"And what is the most populated realm in Emiarhia?" Miss Lucera questioned.

"Winithas, which is where we are now," I answered.

"And how many realms or countries are there?"

"Seven."

She nodded in satisfaction. "Other than Winithas, name three of those."

"Um." I took a second to think. "There's Opios, Noslux and...Shialumura?"

"Excellent work, Brielle," she praised. "I'm content with how much you've learned today."

I looked at her from across the table and nodded. For a full hour, Miss Lucera had taught me basic geography about Emiarhia. Normally I hate geography, but this was interesting since it was a whole other universe and everything. And it was nice that it was private, so I wouldn't feel stupid if I said the wrong answer.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Miss Lucera said cheerily.

I smiled just as the bell rang throughout the school again. After saying goodbye, I trudged back up three long flights of stairs to my locker. Some people were giving me weird looks as I passed. Was it really possible that they immediately noticed someone out of the ordinary? Either way, I was wishing I had my phone so I could distract myself from the stares. Not knowing what exactly to do with my hands, I settled by just sticking them in my pockets.

"Brielle?" a voice called out from behind me. I whipped around, startled, to become face-to-face with Shaylie. "Hello! It's Brielle, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, hi Shaye," I replied.

She sighed. "Good. I'd be quite embarrassed if it wasn't you. I didn't think I could forget a face like yours!"

"What's wrong with my face?" I deflected, half-serious.

She laughed softly. "Oh no, nothing at all! You're just one of the few people I've met who has purple eyes."

"Oh, that's...interesting."

"I just can't believe I ran into you. Are you doing anything in particular for lunch?"

"No, I don't know what I'm doing at all, really." I shrugged.

"Eat with me, then!" she replied enthusiastically.

"Are you sure? Don't you have other friends you'd rather be with?"

She tilted her head. "Well, I was actually on my way to go see them now, but I think they'll like you."

"Okay, if you say so..."

She led me by the hand towards a lush courtyard full of greenery and vines. We sat down next to each other at a table in the corner. Across from me were two other girls, likely the same age as us.

The one on the left was curvy and one of the shortest people I'd seen in Emarhia. Her wavy, thick, bobbed hair was a warm shade of auburn. She had large, pointed ears that stuck out through her hair. Underneath her bangs and long eyelashes, I could see that one of her eyes was golden, and the other, amber. The most peculiar feature was the diamond-shaped scales on the tops of her hands. They were onyx-coloured, slightly iridescent, and blended into her skin at the edges.

The other girl was tall and slender with distinct violet undertones to her skin. She had round, periwinkle eyes and thick eyelashes. Her curly, chest-length hair was glossy and as black as ever, with dark blue lowlights. Bushy eyebrows complemented her high forehead. Her fingers were webbed at the top knuckles by flexible, translucent, violet skin. She tucked her hair behind her ears, which laid flatter against her head and were slightly smaller than what I was used to seeing. This also revealed her most striking feature: a set of inconspicuous, pale violet gills on either side of her neck. Needless to say, I had to be careful not to stare. I had to pretend like everything was normal for me.

Shaye was the first to speak after we sat down. "Brielle, this is Miseris Chantsirra," she gestured to the brunette, "And this is Lilwen Doch'toor," she gestured to the other girl.

"Hi," I said nervously.

"We met at the blacksmith," Shaye explained. "She's new to the Academy."

"Nice to meet you," Lilwen greeted. Although she was quiet, I could sense how nice she seemed.

Miseris' eyes flickered to mine. "Hey." She seemed distant but cool.

Lilwen brushed a curl out of her face. I noticed her pupils change briefly into an upwards crescent shape before becoming round again. "So, why is it you are only just enrolling here?"

"Um..." I panicked.

I didn't have the slightest idea of how to answer that. I already assumed I'd be facing at least some harassment, being from Earth and all, but I didn't think I'd be the one to reveal that fact. Lilwen seemed nice enough to understand, but word travels fast, and I wanted to avoid that from happening as long as possible. I glanced at Shaye, hoping she'd change the subject or something, but she simply looked back at me curiously. Of course, she didn't know either.

"I'm...not from around here. My family...moved..." I said slowly.

Miseris leaned forward. "Where did you go to school previously? Snow Gulch?"

"...Yes."

"Wow," she continued. "I didn't think they still taught there. I heard that school was being demolished to rebuild it in a better spot."

"Which is why I moved," I added. "Doesn't matter anyway."

