The girl raised an eyebrow.

≪ If you two keep staring at me like that, I won’t do it again ≫

≪ Sorry… ≫ I murmured, smiling awkwardly.

≪ I wasn’t staring, he was staring ≫ Mark said, deadpan, pointing a finger at me.

My eyes widened.

≪ W- what?!? ≫

I hit him on the shoulder.

≪ You were staring too! We were both staring! ≫

The girl side-eyed us, kinda disgusted.

≪ And you… just go around saying it, like that? I mean, I think I could probably sue you now… ≫

I turned red as a tomato, outraged, and started stuttering.

≪ I wasn’t staring like that, I was staring like that… ≫

Oh gosh…

I threw up my hands, feeling like an idiot.

≪ What am I even saying! ≫

Not like there was much to stare at anyway.

The default uniform of the Ido Academy is the same for everyone – super-wide-leg pants, tied with a string, and an equally loose shirt without buttons.

We have to have our shirt tucked inside the pants all the time, and the end result kinda ends up looking like a robe or a kimono.

The clothes are beige and orange, the color of the schools.

They are made of fézo, a cloth made out of fibers from the fruits of the Fézo tree – growing the trees and learning to make the clothes ourselves is actually part of our training.

Fézo, luckily, is water-resistant.

At the Pond we only have to keep only the pants on, but it didn’t matter because we are required to keep our torso – from the belly button up under the shoulders – always wrapped with strips of white fézo that look kinda like bandages.

So, in the end we’re always pretty much all covered up.

Nonetheless I was still super embarrassed, and looked at Mark for help, but he wasn’t saying anything, and looked as unbothered as ever.

How does it do that! D- does he have no shame?!?

So, I had to apologize first.

I slightly bowed my head at the girl.

≪ A- anyway, I’m sorry… b- but I wasn’t staring like that! ≫

The girl smirked a little bit, then turned away and closed her eyes again.

≪ Maybe, but now you’re talking and I still can’t focus ≫

She again lifted up her hands, and began slowing down her breathing.

≪ May I ask you what you’re trying to do, if I don’t bother you…? ≫ Mark said, charming as always, and I glared at him clenching my fists.

Grr… this guy…

The girl started creating another En sphere.

≪ If… ≫

She was focused, and struggling.

≪ … you can… visualize… ≫

The sighed like he had given up, but then tilted her head slightly to the side.

≪ … something well enough, with En you can bring it to life ≫

Something appeared.

Mark and I held out breath.

…

≪ Huh? ≫

It was a face, but like super ugly and asymmetric, the proportions all messed up. Tho, I hated to admit it, it felt kinda familiar.

I squinted.

≪ Is that… ≫

Mara turned to me and giggled.

≪ Not my best work, but since you kept yapping your face was all I could think of so… ≫

ùMark nodded, serious, stroking his chin.

≪ The resemblance is uncanny… ≫

The illusion disappeared in an instant.

I was mad as heck.

≪ HEY, that does not look like me! ≫

Those other two chuckled.

Wtf…

≪ I wanna go home ≫ I said, sulking, but Mark immediately grabbed my arm the second I tried to move.

≪ The one that you did earlier, though, was incredibly realistic, and beautiful≫ he said to the girl while playfully smirking at me.

I rolled my eyes, but then nodded.

It was true.

≪ It really was ≫

≪ Thank you… ≫

The girl rubbed the sweat off her forehead and jumped down the boulder.

We walked towards her on the little shore.

She sat down on the shore pebbles and, after hesitating a little, since she wasn’t saying anything we also sat down on the pebbles with her.

A butterfly appeared out of nowhere and landed on the girl’s hand.

She smiled softly – she had freckles, and a very pretty smile. Also, she was pretty short, or maybe it was just Mark and I who were usually taller than most people around us.

≪ Animals are the only illusions that I can do well, though… ≫

She glanced up at the sky.

≪ Do you like animals? ≫ I asked.

The planet where I was born, Typher, is a frozen planet with only a tiny strip of habitable land along the equator, and it’s all just cities and buildings and no nature (there’s at artificial atmosphere, there).

