Chapter 7

(Ivy's P.O.V.)

Powers

After we all finished our breakfast and the yetis had cleaned the table, North turned to me with bright eyes.

"Ivy, I think it is time for you to get back to dorms. You need to rest for while, and i'm sure your friends are a bit worried." North explained. All the others nodded, even Pitch. I felt a bit annoyed, though North is right. I don't feel tired at all, but Lauren is probably worrying just a little.

"Is that all for today then?" I asked rather put off.

"Haha, you are eager girl Ivy! No, it will not be all for today. After lunch we will find you again and train you how to control your powers better." North laughed. Oh thank the moon. I'm kinda freaked out about the whole powers concept, I never knew I contained that type of magic in me.

"Okay, thank you." I smiled in agreement. Pitch and the others rose in unison, and I followed them.

"Are you ready to go?" Pitch asked as he offered me his hand. I nodded, and waved goodbye to the others as the shadows surrounded us. The ground shifted under my feet, and we shot through the darkness.

I felt Pitch's hand clinch mine quickly, and I clinched his back as I stepped out into my dorm. For once I didn't stumble on my way out, but I did gasp. I guess I caught Lauren's attention, because she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw me.

"When did you... Did you come in through the door?" Lauren asked with a bewildered expression.

"Duh, I'm just surprised your doing school work on a free day!" I laughed as I went and sat on my bed.

"Oh... Well I didn't hear you." Lauren shrugged. "And yes, I am doing school work thank you. It's for Mrs. Katherine's class. I'm finishing up a story for next semester early since I have a bit of inspiration going. Can you read it and tell me if it's any good?"

"Sure! What's it about?" I asked as Lauren handed me a tiny stack of papers.

"Well... it's kind of hard to explain. It's a love story, and a horror story all mixed into one... You will just have to see and find out!" Lauren exclaimed as she eagerly watched me open up the first page.

I laid onto my back and began to read a very romantic, and quite disturbing, story about a far away land of knights and wizards. The classical story types, but lets face it. It's possibly the most enjoyable type of story you can write. Because who doesn't like magic and handsome nights who save the damsel in distress? Well, I guess some don't.

It took me about thirty minuets to read it all top to bottom, and asses how Katherine might grade it. "I think you will do really well! The characters are nicely developed, and your plot is great!" I announced to Lauren as I closed the bundle of papers and handed it back to her.

"You really think so? Oh, I'm so nervous that she won't like it!" Lauren cried as she placed the story back on her desk and plopped down beside me.

"Haha, you'll do fine. I promise." I assured her. Lauren smiled at me, and jumped right back up to her feet. She grabbed me by my hand and pulled me up off the bed all in a rush.

"Come on! Let's go find Alberto, I think he is still in the chow hall." Lauren exclaimed as she began to push me out the door.

"Hold up! Can I at least put on my shoes?" I laughed as I gently wrenched my arm away from Lauren and ran back over to my bed. I slipped on my flip flops which I usually wore when we were relaxing and ran out the door with Lauren.

To say the least, Lauren was right. Alberto was in the chow hall stuffing his face full of eggs and bacon with his dorm mate, Alex I think. "Hey Alberto! save some food for us!" Lauren exclaimed as we sat beside him, interrupting Alex's story about some past event.

"Oy! Hush, I'm in the middle of a story here." Alex snapped at Lauren. Lauren slapped him in the arm and began to fill her plate up with tiny amounts of food.

"Oh please, what stories do you have that don't bore people to death?" Lauren replied, a smirk lining her lips.

"Hey, you two be nice." Alberto interrupted. Alex huffed and shook his head.

"It's not my fault shes so rude" Alex grumbled as he took a sip of coffee. I rolled my eyes, they always fight when they meet. It's utterly annoying and I'm about ready to smack the both of them!

"Hey, Ivy. Are you not going to eat?" Alberto asked trying to turn the conversation around. Umm...

"I-I'm not hungry today. I can't eat right after a run." I lied as I took a long sip of water. Alberto shrugged and turned his attention back to food. "hey, what is the time guys?"

"It's almost mid-day." Alex replied pointing at the big clock above the door ways. Of course there's a clock there. I always forget about that.

Almost mid-day... hmm. So I was out for over a couple hours just simple trying to figure out I had powers. Ugh, now to just learn how to use it. That should be interesting! But how to make up an excuse for Lauren and Burt...

