"So tell us more about yourself, Mr. Magpie. What is Attleton like?" Edna asked.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you two something before I start. Everyone is wearing a gray cloak. What's up with that? Everyone at Attleton wears the colors of what elemental mage they are."

"Yes, uh, well, you really are new then." Bran snickered.

"Bran, don't be so rude." Edna playfully hit her brother's knee. "I can answer that for you. So at Loxton, our cloaks also match our elemental color. But they want it to be a surprise for all the first years with who is going where. They reveal all those at dinner tonight. So if this is your first year like you say it is, don't tell us your elemental ability! And we have to keep ours a secret as well."

"All right, cool. I think I follow." I smiled.

"Although, if we had to guess, I'd say that judging from your mohawk color, you're a Fyron!" Bran shouted.

Edna rolled her eyes. "Excuse him, Rollie."

"What? It looks like his hair is on fire. He's definitely a Fyron!" Bran beamed.

"All right, Bran, you're getting a little out of line here. Our friend's mohawk doesn't look like his hair is on fire."

"Actually, that's kind of what I was going for. I want it to look like a flame." I smirked.

"Wait! So that does mean you're a Fyron... Yeah?" Bran said.

"We're not supposed to know yet! Don't ask him that!" Edna said.

I shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny."

They all giggled and smiled at me. "Well, I can't wait for the surprise when it's announced," Daphne said.

"Judging by your colored hair, I would say you're a Glacien or an Aquaso," I told Daphne.

Daphne giggled. "Could you imagine? Me as an Aquaso or a Glacien?"

"So wait, the Aquasos and Glaciens use blue as their main color at Attleton?" Edna asked.

"Well, yeah. The Glaciens are more of a powder blue, and the Aquasos is a dark blue."

"How interesting, it's different here!" Bran said, "Fire mages use orange, Glaciens use light gray, Venomauses use green--"

"Not to be nitpicky," Edna interrupted, "but Venomauses use lime green. Because yes, they will correct you."

"Well, what about the Winderons?" I asked.

"The Winderons have a pastel pink as their color. Honestly, I think it's the best one around," Edna said.

Hmm, So maybe they are Winderons in this cabin?

"What about the rest of them? What are their colors?" I asked

"The Aquasos use turquoise. The Voltruns use electric blue," Daphne said.

"Ah, That's quite different from my old school." I proceeded to tell them the different colors of mages from Attleton.

"Wow. That is quite different!" Daphne said. "As awesome as that jacket is, you'll have to get used to wearing a new colored cloak then."

"There's a strict dress code here, eh?"

The three of them bobbed their heads up and down.

"Man, sometimes you just don't realize how sweet you've got it. Back at Attleton, we had this rule where we could wear whatever we wanted on the weekends. Kids strutting around in t-shirts, jeans, you name it. Now, it feels kinda odd to brag, but truth is, that was all my doing. Wrote a letter straight to the principal about it."

"That's brilliant!" Bran said.

There was a pause in the cabin as the three of them seemed to daydream what it would be like to have total freedom of clothing.

Eventually, Bran said, "Do you think Rollie here will be waiting in line with the first years when his elemental ability announced?"

The three of them giggled together.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Sorry, Rollie! We don't mean to laugh at you, it's just a funny thought, that's all." Daphne said.

"Got it, no sweat. Guess I'd probably crack up too if I found myself queued up with a bunch of wide-eyed first years." I smirked.

"He's gonna tower over all of 'em!" Bran shouted. "They're all like, 4 feet, and you're like what…?"

"6'2."

The three of them snickered at me, but they all whispered an apology between their exhales.

"We hope we don't seem rude. We really hope we can be friends! It would be great to have you as one of us, but the rest of the mage groups are pretty great, too," Edna said.

"You're not rude at all." I smiled. They haven't the slightest clue what rude is.

"Brandna!" Daphne yelled, then looked back at me, "Sorry, sometimes I combine their names together, you know, 'Brandna!' when I want both of their attention," she turned back to her friends. "We should teach Rollie how to play Mages and Jesters!" Daphne turned back, gazing dreamily, talking a million miles a minute. "The three of us have wanted to play with a fourth friend for a while! This is so perfect, it's a really fun card game, but you can only play with four people. We can teach you, or you can tell us all about yourself and all the questions we have about Attleton, or we could do it simultaneously!"

My lips barely curled up. "I like you three a lot, you're very kind, and I appreciate that. While I would love to be honest and tell you all about myself, it's a bit of a hard story for me to recount. So you'll just have to give me some time to trust you before I start opening up, I hope you understand? I'll answer what questions I can, though."

"We totally understand!" Edna nodded.