The only animals I ever saw, before coming here, were through pictures or videos.

≪ Oh, I love them… ≫ the girl said, and for the first time I saw her eyes sparkle.

We sat quiet for a while.

The girl was turning around the pebbles near her feet.

She found a super pretty empty shell – pink and light-blue, shaped like a star – but, instead of putting it in her pocket like I thought, she just looked at it for a few seconds then put it back down, away from us.

≪ Why did you put it back down…? ≫ I asked.

The girl frowned slightly at me.

≪ The Álouers, the crustacea- ≫

She shook her head, and sighed.

≪ … the little animals that live in these shells often lose it during mating, but, since they can’t live long without it, many look for empty ones instead of making a new one. So, one less shell might mean one dead Álouer ≫

She looked very serious about it.

≪ If you see one, leave it where it is ≫

I kinda felt like an as***le – I was also playing with the pebbles, and, though I wasn’t interested in the shells, I had already put in my pocket a couple nice, perfectly round stones to collect.

T- the Á- Álouers won’t need the stones too, right…?

≪ You know a lot about animals ≫ Mark said, smiling softly.

The boy scratched his temple, chuckling a bit embarrassed.

≪ We come to the Pond every day, but I had never heard of these Álouers ≫

A slight smile appeared on Mara’s face as she looked down.

≪ I do ≫

She hesitated for an instant.

≪ My family is very rich. We have a huge mansion on Andromeda, surrounded by hundreds of square kilometers of fields, woods, mountains, lakes and rivers, and thousands of different species of animals live there ≫

Mark didn’t look very surprised, but my jaw dropped.

Andromeda!

It’s one of the most important planets in the galaxy – many branches of the Galactic Government have headquarters there.

It’s a small planet with perfect conditions for life, and only some of the most rich people in the galaxy live there.

≪ Growing up, ever since I can remember I was always wandering around our property, often escaping from the house, and I always spent more times surrounded by animals and nature than with people ≫

The girl looked up, smiling, but her eyes were sad.

≪ The only other people I had ever met before coming here were my family, and the servants ≫

I almost jumped up in protest.

How!

It felt incredibly cruel.

She must have been lonely…

≪ So, naturally, ≫ Marta continued, ≪ I started studying and learning everything I could about animals, hoping, one day, that I could become a zoologist and help protect animal life on Andromeda and around the galaxy ≫

She sighed, covering he knees with her hands.

≪ But, of course, my family had other plans. Everyone born inside the family is supposed to study and work for the family interest and nothing else, and, since I insisted on doing what I love, they sent me here in hopes that I can learn- ≫

She spread her arms, and raised an eyebrow sarcastically

≪ - a lesson, whatever that may be ≫

Mark chuckled.

≪ Aren’t we all here for the same reason? To learn a lesson that nobody actually even understands, or knows? ≫

The girl grinned.

≪ But, too bad, I actually love it here ≫

She pointed at all the trees and the nature around us.

≪ I mean, look. Dumb move by my family, I don’t know what else to say. I’m learning more about animals here than I ever did before ≫

Both Mark and I laughed.

I felt like her too – here, I’m seeing things and making experiences that, stuck in my old life, I would’ve never.

Also, what the girl was saying was true – there were so many wild animals on Aeflia that one of the main reasons we had to be supervised by a teacher almost all the time was to protect us from any attacks and things like that.

There were many such stories around campus – students attacked and killed by some kind of lions, students disappearing overnight to never be found again except for creepy, non-human traces around their dorms and things like that.

Mark had an idea.

≪ Then, ≫ he said, ≪ what’s your favorite animal? like, one that you know so well that you can create the most perfect illusion? ≫

Marta’s eyes sparkled again, and she smiled.

≪ Do you guys wanna see it? ≫

Both Mark and I sat up, anticipating, and nodded.

Marta gave us an amused, mildly threatening look.

≪ But promise to not get scared, alright? ≫

I gulped nervously.