During the ride, I decided to look around at everyone. Lewis was perfectly focused in his book while having Anna holding onto his arm. I could tell that she was reading it with him because of the way her eyes moved across the page. Certain pages, she would stop him from flipping the page until she was done. Every once in a while, the sun would shine on Nova's golden hair and feathers as he looked out the window. He looked so focused that he reminded me of a statue. I saw that Viktor had a shine in his yellow eyes while he flirted with my brother. Alex pretended to be annoyed but I saw the smile as he flirted back. Bruce and Florence were doing a thumb war. I think that Flo was winning since Bruce still had his thumbs. It looked like Joy was making spare dolls for spells or it might be clothes for her older dolls.

Bram had his eyes covered, by one of his hands, to block the light while sipping from a blood bag. Even though the sun cannot kill him, it still irritates the hell out of him. He moved part of his hand to look at me and saw me staring. I quickly looked back at the window with a blush on my face. Since I was leaning on him, I could feel his chuckle as he moved his hand back.

"I can't wait to get there! What's the sea like?!" I asked while my ears twitched in excitement.

"Large, blue, and refreshing. It is kind of magical when you first see it. It also reeks of salt and fish. Make me gag from the smell sometimes." Nova said before turning to look at me. "Just don't try to drink it because it is way too salty and it is bad for you."

"Could I swim in it?"

"It is so large that we might lose you if you do swim," Nova said with a smile. "We would miss you if you disappeared."

"Really? Wow! I never thought that it could happen!"

It is so funny how Nova and Viktor looked like their parents perfectly mixed. Nova got his mother's golden hair and feather color with his father's red eyes. Viktor got his father's white hair color and white feathers with his mother's golden eyes. Both somehow got their father's extremely pale skin rather than their mother's darker skin. Viktor has to be careful with his health because he inherited his father's poor health and he is anemic, which is not a good combination. Nevertheless, he has learned how to survive with his health just like his father.

I looked over to Florence and Alex to see how much we looked like our parents. I got my mother's purple eyes, need for glasses with my father's white hair, and bear parts. Florence has Mom's eyes and human parts with Dad's hair color. Alexander got Mom's blond hair with Dad's bear ears and brown eyes. It was so strange how Alex's blond ears look so different from Dad's white color and mine; I guess it is because of his hair that caused the change in fur color. However, both Alex and I have more of a mixture of our parent's skin color while Flo is slightly paler than we are.

"Hey Ash, come look out the window!" Nova said while pointing at the window.

"Cool!"

We made it to the port, and it smelled delicious. I almost climbed out of the window to get a great view. I saw people working with nets full of fish, fish swimming in a clear bucket, and people using poles to catch more fish. In the sea, I saw fish jumping in and out of the water. Butchers were cutting up fishes to sell, and I saw cooks frying up fish to eat. People were buying fish and eating them. There were so many fish everywhere here.

"Ash, you're drooling," Bram pointed out.

Everyone started to laugh at me as I cleaned up my face. I started to blush in my embarrassment.

"Sorry, it's just nobody told me that the sea would have so much fish!"

We all looked in shock because Joy started to roll around on the bottom of the carriage while laughing. For the first time, Joy was actually joyful with something that did not involve anyone in pain.

"Ash, the sea is where you get most of the fish you eat." Joy said between giggles.

"Oh! That sounds tasty! I wonder if I could live in it so I could eat all the fish I want!"

"Ash, if it was even possible, and with your appetite, there would be no more fish left in the sea," Alex told me then I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Hey! The two of you have the same type of tongue," Viktor said, "I wonder if they also taste the same."

Alex punched him in the gut while I started to blush. Both Nova and Bram started to glare at Viktor at his comment.

"If you dare try to kiss my baby brother, I will slowly pluck out your feathers one by one slowly and then I will push them back in."

Both Viktor and Nova flinched at the statement. I knew that Alex was overprotective, but I never thought that he might be the overly jealous type as well. Then, I remember the stories of how he was before they got together, Viktor went around faster than the time it takes for me to eat ten fishes, so I do not blame him at all. But, I could tell that Viktor changed for the better because of him.

"I was only joking Snowflake, you know I love you and only you!" Viktor said as he started hugging Alex and rubbing their cheeks together. "Besides, I'm already taken by you. I do not need anyone else. I was just saying that whoever he dates will be lucky."

I could see how they really do care for each other so much. Viktor will only use Alex's name when he is either mad at him, which is rare, or he is hiding something from him. I could see that Alex was trying to hide the fact he was smiling. The carriage stopped right when we heard someone tap the roof.

"Children! We're here!" My father called out from outside.

We all got out and grabbed our bags. Joy was the only one that had two bags, one that she carried and the other had a shoulder strap. I had to look around at this new world. It smelled like my room after I snuck in my fish snacks that one time. My mother had me deep clean my room until the smell was gone.

"Whoa! What is that?" I said while pointing at a giant metal thing floating in the water. I saw many kids walking up to it and disappearing from my view. It looked so strange to me.

"That is a boat. A large metal vessel that is used to go across large bodies of water." I keep on getting surprised by Lewis's vast amount of knowledge. "The same type of the one we are going to board to get to school," Lewis said without even looking up.

"Wow! How is it floating with all that weight?"

"Magic and Science working perfectly together."

Lewis walked away and I watched as Anna jumped on him without him caring at all. My mom had to pick that as the perfect moment to hug me and cry. I never felt so humiliated before in my whole life. People were rushing around and did not pay attention to us.

"My youngest baby is growing up! I'm going to miss you so much while you're gone from here!"

She lifted me off the ground and was almost squeezed the life out of me. It took Alex, Flo, and Dad to work together to get her to let go of me. Alex patted me on the shoulder as our parents rode off.

"Don't worry Ash; she did that to me last year. I guess she is still not used to the idea of you and me actually going to school. I guess she was not used to it even when Flo went to school before. Mom can be strange most of the time when it comes to mother-henning us."

"I thought that I was about to die from her hug."

I watched him walk off with Viktor, hand in hand, to the boat. Nova came by and patted a little low on my back before walking away with Bruce and Flo to the boat. I almost did not see the murderous glare that Bram was giving to the back of Nova's head as he stood next to me. Joy was snickering as she walked over to me.

"Time to enjoy what most humans hate, learning." Joy said and I gave her a funny look.

"How come they hate it?" My head was slightly tilted as I asked.

"Because they don't want to uncover the mysteries of the world. They like staying in the dark because it feels safe to them." Bram said with a small dusting of red on his face.

"Oh!"

"I like the dark but I also like to see beyond the shadows."

"You are acting older than your years, Fangs." Joy told him as she walked over and linked elbows with us.

She kept her bags balanced as we helped her.

"I really wish you would not call me that when we at school. Others might use it as an insult if they hear you use it."

"Fine by me. Now let's go and freak everyone on the boat." Joy said as she pulled us forward.

The three of us walked towards the boat to enter the next phase of our lives, high school.