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"Oh honey, Lucas is much bigger than that."

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I STARED AT the clouds, loving the feel of the gentle breeze whisking across my skin as it passed by, the light poking of the grass, just enough to almost tickle, the sun not too bright to stop my direct view of the sky.

Cloudy days, with a kiss of warmth, were just the best days ever.

"And that's all he said?" Claire huffed from beside me. I turned my head slightly to my friend, a small smile appearing on my face as I nodded. Of course, I couldn't tell her everything that Mr. Ogustus had said to me, but I did tell her he had encouraged me to be more out there, or more open to some extent.

Bravery was probably the word that suited best to what he was trying to say, as he did mention I was scared, but the B-word was not a word I wanted to utter to Claire, not after what happened to me last night when I tried it out. I shut out the images, I didn't want anything to destroy this beautiful scene in front of me.

She turned away from my line of view, her eyes peering up at the sky as she focused on the clouds I had been watching only a second ago. Squinting for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was in deep thought before slightly turning to me.

"I think deep down we're all scared," she grunted, eyes staring right into mine. It was one of the few times Claire held eye contact for so long. Sighing she then looked back up at the sky, "If only life was as easy as being a cloud."

I chuckled at this senseless statement and she smiled along with me. I was lucky about one thing that was for sure, Claire. She was one of the best people I had the privilege of meeting, unlike Daya, she was patient and understanding and that is what I appreciated most among her best features. I knew she had been through a lot but she always tried to stay positive, which was hard to do, I knew that better than anyone.

After a slight pause, she suddenly spoke, her tone low and flirty, "So Luca is an all-powerful Gigan," she grinned, glancing my way, and a chuckle grazed on her lips.

I knew she was only teasing me but the involuntary smile that suddenly hijacked my face was impossible to wipe off, only being able to roll my eyes, to pull off the 'I don't know what you're talking about look'. I took the noted book that was beside me, jotting a few words down,

'LUCAS," I double-underlined, before explaining why, 'he didn't want us to call him Luca."

She looked over the words, sitting up beside me, carelessly rubbing the leaves, dust, and grass from her dark straight hair with one hand, eyes still focused on the words I had handed her. She looked back at me with a puzzled look plastered on her face.

"When did he say that?" she asked.

I gave her an unconvinced look, unable to believe she hadn't gotten what I picked up from his body language. Granted I didn't think just anybody would, but Clair was like me. She studied people and tried to figure them out. Maybe she was too obvious when doing it whilst I preferred the more subtle approach but either way, my point was, she would have been smart enough to pick it up.

I held out my hand to retrieve my notebook from her and she handed it over to me, watching as I wrote, 'in the library.'

She glanced over what I had written, then back up at me still not getting it. I sighed sitting up straight, pushing the stray lock of hair from my face, taking in a breath of sweet fresh air before writing down my thesis,

'He said SOME people called him that, and his tone was not approving."

She looked over at me, a frown forming on her features before shaking her head, "okay, point taken, so LUCAS, is a Gigan.." she rephrased and I gave her a thumbs up to which she chuckled, pulling her knees to her chest, her hair dripping over them, blowing lightly in the breeze, "so he can shift into an Ape?" she asked, seemingly confused at her statement, or rather baffled at the choice of the animal as I had been.

Laughing at this I jotted down my reply, 'gigantropithecus, it's a ten-foot Ape, if I recall my history,'

The book was suddenly taken from Claire's hands before she could read it, a shadow blocking the sun. Lira stood in front of us, glancing at what I had written and then back to me, chewing her famous purple turbo gum into a bubble, and popping it.

"Oh honey, Lucas is much bigger than that," she smirked, handing the book over to me.

I took the book hurriedly opening the pages, half afraid some bubble gum had tainted its light pink princess pages but to my relief everything was clean.

"Lira," Claire began watching her roommate lay down in the grass beside us, sighing as she stretched.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," she hummed, before sitting up, "enjoying the King's Courts huh?" she asked looking between the two of us.

I nodded, still feeling like she was about to do something crazy or unexpected like snatch my princess notebook or demand my lap be a resting nest for her head. Lira was scary and demanding, I doubt I could say no, or even write it down.

Claire replied verbally for the both of us, "We are, but shouldn't you be in class?"

"Didn't you hear the bell genius?" Lira carelessly hummed back.

"That was the first bell, you're a blue, your schedule bell rings in an hour," Clair explained.

Lira chuckled at this, "Let's just say Class can wait, this beautiful scene can't pass me by and certainly not the view you two are getting," she smirked, her eyes trailing off to a certain direction.

