News had gone round that Felix and Drew would be coming over to help. Laurel told Andalusia all about them, focusing a bit too long on Felix than Drew. Andalusia couldn't help feeling eager to meet them, especially Drew.
"Yeah, so Drew is thirteen and he's REALLY nice. He's got black hair and green eyes," Laurel waffled on and on.
"What's his power?" Andalusia interrupted, as Laurel was on a tangent yet again about Felix's looks.
"Oh, uh- Felix can shape shift into any cat, big or small. And…" she lowered her voice bending down.
"HE was that big cat that helped you the other night," Laurel said.
Andalusia's eyes widened, her mouth dropped.
"Really?"
"Yeah! He sensed I was in trouble so he ran over and helped, he's perfect…"
"He's perfect…" Callice mimicked in an annoying voice, scoffing and shaking her head.
"HE IS!" Laurel shot back, infuriated, "don't EVER say that again!"
Callice just looked at her, "how threatening."
"Work needs to be done," she ordered.
"In a minute…" Andalusia called back, immediately wishing she hadn't, as Callice looked at her with her usual piercing glare.
"Anyway, Drew can sense what you're doing and feeling. He KNOWS if you're lying, or telling the truth. He can also be VERY persuasive…" Laurel explained.
They went on chatting again until…
"Argh!" Laurel screamed, after being pushed backwards by something huge and furry.
She struggled on the ground until she realised who it was.
"Felix! Get off!" She said between hysterical laughter, as a huge cat, the same one Andalusia had seen the other night, was licking her face.
Andalusia, who had run back in fright, was stunned.
"Hello," a soft voice said.
She turned suddenly, to look into the face of a very handsome boy, exactly how Laurel had described him. He had green eyes, was tall, and had black, medium-length hair.
"You must be Andalusia," he said, holding out his hand.
Andalusia took it tentatively, blushing already.
"Yeah," she replied shyly, pushing her hair behind her ears, hoping to look more presentable.
Drew smiled, so did she, until another boy thumped into him.
"Oy! Felix!" Drew laughed from the ground, where he had fallen.
Andalusia, realised there were now two boys. The other one had to be Felix. She could only notice he was very tall and had light brown hair and was slightly tanned. Wrestling playfully for some time, they were stopped by Laurel dragging Amby and Vince by the hand, beaming.
"Hey rascals," Amby said, smiling weakly, holding Vince's hand, looking much happier.
"Hey," Felix replied, saluting and bowing.
"Good afternoon," Drew stated to Amby, but was looking at Andalusia.
Amby and Laurel noticed this, and exchanged glances, fighting off a laugh. Andalusia, taking her eyes of Drew for the first time, saw Felix's eyes.
They were orange, not hazel like Vince's, or grey like Callice's, but orange with black slits. She couldn't stop staring. They looked horribly scary, but the person himself wasn't at all.
"Ah! This must be the girl you were talking about!" He butted in, smiling.
"Felix Evans, welcome to the family," he hugged Andalusia. Rather taken a back, she stood there.
"Hey, get off," Drew said, pulling Felix off.
"May I introduce myself formally? I'm Drew Taylor; this is Felix Evans, nice to meet you,"
Andalusia just giggled, and cast her eyes to the ground.
"Hey boys!" John said, running over. "Ready to work?"
"Yep!" Felix said, clasping his hands together and then putting an arm around Laurel, winking.
"Good, you two can help Callice," John said.
Felix immediately lost all humour, a deep growl emerged from his throat and Andalusia jumped back.
"Callice? That little –"
"What he means, is that he would rather work with someone less intellectual as me," a voice said slyly.
Callice stepped forward, fists clenched, "he wouldn't be able to keep up with someone who can count more than ten."
"You-"Felix ran forward, to be only knocked over off his feet. Laurel ran to him in alarm.
"Do that again, philistine and I won't hesitate," Callice threatened.
Andalusia now was even angry at her, not afraid, but angry. Why was she so mean to absolutely everybody?
"Callice!" John shouted, helping Felix up, holding him away.
