Parker’s heart started to race as everyone’s eyes looked him up and down. Alexis grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. He glanced around to see if there was anyone not interested in the fact that they just arrived in the dining hall, but he could see the whites of everyone’s eyes.

The four head masters made their way to them and walked them back out into the main corridor. “I don’t understand… this doesn’t make sense…” Parker could hear Master Kingston whispering to Master Keegan, as they were lead to a room down the corridor.

Master Sora led them through an open doorway that Parker quickly recognized as the room they had gone to on their first day at the school when they were sorted into their house. They each took a seat and the masters lined up in front of them.

“Please, tell us everything. Spare no details.” Master Sora had a serious look on his face that none of the kids had seen before. Even when he had found out that Lara was the one behind all of this.

Caleb, Alexis and Hailee recounted everything they could remember. Parker then filled them in on everything from the time they had been frozen.

The masters were showing varying levels of shock, awe and fear as they each shared their story. Once everyone had finished, the masters turned their backs to the kids and started to discuss something. After a long silence from the kids and what looked like a very heated discussion between the masters, they finally turned around.

Master Sora was the first to speak. “While you were gone, we were very busy doing our own research about the different things that Lara might be capable of. And to be honest, this was not in the realm of possibilities that we had brainstormed. However, we do have some information that was confirmed from what you told us. We never thought that she would try to collect enough power in order to create her own world. But now that we know she plans to, we’re in even greater danger than we imagined.”

Parker and Alexis had the same confused look on their face and Hailee and Caleb had the same look of fear scrawled across their faces. “What do you mean greater danger? If she makes her own world and goes there, she won’t be here anymore.” Parker didn’t understand how her leaving this world could be a bad thing.

“Well Parker, you see, there are actually two problems that lie within her plans. The first problem is that all of the Imperials that are taken to her new world, we believe, will be completely under her control, relieved of any free will that they previously had. The second problem, is that in order to create her new world, this world will be decimated. Nothing will be left, all those remaining here will die.”

“So, how do we stop her?” Alexis asked in a very quiet voice, completely filled with fear and dread.

“The only way I can imagine to stop her completely, is to kill her. Anything else, I feel she would be able to overcome and start over until she was successful.” The other masters nodded their heads, agreeing that this would be the only option if they were to succeed in stopping her.

The kids agreed that this would be the only option, but did not understand how they, or anyone for that matter, could possibly kill her. “Don’t worry about the details yet, take some time and relax. After everything you’ve been through, you need to take some time to yourself. Consider yourselves excused from the end of year exams. You have demonstrated incredible abilities, resilience, and perseverance over the past six months, even though it doesn’t seem like six months to you. Oh! That reminds me, we need to contact your families immediately. Hopefully we can stop their mourning."

They grabbed some breakfast and made their way out to the bridge over the lake. Since the release of Lara’s Imperial around the castle, the fog at the end of the bridge had lifted, however you still could not see the end. It went on for a ways and then disappeared as it went over a hill and down the mountain. You could now see the edge of the lake, as it was held at the top of the mountain by large hills that completely surrounded them.

The waterfall roared as it rolled over the edge of the cliff. Parker could never figure out how with a waterfall at one edge, the lake always looked like a glass mirror reflecting the sky above.

They all sat by the edge of the bridge and ate their food in silence. The sun shined bright from overhead.

“So, do you think everyone is going to treat us differently now? I mean, to them, we just came back from the dead. Which just doesn’t happen.” Alexis sounded very worried that she was going to get isolated from the other students.

“I’m sure it’ll be weird at first but they’ll get over it and move on. The only thing I’m worried about now is that we’ve missed half of a school year so we’re going to be that far behind everyone else.” Caleb didn’t sound too pleased with this idea. He’d finally managed to catch up with everyone and now he was going to be behind yet again.

