In the lunchroom, Paige was reading a book, staring at the pictures of wolves and dragons. She hummed softly before she closed her eyes in concentration.

After a few moments, a pair of midnight-black wolf ears appeared on her head. She opened her eyes and looked herself over for a moment before she smiled.

A crumpled ball of paper suddenly hit her on the head, and she looked at it before she looked up to see January Finch, Hellia Mandylor, and Ianthe Berry floating above her. Wisps of magic flickered around their feet.

"Looks like she found us," Ianthe chuckled, a smirk on her face.

"And it looks like you've actually mastered the art of having your animal body parts appear," Hellia hummed. "And you've only been here for a day."

"Everyone's been here for a day," Paige huffed, flicking her tail.

Hellia chuckled as she and the other two girls floated down in front of her. She noticed that the hem of January's dress was dripping wet.

"Wanna play a game with us?" Hellia asked with a smirk.

"Oh! Oh! Can we play StarPool again?" Ianthe asked, suddenly eager.

January chuckled, "Sure."

"StarPool?" Paige repeated, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yep," Ianthe chuckled. "January did twenty whole steps! It's like hopscotch!"

Hellia looked at Paige, "You should join us."

Paige frowned before she stood up, closing the book. "No, thanks."

Before she could turn and leave, Hellia grabbed the back of her uniform, eliciting a startled yelp from the Evaran.

"Don't be shy now, Princess," the Noiyaman smiled. "Of course you should tag along!"

"Right. It's just hopscotch," Ianthe chuckled as the four girls walked outside.

They walked out to the schoolyard where there was a large lake.

"This spot looks free!" Ianthe affirmed, and she looked at Hellia and Paige, "You guys ready?"

"Yeah! Why don't you show us how it's done, January?" Hellia asked.

The Noiyaman cleared her throat, "Fine, fine."

She turned to the lake before she stepped forward and placed her foot on the watery surface. Frost appeared underneath her feet.

"One for moondust, one for starlight," she sang, "three for Her touch, four for Her sight. Five for Black Holes, six for Auroras."

She spun around, frost and ice crackling under her feet with every step she took.

"Seven for Her Blessing, nine for Her love. Ten for Her Children... to be welcomed beyond and above!"

She ran across the lake. "Eleven... twelve... thirteen! Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, eighteen... nineteen... twenty!"

Paige widened her eyes in amazement.

"You're incredible, January!" Ianthe cheered.

The Noiyaman grinned, "I'm going to be the top student in this academy in no time!"

"Your turn," Hellia whispered to Paige, who tensed up.

She looked at the water nervously.

Hellia's smirk widened. "You scared? Come on, Youngblood. What are you waiting for?"

Before Paige could say anything, the Hicarian suddenly pushed her, and the Evaran fell into the water with a loud splash.

Paige felt fire burst through her entire body as she kicked and thrashed in the water. She didn't understand why it felt like her limbs were suddenly failing her. She had been swimming for years.

Something pressed against the sole of her shoe, and she resurfaced with a gasp before she crawled onto the grass, coughing.

"What's going on here?"

Hellia tensed up, and Ianthe and January looked toward a silver-haired woman walking toward the four girls.

She narrowed her eyes when she saw the soaked Paige. She turned her gaze back to January, Hellia, and Ianthe.

"Get to class. Now," she said sternly.

The three girls quickly hurried past her.

Paige wiped her face before she shifted into her wolf form and shook herself.

The silver-haired woman looked at her and walked up beside her. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Paige sighed. "I'll dry off quicker if I'm in my wolf form. Thank you, Lady Vassia."

Lady Vassia stared at her before nodding. She flicked her wrist, and a gust of wind blew through Paige's fur until she was completely dry.

Paige squeaked in surprise as her fur suddenly fluffed up, and Lady Vassia giggled softly.

Paige smiled shyly before smoothing her fur out, blushing. The bell rang, and Lady Vassia looked at the bell.

