New story! Yay? (I promise if you get through this chapter, it gets better! This is just an introduction.)
"Hurry up, Maia! You slow poke!" Clarisse says.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I reply. I swim faster after her and catch up eventually. Clarisse has always been a fast swimmer. I've always been a late bloomer. I keep pace with Clarisse after that and try not to show how tired I am. By the time we finally reach the edge of the lake and climb out, my limbs feel like jello. I retract my fins and gills, adjusting to the air and land. Clarisse, however, climbs out and transforms with ease. She was born for the Water. Okay, metaphorically and literally.
I live in the Water division of my land, Moteria, and today is the day Clarisse and I get admitted into the Center. The Center is the governing central for Moteria and all the divisions. It's also where all 16-year-olds go on the first of May to be trained for a year before their Element is chosen for them.
"Maia!" Clarisse whines. "Are you trying to be late?"
I run to catch up to her, but I feel my legs give out slightly. They are still in gelatin form. I shake them out to wake them up and then jog up to Clarisse. She waits for me at the top of the hill dividing us from the Center, Earth, and Wind divisions. When I get to the top, we both begin the descent down the other side. I can already see the people gathering at the gates to the Center. There are thousands of 16-year-olds and their families. The previous Ceremony was conducted a few weeks ago, so the Center Palace is sitting in wait for us to enter it. I'm glad to have Clarisse by my side, though. This is one journey I would not take without her.
We ran through the long divide between the gates and Water. When we arrive 15 minutes later, we are immediately ushered into line. I catch a glimpse of my family on the way in. My mom, dad, and little sister Bee are watching me. I give a small wave and make my way to the mass of teens waiting to be let inside. I stand next to an Earth girl. Her clothes are made of leaves and her hair looks like it's part of the forest. Her eyes shine like grass in the dew. I can only sigh in sorrow as I know as soon as we are through those gates, we will no longer look like ourselves.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Our leader, Loken, yells from a high platform. "Welcome. I am happy to say that today we will be accepting a crowd of new Trainees who will spend one year in the Palace to find and become part of an Element. Heritage and genes have nothing to do with picking this element! No one chooses their element. Their element chooses them."
I tune out of the rest of the speech. The Center's spiel is about how we are going to train in the Palace for a year in an attempt to make us all equal. The last thing Center wants is the divisions fighting, especially between Water and Fire. You can always smell the tension between us. We are polar opposites. No Fire or Water gets along, even in the Center, when no one is supposed to be able to tell which division each is from. That's a joke. Everyone knows where everyone is from by the end of the week.
"Without further adeiu, Trainees! Welcome to your new home for the next year!"
The large silver gates make a loud booming noise and then slowly creak open with grace. The Palace is laid out before us in all its glory. It's towering and shining barracks for the Trainees are off to the right. The Palace itself will serve as our teaching grounds. Everyone streams for the barracks to be checked in. They all want to see their rooms.
I turn to find my family. I barely spot them before the crowd sweeps me away. I stretch my hand above my head and wave. Soon, I can't see them anymore. I turn to find Clarisse, but I can't see her. I feel someone grab my hand, though, and there she is beside me. She looks scared. I don't know why until I see as each Trainee passes under the gates, they turn bland. Everything goes white, silver, and gray. Our eyes, skin, hair, and clothes. We won't gain our color back until we leave the Palace a year later.
