A/N: Man, I haven't updated this in a fairly long time... hehe...

Well, I just outlined the entire thing today- I mean, I've always known where I've been going with this FanFic, but now I've got a good chapter count. This story's going to be AT LEAST 50 chapters. And that's if I combine a lot of them. But I don't care about how long it'll take, to be honest- I'm on Chapter 10 or 11 right now, and I'm having a LOT of fun writing this!

Anyways. Thank you AzelmaandEponine and ArtemisHarryAnimorphsfan96 for reviewing, and enjoy the first chapter of Terra's story!

Chapter 1: Rising Threat

I mentioned that my name is Terra. Before that I was known as Tara Markov, Princess of Markovia. All that it really was was a different spelling, but different nonetheless.

The story I want to tell begins when I was twelve years old and still residing in Markovia with my brother, Brion. It appeared to be a normal day- well, as normal as you could get for a Prince and Princess.

I awoke to the usual rays of light stinging my eyes a bit, coming through the glass-stained window. I rubbed my eyes and hopped out of bed.

I tiredly and un-princesslikely made my way to a marble vanity, taking waver from a basin and dropping it onto my face. Water trickled down, wetting parts of my hair or dropping onto my nightclothes. Normally I'd take a full bath or something, but I was feeling rather lazy today. I'd settle for this.

I dried my face off with a bright yellow washcloth before choosing a purple dress to wear for the day, mentally wishing I didn't have constant reminders on how to look and such. Quickly I undressed and threw on the dress- the color was a darker shade of purple and there were ruffles underneath. White lace elegantly edged parts of the long sleeves and a sash in a lighter shade of purple crossed over the chest.

After adorning a small circlet that had a small amethyst in the center, I tied my hair up in its usual fashion- masses of blonde being bunched up by purple ribbons, reaching to not quite the top of my head.

I heard a knock at my door just as I stuffed my feet into purple mary-janes. I expected it to be some sort of maid or servant when I opened it- I'm wrong. It was Brion.

"Hello," I said. "What's going on?"

"Father needs us," Brion said. "He says a scientist is here to conduct an experiment of some sort."

"Why does this scientist need us to watch, though?" I asked, inspecting my brother. Brion was two years older than me- which made him fourteen- and the successor to the Markovian Throne. Some might think that I'd be jealous of that, but honestly, I wasn't interested in sitting on a chair and commanding people to do stuff all day.

Brion's chunk of red hair swayed slightly as he shrugged. He was dressed in a suit, golden chains crossing over a long sleeved, black-cuffed, light blue button down shirt. A belt went along nicely with his black pants and sleek black boots. To top it all off, he shared the same blue eyes as me despite our different hair color. However, his usually held a playful and mischievous gleam to it while mine were rather… bland.

"I dunno," he said. "Guessing it's just another wannabe scientist hoping to impress the Markov House by displaying their latest discoveries or whatnot. I think Father also mentioned something about this scientist hoping to use us to help with the experiment."

My face suddenly dropped to a low temperature. We were being used as test subjects? We were royalty, not some stupid animals born to be experimented on! What if something happened to us?

Brion interrupted my thoughts by giving a small laugh. "Tara, it's not as if anything will happen to us," he eased. "Besides, we've been experimented on for stupid projects before every now and then and we're not dead."

I relaxed. He was right- this wouldn't be any different from those other times. I was silly to have worried about this.

But still I hated being treated like some fancy doll, people telling me what to do, how to act, who to be…

Encouraged by my relaxation, Brion continued, "Come on- I'm pretty sure this scientist is here now. May as well get this thing over with."

I decided to follow him as he began to turn and leave. He was right- may as well get this over with.

I now really wish I hadn't made that mistake. Yet at the same time, I strongly praise myself for it.

"Brion, Tara, meet Dr. Helga Jace."

Brion and I watched as a woman, perhaps in her early fifties, strode across the throne room to meet our father, the King. The woman, or Dr. Helga Jace, had gray hair tied into a bun and wore a white suit. Thin silver glasses overlapped gray eyes that took on a rather bored look.

Dr. Jace and our father shook hands. The King of Markovia was dressed in the same fashion as Brion and had silky dark hair that was whitening in parts. Then Dr. Jace began to walk towards us. "You two must be the children of the Markov House. A pleasure to meet you."

Brion nodded curtly as I didn't move. "Welcome, Dr. Jace."

I was impatient- I wanted to get to the point of why she was here. "Well, what's this even about?"

Father, Brion and Dr. Jace all turned their heads to look at me. Finally the King broke the silence. "I have been funding Dr. Jace's research for quite some time now. And finally her research has ended, for she has made a ground-breaking discovery."

Brion and I exchanged looks. I was deeply curious about this, and so was my brother. If my father had been funding her research, than this was obviously important.

"What did you discover?" Brion asked her, breaking his eye contact with me and turning back to the visitor.

A small smile crept on her face. "Why, I've discovered how to give ordinary people the ability to perform the extraordinary," she said. "In other words, I can now give human beings superpowers. And your father and I have agreed that you two will be the first to receive them."

Wait… what did she just say?

I jumped up immediately. "What?" I almost yell. "Why? We're members of the Markov House, not-"

"Tara!" My father scolded. "Control yourself."

"No!" I talked back on impulse. "I demand to know why Brion and I! Because I'm not going to be a test subject without reason!"

Just as Father was about to burst at my comments, Dr. Jace raised a hand, silencing him as if she were his superior.

"Yes, you are members of the Mrakov House," she reasoned calmly. "But you can be even more. Plus there is something that needs to be resolved and it seems fitting for it to be resolved by iconic figures in Markovia. I trust you've heard of the situation with General Immortus?"

We nodded. The biggest political problem at hand was that Markovia was under the threat of General Immortus, someone claimed to be immortal and have gained centuries of tactical experience. He was this very strategic person- basically impossible to beat in that area. So General Immortus threatening Markovia was definitely not a good sign.

"General Immortus is a prodigy," she continued after seeing our acknowledgments. "A prodigy with his brain. However, once I give you both superhuman abilities, you'll be prodigies yourselves- maybe not in the brains, that's up to you- but you certainly will be with the brawn. Prodigies can only be matched by prodigies."

"In the same subject," I muttered, half to Dr. Jace and half to myself.

"Anyways," Father begins in his booming voice and looked directly to me and Brion. "The experiment will take place within a few hours." Dread seeped its tendrils into my twelve year old body as he continued. "Brion, Tara, take this time to properly prepare yourselves, then you'll both be escorted to the laboratory." He said the next sentence almost uneasily, "I wish I could allow more time for this to sink in, but you two must begin preparing to meet General Immortus as soon as possible."

Before I can scream at the idea of powers being embedded into me, before I can protest, before I can do anything, the King sent for my maid and Brion's servant. Both were very punctual.

I tried to stay strong for myself as I wondered what exactly the aftermath of the next few hours would be.