"Hm." Lilwen tapped her chin. "Well, you are welcome to eat with us anytime you'd like. I know that befriending new people can be quite difficult."

I thanked her, exhaling a sigh of relief.

Shaye reached into her ivory satchel and pulled out a small bunch of cloth. She unravelled it to reveal pale green slices of...something.

"What's that?" I asked cautiously.

"You've never had terrungo before?" she responded, confused.

"...Uh. Of course! I just couldn't see what it was."

"Here, I won't eat all of this alone." She offered me a piece. I bit into the crunchy exterior. It was oddly tart, but also sweet. The slice seemed to melt away in my mouth.

"So, Brielle, what class do you have after lunch?" Lilwen interjected.

I dusted my hands on my trousers. "Senior Magic Study I."

"So do I!" Shaye mentioned.

"Great!" I said, thankful that I'd know someone there. "What about you two?"

"Earth Studies," Miseris groaned in a less-than-pleased manner.

"Not my favourite," Lilwen agreed.

"How so?" I pressed, my interest piquing.

"My parents would like me to visit Earth someday," Lilwen explained. "When I'm older. The class itself is just a bit boring."

"I don't know why we need to learn about a whole other dimension. Pointless, if you ask me," Miseris added.

I couldn't help but grin a little. "Is it really that bad?"

She fiddled with her boot laces. "What, you don't have to take it?"

"No, not this year at least," I replied. "I guess my parents don't have any interest in Earth."

"Lucky," she said with an eye-roll.

After saying goodbye to Lilwen and Miseris, Shaye and I left the courtyard when the bell rang. I was hungry, but I didn't want to risk people seeing me eating Earth food. I'd managed to discreetly scarf down a granola bar in the meantime.

When we entered the classroom for Senior Magic Study I, a well-dressed, cobalt-haired man was standing at the doorway.

"That's Professor Jakklo. I had him last year, too. Tolerable, but do not test his temper," Shaye whispered as we passed.

"Duly noted," I murmured. We sat down beside each other. I propped up my book bag against the desk. "What do you think we'll be learning today?"

"The usual material. Types of magic, types of spells, how different hand motions affect your cast, other things," Shaye rambled.

I laughed. "Seems easy enough."

I watched uniformed students flood into the room. I'd say at least eighty percent of them stared at me as they walked by, either confused or baffled. I assumed that classes didn't get new students often. Nonetheless, I didn't bat an eyelash and continued to talk casually to Shaye. If anybody wanted to talk to me instead of staring, they were welcome to do so right then. But of course, no one did.

"You're drawing quite some attention, Brielle," Shaye remarked.

"Unintentionally."

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"Now, this question is very simple. How many types of magic are there?" Professor Jakklo asked, to no one in particular.

I watched as Shaye raised her hand. "Six," she answered politely.

"Yes, correct. Tell me one of those kinds, Miss Onusch-Eires."

"Air."

"Good, anyone else? There's five more," he continued.

Shaye leaned towards me. "Well? Go on!"

"Um," I whispered, "I'm kind of trying to keep a low profile for now."

She shrugged. "All right."

"And what else?" Jakklo said. "We have air, fire, and earth. Come on now, don't be shy. What about our new student? Miss De Mavset?"

I froze. Everybody's eyes fixated on me. Quick Brielle, think! Okay, so he said air, fire, and earth... Following that theme, water must be one, right? "Water," I answered, hoping to sound more confident than I felt.

A student a few desks over raised her hand. "There's ice, too. Occasionally referred to as snow or frost."

"That's right. Does anyone know the last one?" The professor turned his attention away from me. I slowly exhaled the breath I'd been holding.

"Light," some random boy called out.

"Excellent. So to recapitulate, the six elemental types of magic are fire, water, earth, air, ice, and light," Jakklo stated. "There are also very basic spells that fall into a separate category that is called 'neutral'. Those include spells such as levitation and movement. As you all should know by now, your ability to channel magic is determined at birth. Some people can, and some people can't. It's progressively getting less common to be unable to do so, however. Hence why this school was given the name 'The Emiarhian Academy for Non-Magic and Magic Kind'."

I sat up straighter and rested my head in my palms. This whole class was really interesting. Maybe other students found it boring, but all of this was completely new to me.

----------------------------------------

The class was over soon enough, so Shaye and I packed up our things. I'd gotten a few black smudges on my right hand because we had to use quills and ink to write with. There wasn't a whole lot to learn, thankfully. After discussing further the types of magic, we moved on to the differences between them.

"Do you have the field endurance course next, too?" I asked, slinging my book bag onto my shoulder.

