Gifts of the Living Phoenix

Chapter 3

Five Years Later...

            Faith’s training had been going on for the past five years.  Faith was pretty sure her mother knew what they were doing but had not said a word, pretending to know nothing about it. 

Faith found that through learning how to fight, she gained more discipline and patience and was able to overcome difficult moments in her life with more grace and poise.  She wasn’t the perfect daughter by any means, but she definitely had grown-up and was able to carry herself more like an adult and less like a child. 

Nearing the age of 16 though, she knew she would soon be going off to the Unity Training School of the First Realm to begin her serious training.  There would be children of all races around her age from all three of the realms to learn enhanced magic and receive warrior training alongside one another for the next 4 years and then graduate to roles within the three realms.  After four years of training, you had a choice.  You could choose to take part in a manual role, or one of leadership - which was competed for.  Regardless, everyone had a choice and everything from your academic aptitude, raw talents and leadership abilities helped steer you into the right choices.  Ironically, everything they did over the course of four years would be tallied and taken into consideration.  Good or bad it would weigh in on their future. 

Faith was excited to go away to school since it meant that she would be furthering her education in magic and warrior training but it also meant she would be able to see Everett and Edric regularly.  In the last couple of years, they had met up less and less.  Faith didn’t understand quite what was happening but she knew that the twins were under pressure from their father to fulfill family obligations and take up prestigious roles within the realms. 

“Are you all ready to go Faith?”  Hope looked at her inquisitively.

“I think so, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to be away from you guys for so long.”

“You’re not being shipped off to the outer world, you’re just going to school.  It’s not like you aren’t coming back for school breaks and holidays.” Hope laughed at her.

“You’re right sis, you’re right. It just seems… I don’t know… almost final.”

Faith hadn’t said it, but she felt like things were going to seriously change once she left her home.  She wasn’t afraid, but she knew things may not be the same when she got back.

            “You’re going to do great things,”  Hope said matter of factly.

Yeah, Hope was kind of weird like that.  She had a kind of weird ability to sense things before they happened.  My mother kept it quiet so we didn’t ever talk about it but we knew that Hope was different.  She could tell us about things that might happen in the future and a couple of times it actually happened and worried all of us.  She had also forewarned us about her short life which didn’t help matters.  We all hoped she was wrong on that account.  She had been wrong before…

            “You’re doing it again Faith. Stop thinking so much,” Hope said wisely.  

            “Yeah, yeah, I know.  I’m going to have to work on that. I’m too much in my head all the time,”  Faith agreed.

            “Are you sure you’re really a warrior?  Or wait, are you a bibliophile warrior?” Hope teased, smiling up at her.

            Faith mussed up Hope’s light blue hair and gave her a hug. 

            “I’m going to miss you.  I can’t wait til you can come to school with me in a couple of years.”

            Hope looked at her older sister with shining eyes and hugged her back. “Me too.  Until then though, I’ll be waiting for you to come home and fill me in with stories of everything that goes on.”  

First day of School

Faith felt a rush of anticipation as she looked around her new room.  Her parents had said their parting goodbyes and just dropped her off, leaving her to get settled.  She noticed that there were two beds in the room with the exact same desks and chair on either side of the room.  Each side of the room appeared to be an exact mirror image of one another.  Faith chose one side and wondered if she was going to be getting a roommate.  She would be considerate and leave one side untouched, it was the right thing to do.

Seeing that introductions and dinner was the first thing on her agenda, she made her way to the dining hall following the signs that showed her the way.

            Magic Faith thought, that must be how these signs are being illuminated.

            “FAITH!!!!!!!!”  A loud voice boomed out from behind her.

Faith turned around slowly to see Edric and Everett smiling at her from the blur of many faces heading into the dining hall.   She happened to see Everett with his arms around a female’s shoulder but he promptly dropped it as soon as she had turned to them.  Faith raised her eyebrow at him in question and Everett gave her a sheepish grin.

            “Hey guys!  I’m so glad to finally see you again!” 

            “ Us too!”  Said Edric, who went right up to Faith and gave her a big hug lifting her off her feet.

            “YIKES!  You guys grew!”  Hope said in surprise.  “And ow!  Muscles much??  What have you been eating?” 

            “Don’t be jealous, we’re growing boys still.  Good genes you know and all that.”  Everett said with glee.  Everett took his turn and gave Faith a long hug as well, taking a moment too long to hold her in his arms when they both heard someone clear their throat from the side.