Oh! I could just say that Pitch needed to talk to me again... Or Jack. I don't know. I'll make it up as I go! It's not like everyone needs to be involved in every second of my life anyway...

"So! What do you guys want to do today?" Burt asked us all after he finally finished stuffing his face. Thank the moon, I never thought he would stop.

"I don't know. But I am going to get a shower. You guys have fun!" I replied as I stood up. By the time I am finished with my shower, it will be time to meet back up with the Guardians. Perfect.

"Aw... Fine. We will see you shortly!" Lauren chimed as she raised a glass to me. I smiled and walked off to my dorms, laving Lauren and Alex to fight to their hearts content.

The day was rather nice. The birds were out singing, and the moon was high and bright! Not even a cloud was in the sky. If I didn't have work to do I would probably just ditch everyone and read a book for the day by a tree. Alas, sadly I cannot today.

When I got back to my dorm, I grabbed my stuff for a shower and ran off to the bathrooms. I hate how we all have combined showers. Why can't we just have one in our rooms? It's not like they didn't have room to put them all together...

But oh well... At least there was no one in here. So I just enjoyed the hot water while I could. One thing kept surfacing into my mind however. Ashley... Why would Pitch do that? Why would he make me worry like that? I mean, I understand that it was to help me discover my powers. But still... I haven't seen her in forever. I don't even know if she is okay or not! Maybe... Maybe one day I could ask pitch or one of the Guardians to take me to see her... if she can even see me that is. ugh... Damn that Neo for interfering with my life!

Whatever. I just have to shake it off. Yes, just forget about it for now. That's all...

After a couple minuets i got out of the shower and covered up with a towel. I had completely forgotten to bring cloths. Oh well. So I just sprinted to the room in hopes no one sees me in just a towel, not like it would really matter. When I finally got to my room and closed the door behind me, a loud shriek filled the room.

"What the hell! Where are your cloths?" I heard Pitch's voice shout.

"What the hell are you doing in here!?" I shouted back as I pulled my towel closer to me. I felt a blush spread across my face... Shit. Now is the time I wish I could just disappear into the shadows and never return.

"I came to get you. I didn't expect to find you half naked!" Pitch explained as he looked away. Was... was he blushing?

"This is a girls dorm! We don't exactly expect to find one of our professors sitting on our bed waiting for us!" I exclaimed. "Now could you please get out until I get dressed?"

"It would be my pleasure." Pitch shook his head. "Just shout when your dressed."

Pitch vanished into the shadows, leaving me by myself again. That was probably... one of the most awkward moments of my life. Thank the heavens I had a towel on! What the hell was he even thinking? Ugh... dammit.

I hurriedly put on some ripped skinny jeans I had with a black tank top that allows me to move freely. I towel dried my hair, and put on a little bit of make up and perfume. If only Pitch could had waited like ten minuets to appear in my room, that would have been great.

"I'm dressed now!" I shouted into the air. A couple seconds later, Pitch was striding out of the shadows once again. It still seemed like he was blushing a little.

"It's about time. Are you ready to go now?" Pitch asked, looking rather impatient.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, let's go."

Pitch put his hand on my shoulder like he usually does, and we vanished into the shadows. A couple seconds later we were back in the same odd field we were in earlier. the Guardians were all in a group chatting away like last time. except Bunnymund looked rather annoyed at something.

"Ah! Ivy is back." North announced once we had approached the group. Sandy gave me a cheerful wave, and I smiled back.

"What took you guys so long?" Jack asked emerging from the group.

Pitch and I glanced at each other. "Long story. But were here now!" I replied with a bubbly smile.

The others shrugged and just went along with it. "Now, Ivy. Do you remember how to summon your powers?" Bunnymund asked as he stepped forward. As an answer I cupped my hand and held them out for everyone to see. With a bit of effort a ball of light appeared in my hands, shimmering like the moon's rays. Pitch looked a bit disgusted at its brightness. But he didn't voice any opinions.

"Very good! Now, just to learn how to control it. How to use it for good and safety, maybe even healing. Who knows what your magic is capable of?" Bunnymund stated as he eyed the glowing light curiously. "can you make it change shape or move?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. But with an effort I made it move into a long ribbon that wrapped around me lightly, almost like a snake really. "I guess I can!"

Toothina laughed and zipped around me. I could tell the others were rather excited about how well this exercise is coming together. A bit more excited than I clearly was. But hey, maybe if I get good enough I won't get completely pummeled by this Neo if we ever had the misfortune to meet.

