Chapter 7: A New Day

"Is that a dragon?" stuttered Codie. "But they're not supposed to exist...right?" he turned to Alainia for an answer.

"Well, in the legends of the Guardians," Alainia thought out loud. "They said that they rode on great lizards with wings that had all sorts of different colors of scales. I've always pictured them as big iguanas with green and blue bird wings. But I never thought they were dragons."

"Really?" asked Dahlia. "I thought it was kind of obvious that they were dragons."

"Yeah," said Alainia. "But since the I found out that the legends were true, I didn't think that they were dragons since they're mythical creatures." At the moment, all they saw was the dragons rear end and they could hear deep, loud breathing.

"This is my dragon," said Gondora, patting the dragon on the tip of the tail, which was at least a foot thick. "Her name is Green Fire. She has been my dragon for about twelve years now." He looked at Green Fire and went up to the head of the body. Alainia followed him. She was just so curious about what a dragon's head looked like.

"Green Fire! You lazy dragon, get up!" Alainia heard Gondora saying. As she rounded the corner, she could hear grunting. Then she saw Gondora pushing against the dragon's head trying to wake it up. Smoke was curling out of Green Fire's nostrils and it smelled of burned, sweet strawberries.

"Why does the smoke smell like that?" asked Alainia as she walked toward Gondora to help him. He let out a deep breath and started panting. Alainia couldn't help but laugh. Gondora looked so funny when he was out of breath.

"Green Fire loves to eat fruit," said Gondora in between breaths. "Her favorite fruits are strawberries and cherries."

"Wait," Alainia was confused. "I thought dragons ate meat."

"Oh, heaven's no!" said a deep voice. Alainia jumped at least five feet of the ground. She hadn't noticed that Green Fire had woken up. Raising her head to an amazing height, Green Fire stood up. "We only eat cows and goats. We don't usually eat meat though. When we do, it's very rare." Alainia stared open mouthed at how tall the dragon was. Green Fire then dropped down on all fours and looked Alainia rightin the eyes. "You're really pretty for a human. Climb on my back and I'll show something even more beautiful." She bent down until her belly was touching the dirty ground. She straightened her leg out so that Alainia could climb onto her back, which she did.

While Alainia was climbing up Green Fire's arm, she wondered how she was going to stay on the dragon's back. After she got up there, she was relieved to find that there was a saddle which was where she could sit.

"Hold on tight," said Green Fire. Hold on to what? Alainia thought. And Green Fire crouched down low and spread her wings. Her wing span was enormous! Even though it was dark, Alainia could still make out how wide the wings were. It was as if her scales were glowing. And, right in the middle of Alainia's thoughts, Green Fire jumped into the sky and flapped her wings at the same time. She screamed as she felt her stomach do a flip flop. Alainia closed her eyes and clutched the sides of the saddle.

"Okay," said Green Fire after a while. "Open your eyes."

"I can't," said Alainia in a shaky voice.

"Why not?"

"I'm scared," but none the less, Alainia opened her eyes and gasped. All around her was white stuff. It looked fluffy and it was white. "Are...are those clouds?" she said incrediously. "Are those really clouds?"

"Why, yes," said Green Fire calmly. "I suppose those are clouds. Don't they look nice and soft? If you want to sit in one you may."

"You can't sit on a cloud," said Alainia in a matter-of-fact tone. "There made up of water vapor and oxygon. I'd just fall right through."

"Are you sure?" said the dragon slyly. "I sit on the clouds all the time."

"But you can fly, I can't."

"You'd be surprised what's in the clouds sometimes," and with that, Green Fire bumped Alainia off into a cloud. Screaming, she felt wet and cold...and something hard. Her screaming ceased. Confused, she put her hand down to where her rear was. There was stone! Alainia opened her eyes. She was in a cloud, or at least she thought she was. There was wisps of cloud everywhere, but there was also a building. In front of her was a big stone castle. There were lights in the castle telling Alainia that people lived there, Green Fire landed next to her and gazed at the castle happily. "Welcome to the Guardian Academy, miss Montez. I have to go back and get the others, but I'll be back in about five hours."

"Why so long?" asked Alainia.

