The Secret Land of Otrâlmondé [1 | The Other Realms Series]

Chapter Seven

Beep. Stella looked up from the tablet. Helene and the boys were about to enter the training room. Stella glanced back at the tablet and tapped on it hastily, hoping to get rid of the bouncy castle she had just summoned before any of them stepped inside. She succeeded. By the time they had set foot in the room, the only objects were the soft seats that she and Celestine were sitting on. Stella stood up and returned the tablet to her aunt. A few seconds later, the translucent walls rose from the floor and divided the room once again. Celestine asked Stella in Italian,

"Do you want to continue with lightning or try something else?"

"Try something else."

"Okay then. We will move on to shield summoning." Two tables appeared next to Celestine. One held a basket of balls while the other was empty. Celestine placed her tablet on the empty table.

"Shield summoning is my favorite superpower because it's very useful. Some people call it 'force field summoning' but I find the term to be long, so I say 'shield summoning' instead. Anyway, you can use force fields to protect yourself from attacks and deflect them as well. The most basic way to summon a shield is to form an 'x' with your arms, like this," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Stella imitated her.

"Like this?"

"Si. You don't need to move to summon a force field, but gestures like this make it easier. Now let's try." Celestine picked up one of the spheres from the basket. It was twice as large as her fist and seemed rather weighty. She swung her arm backward.

"Relax your arms first," she instructed. Stella let her arms hang naturally from her shoulders. Celestine went on, "When I throw the ball at you, cross your arms and block it with a shield. Okay?"

"Okay."

She flung the sphere at her. Stella crossed her arms in front of her torso and looked away. Bump. It struck one of her forearms before it fell to the floor. It did not work! "Ow," she groaned, as she rubbed her forearm. She threw the ball back at Celestine, who caught it easily.

"Why didn't it work?"

"Maybe because you looked away. We'll try again. This time, don't look away."

Celestine threw the ball once more. Stella immediately crossed her arms, her eyes watching the ball spin in the air as it drew nearer. Come on, Stella thought. Nothing was happening. It was closing in. Her muscles tightened as they readied for impact.

Fwshh. A thin, translucent barrier formed in front of her body. The ball hit the force field before dropping to the ground. She did it! A faint smile formed on Celestine's lips. "Bravo, let's try with a faster one," she said. She picked up another ball and threw it at a faster speed. Stella was able to block it. As the lesson continued, Stella wondered what happened inside the other chambers.

***

"For now, I will continue teaching you hydrokinesis."

Jon tilted his head in confusion. There was not a single source of water in sight—no bathtubs, buckets, or basins of any sort were laid out around him.

"It is not obvious, but water is all around us," José said, gesturing to his surroundings. "People like to think that hydrokinesis is useless if you're not near, for example, a river or lake, and that you always have to carry a water bottle with you. That's false. The air contains water vapor, and since air always surrounds us, that means water does too.

"Now that you know this, I want you to condense the water vapor around you."

Jon cracked his knuckles and then spread his fingers. His muscles tensed. A thousand threads seemed to appear from thin air and attach to his skin. What was that? Jon wondered. Water vapor? He brought his fingers closer. The threads tightened. In front of him, a faint mist began to form. Jon spread his arms and fingers before pushing them closer. The mist condensed, and condensed, and condensed until it formed a floating blob of water.