I woke up to gray. Absolute gray. I had a sudden flash of déjà vu.

"Fog designed to wake you up is like the evilest thing ever," Deynan groaned somewhere to my left.

"I assume it's magic, but how do you enchant a gas?" Isaac asked.

"You enchant the machine that makes it," Mr. Marquez responded.

I moved my hand through the air in front of me. "This doesn't feel like fog. It feels like...mist. But that's impossible."

"Why so, Ravi?" Dr. Smith asked.

"Mist should be thinner. I should be able to see you..."

Just then, something bright appeared to my right.

"What the heck is that?" Deynan exclaimed.

"It looks like..." Isaac breathed.

"A castle," I finished in awe.

We rushed to the front of the boat for a better view, being careful not to trip over anything (as we couldn't see). I could hear Dr. Smith chuckling behind us.

It was a castle. A huge, magnificent, white, shining castle. I had to squint to look at it, it was so bright. We stared in silent awe.

"Oh, I see how it is," Deynan said finally. "We get a gloomy looking facility. And they get a shiny white castle."

I turned away, blinking away the afterimage from my mind. "It does seem a bit unfair."

"Oh, Natasha does like her flambouncies," he said dismissively.

"Natasha?" Isaac asked, knitting his brow together. I realized that through the light of the castle, I could see.

"The headmistress of the school," Dr. Smith said laughing. "Natasha Simone's School for Girls. Or NSSFG."

Isaac nodded.

We waited in anticipation for a few more minutes. Deynan was getting jittery. He tapped his feet and fingers. My annoyance grew steadily. It was like this guy was MADE to tick me off.

After what seemed like forever, the ship came up to a dock, and a gangplank was lowered. It was a lot nicer than the one we had. In fact, everything about the girl's school seemed to be a lot nicer than ours. What was up with that, Dr. Smith?

A woman in a red summer dress came hurrying up. Dr. Smith's face lit up. "Natasha!" he called. He strode forward, gave her a fierce hug, and kissed her on the lips.

We froze. "Um..." Deynan said. I could hear Mr. Marquez laugh quietly behind us.

They broke apart. Dr. Smith turned to us with a wide smile on his face. "Boys, may I introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Natasha Simone."

We stared. Wow. I didn't see THAT coming.

"But your last name is Smith," Isaac said. "So...she kept her maiden name?"

Dr. Smith looked sheepish. "Well, no. My last name is Simone as well. My first name is Smith. Smith Simone."

We gawked.

"It's rare for a doctor to go by their first name, but it does happen," he added.

Mrs. Simone surged forwards and shook our hands excitedly. "I'm so excited to meet you three! We've never had interactions between the schools before. You guys are revolutionaries!"

"But we aren't changing anything through our own will," I said under my breath. I hadn't intended for her to hear me, but she laughed. "I think we're going to get along."

Our group walked down the dock, Mrs. Simone and Dr. Smith holding hands and whispering to each other. I felt awkward, like I always do around couples. Especially since it was hard for me to imagine Dr. Smith married to someone.

Once we reached the actual land though, Mrs. Simone turned around as if she had remembered something grave. "Oh...boys. I think you should wait here. I have something to show Smith and Juan." We nodded. Mr. Marquez walked out quickly from behind us, head down. All traces of laughter were gone. He suddenly looked like the most serious man in the world. When he reached the Simone's, Mrs. Simone squeezed his shoulder. He nodded and they began to walk. Mrs. Simone called over her shoulder, "I'll send Sierra to come get you."

My stomach clenched at those words. Sierra Claget. The famous girl. The girl I couldn't stop hearing about. I was about to meet her.

We watched as they walked into the brilliant castle, hand in hand, like they were still in elementary school.

"Mr. Marquez looks so sad," Isaac said softly. "I wonder what she wants to show him. It's like he already knows."

An unbidden memory flooded into my mind. "If all goes well I believe you may be able to see her in less than two weeks."

Was that it? Was Mr. Marquez going to see the mysterious girl?

I turned away from the castle. It was hurting my eyes. The ocean was calm and beautiful. I took a deep breath and soaked my soul with it.

"It's been pretty crazy these past few days," Isaac whispered. "Magic. Who would've thought?"

Deynan laughed. "Not me, that's for sure. Still kind of don't. I keep telling myself that it's all a dream, but I can't really believe that. Transforming was real. The most real thing I've ever done."

I was a bit surprised at his openness, but even more surprised with how much I agreed. I felt a strong urge to transform into warrior, to feel strong and powerful, and have that feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that everything was right again.

I stared out at sea.

"Hey!" a happy voice called out. I stiffened. I had heard that voice before.

I turned around, my eyes widening in amazement. There she was. Her hair a blend of blonde and brown: a gold-ish color. She was wearing a purple blouse with a black skirt that looked like a uniform. An orange butterfly clip adorned her hair.

