Chapter 17: Welcome, Sacred Animals!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You look worried. What's wrong?" Mdm. Marinda expressed her concern before continuing, "Anyway, David. Since that you have done exceptionally well in your studies, I was wondering if you would like you to attend this..."

"Not interested."

"David, you don't even know what good I'm offering to you..."

"I said 'Not interested'," David quoted himself as he stormed out from the office. The weird vibe faded off his shoulders as soon as he stepped into his room. His safe place. It was simple, not as complicated as the rest's but still simple. He moved towards the window and pulled the window back, sealing all oxygen away. The air-conditioner activated by the clap of his hands two times while a light tap on the door sent his senses on alert. But the knock was followed by a voice, "Mr. David. Your book. CL service."

True enough when David opened the door, the green CL uniform stood out. Figis' smile dropped. It looked like someone didn't like his first 21st Century job. "Wow, Figis. Are you sure you're a CL or maybe CG will suit you better?" David joked.

"Definitely not CL, guardian of Earth. I'm no 'Cleaning Lady'. More of 'Cleaning Servant', Sir," Figis believed, "I'll always be, here and back at the castle. Anyway here's your book." David held onto the empty black book. He thought about asking Figis about it but he had already left his room. How could Xana's book land here? Was this a trick? He carefully placed it in between his two favourite books, Book Of Secrets and Tales Of The Dark. It stood there like as if it was never read for a long time. David walked to his table when the door knocked again. Who could it be this time? "Forgot something, Figis?" David asked but there wasn't any reply from the outside of his room.

He got anxious and concentrated on his element. The green sphere glowed brighter green and flashed a dim light. His steps were silent as he strolled casually to his door. "Who is it?" David tried asking again but there was no reply once more. Irritation and suspicion aroused as he turned his doorknob clockwise slowly. Whatever was outside, he couldn't hear any breathing. Temptation overpowered him as he forced the wooden door open. Whatever was outside, it knocked him out onto the hard ground.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"How about now?"

"No." Five seconds passed.

"Now?"

"No." Another painful second passed.

"How about..."

"Kiara, please give them some time together. Tiadora needs to sightsee the whole new world. And if they're doing something, I doubt they would want any interference, especially from you," Cornelia stepped into the cafeteria. "Aren't you the least bit anxious? It's your brother?" Kiara asked pleadingly.

"I know my brother very well. You don't have to tell me twice," Cornelia snapped accidentally. She recalled the time when she understood that she and Jason were twins; it was the shock of her life. No wonder they looked too identical when they were only an infant. The blond hair, the blue eyes and the passion for sports were the ones in common. The charm they radiated, making other people so attached. It makes Cornelia sick but Jason just loves the attention. She doesn't mind his silliness and weirdness that he displays in front of her. Though both are similar, like any other twin, they are different.

Cornelia remembered the moment when she saw Jason begging dad to bring him to a sewing course or the library. But his sewing was amazing. He created many cute jerseys for Cornelia's team, though Jason forced her to lie about who the great fashion designer was. A consistent reader, his room is practically a library itself, filled with hundreds of library books as his walls. Cornelia, on the other hand, adores classical music instead of hard rock. Her instrument, violin. She keeps one golden violin in her vault, that even Jason doesn't know the code.

"How about now?" Kiara asked once more when the cafeteria-lady placed noodles on Cornelia's tray. "Fine. But let’s sit first, can?" they spotted their usual seats empty. Reserved for the Kingstons that what Kiara always thought. She whipped out her blueberry and dialed a familiar number. The ringing went on and on but no answer from Jason. Instead, Cornelia's handphone rang. She answered it in her sweetest voice, "Good evening."

"Cut the crap and get your butts in David's room. Bring your trays along," Jason hung up with only that. Cornelia hesitated for a while and turned towards Kiara who was still fumbling with her mobile. "Jason called. He wants us to meet at David's room. Sounds pretty urgent," Cornelia snapped her phone shut as she carried her tray to head outside.

