Nexara stood blindfolded in the training arena. She could feel the sun beating down on her. The occasional soft breeze ruffled her hair and robes. Off in the distance, she could hear the waves crashing against the rocky shore below. Focusing between the spaces of the noise, she could hear a faint twinkling. 

She took a stance, preparing to charge in any direction. Her arms hung loosely by her sides. With her mind open, she let herself feel through the hollowness of the air. Eventually, she felt herself hit a solid mass. The energy from the mass felt like the steam rising upwards off of a cup of fresh tea, which she quickly assigned to Master Caden. 

He was not what she was looking for. 

Straining further, she reached out and felt something not quite solid but not quite gaseous either floating above her. It took her a moment to recognize what the sensation reminded her of: water. The vibrations functioned like a river about to overflow. Now, that was what she was looking for. Furrowing her brow, she tried to anticipate the energy’s movement before it surged off into a different direction. 

She twisted on her heel, running blindly forwards. If memory served her well, there would be a pillar in front of her. Before crashing, she leapt, feet bringing her upwards, scaling the pillar, stone scraping against her palms and boots. Using her momentum, she lunged upwards, twisting through the air, until a marble-like object was caught in her palm. Bracing herself for a rough landing, she tucked and rolled across the ground. 

She had succeeded in the task.

Straightening herself out, she rose to her feet. Excitedly, she removed the blindfold, letting it fall to the ground and ran over to Master Caden. His lips were curled upwards, and his hands were clasped together.

“Well done, my student,” he praised. “It would appear that you have broken your record.”

She beamed up at him, “How fast was I?”

“A little short of three minutes,” he answered. “I am thrilled with your progress thus far.”

Proud of herself, she smiled down at her clenched hand. The energy’s rays seeped through the lines of her fingers. She remembered watching Master Caden do this cool trick with Omnia in her first lesson. Uncurling her fist, she let the energy rise upwards. The energy ball bounced up and down above her palm like a buoy in the water. Focusing her mind on keeping the energy as still as possible, she was able to roll it between her fingers, manipulating it into simple shapes. It was nowhere near as impressive as the objects she watched Master Caden create, but she was still pleased. She looked up at him, ready for more praise, only to find his face had become unreadable. For a moment, she swore he looked alarmed. Immediately she stopped, allowing the energy to return to its original state.

Did I do something wrong, she wondered.

“Most impressive,” Master Caden said slowly, scratching his chin, eyes wide. “It is… uncommon for students to achieve such dexterity in just a few short weeks.”

Deciding to take that as praise, she lowered her guard. She stared at the ball in her hand and asked, “When do I get to learn how to make my own?” 

“Do not rush. We haven’t even begun to go over the archetypes of energy,” he cautioned. “In due time, your abilities will further develop. For now, you must simply settle for what you are capable of at the moment.”

“‘Archtypes?’” she repeated. “Is that why some days the energy feels different? You’re using different kinds.”

“You…” He looked at her strangely. “You can draw distinctions between the energies we have used so far?”

“Well, duh,” she answered. “Today’s energy was like a river. Yesterday’s energy was like a forest fire. The day before yesterday was like licking a battery. The one you chose to use more often feels different, though. Kinda like touching a warm light bulb? I can also sense you. You kinda feel like the steam off of a cup of tea.” When he didn’t say anything right away, she got annoyed. “Can we go over the different types, now?”

“Absolutly not. Do not push,” he warned.

“What happens if I learn to fast?” she questioned with a frown.

“Learning ‘too fast’ is not the problem,” he explained firmly. “Forcing your skills, which can result in injury or worse, is.”

“Okay, okay,” she huffed, clearly frustrated. She allowed the energy to dissipate, gently coating her palm. Note to self: check the library for books on the archetypes tonight, she thought, grateful that Dragoljub had been assigned to teach her how to read. “Are we gonna do the exercise again?”

“Hmm,” he hummed gently, tilting his head, considering her for a moment. “I believe that we are finished for today.” 