I realized my mouth was open. I hurriedly closed it. My hands were shaking, and I didn't know why. I gulped. "Um, hi. Are you Sierra?"

Her eyes suddenly flashed with recognition. For a second, I thought she remembered me from the office, but then she shook her head and an amused smile took it's place, like she knew something I didn't. So that couldn't be it.

"Yep, that's me!" She smiled brightly.

"Um, well then. We're here too."

For the first time, I noticed the two girls flanking her. The one who had spoken was tall and wore her shocking orange hair in a side braid. She wore an orange tank top and black shorts, with orange converse that went almost up to her knees. I didn't even know shoes could be that tall. Black biker gloves covered her palms, and the fingers that stuck out were calloused and strong.

The other girl, I could understand not noticing. She seemed like she WANTED to fade into the background. She wore a green dress with black leggings and a black headband. She wore it like a uniform like Sierra. Her hair was a brownish color and really curly. It hovered an inch above her shoulders.

"This is Audrey," Sierra said, gesturing to the orange girl, "and this is Sophie." Audrey gave a peace-out sign and Sophie gave a half wave.

"Uh, Ravi," I said, not sure whether I should go and shake their hands.

Isaac smiled warmly. "Isaac."

Deynan half raised his hand. "Deynan Soldano. Deynan like the last name, Soldano like the guitar amp." He must be pretty proud of that guitar amp connection, because he was bringing it up a lot. He jerked his thumb at me. "He responds to Ravioli."

I glared. "In your dreams, idiot."

A mischievous grin spread over Audrey's face. "Good to know..."

Crap. Deynan annoyed me, but THIS girl scared me.

Sierra smiled (ugh, why did she smile so much?). "Well, we'll show you boys to your room, then." She turned and bounced away, Sophie and Audrey following her.

"Now that right there is a very happy person," Isaac mused.

"You can say that again," I muttered.

"Are you coming?" Audrey yelled over her shoulder. "Trust me, you can't even begin to understand how easy it is to get lost in this castle."

We hurried to keep up.

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

We sat down to lunch that afternoon with the Simone's, a woman introduced to me as Ms. Catalona, and Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie. I wondered where Mr. Marquez was.

Dr. Smith had told the truth about the flying platters. Honestly, they DID look more impressive.

"So, Sierra," Isaac said after the meal began, "Ravi says he knows you."

Sierra choked a bit on her chicken. She took a moment to swallow. "I'm sorry, what?"

I glared at Isaac. I could already feel my face heating up. "Not exactly." I turned to Sierra and tried to look apologetic but I probably just looked like I swallowed something wrong. "See, I moved to North Carolina a few weeks ago, and I went to Fisher Middle School, and I met some of your friends there and they were talking about you so I had heard your name before but I don't exactly KNOW you...ya know?" My voice trailed off as I realized I was blabbering. My face felt hotter than before. I never blabber. Ever. What the heck?

Sierra, however, practically lit up. "You met some of my friends? Which ones?"

"Um..." I thought back hard. "A girl and a boy. Olivia and...Austin?"

Sierra suddenly threw her head back and laughed. It was a happy laugh, filled with warm feelings that just tumbled out. "That is so cool!" she exclaimed. I shifted in my seat, smiling awkwardly.

"Alright," Dr. Smith said suddenly, "I'm afraid I don't know everyone at this table. Care to give me a rundown on the names?"

"Well you know the boys, obviously," Mrs. Simone said, "and this is Sophie, Sierra, and Audrey."

Dr. Smith suddenly breathed in sharply. "You say your name is Audrey?"

Audrey looked a bit freaked out. "Um...yes?"

"Smith, don't," Mrs. Simone said quietly. "It will only make it more painful." But he waved her words away.

"What is your last name?" he asked intensely.

"I don't have one..." Audrey said uncertainly. Huh. That was weird.

Dr. Smith's eyes widened. "So you are an orphan?" She nodded. "What orphanage did you start off at?"

"Um..." she bit her lip. I saw Sierra's hand subtly move under the table to cover hers. I wondered what that meant.

"I think it was Ms. Jameson's Home For Boys and Girls," Audrey said after a moment.

This time, Mrs. Simone was the one that gasped.

"Someone please tell me what's going on..." Audrey whispered.

"Audrey..." Sierra whispered, "I think..."

"This can only mean one thing," Dr. Smith said, tears pooling in his eyes, "you are our daughter."

There was silence at the table.

"Oh," Audrey said, dumbfounded.

The Simone's surged out of their seats and around the table, tackling Audrey and hugging her fiercely. She looked a little uncomfortable and completely stunned.

Now that she had said it, I did see resemblances. She had her mom's nose and her dad's shocking orange hair. Her dad's chin. Her mom's eyes.

