Explorix Club Season 1: The Curse of Eris

Episode 1

"I can't believe we're back, can you?" Acacia smiled at her friend, Aaliyah, as the pair entered the grounds of their school, Neketah Academy. Neketah Academy was one of two schools on the planet Neketah. Neketah was a realm in the Magic Dimension, much like the realm of Magix.

"After last year, I'm surprised Headmistress Penelope didn't postpone classes until the north wing of the school gets rebuilt," Aaliyah said, shaking her head lightly.

As the pair walk, a girl runs up to them. She's huskier in build but still relatively svelte. "Aaliyah! Oh! I'm so glad I found you. It's me, Shannon! Do you remember; we were pen pals over the summer," she grinned.

Aaliyah blinked as if processing this information and then smiled. "Shannon! It's nice to meet you in person, finally!" the older teen hugged the other.

Acacia cleared her throat, interrupting the pen pals. "Hi, Shannon! I'm Acacia, but my friends call me "Sia." The blue-haired girl greeted the youngest of the three with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Sia!" Shannon smiles, joining the older girls as they walk to the academy's building.

As Aaliyah pointed out different areas of the building to Shannon, Acacia put each hand on the girls' shoulders. "Hey, I think that kid is in trouble over there."

The three of them nod and move toward the younger-looking female getting scolded by one of the academy's teachers.

"You can't possibly be a student here! You're too young, and we'll have to call your parents to pick you up immediately. Neketah Academy cannot have children simply running amok."

"But I..." The younger girl suddenly grew quiet as she looked up and listened to the academy staff member.

The older girls whisper to each other. "Okay, so what's the plan?" Acacia asked.

"Shannon, will you distract the teacher? Acacia and I can pull her out of there." Aaliyah asks, looking at Shannon with concern.

"But- I don't even know the faculty names yet-!"

"Her name is Neytiri, and she's the Deputy Headmistress. She may seem hard-headed, but she's got a soft spot for curious minds. Just pretend to ask her questions and try to make her forget that the girl is there,"

"Okay, I'll try," Shannon agrees.

"I won't have it! Come," Neytiri reaches out to grab Neve's hand, but Shannon jumps in the way and starts to ask questions nervously.

"Um, Deputy HeadMiss! I'm new, and I was wondering if you could tell me about the programs at Neketah. My parents told me the pamphlet arrived just today, and well, I'm already here, so I can't read it, can I?" Shannon chuckled nervously.

As Shannon distracted the Deputy Head, Aaliyah and Acacia took Neve by the hand and started toward the door. They manage to avoid the ever-so-keen eyesight of Deputy Head Neytiri and give Shannon a thumbs up.

"W-what's going on?!" Neve cried out as soon as they got inside.

"Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm Aaliyah, and this is my friend, Acacia. We're sorry for grabbing you like that, but Deputy Head Neytiri would've probably put you on the next shuttle home if we hadn't interfered." Aaliyah smiles. "I'm a second year here,"

"Same, second year," Acacia smiles and raises a peace sign.

As the duo talks with Neve, Shannon, out of breath, joins them. "H — hi!" She smiles. "I'm Shannon; I'm new here too," she offered her hand to Neve.

Neve shook Shannon's hand, starting to smile. "This is my first year here; I'm-."

The other girls looked at her. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you seem young to attend this academy as a first-year student," Aaliyah said.