“We’re stopping early? Don’t tell me I gotta do extra chores,” She crossed her arms. Training had become her favorite part of the day while taking care of Reyn was second. Down time was also enjoyable as the hiking trails proved to be beautiful, but it left her too much time to think. The daily chores were her least favorite part of life at the monastery, though she understood their importance.

“Indeed we are,” he smiled. He raised a finger, anticipating her protest, and then said, “But, for a special occasion. We are having some visitors. So, no chores for today, just fun.”

“Oh,” she said, fidgeting with the hems of her training robes. The prospect of no chores was wonderful, but the prospect of visitors was not. She had just started to get accustomed to her new home. New people would set her on edge. “Who?”

“I do believe you remember my former student, Master Koen,” he replied with a smile.

. “Master Koen’s coming?” She couldn’t hide her excitement. Out of all the people Master Caden had introduced her to, she liked him the best. “When will he be here?”

“I knew you would be delighted,” he laughed. “He will be here soon. You see, he is bringing along his young son, Maxx, and his friend, Lourens Merr. I hope to see you get along. After all, one day they may train here with you.”

She rubbed the back of her neck and then asked, “They’re Reyn’s age?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

She shifted. Though excited about seeing Master Koen again, she was nervous about meeting Maxx and Lourens. Reyn had warmed up to her quickly, but who’s to say the boys would?

“I’m certain you’ll do just fine,” he comforted, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Reyn took to you quite well. Come,” he said, nudging her along. “Master Koen will be arriving soon.”

As they made their way to the Dragoljub and Reyn, Nexara found herself lost in thought. She felt disconnected from the world around her. Before she could hear the waves and birds and breeze, but now she could barely even register what Master Caden was talking to her about. She hoped it wasn’t too important because she truly couldn’t force herself to focus. 

She had fought The Vipers off for months, so it made her feel silly to be so worried about two toddlers. She shook her head and tried to ground herself. She looked at Master Caden, who flashed her a warm smile. She could do this. 

It wasn’t long before they entered the main garden. She quickly spotted Reyn and Dragoljub sitting in the shaded grass under a cherry blossom tree. She quickened her pace to reach them, leaving Master Caden to trail behind her. 

When she got close enough for Reyn to notice, the little girl shouted and scrambled forwards, closing the distance. The two girls embraced. Reyn grabbed Nexara’s hands and dragged her towards the tree. Nexara could now see that Reyn and Dragoljub were playing with four action figures. Three of them looked to be part of a team, as they wore similar armor. The fourth was larger, some kind of monster. Reyn wasted no time when it came to play and shoved a toy into Nexara’s hand.

Master Caden smiled before lowering himself to the ground next to Reyn. He patted his lap, and the little girl crawled to him. Her affection was cut short when Nexara had her character touch the tree, the monster's base. Reyn pushed Master Caden aside as she stumbled over, babbling angry nonsense. She raised the monster's arm upwards and shouted, indicating that it was throwing an attack. Master Caden lifted his hand, creating a vibrant stream of harmless light towards Nexara. In response, she took her action figure and spun around while making silly noises. 

Time passed quickly as Nexara played with Reyn, Dragolkub, and her toys. Master Caden would occasionally join in, though he seemed lost in thought. A ship, The Majida, sister ship of The Valkyrie, passed by overhead, the force of the craft rustling the leaves of the tree and other surrounding foliage. She looked up and smiled. Master Koen was here. It wouldn’t take him and the boys too long to walk from the landing dock to the main garden. 

Soon enough, Master Koen entered through the archway of the garden. Beside him, he was accompanied by two rowdy boys, each with messy hair, one blond, the other jet black.

“Master Caden!” Master Koen waved.

Master Caden rose, dusting the grass and dirt from his robes, “Master Koen!”

Nexara watched the two men bow to one another before embracing in a brief, but warm, hug. She thought it was funny how the two boys were tugging at Master Caden’s robes in the meantime.

“Hello, Maxx and Lourens,” Master Caden said fondly, playing with their hair.

