“We’re going to reach land in a few hours. Let me show you to your rooms, okay?”

There was a chorus of agreement and everybody followed after Sir Neptune. Reina hid inside her cloak, feeling embarrassed beyond belief.

That had been humiliating! She would never be able to show her face to anybody ever again!

“Reina?”

“Eep!” Reina jumped and spun around to find her three friends. Dawn and Felicie looked at her with concern while Angel more like studied her,

“You okay? You seem scared,” Dawn noted.

Sweat trickled down Reina’s face. “Um-I-hi?”

Felicie giggled. “You’re nice again!”

“Huh?” A look of confusion spread over both hers and Dawn’s faces.

“What do you mean?” Dawn asked.

Felicie giggled, draping an arm around Reina’s shoulder. “She was super nice before! Then she got kinda mean. But now she’s super nice again!”

“Heh heh, sorry,” Reina whispered, rubbing the back of her head.

Dawn shrugged and smiled. “No problem. I thought you were really cool back then, you know?”

Reina blushed. So many compliments! She was on Cloud 9!

“I, for one, am suspicious.” Her happiness was immediately doused in the cold cold water which was Angel. Dawn frowned.

“What do you mean, Angel? Come on, loosen up!” Dawn tried punching her on the shoulder but Angel dodged.

“Isn’t it weird she just became different? Does nobody think that’s weird?!” Angel asked.

Reina tried to keep up a smile but it was becoming harder. Oh, why had she attracted so much attention? Hypocrite!

Felicie shrugged. “Maybe she had an allergic reaction to the clock.”

Angel stared at her as if seeing a pair of wings on her head. “Allergic to the same thing which powers the circuits of everybody who lives in the place we’re going?”

Felicie chuckled sheepishly.

“Where are we going anyway?” Dawn inquired.

Angel flicked her hair back. “The city.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “That’s helpful.”

“Oh, I know this one!” Reina cheered. “We’re going to Neverstien!”

Dawn leveled shocked eyes upon her. “Neverstien? As in the New City?”

Reina nodded her head, beaming. “Yep! It’s super cool!”

Angel narrowed her eyes. “You act as you’ve been there.”

“I did! Well, it was a while back but I’m sure much hasn’t changed!” Reina tried to sound upbeat, but it was a bit hard with Angel’s intense glare.

“Huh,” she finally said.

“Oh my god, what does it look like?! Are there flying cars!? Please tell me there are flying cars!!” Felicie's eyes glittered.

“Sorry, no flying cars.” Felicie's face fell and Reina tried to cheer her up again. “But there is a center where you can go into this room and everything feels like you’re riding a flying car!”

“Woah!” Felicie uttered.

“Geez, get over yourself. We’ve been there multiple times, and it isn’t much,” a new voice said.

Eyes widening, Reina turned around to greet them when she recognized the two.

“Brandon!”

Brandon stared at her. “So I guess it really is you. You look smaller. And what's with the eye patch?!”

Reina sniffled, turning away. “Froppy’s cool!”

“Eh? Who the heck is Froppy?”

“Him!” Reina jabbed at her covered eye and the look he gave her made her feel like a complete imbecile.

“You’re way too young for this, you know that?” he finally said.

“I am not!” Reina protested. She was young a few years ago, not anymore!

“Whatever,” Brandon snorted.

“You know her?” Dawn asked, glancing back and forth between the two. Reina gulped. she wasn’t sure how to feel about the sudden predatory look in her friend’s eyes.

“Yeah, I walked into her a few days back at the arcade. Never thought she would end up here, though,” Brandon peered closer. “Are you sure you’re the same girl?”

Reina puffed out her chest. “Of course I am!”

“I don’t really care,” Brandon said before moving away.

Idiot! If you don’t care, why’d you ask? Reina pouted.

“Anyway, come on, Dawn,” Brandon said. Dawn gave one last look toward us before walking away.

“Dawn?” Felicie asked, heartbreak evident in her voice. Dawn gave a short glance back before leaving with the two boys.

Reina knew her mouth was open, but still! How could she just leave them alone?! Felicie apparently had the same thoughts, because she started going after them.

“Calm down, idiots. We’re supposed to be going that way.” Angel pointed up toward the Cylinder, as Reina had dubbed it.

“What is that?” Felicie inquired.

