Timeline

1

"Lynne! Are you ready for school?"

Lynne stretched and sat up from where she was leaning against a tree. The wind whisked through her long blond hair, tangling the thin strands.

"Yes, mom! I'll be inside in just a minute!" she called.

"Alright, but don't forget!" her mom's voice echoed back.

Lynne shook her hair out of her eyes and stood. The wind, which had been blocked by the tree, ferociously bit into her skin.

"What I wouldn't give to be a Blazer right now," she muttered as she zipped up her purple Starstruck hoodie. The techno band's emblem was a stage set up on a cartoony-looking star.

The autumn chill seeped through the thick fabric and she covered her arms with her hands and hurried back toward her house.

"Have a good day at school, moonbeam," her mom said as she followed Lynne into the teleportation room. The room itself was small, not much wider than the teleporter in its center. The large cylinder was only a little taller than an average adult. She stepped into its center and swept her finger across the screen on the side. She shuffled through the options on the 'most visited' menu and settled on Archpeak. Checking to make sure she had the right destination, she hit 'select'. The metallic green walls of the cyinder sparked and blurred before fading into the rolling meadows, sweeping arches, and stone walls of the Archpeak Academy. While the giant castle looked like somewhere royalty would live, it was really just a school.

Lynne pushed open the wooden doors and headed down the hallways to the courtyard in the center of the castle. The area was swarming with students waiting for the day's activities to start. She looked around, trying to spot any of her friends.

"Boo!" a voice whispered behind her.

"Tom!" she laughed, spinning around. "There you are!"

"Missed me, huh?" he teased. "Shh, there's Julia!"

Lynne watched with amusement as Tom snuck up behind the older girl and leaped onto her back. Julia laughed, shaking her soft brown hair out of her eyes, and gave him a ride over to where Lynne was standing.

"How are you doing today?" Lynne asked as Tom slid off Julia's back.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Julia replied with a grin.

"Absolutely, positively amazing," they said in unison.

"You two and your ridiculousness," Tom complained good-naturedly.

"Attention, students, the day's activities will begin shortly!" an announcer called over the voices of chatting students. "Please move to your starting stations and we will begin in two minutes."

"See you guys later," Julia said cheerfully as she joined the line of people going to the standard part of the school.

Tom and Lynne joined the part of the school going to the Detecting stations. A man with red-blond hair snapped his fingers and a flame appeared in his palm.

"Your turn, if you can," he told them.

Ability detecting had begun.

***

"Well, that was rough," Tom complained as he and Lynne trudged out of the courtyard.

"For you," Julia remarked, joining them.

"You didn't have to sit through three hours of trying to do a bunch of stuff you probably couldn't do," Tom muttered.

"Yeah, I didn't have to take any ability detecting stuff," Julia shrugged. "So I got to sit inside where it's warmer."

"Lucky," Lynne grinned. "It's freezing out here." She pulled her hood over her head to block the wind.

"Y'all wanna come over to my house after school and see Brady?" Julia offered.

"Ooh, sure!" Tom said, bouncing on his heels.

"Your dad won't mind?" Lynne asked.

"Nah, he's usually out in his workshop anyway," Julia shrugged.

"Sounds like fun," Lynne smiled.

***

"Welcome home," a deep voice said as the scenery blurred into focus. "You've brought the others."

"Hi, Brady," Julia said cheerfully, giving her older brother a hug.

The two siblings looked similar, but next to each other they were slightly different in appearance. They had the same wavy chocolate brown hair, but Brady's was a little rougher while Julia's looked more taken care of. Julia's pale skin contrasted her violet eyes and colored lips. Brady had more of a tan to match his deep blue eyes and calloused features.

"How was work today?" Julia asked, stepping back.

"Eh, it was okay," Brady said. "We did a lot of heavy lifting today, but it turned out fine. We're constructing a new storage building for the crops."

"Sounds tiring," Tom remarked.

"Yeah," Brady said with a smile. "Nothing we can't handle, though."

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Julia asked.

"I have no idea," Lynne answered with a shrug.

"Ooh, I know!" Tom announced with a grin. "We should play hide and seek! I can think of a bunch of great places!"

"Sure, what could go wrong?" Lynne laughed.