Chapter Six

After her sudden attack, Roxanna finds her true place in this world... And she doesn't have a choice.

I sat in the chairs in Kaitlyn's room once again, my heart still racing from the recent events. The room was absolutely silent. Kaitlyn was now pacing around the room; Sora was sitting in the chair next to me, his expression showing deep thought. We must have sat like there for a few minutes, until I finally spoke up.

"...Why did the girl attack me? She was a gaia... and you said they come here." I asked, not facing either of them. Kaitlyn didn't answer. After a few moments, Sora sighed.

"Well... you were bound to find out sometime." He began, still staring into nothing. "That girl was a gaia, a fiera, just like you. But... fieras don't enroll in the academy. And neither do darkeras. ...They were banned to the highlands many years ago."

My head jerked up, grabbing my attention.

"What...-"

"They both wreaked havoc all over Sacara. Kaitlyn banned them all and their faeries to a fortress in the highlands, far away from the townspeople. But... something went wrong with his spell. The fiera and darkera manage to escape... but the two faeries don't. They usually keep to themselves, but the fiera get a kick out of torturing people. They're always getting out. The academy itself stands in between the fortress and the town, protecting the people." He explained, then turned to face me. "But you... You're from Earth. It doesn't apply to you. Kaitlyn wants you to enroll in the academy. It's one of the main reasons he told me to bring you here."

I blinked, then looked away. "Only one of the reasons? There were more? Why was I on Earth anyway?"

There was a brief silence, until Sora finally answered. "Another huge reason was that the fiera and darkera were coming to take you here... but not exactly here, I mean... to the highlands." He paused for a moment, then continued. "You remember the last events while you were in New York?"

"Of course I do... it was only earlier today." I answered, pointing out the obvious.

"Well... a lot of the things that happened weren't just coincidences. The dark clouds? Basically announcing the arrival of many darkera. And the heat wave? The same thing, but with fiera. They were on your tail constantly. They knew you were there... but they hadn't found you yet. Mortals from your world are extremely repelled by the presence of gaias; they all went inside or underground. So when the streets cleared, you stuck out. But it couldn't have been that easy... they didn't actually find you... until the subway incident."

I flinched, remembering the tunnel crashing behind us. Were they really... the cause of that?

"When they found you on the subway... they destroyed the ground overhead. And, well, you know what happened afterwards. The dark smoke coming towards us was them." Sora explained, his voice softening. "...They were so close to getting you."

I stared into nothing, not able to reply. If Sora hadn't been there...

"...How did they find me so quickly anyway? It all happened in such a short time..."

"...I've thought about that," Sora began, "but my best guess is, they had a tracker with them. Plus, there was your necklace issue."

"WHAT?!" Kaitlyn's sudden outburst rang through the room. The wizard rushed over to me at once, looked at me, then scowled. "Why has the necklace been removed!" He boomed.

"...It broke. Not like I had a choice." I replied in monotone.

Kaitlyn's eyes grew wild, slamming his fist on the desk. I simply stared blankly back at him. 

What the hell is he getting so worked up about?

The wizard sighed, and held out his hand to me. "The necklace. I want it now."

I sighed and bent over, untying my converse, and taking out the necklace. "Here." I said, handing it to him. Kaitlyn's fist closed quickly over the necklace. When his hand opened, it was completely intact again, and he turned around to his desk.

"Uhm... what's so great about it anyway? It's just a piece of metal..." I muttered. Kaitlyn seemed to be busying himself at his desk, and Sora answered instead.

"That necklace concealed your power; you were like any normal mortal. So as you can probably guess, when it broke off, finding you was really easy."

Kaitlyn turned around then, tossing the necklace at me. I caught it in one hand, and examined what he had done. All of the colored balls were gone, and only the white one was left.

"Now, I strongly advise you to keep this necklace on. That's an order." The wizard demanded, his stone eyes narrowing. I raised my eyebrow in question, but rolled my eyes and put the necklace on again. "Now, without the smaller orbs, you're able to use your power. The white orb keeps your presence concealed from the fiera and darkera." He stepped around in his desk in a simple stride, then faced us both.

"Roxanna... I understand that a lot is coming down on you at once... but it's time for you to enroll in G.A.S."

I stared at him, then sighed, nodding. Not like I really had a choice.