“Look, look!” Maxx yelled, holding up a wooden propeller his father had carved for him. He threw it up wards, and it spun downwards towards the grass. “Spin!”

“I see,” Master Caden smiled. “Oh, it looks like you have something too, Lourens. May I see.”

Lourens shoved what looked like a wooden egg into Master Caden’s hand. “Open!” he demanded. 

Master Caden opened the egg, and pulled out some type of bird, but not the kind Nexara would see in the gardens or hiking trails.

“Chicken!” he said, and then made some type of clucking noise while laughing. 

“Boys, boys, give a man some space,” Master Koen teased. “Go say hello to Reyn and Dragoljub. I need to talk to Master Caden.”

Nexara felt her heart race, when the two boys began to run towards where they were sitting. Reyn happily welcomed her friends. The boys turned and looked at Nexara.

“Uh, hi,” she uncertainly addressed the boys.

“Who you?” Max asked curiously.

“I’m Nexara Sinclair”

“Nexsin?” He repeated.

“No, Nex!” Reyn corrected with her hands on her hips.

“Maxx,” he said, pointing to himself. He pointed at Lourens, “Lourens.”

“Woah!” Lourens gasped, staring at the pile of toys. “You playing super heroes?”

“Yeah!” Reyn smiled. “Wanna play?”

“Yeah!” the boys said in unison.

They played as kids do. Maxx eagerly wanted to be the coolest looking action figure, and Nexara let him. She wasn’t sure how friends worked just yet, but she thought that’s what she should do. After seeing the child beam, she knew she made the right choice. Lourens took the second coolest toy, and Reyn decided to switch from monster to hero at the last second. With all three heroes chosen, Nexara’s only other choice was the monster. 

Despite having fun, Nexara couldn’t help but have her focus fluctuate to Masters Caden and Koen. They were talking in hushed tones in a far corner of the garden. Keeping her head turned towards the kids and Dragoljub, she strained her ears. It would be a reach, but she had to try. She could barely hear over the children, but she made it work.

“Her powers are growing at an alarming rate,” Master Caden said. “She is able to locate nearby Omnia without the use of an Omnia Decoder, blind folded, though I have not tested to see how far her senses can reach. This morning, I discovered that she is able to manipulate pure energy and differentiate between energy types.”

“Amazing,” Master Koen exclaimed. “I couldn’t even do that until at least a year of training, and I was your best student.”

We’ll see about that, Nexara thought to herself. I’m sure I can be better.

“She’s determined, frustratingly so, to learn. I’ve only ever seen this once before, in my old teammate,” Master Caden confessed. “I’ll have to accelerate her training program. We’re nearly done with basic fundamentals. Despite this, she has been quite pleasant to have around. Reyn and Dragoljub are fond of her.”

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about than your new, awesome student,” he replied. “Our out post on Diago has been lost. KolRa is slowly gaining control of the Outer, and our scouts say he is in transit to Diago as we speak.”

“Unconcerning,” Master Caden dismissed. “We found all that we could on Diago. There is nothing left for him.”

“We believe he’s planning on using the Outer to farm for more Dark Omnia,” he sighed. “At this rate, he has more supporters than we do at the moment.”

Nexara risked looking over to the men. KolRa was not a new name to her. Everyone in the Outer knew about him. He stepped down from his Council position after a series of scandals. This caused a rift in membership, leading many to defect and follow KolRa. That allowed him to remain in power. Still, his influence grew and he had quickly assumed control over several galaxies. Ownership over the Outer had always been a messy situation. War had not touched down on Diago, but political strife had. Father and Mother Morgenstern would often lay in bed at night, complaining about the Council. They preferred KolRa and hoped he’d make his way to Diago.

Master Caden caught her staring. As her eyes darted away, she could see the two men exchange a look. 

“Hey, Dragoljub,” Master Koen called. “Why don’t you take the girls and boys to the beach?”

Busted, she frowned. Well, I now know there are at least five different types of Omnia. Light, dark, red, blue, and yellow.

She took Reyn’s hand and followed Dragoljub, who was steering the boys towards the beach.