“It’s where the students who didn’t buy an apartment from Neverstien live in. Consider it a student dorm.”

Felicie perked up. “I hope Dawn didn’t buy a house!”

Angel scoffed. “That’s a weird thing to say, but most likely, she did. After all, if she’s friends with those rich folk, she must be loaded herself. Otherwise, they wouldn’t bother with her.”

Reina turned on her friend. “That’s not true! They aren’t like that!”

Angel raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know? Didn’t Brandon just spend the entire time insulting you?”

Reina opened and closed her mouth but no comeback came out. She was right.

Angel sighed, before grabbing both their hands to Reina’s delight. “Come on, let’s go.”

They hastened over to the ground, just as her names were being called.

“Reina Romane?”

“Here!” Reina stuck out her hand, and everybody began snickering. Flushing, she retracted her arm, wondering what she’d done wrong.

“Idiot!” Angel hissed. “He wants you to go up to him!”

Reina nodded. “Thanks a lot, Angel!” As she made her way across, she heard her whisper, “Doofus.”

She finally made it and Sir Neptune moved her to the side, along with dozens of others.

“Now, those of you next to me will follow Mrs. Xianthos so we can get you situated in your apartment when we arrive.” Reina spotted Felicie looking like she was about to cry and winced. She'd forgotten about that.

“Follow me, kiddos!” Xia caught her eye and winked, with Reina trying but not really succeeding to do the same. “If you get lost, I’ll eat you!”

“Will she really?” a girl asked.

What a ridiculous question! Of course, she wouldn't eat anybody, it would give her digestion problems! Or worse, diarrhea!

Leaving the others behind, they headed inside and made a beeline to the Tree of Life (again, dubbed by Reina.)

“What is this?” somebody uttered, and Reina could definitely understand. A simple yet gorgeous marble pavilion perched on a pedestal, and when you entered, you found leaves everywhere! They drifted around us gently, caressing us before floating away. In the center was the huge trunk which led up and out of a hole in the middle of the roof.

“This is the Tree of Life (again, Xia took this time to wink at her), and this is probably going to be the only time you see this, so be grateful. This is where all the faculty lives.”

“In a treehouse?”

Xia snorted. “Yeah, I guess so. Overgrown treehouse, hilarious.”

“How do we get up?” somebody asked.

Xia smirked. “Like this.” She walked straight up to the tree and the instant she got within a foot of it, she got sucked right up.

“What the-!” Everybody scrambled back, ready for a fight. Everybody except for Reina, that is. She giggled. Xia still loved pranking people with this, and once, she even let her participate as well! Now she was the one who was getting pranked. Hilarious.

“Calm down, it’s just Air Art.” Xia drifted back down, hovering in midair for a few moments before jumping to the ground. She dusted herself off. “Any questions?”

Every hand stuck up.

“Good, no questions? Now, let’s-I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” she laughed. “So, I bet you’re wondering what the heck I did?” Cue nods. “Well then, listen closely, my evil apprentices.”

She traced her foot around a bronze circle at the base of the tree. “See those holes? There’s a constant supply of air rushing up. You step on one of these holes, and zoom, up you go! When you fall, it cushions you. Super fun! Only seven people died! Kidding! Who wants to go first?”

Reina snickered and saw everybody's shocked gaze. Deciding to take pity on them, she said, “I will.”

“HAHAHAHAHA! Good, good!” Even Reina backed away from this. Xia seemed a bit more crazy than usual.

“Okay, here I go! Wish me luck!” Grinning wildly, Reina stepped onto the holes. Instantly, a gust of wind propelled her up. . .up. . .up. . .

Using her instincts to right herself, she managed to grab hold of a huge branch and clung to it, getting used to the wind blowing past her. She took this time to take a look.

Reina exhaled. It was just as she remembered.

A utopia within trees. A dream of hers had always been to have a treehouse, and this was far better.

An intricately designed system of houses, with bridges and ropes and ladders acting as a way to connect. Of course, they weren’t necessary when you could simply walk on the branches themselves.

Each house was unique, as each one modeled itself after its owner. Reina felt completely safe up here. The thick leaves covered her, but not so much she couldn’t see. The winds rustled the leaves and Reina took it all in, breathing in the air and sound.

“Hey? You alive?!” Xia yelled from far below.