My eyebrows furrowed at her statement which seemed to be implying something, reluctantly looking in the direction she had proposed. A Group of shirtless boys stood talking a little way away from us, smooth bodies shining in the gentle sunlight, chuckling as one moved a distance away from the rest, giving us a perfect look at his toned abs.

"Ewe," Claire huffed looking away, and my eyes quickly lowered at the sight, slightly embarrassed for having taken a second longer than Claire to look away.

Lira scoffed rolling her eyes, "will you two get your thoughts out of the gutter and see what they're doing?" she grunted, this time pointing their way.

"Lira,"

"Just look! Dang, it, you girls are so naïve," she huffed with a slight scoff, " virgins."

My eyes studied her face for a moment, but when she gave me an uninterested look back, I timidly looked back at the boys, the boy who had left the company of his friends was now standing a good way away from the rest.

Another boy took two steps away from the group breathing in and rolling his shoulders as the boys cheered him on. Jumping in the same spot for a second like one does when warming up he suddenly moved backward, beginning a sprint forwards, stopping a good length away from the first boy, his arm suddenly engulfed in red hot flames shooting a big ball of fire his way.

I watched wide-eyed as the ball of fire moved faster than I could find the words to explain, smashing into the boy before engulfing his upper body in flames. I watched in horror as the boy burned from his neck to just beneath his belly button, glowing bright red flames.

Claire gasped from beside me-

"Wait for it," Lira encouraged, her eyes squinting at the group.

After a few more seconds the fire seemed to cool or absorb, leaving bright red skin that slowly started to regain its previous color and form.

"7.5!" the boy who had been lit on fire just a few seconds ago called out to the remaining group of boys, to which the boy who had thrown the fireball scoffed as the rest booed and laughed. I raised an eyebrow at this reaction whilst Claire voiced her opinion, "What the heck-"

"Relax, granny, they're elementals," Lira replied, with a soft sigh. My eyes followed another boy who took another turn throwing a fireball at his friend, my eyebrows furrowing at the scorched grass they were leaving behind, an ugly brown in this luscious field of green,

"Oranges in other words, and that ladies and gentlemen, is Rome Tucker's group of dickhead matchsticks," she huffed looking at them for a second longer.

"Rome?" Claire echoed.

"The one with the red hair," Lira spoke spitefully, and my eyes befell the boy who had absorbed the flame, of average height, with a cheeky smile, currently sticking out his tongue at his friends, "all they do is go about making trouble, their little heat tests or games or whatever, shouldn't be done here in the King's Courts. Look at what they're doing to the grass," she hissed, "they could have used the Crest Grounds where training is encouraged but not the mighty flame wielding Rome," she mocked.

I frowned; my eyes still stuck on the state of the grass now.

"Anyway, they're getting what coming to them in 3, 2, 1."

My eyes suddenly widened as two identical boys my color appeared from thin air, each holding one wooden staff in their hand. One of them stopped the oncoming fireball in an instant by merely raising their staff toward it and seemed to blow the fireball out like a mere candle instead of the football-sized blast it was.

"Busted," Lira whistled, chuckling and then licking her lips, now paying more attention as if this was the most enjoyable part.

"Who are they?" Claire asked Lira while I studied the two boys.

They seemed to be nearly the same age as us, they looked young enough, and yet they seemed wiser, no matter how crazy that sounded as they were no more than mere teens. They had the darkest skin I had ever seen, rich with the most beautiful melanin skin tone that seemed to dazzle in the sunlight. They wore casual clothing like the way hallway boy had, which made them stick out like a sore thumb although that was in a good way. They had perfect posture and a stern yet friendly look on their face. I couldn't quite pin it.

"That's Rangi and Lwangi, they're like moderators," she grinned still engrossed in the twins as they casually dispersed the Oranges.

"What's that?" Claire echoed.

"Since they are a part of the original five, they are more respected around here and the prime has given them some 'power' over us, in terms of authority," she explained mindlessly.

"What do you mean by the originals?"

Lira suddenly turned to look at Claire, her face unimpressed, probably because of all the questions Claire was asking it seemed, but hey, she was asking questions on behalf of the two of us. However, it seemed that Lira had gotten tired of answering them-

"You-"

RING!

The bell blasted all over the grounds.

Lira rolled her eyes, "thank heavens for that bell, or I would suffocate in your ignorance," she huffed getting to her feet. We watched as she stood up, and she looked back at us with wide eyes, "well? Do you want to be late for the inter-colors match?" she hissed.

Claire and I exchanged looks before shaking our heads, she sighed, "Go on to Origins Class, I'll save you two seats in the Arena. Today's match is going to be slightly full," she explained as we got to our feet, "go on younglings!" she smirked as we walked away from her, clearly mocking Mr. Ogustus.

We chuckled among ourselves as we headed to the Crown.

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