Kiara did the same and grumbled silently but just as they were to step out someone blocked their way. "Hey girls. Where do you think you're going?" gym teacher, Jim, guarded the door of the cafeteria. It wasn't hard getting pass him even without powers. His bulging tummy was able to fit his huge red and blue jacket with a white band worn on his forehead. Kiara and Cornelia did eye contact and winked. They knew how to topple him down literally.

"What's wrong, Jim?" Cornelia crossed her legs and leaned her left arm on the door's edge. It was a good thing that the door was opened. "Yeah, Jim. We just want to eat outside," Kiara put on her sweetest voice as she also crossed her legs and rested her right arm on the other side of the door. Both put on their cunning smile synchronizely at Jim.

The side of the door glowed very dimly blue and white on both sides at where Cornelia's and Kiara's arm was at. The glow moved swiftly under Jim and diffused together, spreading to the end of the stairs. Puzzled by the looks on their faces, Jim scoffed, "Uh school rules, ladies. Back into the cafeteria." That's when Jim turned his back in front of them and tripped over the blue and white substance on the ground. His body bounced on the ground as he blacked out from his fall. Cornelia jumped over him and high-five Kiara, "Awesome, gal! Water and Air equals to Ice!" Kiara just smiled and leaped over Jim as both of the girls ran carefully, not spilling any contents of their trays, to the boys’ dormitory.

It was quite a distance as it was behind the girls’ dormitory. It was quite a distance as it was behind the girls’ dormitory. The dark corridors covered their tracks if any teacher were to be lurking about. When they stumbled over the dormitory, only one window was lit in the second storey. David's room. Kiara was about to head for the stairs when Cornelia pulled her back.

"We'll take a shortcut," she winked as she made a gun shape towards the ground and shouted, "AIR!" Immediately, a tornado circled the two girls and pushed them upwards, outside of David's room. Still floating, Kiara gently tapped onto the closed window. For a moment, no one answered. Then the window was pushed forward, causing Kiara to be taken aback.

"Bout time," Jason peered through the rectangular window and cautioned, "Hey. You sure no one's looking?" Cornelia just patted her brother on the head as she slide into the room easily. Kiara took hold of Jason's hand as he pulled her in. What she saw made her jaw drop. The room was in a mess. David's bed was unkempt with his bed sheet on the floor. His cupboard's door was broken as the debris was neatly swept aside. The table was littered with blue pen ink and for a moment, Kiara thought she saw some footprints. Tiadora was seated obediently on David's bed while David had grabbed himself a chair.

Jason sat beside Tiadora and placed him arm around her shoulders. Tiadora flashed a small smile and leaned onto him, lying down on his left shoulder. Cornelia broke the silence, "Woah, David. I didn't know you could turn into my brother." He chuckled and offered her to sit on two other chairs. Kiara took a bite at the chicken on her tray as her tummy rumbled. She sighed, "So Tiadora, how's Seattle?"

"Confusing," she laughed.

"Oh. I thought Jason would have brought you to night-shopping. What happened?"

Jason then injected, "We met her mother." Cornelia shot out the water that she was drinking. Luckily, it landed right under the table. David grumbled furiously, "Like my room isn't messy already."

"Well sorry. Didn't mean to," Cornelia turned towards Kiara and showed her the empty glass, "Some water, gal." Kiara put her finger on the outside of the green glass and concentrated. Water formed slowly and rose to the brim.

"Careful. It may not be distilled," Kiara leaned back and continued to look at Jason and Tiadora.

"We met her at the beach," Jason continued from where he had stopped, "It was very weird. First, we were just playing and then a whirlpool covered us and poof her mum floated out of no where."

"She had a message for me," Tiadora's weak voice interrupted Jason's explanation, "She said that one of the guardians have not died and have teleported his way here. The thing is I have no idea who he is."

"Oh then what was that other thing? The thing about sacred animals who also teleported?" Jason recalled back.

"Sacred animals?" David questioned. Jason looked at Tiadora for an answer but she just kept silent, not daring to speak. He patted her arm which made her look up towards his face as he said encouragingly, "C'mon."