"Yes, I'm glad we have that together as well," Shaye replied.

"So what exactly do we do in that class?" I blurted out before thinking. Shaye must've assumed I didn't have anything like it before.

"It's a fairly new course; I haven't been doing it for very long. In short, it's similar to guard training. You learn to defend yourself, fight, use a variety of weapons, dodge threats, skills of that sort. As well as valuable assets like balance, speed, agility, reflexes, climbing, jumping... The farther you take it, the better warrior you become," she explained.

"Sounds...curious," I hesitated. "Although, I wouldn't mind being amazing at fighting."

Shaye laughed. "Me too, I suppose."

I followed her to a massive arena with a glass ceiling. The ground was compacted dirt, and there was various equipment strewn about. Imagine something similar to an army training course. Some people were already there. We set our satchels in a corner and proceeded to a nearby table.

"What's this?" I murmured.

"Active uniforms," Shaye whispered. "Our current clothes aren't exactly fit for running and climbing, are they?"

I grabbed a navy blue modest tank top, a pair of dark grey leggings, a pair of short black socks, and black lace-up boots in my appropriate size. We continued into a separate room to change.

I set my other clothes into a small compartment on the wall beside Shaye's. I then checked myself in the mirror to make sure my outfit looked okay. I had to admit the uniform was kind of cool. The leggings weren't exactly leggings, more like breathable, form-fitting pants. There were leather patches on the knees. I was also a fan of the tank top because no fabric at the armpits means no fear of sweat marks. I carefully did up my boots and tied my hair into a high ponytail. Shaye did the same.

"All right, if everybody's here, let's get started," the instructor said after we exited the changing room. His presence was a tad overwhelming. He had another man to his left and a young woman to his right. All three of them were tall, in their early to mid-twenties, and dressed in sleek, lightweight armour. And just like many people that I'd been encountering, they possessed various inhuman attributes.

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The instructor in the middle scanned the crowd with his greenish-brown eyes. I noticed a small scar across his right eyebrow. "I am First Lieutenant Tyrath Surcliffe," he began, combing his brown faux hawk with his fingers. He had significantly pointed ears and, most surprisingly, dark brown horns that twisted backwards and upwards from either side of his forehead. They looked pretty sharp, even while the ends were wrapped in cloth, and also had several forward-facing prongs. "Myself, along with First Lieutenant Morgina vol Aabek and First Lieutenant Reyshore Pallot-Yglaec, will be your trainers in this course."

"We expect nothing but your best behaviour," Morgina added. Even from where I was standing, I could see that her skin had an obvious shimmer to it – similar to mine, except to a much greater degree. Her asymmetrical, bubblegum-pink pixie cut swayed as she nodded. It had a perceptible, opalescent sheen. Her magenta eyes were slightly larger than average, yet stern. Their colour contrasted against her white eyelashes. "Anybody who fails to display respect will be escorted out immediately."

"I encourage all of you to try your very best, too," Reyshore continued, his bright white, side-parted hair fluttering around his shoulders. He was easily the tallest person I'd met thus far and must've been just under seven feet in height. His skin was an otherworldly shade of graphite grey. He had long, highly pointed ears that were visibly opposable and twinkled with numerous earrings. Above all, I was most shocked to see a third eye in the centre of his forehead that moved and blinked in tandem with the other two, sharing their wine purple colouring. All three had pupils that formed beaded slits in the sunlight.

Tyrath stepped forward, his arms folded across his broad chest. "Today, we'll be focusing on defense. If you were to ever be in a situation where you had to choose between a sword or a shield, you choose the shield. To have a weapon to battle with is important, yes, but if you go into a fight without any defense, you're basically as good as dead."

"So, on that note," Morgina said, "We will be splitting everybody up into three groups. Each of us will be with one."

Reyshore counted all of the students and then divided us. Thank god I was in Shaye's group. Tyrath was our instructor. He showed us some simple blocking moves and then started to work with each of us individually.

"Try moving your arm a little higher and making a more sharp movement," he said from behind me. "There's no time for hesitation in battles."

I turned around and smiled. "Like this?" I returned to a fighting stance, my feet planted firmly to the ground and my weight balanced. I quickly stepped back and jabbed my arm into the air, using my forearm to block a pretend punch to the head.

"Better. Much better," he grinned. "Have you had any previous experience with this?

"About two years," I said, continuing to repeat the moves. "It was of a different type though, so I'm not sure how useful it'll prove to be."

