Okay, I need to clear something up before you read this next bit. When I was writing this chapter, I actually had the flu so the combination of being sick, being high on cold and flu medicine and the fact that I had just finished reading Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (which always puts you in an odd state of mind) resulted in half of this chapter being a bit random. I'll leave it to you to guess which half.

Enjoy!

Chapter Two – The Princess of Tides

"So are you talking to us yet?" Sky asked Brandon a few days later during weapons practice. Their entire class was there as Codatorta drilled them through the basics of weapons. Since swords, pikes, scythes, spears, knives, staffs, clubs, axes and other similar weapons were all used under the same basic principles, the teachers would spend a day running through them all to avoid their students getting sloppy. Other weapons such as guns, boomerangs, morning stars, throwing darts and grenades would require more specific training which would be done later in the week.

"I'm not talking to anyone anymore," Brandon said stiffly. "But if I was talking to anyone – which I'm not – I'd say that I still think you're a bunch of jerks."

Brandon, who normally didn't have a long enough attention span to stay mad at someone for longer than a day, had maintained his anger from the insult he had suffered on the day of the start of year mixer. He had sworn never to speak to them again and that he would never forgive them. All assumed that his desire to speak would eventually win out over his anger eventually, but Brandon had figured that if he spoke to thin air and inanimate objects like the sugar bowl over breakfast and his friends just happened to over hear, then he could keep his promise and get out what he thought needed to be said.

"Don't you think that you're dragging this out a bit long?" Timmy asked as he looked his saffron phantom blade over. Phantom blades never required sharpening, but they could still be damaged and have small chips taken out of them or form hairline cracks if not cared for properly. Timmy would never let anything that belonged to him be neglected, but it was still his nature to double check everything.

"No! You tied me up!" Brandon reminded Timmy, totally forgetting that he wasn't talking to anyone anymore.

"Then we untied you."

"Not all of me. My hand and ankles were still tied up and I had to hop all the way from the hanger to our dorm. Do you know how hard it is to open doors without your hands?"

"Oh I hope you didn't use your mouth," Timmy said with a disgusted expression. "Door handles have to be one of the most unhygienic things in the universe. Thousands of germs come into contact with them everyday and yet how often do you clean your door handles? Never, right? And people go on about how unclean a toilet is. Have they even considered the bathroom door handle?"

"Okay?" Sky said uncertainly. "I think both of you are both just over reacting."

"What?!" both boys exclaim in horror and outrage.

"You might not be able to see a germ, but it can still kill you," Timmy told Sky. "They're like the original assassins."

"I fell over while I was hopping back to our dorm and it took me ten minutes to stand back up again. And I got a bruise from the fall. Look!" Brandon said, rolling up his uniform to expose his shin. A large purplish black bruise was a few inches below Brandon's knee and it was the most peculiar shape.

"It kind of looks like a dolphin," Sky noted, narrowing his eyes.

"What?!" both boys said in unison again.

"If you squint your eyes and tilt your head like this, it kinda looks like a dolphin," Sky repeated.

"My bruise does not look like a dolphin," Brandon said in a very insulted tone of voice.

"Hey! I can see dolphin now too!" Timmy announced excitedly and Brandon rolled down his pants leg in a huff. "Oh, c'mon man. Lighten up."

"So says the guy who just freaked out over door handles."

"What happenin' here?" Riven asked, rejoining the group after spending most of the lesson debating something with Lex, Toby and the boy everyone called Sally.

"Timmy's worried about door handles and germs being the original assassins while Brandon is denying that his bruise doesn't look like a dolphin even though it does," Sky explained in an extremely calm voice as if those were perfectly normal topics of conversation.

Riven stared at his friends in bewilderment. "You know I just left Lex, Toby and Sally because they were debating nonsense and I thought I'd be able to get some intelligent conversation out of you guys. Clearly I was mistaken."

"What was Lex, Toby and Sally arguing about?" Sky asked.

"Who would win the ultimate battle; ninjas or pirates?" (1)

"Oh, that's a good one," Brandon grinned.

"That's so stupid," Sky said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I know," Riven agreed.

"It's obviously ninjas."

"What? You moron, pirates would kick their ass," Riven disagreed.

