Talia stared at the water globe forming between Riala's palms, feeling her heart crawling out of her throat: it pounded so heartily that even her ears started ringing.

The shining globe of water reflected in the black of her pupils.

This one test held her fate in its delicate surface.

Elder Kahua stood by, watching.

Damn it! Why is he here?! Talia wrecked her brain. How am I getting out of this?!

“Well, girl? What are you waiting for? Take the test.”

Talia swallowed hard, her fingers slowly approaching the bottom of the water globe.

She could feel the eyes of everyone on her – Elder Kahua's piercing gaze, Riala's annoyance, and the stares of the other recruits.

“I said, take the test, stop holding up the line,” Elder Kahua repeated, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. “We don't have all day.”

Talia's brain was working quickly, trying hard to find a way out of this situation.

Could she fake an illness?

Cause a distraction somehow?

But as each idea flashed through her mind, she dismissed it just as quickly.

There was no escape from this.

With a deep breath, she swore internally and decided to make her move.

If she was going to fail, she might as well get over it with.

Her fingertips were a hair's breadth from the water globe now.

She could feel the cool moisture over the soft parts of her digits.

Just as she was about to start releasing Mana into the globe, a voice echoed across the plaza.

“Hold on! Is that who I think it is?”

All heads turned to see an imposing figure striding toward them.

It was yet another man with a crimson robe and hair to match.

An Elder.

As the man walked, Talia’s eyes darted between the two Elders.

Immediately, she could tell the difference between the patterns on their robes.

Elder Kahua had two blue patches on his sleeves, one on each. At the center of the deep blue, there was a silvery star.

Instead, on this other’s man robe, there were darker red circles on his sleeves, deeper than the robe’s crimson shade.

At their center, embroidered in pitch-black threads, stood a menacing volcano.

But most importantly, where his right arm should have been, a stream of brilliant red magma flowed and shifted, taking on the rough shape of a limb.

“That’s Elder Krakatoa!” A student said.

Elder Krakatoa? Talia thought.

Elder Krakatoa had been involved with her mother in the final battle against the Kraken—or at least, that’s what she’d heard.

On top of that, the man had been her mother’s mentor and teacher.

Elder Krakatoa was a practitioner of Magma Water, his signature magic, and, as Vice Principal of the Academy, he was rumored to be the second strongest after Principal Kaimana.

As he drew closer, Talia could see the network of scars that marked his neck, but his eyes sparkled with warmth as they locked into hers from behind a pair of rose-tinted spectacles.

“By the Deep, it really is you!” Elder Krakatoa exclaimed, his face breaking into a wide grin. Without warning, he swept Talia up in a one-armed embrace that lifted her off her feet. “I can't believe it! The youngest child of Yalena, finally here at the Academy!”

Talia gasped, partly from surprise and partly from the searing heat emanating from his magma arm.

As he hugged her close, Elder Krakatoa’s voice dropped to a whisper only she could hear.

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“Don't worry. I'll take care of this.”

Before Talia could respond, Elder Krakatoa straightened up, addressing the group at large.

“Elder Kahua, Riala – I hope you don't mind if I borrow our new recruit for a moment? There's an urgent matter I need to discuss with her.”

“Krakatoa, she hasn’t taken the test yet,” Elder Kahua said with strong disapproval in his voice.

“You’re doubting Yalena’s child?” Elder Krakatoa laughed heartily and with so much conviction that many of the recruits started nodding along. “Kahua, have the recent years of peace dulled your discernment? I’ll give her the test myself later if you must insist.”

“How lightly you speak of the Kraken Slayer’s name,” Elder Kahua said, wrinkling his nose.

“A master should be close to their disciples, Kahua. Perhaps your disciples would appreciate you more if you were less bitter.”

“Are you bringing offense to my name, Krakatoa?” The question came with another burst of Kahua’s aura that made more recruits faint.

Krakatoa looked around with a smile and shook his head.

“Abusing recruits, I see. Why don’t we just leave the Promises alone and leave this be, Kahua, before we’ll need to involve the Principal? It is not becoming of either of us to behave like this. Whatever offense I might have brought onto you, let our Schools settle it.”

A current of whispers swept over the students and the recruits who hadn’t fainted.

“You are taking a student away in the middle of an examination. Whatever matter you have to discuss with her, it can wait—”

“I'm afraid it can't,” Elder Krakatoa cut him off, his tone leaving no room for argument. “It’s Vice-Principal, Academy-related business, you must understand. Very hush-hush.”

Without waiting for a reply, he placed his good hand on Talia's shoulder, steering her away from the testing area.

