I stared.

I gaped.

I gawked.

I'm pretty sure I made a sound akin to that of a suffocating frog.

He was muscular. The eccentric, odd Dr. Smith looked like he just stepped out of a Spartan war movie.

There was utter silence in the hall.

Then Dr. Smith burst out laughing. "Oh, you should see your faces right now," he said with relish. He turned to the hall. "Alright, you've had your fun. Eat now." From the sides of the room, platters balanced perfectly on one rolling leg rolled out, wheeling around the room with minds of their own. I twisted in my seat, my eyes following them with the wonder of a small child.

"Are those...robots?" Xavier asked.

"No dear boy," Dr. Smith said, sitting down. "They are magical."

"Magical," Harrison (sheep boy) breathed.

Dr. Smith closed his eyes. A bright light flashed, and--after blinking afterimage away--I saw he had...transformed...back into his suit with the mismatched tie and no muscles whatsoever. We stared.

"Of course," he said, "the girls' school has floating platters. But honestly, it causes traffic issues, so I think they're just showing off."

"Floating platters?" Xavier repeated.

"Girls' school?" Alex said, raising his eyebrows. Oh, Alex was one of THOSE kids. Yeah, I saw those eyebrows.

"Alright boys, get comfortable, because I am about to tell you a story of epic proportions," Dr. Smith said, reclining back in his chair. Poor guy. He probably spent all year working on that dramatic sentence.

"You are a creature, and not just any creature, but rather, multiple. You are called Legends. There are several different forms you can turn into. Five, to be precise. One form, you just saw. It is called warrior."

He said it so casually, like maybe he was letting me know he had a sandwich for lunch.

"I'm not going to tell you what the other four forms are," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "You'll have to figure those out on your own. There is a certain virtue associated with each form. Warrior is honesty, and the other four are kindness, loyalty, humility, and diligence."

I looked around the table on a whim. The expressions ranged from amazement to fear to full-on doubt.

"Up until about two weeks ago," he continued, his tone getting serious, "you were forbidden."

"Forbidden?" Harrison whispered.

"Yes, forbidden," he said with an affirming nod. "Legends were deemed as too dangerous to interact with the human race. The Elder Council, our government, began to eliminate Legends and Myths."

"Myths?" Deynan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The girl form of legends," Dr. Smith clarified. Alex sat up a little straighter. Dr. Smith continued. "It wasn't until recently that we learned the Elder Council was being manipulated by an evil woman who wanted to destroy for her own personal motives. Her name was..." For the first time, he hesitated. He looked around the room until his eyes rested on Mr. Marquez a few tables away, laughing with some of the older boys. Dr. Smith turned back to us and whispered, "Giselle."

"What happened to her?" Isaac asked quietly.

"Well," Dr. Smith said with a smile, "she was defeated. You see, our school and the school for Myths have always been extremely well protected from outsiders and especially council members. But, about a month ago, she found the school for Myths." His smile was replaced by a grim look. "She placed a...machine of sorts outside the school, with the intention of breaking down the protecting barrier placed around the school. It would take two weeks to dissolve, and then...the entire island would be completely destroyed."

There was a moment of silence. Wow. That was pretty intense.

"But," he continued, a hint of a smile returning to his face, "a trio of girls happened to be above the school's protectorate dome at the time the school was hit. They were trapped outside of the island. Instead of going to a sorcerer's guild up north as they were instructed, they went in pursuit of..." again, he lowered his voice, "Giselle."

"Hold up," Deynan interrupted with a cocked eyebrow, "sorcerer's guild?"

"Oh, my dear boy, there are many other magical creatures other than Myths and Legends," Dr. Smith said with a smile. Deynan nodded skeptically.

"Anyways," Dr. Smith continued, "the three girls went in pursuit of this sorceress, and I am told it was no easy task. She threw monsters at them, called tormentors, which inhibited them from transforming. But, in the end, one of the girls took down the sorceress in a blaze of burning light!"

Ok, now I was growing a bit skeptical myself. This sounded like a folktale.

"What was the girl's name?" Isaac asked. "The one who took down...the sorceress."

Dr. Smith smiled. "Her name is Sierra Claget."

"WHAT?!?!" I exclaimed, banging my hands on the table. Instantly, the whole room turned to look at me, and the boys at the table jumped.

I sat back in my seat hurriedly, my head down. Crap. I didn't mean to draw attention. "I'm sorry," I mumbled, "it's just...I know her."

Every eye at the table turned to me. I wanted to bolt from the room.

"Do you?" Dr. Smith exclaimed. "That's wonderful! How do you know her?"

First of all, she's appeared in practically every aspect of my life for the past three days, I thought. "Uh...I don't KNOW her know her. But I've heard of her. She used to go to my new school, but left before I came. So I, uh, never met her. But I've heard a lot about her. From her old friends. Yeah." Well I guess I saw her. But that didn't really count.