"The sacred animals are..." Tiadora started to stammer, "...powerful animals from my time. These animals have volunteered themselves to assist us guardians in our battles. The mighty Pegasus aided the guardian of Air," Tiadora was careful to not say the knight's name as none of them understood which knight had which element, "The ferocious Griffin for the guardian of Water. The majestic Phoenix that helped the guardian of Earth and the grand Dragon that helped the guardian of Fire."

"Awesome! I've got a Dragon," Jason cheered in delight.

"No, you don't understand. The dragon may have been Sir Lancelot's animal but that doesn't mean that the dragon would want to assist you. The sacred dragons volunteered themselves because of the knights. However," Tiadora hesitated for a breath, "since all of the sacred animals had took the trouble to teleport themselves here, there may be a chance that they would want to assist you all too."

"So where are they?" Kiara became excited.

"I have no idea. It depends on them. If the previous guardians had taken good care of his sacred animal and did not mistreat it, then the sacred may come to you earlier because it knows that if the previous guardian is a kind-hearted soul, so will be its descendent," Tiadora finished.

"Wait," David stopped her short, "You said that my ancestor had a phoenix, right? Well, how big was it? Was it like the height of an A4 sized paper?"

"No," Tiadora answered him back, "For the Phoenix and the Dragon, its about half a boys dormitory big whereas the size of both Pegasus and Griffin are about human size. But," Tiadora reluctantly stopped.

"But what, Tiadora?" David almost yelled.

"But sometimes these animals want to enter the castle grounds, so they are able to transform into a smaller, cuter and different version of themselves," Tiadora remembered. David looked at his broken cupboard and uttered, "No wonder."

"Why? What's the matter, David?" Kiara asked. David sighed and kept asking himself if he should tell them about it. He stood up from his seat and walked towards his broken cupboard. "Well," David faced the broken pieces, "just now when I came back from the principal's office, I had an unexpected visitor." David kneeled down and took out a brown box. He sat down again at his chair and stared dully at the opaque object. Suddenly, it vibrated furiously out of control. David tried pushing down the top but in an instant whatever was inside leaped out of the box towards Tiadora.

"Pukeek, princess!" a strange white animal hugged Tiadora tightly. Stunned for a while, Jason pulled the creature away from Tiadora and stared into its small eyes. The creature was about six-inches tall and weighted very light. Shaped like a pear with long ears that drop on its sides and long no-toe legs, its round red sphere on its forehead glittered. Its tiny paw reached out towards Jason's face and gently patted on his nose three times.

No one moved as they observed the creature patting on Jason's nose. All of a sudden, the creature squeaked out what sounded like a gasp and kicked the hand that was gripping onto the animal. Once loose, it hopped on the floor towards David and jumped onto his lap, tugging comfortably on his light blue t-shirt. "Mokona?" Tiadora leaned forward and stroked its back as the creature's ears flapped in delight.

It turned around to face Tiadora and hugged her again. This time it didn't cheer or squealed in happiness. It shakes its head on her shoulder slowly and let out a piercing scream. "Its okay, Mokona. It's alright," Tiadora patted its butt as she hugged her back. Mokona looked up, full of tears and sadness as it communicated with Tiadora, "Galahad left Mokona forever! Why?! I thought he love me!" its cute face squashed from a frown into a smile all of a sudden as it pointed to David with its little paws, "He Sir Galahad baby. I like. Very cute."

Tiadora patted on its head this time and turned its body to David. She lifted its left paw and pointed its small hand towards David as Tiadora whispered behind its ears, ”He’s not a baby but now he’s the guardian of Earth,” Mokona shifted its head to look at her as she continued, “…And his name is not Galahad, but David. David Vincent Fields.”

