After hurrying back to the Museum of Yore to get Xerena’s forehead stamped with an invisible Ignis logo, they returned to join the queue at the fireplace that was now crowded with students filing into the living quarters.
Once Xerena could feel the heat coming off the flames, her feet refused to budge. “Is there some sort of servants’ entrance or something we can use instead?”
“’Fraid not,” said Tanna. “You’re just gonna have to trust me.”
Xerena gurgled in response. When their turn came, Tanna grabbed Xerena’s hand and before Xerena could object, pulled her through the flames. They both emerged on the other side, unaffected by the roaring fire.
“Pretty nifty, eh?” Tanna said. “Come on. Let’s get to the oasis.”
“We live on an oasis? That’s fantastic!”
Tanna chuckled. “That’s just what we call the place. You’ll see.”
The walls of the long black rock corridor they traveled through looked to be made of obsidian. Here and there were photos of students who had graduated, some recent, some seemingly ancient. Xerena stopped at a photograph of a well-groomed female sitting tall astride a dragon, dressed for a race. Beside her stood a tall attractive man, smiling and holding the dragon’s reins. Both wore their hair in a ponytail.
“Hey, I recognize those people,” Xerena said. “They’re my neighbors!”
“You’re sure to find that for all its infinite immenseness, the Omniverse can feel like a very small world.
After ascending in a lift that looked akin to a cast iron furnace, they arrived at the landing of their Frond (housing unit). “This is the Famm,” Tanna said as they walked into an open room with clusters of sofas, low tables, and large throw pillows.
“The Famm?”
“Short for Familial Forum. It’s basically the common room.”
“You really like to abbreviate, don’t you.”
Tanna shrugged. “I like to be efficient.”
Xerena turned in a circle as she viewed the swaths of sheer fabric that draped the walls and ceiling, converging in the center of the ceiling where a trio of elaborate Moroccan lanterns hung. On the floor below the lanterns stood a tri-level fountain that recirculated fire rather than water. In one corner of the room was a cozy fireplace. In another corner was a firepit. Near the firepit was a credenza covered with every ingredient one could desire for making s’mores.
One wall comprised the Galley—a simple food-service counter in front of which sat four bar chairs covered in a deep red and gold dragon-scale pattern. Against the opposite wall stood a pyrophone where a student was playing part of the Music for the Royal Fireworks by George Frideric Handel. Each time the student pressed a key, a small explosion sent a flame shooting up a glass tube while simultaneously creating the desired sound.
“Whoooaaaaa,” Xerena whispered.
“You play?”
Xerena shook her head. She continued surveying the room, her eyes falling on a variety of decorative pieces and objets d’art that added to the room’s opulence. “This place is incredible. It’s like something the Ottoman sultan would live in. It really is an oasis!”
Tanna grinned as she looked around the room. “It sure feels like it after a day of dealing with kids from other elements. Let’s keep going. We’re this way.” She led her down a hallway and stopped at the end to gesture toward a pair of arched double doors. “You wanna do the honors?”
Xerena nodded then gently pushed the doors open to reveal a small bright room with walls covered in intricately patterned gold and white tiles with deep red accents. On each side of the room stood a rectangular structure similar to a four-poster bed. Beneath the wooden canopy was a chaise lounge and a small desk. At the back of the room was a large armoire of white ash, carved to look like a temple with a pair of oval mirrors on either side of the main storage area.
“Where do we sleep?” Xerena asked.
Tanna pointed up to the top of the bed structure’s canopy.
“But how?”
Tanna stepped onto a small marble slab beside the bed frame and unlashed a large silk tassel from the wall. She then pulled on the cord, working her hands up it, hand over hand as a series of pulleys pulled the cord through. As she did so, the platform she stood on raised. When she ascended as high as she wished to go, she simply tied off the rope on a wall cleat and let the tassel dangle. Turning, she walked up two wooden steps to get into her bed. She was just able to sit upright on the bed without her head touching the ceiling.
“This place is so amazing,” Xerena whispered.
Tanna nodded. “Most of the Ocademy is, as you’ll soon see. Let’s get dressed for bed then call it lamps out. Today was delightful, but tomorrow I have to go to my own classes.”
“Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?’
“Well, for pretty much everything. My first day here started out pretty rrrough, but it ended up great.”
“Good! And I hope tomorrow will be even better.”
* * *
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
But it wasn’t better. In fact it was awful.
Once again Xerena endured vicious teasing from Kadra and her cadre. Not only did they make fun of her stutter (a temporary stutter that was now more or less gone), but they made fun of her for not knowing where she was going without Tanna to guide her. They even went so far as to get a few students to give her wrong directions.
And that’s funny, how?
As things turned out, Xerena was late for every one of her morning classes. And she had a hard time squeezing in between the rows of seats while wearing a back brace. She was relieved to find she enjoyed all of the classes, learning about the history of the different worlds and dimensions, and she especially liked her Dimensional Distinctions instructor, Preceptor Theod who dressed like a genie.
Just when she let her bully-guard down as she approached her last class before lunch, someone walked by and rammed their shoulder against hers, hard.
“Ow!” she yelped, more from startlement than pain.
The girl who made contact, one of Kadra’s goons, looked back at Xerena and sneered.
When Somatic Defence class started, the diminutive teacher quietly walked into the center of the kwoon to explain self-defense and the reasons for it. Kadra’s cronies who were present stared at Xerena and giggled, putting their hands in front of their mouths to whisper.
Xerena became self-conscious.
Is there something in my teeth? … Or coming out of my nose? … Or are they just being jerks and plotting my demise?