Kaitlyn suddenly screamed at deafening volume, and stopped in a second.

"Okay, you're officially a student of this academy." he announced, grinning. "Sora, show her around, would you?" Without another word, Kaitlyn disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. I stared at where he was standing with wide eyes, still completely and utterly confused about... well... everything. Sora walked in front of me, and held out his hand.

"Well... let's go."

I got up on my own, walking out of the room. After a few seconds, Sora was by my side. I looked around the classroom-like room, walking through the desks.

"Is this a classroom or something?"

Sora nodded. "This is the official classroom. We come here in the morning, learn some stuff, then there's the training ground outback... there's almost always students out there." He explained briefly. "Come on, there's more than this." The brunette took my hand, and led me down the stairs. I glared at him, although I don't think he saw.

Stop... Touching... Me... D****t!

We reached the bottom of the stairs in the lobby, and Sora turned to the left. Beside the wide staircase was a white door, almost invisible from a distance.

"This door leads to the infirmary. Students get hurt a lot... ending up in there is pretty common." He explained, then turned around again, and started walking to the door on the left... until completely stopping in his footsteps.

"...Damn. I almost forgot... that door leads to the guys' dorms.... that wouldn't be pretty." Sora slapped himself, then looked up. "How am I going to show you where everything is if I'm not even supposed to go into the girls' si-"

"Oooooh! Sora's got a girlfriend!" a sudden voice sang through the lobby. Sora flinched, and turned around, his face bright red.

"What the hell are you talking about, Sapphire?"

I turned also, seeing a young girl walking over to us, a wide smirk on her face. She had long, copper hair stretching down to her elbows at her sides, her long bangs falling over her eye. She wore a short, white, flowing dress, that was torn at the bottom. As she walked closer, I saw her bright, golden eyes, and a marking by her visible eye, that looked like a spark.

"I'm talking about you getting a little touchy with this girl... who.. I.. have not... seen before..." She added, looking me up and down. Sapphire laughed, turning her attention to Sora. "Since when do you show affection?"

Sora looked away from the both us, shaking my hand away. "...Shut up Sapphire... This is Roxanna, a new student."

Her eyebrow raised in question. "New? But she looks around our age... she should've been here years ago."

Sora paused. "...She's not from here. And she's a fiera."

Sapphire's eyes grew wide, looking from me to Sora. "Not from here...?" she murmured, then shook her head. "Whatever, it's none of my business." She added with a smile. "Need me to show her the girls' dorm?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I need." Sora answered with a relieved sigh.

"Awesome!" The girl exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling me next to her. "I'll try not to scare her or anything... but go tell Sam! I want him to meet her, too!"

And with that said, Sapphire dragged me across the lobby, kicked the door to the dorms open, and walked inside.

The next room was huge, full of teenage girls. A bit smaller than the lobby, but still fairly large. Everything was a different color, although it somehow matched perfectly. There were couches, bean bag chairs, tables, a mini kitchen, an enormous plasma T.V.... In short, the perfect place for a teenage girl. Sapphire walked through quickly, completely ignoring anyone who stared, and walked up a spiral staircase.

It led to a long hallway, which Sapphire completely sped through, passing tons of doors, not stopping until she reached one in the middle.

"Alright. We all have rooms, duh, and roommates. I don't have any yet soo.... I claim you as mine!" she suddenly decided, swinging the door open.

The room was painted black completely... with neon zebra stripes. Two neon bunk-beds sat on the left side of the room, each bed a different color. Four short wardrobes were placed against the right wall, and a table with four stools sat in the center. Everything in the entire room was either black or neon.

I stared for a second, glanced at Sapphire, then looked back. She didn't look like this kind of person...

"Nice, isn't it?" Sapphire said, walking inside and turning once.

I followed her inside, nodding. It was surprising, but pretty cool. Sapphire flopped onto a lower pink bunk, smiling. "Looks like it's just you and me for now. It was pretty lonely before. If we're lucky, we might get another roommate before we leave."

I turned to her, face full of confusion. "Leave...?"

Sapphire blinked, then nodded, her smile fading. "Students don't graduate like mortals... We just... leave. Whenever we want. We're not forced to enroll here, either. It's all our choice." She walked to the window across the room, sighing. "Most adult gaias don't last very long if they choose to live with mortals... but they don't want to stay cooped up here forever, either."

