We have this thing at the Academy. Every year, the members of my mother’s Court and some other powerful beings come to the Academy and, for two weeks per semester, they teach specialized classes. More recently the Terpolites - specifically my aunt and her Court - have also begun to join in.

So, I thought I’d write out what happened during one of my mum’s classes. I know for a fact none of us who were there will be forgetting it any time soon . . .

The lecture hall was one of the biggest at the Academy. A large stage had a central desk - the only item on it - and was surrounded by a massive seating area. It wouldn’t be difficult to fit well over a thousand students in the lecture hall. While that wasn’t the case today, I knew the reason why this particular hall was being used. It had everything to do with my mother who was currently sitting on the edge of the central desk, a brown book in hand.

Taking my seat, I cleared my throat pointedly.

My mum, Amneris, glanced up, looked around the hall, and grinned. “I’ll be with you lot in a bit. We’re still missing quite a dew and I am enjoying this book.” She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “They just found the missing Nazi U-Boat that vanished while searching for mythological items.” With a wave of the hand, she continued in her normal voice, “Just do whatever it is you do while waiting for people to arrive.”

I covered my face with my hands, shaking my head. Troy and Maddie, two of my friends, placed their hands on my shoulder. I smiled at them and the rest of my friends. Hopefully this class wouldn’t be too embarrassing. Of course, knowing mum . . .

Ten minutes later, the room was filled with light chatter. Everyone was excited and nervous. These classes didn’t happen often and us students loved when they did. Well, most of us students. There’s always a few who make things difficult.

Mum shut her book shut. The room went silent.

“I do believe that’s everyone,” she said, placing the book on the desk and jumping to her feet. “Right, most of you should know the drill by now. For those who don’t, pay attention. I’m only going to explain once and then we’ll being. If you still have questions, talk to me after class. Clear?”

Nods filled the room.

“The purpose of these two weeks is to provide you with different tutors who have higher experiences than your teachers but who are unable to teach on a regular basis due to their own engagements. No offence to your teachers. All the offence to my totally not boring ‘engagements’.” Mum smiled, leaning against the deck. “As I’m sure you all know, my own experience lies in warfare, many different types of magic s and combat, and getting my arse kicked more times than I care to admit.”

Sniggers echoed around the room.

“You laugh now,” she said, that smile growing, “but even the best of us have had our fair share of losses. Not that any of us would willingly g into those embarrassing stories. I’m sure you understand.” Mum clapped her hands together, cyan sparks flying from them. “Now, today we will be focusing on group combat. I’m assuming you’ve all had some experience working as individuals by now?”

Varying responses all in the positive followed.

“Good. Okay, I’m going to need six volunteers, one from each of the six base elements. Those of you who aren’t Elementals, don’t take offense. This is just the easiest way to provide an example. So, volunteers?”

Several hands shot up around the room. My mum selected six at random, making sure they came from different parts of the classroom and that they all only had one of the six base elements. Once chosen, they stood beside her on the stage, facing the crowd.

Mum returned to leaning against the desk. “Introduce yourselves to the class. We have newbies. Name, species and element. Go.”

“Imogene. Firebringer. Fire”

“Tswa. Water-Weaver. Water.”

“Aaron. Zura. Earth.”

“Wayra. Desi. Air.”

“Nuri. Light-Bender. Light.”

“Layla. Fae. Darkness.”

Mum spoke, “Remember, these are only the six base elements. There are far more. Some of these include spirit, time, sound, mind, life and death. Elements can also mix together creating things like ice and storm--” She cut herself off, glancing at the students. “You lot should be writing this down.”

Everyone rushed to pull notepads, books and tablets from their bags. Once they had, mum continued.

“Today we’re sticking with the bases: fire, water, earth, light, dark and air.” Mum waited a moment to let the rest of us catch up with our notes. “Trivia,” she said. “Does anyone here know what the original names of these elements are?”

Very few hands went up this time. Mum chose one of the boys close to the front of the class. He had his back to me so I couldn’t tell who it was.

He stood and said, “In the order you gave they are: Fye, Tswa, Era, Naiu, Naka and Azity.”

“Very good!” The boy sat. Mum hopped back onto her desk. “Those are also the names of their respective deities. I can’t tell you if someone was just saving time or being lazy because, quite frankly, I didn’t pay attention in that class while I was here.”