Why had she left? I couldn't remember. I thought back to Ms. Rayford, her pained expression...

"How's the new...school?"

Ooooooooooh. Things clicked into place. Ms. Rayford thought she was insane.

I noticed everyone was still staring at me. I hurried to change the subject. "So, um, you say she took down this...sorceress?"

Dr. Smith began to nod, but Deynan butted in. "Why is everyone so freaked to say her name? She's all defeated and stuff, so it's not like She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It's not hard to say it either, see, watch." He cupped his hands around his mouth and turned his head towards the ceiling. "GISELLE!" he shouted, as loud as he possibly could.

The boys looked over with a confused expression, but most simply shrugged and turned back to their food. Dr. Smith, however, gripped the table so hard his knuckles turned white. He looked down at the table, but not before I saw his eyes flicker a bit to the right. I turned my head to look.

Mr. Marquez was staring at us with the intensity of a hammer on an anvil.

He looked shocked, as if an old memory had come back uninvited and slapped him in the face. But then he quickly looked down at the table again.

I didn't see him look up again that night.

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

After dinner, Mr. Wilkins walked us up to our room. The ten of us had a dorm to ourselves. Isaac, Alex, Harrison, Deynan, and I were to the left and Liam, Noah, Spencer, Xavier, and Mason were to the right.

It was only when I was changing into the pajamas they had provided that I remembered what was in my pocket. The scroll thingy. I figured I should probably give it back...it looked kind of important. So I quietly slipped out of the room while Alex and Deynan were having an argument about sports.

There was no one in the common area, so sneaking through there was easy. Once I got to the hallway though, my struggle began. Where the crud was he? We were practically in a castle! A...magical...castle. I shook my head to clear it. No. Don't think the word magic. It doesn't exist...except it did...

No. Don't think about that. Do. Not.

I wandered aimlessly through the halls, until I saw a blonde teacher looking person. I froze, almost positive I was about to get in MAJOR TROUBLE.

"Hello," he said pleasantly, "you look lost. Where are you trying to go?"

I was so surprised by his amiable reply that I stuttered. "Uh...um...I'm trying to find Dr. Smith. I, uh, have something that belongs to him." I held up the scroll pathetically.

"Oh!" the man said cheerfully. "Wonderful! Well, follow me!"

He spun on his heel and began walking swiftly, humming quietly. I followed awkwardly behind.

"So, is this your first day at the school?" he asked after a moment.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is."

"What do you think? About magic?" I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"Um..."

He chuckled. "Good answer. Ah, well, you'll see soon enough."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I didn't.

"Hey Silas," a voice called. It was Mr. Wilkins. "I need help with something."

"What is it?" he asked pleasantly.

Mr. Wilkins eyed me warily. "I'd rather not say..."

"Well, alright then," the man named Silas replied with a sigh. "Dr. Smith's office is just down there," he said, pointing down a hallway to our right.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Anytime!" he said cheerfully. "And if you need me, just ask for Mr. Ascher."

"Ok," I half-whispered, shrinking under the glaring eye of Mr. Wilkins. They walked away quickly and I was left alone in the dark hallway.

At this point, I wanted to get to bed as soon as possible, before I got more awkward. I hurried down the hallway where Mr. Ascher had pointed, to the one doorway, cracked with light shining through it. I walked quickly, and almost had my hand on the doorknob, when...

"I know you have answers, so why won't you give them to me?"

I froze. It was Mr. Marquez. He sounded angry.

I heard a sad sigh. "Juan, you have to trust me for just a little longer," Dr. Smith pleaded.

"I don't know that I can do that!" His voice lowered dangerously. "You told me that she had her memory wiped. You told me she worked with the council as a small scale member. You told me you were doing all you could to extract her." His voice rose to a shout. "You told me that the girl I knew was as good as dead!"

"Please keep your voice down," Dr. Smith asked half heartedly.

"Why did that boy say her name?" Mr. Marquez demanded.

There was silence.

"I asked you a question!" he shouted.

"And I'm answering it. You have to trust me for just a little longer, alright?"

"Give me one good reason," he growled. "I dare you!" His voice rose to a roar. "Just one reason!"

I heard the scrape of a chair on the floor. "If all goes well, I believe you may be able to see her in less than two weeks," Dr. Smith said quietly.

The silence was deafening. I wanted to run, but I was frozen in position. I couldn't bring myself to move.

"But I have to warn you," Dr. Smith continued, "she will not be the girl you knew. It will be most likely heart breaking."

Silence again. Finally, my feet remembered their function, and I slowly began inching towards the end of the hallway.

I hear a soft thumping noise as Dr. Smith patted Mr. Marquez on the shoulder. "Now I think it's time that both you and I went to bed," he said firmly. There was a shuffling of feet, and the light increased as the door began to open.

I turned and fled.