"We still have to go pick up five other thirteen year olds in different places around the world," said Green Fire casually. "Let's just say you're going to be freshmen." Green Fire laughed. "Now, someone will come to pick you up and take you to the castle in five minutes. I'll be back as soon as I can." and Green Fire took off. Alainia watched Green Fire until she was out of sight. How she wished she could fly.

"Um...excuse me," Alainia was brought back to the present when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned around and saw a boy with curly red hair and big green eyes. He couldn't have been much older than sixteen and was quite tall. "If you will please come with me, I'll take you to Guardian Castle." And he turned around and walked in the other direction.

"Hi, I'm Alainia," she said running up to catch up with him. "What's your name?"

"Jason," he said shortly. "And I don't need a snot nosed kid to feel sorry for me 'cause I got no friends." He kept on walking without even looking at her. "I don't give a care for anybody here because all their parents paid for them to go here. I was born here and I love the worlds we protect a heck of a lot more than you." Alainia stopped him and turned him to face her. She was really angry now.

"Listen here, Jason," she snapped at him. "I don't have any parents so there's no way that they could have paid for me or my brother! They were killed by the Masked Warriors when I was six! So don't you be telling me that I'm a snot nosed spoiled little brat 'cause I'm not! I've been keeping my house with my twin brother for seven years all by my self  without any help and I don't think that I should be talked to like this!" Jason looked taken aback. No one had ever told him that much about their life.

"What's your last name?" he asked. This guy's an idiot I swear, thought Alainia. What kind of question was that?

"Montez," she said as calmly as she could. Jason looked as though he was going to explode.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," said Jason.

"Huh?" if Alainia was confused before, it was nothing compared to how confused she was now.

"You're parents are famous here," he said, pointing at the castle. "They're the ones that defeated Satasan," he paused a second. "Of course, they died in the process." Alainia looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry I exploded like that," she said. "I just hate it when people talk to me like that. I get enough of that from Hilda at school."

"Well," Jason seemed to cheer up quite a lot. "You won't have to worry about that anymore, because this is your new school." Alainia smiled up at him. They started walking back to the Guardian Castle. As it turned out, since Jason was born here, he knew everything about everything. He even knew where all the secret passages were. In his child hood, he had spent most of his time hiding in the passages after curfew. His parents one time caught him though.

About an hour later, they finally were at the castle. Even though it looked big in the distance, it was even much bigger up close.

"Is this whole place filled with Guardians in training?" Alainia asked Jason.

"Yep," Jason sighed. "I'm the youngest Guardian there was. I'm actually supposed to be your trainer." Just then, sunlight leaked in through the windows. "It's almost six o' clock. We better hurry and get to the Dinner Hall otherwise we'll have to wait forever in line for breakfast." Just as they reached the Dinner Hall, Alainia stopped and looked out the window. "What is it?" Alainia smiled.

"It's a new day," she said looking up at him. "It's a brand new day." Jason smiled and he went into the Dinner Hall with Alainia behind him.

To be continued...

5:23 PM - Nov. 12, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Chapter 6: time to leave

Days past and Dahlia stayed with the Montez's and Miecyzslaw. Soon, Alainia, Dahlia, Miecyzlsaw, and Codie became very good friends. As it turned out, Dahlia was part Sphinx Cat. She could change into a giant cat that had a red mane that turned purple in the sunlight. Dahlia had been orphaned when she was just a baby. The house that her family had lived in was burned down by the legendary Masked Warriors, which were the enemies of the Guardian's. Ever since then, Dahlia promised herself that she would find the Masked Warriors and kill them.

"So your parents were killed when you were just a baby?" asked Codie through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Three years old, to be exact," said Dahlia casually.

"And you remember what happened?" said Alainia astonished. "I don't even remember my parents that much since we were orphaned at the age of six. All I remember is that Mum taught me how to cook before that. And Da taught Codie how to play water ball and they created the game mud ball together, too."

"Water Ball?" Dahlia looked dumbfounded. "What in the world is water ball?" Alaina and Miecyzslaw exchanged glances.

"You mean, you've never played Water Ball before?" asked Miecyzslaw.

