Her name was Fornelia Chantervalica. Four-nee-lia Chan-ter-vah-lick-ah. She was not sure why that name was so hard to pronounce for her classmates. Fournelia was what she was given at birth. Like all others, she chose her last name when came to age at 12. Her parents were 'Chantervalic's, so she simply added an 'a'. She wrote her name down on her career consultation form and began filling out the rest of the parchment.

She muttered under her breath, “It's Fornelia Chantervalica.”

She liked her name. It was suave blue that pops into red before slowly fading into purple. Four-Chan was just bright blue blasting into a sharp red and was hard on the mind. Four was just blue, but still too bright. Fornelia Chantervalica forced people to pause and slow their speech, making the visuals smooth. Her quill pen dipped into the ink and a thin line of black smoke followed. She scribbled her version of words onto the parchment and light autumn brown oscillated with each stroke.

The world was filled with colours for her. Every rap on wood, every twang of the strings of her instruments, every speech and word, they were coloured like wind. Wind itself, when whistling through the air, were teal.

Four did not have to see the colours. It took minimum effort to turn her brain off her magical sound-to-colour sight. But she chose to have her unique visuals with her. It made the world danced and everything looked like music. The only time she chose not to have them with her was in battle. Swords clashing struck up bright hot white explosions. Screams of pain were pitch black fire that burnt the skies. Moans of the injured were a atmosphere dampening blue. It was not to say there were no music in fights. When she watch Lua dodge an attack or Joachim's yo-yo slicing through the air with precisions, those times leaves trails of light that seemingly danced through the air.

“Four-Chan!”

She turned to her deskmate. Shimona Zettai. Number Eight. The girl was the one who gave Four her nickname. She gave every person in class a nickname, but Four-Chan was the only one that was adopted by everyone. The girl was obsessed with the sand city of Jarad and its culture, a foreign exoticism mystifying her mind. She wore a long shadow dress tied by a maroon cloth belt, a classic Jarad fashion. Her headscarf of green covered her at all times and Four often wondered how she managed in the changing humidity. Leaf winged butterflies tattooed on her left cheek seemingly flapped in flight whenever she spoke, her bubbly cheeks accentuating the effect.

Shimona asked, “What did you put for your career choices? I mean, honestly, I don't think I have to ask, actually.” She chuckled at herself.

“Well, you probably guessed right.” There were four spaces for preferred careers. In all of them there were similar answers. “Bard. Musician. Theatre. Opera.”

Shimona gave a confused brow. “Aren't bards and musicians the same thing?”

“No no no!” she insisted. “See, a bard is someone who writes and compose music and stories. A musician performs the music.”

“What about 'Theatre' and 'Opera', huh? They're more places than jobs.”

“I didn't know what part of theatre and opera I wanted to play. I could be the singer, the actor, the cast, the crew, anything! So I decided to put everything!”

She was quite proud of her answer. It was a nice play on word. A little forced, but creative all the same. She thought she would make a great philosopher, if only she did not find philosophy boring. Bunch of brainiacs talking about the what ifs, what nots and maybes whys. She did not care much about all those things. She wanted the moment. She wanted to experience the colours of the world and fix things as they come. The problem with ifs was that they had not happened yet and she preferred to deal with the when.

“Four-Chan?”

She snapped her attention back to Shimona. “Yes?”

Shimona shook her head. “Nothing. You just had that look where you disappeared for a moment.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She ran a hand through her berry pink hair. She wondered if she should try dyeing it blue. “I do that a lot don't I?”

“Yeah. But I get it.”

“You do?”

“Of course! Sometimes when I think about Jarad, I start daydreaming about going there. Oh...” Her eyes glazed over and out of the window. “I would go visit the Great Oasis Canopy. Learn sandboarding. Visit the museum of the war. I could go to the colosseum and get my portrait drawn beside the queen's statue!”

“Uh... Shimona? Hello?” Four waved a hand before her friend's face but got no reaction. “Nope. She's gone.”

As their conversation ended, the door to the classroom opened and Nos stepped back in. He looked around the room before his eyes met Four's and he gestured outside. It was her turn for the career consultation. She shimmied past the still daydreaming Shimona and headed out into the corridor. When Rehiy gestured, she took the seat opposite him.

“Well, Four-Chan,” he began. Drakins had a slightly deeper tone of voice than the other races. As such, when they spoke, a faint rock grey pulsed through their speech. “I don't think there'd be too much surprises with you.”

“It's Fornelia Chantervalica,” she retorted. “And you probably guessed right.” She handed him the form to glaze through.

“Sure enough,” he set the parchment down. “Though I don't think 'Theatre' and 'Opera' are jobs.”

“Ah! You see–”

“No need to explain yourself,” he interrupted. She clicked her tongue in frustration, having gotten excited to explain her wordplay. “It doesn't really matter. I've actually already prepared your apprenticeship.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. Or to be more precise, you were requested.” He handed her a scroll which she unfurled. She read as she explained, “You've been asked to join Sayix on his summer concert tour next season.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Noooo! You're kidding! You're gearing me up!” She was seeing colours. More so than she normally did. Her world was rainbows and her heart was pounding red. “Me! And Sayix? On tour?”

“Firstly, watch your language. Secondly, you're only going as a stagehand.”

A stagehand was fine by her. She would be Sayix's messenger girl if he asked. She would wash his clothes. She was not fully listening to Rehiy by that point. Her mind wandered off to a bright future. Summer with her artistic hero. Sayix was a Clover who fought in the Second War of Gods. Though a warrior hero to some, he held a close place in Four's heart for his performance during the after-war celebrations. He played with an otherworldly guitar, one which sounds seemingly electrified and boomed through the air, shining purple, yellow, blue, and green dancing around the atmosphere like a wild storm of coloured lightning. It was announced to be 'rock music' when Sayix played, but she had not been able to reproduce the tune since, despite picking up countless instruments in an attempt to do so.

Rehiy was still talking. His lips were moving, but she no longer registered his voice. She could still see colours floating out of his mouth but it was such a boring navy that she continued to be tuned out in her fantasy. She thought of befriending Sayix to the point where he would let her on stage with him. Playing a duet with Sayix.

She grinned.

“Fornelia!” Rehiy snapped, bringing her out of her trance. “Are you listening to me?”

“Of course,” she replied with the quickest, straightest face she could muster.

“Good. As I was saying, you'll be going with Seks.”

“What?” she exclaimed.

“I thought you were listening?”

She gave a nervous chuckle. “To a point.”

Rehiy sighed. She figured he had been doing that a lot throughout that day. “Loch Tehir has requested for Seks to shadow a member of the Clover. Sayix volunteered and is the only one really available for the job.”

“Do drakins even have concerts?”

“We're not savages, Miss Chan.”

“It's Chantervalica.” She was not appreciative of shortening even just her surname.

He continued, “You'll be heading up to Hirule's Holding and Drakin's Pass. The round trip will likely take the whole summer, so that will be your apprenticeship. If you do well, Sayix noted he will consider you for a more permanent future after your graduation.”

She squealed internally.

Rehiy rolled the scroll up and finished, “You'll be gone for most of the summer. By the time you're back, you'll leave for Rubicum for the Spellblade Tourney, so plan your days accordingly.”