Chapter 1: Birthday

Riley Carlisle was fascinated.

A few seconds ago, she felt like she had been falling, down, down, plunging into blackness- yet she felt relaxed, as if she were floating on water.

No more was she falling, but now standing on some sort of stained-glass floor as far as her vision would allow her. Designed on that stained-glass floor were ten different designs- a cloud and thunderbolt, a snowflake, fire, a skull, some intricately designed triangle, a leaf and a scale, a sun, a moon, and a star, all surrounding an image in the middle.

It was a picture featuring a large tree, but it was the oddest thing- it had eyes and a mouth. Its leaves overlooked a few small buildings.

Normally, it would have looked like something coming from a five-year-old's picture book. But it was familiar to Riley- she recognized that place from her dreams.

Before Riley could think much more about it, a calm, resonating voice announced, Welcome, Riley.

Right after he finished, ten pedestals blinked to life, strategically placed according to the symbols.Discover which one fits you.

The first one Riley dashed to was the flame. Dangerous, destructive, yet helpful- that was her, and anyone who knew her wouldn't argue.

Her short arm reached for the fire- only for it to disintegrate and slip between her fingers like a breeze carrying dust along an old road.

Riley's eyes followed what was left of the flame, watching it be carried away in a mix of awe and confusion. It blew away form the scene, taking to the air upwards and fated to never be seen again.

With that, Riley's eyes lowered to meet the pedestal below- it was a leaf.

Curious, she abandoned any hope she had for the fire and started for the leaf. She might as well recycle through these symbols until she found the right one.

To her amazement, a bright, golden hue extended from the leaf once her hands came into contact with it, slithering in the air until it boldly surrounded the leaf. Riley withdrew her hands when the leaf floated higher and higher into the air until it greeted her head.

A theurgist, the voice remarked as all of the pedestals and symbols crumbled away just as the fire symbol had. The School of Life. This is your primary School- your secondary will be found out as you proceed.

Riley knitted her eyebrows in thought. Schools? As in the one she attended every day? She didn't want to go to more schools... and just who was speaking to her, anyways?

Now, magic is a combination of love and hate, the deep, ominous voice said. With that, a countless amount of new pedestals appeared in the place of the ones before. What do you love most?

Wait- magic? Was Riley hearing him right?

Then she reminded herself that the symbols carved into the floor- they were from her dreams. So perhaps this was a dream as well.

What did she have to lose?

Riley found herself crossing over the a pedestal displaying a moon. This was no surprise to herself- the moon symbolized a variety of her interests. Her favorite Greek goddess was Artemis. In her favorite TV show, The Secret Life of Marissa Trueblood, the heroine was a werewolf. And just the night before, she and Sabrina had spent hours gazing upon the night sky.

Like the fire, this crumbled when her fingers brushed over it, but unlike the fire, something quickly replaced it. When Riley tossed her head over her shoulder, she could see that all of the pedestals held something new.

Good. Now, what do you hate?

Riley spotted what she hated as quickly as a mere snap of a finger.

The shield.

She was sure that if anyone were here with her and heard the voice as well, they'd be wondering why she was crossing over to the shield out of all things. Well, Riley had a pretty bad experience involving shields, one that had left a brutally permanent mark. As if her asthma wasn't enough...

As expected, once Riley grasped the shield, it faded away into a dust-like substance. With that, all of the pedestals flashed away, not to be seen by her again.

And there we have it. Take care, Riley Moonshield, of the School of Life. . .

Violet irises were revealed, her room slowly coming into focus.

Riley blinked a few times, propping herself up with her elbows. Gradually she digested her long, white dresser, a bulletin board crowded with photos of her, Sabrina, and some of Alex, her ceiling fan...

She knitted her eyebrows. So she was right- it had all been a dream. Weird.

A smile then watered down all thoughts of the dream. Wait, this was the day, wasn't it? April 22nd...

Riley swung her legs over her bed and began getting ready for school. Today was the day- her fifteenth birthday. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't see The Secret Life of Marissa Trueblood movie with Sabrina thanks to Track practice, but her birthday was still her birthday.

Riley retained that smile all the way to bunching her long blonde hair and snagging it into a ponytail. So instead, they'd be going to a small mine that Riley was anxious to prove wasn't haunted. Finally, she'd get some respect among her fellow Freshmen.

"Hey. Happy birthday, kiddo," Trent Carlisle remarked once Riley entered the kitchen.

Riley chuckled. "Thanks, Dad! Can't wait for the birthday dinner and the mine trip."

The tire repairman frowned at this. "Riley... you're positive that you want to go in that mine?"

Riley rolled her eyes as she began pouring orange juice into a mug. "It's not haunted, Dad, that's just-"

"It's not that- I'm worried about you going in there with your asthma and the limp in your right leg."

Riley slitted her lips. "Look, I have my inhaler if anything goes wrong, and I really doubt that my limp will come into play here. Plus, Sabrina and hopefully Alex will be here with me- I'll be fine."

