The mirror again. This time it showed water. It looked like ocean water, slightly blue and slightly green, flowing gently. It looked like clouded, colored glass liquified, smooth and hard.

Suddenly, I sensed movement. I leaned closer to see if I could catch a glimpse.

And then it burst out of the water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat up in bed so quickly, I thought inertia was going to carry me head-over. My entire body was sweating.

"Whoa, are you ok?" Isaac said.

"Um...yeah," I said, rubbing my eyes. "I had a bad dream, I think."

Isaac nodded wisely. "Dreams can be insightful interpreters of our daily lives and struggles...but most of the time, I think they're just random." He grinned at me.

I grinned back. I couldn't help it.

"Should we wake Deynan up?" I asked. I glanced over at his unmoving form.

Isaac looked for a while. After a moment, he sighed. "Naaaaaaaah. We don't know what time we have to get up, and it would be mean to get him up now if we still have an hour or so."

I nodded. "Just because you said that, I'm tempted to wake him up and make him mad. But I won't, because it's too early to deal with his stupidity."

Isaac laughed. "I think he's a good match for you."

I whipped my head towards him. "What?!?!"

"Not like, romantically," Isaac said, doubling over with laughter. "Oh my goodness, no no no. I meant," he said, taking a breath to calm his laughter, "that you were all shy and awkward at first, but whenever you talk to him, you break out of that."

"Because he's an idiot," I said, exasperated. But in my heart, I recognized the truth behind his words.

Isaac seemed to get that I got it, because he raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner, smiling. He shook his head slightly, looking down.

Just then, our door burst open. I jumped, and not just because of the sudden noise. Dr. Smith barged in, wearing khaki shorts and a hawaiian print button down shirt with a fishing hat and sunglasses. "Morning boys!" he said jubilantly. "We've got a lot to do today so let's get up and towards them!"

"Up an' at 'em?" Isaac offered hesitantly.

Dr. Smith tapped pointed at Isaac. "Yes. That."

"Wazgoinon?" a fuzzy voice said. From the other side of the room, Deynan-the-lump began to move.

"It's alive!" Isaac hissed creepily. I laughed.

"Wait...huh..." Deynan said, sitting up. His eyes focused and widened. "Dr. Smith...what are you WEARING?!"

Dr. Smith looked down in surprise. "Oh, some summery-type things. I thought the suit was a little hot."

"Ok..." Deynan said. He shook his head as if to clear it. "Too much to deal with this early in the morning," he muttered.

Dr. Smith walked back out. "Well, breakfast in 10 minutes."

Deynan sprang out of bed at this. "Food!"

I laughed. "The zombie, now fully awake, drags itself in the search of it's one true desire: food."

Deynan stood in confusion. He really did look like a zombie, his hair sticking up in erratic tufts on his head.

Isaac laughed so hard he almost fell off his bed. I grinned and we shared a bro-fist.

And I thought, maybe, I would enjoy this whole field trip thingy more than I had originally anticipated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie joined us again for breakfast. Mr. Marquez was there. A night's sleep had done him well. He was smiling again, and his usual jokester self. It was good to see him that way.

After breakfast, Mr. Marquez took the tray down to Giselle. I watched him go, worried. I tried to shrug it off, but this time, it clung to me like a wet leaf, slimy and uncomfortable, and I couldn't shake it off.

We went outside. The courtyard was a good place to be. People were always bustling to and from classes, laughing, enjoying the sunshine. One sandy brown haired girl was trying to climb the lattices on the walls that had ivy growing up them. She seemed fearless. I watched her as she climbed higher.

Suddenly, something bumped into my leg. I jumped and looked down. It was a girl. A girl in a wheelchair. She looked apologetic. "I'm so sorry, I don't usually bump into people, I was watching Ashlyn." She pointed to the climbing girl.

I fumbled to find words. "Well it's my fault too. Yeah I don't--well actually I do bump into people a lot. And I was doing the same. Watching her, I mean. Ashlyn." Inwardly, I groaned. Way to go, you sound like an idiot. As per usual.

"Ravi is impossibly, terribly awkward," Isaac said, coming to stand behind me. I started to glare at him, but then knowing it was the truth, nodded sadly.

The girl laughed sweetly. "I'm Amy."

"Ravi," I said. "Oh wait. He just told you that. Crap." I figured I should stop talking.

"I'm Isaac," my companion said, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

Three other girls came up behind her, two Korean twins and a short girl with braided hair, talking and laughing. They stopped when they saw me and Isaac. "Oh," one of the twins said, "you must be the Legends."

"Yup," Deynan said, placing his head between our shoulders. We jerked away, out of surprise more than anything. He grinned.

The girls introduced themselves as Anna, Lynn, and Lydia. I think. I'm not good with names.

Amy pointed out some of the girls around the courtyard. "The climbing girl is Ashlyn, the girls at the bottom there are Taylor and Talia, and Tess is somewhere, I think."

I nodded, trying to pretend I remembered.

"Hey guys," Sierra said a little bit away. "C'mon, we gotta brief you for the mission."

Deynan saluted the girls and we walked over. Sierra gathered us into a circle with the tall, black haired lady: Ms. Cata-something?

"Ok, so here's what's going on," Ms. Cata-something said. "Magnolia and Seraphina basically collaborate on running the island of Lilituana, Giselle's old domain. Recently, there has been...strange things happening. Constant storms. Bad visions. Dryads...disappearing."

I gulped. "What do you want us to do?"

"Just check it out. We don't think it's Giselle, but Magnolia and Seraphina don't actually have much magic they can DO. We ARE sending our most formidable team, so it's not like we're blowing off their problem."

"Why are you sending kids? Why not adults?" Deynan challenged. Audrey glared at him.