“Come along now, dear. We have much to discuss.”

“Hi!” Nami said with a smile as Talia was steered toward the scion of the Moana Family.

“Nami, take care of her. We’ll situate her in our School until she decides to join one for good.”

That said, Krakatoa didn’t wait for a response and started walking away, gently pushing Talia forward.

“Do not turn,” Elder Krakatoa whispered under his breath, adjusting the rose-tinted spectacles on his face as they walked. “You don’t want to anger Kahua any more than this. He can be very nasty.”

Riala nodded, confused, afraid, but also heartened that someone would treat her with such familiarity.

Especially someone so close to her mother.

“Thanks, Elder,” Talia whispered back.

“No problem, kid,” the man laughed. “If we didn’t let Yalena among our ranks just because she broke some rules, we would have never witnessed the rise of the strongest Kraken Slayer.”

***

Elder Krakatoa's School occupied a large complex on one of the greater islands surrounding the Spire.

The two had swiftly reached it with the help of boats that navigated the narrow canals and the short stretches of water in between the landmasses.

The Elder had told Talia to get comfortable there before coming to him again.

He had left her in the hands of Nami and Lilo and, well, the three other boys.

Koa, Kahale, and Nainoa.

Those were the names of the cousins of the two sisters, three more scions of the Moana Family from Tempest City.

As Nami and Lilo led Talia through the grounds, her eyes widened at the opulence of it all.

The dormitory of Elder Krakatoa’s School building was pretty impressive, with exterior tiles that seemed to change color in the sunlight.

Well-maintained gardens surrounded the building, dotted with fountains and small streams, making it luxurious and clearly a playground for nobles.

Inside, the common areas were filled with more feathered cushions than Talia had even seen—she didn’t even know so many birds existed to produce such a number of soft feathers.

Even in the corridors, there were plush seats in blues and greens, complementing the wooden furniture.

And behind them, large windows offered views of the entire lagoon and the Spire.

Considering that Talia had had one small window in her dilapidated hut, she didn’t even know if this was real or if she had been stuck in a dream caused by some Abyssal Creature’s toxin.

As they reached Talia's assigned room, Nami couldn't contain her excitement.

“You're going to love it here! The room is still barebone because this was all last minute, but the view is great!” she exclaimed, pushing open the door with a flourish.

When Talia saw her room, her heart almost stopped.

Spacious would be an understatement – it was so much larger than her hut on Solara that she could probably build two huts inside of it.

It had a huge bed, a study area with a desk and chair, and a balcony.

The view, as Nami had pointed out, was breathtaking.

She could see the Spire’s twirling water right in front of her.

The greatest marvel of the Water Riders Academy was just… there.

There for her eyes to drink in.

Nami also had to show her the en-suite bathroom, since Talia had asked about a common bathroom, which had scandalized the two sisters equally.

“Everyone gets their own?” Lilo, the younger sister, tried to explain, very confused by Talia’s questions.

The bathroom was just as nice, with a large tub where the water seemed to keep flowing – and steaming – at all times.

“How?” Talia looked at the bathtub, consternated.

Curious, she brought a cupped hand across the water and then to her mouth, making both sisters laugh.

“This is… drinkable water,” Talia said. “How—”

“Just take some time to rest,” Nami said. “Elder Krakatoa said to let you settle in. When do the rest of your clothes arrive anyway?”

Talia looked at the rucksack she had dragged in with her that contained a few clothes changes and—nothing else.

“I—I don’t…”

“We’ll sort that out,” Nami smiled. “Just rest now, ok? We’ll come fetch you later and take you to the Elder.”

“Ok,” Talia said, still reeling.

After they left, Talia stood in the dead center of the room, unsure of what to do.

She approached the bed slowly, almost afraid that if she went too fast, all of this would be taken away from her.

She gently placed her hand on the soft bed, and it was immediately swallowed by the puffy covers.

Talia smiled like an idiot and felt a tear coming out of her eyes.

“Don’t be stupid,” Talia said, feeling more tears coming out. “It’s just a bed.”

She turned and slowly lowered herself on the bed, feeling the softness against her clothes and her skin.

She raised her eyes to the ceiling, noticing for the first time all the frescoes and carvings that decorated it.

Talia stared absentmindedly at the images for a while.

She couldn’t even describe them or remember them.

For the first time in so many years, her mind wasn’t running plans, scheming to stay alive, wondering about who might stab her in the back, who might stab her in the front, or who might just stab her anywhere else because she had some weird marks on her wrists.

She caressed the golden bracelets that covered her marks and kept smiling, allowing her mind to be completely blank and at peace for once.