Chapter 16: A Brand New Change
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is vanilla. That is chocolate and the pink one is strawberry," Jason pointed to the different flavour of the ice-cream. It was Thursday and Jason decided to give a tour to Tiadora. They had parked themselves at a Swenson's Ice-cream Restaurant where Tiadora tasted her very first ice-cream. "What a coolet and vanela?" Tiadora asked confusingly. Jason gripped on Tiadora's hand which held the long spoon and scooped a lump of vanilla ice-cream. He lifted it up near her face and said, "It's just food, Tia. I won't feed you poison. C'mon." Tiadora lifted the silver spoon closer to her mouth but before the spoon could even enter, Jason grabbed her hand and gulped down the ice-cream instead.

"I thought you wanted me to eat?" Tiadora felt even more puzzled. "Sorry. Here take it all," he pushed the bowl back to her. Tiadora scooped up the ice-cream and swallowed it. The freezing sensation zapped through her teeth as she allow the cream to melt. Its unique flavours sink into her taste buds as she felt the taste of vanilla. She opened her eyes to see Jason gulping down the rest of his coke. "It's..." Tiadora tried finding for the right word, "...soft?" Jason laughed at her comment for the ice-cream. Now she really didn't understand and refused to finish the dish but Jason fed her playfully. He looked so happy, Tiadora thought, unlike the time Oberon spoke to him when we were at Oceanatic.

The ride back to Cave Vernos was filled with silence. Nobody uttered a word. As they broke to the surface, everyone groaned in agony as their gills slowly pink in back into their skin and sealed the three slashes completly. The five seahorses swam back into the waters without saying goodbye. Jason's jet was parked right beside the cave, floating above the sea's clear blue surface. The airstewardess leaped out from the majestic vehicle and ushered them back into the jet as they took off after five minutes. When the servants asked for Jason's needs, he pleaded, "I WANT AN AMERICAN HAMBURGER NOW!!" While the guardians altogether munched on their 'early' breakfast, Jason explained to Tiadora that before he fell into the depths of the sea, he managed to glimpse at the images of the descendants. So Jason informed David about it during the earthquake and instructed him to try freeing the elements. That was how David got his first.

Everyone was astound and excited because of the powers that they were gifted upon, though Tiadora didn't want to spoil the mood about revealing the upcoming dangers. Such a coincidence to find the guardians already so close. It was time to celebrate as they partied all morning in the jet, teaching Tiadora some new dance moves. Kiara offered Tiadora a glass of coke but Tiadora detested the taste immediately. "Maybe you're more of a Pepsi person," Cornelia commented her. Behind her, Kiara tried pulling David to the dance floor but he kept heading towards the food table for cocktail. By the time they reached back to Kadic Academy, it was already eight in the morning. Everyone returned to their dorms and spent the rest of Tuesday in bed. The next day, everyone did a lot of admin work to get Tiadora enrolled in the school. The Kingston siblings managed to forged Kiara's parents' signature on the registration form and finally fooled the principal. Now, she'll be known as Tiadora Sanders.

"Yo Jason!" a voice was heard from afar. Ian Pierce ran towards their table with his sweaty jersey and filthy basketball. Once he reached, he stared at Tiadora for some time and muttered, "You're that new girl, right? Tiadora Sanders?" Tiadora timidly nodded and scooped up more ice-cream from her glass bowl. Soon, Jason and Ian talked about stuff that she didn't understand at all. To her, there were strange words like 'touchdown' and 'referee'. It spins her mind. Ian kept on glancing at her, smiling often. "You his girlfriend, is it?" Ian asked her suddenly. She didn't have a clue what a girlfriend is. So she innocently answered back, "What's a girlfriend?"

"Haha!" Ian laughed. "Yo, Jason, your girlfriend doesn't even know what's a girlfriend. Alien, is it?" Ian joke continued, "Which rock have she been living in?" Feeling annoyed, Jason pushed him out of the restaurant and instructed the nearest police officer to not allow Ian in. Tiadora finally finished her first ice-cream dish. She couldn't wait for the next ice-cream treat. Later, Jason took her to the cinema to watch the movie 'Harry Potter' but Tiadora found the picture horrifying and dashed out of the theater. So he brought her to the nearby beach where the place was empty with its sparkling sea. "Where's everybody?" Tiadora asked. "In their respective schools. Kadic Academy's the only school on holiday for this week," Jason answered back as he removed his shoes and rolled like a log on the sand. Tiadora just stood there, observing Jason's daring act.

