Honestly, I’ve been told so many times that I might die soon, the phrase has become a little meaningless.  I mean, it’s like somebody tells you’re going to meet One Direction soon.  Everyday, you keep an eye out, hoping that today will be the day.  You even take extra trips out just to better your chances.  However, after some time, you sort of loose interest.  After a few months, and not seeing one glimpse of gelled hair or a gaggle of extremely excited girls, you kind of forget what you were looking for.  You might still look around, but not take in anything.  That’s what I was going through right now, though not with the One Direction thing…  I had been told that my death was coming so many times, I’d sort of just accepted the fact that my life expectancy wasn’t that long.  Maybe a couple more months?  A year if I were lucky?  The phrase “You will die soon” sounded more like “Happy Birthday”.  It was said so often, it kind of looses its meaning.  Everybody says it.  Looking around at my friends beside me, they were thinking the same thing.  Even just a few weeks ago, if someone had told us our life were going to end pretty soon, we would’ve freaked out and locked ourselves in a room with rubber walls.  Now, though, it was just an accepted fact.  It didn’t really sink in.  Now, back in the shop, the weird girl, Hachi, just stared at my friends and me.  Her crystal blue eyes burning with something almost like curiosity.  “You guys aren’t going to freak?”  She seemed genuinely surprised.  Her face twisted into a frown.  “Most people would have just flipped.  What’s with you guys?”  The girl sat back in her chair, arms crossed.  Beside me, Jada snorted.  “Lady, do you know how many times I’ve heard that in the past week?”  Jada chuckled.  “You wouldn’t even believe it.”  The rest of us nodded in agreement.  The girl just shrugged.  “Good.  Then you aren’t fools.”  With that, Hachi pushed her swivel chair back from the desk and stood.  The red dress swirled as she fully straightened.  After bringing her hands over her head in a stretch, Hachi cupped her hands around her mouth.  “Paix!  Get your rear end in here!”  She hollered, startling my little group.  The calm aura of the shop was immediately shattered.  Now, it was brimming with energy.  The intense smell of cinnamon curled around my nostrils.  From a far corner of the room, there was a little thud, and a cry of alarm.  “I’m coming!”  Someone screeched.  “Don’t get your panties in a wad!”  Suddenly, a cheerful face popped out from behind one of the far stone fountains.  It was a girl, roughly the same age of Hachi.  As the girl scurried to join us, dodging wind chimes and dancing over fountains, I realized just how young the two girls were.  If I had to guess, I’d say that they were around 11.  With rounder faces and shorter builds, the girl couldn’t have been more 12.  Finally, out of breath, the new girl came to a stop beside Hachi.  She grinned and held up a finger, signaling that she’d be just a minute.  She put her hands on her knees, and took a deep breath before straightening.  “Sorry.”  She gasped.  I’m not as lively as I used to be.”  That jolted me.  How old was she really?  The girl started to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress.  She was clothed in a similar fashion to Hachi.  But instead of a red dress, she wore a dark blue one.  A green ribbon was braided into her hair, and a delicate silver chain stood out prominently of her hip.  Her eyes were dark brown, a soothing and gentle color, while her mop of unruly brown hair was barely held together by the ribbon.  In all, she was the complete opposite of Hachi.  “I’m Paix.”  The girl smiled, teeth shining.  Paix did a little curtsy, and Hachi put her head in her hands.  “Paix, they don’t do that anymore.  Now, it’s more of a handshake thing.”  Hachi turned to face me and my friends.  “Sorry, this one’s a little slow.  But, what can I say.  It gets a little hard to keep track of the world after all these years.”  I blinked.  There it was again.  Who were these people?  Holly, unlike me, took initiative.  “What do you mean, after all these years?  You look only 11!”  Holly’s eyes were alive with curiosity.  Across from her, Paix and Hacki looked at each other, and grinned at the same time, which was a LITTLE creepy.  Turning back, they slimed even harder.  “11?”  Hacki asked.  Her eyes danced with mischief.  “Yes, in our world.  But here?”  Next to her, Paix giggled.  “Time runs differently here, so I’d say a little over 850 here.”  My next breath caught in my throat.  850 years old?  These girls weren’t weird.  They were insane!  Antigone shook her head confusion.  “Wait, back up!”  She said slowly, putting her hands out in a time out gesture.  “What do you mean in your world?  Which world is yours?”  Paix took a breath.  “We’re from Safehaven, same as you.  You guys still have the glow on you.  However, we left years ago, to find our own way.  Look how far we’ve come!”  The girl spread her hands out, gesturing to the interior of the shop.  The only sound was the bubbling of the fountains and the ringing of the chimes.  Other than that, everything was silent.  So, these two were from Safehaven?  Did that mean there was way more to Safehaven then just the school?  If time passes faster there, then how long had we been gone already?  100 years?  My mind almost overloaded with questions.  Now, the smell of cinnamon was so strong, my sinuses burned like they were on fire.  Where on earth was it coming from?!  Quinton sneezed, and hunched over with the force.  Immediately, one of the fountains shattered.  He must have unleashed a force field by accident.  “Sorry.”  He muttered, wiping his nose on his sleeve.  Hachi pursed her lip, but said nothing.  Instead, she snapped her fingers and red tendricals of smoke curled from around her fingers and snaked their way to the crumbled fountain.  Upon impact, the stone shards vanished, and the water disappeared.  The smoke then dissipated, leaving an even stronger whiff of cinnamon.  “Sorry.  It’s just the smell of magic.”  Paix explained.  She held out her palm, and more red smoke circled around her fingers.  It was true.  The smell did seem to be emanating from there.  But how?  “What do you mean?”  I finally worked up the courage to ask.  Paix smiled.  Her cheerful brown eyes unnerved me, though not as much as Hachi’s blue ones.  “Your minds can not cope with the fact that magic really exists.  Therefore, it tries to associate it with something familiar.  Some people claim that magic looks like dark mist, others say it’s like a gust of cold wind.  Others even say it is like floating water.  Everyone absorbs magic differently.  You, though, smell it as you think it is.  A dark, powerful thing that can overcome things easily, hence the smell of cinnamon.  Cool, right?”  I didn’t know what to think.  But before I could way anything else, the room seemed to dim.  The fountains went silent, and the wind chimes ceased.  Outside, the clouds darkened and clustered together.  Hachi and Paix stiffened.  Their small frames stood rigid and unmoving.  The blue and brown eyes glazed over, and the skin that covered their faces paled.  But the thing, what ever it was, ended as soon as it had started.  Soon, everything was back to normal.  However, the two girls still looked a little dazed.  “Did you see it?”  Paix whispered to Haci, who nodded her head vigorously.  “The Fabric has been tampered with.”  Hachi muttered.  “That’s not good.”  Sage quivered a little.  “What’s not good?”  She half whispered half whimpered.  Hachi turned her icy eyes upon the girl.  “The seam that holds all time and worlds together has been broken.  Reality, as we know it, has started to unravel.”