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PS: Brooke at top (don't compare to Shelly's pic, obviously they don't resemble each other, this is just a general idea on what they look like)

Marble consisted of energy.  Marble on Atlantis, anyway.  It was the only real power source Atlantis used.  That explained why the house was well-lit without the presence of a single light. The marble—the walls and floors—radiated light, but it didn't make sense how.  How could there be energy in an inanimate object of limestone?  And even if such a thing existed, how did they make it work?  If there had been chandeliers together with real candles, it would have made more sense, but at the moment, I was staring at Shelly as if she'd just eaten a garden snail.

"Magic," she said and continued when she saw my dubious expression. "We use magic, Alex."

"Magic," I repeated as if I didn't know what the word meant.  What was this girl talking about?

"You know what we are, Alex.  We aren't half god for nothing, and Poseidon is our forefather, so of course we got some qualities of his strength. The strength of a god."

My mouth felt dry.  "So, what you're saying is that Athlans have powers?"

"Magic.  They have magic, but also physical strength.  We have magic.  Didn't you ever wonder why you experienced pain the night before you turned up here?  Incidentally, I know how that felt; I know how you're feeling now."

"But how can you know?  You aren't even a Hybrid!"

"I don't need to be.  Each one of us has gone through it or is going to.  I don't know how to explain it well.  It's like... the magic awakens in us or something. It's a sign of puberty, which usually flares up at the age of fourteen."

I looked at her strangely.  "I'm seventeen."

"Yes, but you are a Hybrid, which means that you have a different physiology."

Which meant I'd just hit my puberty.  Weird...

I finished my pancakes.  Brooke stood at the stove, flipping pancakes and poking them with a knife to make sure they were cooked through.  Satisfied, she slipped the last pancake out of the pan and into a plate, offering it to Shelly and me with a smile.  I declined, but Shelly cheerfully seized one and immediately popped it in her mouth. The scene was oddly domestic and very human, making Shelly's words even harder to believe.

Seeing as I'd been unconscious when I arrived at my new home, I hadn't had the opportunity to officially meet Brooke.  Shelly introduced me this morning.  Brooke was a very animated person.  Her dark blond hair was pulled into a messy bun, and her grey eyes were sparkling with merriment.  You could see the resemblance between mother and daughter. Even their marks—tattoos, Jewels, whatever—were really similar. Being a warm person, Brooke instantly made me feel at home the moment she shook my hand and kissed my cheek.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but I didn't think I had the strength to take in even more strangeness; I was still processing what I'd already learned. I mean, I still found myself staring at the two of them as if they were circus freaks, my mind unable to process the amazing artwork of their so-called birthmarks, lines stretching over the surface of their skin. I was curious to know if they had the markings under their clothes as well. I was pretty sure they did.

The kitchen was bright, not only because every wall was made of red marble, which put windows to woeful shame, but also because of the elaborate décor itself.  The counters were spotless and polished to an iridescent glow. The melody of Brooke's humming was relaxing and reminiscent of home.  It was warm inside, and we were sitting at a dark wooden table at the right side of the kitchen.

Shelly talked about mundane things for a while, things I still couldn't understand or follow, but if I listened thoroughly to her babbling, I was rewarded with new knowledge.

It was good to know that Atlantis wasn't too different from the normal world.  Except for the lack of cars, electricity, and humans, everything else was normal.  Though the school... err, academy maybe didn't fit with my definition of normal.  Who knew learning could be fun?

On the subject of transportation, I found out that they utilised horses, something I was leery about.  Sure, I'd been on horseback before, but that was before I was bucked off and developed a phobia.  Well, not exactly phobia, but you could say that I didn't want to be dumped off a creature like that again.

"How are you feeling, Alex?"

I blinked and focused on Brooke's smooth face. My eyes caught on a swirl on her cheek, and I had to pull my gaze away.  Her expression implied that she had the urge to drag me back to bed and call me in sick to the academy. 

Great, I'm stuck with a mother hen. 

I chastised myself for that thought, telling myself it was better than being abandoned in a place like this.

I stuck to the truth as much as possible.  "I'm okay, I guess.  Just overwhelmed."  More in the vein of freaking out, I thought dryly.

The mother hen smiled, her cherry painted lips pulling up into a concerned smile that reminded me of her voice.  A cherry voice.

"Are you sure you want to go to the academy today, honey?  The Queen requested that you get back to education as soon as possible because you have years of learning to catch up on.  However, that doesn't mean you have to assimilate it all at once or right this moment.  I can consult with Queen Stacia if you want."

I shook my head, my heart warming up even more to her when she called me 'honey.'