"Played it?" Dahlia looked at the three of them in confusion. "I've never even heard of it!" The four of them decided to go outside and teach Dahlia how to play water ball. They played outside for five hours and Dahlia started to absolutely love the game of water ball. Codie and Dahlia were on one team and Alaina and Miecyzslaw were on another team.

"Alainia," said Miecyzslaw. "Can I talk to you a minute?" They called the game to an end and the two of them went inside the house.

"What's up?" asked Alainia a little worried.

"I think Codie likes Dahlia," Miecyzslaw said quietly. Alainia looked at Miecyzslaw as though she were crazy. Codie had always liked Miecyzslaw, even if there was some else that was much prettier than she.

"No he doesn't," Alainia reassured her. Then Miecyzslaw gestured her head over to wear Dahlia and Codie were standing. Dahlia was giggling her guts out and Codie made the most stupidest faces that Alainia had ever seen. He was flirting! "Okay, maybe he does." Alainia turned to Miecyzslaw and was startled to find that tears were slowly rolling down her pink cheeks.

"What does she have that I don't?" Miecyzslaw asked wiping away her tears.

"Well," Alainia said after a while. "I gu-" the door bell rang. "Hold that thought." Alainia ran down the hallway and swung open the door. There stood a man with a black gotee that had a tint of brown in it. His eyes were a deep blue and he had red hair. He was quite tall and had a square jaw. When he spoke, he used a nice deep voice.

"Hello," the man said. "May I speak to Dahlia."

"Um...yeah...sure, hold on one second," Alainia just about closed the door and stopped halfway through the process. "Why don't you come in?" The man stepped into the house and looked around.

"Nice place you got here," said the man, apparently impressed. "You're an orphan, am I correct?" Alainia nodded slowly. Who is this man and how did he know that? thought Alainia.

"Dahlia!" Alainia called out. "Someone's here to see you!" Dahlia came rushing in and stopped at the entrance at the hallway.

"Master Gondora," she stammered. "What a surprise. I didn't know you were com-"

"You're late," Gondora interupted. "We expected you back three days ago with all five of them. What have you been doing? Could you have been doing something more important than the task that was assigned to you?"

"I'm so sorry, Master," Dahlia was trembling all over. "I just forgot about the ta-"

"You're off the Epic Mission," Gondora snapped. Dahlia hung her head and looked at her feet. Gondora turned to Alainia now. "Where are the others?"

"Others?" Alainia looked at him confused. "Do you mean Lurik and Pier? Their at home...possibly asleep since it is eleven o'clock at night."

"We must leave now," Gondora said simply.

"Leave?" asked Miecyzslaw. "Leave to go where?" Gondora stared open mouthed at Miecyzslaw. Even though Gondora had seen Miecyzslaw in pictures when they were studying the lives of the five teens. He had always thought she was pretty but never thought this is what she would look like in real life. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Gondora then turned to Dahlia.

"You didn't tell them anything did you?" Dahlia shook her head bashfully. "Ugh. All right, I'll explain on the way to the Derk Mountains." The five of them went outside. Alainia, Codie, and Miecyzslaw stopped and stared at what was in front of them. In front of them was a big green and black lizard that was at least twenty feet tall. On it's back were big leathery wings that looked very flexible. It had black claws that were extremely sharp. It's scales were shimmering in the moon light. In front of them was a dragon.

To be continued...

8:46 PM - Nov. 8, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Chapter 5: the Letter from No One

"This is just too weird," muttered Lurik. "Who would send us each a letter that only says 'You Have Been Accepted'?"

"Not to mention how would the person"-"or thing!" interupted Codie-"know that we're all here at the very same moment," pointed out Pier.

"You're right," said Codie. "Alainia, do you think some one might have been spying on us or something?" Alainia was at a loss for words. Her brain wasn't working properly and for some reason, she couldn't consider the posibilities.

"I guess it's possible," Alainia said finally. "But it doesn't add up. Why would they wait until after the water ball tournament? I mean, all of you guys are over most of the time so they could have given it to us anytime."

"Maybe they only just started spying on us," suggested Miecyzslaw.