"You should head to class, little one," she chuckled. "Don't want you to be late on your second day."

Paige smiled before she nodded and hurried inside, shifting back into her human form.

Lady Vassia watched her, a soft, amused smile on her face. It slowly faded, and she glanced at the water. It seemed to ripple at first before it stopped.

She slowly walked into the school.

In Lady Glykeria's class, Paige was writing in her notebook.

"Alright, students," Lady Glykeria spoke up, clapping her hands, "I hope you're taking notes for this lesson because you will be quizzed about it soon. Tell me, what does it mean to have powers? To shift into your animal form?"

Someone raised their hand, and Paige looked over at Natalia.

"Yes, Natalia?" Lady Glykeria quizzed.

"To have powers to transform... is to be connected to those powers," the Dolvadian answered. "To concentrate on your very soul and the threads that circle around your heart."

"Very good," Lady Glykeria nodded with a satisfied smile. "Anyone else?"

"It also means to be in control of who you are and what you were born to become," another student, Agatha, piped up. "The moment you forget who you are... and what your magic is tied to... you are no longer a Transcendant."

"Right again," Lady Glykeria nodded.

"Going a little dark there, aren't you, Agatha?" Miguel huffed. "Primordia would never let her children go astray. Especially from her Tapestry."

Agatha glared at the Evaran, "Right. Well, everyone knows that, Miguel."

"Alright, alright," Lady Glykeria interrupted in a firm tone, "there's no need to start tensions here today. Both of you are right. Primordia would not let her children stray from her Tapestry. She is a mother to all of you, and as long as you are in her light, you will always be her child. She has a plan for all her children."

Paige stared at her for a moment before she spared a glance at her notebook. There was a crescent moon drawn on the upper corner of the page.

A plan, huh? she echoed in her mind.

The bell rang, springing her out of her thoughts, and she looked at the ceiling before she started to get up.

"Make sure to study hard for your soon-to-be test, young ones," Lady Glykeria reminded as the students packed their books and began to walk out of the room. She looked at Miguel, "Miguel, may I have a word?"

The Evaran looked at her before his shoulders slumped slightly, and he walked over to the woman's desk.

"I understand you've had... some trouble with your magic?" Lady Glykeria gently probed.

"It's not that, Lady Glykeria," Miguel sighed. "I've just been working on... well... the same magic that Marco is doing."

"Oh?" Lady Glykeria tilted her head curiously. "Why's that?"

"Cirilians can do magic, regardless of whether they are Dual-Blooded," the Evaran said. "Me practicing the same magical power that Marco has will... surely benefit me with some kind of luck."

Lady Glykeria hummed softly, "Very well. Just be careful. You and Marco."

"We will, Lady Glykeria," Miguel nodded before he walked out of the classroom.

In the lunchroom, Paige was sitting at one of the tables, taking a bite out of her grilled cheese sandwich.

"Hey. Paige, is it?"

She looked up at Gregory, Harry, Natalia, Demetrius, Charlotte, Marley, Shiloh, Kaitlin, Thomas, Joanna, Ivan, Brenda, Osiris, Eric, Anastasia, Wilbur, Vega, Xavier, Ursula, Zethus, Leorah, Renwick, and Yalonda walking up to her with their trays.

"Mind if we sit next to you?" Shiloh asked.

"I don't mind," Paige replied with a smile. "There's plenty of room."

Renwick sighed in relief, and the nineteen kids sat down.

"So how are you finding it here?" Harry asked Paige.

She swallowed her bite and hummed softly. "It's like a dream, honestly."

"That's the general feeling toward it," Yalonda chuckled as she took a bite of her sandwich. "The outfits are kind of silly if you ask me."

"I think they're stylish," Natalia huffed.

"Only you and Reyna would think that," Demetrius chuckled, amusement in his voice.

Paige looked between them before she giggled. "You're both Geminis, right?" she asked.

The two Transcendants looked at her in surprise.

"Uh, yeah," Demetrius answered. "How'd you know?"