"I'll manage, but thank you for asking."  I left it at that, afraid that if I said more, Brooke would keep fussing about it.  Besides, I didn't know what else to say.

Shelly poked my arm.  "You're not gonna pass out on me again, though.  Right?"

I chuckled.  "Try me."

I was less freaked during first hour than I'd been yesterday.  Less traumatised.  I actually began to enjoy it, but I was still uncomfortable, the weight of excessive staring loading me down.  I became exaggeratedly self-conscious, and my skin was so sensitive that a brush of Shelly's shoulder against mine provoked gooseflesh.

Everyone was dressed in designer clothes, and I felt awfully exposed and ugly in my normal jeans and tank top.  Even Shelly was wearing the latest trend—an above-knee mini skirt and floral sleeveless blouse. That wasn't even the worst of it. Everyone—every-freaking-one—had tattoos. I was the only one with unblemished skin, and I stuck out like white in a sea of black.  Great.

And to top it all off, the guy—the one I'd seen yesterday, Aiden—was one of the many throwing curious glances my way when they thought Decennia wasn't looking.  Hell, even she watched me seconds too long when her eyes swept the circle.

I blushed whenever I glanced up from my notebook and pen, which Shelly had generously provided with a devilish grin, saying that even though their... er, our customs varied from the outside world, we still had to make notes.  Apparently, we didn't write exams.  Instead, we were questioned to the full extent of our knowledge.

Cringe.

I was just lifting my eyes to zoom in on Decennia's next words when they accidentally glanced right into the electric blue eyes of Aiden. It was like the glow of the magic marble walls glinted in them.  His claimed couch was right in front of ours on the other side of the circle.  It was hard to make out completely, but his tattoos—Jewels—seemed a bit different from Shelly's. They were larger from what I could tell, but I was too embarrassed to keep staring too long to make out the details. But even from this distance, I could see how a dimple appeared in his cheeks whenever he smiled.  I would have thought dimples on a boy would make him look feminine and immature, but I was ashamed to have offended the very concept of dimples.  He made them look like every celebrity had them, made them look good.

I blushed even harder when I thought that.  He has a girlfriend, you know.  Stop blushing!

The entire hour dragged, but I didn't mind.  It was a completely new experience, and even though I was very—very—interested in hearing Decennia's lecture about something—sorry to say I didn't know since I wasn't paying attention—I was too distracted.  And no, not by Aiden's movie-star smiles, nor the artistic array of tattooed bodies.

I hadn't even completed the first sentence of my notes yet, and when I read it over, it didn't make any sense.  There was this gnawing feeling in my chest, something that I should remember—or something I should have known.  It was like being watched, excluding my increasing circle of spectators.  Sarcasm, who me?  Skitterish was more like it.  The memory of yesterday's vision was still fresh and plagued my mind whenever I tried to forget it.  Yet, I couldn't even remember what I was trying to forget.  The memory was all ambiguous and blurry.  Unanswered questions still roamed in my mind, and they were making me drown as if they had hands that were pulling me under.  When I surfaced, I was hit on the head by another memory of burning, dying... though, it had actually been the slap of puberty.  If I had the right mind to do it, I would have laughed and pointed it out as ridiculous.  Not now.

I gripped the ballpoint pen painfully in my fingers, the point of it digging into my right palm and leaving a fat blue dot of ink on my skin.

What had the vision been?  A mere illusion?  Why had I had it?  Because I was crazy?  How come it was familiar?  Because of a previous dream that I couldn't remember?

I wanted to pull at my hair and maybe poke my eyes out with my pen just to distract myself from these disturbing thoughts.  As it was, I didn't want to distract or terrify Shelly or make a freak of myself in front of the other Athlans.  So I settled for gritting my teeth and bearing it, trying, with a bit of success, to wipe my mind of any thought related to yesterday's incident.  But that also meant that I didn't hear a word Decennia was saying, and even Aiden's smiles failed to warm my insides now.

I just sat there, trying not to fidget and draw attention, and gazed impassively at the wall above Aiden's head.  Why there, I didn't know.  So you can imagine how funny it must have looked when I almost jumped out of my seat when a loud dong! of a grandfather clock reverberated through the entire mansion.  The kid lounging on the couch beside me snickered shamelessly and snorted even louder when I glared at him.  Glad to see some things—or people—never changed.

I stood, my notepad and pen clutched in one hand while the other raked through my hair, wincing as a finger hit and smoothed through a tangle.  My left leg was numb from the long time spent sitting still. Little pinpricks caressed my flesh and snapped me to awareness even more than the grandfather clock's announcement had—they used a grandfather clock as a bell? How weird.  Guess I'd been unconscious yesterday to have missed the clock.  Besides, I'd been too consumed with my own screams, even if I hadn't heard them myself.