By the time she’d gotten used to the girls’ immature tittering, in pranced Kadra, flipping her wrist to present the lesson master with a note. “I had to go for a dress and swimsuit fitting. I’m going to be in a glamour pageant,” she announced, posing as if on a runway.
Xerena felt bile rise up in her throat. She zeroed in on Kadra’s uniform to determine once and for all what element she was. When she noticed tiny teal waves, the answer was clear.
Aquis. I knew it! … I hate Aquins!
Xerena didn’t pay much attention to the master’s lecture on martial arts theory. Instead, she daydreamed about scenarios that would mortify Kadra: Kadra entering the Gnook after coming out of the restroom and not realizing the back of her skirt was tucked up into her underwear; Kadra developing alopecia and having all of her hair fall out; Kadra being filmed in the beauty pageant and tripping and falling on camera for millions to see, splayed out on the ground as she struggled to get up in her ridiculously tall shoes.
Yes!
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
As the class exited the kwoon to go to lunch, Kadra waited for Xerena, presumably in order to taunt her. “No uniform yet? What, Ignis still on the fence as to whether they want you or not?”
“No! They had to aaalter my uniform cuz of my back brace!”
“I get that. What we do for fashion. Back braces really are all the rage this year.”
The cadre busted out laughing at Kadra’s biting comment.
Xerena rushed away, putting as much distance between her and Kadra’s Cadre of cobras as possible.
Per their arrangement, Xerena was to meet Tanna at the base of the steps that led to the Gnook. As she waited, Xerena tapped her foot in impatience, eager to take a seat in the Gnook with other Ignins and be out of the wide-open space of The Hub where she was fair game for bullies. When she heard mocking laughter ringing through the dome, she knew Kadra was near. Her heart immediately began to pound in anxiousness as her head whipped around in search of her tormentor whom she finally caught sight of. Kadra stood off to the side of The Hub, towering over her victim of the moment—a slight, pasty boy from Terris, the earth element. He was a first-level and small for his age.
Xerena couldn’t make out what Kadra was saying, but whatever it was, it upset the little lad so much that not only did he begin weeping, he soiled himself. That sent the cadre’s callous jeering into overdrive.
For a reason she couldn’t fathom, Xerena began weeping a bit too.
“Hey, new girl,” said a kind voice. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”
Xerena winced at seeing Finn witnessing her cry. She gave one mighty sniff and whisked the tears off her cheeks. “It’s nothing. Just allergies.”
“Those don’t look like allergy tears to me.”
Her voice trembled. “It’s j-jjust … It’s that Kadra girl.”
“Ah, the bully.”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry she made you cry. What did she do to you this time?”
“That’s just it. Nothing. It was what she did to someone else. She and her mob made this poor little kid cry and wet his pants.”
“And now you’re crying out of empathy for what he’s feeling?”
She hung her head and wagged it slowly. “No,” she said barely above a whisper. “I’m crying cuz I just sat there and watched it. I didn’t lift a finger. I could have. But I didn’t. And it feels lousy.”
“Ah, that’s your conscience talking. You’re sure to discuss some of this sort of stuff in your Ethics class.”
“Talking’s great and all, but that only goes so far. I want to do something. But I don’t know how or … What should I do?”
“Well, I’m no expert, but it seems to me, the first thing when dealing with bullies is, you have to stand up to them. They respond to what they think is strength. Of course they totally miss the point that kindness takes more courageousness and strength than torturing people, but the main thing is, you have to let them know you’re not going to cower.”
Xerena nodded and sniffed back the last of her tears.
“Hey, I’ll make you a deal,” Finn said. “You find a way to stand up to those bullies, and ice cream’s on me.”
“Ice cream?”
“They’re putting in a new soda fountain at the center of the carousel here in The Hub. It’s supposed to be open soon. It should’ve been finished before the school term, but some of the carousel animals broke loose. They pretty much trashed things looking for food before the place was even finished. Anyway, deal?”
She nodded again, this time with more enthusiasm.
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
“Sorry, I’m late,” Frankie said as he jogged over to the pair, puffing from exertion.
“Late?” Finn asked.
Frankie nodded toward Xerena. “Tanna asked me to look after the little ember here.”
“Who, me?”
“Tanna’s Assistant Archon and has had to take on some extra duties.”
“Archon?” Xerena asked.
“Archon’s the top student government position here at the Ocademy,” Frankie explained. “Tanna said you don’t have an Aetherean guide, and without her you’re pretty much clueless, so she asked if I’d step in when she’s not available.” He gave a sweeping bow and smiled broadly, putting Xerena at ease.
“Thank you. That would be great. I really appreciate how nice you’ve all been to me. Being new is not easy … especially with a back brace and a stutter.”
“Actually, not stuttering anymore, I notice,” Finn said.
Xerena’s cheeks warmed.
“I think we hugged both the stuttering and the stuffing out of her,” Frank said jovially. “Shall we head in? It’s chicken and dumplin’ day. Don’t wanna be late for that!”
The two teen boys escorted Xerena into the dining hall, then Finn branched off to sit with students from Nitris.
“You sit next to me again, little ember,” Frankie directed. “We Ignins gotta look out for one another. If we don’t, who will?”
Xerena sat taller, feeling more able to deal with whatever she might face from Kadra and her platoon of sadists.
* * *
Dear Diary,
I wish I could tell you things are going the way I expected, but they’re not. They’re so much worse. I actually have a bully … one with an entourage! I won’t sully your pages by putting her name here. The good news is, whatever that Aquin pond scum dishes out, I’ll give it right back. I have people looking out for me. So, bring it on, meanies!
The next day, her resolve would be put to the test—in a big way.
🔥🔥🔥