Parker met everyone in the dining hall the next morning. His heart raced and nerves flooded his body as he sat at the table with Caleb and Alexis. He gave them an awkward half-smile and took his seat.

After several minutes of silence, Parker decided their needed to be some talking or he was going to drive himself mad. “So, what are we doing in history today?”

Caleb and Alexis both stared at him. “Uh, we don’t have history today Parker.”

“What do you mean? Why don’t we?”

“Well, the day after exams is always canceled. How did you not know that? Everyone is excited about it. We have the day to ourselves today. We get to do whatever we want.” The way Alexis said this made it sound like she had no idea what she wanted to do with her day.

Parker’s expression changed from confusion to happiness. The three of them discussed all of the different things they could be doing on their first day off since school started. Caleb suggested they just sit around and relax. Alexis thought it would be a good idea to try to get ahead a little bit in their studies to impress the masters. Parker said they should go exploring around the castle.

The group decided that would be the best idea, getting to see parts of the school they hadn’t gotten a chance to see yet. Hailee who had been listening in to their conversation as she munched on her Elemental Bar asked if she could tag along.

All four kids made their way out of The Regale and began heading to the Entrance Hall. “You never really got a chance to appreciate the view from the front of the castle the night you arrived since it was so dark out.”

They made their way out of the large arched doorway after walking through the dark corridors. “You weren’t kidding when you said that this area remained pretty dark during the school year.”

She laughed and said, “Yeah, all this area is, is a corridor leading outside so there’s not much else to use it for. And on top of that, not many people ever come out front, whereas I love coming out front to relax.”

Hailee led them toward the bridge and the three others were hesitant to follow her. “Um… Hailee. Aren’t we supposed to stay off the bridge?” Fear could be heard in Alexis’s voice more and more the closer they got to the bridge.

“Don’t worry. We’re just going to take a few steps onto it. The bridge is only dangerous if you walk a ways down it, into the fog.” Parker looked down the bridge to see how far he could see. However, even in the bright daylight, early in the morning, a thick fog hung over the bridge.

“What keeps the fog there? Shouldn’t it dissipate?”

“Well, between the lake, waterfall, and House of Leith masters, the fog always hangs around. They somehow used their abilities to keep the fog constant. There’s not even someone who’s controlling it, it just stays there now. Rumor has it that there used to be one person dedicated to keeping the fog there but I think that’s just a rumor.”

By now, the group was standing at the edge of the bridge looking out over the lake. A little ways out from the bridge, the water cascaded over the edge of the cliff. They could hear the roar of the waterfall, causing any conversation they had to be screams.

The view was immaculate. Water glistened under the morning sun, glowing a vibrant blue, mirroring the empty sky above their heads. If it wasn’t for the waterfall, they wouldn’t be able to tell where the sky and the lake separate.

Looking out in any direction were no markers. All that could be seen was lake. The farther you got from the waterfall, the stiller the water sat.

Parker started to walk back toward the castle and along the edge of the lake. The water ran up onto the ground. Some areas were like a small beach, while other areas had a small ledge that the water crashed into splashing into the air creating a fine mist.

The air grew quieter as they made their way around the castle. “It really is peaceful out here Hailee, thanks for bringing us.” Parker could tell that Alexis had the idea of coming out here more often now when she had some free time.

They turned around a corner of the castle and saw a long balcony sticking out over the water. “That’s goes to The House of Leith common room. If we were to try and climb over the railing, the lake would attack us. So, for us to get around so that we can keep walking, we’ll have to fly out over the water and then back to the land.”

Everyone but Caleb was fine with this idea. He still wasn’t confident about his ability to control which element he was going to use and Hailee couldn't know what he was. Parker turned to look at him, gave him a look that asked if he could handle this and Caleb gave a hesitant nod.

Hailee spun in place and began flying out over the water. The three first years stared at her, waiting to see if the water did anything to defend itself. The water sat, unmoved, shimmering like a mirror in the sun.

Alexis went next and landed safely on the other side. “Don’t worry Caleb, you can do this no problem. Just find a place that brings you peace and makes you calm.” Parker was trying to think of something that would help Caleb focus on the keys to his Imperial.

Caleb closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Parker could see the focus on his face, trying to find that place of peace and tranquility. After a few moments, he spun the air around him, creating a fast swirl of wind. It levitated him into the air a little, but not enough to make it around the balcony. Hailee made her way back and helped Caleb make his way to the land on the other side. Parker no longer had to find a place of peace and calm. His nature had changed since he arrived at school. Nothing bothered him anymore, well, besides exams. But, for some reason, even that didn’t affect his Imperial.