Ms. Cata-something smiled. "In my experience, children are much more resourceful and creative than adults."

Deynan made a small "hmph" noise.

"Besides, Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie are their friends."

"Then why are we coming?!"

"Inter-school cooperation! Isn't it awesome!"

Deynan made another "hmph" sound.

"You'll set out tomorrow," Ms. Cata-something said.

Just then, we heard screams.

I whirled around, my heart racing. Standing at the edge of the courtyard was Giselle.

She looked unstable. She stumbled as she walked, her hands out like a zombie. Her eyes were black orbs.

A bolt of red shot out if her hand and destroyed a nearby tree to mere ashes.

"What's going on?!" Sierra shouted over the screams. "Where's Mr. Marquez? Is he ok?"

Then Giselle began to speak.

It wasn't her voice, though her mouth was moving. It was the voice of a man. It reminded me of fire, crackly but strong.

"Hello Myths," she--he?--whispered eerily. The courtyard fell silent. "You seemed to have locked up little Giselle. But I knew it would not hold her long." He laughed darkly. Another red bolt shot out and destroyed another tree. Scattered screams echoed. He laughed again. "Oh, if you knew the destruction I could cause. In fact, I am! But you are blind. All of you, blind!"

I felt a hand on my back. I jumped, my mouth opening, until someone muffled it with their other hand. I looked, eyes wide. It was only Ms. Cata-something. I relaxed, and she removed her hand. She silently led me out the courtyard, and I realized she had already led the rest of our group.

Behind me, Giselle was laughing and destroying more trees. I felt terrible running away from screaming people...but I knew there was nothing I could do to help.

We came up to the dock where we had come in. Next to the Queen Titania, there was a smaller boat, labeled the Puck. I felt a twinge of annoyance for a moment, because all boats are female, but figured it didn't really matter. It looked as though it could comfortably seat the six of us. The supplies were already in the trunks on the sides. It bobbed happily.

Ms. Cata-something nudged me. "Get in." The others already were, setting up for the journey. I climbed in, standing awkwardly, because I didn't know what to do to help.

"I feel like this is connected," Ms. Cata-something said, "so now your mission is more important than ever. Go."

"Sierra!" a voice called. Sierra turned, and then smiled. It was a girl running across the lawn, with blonde, thick hair. She was pretty, but covered it up with makeup. I hate it when girls do that. Seriously.

She ran forward and pressed something small and round into Sierra's hand. "If anyone can do this, it's you." Sierra laughed and embraced her. "Thank you, Tess." The girl named Tess smiled, waved to the rest of us, then ran back in the direction she came.

Ms. Cata-something untied the boat from the dock and pushed us off. The sail puffed up with an invisible wind, and the ropes started moving by themselves.

My heart began to thump wildly as I realized that this was the real thing.

"Ms. Catalona!" Audrey called, running to the back of the boat. "Keep...my parents...safe, ok?"

She smiled. "Of course, Audrey!" she yelled. Then she turned and ran back.

I watched her retreating figure. We were already far from the school. The mist began to obscure the brilliant white building.

I turned and sat. Audrey did too. She stared, unblinking, at the ground. Sophie was suddenly next to her, leaning her head against her friend. Wow. I had almost forgotten she was here.

Slowly, everyone else sat down. For a few moments, the only sounds were the lapping of the waves and the whistling of the wind.

"So," Isaac said.

"So," Deynan replied dully.

Sierra clapped her hands together. "So guys, welcome to your first adventure!"

"Thanks, I guess," I muttered.

Silence again. I contented myself with studying the boat. It was wooden, and seemed to be pretty well built. There was an engraving on the mast. I leaned closer to read it.

Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,
Over park, over pale,
Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere
Swifter than the moon's sphere
And I serve the Fairy Queen
To dew her orbs upon the green
The cowslips tall her pensioners be
In their gold coats spots you see
Those be rubies, fairy favors
In those freckles live their savors
I must go seek some dewdrops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear

"That's not even Puck's line," I muttered.

"What was that, Ravi?" Sierra asked.

"Oh," I said, my face growing hot, "I mean...sorry. It's just, this quote. It's a Shakespeare quote. From A Midsummer Night's Dream. And this boat is called the Puck, but the line isn't Puck's line, it's some random fairy he's talking to."

"Nerd," Deynan whispered. Isaac elbowed him.

"Aren't boats supposed to be female?" Sophie said quietly.

I looked at her in surprise. "Yeah, yeah they are."

"I thought Puck is sometimes considered a gender-neutral role," Sierra said.

"Yeah but that's a pretty modern thing," I said. "You know, now that I think about it, his NAME is Robin Goodfellow, and I think Puck is like the TYPE of fairy he is."

"So could the other fairy he was talking to also be a Puck?" Sierra asked.

I nodded. "I guess."

"Or they just wanted to make a reference," Isaac commented. "They don't seem like the type to worry about technicalities."

That would make sense too.

"Weeeeell, not that this conversation isn't TERRIBLY interesting, but I'm going to sleep," Deynan said.

"Seriously?" Audrey said. "You can sleep at a time like this?"

"He can sleep whenever, wherever," Isaac said.

"It's like his talent," I added.

"I definitely can't," Sierra said. "But I suppose it couldn't hurt to relax." She stretched out across the trunks.

I laid down and stared at the mist.

Deynan was already snoring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note
Hey guys I may not be able to update for a while because I'm going to camp for a week and we aren't allowed to have electronics so I won't be able to write, but I promise I'll do it ASAP!

Also, I've been receiving some feedback about a technical issue that some of my chapters just show up blank, like it says "Chapter 8" and then there's nothing there. If that ever happens, just private message me or even comment on the chapter and I'll reload it.

Thanks!

~Paint_splatt