Tyrath nodded thoughtfully. "Taekwondo?"

I stopped abruptly. "Yeah, actually... How did you guess that?"

"You display traces of it in your stances and movements. That, and I've done studies about self-defense types on Earth," he replied.

I had to control myself not to immediately shush him. "You know?!" I whispered.

Tyrath flashed another grin. "I'm an instructor at this school, I know all my students. And Thorne told me, too."

"You're related?"

"He's my younger brother."

"Huh. I knew your surname sounded familiar... Well, you do look alike."

He chuckled. "I suppose. He got the eyes, I got the horns."

"So you know I'm probably gonna need extra help, right?" I said, turning embarrassed.

"Of course. No problem. Your taekwondo skills will help as well," he nodded reassuringly. "Now get back to those blocks. Pretend as if someone is trying to hurt you!"

I laughed as he walked away. Maybe this class wouldn't be so bad.

----------------------------------------

"Ugh, that was strenuous," Shaye said as we gathered our things and exited the arena. "I think I'm getting better, though."

"Definitely. I was occasionally looking at you and may I say, remind me to stay on your good side."

She laughed. "Thanks. You were great, too!"

"Meh," I shrugged. "I'm gonna need a lot more practice."

"You'll get there."

We'd both stayed in our 'workout' clothes after the day ended because we were just going home anyway. And also, I did not want to go back into my regular uniform being all hot and sweaty.

I draped my cloak around my shoulders the moment we stepped outside. "Now I'm cooled off!"

"Yes, I already can't wait for it to warm up," Shaye said. "Anyway, I should leave now. It was nice seeing you again!"

"You too!" I smiled. "We should hang out sometime."

Her expression turned into sheer confusion. "Pardon me?"

"Um, you know, we should...do something...together...sometime?" I winced at my mistake. Seriously, Brielle? 'Hang out'? She doesn't know what that means!

"Do something? Like what?" Shaye asked, more confused than ever.

"Like a...get-together. We could..." I trailed off. What do teenagers do for fun in Emiarhia, anyway?

"Oh!" she smiled. "Yes, that'd be lovely."

"Yeah!" I nodded. "Sometime soon."

"You're a bit strange, Brielle," she remarked. "But that's quite all right. You're interesting. Some people are too boring; I'm glad we're friends!"

"Me too." I thought back to my old life, back in Minnesota. "Yeah, I'm glad too."

She smiled again. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" I waved. Shaye was a nice girl, for sure. Having her as a friend was going to make this whole saviour thing easier. I wondered how she'd react to me telling her. She'd be understanding, hopefully.

"Ready to leave?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Hey, Kadia. I'd recognize that monotonous voice anywhere," I teased.

"Watch your tongue," she snapped.

"Come on, let's just go."

"I see you've made friends with Shaylie," Kadia mentioned. "That's good."

"What do you mean 'that's good'? Why'd you say it like that?" I questioned. "I can make friends just fine on my own, thank you."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not why I brought up the topic. Shaye is also a saviour."

"She is?!" I exclaimed, stopping dead in my tracks. "You're not joking, right?"

"No."

"Wow... That's lucky," I sighed.

"I might as well tell you now; it'll make it easier for you to tell her that you're also a saviour."

I laughed dryly. "Yeah. I'm actually really relieved. So, who's the last saviour, then?"

"A boy in your grade named Ashkan Wroet'by," she disclosed. "You'll meet soon enough."

----------------------------------------

"Hello?" I called, stepping further into my house. I was glad to be back home and able to take a long, warm shower. As I padded along the hall, my mind raced. I finally knew who the other saviours were, who I was going to fight a war with. Admittedly, I was pretty excited to meet this Ashkan guy. Maybe Shaye knew him...

"Chloe?" Mom asked from her office. "Oh good, you're back! How'd everything go? Tell me all about it!"

I shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I had my classes... And I ate lunch with Shaylie, who I'm sure you know about. My tutor was nice. And I'd really like to go take a shower now."

Mom laughed. "All right, I'll leave you be. I'm happy to hear your day went well."

After washing off the day's grime, I flopped down onto my bed and sighed contentedly. There's nothing better than relaxing and just doing nothing after being busy for a while. It was kind of fun, thinking back upon how drastically my life had changed in so little time. My life was never all that eventful. Friends came and went, I got good grades, did after-school activities. Sure, I was never popular, but I don't think I was so much of an outcast, either. I was just the girl who nobody really paid much attention to. I was neither liked nor disliked, but purely neutral. And I wasn't the only one in my school who was treated that way. But then, I finally stood up to Joy and her jerk squad, my family moved states, I was preparing to attend a new school, and I was regularly travelling back and forth between dimensions.

