"Just one more week and we're free," Sunshine said gleefully as she dumped her school things in a locker with a tremendous clatter and threw herself heavily onto the bed next to it. Then she sat up with a shock at the sight that caught her eye. "What by the sacred hamster of Ragadoon is going on?" she squeaked.

Arry the spider had taken a curious interest in the clutch bag of Bubbles Bannatyne and had emptied its contents on her bed. The little black leggy thing had then proceeded for some reason to arrange the items on the bed in order of size, as if this tidiness satisfied its inscrutable machine mind.

"Isn't he clever?" Bubbles said, pleased at the look of awe on the desert girl's face. "I am training him to pack my holiday gear. When term's over we're going skating, the princess and I, in Xenia's Glacial Zone."

The royal so named, Princess Rapture, nodded in mirthful agreement. She was heir to the crystal throne of the Highly Romantic Winkel of Xenia up north, a wild and barbaric land guarded by giant versions of the little mechanical spider on Bubbles's bed.

"Our summers can be very cold," she said in that graceful way she had that pointed her royal heritage. "Our winters are completely impossible to endure for all but the hardiest natives."

The twins came in just then with expressions of warning on their identical faces.

"There is a games captain prowling the corridors on this floor," said Fizzy Massking.

"A games captain with the look of a hunter seeking prey," Divvy Massking agreed.

Bubbles jumped up and clapped her hands as if summoning cocktails. Arry the spider scurried this way and that and with incredible swiftness had replaced the contents of the auburn-haired Frangea girl's clutch bag before leaping up onto a light fitment and hid from sight. The creature as might be imagined was totally forbidden at the school.

"He is like a pet, may I be so bold as to suggest?" the unassuming tones of Sharshua Dragonsong greeted this performance from a corner of the room nearest the window where she was intently reading a book.

"A guard dog of fearsome aspect, if the Sensation girls next door try anything," Bubbles declared proudly. This protective skill was almost put into effect when the door suddenly opened without warning and a tall, athletic looking fourth year poked her head in abruptly.

Bubbles made a secret calming gesture with a hidden hand and the briefest of glances ceilingward before fixing the intruder with an indignant glare. "Knock?" she pouted.

"Knock!" cried the twins gleefully and Sunshine sniggered.

"There appears," said the games captain for it was indeed she, "a curious echo in this dorm. Perhaps I should ask the form mistress hereabouts to investigate hollows and concealed places, to ensure there is no structural weakness in this wing?" She arched her eyebrows meaningfully a moment to let the point sink in.

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Princess Rapture, known less formally as Rappy, stood gracefully and crossed the room to confront the tall girl.

"I fear we have been remiss in our greeting of the sturdy Sophia Cressington, the distinguished repository of athletic excellence within this noble school. How may we help you?"

Her manner was irresistible and the games captain straightened her back, mollified by the soft and respectful tone of the princess.

"Well," she said, "perhaps I was a little hasty. You first years do have a reputation, mind, for mischief," and she waved the matter away with a light laugh. "Glad to see you are all here," she added, surveying the slightly chaotic room and the bright, expectant faces peering at her from various locations. "As you know," launching now into her set speech, "Summer Swim Fest is upon us to end the year as per tradition. Only this year is super special, for the final segment of the Triple Shield is up for grabs and the festival has been upgraded to a do or die Triple Shield Challenge. Anyone who wins three years in a row gets to keep the parts of the Shield and all the power and prestige it brings with it. We at Miss Plazenby's have two wins under our belts already and so the Triple Shield Challenge will be held in Blossom Bay for the first time in living memory."

"What fun!" one of the twins hooted happily. "We get to watch for free."

"Some might," Sophia Cressington said, "but we are all expected to compete in some way or other. That means at least one girl from each dorm must be part of the team, no excuses." She smiled a slightly unpleasant smile as she looked again at each face in turn, lingering on the still defiant dark eyes of Bubbles Bannatyne. There was a tiny whirr and creak above which made the games captain look up briefly and frown before the curly redhead coughed.

"So what you're saying, one of us has to volunteer?" she quickly said before Arry could launch himself at the bronze plaits of the fourth year and rip her hair out to the point of baldness. The girl looked down again with a snort.

"Got it in one. Choose carefully, the pride of the school is at stake." Then she departed with a door slam to intrude herself elsewhere.

"I can swim, may I say," Sharshua timidly offered herself.

"New definition of swimming," Bubbles responded with a grin. "Throwing arms and legs everywhere in a desperate attempt not to drown. Can one thrash about for a hundred yards in a pool?"

"It will be held out of doors," Rappy said thoughtfully. "Long distance sea coast swimming and cliff diving for certain. Mighty challenges not for the faint hearted I fear."

"That's why we are going to call it the Drowning Games this year," Bubbles laughed.

"Really?" and Sharshua gulped, withdrawing her timid offer with a barely noticeable step back into anonymity where she felt most comfortable.

The twins, sitting side by side on one of their beds, twirled a blonde pigtail each, one in her left hand the other in her right for they were mirror twins, and gazed silently at each other, perhaps exchanging telepathic thought.

"We come from a long line of water folk," Divvy piped up after a moment.

"Yes, our mother was once chased by a barnacle," Fizzy said on cue.

"And our great grandfather was a mermaid, before sadly he was filleted away."

"So we should be the ones to volunteer for the glory of our nation, Nordeyer Winkel." They nodded proudly in unison.

The others laughed and the princess hugged each twin in turn.

"Sadly," she said, "only one of you could enter, and without the other I fear you would be but halfhearted in your endeavours. I too cannot enter, for it would be unseemly for an heiress to compete with others, no matter how noble the cause."

"And I'm a local girl," Bubbles said with a grimace of frustration. "I know every cliff and current and wave surge in Blossom Bay. Unfair advantage and all that. Not quite sporting for the other Winkel girls new to Frangea."

Everyone looked solemnly at the carpet a moment, until someone cleared their throat for attention.

"Then that leaves just me," Sunshine Allouette stood forth, looking pale beneath her beautiful dark skin. Her eyes were tear bright but her demeanour firm. Everyone hugged and cried and cheered all at the same time.