"Ok...you guys are great...can you get off me please?" Audrey said, squirming a bit. The Simone's rapidly broke away. "Of course," Mrs. Simone said. They went back to their seats, still smiling.

"I ask that of every girl I meet named Audrey," Dr. Smith announced. "Just in case."

"I stopped long ago," Mrs. Simone said softly, barely a whisper. "It caused too much pain."

"You see, right after you were born, the Elder Council put out their decree that all Myths and Legends be put to death," Dr. Smith explained. "We knew that since you were the daughter of a Myth and a Legend, you had a MUCH higher likelihood of being a Myth. And so we decided to send you off into the human world, because the Council was going to target us, because we were putting up the schools. So we put you in Ms. Jameson's."

Audrey blinked. "Oh."

Dr. Smith squeezed Mrs. Simone's shoulder. "Now that we have found you...my happiness is complete." Sierra made a little aw noise under her breath.

Audrey forced a small smile. "Yeah. Um, this is kind of a lot to process. So I may be a little...out of it. Uh, yeah. Sorry."

"No, no," Mrs. Simone said hurriedly, "we understand." Audrey nodded, slightly relieved.

"Well," Ms. Catalona said, standing up, "that was very exciting. But classes are about to start, and I believe Natasha and Smith have their own duties to attend to." She walked away, rubbing Mrs. Simone's shoulder as she walked out.

"Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie," Mrs. Simone said, "I give you permission to skip classes for the rest of the day and show the boys around the school."

Sophie's mouth opened as if she were about to say something, but Audrey quickly said, "Thanks, ok let's go." She got up quickly, dragging Sophie behind her, who was biting her lip. We got up and followed them out of the dining hall, Sierra behind us.

As soon as we got outside the door, Audrey let go of Sophie's wrist. Sophie massaged it tenderly. "I was only going to tell her that we already gave them a tour before lunch."

"Exactly," Audrey said, exasperated. "Then she wouldn't have let us skip class!"

Sophie's eyes widened with realization. "That's against the rules..."

"Oh, be quiet," Audrey said. She turned to us. "Ready for tour of the castle, part two?"

Isaac shrugged. "Why not?"

We wandered around the castle, the girls re-pointing out stuff we had already seen. But most of the time was filled with talking.

"So what are the forms you guys can transform into?" Sierra asked.

"Warrior," Deynan said proudly.

"Oh cool, us too," Sierra said. Deynan narrowed his eyes like the girls were stealing our form. I couldn't stop myself from grinning.

"What else?" Audrey asked.

"Um..." Isaac said.

"We don't know," I admitted.

The girls turned around. "What do you mean?" Audrey asked.

"Dr. Smith never told us," Isaac said.

"Did he at least tell you the emotions?" Sierra said in surprise.

"Values. Not emotions," Deynan said.

"Whatever, what were they?" Audrey demanded. Yeesh.

"Kindness was one...uhhhh...warrior is honesty, I know that," Isaac said. Sierra and her friends shared a knowing look.

"What about the other ones?" Sierra asked.

"Um...." Isaac said, biting his lip. He looked at Deynan, who shrugged. He looked at me.

"Honesty, kindness, loyalty, diligence, and humility," I said uncomfortably. Deynan looked at me in amazement. "How on earth did you remember that? He said it, like, once."

I shrugged, wanting to smirk and shrink into the corner at the same time. "I don't know, I just did."

See, that's the thing about being smart that people don't talk about all that much. It's not that you're better necessarily, it's just that you remember stuff easier. I have a good memory: therefore, people call me smart.

"Huh. It's weird that they didn't tell you the forms," Sierra reflected.

"What are the girl forms then?" Deynan challenged.

Sierra just smiled. "Well, warrior is truth, mermaid is freedom, unicorn is purity, phoenix is hope, and fairy is joy."

Deynan snorted.

"And goddess is love!" Audrey proclaimed dramatically. As if it was an old joke, Sophie pretended to swoon into Audrey's arms, giggling. Sierra swatted at them. "Shove off, you two." But she didn't really seem mad.

"Am I the only one that's really, really confused?" Isaac whispered. Deynan and I shook our heads solemnly.

We watched as Audrey tackled Sophie standing up in a sisterly sort of way, while Sierra watched on, cheering quietly. She noticed me looking, and her eyes glittered in an "isn't this fun?" sort of way.

And that's when I decided that Sierra Claget was a good person, after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey guys! The Simone's are an entire family now!

So, I'm not really the kind of author that asks for votes and comments, but I just wanted to let you know that they really do help, especially votes. See, the wattpad system for reads is über confusing, and a read doesn't mean you liked the chapter, so I'd really appreciate if you would vote if you really liked it!

Thanks for reading!

~Paint_splatt