I laughed at how insane that last bit sounded.

----------------------------------------

"So," I asked the next day before third period. "Do you know anyone named Ashkan Wroet'by?" I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible, hoping Shaye wouldn't be too suspicious.

"I do... Why do you ask?" she replied, probably surprised at such a specific question.

"I dunno, I think I overheard some people talking about him. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Her eyes narrowed. "Well, I suppose many girls are somewhat fond of him. Not that he seems to notice. They're all the dim ones, anyhow."

"I see. Are you friends?"

"Yes. Good friends." Her expression quickly turned from neutral to alarmed. "Wait! You're not...attracted to him too, are you?"

I tried to hold back a laugh. "No, of course not! We've never even met!"

"Right, of course. I should've known better," she said. "I just think some girls should focus more on their schooling than boys."

I nodded. "Are you interested in him?"

"No! Not at all. That'd be very absurd. We've known each other since we were infants," she explained. "I'm simply cautious because there have been too many girls trying to win his affection through falsely befriending me."

The loud sound of a tower bell filled our ears. The two of us immediately stopped talking as Professor Jakklo walked in.

----------------------------------------

We ate lunch together again that day with Lilwen and Miseris. I was quickly getting comfortable with their company. Honestly, it felt really great just to have people who understood you. Even though I barely knew them, I had a feeling that the four of us would become close.

By the time we arrived at Field Endurance class and got changed, Tyrath, Morgina and Reyshore had already set up activities. Everybody was to choose a partner and practice different blocks.

"More defense?" I muttered. "When do we get to learn how to wield a sword?"

"They always start with blocking, stances and balance," Shaye answered. "'It's the most essential part of fighting!'"

I laughed at her impression of Tyrath. "I guess he has a point, though." We continued to spar mildly for a bit before I decided to get a move on with the truth. "Is Ashkan in this class?"

"More about this subject? You are sure you're not interested?" she teased, with a hint of suspicion.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm just curious. Why are girls so fond of him, how attractive can one guy be?" Also, he's a saviour and so am I, so I should probably meet him ASAP.

"Well, if you must know, he's right over there."

I slowly looked over my shoulder to where Shaye directed. Across the room, barely in my line of sight, was a pair of boys sparring against each other. They were both tall – obviously – and admittedly pretty fit. They were facing away from us, but I could see that one had sandy blond hair and the other's was a mix of black and pine green.

"Which one?" I asked, turning back to Shaye.

"The blond," she laughed. "The other one's Viktor."

"Keep at it, girls," Morgina warned as she passed. We returned to our positions.

"What are your thoughts?" Shaye continued.

"Towards Ashkan? I mean, I can't see him all that well, but he seems...like he has nice hair," I shrugged while blocking Shaye's fake hit.

She laughed again. "I'll be sure to tell him you said that."

I joined in with her laughter. "Please don't."

I threw my forearm in front of me once more to block a hit, but she swiftly stepped forward and tapped my waist with the side of her hand.

"You would be bleeding quite severely if I had had a blade," she said triumphantly.

"I'd like to think you wouldn't stab me," I replied.

"Not intentionally," she joked, tucking a loose strand of scarlet hair behind her ear.

I was getting fairly good at blocking, but Shaye was all-around better than me. I wanted to improve as quickly as possible. But regardless, I had other things on my mind.

"Have you ever heard of the prophecy?" I asked casually, keeping my voice quiet.

She immediately tensed. I could tell by her expression that she undoubtedly had something to do with it. "You mean," she began, "The Tremaium prophecy?"

"I suppose so – if that's what it's called," I replied. "With the three saviours and everything?"

"Yes, yes. That's the one." She was clearly glossing over the subject.

"Do many people know about it?"

"A... A fair amount, I'd say."

"Has it been revealed who those three are?" I pressed on, maintaining a relaxed tone.

She swallowed. "I believe so. One's whereabouts are unknown, however."

"Really?" I echoed. "I actually heard that you were a saviour, and if you don't mind me prodding, is that...true?"

She lowered her voice. "Yes, I am. What of it?"

"Nothing. I think that's kind of remarkable. I'm not trying to insult you or anything."

She shook her head. "I apologize. I'm not surprised you confronted me, however. Most people keep themselves very up-to-date about current auguries."

"You know, I think we should continue this conversation after class. If you're not busy, that is."

