Magical sunrises or not, getting up before the sun is in the sky sucks.
Joe stretches his arms out in front of him, letting out a huge yawn. He knew this was an important day. Cassius had stressed how key his awakening will be for his magic training. Not to mention how much better Joe would feel afterwards. He couldn't wait for these headaches to go away. He'd barely gotten any sleep last night because of them. Though in fairness, it could also have been his excitement for today's adventure.
His glass ceiling gave him a perfect view of the sunrise. The windows were dimmed enough that the light didn't blind him, but still allowed him to see the natural beauty of this strange world. The streaks of pink, orange, and purple slowly faded into a crystal blue sky. Only a few smears of green remained.
Joe slips out of bed and quickly gets dressed for the day. He has no idea what to expect and hopes he's dressed appropriately. Walking out into the main hall, Joe finds most of the others already gathered.
"So, we're really the only students at this school?" Sam asks. He, Arwen, and Juniper are immersed in conversation.
The girls both nod, but Juniper is the one who answers. "It used to house hundreds of students, but Rowena said that they had to shut most of the school down several years ago. Now, it's just for future Warp and Aether Wizards and their companions. But each Wizard is only allowed to bring three people with them. They really want to minimize the amount of people here."
"Why?"
Fred stands off to the side, eyes drifting over the room. He spots Joe and waves him over. "I am so glad you finally showed up, dude. Sam's been nerding out all morning."
"I'm trying to learn about our new home." Sam crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at Fred. "Maybe you should too since you're the one who wanted to come here in the first place."
Fred puts his arms behind his head. "It's a magic school on a magic planet with magic students. What else is there to know?"
Sam groans and looks to Joe for help, who rolls his eyes in response. It's too early to deal with Sam and Fred's drama. Instead, he scans around the room. "Where's Tessa?" he asks, noting that she's the only one missing.
"Sorry I'm late." Tessa struts into the room, almost as if she was waiting for her name to be announced. She yawns and rolls out her shoulders. "Ro and Cas wanted to squeeze in some last-minute training, and toss in a lecture or two," she mumbles the last sentence under her breath. "Is everyone ready to go?"
Tessa whips out a golden piece of metal from her belt, juts it out in front of her, and a white blade slices through the air. The metal sings as she waves it around, carving intricate patterns into the air. The golden handle, designed to look like shooting stars, wraps perfectly around her hand. The white blade extends almost three feet away from her. The gold design continues onto the blade of the sabre, shooting stars decorating it all the way to the tip.
The trio jumps away in unison, a mix of emotions on their faces. Sam is terrified, while Joe and Fred are much more curious about the weapon. "What's that?" they ask together.
"My Focus?" Tessa holds up her sabre. "It helps me control my tears. Wouldn't be very good if I tore this entire planet to the middle of the desert."
"What's a tear?" Joe stares her weapon up and down. Would he get one of those too? He tries to imagine himself swinging a cool sword around, and finds he quite likes the idea. He wouldn't just be a Warp Wizard. He'd be a Warp Warrior.
With a smirk and quick flick of her wrist, Tessa cuts her sabre through the air. A resonating crack sounds through the hall, opening up a purple portal. It's identical to the one the girls fell through last night at dinner. "This is a tear."
"A tear is Tessa's equivalent to your warps." Juniper explains. "She can rip a hole in the fabric of space-time and travel anywhere or anytime in the universe. Though her ability to travel through time isn't as strong as yours. Her strength is lateral movement."
Fred scratches the back of his neck. "Uh, last time I checked, Joe can't warp us anywhere without The Book."
The girls stare at Joe. "Sorry, I guess everything we know about you is theoretical from our studies. Warp Wizards are supposed to have complete control over time. I'm sure you'll get there once you start your training."
"You really can't warp without your book?" Tessa shrugs. "I guess that makes it your Focus. Shame, you could've gotten a darb weapon as your Focus." Her sabre retracts, and she places it back on her belt.
"A darb…? Nevermind." Joe crosses his arms. "My book is cool. It can stop time, warp us into the past and future, and-"
"Doesn't sound like much of a weapon. And without any training, you're going to be completely defenseless on this mission." Arwen exchanges looks with Tessa. "Which is probably why we're being forced to go along."
"Mission? I thought we were just taking Joe to be awakened." Sam steps away from the portal, still waiting to transport them to their destination.
"Yeah, but we have to get there first. If this is anything like Tessa's journey to be awakened, we're in for a few good fights."
"Fights?" Sam steps back even farther. "You know, on second thought. I think I'm going to stay right here. Where it's safe, and there are no fights."
"Awesome!" Fred clamps his hand down on Sam's shoulder, making him stumble. "A little action will be good for you, Sam."