"No that can't be," Alainia thought out loud. "Because Pier and Miecyzslaw hadn't come over in about half a year. And longer than that would have given them enough time to actually get our first and last names."

"Not to mention our house addresses," said Lurik holding up the envelope.

"That's right," said Alainia. She got up from her seat and started pacing the room. "I wonder why they waited until after the Water Ball Tournament...has anybody met someone new this past year?"

"I did," piped in Miecyzslaw. "I met him at the Academy. He was another healer, one of the very few boy healers. He kept on asking me questions like where I lived, what I liked to do and stuff like that. He was the only person that talked to me at my time there. Everyone else was just hating on me."

"I met a girl at school," said Codie. "Her name was Dahlia. She asked me those same exact questions."

"I met Hilda," said Pier quietly. "But she never asked me any of those kind of questions." Pier paused. "Come to think of it, all she ever talked about was herself. And then I met this girl at the square downtown. I don't remember her name, but she asked me quite a lot of questions about myself...I didn't tell her where I lived, though."

"I met a girl at the square, too," said Lurik. "I don't remember a whole lot of what happened. I was kind of on a sugar rush." Alainia rolled her eyes.

"I haven't met anybody recently," Alainia though back through the past year. "Come to think of it, I haven't talked to anybody but Miecyzslaw and Codie for the past year." They all sat there silent for a while trying to think of how the person that sent them these letters knew where they lived and got there first and last names.

Just then, the doorbell rang yet again. Codie and Alainia looked at eachother worried.

"I'll get it," said Codie and he got up and exited to kitchen. As Codie walked through the hall way to the door, he was trying to imagine what might be at the door. Is it some green creature with tenticles sticking out of it's arms? He thought, scared. Or maybe it's something mutated that is two different things in one. But as Codie answered to door, it was neither a green thing or a mutated animal. Instead, it was a girl. An extremely pretty girl, he thought. The girl had black hair that kind of looked purple in the sun light. Her eyes were blue and looked a lot like cat eyes with only tiny slits for pupils.

"Hi," she said. Codie could only stare at her in wonder. "I'm the person that sent you the letters. You're Codie, right?" Codie nodded. "May I come in?"

"What...oh yeah, of course," and Codie stepped back to let her through the door. He closed the door and followed her into the kitchen where everyone else was. As Codie walked in, he could feel Alainia's piercing glare on the back of his head. Maybe he shouldn't have let this girl into their house.

"I'm Dahlia," the girl suddenly said. "I'm from the Derk Mountains and I'm the one who sent you the letters. I'm happy to say that you have been accepted to The Guardian Academy."

"Dahlia say what?!" shouted Miecyzslaw. Dahlia rolled her cat-like eyes.

"I said that you have been accepted to the Guardian Academy. It's an Academy that-"

"Yeah, we know what the Guardian Academy is and we know perfectly well what it contains," snapped Alainia. "But it's a myth, it doesn't exist. It's a false legend!"

"Um...excuse me, but we are not legends," Dahlia shrilled. "Alainia Glory Montez! The Guardians are real people and you know this! You know that's the reason your parents died!" Everyone was quiet. No body, not even Codie and Miecyzslaw, knew the reason why the Montez Twins' parents were dead...no body but Alainia. She never liked to talk about it. She never even told Codie, her best friend and brother.

"Yes, the Guardians' enemies are the reason that they're dead," Alainia said in a trembling voice. "I did believe after that the Guardians really did exist...and ever since then, when ever I heard a story about the Guardians, I would listen intently and try to see if I could identify our parents and actually get all the details of why and how they died."

"Why didn't you ever tell me, Alainia?" said Codie quietly.

"Because," Alainia turned to her brother, tears streaked down her face. "I didn't want you to do the same exact things I'm doing. Desperately trying to find out more about the parents we barely even knew."

To be continued...

8:59 AM - Nov. 6, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment

Chapter 4: The Tournament

The days passed and Sunday finally came. Cody was getting ready in his room, putting on his uniform and equipment. Downstairs in the kitchen, Alainia and Miecyzslaw were talking and laughing while eating breakfast. Codie came downstairs in his blue uniform. He was wearing the team hat and had his shin-gaurds, elbow-pads, and protective gloves on.

