Ren got to her feet and followed Sarala to the Courtyard, Zyn and the other students filing out behind her. Ren paused once she was in the warm sunshine, waiting for her twin. The three then walked towards the pond a bit away from the classroom, as most of the students lingered near the door.

“Did you know about this?” Sarala asked Ren, once they were out of earshot from the other students.

Ren shook her head, still feeling baffled. “Dad never said anything about this. I just thought he was going to initiate that martial arts program, but last I heard, nobody signed up, so he canceled it.”

“For now,” said a jeering voice behind them.

They swiveled around to face C3, Sarala scowling at the boy in annoyance as she snapped, “What do you mean?”

C3 wrinkled his nose, as if he smelled something bad. “We all know your father,” he said to Zyn, “will let you stay in martial arts classes if it turns out you’re still nonmagical.”

“I’ve always had my magic!” Zyn hissed. “I just needed to be on hormone blocking potions, which meant I had no magic for a while!”

C3’s expression turned sour. “We all know that’s a lie!” he spat. “You never had magic. Your father made up the martial arts program to keep you in school. You didn’t deserve to be here last year. You still don’t deserve to be here this year.”

“I have magic!” Zyn seethed, taking a step closer to C3 as their lip curled back.

Sarala sighed heavily and stepped between the two before Ren could move an inch. “Drop it, will you?” she grumbled to C3. “Zyn has magic.”

“Oh, yeah? Then show me your air magic!” C3 jeered.

“Ren!” Ak-tu’s voice called. “Zyn, you might as well come along too.”

C3 scowled as the twins’ father came to the rescue. Ren grabbed Zyn’s arm and pulled them away after her, Zyn sticking their tongue out at C3 as they passed. The siblings scampered inside the classroom again, Ak-tu ushering them to take a seat at the teacher’s table, where two chairs had been placed. He remained standing, tapping his fingers on the wooden surface.

“Dad, what’s with the changes?” Ren asked as she sat down, her heart racing again. 

Ak-tu frowned. “I didn’t tell you?”

“No,” the twins replied in unison.

Ak-tu blinked. “Oh. Sorry. I thought I already did. We’re initiating changes so you kids can be out of school sooner, and we can get back to traveling.”

“We’re gonna travel again?” Zyn asked eagerly, hopping to their feet.

Ak-tu snorted in amusement. “Not yet. But once you two are done with the academy, we will.”

“So you’re speeding up classes just for us?” Ren mumbled, cocking her head.

“Yes and no. The fourth year isn’t necessary to keep, though Khurshid will determine that once the school transfers to him,” Ak-tu said, signaling to Khurshid sitting at the table. “Anyhow, which classes would you kids like to take this year?”

“I’ll keep my schedule as it is,” Ren said, fidgeting uneasily as she tried to process everything her father had said. 

“Me too,” Zyn said. “I mean…it’s not like I can change out of the first-year classes. And I want to retake all of them regardless!”

Ak-tu nodded. “I expected as much. Have you two given more thought to your futures?”

Ren exchanged a glance with Zyn. She could tell that they were thinking the same thing as her.

“No, not really,” Ren said after a moment. “It’s too early to think about that, isn’t it?”

Ak-tu smiled warmly. “Yes, it is. You’ll have all year to think over which classes you’ll be taking next year. As long as you do good in classes this year, I’ll let you into any class you want to go into next year.”

“Don’t they have to prove themselves?” Khurshid queried. 

“Prove ourselves?” Zyn asked.

“We’re careful about who we let into the advanced classes,” explained Ak-tu. “After all, we don’t want students learning advanced magic and using it for…improper deeds. Students don’t actually have to prove themselves to us; we observe them throughout the year and take their actions into account.” He turned to Khurshid and said, “My kids don’t need to prove anything. I know they will not abuse spirit magic whenever it’s time for them to use it.” 

“But you cannot treat them differently from the other students here,” Khurshid said, his face troubled. “That isn’t fair. If I had kids, I’d also test them to see which classes they should take.”

Ak-tu sighed. “I suppose you’re right…. But even if we’re not at this school—even if I never made it in the first place—I’d still be teaching my kids spirit magic. I trust them. Kids, you may go.” 

Ren got to her feet and stumbled from the room with Zyn beside her. Feeling dazed, she spoke to Zyn telepathically. {What was that about?} 

Before Zyn could reply, Ak-tu called for C3. The boy hurried over, shoving past Zyn on the way the moment Ak-tu wasn’t looking. Zyn made a face at him, but he pretended not to notice as he went inside. 

“Jeez, what’s his problem?” Zyn grumbled as they reached Sarala.