"Ninja's have special skills."

"So? Pirates fight randomly and there's no way to plan around that."

"No way. Ninjas will win hands down," Sky said, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at Riven. The burgundy hair specialist to just gearing up to launch into one of his and Sky's epic disagreements, when Codatorta decided that his students had rested long enough and was going to put them back into their training.

"Alright lads! Get in your places! We've got a whole hour to work on your footwork!" Codatorta barked and the students seemed to groan as one. Riven shot Sky a 'this isn't over look' and then did as his instructor ordered. About half an hour into Codatorta barking out 'advance', 'retire' and 'lunge', the sound of someone clearing heir voice snapped all the boys and their instructor out of their focus. Everyone looked over towards the doors of the gym they were training in and all the students straightened their stance slightly when they all saw that the cough belonged to none other than their headmaster and prominent sorcerer Saladin. "Headmaster Saladin," Codatorta greeted. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I'm terribly sorry for interrupting your lesson, but I was wondering if I might be able to steal two of your students for a moment or two?" the headmaster asked in that voice of his that made all his students want to aspire to a level that would make him proud of them.

"Not at all," Codatorta replied. "Take your pick."

"Thank you. Prince Sky, Brandon, may I please speak with you boys privately?"

"Sir!" both boy answered briskly, snapping to attention before filing out of the class and made their way out of the gym with the headmaster while their class mates watched them leave with envious eyes. Having good footwork was important in fighting, but hours of drilling the basics were rather mind numbing. (2)

Saladin didn't speak as he walked through the empty corridors of Red Fountain and the two boys followed after him in silence. The only sound was the clicking of the heels of their boots and the clunk of Saladin staff on the polished stone floor. Finally, Saladin stepped out onto one of the battlements and observed one of the more damaged parts of the school which had been completely closed off the students. Brandon and Sky exchanged an uncertain look while they waited for the headmaster to break the silence. What on Magix would Saladin want to talk to them privately about?

"It's still hard to believe that Red Fountain fell last year," Saladin said suddenly in a solemn voice as he looked over the ruins of his school. "When I first started teaching here my hair was as black as the feathers of a raven, if you can believe it. But decades of trying to keep a whole bunch of high school boys out of trouble have turned me completely grey."

"Er, excuse me sir, but was this what you wanted to talk to us about?" Sky asked while Brandon was busy trying to picture Saladin with black hair.

"No, just thinking out loud," Saladin answered softly as he regarded his broken school for a few seconds longer before turning his attention back to the two boys he had pulled out of class. "I was wondering if I might be able to ask a favour of you boys. In a week, my grandson Helia will be arrive of a small visit to Red Fountain so he can see the unveiling of our new campus and I was hoping that you two would be able to show him around. He's your age and will be staying in the room next to your new dorm. Also, you two boys are model students and I know that you'll be a fine example for our prestigious school and make Helia feel welcome. Would you boys be willing to help me out in this small way?"

"We would be delighted sir," Brandon answered for both boys who stood at attention. "We're honoured that you have selected us for such as mission."

"Yes, well, you are two of my best students and I'm not just talking about in your grade," Saladin smiled honestly. "And I must admit that I have another motive for inviting m grandson to the unveiling of the new campus. For the last few years I've completely submerged myself in this school and while I have no regrets, I can't help but wish that I could have some of my family living close to me so I could see them more often, particularly recently since my health has been slipping slightly. My wife has already passed on and our children have their own lives in various realms throughout the universe that I can't ask them to leave. Helia, the only child of my youngest daughter, is the only possible person who could join me here in Magix, but that would mean he would have to leave Ossacip School of Art (3) which I could never force him to do."

"So, you want us make Red Fountain appealing to Helia so he'll enroll here?" Sky asked.

"I'm not trying to put any pressure on you boys, please understand that, but it would mean a great deal to me if Helia enrolled here at Red Fountain. I unfortunately have been a rather neglectful grandfather over the last few years and wish to make up for it," Saladin explained. "And I'm sure that if anyone would be able to convince Helia to stay it would be the two of you."

"We'll try our best sir," Brandon promised earnestly.