"Wow," said Miecyzslaw looking up at him. "You look pretty tuff in all that gear."

"Really?" he asked. He looked at him self in the reflection of the refrigerator. "I look just like I did when I did the Water Ball Tournament last year."

"Yeah, but then we were on the team," said Alainia through a mouthful of cereal. She held up a finger and swallowed. "Now that we're not on the team, we have to stay on the sidelines and watch Hilda get hit full in the face with water." Alainia made a little sobbing noise. Miecyzslaw and Codie laughed.

"Well," Miecyzslaw looked at her watch. "We have to leave now if we want to get there in time."

"How should we get there? Take the glider? Or should we take the motor bikes?" Miecyzslaw and Alainia looked at each other.

"Motor bikes," they said at the same time. The three of them ran out to the garrage and got their helmets on. They mounted the bikes and kicked them into gear. The roar was so loud, one might have thought that it was ten lions roaring at the same time.

"Let's go!" called Codie over the roar of the bikes. And then they were off. Codie in front, next was Miecyzslaw, then bringing up the rear was Alainia. They were passing cars left and right. Codie was on his blue bike while Miecyzslaw was using Alainia's extra pink bike. Alainia was riding on her black bike, which was her stunt bike.

They rounded the corner and the Water Ball field came into sight. Codie was looking around trying to find a way to impress Miecyzslaw, then he saw it. These people were on the street they were on had built there own skate ramp. It was at least five feet high. Perfiect, Codie thought. And he turned to the right and came up to the ramp. Just then, Alainia realized what he was doing.

"Codie!" she screamed. "Don't do it! you'll get hurt and then I'll have to go in your place! DON'T!" Codie apparently didn't hear her. He stared at the ramp in concentration. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air without the bike.

"Codie?" he heard a voice say. "Codie? Are you alive?"

"Huh?" Codie opened his eyes and saw Miecyzslaw above him. "What happened?"

"You were being an idiot and went of the skate ramp with a motor bike," she took a wet rag and wiped off his forehead.

"The Tournament!" Codie suddenly realized. "What about the tournament?!"

"Don't worry," Miecyzslaw said. "Alainia's out there playing right now." Codie then became aware of his surrondings. Around him were his team mates all soaked and sweating. He looked to the side and saw the tournament.

At the moment, Alainia was throwing water balls this way and that. Occasionally, Codie noticed, Alainia would through a mud ball at someone's back, knocking them out and taking them out of the game. Alainia was completely dry and had not been hit yet, therefor she wasn't out. People on the other team were trying to get her and this other boy out. The other boy had blonde hair and his brown eyes were screwed up in concentration. This boy's name was Pier. He was one of the most popular jocks at the school. All the girls liked him, and, up until recently, he had been single.

A girl from the other team, which was sporting the color red, just then aimed two water balls at Alainia which was illegal. The referi then blew the whistle and two girls with blonde hair were taken out of the game and disqualified. The "ref" then blew the whistle and the game resumed.

Okay, Alainia thought. It's time for Hilda to be humiliated. She broke away from the group and ran towards the goal of the other team. Just before she reached there, however, she stopped in front of Hilda who was wearing her favorite jacket with flowers on it. She was also wearing eye liner and mascara around her beady black eyes. Her red hair was pulled back into a high ponytail and sat in ringlets that Alainia guessed she'd used a curling iron for. Alainia made the biggest raspberry that she could and at least five water balls flew in her direction. Alainia ducked just in time, but the whole field was filled with the scream of Hilda. Pier had frozen to the spot staring at Hilda who was now soaked with water. Alainia straightened up and turned to Hilda and her wet friends.

"Toodles!" Alainia smiled. And again she was off towards the goal. Everyone, on both teams, were frozen to the spot as Hilda broke down into tears. The mascara had turned into black tears running down Hilda's rosey cheeks. Pier was staring at Hilda, jaw-dropped and wide eyed. Then, out of no where, he started to laugh! He ran over to Alainia and gave her a hug.

"Huh?" Alainia was now really confused.

"Hilda really is a witch," whispered Pier to Alainia. "I'll explain the details later, but right now let's play!" Alainia smiled, made a water ball, and tossed it into the goal.