“He’s mad about the hover boats,” said Sarala. “He was complaining to me the whole time you were in there.”

“Well, it is his fault!” Zyn pointed out.

Sarala looked irritated as she shrugged in reply. 

“Can we not talk about the hover boats again?” Ren asked in slight exasperation, a shiver running down her spine as she remembered blacking out in the crash.

Zyn glanced at her in concern, the anger falling from their face. They nodded once. “So what were you saying?”

“I was just wondering what Dad was going on about, with traveling and teaching us spirit magic,” Ren murmured, being sure to keep her voice low in case C3 came up behind them again. 

“You’re going to travel?” Sarala asked, an odd expression on her face. “When?” 

“Not yet, as far as I know,” Ren said. “But it sounds like Dad’s speeding up school to get us out of here sooner, then he’s giving the school to Khurshid.”

“I hope we get to travel again!” Zyn moaned. “I miss it!”

“But what…about…” Sarala’s voice trailed off and she quickly fell silent. 

“What about what?” Ren asked Sarala.

The other girl clenched her jaw and lowered her gaze. She remained quiet for several long moments. 

“Sarala?”

“Nothing,” she finally uttered.

“Were you going to ask about traveling?” Zyn pondered.

Sarala’s whole face became taut at once.

“Oh, Sarala!” Ren gasped, realizing what she was going to ask. “You’ll come with us whenever we travel! You know that, right? Whenever we’re done with school, or even just going on vacation someplace, you’ll come with us!”

Sarala grunted in response, poking the stone ground with the corner of her shoe.

“Yeah, if you want to, that is,” Zyn added. “You don’t have to if you want to attend college or do something else. But I’m gonna travel with Dad!”

“What about you, Ren?” Sarala grumbled. “What do you plan to do for your future? Are you going to do…college?”

Ren shrugged. “I haven’t given it much thought,” she said earnestly. “The world is so full of opportunities! Maybe I’ll do something with healing, if I like it, but I’d definitely have to attend college for that. Or since I love plants so much, I can always go into something with that, and I probably wouldn’t need to do college—at least not right away! Or something with crystals? Those seem cool!”

“You have no idea what you want to do, do you?” Sarala asked bluntly.

“Nope!” Ren chuckled cheerfully. “But I’m not worried about it. I’ll just figure it out as I go.”

“What about you?” Sarala asked Zyn.

Zyn hung back, their shoulders slumped. “I dunno,” they muttered. “I haven’t thought of it much, either. Besides—I’m only in the first year, technically. It’s not like I need to decide anytime soon…”

“Are neither of you interested in doing something with martial arts?” Sarala asked in surprise. 

“Maybe!” Ren said. “I had fun ‘teaching’ you two over the break, and I’m excited for the club! Ooh—maybe I could be a meditation teacher!”

Zyn shrugged, their eyes glazing over. “I just wanna travel…”

Sarala frowned at their responses. “But your dad’s a master martial artist! Aren’t either of you interested in following his footsteps? Doesn’t he expect you to?”

“Not really,” Ren replied. “He always told us we were free to choose what we wanted to do. And if it had nothing to do with martial arts, that was fine. He wants us to do what makes us happy, not him. And he’s happy with whatever we choose.”

“Yeah, so long as it isn’t hurting others,” Zyn put in. 

Ren snorted and flicked Zyn. “Obviously!” 

Zyn chuckled, then commented, “He told us that years ago, huh? Back when neither of us was interested in learning martial arts.”

“Yeah,” Ren said, fidgeting uneasily. “I kinda wish we learned sooner. It is fun!”

“Same,” Zyn muttered. “We probably disappointed him.”

Sarala stared at them blankly. “Wait—your dad offered to teach you when you were younger, and you passed it up?”

Zyn shrugged. “What can I say? We were obviously idiots to do so.”

“Yeah, we could have been master martial artists by now if we had started as kids!” Ren scoffed. 

Sarala stared at them like they had turned into plants before her eyes. Ren tilted her head.

“Sarala? You okay?” she asked, leaning forward to peer more closely at the girl through her rectangular glasses.

“I’m fine,” she uttered, shaking her head roughly and causing her long hair to fly about on the light breeze. “Anyway, I don’t think college is for me…nor traveling…”

Before the twins could say anything else, Ak-tu called Sarala’s name and she hurried away. 

“What was that about?” Ren pondered with a frown. 

Zyn picked up a pebble and threw it into the pond, the water splashing lightly. “Sounds like she doesn’t want to stick with us, wherever we end up,” they said.

Ren’s heart sank as she stared after Sarala vanishing into the classroom behind her father. But…she’s part of the family… Isn’t she? And, as family, we have to stick together… We can’t split apart….