"Go back to work!" John bellowed.
"We don't need you to cause more trouble!"
"She can't help it sir," Felix cut in, teeth bared.
Callice turned her head, meeting his gaze, "you be quiet you imp," she growled.
A tense silence followed, until Drew, Laurel, Felix and Callice all looked like bombs about to explode.
"WORK!" John shouted hysterically, desperate to avoid another battle that day.
"Pleased to," Callice replied, "salutations… urchins."
She turned on her heel, gave Andalusia one last look, and stormed off.
"Here's another one," Andalusia said, holding a block of wood to Drew.
They had been piling stacks for half an hour, and had been talking to each other as if they had been friends for their whole lives.
"Yeah, my parents died when I was four," Drew said, as they talked about the past.
"My uncle and aunt brought me here, to John and Jessica before they too died of sickness."
He ran a hand over his eyes, wiping away tears, hiding his face.
Wanting to comfort him somehow, Andalusia said, "I understand."
Drew immediately look up, "You do?"
"Yes, i… my parents, I haven't seen them since last year. I… I miss them," she stifled a sob.
Drew placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "don't worry, at least… we have each other."
Andalusia didn't know what he meant by that but nodded anyway.
They talked about less miserable things, like what they liked to do and the pranks Drew had done with Felix on Vince. They talked about training sessions they had, and their powers. Drew seemed to understand perfectly what Andalusia felt, after all his power helped him do that.
Andalusia felt more or less sad when it reached the time for them to leave.
She was reassured plenty of times that she would see Drew again, and Drew made sure too. They walked together to where Felix and Callice seemed to be having another row but were immersed in each other's conversation.
"So I'll see you at the tournament then?" He asked eagerly.
After asking Laurel secretly about when she could catch up with Drew, and was told that every six months they had a tournament where every child competed, using all their powers and training skills they could. The tournament went over a period of six weeks, with countless matches. These matches consisted of one-on-one battles in the training centre. Each match lasted over at least an hour, with the audience ranging from judges to parents, competitors and infants. There were five matches every three weeks.
The matches weren't knock-outs, which meant the loser would have a chance to battle again to prove themselves to proceed.
The very last day was by far the most spectacular event. Even though usually Amby, Andalusia, Callice, Felix and Drew won matches easily, it was very much anticipated to find out who would win out of these incredibly hard matches.
Laurel had won a number of times, summoning flocks of birds or packs of bears, or even controls Felix himself to fight the battle for her, as there were no boundaries, a part from death. She had pinpoint accuracy when controlling the creatures, she 'couldn't be improved' Felix had told her.
Amby was exceptional. She could foresee what her opponent could do, so she could work herself around it and simply use martial arts to beat her opponent. Amby loved the tournaments as did everyone else; they all got very excited and competitive.
Drew occasionally fought with his hands and feet but just made his opponent feel incredibly confused or persuade them to surrender. He won a great deal of times.
Callice competed too, as unsociable as she was, this was the only time she was seen with a large group of people. She seemed to relish in using her powers to burst, set fire, control, dissolve and manoeuvre anything anywhere. But surprisingly, she was a graceful fighter. She had won a fair number too.
So far, in the table they had on the board, Laurel was coming third, Drew second, and Callice and Amby tied in first place.
"I'll see you there," Andalusia replied. She wasn't shy anymore around his, she felt secure and happier than she had felt in six months.
They reached the others, and Callice and Felix had now committed themselves to an-ever-present cone of silence.
"Gosh, how many arguments does Callice have to get into?" Vince cried, joining them, throwing his hands in the air. It seemed he had spent the last ten minutes trying to keep them from attacking each other.
"Ey, don't worry," Drew laughed, messing his hair.
"Respect your elders!" Vince said, looking rather annoyed.
Andalusia remembered being told that Vince could control the ageing of himself and others, how old was he really? Before she could ask, Drew was dragged off by an angry Felix away from them.
"See yah!" She called to him.
"See yah!" He waved back, giving her the most charming smile.