"Thank you," Saladin smiled warmly. "I'm sure you'll be able to get the rest of your friends to help you, although I have to inform you that Helia has a rather gentle nature so he might not get along to well with the more . . . er, competitive members of your class."

"Don't worry. We're trying to keep Riven on a tight leash this year," Brandon grinned, knowing exactly what the headmaster was trying to say.

"That good to hear," Saladin said with a somewhat relieved looked. "That boy has astounding potential to make something of himself, especially when you consider his background, provided he keeps himself out of trouble. He caused me plenty of headaches last year that I don't wish to repeat. I understand that he was brought up to a very different life style than everyone else, but I do not want a repetition of his thieving, drinking, wagging, curfew breaking, forgery – "

"Forgery?" Sky repeated, his eyes widening. He knew Riven had some skill when it came to copying signatures, but Sky didn't know that he did it enough to grab Saladin's attention.

"Of yes. He signs my name better than I do sometimes," Saladin explained calmly.

"What? He didn't dare, did he?"

"Not often. Although he has got Javelin's and Doc's signatures down pretty well. But with you boys watching him again I'm sure he'll straighten out and thank you again for agreeing to show Helia around. He hasn't been to Red Fountain since he was seven years old so I'm sure he's forgotten the lay out of the place since then."

"It's our pleasure, sir," Brandon told him.

"That's good to hear," Saladin smiled again. "Now, I better let you get back to your class so that you may continue your footwork revisal."

"So, Saladin has a grandson? Wow. For some reason I never pictured him with a family," Bloom said that night to Sky over the phone. Bloom had told him to call her sometime and Sky was willing to use that as many times as he could. In fact, a day hadn't gone by since the start of year mixer that the two of them didn't speak to each other in some way. Sometimes that would mean a simple text message that read 'I miss you' and then other times they would spend hours on the phone talking about nothing in particular.

And Sky couldn't be happier.

"Yeah, he was even married at one stage but his wife passed away years ago due to illness. I'm pretty sure that they had three children between them; one son and two daughters. This kid Helia is apparently the only child of Saladin's youngest daughter."

"Do you think he's a sorcerer like his grandfather is?" Bloom asked.

"I dunno. I guess it's possible. That kind of skill can run through families, but I think that sorcerers only happened when a person has the potential and uses it. Apparently there are many people who go through life with the potential, but they never discover it so they never know that they're a sorcerer. I guess it's kinda like everyone has the potential to play an instrument, but you'll never know if you're a natural at it until you try it."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Bloom said, though her voice sounded a bit distant.

"Are you aright Bloom? You seem a bit distracted."

"I am," Bloom sighed. "I'm worried about this girl we found. It's been days and she still hasn't woken up."

"And you still don't know anything about her?" Sky asked. Bloom had filled him in on how this girl had stumbled out of the forest with a baby pixie and then collapsed, and he could tell that her continued unconsciousness was making Bloom worry.

"Well, according to Tecna, she's a princess from the Realm of Tides and Ms. Faragonda said that her name was Layla."

"Princess Layla? Why didn't you say so? I've met her before at a couple of royal functions."

"You have? What's she like?"

"I'm not sure. I only talked to her for like a second and we were only kids back then."

"I'm still worried about her."

"She'll be fine Bloom. In a few days she'll wake up and then you'll see that everything's okay."

"But that's just it; it doesn't feel like everything okay. I've got this really bad feeling that something in the universe is wrong and this might sound crazy, but I think it has something to do with me," Bloom told him in a small voice. "Oh, I'm not even sure if I understand what I'm talking about. Maybe I'm just tired."

"How 'bout I let you go so you can try and get some sleep?"

"Okay. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Night Bloom."

"Goodnight Sky."

(1) This debate always seems to pop up and like the chicken and the egg, no one knows the answer

(2) When I used to do fencing, we'd have to warm up before ever class by doing footwork and after just a few minutes of it, it used to get boring

(3) Obviously I made up the name for Helia's old school. Ossacip is actually Picasso backwards just in case you wanted to know

Like I said; that chapter's kinda random, and not that long which is a nice change from the mammoth size chapters that show up later. It's just basically setting some stuff up for future chapters.

Anyway, so long and thanks for all the fish!

TBC