All four were now standing on the other side of The House of Leith’s balcony. “What a beautiful view they have though,” Alexis said. Caleb pointed out that it was “almost” as nice as the view they had in The House of Erion.

They continued on their journey around the school, walking in silence for a while. Each one lost in their own train of thought.

Parker tapped Hailee on the shoulder, taking a quick step to walk in stride with her. “Hey, can I ask you a question?” Hailee smiled and said, “Of course!”

“Well, back at our tryouts for the Aether team, something got mentioned about students disappearing… Do you know anything about that?”

Hailee quickly lost her smile and began looking at the ground as she walked. Parker could tell that this wasn’t something anyone liked talking about. “We just don’t know anything about it and if we can help somehow, we want to be able to.”

She knew he genuinely wanted to help out but it simply wasn’t easy for her to talk about. Hailee continued walking, not saying anything. As they rounded another corner of the castle, they walked through a tunnel that cut through under a high bridge connecting a tower to the main part of the castle.

“Stop,” Hailee said. Everyone came to a halt, not sure what she was doing. “I’ll tell you what I know, but you can’t say anything to anyone else. Promise me!” All three promised not to speak a word of what she said.

“It all started about a month ago. A student from The House of Kenna went missing. He was a hothead, and routinely went ‘missing’ for a couple days. He wasn’t actually missing; he was just skipping class so no one thought anything of it when it happened again. However, another student went missing. This time, a student from The House of Gia.”

They could see that Hailee was really bothered by it. Parker couldn’t figure out why, he was pretty sure they weren’t her friends but then he remembered a couple of kids from their house went missing as well.

“The masters and students searched every inch of the castle. Then, two of the students from our house started making comments about seeing a hooded figure around the castle. It never did or said anything it was just around, but not all of the time. Then, they went missing as well.”

Parker started to sweat, panicking a little because something similar was happening to him. He kept this information to himself though, not sharing it with Hailee.

The bushes at the end of the tunnel started rustling. Hailee’s heart started to race and she immediately stopped talking. “Hailee, is everything okay?” Alexis asked, genuinely worried.

A breeze rolled through the tunnel, settling their nerves. The wind always had that effect on Parker.

“Hailee, something is off. Talk to us, we can help you!” Caleb was doing everything he could to calm her down and to open up.

They walked into the courtyard and sat under the canopy of the tall trees. For a while, they just looked back and forth at each other. No one said anything, or pressed for more details. They could tell that whatever was wrong was weighing heavily on Hailee.

“I’ve seen it,” was all Hailee said. They just stared at her, not sure what exactly she meant by that. “I’ve seen the figure. The one that they said they saw before they disappeared. I put on a happy face but I’m terrified. Every second of every day. I can barely sleep at night.”

“Hailee… We didn’t know… Is there anything we can do?” Alexis asked, looking at the others for some support. Hailee shook her head as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Parker gently put his hand on her shoulder, “Hailee, I need to tell you something. I’ve seen the robed figure too.”

Hailee’s eyes shot open, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” She almost sounded a little angry with him, even though she just told them for the first time. “Where did you see it?”

His eyes lowered from her gaze, “Well, I’ve actually seen it a few times. I saw it the day of our first classes across the courtyard in another tower. He… it… was just standing in a window staring at me. I also saw it at my house, before I came here. I saw it standing in the field behind my house and then it appeared in my room as we were leaving. It had completely destroyed my room and then when I brought my parents in to see, it was gone and my room looked like it hadn't been touched.”

Alexis and Caleb looked shocked at what Parker was telling them. Alexis smacked his arm, “Why didn’t you tell us this before?”

Parker looked at her, rubbing his arm, “I didn’t know if I was actually seeing it. I thought I was just going crazy or something.”

Hailee looked more panicked and nervous than she had after saying that she’d seen the figure. “Do you think we should go tell the masters? If anyone can help us, it’s going to be them.”

Parker stared at the ground, not sure what to say. He didn’t want to share this with a bunch of people, but if the others that disappeared saw the figure too, he was worried that it had to be connected somehow.

After a few minutes, he looked up at Hailee, “I think it’ll probably be our best choice. Let’s go together to tell them.” They started to walk back to the entrance of the castle, cutting through the courtyards.

As they walked into the school, Parker stopped abruptly. “Uh… I know that we have this plan and everything. But, where is the masters’ chamber?”