"You okay?  You seem a little... jumpy."  Shelly linked her arm through mine and led me through the door.

I tried my best to look and sound reassuring.  I even strove for a smile.  "Sure, I'm alright.  It's just a lot to take in."

Shelly nodded as if she understood my situation entirely.  Unfortunately, she didn't.  I longed for home, for my friends.  Okay, I almost forgot that one.  Not my friends.  In fact, I just about never wanted to see Natasha ever again.  I almost cringed.  That brought back memories of Josh, that bastard.  But even he was a definition of normal, even if he almost basically raped me in the school bathroom, taking the opportunity when I was drunk and reckless.  Truth be told, I'd decided that night was my first and last time as a drunken maiden.

I suddenly laughed but shut up immediately when some kids around me, including Shelly, looked at me peculiarly.  I shrugged, and the others resumed their way to whichever chamber-class they were headed.

However, Shelly poked me with a finger.  "What's so funny?"

And the way she looked at me, for once confused and not knowing what was going on, made me grin.  She looked like she was restraining the urge to check her hair or touch her face to look for the source of my laughter, which wasn't far off if you counted her funny expression.  But my ill humour wasn't based on anyone or anything but on the irony of it all.

"Nothing.  Just... nothing."

Students were already piling into a large doorway, while others went through the front door to spend their hour break in the morning-fresh sunshine.  Shelly led me into the room, and I gawked.

The room was what looked to be a past parlour.  Rather than resembling a large sitting room, thick hardwood tables filled the room—large squares accommodating six persons each.  Most of the students leant over their dishes and were active in eager conversation and gossip.  Teenagers clad in stark white aprons—hired waiters, I guess—occasionally stopped by tables and bent over, the seated students speaking quietly with them, probably ordering food.  The whole scene looked subtly like one of those fancy conference dinners rich fathers went to.

The room itself was classic and artistic, adorned with old, vibrant oil paintings and other works of art.  The walls were covered with light blue wallpaper, the floor dressed in plum carpet.

This time, when I entered the room, people didn't stop talking to stare at me.  Well, not everyone.  Still, it was an improvement and a relief. Shelly led me to a table that was mostly empty except for two girls, who completely ignored us and went on with their conversation, which became strained. I took a seat next to Shelly on the other side of the girls.  One of the girls excused herself, claiming she was done even though her plate was practically full and uneaten.

The other girl, who seemed to have noticed our presence for the first time, picked up her plate and stood.  She dropped into the chair on Shelly's other side in a flurry of flicking black hair, and she scowled down her nose at me. Long, thin lines trailed over her high cheekbones and arched over her temples, the markings far-spaced and less intricate than Shelly's Jewels.

Minutes seemed to pass in stubborn silence as the girl scrutinised every pore in my skin, every strand of hair on my head.  I swallowed.

Finally, she twisted in her seat and turned her exasperatingly arrogant scowl on Shelly.

"I swear, if you ever, and I mean ever, nag and obsess over something as pathetic as this again, I will punch you."

I'd never truly had my mouth flop wide open in my life before.  Not really, and I wondered if I was now.  I'd been expecting many things the girl could say as her first words, things like "Weird" or "Why the Jewels?" but this wasn't even on the apparent list of expectations.  I had no doubt in my mind that when she referred to "something pathetic" that it was me.  And the more shocking thing was that I believed her words hit the right mark.

Shelly, amazingly flushed, scowled at the girl and looked like she was going to smack the black-haired girl herself.  She seemed to restrain herself, though.

"As always, I appreciate your warm, thoughtful greetings with their hints of high praise.  I absolutely adore you," Shelly shot back, looking more annoyed than angry.  This made me want to smile.  It reminded me of when Kylon and I argued over insignificant things, the way close siblings always pull each other's leg and it ends up in a tug-of-war.

Thinking about Kylon made my sliver of amusement drain away and fill my heart with homesickness, a longing to see my family, to be normal.  Though normal around here, I was starting to learn, was simply relative, an existence that made your head spin out of control.  If my head had been a screw, it would have spun off by now.

"Don't listen to her," Shelly continued, turning towards me and deliberately showing the girl her back.  "She's in one of her common bitchy moods."

Unnervingly, the girl smiled evilly at me over Shelly's shoulder and stuck out her pink tongue.  I had a feeling it wasn't a friendly or playful gesture.

I hesitated and then wracked up the nerve to say, "So, um, I'm Alex.  It's nice to meet you..."

"I know who you are," the girl snapped like I had just made a rude gesture at her.