She looked a bit surprised. "Oh, all right. Would you like to come over to my house? We can sit in my garden."

"Sounds like a plan," I said, continuing all the while to parry her oncoming hits.

We practiced for a bit more before the bell rang. I later explained to Kadia that I was going over to Shaye's for a bit. She told me to not stay too long. I grudgingly complied and followed Shaye to her nearby home.

----------------------------------------

"Wow, your garden is amazing." I lightly ran my hand along the several beds of lush, foreign flowers.

Shaye inhaled deeply for a moment. "Thank you. I enjoy looking after them." I took a seat in a rustic, wrought-iron chair beside her. "If I may ask, was there a specific reason why you asked to get together?"

"Well, we're friends and everything, so...I think I would've asked for us to visit at some point. But there happens to also be something I need to tell you." I took a deep breath before continuing. "It's more about the prophecy."

"Listen, if this is about me being a saviour, I–"

"No, no! It's me, actually."

"I'm not sure I follow..." Shaye replied. "What do you have in relation to it?"

"Everything," I sighed. "I know I only met you a little while ago, but this type of thing can't exactly wait."

"Brielle, what do you–?"

"I need to tell you that...I am also a saviour."

The words tumbled out of my mouth. I wasn't even sure if Shaye heard me. After a few moments of silence passed, I tore my eyes from the ground to her face. She just stared at me, blinking, like she was trying to figure something out.

"It all fits..." was the only thing she managed to say.

"I know this has to be a bit overwhelming, but I think you can understand–"

Before I could finish my sentence, Shaye abruptly pushed herself out of her chair and moved over to me. Her face was blank. She reached out and turned my head to examine the right side. I already knew what she was searching for. She brushed my hair out of the way and then, just stopped.

"There's something special about it, isn't there?" I asked when she backed away. "There must be."

"Sorry. It's just... I had to be sure. I was told that all three saviours have that same mark, in the same location." She swept her hair aside and sure enough, she had a nearly identical, star-shaped birthmark behind her right ear.

"That's insane..." I whispered.

"Oh!" she continued, returning to her seat beside me. "That's why you went on and on about Ashkan! You knew he was a saviour, didn't you?"

I nodded. "He should have the birthmark too, right?"

"Indeed. We thought it was the most amazing thing when we were small, that we both had one. You're not native to Emiarhia, are you, Brielle?"

"No, not at all. I was born on Earth. My first time travelling here was only a little while ago," I admitted. "Well, my first time since I was two."

"Gods... Yes, right. Brielle de Mavset... I haven't heard that name in forever. I would want to keep it a complete secret if I were you, too. I had my suspicions, though. I couldn't help but think you had to be the last saviour. You fit the prophecy's description, your name was somewhat familiar to me, you requested a respect headdress from Grandfather even though you seemed a tad too old to only just be receiving one, and your vocabulary is slightly...off. Never in my life has somebody asked me if I wanted to 'hang out'."

I blinked. "Wow, you are really smart. And really observant."

She smiled. "Ah, thank you."

We spent the next couple of hours just talking and talking. And it was nice. Shaye was somebody who I really got along with. I explained basically everything to her, from my necklace to my first time on Emiarhia. She was a great listener, and she was interested in what I had to say. I learned that she also met with Kadia years ago and had been training with her for a while. The same with Ashkan, too. Frankly, I felt late to the party. Shaye told me that she also has a necklace similar to mine, one that is golden with a small sundial pendant. She never used it, as she has lived on Emiarhia all her life and wasn't planning on going anywhere. It was passed down from generation to generation like mine as well. She also told me that Ashkan had a necklace. And since our parents were all friends, the three of us had actually met before, fifteen years ago. It would've been helpful to remember that.

It was really cool getting to know Shaye and being able to talk to someone without them asking you to buy them something. I was pretty excited to meet Ashkan, too. I knew I was going to be spending a lot of time with both of them. Speaking of which, Shaye was apparently thinking the same thing at the time. She suggested that the three of us should maybe get to know each other better over the weekend.

"Thanks for inviting me over. I had a lovely time," I said after it seemed that our in-depth conversation had ended.

"Likewise," Shaye grinned. "This was very enlightening. I'm not sure if I've already said this, but I am glad I ran into you, Brielle."

"Me too, for sure. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

She nodded. "And I'll invite Ashkan as well to discuss everything with us over the weekend. I'm sure he'll like to meet you."

"I look forward to it."

"As do I," she concluded with one last smile. "Until then."