"I have a question!" Daphne raised up her hand the slightest bit. "What was Dragonstryke like at Attleton? Did you play at all? Do you still play?" Daphne's eyes lit up.

I inhaled a deep breath and let out a sigh that ruined the enthusiasm of the question. I rubbed my chin and leaned my head against the window of the boat cabin, gazing down the empty aisle. The three of them exchanged glances rapidly with frowns and apologetic eyes.

"Sorry, I asked. I didn't mean to offend or anything," Daphne said in a low voice, just a step above a whisper. She was looking down at her shoes.

"You know," my voice was gravelly. "Sorry, it's just kinda tough for me to chew over how things were back home. Look, you didn't mess up. None of you did. If I can muster up the nerve to spill it all, you guys will be the first to get the lowdown on my story, Attleton and all, that's a promise. And I'm sorry if I seem a bit shaky, I just didn't think it would hit me this hard."

All three of them nodded in silence. Both Edna and Daphne gazed off to the side of the cabin, but Bran stole a glance at me and said, "Not to pressure you or anything or make it seem like I want to trade information, but if you want to ask us anything about Loxton we would be happy to answer. It must be hard moving to a new school, heck moving to a new country! I'm sure you're probably wondering about a few things."

I laughed dryly, but it mostly sounded like an exhale. "You know, I do have some questions. My first question is, what can you tell me about Zita Wattle? Anything and everything."

The trio grinned, and they squeezed the edge of the seats with their hands.

"Oh my gosh! Zita Wattle is the best!" Edna shouted.

"C'mon, Edna, looking for better information than that." Daphne rolled her eyes. "Well, if you don't know, Zita is the principal at Loxton. She has been the past 15 years, and she's 75 years old. Not to mention, she's a Winderon who reached honora! I think she used to be in the Mage Force as well, and there are some rumors that she still helps them out with missions. Zita gets to know all of the students. She memorizes all their names and everything. You can see her somewhere on the palace grounds, in a classroom, or flying around her dragon bike over the weekend after practicing Dragonstryke with the other teams. I've never heard her raise her voice, but she's one of those people where she's so nice and kind that you're almost afraid of what she would look like angry."

"She doesn't get angry," Bran dismissed with a wave.

Daphne scrunched her brow. "Are you serious? Do you not remember what happened last year with Leon?"

"Hold up, Leon... that name rings a bell. Yeah, I think he was one of those jerks giving me a hard time when I was hunting for a spot on the boat earlier," I said.

Daphne eye-rolled and nodded. "Doesn't surprise me. He's this Aquaso jerk. He really needs to be careful this year. If he has one more slip up, even minor, he could get expelled."

"Did something happen?" I asked.

They all stared at each other wide-eyed and motionless.

"Yes, and that's when Zita got angry for the first time any of us students have ever seen," Daphne said.

"She didn't get angry. She didn't even yell," Bran dismissed.

"Bran, just because she didn't yell doesn't mean she wasn't mad." Edna wrinkled her nose.

"What happened?" I interjected. They all looked at me and at each other.

"Hold on a second." Daphne reached into her robes and drew out a black disc that shined in the light like a crystal.

"Daphne! Put that away!" Edna whispered.

"Why?"

"We can't just go inside your memo-ring while we're sitting on the boat," Bran said in a low voice.

"Quick, let me just show Rollie. The two of you can stand watch. You were there, so you don't need to see it again," Daphne said. Silence filled the cabin.

"Fine," Bran and Edna both puffed out simultaneously.

Daphne and Bran swapped seats, clambering over each other and trying not to entangle their robes. As soon as Daphne sat down beside me, I felt my heart skip a beat, blood rushed to my chest, and my lips tightened. A scent of flowers greeted me that was so pleasant I got goosebumps. She was sitting so close our knees had grazed each other.

Daphne wore a devilish grin as she held out a black metallic ring in front of me, the same size as a CD. "So this is a contraption that my family is currently working on. It's a prototype, a secret at the moment, but it's called a memo-ring. It fits over your head. It may not look like it, but this thing can stretch."

Grabbing one end and the other, Daphne stretched it into a headband. She put it over her head and giggled. "I know this looks silly, but this will blow your mind. Give me at least one minute of silence!"

Daphne closed her eyes with the headband on and fell into a trance. She opened them back up after 20 seconds had passed.

"Okay, now all you have to do is put this over your eyes. Close them up, and you will be right there. I'll put on this second disc, and I'll meet you there." Daphne's lips curled up, and she pulled out another black crystal disc and, this time put it over her eyes. I followed her directions. Feeling massively unsure of what was about to happen, but I wanted to trust her.