I sat on a bed and looked at her, feeling the entire atmosphere change. "They... don't last? Why?"

There was no response for a few seconds, just the slight sound of wind outside.

"...Murder."

Everything went entirely silent as the word left her mouth. The brunette turned to me again, her face full of guilt. "...Guess you wouldn't know much, considering the fact that you're not from here, wherever you came from. But... you should be aware... of what gaias really are in the eyes of mortals." She leaned against the window, frowning a bit. "...Might as well just come out and say it. We're considered a burden to society. All of us." She began, looking into the distance. "This may sound like some weird stereotype or something... but mortals really hate us 'cause we have powers. I personally think they're jealous, but... there's a worse reason. Much worse. We kill people. We all do. Even if we don't remember."

My eyes widened, and she looked at me, nodding. "I know what you're thinking, so I'll tell you. You see... birth and death is all a cycle of souls. There are mortal souls... and gaia souls. When a woman becomes pregnant, a mortal soul enters her body, into what will be her baby. But gaia souls can't do that... on their own. When the woman is six months pregnant, a gaia soul can go inside... and kick the mortal soul out; they're much stronger. As soon as this happens, she gives birth... three months early... to a baby she didn't want... and a baby she'll never see. The birth kills her. Her body can't take it. And the husband? Well... what would you feel if another soul kicked out the soul of your baby and killed the woman you loved? Gaia infants have been killed, abandoned, or kept... just to make their lives miserable. If one of the first two happen... the husband usually ends up killing himself. It's extremely common... that's what mine did, after he abandoned me. I was only six." Sapphire's mouth turned into a sad smile; a single tear running down her face. She wiped it away, and looked at me. "So... you can probably guess... mortals don't appreciate gaias who live up to adulthood anymore than infants. If they're found to be gaias, you can probably guess what happens to them, then." Another lone tear ran down her cheek, dripping onto her dress, as more ran down her face slowly. I blinked, feeling a small splash on my knee.

...I didn't even notice I was crying. I couldn't think straight, either. My mother... can't be my real mother. I had a real mother once... who I killed. Without a choice. And a father... What happened to mine? Does he still hate me?

I struggled to hold tears back, thinking about the past that I would never know.

That horrible woman with the blazing emerald eyes... is not my mother.

Sapphire smiled sadly and wiped her tears away, standing up.

"Well, we just gotta live with it, right?" She brushed her bangs out of her eyes, and walked to the door. "...There's a couple more things I wanna show you."

--

"So, this is the training ground." Sapphire announced, standing behind the back of the academy. There was a large dust field ahead of us, divided into four sections. A small lake sat on the other side of the field from us, with grass surrounding the ground completely. There were about ten students there at that time... in all four sections, although it was already dark out.

"As you can probably guess, we all practice our powers here, grow stronger, blah blah. It's really useful. And- Oh! There's Sam now!" She suddenly exclaimed, dragging me over the field. "Saaaaaaammmmmm!!!"

All heads on the field turned to us, but a blonde boy with skater hair turned last.

"Sapphire?" he asked, then smiled, seeing the two of us.

"Sam! I want you to meet Roxanna." Sapphire said, stopping before the blonde boy. Sam smiled, and held out his hand.

"Hey, I'm Sam. I guess you're new here."

I stared at him for a seconds, noticing a wave marking on his neck, then shook his hand hesitantly, making the moment extremely awkward on my part.

"Roxanna isn't from here, so I've been showing her around and explaining a few things." Sapphire continued, her bright smile never leaving. She turned to me, and glanced at Sam. "Me and Sam have been friends since we were little, back before we found the academy. He's an aquara. Oh, and if you havn't noticed, I'm a lightera."

Sam nodded, then looked at me. "So you are..." 

He looked at me, straight at my emblem, and froze. I stared in confusion, then gasped. Sapphire noticed his look, and shook her hands in front of her franticly.

"Uh... she's not like that! She's cool! I swear!"

People started to look over, hearing Sapphire's loud words.

"Uhm... Sapphire..." I murmured, glancing at the turning heads.

"You're really... a..." Sam whispered, his dark blue eyes beginning to swirl in shock.

"No! Its okay! Kaitlyn accepted her didn't he?!" 

"...Fiera."

The whole training ground grew silent. Nobody moved. It was like time had frozen in place for what felt like years.