"I mean... the two of you are basically talking like brother and sister," Paige pointed out, an amused look on her face.

Zethus chuckled, "She's not wrong."

Natalia huffed softly, a smirk pulling at her lips. "Well, what's your zodiac, Paige?"

"Cancer," the Evaran answered.

"Oh, me too!" Eric chirped, his wolf tail wagging.

"Me three," Yalonda smiled, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh, oh! Why don't we have a little group of our own?" Anastasia suddenly suggested, her hands planted on the table.

"All twenty-four of us?" Leorah asked curiously.

"Why not?" The Aserian replied. "Our siblings and lovers are in groups of their own."

Paige tilted her head curiously, "Is that allowed?"

"Well, so far, I haven't heard the teachers complain," Gregory hummed, folding his arms over his chest.

"But what would our group name be, though?" Ursula asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Hmmm..." Harry hummed.

"How's Team Star Riders?" Thomas asked, a smirk on his face.

"Absolutely not!" Charlotte laughed.

"That's a dumb name," Joanna huffed.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with anything, Jo!" The Mazerunian shot back.

"Heroes of the Universe?" Ivan suggested.

"No," Paige hummed. "There's already a group of students with the word 'hero' in it."

"How about Universal Protectors?" Kaitlin piped up.

A stunned silence fell between the group.

"That... is a genius name," Harry said.

"I vote for Universal Protectors," Renwick chimed in, smiling.

"Same here," Brenda chuckled.

"Same," Osiris agreed.

"Universal Protectors it is," Gregory chuckled.

Zethus lifted up his cup. "To us, the Universal Protectors."

"To us," everyone else echoed, lifting their cups.

Paige smiled, her wolf tail wagging.

Away from the cafeteria, down the hallway was the headmaster's office.

Headmaster Prokopios sat behind his large obsidian desk, writing in a book.

His long, silver hair fell loosely around his shoulders as he continued writing. Next to him was a large leather-bound ledger that was closed.

He looked at it and hummed softly before he reached out and flicked his wrist. The ledger opened, and pages flipped until they stopped, and the names of Marcus, Paige, Phillip, and Melody appeared.

Headmaster Prokopios stared at Paige's name, and he hummed deeply.

There was a knock at the door.

"Enter," Headmaster Prokopios said, not looking up from his writing.

The door opened, and Lady Florentia stepped inside, her eyes sharp and posture rigid. She walked up to the desk and looked at the ledger.

She frowned, "the daughter of Marcus Kendrick the First and Latosha McHenry?"

Headmaster Prokopios's hand paused, and he looked at her with a calm expression on his face. "Is that a problem?"

"Surely you know that she has autism," Lady Florentia huffed. "She's too emotional, and she's bound to have fits. Her brother already shows signs of greatness. He could be a prodigy."

Headmaster Prokopios's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Paige is unpredictable," Lady Florentia sneered.

The ledger slammed shut, and Lady Florentia flinched slightly at the thunder-like sound. She stared at the headmaster, startled.

Silence fell over the office. Headmaster Prokopios slowly stood up.

"I will not have favorite students," he said calmly. Too calmly. "This academy does not belong to you. It does not belong to me. It belongs to Primordia."

Lady Florentia clenched her jaw as she stared at him, not daring to interrupt him.

"If Primordia herself has decided that Paige and her siblings are part of her Tapestry... then they are part. Of. Her Tapestry," he said, holding her gaze. "Remember that."

Lady Florentia stared at him before she nodded slightly. "Yes, Headmaster."

She turned sharply and walked out of the office. The door shut behind her.

Headmaster Prokopios hummed softly before he glanced out the corner of his eye at a dark window. Stars flickered like embers, and a pair of golden eyes pierced the darkness, glowing brighter than the very stars.

They lingered on Headmaster Prokopios.

"I'm working on it," he said calmly. "She will be ready. She has already found her friends. Her siblings-in-arms. They will be ready soon."