazel eyes. She wore a flower-patterned blue shirt, blue jean shorts, and black tennis shoes. Her name was Diane Berthei. A third girl had short blond hair, light peach skin with a dark golden tan, hazel eyes, wore a blue blouse, and a pair of blue jean shorts and black shoes. She was Diane's sister, Adelle. And the fourth member of their group was a boy with shoulder length black hair, black eyes, while he wore a blue t-shirt, blue jean pants, with a pair of brown shoes. His name was Brian Donatien.
"All right everyone, welcome to the Heatherfield Modeling Agency, where we not only hold photo shoots, but design the clothes for the photo shoots as well." Smiled their mentor, a tall woman with wavy blond hair held in a sideways ponytail. She wore a leopard vest over a white bell sleeved shirt, and a pair of dark blue jeans with a leopard belt. Her shoes were a dark brown, and looked more like boots than shoes. And her watch on her right wrist was silver with white gold, the clock itself wasn't digital, but rather a traditional clock lined with white gold diamonds. The hands were gold, and the glass that protected the clock itself was made from crystal.
"Oh my goodness, I love your watch!" Cerella couldn't help herself when she saw it.
"Thanks, it's beautiful, isn't it?" Their mentor showed it off to the girls while the two boys hung back, already looking bored out of their wits. "Anyways, mustn't get distracted. My name is Melody Sharpner. I'm the manager of this building and the company in it. Let's get started with the grand tour!" She said rather excitedly, her enthusiasm with the event bolstered with Cerella's quickness in complimenting her.
Ingrid was in her element, with her father giving the tour at the college. The classmates that were in her group stared, not having expected this 'nerdy' side to her, as a red haired boy pointed out.
"I didn't realize 'geek' ran in her family." Muttered the red head to his friends as they walked down the college hall way.
Ingrid shot a glare at the red headed boy, before running to catch up with her father, Martin Tubbs who was explaining the intricacies of their computer department. She was glad for a chance to see where her father worked, he always came home talking about computer technology, and the latest programs they were developing for NASA. He made enough money that Irma was able to be a stay at home mother. Which was probably a good thing, Ingrid thought, because she wasn't sure how Martin would be able to handle such a bossy wife at the college if they worked together there. Ingrid often thought her mother would make a good lawyer if she ever wanted a job of her own.
Her group consisted of at least a dozen or more students all varying in age, with Ingrid easily being the youngest next to the red headed boy. There was a sandy blond haired boy next to him, and a black haired older boy on his other side. There was a group of girls in their midst as well. The tallest had shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, the girl next to her had wavy sepia hair, and on her other side was a girl with extremely short, spiky brown hair. The rest of the group in this tour were three boys- one with black hair and round glasses, the second with black hair that had white streaks and was very spiky, and the third boy had brown hair with a natural curl to it. The three girls that hung around them were some of the oldest in the group, and led by a girl who had ebony pigtails, with her friends being a red head with hair to the middle of her back, and a brown haired girl with hair to her waist much like Wanda, but with more curls to it.
Ingrid almost felt out of place with her short, orange-light brown hair and bright hazel eyes. But she often reminded herself that it made her feel more unique.
HuiLing was in her element. She was exited to be at the Museum of Arts in Heatherfield, and squealed when she saw her mother's paintings on display. Her groups mentor- a woman by the name of Susie, blinked.
"Of course you'd recognize your mother's paintings." She smiled.
Many of HuiLing's classmates didn't realize that her mother was such a great painter.
"Wow, you're mother's really talented." Said Stevie, causing her to blush when he got so close to her in order to examine her mother's most famous work of art: Dawn at Meridian.
"Isn't she?" She smiled back much to the dislike of other girls in their group.
The day went by without incident, as each of the girls learned more about themselves and their career choices that they would be making after they were out of school. When the five girls and Derek reunited at the school after the final bell, they were exhausted and worn out. Wanda had the Heart of Kandrikar hidden away in her backpack instead of around her neck.
"Who would've thought education could be so tiring?" Asked Cerella with a yawn.
"Well, see you guys tomorrow." Wanda slung her backpack over her shoulders. Her back pack was dark purple with light purple pockets in front, and on the side for a water bottle. On the zipper was clipped a collection of at least six beaded or glittering lizards that jingled when they clinked against each other. "I'm walking home today, Mom said it's too nice to ride in a car today." She shrugged.
"Bye!" The group said their farewells and parted their ways to get to their homes.
Dalibor saw his chance at last. Wanda was alone now, walking down the alley way that led to her home. Wanda had paused to have a drink of water from her bottle when she looked up at the sound of heavily armored footsteps falling on to cement. She barely had time to yell when she saw something that made her drop her backpack and water bottle. Something hit her on the head, and she fell in to darkness.
She was hit with such a force that she seemed to fall in slow motion, her hair coming out of the hair tie she usually kept it in when Dalibor picked her up rather roughly, like she was nothing more than a rag doll, before a veil opened up behind him, and he vanished in to it leaving her back pack and water bottle behind.