"Jeffern Jaguars-35," came the voice over the intercom, bringing everybody back to life. "Derk Deamons-20." And the game was back into play. A good way to explain Water Ball is like this. It's Dodge Ball, Soccer, Foot ball, and Baseball in one. It's extremely complicated to explain the rules. All you gotta do though is get as many people out by throwing water balls at the other team and getting as many points by throwing water balls into the goal, which was only four feet wide and two feet tall, so it was extremely difficult to get a goal. You can imagine however you want the way that water ball is played.

After the Tournament, Alainia, Codie, Miecyzslaw, Pier, and Lurik-another boy on the Water Ball team who was the goal keeper-headed back to the twins house. Codie rode on the back of Miecyzslaw's bike since he broke his arm, Pier rode behind Alainia, and Lurik drove Codie's bike, which luckily wasn't broken. The five of them entered the kitchen and Miecyzslaw began bandaging Codie's arm.

"That was an awesome game!" said Lurik, shaking out his wet, brown hair. "I can't believe that we actually beat the Deamons at last! It took us seven years to do it, but we finally did." Alainia opened the frig and took out the milk and poured five glasses.

"You guys want to sleep over?" asked Alainia. "Miecyzslaw's staying for another three weeks and then she has to go back to the Healer Academy."

"Sure," said Pier. "My parents are off at the Elé Island's again."

"Again?!" said Codie. "You've got to be joking. What about Alexandria?"

"She's staying with our grandparents," Pier sighed. "You guys know I don't like going there. They always pinch my cheeks and gooey ga ga noises. It's so annoying!" Miecyzslaw choked on the milk and laughed. "It's not funny, Missy!"

"I gues you're right," just then, the door bell rang.

"I got it," said Lurik. He ran to the door and opened it. It was about five minutes before he finally returned with four sealed letters and one opened in his hand. Lurik's face was pure white. Alainia looked at the letters...they were adressed to them.

 "Where in the world did you get those letters from?" Pier asked Lurik, but Lurik couldn't speak. All that came out of his mouth was a gurgling kind of noise. Alainia took the letter that was addressed to her. Opening up the seal, she looked at Pier, who looked very concerned. She pulled out the letter and opened it. All that was there were four words:

"You Have Been Accepted," Alainia read aloud.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" asked Codie, taking his own letter.

"Don't ask me," said Alainia. She turned over the envelope to see what the return address was...there was nothing. "Um...okay, I'm a little creeped out."

"Why?" asked Miecyzslaw who was now studying the letter front and back. Alainia looked up at them.

"The Letter's from no one."

To be continued...

12:29 PM - Nov. 4, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment

Chapter 3: The Big Surprise

Days passed by and Sunday was coming nearer. Codie was getting even more anxious and nervous about the Water Ball Tournament. He was comstantly messing with his curly, brown hair. Alainia was getting really annoyed when sitting down at the table and finding pieces of the fingernails that Codie had been biting in front of her. One night, Alainia finally decided to confront him. 

"Codie," Alainia sighed. "You need to calm down and understand that you're going to be fine on Sunday. Your team is the best team we've had in years! I've never seen better goal keepers! I even got beaten out in the try-outs...which you know is uncommon," Alainia smiled slyly.

"Yeah," said Codie. "I suppose you're right. There's nothing to worry about. Okay...I'm gonna hit the hay."

"Okay," and Alainia headed for Codie's door. "Good night."

"Good night," Alainia shut the door behind her and headed for her room. Just as she was about to open the door, however, the doorbell rang. "Who the heck is ringing the door bell at this hour!" came Codie's angry voice.

"Ugh," Alainia rolled her eyes. "Codie, just stay in your room. I'll get it." And with that, she ran downstairs. She looked out the peephole in the doot, but saw no one. Why would anyone play ding-dong ditch when it's past the towns curfew? Alainia thought. She opened the door and looked around.

"Hello?" She called out. No body answered. "Hello?!" she called out a bit louder. Still, no body answered. "Is anybody there?"