“Everything will be fine. With your abilities, you’ll catch up to the rest of your class very quickly. Even Parker will be okay, now that he’s figured out a good way to study for history. Just remember that next year gets just little bit tougher. But you always have me to help you.” Hailee was smiling as she said this. She was so happy to have made such good friends. A lot of the older students didn’t always like to be around her since she was doing the same work as them by this point and she was at least a full year younger than them. She would always receive looks in her Imperial classes from the other students. They never felt that she should be able to do the same things as them.

“Yeah, I’m sure we’re going to be fine,” said Parker, not quite sure whether he believed what he was saying or not. “I just want to be back into my same old routine, before the threat of Lara was introduced into our lives."

They were all nodding their heads and Hailee stood up. “Well, I’m going to go in and try to take a nap. I’m absolutely exhausted.” As she started to head back to the castle, Caleb yelled after her and ran to catch up.

Parker leaned back on his elbows and stared into the sky. “Are you afraid Alexis?” She told him how she was terrified and he nodded his head the whole time, agreeing with every word. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. And my guess is, the masters are not going to be able to help us. But maybe since Lara’s Imperial around the castle has been lifted already, she has nothing to hold over their heads.”

Alexis thought about what Parker had said and thought that maybe he was right. Maybe the masters would be able to step in now, but even they had said that they weren’t sure what to do with her. That she was too strong.

Alexis scooted a little closer to Parker as he stared into the sky. He didn’t notice her slowly move, or at least didn’t acknowledge the fact that she moved. “So, what should we do next?” she asked him.

“Not sure, but maybe for a little we can just relax. Lara seemed very panicked when she couldn't drain my abilities in the end. So, maybe she’ll wait a while before trying anything else.”

“Maybe… do you wonder why she never tried to drain Caleb’s abilities?” He thought about this for a little bit before saying anything.

“Maybe she can’t take the abilities from another Omni. But that wouldn’t explain why she couldn’t take my abilities in the end.” They both stared into the sky, thinking about why she didn’t go after Caleb. Neither could come up with an answer.

They decided they should also go in and try to take a nap. As they walked up to the castle, Alexis looped her arm around Parker’s and squeezed. “I think we’ll be okay, even though I am terrified of it all. Knowing that you’re by my side makes me feel a lot safer.” She had a large smile on her face. As they walked into the main corridor of the school, Parker stopped before the dining hall.

He was standing right up against the wall, but didn’t say anything. “Is everything okay, Parker?” she asked him.

He shook his head very slightly and said, “Why do you feel safer around me? I wasn’t able to do anything against her. If you feel safe around anyone, it should be Caleb. He even managed to freeze Lara for a second.”

Parker’s heart was racing, but he couldn’t tell why. It was either the fact that she felt safe around him, which he thought meant that she liked him, at least a little bit. Or it was because he felt useless, and unable to help his friends.

They made their way back up to their common room and went their separate ways to get some sleep. Parker lay in bed for hours before he was able to fall asleep. The sun had dropped out of the sky and the moon shone bright. The stars rippled across the sky.

End of year exams rolled around. The other students were panicking, not sure how they were going to pass everything. Parker felt bad that he didn’t have to take them. He was more than willing to, but the masters insisted that they sit it out.

On the day of the exams, all of the students went from room to room. Whereas, the four of them remained in the Air Imperials room. This was, by far, their favorite room in the whole school. It was always so calm and peaceful, give or take when they were having class. According to Hailee, in year two, they began having small, duel like sessions, where they would face off against each other, with a goal of knocking the other off of their feet.

Parker was really looking forward to class sessions like that. He would have a significant advantage having played a full season on The House of Erion Aether team.

“So, how do you think everyone is doing?” Caleb asked the group. They just shrugged their shoulders. Caleb felt bad that they got to just sit around while everyone else tested. “Has everyone stopped looking at you guys differently since we got back? I’m back to normal for the most part.”

Hailee responded first, “Yeah, a lot of my friends just asked what all happened and I told them small bits and pieces but definitely not all of the details.” Alexis said nearly the same thing.

Parker said, “Well, at first they were all really weird to me but after a couple days things start to return to normal."