"No, a salad is good for you. A nice walk through the park is good for you. A fight is not good for you!"
"Does he do this often?" Tessa watches Sam, a small crease forming in the center of her brow. "I can't listen to this the entire trip." The other two girls nod their agreement, each one watching Sam with a nervous look on their faces.
"He lives like this," says Fred, rolling his eyes.
"Well, now we know who the fun one is in your little trio." Tessa shoots a wink at Fred. "And if you guys are ready, we need to get going. It's going to take at least a day to get there, probably two."
The girls step into the portal and silently disappear. The boys, not having much choice, follow them through. Joe and Fred, pulling Sam with them, push through the portal. The purple gateway vanishes from the room, with no trace of the kids left behind.
Joe expected walking into a tear to feel like a warp. It did not.
Warping was like being pulled down a drain with lots of spinning that left you feeling nauseous. Excessive warping back to back could actually make Joe vomit. Tearing was like being shoved through a miniscule hole in the wall. It hurt. A lot. His body stretched and thinned out, twisting at all angles. He kept stretching and stretching. His skin burned and eyes watered. Everything was stretched as far as it could go. If this lasted any longer, Joe would rip into pieces.
It was over as quick as it began. A thousand rubber bands smacked against his skin as his body snapped back into place. Blinking away the tears, Joe watches as a new world fades into view.
"Where are we?"
"Earth, actually. Home sweet home."
"Does your home look like this? Because mine definitely does not."
Before them lays a city of ruin. Ancient, dilapidated buildings of marble and stone are sprawled out in a large circle. The pathways carve an intricate maze throughout the city. In the center of it all, a large castle looms. Several towers had fallen down and most of the walls are cracked.
The town is surrounded by a lush, green jungle, and in the distance, the sound of a crashing waterfall can be heard. Mountains and volcanos rise high into the sky, smoke pouring out from the top of some.
"This place is incredible!" Fred runs over to the edge of the cliff they landed on. The city sits miles below them. "But why are we here and not there?"
"The city is protected by a magical barrier. This is as close as I can get us. We'll have to walk the rest of the way."
"That's a lot of walking."
"Oh, come on. It's good for you." Arwen gives Fred a rough pat on the back. "For the jock-type, you sure are lazy."
"I am not."
"So, how do we get down there?" Joe, being more cautious than Fred, stands a few feet back from the edge of the cliff. He studies the city far below them. "Do we have to climb down?"
Tessa chuckles. "If you want to die, but there is path." She gestures to the gap in vegetation next to her. A dirt trail leads into the jungle. Joe can barely see ten feet before it disappears into darkness.
"Uh, it's a little dark."
"Good thing we have magic then." Tessa's hand sparks with purple lightning. Within a few seconds, the lighting forms a small ball in the center of her palm, the occasional spark still shooting off. "Shall we?"
"So where are you girls from?" The six of them have been walking for a while. The conversation comes and goes. They'd been walking in silence for too long. It had been making Joe uncomfortable.
The walk itself was nice enough. They were surrounded by vibrantly colored trees, flowers, and vines. The sounds of exotic birds resonated throughout the jungle. In different circumstances, this would have made a lovely vacation destination.
"Well, Arwen and I are from Boston," Juniper begins. "But Tessa is from-"
"Everywhere!" Tessa quickly interrupts her friend. "I'm a traveler of sorts, but I've been in Boston for two years now."
"That's what happens when you grow up in a circus," Arwen mumbles under her breath.
Tessa purses her lips, a stray spark of lightning striking the air. "Don't be jealous that my life is more exciting than yours, princess." She focuses again on the ball of energy in her hand, calming the lightning before any other stray bolts could escape. Her eyes are intensely dark.
"Wait, did you say Boston?" Fred looks from Juniper to the large, red B on Arwen's shirt. The dots slowly connecting in his head. "No, no, no." He digs his heels into the ground and folds his arms over his chest.
"What's wrong with you? Boston's a nice city." Sam raises an eyebrow at Fred. The whole group has stopped to stare at him.
"No city that is home to the Red Sox is nice." He speaks the name with such contempt that most of the group flinches. Fred places his hand over his heart. "Pure Yankee blood runs through my veins. I can't go on some quest with a Red Sox fan. It's sacrilege! I'd never be allowed back into Yankee Stadium!" He gestures to Arwen's shirt, sneering at the villainous letter.
"I'm surprised he knows how to use the word sacrilege," Sam mutters to Joe, who nods in agreement.
Arwen glances down at her shirt and shrugs. "Okay, whatever." She takes her shirt off, leaving her in just a blue tank top, and ties it around her waist. "Better, Yankee Doodle? Can we get going now?"
