The sense of awe and wonder never left me for the entire way to Atlantis. Various forms of life seemed to be following us, from schools of fish, to even sharks and a fucking whale!

Everyone around seemed to be huddled into small groups, whispering and murmuring about this and about what awaited us in the Academy. I felt Ivan nudge me, and I turned around only to be met with his–I assumed signature–smirk.

“How about we grab some late breakfast when we get there? Or an early lunch?”

I cleared my throat. “With all due respect, you’re really thinking about food now?”

“Well, yeah!” he said, like it was obvious. “Third breakfast is the best meal of the day! Plus we can use the chance to, I don’t know, meet a few people? Everyone here is like us. Future heroes. There are about one hundred and twenty other people here. And I would hope that they aren’t all like that kurac.”

I clenched my fists. Of course there were. And it was one of my greatest fears, the fact that I’d be in competition with so many other people, most of whom did better than me. That didn’t have the baggage I did. The nightmares. The loss of control.

I thought about what Ahmed said. About the people waiting at Atlantis. People like us, he’d said. He didn’t have any powers, and I had, well, what I had. Everyone had their demons, but maybe only we could truly understand each other’s struggle in Atlantis. I

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It was a bit of a premature judgement, but with everything that had happened to me, I didn’t want to risk another situation like my school. I couldn’t-I couldn’t-I-I took a deep breath. I focused on myself.

“Yeah,” I said quietly. “We’ll see.” Although I did make a mental note to call Ahmed. Just in case.

A few minutes later, the ship started rising and, in the distance, I could see the Isle of Heroes. I could see its mountains in the distance, as well as a single large mansion on the coast. As we got near the shore, the ship stopped, bridges appeared from its sides, connecting to the land.

“Students,” said Loudmouth. “Make your way to the mansion. The rest will be explained to you when you get there.”

We got off the ship, making our way to the mansion. The whole thing felt…odd. Like it was from another time. It was drenched in nature, with a large forest surrounding us, even if it was so close to the city that I could hear its sounds in my ear. The mansion itself, a bit further up the road, looked old and worn. It was large, with a lot of windows. It looked almost…familiar.

Old and worn, but I knew that it was likely fitted with the most advanced technology in the continent. I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was too warm to be Birgit. It was Ivan, and he asked me whether I was well or not.

I told him I was fine, and we continued with everyone else. Eventually we reached the mansion. In front of it, stood an old man, dressed in a navy blue suit with a golden cape. He was clean shaven and had long white hair.

“Welcome, students,” he said in a relaxed voice. “Considering you were the ones to arrive with Loudmouth, I’ll spare you the long winded speech. You know your entrance scores and numbers. Outside your rooms will be your numbers. Some will be on the top floor, some in the basement. Don’t worry, though. You’ll also have quite the view, it has been taken care of.”

It wasn’t a hero I knew. Which disappointed but also excited me. There was much to learn, many heroes–both old and new–to meet. For just a moment, I forgot about everything else.

For just a moment I focused on the wonder of the situation. On the fact that my dream had a chance of coming true.