Reina smiled. “YEAH!!”

“Good! We’re coming up!”

Reina directed it was time to get to a house. After all, other people needed this branch.

Using masterful control, she hopped from branch to branch before landing on the balcony of a house, making a louder noise than she intended.

After the heart-wracking period where she worried she’d woken somebody up, nobody came and she allowed herself to relax. Reina dropped down to the branches and waited.

It didn’t take long. The screaming gave it all away. Only Air Artists were used to this, and even professional Air Artists had trouble sometimes with this.

She caught the glimpse of somebody and grabbed their arm, pulling him to the ground. The next one came up, and Reina did the same. She repeated this over and over again until they were all resting against the building.

“Wooh! That was fun, right?” Xia asked as she too came up.

“NO!” was the collective cry of everybody. Reina merely gave a thumbs-up.

The first boy she helped gave her a weird look. “Hey, thanks. What’s your name? I’m Adam.”

“Reina!” She clasped his hand. “Very nice to meet you!”

Despite the flushed look over his face, he smiled and returned the handshake. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Hey hey hey, not the time to get chummy!” Xia intervened, pulling Reina behind her. Reina seriously considered biting her hand. She knew Xia was overprotective, but she needed some friends!

Adam blinked in the sunrise before backing off, hands raised. “Got it.”

Xia eyed him closer before nodding. “Good. Now, follow me! Try not to trip and fall, otherwise, it’s a long fall!”

Adam leaned in close. “She's scary,”

Reina nodded before Xia grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her. She waved apologetically towards Adam before giving up.

On the way, she got plenty of weird looks from people who no doubt thought she was some sort of delinquent who needed special care (thanks a lot, Xia!) or a weirdo. She found Dawn, along with Brandon and the other guy, and waved cheerfully. Dawn moved back, Brandon snorted and Other Guy just stared at her.

Finally, they arrived at Xia’s house. It was the epitome of a mad scientist, with tubes and fire pumping out. The inside was glowing, and everything seemed to be shaking.

“Um, don’t you sew?” Reina asked. Surely sewing wasn’t this disastrous, right? She wanted to sew!

Xia chuckled. “Oh, I’ve been doing some things here and there.”

Reina noticed her nervous look. “Riiiight.”

“Oh, look at the time! All of you, get to know each other better while I get your uniforms, all right?!” Xia panicked and rushed into her house.

Thus, an extremely unforgettable silence occurred where Reina tried to brighten the mood but only got scolded by Brandon.

“I’m back!” Xia flung open the door, revealing her arms full of clothing. “Nothing bad happened?”

Reina thought it was bad, after all, they were in a very compromising pose. Reina was cowering, Adam was defending her, Brandon was rubbing his head, and Dawn was behind him with her fist.

Xia blinked. “Nope, nothing wrong at all!” Even so, she summoned Reina back to her. “Now, here you go! I don’t know about the sizes, but. . . .who cares?!”

Everybody scrambled for one, none more so than Reina. She grabbed one and immediately started putting it on, doing it over the clothes she was already wearing.

Tightening the sash around the upper arm, she patted down her uniform and beamed. She acted for approval from Xia.

Xia’s eyes widened as tears started falling, before handing her a mirror. Reina took a look inside and was shocked.

She hadn't changed much in look from back then, no. However, she had accomplished what she always wanted. She was in the Academy, rightfully so, and wearing their uniform. She was one of them.

Xia hugged her. “It fits you,” she said, voice wavering. Reina nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

They could feel the weird glances their way, but neither cared. Finally, Xia straightened up, rubbing her eyes. “Okay, here.” She took a few pictures of Reina, much to her embarrassment, and sent them to who knows what.

“Xia!” Reina squealed.

“What?” Xia had the biggest smug smile on her face. “Now-“ A notice from her phones stopped her. She read through it and grinned.

“What is it, Miss. Xianthos?” asked a girl. Reina needed to learn all their names, didn't she?

“Looks like we’re earlier. Turn around, you all! Turn around!”

Everybody complied, the leaves moving aside just enough, and Reina caught sight of it-

The magnificent view of Neverstien, a glimmering technological beacon of hope, and humanity's dream. It shined brighter than normal, and Reina believed it was welcoming them.

She smiled, as she and her new classmates watched the bright future that waited for them.