"You're lucky you weren't expelled!"

Troy had returned to our apartment after class. Troy had returned to our apartment after class. It was one of the few hour breaks we all had the same. Sky was running around packing for his next class—one he shared with me and Troy, both of us already ready. Imogene and Isaiah sat to the side, both of them sipping tea. Maddie stood over Troy, giving him a major lecture.

"You could have killed Kori!" Maddie was yelling. "What would you have done then, huh? Not only would you have the Headmaster on your fucking arse, but you'd have your father coming after you, too! You would have been kicked out of the Academy instantly! The only reason you weren't is because she's still alive!"

"Unfortunately," Troy muttered.

Maddie slapped him, the sound echoing through our apartment, making everyone stop and look at the infuriated Lyriumian. "I know you're a fucking reckless moron with a white knight complex but you need to control your anger. One of these days, you really will kill someone and you'll be sent right back to where you came from. Do you want that?"

Troy's head hung as he quietly said, "No."

Maddie knelt down, gripping his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Then get your fucking act together."

"I'm working on it, Mads. I am."

Maddie then turned to me, the anger in her periwinkle purple eyes turning them dark. "I hope you have a plan for what you'll do when Kori eventually says you provoked him to attack you."

I hadn't. Actually, that hadn't even crossed my mind. Yeah, Kori's a bitch and out to make my life hard, but surely she wouldn't go that far . . . Oh, what am I saying? Of course she would go that far. Hell, she'd go as far as to get all my friends kicked out of the Academy, too! Well, she'd try. There are some perks to being me.

"How could she even pin that one on me?" I asked. "I wasn't even there when Troy attacked her."

"Girl, she's been spreading rumours about you for months," Imogene said. "If anyone can bullshit this one to make you come out bad, it's that dog."

"Then let's hope she stays out for a while . . ."

Knowing Kori and her stubbornness, I would be called into the Headmaster's office by the end of the day. I sighed, picking up my bag to make my way to my next class. Troy had been put on suspension for the rest of the day so it would just be me, Sky and Esmé. Hopefully that class wouldn't be out to get me, too.

*

Well, the good news was they weren't out to get me. The bad news was that the only people who interacted with me were the teacher (only to get answers), Sky and Esmé. In the lecture theatre, there was a pointed wide circle around the three of us as everyone did their best to stay away from me. I ended up leaving them after class, though they did put up a fight, so they didn't have to deal with being social outcasts and the awkwardness that came from being around me right now.

Left on my own and with two hours to kill before my next class, I found myself wandering up the ramp to the Temple and entering the wing that made up the God Worlds' area. I don't know why I came here but it felt like something was pulling at me. Back home in Lapide, the Temple was always considered the ultimate safe space. Perhaps it was something like that.

The inside looked different from last year. Several of the statues and shrines had been damaged in the attack. They now looked as good as new. There was a line of candles hanging from the ceiling. Each one was for a fallen Lyriumian student. I'd heard the other areas of the Temple had something similar to honour their own fallen.

I found myself standing before the statue of Ixasis, the Primordial Deity of Time. The statue showed the Deity's striking and fierce beauty. Really, that's the only way I can describe them. They stood proud and tall, their dark blue skin a stark contrast against their pale blue and silver robes. Their dark blue hair was realistically carved in a side-bun style. Their silver eyes appeared to glow. One hand was held out before them, holding a giant replica of the pale blue Time Crystal. Unlike the other shrines of the Gods, Ixasis' shrine was empty. Honestly, it was sad.

I used a basic summoning spell to summon a dark-blue-and-silver candle from my room back in the forest house. A snap of my fingers set the wick alight. I placed the candle at the Deity's feet and stepped back. The shrine still looked empty compared to the others, but now it didn't look as sad. As weird as it sounded, the statue seemed to smile.

Grasping the straps of my bag tightly, I stared right into the Deity's stone eyes. "Why did you give me your power?" I don't know why I asked it. It wasn't like a statue could answer my questions about being the Vessel of Time, whatever that was.

A gentle thudding sound made me look around. No one else was there. Weird. When I turned back to the shrine, there was a thick book next to my candle. Very weird. Unable to help myself, I picked it up. The deep blue-covered book was freakishly heavy. I had to use both hands just to keep hold of it. My eyes flicked to the title written in decorative silver text. He-Ixas. Time Magic. This was getting way too weird.

Opening the book, I found it was written both in the Old Language and modern Lyriumian. The two pages were side by side, each saying the exact same thing. The book looked very old, the words handwritten in cursive. Books hadn't been handwritten around here in generations. This thing must have been very old, but then why would it also be written in modern Lyriumian?

My eyes glanced over the opening passage:

Time Magic is one of the most ancient powers amongst the God Worlds. A gift from Ixasis themselves. While Time Magic used to be a common phenomenon and often developed into other rare magics such as Prophecy and Vision, the Purge has caused almost all knowledge of the past wielders and rules of Time Magic to be lost. Since the end of the Time of the Ancients, Time Magic has become limited to one person from either Lyriumian or Terpolite blood in every generation. While those descended from those may later inherit Time Magic, nearly every bloodline has been destroyed in the name of keeping Balance. Many original holders and descendants who have shown signs of Time Magic have been crystalized to protect the history of God Worlds.

Following is a record of the history of Time Magic, those who hold this power, a list of Time Vessels, and their fates. I will be covering the basics of Time Magic to help you, the new Vessel, learn to control and hide your power from others. But heed my words: Time Magic, when used incorrectly, is dangerous. It can save history and it can destroy it. There are many rules you must learn and many different ways to use your power.

Ixasis watches over you, their chosen,

At those final words, I immediately closed the book. "Oh, there's no way this is good." I scowled at the Deity's statue. "This is a joke, right? Why would you pick me to be the Vessel of your power, especially now? Have you even met my family?"

The statue didn't answer any of my questions. Even so, I could swear I felt Ixasis staring down at me. It made me shiver. I quickly slipped the heavy tome into my bag and turned away from the statue. Now I had this book on top of the prophecy to worry about. Great. There was no way I could let the existence of this book get out. Time Magic was still very much forbidden for obvious reasons. Yes, sooner or later I would have to use it otherwise I would fall ill, but I had to make sure it was somewhere no one would catch me.

Better safe than sorry.

I hurried from the Temple, careful to not look too suspicious knowing I had a probably highly illegal book on my person. Thankfully, everyone was so busy avoiding me that no one even questioned me all but running from the Temple. I did get a few weird looks, but they probably thought I'd been kicked out or something stupid like that.

I paused at the ramp leading down to the next ring, deciding whether or not I should hide the book in my room with the prophecy book (assuming Sky hadn't re-stolen it) or if it would be safer in the Library, in the hidden study. I chose the hidden study. Only me and my friends knew about it. The book would be safe there.

That was when something truly strange happened. A sharp pain appeared in the side of my neck. I flinched, raising my hand to the spot only for it to brush against something. I pulled the sharp-pointed thing in front of me. A dart. "Oh, you have got to be kidding."

My vision went fuzzy. My body felt heavy. Within less than a minute, I was laying at the top of the ramp, dead.