"She can move it and make it shift. Great. Fun. But can she fight? We all seem to forget the fact that her life is at stake here!" Pitch interrupted with a pointed look. Pitch was right, and the others knew it too.

"Pitch, she has barley discovered her powers. You can't expect her to know how to fight with them instantly!" Toothina objected. "Let her play around and experiment with them for a bit. Let her figure out the the basics before you go pushing her into the finer points."

Pitch let out a slight growl. But he didn't object. Toothina is right, as well as Pitch. But I have no clue how to completely control my magic. At least give me a day or two to practice the basics., and then I can start learning how to fight with it.

"I agree. Ivy, why don't you try to mimic some of things that Sandy and Jack do with their magic." North insisted as he mad room for Jack and Sandy. Pitch also stepped forward despite the fact that no one mentioned him.

Sandy waved to me and signaled me to watch and learn. With a tiny bit of dream sand, Sandy maneuvered it to flow here and there in patterns and circles. After a moment he stopped, and motioned for me to do the same. With a bit more effort this time, I conjured the light again and let it flow in light ribbons in the same motions Sandy did. Sandy had me practice this a couple times to the point where it was becoming fairly easy to maneuver the light.

Then Jack pipped up. "Okay! Now, let's see if you can make it shift into an animal or some type of shape." Jack formed a handful of snow despite the fact that it felt like summer out here, and had it shift into a bunny. It hopped around everyone, making us laugh except for Pitch who looked on with displeasure at the foolish antics. "Try!" Jack insisted.

Okay... I brought the ribbons of light back together to form into my hand. With some difficulty, I created a tiny winged creature. I meant for it to be a bird, but instead it turned into a tiny dragon that dove out of my hands and flew around me shooting tiny sparks of multicolored lights. Everyone gasped at the beautiful array of colors that the dragon emitted. Even Pitch was rather surprised as the dragon let one long stream of black light out as he twirled around him. Pitch touched the black dazzling light, but as soon as he did it dissipated into thin air leaving only a smoke behind.

I had the dragon fly back into my hand and made it dissipate back into thin air. Everyone stared amazed at me, like they thought I made it change into all the colors of the rainbow when really i was just as amazed as they are. I never meant to make it change colors. It seems my magic has somewhat a mind of it's own, or it's just trying to show me what it can do. I have no clue, but it was absolutely mystifying!

"Try that, except on a larger scale." Pitch broke through the silence and awe.

"I'll try." I mused as I pictured a large scale dragon, like the size of Pitch's nightmares. With the most effort I have used yet, slowly a large scale dragon appeared in a ball of light.

It was very detailed and pronounced. It's scales changed a different hue of colors every couple of moments, its claws were like the blades of swords, its eyes glow a bright silver like the moons rays at night, and its breath was that of the rainbow itself. It looked to me with a certain kindness... like a child to its mother. But as Pitch circled my dragon, it tensed and glowered at him. 'Don't hurt him.' I thought to myself. But as if the dragon heard me, it looked to me with a pleading look. i shook my head, and with a pout the dragon stopped glowering at Pitch.

"Can he fly?" Jack wondered allowed. If the last one could fly, than so could this one. 'Fly. Sore the sky's and let them hear what you've got.'

The dragon let out a tiny rumble from the back of its throat and with a great flap of its huge wings it flew off the ground, nearly knocking us off our feet from the wind it created. The dragon flew around, maneuvering skillfully threw the trees, diving here and there, doing flips way over there. It left behind beautiful streaks of light that dissipated within the moment, but when he roared. Oh how the heavens shook with its ferocity! How the fiery rain of its breath turned into the most terrifying shade of black imaginable, nearly blocking out all the sunlight.

Pitch was visibly stunned by the darkness it emitted. But to top it off, right before the utter blackness disappeared into thin air a bright flash blinded us all. It showered down on us like a multicolored rain, and the dragon softly landed back in front of me. It bowed its long neck to me, and slowly dissipated into thin air. When nothing was left, I became light headed. I started to see stars.

"That was amazing Ivy!" Jack exclaimed as he pumped his fist into the air. All the others chimed in with agreement.

I wanted to be excited with them. But I was to weak to even speak. My legs gave out from under me... and everything went black. I felt a pair of familiar hands catch me, and someone called my name frantically. But the world faded away before me leaving me in utter blackness...