They continued discussing small things for a while and after a while, the door to the classroom swung up and their class poured in. “Well, I guess we should head out. It must be time for the Air Imperials exam. I wonder what they learned in our absence.” Alexis sounded very curious, like she wanted to stay and watch.

She walked over to Master Sora as he walked in, “Master, would it be okay if we stayed and watched?” He nodded his head and told them they could stay if they wanted to.

“I've already been through this, so I'm going to head down and get some food. I'll catch up with you guys later." Hailee walked out of the room and the exam began.

In the time that they had been missing and presumed dead, the others had learned quite a few things. Alexis was really jealous that they had learned how to create small tornadoes in their palms. They had also learned how to create a ball of air that spun rapidly and hovered an inch over the ground. One of the students told her that in the next year, they would learn how to create that ball and then hop on and ride around on it.

Her mouth dropped and she desperately wanted to learn how to make it. Parker was very impressed with the new things he was seeing from his classmates and really wanted to try them out.

After the final student went, Master Sora began talking about a few of the things they would learn in the next year of Air Imperials. He mentioned the spinning ball that Alexis had been told about. The master then mentioned they would be able to control the small tornado in their palm to make it do what they wanted. “If you remember, from one of the Aether matches, Parker here, created a rather large tornado. That is something you will learn in a couple years. That is, once you’ve learned how to properly control the air around you, when it's doing unpredictable things.”

A student from the group yelled out, “Then how did Parker do it during the match?” Master Sora laughed a little, and looked at Parker. “Well, all of you are capable of it right now. Hence, you can fly. But, in order to properly use the tornado you have to control the rapid air away from you, whereas when you fly, it’s connected to your body. I imagine that Parker’s tornado in that match was a bit of a... lucky shot.” He looked at Parker with questioning eyes and Parker nodded, acknowledging that the master had been absolutely correct.

“Can Parker show us it once before we leave?” a student asked.

Master Sora turned his head and said, “I think that would be up to Parker to decide.”

Parker made his way to the front of the group and they all moved behind him. He was shaking with nerves. Doing it during a match was one thing. He was focused on something, a reason for it to happen. Not just trying to impress his peers.

They all backed away and gave him some space. He stepped back and started to make a small run forward. He jumped slightly and spun as fast as he could.

The room let out a scream of panic and fear. Spinning away from Parker was not the tornado he had created during the Aether match. Roaring in front of him was a rapidly spiraling cyclone of fire.

A tree burst into flames and Master Sora quickly jumped in front of Parker. He sucked the oxygen out of the fires, extinguishing them before they could do any real harm, to either the classroom or the students.

Everyone was staring at him, not sure what had just happened. Master Sora turned around to face Parker. “How did that happen?” Parker had no idea how it happened. His heart was about to pound out of his chest as he felt someone’s hand slip into his. He turned and saw Alexis, who didn’t look afraid of him, like the others, but mad that they were staring at him like this.

She was breathing very hard, in through her mouth and out through her nose. She was about to scream at everyone when the room went silent. No one moved, not even an inch.

Alexis and Parker both gasped. “Did you just freeze everyone?”

She quickly pulled him by his hand and pushed through the crowd of students until they were almost outside of the room. Everyone came to, and a few screamed. "Where are they?" someone shouted. Master Sora spotted them as they made it the rest of the way to the corridor.

The door swung open and Master Sora and Caleb appeared. Parker and Alexis were sitting on the floor, breathing fast. The master crouched down and said, “We need to find the other masters and talk about what just happened in there.” They followed Master Sora to his office and sat down on the floor until the other masters arrived.

“Why have you called us here, we were in the middle of our end of year exams.” Master Keegan was not happy that he had been interrupted.

None of the masters had noticed the three kids sitting on the floor. “Well, Master Keegan, it seems that we may have a bit of a problem on our hands. Or, actually, maybe this is a blessing. But,” he gestured to the kids on the floor. “It seems that we may have two more Omnis on our hands.”

End of Book 1

Thank you so much for reading. Stick around because Book 2 - Dealing with Water will begin posting on Monday at 8:15 p.m.!