"Alex?"

Riley made sure to turn away from her Dad so he couldn't see her cheeks reddening- she wouldn't let anyone know save Sabrina that she had a crush on Alex Zelinski.

"Oh, just a classmate that I've been getting to know." Riley waved her hand dismissively as she drank the orange juice. "I want to try getting to know other people, that's all."

She could practically feel her Dad narrowing his eyes- never had she displayed a want to get to know other people. After all, she had gone on for years hating the world and shoving everyone who tried to get close to her away as if they were a dead rat laying on the street, due to her history. Until Sabrina came along.

As predicted, this change in personality did not go unnoticed by Trent. "Erm, Riley... you want to get to know others?"

Riley sighed and set her cup in the dishwasher, then turned to face him. "Oh come on- you know I've been more outgoing ever since meeting Sabrina. I even joined the Crestwood Track and Field Team. Plus, it's my birthday! Why shouldn't I be cheerful?"

Her Dad chuckled. "You've got a point there. Just be careful in there, all right?"

The TV broke their conversation. "...like the Red Flash has done it again!"

Riley raised her eyebrows, eyes suddenly glued to the image of police tape surrounding a bank. "According to Christopher Perry, the Red Flash was, this time, somehow able to set the robbers on fire, then later encase them in ice! And true to his word, later on in investigation, two of the confirmed robbers were trapped completely in blocks of ice."

Trent shook his head sadly. The Red Flash was somewhat of a superhero around the country, but he never believed in the acts that this so-called Red Flash could perform. "Hurry with your breakfast, Riley- you don't want to be late twice in a row."

Riley nodded hastily and peeled her eyes away from the screen. "Right!"

"Ugh, this place is, like, so disgusting!"

"Shut up and focus, Sestiva. Remember your mission."

The sixteen year old sighed dramatically as she tucked a strand of blue behind her ear. "I know, I know. Find that random dude, right?"

He was getting more and more agitated every second he was talking to this prissy thautamerge, childhood friend or no. "This is not a random dude, Sestiva. He just so happens to possess one of the most powerful objects in the Spiral- one that is of vital importance."

Sestiva Willowblood nodded, firmly focus on what was ahead of her instead of those oh-so-ugly clothes and traditions that the Earth residents held- which wasn't easy. But she'd do anything for him- the two had started out as friends, finding similarities in each other due to their crazy hair colors. But now her feelings had blossomed into something more, and Sestiva was eager to see if he felt the same way about her.

To do that, she had to keep a level head. She couldn't afford to get distracted by stores or people or whatever. She especially couldn't handle the fact that this place just didn't have enough magic altogether.

"Still, a wizard can only, like, focus so much when they're in a place that reeksof non-magic!" she complained.

Sestiva heard an amused chuckle ringing through her mind. "That's true- it was pretty hard getting ahold of you through mind communication. Anyways, I trust you are in Los Angeles by now?"

"Uh-huh. Hopefully I can find him in the next few days. Anyways, where the heck is Tarlac? What's he doing?"

"A mission that you need not concern about at this time."

Sestiva pouted. "Can you give me a hint?"

"Again, you need to focus. Perhaps I'll tell you what Tarlac's up to as a reward, all right?"

This idea lit up Sestiva's deep blue eyes. "Okay! Sounds good!"

"Make sure to report to me as soon as you spot him, all right? When you find him, do not approach him- wait for me to arrive. He is much too dangerous to be reckoned with."

Sestiva nodded eagerly. "Will do."

"Oh, and one more thing."

"What's that?"

"According to my sources, a female diviner and male pyromancer are in the location as well."

Sestiva raised her eyebrows in disgust as she saw a woman dressed in a repulsive orange. "Wait... Alyssa and Jacob?"

"Precisely."

"So, what about it?"

For a moment, all was still on the other end. Confused when he didn't respond, Sestiva stopped walking and tilted her head. "Um-"

"If you see them, dispose of them."

Sestiva nodded carefully. She knew that he had a history with them, so she wondered if he thought it was hard to say that kind of stuff- but yet again, if they were after the same thing as them, than that was a big no-no, and they had to be taken care of. And besides, it would sure be fun battling them- she hadn't gotten a chance to practice in a bit, and she was sure their screams afterwards would be pleasing to her ears

"Sure thing, Valdus."

With that, Sestiva skipped freely among the Los Angeles sidewalks, pumped for a battle and more eager than ever to find him.

A/N: While reading this chapter, you may have noticed a VERY obvious reference to Kingdom Hearts. I did not intend to copy them at all- in fact, it was more or less a shout out to the series as a thanks to how much it's impacted my life. :) And BTW, if one of you just so happen to be a fan of it as well and can point out the reference in a review- well, do that! ^.^ Whoever gets it right first gets virtual cupcakes.

Review, please!