            “OH!  My bad, Faith, this is Selena,” Everett said with an embarrassed grin.

            “Faith, I’m so happy to meet you,” Selena said with a slow smile. Selena emphasized the word, “so” and the overtones of how it was said was not missed between the two females.  Faith however ignored her. 

            “Likewise Selena.  I’m glad to make your acquaintance,” Faith said confidently.

Faith knew there was a little underlying tension between the three of them but she didn’t quite understand what until she heard Selena speak again.

            “So, how do you know Everett?”  Selena asked cautiously.

            “Oh, we’ve been best friends since we were in diapers,” Faith said non-chalantly.

Selena’s eyes darkened a little at the words best friends, but she immediately hid them behind a tight lipped smile.  Faith wasn’t sure what was going on with this girl, but for now, she really didn’t care.  

            “Come on,” the twins both said at the same time lightheartedly.   It was directed to Faith, but Selena moved together with them, moving closer into Everett’s side. 

Seeing her actions, Edric and Faith both shared a stunned looked which morphed into laughter.  Shaking her head, Faith followed behind Everett with Edric behind her. Just like old times, Faith was sandwiched between the twins as if they were protecting her.  Everett looked over Selena’s head and gave Faith a warm smile.  Faith smiled back.  She had missed her two best friends.

            “WELCOME, children of the realms.  I am the head professor, Professor Geniason, here at the Unity Training School.”  The tall elfen professor stood in a long black robe accented with a dark blue signia showing his high elf status. At the head of the room, his voice had been amplified magically for everyone in the room to hear.  Professor Geniason was tall and thin with long silver hair that reached past his shoulders.  His facial hair was also silver in color and gave him a wizened look as well as a little intimidation. 

            “Psst!  Any relation?”  Edric whispered not so quietly.

            “No clue,” Faith shrugged.

At that moment, it looked like Professor Geniason had heard them as his eyes settled directly on the two.  He hesitated only a moment before continuing.  “Although I’m sure you are all hungry and ready for dinner, I wanted to first welcome you and introduce you to some of the headmasters of each realm and role.”

Professor Geniason continued to talk and introduce various teachers and instructors around the room but there were so many that most of the students started to lose concentration.  After what seemed to be quite a while, he uttered the words, “Let dinner begin!” and the trays of food started coming out to be served.

Faith peeked up at Professor Geniason to see if there was any family resemblance, but other than their silver hair, there was nothing similar between the two of them.   Her father never mentioned any extended family members that were professors at this school though… that was odd.  Great she thought to herself, silver hair does make you look old….ughhh

The rest of the dinner was enjoyable as the delicious food was eaten and students started introducing themselves to one another.    Faith met a couple of Undines named Nami and Navi that had been “created” and not born.  Though they were very somber and not very lively, she liked them. 

            Created Undines could come into being when a female lost the ability to actually reproduce – whether or not she had found a partner.  Although the female that created them lost her life shortly after, two lives were “created” in the process of renewal.  It was some complicated magic stuff of rebirth that Faith never paid much attention to.  Although her sister joked that Faith liked to read a lot more these days and teasingly called her the Bibliophile Warrior, she still didn’t know much about the Undine creation process and it had never really been written down in manuals.  It didn’t happen that often, that much she knew, and the price of “creation” came at a cost.  Nothing could be created without a “loss or sacrifice” in exchange.

            “Hey Faith,”  Everett grabbed her attention.

            “Yeah?”  Faith said hesitantly.  She knew he was up to something.

            “Party in the Gallows?”  Everett winked at her.

              “Good god, we just got here, what do you mean party?”  Faith said astounded.

               “Just a few people we want to introduce you to, and some you’ll definitely want to know,” Edric interrupted.

            “So not REALLY a party then,” Faith returned.

            “Eh, who knows,” shrugged Everett, “Someone might bring something to drink.  We all get thirsty sooner or later.”  Everett laughed, his laughter becoming contagious to Faith as well. 

            Faith looked at him and shook her head.  “Ok, I’ll be there, what time?” 

            “10 o’clock.” Edric said firmly.

            Faith made her way back to her room.  She noticed she still didn’t have a roommate and settled to the right side of the room.  She didn’t think it would make a difference if and when she got a roommate which side of the room they had.  She wondered what her school schedule would entail.  Everyone would be given their curriculum tomorrow based on their written applications which had been filled with questions about their interests and desires for fulfilling various roles.  Faith had written down her desire to be a warrior and explained that she had been training for over 5 years with her father. She hoped they would take that into consideration when they reviewed her application. 