"C'mon!" he headed back to Tiadora, carried her and removed her shoes. Tiadora yelled and profusely beat him on his back as she was hang over his shoulders. When Jason's feet had touched the shallow shore, he dropped her into the water. Tiadora emerged back up with a splash of salty water, making Jason splash back at her until he screamed, "Ouch!" He lifted up his right foot to reveal a blue crab pinching on his big toe. With a hard grip, he fought with the crab till its pitchers got loose from his toe and threw it further into the sea. Tiadora stared at the spot where the blue crab landed. They looked towards the golden sunset which shrank slowly. After a few moments, Tiadora asked Jason a question, "What's a girlfriend?"

"A girlfriend is..." Jason paused to think, "...a female friend with whom someone has a romantic relationship." Tiadora digested in the meaning. It must be a 21st Century word, Tiadora thought as she excitedly said, "Wow. It's just like an animal attraction. So do you have one?" Jason shakes his head to show 'No' and lowered his head, looking at his reflection in the water. Tiadora patted him on his shoulder as he glared at her. "Well, I've yet to find my Cinderella..." Jason tried to sound happy, "...It's just that. I've never felt love towards anyone. I mean, I like Kiara but it's not love. I still haven't found the person with the missing glass shoe." Tiadora didn't understand the 'shoe' part but she dare not stop him. He looked so sad all of a sudden. Feeling bad for asking that question, Tiadora walked in front of him and gave him a bear hug. She didn't care about the soggy sand, from the sea ground, that was stuck in between her toes.

Jason was too stunned to hug her back. Feeling left out, he wrapped his arms around her too. They stayed in that embrace position for minutes and Tiadora didn't want to let go but released her grip on him after a while. She looked down and murmured, "I'm sorry." Thats when a whirlpool formed around them. Its white waves grew higher, covering the pink sky above them. The water had made a dome-shape and they were trapped. Tiadora held onto Jason as the currents sped quickly twirling round them. A woman, who wore a white gown, rose from the whirlpool and floated in the air. Her eyes had no pupils and her short orange hair was neatly tied to a short ponytail just like Cornelia's. She tilted her head down to look at Tiadora and Jason. The Energy guardian let out a gasp as she recognized the facial features of that woman. Jason looked at her and mouthed, "Your friend?" Tiadora turned her head right and left, No, and replied, "It's my mother."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"...And practices are on Tuesdays and Fridays."

"But I have modeling on Tuesday!" Kiara interrupted Sally when she was given the cheerleader uniform. Sally just scoffed and mouthed, "Whatever!" before planning Kiara room door. Her room was back to normal. The mattress that was used for Tiadora's bed, was removed as Tiadora was getting her own room which is right 'm front of Kiara's room. She glanced at the yellow dry-fit uniform and dumped it in her light brown cupboard. At the same time, her Blueberry vibrated. It was a message from Cornelia.

Gal, cum 2 library quick! Shaniqua's takin ur man!

With that bit of motivation, she left her room in a hurry. The library wasn't far from the girls' form. It was just a thirty-second walk but it only took ten seconds for Kiara's speed. Unlike the public library near Cross Academy, Kadic Academy Library was grander. Almost like a copy of Oceanatic throne hall, the library was painted golden yellow that were lighted up by a huge chandelier. Though there aren't any computers, its hundred shelves contained the books of fiction and non-fiction. Kiara spotted Cornelia at one of the long white tables.