Hailee let out a little laugh, “Don’t worry, I’ll lead the way.” She sped up a little bit in order to lead the group in the right direction. Parker looked at the back of her head as she led the way thinking about what they were getting in to. He wondered who the figure could be, and how had they known where he lived.

They walked through the entrance corridor and made their way past the dining hall. Hailee led them to the center of the staircase and told them to follow her up. The four of them rose through the air and landed on the twenty-eighth floor.

Traveling down the corridor, they made turn after turn and stopped in front of a wooden door. Alexis went to open the door but found that there was no doorknob or handle or anything to open the door with. “How are we supposed to go in?”

Hailee pointed to the right of the door where there was a small hole, the size of a golf ball. “You have to use your Imperial to let Master Sora know that you’re here. He has to let you in from the inside, it keeps all of the students from just entering his chambers whenever they please.”

Parker put his hand in front of the hole and sent a small blast of air forward. He could hear the wind traveling through the hole and through the pipe in the wall that guided the air. Then a faint ding could be heard.

After a few moments, the door opened with no one on the other side. “Come in,” Master Sora said from somewhere within the chambers. Parker led the way into the room.

The entrance to the room was a long narrow corridor lined with bookshelves that stood from floor to ceiling filled with books. In front of the bookshelves were stacks of books sitting on the floor that came up to their knees.

At the end of the narrow hall, they took a left turn that opened into a larger area filled with more books. The walls were completely filled from floor to ceiling with one space between two of the bookshelves. A tall, stained-glass window filled the gap. It looked straight out over the lake. In the middle of the room, there was a single desk that Master Sora sat at, writing on some parchment.

“How may I help the four of you today?” Mater Sora asked.

“Well, Master Sora, I think we need your help.” The sound of Parker’s voice grabbed his attention.

He dropped what he was doing and looked directly at Parker. “And how may I help you?”

He filled Master Sora in on all of the details. How the missing students had mentioned they saw a robed figure just before they disappeared, how Hailee had seen it and so had he. Then he informed him that the figure had actually shown up at his home the first time he saw it.

“Let me discuss this with the other masters and then I will let you know how we will handle this. Thank you for coming to me with this information it was most certainly the smart choice to make. Have a good rest of your day off.”

The students left his chambers and Master Sora followed them out. They began heading downstairs while Master Sora went in the other direction.

Taking their seats in The Regale, they questioned what they thought Master Sora could possibly do to help. “Maybe the masters will put the school on lockdown somehow. You know, so the figure can’t escape” Alexis was trying to come up with something to help put Parker and Hailee’s minds at rest.

“Let’s just talk about something else instead,” Hailee suggested. Each one enjoyed their Element Bars. Parker still couldn’t believe that they tasted like whatever you wanted them to.

“So, Caleb, are you feeling better?” Parker asked him and his face immediately went transparent. It looked as though a ghost had just traveled through Caleb.

Hailee looked concerned, “What’s wrong with Caleb? Is everything okay?” Parker realized why Caleb had gone transparent. He’d forgotten that Hailee didn’t know anything about him being an Omni rather than an Imperial like them.

“Oh! He just had a bad headache earlier, so I was asking if it was any better.” Parker felt proud of himself for saving the moment.

However, the look on Hailee’s face did not show belief. “For real though, Caleb, are you okay?”

Caleb wouldn’t make eye contact with her. “We can talk about it some other time. Let’s talk about something else right now, please.” She granted his request and began talking about the classes that she was taking, still thinking about what it could possibly be.

Lunch flew by and the group decided to go to the roof and relax. The sun was shining bright, Parker thought that it must never rain here; he had yet to see a cloud in the sky. The four of them lay out, relaxing and getting to know each other’s background a little more.

After what felt like hours, Caleb spoke to the group, “All right, I’ll tell you now Hailee, but you can’t tell anyone else. I’m not supposed to share it with anyone because stuff like what happened at lunch,” he glared at Parker, “can happen.”

She nodded, showing that she promised not to tell anyone, or to let it slip in front of others. Caleb told her the exact same thing that he had told Parker and Alexis.

“Oh, wow, that’s really cool!” She seemed impressed by what he could do. “Can you show me some of it?”

He raised his right hand out and a small flame appeared hovering over his palm. “That’s awesome! Can you make it bigger?” Caleb stared at the flame, and the flame grew ever so slightly and then disappeared. Caleb’s chest heaved from the effort he had to put into it.

“I’m still learning how to focus and control each of the elements. It’s hard learning all four at one time.”