Everybody was staring at me. Some shocked, some hostile. It was Sapphire who broke the silence. "...You know what everyone?" She challenged, glaring at the hostile students. "...Just keep your f*****g mouth shut. You don't know anything, so stay the hell out of her business."

She grabbed my hand, violently dragging me off the field, ignoring all of the harsh murmurs we left behind.

--

Sapphire paced around our room violently, arms crossed, glaring out the window every now and then. I just sat on the top lime green bunk, resting my head in my hands.

So... everybody hates me... and I didn't even do anything.

"They're so ignorant!" she finally blurt out, all lights flashing brighter in the room. "How could they know if you're evil? You're not even from here. And Sam... ugh! I would've never expected him, of all people, to react that way. He's usually so easy-going, it's pissing me off! And now everyone's going to hate you just because you just happen to be what we're fighting!!" A light bulb exploded in one of the lamps with a boom, although the room was still bright. Sapphire flinched, and the room darkened again. "...Sorry about that."

I shrugged. "Explode whatever you want. Whatever makes it easier for you." I replied, deadpanning.

Sapphire sighed loudly. "It's just... I don't understand. If I can accept you, when I barely know you, why can't anyone else?"

We stayed silent for a few moments, knowing that the answer to her question is one we didn't want to hear.

"...Hey.." I finally said, looking at her. Sapphire turned around. "...Why did you accept me so easily anyway?"

The lightera smiled, and clasped her hands in front of her. "Well... You were accepted by Sora."

I straightened up, raising an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Sora... is a really closed person." She began, looking at her hands. "He's a nice guy and all, but he's always keeping to himself... He doesn't socialize often. I think his only friend is Sam, and I guess you could say me, somewhat. But when I stepped out of the dorms today... and saw him with you... I was awestruck. You may not have seen it, but his face... it was so bright. When he told me you were a fiera, I was surprised, but it didn't bother me. Sora accepted you, so I saw no need to be worried or anything."

I stared at the ceiling when she finished. ...Was he really like that? He did seem a little... awkward to me. I dunno. He was so serious in New York... but he did have his dumb moments around me. ...I guess he's not that bad...

Sapphire glanced at the digital clock on one of the wardrobes. "Well, its late. We shouldn't stay up too late. Uhm... for your clothes issue... I guess you can just borrow my stuff." She decided, shrugging. "We can go shopping tomorrow." The brunette stopped, and tilted her head. "Hmm... I'm gonna grab some water. Want anything?" She asked, walking to the door.

I shook my head. "I'm fine, thanks."

Sapphire shrugged, and opened the door. "Make sure you get a lot of sleep. Class starts at 7:30."

Author's Note

i love this chapter. cuz i started it on my computer, and ended it on my new laptop xD
FUCK YES<3
uhm.. yeah... idk what to say so. whatever owo

Reviews

[Chocoholic]

I love this chapter! I found it really interesting (and sad) how gaias are born. At first I wasn't sure if this was going to be very unique story, but now I see that this is an amazing story that is all it's own! Great work!

[r]

Dude I LOVED THIS CHAPTER!!! AND ...yeah. some of that is sad, and im glad for explanations. and all those people are pricks. ughh. whatever. AND LOLOLOL!!!! how she was enrolled was fummy. Kaitlyn just screamed... xDDD niiiiicee. idk what all to say, cept i loved it. o.O and i'm tired. and i have to catch up on like 7 books because i was gone. o.O LOVELY.

but ANYWHO, loved this chapter. xDD

[Hush Hush]

I sooo wanna read more! I think you have some amazing talent girl!( ok that just made me sound really old but whatever):D
Although I do have a small suggestion, some parts seem a bit rushed so I think if you elaborated them more it would make this book even better. :D
well done

[Rayne~Drop.]

I LUFFLED dis chapter and AT LEAST I KNOW WHY! :D Sapphire is f*****g awesome. I love her already. lol XD And...Yeah....Explanations are good to. :D And...Sapphy's room iz epical...Neon colors are amazing. :D And...Yeah...So...I guess that's it...lol XD

[master squiggles]

Haha I loved this chapter too. I really hav nothing to say... So yeah... I just liked it and that's all that I can say. I'm not sure why I liked it but I just did. And the whole birth thing that u talked about kinda... Sucks for the mother/... Lol.