She headed towards her and peeped in between the many books in front of Cornelia. "David?" Kiara whispered so that the nearby old librarian won't notice. Cornelia pointed to the 'Horror' Section, David's favourite section. Kiara tiptoed behind the Horror section shelf and peeped through the books. True to be told, David was leaning against the opposite shelf, staring into Shaniqua's purple eyes. She could hear Shaniqua whispering into David's face, "C'mon, David. Just one date?" He looked away for a while, and saw Kiara behind Shaniqua's two blond ponytails. Quickly, he drew his green eyes back into the cheerleader's eyes and grinned before assuring, "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Okay. After my cheerleading practice, at noon?" Shaniqua grew excited. David nodded his head in reply and kissed Shaniqua's forehead. She bid him farewell as she skipped out of the library. David looked towards the spot he saw Kiara but she was no longer there. A big torn book that stood at the highest row caught his eye as he gently brought it down. 'Anastasia, The Legend.' he read aloud. It was Tiadora's kingdom. He flipped open the first page and shock shivered through his spine. There, written in beautiful handwriting, was a message and the author's signature. David could recognize the clear name easily. It was obvious.

'For my princess. Xana.' Xana's signature was simple and bold. Princess? Was he referring to Tiadora? She is a princess. He flipped to the next page but it was blank. And so were the rest of the book pages. It was empty and only the first page was filled. Maybe borrowing it may give him time to understand but there was a problem. Escaping from Cornelia's sight from where she sat was easy but Kiara still rested her stare at the shelf. David thought for a moment, staring at his silver band with his green sphere. A fashion magazine was lying at his feet. FHM. Shaniqua must have dropped it. It didn't matter. He knew Kiara hasn't gotten her hands on this month's issue.

So he pressed his hand down onto the book which scratched the red mat and concentrated. He remembered what Tiadora had told him yesterday about imagining creative ways to play with his powers. As like he thought it would, the book got absorbed into the red carpet. David peeped out of the shelf to check at the white table. As if on queue, the FHM magazine phased through Cornelia's books and landed in front of Kiara. She didn't notice it at first but in the end took the book and read it diligently, distracted from the world.

With the golden opportunity, David headed to the counter. He was grateful that the floor was carpeted as it allowed no sound from his shoe to be made. The petite old lady smiled at David. She enjoyed having David coming to the library. It kept her company. "Good evening, David. What brings you to the library today?" David noticed her white hair was tied back unlike other days but it didn't bother him. The cushion seats in front were comfortable as he took his seat and greeted the librarian. "Ms. Celia, I was wondering if you could explain why this book is empty," David asked politely. Old Ms. Celia took a look at the black torn book, gently flipping through the yellow pages.

"My my. This book dates back till the 16th Century," Ms. Celia examined it as she continued, "...This book, my boy, is somehow magical. You see this page," Ms. Celia showed the first page, "It has been foretold that this book can only be read by the princess that this author is referring to. That's why the pages are empty. It's because the princess has not even touched the book yet. I've heard many of these stories that my great-grandmother told me about this kingdom."

"David. Mr. Galili wants to see you in his office now," a boy about David's height, interrupted their conversation. He nodded to the boy in reply and turned back to the librarian, "I would like to borrow this book. Can you ask the CLs to bring the book to my room by the end of today?" Ms. Celia nodded as she saw him leave the golden library. The corridors were silent just the way David like it. Mr. Galili's office was right beside the boy's dorm. The principal was like the guard dog for the dorm. David reached the office, thinking that this might have something to do with the punishment about being in the girls' toilet last week. Maybe Mr. Galili took pity on him and decided to kick him out of the soccer team. The first thing different that caught his senses by surprise when he entered was the aura. It didn't feel right. Mr. Galili was facing the window on his chair, facing his back to David. The office still looks the same. "You wanted to see me, Mr. Galili?" David stood with his hands to the back.

"Yes, David Vincent Fields..." the female voice echoed through the room, her back still facing him. It wasn't Mr. Galili at all. Terror and fear triggered as he demanded, "Who are you and where's Mr. Galili?" The lady stood up from her comfortable seat and turned to David. Her red-brown hair was tied back neatly in a ponytail which suited her black blazer. A light pink hair band parted her familiar fringe and hair. But the shocking thing that hit him was her face. It was very familiar. Her red lips parted to reveal her soothing voice as she answered him back, "Mr. Galili has resigned from this school yesterday. My name is Mdm. Miranda and I am the new principal of Kadic Academy."