This time, Shelly did elbow the girl in the ribs and talked before a slap contest could follow the black-haired girl's murderous expression.  "You're just rude." Shelly sighed, suddenly sounding weary. "This Chihuahua over here is Roxanne.  Roxy, be a good puppy and stop growling."

I expected Roxanne to scratch Shelly's eyes out or walk away, but she actually smiled like she'd just received a lollypop.

"Puppies are adorable, and to be adorable you have to be fierce.  That's what attracts the dogs."

Were they still debating puppies?  However, the disturbing thing was that Roxanne looked at me when she said this.  As if referring to me as not being a... fierce puppy.  I couldn't help wondering what Shelly had told this icy puppy queen.

Enough with the dog terms already!

Shelly rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment a waitress, who looked younger than even me, appeared out of thin air.  Well, I hadn't seen her approaching the table. She silently handed us each a menu, and I noticed how quickly she pulled back her hand after she gave the printed menu to me.  She automatically took a glass of what looked like sparkling water from a tray I hadn't seen perched atop her small fingers as if it weighed nothing at all.  She gave a glass to each of us before sauntering off to stand against the wall, where every server seemed to wait to take orders.

"Took her long enough," Roxanne muttered, and then spoke directly to me, surprising me with her hostile expression. "You're really bringing our status down, you know?"

"Roxy!" Shelly admonished, apparently as shocked as I was.  I was vaguely aware that her behaviour reminded me of Natasha's treatment that night at the dance.

The dance.  It seemed so distant now, years ago, when the truth was that it had been only a few days ago.  But I wasn't going to think about that now. I looked down at the table and took a sip of my drink, and almost coughed.  Saltwater!

Roxanne sneered. "Not used to your minerals, I see."

"Roxanne, just stop talking for one moment and get it over your head that your charm doesn't work on everyone.  Just shut up!"  If I'd ever doubted an Athlan could growl, this was the immediate proof of one of the many things I'd guessed wrong.  Shelly sounded almost angry.

Her voice softened, and she took the glass from me and wiggled it in the air at the waitress.  "Don't worry, it takes some time getting used to.  But, as Roxanne rudely pointed out, we need it."

The waitress arrived, and Shelly gave the glass to her, requesting a glass of still water.  The girl reluctantly departed.

I felt a little guilty.  "You know, it wasn't necessary to get me another glass.  I'm not thirsty, anyway."  But I was.  In fact, the feeling of sand in my throat made me want to grab Shelly's salt water and gulp it down, regardless of the substance.

Shelly raised her eyebrows at me as if she'd guessed my thoughts.  She picked up her own glass, shot a warning glare at Roxanne, who visually prepared another sarcastic comment, and held it in the air between us.

"I told you about magic before," she stated. "Watch this."

Before I could stop her, she inverted the glass, and I watched in amazement as the water separated into drops that flew into space.  Literally.  It was like watching those taffy-like substances in lava lamps.  It was more as if I were watching a clip of water falling in slow motion.  It was bizarre and nerve-wracking.

I opened my mouth, closed it, repeating the action like a fish.  I moved without thinking, reaching towards the water with my fingers to make sure I wasn't dreaming.  Somewhere I heard someone snicker, probably Roxy, but it was a background noise in my wonder.

Not quite hovering, the water moved slowly as if it were something slimy, stretching long, lazy fingers towards the table. Just when the tips of my fingers neared the little drops, I felt some kind of resistance.  I couldn't move fast enough, and I pulled my hand back with a frown kissing my forehead.

"My ability."

I looked up at Shelly, suddenly snapped back to reality.  I noted her short breathing and the transpiration dewing on her temples and neck as if she'd been running a marathon.

"You mean, like magic?" I inquired, confused and slightly flustered.

Shelly didn't get the chance to answer, because the waitress, much to my annoyance, came by our table and asked our orders.  I gripped my menu and ordered the first thing on the list without really seeing it.

Shelly was amused when she ordered her food and watched me.  "My ability is categorised in the magic affinity of time.  So basically, I have an affinity for time, though my ability is to slow time around a limited space.  As you just saw."

She slowed time only around the water.  Interesting... "Okay, I think I'm freaked."

But I didn't really feel so.  This almost felt normal, a perfect match to all this stuff.  Yeah right, Alex.  You're just getting used to the idea of crazy.

Before I could ask another question, I was cut off by Roxy. "I'm leaving."

And just like that, she sashayed away and out of the room.

Lol. Roxanne seems like a sassy bitch but she's still one of my favourites. She doesn't hold back her thoughts, which is what I like about her. You probably hate her right now, but I promise you'll like her in the end. A little, hopefully, I think...

Anyway, what do you think of Shelly's ability? What abilities do the others have? Will Alex also have an ability?

Well, what are you waiting for? Read on to find out! :p