That time, the class really did laugh, myself and my friends included.

Mum shook her head with a smile before clapping her hands. “Alright. Alright. Pay attention. We’re getting into the actual lesson now. Quiet down please! We’re going start with examples from our six lovely sacrifices then move into groups and do some prac. Sound good?”

Confirmations echoed.

Mum nodded to herself before turning to the group on stage. “You have to rely on yourselves and your own abilities, but you must also trust your teammates to have your back when you are unable to react fast enough in a situation.”

Aaron asked, “What if none of us react fast enough?”

“Because this is a class, I’ll step in. You have nothing to worry about.” She turned to her desk, twisting the cap off a water bottle. “Ready?” The group nodded. Mum took a mouthful from the bottle, making to twist the cap into place--

She tossed the open bottle toward Imogene.

Wayra reacted first. They shot out a hand. A large gust of wind pushed the bottle and falling water away from my friend. Mum would have none of that. She circled a finger. The wind turned on the group, water and all. This time, however, Imogene was prepared.

My friend blew out a lungful of fire, evaporating the water before it could touch anyone and melting the bottle. Tswa yelped at the fire spreading across the stage. A clap of her hands had water snuffing it out, preventing the would-be disaster.

Mum smiled her approval at the group as she watched the show of power.

Nuri went on the offensive. A snap of her fingers had lightning striking mum with a bright enough flash that everyone looked away. When we could see again, the faded light revealed mum was fine--of course. Her hands were wreathed in the lightning. She’d caught it before it hit the stage!

Mum channeled the lightning through her hands, aiming toward Layla. Aaron slammed his fist against the ground. A stone shield shot out of the stage, absorbing the impact. Layla sent him a shaky smile and thumbs up.

As we watched on in awe, Sky leaned closer to me. “Is Amneris trying to kill them?”

I shook my head. “She’s holding back. Like, really holding back.”

Maddie clicked her tongue. “Well, duh. But if Layla had been hit by fucking lightning--”

“If no move was made, mum would’ve diverted the attack around her. She did the same thing to me when I started out.”

Sky gaped. “That . . . doesn’t make me feel better.”

In the time we had that little conversation, the six had mum surrounded. They each summoned their respective elements and, together, attacked.

The hall shook. People jumped on books and tablets to prevent them from flying away. Fire and water twisted and turned together. Light and darkness danced.

Calm returned. The six slumped forward, panting. They’d given it everything they had.

Mum stood at the centre of the group, casually brushing dust from her shoulders and shaking it from her hair.

“Very impressive,” she said, bracing her hands on her hips. “A little more practice and you six would be quite the team. That was stronger than I expected.”

“How are you not even hurt . . .” Aaron breathed.

Mum gave him a sympathetic smile. “I am the Naiu’Xela.*” She turned to the class. “Let’s thank our six volunteers for giving it their all!”

The hall burst into applause and cheers as the six took their seats. Imogene flopped back into her spot beside me, only to be hugged from the sides and behind by Maddie, Isaiah and Troy.

Mum raised a hand. The room quieted. People returned to attention.

“So, what was the point of that, you ask. As you can see, group magic is very powerful, even if you don’t have experience working together. Strong enough to even make me put up a fight . . .” She shook ash from her hair with a frown. “The stronger your personal power--the more control you have over it and the more experience you have--the stronger your power as a group will be. Enough people with strong powers would be able to take out someone with my power so long as they play their cards right.

“You all have strong power within you, even if you’re yet to discover your true abilities. With that power, there are many things you will be capable of. The important thing--the most important thing--that comes with your power, no matter what it may be, is how you chose to use that power.”

The room became tense with silence as mum continued.

“Yenari is not perfect. There will be times when you will be tempted to use your power to hurt others, just like how there will be times when other people will try to make you use your power o hurt others. Even here on Lyriumia it happens. This may be the God world holding the Balance of Good, but we’re not perfect. Far from.

“If there’s just one thing I hope you get from your time at the Academy, it’s this: That you will not only learn how to control and develop your power, but that you will make the choice on how to use your power. Whether it be for good or evil. At the end of the day, what you do is your decision and you will be the one to deal with the consequences.”

A moment of silence. Mum clapped her hands together, making everyone jump. She smiled. “Enough of that. Now, let’s break into groups, head outside and see how much shit we can break!”

TRANSLATION

*Naiu’Xela = Photon Queen