ARTEMIS ACADEMY

THEKATRIA (δεκατρία)

Nixie's Point of View

"Nixie! Wake up! Wake up!" Elisha shouted so I covered my ears with my pillows.

Why was she shouting again? Shouting must be her hobby now. I feel like there will be no day that Elisha won't shout.

"Nixie! Wake up!" Elisha shouted again. It is Saturday today so there is no classes today. What is it now that she is going to say?

"What?" I asked her, irritated with her bugging me.

"The Headmaster gave me this piece of paper. It states that you will be in Athena City for three days to have your training. Ms. Kane told me to pack your things because she knows that you won't pack your things today. She told me everything you need and you have everything of it inside that black backpack which Ms. Kane gave me. So, you should wake up and fix yourself because you will be oriented today. Wake up!" she said and gave me the paper.

I stood up and went inside the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. My hair is all messy. There are these stupid eye bags around my eyes. Geez. Do you think someone can say that I didn't slept? I took a shower and wore my casual clothes. A jeans, a shirt and a rubber shoes. I walked my way to the meeting area and there I saw Headmaster Cray, Ms. Farrah, the Queen of Athena, which is Queen Harriet and the King of Apollo, King Paolo.

"Good morning." I said and they all looked at me. Ms. Farrah smiled at me, Headmaster Cray nodded and the royals just looked at me.

I sat on the farthest chair from where they are sitting and busied myself by looking at the room. It was black themed. There are different kinds of painting. It is a picture of the recent Queens and Kings. But there are two blank spots. Maybe it is for the missing Queen and King of Artemis. I looked at the bottom of the painting.

All the students looks like they are from well-known families. And I think they probably are from one. They sat on the remaining sits and they waited for the high ranks to notice them. When they notice that everyone is here we started the meeting.

"Okay. To start off, you will not be all together. Except when someone needs help. Every night you should be all together because we will check on you. One of you should tell us where your meeting place is. If everything is settled, prepare a shelter. Before you go there we will assign those persons that will guard all of you every night. It will be alternate and will base on how long you are going to stay there. If it is really dangerous for you should send a signal to tell us that we need save you from that place. You can all go now. The meeting is done. Prepare for tomorrow's journey. It will be a long one." Headmaster Cray said and sipped on his coffee.

Geez. Do they call that an orientation? It wasn't even explained thoroughly.

___

Today is the day that we will be going to Athena. I don't even know what this backpack is holding. I was not the one who packed my things and I am really clueless on the things I brought. We are standing on the other side of the city. It is the opposite of the point of no return. I figured that Artemis City is in the middle of Apollo and Athena City. We are all bringing single backpacks and it has a single logo and designs. It has a logo: a moon, a sun and a shield.

"I need two more persons who can teleport. I can't manage teleporting you all for 10000 miles." Headmaster Cray said.

Unlike Apollo City, Athena City is very far from Artemis. As Headmaster Cray said it is 10000 miles away from Artemis City.

"Hold on." they said and we teleported to Athena City.

Athena City is a place which is not vulnerable from attacks. It is very protected. Every buildings has the shield logo. When my eyes opened, we were now in a bridge. I looked down and saw a twenty feet fall to a body of water. I shivered and quickly went back in the middle of the bridge where everyone is.

"We can't teleport inside. The palace has a barrier that surrounds it. We can use teleportation but we are too exhausted to do it. Walking is the only way." Queen Harriet said. Then, she started to walk. Everyone followed her.

After you passed the bridge is a vast land of grasses with different kinds of flowers. People in battle uniforms are wandering around. They are training with swords, shields, horses, crossbows and stuffs. When I fixed my gaze in front I saw a majestic palace. It was enormous and beautiful. It was like the Ruins of Athens. It was color white and has a big flag on top.

When we went inside, its floor are white tiles. It was shimmering as the sun light hits it. As we step it produces a sound. We reached a series of doors and stopped at a door which has our City's name. We went inside. Serafina, Madison and I are together. As usual, I went to bed near the window.

We went down the hall to have dinner with the everyone. The foods were mouthwatering for my famished self. It was just the presentation whom I saw but my mouth is starting to water. It smells very good and it is so delicious. We ate for about an hour and everyone likes the foods that were served. We were not allowed to talk to each other when we are on the dining table. They really are formal.

After eating I asked Queen Harriet if we can tour around the palace and she said yes. Serafina, Madison, Fiona, Henrietta and I toured around. We went to several rooms in the palace. The throne, the ballroom hall and such. We stopped in the music to because we heard someone using the piano. The melody sounded familiar to me. When we opened the door we saw an old man playing the piano. He was masculine, he has a beard, he is wearing a royal attire and he was good at playing piano, great rather.

"Dad." Henrietta said and hugged the old man.

"Henrietta dear. Do you want to play the royal chant?" He asked Henrietta.

"Tsk. Come on Dad. I don't even know the melody of that song." Henrietta said and rolled her eyes.

"Didn't I told you that everyone in the royal family should know how to play it? You know that we royals are the only ones who can play it. Not a single commoner can play it." the King said.

"Oh, you have brought friends. Can I know what their names are?" he asked and looked at us.

"This is Serafina Strife, this is Madison Davis, this, you know who she is, Fiona Kane and the last one." Henrietta said and they all shook hands.

"Nixie Summers." she said and we shook hands.

"I'm King Henry Stanford. I'm the husband of Queen Harriet Kane-Stanford." he introduced himself.

"Come on, Henrietta dear. I'll teach you how to play the Royal Chant. You may sit down." he said and we all sat on the silver chairs around the grand piano.

"Come on, Dad. Ask one of them. I don't like music." Henrietta said and sat on the sit next to Fiona.

"Can I play?" I asked and the King smiled at me.

"You bet you can, dear. Nixie Summers, right? Now what will you play?" he asked.

"I don't really know the title of this but I played this for several times. We have a grand piano at home." I said and sat in front of the grand piano

I started playing the familiar melody the King was playing awhile ago. I stopped in the midst of playing because the King asked me.

"Where did you learn that melody?" he asked.

"My father taught me how to play it. Sometimes my Mom sings and I play it." I said and he gave me a smile and let me continue playing the piano.

When I finished playing the piano we went to our respective bedrooms and we slept. Tomorrow is the start of our training.