"Boo!" and Miecyzslaw jumped out of the bush. Alainia screamed and fell backward through the doorway. Miecyzslaw leaned against the door frame laughing so hard, clutching her side the whole time.

"Miecyzslaw!" Alainia propped herself up on her elbows. "What are you doing here?" she paused. "And why did you scare the crap out of me again?"

"I...I couldn't help myself," Miecyzslaw gasped in betweem laughter. It took about five minutes before she calmed down enough to actually breathe freely. "I'm sorry, Alainia. You know I love to scare people half to death. Where's Codie?"

"Up in his room getting rest for the Water Ball Tournament tomorrow," Alainia motioned for Miecyzslaw to come in. Alainia walked into the kitchen and Miecyzslaw followed. "Can I get you anything? Water? Milk? Tea?"

"No thanks," Miecyzslaw sat down on the stool under the island. "I came because I didn't want to miss the tournament...and I overheard the H.H.C. say that I was going to be the next person they made sick. So I'm like, 'Forget it! I quit!' And I left. You should have seen the look on the high master's face!" Her face lit up with joy.

"I wish I could have seen it," Alainia went to the refrigerator and got out some orange juice. "Oh, and I came up with a way to get back at Hilda, and luckily Codie agreed to help. What's going to happen is that he's going to go wherever Hilda is and stand right in front of her. You know how the other teams usually go for Codie? Well, he's going to dodge them and have them all hit Hilda in the face!"

"Really?" Miecyzslaw looked shocked. "And you came up with this plan all on your own?"

"Okay, I had a little help from Codie," Miecyzslaw cocked an eyebrow. "Okay, he came up with most of the plan," She cocked her eyebrow even higher. "All right! Codie came up with all of it! Sheesh! I swear you see right through me!"

"I guess it comes with being a healer," and the two girls went up stairs and went to bed. But Alainia could not help thinking: Will the plan to humiliate Hilda work? Or will she figure it out?

To be countinued...

P.S. Tomorrow: The Water Ball Tournament

10:55 AM - Nov. 2, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment

Chapter 2: Mud Ball

Alainia ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. On her way down, she heard the shower being turned on. She smiled to herself and snuck over to the bathroom door. Alainia had an idea but wasn't sure if it was a good idea. Codie was the king of pranks. He had pulled at least one million. If Alainia pulled a prank on Codie, he would do his best to humiliate her at school the next day. Oh well, she thought. This is definately going to be worth it.

She moved over to the window and opened it. Looking over the ledge, she completely forgot that it was still raining. The sudden sting of cold rain made her squeek a little. Looking back to make sure that Codie wasn't behind her or anything, she stuck her hand out in the rain and made a sudden upright movement with her hand. Something like a big brown blob came up and floated a few inches above her palm.

"Surprise," said a voice. Alainia looked over her shoulder and a got full blasted in the face with mud. She started to fall backward but threw the mud ball in her own hand at Codie's face before she hit the ground.

"Codie!" Alainia shrieked. "I'm going to get you for this!"

"Catch me if you can!" And before Alainia was on her feet, Codie was already half way down the hall. Alainia raced after him. Codie jumped the stairs and landed in the basement and ran for the food pantry. Alainia smiled. Codie didn't go into the food pantry a whole lot and it was usually her that went down there to get food for their meals. Because she went down there so often, Alainia knew where all the secret passages and hiding spots down there. She even knew where there was a little fountain of water and where the furnace was. Being also someone who could make fire do what she wanted, she had an advantage.

"Oh Codie," Alainia called in a sing-song voice. "I've got a surprise for you."

"Yeah?" Came Codie's voice. "Well, I have a birthday present for you."

"Our birthday's not for anonther five months, you dork," Alainia laughed out loud. "That proves how smart you are."

"Well, nir!" And then he passed by the hiding place where Alainia was. He didn't even give it a second glance. Perfect, Alainia thought. She made a water ball and made it spin really fast in her hands. She got ready to jump out from her little corner. Just a little further, Alainia told Codie in her mind.

"Aha!" Alainia jumped out and threw thewater ball which hit him right in the face. "Yes! I finally beat you at your own game!"