Fred's mouth open and closes like a fish out of water. " But, but…" He's at a loss for words. This was not the response he was anticipating. "You don't care? You have to care! The Yankee, Red Sox rivalry is the greatest rivalry in baseball history. Fans are sworn enemies of each other. How are you okay with all this?"
"I don't really care about sports," Arwen says, and Fred stumbles back in shock. "It's kind of a family thing to support the Red Sox, but I'm not into it. If you want a rivalry, go talk to my father. He'll give you the fight you want." She turns away and continues down the trail, abruptly ending the conversation.
The other kids follow her, and Fred drags his feet in the rear. He runs his hand down his face, his eyes narrowed at the ground. He begins to mumble to himself, but everyone leaves him to puzzle it out on his own.
Joe quickens his pace to catch up with Tessa. It's time for him to get some answers. Everything had been moving along so quickly, he hadn't had time to ask anyone any of the questions that had been buzzing around inside his mind. And he had a lot of them. "So, a circus, huh? That's pretty cool."
"Huh?" Tessa momentarily takes her attention away from her magic and blinks at Joe, as if she just now noticed he was there. "Oh, yeah. It was sort of a circus, carnival hybrid. My mom was a fortune teller, and my dad was an illusionist. Before this," she nodded towards her hands, "I was training to be an acrobat. But once I discovered my powers, I started focusing on them more."
"How did it happen? How did you discover your powers? I got The Book as a gift for my tenth birthday, but I didn't know I could do magic until my friends, my sister, and I warped to ancient China and there was this huge army, but only like twenty of us. One of the solider shot an arrow at my sister and was able to slow time right before the arrow hit her. But I've never been able to use magic like that before, and that was the only time that happened until Paris last week. It kind of seems like I can only use it in high-stress situations, but that doesn't seem very useful. I mean, you can use your magic whenever you want. You clearly have amazing control over it-"
"Joe!" Tessa snaps. She had been grinding her teeth through his entire speech and couldn't take it anymore. The ball of light in her hands had darkened and more lightning bolts were shooting out. "If we are going to be wizard partners for life, you have got to talk less. Your innocence is charming, bunny, but annoying."
Joe's cheek flare crimson. " Sorry, it's a bad habit… wait, did you just call me bunny? And did you say partners for life? Like marriage? I didn't sign up for that. That's-"
"You're doing it again, bunny." Tessa shoots him a sidelong glance before returning to the ball in her hands. The color gradually lightened back up, and the sparks died down. "Do you want me to answer your questions or not?"
Joe nods, finally silent. He gives Tessa all his attention, ready to learn as much as he can. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this excited about something.
"When I discovered my magic, I was eight and it was a complete accident. It almost killed me. I was practicing my aerial acrobatics, and my ropes came loose. I fell thirty feet towards the ground with no net to catch me." Joe opens his mouth to ask why she didn't have a net, but a quick glare from Tessa shut him up. "So, I panicked. As I was falling, all I wanted was to be safe. My eyes were closed, and I was screaming. Next thing I know, there's this loud cracking noise, and then my body felt like it was being pulled in a hundred different directions. Then it was over. I landed on something soft. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my tent, laying on my bed. I opened my eyes just in time to see a purple portal above my head disappear. No one else in the troop had seen or heard anything. I thought I had imagined the whole thing until I accidentally opened another tear two months later."
"What happened that time?" Tessa's story had only given Joe more questions, but he was fascinated with her. This was the kind of exciting life he had always wanted to live.
"And yes, I did call you bunny before. I think it's very fitting for you." Tessa ignores Joe's other question. "And I also said partners for life. Being a Warp or Aether Wizard is a life sentence. So, yeah, it is kind of like marriage, minus any romance." Tessa gives Joe a pointed look, wanting to make that part very clear. "And for the record, I don't have as much control over my powers as you think I do. I've only been at the academy for a few months. I've learned a lot, but after seeing what Rowena can do, I know I have a long way to go. Anything else, bunny?"
"Well, I, I guess not." Of course, Joe had a million more questions. What powers did Tessa have? Did she know all the powers he would have too? Was bunny a permanent nickname? But he needed time to process everything he had been told. Besides, he knew if he asked Tessa anymore questions, she would snap at him again. He didn't need that right now.
He concentrated on the path ahead of him. Soon, they would be coming upon the city. Not long after that, Joe would have his powers awakened. As long as he lived through the process, he tried not to think about the alternative, he would be a full-fledged Warp Wizard with crazy awesome magical powers. Everything he ever wanted would be happening. He just had to make it through the rest of this mission. Simple enough, right?