Caleb then showed her how he could control each of the different elements and she sat, captivated by the show that was being put on for her. “Because of this, I have a special class that I have to take that I’m the only one in and all of the masters come in to help train me, one at a time.”

Hailee’s eyes were wide with excitement and curiosity. “I would love to sit in on a session of that, to see how they instruct the elements. I’ve only ever seen Master Sora and Master Allgood instruct the Air Imperials.”

Dinner came and went, students mulled around the corridors, sitting on benches, talking amongst their friends. The four House of Erion students hung together, waiting to hear what Master Sora was going to do to try and help.

No news came that night, or the next, or for the rest of the week. Classes went by, Parker could barely focus normally for some reason, and now with this on his mind, it was all he could think about.

Hailee continued on with her business, acting as though nothing was bothering her. Alexis and Caleb moved through their days, no different than normal. Parker could tell that they were all worried, just waiting to hear from the masters. They would’ve settled just for a, “We’re working on it, promise!”

Another week passed with no news. The match against The House of Kenna was a hard fought match. The House of Erion pulled out a difficult victory, with Gwen, Finn, and Claire ending up in the Medical Ward with burn injuries.

“I can’t believe you guys won. That match went on forever, I didn’t think it was ever going to end.” Caleb talked about how everyone in the crowd was on the edge of their seats the whole time. “The other team even had the chance to win like four times. But you held it together so well! I heard someone saying that there hasn’t been a score that high in years. Most games end around four to one or five to two, rarely twelve to nine. It was amazing!”

Parker smiled at the enthusiasm coming from Caleb. He hadn’t heard him get excited about anything like this in a long time. Ever since he started to improve his abilities, his class became easier and much less taxing. His energy skyrocketed and he was having more fun in his free time.

Every once in a while, they would go up to the roof and Caleb would show them the new things he learned. He could now make a fireball in his hand the size of a softball and then throw it and put it out with a stream of water. Flying was no longer an issue for him, finally finding the perfect memory to focus on. His Earth Imperial was the toughest one, requiring the most concentration. He could still move gravel across the ground and even raise it into the air, but he couldn’t do anything with the solid ground yet.

“Master Terra said that he’s going to work harder with me the next few weeks and show me some tips in order to ground my focus.” The way Caleb talked about it showed that he was excited for his lessons now. Instead of dreading having to go to it.

Neither Parker, nor Hailee, had seen the figure over the past two weeks. They could routinely be found talking to each other about how they were nervous every time they rounded a corner, or looked out of a window.

A few nights later at dinner, a whisper rolled past Parker’s ear asking him to meet in room 1-F after everyone left for the night. He told the others and each of them said they heard the same thing. Looking around, it seemed that no one else had received the message.

“I still really want to learn how to do that,” Parker said.

Everyone nodded, and Hailee said, “I think they teach that to us in our third year, but I bet we could figure out how to do it. It’s a really good skill to use when you’re in a tough situation and you need to get information to others quietly.”

The Regale slowly emptied until only the four of them remained, talking about various things from their classes. After looking around to make sure the coast was clear, the four of them made their way to room 1-F.

Inside, all four masters were waiting for them. “Come, take a seat.” Master Sora gestured to the seats at the front of the room.

Master Kingston had a rough first impression of Parker and Alexis but had grown to like them over the course of the past few weeks. “We are trying to find this figure. We’ve been searching the castle every chance we get. But, we’re also trying to not let on that something may be wrong. The students here need to stay calm, if they start to panic, this could go downhill very quickly.”

Parker understood that they needed to keep the peace amongst the students. “But, what are we supposed to do in the meantime? Just wait to be taken by whatever that thing is?”

“If you just go about your daily business, and try to stick around as many others as possible, the four of us believe you will be safe.” The other masters were nodding their heads in agreement.

“I know that you’re worried,” Master Sora said. “But I promise that we have everyone searching as much as they can. We will figure out who or what this is and put a…”

Master Sora was cut off by a scream coming from the corridor outside of the classroom. All eight of them sprinted to the doorway to see what was going on.

There was a very small girl with silver hair in shiny green robes sitting on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. Master Terra sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “There, there, everything will be all right. Can you tell me what happened?”

Alexis and Hailee were impressed with the way Master Terra cared for his student. It took a few minutes for the girl to calm down enough to get words out.

“Abby was standing right next to me and said she saw some guy in a robe standing at the end of the corridor. A big wind hit me in the face and knocked me down. I reached for Abby’s hand to run but she was gone.”