"I admit defeat," Codie said sadly. Alainia just then realized that Codie wasn't wearing a shirt. He noticed Alainia's look of disgust. "Oh, I had a feeling that you were going to do something, so I didn't have time to get my shirt on."

"Ah...that would explain it," and the two of them went back upstairs and into the kitchen. Alainia had some Macoroni and Cheese boxes in her hands and got out a pot to set water in it to boil. Codie went back to the bathroom and got his shirt on.

"I can't believe you beat me at mud ball," Codie sat down on top of the counter. "And it took you nine years to do it, too."

"Well, I didn't have the advantage of having Dad teaching you how to bend at the age of two. I didn't learn til I was four."

"So," Codie took an apple out of the fruit basket and bit into it. "Is Miecyzslaw going to be able to make it to the Water Ball Tournament on Sunday?"

"I don't know, I didn't ask," and the two of them at dinner and went to bed, not knowing what was going to happen to them the day after the tournament.

To be continued...

10:28 AM - Oct. 31, 2007 - comments {1} - post comment

Chapter 1: The Start of it All

It was raining. It had been raining for six days straight and nobody could go outside...everyone except for two thirteen year olds. These two teens were twins, and their names were Alainia and Codie Montez.

"Can we stop now?" Alainia whined. Her curly black hair was sticking to her face. "We've been throwing water balls for three hours now, and I'm soaked to the skin!"

"You can stop if you want," Codie put his hands out in front of him and made some strange motions. In between his hands, a glowing ball of water appeared. "But I'm going to stay out here and practice for the tournament next Sunday." Codie paused in the middle of the throwing form with his foot at least two feet above the ground. He smiled. "Unless you wanna play mud ball?"

"No thanks," Alainia said hastily. Codie looked disappointed. "I think I'm just going to call Miecyzslaw through the mirror."

"All right," Codie shrugged. "If you insist." And he resumed throwing the water ball. Alainia hurried back to the patio and slid open the door. She walked into the bathroom and could smell mildew. Where's that smell coming from? she thought. Looking around, Alainia sniffed a bit. Then she picked up her t-shirt and put her nose to it. She made a face that looked as though she had just eaten twelve lemon drops. She hurried out of the bathroom and ran up stairs to her room.

She opened the door and started to hop around over the things on the floor. One might look in there and think it were a junkyard, Codie didn't even understand how Alainia could get around in there. But she could move around as freely as someone in a perfectly clean room. Hopping over to her dresser she pulled out a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt and put them on. As she was getting her sweatshirt on, however, she didn't notice that a girl with black hair that had red and orange highlights, and green eyes with a tint of blue with them had appeared in the mirror. As Alainia turned around, she jumped a foot in the air and landed on a CD which cracked. The girl started to laugh.

"Jeese, Miecyzslaw!" Alainia cried while she was picking the pieces of the CD off her foot. "Next time, give me a warning!"

"I'm sorry," she was still laughing. "I couldn't resist."

"Yeah," said Alainia sarcastically. "I wouldn't want you to get bored." Alainia hopped over to the mirror on her desk and sat down in the chair. "So, how's the healer's academy?" Miecyzslaw groaned. "That bad huh?"

"You have no idea," said Miecyzslaw. "Did you know that they actually make people sick so that we can practice our healing abilities? A number have already died, and they don't even care! It's only a matter of time that I'm next."

"They're not going to do that to you," Alainia said reassuringly. "You're the best healer I know!"

"Yeah," she sighed. "Has that witch, Hilda, been giving you any trouble?"

"Yes," Alainia said crossly.

"What's she doing?"

"She started talking to Pier and now he's in love with her," She said grumpily. "Now he won't even talk to me because of her!"

"Well, you know she's not a real witch,"

"No, but she acts like one. I think she knows I like Pier. She makes me so mad!"

"Just get Codie to pull a prank on her."

"I would, it's just that he likes her, too." Miecyzslaw's jaw dropped open.

"Oh no she didn't cast a spell on my man!"

"It's okay, it's not like the way Pier likes her," Alainia heard the door slam downstairs. "I better start making dinner."

"Okay," Miecyzslaw said. "Later Alainia." And her face disappeared.

To be continued...

12:03 PM - Oct. 30, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment