The next day had arrived. Stella had woken up much earlier than she had expected—at 4:42 a.m. to be precise—and so she went back to sleep. Her aunt roused her later in the morning.

"It's almost eight o'clock. Time to wake up," said Celestine. Stella yawned and nodded her head, stretching her arms and legs before doing her morning routine.

The women were ready in thirty minutes. Stella walked towards the door and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Where do you think you're going?" Celestine asked her in Italian. Stella froze.

"Ehm, I want to explore the town?"

"Again? But you did that yesterday already."

"Yes, but," she hesitated, "I met some friends."

"Friends?" Celestine raised an eyebrow. "In this small town?"

"New friends," Stella clarified.

"Ah, I see. I'm afraid you can't meet them today because I have to take you somewhere."

Stella felt her heart sink. Gravity tugged harder at the corners of her lips. "To where?"

"It's a secret"—Celestine winked—"I'll tell you when we get there."

She gently grabbed Stella's arm and led her to wherever she planned to go—after locking the door to her house, of course. Stella followed her aunt down the path and through the town. She sighed inwardly. She, Jon, and Edmond agreed to meet at 10:00 a.m., but it seemed that she would not be able to make it. What if I never meet them again? she thought. She could have at least asked for their phone numbers before they split up. But she did not have her phone at that time. But wait, Edmond had his phone. Maybe Jon did as well. She could have given them her number, and had she done so, they could have texted her and asked if she would be able to make it. Stella silently shook her head and returned her focus to her surroundings. Celestine was leading them to a rather quiet part of town. To be fair, the whole town was quiet by Stella's standards.

Celestine checked her wristwatch. "Stella, we have to hurry up. We might be late," she said in Italian.

She took a right turn and began jogging. Stella followed her. She widened her eyes—ahead of her laid the forest that she was dragged through the day before. Was her aunt taking her to Otrâlmondé? A smile formed on Stella's heart-shaped face as she followed her aunt through the forest. To her relief, she was able to pass through the woodland without anything tugging at her body. Her smile grew wider as her eyes caught sight of an old, derelict building, sleeping just outside the forest's border.

They halted just in front of the metal door. Celestine wiped the sweat off her brow and checked her watch. She breathed a sigh of relief before turning her gaze to her niece.

"You're probably wondering why I'm leading you here, of all places," she began. "You'll find out later. First, we'll meet with an old friend of mine."

Celestine snatched a key from her bag and, to her shock, found the metal door to be unlocked. She pulled out her phone, called someone, and activated speaker mode.

"José, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm on the way to the warehouse," a male voice replied. "Why?"

"The metal door, it's not locked! I think someone went inside."

"Maybe Helene unlocked it."

"Maybe. But even then, she would've told us, right?" Celestine paused. Sounds echoed from the other side of the door. "Wait, I'll call you back."

She hung up. Stella and Celestine heard footsteps coming from inside Old Port Warehouse. The metal door soon swung open. A tall woman, clothed in a baggy, blue cloak, appeared before them. She seemed old, possibly in her late-60s, and her electric blue eyes looked more youthful than the rest of her wrinkly face. Her thinning, greying, platinum blonde hair was tightly tied into a short ponytail. She outstretched her right arm, her sleeve like a heavy drape hanging from a thin curtain rod.

"Good to see you again," the woman greeted. Celestine immediately shook hands with her.

"Good to see you, Helene! This is my niece, Stella," she said.

"Nice to meet you," Helene greeted her. They shook hands. She continued, "Where are the boys?"

"They should be here in a few minutes," Celestine answered her.

"A few minutes? It's almost nine."

Helene outstretched her left arm towards the forest and opened her palm. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. Then, a rustling sound came from the forest. Three people suddenly shot out of the woods, their bodies hovering above the ground. Helene relaxed her left arm and the figures dropped to the earth.

Stella immediately recognized Jon and Edmond, but she did not know who the third man was. He bore a lot of resemblance to Jon, except for a few differences: he was half a head taller, had much darker irises, and his face was more oblong than round. He was the only one who wore spectacles, which surprisingly did not break when he fell. Is that Jon's dad?

"You didn't have to pull us here like that," the man complained as he got up.

"Then you better speed up. You know how much I value punctuality, José," Helene retorted. She checked her watch. "Hurry up, all of you."

She turned her back and walked deeper into Old Port Warehouse. The others followed her inside. As they walked, Stella glanced at the two boys and silently exchanged smiles.

"Nice to see you again," Jon said.

"Oh, so you met Stella already?" José asked.

"We did, yesterday morning," Edmond answered. "In fact we met right outside this building."

José and Celestine stopped in their tracks, and a second later, the teenagers did too.

"You what?" Celestine glanced at Stella. "You didn't tell me yesterday, no?"

"You didn't tell me either," José said, looking at Jon.

"Well, uh, it's a long story. I was walking around Oppidula when the necklace dragged me here, the same thing happened with Stella and her bracelet—"

"What do you mean dragged?" José asked.

"Dragged, as in, physically dragged. Like an invisible force was pulling all of us here and we couldn't get out, or we'd be dragged back here."

"Oh mama! That didn't happen to us when we started training." Celestine shot a worried glance at José. "Right, José?"

"No it didn't, the ring never dragged me anywhere."

"Hey!" Helene beckoned with her finger, tugging all five of them forward. "You can talk to each other, but no need to stop. We're running late already."

José and Celestine bowed their heads. "Yes, sorry."

They continued walking, following Helene downstairs.

"So how did you three get out?"

"We, ehm, went to Otrâlmondé first, because our jewelry led us there," Stella answered her aunt. "There was this library that they pulled us to too, and after that, the force didn't bother us anymore and we were able to go out."

"That's strange," José remarked. "Wait, so did you unlock the door to this building?"

"The metal door?" Edmond said. "No, it was unlocked when we arrived."

"Strange. Helene must've unlocked it then."

"I didn't unlock it."

José and Celestine exchanged looks.

"Well, what matters is that no random human entered and found the portal, luckily," Helene went on. "If there were any unauthorized humans passing into Otrâlmondé, the Gatekeepers would've told me by now."

"Wait, random humans?" Edmond repeated. "But Stella and Jon and I went there yesterday, does that mean—"

"You three are humans. Just authorized ones, like myself. Everyone else is forbidden from entering the other realms," Helene answered him. "I'll explain more later."

They soon reached the basement and halted in front of the portal. Helene held up the white sheet, rather than pulling it down, and pressed her hand on the handprint. A flash of light briefly engulfed them.

They soon arrived. "This way," Helene told them, as she walked briskly to the right.

Stella glimpsed to her left and right. The area they were passing through was unfamiliar to her; she and her friends must have explored a different part of Otrâlmondé. Stella spotted a junction up ahead. The canal branched into four streams, and the pedestrian streets split into five separate lanes. The middle lane, unlike the others, was a ladder street. A circular bridge, similar to the one the trio crossed the other day, connected the lanes. They crossed the bridge to the ladder street. Stella gazed to the side as they ascended the stairs. The buildings next to her looked abandoned. Chips and holes in the paint exposed the bricks that formed the walls; the windows, which had no clear way of opening, were either grimy, fractured, or both; on some parts of the walls hung warning signs, with "DO NOT ENTER" written in large letters. It was a complete contrast to what she saw the other day.

They reached the top of the ladder street and stepped onto a cul-de-sac. On both sides were expansive green spaces, bounded by short metal fences. Trees a little taller than people skirted the perimeter of the parks. The park on the left was filled with cascading fountains, reflecting pools, and islands of flower beds. The park on the right resembled a maze; short, flowering hedges lined the footpaths and encircled open spaces. A single building stood at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Cement stairs with iron railings climbed towards the entrance. Its two entryways, which were revolving glass doors, occupied the middle half of the ground floor. Clean windows spanned from floor to ceiling on each level. The word "GYMNASIUM" was carved into a sign that hung above the revolving doors. They climbed the staircase and entered the building. The lobby was spacious; it spanned the entire length of the building and its height crossed two floors. Sleek lamps hung from the mirrored ceiling. Soft sofas and armchairs were arranged neatly around the waiting area. Two long counters were each manned by two people, and between them was a wide corridor.

"I have booked a large room for the next two weeks," Helene said as she grabbed some cards from the front desk, "but if that's not enough then I can rebook it."

"Is it like the one in Parafiso?" José asked.

"Oh, even better. It has everything you need and more. They have temporary dividers that you can summon anytime and anywhere, moveable targets of all shapes and sizes, and tablets to control everything in the room. I got them to change the language settings to English so that you two can use it."

Helene handed a card each to José and Celestine. They followed her down the hallway. To the left and right, glass doors offered them a sneak peek of the rooms. Some rooms resembled ordinary gyms, offering treadmills and barbells and other workout gear. Other rooms were plainer, devoid of any equipment, and were used by those practicing dances and martial arts. They took an elevator to the third floor. The doors, this time, were made of metal. Small signs were posted above them. Circular scanners were fixed below the round doorknobs. They halted in front of the third door on the right. Helene held one of the cards in front of the scanner. The door opened automatically.

The room was empty. Smooth and shiny mirrors spanned the entire front and rear walls. Inside the fully flat ceiling were a dozen white lightbulbs, screwed into holes and separated by thin glass. The floor was made of some strange material—it looked like ceramic but felt like a hybrid between wood and paper. Four tablets, two on each side, were attached to the left and right walls. Helene opened her right palm. Three of the tablets flew to her hand. She handed one each to Celestine and José. The three adults stood in a single line, facing the three.

"Good morning, everyone. My name is Helene and I am a retired Gatekeeper. I am a human who was tasked with guarding the gates to the other realms," she greeted them. She nudged José with her elbow.

"My name is José and I am the father of Juan," he introduced himself, gesturing to Jon. Stella briefly glanced at Jon. Did she hear that right? Was "Juan" Jon's real name?

"My name is Celestine, and I am the aunt of Stella," Celestine said.

"Okay, now with introductions out of the way, we can get right into training. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

"Uh, yes," Edmond said, raising his hand. "Training for what?"

"Training for your powers." Helene glanced sideways at José and Celestine. "You didn't tell them?"

"We could tell them? I didn't know. José?"

"I, uh, also didn't know we could tell them already."

Helene facepalmed. "Oh well. Anyway, yes, you three do have superpowers thanks to the magical jewelry you're wearing. I suppose you don't know what yours are."

"We do," Jon said. "I can control water, Edmond can control fire and lightning, and Stella can read things we cannot."

"Those are only some of your powers. I'll explain all of them to you," said Helene. She extended her open hand towards the three and ordered them, "Lend me your jewelry for a while."

The three took off their jewelry. Before they could walk towards her, an invisible force took their jewelry into Helene's hand. She first picked up Jon's ring. The ring was made of extremely pure crystal, glinting under the light. On the ring was a crystal seal that had a snowflake embossed onto it. The ring's inner walls had the image of a crescent moon and a drop of water, carved in a way that it looked like the moon was almost pinching the drop.

"This ring is made entirely out of clear, pure crystal," Helene said, showing them the ring from different angles, "and has a seal attached. Some civilizations thought that crystals had the ability to heal, so the wearer of this ring will be given that ability. On the ring, you can see three symbols related to water: the snowflake, which is on the seal, and the moon and droplet, which are hidden inside. These symbols combined allow the person to not only control all forms of water, but to create them as well. As with some other magical jewelry, this ring also possesses an extra power, which is the ability to summon force fields. Its passive ability is to breathe underwater and tolerate the extreme cold."

She tossed it back to Jon. The next thing she picked up was Edmond's necklace. Its thin chain was made of pure gold. An oval pendant, about as small as a thumbnail, was attached to the chain. The front of the pendant had a flame symbol embossed onto it, whereas a sun with eight rays was engraved onto its back.

"This necklace," Helene continued, letting it dangle from her hand, "is made of gold. Gold is known to be a strong element, and so the wearer possesses one of the strongest powers: telekinesis. Obviously, the flame symbol on the pendant means that the wearer will have pyrokinesis. A combination of the sun symbol, which is on the back of the pendant, and the flame symbol means that the person will have electrokinesis. Why is that? You see in some realms such as Otrâlmondé, lightning is also called 'sky fire.' Its passive powers are the ability to be fireproof, tolerate extreme heat, and stand very spicy food."

She returned to Edmond his necklace and picked up Stella's bracelet. Helene let it float above her palm and said,

"Last but not least, the bracelet. It's made from silver that is not only polished, but enchanted so that it's indestructible and immune to tarnishing. Compared to other metals, silver is the best conductor of electricity, hence the wearer will possess electrokinesis. The star-shaped pendant gives the wearer lumokinesis since stars give out light. The extra power of this bracelet is the ability to summon force fields. Its passive power is the ability to read inscriptions of all languages, regardless of whether the wearer has learned the language or not. This doesn't mean, however, that she can understand foreign languages when spoken, nor can she write or speak in them."

She gave Stella her bracelet back and, from a distance, fastened it around her right wrist.

"I understand that having powers is very exciting, but please, new trio, do not tell anyone about them. Not your friends, not your parents, not your siblings. Nobody. And don't tell anyone about the other realms or magical jewelry or anything related. This is a very important secret that no other human can know. Understood?"

"Yes," the trio replied, some of them nodding.

Helene motioned José to move further to the left and Celestine further to the right. "You"—Helene pointed at Edmond—"stand in front of me. Stella, in front of Celestine. And Juan, in front of José."

The three of them did as they were told. Helene held up her tablet and lightly tapped the screen. She said loudly,

"Let the training commence."

✧ ✧ ✧

Question Time! If you can choose between getting Stella's bracelet, Edmond's necklace, or Jon's ring, which one will you get?

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Thanks!