Chapter 1

Chapter 1: "Bad Impressions"

I should be drowning. The small voice in the back of my mind is telling me that I should be panicking, that I can’t breathe. I’m not panicking though. The pressure is oddly calming, and I am left by myself for once.

I turn my head, and floating orbs of lights are blinking in and out. The room I’ve been placed in, was filled with water. A smaller room that had a wall of glass on one side. The orbs of lights that kept going in and out of focus were those behind the glass.

I was being watched. It’s like when you are younger and you feel eyes on you, even if you can’t the person. I knew they had been there when this all started, but if they were still here that was the question I’ve been asking myself.

Letting my eyes fall shut, I slowly let the water drop from around me, forming a thick sheet of ice on the floor. Allowing my body to relax, I exhaled deeply, not realizing I had been holding my breath for so long.

“Good job, Maivene,” a man’s voice announced.

“Thank you,” I responded quietly.

Looking up I found the faces of four instructors. One of them was mine, the one who complimented my work today, and the other three were those of my teammates. The team in which we are called “Magicians” by people who don’t understand. I wonder why they were here today. Usually they only come if the others actually came to train.

“Maivene, we have a request to ask of you today,” said the only woman of the group.

“For what?” I asked.

“We’d like for you to train the other three today. They have yet been to individual training sessions like you have been. They also have yet to do any training of the sort,” she said, her words pronounced carefully.

“But am I one of the youngest, aren't I?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Why should I have to train the worthless people who hold the powers?”

“Because they may listen to you,” said one of the other men, this one distinctly different because of his silver hair.

“Listen to me? Granted I have younger siblings that may help, but what happens if they do listen?” I asked, scoffing at the notion.

“You become their leader,” my instructor explained. “Then you are in charge of them when you are out on missions or in this room. But do remember, we are still your superiors who will be watching you do this.”

“Yes, I understand,” I replied, my eyes cast down to the floor. “When will they come in?”

“The others should be here soon, Ms. Veche,” my instructor said. “We’ll be here watching while you work them today, but after this session we won’t be here anymore.”

I nodded, lifting my head. I felt like I had a lot of responsibilities but this would be my time to shine. I moved away from the spot I felt like I had been rooted too. I started to clean up the materials I had been using to prepare the room for the arrival of the others.

I hummed under my breath as I knelt down and placed my hand upon the ice sheet. The ice slowly started to melt, forming a puddles on the ground, which made its way to the now open drain in the middle of the room. I stood up as it continued to melt, and faced the door with my arms crossed, waiting.

The ticks and tocks of the large analog clock that was placed on the rear wall of the arena filled my ears, deafening me to any other noises. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to focus on those sounds. My heart beat, which was still beating too fast from anticipation, slowed down to a normal pace. I blinked open my eyes just in time to see three other teenagers walk into the room.

“It is about time you showed up,” I said, moving quickly over to them.

“Well, we got lost!” responded one of the girls in their group.

“Perhaps you should have asked for a map,” I answered. “I nor the instructors will put up with tardiness. It is unacceptable.”

Out of total disregard for manners, the blonde boy smirked and said, “And who are you anyways? You are just the same age as us.”

“So glad that you asked Blondo. I am Maivene Veche. I have been here for six months and have been training every day since I got here. I got assigned to kick your sorry butts into shape so you don’t killed your very first time on a mission,” I answer, pushing golden brown hair out of my face. “And what are your names?”

The blonde boy stared at me with disgust, spitting out, “Jayden.”

The two girls exchanged looks with each other.

“I’m Daphne and this is Elliana,” said the other girl, the softest spoken person I’d ever met.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight of the one who had spoken earlier. Now that I had time to focus on them, I noticed that this Elliana person has black hair that was streaked with a crazy amount of colors. Stupid girl, she’ll get us noticed when we go out into the “War Zone” as the Rebellion called it. The one who called herself Daphne had a more subdued color, perhaps her normal color.

“Well I have one thing to say…” I started to state, before the chatter broke it off. “Jayden. Elliana. If you two are going to talk you can go ahead and leave this session. I don’t do well with rudeness. So you have both not been on my good side. You have made bad impressions not only to me, but also to your instructors that have been watching since the moment you walked into this room.”

Jayden rolled his eyes and said, “Whatever girl. I don’t care. I wish I didn’t have these stupid powers anyway.”

“Now that you said that, I’m going to have you stay after. You get to have one on one time with me, till you can learn that your powers weren’t meant for you to begin with.”

“Whatever,” he responded.

“Daphne and Elliana, come back in about two hours. I will work with the two of you later. Just be on time and don’t get lost. The others won’t bite if you need to ask for help,” I instructed the girls.

“Okay,” they responded softly, seeing that I was probably at the end of my patience.

I turned my back to Jayden, and carefully walked a few feet away. As I walked, I allowed a water sphere to form in the palm of hand, rotating to keep its shape. Turning 180 degrees I faced Jayden, and without warning launched it at him.