            Faith looked at the clock and realized it was almost 10 o’clock.  She quickly moved her books off her lap and made her way down to the Gallows.  The Gallows was basically a student common area that had many different rooms available for students to come and congregate.  Usually the request of the gallows had to be made to a teacher so Faith wondered who had acquired permission on their behalf.  As Faith got closer to the Gallows, she saw that magic showed her the way to the room where her friends and others were gathered.  It would only show the way to someone that had been invited and to no one else.  In that sense, it allowed for some privacy among students.  As the rooms were also monitored, there was really no chance of anyone doing anything inappropriate in these rooms.  Such things were immediately found out or easily prevented. 

            Faith stood at the doorway which opened as soon as it felt her presence.  When the white doors separated and opened, she saw that it led her to a lush outdoor garden area that had chairs that were situated around a small fire pit.  The light fragrance of flowers wafted through the room and created a colorful yet charming ambiance among the greenery.   One corner of the room had a small refreshment table, but definitely nothing as wild as Everett had insinuated when he said “party.”

            “Faith!  Over here.  Come meet everyone,”  Everett said brightly.

Faith looked over to the one side where a large group of people were talking together.  She looked a little unsure but still walked over to where Everett and Edric were standing.

            “Faith, this is Kyle, Melody and Jacob.  You already know Nami and Navi,” Edric introduced her to those in the immediate group. “This is Faith, our best friend.” 

Kyle Petriock appeared to be quite tall, much taller than a regular elf or shapeshifter.  He had blonde hair and green eyes that sparkled.  He was quite handsome and had very broad shoulders - even for someone so abnormally tall.  He seemed to know what she was thinking as her eyes widened at his height.  Kyle chuckled and shook his head.

            “I’m half Olgas and half shapeshifter,” Kyle announced easily.

            “It’s nice to meet you,” Faith said quietly, “and I didn’t mean any offense by staring.”

            “Not at all, I know I’m quite a bit bigger than most,” Kyle said warmly as he smiled at her and shook her hand.

Faith wasn’t sure why both the guys were smiling so widely at her, but the twins seemed to sense both the male’s interest and scowled immediately at both Kyle and Jacob. 

            “I’m Jacob,” the shorter male interrupted, “I’m not quite so tall or as interesting as Kyle, but I’m an elf seeking to be a warrior which makes me quite unique.”  Jacob seemed to smirk at her as he said this, almost as if sensing he knew she had a secret.

            “Nice to meet you as well Jacob, I have warrior interests too,”  Faith said mesmerized.

            “And… I’mmmm always being introduced last,” said the female glaring at both boys, “I’m Melody.  I think we met once a long time ago, and I’m a shapeshifter.”

            Melody had long beautiful black hair that cascaded to her tiny waist.  She had lovely dark brown eyes that seemed rimmed with black eyeliner making her eyes stand out from her face.  Her face was perfect too except for the right side below the cheek which seemed to be slightly marred by a reddish birth mark.  Faith tried hard not to stare but she still thought Melody was quite stunning.  Both girls were staring at one another without blinking.

            Everett laughed when Faith stared a little too long at Melody’s eyes.  “She’s part Undine too, which is probably the bit of fairy magic she uses to enhance her looks when she wants,” Everett whispered.

            “Oh, I didn’t know, how can she do that?” 

            “There’s a lot about magic you don’t know Faith, but I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

            Everett winked at her as he carefully walked her over to his twin Edric.  Again, standing between the two twins, Faith continued talking with her newly made friends and soon was talking animatedly about the upcoming warrior courses and various clubs affiliated with them. 

All too soon it was midnight and they all dispersed. 

Everett and Edric both walked Faith to her room and said they would see her tomorrow.  When she opened her door, she was surprised to see Melody sitting on the bed to the left side of the room.

            “Hi!” Melody said brightly.

            “What are you doing here?”  Faith asked curiously.

            “I requested a room change and they didn’t object so here I am roomie!”  Melody giggled.

            “I’m actually glad to have a roommate, it would have been a drag to talk to myself,” Faith agreed.

            The two girls quickly made their beds and talked for a few more minutes before each going to sleep.   Faith was happy to be here and was excited to see what tomorrow would bring.